Winter Weather-1 UHAUL-0

The title says it all. As Patrick and I stood at the window this morning and stared at the blizzard raging outside all we could do was laugh. Really...this is the story of our lives. And in the words of Marie Osmond, "If you're going to laugh about it tomorrow, you might as well laugh about it today." Ha ha...ha ha ha.

Winter Weather Watch vs UHAUL

Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to yet another reason why I think Murphy's Law rules my life. Patrick and I finally agreed on a weekend to move (which believe you me, there was a very heated discussion preceding the decision) and of course all of the weather forecasters are calling for 6-12 inches of snowfall. Really, I just have to sit back and laugh. It's like Heavenly Father is saying, "Do you remember the lesson we talked about...you know...the one on patience. Here's a pop quiz." So right now we're just playing it all by ear, and I am praying constantly that we'll have just long enough to drive the truck from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. That's all I want is a 2 1/2 hour window. Then it can snow us in for all I care...wait...that seems to have backfire written all over it.

The Stress and Joy of Moving

This time I fully admit that I purposely brought more stress into my life. Many would probably question my sanity, because I mean, honestly, who in their right mind would intentionally stress themselves out. But hear me out dear friends. For the first time in the two years that Patrick and I have been married we will be moving into our own place. It is an apartment that is not owned by any relative or friend, and it is not a fifth wheel on a boy scout reserve. It is a genuine, newly painted and carpeted, ground floor, two bedroom, two bathroom apartment. But...the only weekends that we could move was either this weekend (the 18th and 19th) or the second weekend of January (8th and 9th). Now I know that it's been two years and surely a few more weeks shouldn't make much difference, but people, I am DONE waiting. I don't care if it means a few less hours of sleep because I need to pack when Peyton's asleep. I don't care if it involves back breaking box reconfiguration and furniture placement. I'm not even sweating the fact that we might not be able to find others to help. All I care about is being in York with Patrick, and finally being in our own place. Hence why I opted for the most immediate move date, and am now frantically running around trying to schedule everything. It may be crazy, but I know that in the end it will be worth it. So judge me if you dare, but I ask you honestly, given the same situation wouldn't you too choose the stressful path?

Finally...

Well America...it finally happened...Patrick Stevenson Colvin secured himself a "Big Boy" job! Though, I don't know if playing in the woods, shooting things, and hanging out with a bunch of Scouts should be considered a grown up job. Rather, I think it's Peter Pan's dream occupation. Regardless of what I think, this undoubtedly means bigger and better things for the Patrick Colvin Clan. Patrick will be heading up to his post in York, PA the beginning of next week. He turned in all of his GARDA shirts, bullet proof vest, etc. and bid them an enthusiastic farewell. I don't think he could have been happier pulling out of that parking lot one last time. Peyton and I will hang out in Jersey until after the holidays and then we'll start the process of finding a place to live and packing up all that we own and driving the 2 1/2 hours to our new home. Until we locate one, though, the Boy Scout Council has been kind enough to offer us a cabin at their camp until we locate that "Home Sweet Home". I feel flashbacks of the summer of 2008 coming on.

Instilling Fear of the Bearded Man...

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and eventful Black Friday! Right now I am enjoying the opportunity I have to be a stay at home mom. I LOVE IT! It has been a blessing to see Peyton change each hour of each day. My love for her has grown more than I thought possible. I am keeping busy with Discovery Toys and Patrick is preparing for some interviews with Boy Scout Councils around the East. Wish him luck!

Busy Business Lady

I have officially joined the realm of starting my own at home business- yea for a little sister having a stupedous idea. I am now an Educational Consultant for Discovery Toys and I am BEYOND THRILLED! I have my first boutique at my pre-school on the 7th of November, and then I have an event every weekend after that until the middle of December. I'm going to be super busy and I LOVE IT! The best part is that Peyton can come with me because she's my little demonstrator =) That's the latest and greatest with the Patrick Colvin's. I'll be sure to let you know any new job news, house news, and toy news as it comes.

