1 year down, much more to go!

Today was my baby girl's 1st birthday! We actually celebrated last Saturday so that all the grandparents could be there, and we had a great time. I have been at my mom's house and am unable to post pictures so stay tuned because there are many. Tonight we put her hair in piggy tails,(thanks grandma) and she looked so grown up. Then all of us girls went into Salt Lake to see the lights. We then we went to eat at The Pie. Good times. So we did do a little somethin' somethin' for her actual birthday.
But I just wanted to say what a joy this past year has been with her in our lives. I can't wait to see what's next with Harlee because she is getting so big and smart and fun. We thoroughly enjoy her and I can't remember what life was like without her. So Happy Birthday darlin'! We love you!!!!

Who the heck is he and WHY is he coming to town!?

This past Saturday we got together with some of the people Jeremy works with for a delicious Holiday dinner and an "unexpected" guest. Yes, Santa came to our little party baring gifts for the children. Well, it just so happened that HArlee and I were standing across the room from the door when Santa came in and she jumped! I thought that was interesting seeing as how she hadn't really even seen him yet. So when it came time to sit on his lap I think she was already wary of him and of course she was NOT happy to oblige! I tried to hurry and take a picture and forgot that my camera was on video mode so I got a couple seconds of her trauma on video and then I had to hurry and snap a pic before her and Santa became estranged forever. The family picture was a bit better. She still was not thrilled about sitting on his lap but with me by her side she was good long enough to get a couple good ones. I just wanted to say thank you to those of Jeremy's friends that set this little shin dig up. We really enjoyed ourselves, and so did Harlee, aside form the Santa incident.

(The evening progressed as fallows)

After that we went to a party at the Talbot's home and had a lot of fun there also. We played Trivial Pursuit (pop culture addition or I wouldn't have stood a chance). The girls wiped the floor with the boys. Mwahahahaha!! We also met some really nice people and a couple cute little ones. Thanks for the fun Steph and Ruben. We are excited for New Years. I didn't get any pictures of that but I will next time.
I would like to end by saying two things. One: Happy Birthday Daddy!!! I love you old man! Two: I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I'm sure I will be posting lots of pics of Harlee's first Christmas. I'm very excited!! Enjoy your loved ones this season and be safe.
Love,
The Colliers

Not so long ago...

This is my baby girl brand new to the world almost a whole year ago. I can't believe how fast time goes by. And I know eveyone says that but it is so true. I thought she was so beautiful then, but she just gets cuter every day. I love her so much! I have to admit that looking back at these first pictuers and remembering the feeling of being a dream makes me slightly baby hungry. However, I am NOT pregnant hungry. Yuck. And I really really want to get in better shape before the next one comes along. My body is thrashed as it is, I need to make sure it's in better condition next time around. Plus, I still have a lot of firsts to have with Harlee. She is getting to be so fun and playful and observant and she understands so much. I am just having a grand time with her. I will make sure to post pictures of her 1st birthday. I hope she's not all gifted out from Christmas. But I am not worried at all about the cake. I know she will have a great time with that. LOL.
Tomorrow, my friend Amanda and her baby boy are coming to visit us. I am so excited to see them! Harlee is a month older than Mason, but he is just as big and has some teeth. We went to see them when he was 3 months and it was a great trip but it is going to be so fun to see them interacting now that they are a bit older and can actually play. I will make sure to post pictures if it is ok with Amanda. I better get to bed so that I will be able to wake up in the morning and get going. YAY!!

Reunited and it feels so good!

Thanks to all of you who would have watched Harlee. Please don't feel like I don't trust you. There were those of you that I did think of but i felt bad not being able to pay. And I know you would probably also say that we wouldn't have to worry about that, however, it would have been very rude of me to just assume that you would do it for free. I hope I didn't offend anyone. Besides, my mom was the one who thought of it in the first place and you know how grandmas are. Any excuse to see the grand babies and they will take it.
Now I would just like to say that Jeremy and I couldn't stand waiting all day for her to be home today so we left church early to come and get her from my mom's house. We surprised them!! And, sadly, even though she has been away from us for almost two whole days, she still loves grandma more. I suppose that is OK.... for now. Ha ha!
So we got through our separation just fine, besides a couple sleepless nights and stomach aches for me. I will be hard pressed not to let her sleep with me tonight, I just don't want to stop holding her!!

