Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Look who Daddy found....

You are not seeing things wrong, this is an itty bitty baby snake the size of a large worm! Kip found it slithering across our driveway. At first he thought it was a worm, then he saw the red ring around it's neck and realized it was actually a snake. He saved it for Brooke and I to see, touch, and play with. Kip almost wanted to keep it but then decided not to. THANK GOODNESS!!! I'm not a snake person and I plan to NEVER have one as a pet no matter how much a little boy (or Daddy) begs me to have one!
So FYI it is BABY SNAKE SEASON!!!! Keep an eye out for them, this one is not dangerous but a baby Rattler is VERY dangerous! I am thinking twice about doing any photo shoots in any fields right about now. This really freaked me out, once we let him go in the grass he was invisible to us! YIKES!
This was a fun experience to have seen and touched a snake this small but goodness am I freaked out now! Be safe out there!

This snake was a Southern Ring Necked Snake found normally in Southern Florida! How random that we found one in Lake Elsinore!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Rosetta Riders!

First off Kyra I am SO glad you took this picture and I SO love the name you gave it! So I stole it! :)
Kip got home from working in Arizona on Saturday morning at 3:30am, got to sleep for 2.5 hours and then was off to work his shift at the Fire Station by 6:30am Saturday morning. He thankfully only had a 24 hour shift to work so we got him back home TO KEEP at around 9am Sunday morning! WE ARE SO HAPPY!!!!!!
Kip had woken up to work a full day on Friday at 4:30am, worked till about 5pm and then headed back to his Arizona home to eat dinner and sleep for about 2 hours before he packed up his truck and headed home to California. So from Friday morning till Saturday night at 10:30pm Kip had only gotten 4 hours of sleep. Poor guy!

Sunday~ We got him home for good but that day was spent mostly sleeping, of course we totally understood! We were just happy to have him home.
Monday~ Kip woke up and went off to work. He got home around 4:00. As he walked in the door he asked me if he would be aloud to go ride for a few hours with "the guys". I always tell Kip yes for pretty much anything he asks me. I know, Im a nice wife like that :) So I let him go! He was stoked because it was the first sunny day after a few days of rain, apparently that = PERFECT riding conditions! He was also stoked about the fact that this would be the first time he has seen any of his "guys" in a month and a half! I was happy to see him so happy! As a few of the guys gathered in my front yard I joked with Brandon that he was uncool or stealing my husband on his second day home with me, his response cracked me up "You know, we have needs too!" This is true!
From Left to Right:
Matt Thompson, Brandon Chatham, Kip Robinson, Clint Hannon, Ryan Russel

So the guys had a total BLAST together, I guess the riding was AMAZING and each of them had a great time! It was the first time they had all been back together since Matt Thompson got home from his CHP Academy and Kip got home from AZ. They are called the Rosetta Riders (stolen from Kyra) because we all live in Rosetta Canyon and they all can ride the hills from our garages! Pretty nice!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Emergency Preparedness!

The has always encouraged Emergency Preparedness but is really stressing it right now! I feel that we really need to be prepared for whatever is to come in our futures as a family! So far, I am SO embarrassed to admit, we have NO extra food storage other than whatever is in our pantry. Yep, NOT GOOD! I am feeling like a pretty lame Mom and Wife lately! So we are going to get on this ASAP!
I was just reading a friends blog and she had THIS great link for those interested in Emergency Preparedness!
I am going to get on this immediately!
Good Luck on your food storage! Just think, most likely you are already doing better than me if you have ANYTHING started!

Family Home Evening

So we have decided that we really need to start doing Family Home Evening. This is something that is very important in the church and I can totally see why. We really need to take the time as a family to spend time together but also to learn more about the Lord or other good lessons. We are going to be starting this very soon! I really would love to get these books to help make FHE appropriate for Brooke, I am so glad my sister pointed out that the Nursery books would be the perfect way to do that!
These will also be very helpful in the learning of the scriptures for Brooke and the rest of our little babies!
I would also LOVE this to play at home during the day or in the car! This can also help out with FHE!
Im really enjoying making wish lists these days! These books are actually pretty inexpensive and I feel are very important for the growth of our children so they will be purchased very quickly!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

20 months!

