Dear Future Self,

There will come a time--probably in the not-so-distant future--that you will begin to take things for granted in your not-so-new home. When you do, read this.

Remember that first morning walk you took in your new neighborhood. The appreciation you felt for an actual walkway along the Tennessee River just a block away from your house, the crisp, non-sweltering Tennessee morning air, Lucie in the jogging stroller...and then the sites around you...

You might now find this hard to believe, but this gave you goosebumps. The awe that this was what you were seeing on a morning walk was pretty incredible. The thought that this could be the site of some of Ben's first memories was exciting. The realization that this is a place that will become home set in...and although it was bittersweet, it was starting to get a little sweeter.

Remember, too, the joy of seeing this new place through your loved ones' eyes: Ben seeing mountains for the first time and exclaiming "This is awesome!" and Brad setting up his new office and catching him with smiling eyes as we drove past Neyland Stadium on a daily basis. Possibly, for the first time, you truly felt what it was like to put your family first and started to put down some roots.

Nothing can fill the void of missing Orlando and all your friends there, but I know that you won't have a problem remembering them because I know they will always be a big part of your life. I just didn't want you to forget the first feelings of your new friend...Knoxville.

Love,

Today's Nicki

Back by popular* demand...

WOW. Looking back through these blog posts, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post! Well, if you know us, you know that we've had a few things on our plates. We have added another Doodles to the family: Lucie is now 7 months old! AND we've moved our Doodle Pad to good ol' Rocky Top...Woo!

Leaving our Orlando home and friends was very difficult, and we're still adjusting and getting settled. One of the first things we decided to do was paint the kids' rooms. We went with the same colors as their rooms were in Florida, and they turned out great. Ben really loves "the green house" and the fact that the Tennessee River is a block south and the playground is 2 blocks north definitely makes our little neighborhood A-OK in his book.

There are a few things that have already set this place apart from Orlando...and I'm sure I'll run across a few more:

• While at Bed Bath & Beyond, I was looking for a new doormat. There was a young couple next to me, doing the same. Pretty sure I wouldn't have heard this in O-town: "Yeah, but the other one would be great for me to set my boots on."
• Publix might have sold their green bags for much less than the $2.99 that Kroger charges for theirs, but take a guess as to who has a pickling and homemade jelly supply aisle...not to mention Graeter's pints and cans of Skyline. Advantage: Kroger.
• Knoxville has Zaxby's. Not sure if Central Florida has one--I had never been there. And I must say that the lovely young woman behind the counter, Starlandia, made my first trip to the chicken joint quite pleasant.
• Ben's name officially is pronounced "Bin." I knew that was coming.
• I have to say that the southern hospitality is really refreshing--we have been to the playground many times, and every single time, there is someone new to meet and talk to. Even driving is different here--people don't run red lights and drive like maniacs...or tourists. ;-)

Like I said, we're still adjusting, but so far...so good.

* by "popular", I mean that one person (Kristy) said she missed my blog. This one's for you, Mrs. Walson. ;-)

Rules of the Road

I don many hats nowadays...Maid, Chef (I use that title very loosely), Boo-Boo-Kisser...and Taxi Driver, just to name a few. Ben is in the car a lot with me, and I have to say that it has tamed the road-rager in me...for the most part. I've let a few honks slip--but never an f-bomb--and Ben inquisitively asks why I did that, so I'm forced to tell the truth: "Because that silly man made a bad choice and went through a red light." Recently, he's caught on that these types of traffic violations are dangerous--and he even thinks that the police should somehow be involved. At first I was impressed with his good-citizen attitude on the road, but now...well, it seems like we have a little goody-two-shoes on our hands...and in our backseat.

Last Friday night, we headed out to pick up Ben's birthday cake before his Monkey Joe's party the next morning. We were on our way back home after the quick errand, and since I haven't been feeling well, I have been behind the wheel when we take family car-rides--yes, I still get carsick in the front seat.

We came upon a turn, and the light was greenish-turning-yellow, so of course I didn't stop. Heck, this is Florida--it could have been yellowish-already-red and "people" still go. I turned through the yellow light and heard a shocked little *gasp* coming from the backseat.

"Mommy!" Ben said, with his eyes wider than headlights. "That light was not green!"

I explained to him that I knew that, but that the yellow light just meant that there was a little bit of time before it turned red--I fought the urge to bestow my 'green-means-go-but-yellow-means-go-faster' motto upon his impressionable mind.

Apparently, that wasn't a satisfying explanation. "Mommy, we need to call the police."

Are you kidding me, kid? (Brad's stifling laughter at this point, not helping whatsoever in the situation.) I just looked at him in the rearview mirror and told him that since it wasn't an emergency, we didn't need to bother the police.

"Oh," he said. "Well, that was a bad choice."

He even reminded both me and Brad the next day that I had driven through that yellow light.

"Memember when you went through that yellow light, Mommy? That was a not good choice."

Yes, I memember. I just hope he memembers all this when he starts taking drivers' ed...

Bearing Gifts...

