Christmas is OVER??

That was fast. It seems like November was yesterday. The good news about that is I'm all of a sudden REALLY pregnant. When people ask me when I'm due, they are quite surprised I still have two months left. That's when I explain I'm fairly certain I won't last that long. I'm thinking this kid will be a February baby. Maybe not Valentines, likely closer to leap year. Anyone else have any guesses?

We had an awesome Christmas. It's the first year where it's been really difficult trying to organize my family so we can all be together at the same time. Matt and Christa left for Hawaii on Christmas day, Megan & Joe had other parties on both Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Nina worked on the 23rd, etc. It worked out well though... Most of us went to the service on the 23rd, then I went again with Nina on the 24th. Christmas Eve was casual and we just hung out and ate appy's. Christmas morning, when it finally got started..hehe... was opening more and more presents. When you have so many people, and when you have the tradition of one person going at a time - it tends to draw out. My personal favorite was a painting Nina did specifically for Nate and I.. I posted a picture of it below. Overall, it was good - so was brunch. I indulged in Fruit Loops, cinnamon rolls, Christmas Morning Wife-Saver, waffles with berries and whipped cream, etc. Mom does a good job with brunch. And I do a good job eating it.

My own little family had our Christmas before we left for brunch. Jericho wasn't really into opening presents, but once they were in front of him he did play with them - instead of their boxes. Nate and I exchanged gifts and are still unsure who loves their gift more. He bought my a new Canucks jersey, which I love sooo much... And I got him an iPod - which he finds hard to put down.

The evening of Christmas was spent watching movies, playing games, and eating more of my Mom's yummy food. My nana even brought carrot pudding which I had been craving for a few weeks. I find it weird how many foods from my childhood I crave.

These past few days have been quiet, but great. We've gone grocery shopping, used some of the gift certificates from my parents for boxing day clothes, gone to the movies (CRAZY BUSY!!!), etc. I love the time between Christmas and New Years. It's such a relaxing time that reminds me of days gone by where worries never clouded my mind.

Oh, I had the weirdest dream last night. I was going on another missions trip and I was taking my new baby. Neither Jericho or Nate was going and I had to pack everything myself - and I waited until the day I was leaving. I packed SO much and I was SO late that Pastor Steve got mad. But he partly understood - it's hard to pack for a baby! And Melody - you were there! I asked you how married life was and you smiled and said it was great. I then told you it didn't compare to parenthood. Funny, huh? I don't remember much about what the trip was like, just that I was practically nursing the baby the whole time. Awkward.

Anyhow, I think we're going to take our tree down - it's been fun trying to prevent Jericho from tearing it down from day to day, but I think we're done. I'm glad he liked it so much.

Happy New Year everybody!

Oh The Bliss!!!

Arriving Saturday, December 22nd - just in time for Christmas!




You should all be proud to know that Jericho even said "thank-you" to the sales lady!!

Recent pics...

Enjoy!

Busy December

I don't think I've known a December not to be busy, especially when my dad still had that tree farm. Those years were insane, but this year is a different kind of busy. It's been interesting... We went to Hawaii and came home to a snow week. Outside there are still remnants of the white stuff. But the reason it's busier than normal is Nate has been working more to finish up his school. He does a lot of strange hours and it's been hard at times.

I've been notoriously bad at complaining, but some days are ardous in taking care of Jericho and working for Matt, plus trying to make sure I don't overdue it. I had a scare last week where I was having shooting pains down my back similar to labour pains, as well as a tightening in my belly. When I called the midwife she recommended I make my way to my chiropractor pronto. Luckily I had an appointment for the next day and as soon as I was adjusted I realized my back pain had been the issue all along. This pregnancy has been plagued with a twisted pelvis. Sounds strange, I know.. but somehow when I sit for too long or sleep with my legs bent I've managed to put my lower back in a funny, albeit painful, position. But thanks to my chiro, I am doing much better.

I still have more Christmas gifts to buy than I've bought so far. Very behind this year. With Nate's weird hours, I've found it hard get out there since we only have the one car. The good news with that is we've managed to save up the money for Christmas instead of using the credit cards at all. Years past we have just put Christmas on the plastic and paid for it until we received our income tax refund. This year, we've done well and it's a great feeling to be in control of our spending instead of figuring out the bills come January.