Our little baby girl is now 20 months old! Isn't this about the time that you stop counting the months and start just telling people that she is 1.5 years old? I don't know if I feel ready to stop counting the months? That is yet another thing that makes me feel like my baby is gone and my toddler is here. I know this truly is the case and in a way that is a very good thing since we will be having a new baby in a few months. It is better to have 1 baby and 1 toddler than 2 babies right?
Anyway, Brooke is getting big, well not big, just getting mature. She is still little, that's just her, Im sure she will always be petite. Suddenly though Brooke seems to be maturing on such a quick pace. Daily she is saying new words and phrases. She is now singing 3 entire songs "Happy Birthday", "The Wonder Pets Theme", and " Ring Around The Rosie". She is quite the little talker and I am not sure if there is even a moment in the day where she is not babbling something. I love it about her and just talk to her all day like she is my best friend. I found myself at Target the other day asking her if she liked the white sandles or the black ones and which she thought I would wear more often. I noticed a stranger looking at me like I was crazy and at that point realized that I do this type of thing all the time with Brooke and never think anything strange of it until that moment. O well! She's my best girl buddie, what can I say? I even got us matching shoes!
Brooke has also been coming out of her little public shell a bit. She seems to be developing more of her personality. It is so fun to see her doing this. Brooke is always crazy at home but a lot of times in public she sticks close to me and does not interact much with other kids. She is perfectly fine interacting with and demanding attention from adults. Just recently she has been interacting more with other kids and has been willing to wander further from me at places like parks or other play group type things. Brooke does much better with older kids! She is not too fond of kids her age, especially boys. I think it's because kids her age and size are a bit more aggressive with her than older kids. She tends to be an easy target for feisty kids. She does not defend herself well and is timid with other kids. I want her to grow out of this a bit and toughen up but I am at least glad she is not the kid that picks on others and is the one being picked on? Which is better really?
Another new thing that she has been doing is playing pretend. She loves to play with her little Fisher Price Animals. She can play for quite a while with her little imagination. It is so cute to see her at this age. It's nice for me too that she is at a more self entertaining age. She is OBSESSED right now with these 2 little Rubber Duckies! She has them EVERYWHERE with her, even demands to bring them into the stores sometimes. She LOVES to let them swim so I have a little bowl of water for them set out in the kitchen half the time. More than the bowl of water she LOVES to take baths with her duckies! She takes at least 1, usually 2 baths a day with those little guys!
Brooke has also been showing an interest in potty training. I was not planning on doing this yet, I was thinking I would try a little closer to 2 years old but she seems to be wanting to give it a go? I am not sure if I am going to let her pace herself or if I am going to just give it a go and try to potty train her pretty soon here? She has been telling me each time she has gone pee pee or poo poo and then goes and grabs a diaper and lays down for me to change her. She also asks to sit on the potty randomly through the day. She LOVES the potty (too much) I need to actually keep her away from it or she would be playing with the potty 24/7 if I let her. I randomly let her run around nude or with her bottoms off just to give her the chance to go pee pee on the potty. She has not had an accident in months and has now peed on the potty 4 times. Maybe next week I will give her more of an opportunity and see how she takes it? Anyway I have gotten some cute shots of her during this pantsless time of the day.
Another thing she is loving these days is washing her hands! SO CUTE!
Something Brooke does at some point daily is coloring. I now just leave the markers and the coloring book out for her use whenever she chooses. I love these magic markers that only draw on the special paper. What a genius invention! She is so serious most of the time when she is coloring. It's impressive to me!
Other things Brooke is into right now:
~ The moon and finding it every night
~ Looking for Buggies
~ Reading
~ Froggiess, Ladybugs, Fishies, Piggies, and Sheep
~ Going on walks
~ Bouncing on pretty much anything she can bounce on
~ Swings and Slides
~ Target ("The Ball Place" as Brooke calls it)
~ Wonder Pets
~ Pringles, and Popcorn
~ Choo Choo's and Big Trucks (especially Trash Trucks)
~ Practicing on going up and down stairs like a big girl, none of that tummy stuff!
~ Counting! She is counting everything right now! She usually counts 1-2-3-5-6-10. We are working on getting at least 1-5 right. Just missing that 4.
~ Brooke is also loving learning colors
~ Loves having to choose between 2 things. This door or that door? This blanket or that blanket? This drink or that drink?
~ Still on 3 Pediasure's a day but is eating a little better
~ Still has 4 I teeth that need to stinkin cut!
~ In bed at 8pm-7am and then naps from 2pm-4pm'ish
I think that's her in a nutshell for her 20 month update? If I come up with more I will add it to the post. I also need to get back on track with taking pictures. I have been SO BAD at pulling out my camera lately. I don't know why because she is at such a dang cute stage right now!
This kid is my world and I love her more than she will ever know or understand!

