Writing a blog is hard

So I have found it that writing the blog can be kind of difficult with a full time job and a baby.But that is what the fans are here for--baby updates. So I am going to give you some good updates of the last few weeks.
We had thanksgiving a while ago, remember that? The local family came to our house along with some friends and we had a nice dinner. Colby was a peach the entire time and really enjoyed the theme.


Now we are getting ready for christmas. Time really flies. We have our tree up and lit. It is really nice. Colby is looking forward to playing with all the boxes and paper I am getting her for her first Christmas. Her mom also blew the bank on buying books totally to advanced for her, but moms can't control themselves--especially when it comes to books!  We did get her the cutest little christmas dress, or maybe she makes it cute because she is in it. Who knows.

We all hope that everyone is having a great holiday season and hope to hear from you soon.

LLB3

Colby had her 4 month check up this week and she is healthy as a horse. She is continuing to grow in the long, lean, and bulbous categories. The new stats are below.
Long: 26 Inches (97th %)
Lean: 14 Lbs 12oz (75th %)
Bulbous: 43cm (98th %)



We finally got and put together her new jumper toy. My work got us a baby present and this is what we got. She is still trying to workout the jumping part, but she will get the hang of it soon enough.

Champers and his birthday cookie

November 16th was Champer's big 2!! He is getting to be such a big boy. For his birthday we got him a new harness and a cherry pie (it is the Collins family's favorite kind of pie after all).

Champers really loved the cherry pie, he can't wait for his birthday to come again next year. He is such a good little dog, we are happy to have him as part of the family.


Plus Colby thinks that he is hilarious.

Halloween '08

COLBY LOVES NH

Ok, I know that it was about a month ago but Laura and I have been very busy and haven't been able to put up the pictures. I know everyone wants to see just how cute Colby looked as a Tiger this year, so you will all get over the fact that it is almost Thanksgiving by the time you see them.

We took a long weekend up to NH. Thursday the 30th was my 30th birthday. We went out to dinner at the Portsmouth Brewery. The food and beer was great. On Halloween mom got to babysit Colby while we went on a tour of the Red Hook and Smuttynose Breweries. Grandma Nennie had a great time teaching Colby to read. I think she is getting the hang of it because she is trying to turn the pages at bedtime now.

We had a friends wedding up in Meredith, NH on Saturday. Tons of friends from college were there. We had a great time. The grandma's (Sawicki and Stano) came up to babysit while we enjoyed the wedding. Sunday, feeling nostalgic for the good old days in Boston we went down to NU and cleaned out the bookstore of all sorts of NU gear.

We went to Sunset Tap & Grill for lunch and beers. Saw our friends, the McTeal's, who graciously invited us to there apartment for coffee after lunch. We also got to visit with Laura's other kids, Timmy and Hannah Weighart, along with Scott and Ellie.  We were very happy to introduce Colby and hang out and catch up!  Overall it was a great weekend at home. Definitely a full agenda, but everyone went home happy. Can't wait to do it this summer so we can play in the lake.  For more photos of the trip check out Colby's Picasa gallery. http://picasaweb.google.com/Joseph.C.Sawicki/TripToGrandmaNeneAndGrumpyS02

Champers Plays Fetch....Sort Of

Despite what his Poppi says, Champers may not be the sharpest tack in the box....The thing is, he wants to play Fetch, but then reverts back to his love of Keep Away and wanting to be chased. So Fetch turns in to Keep Away and then, if you're lucky, Tug-of-War!

Colby Doesn't Hate Baths Anymore

She doesn't love them, but she doesn't scream the whole time.....Just when she gets taken out and realizes that she is freezing cold :) We are all learning as a family, slowly with lots of trial and error!  

Two Heads are Better than One

Here is an updated picture of the kids doing tummy time together.

Colby Speaks Out!

For all the political hype surrounding the upcoming election, you can't help but form an opinion. This is what Colby had to say about her political ideology. I think you will find her standpoint as clear and coherent as some candidates themselves.

Long Lean and Bulbous 2

The Three Month Check-up

Colby and Mom went in for the three month appointment the other day. Everything is looking good. Colby is happy and healthy, though she is catching a little bit of Dad's cold.


So here are the stats:

Height: 24 1/2 Inches (85th%)
Weight: 13 lbs, 9 oz (80th%)
Head Circumference: 42 1/4 cm (98th%)
So as you can see, she is pretty much along the same lines as last time. Big and tall with her dad's huge head. Can you imagine the strength of this girls neck muscles!!


So we wanted to see just how big that head was. So we went to the Family Pumpkin Festival in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It looks like she still has a little work to do.

