Wendy, Madelyn, and Christopher

Loss and Betrayal

2012-02-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

It's been a mystery to me how a man that I didn't love could literally break my heart. But after the last year and a half of, first my children being stolen, and then a steady barrage of betrayals and loss of loved ones; I realized that I had been broken down so badly by abuse, that I had lost the love of myself. I worked very hard and very long at being a woman and mother that I finally loved and respected. My children, my Jeremy, and I will work very hard at putting back the pieces of what should have been to begin with.

For any readers out there...and for myself.

2010-12-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

It Has To Be Said:
An unrepairable fracture resulted in what was a family of four is now two families of three. For my part, it's just me and my two precious children. I'm fighting to keep them close and to shelter them from harm. The continuing posts will be about our struggle to start over and the joy it brings to grow roots in our new home and blossom forth about the world.

I treated a man and his young son to a Costco meal this evening. They are down on their luck, as so many of us are, and it brought joy to my day to share a meal with them.

Driving from Sacramento back to Brentwood, a daily routine now. My eyes just won't stay open and I pull over and take a nap at a trusted stop. I wake up warm and alert, happy that my blanket is so warm and that I thought to bring a pillow yesterday morning. An hour and-a-half drive turns into three but the cool blanket of fog is welcoming just as long as I drive safe and sure. The moon is bright, encircled by two rings, the subtle rainbows whisper and welcome wondering if their beauty is noticed and appreciated. Yes, I'm thankful for the quiet beauty of my favorite lunar guiding light and only wonder for a moment what the double ring-rainbow must mean :-). The fog's gentle fingers release and I'm faced with a cool clear night and a vast, calm, river guiding me home.

2010-03-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe how time fly’s. You hear it all the time when you’re younger and always wonder how the endless hours could possibly fly by but then one day in your late 20’s, you’re almost in your late 30’s and not sure at all how it happened. Beautiful children doing miraculous things and all.

Madelyn is officially a school age little girl and not just because she’s going to be a 1^st-grader all too soon. Everyday James and I laugh at her precious personality that’s bubbling to the surface as she collects little pieces of life and puts them on display as she “decorates”. She’s now taken to tearing pictures that she likes, out of magazines. I had totally forgotten that I had a whole binder of porcelain dolls, and pretty plates and things that I had taken out of magazines a long long time ago and it makes me smile to think about this precious little girl doing the same thing. She still has all her pretty baby teeth and I'm cheering for them to stay in as long as possible. I can't keep her a baby but her teeth are sure staying for now, yea!

Christopher went from standing to running and quickly to attacking his big sister faster than we can keep up with. We feel bad but it’s just too funny how our little Billy Boy pushes around Madelyn sometimes. She’ll do something to upset him and not too much later, we hear Madelyn crying because Critter has retaliated. He’s so little to have such a large personality, walking around and making himself heard. His vocalizations are hilarious. He's decided that he doesn't need to talk. Just an occasional oooOOOO, OhHH, or AhhhHH and an increasing number of screams. He pretty much has his own language of sound and we know exactly what he wants. Poor little guy has all of the rest (about 7) of his teeth coming in at the same time still. It seems like they’ve been peeking thru his gums forever.

Sorry, about my lame Christmas cards and lack of birthday wishes. I only got out about a third of the Christmas cards and those weren’t even finished. I’m not so good about keeping in touch lately but James and I exercised today so at least we’re crawling towards our goals. Sadly, Mario Bro. Wii is how I have most of my fun. It is special to play with Madelyn though. It’s fun to see the excitement in her face and to share that time with her. Wednesdays are our Lost night. After Christopher has gone to bed and James to school, we cuddle and watch it together. Madelyn is actually quite into it, which makes it that much more fun to watch. I’m bummed it’s the last season though.

Above: A beautiful day in Capitola at the beach. Christopher is soaking wet after being rolled up the beach by the waves. He loved it until he realized that he was FREEZING! A quick clothes change and he was a happy clam again. Thanks for coming Magz. It was awesome spending some time with you.
Madelyn enjoying one of the many fun trees at our duck pond. We enjoy hand feeding the ducks. A few times I've caught one so the kids could pet their pretty feathers. We're all looking forward to the spring-time ducklings that are so precious to watch.

