Christmas Time!! (And more pics...)

 

 

Our family loves Christmas time!  The music, the smells, the treats, spending time with family and friends, etc... :)  It is also such a great time to reflect on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ and think of all that He has done for us.  As we remember Him during the season, it helps us to keep an eternal perspective. 

This was our Christmas card that we sent out this year... don't be shocked that we finally did one!  I had good intentions last year... :)

 

We were able to get a new tree on Black Friday!  We love this new tree!!  But, I can't decide if I like the colored lights...

 

Or the white lights more... :)  But, I love having options!

 

Notice that we have the tree in the corner, between our two couches.  This has been a LIFESAVER, as Madi has been getting into everything lately!  She hasn't been able to reach the tree yet... So cross your fingers!

 





 

Here is one side of the entertainment center...

 

 

And here is the other. :)  (Hmmm... it looks better in person, in my own opinion...)

 

 

We have a snowman shelf!

 

 

And I love this glittery nativity!

 

 

Speaking of nativities, we love putting this one up!  Mike's parents were able to travel to Israel last year, and they brought this back for us.  It is made out of olive wood!  It's so beautiful!

 

 

 

We have had so much fun so far this holiday season: Christmas parties, the Mo-Tab Christmas Concert, the 1st Presidency devotional, and many other things.  We look forward to these next few weeks as well!

 

Now for some random pictures:

 

 

 

This has been Madi's hang-out for the last little while.  She loves cleaning out the bottom shelf of our entertainment center and climbing in there. What a goofball!!

 

 

She was suppose to be helping me rake up the leaves... But she kept trying to eat them.  Maybe she needs more fiber in her diet... :) haha!

 

 

Madi and I get plenty of snuggling time, as I have been instructed by my Doctor to be "more lazy" for the end of my pregnancy.  With a 14 month old?  Yeah right!

 

 

But she does have "her spot" on the couch.  :)

 

 

So let me tell you the story behind this one:  One day, I am making dinner, and I had strapped Madi into her highchair and had given her a few snacks to enjoy and keep her busy.  I got caught up in what I was doing, and turned around to this!!!  She had climbed out of her highchair, onto the table!  Not only had she climbed out, but look at the straps of her highchair... That's right!  They are still done up, around her pants!  She had climbed out of her pants to climb onto the table!  This is what I get to deal with all day, everyday!  She totally outsmarts me on a daily basis! :)  And don't you love this look?  It's like she's saying, "What mom?"

 

 

Mike has been working like crazy during the holidays, and with the end of the year coming up.  He has 5, sometimes 6 days a week, working 10 to 12 hour days!  We are super grateful to him for being willing to work so hard, but it's not easy, for we miss him so! 

 

 

 

Check out this hair!  After her bath one night, I towel dried her hair, and this is what we got!  Some people work really hard to get a look like this!! :)

 

 

The girl loves her mac and cheese!  Which ends up being really nice for me, since I hardly ever feel like cooking lately!

 

 

It was too quite one evening, and I found her eating all my chocolate covered raspberry sticks!  She loved them!  And because I am a nice mommy, I decided to share... ;)

 

 

I have been having some pretty crazy heartburn the last few weeks.  One day I was reading the label on the bottle of antacids, and I read the last line for managing heartburn, and laughed right out loud!  Duh!!!

 

This picture shows what an example we set for these babies... She is putting sunglasses on her head!  Is that because I do that all the time?  I had no idea she was picking up on that!!

 

 

This was the day she found the baby powder... :(  She was walking all over, shaking it up and down!!  It was hard to get mad at her, when it was really cute to watch.  Needless to say, I make sure the bottle is closed tightly all the time now!

 

 

Oh yeah... here is another one of her climbing out of her highchair... (big sigh...)

 

 

This was so funny!  She loves carrying around the wii remotes.  The other day she had all four on her wrists.  As she was walking, she dropped one.  She picked it up and put the band in her mouth!  I was trying so hard to get a good picture of her, but guess what?!  She didn't want to hold still! :)

 

 

We are also very proud of my little brother Peter!  He just got his mission call to serve in the Missouri Saint Louis Mission.  He will be speaking English, and leaves February 13th, 2013.  That is two days after my due date, so hopefully he gets to meet his little nephew before he goes!  We were able to go through the temple with him this week, and it was a great reminder as to what is most important.  It is critical that we center our lives on the gospel.  What better time to do that, then at Christmas time!  We should remember what President Monson has said, "The spirit of Christmas is indeed the Christ spirit."

Happy Holidays to you all! 

 

Much love,

 

The Robbins Family

 



Free Download!!

 

Hey guys!  Hope your Thanksgiving Day's were wonderful!!!  We are still recovering not only from our turkey comas, but also from the lack of sleep due to Black Friday... :)

 

But, I wanted to mention that one of my friends Callie, has written a book that is FREE this weekend to download.  The book is called "The Threshold Child" and this is what it is all about:

Adesina was trained from childhood to serve her land as a warrior and a spy. When she is selected to combat a group of seditious magic users, she must summon all of her talents--some of which have been buried in the deepest part of her.

 

 

Here is a link to download it from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Threshold-Child-ebook/dp/B009F2BA6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352826641&sr=8-1&keywords=threshold+child

Remember, you don't need an eReader... There is a free app on Amazon that will let you read eBooks on any device.  Callie is a great author, so enjoy!!

Happy Reading!!

 



Happy 2 Year Anniversary!!! (And our Disneyland Trip)

 

On October 30, we were able to celebrate our 2nd anniversary!!!  Time has been flying by!!  It truly is amazing how our love has grown stronger with each passing day.  I can't even imagine my life without Mike, and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has orchestrated our lives the way He has. 

