They call me Mrs. Robertson

Happy Weekend!

2012-02-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

Emily is here! If you don't know her, you should. She is seriously, the best sister ever! So here are some photos to hold you over till Monday :)

We went to Taco Boy for my belated birthday celebration... sans babes {grin}

We found daddy's ear protective headset thing...

Annabelle kept asking for us to put them on her, she thought it was funny. Emma Kate didn't say either way, so we took advantage of her not being able to talk.

Yes, I take pictures of my children sleeping. I know they will think I'm a weirdo when they are older, but I don't care.

Will you take 2 seconds and vote for us??

The "T" word...

2012-02-14T23:55:00.000-05:00

Teenagers. We don't say it, we don't acknowledge that it will happen in about 12 years but we definently are taking notes for the inevitable.

The other day, AB and I were having a snack, I left her to grab something and came back to this... it's a preview of teenager Annabelle. It may not be that bad after all. And by the way, she is really playing baby games on my phone.

It's all things she loves; sippy cup, lovey, iPhone, paci and a snack!

Don't worry, Emma Kate was not left out either. I dressed her the other day and got a little carried away... meet teenager Emma Kate:

It's all things a teenager wants; leggings, boots with the fur and an embarrassing cardigan your mom makes you wear for when it's cold.

Now since I've given you so many ADORABLE pictures this week, get over here and vote for us... just two clicks and your done (plus also, you don't even have to give them your email address!!)

Happy Heart Day!

2012-02-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

Since I just shared my love story a few days ago, I won't bore you with it again... but here is another love story. A love story that happens every day in our little 4 walls. Love that happens with four people that are a little obsessed with "making out". Enjoy.

Hope your day is filled with lots of kisses and love.

Stupid, if we said that word.

2012-02-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have those moments where you have a light come on in your head? Or you have something happen and you think that you might be stupid, literally stupid? That happened today.

So I was getting really frustrated with cloth diapering and the constant fight I was having with the smell of um, ammonia. I was racking my brain, calling guru's off the internet asking them 9 million questions and talking to friends to figure out what I am doing wrong. I know AB is not a super heavy wetter... what the heck?!? I would pull them out of the washing machine and they would smell like nothing and then when I would pull them out of the dryer, BAM, knock your socks off!! Or I would walk into AB's room in the am and smell it. I was stripping those things like every other day.So frustrating!

Well, our washing machine broke (don't be confused, there is a relation!). I already spent one whole day at a friends house using her washing machine and dryer. So today I loaded up our two loads and headed to another friends.

I was standing on my head pulling laundry out and she had one of those bounce bar holder things attached in the dryer but not the bar. I asked her why she didn't use it and that she should. She told me she did until they started cloth diapering.

I started yelling, are you kidding me?!?! We have one and I swear by it! That is what has been wrong the whole time. You can not use dryer sheet, fabric softener or any other goodness on those things. I was told that but forgot and it's such common knowledge that no one ever asked me or was I thinking! It now makes sense that they would smell fine out of the washer but then get the funk back after the dryer.

Oh Abbey, your brain is a scary place to be sometimes!

Happy Saturday!!

Kathryn Hart Designs

2012-02-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

So I started Kathryn Hart Designs shortly before Emma Kate was born. It didn't really take off and I now know why. There was enough on my plate with having a baby, moving and getting settled. We are now settled, well the best that is going to be, and I'm chomping at the bit to get back to sewing. I am relaunching Kathryn Hart Designs with a bang!

But first, what is Kathryn Hart Designs?
I custom make nursing wraps, burp cloths and car seat tents. I already have fabric, but if there is something that you want, then just email me and we can figure it all out.

Why did you start it?
When I was preggo with Annabelle, all we could afford for a nursing wrap was this handkerchief size wraps that were too thin and really small. The other stuff was way over priced. You should be able to cover yourself and your child in style for a reasonable price. Amen? Amen.

Let's see some goodness!

Car seat tent.

Car Seat tent, how it looks on an infant chair.

Another view

Here are some fabric samples that can be made into wraps, tents or burp clothes!

Burp cloth fabirc

To kick this off, go to my easy shop and order! If you don't see something that you like or want, email me at abbeyalden at gmail dot com and we can get something that will work perfect! Want a monogram added, just let me know!

A new look...

2012-02-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

So, "they call me Mrs. Robertson" got a new look last night!! Do you like it? I LOVE it! My friend did it for me. You should email her, well not right now because she is literally going to give birth at anytime, but in a few months. I'm sure she would love to help you out! She also has an awesome etsy shop too. I can tell you first hand that her products are awesome quality and you can wash and dry them!!!

If you would like to advertise on here, you can email me at abbeyalden at gmail dot com

And my final plea:
Please vote for us!!

A love story

2012-02-08T14:12:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I have blogged about this, but I started this when Frank I were engaged, so maybe. But I will tell you again {grin}.

Frank and I moved to charleston around the same time. He was in the air force and I was engaged (to someone else). We did not know each other. He breaks off his relationship a few months before I end mine. My relationship was messy, very messy. So it took until July of 2006 for us to finally break up. We had started to try and go to church, maybe that would help. I remember seeing all these guys there and how they interacted with each other and the other women there. I thought, X will never be that way and that is what I want. I am now friends with a few of those guys. X and I broke up.

I went to my college/ 20 somethings group a few times and on Sunday mornings and was so frustrated. I would meet these awesome people and then I wouldn't see them again or they wouldn't remember me the next time I saw them. I remember praying in my car and trying not to cry, "Lord, I know you want better, but I don't know anyone and at least I had friends before, please send someone, anyone!"

On the last night that the pastor was there (he planted a church in Charlotte), there was a huge send off and lots of worship. I remember seeing this guy crowd surfing across the front by the stage. All I could see were these SUPER long legs flailing in the air. I thought he was cute. That night I saw this guy that I knew from my childhood. Our parents were best friends when we were born. We had play group together when we were toddlers. He was visiting his brother in law. He introduced me. The brother knew EVERYONE. I met everyone.

At the same time, I had started volunteering with the high school ministry. I kept hearing about "Frank the tank". Frank the tank was in the air force and on a trip for the first few weeks and wasn't around while I was meeting everyone. {I'm getting those same butterflies as I am reliving this story}

So Frank the tank FINALLY gets home and we meet. I met him for the first time (although he swears up and down that he doesn't remember to this day) in the warehouse. We meet again at small group. I looked at him and knew there was something. Maybe I was lonely, maybe I was desperate for attention, maybe I was weird, maybe I was meeting my future husband for the first time? We start talking. We decide to go to the pool on that Wednesday. The next day (Tuesday), we email each other all day. If you know Frank, you know this is not normal.

We go to the beach. We drink wine on the beach. We go to taco boy and eat. I make him drive all the way home to get ready for church. I didn't know that he lived to far away. He was in the car literally 2 hours to go home, shower and then drive to church. I'm a jerk, I know. We had so much in common it's weird. All the things that my mom told me to look for, they were all there. All the things that freaked me out about other boys, were not. I was suppose to meet up with X that day to take care of some housekeeping left over from our breakup. I cancel. We get in a fight on the phone. I hang up and turn my phone off. Frank later told me he was a little scared of me when he saw this.

We hung out everyday after that for the next 30 days. I went to Charlotte. We missed each other. I got home and we made it official. Well, we had like 4 DTR's and finally this girl cornered me and told me to stop fooling around and call it something. I was scared of her.

Almost a 1 1/2 of dating, Frank proposes. It was awesome. 3 months later, we are married! August 17, 2008 changed my life forever.

Since then, we have adopted a dog, had 2 children and moved 9 times. No wonder I'm exhausted! We have had our ups and downs. We have had our times of plentiful harvest and our times of drought. We have had many of nights with a screaming baby that the only thing that got us through was our friendship and weird ability to laugh. He is truly my best friend.

The story is not over and many will say, it has just begun. I truly am hopeful for our future and excited to see where the Lord will lead us!

Once again, will you take 2 seconds and 2 clicks to vote for us. You don't have to register or anything, just click!

Happy Birthday and an "I love you"

2012-02-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

Have you met Abbi? If not, you should. She is a Jesus lover, an amazing wife and an incredible momma. She also gave birth last week. Without totally violating her privacy, I will not tell her birth story, it is not mine to tell. But I will tell you this, I did not know how much I loved her until after last week.

A quick fashion show for our hubby's in Nashville

She is such an incredible friend and has so much to give! Her kind words and wise heart are always a source of encouragement. I am so blessed to have her in my circle of friends. When everything was getting crazy, these incredible women really stepped up, I just cried. Tiffany took Abbi's oldest boy, Carrie's (Abbi's sis in love) youngest and she has her own boy... Three boys all within 6 months of each other. Did I mention that Tiffany is 7 1/2 months preggo? My friend came over to watch my girls so that i could go be with Abbi and Chris during this time.

Baby J

Isn't he just adorable?!? I could just hold him all day! They found out today that J has jaundice. Will you please lift this family is prayers? They have had such a hard time and just need some grace, peace and some sleep!

Dear Abbey...

2012-02-03T22:11:00.000-05:00

If I could go back and tell myself what I know now, this is what I would say....

Young Abbey don't your worry about those mean girls in jr. high. They will have a lame lives later and will not be nearly as glamorous as they think and tell you that it will be.

Don't worry about where you are going to live, you will end up living at the beach and be so happy there.

Soak in as much of your momma as you can. Learn from her and write down her recipes, you will not have her forever.

All those boys that you have had crushes on, they are lame compared to the man you are going to marry, so don't even worry about them paying you attention.

Those other boys, they may seem like fun in the moment, but there are going to break your heart and leave you so empty inside. You will have to tell your husband about it and it will be so painful.

You will drive a minivan before you are 30. Be okay with this.

You will have two beautiful girls back to back. They will rock your world. You will stay home with them and you will love them more than you ever thought possible.

Cling to your Maker for dear life. He will provide for you, wipe your tears and give you more than you could ask for or imagine. Thank Him regularly.

All those dreams you have about a career and a fab life, it will be fabulous, but just not how you thought. It will instead be filled with play dates, akward fitting clothes for a few years and so much joy that you sometimes think it might all be a dream.

Maw Maw will remain one of your best friends until the day she dies. Treasure her more than you do. She really is as cool as you think! This relationship is not normal and it's okay to think that other people are weird because they are not super close to their grandma.

That dad of yours that drives you bonkers, remember he is a person to. He saw a lot and has been through a lot. Give him some grace. He will be here for you in some majors ways and pick up the pieces when your heart is so broken you can barely breath.

You know how you always wanted a big dog? Well, you will have one and he will eat all your shoes, the flooring of the laundry room and anything that is left on the floor or table, ever! Dad was right, stick to the fish!

Stop cutting your hair. You are not a stylist nor will you ever be one. I'm serious!

Emily will still be your best friend when you are an adult. You will love her way more than you ever thought possible.

You will go through seasons of depression, it's okay. You will come out of it and be a better person for it. Don't' worry little Abbey, you will be able to encourage other mommas who are going through the same thing!

When you are older, you will worry. Not of the cool clothes that you think you need, but of the little people that you made. You will worry yourself sick. You will sneak into their room at night just to watch them breath. It's not weird, it's your divine right.

Those girls that are so flaky, don't worry about them. One day, you will have the best friends you could ever ask for. They will love you more than you thought was possible. They will love your babes and your husband also. They will fight for you, cry with you, laugh hard with you and cook you dinner after you give birth.

Little Abbey, you stick to what your heart says. Don't let the world let that sensitive heart become hard when you get older. It will try, but let people in once in a while. It will be okay to cry in public, don't be embarrassed.

Confession...

2012-02-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

I have to tell you something and it's not good. Well, the story is bad, then it gets worst but then ends on a better note, ready?

Okay, so I was getting ready today. Annabelle was walking around getting into everything, including the space heater in the bathroom (ask my husband, I don't know). I was drying my hair and brushed it out and thought, "Abbey, you have boring hair, you should have bangs."

What was I thinking, I have not had bangs since 3rd grade... and I always had bed head bangs at that. Bad. Really bad.

So with AB playing under my feet, I got her giraffe comb, brushed my bangs forward and put the rest in a pony tail. I used my sewing scissors and pulled down and cut... when I surveyed the situation, panic happened. Sheer panic.

I frantically had two friends to call. One just gave birth yesterday (insert curse), so I called the other. Couldn't get through (curse again), start frantically text her hubby. She texts me and I tell her what happened and beg her to fix it, I send her the above picture. She said she couldn't do it but to drop off Annabelle and go and get it fix.

I throw clothes on the kids (curse myself for not dressing them earlier) and called the salon across the street from said friend.

While I was calling them I was driving like a mad women, I was rehearsing what I would say to a cop if he pulled me over. What if it was a woman that pulled me over, even better... surely she would understand the crisis at hand.

In the mean time, I texted the said picture to my hubby (who hates short hair and change). He calls me and is laughing like a darn hyena and threatened to come to the salon to just laugh at me.

I sat down and the stylist just covers her mouth in disbelief.

She fixes the situation on my head. And she doesn't charge me... I think it was Emma.

Go to church and get compliments!

Ta-da!!!!

Side note, they just reset all the stats... will you just take a second and vote for us??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46189169/ns/us_news/t/nearly--pound-baby-boy-born-des-moines/?fb_ref=.TyhX0iBIGdA.like&fb_source=home_multiline#.TyjCzJiFU01

My ladies...

2012-01-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

So let's talk about the little ladies....
Oh they are just precious and growing like little weeds!!!

Let's start with Emma Kate:

Oh this little precious babe... she is growing like a little weed and just as precious as ever! I stopped nursing last week. I did a ugly, messy cry in the shower and moved forward. I did my best and that is all I could do. We went in for a wellness check up; she weighed in at 12.14 lbs. (25%) and in the 75% for her height. Long and lean, have you met her daddy?

Her acid reflux is somewhat better. We stopped the medication for 2 reasons. 1. It was WAY too expensive. 2. She puked the same as she did on or off.
She is FINALLY sleeping through the night. We are 3 nights in of 12 hours of sleep... now if I can get use to it and stop going in there to make sure she is okay!
She smiles non stop and has so much to say! I love her soft little voice and could listen to it all day! When she smiles, she does it with her whole face and she puts her hands into her mouth... precious! She has great head control and her hand-eye cordination is getting better everyday. She can grab a paci from my hand and get it to get mouth area... not bad. She is starting to try to roll over.

Annabelle:

What a great big sister!! She is totally into the mommy thing right now. She changes her lovey's diaper and nurses him all the time. She also pushes him around in her play stroller. She loves to play with my phone. I have apps just for her and she knows how to get to it and play them... ahh, she is going to know more than me when she is in kindergarden!! She currently knows where her toes, eyes, ears, hair, mouth, teeth, nose and hands are. She is an AMAZING dancer and has a dance party on the table quit frequently. She is always saying new words and knows what she is saying, there are a few that i have know clue what it is, but she does.
New words (I know what they are, but the random lady at the store would not understand her):

thirsty
hungry
blanket
movie
paci

She uses hungry and thirsty interchangeably and also uses them to stall or to get out of bed... grrrr!!

