Quick Robertson Family Update!!

Have I really not posted ANYTHING since the first day of school??? And so much has happened since then!

Spencer is 1!! As of Nov. 19th!! He is standing and cruising, but not walking independently...and I am not worried!!! I know it's coming. He is still as blonde as ever with those piercing blue eyes. He gives the biggest hugs to everyone (especially the kids afterschool--so cute!), is still nursing, has 8 teeth, and says "uh-oh" whenever he drops something off of his high chair, "daddy", "mommy", "woof", "moo", and "hot". So happy he's in our family.

Lindie turned 8 and was baptized on her birthday! My parents were here for a week in her honor. She writes in her "Holy Ghost" journal almost every night, writing down experiences she's had with the Holy Ghost. Love that kid. She takes horse riding lessons through a friend in our ward and loves them. Christmas should be easy this year...if only she would stop saying she wants a dog.

Michaela is almost 5--just two more weeks! Ugh! She's in ballet, gymnastics and preschool all with friends she'll have in kindergarten. My favorite thing to hear her say in the car is, "Mom, would you like me to sing for you now?" YES! Just a little concerned that she knows all the lyrics to so many songs from all the High School Musical movies and Taylor Swift. Need to listen to more Raffi in the car.

Brevin is now 10! I have 3 inches on that kid before he's taller than I am and he still gives me great big hugs, although sometimes they come with a roll of the eyes. Not allowed! My dad taught him how to mow the lawn and he loves it! Two big jobs around the house--dishes and lawn. I am so loving it. He loves to read--Percy Jackson series was his favorite. He's starting to read the next Rick Riordan book but misses Percy. Last night at bedtime he said, "I just want to go on a real quest like Percy." And I'm thinking, just wait for Jr. High in two years, kid, that'll be a quest all its own!

We have some AWESOME kid pictures taken by a family friend this summer that I can't wait to share in this years Christmas cards...yes, I'm sending them this year.

Maybe Santa will give me a new computer so I can post pictures again! Our laptop is now the "etch-a-sketch" computer. Only half the screen comes up and you have to shake it to get a whole view again--it really is the etch-a-sketch. Not picture worthy! I save all computer time to Randy's work laptop when he comes home or is on vacation, like Thanksgiving night.

First Day of School Pics

Brevin, the BIG 4th grader. Brevin is in a combination class. So he has the same teacher he had last year, Mrs. Gardner. Hooray! He has made new friends and has already invited them over to play at our house. LEGO's are still fun for 4th graders.

Lindie, the 2nd grader! I am having a hard time believing that Lindie is the same age Brevin was when we moved here a few years ago. She seems so wise. In November, it will be her turn to be baptized! She is posing here with one of her best buddies from last year. They both enjoy horse riding lessons together. This best buddy is now in Brevin's class and shares the same table group as he does. Lindie is thrilled. Brevin is disgusted. Girls.

Here they all are. Michaela starts preschool after Labor Day--when all schools should start! August 12th is just too soon. Spencer is in my arms.

This is a co-op K-6 school. Soon I will be volunteering 10 hours a month, and I love it! The whole family knows this is the school for us at this time. We love ACE!

Summer

I cannot believe the 4th of July is this Sunday! And what have we done so far this summer? We've spent leisurely mornings in our PJ's, fabulous trips to our local library, many dips in the pool swimming at "our" co-op pool, and played at Six Flags. We've also enjoyed our cherries and apricots and are anxiously awaiting our peaches and nectarines. Yum! We are also looking forward to having Grammie and Papa come and visit now that they are home from their missions. We look forward to cousin time, trips to the beach, camping, and more time swimming and reading and making smoothies!! Yea summer! Please never end....

Cherries

The kids and I went out and picked cherries on one of our 3 trees for about an hour tonight. At first I was feeling a little uptight. I was nursing Spencer and putting him down for the night while all three kids were asking me to get the ladder out so we could use it. Once that fire was squelched, Brevin helped me carry out the ladder. We set it up in one spot and took turns climbing the ladder and picking the cherries. I taught the kids how to pick--with the stem--and also taught them not to just leave the cherries on the grass to get stepped on, etc. After those guidelines were set, we just had fun with each other! We were laughing, giggling, singing. I am so thankful for these fruit trees! On Monday we have invited friends from the ward and school and neighborhood to help pick cherries. I called it a Cherry Jubilee. Brevin reminded me Jubilee means 50 year celebration and we haven't even been in our house for one year yet. Thanks. I said I chose Jubilee because it sounded FUN and we're going to have FUN. Tomorrow I make homemade cherry icecream. Anyone want to join me?

