Ryan's words

Hannah had a migraine one day last week. The next day, Ryan asked me if Hannah still had a "microbrain." A what? I thought he was insulting her, but the girls were laughing so hard. They finally explained to me that he was trying to say "migraine."

On Easter Sunday, after church we were going to watch a video about Christ's resurrection on the church website. Ryan started crying, and said, "I don't want to be resurrected!" He had actual tears coming down his face. After talking to him for a little bit, I think he thought being crucified was part of what resurrection is. How terrible! When his teachers at church said we would all be resurrected one day the poor kid thought we are all going to be crucified! Hopefully, our discussion helped him out a little bit.

Catching up a bit

My baby is so beautiful. Even with her Alfalfa patch of hair on the crown of her head, and even though her perfect skin has started to get that baby acne (of course, since I'm ready to show her off now). Clearly, I'm her mother because she just looks perfect to me. And she is SO good. She doesn't really cry. She grunts and she'll let out a little quack here and there if she's really hungry or if I take too long changing her diaper. I'm sure that will change soon enough, but I'm enjoying her sweet disposition for as long as it will last. Well, she did cry in her carseat on the way home from Goldsboro this weekend. We were all shocked to hear her. It almost had Nikki in tears. Thankfully, she fell asleep pretty quickly. So, apparently she doesn't really like her carseat -- I guess we won't be driving her around late at night to get her to fall asleep.

 Look at that sweet face! I just love this baby!

 For April fool's day, Nate asked the kids if they wanted some brownies. Nikki and Ryan came running to the table and Nate pulled out some "brown E's" from the oven. Ha! But we got him back. I had Hannah stick a piece of a post-it note on the bottom of the mouse so it wouldn't work. The best part was that the night before I had told him about a joke I saw online where someone took a screen shot of something on the computer and then left that up, so whoever tried to use the computer would think it was frozen. So he thought that's what I had done and couldn't figure it out!

 Nikki went to the state gymnastics meet in Wilmington on Saturday. We left Hannah and Ryan with JW & Alli and took Nikki and Natalie. This is Nikki before the meet.

And here she is afterwards. She did great and placed 2nd all-around. And the quality of this picture is exactly why I want a new camera for Mother's day. Please send any suggestions you have for a good one to Nate. I'm pulling for a smartphone or ipad. :)

We loved General Conference this weekend. Nikki's meet was on Saturday, so it was really strange to miss conference that day. Technology is amazing, though, and I love that the video recordings were available so quickly.


Then, for family night last night, we watched the replays of the final four games from Saturday and then watched the championship game between Louisville and Michigan. Nate had us all fill out brackets for the tournament this year. After I picked Louisville to go all the way, both Nikki and Nate decided perhaps they should change their picks, too. So, I'm claiming I won. HaHa! It was so good to have our family together for so much of the weekend. Good times!

More Pictures

Cute Baby Pictures

Natalie Joy Robbins

Cute baby girl born this morning at 8:48 am. 20 in. 7 lbs 12 oz. Mom and baby are doing well. We'll post some pics later.

When is my due date?

The fact that it is next week is not really the point. Out of all of the children I have delivered so far, Nikki was the latest. So, if we were repeating her birth I would have already had her this morning. I don't know why this baby is so comfortable where she is -- I'm not! I totally set myself up for this. It just goes right along with just about every other parenting issue I have ever dealt with. When I think I know what I'm doing, my children never fail to prove me wrong! I think I might wear a sign to church tomorrow that says something like, "Obviously I haven't had this baby yet, so don't talk to me."

Clearly, I need to focus on some blessings: I actually do feel well, all awkward hugeness considered. There don't appear to be any complications with the baby so far. By the time I do get some consistent contractions I'm going to be really grateful for the pain. If I can't have a baby I figure I can at least eat what I want, so I'm going to go pick up some Chinese for lunch right now. Maybe I'll get a bucket of ice cream for dessert.

Nikki's meet

This is Nikki's floor routine from her last gymnastics meet last weekend. This was her first meet at an away gym, and I think she did a great job. She placed first on floor and third all-around. She's so fun to watch! This Saturday she is going to a meet in Charleston, SC, and she is practically counting the hours until it's time to go. :)

Hannah's 12th birthday!

