Found: Pictures of sleeping beauty.

PS, I checked my email and it looks like I sent myself some of the pics before my phone died. This got me going back through some old albums, which led to finding quite a few sleeping beauty pictures... so here's the show. Sorry the quality on some is not so great, they were probably the ones taken with my old phone.

This is so like Cori. Won't admit she's tired. Don't even mention the word nap. It's only happens at time like this, when she is happily entertaining herself, with a sock on her arm. She sits on the top step, and suddenly is out like a light. I have found her curled up on a rug by the front door. Naked next to her crib. In the closet of a friend's room. Between the couch and the fireplace. Wrapped in a blanket at her aunts house, in a room we never go in, you name it- she's probably fallen asleep there. Her terms, her locations.

Cuddling up with Ali always seems to help.
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Or with a baby doll
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Sandwiched between Dad and Ali.
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I found a few of her when she was really little, and couldn't resist.
She always has just stopped, dropped, and slept.

Ali again
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Ya have to love the fall-asleep-in-the-highchair pictures...
Especially when cuddled up with a towel.
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On top of the counter, Mom's recipe book for a pillow, fruit loops in hand.
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What? Actually in her bed/crib?
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We were all tired in New York, but she had the luxury of being carried around by Daddy.
He sat her down to put his coat on, and she still stayed asleep, sitting up on a bench.
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Naked, by the side of her crib.
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The couch is her very favorite place to fall asleep. She get's mad when anyone else is on "her" couch.
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It's more fun to take a bath with swimming suit on in the summer.
Then it's like swimming. Until you fall asleep.
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In the corner of Isaiah and Ali's room, with her Care Bears & co.
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This was at my friend Meleesa's house. I think she was babysitting her,
and she fell asleep in her son, Jaden's closet. It took them quite a while
to find her once she went missing.
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Here's an older one of her falling asleep on the top stair, after she lined up her toys on the banister rail.
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Here's the one on the rug by the front door. I forgot it was also the middle of a construction zone. We were in the process of ripping up carpet and putting in wood. (Don't tell anyone, we're still "in the middle" of that project.)
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Here she is between a couch and our fireplace. I kind of woke her up taking pictures, just enough for her to adjust and fall back asleep.

My baby

This is so like Cori. Won't admit she's tired. Don't even mention the word nap. It's only happens at time like this, when she is happily entertaining herself, with a sock on her arm. She sits on the top step, and suddenly is out like a light. I have found her curled up on a rug by the front door. Naked next to her crib. In the closet of a friend's room. Between the couch and the fireplace. Wrapped in a blanket at her aunts house, in a room we never go in. Her terms, her locations.
I had some cute sleeping pics stored on my old phone, which sadly is very very dead. But here's one that survived, the one of her asleep naked by her crib.





But isn't she beautiful?

Here's a sampling of her cuteness. This is her side of a conversation she had with me today, while I was working on the computer.

Mom? Are you computing? Mom? I nam not cold. Mama? I think Ali fall and bonka-head on the clouds. Mom! You were being bad and I yam mad! I will throw you in the clouds if you are bad! Mama? You wouldn't throw Ali in the clouds, would you? Mom! The cat is on the com-poo-ter. Don't worry, he will get down. He will. He will. Look! He get down! I scare him away with my cough. Mom? Can I get on the wuv sack? I can? Yay!

I know this is cuter to me than to any other person in the world, but she's my baby!

Found: A picture of Tara

Look, Christine... I found a picture of me. Not a Christmas one, but not too old- from September. I can tell because my hair is still bright red... better than the purple it was for the first couple weeks. It was still so warm then. After this, all of laid outside on a blanket to look at the stars. I want warm again.

Christmas

Here's Isaiah getting ready to hang his stocking. We did it pretty late... Amazing he made it awake so long. Isaiah is our early sleeper. This is Great Grandma Donna's house... We usually spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with her, Robyn, Kathy and Grandma Dryg. Right after hanging stockings, we went to our house to call Christine and Jonathan to wish them Merry Christmas. It was about 730 am in Turkey, but somehow we picked the one morning in history that the McCollum boys slept in, so we woke them up.



When Cameron got home from UPS (they actually let him come home before 3am for the first time that week.) He was a good sport and put on his matching pajamas with Isaiah.

The next morning, he was the first to dump his stocking and survey his possessions. Cori watched him so patiently, until she realized she had one too.

This is what Dad was doing while the kids were checking out their stockings. I was mean, and I kept waking him up so he wouldn't miss all the fun.


The only thing Ali asked for this year was a cheetah. Luckily, Santa was able to come through, and she was so happy.


Although Cori got some fun presents of her own, she still lives in the "me" universe, where everything is hers. She immediately tried to take possession of the cheetahs. Luckily, Ali was a sweet sister, and shared with her. Cori's favorite present, we didn't get a picture of- but I think there is a video I might upload. It was an old fashioned metal framed bouncy horse thingy. She rode it and played on it all day. And amazingly, she still is crazy about it.


This was her second favorite present, a Little Mermaid blanket to go on her new bunk bed. She was so excited about it, and a little later in the day curled up inside it for a nap.

Isaiah got just what he wanted. He asked for Heeleys, and a Ripstick. The next few days he spent practicing the Ripstick on the tile downstairs at Robyn's. He can't wait until the snow melts so he can ride it outside.


"Clayton" gave each of the kids a music box or snow globe. Ali's was a music box, with penguins that skated in circles. They were so fascinated by it. Are you loving the matching nightgowns? Great-Grandma Donna always gives pajamas for Christmas, and Robyn found these cute old fashioned nightgowns for us girls.

Grandma and Robyn took the kids to the library a few days before Christmas, so they were able to enjoy story time with Grandma Dryg quite often during the holidays.


The only reason the kids were glad Christmas was over, was so they could start eating their gingerbread houses. We always have fun putting those together, and making a huge mess in the process. Oh, and notice Ali's tooth? She was working on that forever! It was her first tooth to go, she lost it the day after Christmas.


This was a week or more before Christmas... Ali's Christmas program. She blessed us all of December with the sweet songs they learned for it. Ali has always been good at learning songs, and remembering every word. We love to hear her sing!

Sorry, Mom.

Cori is really good at saying that. She knows when she is doing something she shouldn't do. Like eating yogurt on the couch. (Spilling it all over the couch.) "Sorry, Mom." Or hiding under her bed, eating her Mamma's all time favorite Christmas mints. "Sorry, Mom." Did that stop her from crawling under her bed with the mints the next day? Nope. How about this morning... yogurt out of the kitchen again? "Sorry, Mom."

Update on the Daddy situation

I went upstairs to brush my teeth, and found the sweetest sight...




Ali somehow made it to bed, but these three fell asleep after book number 3. Adorable.

Daddy, I need you!

Cameron was all dressed up to go take the dogs on a walk. He turned the door nob to the front door and was just starting to open it, when Cori ran to him crying, "Daddy, Daddy, don't go! You can't go! I need you!" He picked her up and she put one hand on each cheek, and said, "You can't go! I need you!" A weaker man could have resisted, but not Cameron. He sat down with her on the couch, and two other children followed. They read our favorite book, "The Seven Silly Eaters." Children really do need their Dads, don't they? I still do!