sweet boy

Sweet boy @ 10 days old. love holding him in my arms and watching him sleep.

1st bath

Finn's 1st bath wasn't his favorite thing...

but then he was happy once he was all wrapped up...sweet boy @ 1 week old.

coming home

Finn Riley Collins: 1 day

proud big sister Gwen

Sweet Sawyer & Finn

Carter Lovin' on his new baby brother

Finn Riley Collins...

You are one loved little boy. We are so happy to have you home and in our family to love and hold. You are so sweet and pure. we can't get enough of you . You bring us happiness and joy.

you are perfection!

Love

you

to pieces!

Finn Riley Collins 5.23.11

Family of 5 waiting to be a family of 6

Sawyer(31/2) Mom, Gwen(2), Carter(5 1/2)

Finn Riley Collins

7lbs 8oz. 19 1/2 inches

born at 12:54am

Finn Riley Collins

sweet&pure

LOVE

Daddy.Finn:: snuggle time

Carter.Finn:: in love

Sawyer.Finn:: proud big brother

Gwen.Finn:: Little miss mommy already

Mom.Gwen.Finn

My boys

My mom took the kids to get a present from each of them to bring to me in the hospital. Cute Carter had his own idea of getting me jewelry. My mom said you can get her..earring, a bracelet, a necklace. Carter was dead set on a necklace. He went into the jewelry section at Walmart(: and was dead set on this silver and blue necklace I am wearing. He was so excited and proud of himself. He said, "Mom, you are going to love it!" I thought that was the cutest thing that he came up with the idea and picked it out all by himself. What a guy(; Sawyer got me candy, and Gwen got me flowers. I am one lucky mommy.

Family of 6

its a crazy pic of us, but thats what you get with 4 kids(: love my family

Finn is here!

Finn finally made it! He was born on May 23rd at 12:54am. He is 7lbs 8oz 19.5". Everything is going well. Shelly is tired but doing great!

She's a 10!

12:28... She's a 10. Doctor is coming in. Hopefully we can get Finn in no time!

Come On Finn

11:45pm...Shelly is dilated to a 6.5. She is moving along well!

Epidural & Broken Water

11:00pm... Shelly just got finished up with her epidural and is feeling much better. The only bummer is she can still feel pain in her left side of her stomach when she has contractions. Hopefully the pain killer settles in or it's going to suck for her

Her OBGYN came in and broke her water to keep her moving along. She is still dilated to only a 4. Since her water had been broken her contractions have been banging out like every minute and a half. I think she is progressing well now. Come on Finn!

Slowly But Surely

9:55pm... She is dilated to a 4 with longer harder contractions. Shelly wants to wait until she is a little further along before the epidural. Last time she was given an epidural at a 3 and after the epidural her contractions slowed down and she stopped progressing for a while. She says hey this is my fourth I can handle a little pain, I want this baby out! Not quit sure how these girls handle the pain. I would be throwing in the towel on the 1st contraction saying give me that shot!!

Progress

8:30pm... Shelly continues to have contractions and is now dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. Good Progress!

Moving Along

7:45pm... Contractions remain constant. Shelly has been having contractions pretty regular about every 3 minutes. We just need to keep the progression moving along. Hopefully we get Finn here on May 22nd.

We still haven't decided on a middle name. Finn ??????? Collins. Any suggestions?

Just Started the Pit

Its 6:35pm Shelly is only dilated to a 1 1/2. They put her on Pit to help get her going. She has already started having a few strong contractions but still has a ways. Hopefully she dilates a little more and the doctor will break her water and get the process moving along.

We are Here

Thanks,

Jonathan Collins

Jono here... Shelly was scheduled to be induced this morning, but the Hospital was too full and they said they would call us and if we didn't hear from the hospital by noon than we could call. Shelly was taking a nap and right at 12:00 she woke up. You can tell what is on her mind! Shelly called the Hospital, but they said they were still too busy. They said it wouldn't be until late afternoon that they would have availability. Shelly was going to call at 4pm to see what was up, but at 3:45pm the Hospital called and said to come on over. We are here now! Shelly is just filling out paperwork getting ready to see if she is dilated and hopefully break her water. The Doctor should be in shortly. I will let you know the progress.

38 weeks!

Here I am at 38 weeks with little Finn! This was a few days ago. I just had a doctors appt. today and he scheduled my induction date for this Sunday 5.22.11 unless he decides to join us before than. I am so anxious, and can not wait!(:

Dear little Finn!

I can not believe that you are almost here! It doesn't seem like too long ago that I found out I was pregnant, and soon after, that you were a boy! At the time it seemed like forever until I was going to be able to meet you, hold you in my arms, kiss you and love you! Here we are only days away until you are physically here in our family! You are going to be so loved and adored by Carter(5 1/2), Sawyer(3 1/2), and Gwen(2)! They have been anticipating you coming out of mommies tummy for a long time! I don't think they realize that in just a few days you are really going to be here! I can not wait to see their faces light up when they see you for the first time in the hospital! Gwen is so excited to have a baby to help take care of! She is going to want to hold you and love you every second of the day! She loves babies, and can't wait until she can help feed you, burp you, get diapers for you, give you a paci, blankie, etc. You are going to be one lucky, spoiled little boy with all the love and attention you will get!