She weighs in at 24lbs (25%) and was in the 75% for height... haha! And wears 12-18 month clothes. She currently has her 4 front teeth, her top 2 molars. Her bottom 2 front teeth and the 2 bottom molars. She is teething and last time I got the courage to feel around in there, the tooth next to the front center was coming in.

We have all been super sick, so her appetite has been less than desirable lately... pray for us! Both babes are on medication.

Enjoy!!

And don't forget to vote for us!!

Chosen... part 2

2012-01-30T22:11:00.000-05:00

Hey ladies... I hope that you found some encouragement from my horrible rendition of the AWESOME conference that I went to. I'm going to TRY to share more of what I learned.... so give me some grace, okay? Okay.

So I talked about how I learned about not changing my men, right? Well, here is what else I learned about marriage:

A wise women builds her home, and a wise man builds up his wife. (dreams of fab date nights dance in my head!!)
You do not build a healthy marriage/ kids by accident
When you mess up in front of your kids, own it. Apologize to them... ouch!
Don't use your strengths to point out each others weaknesses (let me spell conviction!)
What we justify, we buy.
What we don't forgive, we WILL repeat.
Marriage = Power union and produce life.
We expect our husbands to be Jesus... so not fair!
Build our kids with our words.
Man is anointed to give structure, women is anointed to give nurture.
Man guards the house, the women guards the hearts.
Satan will not attack the church itself, he will attack your marriage, parenting and all those super private things that you hide.
When a man finds a wife, he gets a treasure and finds favor with God.

My gracious... I don't even know where to start. I have written about marriage and how hard it is... but with this charge, I feel like this is a life time of a list to work on! I am thrilled with the charge that was given and hope for the future. A reminder that I need to be praying for my husband daily. To work on a healthy marriage, it's the only way that it will flourish. To act like the treasure that I am. To make it easier for Frank to be thankful for me.

I feel like our parenting has a purpose, direction. To remember that we are eternally focused, to not just survive. To pray over these little ladies, everyday. To talk about Jesus and all that He has done for us, everyday. To talk about the future with them and ask them questions. Questions about their hopes and dreams.

You are chosen... part one.

2012-01-28T13:47:00.000-05:00

So last week my church held a women's conference called Chosen. To say that it was amazing is an understatement! The women that planned it, spoke and sold there things at the boutique did an OUTSTANDING job. I can not wait for 2013!! Each night when I got home, Frank would ask how it went and I just could not gather my thoughts to tell him. I felt the Lord move in places in my heart that were just numb.

Can I tell you about it? You should grab a cup of coffee... go!

The Lord just really encouraged my heart the whole 2 days. There were women who had lots of little children that spoke and told funny stores about when their babes were little. They told about how poor they were, and how they could barely pay the bills or would fight like cats and dogs with their husbands. They talked about picking up your cross and telling others about him... at the playground or the lady at check out that you see each week. It was encouraging me to know that I'm not the only momma out there that gets frustrated or ugly cries in the shower because of "x,y and z"

While the whole conference wasn't about "lets hold hands and talk about how hard life is", it was about arising in the Lord and stepping up to the calling that you have. It was amazing to see these women from all over the country sharing in their journey to get to where they were and looking outward. Not at themselves, but at the need and meeting it.

Lisa Brevere spoke on Thursday and Friday night and did a breakout session on Friday morning. She shared some basics, but there were hard to swallow...

Be difined by who you are, not for what you are against.
Men and women are not against each other, but together. Arise through letting men being men and women being women.
Train your children, not your man.
Be present and alert.
We are made to be free so we can be free in His freedom!
The Lord loves to make you face what you fear because it makes you fearless (insert ugly cry)

Lisa went on to talk about how we as women need to stop trying to train our husbands and let them be men. We need to work on ourselves first and when we do that and build our house, it will pull our men out of boyhood and into manhood. They already have a momma, they don't need another one.

She also talked abut how as women we are targets and the best way to get to our husbands is through the wife. We need to be on constant guard because the enemy is constantly looking for ways to attack our life, marriage and family.

Women today are finally banning together and writing chapters on virtue and what can be done when we ban together for his kingdom.

She challenged us to get a mentor, to be a mentor and start encouraging each other.

So obviously she did a way better job, that is why she is paid the big bucks and speaks and writes books.

What I took away:
Step it up. I am a chosen women! Yes, I have a lot on my plate right now, but it was already written that this would happen. I need to stop looking at myself and what I need, but rather looking at other women and seeing what they need and offering to assist.

My action plan:
Love on that hubby just a little more. Love on these babes a little more. Be on the look out for people who need some encouragement while we are out and about. To get involved with a cause. There are so many and it's really hard to not get caught up in the "a little here and a little there". I want to pick one and stick to it. All the resources into one pot.

Of course my babes got sick over the weekend so we have been home bound to get better.

Also, will you "click" twice and vote for us? Thanks for the love, in advance!!

That shirt...

2012-01-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

Do you have "that shirt"? It's the one that your favorite. It's never in the drawer because it's always coming out of the dryer. You would NEVER wear it in public because there are holes in the arms!

I do. It's my long sleeve t-shirt from high school. From FCA, fellowship of cristian athletes. I laugh at it now. There was nothing good coming from it, but I needed some things on my transcripts to make me look good. Colleges didn't care about my drama at home, they cared about my grades and I was hoping that some clubs would make up for my lack of good grades.

When I got this shirt, about 12 years ago, it was so stiff and big. Had you told me what I would be doing 12 years later in that shirt I would have freaked out! I was going to be a lawyer or something super important with an office and work I had to do at home because I just could not get it all done during the day... haha! I want to punch that Abbey in the face!

My white FCA shirt, it now has hot pink pain on it. Bad relationship + a bad fight + a trip to lowes = hot pink bathroom. I'm not kidding. Me and my shirt broke up with that bad relationship.

I got married. I think that my sweet husband had in mind what his future wife would wear to bed at night and it did not included a worn out t-shirt from high school. ~~He got over it~~ He just makes fun of me now about what I wear to bed.

Now you ask, I just thew it in the laundry, I got puked on- again. It is held onto, tight. My babes cling to it as they are rocked, fed, burped or held as I walk around the house. Annabelle "helps" fold it. Dallas wants to lay on it.

I love this shirt. It's so comforting. I think that my kids don't mind the stains from the past. They just know the softness of today.

Social media.

2012-01-18T14:12:00.000-05:00

I'm fasting it and I haven't missed it, well maybe just a little. But let me tell ya, I haven't missed seeing how "perfect" people's lives are on there! Doesn't it seem like that? That all of my closest 400+ friends have this perfect life, filled with marital bliss, perfect children that never get off schedule, their spiritual lives are just running over and cookies are baked for their whole neighborhood by 6am. Seriously! My friend was telling me about this article that she read, I couldn't find it, but it was talking about how people are killing themselves because they are so depressed, thinking that other people are perfect, based on Facebook.

I started to look through my Facebook and intragram posts... and I was portraying the same thing. That we are this little perfect family that showers everyday and skips to church with our perfectly ironed clothes and everyone naps blissfully! Oh that hurts me; let's get real for a second! Emma Kate wasn't bathed for a few days because I forgot and I realized last night that she had baby funk going on (who admits that?!?), Annabelle was a flipping nightmare all day yesterday because i put her down too early for her afternoon nap and she woke up at 2:30 grouchy... you can imagine how the rest of the day went! Or that sometimes there are days when I feel like Frank is my roommate rather than my husband. Or sometimes my kids drive me nuts and I want to go back to work outside of the home.

My point is this, I'm sorry if you thought I have it together and we have this perfect little family with the perfect little marriage and perfect little children (this just made me laugh out loud!). But we are not. Shocker, I know!

Now, get over here and vote for us! Okay?

The old blog...

2012-01-17T23:11:00.001-05:00

Will you "follow" my blog? Just click on that little icon down there....

Thanks for the love :)

Passy stealer....

2012-01-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

There once was a little girl, named Annabelle. She loved her lovey and passy more than anything. She took them EVERYWHERE. In fact, she loved that lovey so much that her grandmother bought 6 of the same loveys, just is case. Sweet Annabelle had 4 lovey at her house/car and 2 in the safe at her grandparents house, along with all her aunties and momma's lovies (seriously, I'm not kidding).

There one was a little boy, named Holden. He loved his passy just as much as Annabelle and only loved her lovies. He would only want a lovey when he was riding next to her in the car. One day, his momma took him to lovey heaven where they all live and are waiting for adoption. Sweet Holden got HIS VERY OWN! He was in love.

When Holden and Annabelle would play, Holden would steal Annabelle's passies. She would not do anything about it because he was bigger and could walk and much faster than that sweet girl. Thankfully, his momma would always stick up for Annabelle and take it out of his mouth and give it back OR her momma was prepared for such things and would whip out a new one.

One day, Annabelle started walking, then running. It had been awhile since these two mommas got together, so they were shocked at how FINALLY the babes seemed the same age. Annabelle had become more assertive with toys and more brave with passies! Poor Holden finally got what was coming- he had his passy stolen. He went and got another, that one was taken too! When sweet Annabelle finally decided which one she liked better, she gave the other back to Holden.

Annabelle's momma tried not to laugh and tried to use this opportunity to teach about sharing. It was hard because the two mommas were laughing so hard at this. It is true, what goes around comes around. Maybe we can try again soon about sharing and not taking each others passies!

The boob juice...

2012-01-13T00:05:00.000-05:00

Nursing! Ah, is everyone talking about it? No? Oh, it's just my friends, the ones that are procreating at a rapid rate {grin}.

Let me start of saying that this is hard, amen? AMEN!

With Annabelle, I thought I knew everything because I had read a few books (okay, I skimmed them) and you just put her on there, right? Well it was a fiasco! She would take FOREVER to nurse, mostly just making out with me (or my ta-ta) rather than getting that milk. It was so frustrating and exhausting. EXHAUSTING. Then I got pregnant and it dried up, I was so confused and upset. But I didn't know that I was pregnant yet. I will never forget sitting on the bed just crying and Frank said to me it's time to stop. I had so much resentment. It was toward him for not "supporting me" (okay, he was supportive, I just had about 9 times of hormones running through me that I could not see straight or not not cry, all the time) and toward myself for not "trying hard enough". No grace. I later found out the reason my milk dried up. Instant forgiveness.

Emma Kate, my sweet puker. This is hard. I drink water, I take medicine, I do this and that... my milk supply is dropping and I'm so frustrated. My friend, Carrie, put me in touch with this lactation lady tonight and this is what I learned...

Oh the lies that our society tells us!!

You don't need a pump, it does more harm than good and you have to train your boobs to respond to a pump. So ladies like myself who nurse, don't need a pump. Pumps are great for working mothers or if you need to leave your babe for an extended period of time, etc.
They DO NOT represent what is really in there. EVER.
Sometimes, you just need to nurse on demand to get your supply up. She rocks out the attachment parenting style. I agreed with most of what she said, but this momma needs to sleep. Sleep deprived Abbey is a nightmare. Frank said he would rather buy formula for the remaining 8 months than for me to be tired. Ha.
"When in doubt, whip them out."
Nursing isn't just about food. It's about connecting with your babe, nurturing them, spending that quality time with that little monster that ruined my cute figure that I once rocked!
Supplementing is a very slippery slope to get on. We are on it and fighting tooth and nail, starting right now.
Turn that clock around and let them nurse as long as they want. It's not about me right now, it's about them... buck up (my words, not hers!!)

So here is to tomorrow. I will be nursing on demand all day. Just for tomorrow, then we will worry about Saturday when it gets here. And then Sunday. Monday.

Distance...

2012-01-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

I think that i have blogged about this...

Frank's family lives in Texas. If you have ever met a Texan before, you know they will tell you they are one in about the first 3 minutes of the conversation. I love going places with them when we are not in Texas... it makes me laugh! But they live 17 hours away. That is a REALLY long road trip with a big fight in the car around the Mississippi river. It happens, no talking for 2 hours. OR a really expensive plane ticket. If you ever have around $250-$300 x2 laying around, send it our way, we want to go!!

Today I got an invite in the mail. It was for my sister in love's bridal shower. I cried. It has never happened before, I couldn't go somewhere. I need to be there. I need to hold her hand and tell her how excited I am for her. To see her face when she opens her cake stand from target. I need it. They have missed out on events here and it broke my heart, but to miss out- it pains me. I hate that I'm already missing the wedding planning. I want to help her and all her bridesmaids are so young, they don't know what to do or are just lazy... she needs me! At least, I think she needs me { :) }

I'm sorry Katie... I won't be there, but that cake stand will be waiting for you and it will be awesome! Don't eat too much cake, it still counts... even at your party! I love you, future Mrs. Cotton.

Goals...

2012-01-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

It's the new year... well, 9 days into the new year and everyone is talking about their "new year's resolutions". I hate them. I use to do them. I lasted a week, okay maybe the first weekend of the new year. Lose more weight, swear less, more time with Jesus, be a better (fill in relationship status), give more... you get the point. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be super skinny, over committed and super sleep deprived because of the said things above. So what is the point, Abbey?
My point is this, this is my new year. My year of no more babes, to feel more like the mom rather than the nanny and the maid, to be a better wife. And by that, I mean make sure I give my husband some affection, any affection more than once when he gets home or a passing hug in the kitchen (don't judge me, you struggle with it too!!). I want to get this body looking somewhat decent for this summer. Lord knows our summers here are from late March to early November, oh wait, it's mid january and it's in the 70's- who am I kidding?!?
So here is the game plan... Our church kicked off a fast today (or last night at sun down, however you chose to do it). Some are doing the daniel fast, some are doing other things. This is what I am doing:

Getting up before the kiddo's to start my day, rather than jump into it with the first cry.
Have some alone time with said morning.
Fasting all media; including Facebook, twitter, pinterest and intragram. All notifications got turned off last night.
Pray intentionally for some sweet friends, my family and marriage. Some are general prayers, some are really BOLD and some are super scary.
Do a progressive work out everyday of sit-ups and lunges. It doesn't matter how skinny or thick those legs are or how flat that tummy may or may not be, jiggle is jiggle. Right? Right!

*Side note, I started last night and it literally took all I had to do 6 sit ups! Frank was in my face coaching me and cheering me along. It was bad, ya'll. BAD! Oh the mess of a body I have after 2 babes in one year!

A good story...

2012-01-05T23:18:00.000-05:00

So let me tell you a story, a good story.

My last post, I had said that we were going to buy this really cute house. It didn't start out cute. In fact, that super hot day when all the bugs in South Carolina were on Maxville Rd, we were there also, looking at this really gross crack house. But we saw the vision, we bought into it. We started to pray about this house. We prayed that the Lord would open this door or close it. That we would honor Him. That is house would honor Him. We prayed that if it was "no" to give us a sign, make it a clear one. The time line was 6 weeks, 8 to be on the safe side.

Don't you hate how hindsight is always 20/20? I do. I find it annoying. Very a.n.n.o.y.i.n.g.

They said that for our price, we would get carpet and linoleum. Not hard woods and tile. No garbage disposal. Other things that we wanted were a no go but were okay with for now. We chalked it up to business. Then came the big things...

