...Casa de Collins Blog...

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2011-01-01T13:42:00.001-06:00

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picking a DVD

2009-10-06T12:47:00.005-05:00

When I was out of town last week, Tristan decided to rummage through the DVDs and pick one out for Jillian.

twinkle twinkle traffic light

2009-09-29T18:58:00.003-05:00

Ava singing a new song from school...

crawling & playing with balls

2009-09-29T18:54:00.004-05:00

The little man has become pretty fast, and has a great arm on him!

crawling part 2

2009-09-26T09:14:00.003-05:00

Less than a week after his initial movement, this is what he's doing now! He's ready to go!

crawling

2009-09-26T09:09:00.003-05:00

We had some friends at the house Sunday night, and Tristan began to make his first efforts at crawling... forward.

TO clapping & squealing

2009-09-15T19:33:00.002-05:00

Tristan has become a very loud little man. This video shows him squealing some and clapping.

TO is getting bigger

2009-09-15T19:29:00.004-05:00

Shot this a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to post it so everyone can see how big the little man is getting. Ava is now calling him Mr. T, and T Man...

we will... we will...

2009-09-15T19:26:00.002-05:00

Ava also came home singing this song, however not quite as successful...

monkeys & an alligator

2009-09-15T19:23:00.004-05:00

Ava came home singing this song after school, had to get it on video...

virtues

2009-08-17T20:13:00.002-05:00

7 years old

2009-08-07T10:43:00.003-05:00

On Monday Jillian and I celebrated being seven years old together. It's hard to believe that it's been 7 years already. We have moved 3 times, have 2 kids, have had 4 pets, and continue to grow closer and learn more about each other. Here's to my beautiful bride. Enjoy the pictures below of when we first met!

just hanging out

at my fraternity's Presents @ Pepperdine

headed to Wyoming

2009-08-07T09:28:00.002-05:00

After I got home Friday night from Myrtle Beach, the evening was spent doing laundry and re-packing to head up to Wyoming the next day. My in-laws live in Laramie, Wyoming and we have always enjoyed taking a bit of time up there in the summer because of the nice weather. So we packed up the fam again, and this time had a much better trip through the airport thanks to no delays! We arrived in Denver, CO where my mother in law picked us up. We made the drive into Laramie and when Ava got out of the car proclaimed “it’s a cold winter day!” (it was 70 degrees outside). We spent the week hanging out and enjoying getting to be outdoors. As tradition with our first child, Jillian’s dad was proud to introduce Tristan to ice-cream. He made a face at first, and then ate as much of it as mommy would let him! I spent the mornings taking my father in laws mountain bike out for rides (almost 7,500ft elevation hurts FYI) and Jillian continued running to prepare for her first 5k. We went down to the Cheyenne Frontier Days on Tuesday night to catch some Professional Bull Riding action which was more entertaining than we expected. Jillian’s mom had also secured tickets to a concert later in the week at Frontier Days to see Kenny Chesney; which was an incredible show! One day Jillian & her mom went shopping, so the father in law and me took the kids to see some snow in July up in the mountains. Ava absolutely loved it! After the week was over, I had to get back to Texas to train some more customers, but we decided it would be fun for Jillian & the kids to stay up there another week and a half since I would be busy anyway.

Myrtle Beach, SC

2009-08-07T09:02:00.002-05:00

Mid July started a crazy month of traveling for the Collins family. In the spring I learned that I would have to take a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC to train customers for a week. Since Jillian has been locked down with work & kiddos, I made the proposition that I fly her out and she join me for part of the week while my parents got some ‘quality grandparent time’ in with the kiddos. So we got everything setup, went up to Denton to drop off the kids and were on our way to South Carolina. Fortunately the flying was fairly uneventful (Jillian’s not a big fan of planes), and we made it into Myrtle Beach. We spent Sunday morning on the beach for our own spiritual relaxation together, and then Jillian joined me while we setup our training lab on Sunday afternoon. During the day on Monday and Tuesday when I was training customers, Jillian spent her time at the beach, shopping and reading… all things that are done much easier sans kids. One of our friends who shall remain nameless turned Jillian onto the Twilight series and she finished 2 of the 4. We went out with one of my co-workers for dinner, played some miniature golf, and listened to some live music at Margaritaville. Jillian left on Wednesday to go pick up the kids and go home and I returned Friday night to join them. Although most of my time was spent working it was great to be able to get Jillian some alone time to relax… mommies need that more than daddies realize sometimes.

my beautiful bride

'self photography' at the beach

enjoying Myrtle Beach

going to Cali

2009-08-07T08:52:00.003-05:00

Okay, so the next few posts are WAY late, but as you’ll see it’s been a super busy summer for the Collins family. We kicked off the beginning of summer with a trip to California in June. The primary reason for the trip was I had to be in Bakersfield for work all week. It turned out that the weekend before my brother Chris would be getting his PhD from UCLA. So we decided to pack up the whole fam and fly out to California. The trip to Cali was exciting and stressful to say the least. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to board, etc. but our plane was stuck in a rain storm up in Dallas. Seven hours later we were finally on our way. Once in California with a bit of extra time, we decided to take Ava to Disneyland so she could meet the princesses. That was needless to say, amazing! She was so awe-struck by them it was adorable! We proceeded to my brothers commencement ceremonies and rejoiced as he was also awarded dissertation of the year.
We then packed up and drove up to Bakersfield for my company’s annual user conference. While I was working during the days Jillian took the kiddos to the pool, to the zoo and just had a good time hanging out with friends. We were fortunate enough that one of my co-workers lovely teenage daughters offered to babysit the kids a couple of nights so that Jillian could join me for the after-hours festivities. One night the whole group went to Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace, then on Friday night to a Melodrama. All in all it was a great trip and I was glad to have the family out with me for a while.

