New Etsy items

I have been a busy bee the last month or two trying to make as many scarves as possible before baby girl gets here. So far I've made 11. I love making scarves!! I've put only a few on Etsy but I will put more up with the little time I find here and there to be on the computer. I hope you all like them. Tell your friends!

My etsy: tlcessentials

I Stand All Amazed

I have many favorite hymns but this one has special meaning to me. We sang this at my baptism. If I could choose one song to sing during every sacrament it would be this one. It is a great reminder of the sacrifice made for all of us and of the covenants we've made. I've been lucky enough to hear it two Sundays in a row and just felt compelled to share it.

Click below to listen
I Stand All Amazed

Are you ready for some football!!!!?!!!

My favorite time of the year has officially started...football season!!!!

I am a die hard Broncos fan whether they play well or not. I'm not one of those band wagon fans who only root for a team if they are winning. No, No! And I think that I've proved that the last couple of years as they've gradually gotten worse and worse. With the season starting out with a new coach from New England who really needs to prove himself and one of the worst quarterbacks in the league (that our new coach picked) I don't have high hopes for the season.

They started thier season playing the Cinncinnati Bengals in which neither team did anything amazing. Then with 38 seconds left in the game and the Bengals up by one point, our new quarterback through a pass to Brandon Marshall. It was hit and almost intercepted by the other team, but by some miracle landed in the hands of Brandon Stokley who ran the ball to the end zone and leaving the Broncos with the win!!!!!! I will be the first to say that it was pure luck and not skill. But we will take the W!

And our old quarterback Jay "the crybaby" Cutler was sacked twice and lost the game opener for his new Chicago team by getting picked off with only a minute left on the clock. he he.

Update on the kiddos

Baby # 2:

We have decided that we haven't decided on a name yet. Got that? I just haven't gotten used to the idea of the name Kahlia yet so we are exploring our options. I hope to have a name picked out soon. We really don't have much time. I am 34 weeks (on Friday). Only 6 more weeks to go. It doesn't sound like a lot but I know that it will feel like an eternity. This last month has really kicked my butt. I've gotten used to the idea of Thomas' toys staying scattered all over the house. My body just can't take bending over 812 times a day. I will be very happy when my energy level is back and of course, I REALLY miss laying on my stomach :) She still moves around a lot and seems bigger then Thomas was. But we'll see :) Here us my belly picture. Hard to believe she still has 6 more weeks of growing to do!!

Thomas:

He is going through another clingy stage. Part of it could have to do with the fact that he has been watched a lot the last couple of weeks due to Jeff's surgery. But he won't leave me alone for more then ten minutes without wanting to me to pick him up, hold him or play with him. Makes getting things done a little difficult but we'll get through it.

We are trying to get him to drink milk out of a sippy cup. I've been giving it to him during meals but once he realizes milk is in the cup he won't drink anymore. We tried not giving him a bottle before bed but that was a disaster. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

He loves it when we read books together. He will bring me a book from his room and sit down next to me without me even having to ask. His favorite book right now is a book I had when I was little called I love Jesus. He has just started kissing Jesus on every page. Its so cute!!! He has also mastered climbing. He can get on and off of the couch unassisted and he can somehow reach what is on top of the kitchen counter. Time to baby proof again :)

Amazingly enough he is saying a lot of words. Most of them only Jeff and I understand but he is getting the general idea of communication and his words are becoming more enunciated by the day. He can say:

ya, ball, up, dog, toes, football, bird, bubbles, duck, baby, open and all done. It is seriously so crazy how fast they pick things up!

Franken-knee

Phew! Home at last. I can't tell you how nice it is to have Jeff home. Although both of the boys are sleeping right now. I'm sure it will be a lot harder in a couple of hours.

For those of you who don't know, Jeff had a knee replacement on Monday. He went in at 10:00 and came out at 11:30. The doctor said that the surgery went very well. He found more arthritis under his knee cap that they didn't know about but he didn't think it was bad enough to take the whole knee so he just did a partial replacement. All good news. I went in to see him right after surgery. They had given him a shot or "nerve block" because he was in a lot of pain. The shot numbs the top of the whole leg for about 18 hours so he was feeling pretty good. He was also high as a kite on whatever medicine they were pumping into his veins. It was very entertaining.

It took a couple days for the nurses to figure out that they needed to switch his medication. The morphine they were giving him was making him so zombie-like he could hardly function. He couldn't even meet with the physical therapist to do therapy. (They are the ones that sign off on your progress and let you go home). I also almost killed one of his nurses for just being rude. I should have reminded her that she chose this profession. If you don't like taking care of people the get the *&^% out! They finally switched him to Percocet which made everything 100% better. (Except for the pain but that was still tolerable).