Madelyn Loves Kindergarten

2009-12-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

8/27/09

Madelyn is doing so great in Kindergarten. At first I was concerned about her starting at only 4 years old but she's loving it. She's by far thy youngest kid in her class but that doesn't stop her from telling her teacher(s) how to do their job. Crazy girl. Fortunately she has an awesome teacher that's understanding and the school is really great. Other than having to purchase snacks once a month and buy all the classroom supplies that schools used to pay for, we're really enjoying her school. I love it that they wear uniforms. Makes everything so much easier. Anywho, above are pictures of her first day of school. She was very specific on how she wanted her hair. For those of you who watched Avatar The Last Airbender, she wanted her hair a mix between the firebending princess and Kai Lan (a Mandarin Dora the Explorer). Personally I prefer the curls mom sent me to school in but to each her own. Putting her hair up in buns was much easier anyway. I put her hair up for picture day but it was pretty flat for the pictures.

10/2009

12/4/09

2009-12-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

After a very long blogging absence, I finally got around to posting some pictures from our recent and not-so-recent adventures. Below: Labor Day Weekend '09.

Nice slobber Toph.

Around the house. Below: 10/22/09 Toph with his Oopsie Bear. There is his new 5th tooth. Course he's got 7 now (12/13).

Our New "Topher" Vaccum

2009-09-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

As those of you who were at Great Grandpa & Grandma's in Kaysville, UT know, Christopher was only scooting himself into corners, under tables and couches. One day about a week and 1/2 ago, he decided that he was tired of being so limited, got up on his knees, and started crawling like he'd been doing it for months. He is now our best vacuum and, of course, mess maker at the same time. Madelyn is doing awesome in school and starts her new hours of 8-2:15 in the beginning of October. Whoa! Long hours for kindergarden but we like her school a lot so far. There are so many spanish speaking kids in her class that are taught in an EL class separately that the student to teacher ratio is really small. Good thing since Madelyn demands lots of attention and doesn't pay attention very well. She's inherited that, "I only talk, not listen" thing that I'm struggling to shake. We're all really looking forward to her birthday, which is proving to be rather large again. James starts school on Tuesday and will be done with all of his pre-requisites for PA school and he's just two recommendations away from finishing his tedious application for PA school. I hope his health gives way to his ambitions. So far he's winning the fight.

Settling In

2009-07-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'll add some pictures when we get our new 1.5 TB external hard drive hooked up. My pictures are taking up all the memory on my computer so it's kinda hard to add more and edit them. We're quickly getting settled in our apartment in Sunnyvale and are really enjoying the area. It's nice to be so close to so many enjoyable activities plus we live right by the cutest duck pond. Our apartment complex is a wonderful little community all in itself and the weather has been wonderful. James' health seams to be getting better and better and I'm feeling much better as I'm adjusting to everything. The kids are both happy and healthy. Christopher got his first two teeth last week and isn't enjoying that much but it's just so cute. He just fell asleep in his jumper after about 45 min. of laughing and jumping. He loves that thing. Wish Madelyn had enjoyed one when she was little but never took to it. Madelyn and Christopher are still absolutely enthralled with each other and it's fun to see how they grow everyday. Madelyn starts 2 1/2 hour kindergarten in August and 5 hour kindergarten starting October. That'll be exciting and hard I'm sure. We're headed to mom and dad's on Friday for a BBQ and to San Francisco on the 4th. James' sister and niece are coming for a visit at the end of the month and we're all really excited for that.

Sunshine & Rain

2009-02-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed our Valentine's dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Nielsen's house and I enjoyed helping mom and dad frosten the pretty heart cookies. Madelyn mostly liked the butter, frosting, and sprinkles. Madelyn had fun, as always, with her cousins Jack and Austin. We sure will miss you guys when you go. :-( Usually very cheerful Christopher was all pouts until uncle Michael got big smiles and laughs out of him. He answered and giggled at all of uncle Michael's questions too, so cute!

We've been getting some very good rainfall lately, which is good but not so good for outdoor play. I think Madelyn is starting to go a little coo coo since we took her out of pre-school and it's been mostly just mom and dad since, like practically everyone I talk to, Madelyn and Christopher have had a bad cold/flu thing since the beginning of the month.

Yesterday James and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and my honey treated me to some excellent lobster that he bought just for me. What a sweetie. He sure does bend over backwards for me. I love you too James!

We finally got lots of beautiful sunshine today so James took the kids for a very long walk. Madelyn did so good on her new big-girl bike, even up and down all the big hills. Christopher even calmed down for the walk and took a little nap, he sure does love to keep moving. While his big sister is getting well over her cold, Christopher has been getting worse so we finally took him to the Dr today and were sent home with a nebulizer thingy but he sure does act like he's felt better after his first two treatments. Hang in there little guy, we've missed your constant smiles.

