It's been too long

This is a quick reminder to myself to update this blog that I started awhile ago for the kids.

It is Jan 2014: Kinley is 7, Elizabel is 4, and Archer is 2.

We live in Ahwatukee now.

Kids all go to Keystone Montessori.

More to come....

6 weeks later.... I blog about Archer.

Archer Fox Colling is here. He was born April 26th, 2011 @ 0826 AM. He weighed 8 lbs 4oz (our smallest child yet) and was 21.5 inches long (our longest child yet). We decided on the name Archer Fox because we thought it was a unique, strong name. He is a sweet little boy. Archer is so laid back and is always happy and just looks around when awake.

Elizabel had some adjustment issues in the beginning but she is fine now. I think Kinley had some adjustment issues as well but hers were more subtle.

All is well with the Collings.....

My precious boy

Adjusting to living in Arizona again.

It has been six months since my last post. We have been settling in to our new life in Gilbert, Arizona. After arriving and unpacking, surprising the family and getting over the virus that struck us all, I found out I was pregnant again! Tim and I were both shocked. We were extremely elated to see a heartbeat and we knew everything would be OK. Elizabel was only nine months old when I found out I was pregnant!

Tim had over eight weeks off before he started work so luckily he was home with the girls while I went to work. Kinley started at her new preschool: The Goddard School. She loves it! Her teachers are Ms. Peeples and Ms. Dotson (pictured above). They put her in the kindergarten class because she was so advanced with her letters.

With Tim getting closer to going to work the impending doom of sending Elizabel to daycare was drawing near. I was sent to Salt Lake City for work and while there suffered a little breakdown. I realized I was pregnant again and my poor one year old was having to get taken care of by strangers. Regardless of what a great opportunity this job was I just couldn't bear seeing my youngest in daycare, not after having no choice to work full-time when Kinley was young (due to military). So, I quit my job.

Months later, realizing we couldn't afford this massive rent payment on this massive house, we decided to move. We moved to a much nicer area into a house that is more suitable for us. We live in Seville Country Club now and we are next to a lot of good schools. I am staying home with Elizabel, Kinley is in preschool all day, four days a week (her choice), and Tim is working. I am now seven months pregnant and we know we are having a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The name we have picked out (it may change) is: Quil Aydin Colling

Kinley is loving her preschool and she is currently attending Junior Horse Hands every Saturday at the zoo. I love horses so I hoped she would too. She was a little timid at the first class, we will see how she does this Saturday. Elizabel is enrolled in a Music Together class and goes every Thursday. Elizabel is walking/running everywhere and is extremely outgoing, boisterous and non-stop energy. Kinley is so very intelligent, artistic, outgoing and very sensitive. Kinley can spend hours sitting at the dining room table coloring, painting and making cards for her friends and family.

Moved to Arizona

After a year of serious contemplation about leaving our Emerald Isle, we finally decided to and took the plunge- head first! Getting to Kodiak was easy, Providence paid for everything as long as we would sign a three year contract with them. Not one company in the lower 48 would be crazy enough to pay relocation for a family in Alaska to move to Arizona when there are plenty of eligible candidates in their own state. Needless to say, this move was on our own dime. One of the most intimidating things about Kodiak and I believe to be a main factor as to why people stay, is coming up with the money to leave. I am happy to report that we sold our house within five days and we actually made some money off it. We also sold our F-150 (we won't need that in Arizona). These funds were used to move us to Arizona.

We decided well in the beginning that we would not tell anyone in my family and make it a huge surprise. For a month or so the only person who knew in AZ was my friend Kristin (who was very pregnant), she was going to be our person who looked at homes for us. Knowing that Kristin was probably very uncomfortable I thought of the one person in my family who could keep their trap shut- Nikki. I told Nikki and she looked into a home for us in Chandler- after seeing that one we saw one in Gilbert with a pool- which one do you think we chose?

Meanwhile, I talked to my Mom and Tia daily and very carefully never mentioned anything and acted as if everything was normal in Kodiak (even though I was surrounded by boxes and very stressed finishing my internship). If we could pull this off, it would be a surprise of a lifetime.

