Sadness and Joy

Today is a day of sadness and joy all at the same time. Jed's mom passed away last night after a long battle with lung cancer. We are all of course sad, but I'm sure she is experiencing unexplicable joy. She will be missed beyond comprehension. I'm so thankful for the knowledge that families are indeed eternal.

I Can't Believe......

That my precious little girl is already a month old! How did that happen? I couldn't believe it, when I took her to the doctor a few days ago she has already grown almost three inches and is up to 21 3/4 inches, but only 7 lbs 9 ozs. She seems so much more alert to me than Hailey ever did, from day one it has been that way. She loves to just look at the world around her and take everything in. The problem with that is she doesn't want to sleep and seriously seems to think she will miss something if she does. Anyway, I thought I would post a couple new pictures of my princess. I hope you enjoy them!

My Statue of Liberty

I have been wanting to get on here and post a little about Alyssa's arrival, other than the meager information that Jed gave while I was in the hospital, but also wanted to wait for just the right picture. Alyssa became pretty famous at the hospital. She is now known as the statue of liberty baby. You see, she decided to come out arm first. All day they had been prepping me for a c-section because the nurse could feel her hand and arm above her head when she would check me. Well, let me back up a little....My pitosin was started about 4:00 in the afternoon and Dr. Sanders broke my water just a little after 5:00. At 7:30 I was still only a 4 (and had been for about 2 hours) and Jed was starving so I let him go get some dinner. At 8:20 the nurse came in to check me and said she couldn't find my cervix so she wanted to go call the doctor. He came in about 8:23 to check and said, "The hand is prolapsed (already out)...PUSH!" My first thought was, but my husband isn't back yet! But, I didn't have a choice, with one push Alyssa Anne was born at 8:25. They didn't even have the delivery stuff out of the sterile bags or anything. Thankfully Jed got back just as she was laid on the bed, so he still got to cut her chord and all that stuff. It was pretty crazy and her arm was bruised for a few days from the contractions around it, but thankfully we didn't end up in the operating room.

Alyssa has been a joy. She is a pretty calm baby and really doesn't cry much, which I am very grateful for because Hailey is making up for that right now. She is getting her last four molars in so she hasn't been feeling very good (2 in, 2 to go). Hailey loves her little sister, sometimes a little too much. She tries to pick her up all the time and seems to think she has to lay on her to give her kisses. It gets a little crazy, but I'm glad that she likes her. She is a little jealous with daddy time or when I am feeding Alyssa, but I'm sure she will get better with some adjustment time. We are blessing Alyssa this Sunday so I will post pictures after that. We hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers especially through the end of my pregnancy.

Alyssa Anne

Alyssa Anne was born on Saturday August 18th at about 8:30pm. She weighed 6lbs and 15oz And was 19 1/2 inches long. She is a cutie and we are excited about having her in our life.

For many more pictures go to http://picasaweb.google.com/jrobins25

The Final Countdown! =)

So this last few days has been a little trying. I found out last Friday that I have preeclampsia (or however you spell it). There are good and bad to that of course, just like everything it seems. My bed rest became a lot more strict for the rest of my pregnancy, but the good news is that's only 3 more days! With preeclampsia they deliver you at 37 weeks, so I am scheduled for an induction this coming Friday morning at 6:30. I am rather excited to get to hold my little girl! I will post pictures when I get home. I hope everyone is doing well.

We must be nuts!

So, we didn't let Hailey open her presents from mommy & daddy yet, those have to wait until her actual birthday which is tomorrow. We are going to just go on a little picnic up at the park and have pizza (her favorite) and then let her open them. I'll post pictures of that later. But, this present would have been a little hard to hide after we picked her up yesterday. That's right, we got Hailey a doggie. They are having so much fun. This is Tessie and we adopted her from an area rescue. She is an aussie mix and is about 10 months old. She's been really gentle and fun. She is already house trained and spayed which greatly appealed to Jed and I. She is also probably about full grown. She is the perfect size for our little house. Hailey loves petting her and giving her hugs and kisses. Just thought I would share the pictures of the newest member of the family.

Birthday Party

We had just a little neighborhood party for Hailey on Saturday. She had a lot of fun playing with her little friends. There were five of her little friends here. Mason and Maddison who are the twins she loves to play with. Then Emma and Lizzy who are sisters that just moved in on our street. Then Makinley came too and she is shy, but so cute and fun. She got some really cute stuff, I think her favorites though were the dolly and crib from Makinley and the jewelry that her friend Cloe from next door brought over later (Cloe slept through the party). Here are some pictures from the party that I thought were fun.