Up To Date

2009-02-11T22:51:00.001-08:00

Not much going on around here; just a few more pictures to show. James did well on his first test this semester and hopefully when he finishes this class it's only 2 more classes to go before Physician's Assistant school. Madelyn's out of preschool and is certainly stubborn when it comes time for James and I to teach and get her ready for kindergarten this July. Christopher is growing up so fast. He's a very happy good baby; only wakes up once a night to eat. His laughs are quiet but frequent and he sure talks to me a lot. I'm trying to get it on video but then he just get fascinated with the camera. Happy 8th Anniversary to James and I on the 17th!

01/18/09

01/27/09

02/06/09

Light really shows off the red in Christopher's hair. With his hair, blue eyes, and James' green shirt, he sure looks like an Irish baby, to me, in this picture...definitely gets that from his dad's side.

December 27, 2008

2009-02-10T22:11:00.001-08:00

A VERY big day for our ever growing family. Christopher was blessed and later that evening we (minus the kidletts) enjoyed a wonderful celebration of my sister Amy's recent wedding. What a luxurious night out!

2008 Collins Family Picture

Rose Red in her pretty dress from Aunt Mimi and ruby slippers from Grammy Collins.

Taking care of and cuddling with her favorite little baby buddy.

Before Christopher's Blessing.

Christmas at Last

2009-02-10T21:46:00.000-08:00

A Very Merry (late) Christmas To All!

I feel bad it took me so long but here are some Christmas pictures at last.

Just Life

2009-01-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

A new little bomb has dropped in the Collins household. Madelyn and Christopher have been sick. Christopher very sick with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial virus) pretty common but possibly deadly in newborns. He's much better than last week as he doesn't have a concurrent stomach bug anymore, is being treated for his ear infection, and smiled for the first time since he got sick the other day. I just came down with the bug(s) and feel TERRIBLE! The other bomb James asked me not to blog.

Christopher's Baby Announcement

2009-01-17T17:04:00.001-08:00

Here's his birth announcement for everyone I didn't have a current address for. I Photoshopped it a little bit from the original just because I liked being able to add more than 30 characters per line and actually being able to have our last name on it.

2009-01-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

Grammy Barbara's Visit

2009-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the month of December, we had the pleasure of having "Grammy" Collins come and visit for a week. She was an absolute pleasure to have and a real blessing by cooking, cleaning, offering good company, spoiling us rotten, and watching the kids while I got some much needed sleep. I was able to take her by the John Muir home so at least Barbara was able to see something besides the inside of our house while she was here. She also spoiled us by taking us out (among other places) to Vic Stewart's; an extremely delicious high end steak house brand-new to Brentwood. Everything was so deliciously prepared that I didn't even need salt and I'm a salt addict. It was a great visit and I'll post some more pictures as soon as I can get this little ball of cuteness off my shoulder.

Madelyn Princess

Christopher stopped crying as soon as Madelyn put her finger to her mouth, so funny.

Christopher 3 weeks old.

Just Some Fun Past Christmas Pictures with the NEW!

2008-12-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

Christopher with Uncle "Santa" David, Christmas Day 2008

Madelyn with Uncle "Santa" David, Christmas Eve 2004

Me with Santa, Christmas 1976

James with Santa, Christmas 1974

Jaundice & a First Bath

2008-12-03T23:00:00.001-08:00

We had a little bit of trouble with Christopher being jaundiced as his bilirubin levels got WAY too high so we had to get re-admitted to the hospital on Thanksgiving. Poor James totally missed Thanksgiving dinner. I did too but I wasn't really too concerned about that. They made me up a nice microwave dinner when I got to the hospital, gag. I just felt terrible that I had to leave Madelyn again. She ended up being a real sport about it though. The doctors thought that we would have to stay for 48 hrs. at best but Christopher did really well under the bili-lights and we were able to go home the next day, yea! Christopher is still over 5 points higher than normal on his bili labs but he's doing ok. I just wish there was some sun we could put him in so he could get better that way.

Madelyn is such a helper girl. She really wanted to give Christopher his first bath. I told her about how all I had to do was hold her head and the rest of her body would float by itself for her first bath so she wanted to do that with Christopher. She did a great job. Madelyn would really like to help out more so James and I are really looking forward to Christopher becoming stronger and a little less fragile.

Madelyn meeting her new baby brother

2008-12-03T22:49:00.000-08:00

11/22/2008
Madelyn's first look at her new baby brother.