They released him a day late but he made a lot of progress. The doctor wants him to walk on it as much as he can. But he has a walker and crutches for assistance. All of his other surgeries he couldn't put any weight on it for 4-6 weeks so it blows my mind that he is already walking (kinda).

He is very strong so I know that he will deal with this very well. We felt all of your prayers, so thank you and keep 'em coming. We have a long recovery ahead of us.

New (to us) car!!

Jeff and I have been looking for a crossover/SUV type vehicle to purchase lately.

Reasons:

1). We will have a new addition to our family soon and would love the extra room. Plus the double stroller we bought is a little bigger then we anticipated and would be very difficult to get in and out of the Honda.

2). With Jeff's surgery coming quickly we started realizing that even when he is able to drive, he can't drive the Honda because it is a stick shift.

3). Its safer.

4). We want to.

So this past weekend we decided to look around at come dealerships and get an idea of prices and used models out there. I felt like such an adult looking for cars with Jeff and Thomas. I know that sounds silly but every once in a while you have experiences where you realize you are older then you feel. You know what I mean :)

To make a long story short we found a Kia Sorento in great shape and we were able to get a great deal. I love driving it and Thomas loves riding in it. Now he can see everything!

Although very excited for our new car I did have a hard time saying goodbye to my Honda and to the stick shift. It was a good car. A moment of silence please...

Thanks to the Harman family Thomas and I were able to partake in a birthday party/thank you party/meet our new baby party this afternoon. I have enjoyed visiting teaching Lindsey and getting to know her and her family better. She is always so welcoming and friendly. It was a perfect day to bbq outside in the company of familiar faces (and some new ones too). Thomas enjoyed the yummy hot dogs that Ed cooked up and of course the watermelon (his favorite). Ed snuck a party hat on Thomas right before we had to leave and to my surprise he left it on. When we got home Thomas chowed down on the delicious cupcake.

But was very upset when it was over.

Happy birthday Sarah!

Life's Miracles

The Collins family gained one more member early in the morning on August 9th. Her name is Alyssa Jean. No matter what, when I see a newborn I am overcome by emotion. The miracle of life is so amazing. Alyssa is the tiniest little thing. So fragile and helpless. All I wanted to do was hold her in my arms and stare at her.


Denise and I were talking the other day about high school and how we thought it would be so cool if we married brothers and were pregnant at the same time and lived next door to each other. 2 outta three isn't bad! :) I'm so blessed to call her family.

Welcome to the world Alyssa! I loved you before I even saw you.

Trip to Missouri

We just returned from a short visit to Missouri. It had been almost 2 years since I had been back to see my family. But this wasn't just some reandom visit. My dad was also getting married to his long time love, Leslie.

Our flight left San Jose at 7:00am, we had a layover in Denver and finally landed at the Kansas City Airport around 3:00pm. I was so excited when I saw Wendi, Mark and Samantha there waiting for us. It was such a great surprise. That was the first time I has seen my niece. I must admit that I cried when I saw her. She is just the cutest!!

The first night we spent with Dad & Leslie, Jeannie & Roger (Leslie's sister), Mark & Wendi and Kristin. We went to a great restaurant and had the BEST dinner then went back to their hotel suite and hung out till Thomas got tired.

The next day we visited Grandma and Grandpa Groves. Thomas took a liking to Grandpa right away which was great.

Grandma, of course, was in the kitchen making her noodles. They are the first thing that everybody wants when they go to Grandma's. They are soooooo good! We took some pictures of of everybody sitting on the swing. That swing is one of the places I have fond memories of from my childhood. These pictures meant a lot to me.

We also found the fake duck that has been in their backyard for years. We have a picture of Krisitin somewhere sitting on this duck when she was a little girl. We had to create a tradition :)

Ever since I can remember, my grandma has stood by the door to wave goodbye. I always expect it and I'm always happy to get that wave. Although blurry, I am even happier to have captured it with my camera.

Unnfortunately I did not take any pictures of the wedding or reception. However, I do have a lot of people promising me that they will send the picture they took. As soon as I get them I will post them. The wedding/reception was beautiful. All the little details made it even more enjoyable from the little M&M favors with their names on them to the perfect song that they danced too. Although Leslie has been in our lives for about 10 years now it nice to call her an official member of this family. She has done SO MUCh good in our lives. I can only imagine how much happier they will be together for the rest of their lives.

We made it home on Sunday. We were all so wiped that we dedicated that day for sleeping :) Once Thomas got a good nap in he was back to his old self. I think he was very happy to sleep in his bed.

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Update on the kiddos

Kahlia:

I've officially hit the 7 month mark! This means that I am on the downward slope to the delivery. I'm now considered to be in my 3rd trimester. This last week she has really grown a lot. My stomach feels stretched to the max. here is what http://www.babycenter.com/ has to say about this week of pregnancy

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

I've just started to feel her hiccup. I remember Thomas used to get them at least once a day. I've started using my kick card but she moves ALL the time so it doesn't take very long to get to 10 counts.

