October was a fun month. I took Anna to pick out a pumpkin at a local pumpkin patch. She loved seeing the tractors and I think she could have picked a hundred pumpkins out. Instead of carving, we used felt stickers. I think I'll be getting those for the next couple years. It was so nice to avoid the mess and the work. We did lots of fun Halloween activities for preschool. It might have been my most favorite week. The day before Halloween, Ty's office let's families come in and the kids can go around to everyone's desk and trick-or-treat. Anna has been asking to go to Daddy's office every time we need to drop him off at work. Unfortunately for her, this is the only time they ever allow us to do that. So she was anxiously awaiting this day and had so much fun. She came away with so much candy that I was seriously considering say that was it for Halloween. We did go out for Halloween though, and seriously, her bucket was full for quite awhile.
November was pretty low key. We decided to stay in Utah for Thanksgiving since traveling while I was that pregnant didn't sound like a great idea. We were able to have our Thanksgiving with Ty's brother's family and despite being in charge of the turkey (which I did in the Crockpot and it turned out perfect!), it actually was very relaxing day. Plenty of delicious food! And great company!
December, we only did one week of preschool and I'm afraid that I've completely slacked off. I spent the entire month just focused on Christmas and really trying to relax when I could. I don't remember feeling that tense when I was pregnant with Anna, but walking around in the cold made my belly tighten. We had fun though with our Ward Christmas Party, St. Nikolaus Tag, seeing Christmas lights, making a gingerbread house, playing in the snow, and visiting Santa. On Christmas Day we got to Skype with my family and little brother Michael. It was great to see and talk with everyone. In a year we'll be able to spend Christmas together.
Just after Christmas, Ty started getting hip and leg pain that we think is either Sciatica or Piriformis Syndrome. It's been improving a little bit each week, but it's still giving him pain. He's been seeing a chiropractor and doing stretches everyday, but started physical therapy today and hopefully that will really make a difference. I wish I could say that we've been up to fun things in January, but really it's been all about preparing for Baby Girl's arrival. Nesting has definitely set in and our condo has probably never looked better. It's great. Our house is nice and clean and I'm no longer embarrassed by the state of our home. Haha. She'll be here in just a few weeks and I'm starting to feel more prepared.
I'm really good at this keeping up with my blog thing. ;) I really like keeping everything in order so we'll just start with Christmas.
We had a great Christmas Eve dinner at my Aunt Karin and Uncle Charlie's house. I actually Skyped with my mom earlier in the week and she taught me how to make the traditional Sauerbraten that we always have every year. My first time ever making it. I think it turned out really well! Yay! It's been so nice to have family to be with at Christmas. The next morning we woke up, opened presents, and had our gingerbread pancake breakfast. We decided to make bacon and the house smelled of it for a LONG time. Haha. Afterwards, we headed over to hang out with Nathan and Celia's family. We all lounged in our pajamas and had a nice relaxing day.
The next day we flew to Washington to spend a few days with my parents and siblings as our last get together with everyone there before my youngest brother, Michael, left for his mission. It was Anna's first flight and once we got on the plane and it started getting ready, she was not a fan. She really doesn't like loud sounds and the poor thing plugged her ears and laid down in my lap. Luckily, I remembered that I had my old phone, now dubbed the Monkey phone because of the protective case it's in. I also had my small earphones. We put those in and let her watch videos and play games until we landed. The flight for her went really smooth after that. Seeing her Papa made her pretty glad. He took us out for lunch at our favorite diner place in Tri-cities and it was awesome.
When we got to my parents' house the pretzel jar was a big hit for Anna. The chocolates and treats were a big hit for her mommy. :) Unfortunately, the next morning I woke up feeling extremely ill. Not sure what happened or what I might have eaten that caused it, but my stomach bug kept from enjoying a good portion of our trip. Luckily, I was the only one to get sick and I was feeling better towards the end, but not very much like eating a lot. Still it was great to see and hang out with everyone for a bit and it was great for Anna to play with her cousins. I wish we lived closer to more cousins. Unfortunately, for us we missed the little snow Utah provided when we came home. I'm beginning to lose faith in these "Utah Winters" I was promised.
Just a couple weeks later, I picked up Michael from the airport and we took him to the MTC for the official beginning of his mission. It was kind of weird to think that I was sending my baby brother off on his mission. When we got to the MTC, a group of missionaries with an instructor came out of one of the buildings and were ready to take him in. We got a quick picture, said our quick goodbyes, and he was off! No dawdling for these guys. He's now serving in Virginia and seems to really be enjoying his mission and everything the spirit has to offer him. You could definitely sense the change in him while he was in MTC. He's a good kid and is, I'm sure, a great missionary.
Pause for adorable double braided Anna and just a bit more random fun. Seriously, cute. :)
Anna and I have birthdays right next to each other on the calendar, so that makes birthday planning a little interesting. Anna's day is first, but this year I turned the big 3-0, so I decided that I would only make one birthday cake a year and since I knew the cake I wanted I was going to make mine this year. Anna isn't old enough to really care anyway.