Madelyn is very gentle with Christopher and extremely proud to be a big sister.

Very happy pair.

Baby Christopher

2008-12-03T22:42:00.001-08:00

Christopher William Phinneus
was born on Friday 11/21/2008 @ 7:28 p.m.
He weighed 7 lbs 6 oz
and was 20 inches long.
This picture was taken right before his first sponge bath on his birthday.

Christopher William Phinneus Collins

2008-11-24T02:17:00.000-08:00

HE'S HERE!!! Great labor, excellent delivery, and hopefully wonderful recovery. 3 pushes and he was out. It was so great having family there. Thank you to everyone that's helped and visited so far. Sooo much nicer than doing it alone in Texas. What a difference! We finally thought of a name Sunday right before we went home and then actually almost changed it but this one will just have to stick. It's about time! I just call him my little Tophie Cheeks. We got some precious pictures and will post them a.s.a.p. Now to get some sleep, hmmmm...

Baby Brother

2008-11-07T13:39:00.001-08:00

Here's Madelyn giving her baby brother one of her wonderful hugs. She's looking forward to his arrival and being a helpful big sister. This same night Madelyn started explaining on how she thought he would get here, ouch!! She was very creative about what the skin on my belly was going to do.

Little Singer

2008-11-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

Madelyn LOVES grandma Nielsen's Halloween songs.

4yr Old Pictures

2008-11-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween going to a parade and party at Madelyn's school and then walking in the sprinkling rain trick-or-treating. Madelyn had so much fun with the two neighbor girls we went with and was VERY good at always saying "trick-or-treat". No shyness in this little girl! We tried to visit daddy at work but he was called into the O.R. :-( Madelyn was such a good little witch.

Madelyn's Big Birthday Week

2008-10-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 10/8: We went to Carino’s for dinner and had a nice big brownie sundae after singing the 1st Happy Birthday of many to Madelyn .

Thursday 10/9: I brought cupcakes to Madelyn’s school for the afternoon snack time and sang Happy Birthday to her with all of her little school friends. She was very excited about the upcoming week. So much so that she wanted her hair just right and decided to hide under a table earlier in the day with a pair of scissors and cut herself “more bangs”. The school Director warned me before I brought the cupcakes in but it isn’t so bad. I think we’ll just let those extra bangs grow out. Ugh, I thought we didn’t have to worry about her cutting her hair anymore, jinx!
Sunday 10/12: We had a fun family dinner with cake for Madelyn at grandpa and grandma’s house. Thanks for the wonderful dinner grandma! It was really nice to enjoy the company of Auntie Em, Uncle Michael, Aunt Heidi, Austin, and Jack along with the Brentwood Nielsens. Madelyn really liked the Sponge Bob ice cream cake that she specifically requested a few months ago.
Monday 10/13: Happy 4th Birthday Madelyn! I figured we had to do something on Madelyn’s birthday so we headed off to Chuck E. Cheese’s for a little bit before Madelyn’s “Well Baby” Dr’s appointment. Friends and family joined us again and I wish we could have stayed longer. Thank you everyone for making it so much fun. Madelyn is happy and healthy and doing well in weight and height and is in the upper 60th percentile for both. Turns out it was time for all her pre-Kindergarden shots but we obviously put all 6 of those off for next week; after Disneyland and definitely NOT on her birthday.

Tuesday 10/14: We slept thru the alarm but hurried and got everything packed and ready to go in time to make it to my echocardiogram in Livermore. Everything looks good so there should be no problems with a normal on-schedule delivery of our little no-name baby boy. Madelyn was VERY good for the trip down to Disneyland. Thank goodness for portable DVD players. After we checked in to our hotel, we had a fun time walking around Downtown Disney and eating at the Rainforest Café. And yes, we sang Happy Birthday to Madelyn again that night.

Wednesday 10/15: Our first day at Disneyland was funny. We thought there might be a little bit of a problem with what Madelyn was imagining and what Disneyland actually was when, on the way down, she said that she was going to put Tinker Bell in a jar so that she could see her. We tried to explain around that one but she wasn’t having it. Her first ride was the Matterhorn with James while I was waiting in the Finding Nemo line. She just thought it was ok but thought the “monster”/abominable snow man was cool. Madelyn was pretty moody the 1st few hours because she didn’t see her favorite characters running around everywhere like in the movies but she got over it and we all absolutely LOVED the princess lunch and thought it was totally worth it. Upon walking to our table we met with Ariel. When I told Madelyn Sleeping Beauty was coming out, she got so excited she jumped up, spun around, and landed about 5 feet from her chair still frantic that she might miss the princess. So funny! Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, and Cinderella all came and talked individually with Madelyn and we saw Belle later on. The food was very yummy, a big plus, and they made a big deal over her birthday. Madelyn didn’t say much to the princesses but we could tell she was very excited. The parade that night was totally awesome but not as neat as watching Madelyn watch everything. She was so much fun to see experiencing everything.