leaving, on a jet-plane

Ava on her way to meet the princesses

a view of inside the Pepperdine Chapel where we got married 7 years ago

the fam hanging out in Malibu

Ava outside my corporate office in Bakersfield, CA

school update

2009-06-03T12:45:00.003-05:00

Since a lot of you had gotten bits and pieces of the story, I thought I'd go ahead and make a post about it since it is indeed the last day of school!
About two months ago, Jillian's school had been reviewing several options to alleviate overcrowding at their campus (an elementary with over 1,300 kids!) None were spectacular, but the staff and parents decided to make the recommendation to the school board that the 5th grade class meet at the middle school for the next year or so. Everyone assumed all was good, until the school board meeting. They went against the recommendation and decide that two large neighborhoods would be sent to separate schools instead. While it was frustrating for some, it meant a different story for Jillian. The school would have to surplus a unknown number of teachers, and since Jillian was hired last summer- that she most likely would end up somewhere else. The surplus works by making a pool of internal teachers that principals have to hire from before going outside. Meaning she could end up at any school teaching any grade. Or the possibility existed that enough teachers would retire/transfer/etc that she would be able to stay.
After much prayer and advice from friends/family, Jillian had determined she wanted to do anything possible to have the opportunity to stay at that campus. As I mentioned in a previous post, she's melded well with the other staff and administration. She has had a wonderful class this year and made friends that will last (here's to you the Phillips family!) So this meant she would just have to wait it out and see. In the mean time, a neighboring school's principal observed Jillian and was very impressed and wanted her to come to her campus. She worked out an arrangement where if she was surplussed she would go to that campus, but if not, she could stay at her current school.
Finally last week news came that another teacher from her school was moving up to middle school, and that made enough room for Jillian to be able to stay at her school! She was overwhelmed with joy, and the realization that worrying doesn't really help situations! She found out officially that she will indeed be staying with her 2nd grade team as well. She still has to pack up her room and move downstairs to be with the rest of the team... but that's way better than having to adjust to a new school next year.
So on behalf of those who counseled and prayed for Jillian through this time of uncertainty, our family really appreciates it.
And here's to the end of school!!

a year already?

2009-05-28T15:29:00.003-05:00

So I really meant to post this about three weeks ago, but considering how it all played out originally anyway... I'm still good time-wise.

It all began when I received a new job offer and the desire for us to relocate to the Austin area. We prayerfully considered all of our options, and put our house on the market. Our entire married life (and a whole lot of my life in general) had been in Denton. We felt it was our time to move on, and to open some new chapters in our lives. Two days later we accepted an offer and began quickly looking for a new house. Then, on April 30th we closed on buying our house in Round Rock. I moved in shortly thereafter, and about a month later after finishing up the school year in Denton, Jillian & Ava joined me.

Moving is always an exhilarating/exciting/scary/annoying/bittersweet experience. From the minute our family got to the Austin area, we have felt welcomed, made some awesome friends, found an incredible church home, and feel that this is really where we're supposed to be. That's not to say there haven't been stressful moments or a couple of panic attacks, but it's been pretty awesome. We dearly miss our friends in Denton who we still keep in contact with (gotta love technology) and get to see on occasion. Jillian is days away from finishing a year at an amazing elementary campus where she is appreciated and feels part of the team. Ava has definitely hit her stride at a local Montessori school, and Tristan is beginning his experiences at a bilingual daycare. My job continues to go well and provides new experiences all the time. We are beginning to explore all the wonderful things that Austin and the Hill Country have to offer.

So from the bottom of our hearts to all who have made us feel welcome and that we've gotten to know... thank you! Here's to many more great years in the ATX!!

Tristan is 6 months old!

2009-05-19T16:36:00.002-05:00

So yup, time flies! Tristan is officially 6 months old. And we went and had our friend Tanya take more photos to commemorate the occasion! Enjoy!
http://cozyimpressionsphotography.com/Tristan6Months/

play dates?!

2009-04-28T13:03:00.002-05:00

Ahh play dates... what a wonderful concept! Ava has gotten to spend a lot of time lately with her friend Cooper. The two play together amazingly well especially considering that their personality types are VERY similar, and on several occasions we've mentioned that they're the same person! Anyhow, there have been a couple of incidents lately where they were playing a game called "pants to pants." While I won't go into all the detail, let's just say it involves the removing of aforementioned article of clothing. So as I ponder putting pictures up of them playing and the title of the post... I wonder when we stop calling it "play dates?" Anyway, enjoy the pictures of these kiddos...

Ava & Cooper playing in the sand table

Enjoying a popcorn snack outside

Ava & Cooper checking out the neighbors through the fence!