Well, we're in the homestretch, folks! Entering Week #36 meant entering full-on nesting mode. Even Ben seems to have caught the gotta-get-ready-for-baby bug...and I think it's the cutest thing ever.

We were really conscious about how Ben would react to all the changes going on. After moving him into his new room and repainting his old room and filling it up with new girly things, we fully expected there to be a relapse on his part...and luckily, there wasn't much of one. Sure, he took one look at the baby's new pink shag rug and said, with arms crossed, "I wanna be a girl!" Other than that, it's been OK...but there have been sweet moments that have blown me--and my hormonal emotions--out of the water.

The first occurred when I took Ben with me to get some pre-fall Christmas outlet shopping done--yes, this was back in August. Anyway, there we were in BabyGap and Ben asked to get out of the stroller. (Sidenote: Yes, it might seem a little strange that he's still riding in a stroller, but a) I use it more as a cart for pushing all my bags and b) sometimes you just gotta resort to buckling the kid into the cage on wheels.) Anyway, back to the story...he asked to get out. He walks away for a little bit and comes back with an adorable pair of gray and pink baby yoga pants! He proudly holds them up and asks, "Mommy? Can we get these for Baby Woosie?" ?!?! Are you kidding me with this cuteness?? YES! Of course we can!! But wait...there's more. He holds up the other hand in which he has the matching hoodie. [Insert AWHH! here.] He was so proud of himself...and so was I.

The next occurrence took place this past Sunday. I haven't been feeling extremely well--hello--and I just couldn't make it up and at 'em for the 9am mass. So, Brad took Ben and when they got home, Ben had a gift bag from one of my new favorite places: Tugboat and the Bird. (An adorable little children's boutique that Brad wishes had never moved onto Park Ave.) Ben runs over to the couch where I was beached--I mean, laying--and says "Mommy! We got Woosie a present!!" He rips out the tissue paper and pulls out this:

Pinky the Rat Poodle Thing. It is so soft...but man, is it ugly. Brad said "I tried to talk him out of it..." I started crying--literally bawling. Ben looked at me like What is your problem, lady? and I'm pretty sure that Brad knew to chalk it up to the hormones. I just told him that I was crying because I was so happy...and he gave me a hug.

I wasn't shedding tears because I'm afraid that this stuffed pink creature could give our newborn nightmares, of course, but because Ben is genuinely excited about having Baby Woosie around. And if he chooses to show this excitement by picking out weird-looking plush poodles, then bring on a litter of 'em.

It's Football Time!

It's that time of year again...when the season is starting to change (although living in Florida, the only real indication that Fall is coming is that Starbucks starts serving their Pumpkin Spice Latte) and faithful fans everywhere break out their alma mater gear every Saturday. It also brings the start of another annual tradition--the EDSA College Football Pool. Brad's office put together this friendly little competition years ago, and every week I look forward to B-Huff's e-mail with the week's spreads. I'm never very good--because I "bet with my heart" and tend to have an affection towards teams that suck and/or have people write their papers for them--but anyone will tell you that watching football (NFL or NCAA) is more interesting when you have a little $omething extra riding on the final outcome of the game.

This year, Brad and I decided that we would throw Ben into the pool--not literally...we don't particularly want to traumatize our child. Anyway, Ben gets his own picks this season. Now, I'm sure you're scratching your head about this one--the kid can't read, much less master an Excel spreadsheet, so how the heck is this gonna work? Fear not--have you forgotten the creativity of the Colletts?

Enter our own little version of the Mascot Challenge. (I'm actually kind of proud of this one.) I have printed out flashcards of the mascot for each school that the football pool will be featuring. Last night, we had our first pick session with Ben. And it went just swimmingly.

For each match-up, I held a mascot in each hand and told him what they were--c'mon, the Toledo Torpedos needed a little explanation. Then, he picked the one he thought would win/had the best costume. Since there are about 30 games that we pick, we were bound to get some funny moments out of this process...and here they are:

1 - Much to Brad's SEC-biased chagrin, Ben picked South Carolina...The Rooster won him over, and Granny and Carl will be proud.

2 - I really wanted this to be all about him, so I fought the urge to sway his vote...especially when it came to the choice between the Blue Devil and the Deamon Deacon...I can't believe he picked Dook.

3 - There were a few teams that were a sure bet with him: ECU Pirate, Western Kentucky's Big Red, USC's Trojan (he's got a sword!) and Syracuse's Orange Otto...who will be known as "Juice Man" from here on out.

4 - I was particularly concerned that Ben would pick against our beloved Vols this week...they're playing Oregon, and well, take a look at who Smokey was up against and tell me what Disney-loving kid is going to NOT pick this one...

Much to my surprise--and Brad's--Ben saw Smokey and said "I have that one! I pick Smokey!" I thought Brad would shed a tear of pride in that moment...

All in all, Ben picked a lot of underdogs this week. But, on any given Saturday in the land of collegiate pigskin, anything can happen...including a funny looking guy with a sword pulling the upset over a weird looking badger. We'll see...results will be in on Monday, so in the meantime...may the best costume win!