But before she fell asleep--she was very pumped and excited to rock her Halloween wear for the Festival.

Babies for the Cure

This shot was taken at 6:30am just before we all loaded in the car with the Stanos for Race for the Cure. Sure, it is easy to smile when you are about to be carried around in a snugli while your mom walks 5K with your dad, grandparents, aunt and friends! But it was a great day, a little chilly, but great. It was very insprirational and humbling to be part of such a great cause, raising money for Breast Cancer research for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Find out how you can help or find a local Race for the Cure: www.komen.org

BFF: Colby and Elsa

How cute are these ladies? They make excellent tabletop accessories--who needs a centerpiece when you have beautiful blond babies?!

The Littlest NU Fan

So she is not the littlest fan, but she is the cutest.  Thanks to Aunt Maggie for trekking out to the NU bookstore for these sweet duds.  Stay tuned for the latest in NU fashion in every month size as she grows!

Thanks to the Boston Red Sox

Colby and I would just like to thank the Boston Red Sox for a great season. We really enjoyed watching them together. I think this is the beginning of a long friendship for Colby and the sox. We had some ups


And we had some downs



But I think that overall it was a successful and entertaining season. This year will just teach Colby that you can't win every time. So she will know what it is like to be a real Red Sox fan. This is something that we talk about on a daily basis. She will not be a pink hat, fair weather fan.


Good luck to the Rays in the WS, no hard feelings.

Marianne's 90th Birthday

1. Getting ready in our party dress with Mommy

Continuing our tour of 90th birthday parties, we went to Lincoln U., Pennsylvania for Marianne's bash. We had a great time, as did Colby. But, due to her being a baby, we had a few costume changes. Here is the progression:

2. Hanging out with Great Grandma Marianne


















3. Costume change after wetting through diaper, onesie, and bloomers.

4. Totally pooped after a long day with the family.

Don't You Hate Pants?

This is a running joke in our house. Colby was more than compliant.

Long, Lean, and Bulbous

Colby is officially 2 months old as of a week ago. Time flies when you are a little baby. This is a picture of her on her 2 month birthday. Sweet track suit I know. Oh and look at the size of those feet, Good God Woman!!

Yesterday she had her 2 month check up. This is when she got her latest measurements and her latest shots. Colby hates the shots, as I'm sure we all do. She had to get 4, two in each leg. Needless to say she was not a happy camper for the rest of the day. When I got home from work Laura passed her off as usually and she screamed bloody murder for the rest of the night. But on the bright side, she fell asleep before 10. Wiped out from all the crying. And she slept through the night as always. She really is the best baby ever in that respect. Turtley Awesome indeed.



So now to the good stuff, the new stats.
Height- 24" 90%
Weight- 12lbs, 10 oz 75%
Head Circumference- 40cm 98%
Hence the title: Long, Lean, and Bulbous. I'm sorry to say it baby girl, but you have your dad's big Sawicki head. 98% yo!! Needless to say we are a very happy family together. Even Champers is enjoying his new little sister.


Also uploaded some new photos to picasa for people to check out. Tell us what you think. We love comments.

Best Friends

Colby and Elsa are obviously going to be forced to be best friends. That is how it works when your parents are best friends. You have to be friends with eachother whether you like it or not. Apparently Elsa is ready for the love to begin, Colby...not so much.

In Memory of Uncle Roger

Last week my uncle Roger passed away. The family and I flew up for the services on Monday. It was a shock to all of us and we will truly miss him. Our hearts go out to Barbara, Matt, Andy, Sam and the rest of the Clark family. My uncle Roger was a great man and a great uncle. He always had a full cooler in the trunk for any family gathering. It was sad that this is the way that most of my Mom's family had to meet Colby, but I think that it brought a little happiness to a sad occasion. I know Mom really enjoyed showing Colby off to the family and friends that were there. I can't wait for us to get up there again soon and see them all again.

The Indian Wedding of the Century

So labor day weekend turned out to be quite a labor indeed. On Saturday we went to our friend Saj's wedding. We have been very excited about this wedding because we love Saj first and foremost, but also because it was rumored that there would be 1,000 people at the wedding. That's right, 1,000 people. So the spectical alone would be worth the trip up to Queens.
Things did not start off on a great note. Three days before the wedding our hotel emailed us and said that they were canceling our reservations and we should contact guest services for other accomodations. Turns out that the hotel that we had booked in April had yet to be constructed. This was not mentioned to us when we had called the week before and asked for an early check in time. So after a little wrangling, Laura was able to get us a room at a Crown Plaza about 30 minutes away from the wedding site. They were also going to honor our room rate after we paid full price and sent them the reciept for reimbursement. Not the most ideal solution but at least we had somewhere to stay. After all it was Labor Day weekend and the US Tennis Open was going on in Queens as well.
So we made the 4 hour drive up to Queens on Saturday, leaving just enough time to get to the hotel and shower and change for the wedding. We booked rooms for the Stanos too and they beat us to the hotel. There was only one room ready, so we unpacked out stuff in the stanos room. The car was totally unloaded when I noticed that I forgot one thing. The garment bag that had my suit and Laura and Colby's dresses. They were still hanging on the bedroom door at home. And since we were planning on going to the beach on Sunday we had nothing else even resembling fancy.