Thursday 10/16: Our last and longest day was tiring and fun. We did our favorites, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted House. Madelyn loved both and we rode Pirates 3x in a row at the end of the night. The Haunted House was all re-done to be in theme with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Madelyn had to get a little Zero stuffed animal (Jack Skellington’s ghost dog) because she liked it so much. I made a reservation at the Pirates restaurant, Blue Bayou, and that was neat but we’ll definitely skip it in the future. We’ll do the princess lunch again for sure though. The fireworks were the best I’ve ever seen and totally worth the crowd. Fun, fun.

Friday 10/17: After a 7 hour ride home, I dropped James off for work (he had to leave in 10 min.) and headed strait for grandma and grandpa’s house for their Halloween party. Even after a long day in the car it was wonderful. Yummy punch, homemade chili, pumpkin pies, decorated sugar cookies, treats for the kids, sang some Halloween songs, and sat around the fire and roasted some marshmallows. Emily and I even ended up freaking each other out with our scary talk around the fire. I don’t know what was up with “the shadow” that jumped on everyone though. He only shook pool water all over me, I’m special I guess. ☺

Well, there’s the end of our very special and especially exhausting week of Madelyn’s big 4th birthday.

Happy Birthday Song 10/12/08

2008-10-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

At grandma and grandpa's house.

28 Week Ultrasound

2008-10-23T01:53:00.001-07:00

September 09, 2008. Our little boy with his hand over his face during the ultrasound.

Wizard of Oz

2008-10-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

Madelyn is very much into The Wizard of Oz movie right now. She can't get enough of it. She asked about it a few times because of the poster at Straw Hat Pizza, the musical Wicked decor at See's Candies, and the McDonald's Happy Meal toys. Sooo, I decided to go down to the garage and find my old VHS tape of it. She LOVES it. I think it's hilarious because she'll sit thru it telling me all about it and asking questions and then telling me the answers in her own way. She's so precious.

Her little brother is doing well, is big, and kicking like a real soccer player. Baby boy got some clothes in the mail from Grandma Collins (thank you) the other day and Madelyn decided that the 24mo. clothes would be perfect for her to wear. So silly.

We need a new camera, argh! Any suggestions? We need one before the baby is born of course but also before we go to Disneyland on the 14th.

About Time

2008-08-26T18:44:00.010-07:00

All the way back to Easter: Madelyn and I went to the big Easter celebration at Liberty High School. It was awesome. Lots of hunts, games, and yummy free food!!!

It's been too long since my last post. Here goes...

Health: My ill health of last year (passing out a lot and extreme reactions to the littlest of viruses) has ended up being due to a newly acquired heart condition. I have a “reduced fraction output” which means that my heart isn’t pumping out at a normal rate so it has to pump a lot faster and harder to keep me going. It’s not hereditary; it could have been caused by a bad virus but the doctors don’t know. This reduced output causes another condition which also explains a lot of why I’ve been exhausted but enough on that. My heart condition finally got diagnosed after we found out that we’re having a baby boy due the end of November!
We’re both doing well and will have a new ultrasound picture in a couple of weeks at my 28 week/7 month check-up.
Madelyn is all Sunshine and Daisies as usual. She had a fever of 103, in the evening, last week but by 11pm on the same day it was gone. What a resilient little princess.

Work: James finally got a 24 hr permanent position at Kaiser so that means we get health care starting Sept. 1st. Yeah! He’ll still be working per-diem the other days of the week until a full-time position opens up.

School: Madelyn didn't seem to enjoy her old pre-school very much but is still absolutely loving her current pre-school and looks forward to it even on the weekends. James is still taking his prerequisites for PA school.

We took a trip down to Monterey recently and had lots of fun. After Madda turned blue from the cold ocean water, we walked back to the car and she said, "THAT SAND WAS GREAT!!!" She said it like she'd never imagined something so fun. Madelyn loved the beach so much that we went to Stinson beach the very next week.