The termites. First inspection, the guy said "run". The second opinion said it was fine, just needed some work.

Then there was the sub flooring, or lack of. Where they moved a wall, they didn't finish the sub flooring to make it flesh with the other sub flooring.

The soft spot in front of the back door.

And the list goes on.....

Are you getting my point? Are we not blind? Thinking back on it, I would smack myself, or punch my pregnant self! Every time that something would come up or wasn't done right or ANOTHER delay, we would pray about it and say, oh it's just character development!

So finally in the last hour and still no peace about the house, the Lord slammed the door shut. I mean SHUT!

As all of this was going down, I freaked out. I mean freaked out! Our sweet friend had let us come and stay with her in her beautiful home. It was suppose to be a week or two... 5 weeks later and still no closing date for us. She was about to close in 4 days, we needed to be out in 2. We still didn't have the CO for the house, let alone a closing date and then we found out from the bank that there was no way this was going to happen. I could picture us sleeping in the van... I'm not kidding!

I threw the girls in the stroller to go and walk... okay, to go in the field/ new phase that has not broken ground behind where we were living and YELL at the Lord. To say that I was mad at HIM was an understatement. And I was going to tell Him why.

Why did he make it VERY clear, at least we thought He did, that He wanted us back in Charleston. To leave family, a job and our never ending church search? Why did He "open" this door for us to buy a home and waste all this money to just shut it at the last minute with the HUGE threat of being homeless (okay not really, but in the moment of panic I was seriously thinking that we were. Our friends begged to differ). Why? We have two small babes, one of which does terrible with change and the momma is worst! I found myself praying out loud, then yelling, then almost screaming, WHY, WHY, WHY?

And then something happened, that never happens. At least not to me. I literally felt the Lord speak to me. He said, "Abbey, my little sinner child that is so blind, I have been here the whole time. I have given you signs over and over. You didn't listen. I tried to give you wise counsel. Several different people in fact. You didn't listen to them either. You know that peace that I give you now and then? You know why you never had it about this home? This is why. It's a no. You really should listen after you pray for things, I do hear you! Those 2 little babes that you pray about all the time and I gave you, I made them, remember? I will protect them and you. I have never once left you, let you be hungry or cold. Hot, yes, but that's your fault. Do you remember that?"

Insert ugly crying all the way home. With jeggings on and dansko's and my husbands white tube socks. I was a mess, it was ugly. I had to tell Frank when he got home. He wasn't freaking out. He was calm. I needed him to be calm. I was still ugly crying.

The cry was several parts:

1. Repentance for the disobedience.

2. Relief. I never had a peace about that home.

3. Remorse. I knew I had screwed up. And it was an expensive lesson to learn. Ouch.

The story ends with redemption. We found a cute house in park circle. We have great neighbors and we have claimed this house, the house of healing. Financial healing. Family healing. And we are ready for 2012 and all the joy and pain that is going to come. Bring it on!

Updates.....

2011-12-19T22:27:00.000-05:00

And we are alive! I know I only had like 3 readers and they most likely left because I have not written in like 3 months. Buckle up and here we go...

We moved back to Charleston and it feels so good! We were suppose to buy a house in Awendaw that was super cute and had been working on the whole thing since July. It fell apart at the last minute in underwriting. We were devastated. I rarely have those "God moments" that everyone talks about, but I had one where the clouds parted and I heard VERY clearly from Him and it was beautiful. I will write more about this later.

We were staying with a friend that generously let us stay with her for way longer than she should have. Long story short, we were frantically looking for a place to stay because the said friend was closing on her house! Thank goodness God had bigger plans and literally saved the day when we found our little abode to lay our heads for the next season. We will regroup next summer and start over in the house buying process, maybe, if it's HIS timing this time!

Annabelle: Oh that little joker is on the verge of walking and just adorable as usual! She chipped her two front teeth thanksgiving weekend. It was horrible and I had nightmares about DSS meeting us at the dentist to talk about it. The next week she got 5th disease or slap cheek syndrome. A quick traumatizing trip to urgent care and we were sent home with orders to let her sleep, give lots of snuggles and tylonal. She's fine now. She is talking up a storm and makes me laugh on a regular basis! Right now she is in a Momma phase. I don't mind it, it's a first!

Emma Kate: That little one looks like her daddy and I feel like I birthed my mother in law! She is just so little and FINALLY a happy baby! After some serious test, it was just acid reflux and creviced everyday helps make our lives a little more dry and my babe a little more happy! She loves to lay on her mat and just kick up a storm and swing in her swing. Just last week she started belly laughing. It only happened that one time so far it was precious. Weird, I was on the potty when it happened and the same with annabelle. Frank was talking to her and out of nowhere it happened. AB chimed in and started saying "HEEEEYYYYY"... precious! That girl loves to smile and to be held. She would be held all day if she could. I think that she is going to be a momma's girl, I don't mind! Nursing is going all right, I guess. It's a daily battle to keep strong about it and to be diligent about not supplementing. I'm thankful for the encouragement that i have around me and the women that are cheering me along!! Thank you ladies!

Frank: That man has some work ethic! He works so hard, does his internship at the church and still makes time for us Robertson women! I'm so proud of him and so thankful to have him as a leader of this family!

Dallas: Finally got his yard.

Me: Wife, yoga clothes wearing, laundry folder, dishwasher loader, unpacking, over committed and super thankful momma that is lucky if a shower happens twice a week- sorry frank!

Cloth diapering...

2011-10-21T17:20:00.000-04:00

$50.00 bill. That is what it took to buy one big box of size 3 diapers, one big box of new born diapers and a big box of wipes. WITH COUPONS!

We don't have that kind of money. So I put on my thinking cap...

~Let's start this out by saying that in no way am I an expert in this field, I'm just learning as I go~

Good, now that we got that out of the way, let's dive in:

We started cloth diapering a few months ago and my sweet friend let me borrow some of hers. She had taken a hiatus from it and I took full advantage of her untouched stash {grin}. I had a baby and we stopped for a week or two, but we are now in the grind of it with 2 babes in those cloth diapers.

So many people have asked me what we do and our routine... this is what works for us, but everyone has to find their grove. It's a big commitment, so find what works and stick to it.

These are the diapers that are currently in our pile:

GoGreen Diapers (they are pocket diapers)

Flip diapers (they are insert diapers):

Bum genius (pocket diapers):

G diapers (insert diapers):

Tri-folds with thirsties babe covers:

Check them our here.

First, before you do anything, make sure that both parents (and care giver, is applicable) are all on board, if not, then one person is going to be doing a lot of work!

When we change the babe, we have a diaper container that was given to us (normally used for disposables) and we take it apart and put the dirty diaper in there.

If there is poop, then flush whatever will drop off the diaper.
If it is wet, then the wipe goes in the trash can.

When I put a new liner in the said pail, I take an old wash cloth and get it fully wet and rung out with vinegar. I then sprinkle scented oil on the wash cloth and put in the bottom on the liner... on wash day you will be super thankful you did!!

We also have these awesome really thin paper like liners that we put on the girls between the diaper and the skin. It keeps most of the poop off the diaper.

I wash them all together on warm water and line dry.
When I wash all the diapers, I first do a rinse cycle, then wash a regular washing cycle with soap.

Different diapers you can dry in the dryer others you can't.

I just line dry all of them to make it easier on myself. And no, I do not wash them every day! About every other day, maybe 2 days.

My favorite diapers (that is what everyone wants to know and everyone has an opinion, so here is mine):

I LOVE the gogreen diapers. They are the best for my oldest. They have EXCELLENT customer service that responds super fast. While they are not local to me, they are a small company in CO. They also are the best for your money... around $8-$10 per diaper. They do not work very well on my newborn... proof is in the laundry!
I also LOVE the flip diapers for when we are at home. They are super easy as you leave the cover on and just change the liner. Covers work great on both babes!
I like the bum genius diapers but feel like they are a little over priced. If you can find them on sale or at a consignment store, then yes, get it.
For My newborn, I love the thirsties baby covers and we use a tri-fold liner. I know it's old school, but these are not the Gerber kind and they actually work. They have these cool "Y" shaped hooks to hold it together.
Gdiapers... I do not like them. They are at the bottom of the pile and are used only when I wait too long to wash :( They leak all the time. They were part of the stash that I borrowed. My said friend had the same problem and through that it was because she had a boy... not the case. I even youtubed it to make sure I was putting it on right. Yes, they are the easiest to find, but it will make you jump off the band wagon really fast out of frustration!

Wet Bags:

I made mine and there are some great tutorials online. The one that I used, didn't turn out the way that I wanted it too, I will be making mine over when I get a chance. But I love making them because you can pick out exactly what you want! If you can sew, don't be intimidated by the zipper, if I can do it, you can do it! If you are, then email me and I'll make it for you!

Sprayers:
Tried and true, right here. Tried to save some money and made it ourselves. Well Frank made it. It was horrible. I did what our pre-marital counselor told us, I fed him, let him take a nap and sent him in there... Still he got frusterated. The actual cost was about $3 cheaper than the ones you can buy and hook up. But that $3 savings was NOT WORTH IT... just break down and buy the thing!!

In the short month that we have started, we have broken even. So go and do it and save some muh-lah!!

Is this a joke...

2011-10-16T22:13:00.000-04:00

So I will confess:
I have an eating problem. There I said it. No, it's not that throwing up shenanigans that happened in my early twenties. It's quite the opposite and I cannot stop. I have portion control issues. On top of my sweet tooth, I'm in big trouble. The other night I ran out for a quick errand and there was that AMAZING (proof that there is a God and he wants us to be happy) candy and it was on sale!!

It's my favorite, seriously, I could eat the whole bag. I asked Frank to take them away from me and to only give me ONE when I really wanted one and only one. I asked for ONE tonight. He said that they were in the freezer. I secretly thought, "great, that frozen carmel is going to rip out my fillings... but totally worth it!"

Well that punk did this:

HE FROZE IT!!

The candies are in a ziploc bag and frozen in a smaller container. That container is frozen in another one...

Oh life...

2011-10-13T10:42:00.000-04:00

So my last post was a little depressing... but it was real. It was what is really going on in my life right now. I cannot stand it when I read other women's blogs and it's all rainbows and fairytales. I know I need encouragement more than anything right now. There is this women at our church down in Charleston. I had this idea in my head that she gets up while it's still dark and reads her bible every morning. She is always freshly showered when she wakes her kids up and cooks them breakfast. They then have their day of perfect homeschooling. Dinner is always ready when her husband comes home from work. Well, turns out, I was wrong. I was as wrong as I could be. It was the most encouragement that I have received knowing that it was a good day for her when she did not wear sweat pants and actually made dinner. That the TV is one more than it should be and getting up before the kids is a miracle. Thank you for the grace that was given to me...

On the lighter note, I have tons of pictures on my camera to share of our sweet new baby, but it will not load on the computer and I have not made it a priority to sit down and figure it out. I will keep moving it on my to do list day after day of the million things to do. Right now, I must go and feed that little one!

4 weeks and counting...

2011-10-08T10:31:00.000-04:00

Emma Kate turned 4 weeks this week (Tuesday she will be 5 weeks). She wants to be a great sleeper, but there is gas and spitting up that is holding her back. This was causing some major pain, so I took her to the Dr. and they gave her some medication to help her out. Last night was a dream {no sleepy yawn here}. She was able to go the 4 hours at night between feedings perfectly. There was no waking up Frank to help me out, or Emma Kate I should say!

I need to be honest, it's been hard. These sleepless nights mixed with the house to maintain and a now toddler to chase around during the day. Frank is doing this internship at our church in Charleston and is commuting down there for all day Tuesday and Wednesday... thank goodness my parents have really helped me out, even if it's just to have us over for dinner on Tuesday night and entertain Annabelle for a hot second so I can sit down for a minute.

I'm trying my best to breastfeed Emma Kate. Can I tell you how hard it is? It's hard to remember to drink enough water. It's hard to confine Annabelle for 40 minutes while I feed Emma Kate. It's hard to not worry that there's enough in there and that she's getting enough from me. It's hard when you are on a date with your hubby sans kids and a baby starts crying, well, you know what happens.

Last night Frank was giving me a pep talk that he knew was over due and much needed. He said that all these things are lies straight from hell trying to keep what's the best from our baby. It took all I had to not start crying, no they were not hormones, they were from that little place in your heart that cries out when truth is told. It's from the same place when you hear a really amazing story of redemption or healing. True healing.

Can I tell you how I struggle with the lies that lurk around? Have you heard about men and the mental rolodex that they have of images that have been burned in their heads? Well, I'm convinced that women have it too. Ours is not of images of things we have seen, but rather lies that have been told to us. Lies either the enemy has put there or of what people have said to us. I tried to explain this to Frank, but he didn't get it. In a moment of weakness that rolodex will start rolling of the lies of inadequacy, failure, doubt or even just negativity in general. There are lies about your self worth and self image (can I get an amen?). Can I tell you I fight my rolodex every day, multiple times a day. Let's start with the biggest lie EVER. When I take a shower and I look at myself in the mirror, I think "no one would ever love you, even frank, look at how fat you are." Now in my head I know, I just had 2 babes in one year. In the last 24 months, I have been preggo for 20 of them. There was a lot of stretching and fries that happened. Frank loves me, I know it. His actions speak volumes and he can't keep his hands of me :) But telling my heart to believe what my head is thinking is the issue.

Can we be honest together as women, as momma's? Can I confess to you that I'm a terrible house keeper? Can I confess that if you come over and it's spotless, there was most likely some intense fellowship that took place before you got here and Frank did the running around to get our house presentable. Can I tell you that the worst part is that I really do want a clean house, I just don't execute the chore list, hardly ever. Can I confess that I get really frustrated at my sweet husband for not picking up after himself, but I am even worst at picking up after myself. How can I teach my sweet babes to pick up when I don't do it. I want to do it all, I really do. I want to have an immaculate house that has no dog hair and super clean toilets and a spotless kitchen. I want to be super organized. I want to show off my closets and filing cabinet, I really do. I'm looking for the motivation to get there while maintaining the balance of healthy family time.

Happy Birthday Annabelle

2011-09-19T12:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

( I have a box of tissues next to the key board, not kidding!)

I can not believe that I am typing those words out!! Where has this year gone sweet one? We have had the time of our lives with you. You have challenged us, stretched us and made us laugh harder than we ever thought was possible.

You are seriously the funniest baby that I have ever met. Once you figure out that something is funny, you keep doing it and it's precious.

I loved you the second that I saw you in that ultrasound room. You were so tiny, but I knew our Maker had great plans for you. I loved you even more when we found out that you were a girl. I felt like I could know you more. Gosh, then when you were born and our eyes met for that first time... it was over! I knew that I was toast. I just loved you so much and promised myself to protect you forever, no matter what. You were beautiful. Our Maker had done well!

Over the last year, there have been some challenges. Living with your sweet grandparents that took us in. It was hard. I had no idea what I was doing and was under the microscope. It was hard. We eventually got back on our feet and moved into our first home as a family of three and it was beautiful. We hung out, ate, talked and lots of playing. I love it. You learned to sit up, eat solids crawl and all of those milestones the first year. I have cried with you in my lap while my depression set in. You held me. We held each other and it was beautiful.

