Alexia Jo

Our little girl is finally here!! She was born on 10/11/12 (the benefits of having to schedule a c-section ) and measured in at 8lbs and 21 inches long. She is my smallest baby so far. I was thinking that she was going to be at least 9lbs with how big I was but the Dr. said that it was probably because I had a lot of amniotic fluid. The c-section went well and the doctors were actually impressed with how little scarring there was considering it was my 3rd c-section. That was one of my concerns and it was definitely comforting to know that having more children was still an option. Kaylee and Declan love her so much already...maybe too much sometimes. :) They want to be around her all the time and Kaylee has turned into a little mommy and wants to help in any way she can. It's very sweet. I was more concerned with how Declan was going to act but he has been great. So far things are going well and we are so happy to have Alexia here!  

Declan's First Birthday

Our little boy turned 1 year old today!! I can't believe it has already been a year. It really has gone by too fast. We are so grateful to have Declan in our family. He is such a calm and happy baby and so much fun! There are days when I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed and all I have to do is look at Declan and it helps me calm down. We call him "our little peacemaker". To celebrate his birthday we went to my parent's house for dinner. It was fun to get together as a family and we had some good entertainment watching Declan eat his cake. On Sunday we are going to go to Dan's parent's house for part 2 of Declan's birthday celebration.

I found the idea for this cake a while ago when I was searching the blogosphere . This cake has also been floating around Pinterest too. It was fun and pretty easy to make. Dan made the small cake for Declan at work. I just added the kit kats and M&Ms later. The big cake I made using just a yellow cake mix. I've been on a health kick lately and heard that you can use applesauce instead of oil when you are baking. So I used applesauce instead of oil and I also just used egg whites instead of whole eggs. I guess the chocolate makes up for the calories I kept out of the cake. :) I was a little nervous to see how it would taste and if my family would like it but it turned out great! So yummy!!

Declan LOVED his cake!!!

He wasn't a fan of getting cleaned up though.

Kaylee was more than happy to help Declan open his presents. Such a great big sister!

We also took Declan in for his 1 year check up today. I know, we're such mean parents to take him to the doctor on his birthday. He got 3 shots but did great!! Here are his stats:

Height: 30 inches (59th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs 7 ozs (74th percentile)

Head: 18.5 cm (69th percentile)

Pool Time!!

A couple weeks ago we decided to take a drive down to my parent's house and go swimming. It was Declan's first time in the pool and he loved it! It was fun to watch Kaylee swimming all by herself (well with the help of floaties). She was so proud of herself! I can't believe how big she is getting! It makes me a little sad sometimes that she is not my little baby girl anymore but it is fun to watch her grow and learn new things!

Collett Family Vacation!!

I am so far behind on our blog....I will just have to start up again with our recent happenings. We got back from our first family vacation to Utah this week! Dan had 2 weeks off of work and ever since he finished school in December he has been itching to go on a road trip! It was definitely a new experience for Dan and I. We had never been a road trip together with kids. We stopped 2 times to feed Declan and 2 times to clean up Kaylee... because that is how many times she threw up on the drive up. So fun! We got some Dramamine for the drive home and that seemed to do the trick. We also brought along an extra large bowl just in case though. Look at us fast learners!! :) Our time in Utah was fun and filled with lots of adventures!! We stayed with Dan's sister and her family who live in West Jordan. While we were in Utah we were able to visit Dan's mission president and his wife. They travel around a lot so the timing was perfect and we were glad that we could see them. We also were able to meet up and have dinner with one of Dan's friends from his mission. It was fun to chat with him and his adorable family and get a tour of their gorgeous new home! We took a trip up Provo Canyon one day and had a picnic. One of my roommates from my freshman year of college met up with us. It was so great to see her and to meet her husband and her 2 sweet girls! I hadn't seen her for over 7 years and it was so great to chat and catch up!!! We were also able to go to my MTC companion's home and have a BBQ. She has 2 cute little girls and 1 of them is around the same age as Kaylee. They had fun playing together in the sandbox and on the swing set in the backyard! The food was delicious and it was so fun talking about our mission and updating each other about what has happened in our lives since then. On our last full day in Utah we were able to go to Temple Square. Our time at Temple Square didn't last long because Kaylee was being crazy but I am glad that were able to go. We also spent time at the park and did some shopping! I was introduced to the store Hobby Lobby while I was there...such a dangerous place to shop at. It's good that they don't have one in San Diego or I would be there all the time!!! We were also introduced to a yummy place called Yogurtland. They have Yogurtland in San Diego but we had never been before! So delicious! Overall it was a fun trip and we are hoping to make it a yearly family tradition. Here are some pictures from the trip. We didn't do the best job taking pictures and sorry they are out of order but ENJOY! :)

Declan's Blessing

Declan had his baby blessing at church today! It was a wonderful day and I was so grateful that some of our family and friends could be there. We are so lucky and grateful for all the love and support that we have so close by. One of our friends in the ward wrote down the blessing and gave it to me at the end of the meeting. I didn't even think to write it down and I was sooooooo grateful that she did.

Declan is a very calm and happy little dude which has made the transition to 2 kids easier, especially since Kaylee is DEFINITELY in her terrible 2 phase. We love our little Declan and are so blessed to have him in our family!

St. Patricks Day!

This year I wanted to do something fun for Kaylee and go all out for St. Patrick's Day. I had planned on making a leprechaun trap and having her go on a little treasure hunt but things didn't really work out the way I had planned. I started making the trap but ran out of time and patience so I wasn't able to finish it. Maybe I will try again next year. Maybe. :) I ended up decorating a little treasure chest and filling it with some candy. I gave it to her the morning of St. Patrick's day and told her the leprechaun left it for her. She loved it!!! I think mostly because she LOVES chocolate!!

We had our good friends Ethan and Ellen over the day before St. Patrick's day and made cute leprechaun pictures. So much fun!!!

I tried out a new sugar cookie recipe and made shamrock shaped sugar cookies with green frosting. They were very yummy and I am so glad that I found a good sugar cookie recipe. You can find the recipe here. My parent's had us over for a yummy corned beef and cabbage dinner and I brought some of the cookies along for dessert. Dinner was so DELICIOUS!!! I think I could have eaten all of the corned beef myself! So good!!!

I am trying harder to make holidays more fun for Kaylee and help create some great memories for her. I guess this is a start...baby steps right?! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :)

" Look what I got!!"

My sad attempt at making a leprechaun trap. Kaylee enjoying the treasure the leprechaun left her.

Our Growing Boy!

We took Declan in for his 2 month check-up a little over a week ago and here are his stats: Height: 22 inches (35th percentile) Weight: 11 lbs 7 ozs (65th percentile) Head: 15.5 cms (58th percentile) Love, love, love this little guy!!!