These are the days to remember...

On most days, while the BIG KIDS are at school, I have Big Sister and Little Brother with me. We enjoy doing many things together--just the three of us. We love going to the park, where Big Sister will always give me a show (I get a show everyday in fact!), climb the dragon with a "peace out" sign, swing, or just be cute. We also enjoy building tents in our front room and play queen, princess and prince together. One of our favorite places is the library where we get to listen to "Dan the Library Man" and check out all of the Beverly Cleary books on CD to listen to at night. Life is good.

Post Swimming Lesson Cuddle

We have heated swimming lessons through the city from February-June. The kids took the February two week session. Michaela's lessons were pretty much useless, and yet she enjoyed them immensely. Lindie's teacher had the best temperment for her. He was very encouraging. An awesome teacher coupled with a very enthusiastic swim lesson buddy who had no fear at all, helped Lindie a lot. She improved from not wanting to jump into the pool at all at 4ft., to starting to feel comfortable treading water in the deep end. Brevin can swim, but needed some fine tuning with his strokes. He had some personality differences with his teacher and wanted to quit after the second day. We talked about Michael Phelps and how he probably doesn't agree with his swim coach all the time, but he still listens to him. A terrific attitude adjustment helped Brevin. He not only listened, but volunteered to go first on treading water, free style, back stroke, etc. I was proud of each of my kids and their improvement. I think we'll be ready for our neighborhood pool in May. Nothing like a warm cuddle with a little brother after lessons to make everything ok again.

What do you do for fun on Sunday's?

We make people sandwiches! Spencer is three months old in this picture. I think his look is saying, "Mom, help me! You want me to be the cherry on top?"


"Ok, I'll be the cherry on top...but that doesn't mean I have to smile about it!"

I love Randy's picture on this sandwich. I think it is a chocolate (Randy), pesto (Brevin), corn (Lindie), blueberry (Michaela) sandwich. Yum!

So what do YOU do for Sunday fun?

Free+Fun+Friends=Ice Skating!

We had just finished celebrating the two week Winter Olympics at Brevin and Lindie's school--the same two weeks the Olympics were up and running. Our local ice skating rink offered FREE hockey and ice skating lessons on the weekends of the Olympics. Coincidence? I think not! An opportunity to creat a mass playdate with friends from our new ward, old ward, and old school and new school? YES!


And yet...nothing could beat the Zamboni!! It was like Caillou come to life!

Lindie and Michaela getting ready to transform themselves into princesses on the ice. Lindie stayed out on the ice until she was the last one standing...pricariously...along the wall. She has persistence! Michaela stayed on the ice for 2 minutes. She fell down, and that was it. Spencer and I enjoyed handing out doughnuts and drinking hot chocolate and watching it all. Thank you friend and Vacaville Ice!

Spencer: Two Months and Growing...

We finally captured his smile! This is a small one too. We'll keep trying for the BIG smile that lights up his whole face.

Doesn't he look old and ready to tell us all about everything we ever wanted to know?

I just love this one! My bugga boo, chillin', waiting to be entertained by his siblings.

Lindie does this thing where she rubs the tops of his earlobes and they just talk to each other back and forth. Lindie said, "Try it on your ears mom--it's REALLY relaxing." Ohhhh-kay.

Is this one baby announcement worthy?

Or what about this one?

We won't be putting him on the couch for much longer--he's growing!

Happy Holidays

Happy Birthday, Michaela!! Michaela turned 4 on December 10th. I think her best present was having Grammie here! Do you see the frozen strawberries she put on her chocolate cake? (The curtains behind her are long gone...just part of making our house our own home).

Ok, this picture is out of order. This is Spencer in the last few days of December. He just gave a BIG, HUGE smile and I took the picture towards the end of the smile. Our Spencer boy is SO sweet.

"The boys" talking to each other.

"The girls" giggling together on a Sunday afternoon.

