Baby Shower with Some Girlfriends!

Yesterday a few of my college girlfriends threw me a small baby shower with a few friends from college. It was so much fun hanging out with the girls again. Being a small group, it was hosted at my house. (which means they made yummy treats and left me some at home to munch on this week! yay!)

An old roommate of mine came up from Texas (YAAAAY!) and was able to stay with us for the entire weekend. It was just fun to have a guest over and catch up. On Saturday night, I FINALLY got to meet my friend's fiance, Dan. (whom we love calling "Dan, Dan the Fireman! so as not to be confused with our other college friend, Dan) We hung out at their house and watched a movie for awhile. Being the good friends they are, they noticed I was getting tired (even though I THOUGHT I was still doing ok), they strongly encouraged me to go home and get some sleep. Sadly (because I knew they were RIGHT) we went home. Needless to say, I fell asleep quickly : ) Thanks for being good friends and taking care of me!!
(ok, so I should give up on the "thinking I'm doing ok" thing, as obviously the further I get along in pregnancy, I believe there is a strong negative correlation between preggo thought process and reality of a situation, therefore concluding Preggo Robin is not good at making decisions about taking care of herself. Yup I just admitted it-go ahead and say "I told you so.")

When Sunday came around, my house was filled with giggles, laughter, good treats, and good friends. I could not have asked for a more fun day. I'm excited to see this next chapter of our life unfold. So far, the forecast looks like many good years are ahead. I can't wait!!

Sunday evening, I was tired from the long day of having fun (amazing how having fun and chatting all day is so exhausting!) I decided to sleep on the comfortable couch in the cool basement. Ah....cold just like the polar bears like it! About 10 pm...the door to the house opened. (uh oh...who is home? Chris and Theresa are both gone-and Theresa's not supposed to be back until Monday night-I think?) So-I lay there on the basement couch-thinking--hmm...it has to be Theresa...right?

I listened attentively for the footsteps which were moving around the upstairs of our house. Baby must have been startled too...as it started kicking. Shhh.....be quiet belly-don't kick! A few minutes later, I saw the familiar feet strolling down the stairs: THERESA!! Needless to say, she was just as confused as I was. Since I was sleeping on the basement couch, she was confused as to why my car was here but there was no Robin-and my bed was empty...and apparently I left the light on in the baby's room...oops. I was confused because I thought she took Monday off...but apparently not-and we laughed at ourselves and chatted for a bit before going to sleep. It was nice to see her.

Tonight: dinner with my parents. (yum!) I'm not sure what is on the menu, but it doesn't matter...all I have to do is show up to eat. I'm starting to work up an appetite now...

House Projects

Oh no....those two words.... HOUSE PROJECT
(I'm starting to sound like Karen!!)

After I returned from Chicago (and had the house all to myself for nearly a week, I had the opportunity to work on some things that I had on MY list to get done. (Everyone tells me that I'm "nesting" and preparing for baby....but I like to think I have been so busy that there has hardly been any time to get anything done with our busy schedules and work...maybe I AM nesting....!)

Uh oh...Power Tools!

WHY did Chris sound SO concerned when I was lookig for the drill? All I wanted to do was replace a towel rack holder "thingy" in the bathroom...I was going to let him do it when he got home, but it just looked too simple...So I thought I'd do it and check that item off my list. Hesitantly, he told me where the drill was...and then, realizing he didn't tell me where the drill bits were....I assured him I would not hurt myself or break anything : ) PROMISE!!! He did tell me where they were (and I'm pretty sure at this point, he closed his eyes and said a prayer, but who knows for sure!?) Well, the result was good. We now have a hand towel holder with two hooks (and installed very nicely if I do say so myslef). Note the one on the left with the blue towel on it:

And, I decided to FINALLY hang up my cork board for my necklaces. (there are necklaces on it now, but I was just excited to finally have it up on the wall, I snapped a quick pic):