Anxious

Well, tomorrow is Jeremy's work party. This is something we look forward to mostly because they give out rockin' prizes and the food is great. However, every person that I would have asked to watch Harlee is either going to the party or was going out of town. So this is what I did. I sent my little baby girl out the door with my sisters to visit my mom for the weekend. Considering I get anxiety letting Harlee travel anywhere without me, a 2 hour trip with someone besides me or Jeremy driving has had me in a panic all day. I am such a worrier anyway, but I think this takes the cake. As they put her in our car, (because there was no way I was letting them take her in the Tracker,) and drove off I saw her in the back just playing with her dolly all at ease. I am not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears. As soon as I got in the house I was on the phone with my mom whining to her. She laughed a little but totally understood. She assured me that they would take good care of her, of which I have no doubt. And Harlee loves her Grandma more than me these days (sad) so I know she will have a great time, but I think most of my time will be spent worrying. Maybe we will end up ditching the work party and going to the Festival of trees and The lights at Temple square with my family instead. Then I could be the one driving my baby home. Ah, this is so different than taking her somewhere and leaving her to be tended. I feel so helpless or something. Anyway, I will be letting you all know as soon as she is back, safe in my arms. Until then, I don't feel a peaceful night coming on.

This is a long one.

is it really December? Oh my goodness! This year has gone by too fast. I'm so excited for this Christmas though, Harlee's first. And her first birthday! I think she will have lots of fun. I'm trying hard not to spoil her but it's hard because that's exactly what i want to do! I know that between all the family she will be spoiled anyway, so I'm not too worried. My Christmas shopping is just about done. I was a black Friday shopper this year. I went to the shoe carnival. It wasn't so bad. However, I did also do some shopping on Thanksgiving day. My dad, Whitney, and I went to Kmart in the morning to get some things and then that night me and my Aunt Debbie went to Michael's to get cricut cartridges. I actually had a good time. So , yeah, I just have to get some things off layaway at Kmart and find a gift for Jamie and I'm done. WOOT WOOT!! Next is shopping for Harlee's birthday.

Moving on. Jeremy and I went out to Wendover on Saturday to see Wynonna. It was a great show! I just kept sitting there amazed by her and by the fact that after 24 years of listening to her music I was finally seeing her live. She is incredible!! I'm so thankful that she knows that God gave her a beautiful voice for a reason and that she uses her gift to spread such joy and love to so many. She is my idol!! And of course while we weren't at the concert we played a few slots. Ha ha. we came home with 15 extra dollars. Yeah baby. LOL!! What wrong with being a novice? Now, My aunt Debbie and Doyle went with us. In fact the whole trip was courtesy of them; the room, concert, and food! But it's because Doyle is NOT a novice, so he gets free stuff out there. In fact, he came home this time with $2,000.00 + He definitely knows what he's doing. :) But we had a lot of fun and I wanted to say thanks to them for allowing me such a wonderful experience. And I also want to say thank you to my family for taking care of things while we were gone. They took care of Harlee and the dog. It was her first overnighter without us. I was a little worried, but besides a little bump on the head for Harlee, it seems as though things went just fine.

So there it is. Hope you enjoyed reading my babbling. Happy Holidays!!

The Lost and Found

I was just thinking about how we never know what Heavenly Father has in store for us but when we put our lives in his hands things seem to work out. I was so heartbroken when Jeremy and I lost our first baby. I was not far along at all but when you have wanted something so badly your entire life the feeling of joy is unparalleled. It didn't take me long at all to accept the fact that I was finally going to be a mommy. My dream come true. And then the agony of having that taken from me was so... sad. And of course I thought it was my fault. How could I not. From the very beginning the protective instinct kicks in and if something goes wrong the only thing you can think is that you didn't do EVERYTHING possible to take care of that baby and keep it safe. However, in that day full of grief and tears, I knew beyond any doubt I could ever even imagine, that my Father in Heaven was aware of Jeremy and me and knew the ache we felt. And I could almost literally feel his arms around me and could hear him telling me it would be OK. This feeling was just as strong as the sorrow I felt.

And now look what I have. The most beautiful, darling, wonderful baby girl I could ever have asked for. She is one of my best friends. She brightens my days, she fills me with joy and excitement every day. And I know that things are just as they should be. I know that if I keep trusting in Him that I will continue to be looked after, buoyed up, and led to those things and places in my life that will bring me peace and happiness.

I bring this up because I just read a friends blog who lost a baby of her own not long ago. However, they are expecting again and sound very happy about it. And I believe she knows what I do; that we will undoubtedly have trials in this life but our Heavenly Father will ALWAYS be there for us in our times of need AND in our times of JOY!!!!