Our journey started with a nine hour overnight ferry trip from Kodiak to Homer. Tim and our dog Chee Chee drove our UHAUL which was packed to the brim and I drove the minivan with both girls and our cat Lenny. We got a stateroom with facilities this time. Leaving on that ferry was bittersweet and so exciting! Once you leave "the rock" it is such a feeling off the chains breaking loose and being able to breathe again. I loved Kodiak in its own way but always felt so isolated and stuck. Kinley loved the ferry- especially watching her Dora's Birthday movie and using her new crayons.

We arrived in Homer on August 7th at 7am. We drove from Homer to Anchorage and the girls and I were dropped off at the airport by Mike Davis (Tim's friend- who drove the AL/CAN with him). I was in the airport five hours earlier than our flight- I had no stroller, had a buggy with three bags and a cat while holding the hand of a four year old. I was sweating and stressed. Elizabel wasn't happy and I kept having to go to the nearest facility to get hot water for her bottle. I broke down and let them play on the airport floor to give my arms a rest. I did have my ergo with me but she got tired of that real fast. Our flight was delayed by one hour and Elizabel was tired and cranky. Kinley remained a perfect angel of course (not kidding). Once we got on the flight and were taxing- Elizabel continued to scream. With glances of judgement and some "your doing just fine, hang in their comments", I made it to my seat. Elizabel then puked all over me and her- I stripped her down to her diaper and sat in my chair and cried (I really did). It was hot, we were squished and Kinley was being ignored (not on purpose). Elizabel finally fell asleep and we made it to Seattle in once piece. Mark met us at the airport and I took a huge sigh of relief. Oh the cat, he was just fine the whole time regardless of being jumbled around a bit.

The girls and I were in Seattle and Tim and Mike drove the Al/Can pulling the minivan behind them. The goal was for Tim to make it to Seattle by Tuesday so that we can surprise my family that weekend in Arizona. Tim and Mike did make it in on Tuesday and we left Wednesday morning for Arizona. The girls, both pets, and I were in the van and Tim was in the UHAUL with no air conditioning. The first night in the hotel at Grants Pass, Oregon, Elizabel got very sick and puked all over her crib and had explosive diarrhea. She was sick, really sick. Low grade fever, diarrhea and vomiting. I got a text from my friend Carla stating that all the kids who went to Imagination Station the day we did were sick- great- poor thing. Not in her own environment and sick. The trip soon turned into a nightmare- not the fun family trip I expected. We drove as much as we could and made it to Lamar, California the second night. Elizabel was still sick but slowly getting better. We had three explosive diapers in one day, changes of clothes and really tore up some McDonald's and gas station bathrooms all in 108 degree heat- that was all new to us- miserable.

We made it to our new house!! Safely and together. Our new house and great! We are just renting for now. It is huge and vastly the opposite of our house in Kodiak. Huge open floor plan and a pool.

Nikki told everyone in my family that they would be going to Mike's grandparents house for a BBQ Saturday night. It worked, everyone showed up at the door at 3pm. When they saw us they nearly died of shock! Here is the video!

So we are in Arizona now. I never said I would come back but it is truly different as an adult with two kids. We have an abundance of resources at our hands and family nearby.

I start work tomorrow and Kinley starts her new preschool. More blogging to come!

Pics of our pool:

Never too late to start a blog for my kids.

The other day Tim and I were trying to think back when Kinley was a couple of months old. After my breast-feeding nightmare we switched Kinley to formula. We can remember that she was extremely gassy and fussy when she was drinking Enfamil Lipil. Tim and I were both lactose intolerant as infants (both mothers claim we had bloody diarrhea and projectile vomiting), so we sort of assumed Kinley may be as well. Anyway, the point is, we can't remember.


A friend of mine came over on Tuesday and mentioned that she blogs about her kids. What a great idea! She can look back anytime and read about the early days of her children's lives.





Hence forth, the Kinley and Elizabel blog is created.