Her birthday was President's Day this year and since there were some deals happening, there was shopping to be done. (She will definitely appreciate this more as she get's older.) We went to Savers and they have a big toy section that they let kids play with since the toys are all used anyway. I let her play longer than I normally would and she definitely enjoyed herself. Then we went to get a birthday balloon at the Dollar Tree. She LOVED it! We headed to the mall where I bought some stuff at Bath & Body Works. I realized they had a little kiddie train and a carousel inside. I wasn't sure how she'd do with the carousel so we went for the train. HUGE hit! She still talks about it. We are definitely planning on it for next year, as well as the carousel. Later, after Ty finished work, we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point with Nathan, Celia, and their kids. It was great. The Eliza and her twin brothers know more about dinosaurs than most adults I know. Afterwards, we ate birthday cupcakes and Anna opened some presents. She definitely enjoyed her birthday.
My birthday was pretty low key. We were planning to go out and do something fancy and fun later, but nothing turned the way it was supposed to. We ended up celebrating a little extra more for our anniversary, so it all worked out. I still had a good day on my actual birthday. My parents sent flowers and I made my yummy Black Forest cake that my mom would always make growing up. Anna was still beaming from the great day she had yesterday, so I felt pretty like a pretty good Mommy. Ty and his parents gave me some great gifts and I was sufficiently spoiled.
A week and half later we randomly decided to hit the Waffle Love truck for dinner and I have to say, AMAZING! Worth all the hype. We also went to an indoor pool in Lehi...in February. Outside was freezing and actually had some snow sprinkle the ground, but we were oblivious inside and Anna had a great time splashing around and swimming. Her favorite thing was the lazy river.
For Easter, we decided to make the drive to Moses Lake and see everyone again before my parents went off on their mission. They hadn't received their call yet, but were just waiting to hear back and knew that they would be leaving really soon. It was almost weird seeing everyone so soon since we're not used to having visits so close together. It was fun though. We even took family pictures and only missed having Michael there. So apparently, no one brought Easter Eggs for the Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos except for me. Haha. It worked out, but the hunting didn't last very long. That's probably for the best since I'm not sure those kids needed any more sugar. On our second travel day back home, I got sick. Man, I think I'm allergic to Moses Lake. Just kidding Mom! :)
One day Anna fell from one of the stools and chipped her tooth. I wasn't sure how bad it would be so I texted my super awesome dentist brother and asked him for advice. He said that I should take her in because it might need attention. It was somewhat ironic because that very morning I noticed a sign for a pediatric dentist as we drove home. The office was great and she loved playing there. They checked her teeth and did an x-ray. The dentist said that her tooth would be fine, especially since she wasn't having any sensitivity or pain. Yay! My parents happened to come down for my cousin's homecoming talk so my mom was able to come with us. It's always nice to have family here.
Our second annual spring trip to Temple Square was great. It was a pretty hot day so we didn't stay very long. Afterwards, we went to the mall across the street to get lunch at Johnny Rocket's diner. So yummy! I think we are gathering up some good ideas for next year.
Mid-May my parents were finally headed on their mission. Once again, I picked up future missionaries from the airport and dropped them off at the MTC. It was definitely a different experience for my parents. They were there only a week and then they were able to stay the night with us and I dropped them off at the airport in the morning. We really miss them, but it was so great to spend their last day in the U.S. with them.
In June we went to the carnival in South Jordan. As we were walking down the sidewalk to cross the street to it, Anna tripped and skinned her knee pretty bad. We headed to the first aid tent and they gave her a band-aid. She played the victim card for a bit, but soon recovered as soon as their was rides involved.
She just had a hard time on the ladybug ride, but that's it. She wasn't a big fan of the bouncing that it did. She also wasn't to keen on riding ponies for some reason. Liked the idea, just not the actual riding. She loved everything else.
Ty and I both were called to new callings. His was a little less of a jump, going from the 1st Counselor to President of Sunday School. Definitely more responsibility, but he's been in the Sunday School since we moved here. I went from teaching Sunbeams (4 year olds) to being the Beehive teacher (12 year olds). As a part of this, I was able to go to our ward's Youth Conference. It was a cool experience to be there and get to know the youth in our ward.
Fourth of July was a low key day, but lots of fun. We decided to let Anna stay up late so that she could watch the fireworks. Our balcony has a great view of all the fireworks from the surrounding towns. We even saw the ones from our close neighbors. Like I said before, Anna doesn't like loud sounds. The closer fireworks freaked her out a little bit. We did some sparklers and she loved watching those, but didn't have much desire to actually hold them.
We were at the family reunion for Ty's birthday, so we gave him his present a day early. It was fun having everyone together for his birthday and to enjoy his cake. Transporting the cake was interesting and we had to do some putting together there. I'm hoping we can be at home for his birthday next year to avoid that. Haha. It was fun to be together with everyone and celebrate though.
This was the first year that we didn't have our Robbins Reunion in Othello at Rex & Cheryl's house. It was great. We had some weather issues with a wacky week of rain and cloudy, cold weather. Overall though, it was fun. We definitely learned some things for next year, but we had a blast.
Well, we're all caught up! It's been a crazy year so far and we are excited about all the upcoming things in our lives. Including a new sibling for Anna to be a great big sister to! Yay! Due in February!