We have learned so much from you. You have taught us to laugh even more that we already do. You have taught us what good snuggling is (when we can get it and you aren't too busy). You have taught us the excitement of meal time and we LOVE how you are so NOT picky!! Thank you thank you thank you! Can you please continue down this path??

Sweet baby, thank you for loving us so unconditionally. You have brought us so much joy and joy to those around you! You make everyone smile and people stop us constantly to tell us how beautiful you are and how sweet you are. I just smile because I know and I'm SO SO thankful!

You became a big sister way to early. Not even one yet! You have done great and have been so brave. I'm sorry that I can't hold you all the time like I use to, thank you for being patient and trying to feed our "babo".

So here is your updates:

You can say, mamma, dada, babo (baby) and Abbey (thank you frank and sisters!!)
thank you, please, up, dallas, all done, more and some other words that I'm not really sure what you are saying, but you say them all the time. These group of words are more the sounds and you don't annunciate them, but you know how to say them at the correct time!
You are still in size 3 diapers and we are sorta cloth diapering... we took a break when E.K. got here.
You are in 12-18 month clothes!! What the heck... i was just packing up you NB's it feels like last month!
You are getting more and more confident every day on standing by yourself.
You love to walk around either holding on to us or the furniture... eek!

I love you sweet baby! I can not wait to see where this next year will take you!

All my love,

Momma

Emma Kate

2011-09-13T11:17:00.000-04:00

Here is the story of how our sweet Emma Kate got here:

The Robertson's

Monday, September 5th (labor day!!) started like every other day at the Robertson house. Frank left for work before the sun was up and WAY before these Robertson women are up. I decided that today was the day of cleaning. I cleaned and cleaned, well as much as you can when you are 38 1/2 weeks preggo. Laundry was well on the way, the living room was vacuumed, the kitchen was clean and the master toilet was clean. I sat down for a few minutes to give the braxton hicks contractions a break (and myself). I realized that I hadn't felt E.K. move very much. I sorta panicked. Side note: She did this the week prior and was MORE THAN FINE! I immediately called the office and told them what was going on. They told me to wait an hour, after that they told me to high tail it to the hospital to find out what was going on. So I left dinner in the crackpot and Dallas in the bathroom. Thank goodness one of my sisters was home and available, so I met up with Frank and Amanda and dropped off AB.
I got all hooked up to get monitored... I was 3 cm and 30% effaced. I kept telling Frank that I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and he said, "You mean to tell me that we are at the hospital because you have to take a sh*&?" I started laughing so hard, I could not control myself. The nurses came in to see if we were okay. They told me to go walk around for 1 hour and come back. So we did. Stopping along the way while my so called braxton hicks contractions passed. We get back and they check me, 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. It was official, I was in labor.

Laboring

I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed. I had in my mind what labor was like, and this wasn't it. I envisioned that Frank would drive me to the hospital (not myself) and we would get out and walk in together and have our car seat with us and our bags. That my house would be all cleaned and have fresh linens on the bed waiting for my sister to sleep in while she watched my babe. In reality, I just had my purse and hadn't even showered or anything. In reality, my baby got dropped off in public with no pants or any in the diaper bag for that matter.

We checked in, the sweet lady gave my an IV and got it dripping good so I could get my epidural. Fast forward a few hours, Emily made it to us and got the dog, the car seat and some other things for us. No dinner in the crackpot... I was so mad!! Fast forward a few more hours and the pain was unbelievable. I could not take it. We got the anesthesiologist in there to up it. Turns out, the labor was happening so fast that medicine could not keep up. Our sweet nurse checked me and was like, her head is right there, do not push, I need to get everyone. We got all set up, we looked at the clock... it was 2:23 am. I said, I bet she will be here by 2:35am. The Dr. said, why wait to long? At 2:26am, Emma Kate made her appearance. She was beautiful and MAD! Weighing 7.14 lbs and 21 inches long.

Meet Emma Kate

What I loved about it, they bathed her, measured her and did everything in the room. We waited for the epidural to wear off, I went potty and we were off to the recovery room for some sleep. By 5:30am we were off sleeping. The rest is blurry due to extreme exhaustion.

First Bath.

The next morning, Emily and AB came to see us and to meet Emma Kate. AB wasn't really sure about her at first, but then was really liking her. She calls her "babo" for baby. It really is precious. Frank has taken the week off and goes back on Thursday to work. It has been awesome having him home, bonding as a family and not to mention the obvious of having extra hands around!

AB meets Emma Kate

Unsure of all the hype and why the whole family has cameras out!!

AB talks about the "babo" non stop and is constantly looking for her. Just this morning, we were having breakfast, just the two of us and she was just talking away about babo and dadda. I have no idea what else she was saying. So precious. There have been some challenges as well. The fact that there are two babies in our house under 1 year is enough. AB has suddenly started waking up in the night around 11 or 12 as well as some behavior issues. We are not sure if it's just her age or jealously, but are working on them. She is so big compared to Emma Kate that it is sometime hard to remember that she is just a baby herself.

There are some serious baby kissing going on at our house!!

Welcome to our family Emma Kate! We love you so much already and are so excited where were are going as a family... you are only going to make this journey that much better!!

1% change... household

2011-08-18T17:15:00.000-04:00

I have wanted to do this for a while and finally found my whits and did it! I made our own laundry detergent!

I got the recipe here.

It' so easy. Go to the store and buy the goods:

In a mixing bowl, shave the whole bar of fels naphtha. Add one cup of both the washing soda and borax.

Mix and add to the pretty jar.

For each load, you use one tablespoon, so grab an old one from the kitchen.

Let your husband be amazed at his clean clothes!

Now that you are done, here's to laundry day that won't seem so lame. Now, if only I had a fun way to fold and put away all that good smelling laundry!

A Birthday, anniversary and an update...

2011-08-17T15:24:00.000-04:00

Warning:
Super long post with lots of goodies for pictures!

Happy Birthday Frank!

Yesterday that is!!

I'm so excited to celebrate yet another birthday with you! They seem to just get better and better, right? I hope that you enjoyed your gifts and dinner out with the family. The gifts seem so minor to how we really feel about you and to celebrate your new year that way did not seem grand enough. I'm really looking forward to celebrating this season next year when I'm not large and in charge!! We'll have a glass of wine with NO sides of hormonal, okay?

I'm so thankful that your mom raised you the way that she did and sharpened you to become the man that you are. I pray that this year will be your year to shine, that you will become an even better leader, provider and family man that you already are. I know I don't tell you enough, but thank you for all that you do for us. We are so thankful that you leave the house each morning so early to go and work hard and provide for us! We are so thankful for you. We are also sorry that we can't keep it down when you are trying to sleep past 8am on your days off. Somehow you always wake up right when it's getting fun, sorry!!

Happy 3rd Anniversary

today!

My my how far we've come, amen? AMEN! I love you more today than I did the day that I married you! I still cannot believe that you chose me to spend the rest of your life with or to be the mother of your children! That you trust me and believe in me enough to stay at home and raise this crew of little ladies. Do you know that I pray over you when I'm wiggly at night and get up for the 1235321323544 time during the night to go potty? I'm sorry for torturing you for the first, at least, 2 years of marriage with bad cooking. You've been a good sport~

Remember our day? Remember how sweet it was? Remember how rainy it was? Do you remember me telling you what Alli told me as my dad and I were about to come and meet you at the alter? She said, "rain on your wedding day is a sign of fertility!!" HAHA! Maybe that was our sign for hyper fertility... we should have known! Remember how much fun we had dancing and laughing on that day? Remember our new clothes and how good we smelled?

Remember the cupcakes and the food? Ahh, the food!! Remember riding in the limo and how tired we were? Do you remember what I whispered to you right before we signed the marriage license? Remember how happy we were that day?

Here's a recap of the last 3 years of marriage:

1. Got married, honeymooned in the Appalachian mountains. Lots of firsts for me; hiking, winery, Biltmore, fishing and a real vacation :)

2. Went to Nicaragua

3. Been on numerous trips including Atlanta, Texas, Nashville and VA.

4. Gave into your "need to nurture something." That was a load of crap and I should have stuck to my guns and gotten a turtle or a fish!

5. 4 months later, AB was made.

6. Then we had her!

On the way home from the hospital!

7. 3 months later, we find out #2 is on the way!

8. Emily gets married.

So, here's to you Mr. Robertson: I hope this year is full of happiness, little trials, much harvest and for love, no more babies... at least for this year :)

11 Months and counting!

yesterday that is!!

Happy 11 months AB! You have survived out parenting and I'm so proud of you! Here's what you are up to:

You are crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. You are working up the courage to let go while you are standing but are so nervous about it.
You have not been a good sleeper lately... boo! Waking up several times a night, what's up with that? Can you puh-lease stop?!?!
You got your third tooth, the upper left front tooth. The one next to it looks like it's coming in any day now.
You talk non-stop. And based on the length of this blog, I wonder where you get it from.
We found out this week that you can suck through a straw... so big of you!

You weigh in at 19.78 lbs. and I have no clue how tall you are, sorry!
You love to laugh~ Your new favorite thing is for us to talk in your mouth. You open up real wide and put your mouth to ours so that we can make noise in there. You think it's a riot!
You are now in 12 months bottoms and 18 month tops.
You are trying so hard to say "Dallas" and haven't quiet figured out that I'm momma and daddy is dadda. You do say both quiet often through.
Funny story: The other day, dadda got home for work and walked in and said "hey". I responded with a "hey" and you came crawling around the corner with a "hey". The "hey's" were all drawn out southern "hey's" and we all got a good laugh.
You will eat ANYTHING! Current favorites: Hawaiian bread, strawberries, toast, avocados, any fruit really, sauteed veggies, spaghetti and pot roast.
Almost every night you take a shower with daddy. You guys play on the floor of the shower and you love it. He wraps you up and passes you out. I love the few minutes that you let me snuggle you, I soak it up!

I love you sweet baby and cannot wait to celebrate your 1 year with us!!

Love,

Momma

Moments

2011-08-15T07:08:00.000-04:00

The last few nights AB has been waking up and crying for about a minute and then falls back to sleep. This is not like her at all. She is a great sleeper! She is like clock work. 12+ a night plus 2 2 hour naps. She is like her momma and likes her sleep and needs her sleep! The last week or two she has been protesting naps and really crying, I mean I go in there to "help" her get adjusted to take a nap and she's sweating. WHAT THE HECK?!?

So when the said night time thing happens, we don't go in there, just let her work it out. We have never really rocked her, so rocking her now doesn't really help. It helps in the moment but then we're back to square one when we put her down. Last night was different. She woke up around 11:30, unfortunately, i was still awake and Frank was already asleep. I went in there and tried to lay her down. I could tell that she was in that weird, half awake, half asleep state (you know when you feel like you are drunk!). She was not having it. I got her up and just held her and whispering to her that it's still night night time and to hush, that everything was still okay in this world. Laid her down and no luck. I picked her back up and started again. I started to get really aggravated.
Then it REALLY hit me, I'm never going to have this baby again! AB will never be almost 11 months again! I need to soak up this time that she will still lay her head on me and want JUST ME! As I stood there holding her relaxed body, listening to her make her sweet noises and her trying to get comfortable with my big belly in the way, I realized that I don't soak up enough of her. Yes, we have a good laugh during the day and we play a lot, but I don't soak up her "babyness" enough. I need to slow down and sit on the floor more, I need to crawl around with her more, I need to ask her more questions (she does answer by the way) and I need to be less rushed by life to enjoy these sweet moments that are slipping away all to fast!

Weekend Round up!

2011-08-14T23:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday, ya'll

This weekend was a little crazy... My friend Mel came into town for a short visit. We met up with our small group at the knights game and took Mel along with us. It was a good time and AB did great hanging out, eating cheerios and flirting with the guys in our small group. Thankfully their sweet wife's think that it's cute.

AB enjoyed some cheerios instead of cracker jacks and she really didn't care if we never went back!

Go knights!

Auntie Mel

On Saturday morning, Mel, AB and I took off for Ikea. We had a blast and scored some really good deals. Mel got an awesome chair that I'm still jealous of.

Playing in the kitchen, isn't she just adorable!

Frank had to work all weekend, so when he got home at 2, we took off for some fun!! We headed to south park mall. If you have not been there, you should go, now. We wanted to go into the apple store but the line was wrapped around the corner. We'll wait till later. We got some smoothies and thought we should share with AB. Apparently sometime she has learned to suck through a straw and basically drank all of Frank's smoothie. She was so funny laughing at herself, she knew she was so big and so proud of herself!

We then went to Rusan's for dinner. It is the best sushi place and they have $1 rolls. No, I did not mistype that! Frank and I got some sushi and the little lady got a big plate of noodles and veggies. She was tearing up her plate just eating and eating. She had noodles hanging out of her mouth and this guys walked by that apparently she thoughts was really cute because she was all smiles and laughing at him and waiving. Frank said, I don't care if she flirts with men for the rest of her life, as long as she has noodles hanging out her mouth!!

"daddy, I would like to have some...."

Good weekend! This week is going to be a little crazy. Frank's birthday is this weekend, our anniversary, AB turns 11 months and we get to hear Emma's heart beat. I'm pooped already!!

Stuck

2011-08-08T14:07:00.000-04:00

Have you ever felt stuck? I sure have. I feel stuck sleeping in the same position late in pregnancy or when I think I can make it through a narrow space, forgetting about this big ole' belly. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a rut at Starbucks: tall, skinny decaf hazelnut latte. But what about life? We sure do. We feel stuck. Like right after AB was born and the promising job of "more than we could ask or imagine" was really a "too good to be true". We were stuck at my parents house, they blessed us with a free room to lay our heads, a comfy couch to let my body heal from birth and lots of snuggles and love for our new babe. But really, we were stuck. We couldn't even afford diapers! It was scary. But our Maker had our favor and brought more than several miracles our way. We made it out of stuckedness (I just made up that word, and spell check knows it!).
We feel stuck again. Frank's job is good. We have awesome benefits, flexible schedule and a great deal on home improvement equipment at our disposal... carpet cleaner machine for $4, yes please! But he doesn't feel satisfied. He knows it is not what the Lord wants of him. I am working on the art of homemaking and working on encouraging him and sending him off better than he came home the night before, but there is only so much I can do.
With all that said, we are really searching, praying and petitioning for God to give us some direction. We are excited about the future and holding on. Every time that we have been "stuck" the Lord has done some really cool things. I can not wait to see where our prayers and petitions will take us.

Baby humor

2011-07-27T10:11:00.000-04:00

So I talked about the sermon that we heard on Sunday and how it really changed some of my perceptions of parenting and definently brought me back to reality of the magnitude of parenting. This was part of it.

Parenting is like a fraternity party:

* There are always have full, different colored cups all over the floor; especially in the tub.
* There's always that one girl bawling her eyes out in the corner.
* It's best to assume that the person next to you does not have full control over their digestive functions
* When you sneak off to go to the bathroom, you know the second you sit down someone is going to knock on the door wanting in.
* Most likely 80% of the stains on your floor contain DNA
* There is someone in your face at 3am wanting something to drink.
* There is definitely going to be a fight.
* There are crumbled up underpants everywhere.
* You wake up wondering how the person in bed with you got here.
* Someone is going to be peeing in the front yard.
* You just hope no matter what you do, you are not going to get arrested for it.