McKenna, Ava & Cooper. Triple trouble!

adopted bunny

2009-04-23T20:40:00.002-05:00

Since we moved into the house last year, we've seen bunnies and other critters off and on perusing through our yard. Lately however there has been one particular bunny that has hung around a lot more, and after watching it I'm pretty sure has taken residence under our shed. This has caused some excitement because it's a fairly friendly little feller. Last night I told Ava we need to give our 'new' bunny a name. So, I'm presenting... Sally the bunny... Ava's adopted friend. Good thing there's plenty of grass, and daddy put out a water dish :)

easter pics & family updates

2009-04-23T20:32:00.003-05:00

So yeah, I know easter was like two weeks ago, but I needed to post a couple of pics from it anyway. Life in the Collins house slowly gets busier and busier. I have been traveling way more than anticipated lately which has made things a little harder on the home front. The weather is getting nicer and nicer in Austin, and we're venturing outdoors more. I have taken it upon myself to get in a different shape than I currently am :) by riding my bicycle a lot more. It's working... slowly, but not near as fast as Jillian is loosing weight!
Anyhow, my parents came in for part of easter weekend and we had a great time shopping for some flowers, which Ava helped to plant, and just relaxing. Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, and Ava was very excited to see what the easter bunny left...

Ava checking her easter loot

my beautiful girls

the kiddos and I before going to worship

birthday celebrations

2009-03-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

It turns out that my birthday is only a few days apart from one of our good friends Matt who we met at church. So we decided to have a little party at La Margarita! It was good times with our small care-group family all getting together for fun!

Don't let them fool you, this threesome is a mess! Coop, Ava & Kenna

Matt getting to wear the hat, while Luke laughs

I unfortunately got a turn too, but didn't want to mess up my hair :)

more grandparents

2009-03-23T09:17:00.003-05:00

I know I'm WAY behind on getting things posted to the blog, but it's coming! So a few weeks ago Jillian's parents came to visit for a long weekend to see the kiddos. We had a great time and here are a few of the pics...

playing outside, with a big bowl of 'cheese'

grandma Lori with her kiddos

Tristan with Lori

Tristan with papa

at the Salt Lick with grandma and papa

working with dad / cleaning with mom

2009-02-21T08:15:00.002-06:00

These were too cute not to post. One day Tristan decided to work with me a bit, and Ava was helping mommy clean house.

Baby Dedication

2009-02-16T22:20:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday was the annual baby dedication at our church. There were a total of 27 new babies this year! It was a wonderful morning and we're so blessed to have such a wonderful church family. We look forward to Tristan and Ava growing up in the children's ministry with such dedicated and God-loving leaders. My parents came in for the weekend which was a special treat. Jillian's long-time friend Deirdre was in town for a conference so she extended her stay and was with us through the weekend too! All in all, it was wonderful!

Tristan sporting his special hat, while Ava twirls her dress!

Adam Black introducing Tristan.

Tristan hanging out with Pappy.

Spending time with aunt Deirdre!

Sibling time!!

We are alive

2009-02-07T11:41:00.000-06:00

So I know I haven't posted since December, but look below and you'll see some new pics & vids. And it will be back to normal updates every few days. Thanks... :)

Old Holiday Photos

2009-02-07T11:30:00.002-06:00

So it's now February and I'm posting some Christmas pictures. Yeah, I know...

History in the Making

2009-02-07T11:23:00.002-06:00

Little big man

2009-02-07T11:19:00.002-06:00

Here's Tristan, who is currently weighing in at 75% of his class... :)

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2009-02-07T11:04:00.004-06:00

One of Ava's new favorite books is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. It's pretty fun reading it with her. So we thought we'd post the video. Thanks uncle Chris for the book!

Holiday Cheer

2008-12-24T22:16:00.004-06:00

Ava learned several Christmas songs at school the past couple of weeks, and with all the excitement going on, couldn't stop singing them. We also thought we'd post a video of TO hanging out being TO, almost 6 weeks old...
Merry Christmas to all, and hopes that you have a wonderful holiday break!

4 weeks old!

2008-12-12T20:58:00.002-06:00

Tristan is 4 weeks old today, hard to believe! He's getting so big, and starting to be awake and lift his head up a lot. We shot a video today of him talking to his mommy...

little chef

2008-12-11T20:58:00.002-06:00

Ava is quite the helper in the kitchen, in fact she has her own apron and spatula! We decided to make some cookies for our new neighbors, so Ava stepped right up to help Jillian. The photo-op was too cute to pass up!

snow(*ish)

2008-12-11T20:50:00.003-06:00

Tuesday evening after the temperature dropped like the stock market the past couple of months, we actually got some *snow* in central Texas. Now, let me be frank, there were little white flakes falling, but as you can see from exhibit A, it's not what our friends in the northern part of the US would refer to as a snow storm. In fact, there's probably laughing at this picture. But hey it was fun for a few hours. Jillian was laughing when the news showed people with 1 foot tall snowmen...

mommy's festive boy

2008-12-11T10:04:00.002-06:00

Jillian loves the holidays, thus our children love the holidays... or will anyway :)

What if?

2008-12-11T09:00:00.002-06:00

This video was played during worship this past Sunday. I've been thinking about it, and wanted other people to see it as well...

little TO... chillin'

2008-12-05T19:52:00.002-06:00

We wanted to put some video up so everyone could see how handsome Tristan is... :)

By the way, he's three weeks old today! Where does the time go!!!!

