For Robby - A Happy Birthday Tale

One of the greatest blessings for me this year has been to see Robby blossom into someone who loves books and loves to read. So, for his third birthday post, I decided to write him a story about my favorite little boy in the whole world.

On the day God made Robby, he was so tiny that God decided to give him a very safe and warm place where he could begin to grow. The place God put him was in Mommy's tummy!

Robby liked it there very much. He liked it so much that when it was time for him to leave Mommy's tummy and to move into Mommy and Daddy's house, he decided that he did not want to leave. Mommy had a doctor come help her, and after many hours, they were able to convince Robby to be born.

Here is a picture of what Robby looked like right after he was first born!

Once Robby was born, he came to live at his mommy and daddy's house where he had a room and bed of his own. At first he was so little that he spent every day just eating and sleeping. He was so little that he could not walk or talk or even sit up by himself!

But, the milk that Robby was drinking helped him to begin to grow and get bigger. By the time Robby had his first birthday, he had learned to sit up, to stand up, to walk, and even to say a few words. He was still pretty little though.

After Robby turned one he started changing from a baby to a little boy. Each day he amazed his mommy and daddy with all the new things he learned how to do.

Robby started eating the same foods as Mommy and Daddy and started drinking milk in a big boy cup. He learned how to run really fast and jump really high. He learned how to golf and how to climb all over the jungle gym at the park. He started playing with choo choo trains and learned that he loved the movie Cars.

Before he knew it, a whole year had passed, and Robby got to celebrate his second birthday!


The biggest thing that happened the year after Robby turned two was that he became a big brother. Just a couple months after Robby turned two, Mommy and Daddy brought home a little sister for Robby. They named her Juliet. Robby is a very good big brother, and he does a great job helping to take care of Juliet.

Robby continued to grow and become an even bigger boy after he turned two. He learned how to use the potty and stopped having to wear diapers. He also got to start sleeping in a big boy bed instead of the crib he slept in when he was little.


While Robby continues to like Cars and trains and playing golf and playing at the park, he added some new favorites to his life as well. Robby learned to love Curious George and swimming and Toy Story.


Time flies when hanging out with Robby, and it's crazy, but he has now had a whole year pass since his second birthday. Now Robby is three. We can't wait to see how Robby continues to grow and get bigger this year. Before we know it, Robby will turn four and will able to run even faster and jump even higher.

I am so glad that I get to be Robby's mommy because he is my favorite little boy in the whole world.

Juliet's Favorite Things

In honor of my 10 month old sunshine girl who is always happy, a little ditty that pretty much encapsulates her outlook on life: (If you need me to tell you the tune to sing it to, I am going to be disappointed in you ;)

Pulling on cords and chasing the kitty. Eating blueberries and being so pretty. Playing with Robby on the playground swing, these are a few of my favorite things.

Smiling at Daddy and laughing with Robby. Grabbing at Robby's toys is my new hobby. Waking up happy at what each day brings, these are a few of my favorite things.

Bouncing and snuggling and drinking my bottle. Cruising throughout the house going full throttle. Listening to Mommy tell stories and sing, these are a few of my favorite things.

When I fall down, when I lose my toy, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad :)



Juliet turned 10 months old on our 7 year anniversary. I feel less bad about how long it took me to get this up considering that we haven't made it to our anniversary dinner yet either :)

I Need New Mascara

(This picture was taken this morning prior to the events outlined below. P.S. Grammy--he loves the shirt and even let me take this picture to show you how good it looks on him)

So, today I figured out how to knock two things off my to-do list in one shot: I would continue my trend of cooking something new at least once a week and make sure Robby got to celebrate his birthday in style at school this week by making homemade cupcakes for him to take to school tomorrow. As I lay in bed last night sleepless from jet lag, I even came up with this (slightly unoriginal) concept:

....no not just a bunch of cupcakes. Squint your eyes and let your creative juices flow. Then, you will clearly see that it is a caterpillar. --You could tell. I knew you had a discerning eye, my friend.

Anyway, the point of this is that while I was hard at working making this culinary delight, my children were upstairs for their daily nap. Unfortunately. . . only the one who is actually unable to get out of bed without help was in her bed.