Well, you cannot tell it from the picture, but our bathroom countertop IS now clean...which I don't think I have seen since we moved in! It is SO nice to have one little corner of your house clean and be able to get ready without looking all over for things. I even took the time to go get some baskets. (Chris doesn't like them as much as I do, but I find them quite handy) I organized my drawer (and his drawer...although I don't think his drawer will stay organized...he didn't seem to like it as much as I did--but it is HIS drawer...so as long as I don't have to get into it, I suppose he can do whatever he wants in his drawer : )

After our bathroom--the bedroom! Clothes, junk, stuff...and Ta-Da! look at that brown dresser...I haven't seen the top of that since...well-I can't remember when! I got rid of some tubs and boxes that were at the end of our bed and it really makes a big difference. Makes me feel like the room got five feet bigger...oh wait...I think it did!

After that...on to the hall closet. I have towels with nowhere to put them...and washcloths-well, they don't really have a home either. (since we decided to put in a new A/C unit when the old one broke, we opted NOT to put in the desired 3rd bathroom in our basement until a later date. So our upstairs "main" bathroom is Theresa's bathroom. So, I try to leave her room for all her things she needs)

So, in an effort to do as Better Homes and Gardens does-I set out to organize: THE CLOSET. I got some wire shelf/racks (of course way more than I needed--as I wasn't sure exactly what sizes or shapes would work best for our closet-so I have to take a few back...) But the end result is quite nice.

Top Shelf:



Lower Shelf:

And after all that, I decided...one last "little" project...Baby's Room : )
Well...It had LOTS of boxes. So-still feeling motivated-I "scooted" the big boxes to the office or living room, depending on what was in them and their final destination. I finally found most of my sewing boxes, so those were set to go downstairs. (NOTE: pictures of the pre-boxed room is not shown...as to not divulge how many boxes were really moved....!)

AHA! Clean room!

And after cleaning, organizing, moving/scooting, etc...this little birdy was TIRED. (finally) And...after admitting that I had over-exherted myself...I took the next week to recover. (and one trip to my lovely Chiropractor who KNEW I had been doing something I shouldn't have...was nice enough not to make me feel any more guilty for over-exherting myself than I already felt. Although, it did come out a few days later at a get together...and she gave me the "you know you shouldn't be doing that" look...in addition to a good laugh, as she knows she is just as stubborn as myself when she sets her mind to doing something)

And then Chris and Theresa came home and I got in trouble for moving things...but they both said the house looked nice. Although, I have agreed that I will not be doing "anything" else...except for vacuuming...on ONLY one level of the house (and I won't haul the vacuum up and down the stairs). And I can vacuum as long as I don't do any other work. They run a hard bargain, eh?! Well, trust me-I have learned my lesson. I have been recovering for the last week, so I am not feeling like doing any more housework or organizing or cleaning.

Now Theresa can paint clouds on the walls, as she has mentioned interest in doing. This past weekend, she had time and was able to do just that. I have to admit, they turned out really good:



(the best part is, everyone seems to see different animals!! Gotta love the big, puffy clouds) So now I guess we can say we have "painted the baby's room."

4th of July

Towards the last week of June, I went up to Chicago for a seminar/conference to complete my training. Despite some "minor" delays, I finally arrived in Chicago to get a few hours of blissful sleep before my conference began on Monday morning. yawn!

Lucky for me, I had a good looking dinner date! Chris was able to come up for a couple days, as his schedule happened to work out for a few days off. Additionally, My younger brother, Paul, was able to drive to Chicago from the Urbana-Champaign area !! Look how cute we are (younger brother, and big-sis):

I could not have been happier to see Paul for dinner, and Chris for a few days (as our schedules have been crazy, he left for work when I got back-so it was nice to see him)

Soon after I returned, it was time for the 4th of July! Our "tentative" travel plans were to go out to Leoti for the holiday, but due to Chris' schedule (and me not wanting to drive there all by myself), plans changed. Although, my mother in law did say she was thinking about houlding out 1/2 a cow hostage so that she could see us over the holiday, but I am thankful she did not. We have been enjoying the meat since June when she brought it out to us : ) We look forward to seeing the Laws' in the next few weeks.