 Hannah had to come up with her own decorations for her party this year. I think she enjoyed it, though.

 

She asked for a snowflake cake, and it turned out that it snowed on the day of her party.

 We don't always get snow that works for snowballs and snowmen, but this was perfect. Even if it didn't last more than a few hours.

 Poor Ryan ended up half frozen and not at all happy by the end of our time outside. It's just never been worth it to actually buy gloves and boots worthy of playing in the snow.

Our snowman with pine straw hair and a mustache! His name was Mr. Muddy.

I had my 16-year-old nephew take the video, and it's a pretty good representation of the chaos we get when we all get together. Lots of fun. So, it turned out to be a great day. Even though it snowed, the roads were clear enough that everyone was still able to come to the party, and we had a great time. Can you believe she's 12?!

Como te llamas?

My poor neglected blog. I guess I should find something to write about. This afternoon I've been scraping off paint and sanding a dresser we found on craigslist for the baby. That's why I'm now sitting down and I don't know if I'll make it back up for a while. Should be plenty of time for me to think of something to post about.

How about baby names? Finding a name for this baby has been pretty rough. Nothing has really seemed like a great option to us. However, now that we have about a month or so left until she comes, we have finally decided on some names that we both are willing to leave on the table. All of our other kids have middle names that have family significance, and I have been able to find scriptures that go along with the meaning of their first names. Well, the names we have been thinking of are family names, but finding a scripture to go along with the meaning doesn't seem to be going too well.

So, here's the list we've been thinking about. We are still quite open to any suggestions -- particularly any of you who know of some hidden family gems that we've missed. Seems like those are hard for us to come by. I'm sure Wilhemina and Artemesia were great women, I'm just not going to use their names.

Natalie -- that would be after Nate. Wouldn't it be great if this baby is as sweet as he is?
Lola -- my grandma, but this is actually probably off the list now because I don't think Nate likes it. It always makes me think of that song about Lola being a showgirl anyway. Not that my grandma was a showgirl.
Ruth -- my other grandmother, lots of our family have used this for a middle name but no one has given this as a first name. So I think that would be neat, but ... I don't know.
Joy -- my mom's middle name was Joyce, but I like Joy better. Close enough? Her friend that introduced her to the gospel was also named Joy.
Maren -- Nate's grandmother's name was Marion, and I think this is a pretty variation of that.
Alene -- I think this is a pretty middle name. This is from Nate's mom and grandma.
Rebekah -- No family history here, but Nikki might move out if we don't go with this one. This name was on our list for both Hannah and Nikki, but obviously we never used it.

Combinations?
Natalie Alene -- too long
Natalie Ruth
Natalie Joy
Lola Ruth -- oh wait, Nate doesn't like that one :)
Ruth Alene
Maren Alene
Maren Ruth
Maren Joy
Rebekah Joy
Rebekah Ruth Robbins -- too many R's?

Would any of these names scar our poor child? I don't know what to do. Maybe we'll throw them in a hat and pick one out. What process do you go through to name your kids?

Cheers for a new year!

I saw this on  a friend's facebook page, and I think it is so perfect for 2012. I'm glad 2013 is here, and I'm looking forward to making it a great one. Just before the year ended, Ryan spent Sunday night in the ER getting 5 stitches in his forehead. It's amazing really, after all the times he has had multiple bruises on his head, that this is the first time he's been in the hospital. He tripped on the stairs and hit the corner of the railing. He was such a brave little guy, and even got a grape popsicle, a stuffed animal, and two Hot Wheels cars out of the trip. So, hopefully, that kind of thing is behind us and great things are to come in the new year.

Even though my blog doesn't show it, we really did celebrate Christmas and had a great time doing it. I've been exhausted, so I don't know if I'll ever get around to posting about it. At my last doctor's appointment, my blood work showed my iron levels were low, which actually made me feel better knowing that I'm not just a wimp who can't handle a little work. There really is a reason I feel like going to bed after getting ready in the morning! Only 11 more weeks until this baby is supposed to be here. I can make it!