Elizabel is just over 4 weeks old now. After many days of sporadic crying out due to gas pain I decided to switch her formula to Enfamil Gentlease. I read reviews that you should give that a try before switching to soy formula which would surely cause constipation (I do remember that with Kinley- scary, hard, big green balls). I cannot possibly go into why she is on formula and not breast milk, it is too sensitive of a subject. I feel I deal with public scrutiny on a daily basis because of it. We are after all in Alaska, beautiful, natural and sustainable. Elizabel is now sleeping after a four ounce bottle of her new formula, let's hope it works. Elizabel is becoming more of a cherub daily and she now holds and looks for your gaze. She is a happy baby, only crying when gassy. I have kept her sheltered inside due to the weather (18 degrees, windy, snowy) and due to the H1N1 pandemic flu hovering over our small community. Many of our friends are sick. Tim, Kinley and I have all been vaccinated for the seasonal as well as the H1N1 flu.





Kinley is currently at dance (Miss. Ginny's) with Tim. I asked Tim to attend this time because Kinley has consistently been hurt in some way from a giant 5 year old who shouldn't be in the same class. Since I have stopped working I have done my best to keep Kinley busy with play dates and activities. She does really well listening at dance. She may have occasional breakdowns but that is to be expected from a 3 year old. One thing I would like to note is that she does have this obsession with sticking her tongue out while dancing. According to Tim's mom, Tim did the same thing at that age. It is just one of Kinley many quirks, just like her fascination with "bruisee's", which are actually pieces of lint stuck between her toes.





When Elizabel was born, Tim and I did not know what to expect from Kinley. The first day she visited her in the hospital she just gazed at her with strong curiosity and sat on Tim's lap. She refused to hold or kiss Elizabel. We did do a gift exchange, giving Kinley a backpack with "bubber" (a form of mold able foam) and we said it was from Elizabel. That gift sort of took away the attention from Elizabel for that visit. My mom was here for the c-section and stayed for ten days after. I had mixed feelings when Elizabel was born. I was overcome with such love for Elizabel and also overcome with major guilt that I had stolen the limelight that Kinley has had for over the last three years. I often saw sad gazes from Kinley when I was feeding or holding Elizabel, it wasn't my imagination. I was told by my mother that these feelings would soon pass. I did the best I could to keep Kinley's routine the same. My mom and Tim took turns bringing and picking her up from preschool and also dance. Besides being catered to by Arizona Nana and soon Seattle Nana (ten days after my mom left Kathy came), Kinley seemed OK with our new addition.





Kathy left last Sunday and normal routine has commenced. Tuesday I hosted my monthly meal swap. I have noticed that Kinley is having sporadic meltdowns during play dates. Kinley's friends, Wynne, Paxon and the nine month old siblings of the two- Stokely and Gus were over here playing. Kinley consistently had meltdowns over tiny things. Kinley and Tim just got home from dance and her friend Abigail was dropped off with her. This Abigail play date has been planned since before Elizabel was born. We had to put it off last week due to Abigail having a cough and runny nose (not taking any chances with Elizabel exposure). Kinley has already had two meltdowns. Could this be an act of territorial possession due to her sister's birth? When will this pass? I feel like I need to ban play dates from our house until it does. My friends understand and say it will pass.

I want to include this note from Ms. Candy (Kinley's preschool teacher):

Hi Angi,
I just wanted to let you know that your daughter is a genius!:) We are learning the letter "J" and I showed the children pictures of images of things that start with that letter and asked if they knew what they were. A couple of the "J" pictures were difficult, but I showed them anyway, just to expose the children to new words. Kinley was the only child (in the entire class) that knew what jacks and jack-in-the-box were called. Just thought you'd like to know! :)

Can't wait to see Elizabel.

Candy

I love to get notes like these from her teachers. I really feel that preschool has been the best thing for Kinley. Kinley strives in environments that push and challenge her. She is so smart- no, really she is! I can write all day about Kinley!



It sounds like I need to go mitigate Kinley and her new play date before Tim goes crazy. Maybe a snack will do.








Angi