Happy Wednesday!

Source: http://www.suburbansnapshots.com/2010/06/10-reasons-having-toddler-is-like-being.html

thought on parenting...

2011-07-25T10:32:00.000-04:00

This weekend the Robertson's headed to Charleston for some R&R, or should I say a really good and refreshing time with friends. We stayed with the Russo's and headed to the country on Saturday to hang out with the Davis family. If you are not friends with these ladies, who are sisters in love, you need to because not only are they awesome and funny, they are great wife's and momma's too! Sunday we went to seacoast, I love that church and could write 4,000 blogs about why I love it.
They are currently in a series about King David, his rise and fall. This week was about parenting... there was some good and some ugly. The good was encouraging, the ugly was hearing some truth spoke that I know I need to work on myself! At least here was no ugly crying in church this week, amen? Amen!

Here are some truths that he said:
*Teach them to say and do as I do.
Wow, that is going to be a hard one to keep true. Even the little things like picking up after yourself. How can I expect them to pick up after themselves when I don't do that well? Let's don't even get into the spiritual side of it... that was an ugly one!
* This is going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me; but I'm going to do it anyways.
Sticking to your guns even when you know it's going to break your heart; not giving empty threats.
*If at first I blow it, I've got to try and try again.
Amen. And literally, thank God for Grace, right?!?

Some other things that really hit home:
*We should not punish, but discipline. Discipline is teaching them to grow better, to have growth in the situation at hand. NEVER do this in anger.
*The stakes are always higher than you ever thought that they were.

And most importantly, for my girls:
*talk to them about the akward stuff or someone else will!!

Thanks Josh, you really challenged us in our parenting! I am really looking forward to the changes that will be happening in our home!

Weekend round up!

2011-07-18T16:08:00.000-04:00

What a weekend! We had a blast and were buys busy busy!

Friday night was LAME, we stayed at home and watched a movie. AB was all sorts cranky from our whirl wind trip to VA to see my cousin Matt marry his bride. So sweet and it was not long enough.

Mr. and Mrs. Chrosniak!

We then hopped in the car (again) and headed to topsail for a few days to meet up with my family for some beach time. While we were there, we celebrated Carson's 21st birthday and my dad's birthday. Needless to say, there was no schedule and to top off the "fun" AB started teething.

Playing...

It was so bad that I thought she might be sick and took her to the pediatrician when we got home. I spend $20 for them to tell me that all four upper teeth were coming down. I asked if I could leave her there so they could weather the storm with her instead of me but they said no.

Saturday morning AB woke up a new women. I made biscuits and sausage and egg burito's (it was super easy and really yummy). Frank normally doesn't eat breakfast, he was full of himself all day. I told him if he didn't knock it off I wasn't going to make breakfast for him, ever. We went to REI's garage sale and it was ridiculous. This of the bridal dress rush except this was grown men raising over camping gear. AB napped FOREVER that afternoon!
Sunday we went to church and it was good (well not really, I cried in public. I'll blog about that later). We then went to eat lunch with my dad and we had a good time. AB ate like 400 blueberries and napped forever again. We then went and met up with the VanEvery's. Sandy and Frank went climbing and Lacy and I just chased AB around and tried to have a conversation. We went to dinner and didn't make a huge mess or have a melt down, it was a success!!

Happy Monday!

10 months and counting

2011-07-16T23:46:00.000-04:00

Is it really that time of the month again? I cannot believe that we are just shy of 2 months until cake time to celebrate AB's one year! Here is what the little diva is up to:

You weighs about the same as your 9 month update... around 18 lbs.
You still yell and cough to get attention, in fact you did it today at REI while a couple was duking it out about a jackets during their garage sale (think the crazy brides that do that wedding dress dash, but it's grown men and climbing shoes and camping gear)
You eats 4 times a day, but we are working on going down to 3 times a day.
You still gets a bottle 4 times a day.
You love this fruit packets that I found and they are great snacks!
You are crawling ALL over the house and I can't take my eyes off of you for one second (the other day I found a coffee bean in your mouth!!)

You are pulling up on everything and wanting to walk while we hold your hands.

I few weeks ago, we came to get you in the morning and found you standing in your crib! What a way to wake up!!

Your hair is getting thicker, curlier and lighter each day... and we love it!
You finally started saying "dada" and your daddy could not be happier!
You have started "talking" and getting what you are saying. You say "bye-bye" and "hi" and wave and know when to say it :)
You are teething right now and those upper teeth are giving us a fun for it... the pediatrician said that it looked like all four are coming down.
You still sleep through the night (the last week has been a little rough) and nap 2 times a day.
When you are riding in the car, you talk to yourself in the mirror. The other day you started using hand motions and moving your hands into the "I don't know" positions while you are gabbing.
You love Dallas and try to talk to him... the other day you were really trying to play with him. He wanted to play fetch and I was annoyed. You at least tried to play fetch,

Sweet girl to say that we adore you would be an understatement! I love you sweet girl and I'm sorry that my lap is getting smaller and smaller. It will get better in a few short weeks.

Love,

momma

New woman... maybe~

2011-07-07T08:34:00.000-04:00

Conviction. It's a strong word, powerful even. I realized (and it made me sad) that if I were to have a job review of my house, I would be written up, even fired. Ouch! I said "no more." I decided that it's time to change things around here. To make sure that I send the hubby off to work with a smile on his face. To greet him and encourage him and send him off better than I found him. Yesterday was the start... this morning, eggs and toast for breakfast and a cup of joe for the road.

Yesterday's project... the bedroom. Where the magic happens, or should happen! This room does not scream "come and rest" and become one! I can not believe that I'm going to show this, but this is where the romance happens- eek! It's bad. Real bad.

Clean clothes that were never put up!

Ugly, just ugly.

My side.

The loot that I found!

So after about an hour or so, this is what came about:

Now there is some romance waiting to happen!

Lastly, if you are my friend on Facebook or know me personally, you know that our pup has been really bad lately and has caused so much stress in our lives. He gets in the trash and has made so many stains on the carpet! Long story short, we reintroduced the crate and are not looking back. If you can not act right, you get the cage! Life has been so much less stressful in the last 2 days.

Baby loot

2011-07-06T00:49:00.000-04:00

Is everyone preggo right now? Maybe I just notice all the preggo ladies because we all look at each other with the same look "I know you are hot and miserable, at least there is a/c where we are!".

I thought that I would write some of my favorite things that I was given as a new mom, hopefully it will help someone out!
For the newborns:

The one from the hospital is the best

We have this and I LOVE it. I didn't use it much with AB,
but will get more use out of it with Emma Kate!

I love these diapers, especially for the newborns!

These are the best pacifiers... every baby should use them.
Not only are they great to hush babe, but research shows that it reduces the risk of SIDS!

For the noosing mama, it feels so good!!

And lastly, the best present:

Date night babysitting coupons for the momma!

For babies:

I love this thing!!

Perfect for when you are trying to clean or do something and need babe to stay out of the way!!

Sound machines are great too! While we try not to have sleeping props at our house, there are 3 things that these parents are okay with: Lovey's, Paci's and sleep machines :)

Diapers, diapers diapers!!

Have fun and for the love, do not touch that momma's belly!!

2011-07-04T13:55:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July, ya'll!

In honor of this holiday, I wanted to give a special thank you to my, oh so hot, husband! Thank you for serving our country. Thank you for defending what our fore fathers fought so hard for. I love listening to your flying stories and your travels that uncle sam took you to.

Nicaragua 2009

Thank you for loving me and choosing me to spend the rest of your life with. I can't imagine doing life with anyone but you. Thank you for protecting me and making me laugh when I want to cry. Thank you for your protective heart that I am more and more thankful for every day.

daddy and Annabelle, the second day at home, Sept. 2010

Thank you for being the father of my children, I couldn't have picked a better dada for them! Thank you for disciplining our pup when I just want to kick him. Thank you for encouraging me and supporting my dreams. I love you!

1% change.. the hard change

2011-07-01T22:45:00.000-04:00

So my friend Jessi is doing the 1% change over at her blog... the Robertson's are transitioning into organic eating, slowly but surely. Tonight was surely. I'm a city kid, I know it, I claim it and I'm trying to retrain my brain that meat doesn't come from the grocery store, it comes from a farm. It should come from a good farm at that!

Confession: I had never cooked a whole chicken until a few weeks ago. Our sweet farmer friends gave us a chicken as a "thank you" for helping them process their chickens. I was so grossed out but fulfilled my domestic duty and cooked the darn thing, and it was AWESOME! Never looked back... until tonight....

Late this afternoon was no different, my chicken sat on the counter from a day of defrosting. I put it in the dutch oven with all the organic goodness (carrots and new crop potatoes, yes please!). The sweet chicken lady at the farmers market gave me a 4 lbs chicken and the label said "no gizzards!" Well, when I cut off the vacuum seal and dropped it in the pot, something loose fell in first, I was so grossed out I didn't fish it out...
Fast forward 4 hours at 350 degrees and that bad boy came out smelling awesome! We sat down to eat with some friends (thank GOD they were good friends and know this journey to domestic bliss has been a journey). Frank was the last to sit down. He started eating and picks up this piece of meat that looks like the end of a red hot dog and says "hey darlin, I have one question, what is this?" as he is poking it. Our said friends had totally different reactions, the hubby and I were about to start gagging... the wife, she just laughs and starts snorting... in the mean time, Frank is still poking, what we later figure out is part of the liver.

So after some investigation and talk about making some PB&J's for the said friend husband and I, Frank fishes out of the pot, the liver, the neck, the gull bladder and the heart.

Frank and the wife friend are asking my why didn't I fish them out first. I said that I didn't know you were suppose to... I really didn't!!

More mishaps to come... Enjoy!

9 months... where has it gone?

2011-06-15T15:42:00.000-04:00

Oh sweet Annabelle, today you are 9 months old!! Where has time gone? I love you more than I did the moment I laid my eyes on you that first night we met. I have more patients with you than I ever thought I would have for anyone- ever! You make me laugh, all the time. So here is what you are up to...

You are officially a crawler and the baby proofing things arrived today! I will be working on that during nap time. Can you try to slow down... since you became mobile, you are finding all my weaknesses in my house keeping skills. I'm sorry!

You had your first ear infection 2 weeks ago and it was pathetic. But you were a trooper and you are a-okay.
You weight in at 18.7 pounds. I don't know how tall you are but you are around my knees when you are standing.
You talk non-stop. You blow raspberries, say baba, momma, lala but no dada yet. You also yell all the time. There is nothing wrong, if fact, you do this mostly when you are happy.
You will fake cough to get attention.
You love to shop, well, I don't think it's the shopping that you like, rather the attention that people give you while we are out and the people watching that you get to do.
You still make the funniest faces.

You love your friend Caleb, we all love the Davis's at this house. You love him except when your grandma is holding him and you get jealous. Caleb's sweet momma and I joke that you guys are going to get married. I love it when she watches you because she feeds you some homemade goodness that came from their garden.

Caleb and Annabelle

You are still eating 4 times a day and love to eat. We had a big bump in the road with eating when you had your ear infection but are getting back to normal. We are starting to introduce finger foods and you are really digging it. You are liking avocado's now {grin}, apples, sweet potatoes, blueberries, strawberries and carrots (those are the finger foods that we have tried so far).
You sleep 12 hours a night and take 2 2 hour naps during the day. We are working on dropping your evening nap.
You love your daddy so much and when he's home, you are constantly looking for him if he's out of your sight. You guys play non-stop. Your favorite game is "where is annabelle?" He piles the pillows on top of you and when you get them off he's right there in your face. So funny! I love hearing you belly laugh.

You are still obsessed with the loveys. As I am typing this, you have somehow managed to get 3 lovey's in your crib. I'm okay with this and I think that it's cute. You do not care that you have so many. They are all the same and you love them all the same. No discrimination here in the lovey department!!

I love you sweet baby and can't wait for the next 9 months!!

Love,

momma

Happy Birthday Emily!

2011-06-13T10:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Emily!

I love you more than you will ever know. You are such a blessing in my life and I have no idea how I would do life without you. You have been my best friend through joys and sorrows, happiness and tears, monumental steps in life and we've stood beside each other through life's biggest changes.

Alden/Fox wedding. March 5, 2011

Alden/Robertson wedding Aug. 17, 2008

Thank you for loving my child (and unborn child) like they were your own! I can not wait to do the same with yours.... what am I talking about?? I already love them and they are not even made yet!

Left the hospital at 3 am only to return at 6 am with chick fil a... only my sister!

You are such a great leader and I look up to you so much!

Happy birthday and I hope it is awesome!

Love,

Abbey

Monday Monday

2011-06-06T09:20:00.000-04:00

Reading some blogs...
AB is in the excer saucer... the mirror is causing prisms on the wall
Dallas loves prisms and chances them
His tail is going nuts
This makes AB excited so she jumps more
Now the prisms are excited
Dallas is trying to bite the wall...

Monday Monday

Change, the good kind

2011-05-31T10:33:00.000-04:00

Change. I don't do it well. I've blogged about it before. This change, however, is exciting change. It's new, it's healthy change, it's bettering my family change. I'm excited about this one.

This journey to organic eating started a while ago. If fact it started my senior year in high school where we had to do this huge project, it was to prepare us for college... my thoughts, if you don't know how to do it by now, you aren't going to learn now, right? I did my project of how media effects women and girls both mentally and physically. I came across this article about how girls are started their periods and hitting puberty way to early, some as young as 6!! I vowed to start cleaning up the way I eat. But life happened, it's expensive and it was still new information that people were not aware of.

Fast forward 7 years, I wanted some yogurt, something that I could never eat before. I could when I was little, but NEVER as an adult (you can read about that here) and my discovery was sickening! I told Frank about it and showed him my discoveries and we vowed to make the diary change... we now enjoy cheese and crackers at our little Robertson happy hour.

Fast forward another 2 years and we are sitting on our couch watching "Food, inc.". If you have not seen it, do it and do it now! We said we would make changes and we tried, it's just really hard on a tight budget, so I thought at least.

Another year goes by with ignored conviction and we are in Texas enjoying some family time and much needed R&R. Talking to my sister-in-love. She tells me that my precious niece (who is 9) is started to go through puberty. I freak out ((quietly of course), so does Frank. He starts asking her all these questions about their diet , etc. That night we promised things would be different with our sweet girls.

This weekend, Frank and I got to go on a date night and sweet AB staying with my parents. While we were there, Frank asked me if I would be embarrassed if he asked where the beef came from. I said no. But then I started thinking about it while the server went and got the manager. And I asked Frank, what is the point of asking this if we don't even care at home? He said I was right and that we needed to make change started right now, well, after he finished his AMAZING steak from fire birds. Side note, have you been there?? If not, go now, it's amazing!

This Saturday, AB was still at the parents and Frank was a work, I went to the farmers market on my own to start this honorable way of living. I'm a dork and asked some of our farmer friends who to go see. I wrote their farms on my hand to make sure I went to the right people.