Most days October seems so far away and I wish I could just have her here. Plus I don't know how 5 more pounds are going to fit in this belly :)

Thomas:

He has gotten great on his feet and has now started to run. When he gets really excited he puts both hands up to the sky and runs with the biggest smile on his face. He babbles all time. Most of the time it sounds like he's saying "busy bee" or "yabba dabba doo" He can understand most things when I speak to him. Its so nice to finally be able to communicate with him. He says "up" and "ball" very clearly. And for the first time this week he said "ba-bye". He just recently mastered the shape sorter. If I show him where to put the shape, he can put it in the hole by himself. Thats his favorite new game.

He's baaack

I know you all are probably sick of hearing about this guy but trust me I am more sick of seeing him. Plus I need to inform the world of the creepiness...

In case you haven't caught on I am talking about the UPS guy again. (See below for the whole story on him up till now). He came by 2 days ago to drop off a package. I wasn't expecting anything (Jeff had bought something) so I was very surprised that he was at my door. He knocked...and waited...and knocked again...and waited all the while Thomas and I were hiding in my room playing the quiet game. I waited until it was safe (30 minutes later) to get my package off my doorstep. But OH NO! Of course he didn't leave the package. He left one of those stickers saying that there was a signature required and he'd be back tomorrow. LUCKY ME!

The next day I was also expecting my new double stroller (which btw I am soooo excited about). So I prepared myself for his arrival by shutting the blinds and laying low until I knew it was safe to leave my house without accidentally running into him. After talking to a close friend, and very good advice giver, I realized that I have become a prisoner in my own home and that I should do something about this. I have ALWAYS been a huge believer in following your gut instinct and luckily I have the spirit to help me as well. So why wasn't I doing that now? She pointed out that humans are the only creatures that question their instincts. In the wild, if an animal gets a sense of danger they don't sniff around to be absolutely sure that they are going to be eaten. They just run! So after a lot of thought I called UPS and told them that I didn't feel comfortable with him and wanted to request another driver. The operator was very helpful and sounded concerned and told me that she would put the claim in and someone would be calling me in the next hour to talk to me about it.

During this I had taped a note to my door asking creeper to please leave my package at the door. About 15 minutes after I hung up with UPS I see him walk up to my door. He knocks...waits...knocks again...waits (even with the note in front of his face) then he leaves the packages finally and walks away looking back at my door as many times as possible before leaving.

Then my phone rings. Expecting UPS to call I answer the phone ever though I didn't know the number. I say hello and I hear, "Hi Trinity! Its your UPS driver"

WHAT?!!!

He proceeds to ask me if it is ok that he left the packages at my door. UH YA! Thats why I left the note! Nice of him to ask...I guess. Either this guy goes above and beyond his job requirements or I should be more nervous that he not only has my number in his cell phone, but he's actually used it!

UPS never called.

Typical Wednesday

So one quality of mine that has gotten worse is my procrastination. I'm usually so tired that I just don't ever feel like accomplishing anything! I blame it on the baby :) So that is what brought me to Kohls today. My procrastination. You see my niece's birthday party is today and I still have not gotten her a gift. So Thomas and I went shopping. Now that he is walking he no longer enjoys being in his stroller. This makes browsing more of a chore then a favorite so we are usually in and out of places pretty quickly. The only thing that saved me today was food. (Thank you gold fish crackers!) Anytime he would start making any kind of whine I would pump him with more crackers. Its almost like a pacifier :) On a side note; I never noticed how close the clothes racks are sitting until I started pushing a stroller between them. It was like playing bumper cars. At one point some guy was walking through the isles pretty fast and saying goodbye to someone and not paying attention where he was going and tripped right over the front wheels of the stroller. Embarrassing for him, funny for me. No one was hurt. We found what we were looking for!!! Anyone looking to get some great kids clothes should go there. They are always offering great deals and they have the cutest stuff.

I had forgotten the face to my radio so I kept us entertained my singing "if your happy and you know it". We were stopped and a light and just as it turned green some lame-o decided that my lane was going to to faster so he started to come into my lane. I accelerated and LAID on my horn. You know what he did? He sped up, cut me off, and gave me a nice view of his middle finger. So many things I wanted to yell but now that I have a little one who is learning all his words from me I refrained. That was hard. But I continued to sing. We came up to the next light and do you know what this guy did? He opened his door, got out, and yelled something very angrily. hahahaha! I'm not sure what he said cause my window was up and I was still singing "if your happy and you know it". But I'm sure he didn't like the fact that I started laughing. hahaha! I thought I had road rage. This guy needed a valium.