 

 

These are the beautiful roses that Mike surprised me with.  How did he know how much I love roses?!?! ;)

We were saving our celebrating for the next few days, because we went to Disneyland!  Just Mike and I!  It took some time to psych myself up to leave Madi for 3 full days... But it was a success!  And it seemed like she had a ton of fun with the Buhlers!  (Thanks again guys!!!)

 

 

We loved getting random pictures and updates on how Madi was doing while we were gone.  I am sure that she LOVED all the constant attention!! ;) 

 

 

Disneyland was soooo much fun!  We got there on Halloween, spent a few hours in the park, but decided to bow out of the Halloween party that night.  We had tons of fun exploring and enjoying the rides together!

 

 

We had lots of fun in the new Cars Land.  Last time we were in Disneyland, there was tons of construction as they were working on it still.  It was super fun to see the finished product!  At times we had 30 minute waits, and other times we waited for 80 minutes!!  But still way fun!!!

 

 

We even found a suite dedicated to Lizzie!  Unfortunately, every time I tried to take a picture, this guy's arm would appear in the picture.  Oh well... prime example of Sarah's photography skill... or lack thereof! :)

 

 

California Screamin' is my FAVORITE ride!  Of course we had to get a quick pic as we were about to take off!  We only rode it twice though, as I started feeling some "baby" pains, and decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

 

 

Now, you can call me super cheap, but I am shocked at how expensive food is at Disneyland! I am shocked every time!!  Needless to say, we would frequent the Corn Dog Castle often for lunch!  It is probably the cheapest think you can eat, and we both really liked it! (Thank goodness!)

 

 

Probably the most expensive hamburger I have ever eaten... :)

 

 

Yummy, yummy to Mike's tummy!! :)  And yes, we were matching in blue that day, cuz we are cool like that! ;)

 

 

We really enjoyed wondering around Downtown Disney.  One of our favorite things to look at, (besides searching for pins...) was the Lego store!  They had the most amazing statues made completely of Legos!!!  It was insane!!!  Here is Beauty and the Beast (obviously...),

 

 

Toy Story...

 

 

And the Genie from Aladdin.  Incredible, right?!?!

 

 

 

Of course we had to take a picture of the Tower of Terror, just for Mike's Mom.  This is Sheila's favorite ride! :) 

 

 

Mike definitely kept things interesting the whole time!!  I love spending time with him!  Unfortunately, this Disneyland trip was a little harder on my pregnant body, then when I was pregnant with Madi.  We were constantly taking breaks, getting my feet up, and were often done much earlier than Mike wanted to be.  But despite all my whining of back pain, sore feet, and shin splints, Mike never made me feel bad.  He was so supportive, and understanding.  It made me love him even more!!!

 

 

The weather was perfect while we were there... low 70's during the day.  A little brisk at night, but not too bad at all!  I am pretty sure that it made Mike want to move to CA even more!!

 

 

We concluded our fun on Saturday, by enjoying our tradition of Pineapple Whips!  These are sooooo good!!!  Too bad we had just had a huge lunch, so we decided to share one.  Mike thought it would be so funny to have the picture look like the straw was up his nose... When we tried to take a normal picture, this is what we got...

 

 

He was laughing so hard!  So much for a normal picture... :)  I love this guy!!

 

We made it home, safe and sound, and now Mike gets to work 6 days a week for a few weeks.  When your shifts are 10-12 hours, and you are on your feet the whole time, it should be interesting.  Keep him in your prayers!  Just grateful he is willing to work so hard!! :)

 

Oh yeah... by the way...

 

 

MADI IS OFFICIALLY WALKING!!!!!  She has been taking lots of steps the past few weeks, but she is now full fledged walking, with minimal crawling!!!  We are so proud of her!  She was a skunk for Halloween!  So adorable!

 

 

Madi turns ONE!!!!!

 

 

We cannot believe how quickly time flies by!!!  Our little Madilynn has turned one!!!  She has brought so much joy and happiness into not only our lives, but to many others as well.  She has such a kind and gentle nature, but can also be strong willed when she wants to be.  She has been developing right according to schedule.  Here is a sneak peek into her last 12 months:

 

 

0 Months

 

 

1 Month

 

 

2 Months

 

 

3 Months

 

 

4 Months

 

 

5 Months

 

 

6 Months

 

 

7 Months

 

 

 

8 Months

 

 

9 Months

 

 

10 Months

 

 

11 Months

 

 

 

One year!!!!

 

For her big birthday, we had to have spaghetti, due to the old family tradition.  Not only do they get spaghetti, but they get to have the whole plate, and eat it with their hands!!

 

 

The anticipation was killing her!!!

 

 

Hmmm... Now what do I do?!?

 

 

Okay, I've got this!!

 

 

Please sir... Can I have some more? :)

 

 

We also had a little birthday party that was ladybug themed.  It turned out pretty cute!

 

 

Here is the cake that Aunt Becca made for Madi to enjoy.  It turned out so cute!

 

 

We had cupcakes for everyone else. These didn't turn out quite like I had hoped they would, but oh well...

 

 

This was Madi's high chair all decorated. :)

 

 

We decorated the tables in red tablecloths, and then cut out black circles of felt to put in the middle.  It turned out really cute! 

 

 

Madi looked adorable in her outfit made by her Aunt Lindsey!  Thanks again Linds... :)

 

 

When we gave her the cake to eat, she kept looking at us like, "You want me to what?!?!"

 

 

"I can totally do that!!!"

 

 

Clean-up was intense, but it was worth it!! 

Overall, it was a great party.  We are so happy to have been able to celebrate the joy in our life.  We are eternally grateful that Madilynn was sent to our family.  We love her more than words can express!!

Happy Birthday Madi!!!