A Visit Home

While Kip was out of town Brooke and I took a 5 day trip down to San Diego to visit my family. I go down there often but don't normally stay 5 days. This was a fun break from the day to day here and it was nice to have the company and the help with Brooke.
One of the days Brooke got brave and learned a new trick while we were playing in Amanda's backyard. I was freaked out a bit, she just seems so small to be doing big stuff like this, but after a while she was out there on her own just climbing up the play set and sliding down the slide over and over again. Here is my non baby learning new and scary things! I am proud of her!
While at Amanda's house we had a fun time after lunch one day decorating cupcakes with homemade frosting that Amanda made. The kids had a blast, ok and so did I! You can't blame us, the frosting was AMAZING!
Makenna was most likely the most mature one here. She actually did get quite a bit of frosting on her cupcake. Some still went straight into her mouth but she did a pretty great job. Way to go Kenna Mae!
Kellen had a very smart tactic. He got the frosting on his knife and then very carefully dipped the frosting in his sprinkles making sure he got the perfect amount of sprinkles. Then straight into his mouth the perfect mixture went. Bud Bud you crack me up!
The only frosting that touched Brooke's cupcake was the frosting I put on it trying to show her what she was supposed to be doing. The rest went straight from the kife into her cute little mouth. At least my child will eat frosting, she will not eat much but she will eat frosting!
And then there was me! TOTALLY EXCITED to stuff my face with a frosting filled cupcake! I'll just say that Baby Kip wanted it, BADLY!!!
We also had an evening at Grammy's house where she made us all personal sized little cakes that we decorated. As soon as I get the photo's I will add them here. It was a frosting filled weekend I must say! I also must say that my little Mini cake looked the best, of course it would :)
Amanda also got this cute picture of me with all the little chickens reading. I sure love my Nieces and Nephews and am so glad they all get along so well with my little Brooke!
Lastly, I grow little petite kiddo's and my sister grows giant kiddos! Saying that here is a picture of Brooke and Conner taking a bath together. He is a day less than a year younger than Brooke and here, other than Brooke looking more mature than Conner, they sure look like they could be twins. I actually think Conner looks bigger than Brooke now! Yep, we knew the day would come that Conner would pass up Brooke. Just did not think it would be when the kid was 8 months old!
I love living close to both of our families! I love that Brooke loves her Grandparents SO MUCH and knows them all so well! I love that Brooke has special relationships with each of her Cousins and knows each of their names! It is such a heart melting thing to watch them all play together and have a blast! As Brooke gets older these moments just get more and more fun!
All and all a very fun and MUCH NEEDED trip home!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Over The Hump!

