RobyLynn is talking again!

Hello, Again!

2011-11-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Has it been 2 & 1/2 months since I've blogged? Oops!!

We LOVE it here. L.O.V.E. I think we'll stay a while. :) If you don't get why, you should come visit.

We've been living in a 2 bedroom apartment, on the third floor. On Monday, we move into a 3 bedroom house!! Yay!! So, there is a bedroom that you will be able to stay in. Yes, that's right, YOU! We are very excited.

David had his 1st birthday a couple weeks ago. He is getting "So big"! And, as his Grammie taught him, he'll show you with his hands up in the air. It's really cute. He'll also flex his muscles when you say "How strong are you?" or "Show me your muscles." He plays peek-a-boo by covering up his eyes with his hands.

He's close to walking on his own. Currently he walks along furniture, the walls, cupboards, the bed, his crib, etc etc. He loves his shoes. He's quite the fun little kid. I still call him my baby even though he's big enough to be a "toddler".

Big David is loving being in the Northwest. He has a few businesses he's working on, and he hangs out with me and the kiddo a lot.

I've been active in a mom's group called "Stroller Strides". We work out during the week with our kiddos in the stroller. When the weather was warmer, we were at the park, now we are "those moms" in the mall. :) I come home almost every time telling David how sore I am!

We LOVE our new church too. The teaching is great and the people are great too! There are several people our age, and a few babies. Once a week, little David & I get together with the other mom's/kids for a play date. They are pretty cute kids!

Ah, well. Today I was having a rough time so David graciously watched the baby while I headed out to Starbucks for some "alone" time. It's where I am now actually. I've prayed, cleared my head, read my Bible, done a couple internet searches, and now am writing this... very uplifting I think. :) I told him I would be home after an hour... which was 15 minutes ago, so I should be off! Enjoy the pics below!

New Cit-tay!

2011-08-19T15:54:00.001-07:00

So, as many of you know, we moved all the way up to the Northwest (about 11 hour drive from SLC) last week. We have been here a WHOLE WEEK already!! Wowza. Here’s what we’ve done and some of my random thoughts:

So far, we are good to go! My friend, Lindsey, invited me and the baby boy to her weekly play group on Tuesday. David is quite a bit younger than most the kiddos there so he can’t really “play” with them, but I was able to meet some more moms, which was great since I know like 3 people here. (Ok, maybe 2 people in CdA and 2 people in Spokane.)

We’ve taken walked a majority of the days and ran errands. Right now the baby child is napping and my Internet is working and it’s not my turn on Words with Friends or Hanging with Friends. The laundry is basically caught up, so are the dishes. Whew, feels good!

I’m hoping to hit up the mom store, Mother’s Haven, this afternoon. Maybe organize my “desk” (which = ½ of the dining room table where my Pampered Chef stuff is thrown about.)

Today we walked down to Calypsos coffee shop and made a couple stops along the way. We passed by a house we are interested in buying and flipping. (Our goal with flipping is that we could use the profit to pay off debt, but if we can’t sell right away we’d be willing to live there a while.)

Anyways, I can’t remember what I was going to say next so, I guess this is it for now. :)

Stages...

2011-08-02T14:29:00.001-07:00

We are in a new "stage" as parents say. Well, I feel like we had been in the birth to 8 month stage with David, but now we are in the "I'm 9 months and want to change a ton in just a few days" stage. :)

David is army crawling now. He's trying to figure out the getting up on his hands and knees thing. I'm sure it will happen any day now.

He can pull himself up onto his knees.... and I'm sure any day now he'll be up on his feet!

He got 2 teeth in the past two weeks. So now he has two on bottom and one on top. Again, I'm sure another will come soon.

Ah, being a parent. OH OH OH!!! Here's a good one.... he takes 2 naps a day consistently! Yay! Good job, son. Way to be!

There's your update for now! I hope to be back soon!

Shout out: to Kym & Aunt Judi! I hope you are enjoying your summer!!

Cousin Kym

2011-06-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

This one is for Kym.