After some cursing and fuming by me, we went off to the mall for maybe the most stressful shopping event of my life. We were both pretty upset about forgetting the clothes and the thought of having to spend money that we don't really have on outfits when we had perfectly good ones at home. So long shopping story short, we spent over 2 hours at the Green Acres Mall. Not the worst mall in the world but not in the greatest neighborhood either. So we both found clothes and had some lunch. Colby slept the entire time in her stroller which was a good thing since mom and dad were not in the best moods.
Having to make this shopping trip means that we missed the ceremony. I will forever regret not being able to see one of my best friends getting married, but we all know it is the reception that is the fun part anyway. So we made it to the reception only 30 minutes late. We were both dressed in our new duds for under $100 total. The reception was a lot of fun. It was at Terrace on the Park. (I'm going to write more about that another time.) We got to see a bunch of good friends and they all got to meet colby. The reception was like being in a club with really good food. There was tons of people, the music was extremely loud and bass heavy. Colby and I spent a good amount of time out in the hallway so we wouldn't go deaf.
Overall it was a great time. Seeing everyone and having good food and drinks made us forget the trials of the day. It even made me forget that I broke a very important rule and wore clothes before I washed them. That is a no-no in my book. But good times were had by all. Can't wait for the next wedding in NH. Gonna have a babysitter for that one so watch out.

Oh yeah, also left the camera at the hotel so that is why we are text heavy here and have no photos.

Colby's First Bath

So here we have Colby getting her first official bath in the official tub at Great-Grandma's house in South Dakota.  My grandmother has a bathtub sink in her bathroom and I think almost everyone in the family (within reason), okay, maybe just the grandkids, have taken baths in this sink.  It is infamous.  So now it was Colby's turn.  Let's just say that she likes it until water touches her head and then she becomes a little less......tolerant....But it was a monumental moment and I am sure she will be thrilled to know when she gets older that her first bath was made into a public spectacle!

The Great-Grand Ladies!

Sorry Jasper, you are not in this one as a fellow great-grandchild, but this picture was too cute to pass up.  You are in the Picasa Gallery, though, not to worry...This is Zoe holding Colby very responsibly.  I mean, how cute are these ladies.  And Zoe is such a smart little lady--kudos to Ariel and Jake for excellent parenting, this kid is a gem, truly.  So Colby had a great time in South Dakota with her Auntie and Uncle Cousins and Fantastic Aunts and Uncles (we don't use Grand--it makes people sound old!).

The Collicki Gallery

Check 'em out! Updated fairly regularly!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Joseph.C.Sawicki

Colby--the Super Trooper

So my grandmother turned 90 yesterday and to celebrate the whole Locken Clan convened in South Dakota last weekend to celebrate such an accomplishment.  Colby made it through 2 flights, one to Chicago and one to Sioux Falls and then a 3+ hour car ride AND BACK.  Kid is a champion.  She then proceeded to be handled by over 40 people throughout the weekend without losing it or not being adorable.  She is the best.  She also slept like a beast every night and gave her mom and dad a big break.  And a special shout out goes to my mom, Grammy, for letting us go out drinking, shooting clay pigeons (not in conjunction with the drinking) and watching the demolition derby at the fair, all while having our child be in safe hands.  I was NOT going to be the jackhole with the baby at the demolition derby cooking in the sun while pounding $3 beers. Not my parenting style....So far!

"Ga!"

Yes, today was Colby's official first word.  We were gliding in the glider and her head was on my shoulder when she leaned her head back, looked me in the eye and shouted, "Ga!" And then she just stared back as if waiting for a response.  It was so clear and purposeful, that I decided that it was her first word :)  My baby, the genius!

Got some new photos up

Grandma Nene is here right now, so there isn't much time to talk.  But what I can tell you is that while Grandma Nene played with Colby, Mommy Laura has had plenty of naptime and can finally run around the house and do stuff that she couldn't do when she was pregnant! That pretty much is everything...And while Grandma Nene was here, we were treated to her DELICIOUS meatloaf.  Amazing.  We were so glad to have her here with us and to meet Colby.  Look at those blonde cuties hanging out in the recliner.  Adorable.