Lindie and Spencer in their Red Nightgowns on Christmas Day.

"...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care..." We love our stockings because most of them were made by my mom. Mine was made by my beloved Aunt Boopie (named after Betty Boop--her real name is Linda!)

Christamas morning before we opened the presents. Hmm...one of these things is not like the other...red nightgown, red nightgown, red nightgown, PURPLE T-ball shirt. We'll just call Randy my little sugar plum. This year we bought an artificial tree to simplify our lives. We loved the simplicity, but missed the smell of the evergreen.

Happy New Year 2010!! Randy was chaperoning the stake dance, so the kids and I celebrated like it was...2010. We made newspaper hats (they quickly flew off) and through all of our shreddings in the paper shredder for confetti. The garage was a perfect place for our party. We then had Martenelli's and talked about our goals/aspirations for the new year. Brevin said he wants to read three Harry Potter books, Michaela said she wants to take another gymnastics class, and Lindie said she wants to buy something at the Hello Kitty store. We'll see what we can do about those goals. My goal is to enjoy my kids. I feel like they are growing up too fast and I want to enjoy the ride.

Bringing Home Baby

Michaela holding her little brother, Spencer, for the first time! Doesn't she look excited to be a BIG sister now!

Brevin holding his little brother for the first time. They definately look related!

Lindie so wanted to have a little brother, or as she said, "I want to see what a YOUNGER brother looks like!"

Spencer and Grammie in the hospital together. I'm SO thankful my mom was able to come and help!

Lindie's 7th Birthday flowers--silly grin and all.

Spencer John

Spencer John was born at 4:55pm on Thursday, November 19. He weighed 8 pounds 6 oz. and was 21 inches long. He has light brown hair and very dark blue eyes--will they turn brown? He is a sweet, sweet baby who enjoys being loved by his older brother and sisters. They are pros at putting on hand sanitizer everytime before they hold him and only give him kisses on the top of his head.

I wanted to post pictures with this blog but I can't find where I unpacked the cords to do that. Pictures are forthcoming.

Randy and I went into North Bay Hospital in Fairfield at 7:30am. By 8:30am Dr. Fazio had inserted a pill inside me to help me contract. She said she wanted to induce me slowly as she felt that would be better for baby. She said she may need to insert a total of 4 pills every 4 hours. Since I came into the hospital only dialated to a 1, it looked like we had a LONG day ahead of us. Randy and I came prepared. He brought his laptop and we brought along all of our favorite sports movies--Rudy, Miracle, Hoosiers, Field of Dreams, Rookie, etc. By the time the doctor came back to examine me at 12:30pm, I had already taken a nap, watched Rudy, and had eaten a pretty decent lunch. Once she inserted that second pill, things really started happening. I can remember talking to the kids and my mom on the phone and at 1:30pm I had to say goodbye because the contractions were getting stronger. By 2pm, my water had broken on its own. When our awesome nurse, Amy--who just happens to live a few houses down from us, came to confirm that my water had broken, she also found some muconion (sp?), so she called in the on call neonatalogist to make sure he would be there for the birth. That neonatalogist just happened to be our stake president! I was feeling very well taken care of!

By 2:30pm I was at a 4 and ready for an epideural. Dear Dr. Walker couldn't find my spine. I had swollen so much during this pregnancy that I had edema of the spine! Who has ever heard of that! After 4 tries, he finally just put it in. Let me just say, I don't think the epideural ever took. My back still hurts from his tries and Randy says they are nowhere near my spine. Hmm. Oh, well.

From 4-4:55pm I was in transition. Oh the things I say to my sweet husband during transition! I felt the urge to push like nobody's business, but the nurses and doctor kept telling me I was only at a 7. Turns out I went from a 7 to a 10 in 5 minutes, but they didn't believe me until I begged them to please examine me again. When they did they all said, "Let's have a baby! Push away!" Spencer joined the world after only 3 pushes. Our stake president was there seeing me in all my glory. As soon as Spencer was born he said, "Happy Birthday, Spencer!" It was a wonderful moment.