Dizzy Dance & Q&A with a big sister

2008-12-05T19:45:00.002-06:00

Ava wanted to put on her 'outfit' and do some dancing. Well it turned out to be some dizzy dancing. Then Jillian did some questions & answers with her. Too funny!!

baa baa black sheep

2008-12-03T10:35:00.002-06:00

Ava's really been into singing songs and nursery rhymes. Last night she went into baa baa black sheep. The first time was really sweet, so I got the video camera, however she changed the ending a bit... enjoy...

first day of school

2008-12-02T09:35:00.002-06:00

Several months ago we pre-registered Ava for a Montessori school for after she turned three and was potty-trained. Well we got the phone call last week, Ava was being called up to the big leagues! We went for a couple of visits last week and this morning was her first day at 'the Montessori school' as she calls it. Ava's fine, but mommy's struggling a little bit... we can't believe how big she's getting...

funny girls

2008-11-30T23:28:00.002-06:00

So when our friends the McLeod's were in town last weekend, the girls had a bit of fun. Be sure to check out the pictures and video over here...

first picture with new friend

2008-11-30T23:16:00.004-06:00

Our friends from church, the Dennington family, also have a very new addition. Jessica gave birth early to Skylyn two days before Jillian had Tristan. Ironically they both due for the first week of December. We were all at worship this morning, and couldn't resist a picture of the mothers and babies.

in honor of number 1

2008-11-30T23:12:00.003-06:00

Since A&M is doing horribly bad, it's a nice compensation that the other team I like is still ranked number 1. Of course I'm speaking of Alabama, which is also Pappy's team. Aunt Mary was kind enough to send some roll tide gear for Tristan.

Celebrating Alabama's shut-out of Auburn with Pappy

Sporting his new Alabama hat! (still a little big)

fun times at thanksgiving

2008-11-30T23:07:00.002-06:00

Ava with her thanksgiving 'hat' she made at school

Ava helping Nana and Brandi make pies

the bird...

Ava got early Christmas time with Chris & Kristy, here she's diligently working at the computer program they got her. BTW, she's already traced several letters!

family time

2008-11-30T22:49:00.003-06:00

This last week for thanksgiving we had lots of family at the house during the week. Tristan got to meet his uncle Terry, as well as uncle Chris and aunt Kristy! We were so blessed to have them here for a while along with my parents, and Jillian's mom. Below are some family shots, and I'm going to post some fun pictures as well.

Tristan snuggling with Grandma Lori

Tristan meeting uncle Terry...

and aunt Kristy...

and uncle Chris!

T.O.'s first worship service

2008-11-23T22:06:00.003-06:00

We decided to be brave this morning and go ahead and take Tristan to worship service with us this morning at Westover Hills. It was a great morning, until he decided to scream his loudest during a prayer and Jillian had to take him out. Oh well, I'm sure there will be lots more of that! It was great having the whole family there this morning, and everyone was excited to see Jillian and meet Tristan.

Fun with friends

2008-11-23T21:23:00.003-06:00

We had quite a few friends come and visit us this weekend. The McLeod family came through to see all of us and Ava got to spend some playtime with Mackenzie. John tore up the kitchen (in a good way!) cooking a few meals for us to freeze. The Mitchell family also stopped through on their way home from San Antonio to Denton. Ava also had playtime with Hayden, and it was great to see the family! Some of Jillian's co-workers brought some food by and got to hang our for a little while too. It was quite busy, but also very fun to see some friends!

Cara Beth getting some baby time

Uncle Rodney with T.O.

Aunt Melanie with the cuddle-bug.

Jillian's co-worker Rachael.

Jillian's co-worker Crystal.

Tristan's Slideshow

2008-11-19T17:07:00.001-06:00

Okay here goes everything-
We had our friend Tanya who did Ava's three year old pictures come over last night to do Tristan's first photo shoot. All I'm going to do is post the link, because I'm simply in awe...

http://cozyimpressionsphotography.com/CollinsNewborn/

first bath pictures

2008-11-17T21:27:00.003-06:00

I thought I'd do a separate post from below with the first bath pictures. Enjoy!

first 24 hours home

2008-11-17T21:15:00.003-06:00

Tristan has had a good and somewhat eventful first day at home. He is feeding very well (if you ask at night, Jillian might say TOO well). He definitely prefers to be held rather than being laid in his crib.
Last night my brother Terry's girlfriend Brandi and her daughter came by to drop off a really nice blanket for Tristan. Holly (her daughter) and Ava have been fast friends and it was good for Ava to have a friend over for a little while.
We spent the day doing various things such as having the first bath at home (those pictures will be in another post). I also went and sold my Mustang. It has given me 7 great years of service, but it's way to difficult to load kiddos in the back. So some might say I'm now officially an old man, the Mustang is gone.
Our good friends the Johnston's came over tonight and brought some wonderful tortilla soup, and their kids got to play with Ava while Niki had her some baby time.

the little man chillin'

Niki's baby time

Ava and Holly playing with all the dolls

Brandi's baby time

The super cute blanket from Brandi

bringing home baby

2008-11-17T21:09:00.002-06:00

After a busy Sunday morning, full of being circumcised, another shot for Jillian and lots of paperwork, we came home as a family. It was nice to get home and have both Jillian and my parents in town to help. Ava was very excited for her brother to come home, and can't wait to help him do everything!

day one updates

2008-11-15T21:56:00.002-06:00

Today was a pretty good day, a fair amount of nurses shuffling about getting tests done, etc.
Tristan got to meet his other Grandpa, Owen Phillips today who made it in. He also spent the rest of the day off and on with the other grandparents and big sister Ava.
Our children's ministers from church, Adam and Denise, came by to meet him which was lots of fun. Adam prayed over Tristan and the family before leaving which was awesome.