2008-02-29T20:03:00.003-08:00

Madelyn is really in to My Little Ponys right now. She's such a little girl. Everything must be pink, potty training treats, everything. The weather has been gorgeous this week. We went to the little park by our house today and then for a family walk after dinner. Madelyn missed all her activities this week due to the croup caused by a bad cold that we'd had for well over a week. She was a limp noodle with a fever Monday afternoon and evening but got a lot better after her blessing. She's still has a low grade fever and a yucky cough. I don't think I'm going to put her back into preschool until a year before she starts kindergarten. I think she'd enjoy gymnastics/tumbling a lot more. She just really needs to get the jigglies out.

March Birthdays:
Austin Walwyn on the 2nd
Grandpa Walwyn Green turns 95 on the 22nd
Chloe Amelia on the 28th
Matthew on the 29th
Happy Birthday Everyone!!!

New Home

2008-02-17T11:13:00.004-08:00

Our 2007 Family Pics

2008-02-17T10:31:00.001-08:00

Madelyn's 3yr old pics

2008-02-17T10:20:00.005-08:00

2008-01-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

It's been raining A TON so I don't have an actual picture yet but here's the drawing of our new home. We're really excited and VERY tired.

We still haven't moved the bulk of our things. They're still in my mom and dad's garage but it's sorta hard to move into a nice clean house when it's been pouring rain (CA pouring anyway) since we moved in. It's been a very cold CA winter.

Madelyn is loving her "favorite house" but the potty training is still something she refuses. I might have to call in an expert.

Love, Wendy

Birthday Song #4 w/Family

2007-10-13T20:12:00.001-07:00

"Again guys, again!"

Happy Birthday Song #3 w/Family

2007-10-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Again, again, again!

Happy Birthday Song #9

2007-10-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Madelyn

2007-10-13T19:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

CHEESE!

Our best Texas friends, Melissa & Addy, came to celebrate with us. It's turned out to be a very wonderful birthday for our wonderful Madelyn...And we sang "Happy Birthday" like 15 times.

A moment of peace between TOTAL EXCITEMENT

A Quick Jump in the Pool w/the Wrong Diaper

2007-10-13T19:27:00.001-07:00

"Why are you following me?"

"Ok, put the camera away!"

2007-10-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Is it acting like fall in California yet?

What about Illinois, Oregon, Arizona, and Utah? People have Halloween and fall décor up and it really confuses me. I still think I'm 23, it's the first half of the year 2000, and my little girl is still a baby in arms. No it doesn't make sense but the time lapse really doesn't either. What happened to all that time? The weather hasn’t changed here. It’s still pretty much pool season. I can’t believe it’s October and that Madelyn is going to turn 3 next Saturday. James is going to be in CA for Madda’s birthday so we’re not really going to have a celebration until we get settled in our new Brentwood home. Melissa and Addy (Madelyn’s and my closest friends) are coming over for the day to play so that we can make it as special as possible in the middle of a hard move.

I have some new pictures to share but haven’t gotten them on the computer yet. Sorry. Soon we won’t be such far away faces. We’ll be familiar and with family. I can’t believe that I’ve been away from home for over 7½ years and that James and I will be taking Madelyn away from the only home she’s ever known and bringing her home at the same time. Home is truly, where your loved ones are. James’ family isn’t very happy about us moving so far away and that’s understandable but James and Madelyn will be flying out for visits and I hope Grandma Collins and Aunt Mi Mi will be visiting us in California as well. Thank you so much for the gifts and pictures Grandma Collins.

I cry every time I talk or even type about it but it’ll be so wonderful for Madelyn to be surrounded by family and to be able to make friends that don’t move away as soon as we become close. It’ll be wonderful to put the military behind us and leave it in the past. James and I want to give Madelyn everything and it’s been such a heartache to see her hurt because of friends leaving and family being so far away. The poor girl is so socially neglected. We’re finally going to be able to change that.

California means so much to us; it means getting better and healing our bodies as well as our hearts. James and I are so sick. I don’t think it’ll really sink in to those that we’re coming home to until everyone that knew us before gets to know us again. My intensive 17 hr. sleep study (Wed & Thurs) didn’t yield hopeful results but I’ve got to have something positive to hold on to. I believe that the Lord will be able to heal us with faith, family, new friends, and an excellent diet with natural supplements. ☺

Love, Wendy

2007-09-24T18:06:00.001-07:00

2007-09-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Always a favorite picture. I can almost see Madelyn sitting beside Grandma Nielsen. I also must point out that I still have my yellow blankie that Madelyn's G.G. Grandma Webster made for me in this picture. I think it died a mere few years later as I watched and cried (add some dramatic music in your heads) as my terrible and haunting brothers threw it right into the back of a garbage truck. I still have pinky, YOU NEVER GOT PINKY! :-)

2007-09-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a favorite picture of our beloved President Gordon B. Hinkley.
I believe this is one of the pictures taken when he was given the highest honor a United States citizen can receive from President George W. Bush.