We just got back from an almost 2 week trip to California. We had a lot of fun seeing friends and family.

One highlight was seeing Kym. :) Kym is David's cousin. We intended to hang out for the afternoon, which turned into Kym babysitting. She and little David spent a few hours playing AND she fed him dinner. David & I were running around the house cleaning up, making treats, and getting ready for a party that night. We basically talked with Kym from across the house. Good thing she likes kids.... Thanks Kym!

How cute is he! :)

2011-05-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

David is 6.5 months old now!

Crazy! We go in for his check up on Friday and will get his stats. Ahhhh, my boy. So cute.

He likes to roll all over the place and is what I'll call "pre-crawling". Very vague, but hey. He gets up on his knees and tries to scoot. He hasn't figured out what to do with his hands in crawling.

He babbles.

He has a favorite monkey.

He plays in his little exercise, activity, bouncer seat thing (whatever you call those).

He's learning sign language. :)

He eats 2 and a half "table food" meals a day; usually oatmeal, fruits, veggies, and rice cake things for babies. (Which by the way are a great way to distract him and make him feel included at the table when big David & I are eating dinner.)

He wants to drink everything we do. He tries to drink out of our glasses and looks like a cat lapping at the water. Ha!!

He's super-cute! I think we'll keep him! ;-)

Excited!!

2011-05-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

So, I realized that recently I've been super excited about certain things.

SANDALS: I bought two new pairs of sandals for the summer, you know the "trendy" kind that could look like Jesus sandals, but are more stylish. They aren't my typical Rainbows, although I still wear those. These are the kind of sandals to where with cute dresses, etc. I bought them from Target and then God decided it would be great to bless us with some rainy, cold weather for a few days. I haven't worn them yet, but I am EXCITED to soon!

DRESSES: I totally am a bargain hunter and I found two dresses at Macy's on sale and I had store credit. (Score!) David wasn't too fond of them, and neither was my mom, BUT I still liked them. I tried them on for a few girlfriends who affirmed my choice to buy them. I am EXCITED about wearing them too, but they are definitely more for summer weather. (This is the only reason I may have kind of felt like I missed California the other day for like 2 minutes.... knowing that it's been summer since February there.) I think it's going to be 78 here this weekend.... maybe I'll wear a new dress to church! (By the way, we've been going to SJCC for almost a year and a half and I've probably worn a dress once, maybe twice and it was when I was pregnant.)

MICHE BAGS: I am a sucker for marketing scams, uh, I mean strategies, when it comes to purses & jeans particularly. Ahhhhh. I gave in to buying a Miche purse after seeing them on the TV show "How I Made My Millions" and then they were up for the deal of the day on Groupon. I realized they had a kiosk at the mall that I had walked by probably numerous times but didn't look twice. So, the show mentioned above (HIMMM for short) highlights entrepreneurs and how their clever ideas turned into big businesses and made them $$$$. We watched it and I looked into these purses online. They seemed a bit expensive for me, who usually buys a purse at Marshall's or Target for $30. BUT I loved the idea of the Miche purse which is basically one bag that you change the outside covers/shells for. I hate transferring my crap from one purse to another so this would be great for me. HERE'S THE KICKER..... I've had the bag for a month and just used it yesterday for the first time on a date with David. Typically I tote the diaper bag around, so I intentionally got the Miche bag out and had a grand time strutting my stuff in a practically vacant Peruvian restaurant as well as Starbucks with 3 18 year old guys sitting in the corner. I'm that cool. :)

It's funny how I got (and am) SUPER - EXCITED about these things and then waited for weeks to actually use them. What is happening to me?! I may have David take a picture of me in my new sandals & dress, carrying my Miche purse this weekend. What a monumental day it will be!!

Pampered Chef

2011-04-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

.... is so much fun. Just saying. :)

Here's a recipe we like:

Solid Foods

2011-03-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

We started feeding David some "solid" food, or as I heard someone call it, "human" food. Ha!

He had avocado and didn't like that much. Now he's trying oatmeal with much more success.