The plan is for us to go home tomorrow, probably around mid-day. Tonight Tristan gets a few more tests done, including one for jaundice. We pray it goes well, as he started to look a little yellowish this evening. So far he is doing very well with nursing (much better than Ava was), Jillian should get her full milk in pretty soon, which will please him very much!
Tomorrow morning he'll be circumcised, then we'll go through the rest of the check out procedures before we leave. We ask for continued prayers for this procedure tomorrow, and for the start of our transition home.

daddy's boy

2008-11-15T13:39:00.002-06:00

family of four pictures

2008-11-14T19:17:00.001-06:00

More first day photos

2008-11-14T17:27:00.001-06:00

First Pictures

2008-11-14T17:15:00.001-06:00

First Videos of Tristan

2008-11-14T12:57:00.004-06:00

Here are a few videos of our little guy. Pictures will come later, I didn't grab my SD card reader. Enjoy!!

And then there were 4

2008-11-14T08:25:00.001-06:00

Welcome baby Tristan Owen Collins
7lb 10oz
19in long
8:07am

Pictures to come soon...

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Sent from my mobile device

Progress

2008-11-14T07:14:00.001-06:00

Jillian's at 9cm, contractions coming on good. Shouldn't be too long now!

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Sent from my mobile device

Epidural is in

2008-11-14T05:59:00.001-06:00

The good Dr got the epidural in about a half-hour ago. Things are
looking good, no pain now.

BTW, so no one thinks I'm some sorta freak, I'm doing these updates
from my phone- I :heart: technology

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Sent from my mobile device

It is time!

2008-11-14T04:32:00.001-06:00

Jillian's water broke at 3am, so we're at the hospital!
Stay tuned...

Prayers please :)

--
Sent from my mobile device

the waiting game

2008-11-13T11:15:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we went to the Doctor's office for Jillian's 37 week appointment and sonogram. Baby #2 is looking very healthy and was weighing in at 6lbs 15oz yesterday.
The doctor would *like* Jillian to make it another week, but will not stop labor if she happens to enter into it any day. Swelling, blood pressure, etc on the other hand was of concern, so she is now staying at home, not working!
So now we play the waiting game. Contractions are still around (had some real ones last Saturday), and she's dilated to 2 cm.

So we appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we begin to anticipate the arrival of #2!!

Bookworm & daddy's girl

2008-11-04T08:53:00.004-06:00

Ava woke up early during the time change (shocker) so she had some extra time to read books before going to bible class on Sunday. Jillian and I were getting ready, then walked into the play room to discover her reading on a pile of books!
Jillian also found these cool pants at some crazy baby extravaganza in Austin a few weeks ago. Since A&M won this weekend, I figured I'd post it now!! Too cute!!

on the road again & other updates

2008-10-14T00:52:00.003-05:00

I've been stagnant for a while in my work travels (not necessarily bad either way), so I have a couple of trips coming up. Tomorrow (now that I look at the time, today...) I head off to AlbeQUAKIE New Mexico to do a technology trade show for a few days. I get back on Friday, at which time we'll load up and drive to Denton for the weekend. We're having a joint birthday party for Ava and Mackenzie who turn 3. We're also going to do a condensed R&R weekend on Saturday night at the Gaylord Texan with our good friends Will & Aprill. We normally do a whole weekend at a Bed and Breakfast, but this will have to do this year, and it will be nice :) We'll get to see my brother Chris and his wife as the fly in Sunday night to drive a uhaul truck full of stuff to California. That unfortunately means that yes, they are looking more permanent out there.

For those who are counting, Jillian is approaching her 33 week of the pregnancy. Which means time is drawing nigh on which we'll have a second child in this world! She's feeling fairly well, all things considered- as long as she takes it easy. We had another Dr's appointment today, and baby looks good! I ask for your prayers as we approach the change to baby #2, not only for the normal stuff, but that we've also been trying to figure out what to do. To make a long story short, she's getting a bit of a run-around with her new school district about taking an extended time off. So, just lift us up in prayer is all I'm sayin'

a bike for her birthday

2008-10-10T19:47:00.002-05:00

Grandma Lori came in town for a long weekend to celebrate Ava's birthday early. In tow was Ava's own big-girl princess bike!! We promptly took it to the park to test it out...

fun with friends

2008-09-27T18:36:00.002-05:00

Ava had her friend Maylee and her brother Kent over to play today. Maylee came decked out in her cheerleader outfit. Thankfully uncle Russ had sent her a Montana outfit- so Ava had to put hers on. They were too cute playing in the backyard not to capitalize on the photo-op...

running for office

2008-09-25T16:58:00.002-05:00

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Boesfx&altl=Dpmmjot

I couldn't resist...