Randy stayed beside Spencer's side for all of his measurements and weighing in and bath. I enjoyed watching father and son connect. Spencer nursed right away and before we knew it, we were on our way into the tiniest room ever! I have always been a strong believer in staying in the hospital for 2 days, but by Friday afternoon I was ready to leave! I learned I am claustrophobic if I don't have a window by my bedside to look out of, and I have to have the door open! It was a pleasure to arrive home Friday evening and feel like I could breathe once again.

By Saturday, Randy's parents came to meet their newest grandson and my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jerry came to plant me a winter garden in our garden spot. Wonderful.

My mom is helping me by taking the kids wherever they need to be, keeping the house clean, making our dinners, and making sure I get at least 2 naps a day. Thanks for coming, mom! However, on Tuesday night, my sisters Celeste and Ally drove up to pick up my mom and the kids for the rest of Thanksgiving week. My sister Keri and brother Craig and their families together with Ally and Celeste their families are all together at Celeste's new mansion and enjoying cousin time. I won't see my kids again until Saturday! Randy has been grading 4 tests and tons of homework from when he took time off to be with baby, and I have been enjoying the rest--and the chick flick DVD's Randy picked up for me at the library! By Saturday, I will be ready to see my kids again.

I'm so thankful Spencer is here safe and sound. I'm so thankful not to be pregnant anymore. This pregnancy was a hard one from beginning to end. I'm thankful for our new home, the kids new school, and especially for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

November 19

I got a call from my mom, who is serving her second Public Affairs mission for all of West Africa with my dad, on Sunday saying she is flying out to take care of me when baby comes! I was completely surprised and shocked! I know I have been overly emotional/hormonal/freaked out/crazy especially during these last few weeks of this pregnancy, but I wasn't expecting my mom to take a leave of absence from her mission for her mentally unstable daughter--which would be me at the moment. But SURPRISE! She flies in tomorrow morning and I will be induced at 9 days late the next day! I think baby Spencer is waiting to meet his Grammie. At today's dr. appointment, I have made progress from my ZERO centimeters of the last two weeks. I am now at an astounding 1 1/2 centimeters!! Twoo-twoo! Heck, I was at 2 centimeters with Brevin and Lindie when I arrived at the hospital--of course my water had already broken so they had to keep me. My water broke with Michaela too, but they kept sending me home! UGH! So this will be a new experience for me. I am just so excited and anxious to meet the little guy!

Happy 7th Birthday, Lindie

Lindie turns 7 tomorrow. Randy brought home a dozen pink roses to surprise her with tonight. He felt that her birthday has been getting lost in the shuffle of waiting for this baby to come.

How can Lindie get lost in the shuffle?

Lindie has been asking me a lot about what she was like as a baby. I tell her she wanted her mommy ALL the time--to hold her, to feed her, but mostly to snuggle with her. She is still a great snuggle bug. She loves to sleep in and wake up slowly. She also loves chocolate!

What I love most about Lindie is her insight. For example, yesterday while we were in the car we were listening to one of my favorite songs by Martina McBride "Bring on the Rain". We had just watched the musical "Annie" the night before. She said after listening to "Bring on the Rain", "Mom, this song has the same message as that Tomorrow song in Annie did--that things get better and there is always hope." That's right! I never would've made that connection, but leave it to Lindie. She will and she does ALL the time!

I also love how sweet Lindie is as an older sister. There is a special bond between Lindie and Michaela. They hug each other hello and goodbye as Lindie comes and goes and Lindie always asks Michaela thoughtful questions and listens to her answers. "Did you have a fun time at Todd's house today? What did you do? Oh, how fun!" She is also very patient with Brevin.

I have enjoyed seeing Lindie's light SHINE since we started the ACE school. She comes home with a spark for learning everyday and I love seeing that! She has kept a daily journal since last year and writes her feelings and emotions in it--an example to me! So insightful.

I am so thankful Lindie is in our family. Happy Birthday my "noble" one.

39 1/2 Weeks and Counting

We had the most amazing move into our new home last Saturday, on Halloween. My aunt and uncle in Sacramento graciously took the kids on Friday night and all day Saturday so Randy and I could concentrate on the move. They spent the day in San Francisco watching my oldest nephew, Brandon, and his wife, Lacy do very well representing BYU-Hawaii in their cross-country races. The highlight of their day was eating at the Rainforest Cafe with Brandon and Lacy and Uncle Larry!! Thank you to family for taking care of my family.