We'll take him to the pediatrician for his 4 month check up and shots tomorrow. I'm looking forward to hearing how he recommends we continue to feed the child.

Laughing & Growing & Such

2011-03-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

We have a good time laughing together :)

He's getting so big!

This week we started introducing food to him. He's quite the trouper.

Sometimes it takes him 1 hour and 30 minutes to finally go to sleep after we put him down. Sometimes it takes him 3 minutes.

He still has red hair.

Cloth Diaper Trial

2011-01-30T15:13:00.001-08:00

Did I mention that I did a 3 week cloth diaper trial?

A website called http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/ does a 21 day cloth diaper trial. They let you try several different kinds of cloth diapers, use them, wash them, and then send back what you don't want for an almost full refund. They give you everything but $10 back.

We wanted to use cloth diapers because, in the long run, they save a lot of money. The kinds we ended up buying are all-in-ones that kids can wear up to 35 pounds. At first the mention of cloth diapers kinda scared me... "you mean I have to wash diapers? gross, why can't we just buy disposables and throw them away?" BUT I am already doing laundry every day so what's one

extra load? It hasn't been bad at all. And they don't stink any worse than disposables. It's one less trip to the dumpster, and two extra steps to the washing machine. NBD.

The diapers are SUPER CUTE on him and come in FUN colors. He has different shades of blue, green, yellow, white, red, orange. Yay! The kinds we have are BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket, FuzziBunz One-Size Pocket, and Smartipants. (They aren't the old fold and pin system... they look like disposables and all you do is stuff

an insert and then snap or velcro them onto the baby... no folding required.)

BumGenius:

FuzziBunz:Smartipants:

I didn't think I would be such a supporter of cloth diapers, but I have been converted. Don't get me wrong, I do like disposables for certain occasions (trips, when all cloth are dirty, babysitting, etc.), but 95% of the time, I'll be using cloth.

Undercover Mama

2011-01-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Seriously, the best thing in my wardrobe right now! (I have them in black, white, and brown.)

2011 Predictions

2011-01-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

Once again, I saw my friend Andrea's predictions blog and decided to share what happened last year and what may happen this coming year. (Thanks, again, Andrea for the idea!)

2011

January: Do a 21 day cloth diaper trial, see if we like it :)

February: Take a trip to CA... Biola homecoming and visiting the family

March: David's sisters come to visit us. Celebrate big David's birthday.... hm, not sure how yet.

April: Our baby will be 6 months old and definitely sleeping at least 7 hours a night. (Haha, we'll see if that happens!)

May: Watch our baby grow! (How's that for a cop out?)

June: Watch our baby grow!

July: Ryan & LeAnna's wedding in CA! Go up to Coeur d'Alene to find a place.

August: Move on up to Idaho (is it too early to be scared of the winters there?), Hopefully get to Reno for the friends reunion at the Riddle's.

September: Settle in in our new place in ID and buy a Cal King bed :)

October: Little David turns 1! I'd like to have a party for him, maybe kind of small depending on how many new friends we meet.

November: Head down to Thanksgiving in CA with David's family.

December: Maybe go down to CA for Christmas... we need to start saving money for all these trips. :)

Back to 2010

January - Pray for and get a raise or more hours at work. I expect hours to get increased anyway because tax season is starting. Got more hours & the raise... worked a lot. Sold my Camry.

February - Choose a home church. Sell my Camry. (If you are interested in buying it email me or David. It's a great car and I'll be sad to see it go.) (We chose the church South Jordan Community to attend. Great. Love it. Sold my Camry last month. Found out I was pregnant... surprise!)

March - Buy an older, yet reliable, used car for me to drive. Celebrate David's 27th birthday. I'll plan a special date & maybe we'll get together with friends. Yes. That is what we'll do. Oh, also, does softball season start this month? If it does, I'll find a team. (Didn't buy a car, celebrated David's birthday while having consistent, miserable morning sickness. Didn't play softball. Just worked a lot!)