Only God makes butterflies

2008-09-21T13:08:00.003-05:00

Ava learned a new song in bible class this morning, and couldn't stop singing it at lunch and when we got home. So you know me... I had to get it on camera-

pirates

2008-09-19T15:13:00.000-05:00

Arrrr, ‘tis a dismal day indeed that I be missin’ such a thing as this. Dontcha know that today be ‘talk like a pirate day’. And a fine idear that be too. With a wee bit more pirate in the world, there would be a lot less bellyachin’ and carrin’ on about them peoples what causes ya pain. If they bugs ya, then they walk the plank. It be as simple as that. ‘Course ya must temper that with a fair bit ‘o keel haulin, just to be fair. And can ya even contemplate the way meetns’ would be run? “Look ya mangy dog, ya either complete them there functional specifications by time I counts to 5 or I’ll have ya sent to the deeps to spend some quality time with ol’ davey jones!”.It’s the pirates life for me – arrr.

singing to gama and papa

2008-09-18T19:11:00.003-05:00

Here's Ava singing on the phone to Jillian's parents (gama and papa)... Not quite as good of a show as she has done before... but cute nonetheless...

3 year old pictures...

2008-09-15T10:32:00.003-05:00

Saturday evening we went out with a friend from church who just so happens to be a fabulous photographer to get Ava's 3 year pictures made.
What turned out was absolutely incredible! Click the link below to view the slideshow. Does it make me a softie if I cried some watching it?

http://cozyimpressionsphotography.com/Ava/

Now the challenge is to pick prints... donations anyone :)

baby bumblebee

2008-09-11T19:36:00.002-05:00

Apparently we're all about performing for the video camera. Lucky you guys... so here's Ava squishin' a baby bumblebee...

tiny dancer

2008-09-09T10:04:00.003-05:00

We were having a good time last night playing around the house, when Ava decided it was time to dance. So I pumped dance music up from the TV, and we entered what soon became 'dizzy dancing!'

Ava singing to her little brother

2008-09-05T20:15:00.003-05:00

Ava decided to sing to her little brother tonight... WAY CUTE!!!

somersault ava

2008-09-05T20:09:00.004-05:00

This video is a little older as well. Apparently Ava was inspired by all of the Olympics I was watching and had a go at somersaulting one night. I didn't get the camera out in time to get her doing a whole one, but she did.

fun times in a hotel

2008-09-05T19:59:00.005-05:00

When I was in Houston for the week, Jillian and Ava came to visit for a few days. Ava had a fun time 'on vacation' in the hotel. The following videos are what ensued in the hotel room...

Inc 5000

2008-08-22T15:41:00.002-05:00

My company hit the Inc. 5000 last year again! Woohoo! Read all about it-
http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=200830730

We're very on target to hit is this year as well!

Packers Mania

2008-08-19T15:00:00.004-05:00

Last week my travels took me up to Green Bay, WI. I will have to say at first impression, I was well... not too impressed. I had imagined the home town of the Packers being much larger and grandiose. But, it grew on me very quickly! We were able to dine at many of the fine local establishments throughout the week. (read: FRIED CHEESE CURDS!!)
On Monday night, my boss Phil and I were able to attend the first Packers preseason game vs the Bengals. This was pretty much a once in a lifetime event so far. Let me just say wow. The fans... Lambeau field... the Packers... all of it... just incredible!!

the one and only Lambeau field

fat guy in front of Lambeau :)

only 17 rows up! Good view of #12 taking care of business...

(had to get one in front of the field)

fun in houston

2008-08-19T14:52:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago I had to be in Houston all week for customer training, so Jillian and Ava drove over and spent a couple of the days with me in the hotel. We had a good time, and called it a 'mini vacation' to Ava since we were all staying in the hotel room together. The girls swam one day, and did a good bit of shopping (just so happened to be Jillian's birthday!)
One night we got to meet our friends Phil and Kathleen (the Dr'S Fung!!) We had a great dinner and Ava had fun watching a big fountain of water. The next night my boss and his family (also joining him for vaca) watched Ava so I could take Jillian out for her birthday. It was nice getting to spend some time together on the road, it sure makes the long trips of the summer easier.

Ava in the hotel

Mi Familia

Ava with Phil & Kathleen

...take me out to the ballgame...

2008-07-31T12:28:00.002-05:00

When my parents were in town last week, we all went to the Round Rock Express ballgame. These were after we were 'supposed' to leave, but Ava decided she needed a hot dog at the ballpark, then wanted to sit in the grass and watch some more of the game... :)

a couple of videos from vaca

2008-07-31T10:04:00.004-05:00

I couldn't resist posting a couple of videos from our trip... :)

vaca pt II

2008-07-31T09:42:00.004-05:00

So I'm finally sitting down to write about the rest of our vacation. After the girls visited grandpa Joe and other relatives in Montana, they went down to Wyoming to spend some time with Jillian's parents. I soon joined them so we could all have some relaxing family time. There was lots of playing in Papa's yard, going to the part, watching Papa catch fish for Ava, etc. We all took a drive down to Vedauwoo after dinner one evening to see the beautiful rocks. I also took a one day float trip with Jillian's dad to do some great fly-fishing on the Platt river. All in all, we had a wonderful relaxing time up in Wyoming.
After we got back home (all baggage included) my parents drove down to hang out with us for a few days. It was great getting to spend so much time with family over a couple of weeks. The unfortunate part, is summer is almost over now!