Just one of those nights

You know those nights where your baby cries and won't fall asleep? Well we had one of those lastnight. Colby was being a bit of a jerk from like 7pm to about 10pm just crying and crying and we couldn't figure out why. She was fed, burped, and changed. She had to be tired from all the crying but just wouldn't quit. So I sat up with her until she fell asleep. Well actually it was until I feel asleep. I calmed her down so she wasn't crying but she wouldn't fall asleep. After holding her for over an hour I put her in the Boppy chair auntie Minola got her. She was content but awake in there until about 1:30am. I was lying on the couch watching her and trying not to fall asleep. Colby out lasted her dad. I felt myself dose for a few seconds before I woke up in a panic. She finally fell asleep and made her parents worry again by sleeping for 5 straight hours. We tried to wake her twice to feed her, but she wasn't interested. Getting up for work this morning was a challange. The day went by sooo sloooow. So hopefully it is off to bed early tonight. I'm going to try to get up and continue my morning run around the neighborhood tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday to Laura

Friday, August 1st was Laura's 28th birthday. To celebrate her friends brought her out to lunch while Grandma watched Colby. When I got home from work, Grandma, Auntie Carrie and Jen, and Laura were all hanging out with the little lady. Laura had told me that she wanted to have Ethiopian for her birthday dinner. So I looked online and found a place in Baltimore called Dukem. The reviews on the food were great, all though the service was said to be terrible. I have come to expect that with many ethnic restaurants but it is always worth it for the delicious food. We actually love Ethiopian food. My favorite part is that it comes out on this spongy pancake like bread called injera. Then you get more injera to eat with. No utensils necessary, actually you get to eat your utensils and plate. 

We arrived at the restaurant and the decor was really nice. Dark wood, a full bar and small tables downstairs. Sounded like there was a party in the upstairs dining room. We sat down and the waitress asked us right away if we wanted a drink. We asked about the ethiopian beers because I love beers. They had two available; Harar and Meta. 

Laura got the Harar, which I had tried before at an Ethopian restaurant in Boston, and I got Meta. They were both pretty good but I won't go into that here, I want to start a beer blog soon. 

The food is what we came to talk about and man was it good. The waitress recommended a combo plate that we could share that would give us a good idea of a lot of the foods that they had to offer.

DUKEM COMBO (6) Reg. tibs beef, lamb wot, doro wot, minchet Abesh, 5Veg.and home made cottages cheese........$30.50

The meat stuff was spicy and delicious and there was a spicy chickpea thing that was amazing. Almost everything had chunks of jalapenos in it. We like it spicy, so this wasn't a bad thing. I would recommend the restaurant to anyone in the area. We thought the service was great, there were no complaints here.

After dinner we walked 2 blocks to The Brewers Art for an after dinner drink. Here they have about 5 beers they brew on site and a host of beers in a bottle. I had the Okocim Stout, which was a little rich for my tastes but good. 

After the beer we started getting tired. We are two young parents after all and it was time to get home to the babysitter. It was nice to have a dinner out like we used to. We are so lucky to be close to family that is more than willing to help us out so we can have a normal birthday dinner out together. The only difference is we were home by 9:30 and ready for bed. In the end we had a wonderful dinner and a great birthday celebration.

The Kids!

Here they are--somewhat unaware of one another, but I think Champers is on to us.....

Laura's Side of the Story

Oh, I love my husband.  Let's see if I can top his unbelievably kind words about me.....Probably not, but I will try.  He and Colby are like two peas in a pod.  From the moment he first held her, she was like a little koala bear attached to his chest.  He could make her calm down when she was screeching for milk or resisting the urge to fall asleep.  He makes being a father look easy and you can tell that he is in love with this little girl.  And man does she love her Daddy.  I know that it is too early for recognition, but when he holds her, she looks up at him with what can only be described as adoration.  Aside from Colby, Joseph continues to take exquisite care of me, just like he always has.  He always saves me from myself, as I have a hard time taking things easy and slow, and he protects me from totally exhausting myself.  He is the definition of "marrying well" and I am so lucky to have him.

As for little Miss Colby, she is the best.  She is such a little Collins and unfortunately, she does get very splotchy and red when angry, hungry and going #2.  Some things we would like to avoid inheriting, but oh well.  We go to the doctor's tomorrow for her 2 week check-up and hopefully she will be even tubbier than last week.  Hooray for formula!

More to follow.