April - Tax season will end so hopefully I won't be as busy at work after the 15th. And if softball season didn't start last month, hopefully it starts this month & I'll be on a team. (Made it through tax season & didn't play softball because of the tiny blueberry inside me.)

May - Go to northern California to be in Melissa & Josh's wedding. Maybe David & I will make a little extended vacation out of it. (I went to CA for my best friend Crystal's wedding shower, and while I was gone David moved our entire apartment! What a guy! We also went to the Jordan's wedding. :)

June - Go to southern California to be in Crystal & Brett's wedding. Maybe David & I will make a little extended vacation out of it. Possibly move if we can't renew our lease. (Went to So Cal for Crystal & Brett's wedding.I thought I'd be working less, but stayed up there at the 35 hour week range.)

July - If we have money left over from our travels, we'll buy a bedroom set. Cal King bed, here we come! (No Cal King Bed but we did go to Oregon for a family vacation and met up with the Swingrover's. Fun times. Merry Christmas.)

August - Work & live. (Just that, worked & lived.)

September - Celebrate my 26th birthday. David has planned "date days" for my birthdays the last couple years. I'm sure he'll come up with something good. :) (We went to the John Mayer concert for my birthday, had a couple great baby showers and my parents came to visit.)

October - Celebrate our 1 year anniversary... by going "away" somewhere for that weekend. Probably be baby hungry, even though our plan is not to get pregnant for at least another year from this month. (We went up to Park City for the weekend of our anniversary... was baby hungry for our baby to come. And that he did on 10-24.)

November - Celebrate Thanksgiving & experience random snow showers across Salt Lake City. (We celebrated Thanksgiving with my extended family in Salt Lake and survived the month being sleep deprived new parents!)

December - Travel to visit family for Christmas. Probably be baby hungry again. (Went to CA for Christmas and not baby hungry. We watched our baby grow so much in December! Holy Cow... he's like a little boy!)

I'll check in on this post a year from now with what actually happened in 2010!

2010-11-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

So, I have a few reflections after being a mom of a 5 1/2 week old. I have always wanted to have kids, always wanted my main job to be a "stay at home mom". I still want more kids and I want my main job to be a "stay at home mom".

With that said.... this job is TOTALLY harder than I anticipated! Not that changing a diaper ishard, or bathing a baby is hard, but taking care of an infant on a couple hours of sleep is hard. :) I love my son. I wouldn't give him back or trade him in. No way jose. With each passing day, I can honestly say I enjoy being home and taking care of him more and more.

I am so grateful that David works from home... it's quite a blessing to be able to sleep an extra hour in the morning and know that David has his eye on the baby. Or if I need to take a shower and little David starts crying, David can calm him down and I can shave my legs. David still has to work while he's at home so I can't just pass off little David whenever I want, but for those few moments when he needs the attention of one of his parents and I can't give it, it's nice that Dad is here.

A couple of new moms have asked me if being a mom "is just the best thing ever"? My mind both times associated the word "best" with "always enjoyable" and "always fun". And I hesitated in answering. Let me restate: I love my son. I wouldn't give him back or trade him in!! Being a mom is not enjoyable and fun 100% of the time. It is tiring and hard, but it's 100% worth it. There have been many enjoyable and fun moments in the past 5 1/2 weeks of baby David's life.... and I am looking forward to sharing many many more with him!

Being a mom is just the best thing ever. :)

Changes All the Time

2010-11-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

On Friday (2 days ago), he rolled over from his tummy to his back twice. Oh man, it was hard work for him. He fell asleep after the 2nd time. What a strong little boy!

I feel him getting heavier every day. He's so cute. He makes the funniest faces too... he can purse his lips so tight (like he's puckering up), his mouth gets so small. (He has his mom's mouth, fo sho.) He has a great "sad face" like his dad, pouty & quivering with a furrowed brow.

He likes to be held all. the. time. EXCEPT for when he's so so so tired. He will start out in your arms and then be ok with being set down after like 20 minutes. After another 30 minutes passes, if he doesn't feel your body heat near him, he'll let you know you better come to him really soon.

