The week in pictures

Tiny little feet
Tiny little hands

Sweet little baby boy

Love those little feet!

3 weeks old!!

Cousins! Asa and Naomi! What a beautiful girl!

More cousins! Anson and Ella with Charlotte! We loved having Jared and Brittany, Charlotte and Naomi visit!

We even had snow on the ground to play in!

Ella... left alone with the stamps and stamp pads!

Anson making a snow man.

Ella in the snow

Boy, Do I Feel Loved!

This was a conversation Anson had with Ella today in Wal-Mart... But first, a little background... I try to spend as little time as possible in Wal-Mart but sometimes I just HAVE to go (those darn low prices!) So when Anson is in the mood to touch EVERYTHING in sight, making me stop the cart and call him to keep moving, I have to pull out the threat to "take him to the bathroom". (In other words, the wood shed!) So today when I asked him to put the bottle of shampoo back on the shelf, he turned to Ella very innocently and said,


"Ella, wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have a Mommy? We could touch anything we want and go anywhere we want!" A little offended, I asked "Well, who would take care of you if you didn't have a Mommy?" To which Anson quickly answered as if he had been thinking about if for days, "We would just go to Sharon and Sagan's house!" (Our neighbor friends) Even more offended, I said "Wouldn't you miss Mommy?" This one made him think a little longer. Then he said "Oh, I guess I would miss you , Mommy".



Let's just say I have been warned! I guess I am on thin ice with Anson! :o) I admit I have been a little more stressed than usual, getting used to being a mother of three. So I am making an effort to be patient, loving, and kind to my little charges so they no longer have to wish that they didn't have a Mommy! Don't get me wrong though, they are still going to listen and obey!!

2 weeks of Asa!

This bear is the size of Anson's elephant (for those of you who know elephant!)

This puts his size in perspective!

In his big crib!

Saying goodbye to Toto

Meeting Pop for the first time!

Holding Toto's hand

This one cracks me up!!!! :o)

First bath! 10 days old

In his cradle

first bath... not a fan yet!

"Nake Nake boy" - to quote Ella :o)

Just before his first bath.

Today is Asa's two week birthday! He is doing really well! He weighs between 7 and 7.5 pounds now and is eating well. We are having so much fun with him! Anson and Ella still love to hold him and talk to him. Anson tells him stories about all the "Big Boy" things they will do together when Asa is "4 like Anson". :o) Today was also the first day we were on our own! Dusty's parents left yesterday and my parents were here the week before. We are so thankful for our wonderful parents who were willing and quite able to come help take care of housekeeping and Anson and Ella while I recooperated! I don't know what I would have done without them! Actually, I would have been curled up in a little ball under the table (or something to that effect!) But now at the two week mark I feel pretty good! Today we ventured out to Target and the grocery store. Asa and Anson were great! Ella whined, complained about Anson standing too close to her on the end of the cart, kept putting things in the cart, and then at the Target checkout she handed the lady a candy bar and the she had it rung up and back in Ella's hand before I noticed! I made her void the purchase and had Ella put it back which resulted in a minor melt-down with waterworks! And that was before we made it to the grocery store! Two year olds are a challenge!

Well, enjoy the new pics of Asa! More to come soon!

Welcome Asa!

Gramma has been holding down the fort for me!

Ella kisses - she's doing really well with him!

We just love our new addition!

Welcome home Asa!

Going home!

Getting ready to go home!

His first gassy smile caught on camera!

All swaddled and warm

Snuggles with Papa

With Big Sis Ella

He fits on Dusty's arm!

My little man - did I mention how tiny he is?

One day old!

We welcomed Asa Leslie Rollins on Jan 25th at 1:00 PM! He weighed only 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 inches long! Definitely the runt of our litter! He is so sweet and tiny and cute and we just LOVE him! Anson and Ella are doing great and just want to hold and kiss him. I just got home today at noon time and am recovering very well. I am trying to rest but couldn't resist posting some pictures. I will do a full blog all about Asa's arrival soon!

Pregnancy No. 3

I just realized that I haven't written much about this third pregnancy. Bottom line... it's been great! No problems to speak of and now just the normal aches and pains. With just a little over a week to go, I am just now getting to the uncomfortable part. Walking any length (especially now that Asa has decided to turn head-down) is uncomfortable, turning over in bed is an ordeal, and I am amazed every time that I am able to stand up again after stooping to pick up toys off the floor! I have, however, used this time to train Anson and Ella to help more! They are getting pretty good about cleaning up toys, taking their dishes to the sink, taking out the garbage, getting themselves into the van/ car seats, and playing in their room together when I need a little sanity :o). I must seem pretty tired to Anson because he keeps coming up with different things for he and Daddy and Ella to do so I can "stay home and rest". Pretty perceptive little guy!
I never get tired of feeling Asa move around in my tummy. It is still amazing to me how God can use me to grow a little tiny human being! My doctor doesn't think that Asa wil be as big as the other two (Anson 10'3" and Ella 9'8") but I have a feeling he will be right up there with his siblings. I have a tendency to deceptively "pack them in". A lot of people are asking me if I am nervous about the C-section surgery but really I am not. After doing it twice, I know just what to expect and just pray that things go as expected.