So, with Chris out of town, and Theresa galavanting on vacation in Colorado, my mom, Carl, and I hung out with my friend Jourdan and then shot some fireworks off at the house. Here is a picture of Grandpa Benny and I, visiting that afternoon before I went to see the rest of the family:

And here is a picture of me, dressing the baby up for the 4th (see the headband?):

We had a nice time watching the fireworks go off and hanging out. When I got home, it looked like a war zone on my street! There were kiddo's and fireworks EVERYWHERE! The neighbors said that the 4th is ALWAYS a holiday that they spend at home, due to the entire block of families having an ongoing show all night long. I think next July 4th, we will be staying home to watch the festivities : )

Sleeping in PAST Sunrise!

The past several weeks have been BUSY! Between Chris starting a "normal" schedule and me completing training for work, it seems like taking each day-one day at a time-has been the best approach.

Here are some pictures from sunrises over the past several weeks. I know most of you are blissfully curled up in bed (which would be nice) at the hour the sun rises. But here are a few pictures to show you what you are missing:







This one had the most beautiful rainbow!

Well, this morning I did sleep in past sunrise...and it was wonderful ! Chris was able to come back to town for a day and we spent it catching up and hanging out with friends. A friend of ours is moving to the DC area with his lovely wife, and we could not be more happy for them!! I had the pleasure of having dinner with them and getting to hear all about their excitement and adventures that are ahead. I jokingly told them it "must be a real job if the company moves you across the country!" : ) heheheee. We could not be happier for them.

We enjoyed Saturday of spending time with some "old" Phi Delts, joking, and catching up. It was a perfect day for us. It felt like one of "those Sundays" that people talk about when the day seems to last forever and you don't look at your watch-and, before you know it, four hours have passed and it feels like you still have all day ahead of you. It was relaxing and fun. Many thanks to Debbie (Hinnen's Mom) for allowing us to come and invade her house--and also for the wonderful hospitality and food provided. (now I know where Bryan gets his sense of hospitality from!!)

I wish I would have taken a picture of a few people floading in the pool. Delton had his floaties on while sitting in one of those inflatable chairs. He looked comfortable. (only to be splashed by a cannon-ball a short while later by Troy....! Although, they were nice enough to pull me away from the pool so I didn't get wet : )

Belly Getting BIGGER!

As many of our friends and family have been asking for, here is a post dedicated to Robin's Growing Belly. We began taking pictures around 4 months (16 weeks). I really didn't start showing until after that. Here is a picture of some of the first people we told that we are expecting (notice the skinny Robin pictured below--where are you hiding the baby?!)

Pictured Below: Chris, Robin, Bryan, Delton:

(Robin is at 12 weeks in this picture)

Doctors "set" the due date based on a 40 weeks of pregnancy. Below are picture with the weeks included for your convenience.

17 Weeks (4 months)

20 weeks

20 weeks (again)

24 weeks

28 weeks

31 weeks

...And the little one is still getting bigger...!

So far, all good reports from the Doctor. Baby seems healthy and active. Robin is still feeling good and trying to stay out of the heat as much as possible.

Weekend Visitor

On Friday, I received a call from my mother-in-law, Carol, that she was thinking about coming to Wichita for the weekend. "Oh" I said, "what for?" (not that she really needs a reason, but I figured that she didn't just want to hop in the car for 4.5 hours just for fun!) She has a friend whose mother was in the hospital and she was thinking about coming to be supportive and also to see Theresa and I, so she was wondering if she would have a place to stay. OF COURSE! There is always space!!)She decided to come and arrived late Friday night.

As you can see from my previous post about cooking on Saturday, I had plenty to do while she was visiting her friend at the hospital.

Also, Saturday afternoon I was fortunate enough to have a bed delivered! We are "borrowing" a bed from one of my good friends. Conveniently, she had a queen sized bed sitting in her garage taking up space. She mentioned to me awhile back that she was thinking they might need a place to store it. I was like, convenient-we would LOVE to store it for you-in our basement-and even put it to use as a guest bed! So, after discovering that I would have a weekend guest, I arranged to have her drop off the bed sometime on Saturday-at her leisure-so that my mother-in-law would have a nice place to sleep (and not have to sleep on the air mattresses when she comes to visit). When my friend and the bed showed up, I could not have been happier. It looks fantastic, and I'm glad to do her a favor (and she has NO idea what a favor she is doing us!)So, whenever she wants it back, I suppose we will be without a guest bed again, but then again-it sounds like it could be a good 6+ months before that happens.(yay!)