Oh, this little boy. I love him a lot!

David Ernest Clinton IV Arrival Story

2010-11-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

From my perspective…. (I didn't proof read this. My computer hasn't been connecting to the internet so while I'm connected, I am trying to post this fast!)

Sunday, October 24, 2010.

I had an emotional morning, which set us back in getting to church on time. We arrived at church at 11:23 am, when it had started at 11am. Anyway, I was having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, “false labor”, just some cramping with no pain, not consistent in timing. Around 12noon, I went to the bathroom and decided to stay in the lobby for a few minutes. I timed the contractions and they weren’t consistent, lasting only about 30 seconds long and coming either 3 minutes or 5 minutes apart… not that close together. And, again, they didn’t hurt. So, about 12:30, Steve had ended preaching and I wasn’t feeling that great. We told the Kalapala’s, who were to come over for lunch, we’d need to rain check and we snuck out before everything was officially done.

On the way home, I told David the contractions felt like period cramps… that “kind” of hurt. I assumed that real labor contractions were going to hurt more. We arrived home and had lasagna for lunch. My contractions were starting to be a bit more painful, but I thought if I was really in labor, it was going to last about 12 hours. I had to be intentional about relaxing through each one. I didn’t think to time them yet because they didn’t seem to last that long to me or come that frequently. David began to do stuff on his computer and I went to put a couple more things in the hospital bag, just in case this was the “real thing.”

After a few minutes, I needed to sit down… so I found a comfy spot on the couch to just rest and zone out. I was able to concentrate on the contractions and they got more painful. It seemed like I was only sitting down for 10 minutes, why I didn’t time the contractions or ask David to, I don’t know! He suggested I walk around a bit, so I got up to do so. I was totally sweating and hot so the layers were shedding. He then suggested that we put pressure on my knees, so I got on the floor and he squeezed my hips.

Ok, so now, I had painful contractions, I was hot & sweaty, I had tried sitting, standing, walking, kneeling, and I wanted to go to the hospital for pain medicine. By now, I was screaming through the contractions. If I was going to be going through these painful contractions for another 12 hours, I wanted drugs. David said, “Ok, we will go to the hospital. Put your pants back on.” I also felt like I had to go to the bathroom. In my mind I couldn’t make it to the bedroom to get my pants on… mostly because I thought I was going to have a bowel movement before I got there. David was running around finishing the hospital bag in between my screams and calls for him to come squeeze my hips.

I was leaning on an ottoman when a painful contraction came, and I felt like I had to have a bowel movement. I pushed, what I thought was going to be diarrhea, and my water broke. (I felt like I was losing a gallon of water and David said it was like a ½ cup.)

Now I knew I wanted to go to the hospital but I had to try going to the bathroom first. I made it to the bathroom and realized my contractions seemed a little further a part and were less painful. Each time one would come, I did feel like I needed to push… but in my mind, I was feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom too! After a few minutes, David came into the bathroom to check on me. We realized there wasn’t any poop in the toilet, but there was blood.

He wanted to check to see if he could see the baby. I didn’t think he would see anything. He didn’t expect to see anything either. He had me get on the ground and lean against the tub. He got me a couple pillows, and then he went to check me out. I remember he said, “I can see the head.” I was so surprised!

Our midwife was out of town down in St. George that weekend. We knew that if we called her office, it’d take time for the midwife on call to get back to us and we didn’t have time. David decided to call our Bradley teacher for some advice… he asked if she thought we could make it to the hospital or not. The answer: no.

I had a couple of contractions while the phone call was happening. He got off the phone with Adrianna and called 911 right away. The dispatcher talked him through my contractions. All my urges to push were involuntary. I believe I had 4 contractions total on the bathroom floor. His head came a little bit, then I was crowning, then his whole head was out. At that point, David told me to push again to get his body out. I didn’t know how to push on my own but I tried and his body shot out. He was covered in blood! I was in shock… “Holy crap, there’s our baby!”