I had a blast and spent my money so fast... but I got some good loot!!

This is our dinner plans for this week:

Taco's (last night and they were AWESOME)... grass fed, no hormone or antibiotics, YES PLEASE!!
Roast in the slow cooker with potatoes and carrots with a side of collard greens... all organic! Emma says, "thank you momma!"
Summer salad... Romaine lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, blue cheese, avocado, tomatoes and walnuts :)
and of course, LEFT OVERS!!

While all of this is still in the works and we are cleaning up what we eat slowly but surely, I feel like these are changes that we will make permanent in our home. We are not racing to joint PETA but we are racing to have our girls raised in a home that eats the way that Jesus would have us eat. We, as a family, refuse to be a statistic in the obesity epidemic here in the US. We will respect the animals on the land and treat them humanely, to eat the fruits of the land and enjoy the farmers harvest!

8 months

2011-05-26T12:32:00.000-04:00

I can not believe that Annabelle has only been with us for 8 months... what did we do before her?? The 16th marked her 8 month little birthday and I just can not get over how fast time is flying. My aunt was telling me just the other day how she felt like yesterday she was telling her daughter that it would be 5 years before she had to worry about her little girl starting kindergarten.... Kaleigh starts in the fall. Jennifer cries about it whenever she talks about it. I feel the same way, that one morning I'm going to wake up and we are getting ready for school and I'm making PB&J's. I'm totally not ready for this!!

ANYWAYS, so here we are, 8 months along and this is where AB is:

You are long and learn... I mean, you still have your cute little leg rolls, but you are not nearly as heavy as some of your boyfriends.
You wear size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes, some 12 months.
You think body noises are funny, especially coughing, sneezing and burping.
You make the funniest face when you poop (sorry, inappropriate but so funny!!).
You are on the verge of crawling any day now.
You get on all fours and rock and do this weird army crawl. You put one hand forward and fall on your face and scoot.
You love Dallas and think he is a riot. You grab his fur relentlessly. We are working on being gentle- mommy fail here.
You are in this akward, weird transition right now where you are not really into your bottle anymore but don't really get the sippy cup yet. I'm not worried about it because it's so hot outside you will get it soon.
You are getting less and less interested in baby food and are really digging feeding yourself and think that big people food is really cool
You fake cough for attention. I laugh.
You are a daddy's girl and love to rough house with him. Just last night he was throwing you on the bed and "wrestling" with you and you just thought it was hilarious. The other night I was taking a nap and I heard all this racket... you were in your high chair and he was pushing you around the kitchen bumping into things, you were laughing so hard.
You have started talking and are learning social skills for conversation, it's really neat to watch. You say "ba-ba", "mama" "dada" and "lala". When you are talking, you pause and let me talk and then you resume. Precious.
You have started kissing. I use this term VERY loosely as it's an open mouth kiss with licking. It's wet and messy and we love it!
We went to Texas this month and you love your Texas family... and of course they totally are in love with you! I think that Nanna is your favorite, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone :)
You love to flirt, especially with men. I laugh when you do this. You will bat your eyes and give them a big ole' smile.
You still kick your feet and rub them together.
You yell when you are not pleased or need to get some attention... I do not like this and we are working on it.
You still are a great sleeper, 12 hours a night and 2 2 hour naps a day with an occasional cat nap in the evening.

We love you sweet baby and can not wait for the next 8 months!!

Some design...

2011-05-22T17:41:00.000-04:00

Some have asked me where I got the name for my little business...

The "Kathryn" is my second daughter's (still in the womb) middle name, you can read about her name here.

The "Hart" is my first born's middle name and my old middle name. You can read about that name here.

I hope that you are having a fun and lazy Sunday like we are. We have had 2 naps so far and lunch... that is about it :) Now, order some wraps!

Love,
Abbey

Kathryn Hart Designs

2011-05-19T09:52:00.000-04:00

The other day I announced that there was some exciting things going on around here. Well, I'm so excited to finally say: I'm starting my own business!!

My shop, for now, will be on etsy.com. I'm still working on it, but I wanted to get things started here first (okay, I'm really frustrated getting it set up so I'm taking the easy way out right now and doing the easy part first!).
Here are some goodies that I've been working on:

The front

The back

Front

back

Front

Here are the details:
They are a little larger than the "hooter hider". The neck strap is COMPLETELY adjustable. They are made from 100% cotton and stitched with lots of love.
I'm selling them for just $25 each. I have just started making them so I do not have a ton of inventory, so let me know what you like and I can make it. If you already have fabric but don't know how, email me and we can work out the details.
*In the near future, like as soon as fedex drops off the package, I will have custom burp clothes. I will also start to make car seat tents... you know, to keep the crazy lady at church or at the grocery store from touching your babe.*

Love,
Abbey

this and that

2011-05-17T12:11:00.000-04:00

There are some really exciting things that are going on around here. Besides a babe on the way, a dog that eats poopy diapers and another babe that is on the verge of crawling or walking, we are not sure still what is going to happen first!

If you read this, will you please follow me? Just click on the link and add me :) It wold make my hear happy to see your sweet faces over there!

Love,
Abbey

mom...

2011-05-10T22:41:00.000-04:00

I've blogged about this before, once in fact this year, my mom. Mother's day and an anniversary all in one week just seems fitting.

Mom,
I cannot believe that tomorrow will mark 13 years that you went to meet Jesus! Where has time gone? How have Emily, dad and I done this thing called life without you for 13 years? It seems like an eternity. I miss you, I really do. When I look at Annabelle and now feel Emma move in me, my heart just aches. How can you be missing this? It just doesn't seem fair.
I talk to Annabelle about you all the time. I try to remember how patient you were with Emily and I and bring that into my parenting... it's hard! Can you tell me how you did it? How you did it all?
Can I tell you how I was thankful for all that you did for me? That you would bring me stuff to school that i had forgotten or you were always at my swim meets to cheer me on or would clean my room because I wouldn't. I loved that, and I want that for my girls too.
When I snuggle AB, I do that sound you did. It makes miss you. There is a picture of the four of us (from the 80's) that hangs in the hall way next to her room. When AB sees it, she stares at it. The only person that she knows in that picture is dad, does she know you? I know it's not biblical, but she smiles, does her "funky chicken" dance and starts "talking". I tell her who everyone is, she's not listening because she is talking. It's quit amusing.
I miss you mom and I cannot wait to see you again.
I love you,
Abbey

Ready... never. Just maybe more prepared.

2011-04-30T21:00:00.000-04:00

Today my friend was having a neighborhood wide garage sale. Another friend went in search of some, oh so needed, boy clothes. She called me and told me I needed to get over there ASAP. We had pack and play drama earlier this week and we needed a new one.

Here's the loot that I scored:

This AMAZING zooper stroller for just $100! It's normally $500!!!!!!

I also got this graco swing n bounce for just $12... after some looking around, it looks like it is about $135.

I also got a grace pack and play that is hideously ugly, but it was $10 and will work as a play pen for when Emma gets here.

And lastly this bassinet for just $13... after some looking around, it looks like it retails between $75 and $100.

I just can't believe that I found these amazing deals!! Seriously now the only things that we need for Emma... I crib, a mattress some bedding and diapers.

Dallas and Annabelle waited sorta patiently in the car... so excited and can't wait for Frank to get home so he can see these awesome deals!

We will call her....

2011-04-29T11:06:00.000-04:00

Emma Kathryn

Sweet Emma,

Let me tell you about your name... Please love it! We do!

You are technically named after your great grandmother on my dad's side. Her name was Emily but everyone called her Emma. As you can see, that is who your aunt Emily is named after. I like to think that you are named after aunt Emily. I love her and as you will learn, am just crazy about her. I hope that you love life and take chances like she does... she's so brave!

Kathryn is after your sweet Nana. She is an incredible woman of God and loves Him more than anything! I pray that you will be a pray warrior like she is and love recklessly! She is in an incredible leader not only in her family, but in life also. Will you grow up to have a kind heart like her??

I have started to feel you move inside of me over the last few days... it's beautiful and like a wrote when I was preggo with Annabelle, it's incredible to know that our Maker has allowed me to carry you, birth you and raise you. I am so humbled by this. I pray each day that you will come to know your Maker at an early age. That He will give you a new heart and you will love him unconditionally.

I can not wait for you to get here... but can you not come on the 16th?? I really want you and Annabelle to have your own special day! I can not wait to hold you and for you to play with AB, Dallas and I on the blanket in the mornings and in the afternoon. We have so much fun! We will go for walks so Dallas doesn't eat your diapers and all our shoes. Can we talk about him for a minute?? AB is not gentle with him and he just takes it... will you please try to be gentle and not kick him in the face and pull his fur? He's so gentle and it's just not fair!

I love you sweet baby and we will see you in September!

Baby Robertson #2

2011-04-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

Sweet baby #2,
We found out that you are today! I am so excited for you. Today made it feel more real. Your spine, heart (and all it's chambers). body parts and organs look "just perfect". Can I tell you that I cried out of relief when I heard that! 2 of my friends have had miscarriages in the last few weeks and I couldn't help but to worry about your little body and life that was growing in me.
We are telling my side of the family tonight and I can not wait! We have named you and I will tell you about that tomorrow!

Love,
momma

7 Months and counting...

2011-04-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Annabelle turned 7 months the other day... where has time gone?? So here is the latest on our sweet AB:

You are teething... eek! You got your first bottom front tooth last week and are cutting the one next to it as we speak. It was so sad, last night you were crying between bites you were hurting so bad!
You are so good at rolling over, front to back, back to front. Some times you get frustrated and just cry and want us to roll you over to your back.
You have great tummy time form! You are also tucking your knees up, but haven't figured out that you have to keep your arms locked yet... I"m okay with this :)
You love to eat!

enjoying a mango smoothy!

You love puffs, and you are learning to feed yourself and it's so funny. When you finally get one in there you are so proud of yourself!
You love Dallas but I think that he is a little scared of you. You think it's really funny when he licks your feet sniffs your ear. Sometimes I don't wipe your face good enough and if he gets enough courage to sniff your face, you open your mouth wide open... I did catch him licking in there one day. Can you not do that anymore?
You kick your feet non-stop. You also rub them together.

I love you sweet baby and can't believe how fast this is going, can we slow down??

Windy Saturday

2011-04-16T20:49:00.000-04:00

Today is what I love to call, relax. AB slept for 13 hours last night {GRIN}. Frank got up to go to work in the wee hours of the morning but us ladies slept in! We just lounged and napped until dad got home so the fun could begin!

We went to REI to check out this book-bag kid carrier that Frank has wanted since before we had babes. AB liked it and kept tickling Franks neck, it was cute!

Is it just my hubby, or do all men do this? When Frank walks into a sporting store, he thinks that he wants to do every activity that there is... all the sudden he turns into a serious kayaker or a camper (okay he goes camping on a somewhat regular basis) or a swimmer (haha, he almost drowned in survival school!) or a cyclist.

Annabelle was not amused by our trip:

We started cloth diapers today and had a major leak. We took her to the van did a costume change...

please check out the drool on her chest :)

How could I possibly forget- HAPPY 7 MONTH BIRTHDAY ANNABELLE!! YOU ARE SO BIG!

Happy Saturday!

2011-04-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

I've written about it before: Grief.

Grief: keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss;sharp sorrow; painful regret.

I've lost before. I've lost a lot. If fact, Frank just said the other day, I've got to more funerals since I met you then I had been to my whole life.

Today is different. My friend has had a loss that I do not understand. She done this before, and she cried. I cried, we all cried. The Lord called her babe home before she got to meet it. So tonight (and the weeks to come), can we think about them, pray for them, cry out to our Maker for their sweet little family?

One week and counting...

2011-04-13T11:41:00.000-04:00

We find out what we are having in one week from tomorrow! I cannot wait. Most of the family thinks that it will be a girl {grin}
*Secretly, I'm hoping it's a girl this time also*

We were going to try and keep it a secret until we get to Texas and announce to Frank's family what we are having... but I don't think that we will be able to keep that big of a secret for 3 more week.

On the funny side, Frank and I gave AB an avocado last night. When I gave it to her, she looked at me like, "what is this?"
She started gagging. I gave her another bite that sent her into a shiver. I laughed, I really did. I did my usual mom pep talk with her when she tries new stuff, you know, "mmmmm."
We added just a little bit of lime tad bit of salt, but no luck. Long story short, she ended up throwing up in her high chair. I ate the rest.

We then gave her some puffs to keep practicing her hand eye coordination. Dallas loves this as he gets to clean up after her. If we give her 10 puffs, she manages to get about 2 or 3 in her mouth and the rest are in the chair.

Happy Wednesday... I have a hot date tonight and the babe is spending the night at the parentals :)

Weekend round up!

2011-04-04T11:23:00.000-04:00

On Saturday morning we loaded our van up (yes I said van, yes we got one and yes, I LOVE IT!) and headed to Chuck Town! We had some serious celebrating to do!

Isaac Russo turned one!

The birthday boy and his sweet momma!

It was a great party! They set up their backyard with a tent, large blankets for the babes to crawl around and plenty of seating. We ate tons of food and had a great time. The cupcakes were really good!

He was totally into watching Chris sing!

Yum, icing!

We staying at the Reynold's house. If you know them, you know that they are not only generous to put us up for the night, but they are funny! On Sunday Gentry (who is 2 days older than AB) and AB had a tea party.

A tea party for two.

Now, when I was pregnant with AB, there were three girls that I ran around with. We would meet for lunch and called it our "preggo mamma" lunch. It was awesome. Whitney had Gemma first. About a month later, Courtney had Gentry, two days later I had AB and about 2 or 3 weeks later Hilary had MC. Since MC and Gemma were not there on our silly Sunday morning, we had fillers for them!

MC is on the left and Gemma on the right!

We headed home on Sunday afternoon. It takes a good solid 3 hours to get home. Not yesterday. It took us just shy of 6 hours to get home with the traffic. Thank you accidents, the bridge run, and all the other events that were in Charleston!

Hope you have a happy Monday!

Tuesday, not so lame.

2011-03-29T15:28:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago we announced that, to our shock, baby #2 would be here in September. A few weeks after that we announced that baby #2 was due the day after Annabelle would turn one. I have wrestled with this. I really have. Am I ready for this?? Can we handle this?? What the crack were we thinking?? We decided to cling to what we know is true and made a pack that we would laugh through it, just like we have done with everything else.

Today I went to meet my OB. She was so kind and patient for all my questions. I'm a wanna be at home birth momma but I'm a chicken. There I said it. I wish that I had the courage and discipline to do cloth diapers and eat all organic and birth at home. But I don't. But I love the idea. I will again, give into the hospital birthing ways and regret it once again. I will be outraged when that bill comes in October and the phone calls start, asking for money while I'm still healing and drugged up for the damage that is inevitable on my body.

But as for today, on this day, I'm so so thankful for my healthy little people. I have one wild woman that squeals in public and "talks" to strangers. I have another babe inside of me that has made me sicker than I have ever been and I love it already. And a pup that thinks he is human and deserves to eat off our plates and that baby food is a treat.

So here are my healthy babes:

Our first baby.