Jericho has been an amazing little boy. He makes me laugh all the time. Those moments in the bathtub where he gets that look in his eyes and just splashes like nuts are hilarious... and when he attempts to eat his applesauce with his spoon and when I'm not looking dives in with his fingers, or when I stand at the top of the stairs to say goodbye and before I've even given him a kiss he practically runs to the front window to wave. He's grown a lot too.. now weighs 23 lbs and is 32" tall. Puts him in the 50% percentile for his weight for once. I'm not surprised as I've been paying attention to him inhale his breakfast. The child is a vacuum.

Anyways, I know I haven't been posting as much... but I can't even post pictures today as Nate takes the laptop a lot more often now. But I'll get to it, even if it takes me until next year (That one's for Rachael!)


Thanks for still reading....

Jericho's Growing Vocabulary

This dude is picking up words like crazy. Here is a 'dictionary' to what on earth he may be saying.

Momma/Mom = Me!
Dada = Nate
Daddee/Danket = Blanket
Puppy = Puppy (he says this often in reference to any animal that moves)
Iah = Cousin Ashiah
Baba = Grandma
Papa = Grandpa (has only said this a few times)
Dottle = Bottle or sippy cup
Mmmmmm = That is yummy, I want some more right now (This is often accompanied with a vigorous nodding of his head)
Ta = Please (He always holds his palm outstretched when he says this)
Tattoo = Thank-you (this is new and very cute)
Popo = I'm not sure about this one, but it's what my mom calls him
Bubba = Jericho (He will place his hand on his chest when he says this as I call him Bubba)
Baby = Baby (points to my belly or any young baby in the room)

His first two word sentence was "Dottle Ta".

PS - Tahnee, he still won't say Jack Spade.

We are back!

Hawaii 2007. We came, we saw, we got burnt... oh, the joys. All in all, it was a great time of amazing food, fun with family, and the most beautiful vistas. Kauai really is a gorgeous island and I would highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates natural beauty. We arrived in Honolulu late on the 15th after a LONG plane ride. Jericho did fairly well on the flight, only slept 3 of the 6 hours.. but I think it was a longer flight for me. I have had a really sore lower back so sitting for a long time was not helpful. But we were lucky in that we had an empty seat between us.

Once we arrived in Honolulu, we took a taxi to a hotel I would not recommend. It was only one night, but ew. The next morning was bad. We went for breakfast at McDonalds at while we were 'enjoying' all that Mickie D's had to offer, my lovely little boy VOMITED everywhere! Huge chunks of grossness. Our shuttle was to be picking us up in less than 20 minutes, so little ole me volunteered to run the stinky child back to the hotel to change and clean him. The ew hotel had this glass elevator that required you to stick your hotel key card into a slot before it even moved to your floor. Well, that stupid elevator would not move. I had a vomitous child, stuck in a HOT glass elevator that would not co-operate. After 5 minutes I pressed the help button and talked to some woman who kept asking if I was stuck. Yeah. Hello! Luckily, my family pushed the button in the lobby and saved us. By this time I was feeling faint and frustrated. But we got through it.

We then flew to Kauai - a 20 minute flight - and got our rental cars to head to our rental house. Last time the Searle's rented a house it was not a good scene, so I was a little apprehensive. It was perfect. Our bedroom had sliding doors opening with gorgeous views to the expansive ocean. Do you know how amazing it is to fall asleep to the waves? I loved it.

I do need to mention that over the next 3 days my son had horrible diarrhea and continued to vomit over those same three days. We figured that maybe on the first day he had swallowed ocean water. We weren't really sure. But we invested in some pedialyte and slowly he got better. It was a day of rejoicing when he got his appetite back.

Over the trip, we had a great deal of fun with Nate's family... but there were some incidences of traveling issues... losing each other for hours, almost getting into car accidents... etc. Let's just say that aspect was memorable.

I guess I'm sounding kinda negative about the whole trip, but really I had an awesome relaxing time. There were so many other things that happened - like Jericho teething the last few days (cutting three teeth at once), spending time at numerous gorgeous beaches, Nate swimming with turtles, Our little trip to Pearl Harbour, two medical emergencies on our flight home - resulting in the pilot going faster than usual making me sicker than a dog.... etc.

I've posted pics on facebook... and will get around to posting them here.. but I've been sitting too long and need to stretch my sore lower back...

Posting frenzy

I think by posting so much lately, I'm trying to make up for the time I'll be away and likely not able to get online to give updates. I thought tonight with the silence - Nate at a work meeting and Jericho sleeping soundly - it would be a good time to sit and let you all know stuff going on with me.