Our move started at 9am in the morning. I was worried that not very many people would show up to help us move because it was Halloween afterall and moving into our ward we only had 3 people come and help us. Not this time! I just finished the thank you notes--there were 24 people there helping us move! Our entire house was moved by 9:40am!! And that included a trip to the dump! I am very grateful to my brother and brother-in-law who drove up an hour and half to help with the move. What they actually helped me with the most was to clean up after the move, and to keep me laughing and relaxed and calm. We walked away from the house by noon and EVERYTHING was done. I'm glad my brother and brother-in-law were able to climb our pomegranate tree and pick as many pomegranates as they could before the birds finished them off. I wish I could've offered them more to thank them for their efforts.

Many of the members of our Vacaville 1st ward came over to unload us into our new home. Members from our new ward, the Vacaville 5th ward, were suppose to come and unload us at 11am, but the 1st warders beat them to it. We were unloaded by 10:30am. We had to send people away! However, I will forever be grateful to our new Bishop Monson and RS President Sis. Berkheimer for coming over on the day of the move to welcome us into the ward. How is it possible to leave an awesome ward and enter an equally awesome new ward? We feel very blessed.

I was hoping that all of this packing and unpacking would put me into labor. I've had some pretty impressive false labor, but after my doctors appointment today, I learned that it's not that impressive afterall. All of that false labor has done NOTHING!! I am dilated to a ZERO!! My due date is 4 days away and I am convinced this baby is as snug as a bug in a rug and will be late. What I am a little concerned about is that the doctor I visited last week said this baby will be 8 1/2 to 9 lbs. easily. How much bigger will he be if I'm late?

I made a list of things I have to look forward to while waiting to meet this baby. The number one thing is to celebrate Lindie's 7th birthday next week. Michaela and I did go birthday shopping for her--just in case--but it would be very nice to celebrate her birthday on its own merits. The kids Primary Program is on Sunday and I am looking forward to seeing them sing and perform their parts. Brevin and Lindie have parent/teacher conferences scheduled for the 17th and I love parent/teacher conferences so I hope I can go to them.

My only complaint while waiting is how swollen I am--from my knees down I look like the Incredible Hulk. The doctor pushed into my calves and her finger went in an inch--I am not kidding! I feel like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Woman. No doctor is concerned because I do not have high blood pressure, however I would like to fit into my flip flops again someday. I'm hoping after baby is born my body will just shrivel up like a raisin once all of the water is gone!

Until baby makes his grand debut, I will continue to feel thankful that we get to welcome this baby into our new home.

Overheard Conversation on the way to Scouts

Brevin: Mom, why is Kristi so interested in me? (Our ABA behaviorist who keeps tabs on him 3 hours a month, but who is now on maternity leave so her boss Kelli came to observe him at Scouts today).

Mom: Because you're a pretty interesting kid!

Brevin: Is it because I used to have autism?

Mom: What do you think?

Brevin: Probably.

Andrew: (Brevin's best buddy) What's autism?

Brevin: Oh, it's something I was born with that my parents learned about when I was about 3. It's a disability, but I grew out of it. Well, I still have it a little.

Andrew: But what is autism like for you?

Brevin: It helps me concentrate. Actually, did you know that everyone in the whole world has to have a little bit of autism or they wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything! (I like that explanation!)

Andrew: Cool! That means I have austim too because I can concentrate on a lot of things all at the same time!

Brevin: Who's your favorite Pokemon character? (Boys will be boys).

Sometimes it is a double edged sword having a son who is so high functioning--enough to know the difference and yet able to communicate how he feels about it all. He is very concerned about our baby having autism (probably overheard me talking to my mom) and has had nightmares about it. I keep reminding him that if our baby has autism, we will know what to do and we will give him the help he needs just like we did for Brevin. "I hope he doesn't have any disabilities because I really want to play basketball with him when he gets older." You still can, buddy boy.

ACE is the Place

Lindie and Brevin transferred to a new school a week ago. It's a co-op school with about 100 students. The name of the school is ACE--Alternative Co-op Education. Each class is a combination class. Lindie is in a K-1-2 combo class and Brevin is in a 3-4 combo class. The teachers are amazing and my kids have transitioned so well! I think having music playing as the kids line up in the morning helps--how can you not be happy when "Lollipop, Lollipop" is playing in the background as you start your day? The music changes everyday. I love it!