When Carol came back to the house that evening, I was excited to show her the new sleeping arrangement. (I think she was excited too) My parents were just finishing up church about the same time-as my brother had an event Saturday evening on the West side, so they swung by the house to visit and for coffee before the event started. They liked the new set up in the basement too. After they left, Carol and I had a quick dinner and decided to watch a movie. We were going to go to the theater, but there was not much that looked interesting or had a good showtime for us to see, so we opted to stay in. We had a good time. We made "real" popcorn out of one of those pop-corn makers and enjoyed just sitting on the couch and chatting as we watched a movie we had both seen that happened to be on TV.

Sunday morning we had waffles with fruit. (one of my personal favorite breakfasts! There used to be a place in Wichita called the Garden Cafe which served breakfast, lunch and dinner--and was known for their delicious deserts. This restaurant had one thing on the menue called the "Grand floridian" which was a Belgium Waffle topped high with fruit and whipped cream. DELICOUS! So, we made our own floridian waffles and they were sure delicious.)

After breakfast, I finished some cooking and decided to relax. What a nice weekend. Visitor, good food, and relaxation. Now that I have that relaxation thing out of the way, time to find my way through a few more boxes...(and find that quilt I need to finish...! Maybe that will be next weekend's project. PS: Clint, don't get your hopes up-I hate to dissappoint again... I know Christmas was a good 6 months ago...!)

To top off the evening, we had dinner at Olive Garden, one of my favorites-and best of all, Chris made it home safely. What a fun, blessed weekend.

Productive Weekend

With the air conditioner getting fixed this past Wednesday, I feel like I have been ten times more productive--I even cooked yesterday and today!

(last weekend Theresa, my sister-in-law and I went to my parents house to prepare meals for the week for ourselves. We made lots of delicious things, including salads, tuna noodle casserole, sloppy joe's. We also bagged up some pineapple, strawberries, and veggies so we could have quick grab n' go meals for the week, as we both have crazy schedules and my darling husband (who often cooks while I'm at work) has been working himslef, we had to find something to eat for the week. So-last weekend, we cooked several meals, with the idea that if we got ahead one weekend, we would then be able to always have something in the freezer to grab for lunch--or dinner, if we didn't have time to make anything or were too tired.)

SO: This weekend, in an effort to cook at least 1 meal for the week to freeze, and keep up the lunch supply, I decided to make some soup. My friend, Jourdan, made some delicious wild rice soup last week. So, this inspired me to break out the ole cook book (Better Homes and Gardens...it's got some delicous recipes that I have neglected to cook--so I figured it was ABOUT TIME to try them out).

First recipe: Potato Soup. Yeah-I'm sure many of you have made it, but not me. Why ? I have no idea. I really like potato soup-just never made it. So, as I was parousing the soup options, I also came across a recipe for corn chowder. Hmm-THAT sounds good too....bacon, corn, potatoes...yup, I'm sold. So off I went to the grocery store to collect a few more ingredients for the soups and food for the week.

After a pleasant experience at Dillons I was back at home, ready to get to cooking.
(not that grocery stores are usually un-pleasant, but I was in and out of there in 30 minutes!! AND there were lots of people to direct me to a few supplies I was having a hard time finding, not to mention a friendly cashier accompanied by a nice "bag boy" (what else do you call them?) that was kind enough to help little ole (ok-big-bellied baby-Robin) to my car. It was so nice to find FRESH produce and delicous deals on fruit--yesterday blackberries were $1 !!! Shall I tell you I was pretty excited, so I stocked up and froze them. Whenever Karen decides her "strawberry plantation" needs some harvesting, maybe I can make a trip up to visit and put some of those in my freezer too....)

