The Best Laid Plans...

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, do you? Well I don't know. My best guess is that it has something to do with greener grass, power corruption, and making a horse drink water.

All joking aside, He's Here! He's Here! Yes, Micah Martin Autry Collins was born Wednesday August 18, 2010 11:05 PM wieghing in at 7 lbs 8 oz and measuring 21 inches long. That is our second lightest baby but the longest at birth. If you really want the most detailed account of the birth, you should check out my hot mess wife's blog; http://hotmessmomma.blogspot.com/.

I do have some great little pictures including the first one of our new family all together. Enjoy.

Come out, come out little Micah!

So, Christy and I went to the doctor this afternoon to check on Micah Watch 2010 and we were encouraged to hear that Christy is still 4 cm but the doctor is comfortable with inducing labor soon. We decided on this Thursday around noon. She will start on antibiotics since she tested positive for Strep. B (you don't really want to know and I am not really that sure that I could explain it). She will then get another dose of medicine around 4 or 5 and then the Doc will break her water and start administering a drug called Pitocin. This basically makes her start having contractions.

This is going to be a first for us as all other labors started naturally. However, we are comfortable since she is already dilated and this is her fourth pregnancy. You better keep your eyes open 'cause this labor is going to be like driving through College Station, TX, very short and there might be a smell. Oooooooh snap! Did you see how I got that dig on my Aggie friends there? Did you? It must be close to football season cause I am getting a little snarky about the college rivalries.

Anyway, we are both super pumped and ready to meet the little guy. Hopefully my next post will be filled with pictures of the new friend. Cheers.

Recently...

I decided that I would finally take the time to update this blog to let all of the masses know about our recent adventures. First of all, our trip to New York went very well. As excpected the kids did all that we asked of them and more. We were so glad to make the trip and best of all, there were no scares of Christy going into labor! The old Caravan also did very well under the circumstances. We had to get an oil change and two new tires on our way back but we did not have any other issues. We also found that of the seven states that we drove through, Ohio was surprisinlgy the most annoying state to get through. Six hours! I wasn't sure that we were going to actually make it to Pennsylvania. But we did. I told Christy several times throughout the trip that if we could do this we could do anything. 3,000 miles, 3 young kids, 1 dodge caravan. We did it.

We are also preparing ourselves for the arrival of little Micah. And by preparing, I mean washing off our old bassonnet and sort of organizing baby clothes. Christy had an appointment today with here doctor and she has actually progressed to 4 cm! For those of you who aren't familiar with this measurement, it indicates the lengh of the cerv.... Nevermind, I really don't think that you want to know. Regardless, it tells us that when labor "starts" we only have 6 more cm to go before she pushes him out. We will be certain to keep everybody posted via text and phone calls.

I am anxiously awaiting next Thursday for when our children return to school at Trinity School of Texas. Getting back into a routine this fall will do everybody some good and hopefully our family can adjust quickly to our new addition and keep running our little race towards the end of the year.

That's all for now. I can hopefully add blogging more regularly into my Fall routine.

Article

Okay, so I know this is not a post detailing our fantstic trip to New York a few weeks ago. But I promise to make that a reality by the end of the week. I couldn't pass up the chance to share this great little artical on marraige by two very funny people. Enjoy...

http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=24970292&gt1=32023

Screamin' like a Banshee

We went to visit our good friends in Katy, TX this past weekend and when we started the drive down I looked at my wife and I made her a solemn vow. The vow was this; "I will not scream at my kids all weekend." You might think that this is a small feat. "C'mon, Nathan! Your kids are cute and so well behaved and so sweet. I can't understand why it would be difficult to not yell at them." The problem with this statement is that it assumes that my children are the cause of my all too frequent outbursts. This just is not true. They actually do very little that deserves a sharp tone.

My outbursts are my inability to handle the junk that I bring home from my day. When I walk through the door at my house, you can literally see these things clinging to me like a soaking wet winter coat. It's really hard to admit this because I put on the facade of a really nice, easy going father when I am around others but when it is just us, I explode all too often. I can see my kids learning from it as well. They are more likely to raise their voice when dealing with each other or others.

So far, it is going well. I have to remember, though, that I do not have to be perfect to be a good father. What my children need is to know who I am and what I value the most. I would like to encourage other Father's out there to just continue doing what you are doing and setting an example for your children that teaches love, concern for others, and obedience to the Lord.

The Summer So Far...