Back to work

So today is my first day back to work. The week off with Laura and Colby was probably one of the most amazing, tiring, and rewarding experiences of my life. First, I saw a whole new side to my wife that I had never witnessed before. I always knew she was a strong and confident woman but in this last week she has brought that to an entirely new level. First she was in labor for 22 hours with absoulutely no results. She showed pose and patience in an obviously trying and frustrating situation. She made a lot of sacrafices on how she wanted to bring Colby into this world but handled them all in stride. The C-section came and she was calm and collected. I don't think that would be the case if we knew what we were in for. This was a MAJOR surgery and her ability to handle that and recover so quickly should not be taken lightly. Everyone should be as impressed as I am that she is up and about and acting more normal that can be expected. When I had my appendix out, I was in the hospital for a week and on the couch at home for another. But no one ever mistook me for a strong woman.

Colby is a beautiful little lady. Even though she is tiny and all she does is eat, sleep, go to the bathroom and cry, I couldn't be happier with her. I know she can't see me yet but when I talk to her and feed her, I know she can tell its me. All those months of talking to Laura's belly really paid off.

So here we are, first day back to work. As you can guess, my priorities have changed a little. My family has always come first, but now it is just a bit bigger. My job here isn't as important as the one at home but I gotta pay the bills. I have this picture on my desk to help the days go by quickly.

Laura and I would like to thank everyone for the nice thoughts and emails, cards and gifts. It is truely a blessing to have such wonderful friends and family. We can't for everyone to meet Colby. She would love to have someone else feed her and change her diaper so feel free to come one by from 1-4am when she is at her greatest.

Welcome to the world baby Colby

Well after months and months of waiting it was finally time to get our little lady out. We went to the Hospital on Thursday night for an overnight stay and a gentle dose of Pitocin to get the ball rolling. The night was spent trying to sleep in the uncomfortable beds and all the nurses coming in and out. The morning arrived and the Pitocin was kicked up a notch. Laura was having good regular contractions and things looked good. The contractions started getting a little more painful before lunch. Laura had trouble listening to the amazing articles from Popular Science that I was reading. This means that she was in a lot of pain and it was time for the epidural. Around 1pm our doctor came in and told us that Laura wasn't dialated at all, so she broke her water and dialated her 1cm by brute force. Now things were going to get started for real. Four hours later, nothing had changed. Another 4 hours, still nothing. The doctor was trying her best to get this baby out the old fashioned way but it was becoming clear that Colby had different ideas. So at 8pm after 22 hours of labor it was decided that it was time for a C-Section. So I got all suited up.

The doctors took Laura into surgery and worked quickly and efficiently to get our little girl out. The surgery was pretty painful for Laura, but luckily she doesn't remember that. I will never forget it. I even made the mistake of looking 3 times during the surgery. Not the best plan, but I couldn't help myself. And at 10:12pm Colby Collins Sawicki was born at a healthy 9 pounds 0.2 oz. No wonder she didn't want to come out. She never would have fit.

The next 4 days were spent in the hospital with Laura trying to heal and us getting to know our little girl. She is the cutest thing in the world. If you don't believe me, I have photographic proof.

We got home on Tuesday and the real adventure has begun. The best part is that we have our little girl. It seems like Laura was pregnant forever and it is great to finally have her getting back to normal and for us to have this beautiful new addition to the Collicki Family.

The Plan

Laura at 41 weeks:

Ok, so we went to the doctor today and everything looks great.  The girl is kicking and hanging out, safely and snuggly in the womb and seems content in there.  Well, unbeknownst to her, we will be going into the hospital Thursday night for overnight treatment and completing the induction process on Friday morning.  So we're looking forward to having this kid on Friday and are very excited to have a date planned for when we get to see her.  

One upside to being overdue is that they give you another ultrasound and a chance to see the little lady again before she arrives. Here are her little nose, lips and chin, if you look from right to left sideways.

41 weeks on the inside. What a cute face.

NOTE: The little face is in the very center. 

The little squashed "3" on the right is the nose, 

the long hotdog shaped thing is her mouth open and her lips are around it. 

The little blob next to her lips is her chin. 

This picture is just of her nose, mouth and lips. 

Sorry if this is hard to decipher. 

Let's get started.

Hello, we are the Collickis. Better known as Joe and Laura. We are hosting this blog to keep everyone up to date on the beginning of our new family. Our little girl was supposed to arrive on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday (depending on which method you choose to determine her "due date") but she is being a little stubborn. So for now we are planning on going in and getting her next Friday if she doesn't decide to come out on her own before then. I'm going to try my best to keep everyone updated with info and pictures as often as possible.

That is all for now. I just wanted to get this thing started.