First, I'm working for my brother. Mat leave payments have officially ended *sigh* and I don't have the luxury of working enough hours before this next little one comes along. But Nate may be able to take parental leave which will be awesome. I had so much help with Jericho from my family and some friends, and it was so appreciated... But for him to be able to take a chunk of time off it would be a blessing.

More about the job - I'm basically do whatever my brother wants. Matthew is only 25, yet he owns a very successful plumbing contracting business. He started his business 3 years ago and with all the construction going on around here, he is overwhelmed with work. He has a Delta hotel he's working on in Sun Peaks which is getting close to completion. Also, another hotel in the Garibaldi area of Squamish. That job is also getting close to the end. But recently he won a bid for a new seniors village in Maple Ridge! It's just starting and he was so excited to get it. He does SO well. It's funny because my dad also has his own plumbing contracting business, but instead of riding my dad's coat tails, he went it on his own. People notice the same last name sometimes, but he doesn't go around using the name for his gain. I'm VERY proud of him. He was the type who didn't do well in school. He hated it actually. But now he works hard and is proving the naysayers wrong. He gets a bad rap sometimes and it sucks when people talk rudely about your family, but he's one of the coolest people I know.

That didn't really explain the job much... I do payroll, filing, GST payments, countless phone calls etc. etc. It's a big job with a one year old, but it rocks being able to do it at home... when Jericho takes a nap, is playing with his toys, whatever.. it gives me time to talk to adults and engage my inactive brain. I am amazed how quickly my memory has faded.

But Matt is a good boss and it's been good learning more about plumbing. My family is full of plumbers you know...

Jericho and his OTHER cousin

Does anyone else think that Jericho and his cousin Ashiah kinda resemble each other?

Lions Gate Pictures

Here are my three favorite pictures from today. I've already picked one I think should go in the third frame... which is your fav?

#1


#2


#3

Four Years

Four years ago, Nate took me to the top of the Lions Gate Bridge and proposed. He read me a childrens story called, "I Promise I'll Find You". It was cute and perfect. I, of course, said yes. Today we celebrated by going back over the bridge and taking Jericho and Aunt Megan to Prospect Point. Aunt Megan took pictures of the three of us with the bridge in the background. I'm going to upload them now to see if any are suitable for our third picture frame which has hung empty for almost a year. Then we went to the Great Wall BBQ - Nate's favorite restaurant.. and headed next door afterwards for a gourmet cupcake. All in all, a great day.

Now all I need is a bath and a nap - in that order.

Jericho Video

6 more days until we all leave for Hawaii!!!!

He's 1!!!!

I now am the mother of a one year old. I've been a Mommy for one year. It's been a fun year, and I can't get over how everyday my baby looks more and more like a little boy and less like that little red monster that was born all those days ago. Even though I say that, the time has flown by.

We had an amazing day. It was stressful at first trying to get everything organized - the food cooked, the cake decorated, the balloons and streamers bought... but what really made the day special was the friends and family that shared it with us. Thanks to all who came and watched my son try and blow out his first candle.

Some funny highlights were 1) As my Nana was leaving I apologized to her for the loud noise that accompanies having 30-35 people in your house. Her response was that "It's not loud when you're deaf!" 2) As a little game, we put pictures of Jericho's first year up all over and had questions as captions, like "When did I first start to walk" and "Where was this picture taken?" etc. My sister's boyfriend decided to pretend to be Jericho answering and it was hilarious. For example, for "Where was this picture taken?" His answer was, "In my face." And for "Whose tub am I sitting in?" He put, "Someone who has obviously never heard of Ajax." Funny guy.

Jericho was pretty good despite only having a short morning nap and having lots of people over when he doesn't generally do well with lots of noise. The cutest part was when everyone sang "Happy Birthday". I had been singing it to him all week and when everyone joined in he just looked around with an almost-smile on his face. We gave him his token piece of first birthday and at first he wouldn't touch it. But once he licked his fingers it was all over. It was a dreadful mess, but he was happy and on a sugar-high.

Hope you all enjoy the pics! I'll post a video later on of him eating cake.

New Baby

I've been feeling Baby #2 move alot lately. A LOT! Nate even got to feel it for the first time yesterday. Last time it was weeks before he could feel it. I'll be 22 weeks tomorrow. And my son turns 1 in eight days!!!!!!!