Well I am officially over the hump, I am more than half way done with the pregnancy, 21 weeks, that's right, I can't even quite believe it! It has seriously gone by SO FAST! In a way I hope the speed keeps on going at this pace and in other ways I want it to SLOW DOWN!!!
The reason for wanting it to slow down is because as soon as we have this little guy we are moving away. In a way the whole moving away thing is fun and all, a new adventure, a fresh start, all that jazz. But in a bigger way, right now to me at least, I am sad and not looking forward to the move! I don't want to leave my family, my friends, the nice weather, my comfort zone, you know all that stuff. On top of that I am dreading stuffing our house into a 2 bedroom college apartment! I am not excited to go back to laundry mats, YUCK, the kids sharing a room, the FREEZING COLD. BUT I know it is where we need to be, I know it is where the Lord has told us we need to be, I know that this is a step in the right direction, and I know we will be blessed for our decisions to follow by faith! I am excited for Kip to be going back to school full time at BYU~ Idaho! I am excited for the opportunity we will have to live by Rick, Kip's brother. I am excited for all of the outdoors activities. All that stuff. 
Anyway, back to this little boy and the fact that he is more than half way done cooking! HOORAY!!!
I started feeling him move randomly at about 16 weeks along. I was surprised to be feeling him that early. But of course I LOVED IT!!! I just last night March 16th felt his little kicks on the outside of my belly with my hand for the first time! I am LOVING feeling his movements and am excited that they are just going to be getting stronger and more frequent!
I have picked up the work out's and I feel great! I am trying to walk at least 3 miles a day at least 5 days a week. I have so much more energy when I get my walks in!
I have gained a total of 10 lbs already and am the largest of the 7 (I think) women in my ward that are all pregnant and due within days of one another. It's ok tho, I am big, as long as he is healthy, I will take it!
I just had an appointment today and got to hear his little heartbeat! Brooke was even there to hear it, tho I don't think she had a clue that it was her baby brother that was making that funny sound.
So far all of the tests I have done have checked in as normal, a relief! He seems to be growing and progressing the way he should be.
We are very grateful for the healthy baby boy that is in there and hope that everything stays on track!
Well here is my 21 week, or in other words 5 months shot!

Without The Daddy!

Well the time is coming shortly that I get Kip back and actually get to KEEP HIM!!!
Kip left for AZ the beginning of February to Project Manage the building of a store in the Scottsdale, AZ mall. He was expected to be opening the store on March 1 but as construction projects go the date was then moved to March 11 and now to this coming up Friday March 18th. He should be heading home tomorrow night March 18th but then OF COURSE he has a shift at the Fire Station on Saturday. SO I get him for a few hours Friday Evening and then have to let him go for another 24 hours. Sunday morning he returns and will be home again for good! WE ARE SO EXCITED! More than excited!
I was just thinking the other day of all that has gone on while Kip has been gone, it feels like it has been longer than a month and a half! I have also been proud of myself for staying strong even though I missed him LIKE CRAZY! I thought it would be fun to write down all that happened while Daddy was away!
~ Attended 4 baby showers
~ Hosted 2 of the 4 baby showers
~ Attended 1 birthday party
~ Did our taxes (thanks Mom for your help)
~ Got 2 new toilets installed in our home
~ Got 2 new shower heads
~ Got a new Cable Box as well as New HDMI Cables
~ Turned our first year of Blogging into a book with Cutest Blog on The Block, SO EASY! Now I just got to get the $ to pay for it :) Can't wait to see it in print! 
~ Weeded and trimmed the bushes of our entire front yard's planter (Kip's jobs are normally all the outside stuff)
~ Made Chicken Salad Sandwiches for 70+ people at my house
~ 2 Dr. Appointments for Little K
~ Brooke and I took our first road trip together, just the 2 of us, up to AZ to visit Daddy!
~ Brooke went potty in the toilet 4 times
~ Brooke started growling when upset at things or frustrated
~ Brooke developed an obsession with rubber duckies
~ Brooke learned a whole bunch of new words including the words to the song "Ring Around The Rosie"
~ A few trips to San Diego
~ Only got a babysitter for Brooke 3 nights of the whole month and a half
~ I got bigger and gained a few pounds (baby weight I hope)
~ Started feeling little K kick on the inside and just last night began feeling him kick on the outside!
Maybe that is all of the larger details that happened while Daddy was away? It was a very busy Month and a Half! Life is survivable without Kip but SO MUCH less enjoyable without him! I have decided that I NEVER want to be a Single Mom and I have developed such a respect for every Single Mom out there! Even more I have gained such an appreciation for Military Families! My goodness they sacrifice SO MUCH for our freedom and I love and appreciate that in a whole new way! I struggled with having my husband away for 1.5 months and they go sometimes 12 months with worrying about their safety every single day! I am grateful, SO GRATEFUL for my Husband who I love with ALL my heart! I am SO GRATEFUL for what an amazing, helpful, and loving Father he is to our children! I am truly blessed!
Yes Kip, I can survive without you but I NEVER WANT TO!!!!!
Here is a picture of Kip with his Uncle Bobby who he has been staying with along with his Cousin Ali and her Husband Logan! They went spelunking, sounds like they had a blast! Kip also got into hunting with his Uncle and now wants to come home and be a hunting pro! He has very much enjoyed his time he has spent with his family and the opportunity he has had to make wonderful memories with them as well as strengthen relationships. Did I mention they live DOWN THE STREET from Cafe Rio? LUCKY!!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Doing My Research!