Oh Annabelle, you taught us what "love at first sight" was. And it was beautiful!
(please don't look at the mess in the back ground... )

Baby #2... we can't wait to find out what you are in 3 short weeks! But mostly, we can't
wait for you to get here so we can all snuggle :)

6 month round up!

2011-03-18T15:24:00.000-04:00

Oh sweet Annabelle, you turned 6 months yesterday! Where has time gone?? You are so big now! Here is what you like in your 1/2 a year of life:

You love to people watch. You are a Robertson, it is expected.
You love to laugh- a lot!
You love Dallas, but you grab his fur and kick him any chance you get, can we work on that?
You love to eat! You started solids a few months back, you have become less and less interested in the bottle.
You love apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, acorn squash and pears- those are your favorites.
You like to watch big kids and when people are talking, you look at them like you are really listening to them.
You do not like it when I am teaching you to sign. If fact, you resist. I'm okay with this for right now.
When you are hungry, you let me know!!
You LOVE bath time with your daddy. You do this nightly and you play these silly games and it makes you laugh.
Sleep: You sleep 11-13 hours a night and you love it! You love your crib and really love to nap. Can I tell you how thankful that i am and I pray that this doesn't change?
You love to snuggle, but then again, you are a Robertson, and that is what we do best, snuggling!
Your grandma got you this lovey when you were first born, and you love it. If fact, you are obsessed with it. You will not sleep without it. We have two and our house and there are 3 in the safe at her house... just in case!
You started playing peek a boo and you think it's so funny. You do it mostly when I come to get you out of your crib. It melts my heart!
At your last appointment with the Dr. You were in the 95% for both height and weight... can I tell you how cute your little chubby legs are??
You learned to sit up all by yourself the other day and you are so proud of yourself. You are still a little unstable, but you work so hard at it!
You love to "stand up". Any chance that you get!
You "talk" and "sing" non-stop. I spend most of our days just laughing at you. You have so much to say for being so young. I would really like to know what you are thinking half the time.
Your daddy and i think that you say "hi" and "I love you"... while you don't come out and say it like an adult, your pitch is the same when you "talk" and the noise that you make is the same.
You love being outside (thank goodness!!) and road trips.

I love you sweet Annabelle and can't wait for the next six months!

Baby food goodness

2011-03-15T11:34:00.000-04:00

I started on the bandwagon to clean up what we eat at the Robertson house. Some may argue what constitutes "healthy", I say, we are a work in progress so cut me some slack!

The easiest start was with Annabelle. They say the first 5 years of eating habits will dictate the rest of her life... eek! No pressure here, ha! I started making her baby food. To my utter shock, she liked it more than canned baby food. I liked it because I know exactly what is going in her mouth and if she had an allergic reaction, I would know what I gave her.

So people have been asking me and Cynthia how I do it. It started in Cynthia's kitchen, so really, she should be writing this and taking all the credit! But anyhow, this is the easy way that I do it!

1. Go the store, farmers market, etc and pick out what you want to try. This week I made/am making acorn squash, sweet potatoes, pears, peaches, carrots, apples and bananas. I have not done the bananas or the peaches yet. They are a first, but will post that soon!
Also, while you are at target spending all your money on diapers and other random things, get a bunch of these:

Make sure that they are freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe!

2. Get your loot out and start peeling!

*don't but produce that is not in season by the bulk. I made this mistake and had to cut off lots of bad parts.

3. Peel those jokers and put the yumminess in a steamer:

4. Set the timer and go do something else, like peel more or empty the dishwasher or fold that never ending laundry. Also, change the water out after each veggie or fruit that you cook. You don't want apples with a hint of carrot.

When they are done, it should be really soft.

5. Put the contents in the blender or the magic bullet and rock and roll.

6. Store the goodness in those little containers. I put about 2 tablespoons in each one. That is about a serving size for my babe!

Okay, let's do the math here for a second. I spend about $3 on the apples. I am not including the cost of the containers because I will reuse them in the months to come. It made 11 servings ( I had fed AB one already when I took this picture). Gerber food is $1.39 for 2 packages at Harris Teeter. A savings of around $6

Other produce:

Acorn squash

Carrots!

*The carrots had the best savings. I got a bag of the small "ready to eat" carrots for just $1.37. It made over 11 servings!!!

Some tips while making it:

On thicker food, like carrots, sweet potatoes and acorn squash, you will need to add some water. I use the water that is in the bottom of the steamer. If you are baking or using the oven, use the water that is in the pan. Just a little water goes a long way. So be conservative and add it as needed.
Make sure that you sterilize the containers. Using the small ones as you can use them "per serving" it makes it soooo much easier.
I put a few containers in the fridge at a time and the rest stay in the freezer.
Make sure that you label those jokers. Apples and acorn squash look simpler in color and when they are frozen... Lord help us!
Make sure that you have a good helper, it gets really messy sometimes. Here's my "oh so faithfully" helper:

Mostly, have fun! You are feeding your sweet babe these yummy foods and it's suppose to be fun for you guys. AB woke up in the middle of the process, so I just fed her and left her in the high chair and dragged it over to where I was cooking and she loved watching me.

If you have any questions, call me or email me. I would love to help! I don't know much, but do know I love making this stuff!

Oh the places you will go... I mean puke!

2011-02-21T09:45:00.000-05:00

Warning, this may be a little gross. I am writing this for me so when my babes ask me, I can remember!

When I was pregnant with Annabelle, these are some of the highlights of morning sickness:

Dallas was on some antibiotics and would throw up every morning for about a week or so. One morning, Dallas and I were puking at the same time in the bathroom. Frank rolled over and said, I need a new family.
In the car, in a bowl on the way home from a friends house.
At my parents house, in the hall bathroom. Everyone heard.
At work, every day. I would come back with eyes blood shot and sweating. Let me spell ATTRACTIVE.
Trying to do the dishes. There was a dish in the sink that had been there for a few days. I had asked frank to do this for me since I knew that it would make me sick. He did not believe me. So while he was in the shower I started to tackle it. I think that it made me puke 3 different times.
Then there were the everyday instances that were in the malls, restaurants, etc. Needless to say, I always knew where the nearest exit or restroom was.

Highlights for Baby Robertson #2 (so far):

Changing diapers. Everyday I either gag or puke.
In the car while driving. Filled up a cup... ewww!
Cooking.
Getting up at night to use the restroom that turned into a puking session.
Getting out of the shower.
Eating dinner at P.F. Chang's with the family to celebrate a birthday.

So there you have it. Sorry if it was too gross. I think that it's rather funny. Happy Monday!

this and that

2011-02-10T14:02:00.000-05:00

So I realized that I haven't blogged in a few weeks. There is a few reason's why. But mostly, I can't stand looking at my blog because it makes me gag. It's true. The thought of ginger right now makes me gag. Frank likes to talk about it just to see it happen. Why ginger you ask?? Because I'm preggers... again!

When I was pregnant with AB, it was eggs and chicken. Totally grossed me out. Now it is ginger and chicken again. Frank wants a caesar salad this week for dinner and I can not do chicken. I was going to pick it up at the grocery store but when I was in the meat section I started to get queasy. I grabbed some bacon and that will have to do!

I'm 7 1/2 weeks pregnant. Baby #2 is scheduled to arrive late September. September 24th to be exact. To remind you, AB was born on the 16th.

On the lighter note...
AB had her 4 month check up yesterday. Here are her stats:
She weights 15.34 lbs (90th percentile).
She is 25 and 3/4 inches long (90th percentile).

Solids are going great and I believe that squash and apples are the sweet ladies favorites. She is loving all the new things that she can do.
This am, Frank snuck in her room to get the dirty diaper and take them to the trash. She found her laying the opposite way that we lay her. In her travels, she had taken 2 paci's with her (really weird, because she won't put it in her mouth on her own yet). Her aunt Emily gave her a teddy bear for Christmas and it's in the far corner. She has reached that and pulled it across her and was holding onto the leg and just chatting up a storm. About an hour later, I went in to wake her up and start the day. She was still laying there with the bear but sound asleep. Oh AB, you make me laugh!

most random blog ever....

2011-01-21T10:31:00.000-05:00

There is so much to talk about! Let's get started.
First, Frank's Granny is in the hospital with blood clots that are popping up everywhere. Let's talk about Granny. I do not know her very well, but I know this. This woman loves some Jesus. I mean, she really LOVES Jesus. She lost the love of her life a few years back and has wanted to "go home" for a while now. She is always talking about wanting to go to heaven and she doesn't understand why the Lord is keeping her here so long. Please pray for the family, and for Granny. Please pray that she will not be in pain and that the Lord will take her home soon. Pray that the family will be strong for each other in this time!

Now, on to more shallow things (Sorry, you know I don't do well with emotional things!).

Last night I made curry, it was awesome! It was by far the best curry that I have ever made. I even got a high five!!
It was rather easy to make and I was pleasantly surprised. Note to self, make dinner before AB wakes up from her early evening nap or wait will after she goes to bed. Let me spell G.R.O.U.C.H.Y. baby for you!

It's so easy. Start with 2 red onions, chop them up! Two jalapenos- chopped and de-seeded. 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice. 2 garlic cloves chopped finely. a piece of ginger chopped. 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Some salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander, mustard seed, and salt. The recipe also called for peaches (if desired), they are not in season so I skipped them. Will make this again when they are, I think that it would be delish with them in there! And some chicken chopped up. Make jasmine rice according to the package.

First add 2 tablespoons on the olive oil to the skillet and cook the onions until brown. Add the other dry ingredients. Cook for about 4 or 5 minutes. Put on a plate. Then add the rest of the olive oil and brown the chicken, but don't cook all the way. (I drain the grease out of the pan) and then added a 1/2 cup of water, the seasoning, then cooked for another minute or two. I then added the veggie mix to the skillet. Let cook together for a few more minutes. Then add a 1/2 cup of light coconut milk to the skillet. I added a little more because it's delishes!!

Add a dollop of greek plain yogurt on top! And serve hot!!

Last but surely not least.... We started AB on solids the other day. If you have not seen the video, you must see it here. Wait till the very end. It's so funny and frank worked so hard on it!! But this is from this mornings feeding:

Happy Friday!

Snow days....

2011-01-12T15:05:00.000-05:00

So Monday in the early am came the snow... it was high adventure the next morning when we headed out to "take the dog out"....

Annabelle and I mostly watched Dallas and Frank play. Dallas wasn't understanding what was happening to the snow balls after they hit him. He was trying to play fetch.

The Robertson's

We have had the fireplace on for 2 days now, it's so cozy and if our dog does not fit in this stereo type, I don't know what does!

Yesterday we got a little stir crazy and our friend Mel was flying home from Africa, so we loaded up and took her car to the airport. We stopped at my parents house to get the rest of our things and shoveled the driveway for them. We came home and I did some baking, it was a total flop, should have taken a picture so you could have laughed with us!

Today on the other hand, Frank was about to explode if he did not get out of our "matchbox" of a house. He said that he thinks it would be better if he had a man cave. I laughed at him and told him that even if we had 10,000 sq. ft. he would still be wanting to leave! He agreed and I sent him to ~~daycare~~ cigar shop.

AB and I decided that we wanted to head out for some adventure also! She needs some baby books and I need the next baby wise book... Barnes and Noble bound. Well, I accidental left the diaper bag in Frank's truck yesterday... no big deal, going to B&N and be back in an hour. Maybe a diaper change, maybe. So I threw in a diaper and some wipes and a burp clothe in my purse with an extra passy. Well, the lady at B&N gave me the wrong directions and we ended up at Marshall's/ home goods store.

This is what we found:

They have such good deals on baby/ kids books, I could not believe it!

And then to my absolute joy, the cooking gods were on my side and I found this:

Cheaper than amazon, B&N and anywhere that I have been looking. I was so excited.

Now to the best part of the story... while in the middle of my domestic goodness find, I smell this funk. The funk is coming from my precious babe who is smiling and "talking" to me. Maybe she was telling me about the mess I was about to find. We go to the bathroom. I unload the stroller of the goodies, praying no one snags my cookbook. Get in there, no changing table, ~~curse the store~~, magically become super flexible, wipe up the counter, get my wipes and 1 diaper that I have, unsnap those cute pants and BAM, the mother of all blow outs!! Holy poop! Up the front and back, all over the onsie that she has on, on the socks... EVERYWHERE! And what is she doing, laughing. The sample package that I have of wipes is not cut out for this crap- literally! I make do with that I've got. I don't even snap her back up! Why might you ask, because I now have poop all over me! Put her in back in the car seat, call Frank and head straight home. What does Frank ask me after laughing, "did you take a picture?" Dang it, I always forget!!

So there we have it, poop stories for a pretty and sunny Wednesday!

A precious nursery for an awesome baby!

2011-01-05T13:04:00.000-05:00

After 3 looonngggg months, we finally got ourselves a little home. An apartment for 3 plus a pup.

So this cute babe needed a nursery:

So we started with this awesome armoire:

Then we got this awesome rocking chair and side table:

We brought in this truck (maw-maw painted it when I was born):

Here is her awesome crib (thanks to my parents!):

Some added decor:

And lastly, every girl needs her name on the door so you know who sleeps there (thanks Tiffany for the letters!):

Have sweet dreams baby! Mommy and Daddy had way to much fun with your room!!

Black Bean Chipotle Soup with a side of HEAVEN!

2011-01-03T23:27:00.000-05:00

So we got a crockpot. I'm in love. Yes, I'm in love with the crock pot and if I could, I would make out with it, I would.
I made Black Bean Chipotle Soup tonight, and it was delicious. I knew that it would based on the ingredients.

I started with this:
1 lbs. of dried black beans. Cover them on water and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour.

In the mean time, Chop up one white onion, 2 carrot sticks (or a hand full of those yummy baby ones) and two celery stalks.

Let the dog have some.

In the crock pot, start with 6 cups of chicken (or veggie) stock (I know, I got the wrong thing), 2 cups of whole crushed tomatoes, a can of diced green chilies and a can of chipotle peppers in the red sauce that smells like bbq sauce. Drain the green chilies and chop up the chipotles. Stir.

Then add the dry ingredients:

When the beans are done soaking, add them:

Tell your hubby to stop hovering!

Because girl, you go this!

Cook for 1 hour of high. Then 6 hours on low. At about hour 5 1/2 it should look like this:

Then get the blender or food processor out and chop it up!

Let it finish cooking. Finally let your hubby get his hands dirty and get him to make some yummy corn bread.

Serve in a fun bowl. Add a dollop (or two) of sour cream and a spoon full of salsa.

Finally (and hopefully not at 10:30pm) you get to enjoy!

Enjoy... and start early!!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

It's the new year... the new Abbey is on the way. This will be my first year in my late 20's, the first whole year as a mom, the first year of being a bridesmaid (a matron of honor at that) and first full year (since I was 16) that I have not worked. *please do not comment, I know staying at home is full time work, but I will not be bringing in income.
So here's my new year's charge:
The other day, I bought the scary size jeans. You know, the size that you swear to yourself that you will never wear because you will never get to that. Well I did and it needs to change- now! So this is what I want for me this year. To get healthy. I want to completely detox. I don't know when, I need to do some homework. I want to get more active. I want my babes to know how to go and play, how can they when the momma doesn't? What about our sweet pup, he needs to be walked and played with... so here we go!