David grabbed a towel off the towel rack and put the baby on my chest. He cried a little and just lay there breathing. We could have been more vigorous in drying him off but didn’t think of it at the time. The dispatcher told David to tie a string around the cord… he cut his shoelace, but didn’t tighten it around the cord because we wanted it to stop pulsating first. Little David Ernest Clinton IV was born at 3:17pm on Sunday, October 24, 2010. (911 call lasted 9 minutes total)

Within minutes, the paramedics knocked at the door. Six big guys walked towards the bathroom. Only 2 fit in there with me, but it felt like all 6 were trying to come in. They clamped the cord, David cut it, and they took the baby into the dining room (David went with him). They checked each of our vitals, had me get up and walk to the stretcher in kitchen. I got on the stretcher and they carried me down the 3 flights of stairs to the ambulance. The baby & I rode in the ambulance, they tried to get him to breastfeed but I didn’t know what I was doing…. And neither did the 4 guys in the ambulance with me!

We got to St Marks, and David pulled into the parking lot just as we did. They rolled me & the baby into the labor & delivery room. They weighed & measured little baby David right there. At the same time, the midwife on call from my midwife’s office, checked me out. I delivered the afterbirth and she said I had 1 little tear to stitch. They had to take baby David up to the nursery because hid temperature had dropped to 94 point something and they needed to warm him up. David went to the nursery with little David and I didn’t get to see them for another 2 hours. When his temp was back up, and I was moved into a recovery room, my boys rolled in and we got to spend some quality time together.

Oh man, it was quite the afternoon! I had no idea that my little baby David would come 10 days “early” and come so quickly. J We thank God for our little boy and that He kept us safe during the labor, delivery, recovery, and now raising the little guy.

The New Man-Child

2010-11-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

Introducing the newest little David. He is so cute! His due date was today, but he decided to come 9 days early on October 24th. (I will have a blog post dedicated to explaining the whole labor experience, it's quite a story.)

For now, I just wanted to share a picture of the little man and a couple observations. I can't really say a lot to what his personality is like so far, because all he does is eat and sleep and "soil" his diapers. He does have a couple hours (several minutes here and there) throughout the day that he is very alert and makes eye contact. So cool! He actually is pretty content. We've only experienced a couple of times (in the middle of the night) where he cries so much it's hard to calm him, but for the most part, he's pretty calm.

He sleeps a lot.... during the day. His longest stretch during the day was about 5 hours. Longest stretch at night was 4.

Big David (DC3) and I are realizing how much life & your priorities can drastically change for a newborn. Our regular schedules have flown out the window the last week & a half. These first few days have just blended together, he is already over a week old! (Yay, we've kept this little boy alive for over a week! Thank you, Lord.) We love our little David and wouldn't give him back.

A huge help over the last week has been having my mom here from CA and the gracious friends who have provided us meals. My mom flew into town last Wednesday. She loves holding David, especially when he is alert. She has done laundry, dishes, warmed (not had to cook yet) food, watched the little guy while we nap, ran errands, etc with/for us. It is comforting to have an extra set of hands, the experience of a mom with 4 kids, and the emotional support which she provides. Thanks Mom! Thank you friends who have been so gracious in coming to visit and bringing meals. You are awesome and we do feel so loved & blessed. It has been refreshing, not only to not cook, but to visit with you and enjoy company.

Well, like I said, I will write a post of our labor story. We are pretty non-dramatic people, but little David's entrance into the world was quite a dramatic one. He would have gotten attention coming on or after his due date, but he wanted to show off I guess and come early. That story is coming up next.

Most Recent Pregnancy Pic

2010-09-22T17:09:00.001-07:00

Week 34!!!

"The Runner"

2010-09-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, I know. I've had different ideas of topics to blog about over the last 3 months but obviously haven't made it to the final step of actually blogging! We vacationed in July (was gonna blog about that), I continue to grow as the baby is growing (was going to blog about that... and still can really), had a birthday (it was nice), and other stuff has happened too.