Pictures Greg took

While we were in Ottawa, my brother in law Greg took a bunch of gorgeous pictures of Jericho. Here are some of my favorites...Did I mention he's a fantastic photographer?










In other news, Jericho had a vaccination on Friday and we learned that he is 21 lbs, 12 oz. Not bad.. He's also 31" tall.. basically he's long and lean. I'm working on planning his 1st birthday which is in 12 days. Since he says "puppy" all the time, I've decided on puppies for a theme. I'll be making cupcakes with chocolate molds of puppy things on top, and a cute puppy cake. I can't believe how fast that year went by!

This boy is made for walking...

Jericho has started to walk over the last 10 days or so. We wondered if he would be walking by 1, and it looks like he will be!

Babies, Babies, Babies

There's going to be another Robinson grandbaby. For those doing that math, it will be 4 babies under 19 months by the time the youngest is here.

Due Dates are Relative

So if you haven't seen my blog in a few days, scroll down and make sure you read the post below because it rocks. There are many pictures. Too many. And a cool video. Anyways, I went to the midwife today and.... my due date is now March 2nd. Most of you are my facebook friends but some don't check status updates and I thought it was important enough to post. How do I feel about it? I'm up and down. Now my husband has longer to work on being less stressed about providing for four... and I can fly well into January now, so if any awesome travel deals come up - keep me posted. I'm unhappy in the obvious sense that I won't meet my baby for awhile and I'll be fat and pregnant for way longer. 2 weeks and three days longer to be precise. But really, there is a chance it will still come around Valentines. Just don't call me, I'll call you.

Happy Thanksgiving

There are quite a number of things I could blog about, my cousin Janelle's beautiful wedding, our family's Thanksgiving dinner last night, and of course - Jericho and his many growing talents. I can talk about all that later, instead, today I am devoting this post to cranberries. It seems only fitting seeing as the time of year where a tonne of cranberries are consumed are - you guessed it - Thanksgiving.

My dad has been a cranberry farmer for a number of years now. I can't remember how long, but I know it took several years after they were planted for the vines to even be able to produce a single berry. And there have been plenty of frustrations - from Ocean Spray and their ability to control the market price of cranberries - resulting in several farms declaring bankruptcy... to years where as a result of weather or vines being damaged there was low return... it's been a long journey. But of all the jobs my dad has had, I truly believe he is the most passionate about cranberries. You'll have to ask him why... but I think he is just fascinated by them. And he seems to have been able to discover many secrets to having a successful cranberry farm. One is a big word in farming today - diversification.

Now, as a result of the preceding paragraph, some of you may already be sleeping, some may be a little intrigued.. and some may be looking forward to all you may learn about the harvesting of cranberries. Yep. That's what this is all about. My little family and I headed out to one of my dad's fields and watched as the berries were being boomed and slowly sucked up onto a modified blueberry picker. If you have the machinery... why not just make it work for you instead of going out looking for it? It's quite cool to watch actually. I remember being 21 or somewhere around there and helping. I hated it then, but now to be able to see it from the outside seems more exciting somehow.

After we took a bunch of pictures, we headed over to the processing area which is only a few years old in regards to being able to process cranberries. If any of you know where my parent's live, it's just a little ways down closer to the bridge in a big gray and red building. My dad was there and he was pretty much in his glory. I think cranberry harvest just might be his favorite time of the year. He has designed and built a structure that works perfectly for getting berries from point A to B. The trucks that are filled with berries from the bogs unload into an 18' deep cement encasement. The walled area is filled with water for several reasons. One, cranberries float easily. Two, having strong sprays of water slowly moves the berries up conveyor belts. And three, the berries are cleaned as they go through several points being sprayed. After the conveyor belt, there is a shaker area with small holes. The berries fall through and hopefully most leaves and twigs don't. They they go through a blower which takes away remaining leaves and twigs. Then they are dumped into huge boxes and wrapped in plastic ready for freezing, selling, or whatever their destiny may hold.

It was a fun day just to watch all the activity. Jericho had fun too. Apparently he really likes cranberries. I think he ate about 10 or so. And he found some bamboo stick he wouldn't let go of for awhile. All in all, it was about as much fun as the pumpkin patch and a lot less busy!

I took many, many, many pictures... Hopefully you can better understand the process by perusing them. Oh - and we got a 25 lb box of cranberries and if you want a cup or two, come on down.