We have really great news. Some of you know, but for those of you who don't...Mike had to take a very important test about 4-5 weeks ago for work. It was for him to get his certification...which in return means he will start making commission for "jobs" he does on top of the salary he is already making!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, he was quite nervous about the test, although he knows the information, he is not the 'best' test taker. Anyway, he found out today that he passed and therefore is now CERTIFIED!!!!! It was a very good confidence booster for him and we wanted to let everyone know how well he did. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and hope this finds everyone doing well :-)

Adam's Birthday Party

Mike throwing the kids around in the pool
My dad going down the big slide....
Where dad ended up :-)

We went to Orlando over the weekend for Adam's 11th birthday party. He has wanted Mike to DJ his party for a long time, and now with Mike's new job we were finally able to make it. Everyone seemed to have a great time. He had about 20 kids there and Mike had a blast tormenting all of them :-) There was a giant slide in the front yard which I got pictures of my dad "trying" to slide down. Luckily no one was "hurt" and Adam finally got his birthday wish...to have his very own DJ at his party :-)

Oh yeah...Mike wanted to add this :-)
We also like the name Mckayla...it's part Michael, part Katie.......decisions, decisions, my head is spinning!!

It's A Girl!!!!!!

Here is the first view we got of our precious little girl's face :-)

Here is the proof...my intuition was right...IT"S A GIRL!!!! Mike was soooooooooo excited. He wanted a girl so bad, he starting jumping up and down when the ultrasound tech said the word "labia". It was so cute. The tech was very helpful. Mike was unable to be at the first ultrasound because he was stuck at work, so the tech went over every single body part with him. He got to see the head, face, arms, legs, butt, spine, etc. It was really fun to watch his excitement. Then, towards the end of the ultrasound, the tech saw that the baby was facing out and so she left the probe in one place for awhile to see what the baby would do. And don't you know it that she put on quite a show for us. She was moving her arm up and down, she actually hit herself in the face once or twice. Then she started moving around...she was lying sideways and started jumping up and down. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen, and once again watching Mike's excitement was so fun :-)
As far as a name...we have a few in mind, but haven't narrowed it down yet. Our two favorites are:
Mackenzie Brooke Collins and Chloe Grace Collins.............any opinions are welcomed completely :-) Who knew that naming your child would be such a hard decision????????
We go back to the specialist in 5 weeks to do a fetal echocardiogram. Because of my diabetes, there is higher risk of heart defects. On the ultrasound, the left side of her heart is a LITTLE weaker than the right, so we are doing the echo to make sure. The doctor said not to be concerned because the ultrasounds are weaker on me than other people because of the amount of scar tissue I have from previous surgeries and insulin injections over the years. One good thing he said was that the baby has all 4 heart chambers which rules out over 98% of irreversable heart defects!!!!!!!! Over all, the visit went well and we will of course keep everyone posted as more info is revealed to us. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers :-)

First Post :-)

Hello everyone...this is the first posting on our new blog. As you may know, I'm new at this, so please be patient. Most of you know that we are currently expecting our first baby and we could not be happier!!! I have posted our first ultrasound pictures and a few of the "belly shots" Mike took over the weekend...enjoy :-)