Thanks to all of you for your love a support. We love you all for the wonderful parts you play in our lives.

Love,

The Colliers.

EVEN BETTER

So, the fact that I get to see Twilight doesn't even compare with the reality that I get to see Wynonna Judd in concert in Wendover!!! She is my IDOL!! I think she is one of the most talented singers in history! I know, lots of exclamation marks, but I am so happy about this I could cry. Thank you to Doyle for letting me have these special tickets for FREE and thanks so much (Aunt Debbie also) for driving all the way to Wendover to pick them up!! What great people. I owe them much. That is my exciting news today! Hurray!!!!

WOOT WOOT!!

I just bought tickets to the Twilight movie. Am I excited? YES I AM!! It's going to be a fun girls night out with my mom, two sisters, two cousins, and aunt. We all LOVE the books and hopefully the movie won't disappoint. HURRAY!!!

To sell or not to sell

I first want to say congratulations to Barack Obama for winning the presidential election. I'm not totally sure how I feel about it yet. I think I like him as a person, we'll just have to see how he is as President. And I have to say that I did love his Acceptance speech. I am also very proud to live in America and to see how far we have come as a nation. An African American president. This is monumental! Go USA!!

Beyond that, I am thinking about selling bows and such. I have been practicing and I think I'm getting good enough at a few of them to go for it. I know, everyone is selling hair bows these days, BUT, my neighbor has some ins for us so I might actually do well with it. The thing is, if I;m selling them I want them to be quality work. I want them to be pretty much perfect. I know that they won't all be in reality, but I need opinions. Here are some pictures of my most recent bows. Please tell me what you think of them and if they are worthy enough of people's money. I need input people. Thanks!!

Halloween #1

Well, Harlee's first trick-or-treating expedition went very well. We went to down town Logan to all the stores along main street. We went with our friends the Ericksons and had a great time! After that we went to see Grandma and Grandpa Collier and watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. That was a fun experience. However, by the time the night was over, Harlee was not very happy. The whole bedtime routine was mingles with crying and screaming. She was not happy about taking a bath, or getting her diaper on, or getting lotioned, or getting dressed. But we finally sat down and rocked her while she ate and that stopped the tears. I also read her a story and she was really good for that. It was a long one though, I was surprised that her attention span stuck around that long. Anyway, there were a few tears as she went down for bed but it's getting better. Then I went to bed and read a bit from my book and then I was out. Jeremy did have to work last night though, so around 3 in the morning I was being awakened by my phone ringing under my pillow. He was just letting me know he was coming home so I wouldn't be freaked out when he came in the house and plopped in bed with me. But then I was out again. Even Harlee slept until about 9:00 this morning, so I'd say we were all pretty pooped from our adventures. I have posted some pics, (of coarse). I think Jeremy was so good looking in his zuit suit! And the girls and Hunter were adorable! I loved how Taycee and Harlee just sat and chilled in the wagon. Too cute! That's all for this post. Hope you all had a great Halloween!!

Take a look

It is my opinion that everyone needs to check out the link on my blog to the door man quotes. They are awesome! This guy has insight. That's all now. I'm off to make hair bows. FUN FUN!!!

Mission Accomplished

Jamie and I getting ready. My grandma did my hair!


Thanks to all of you who came to the party! We had a great turn out and I think people even had fun, I know I did. I saw a few people I haven't seen in a long time and I even met some. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!!






























Good times!!!

Goodness

Here is what I have to say. You dang people better come to this party because the stress of the thing is about to send me over the edge and I want it to be worth it! Today, things have not gone as well as I would have hoped. I screwed up the pumpkin cookies so we only have a limited number of them and I didn't complete some of the things I was wanting too. Although, Steph did come over and help out with things which at least made it funner. Except when she hit me in the face with the big twigs that were outside the car. Ha ha. She didn't really. My window was rolled up but I pretended to get hit and it scared the pants off her. She was like "OH MY GOSH! ARE YOU OK!!" She put her hand up to her mouth and everything. I laughed really hard after I explained to her "The window is up Steph." Ha ha. Good times. It was almost like in high school when she would drive me around, just with kids in the back. Tee hee. Anyway. Harlee is destroying my scrapbook room as we speak so I must go. See you all tomorrow. Those of you that are out of the state are exempt from this law. :)

Well, Jamee told me about Picasa before but I didn't realize how cool it was until I found it on my own last night. I was looking for free photo editing software and this is what I got. It's awesome for being free, and as you can see you can make collages. This is one of all my flower photos. Hurray. This is fun!!