Over all, I just can't wait to meet Asa! Dusty and Anson and Ella are excited too, of course. I know this sounds weird, but I am actually looking forward to my hospital stay! I get waited on, I don't have to cook or clean, I can push a button for "room service" any time of the day, and I get to spend tons of time getting to know my new little son! I will miss Anson and Ella though. They are not allowed into the hospital because of this whole flu epidemic but will be well taken care of at home by Gramma and Papa. And Auntie Amy will be coming for reinforcements!!

So the day is Monday Jan 25th and the time of surgery is 12:45 PM. Please keep us in your prayers and we will post pics very soon! I will probably take just a few pictures of our new little bundle!! :o)

Snow! And Asa's Upcoming Arrival

Yes, it was pretty for a day but we have had enough cold weather! The kids played in the snow for about 10 minutes and never asked to play again... it was that cold! But we had a fun time making snow angels! Anson was dying to make a snow angel and had been talking about it for weeks. In fact, he made a sand angel on the beach in Florida a couple weeks ago because we hadn't had any snow! I think I would like to go back to the beach now! :o)

And in other news, we are on the final countdown for Asa's arrival! My surgery is scheduled for Jan 25th at 12:30 PM! My Mom and Dad are coming up on the 23rd to help us get ready and to stay with Anson and Ella while I am in the hospital. I am so grateful for their help!!! And then Dusty's parents will be coming the next weekend to take over helping! Thank you everyone for your help in advance!! We can't wait to meet our new son! I think he is going to be another big one although everyone seems to think I don't look as big as I was with the other two. I think Asa's position has something to do with that... he is technically "breech" right now. They are going to check his position tomorrow because at this point he probably does not have enough room to turn "head down" . Not that it matters because I'm scheduled for a C Section anyway. :o) I will keep you posted on his arrival and post some pics as soon as I get them!

New Members of the Family!

Zachary David Reed

Naomi Faye Rollins

This morning at 7:57, my sister Aly gave birth to her 6th child!!! Zachary David was 9 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long! He is such a cutie! I am a blessed lady to have a new niece and nephew all in the same month! Brittany and Jared had Naomi Faye on December 7th and she weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces! Big babies just run in both sides of the family I guess! Both babies arrived 1 week early to the delight of their mommies and both are doing well! Congratulations Jared and Brittany and Brad and Alyson! Aren't these babies beautiful??

Shepherds watching over their flocks by night...

Anson made his spectacular debut as a musician/actor on Sunday night! He and all the four-year-olds at our church were sheep in the nativity program! I would love to say that he stole the show with his singing and doing all the correct hand motions, but it was quite the opposite! It was all pretty funny, actually... when they were supposed to stand, he crawled around the feet of his peers. And when they were supposed to say their scripture passage with hand motions, he continued to look in the wrong direction and do nothing. But, hey! He was there with a happy heart, a great attitude, and had a great time! When I asked him what his favorite part was, he said "Singing all the songs!" I guess God can hear the songs we sing "in our heart", too! :o) So we will be working on some things, like watching the teacher and doing what he is supposed to do... he is definitely an individual! :o)

Anson and Ella

Here are some pics of their new bunk beds!

Thanksgiving

I have been a blog slacker for the past month! I will try catch everyone up with a couple posts...

Thanksgiving was great here! Both sets of grandparents came to visit us as well as Auntie Megan and Uncle Gavin and Megan's friend Whitney. We had 11 people for Thanksgiving dinner! My parents stayed for the weekend (Dusty's went to their cabin then back to FL) and we went to Stone Mountain for the Christmas festivities! There were tons of lights and a train ride around the mountain and food! It was a fun way to start the Christmas season. On Saturday we celebrated Christmas with my parents since they are going to be in Maine with Aly's family for the real Christmas. (Hopefully Aly's baby boy will decide to come before Christmas!) So there were tons of presents to open and we all had so much fun! One of their presents was a new bunk bed that my parents made!! Anson and Ella are officially sharing a room now and they LOVE their new beds! Sharing is going pretty well, although I separate them at nap time so Ella can actually rest. She gets distracted with all the toys! So that was our Thanksgiving in a nutshell! We just love this time of year!