Stress Case Meets Chaos...who will win?

So has anyone ever seen the Simpson's episode where there's a new gym teacher who's obsessed with the game "bombardment"? Everyday Bart's class goes to gym only to get pommeled by dozens (possibly hundreds) of dodge balls. I had never thought about how that might feel...until i started working with thirteen 18 month old children =). Everyday seems to dole out a new challenge- this one's a biter, there are the bullies, these need to be cuddled, these ones are teething and cranky, etc. I have to say though, no matter how frustrated I get my heart melts with every adorable smile, every hug, and every peel of laughter. I have found a renewed sense of strength, so much so that even those "TERRIBLE" moments turn into laughing opportunities by the end of the day. Like for example: I am EXTREMELY conservative with the finger paint. There are still a good portion of our kids that will eat the paint, and though i know it isn't toxic I still cannot stomach the sight of it. So I was getting some things done and left my assistant in charge of things. Well...she's what you call liberal with paint. So the next thing I know I turn around and there is paint EVERYWHERE, and I mean everywhere. The kids are covered and trying to get out of their seats, the table has puddles of paint everywhere, and even the floor has little dobs and hand prints. I nearly freaked! How were we supposed to get all of the kids clean without any one of them escaping. Needless to say it was a long and tedious process to get them all taken care of and get the room back into some semblance of order. But at the end of the day do you know what I remembered most: Three of our little boys looked like members of the Blue Man Group and they loved it, one of our little girls who hates to get messy actually painted, and two children who normally don't get along were painting each other and laughing. In short Chaos won.

High Speed Internet...

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that my parents finally got rid of their dial up and signed up for high speed Internet! I am giddy as I sit here typing this entry knowing that I can FINALLY update everyone one on our family, and most especially, Peyton. Now that this day has finally arrived I find that I don't even know where to begin! Patrick, Peyton, and I are living in South Jersey with my parents and are hoping (especially me) that we will be buying a house within the next few months. I really really really really really want to get a place of our own SOON! I am working at a pre-school currently, which is neat because i get to take Peyton to work with me. I teach the 18-24 month olds and I LOVE IT! They are such a fun and adorable group of kids. Patrick is still working for GARDA but is submitting applications for other jobs around the county. He has also enrolled at the local community college in their nuclear technician program and will hopefully start taking classes in the spring. Peyton is not only crawling now, she's cruising and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING! She loves to sing, clap, and dance and is super vocal. River is her favorite obstacle to crawl over and he follows her everywhere. My dad takes about 100+ pictures of her everyday and I'm excited to share them with all of you. I think that she's totally lost her "baby look" and I seriously can't believe that we'll be celebrating her first birthday soon! It's amazing how time flies. But at least these past few months have been sprinkled with blessings, insights, and new adventures.

Total Tear Fest!

I just got back from seeing My Sister's Keeper with my two sisters-in-law and it was incredible! I thought that the story line was perfect- in fact, for those who have read the book, I think that the ending in the movie is better and more satisfying. Cameron Diaz was surprisingly wonderful as the mom (sorry to all of those fans out there, but I really didn't give her a lot of credit before this movie. She always seems to be the perfectly cute, but ditsy, blonde. In this movie she was very convincing as a mother and as a wife- good on her.) I have to admit that I tried being strong throughout the movie...even though the theater was so obviously packed with girls it was ridiculous...well and five guys who SO OBVIOUSLY lost the "which movie should we go see" game...but I cried like a baby throughout the movie. I don't think I've cried like that since the spring when Patrick and i went to see Marley & Me. So for all of you ladies who want a good cry I highly recommend this movie. For all of the gentlemen who are fathers/future fathers (or those guys who also lose the "which movie should we see" game) I think you'll enjoy that brief glimpse into the future where some little girl might turn you all mushy inside too.
The saddest thing about the movie to me is that they made death seem so final...and impossible to understand. It made me quietly reflect and sincerely express gratitude that I know that there is more to death than just being some unforeseeable end. I know that there truly is a reason for everything, and that each day should be lived so that if I left the next, I would be ok with that. I left the theater with a renewed sense of strength knowing that Heavenly Father gave me a purpose in life so that I wouldn't have to fearfully worry about my eminent demise. Theology aside, it was a great movie- so plan a girl's night out and be sure to take tissues!