My big girl...

I can't believe how big Hailey is getting! We had her two year well check the other day and she is an inch away from three feet tall and weighs 28 pounds. No wonder it is hard for me to pick her up right now. She had to get one shot, but when the nurse gave it to her she just held my hand and didn't cry at all. Then, she told the nurse 'thank you'. The nurse laughed and was like, I've never had a baby not cry, much less tell me thank you. It was pretty funny. I think she really liked the pink band-aid. I like our new doctor, I was nervous about finding a pediatrician, but the one we are going to is really cool. They also have a right to read program and so for every well check she goes to she gets a new book. This is a picture I took the other day. I just can't believe how big she is.

Life Updates

So, there really aren't too many things going on in Cedar City. I'm supposed to pretty much be on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy because my contractions started a little over a month ago when I had the flu. Now, everytime I try to get up and do anything I start having contractions again. Therefore, I'm really not supposed to do much, but that is really hard with a (almost) 2 year old that is full of energy.
Hailey has made a couple friends up here. There is a set of twins in our ward that are about 6 months younger than her that she loves to play with. We pull up to their house and she starts yelling Mason and Maddison and telling me and Jed bye bye. It's pretty cute. There are also two doggies over there so I'm sure that helps her enjoy it even more. I really enjoy visiting with thier mom too, so we try to get together when we can. There are lots of really nice people on our street, though our immediate neighbors are a bit weird.
We are still trying to get a loan for our house. We actually got a letter today that said there aren't any funds available for our income category right now, but hopefully there will be soon.
Jed is working on, and almost finished with, the requirements for his personal training certification. We went to the gym the other day to take the pictures of the exercises he has to submit. He has to explain what muscles they work, then send everything in and then we should know within a month.
We will be taking a trip down to Arizona for Jed's friend's wedding in October and I'm pretty excited about that because we will get to show off the new baby. I'm really ready to just have her here and hold her. I almost feel like I will get more sleep once she's here because right now I'm so uncomfortable that I'm not sleeping at all, but that is okay. It will all be worth it at some point. =)
We love and miss you all and hope everyone is doing well.

Thought on dads......

My thoughts and emotions yesterday were a bit too close to the surface to write anything, but I can't go too long without adding a little bit to my blog about my gratitude for fathers. Father's day is a bit bitter sweet for me, much like mother's day.....I find myself missing my father greatly, especially since this year was my first father's day without him. I find myself remembering long talks and trips to Disneyland, days at the range, and trips to the mall. I have never known a guy that liked to shop as much as my dad, even if it was just window shopping. I will miss him, but I also know he is in a better place and for that I am thankful.
But then I also feel incredibly grateful for the father I have chosen for my children. He is not only my companion and friend, but he is Hailey's hero...you can just see it in her eyes. He is so patient with her and they are just so much fun to watch when they play together. Lately he has been teaching her to play air guitar and lipsync to the ringtone on his cell phone. It cracks me up!
Someone said something in church yesterday that really made me think. She said, "Start today to become the kind of parent you have always wanted to be." Well, I want to be more like my husband and father. They are both great men and I am grateful to have them in my life.

Minor Victory

A few weeks ago Hailey randomly came up to me and said she wanted to go potty. I was shocked because we hadn't even really talked about it. Anyway, that night we went and got her a big girl potty. She loved to sit on it, but had never actually gone potty on it. That was, until today. Then today when I was using the restroom she came in and asked again to go potty.....and she actually did! I was so proud of her. I know this is so small in the grand scheme of potty training, but it sure seems like a step in the right direction to me. Go Hailey!

Baby Update

Today I had an ultrasound to try to get a better estimation of my due date. For those of you who didn't know when we got up here to Cedar City my OB said my uterus was measuring about 4 weeks ahead of my EDD. Anyway, he scheduled an ultrasound to check on the baby and see which due date was accurate. Sad to say my first was pretty close and I am due in early September rather than August like I had hoped. Oh well, I guess she just needs a little more time to cook.

Anyway, I had no idea that this ultrasound would be so cool. They did a fair amount of showing us the 3D images of the baby. We also got to see all four chambers of her heart and the tech put it into slow motion so we could see both valves working properly and everything. It was really neat. This is the picture they gave me from the 3D images. (Sorry it's not very clear I had to just take a picture of it because we don't have a scanner.) But, I just think it is adorable. Her right hand is tucked under her cheek almost like a pillow and her other hand kept opening and closing like she was trying to wave at us. I also love her cute little nose. I personally think it looks a lot like Hailey's, but that is just my opinion. I can't wait to hold this child in my arms I know she will be a precious addition to our family.