Ava with Grandpa Joe

Ava hanging out with the Yerger clan

Ava & Jillian at Vedauwoo

Papa & Ava at Vedauwoo

Enjoying a popsicle in Papa's yard

Playing bubbles with friends

One of Owen's many catches of the day!!

vaca part 1

2008-07-18T18:19:00.009-05:00

So, yes we're all alive and doing well. We're part of the way through our lengthy travels for the summer. I figured I'd go ahead and post some of the info rather than having one huge post. So I left for Cali after being in Denton for the 4th of July. We had our huge user conference at the office and I spent the week training and entertaining customers. On the last day, we took them out to Morro Bay so they could see the ocean. While I was there Jillian and Ava flew up to Montana to see her relatives. They had a good time getting to see everyone. They then went down to Wyoming to spend time with her folks, and she attended her high school reunion and had a 'quasi' girls weekend with her good friends. Her friends threw her the first shower for 'new baby,' and taking cues from Ava, proceeded to call him Diego all weekend :) After my conference was over, I drove down to Malibu to see my brother and his wife. Then he and I took off for Palm Springs for a 'guys weekend' of two days of golfing in the desert! I then met up with the girls in Wyoming, where we are till next Tuesday. We're having a great time and I'll post more pictures of this leg later on. Just wanted to keep everyone up to speed with our crazy summer!! Hope all is well...

Morro Rock at Morro Bay, CA

Me playing some 65 holes of HOT golf!

The beautiful view in Palm Springs, CA

The girls at Jillian's reunion

Girls Weekend

Princess Ava :)

it's a... boy!

2008-07-03T17:26:00.003-05:00

Long story short, while we were in Denton the past two days we ended up getting a sonogram done. Timing was right and we discovered our little blessing is going to be a boy!! We appreciate everyone's continued prayers and thoughts... our due date is Dec. 4th BTW...

emailz

2008-06-27T16:02:00.001-05:00

So the thought crossed my mind, that some folks may not have our email addresses... especially Jillian's. So here ya go...

lake time

2008-06-27T12:30:00.008-05:00

After having a fun weekend with the McLeod family, some friends of theirs invited all of us to go out on their boat on Lake Travis. So the adults decided we might try to circumvent cancer, and all bought goofy floppy hats to cover our ears :)
We went out on the boat, and Ava was, well, let's just say unenthusiastic about the whole thing. We're hoping it was just first time boat jitters so any others that want to invite us on a boat won't be scared.
I had fun and was able to get out on the 'tube... A guy could really get used to that kind of stuff.

a recap of last week

2008-06-27T12:04:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but I wanted to post some pictures from the happenings. I was out of town last week, but Jillian and Ava got a visit for a few days from her friend Mackenzie and her mom Cara. They had a good time playing, swimming, and just doing girlie stuff...

my princess and her pink doughnuts

2008-06-15T22:12:00.002-05:00

I got some pics from my moms camera when they were here last weekend, and these are my favorites. It's my little princess eating her pink doughnut (her favorite!) And of course, it has to be pink... :)

brownies | playing in the water | & just good times

2008-06-14T08:39:00.006-05:00

Overall we had a pretty fun week here at the Collins house. It was nice having all of us here together. Ava spent a lot of time outside on her new swingset. One night I needed to water the trees a bit, and she decided to strip down to her diaper and run through the water hose! The girls met some new friends from church at Central Market for a playdate and had a lot of fun. Ava also helped Jillian make some brownies one night, which were delicious!! We also visited a couple of potential preschools, which were nice, but are making us reconsider our plan. We ask for prayers as we decide what next step will be best for our family and kids... :) I'm flying out to Paradise TX to train some customers, but it sounds like Jillian and Ava have a fun week of swimming, the library and playing with friends planned.
Enjoy the pics below...

helping mommy make brownies :)

playing with the water hose

trying to hide from the water

running through the water hose

'good' tube

2008-06-11T22:47:00.003-05:00

So, as a computer professional (and now working for a content filtering software company), I have many a mixed emotions when it comes to sites like myspace, youtube, etc. There is an extreme amount of prevalent filth contained on these sites. So much so, I recommend most people (especially kids and teens w/out supervision) don't be allowed on the sites. (I digress, more soap box on that later)
The problem I face, is that from time to time there is REALLY good content published on them. So here are a couple of links on youtube I discovered this week.

The first is called 'cardboard testimonials,' I think it's pretty self-explanatory, and quite emotional.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

The second is a tribute that was played for Tim Spivey (outgoing pulpit minister at the Highland Oaks church in Dallas). Tim's a great guy and powerful spiritual leader, I don't know all the conditions of why he's leaving, but I chalk this one up to one of the many dark and painful sides of working in the ministry. I think it's sad that a growing church would allow (or force) such wonderful & talented servants like Tim to leave...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DkgZ3R9Q7eo

