The Old Maid

Caitie got a set of card games in her Easter basket this year that included Crazy Eights, Go Fish, and Old Maid. She has been very in to playing all these new card games, but she does not enjoy losing very much.

She especially doesn't like getting left with the Old Maid card when we play. Typically, one of us has to take one for the team and get the card from her. Today, it was Shawn's turn to get the card. Actually, he and Caitie kept passing it back and forth between each other. She finally decided she no longer wanted to pass it back and forth. So, when it was her turn to draw from Shawn, she simply pulled his cards down to see them, then pulled the one that wasn't the Old Maid.

You gotta love the way a 4 year-olds mind works.

The 2 week check-up

Colin went today for his two week check-up. Where has the time gone? I can't believe he is 2 weeks old (yesterday) already! My little boy is growing so quickly. But then again, he does still have the little umbilical cord attached to him right now!

So, anyway, back to the doctor's visit. He has grown to 20 1/2 inches (just under the 50th percentile) and his head circumference was in the 25th percentile. The best part is that his weight has gone up significantly now that he has switched over to all formula feedings. In fact, we've given him a new nickname....Porker Parker. Last Monday at his check-up, he only weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces, down from his birth weight of 7 pounds 1 ounce. Today he weighed in at an amazing 7 pounds 10 ounces! The boy can really eat! He was somewhere between the 10th and 25th percentile for weight, much higher than his sister was at this age, but then again she was in the 50th percentile when she was born!

Now, we don't have to go back in again until his 2 month check-up in May. But that's when he has to get his first set of shots!

A hoppy Easter

We had a great Easter yesterday! Caitie woke up and immediately wanted to know if the Easter bunny had come to her house. She saw her basket, but she wasn't allowed to open it until after we got back from church. She also knew that eggs had been hidden around the house, bu she wasn't supposed to be looking for them either. Of course, she couldn't resist herself when the moment was right.

We all got dressed up (we all had new outfits) and headed off to church. Caitie's dress was the best item of all our purchases as I only paid $11 for the $60 dress from Dillard's! Caitie went to her Sunday School while the rest of us headed off to "big church."

Afterwards, we headed off to Mom and Dad's so Caitie could open her Easter basket and do an egg hunt outside. Colin even got into the action and got three eggs of his own. Caitie enjoyed opening all the eggs most of all, as she found eggs with candy and with money!

After we left Mom and Dad's, we headed home so Caitie could open her basket and do the egghunt we had at our house. Caitie got the Enchanted movie and coloring book, a Hannah Montana barbie doll, and some card games, in addition to loads of candy!

Later that evening, we all headed over for dinner at Shawn's Dad's house. Both kiddos got a basket there and we had a good time eating an Easter lamb (baa!) dinner! Shawn even managed to get a pretty decent picture of me with the kids!

Blessed

We are so blessed that Caitie has been so wonderful with her new little brother. She wans to be around him all the time: helping with his diapers, feeding him bottles, etc. Whenever he cries, she runs over to hold his hand or place his bink in is mouth. It's almost as if we have another little mother in the house.

This picture was from the other night. I needed to change the sheets on Caitie's bed, so I put down his monkey quilt and asked Caitie to watch over him. Luckily, Shawn grabbed the camera and we got lots of shots of her loving on her new little brother. I could not b moe in love with my entire family!

Hannah Montana Caitie

So Caitie truly is a 4 1/2 year old going on 14. She is absolutely in love with Hannah Montana. Case in point, the picture to the left. One of the kids in her class decided to have a Hannah Montana themed party for her 5th birthday. Caitie was very into it, even buying a Hannah Montana digital camera as a present. The best part for her was the fact that all the girls were given a Hannah makeover. That's right, all the girls received a Hannah Montana wig, guitar, and accompanying jewelry. Caitie even went the extra mile and wore her Hannah Montana costume to the party.

So, to make matters worse, this week is "Sweet Niblets, We're Related?!?" week on the Disney channel. Tonight, we were out to dinner with my parents and Caitie asked what time it was. When we told her it was 8:00, she was so upset because she missed the Uncle Earl episode. That's right, she knew which episode was supposed to air tonight and was upset that she missed it! Luckily, we taped it for her!

Go Big Blue!

Little Colin is getting ready for his first real UK basketball game. The tip-off is at 2:30 and he is ready in his basketball outfit.

Please ignore the fact that the outfit has blue and orange, the only UK gear we have for him is size 6-9 months for football season!

A fairy tale princess

On Friday, March 14, Caitie got to dress up as a princess for school. You see, her class had just completed a unit on fairy tales. For two weeks, they had been learning about fairy tale creatures and all about different fairy tales. Her favorite one was the Three Little Pigs. She loves to tell her little brother the story, and she even made her own book at school!

So, on Friday, she dressed up in her Snow White costume. This costume was her Halloween costume last year; that's right, when she was 3! She got the costume from Disney World, so she is the real Snow White when she wears it!

The two Pre-K classes had a fairy tale ball and all the kids got to walk the red carpet to enter the ball. They even did dances in their fancy costumes. According to Caitie, there was a Peter Pan, a fairy, a Cinderella, a Sleeping Beauty, a Captain Hook, and even a Humpty Dumpty!

Introducing Colin Parker...

The newest addition to the Hinds family arrived on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 8:43 pm. He was 7 pounds 1 ounce and measured 19 inches long. He is absolutely perfect!

At 39 weeks, 2 days, I was induced by my doctor to have my precious little man join the family. We got to the hospital at 7:30 am and checked in to the hospital. I got my IV put in, the pitocin started, and waited patiently for Dr. Bradley to arrive. He finally got there around 9:30 and broke my water. At that point, he put an internal contraction monitor on me to better chart the contractions. Then, the waiting game began.

Mom and Dad stopped by and we played some cards, even through the contractions. Finally, around 12:30, I asked for the epidural. The best part was that one of my school parents is an anesthesiologist at the hospital, so she came down to do the epi. My parents left at this point to go get Caitie, and we waited some more.

Caitie and my parents stopped by after school, and her only response was "Where is my brother? Why isn't he here yet?" They stayed for a while, then took Caitie home for dinner and to wait. Tiff arrived around 6, and my first nurse did her final check for her shift....I had made it to 6 cm!
I started to really feel the contractions again around 7:30, and the horrible new nurse finally agreed to check me, and I had advanced to 8 cm! At this point, the tears were streaming down my face because the pain was so intense. Shawn went to find the nurse again, and luckily, a new nurse had been assigned to me. She did a check and said it was time to start pushing! Thank goodness!

They paged Dr. Bradley (he had been at dinner), and he arrived just in time for Colin's arrival. Unlike his sister's birth, I only had to push for 20 minutes before I was greeted with the sweet cries of my new little angel. His weight and length were the same as his sister's and the resemblance between the two is remarkable. He will go through life hearing how much he looks like his big sister!

Welcome!

I have decided to reenter the world of blogging now that our family has grown from three to four. That's right, there is another member of the Hinds family. This blog will serve as an update for our family and friends about the goings-on of the Hinds household! Enjoy and visit our Flickr account to see all the recent pictures!