PIllow Fights

Hailey's latest thing is to pick up a pillow and just start wailing on her daddy. It really is quite hilarious. The other night I just had to take some pictures of it. They are so cute together! This is really the only picture that you can see her face. She is plotting something, you can just tell.

Picture Attempt

I keep saying that I am going to put up pictures, of Hailey, of the house, of whatever may be in my camera at the moment. So, I am actually going to attempt that now. I can't find the USB chord that goes to my new camera (I'm sure it's still in a box somewhere), but I realized that our desktop has a slot for my SD card. Let's see if this works. If not it will just have to wait some more......Yay it worked. That is a picture of the front of our new home. This picture was taken when we were just up here looking at places to live. There is now a fenced in backyard, but don't get me started on the drama of that. There is also a gate to the side. We still need to do the landscaping, but it might just have to wait a little bit until we close on the house. Our realtor told us someone bought the other side, but no one has moved in yet so I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. I would love it if they had kids around Hailey's age, that would be fun. Our realtor actually lives next door and has a daughter that is a year older than Hailey. We all went to the park yesterday and Hailey had a lot of fun with Chloe. There is also a family down a few houses that has a little girl a few months older than Hailey that Hailey has played with a little bit. Hailey is getting really big and amuses us on a daily basis. Here is a fairly recent picture of her. This picture is Hailey at her most precious moments (aka asleep).

Update on Hailey

Hailey's fever got up to 104.4 a day or two after I last wrote, so I finally took her into to get her checked out. It turned out she had strep. Poor kid. But, with the help of some amoxicillin, lots of rest and a blessing from her daddy she is doing a lot better now. She is adjusting to the new house and we are settling in. Since she is feeling better we have been able to get a bit more done around the house. There are only a few boxes left. I am going to go for now though so we can take her down the the park close to our house. Have a great day!

The New House

Well, last Saturday we moved up to our new home in Cedar City, Utah. We really like the new place, though it is a bit smaller than our last house. Right now there are boxes everywhere and so it is a bit crazy, but it will get better. Hailey has not been feeling very good. Yesterday her temperature was 102.7 before I stopped. I figured that was high enough to know she had a fever. I know she is getting some molars, but I think there is more to it than that. I think that is about the most of the news for now, so I will update later.

Do I Live in the Jungle?

So last night was a bit primal in my house. We did a fair amount of packing, which is good, and then Hailey was playing in our room with Jed and they just kept cracking me up. She is at that little mimick stage, especially with daddy. She wants to do and say everything her daddy does. So, last night he was beating his chest and making tarzan noises and she got him to take off her shirt so she could do it exactly like he was doing. It was hilarious. She comes up with new stuff everyday to make me laugh.

A Little More Insanity

So, as most of you I'm sure know at this point we are expecting another little girl in September. I am getting pretty excited and I think Hailey will be a great big sister. We moved Hailey to a toddler bed and she seems to love it. When she wakes up in the morning she comes into our bedroom with a great big "HI" and then usually tries to tickle Jed. It's pretty funny.
On to some other exciting news for us....we are moving up to Cedar City, Utah. Jed is going to be going to Southern Utah University and majoring in athletic training. We really think we are going to like it up there. We found a little duplex to buy that we are pretty excited about. It isn't huge, but it will work great for our little family. However, the backyard is huge.....especially by Arizona standards...so I am really excited about that part and I think Hailey will be too. We are moving the 19th of this month and that leaves me with tons to do, but I think it will be really good for us. I'll post pictures when I can!

Funny Stories

So, I was talking on the phone to mom today for quite a while and apparently Hailey thought that was the perfect time to get into everything I wouldn't normally let her get.....So, she took the broom from beside the fridge and used it to knock down the plastic bag organizer that is up there and somehow she got a bag of chips down too. So, when I got off the phone there were plastic bags all over my living room floor and she hand orange hands (the chips where cheetos). At that point you really can't do anything but laugh!
Jed's favorite thing that Hailey does right now is say nope. He cracks up, so he asks her all kinds of crazy questions just to get her to say no. The most common is are you going to be a big sister. It never fails, she gets this big grin and goes "nope". I hope she gets over that by September.

Yucky Cough

Poor Hailey has been sick for about 10 days now and I just feel so bad for her. She is all congested and you can just tell she doesn't feel very good. She isn't sleeping very well at night and she has a runny nose all day long. We tried one medicine, but the doctor gave her a different one so we are going to go pick up that one today and see if we can kick this thing. I just hope she's feeling better in time to go to nursery!