What I love the most about this school is the homework. No worksheets! Each week of the month is designated towards reading, writing, math or project week. Lindie just finished her project week. She got to choose whatever she wanted to do and she chose to make sugar cookies! She wrote out the recipe, made the grocery list, went grocery shopping, made the cookies and I photographed each step of the way. She made a book out of the pictures and presented it to her class--complete with the cookies! She came home BEAMING! I can't think of a better way to teach kids self-esteem. Brevin just finished his reading week and he had to write down everything he read that week. Quite a varied list. And now we are beginning our Fall Break of no school!!! Yippee!!

We close escrow on our house on October 14th. The owners move out October 25th and in exchange are leaving behind their 5 barstools to go around the kitchen counter and their beautiful area rug for the family room. Looks like we get to come up with real furniture--non-gifted couches!! Wow. I really feel grown up now. We move in on Halloween!

The great thing is our new house is only 5 minutes from ACE. It really is the PLACE.

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

Randy and I bought a house this weekend!! It was the strangest thing. We have been trying to find a house in our current ward so our kids could stay at their current school and have minimal change with a new baby on the way, etc. And then we saw "the" house. It is in another ward, another school, out of the historic Vacaville area that we love and into the Brown's Valley area of Vacaville. And yet, it feels so right!

"The" house still has three bedrooms, but we like the idea of having our kids share rooms for the rest of their lives. It has a "princess staircase", nice size living room, recently remodeled kitchen complete with granite counter tops and white country looking cabinets, the kitchen also has a walk-in pantry, and the kitchen opens up into a gorgeous family room. "The" house has a fully landscaped backyard with about 15 fruit trees and a garden with tomatoes and peppers ready for us to move in and pick. We have no rear neighbors. It is in a nice, quiet neighborhood at the edge of town.

Randy and I keep pinching ourselves. Did we really just buy a house? A house that is beautiful and that we can afford? How did this happen?

So, as of Nov. 8th, just two days before my due date (PLEASE BE LATE BABY), our new address will be:

821 Monaghan, Vacaville, CA 95688.

MIRACLE!!

Big, Fat and Pregnant

Does anyone have a polite response when people ask when you are due, and you tell them in two more months, and they GASP, and their EYES POP OUT, and they ask, ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT HAVING TWINS???

I must be getting grouchy and uncomfortable because I am so tempted to make a T-shirt that says, "Due in two months, and I'm not having twins!"

We found out the owner we have been renting our home from is going into bankruptcy and foreclosure, so guess what I get to do when I'm BIG, FAT and PREGNANT--pack!!! Oh, the tears I have shed in my many conversations with my husband on what we should do--stay in this home, or get something bigger? Buy or rent? I am beside myself with worry. We decided to change realtors in the process, because the one we've had for the past 3 months just isn't that knowledgeable. And if I have to see another smoker, pet infested home again I will cry again!!!

So I'm going through everything and making a big D.I. pile--something that needs to be done anyway.

To escape from it all, I'm reading a delightful series from the library by the author "Miss Read". All of the books are about a school teacher in rural England and her associations with the other members of the community. It reminds me of the Mitford series of books because of the strong emphasis on characterization. Ah, escapism.

A good book and a husband who just came home from a Thai dessert run for me--mango sticky rice. Yum. Maybe I can survive the last 10 weeks of this pregnancy afterall.

The Grand Re-Re-Opening of the Nut Tree

I can remember "the original" Nut Tree when I was little. I have pictures of myself on some of these same rides that my kids now enjoy. Well, the opened the Nut Tree a few years ago, only to have it close last winter. On Saturday, they opened a few of the original rides and moved them closer to I-80 so passers by can see them and hopefully stop and enjoy the rides. This was a free event, and we all enjoyed it! Here is Lindie on "Rose" the ostrich on the carousel.

Randy, Lindie, Brevin and Michaela getting ready to ride the train. I squeezed in after the picture too.

Brevin next to the giraffe.

Michaela on the rocking horse.

Lindie on the rocking horse.

It was a great morning together as a family--one of the reasons we love Vacaville--it is definately a family community. We ran into so many friends from our stake, it should've been a stake activity!