2007-09-21T11:28:00.001-07:00

We love Halloween year round but we're showing off Madelyn's new Halloween night shirt.

Picture #2 "Uh, I just don't know what my motivation is supposed to be."

Picture #3: Scary spider!

James has wanted a dog forever and I had a moment of euphoria (I suppose) I let him go get one with Madelyn. Our newest member of the family, Boog.

Not much we really want to bother everyone with as far as an update. James’ and my health is terrible. My sleep (or rather lack of) has gotten so bad that I’ve gotten Narcolepsy — A life-threatening disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks during the day. I’ve had another sleep consult in for a couple of months now because the first one showed that I was getting no restful sleep but the 2nd appointment has so far been a no-show. James is very very ill. I’ll leave it at that. In between all the health fun, we’re trying to get ready for the move. Boog is an absolute doll but James is driving him back to Dallas tomorrow (James is VERY mad at me) because we just can’t take care of him and Madelyn as we're both sick and living on the 3rd floor. Good news is that James will be picking him back up on his final drive back to CA.
Madelyn put Boog's feeding bowls box on her head all on her own and ran around the house being "Boog's eat". Other than Madelyn's tempers here and there about not getting ALL of mommy and daddy's attention, she and Boog have become good friends and Boog protects her from everyone. It's so cute from a 4 mo. old puppy.

Speed Racer

2007-08-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

August

2007-08-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS on another baby girl all you Portland Nielsen’s!!! I know when the twins were born, when I was six, they were my whole world after being surrounded by boys for so long and then I got the best gifts mom has ever given me, the rest of my 5 beautiful, wonderful sisters. And now Aaron, Matthew, and Michael have married the best women/sisters I could ever hope for. I wonder if Arwen would enjoy sharing a birthday. Madelyn probably wouldn't but we would sure have one heck of a friends party.

James and I have been feeling pretty good, physically, lately so we had a good weekend. Saturday we went to the too and all the animals were especially active. I watched a vulture start and finish an entire rat that looked the same as the black and white one that I had as a kid. James kept telling me to hurry on but I was stuck, I just couldn’t stop staring at this enormous bird perfectly devour the rat and then I got really stuck.
We moved on to the huge tortoises (Turtles/Tortoises are my favorite reptile and one of my top 5 favorite creatures). There were 3 that day and two were in a mud hole very close to the gate. I had an asian apple in hand from one of the trees at the zoo and couldn’t help but coax this beautiful prehistoric looking tortoise towards me. She SMACK, sloped out of her mud whole and reached as far as she could toward the apple. I called James and Madelyn back to watch her eat. Sooooooo fun. It’s so rare to see tortoises of this size ever move let alone eat. I couldn’t be more excited if she were an Apatosaurus (my favorite dinosaur). I was then naughty and coaxed her out with some green thing we picked off a tree just to pet her beautiful head. I made sure Madelyn didn’t see me get inside the fence (bad example and all). I didn’t let her eat the unknown (nut I think) but she let me pet her head until James got me to come running because the zoo had closed 10 min. earlier and then she, BUBBLE BUBBLE SQUIRT, slopped back into her mud whole.

Tuesday, James had the day off because I had a sleep study that night at 7:30. Lights out at 10, at 11 the nurse brought me a sleeping pill and what seemed like 5 minutes later, she brought me a second one (actually 45 min. later). She said everyone else was sound asleep. I think I fell asleep at 1am (no clocks), and at the 6am wakeup the nurse/tech asked me how I thought I slept. I felt like it was the middle of the night but felt like I did when I usually wake up and she said that my brain was awake all night long. Hmmm, maybe there’s a simple reason for all my health problems? YA THINK! I won’t get the results for who knows how long but she said that I’ll have two more sleep studies scheduled because of the results of this sleep study. I wonder if I did any arm tickling (like Emily and Aaron do also) in the middle of the night. I wake myself up talking all the time, the other morning I woke myself up by sculpting a face out of clay, I opened my eyes, and I was sitting up actually going thru the sculpting motions with my hands.