Bad Blogger! Bad! No Biscuit! See now those who read my blog can feel better now that I have been punished for not updating in a really really long time. So, here we are with the summer in full swing. We have finished moving and unpacking. Well, there is one room that isn't completely finished yet but we do not use it that often so I can just ignore it for the time being. I have posted pictures for those interested and if you are not, then too bad.

The kids are fully involved in their summer ballet classes and swim lessons so there will be much time spent outside. They are already becoming very tan and I am worried about people saying to me..."Show me her papers!!!" (Too far?) Anyway, Christy is doing a pretty fantastic job of keeping up with all of this. How she doesn't go completely insane without large doses of illegal narcotics is beyond me. We have even managed a couple of date nights since the summer started as well! I know, right? We have gotten to the point where we are each others sanity and the time alone keeps us grounded and real.

This is also the summer of fun trips. We have already been to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX and had a great time. In the words of Ferris Bueller, "If you have the means, I do suggest you pick on up, it is SO choice!" As I write this we are visiting good friends from College in Cleburne, TX. We are having a pretty good time with it. Next weekend is for visiting friends in the Houston area and our enormous and scary trip to New York is less than a month away! As of now, we are planning on one stop somewhere in Tennessee to sleep. Yeah....we'll see how this turns out.

The last thing to speak of is that a couple of things that we thought were set to go for next year after Micah's arrival are actually thrown in the air. That leaves us with our old friends, the question marks. We are going to trust the Lord on this and see what His plans are ....cause...we...got....nothin'.

Till' Next Time!

Ummmm....Can't Think of Anything Clever

Hello everybody. I am thankful that I have the time today to give updates on what is going on in the Collins household. Here we go.

The first news is…It’s a boy! Yes, sir. What we have here is a bona fide, real life human male child. The 20-week sonogram appointment was last week and we were very pleased to see that young Micah Martin Autrey Collins is growing big and strong and right on schedule. We were also able to get a 4D sonogram of him. We were not about to do this for the other children and I have to say that it is pretty neat. I will post a picture soon. Micah will have two middle names (just like the other kids). Micah is a name from the bible that Christy and I both really like. Martin is my older brother’s middle name and both of my grandmothers’ maiden names. As for Autrey, I am not entirely certain but I know it is a last name on Christy’s Father’s side somewhere. So, there it is. This young man will be bringing up the rear and my prayer for him is that he appreciates his place among the children and that he grows up knowing how much he is loved.

Now it is time for the next round of news. We are moving! Don’t worry. We are staying in Longview but we are relocating to a new house. Since the news hit us about our upcoming blessed event, we have realized that our current abode of 1600 square feet is not quite big enough for this clan. The challenge here was to find a larger space for the same amount of money. Okay, you can stop laughing now. We were able to find a house with about 450 more square feet for a little less than we are paying now! That is amazing, right? The landlord seems to be very kind and has been reasonable while working out details. The house is 3 Bedrooms and 2 Bath. There is no garage but the owner is planning on have a carport with storage constructed. We are moving off of our current busy street to another street that is four lanes but a small fraction of the traffic. There are slight concerns, though. The back yard is not fenced in and it isn’t exactly in a defined neighborhood. I don’t think that safety is going to be an issue but we will have to wait and see how everything shakes out. The owner also owns a large piece of land behind that house that is entirely fenced in and he has given us permission to use it at our leisure for swing sets, toys, etc.

I also wanted to give an update on our travels this summer. In three weeks we are taking a trip to New Braunfels, TX to visit the Schlitterbahn Water Park. We are going with Christy’s entire family and it promises to be a complete blast. Schlitterbahn is routinely voted the best water park in the U.S. and if you have not gone, it is certainly worth the long drive. I will let you know how it goes! Our only trip in June is to Cleburne, TX to visit some friends from college and their two young sons. We can’t wait to see them! July is just going to be nuts. Christy’s parents are taking their annual pilgrimage to Port Aransas, TX to spend the week before the Fourth of July in the timeshare they have had for 27 years now. I have had the pleasure of spending the last 7 years with them there and I am glad to say our children will grow up very familiar with this place. We plan on joining them for a couple of days. Christy’s paternal grandparents have a timeshare in the same building at the same time. Fun is had by all. Then there is the crazy trip to New York I have already told you about. That is going to in the middle of the month. We are just going to have to see how that goes! Oh, by the way we are also celebrating our 7th anniversary and my 28th birthday that month. I can’t believe it!