Our Future?

The latest on Patrick's quest to find a "big boy job"- he has turned in four applications to work with Boy Scout Councils in North Carolina and Virginia. Three of the four have gotten back to him already and he is in the works of becoming a District Executive for the scouts. Ladies and gentlemen, we may be one step closer to that elusive career that has for so long evaded us. As of right now we're still set to move down to New Jersey on the 7th of July, but who knows...maybe we'll be heading further south before the end of the summer. Wish us luck! Also I am looking for some good books to read this summer so send me some suggestions!

My New Hero...

Now normally I do not (AND I MEAN DO NOT!) watch anything that has to do with celebrities or the gossip/drama that surrounds their lives. But, I happened to be breezing through channels the other night and something on TMZ made me pause- Al Roker told off the most disgusting, publicity hounding couple (my opinion) in the world- Speidi. I have never been more proud of the news media than I was at that moment. Finally, someone dared to ask the questions that I would ask if I had the chance. For those of you who didn't see it, copy and paste the link below and check it out- I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. It earned Al Roker the title of my new hero.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzsDXMVd1js

An article that contains the qoutes Al Roker referred to with regards to NBC can be found at this link.
http://www.tvguide.com/News/NBC-Exec-Speidi-1006673.aspx?rss=breakingnews

Poo in the Tub Club...

So I was talking to my dear cousin Jessica a little while ago and I was telling her that my favorite (and I mean FAVORITE) thing to do in the morning is to give Peyton Rose a bath. She has so much fun splashing around, eating the wash cloth, and generally getting me wet. "Wait until she poops in the tub, and then you'll rethink how fun it really is" came the reply. Well...it's official. My daughter has officially joined the club. Normally I would have freaked out at such an occurrence, but I couldn't help but hysterically laugh. It started out small enough, and so I thought "hey, that's not bad. I'll just put her in her bouncy seat for a second, clean it out, and then we'll finish bath time." I had all but finished my cleaning of the tub when I heard very distinct baby poo grunts coming from the bouncy seat. As I prepared myself for what I was about to see I hear Peyton giggling (HA...HAHA...HA etc.) I look down to see her dancing in her now poopy seat and smiling as though she had just mastered her first step. Clean up took a little longer, but surprisingly, it was worth every moment.

Long time no blog...

I really have no excuse why I haven't been blogging lately, just general busy-ness I guess. It could be the lack of adventures as of late. I think the most exciting thing that is happening is that we are FINALLY moving! On July 7th we'll be heading down south, where (crossing fingers!) Patrick will finally be able to find a job. We figured since he's applying to several police departments in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania that we should probably live closer to those areas to have a better opportunity to interview. He's also hoping to get a job at the nuclear plant that my dad works at. I'm just counting down the days until we finally have a place of our own. Peyton is getting bigger and bigger every day. She's up to 17 lbs 8 oz. and is about 25 1/2 inches long. She has totally mastered the roll over technique and has even begun pulling herself toward objects that she wants...scary I know. Soon we'll begin the tedious process of baby-proofing our house. We're also really excited to be coming out to Utah in a few weeks for my cousin's wedding. Hopefully we'll get to see all of you!

Chaotic with nothing to show for it

I have decided that motherhood/being a wife is very chaotic at times. There is so much that you need to do and so much more that you want to do. I watched this really awesome episode of Oprah the other day about being a mother and it really struck me. This juggling act is hard and a lot of times I go to bed either feeling like I didn't accomplish anything or I didn't get enough (or any) recognition for the things that I was able to accomplish. However, the Lord in His infinite wisdom has blessed me with little breathing moments where I step back and realize how wonderful life is. I just have to keep reminding myself that every step forward is still a step in the right direction even if it's only a little one. My new favorite quote by Marie Osmond is if you're going to laugh about it later you might as well laugh about it now. Also if any of you are in the market for a life changing book read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Eye-opening and tremendously straight forward. Talk about humbling.