I don’t remember what day it was but James, Madelyn, and I spent some wonderful hot stormless time at the pool early in the morning and I actually got some color for the first time, even my face w/my SPF 30 on. Then in the afternoon, about 3:00 we got one of our hurricane-like storms, cannon fire thunder and pounding rain with winds that were blowing shingles off. So nice to be in such a nice apartment and not have to worry about a thing.

HAPPY EARLY AUGUST BIRTHDAYS TO:
(Your birthstone is a Peridot and your birthflowers are gladiolus)
8/6 My nephew Steven, Happy 21st!
8/14 Our cat Dresden, she’s actually 31 (in cat years), same grumpy age as me.
8/22 Meghan, Happy 22nd on the 22nd!
8/30 Sequoia, ha ha, you’re finally as old as me!
HAPPY ANNNIVERSARIES TO:
8/9 Michael & Heidi, Happy 4th!
8/20 Mom & Dad, Happy 38th! Yes mom, I have scrapbooking pages in the works.

Love, Wendy

My buzzet pixie and where she get's her Pixie dust.

2007-07-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

This is a REAL picture of *The Eagle Nebula, M16; Located in the constellation of Serpens taken thru some NASA telescope.
I'm pretty sure it's one of those places fairies come from. That and mom and dad's western eucalyptus orchard. DON'T YOU DARE TAKE THAT OUT!
This week as been the same ol' thing. Thunder & Lightening storms everyday. Fun to watch but we can't go out to the pool as much as we'd like because the lightening is so bad. The pool pictures are of our Buzzet about to beat up the fountaints and of the battle face after her victory. I met two 14yr old girls at the pool that did their first of my 9 hour unpaid babysitting trial on Friday. They were awesome. I thought they were too good to be true but then I remembered everything I did when I used to babysit. It's just so hard to trust anyone with the statistics in this area, especially since James' works in the ER and sees so many of the wost cases of neglect and abuse. We're still on track for moving to CA in October and that's all there is to report. Michael & Heidi, let me know how to put videos on my blog, I've got lots of cute one's.
-Love Wendy

PS Just got my hair trimmed (for the first time) 3 inches since my awful original cut in December '05. Once picture is the week before I got it cut (longest my hair has ever been) and the other is the week I got the awful cut. I can't tell an inches difference in lengh since my current trim. I'm hoping to donate or sell it soon and go back to a long shoulder length.

Pixie Dust

2007-07-21T20:00:00.001-07:00

July 21, 2007
Here's the best update I can give everyone. James and I are still organizing, packing, unpacking, and moving (old storage unit to new garage saving over $200 a month, yea!). The current plan is that Madelyn and I will be flying out to CA mid October and get the living room at mom and dad's (thanks again) ready for some real living in. We'll have everything boxed up and ready to go and pay "handlers" to put it all on the moving truck around the same time. Everything else about the driving part of the move is still a bit confusing to me. Speaking of confusing...

A medication slipped past my system of double-checking all meds that my Dr's have prescribed me and then I choose to take or not to take them. Anyway, I've had very serious side effects including bad short-term memory loss that may be permanent so Dad and I will be quite the pair. James and I are both very ill but are planning on slowly getting off all chemical medications before we move and then are planning on seeing dad’s holistic Dr. in San Fran, filling out the survey, and following his advice but first we’re both doing multiple body cleanses. Just a few examples are the liver, gallbladder, and this ionic water one (James found it and I forgot the name) that pulls toxins and excess metals out of your body. There’s a foot one and a full body one and I plan on doing the ionic cleanse right before I start the supplements and diet that dad’s holistic MD puts me on. I’m very optimistic about the whole thing, probably too much but it’s not like my body’s let me down before, ha ha (not so funny sarcasm).

Wish I had some current pictures for ya’ll but I haven’t downloaded the camera lately.

I have to apologize to everyone about birthday’s this year, it’s been a hard one (year) and I love to send birthday cards and at least an email but haven’t been very good at it so here goes…

HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY to everyone January 1st thru June 30th. HAPPY belated July BIRTHDAYs to Sarah, Heidi, David, and Evan. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY Grandma Collins, I told James you called. Thank you so much for your prayers and generosity. HAPPY pre-BIRTHDAY to Michael and a big HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY to everyone (except Grandma Collins of course, we'll start celebrating your unbirthday in less than an hour). Every time I light a candle Madelyn starts singing happy birthday so we sing a lot of happy unbirthday songs. Its past time to go night night so sweet dreams everyone and I hope you all have wonderful dreams filled with plenty of pixie dust.
Love, Wendy