I have decided that for myself I need to make a list that is written down somewhere other than my head for what I need to get before this little guy gets here. Thank goodness we don't need AS MUCH as we needed with #1 but we do happen to need more than I had originally thought? I am thinking that after getting these things we should be pretty dang good to go for #3 & #4? I hope that I can somehow get these specific things I have researched. Im trying to not go with the MOST expensive stuff but at the same time hope to get stuff that will work and last through the rest of our babies. We shall see? Not that any of you care about any of this, it's more for me to remember but here is my wish list:

~ Double Jogging Stroller
Schwinn Free Wheeler (Blue, Black, & White)
$265-

~ Double Stroller
Joovy Ultralight Caboose (Black)
$230-

~ New Baby Monitor
Target
Graco iMonitor Vibe
$60-

~ Toddler Bed for Brooke
Babies R Us
Dream On Me Toddler Bed (ESPRESSO)
$90-

~ Crib Mattress for Toddler Bed
around $100-

~ New Pack and Play that is also a bassinet
Graco Silohouette Pack n Play (Brown & Green)
$170
or
Baby Trend Deluxe Nursery~ Havenwood
$130-

~ Glider Chair
Something like this? As long as it is Comfy, Mocha Colored Wood, Solid, Prefer a Darker Fabric!

~ Bedding for Brooke and Kipper
Im thinking I am going with this fabric? With kinda an ABC theme on the walls!

~ Need to make a boyish cover for my bouncer chair (currently pink)

~ Nursing Cover

~ Car Seat Cover

~ LOTS OF CLOTHING

So much to do! So much to spend! SO EXCITED!!! Now show me the $$$$$

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Belly

The BIG Belly at that! But I LOVE IT!
This is not the best picture, not too in focus, and I actually don't think that I really look like this but maybe I do?
Anyway here you go, a belly picture!
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This was me 3 weeks ago. Boy is it popping out quick isn't it? I hope he is not a ton bigger than Brooke since I am really hoping for that Vaginal Birth?
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There you go, for all those asking for belly pictures :)

HELP?

I think the Nesting may be kicking in early with this little guy? Or maybe it is just me being the typical Sarah that I am? Or the fact that I am trying to prepare early since right before this little guy is born and after he is born life is going to be CRAZY!!!
We are planning on moving the very beginning of September. Maybe we can even do it on September 2'nd which will be our 5 year Wedding Anniversary and My Birthday? Good way to celebrate the last 5 years right?
Anyway, let's get back to the point of this post.
Brooke and little baby Kipper will most likely, well pretty likely, be sharing a room when we move. I am not thrilled with this idea, first off them being a boy and a girl in the same room, secondly we can't do a totally cute BOY theme or GIRL theme for either room, and more than both of those reasons because I fear that 1 kid will wake up the other each night and then I will have 2 awake kiddo's in the middle of the nights YIKES! We will make do, people do it all the time right?
Since this is kinda a sad thing for me I am trying to make it exciting by already thinking of how I want to decorate their little room? I most likely will not be able to paint so I can't count on the paint on the wall's color being a big part of the room. I want to represent each child as who they are and the sex that they are, I want it to be appropriate for their ages, fun, and happy! I also want to figure it out semi soon so I can get started on the bedding since I will be making HIS bedding and HER bedding as well. With the 2 combined I think I will be making 1 Comforter for a Toddler Bed (Brooke's), 1 Crib Bumper, 1 Bed Skirt, Needing Fabric for Window Coverings (that I can't make till I know where we will be living?), and possible Decorative Pillows?
I have done some research myself as well as have enlisted the help of some WONDERFUL friends of mine The Creative Mommas. These are 3 of my favorite color theme ideas! Let me know which of the 3 you like the best. If you have any WONDERFUL ideas or links you can send me that would be much appreciated as well!
I don't know if hardly anybody even reads this blog anymore but if you do please help me out here?
#1
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#2
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#3
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Thanks for your advice :)