We made it home, ate lunch and I even cleaned up the house. No procrastinating today! I'll save that for tomorrow ;)

Getting to know me

I saw this on one of my friends blogs, liked the idea and decided to do the same. Hope you enjoy.

1. A picture of you in your bedroom

This is a picture of the bedroom I grew up in. Its one of my birthdays I think. My memory is failing me at my old age :) It was about 10 years ago when I was till in high school. You can see the roses drying in my blinds (so classy). Notice all the visible pockets contain pagers. hehe.

2. A picture with someone you don't actually like

Its not that he is a bad person. Here's the story. I was kindly asked to leave my high school before graduation. In turn, I wasn't technically invite to my senior prom. Well, I asked this guy to take me so I could go, just as friends. But the whole after party he asked me over and over if he could kiss me. It was soooooo annoying. Plus he had the worst hair! He promised he would cut it for prom. LIAR!

3. Youngest photo of me
This photo is of me and my mom in my nursery in Kansas. I was 10 months old. This picture gives me warm fuzzys cause my mom looks so nurturing and happy. I love this picture.

4. A picture of me making a goofy face at the camera.
Its actually a little on the scary side. hahaha. It was a game night with some on the Glamour Shots girls and we were getting ready to play chubby bunny.

5. A picture that I edited to make me look better

What? Everybody does it!

6. A picture of me truly being myself
Yes, its how I feel about most people. At least I deliver the truth with a smile on my face :)

7. A picture of me being absolutely ridiculous

You try getting six girls in a photo booth and see what faces you make.

8. A picture of a time in your life you wish wasn't over

I've always said that if I could be any age for the rest of my life I would be 3. Plus I'm a huge daddy's girl. This sits on my dresser in a frame to this day and I smile every time I look at it.

9. A picture of a time in my life that I'm thankful is over
Moving to LA was a big culture shock. Most of the people I met had enough friends and didn't care to make any more. Pretty lonely when you move away from home alone. Here is the group of "friends" that so kindly pretended to care while we were in each others lives. After I left I never heard from a single one of them. Glad this period of my life only lasted 6 months! After that I made the most wonderful friends.

10. A picture of when I was a different person

This picture was taken in Cancun. Needless to say I had A LOT of crazy fun in my day. Now that I'm a wife, mommy and a member of the LDS church I've changed a little bit

11. A picture with someone I love

My hubby of course. The best thing about this picture is, it portrays our relationship perfectly :)

12. A picture of how I want the world to see me.

Goofy, stylish, fun loving, surrounded by friends and always up for a laugh.

13. A picture that makes your heart hurt

I grew up with this boy. Our parents worked together and they are great family friends of ours. Unfortunately he passed away when he was 17. He is still sorely missed.

14. A picture that makes your heart smile

My grandparents. The two most real people you will ever meet. And they are still in love after more then 60 years. AMAZING!

15. A picture when everything was changing

Our first family photo. Nothing like parenthood to take your life on a roller coaster ride. Wouldn't change a thing :)

16. On of the best days/nights of my life

The night Jeff proposed. I didn't know it at the time of this picture but it was a very memorable night.

A pregnant woman's journal

So I've just hit my 6 month of pregnancy and I've been feeling pretty good! I forgot how big everything can get when you're pregnant. It is so amazing what the body can do. I am lucky enough to be having a girl this time which is AWESOME! We've chosen a name for her. Its going to be Kahlia Marie. We aren't quite sure on the spelling yet but we both really like the name. It means beauty in Hawaiian. I'm getting so excited to meet her!! It's amazing how much a baby is loved even before it makes its appearance in the world. I can't wait to see what she looks like or what her little personality is going to be like. Hopefully she is sweet like Thomas :)

I must admit, when I first found out we were having another one I wished that I had, had more time with Thomas. That has really helped me treasure the quality time that him and I have. I try not to worry to much about cleaning the house and spend more time playing, rocking, teaching, singing and goofing around with him. Its also really important for me to try to teach him how to clean-up and listen to mom and dad. Those are things that are going to be VERY helpful once Kahlia is here. I know that having two kids under the ages of 18 months is going to be difficult and at times feel impossible. And I know that I will have my days that we all just cry together :) but I am blessed with an amazing family. They have been such a big help and have been such an active part in Thomas' life. I love them for that :) Plus once the kids get a little bit older they will have so much fun playing together. Thomas is going to be such a great big brother, I can already tell.

Just to give you a little update on Thomas: He will be 13 months on the 9th. We survived the first year and in fact, it went by too quick. This last month he has developed stranger anxiety. Thats not fun for anyone and hopefully it passes quickly. He is starting to try to talk. He trys to say ball, cat, up, and open. He understands A LOT of what we say. (All the important stuff anyway) I am so proud of him. Here is our recent favorite picture of him. He is such a goofball!!