I decided to put the link for this one up again. I've seen this one quite a few times; if you haven't it's worth watching. If you have, it's worth watching again. The first time I saw it I laughed a bit at the beginning, I figured it was going to be silly... Then I cried. Yeah, what a man, I couldn't help it. It's a drama of the song 'Everything' by Lifehouse...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

blessed weekend

2008-06-08T22:02:00.003-05:00

Ahhh and whew...
Those are the two words I can describe this weekend with.
First the ahhh... For those of you who have been keeping up with our story, the girls and I have been living in separate cities for a little over a month now. Well, that's over and Jillian and Ava are here at our new house with me now in Round Rock!! Woohoo!
Now the whew... My parents made the final drive down with her while I was flying back from the week in Bakersfield CA. They brought her classroom stuff in my dad's truck, which we promptly unloaded, filling the garage once again.
On Saturday my dad and I spent the (whole) day putting together a Swingset/Fort/Slide/Tower/Princess outdoor contraption thingy (thanks to the funding of gama and papa). Ava LOVES it. (see pics below) We then hung lots of things on the walls per my wife's instructions, got some awesome snowcones and crashed.
Sunday we all went to worship at Westover Hills and got to introduce my folks to a few people. We made it back home, the TV installers were there to hang our new plasma TV (love it), I cut the grass, Jillian planted a few flowers, and Ava enjoyed her swingset...
All in all, quite a blessed weekend.

Oklahoma trip pictures

2008-06-08T21:36:00.005-05:00

So here's the pictures from the Oklahoma trip last weekend when we went to visit Jillian's brother and his wife's new house, finally... :)

Ava and her 'pinka' cupcake

Ava, Jillian and gama

Ava & Aunt Stacey

And here are some candid videos of Ava... (they may take a minute to load, I didn't shrink them)

the Cinderella song, by Ava Madison

impromptu singing, by Ava Madison

driving, driving, driving

2008-05-31T14:38:00.001-05:00

So I drove up to Denton on Thursday for a day, got to play golf with my dad Friday morning, then we got in the car to drive up to Edmond, OK to see my wife's folks and her brother for the weekend. Much driving, no so much fun... road construction is always great... (can you feel the enthusiasm??)
Anyway, good times with family, I'll post a few pics later after we get home.

new casa pics

2008-05-28T13:43:00.005-05:00

So here's a few pics of the new house. More late after Jillian finishes her 'thang...

starting anew

2008-05-28T13:06:00.001-05:00

So here I am now...

After much thought, prayer, deliberation and anticipation my family is making a new start.

I had been seeking out new job opportunities for some time, due to major job/life dissatisfaction. We had been considering moving away from Denton as a part of that as well for some time. My wife and I had been looking for opportunities to make a fresh start of things by ourselves. An opportunity finally presented itself for a new job and moving to the Austin TX area. The gig seemed good, it was a little different type of work than I was used too, but a good company and hopes of less stress, and normal working hours. I took Jillian down to Austin for the weekend to check out the area and look for possible places we could buy a house at. The following week, the rest of the pieces fell in place and we felt this was the right move for our family. So I gave my employer my notice, we met with the realtor to sell our house, and told our close friends.

Things were now in motion.

We received an offer on our house and accepted it three days after listing it for sale. We went back down to the Austin area to look for houses again. Our realtor had found a deal with a builder in Round Rock that had an inventory home for sale. The contract it was under previously had failed and they were ready to sell it fast. After taking a look, we knew this was the house for us. Although we lost one bedroom (moving down to three), we gained many nice amenities and a high quality construction in a great location. So we signed the papers and were to close 5 days after the sale of our current home.

Changes keep coming.

During the process of making these changes as far as moving and jobs are concerned: we learned we were to have a surprise blessing. Turns out there are antibiotics that interfere with birth control, and if you're a nay-sayer... wait till December 4th when our second child is due! We were both shocked and excited because we had been talking about having a second child in the near future. I think Ava's going to end up being a great big sister.

The hardest part of the move was making the decision to leave our close friends and family in Denton. We will cherish the relationships we've formed and will continue to develop them even if by some long distance methods. We continue to reassure ourselves that this is right for us. This is something we needed to do. I look forward to being able to regain some control over our lives, no focus so much on work and the pressures from it. My wife and child(ren) are second only to my relationship with God. By this change, I'm able to focus better on both. We have found a great church home at Westover Hills. There's lots going on there, awesome ministries to be a part of, and great folks who are grounded in Christ. We've met a lot of young families who are interested in the same things we are.

So although it's a long post, I wanted to put some of it in writing for those who may be reading and interested...

Grammy Goodness

2008-02-10T22:12:00.001-06:00

Although there were some great performances (some questionable) there was one that really did it for me...

Andrea Bocelli with Josh Groban was absolutely amazing...!

I also did love Vince Gill's jab at Kanye, I'm still laughing.

server 2008

2008-02-09T14:35:00.001-06:00

Whew, I'm finally getting around to loading a virtual machine with 2008 on it. Now I had a couple running in beta, but this is the full meal deal. I can wait to snag a few boxes at office to load it on and really give it a whirl... Woohoo!

meh

2008-01-30T16:41:00.000-06:00

Life is way too crazy, way too busy right now…

football domination

2008-01-07T22:49:00.001-06:00

Okay, so for three years in a row, a former Denton ISD football player has not only played in the BCS championship, but won the BCS championship... Yes, three years in a row DISD alum have won the BCS championship. So cheers to Derek Lokey (RHS, Texas), Jarvis Moss (RHS, Florida) and Herman Johnson (DHS, LSU)... you guys freakin' rock!!

just call me... Andrew Collins, MCSA!

2008-01-07T07:32:00.001-06:00

Soooo.... yeah! I *finally* passed another exam for a total of 5 to earn my Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator credential!! Woohoo! or as Michael put it.... W00t, snap & saaweeeett!!

my sentiments exactly!