The weigh in...

I'm sorry that I have kind of slacked off. We've had so much fun with spring coming and trying to get our lives organized. Peyton is now weighing in at 13 lbs. and we haven't had a chance to measure her height yet, but she seems to be growing in that area too. Life is fabulous right now, but we're still waiting to hear back from the Montgomery County police department. Fingers crossed...

Our busy life!

Really, what hasn't happened this past month? Nothing comes to mind right now because our lives have been super busy! We traveled out to Utah last month for my sister Lacey's wedding. Peyton did splendidly on the plane ride over and has proven herself quite the little traveler. It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful, to see all of the family and friends we were able to see. We went through the Draper temple, Peyton had her baby blessing, we did a lot of shopping with Grandma Jody, had a small mission reunion, etc. etc. We were excited to get home only because we needed a boring schedule to recover from all of the traveling and "go-go-go". Right now things have normalized somewhat. Peyton is continuing to grow and thrive. She's a whopping 13 pounds and 23 1/4 inches long. That puts her in the 80 percentile for height and 88 percentile for weight. She's getting better about holding her head up, she loves blowing bubbles, and she's on the verge of giggling. The best thing that she learned to do last week (and has continue on since then) is sleeping through the night... 7-8 hours every night is BLISSFUL!

For Time and For all Eternity!

It's official now- Patrick and I are together forever! It was a tremendous experience with a lot of road blocks to overcome, but we made it. The short version of our story would include Patrick getting seriously ill on the drive to the temple, and continuing to throw up in the temple and during our sealing (sad, huh?). Peyton looked like an angel and was the perfect baby while we were there. I think she saw a lot of her friends from Heaven and was catching up with them. I can't remember a time when I felt more at peace and so happy to be alive. There are so many thoughts and emotions running through me right now that there isn't a way to write them all down. In short, it was incredible! I'll be sure to post some pictures later today of the day and some new ones of Miss Peyton Rose, because I know that she's who you really want to see =)

Doctor's Appointment

Well we went to visit the doctor the other day and it was a fabulous visit. Peyton was the perfect lady and didn't cry or fuss- in fact she seemed entertained for the most part (DEFINITELY NOT HER FATHER'S CHILD IN THAT RESPECT). When she left the hospital she weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz. and 19.5 inches. Yesterday she topped out at 10 lbs 1 oz. and 21.5 inches. The nurse even commented on how cute her little double chin is =) She's also socializing really well and has awesome neck/head control for her age. In short she made her mama and daddy proud.

Peyton is almost a month old! Crazy huh? She really is getting so big though. Her eyes are open a lot more often lately and she loves to observe her family members as they go about their day to day lives. River loves being the protective "big brother" and frequently gives her kisses on the top of the head- which usually gives her the coolest hairdo. In short I love being a mom! Every day bring something new and challenging to the equation, but I love every second.
Patrick started a new job as a armored car driver. He loves it because he has a cool uniform, wears a bullet proof vest, and gets to carry a gun. Hopefully he won't be there for too long though- we're both anxious for him to get a position with a police department.

Introducing...

Peyton Rose Colvin was born on January 1, 2009 at 6:20 AM. She weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz. and was approximately 19.5 inches long. She has already claimed the nickname Diva from her Grandma Lawrence because of the pomp and circumstance in which she entered the world. Peyton received the honor of "New Year's Baby" from Sturdy Memorial Hospital and the Sun Chronicle- a local paper- and several hundred dollars in prizes. She even had the opportunity of riding home from the hospital in a stretch limo. Needless to say her first week of life is going to be the largest section in her scrapbook! We'll be sure to continue to update the blog with the latest Peyton happenings and pictures.