2010-12-29T12:34:00.000-05:00

Can I be honest right now? I mean, really honest? Can I tell you how I really feel?? I'm not going to apologize for how it may sound or how long this may be. Here we go..

I miss my old life. I really do. Don't get me wrong, I have wanted to stay at home my whole life and have a house full of babies. If fact, I love that Dallas (my 4 legged baby) is laying at my feet right now. But I miss the days of getting dressed for work ( I did it for 12 years!) and wear fabulous shoes and packing my lunch or meeting my hot boyfriend for lunch. It seemed so affair like to have lunch with him downtown when we were dating! And that is another thing. I really miss blowing a paycheck on a fab pair of jeans... they are still in the closet but won't fit until there are some serious changes and a couple of flu visits!

I miss sleeping all day with my hubby and finally peeling ourselves out of bed to go and find food. What about those nights that were spend doing nothing but having the time of our lives. The only thing we had to worry about was who was going to get out of bed for 3 minutes to take the dog out in the am.

This task of being a mom, that has eternity weighing on my shoulders. PEOPLE, the Lord is going to ask me about my parenting skills.... here is the scary part, I have no clue what I'm doing? When I was pregnant and knew everything, this seemed so simple, but now, it's so complicated.

My girlfriend Carrie calls it kingdom building. I love that. It makes the days of blow outs and melt downs seem less mundane.
I wrote this blog when I was pregnant and had some clarity before the storm. I found it last night and remembered the days that I could not wait for!

Please don't judge me. Please pray for me, I mean it! Pray that I will learn contentment at home. That's another thing, we moved (again). Our house is a mess and I'm working my little hands off to get it in order. Please pray that I will have the patience to weather this storm in my life and come out a better wife, mom but mostly, a better Jesus follower.

Traveling with an infant 101

2010-12-01T23:39:00.000-05:00

I swore when I was pregnant that my blog would not become all about my baby, but dang she's cute and I'm learning so much! Turns out, I don't know anything about anything! I have learned that if you feed them about every 3 hours, change their diapers and give them snuggles they tend to act right and are fun!

Since everyone I know (well sorta) has had a child in the last year and most will be traveling in the near future I thought that I would share the valuable lessons that I learned in hopes to help you out!

Since the airlines now charge you for each bag that you check, we took two carry-on suitcases, two personal bags, umbrella stroller and the Bjorn in hopes of saving some cash. This is what we did:

What to pack:
(if you are flying)
1. Just a few outfits (if you can wash them where you are staying).
2. The monitor (you will want to have two hands to drink some eggnog and hang out with the relatives).
3. Your pump. Those sweet relatives are going to want to feed that babe of yours (and you will love the extra help).
4. Enough diapers just to get there. Bring your coupons and hit up wal-mart for diapers, wipes and the bathtime things.
5. Gripe water or Mylicon

*They will check the stroller and car seat for free. You will want to valet check the stroller so you can pile everything on it while going through the airport.

We packed our clothes, AB's clothes and the above gear in the suitcases. I carried the diaper bag as my personal bag and Frank carried a messenger bag that had snacks, reading material, ipods, and chargers in.

When you are packing your diaper bag, for the love, make sure that the gas medicine you use is in there. With the pressure change, it can make their tiny tummies upset. If you nurse, do not forget the hooter hider. If you do not have one or can not afford the thing, email me and I will make you one for cheap!

With the million dollar question:
What do I do with my babe on the plane?
First of all, throw their schedule out the window the day of travel, as you will need to just survive the flight(s) without a meltdown.
If you can, plan on a feeding during take off and landing. If you can, nursing is the best, especially during landing. I did use the bottle for one landing and she did just fine. I sat next to the window so that I had more privacy. The pacifier did not work during one of the four landings that we had. Her tummy got so upset and she had horrible gas, I'm thankful that the meltdown happened after we landed and were getting off the plane so that the jet full of people did not have to hear her (too bad all of the Memphis airport did hear it... sorry guys!).

I would also recommend using some sort of carrier to carry the babe in. We used our Bjorn and it was perfect. We took our stroller for use while we were there but used it to carry all our stuff in while in the airport. We did plane side valet for the suitcases and stroller and it was perfect.

Good luck with the travel and feel free to email me with any other questions!!

Messin' with Texas!

2010-11-22T19:41:00.000-05:00

After my last post, I figured this needed to be a good one with lots of pictures to brighten up this time! So enjoy...

We are on a 2 week trip to Texas right now... and anyone who knows this Robertson family, knows we love our trips to Texas! We arrived last Wednesday in Dallas and then on Thursday afternoon we headed to Houston to see the Robertson side of the family. So here we go:

Thursday night, Papa George falling in love with Annabelle. We went out to dinner and to our surprise, Aunt Kathy and Uncle John babysat for us... what a treat!

Papa George and Annabelle

The next day, we went to old town Spring, TX for a fun day of burgers and shopping. Annabelle enjoyed her afternoon in the stroller and a stellar blowout!

Annabelle cruising in Old town Spring, Texas

The next day, Frank's older brother, Chad and his family came into town and we had a fun day of food and fellowship. We went to see Uncle Ben and MaMaw. We came back to the house to enjoy each others company!

Meghan didn't make it long!

Frank, George and Annabelle. Just a little help from one shiner lover to another.

*George was taking his role very serious here. And you do not let child rearing get in the way of shiner time around here!

Frank, Sambo, Annabelle and Meghan

Sambo is from MaMaw's house in LA. He was brought to Houston to live with Aunt Kathy and Uncle John.

Haidyn and Annabelle

The Robertson's have some awesome older cousin's that are such a big help!

Daddy and Annabelle

Today we are hanging out at Nanna's and enjoying some R&R! Tomorrow we are heading to Murphy for some holsome fun!

Here are some goodies from before our trip:

Rapper baby!

"Hail ~~Mary~~ Annabelle"

Happy Monday! Have a fun week!

2010-11-06T17:36:00.000-04:00

My heart is broken. It breaks a little more everyday as the reality of my loss becomes more and more. What happens to my family now? Our glue, our matriarch, our central hub is now gone. Where do we go for Christmas? Who is going to make breakfast casserole and monitor the wrapping paper fights? Who is going to buy the pretty cakes and make sure that we have a home to celebrate a birthday party in? Who is going to make the "maw's creamy coffee"? Will it taste the same?

What about the love that she gave? Will my heart mend from the love that it will no longer get from her? What about the encouragement that I NEED from her? When I am worried about the future and she tells me about then she had 4 young babies and they just made it work... I have one and she promised me that I will make it. What about those silly cards that had horrible pictures drawn in them illustrating me driving from Charleston to her house to see her and her cat... my mailbox will be so empty, so will my heart. What about the horribly sung birthday messages that would be left only voice mail... I kept them until Verizon forced me to delete them.

What about the future baby Robertson's, what will I tell them, how can I tell them, where do I begin to tell them how amazing she was?

Maw, Abbey, Annabelle.

Her marriage to poppy was incredible! You can read my thoughts about that here.

Maw-Maw has taught me so much in the short 27 1/2 years that I had with her. She taught me that life is really short and you have to marry your soul mate. That love does prevail and with lots of hard work, you will make it. She lived her life teaching us that with courage and strength you can concur all that is placed before you. Her generosity, compassion and love was her essence. But most importantly what she taught all of us, for the love, do not leave the house without lip stick and a fabulous cocktail ring!

Maw Maw, I miss you already and I can not wait to see you in Heaven!

2010-10-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

Here is to you Franklin, you bed hog you!

Yes, you are HOT and you cook for me...

and you talk me into things that I do think are a good idea....

and they turn out AWESOME!

You are always up for a good time and we laugh... a lot!

But for the love, please stop hogging the bed!

I love you darlin'

Happy Tuesday

2010-10-12T09:18:00.000-04:00

What a happy Tuesday it will be...

Me and my Mini-me

The Robertson family (minus Dallas who is at Aunt Emily's house)

She looks like me, but dang, she sleeps exactly like her daddy!

she's so cute, you could eat her!

Just so you can see how pretty she is!

Enjoy your Tuesday... mine will be filled with laundry and nursing!

I don't know a lot, but I know this...

2010-09-25T21:50:00.000-04:00

After 9 LOOONNNGGG months of being preggers and 1 1/2 weeks into parenting, I do know a few things that I would like to share. Mostly as a reminder to myself when we get around to baby #2. Please note, that in no way do I think that I am an expert in parenting, I have no idea what I'm doing nor will I pretend that I do. None of the less, here are the lessons that I have learned.

1. I WILL cry over spilled milk! I worked hard to get my milk in that little bottle. Please do not spill it, spit it up nor let is go bad! Amen?
2. WATER, WATER, WATER and more WATER!
3. For the love, get a pedi and wax the eye brows! I know they are expensive, but when you feel (and well face it, look like) a cow, you should at least be able to look down and see some awesome painted hot pink toes. And those pictures are going to be around for a life time, poorly maintained eye brows are just an embarrassment!
4. You need to laugh at yourself when you are lying in bed with your sweet husband and your sleeping baby that sounds like a little goat and you start crying for no reason (baby blues anyone?!?). And for the love, let your husband laugh at your ridiculousness, it will make it more barible for all parties (yes Frank, I will cry about it).
5. Sitz baths are a non-negotiable. They feel so good and help you heal faster but mostly they give you 5 to 10 minutes of alone time where no one is trying to nurse on you or your husband will keep from asking where you put something (and you have no idea where it is because it fell victim to your last nesting episode!).
6. Take a shower and make sure that you brush your teeth everyday. It will make you feel pretty when you still feel like your insides are about to fall out.
7. It's okay to cry because you miss your days of boredom (you didn't realize how bored you were until your little bundle of joy showed up!) and sleep. And by sleep, I mean more than a hour and half at a time!
8. Witch Hazel, enough said!
9. An incredible husband is of the upmost importance. Someone who gets up and rocks that babe when you just layed down, or will get up to put the passy back in. He will rock her, sing toher and for the love, kiss her sweet cheeck and lips all the time!
10. All the things that you said that you will never do, you will do. (introducing the passy during week 1, being brand loyal to diapers because they get the best reviews... yeah right, people give them to you, you will use them!).

What are you other lessons learned??

Happy Brithday sweet girl!

2010-09-24T19:04:00.000-04:00

Many friends have asked about how the birth went, what happened- they want all the details. I feel as though it's like when you go on a mission trip and people say they want to hear all about it... but they really just want the highlights. They tell us during the debriefing from the trip, they tell you to have a one liner, two minute and fifteen minute answer... I feel like I have to say the same thing with the birth of my sweet girl!

So here is the whole story (for all you who are curious, but mostly for me to remember that sweet day that is only becoming further and further away!).

So here is the warning: If you don't like blood and guts, move on!

Giving birth is the most beautifully messy this that we do! On Tuesday we were suppose to get to the hospital but we were running late. We get there and the lady in the ER that was signing us in (admin had left for the day) and she said that we needed to talk to the head nurse but that she was in the delivery room. As we sat there, I realized that i had a message and a missed call from the hospital. It was her asking if we could come in at 7pm instead because they had more people come in than they had planned. So, off to McAlisters for dinner. Please note that is where I grabbed lunch the day of my wedding, I love that these two huge events were kicked off with McAlisters.
We went back and got checked in. Michelle greeted us in the room and told us that she would be our nurse for the evening. She got us all set up and asked about 1 million questions about both Frank's and my family medical history (thank goodness that we are all healthy people!!). This man Dr. came in and inserted a cervadil. It hurt so bad and frank about hit him for not being gentle. Michelle gave my a huge sleeping pill and we said goodnight. The next morning, I took a shower, got all ready and started having contractions. They set me up with the petosin and around 10am they gave me an epidural. I was making great progress and made it through the day with lots of friends and family to make me laugh. Popsicles were a life saver! I stopped dialating around 8pm. I could not get past the hump. After talking to Michelle and telling her that a c-section was not an option (like I had a choice!). She told me that she would talk to my Dr. and she would see what she could do. They stopped the petosin for about 30 minutes and then started again. I just couldn't relax. Michelle kicked everyone out of the room, turning the lights off and got me to sleep for a little bit. At this point, it's around 10:30-11pm. After moving me to different positions to get the dialing going again, I finally made it to 9.5cm. Dr. Gregory said that I was ready to start pushing. They got me all hooked up with more epidural and started getting to business. I pushed through 5 contractions. About 3 to 4 sets of counting to 10 each and she was out. When her head was out, frank looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "she looks just like you". One more push and she was out and on top of me. I could not believe it! Annabelle started crying, it was the most pathetic "wah wah wah" cry. Frank went over as the sweet nursery cleaned her up. It was amazing to see him taking pictures of the miracle and watching the nurses every move.
When Annabelle came out, the was the most amazing feeling ever. The pressure that was released was incredible. Then when the placenta came out, it was the same way. The most amazing miracle was that when they pulled the placenta came out, they were looking at the cord, there was about a inch stretch that was spaghetti noodle thin. I asked Dr. Gregory what could have happened, then said I didn't want to know if it had torn or severed. She told me that I didn't want to know!
Dr. Gregory worked so hard to get me all stitched up and set to go. The family came in to see us after I got all cleaned up and everyone cried, it was such a sweet moment. Finally after 20 hours of being awake and having a babe, Michelle gave me a big sleeping pill and we went to bed around 4am.

Some of the highlights of the evening:
*When Annabelle came out, it was such a release of pressure. I told the Dr. "I feel so empty." Frank's response, as he was holding his new baby girl, "I don't." I'll never forget that moment, or the fact that Dr. Gregory and Michelle and I teared up as we all looked at each other.
*How sweet Frank was during the whole day. He changed things, touch things, move things, moved me and took total care of me and really helped Michelle out. I could not be more blessed to spend the rest of my life with this man!

So this is our story. It was a a ride that I will never forget. We are so thankful that our sweet Annabelle made it out safely and healthy!

Happy Birthday sweet Annabelle!

9 years ago....

2010-09-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

I can not believe that it has been 9 years already! I will never forget that morning, being woken up by my uncle and watching mass chaos unfold on TV and in our own city! I remember being at work and co-workers parents were not home yet from work. There was no way to get a hold of anyone. It was terrifying. Fighter planes flying over our house, making it shake... you could see the missiles locked and ready to go. My uncle said, "Abbey, go look, you may never see this again." I pray to this day that he was right!

That day at school changed everything. Most of the middle eastern kids were so scared to come to school. I remember waiting to see if my class was going to happen or if it had been cancelled. One of my classmates and I were sitting outside waiting (did I mention that it was the most perfect fall day outside?) and started talking. He told me that he moved to VA when he was a babe and they were from Pakistan. His story was incredible. As I sat there and listened... my heart broke for him. He said that his mom was terrified to come out of her house, what would be people say? What would they do?

That day I learned about forgiveness, we all need it. We all make mistakes... what if I was held accountable for things done that were out of my control? What if I were lumped in with the Germans during WWII? Or with the Vietnam conflict? Or desert storm? All of these horrible things that we lump people into just because of their color or their nationality, needs to be let go.