When I arrived home, mom was there to just "hang out." That is just fine with me : ) It's nice having family in town again--and she was more than happy to be put to work. I think she chopped, sliced, and bagged nearly all the fruits and veggies I got while I started getting the ingredients for my soups ready and cleaned up the dishes so I would have room to cook. THANKS MOM!!

So the cooking began:

I had black beans in my cabinet that I have been thinking about cooking for a long time. One of my favorite Food Network shows is Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian. The host, Melissa d'Arabian was the winner of last summer's Next Food Network Star. So, as I watched the show religiously to try to come up with some easy, creative things to cook, Melissa caught my eye. With her show, she always cooks DELICOUS food for four people using only $10 or LESS! Even though she has never met me, I feel like we are on a first name basis, as I like her tips and ideas for cooking, not to mention they are pretty reasonable and inexpensive dishes. So often times, I will tell Chris that "Melissa does this...or Melissa said that" : -) in regards to cooking ideas and helpful hints for easy, cheap meals. ALSO, Melissa often talks about adding beans into your diet-as they are a cheap protein. So, began my thinking about black beans.

When I eat at Chipotle, I like to add black beans to my burritos, so why not try to make them? Sure, the cans are not THAT expensive, but according to Melissa, you can get a bag of dried beans for "not a lot more money" and then you can cook, freeze, and use them at your leisure.

So yesterday was my first attempt at beans of any type-I just happened to have black beans. I read the directions, and set out on my first adventure of the day. I followed the "quick soak" instructions, followed by setting the beans to simmer for the required time. As the beans cooked, I went on with my soups. After several hours (I stopped counting after 4) I decided that either the "quick soak" instructions were not such a great option, or I really could not cook beans. Unwilling to admit defeat, I let the black beans simmer all afternoon. FINALLY they were done cooking by about dinner time. After much releif of these relentless beans being cooked, I washed and stored them to freeze. SUCCESS. Then I though to myself: I don't like babysitting beans-I wonder if I can cook them in a crock pot? So, there I went-again-being adventurous with a new type of bean: Garbonzo beans. This time I skipped the "quick soak" instructions and soaked them for several hours (well, actually I decided mid-day that I would cook these new beans, so I started soaking them early with the intention of putting them in a crock pot to cook overnight on low). This morning: VOILA! perfecto! I ended up using 2 crock pots-a large one and a small one, but regardless, they were DONE and I was excited to have successfully cooked them while I was sleeping. Ah, I could get used to this! (but not the smell, I am not such a fan of that aspect of cooking them)

Oh-back to the soup recipes:
I made potato soup: Mom was kind enough to bring her food processor over for me to borrow while making the soup (and later hummus from the garbonzo beans). I made the soup, no problems. However, after babysitting the black beans all day, I decided that I was done cooking and put off the corn chowder until today.

This morning, after freezing the garbonzo beans (I think I will save hummus making for another weekend), I decided to get started on that 2nd soup. And it smelled WONDERFUL as i began sauteeing the vegetables ! Add in some bacon + potatoes + broth....delicious. Then the corn, milk, etc....yum!

I don't know why I haven't really made soups before. They are not really that hard. And they taste fantastic! I also have been wanting to try to make and freeze soups since last fall when I read an issue of Better Homes and Gardens where they discussed making soups when you have time, then freezing the soups flat on cookie sheets in freezer bags, labeling the bags, then storing the frozen soups like a "file" that is easily accessible when you want them. Ingenius! So today I got to give it a shot. So far, I'm loving it! It saves freezer space AND I like the idea of having a few options to pull out of the freezer when I need them. I can't wait to add to the collection.

Also, I decided to make a few roasts *(yeah-few-I made 2: one to eat for the week and one to freeze)* So now we will have delicous food for the week. yum yum. Can't wait until my wonderful husband gets home to enjoy the food (well, he will try the soups-don't know if he'll like them, but more for me if he doesn't!!) and hear all about his travels over the past week.

SO, if you see one of these:

With lots of these seats:

And the handsome man who looks like this:


Then I have a date with him when he returns this evening. I will even try to talk him into posting some photos and a short blog on his fun travels. Stay tuned!