10 Years Ago...

10 years ago, Adam and I got engaged to be married on July 6th, 2002. Here we are then.....

This year we decided to celebrate our anniversary by going somewhere warm. We didn't want to wait until July when it was actually nice in Seattle so we went the first week of April over Grandma Cindy's spring break. I first have to THANK my wonderful in-laws for watching our kiddos. Adam and I knew they would be great and we had an awesome relaxing trip in the Bahamas as you can tell from all the pictures. We enjoyed the beach, the beautiful turquoise water, reading on the beach, napping on the beach, swimming, snorkeling, shopping, trying new foods, exploring via foot, scooter, and the local buses (called Jitney's). The Bahamas is definitely what we needed! I am so glad I married Adam and couldn't ask for a better life!

 View from our hotel room, and yes, the water did look exactly like that!

 Riding the aqua cycle

 our hotel (from the aqua cycle)

 Guy carving outside the straw market (such a fun place to barter and shop)

 downtown Nassau

 Conch is super famous here. They put it in salads, etc and then sell the shells

 the famous Atlantis. We checked out the aquarium and watched the 2 huge sting rays for a long time!

 the cheap water taxi to Atlantis

 The Fish Fry was the place to get local grub (it was yummy--we ate conch fritter, grouper, peas and rice, and a weird baked mac and cheese)

 snorkel tour to Rose Island. It was a really cool island and the snorkeling was OK

 A fort and our awesome scooter--notice the missing fender and all the scratches....

 The beach at night. We saw the coolest lightning storm that night. It filled the whole sky and we watched for almost a hour. When we made it back inside the hotel, it rained for about 10 minutes and we enjoyed sun the next day.

Love you Bahamas!

Isn't It Ironic?

This week we eagerly anticipated Thursday as I was going to the doctor to have my 20 week ultrasound. Adam and I took Lizzy with us as I knew how badly she wanted a baby sister. She was excited when Luke was born, but for the next couple of months afterwards if she would ever get too tired she would cry and say, "but I wanted a baby sister!". If it was a baby sister, I knew she would be thrilled and so excited. However, if it was a baby brother she had said she would be OK, but I wasn't so sure.

The first thing Lizzy asked the tech when we got in the room was, "Is it a baby sister?" It took a little bit to see as the tech said the baby was deep inside because my placenta was at the front. These were actually the worst ultrasound pictures I have had and that must be the reason. When the tech told Lizzy it was a girl, she was so excited and couldn't stop talking and jumping up and down the rest of the time.

After we were done looking inside, the tech asked Lizzy what she thought we should name the baby, she said, "well maybe we shouldn't name her Surprise!" We all laughed. The fact is, this little girl was a surprise for our family. We are happy (and maybe a little scared) that she is coming!

Visitors

Last week was so much fun since we got to spend it with family! My brother and his wife flew into Seattle as they were going to buy a car from my uncle in Pasco. We had them for 2 days and did a lot of siteseeing. We went to Pike's Place, the aquarium, for a ferry ride and to Pen Thai for dinner. Wed Tim and Tauwn went on the Seattle Underground tour while the kids and I hit the science center. We walked around the space needle in the rain and enjoyed a yummy cupcake. We then packed up and headed to Pasco where another of my bros, Thomas, and his family were in town. The kids were so happy to play with Caleb and Ali. We got to celebrate Thomas' birthday and hang out. So fun to be with family!

Happy 1st Birthday Luke!

It is kind of hard to believe that my baby turned 1 today, Feb 13th.

We celebrated yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson and your sibs Liz and James. We ate a yummy meal, let you play with the balloons and had cake.

You gave a reaction I have never seen before. We gave you a cupcake to eat which you played with like any other kid, but you refused to put some in your mouth and just kind of looked at it with a disgusted look on your face. I tried to give you a bite and you reacted by turning your head and spitting. Hilarious. Check out the video for proof!

After cake we opened presents. You sure were excited to see what was in the bag and pull off the wrapping paper!

You are such a fun kid.

• You have been walking for 2 weeks now and go farther and farther everyday.
• You will not wear real shoes. I try to put them on your feet and you take them off as fast as you can. I'm sure you will change your mind soon.
• You love to clap and cheer.
• You like to give high 5's.
• You love playing with your bro and sis. You love to wrestle James too and always have to be a part of the action or you get mad.
• You are a picky eater! (It's annoying) One day you like chicken and then next you throw it on the floor. I can always count on you eating yogurt though. If that is the only thing I gave you to eat, you would be happy. You can down a gogurt in about 5 seconds flat. It is amazing! We could also supplement your diet with casa dia's!
• You now like milk! The first week I gave it to you was rough as you had a virus and diarrhea, but now you like it lots! Yeah!
• You sleep all night and tend to wake up too early (Like 5:30 half the week and 6:30 the other half)
• You like to give hugs and they are precious!
• You smile a lot!
• We still can't get you to wave and you say the word "Momma" rarely. I seriously think you are too busy to talk!

We love you Luke! Happy Birthday!

Show-A-Thon

Today Lizzy had her first dance recital for the year. It was adorable. I could tell from practicing at home that it was going to be entertaining! Lizzy performed 2 numbers: Tap, Tap, Tap and a hip hop number called Big Bad Wolf. Before the Big Bad Wolf Dance, Miss Alison, her teacher, was positioning the girls on stage and Lizzy shouts out in a loud voice, "Miss Alison, I'm so excited my grandparents are here!" Everyone thought it was cute as Lizzy waved to them. After her performances were over, Lizzy, James and friend Kayla stayed at the front of the stage area to watch more of the dancers. When it was time to go, I went to grab her and she stood up to leave. However, a girl started singing so she started dancing in front of the entire audience. It was cute, but I had to run up and grab her. What can you say, the girl loves to dance!

 Before the show in the dressing area. Lizzy with almost half of her class...

Look Who's Walking!

Today was an exciting evening in our house! Luke has been taking a few steps here and there for the last few weeks and I knew it was a matter of time before he took off walking. Tonight he was standing at the gate by the stairs and took off for the learning table toy. We then got the camera out and he went the distance! He is shy of 11 1/2 months by 2 days. Did I also mention that yesterday we were shopping at Fred Meyer and he looked at me and said, "Momma". It was so cute and made me so happy. To bad the little turkey won't say it on demand!

Snow Day

Well it finally snowed it Seattle. Lizzy declared it the best day in January ever! The kids woke up like it was Christmas morning. I am pretty sure Lizzy jumped up and down for 2 straight hours until she was allowed to go outside and play after we found out church had been cancelled. I know it seems funny to hear "church cancelled". Seattle really does shut down. It was snowing quite hard and the roads were icy with no one to plow them. The other problem is actually getting to the church. The church is on a hill and the road to get there becomes incredibly icy so they cancel. Is it bad to admit that in Lizzy's prayer tonight that she was thankful it was cancelled?

It didn't take long for Liz and James to start with now angels until dad arrived to build a snowman in the front yard followed by a snow fort.

 The kids got cold and came inside for awhile. After all, we did need to have church!

 Grandma and Grandpa R came over after their church was over to spend the afternoon. It was back outside for building 2 more snowmen, a snowball fight...

 eating the snow...

 and then to the front yard again for sledding down the sidewalk.

Life doesn't get much better. It is supposed to snow again tomorrow much to the kids delight!