You have been such a sweet and tender part of me for the past 9 months, and will miss the rolling, circus acts, kicking, hiccups, etc. That I feel all throughout my days. But I am so excited to see you and meet you for the first time and have you be apart of my life! I love you little Finn! You are a special little boy...see you really soon.(:

Love

Mommy

Sneak Peak:Gwen's Room

So I have been asked to post pics of my house ever since we moved in. We still have more things here and there to get done, but here is a little sneak peak of Gwen's room. I have more to do to her room, but here is where I am at as of now. I need to add more to her walls, find a cute chair, change out her knobs on her bed, find a cute lamp for the little side table, etc. But for now here is an idea of where I am going with her girly room.

Lucky duck

Here i am at 34 weeks along with our little Finn. I can not believe that he will be here so soon. This pregnancy has been a good one with the usual aches, pains, and discomforts, but I am still enjoying being pregnant and feeling the HUGE kicks and rolling he does in there. Jono was the sweetest husband and decided to surprise me with a getaway saturday with just the two of us. He being thoughtful of me thought I needed a break before this bundle comes shortly. He set up for my parents to come and watch our kids the whole entire day, while we ran off to have a carefree, relaxing day. The highlight of the day was getting massages at THE RITZ CARLTON in Dana Point! Oh my gosh, that was amazing! Such a nice hotel and amazing massage. we had the most amazing view of the beach from the hotel. It was so picturesque. We followed the day with shopping, lunch, shopping, a yummy treat at Sprinkles, and had a yummy italian dinner at a cute little restraunt on Balboa Island, and enjoyed walking up and down the beach. This was exactly what I needed. I had so much fun being with my love all day just the two of us. Even though it was only a day away, that was plenty for me. I kept saying how I felt like I was on a vacation.(: I am so thankful for a sweet husband and for my parents and playing with my kids all day! Im feeling like a lucky duck.

"Genny's Birthday!"

About a week before Gwen's actual birthday, Gwen had been going around saying. "Genny's Birthday!...Happy Birfday to Genny!" Anytime we were in a store and she wanted a toy, she would look up at me and say, "for Genny's Birfday?" She is obsessed with dogs, and was petting a dog while we were out on day, and said.."mom, Genny's Birfday?" I wish I could make her happy with Dog, but we've already tried having a dog.(: Gwen loved having a birthday. We had fun making this little squat pot 2 year old feel special. We love you to pieces Gwen. You are our special little girl!

Gwen all dolled up to go out to dinner with Grammy and Papa for Her and my mom's birthday.

(Gwen is the one that had the idea to wear her glasses, bracelets, and purse...such a girl!)

Birthday Girl's...Gwen and my mom share the same birthday!

Sawyer.Gwen: the morning of Gwen's birthday!

(don't mind sawyers wet slobber spot on his shirt from sucking his thumb, and the closed eyes..(: )

The big 2 year old getting all pretty for her birthday

I wasn't really feeling up to throwing a big party, so we just did a BBQ at our pool and invited our close family friends. I made a few cupcakes, and brought a few of her decorations from her room to make it look more like a party. She sure felt special and thought she had a fun "party!"

Gwen being shy and embarrased as we sang happy birthday to her..this girl has got a personality, how does she know she is on the spot and to be embarrassed.

after a fun swim in the pool, getting warm by the fire

Gwen. carter.curren.sawyer.shea.linden

Valentines Day at the Zoo

The kids got a fun Valentines from my mom and got to go to the zoo! They loved every second of it. They loved the Gorilla's the best! Thanks grammy..we had a fun day with you!

Baby Finn & We've moved!

I feel like I havent posted much on my blog about our little Finn. I usually have updated pics of my growing belly, but I guess life has been busy with 3 kiddos and moving into a new house about a month ago. We are still busy trying to get things situated in our home, but I will update with pics as soon as I feel things are little more complete. But here is a pic of my ever growing belly at almost 27 weeks. I can't believe I am near the 30 week mark. This baby boy is keeping me company with lots of kicks and rolling around. He is one active little guy. The kids have loved seeing my belly grow. They tell me "mom your belly is growing, does that mean we get to hold Finn soon?" They also love to put their little hands on my belly and feel little Finn move around. It always puts a big excited grin on their faces. Gwen says, " me hold baby?", with her arms outstretched ready to hold him. Too cute. she is so ready to have a real baby to love and to hold. Babies are one of her big obsessions right now, along with doggies. (: We are excited to have our family grow and to see what this little guy will be like.

New Years 2011

We spent New Years with my family at my parents house. My grandparents were in town which was a big event since i had not seen them for 5 years! They had never met Sawyer and Gwen! It was so good to them after so long and my kids loved their great grandparents. We had a fun New Years having a kid party with streamers, noise blowers, balloons, dancing, etc. It was a good, relaxing way to bring in the new year with family.

P.S. these were all taken with my i-phone..bad quality.