The other had stealthily made his way to my bathroom, where his inquiring mind stumbled upon my makeup bag. What is a little boy to do with a whole bagful of makeup and no grownup around? Well, let's see:

1. dump it all out on the bathmat
2. open up the various containers and deposit the contents in a pile on the floor and mix around to see what color is created.
3. use the wands from one item to the next so that concealer becomes black and mascara pink.
4. attempt to save the parentals loads of money by experimenting to see if enough mascara applied to the hair will allow a glimpse of what you might look like with black hair (the verdict--we will stick with the more natural tones for the foreseeable future).

Needless to say that once he was discovered he was in BIG TROUBLE both for getting out of bed during nap time and playing with Mommy's stuff that he is not supposed to touch. But, after the punishment time had ended and the bath was administered, he was allowed to come downstairs and test out one of the cupcakes.

I only felt slightly guilty when I snuck the last couple of bites of the cupcake when he went to go to the bathroom considering that I am now out of concealer, blush, and mascara. I only felt slightly guiltier at allowing the poor kitchen fly to be blamed for the missing cupcake upon his return from the bathroom.

I Have Issues

The pictures above were taken right before I left this morning to fly to Phoenix for a work conference that starts tomorrow. Upon arrival this afternoon, I found that I had the whole afternoon/evening to myself. So, I did what any self-respecting mother would do. I went shoe shopping and then went to a movie. Of the movies that are out, the ones I really wanted to see were all something that I knew my hubby wants to see too, so I ended up picking a rather strange indy film about two mothers whose teenage children decided to find their biological donor father.

I have to admit that I found little in the movie that I related to until the end. The last scene is a farewell scene as the two moms drop their daughter off at college to start her freshman year. I teared up then, and I am tearing up now (I kid you not).

I get that the goal of parenting is to see your children grow up, leave the nest, and go be successful as adults. In my head, I get it. But, right now that feels like someone telling me that in 15 short years I have to hand my leg over so that it can learn to be independent. If not my leg, then definitely my heart. How am I supposed to just take my babies, plop them in a dorm room, and walk away?

Yes, I know, I know. I have many years to prepare for this eventuality. And, yes, I know that by the time this happens I will have lived through the teenage years. But, like I said. I have issues. Now apparently is as good a time as any to start stressing about this goodbye. It's like what Sally says in When Harry Met Sally.

Sally: "And, I'm gonna be 40."

Harry:"When?" Sally: "Someday."

Harry, "In 8 years."

Sally: "But it's there. It's just sitting there, like some big dead end."

So, me? I'm gonna go start thinking about how to work out my issues. And you? If you haven't seen When Harry Met Sally, that's what you need to do.

Making Memories

Robby started telling us over the weekend that he wanted to play a game with us. We checked it out and figured out that the only game we really had for children is Elefun, which we played and Robby loves. But, it gets tedious after a while for the grownups because you have to keep reloading the elephant every couple of minutes.

So, when we went to Target last night, we checked out the game section and found three classics for $7 bucks each--Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and Memory. Of course, such a deal could not be resisted. We talked up Memory the whole way home, and then we got home and started teaching Robby how to play.

We were surprised at how well he picked up on the concept and how well he could remember where cards were. But, I had not really thought before about all the other elements that we need to teach Robby about playing games, like...waiting your turn, only turning over the set number of cards, being patient, . . . trying to beat the competition.

Bryan and I consider the instruction of our children to be one of the most greatest roles in our lives, and we know that modeling behavior is one of the best ways to teach our children. So, it was in the spirit of instruction that we played three straight games, only one of which had Robby as a participant.

The other two fiercely competitve matches (what? Robby wanted to watch and not play so he could better learn. He takes learning very seriously!) were played solely to provide some teachable moments. For example, when I stomped off after getting soundly beaten and pouted downstairs about the loss, I was teaching Robby what a poor loser does and why it should be avoided. When Bryan and I respectively gloated and lorded our superior memory skills over the other, we were teaching Robby why it is so much more fun to play with a gracious winner. The match that was played after Robby went to bed was a strategy session. Eh? You think that Bryan and I would continue to play a game aimed at preschoolers simply for the opportunity to best one another? Definitely not. I wouldn't even describe us as competitive, really.

These are hard lessons to teach a kid, but someone's gotta do it.