Fashionista In Utero

Finding out that we are having a girl was such an amazingly happy moment for me and Brad...but I'm pretty sure that 2 seconds later, Brad's mind wandered and he could envision shopping bags and shopping sprees. (I mean, more than there are usually.) He didn't know how good he had it when there was only one girl in the household to worry about...

I assumed that the second we got the green light on pink stuff, I would be hightailing it to insert-retail-establishment-here to start stocking up on all things pink and frilly. Boy, was I wrong.

The first disappointing experience was at the outlet mall in North Myrtle Beach. I figured that a shopping trip with my sisters would lead to a squeal-fest of cuteness and bags full of stuff. Alas, for some reason, I wasn't feeling it. I took one look a frilly bathing suit with a tutu that looked too small for a Barbie doll and--gasp--was not overwhelmed by feelings of "Eeeeee!" What was wrong with me?! I love to shop. I love pink. I have a reason now to buy cutesy pink things. WHY AM I NOT LINING UP AT THE REGISTER WITH PILES OF CLOTHES ON MY ARM?!? I left with a couple half-hearted purchases. Sigh.

Enter Retail Meltdown #2. I decided to take advantage of the tax-free weekend and head over to Macy's last weekend. Standing among racks of cute little baby clothes, I could feel the familiar rush of "step away from the stuff" and again was confused. I tried to rethink my approach to focus my feelings of being overwhelmed: "She can totally wear this on the plane over Christmas" and "She will grow into this dress and it's a great deal" were thoughts (albeit crazy ones) that crossed my mind and lead me to finding a few things.

As I was leaving the store, I called Ali for a little moral support. In the midst of her "It's OK" peptalk, I wandered into BabyGap. And something clicked...and kicked--literally, I could feel her moving around in there as if to say "This. This is where we need to be." Could my unborn baby know that BabyGap was where I worked for 5 years in high school and college? Could she possibly already have the same taste that I do?? Oh, the joy of the idea of my first mommy-daughter bonding moment.

Then...I saw the outfit that would do me/us in...

Minus the denim jacket and plus an ADORABLE pair of hot pink bow shoes. (Yes, a newborn needs a cute pair of shoes...don't even get me started on the miniature pink Uggs that I'm eyeing.) I held my head a little higher and my heart was a little lighter this trip to the register. See? I thought to myself. You can do this!

I think that it's just different this time around. With Ben, we didn't know if we would be going with blue or pink, so we just went with neither--I didn't have to do any pre-shopping for clothes, so this is all new to me. It's strange to buy clothes and pick out things for someone who's not even here yet...but I'm dealing with it.

So, I think I'm over whatever funk I was in.

Sorry, Brad. ;-)

Live and Learn

When you're a parent, packing for any kind of vacation/trip can seem like a daunting task. No matter how many lists I put together, how far in advance I start laying things out, how many run-throughs I do on the day we're leaving, I'd bet money that we will get 2 blocks away and realize that I've left something behind. It makes me wonder...I'm pretty sure Brad questions my sanity. Having said that, there are a few redeeming moments in parenthood. Times where a sliver of insight turns out to be the best thing possible.

Case in point: We headed out to Sanibel Island this past weekend, a place we've been to many times. We love it there--calm, quiet, peaceful...and seashells as far as the eye can see. For just a quick weekend trip, we threw some clothes in the suitcase and some sunscreen in the beach bag. For whatever reason, I thought to grab Ben's inner tube--the one he uses for swimming in the pool. I stood in the living room, holding the inner tube, knowing full well that we would not be near a swimming pool at all during the trip...but something--call it maternal instinct, a mother's intuition--told me to pack it anyway.

Fast forward 12 hours and we're in coastal paradise, unloading our chairs/umbrella/buckets...and the inner tube. Brad and Ben set off to build a sand castle and I assumed my normal Sanibel-position...hunched over, looking for shells. (Uh, sidenote--this is NOT an easy task when you're in your third trimester. Just sayin'.) About 30 minutes later, the boys were hot and wanted to hop into the water to cool off. So, I asked Ben if he wanted to try and wear his tube. I gave him 5 minutes, tops, with keeping that thing on. Not that it's uncomfortable, but we weren't in a pool--it was the ocean. Again...fast forward about an hour and a half...

...the kid was in heaven. He swam, came back on shore, turned around and went right back out. In total, he (and Brad) probably spent a good 2-1/2 hours in the ocean that afternoon. (I, of course, assumed another position on the shore...wildlife watchdog--I was convinced that if I didn't keep an eye out, the 2 loves of my life would be eaten by a shark...but that's another blog post entirely.)

Anyway, I still don't know what made me grab that inner tube before leaving our house and hitting the road...but my point is this: I am that much wiser for the next trip.

Every once in a while, amidst the frazzled craziness of being a road-tripping parent, you have a shining moment where you feel like the most brilliant--borderline psychic, even--genius on the planet...a moment where you think to yourself, "hey--I'm not such an idiot after all."

And then you realize that you left your flat iron on and you have to turn around anyway.