So what has inspired me to actually bog today? The Runner. There is this guy who works in my building. I like to call him "The Runner". He drives a gold Honda Civic and starts his day at the office at the same time I do, 9:30am. I don't know which company he works for or which floor he works on, other than that he has to ride the elevator to get there.

The past few weeks I've been noticing him more and more. I can stroll into work between 9:25 am and 9:35 am and it's no big deal. I am guessing he has a time card to punch because he pulls into the parking lot around the same time I do and then BOLTS to the doors to get to the elevator to get to his suite. It's pretty funny to watch him frantically run with his backpack, plastic grocery bag (I assume filled with his lunch), and his jacket under his arm. Once, I was coming out of a coffee shop just up the road when an aggressive driver sped around me because I apparently was accelerating at a speed too slow for his liking for pulling out of a parking lot 2 seconds prior. The car was a gold Honda Civic which I followed to our parking lot. I parked then watched him RUN to the doors. I just laughed. I was thinking it'd be fun to take his picture one day all frazzled.

I told David about him last night and he thought it was funny. This morning David took me to work. We pulled into the lot at about 9:25 am. We drove a couple aisles of the lot looking for The Runner's car and saw one that could have been him. Well, after pulling into a parking stop by the front door, David suggested we waited a couple minutes just to see if he would pull up "late." Low and behold at 9:28am who speeds into the parking lot?!? The Runner in his gold Honda Civic. I got excited and said "THERE HE IS" and pointed my phone in the direction at which he would be coming from. The picture below is evidence... it's an action shot.

This may not be that exciting or even funny to you, but I find joy in the little things in life. (Like the guy I don't know who works in my building and can't seem to get to work on time!)

Color Scheme

2010-06-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Not going to be green, brown & yellow. Poop only colors will not do.

We got a couple of fun pictures that I'm kinda going off of. Red, green (not Christmas red & green), brown, blue, orange, yellow... they are all too good not to use. Hopefully it'll all work. I'll post pics as we get things situated.

Pregnancy Pics so far....

2010-06-29T19:57:00.001-07:00

Week 22 (today!)Week 21
Week 20 and 5 days
Week 20
Week 19

Week 18

Baby Boy!

2010-06-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

We found out earlier this week that our little baby is a boy! Pictures are on David's gallery. gallery.me.com/dc3. He is so cute! We are carrying on the family name of David Clinton, so this little guy will be David Clinton IV. :)

My friend Andrea has been blogging about her pregnancy and little pre-born baby boy. I realized that I have had several similar experiences as her. We have several friends who are pregnant right now. Each pregnancy is unique but it's nice to know what other people experience so you don't feel like you are the only one in the world who feels like they have to throw up when they brush their teeth.

I had the horrible nausea & vomiting in my first trimester. (I am not ashamed to admit it.) I lost weight in the first trimester even though I had to buy new pants because my regular jeans didn't fit anymore! (Week 10) I have had crazy heartburn, which by the grace of God has toned down this week. I have 0- blood so I have to have the rhogam shot just in case DC4 has a positive blood type. We started feeling the baby move this week! So exciting. He's pretty active. Sometimes my "stomach" (abdomen) hurts, but I've been told that's because my ligaments are stretching. Ah, anyway, pregnancy has been a cool experience so far. Only 4 1/2 more months to go. :)

I am excited to put the baby's room together. We were giving a lot of baby furniture, but we've decided to buy a dresser/changing table. I am very excited about it. I am leaning towards the green/brown/yellow scheme.

Oh, so fun. Well, we'll see how it all comes together!

Long time coming... sorta...

2010-05-08T09:43:00.001-07:00

Well, hello friends. For the 3 of you who have been asking me to post something new, this one's for you. The last 3 months or so have been pretty interesting. I haven't been feeling too well and been very unmotivated to do very much (such as post). I have been going to bed a 9:30am and waking up 10 hours or so later. I have been taking occasional naps and throwing up my breakfast, lunch and dinner depending on the day. TMI? Well, the vomiting part has gotten much MUCH better! And if you didn't know already, the reason for this is because SURPRISE, I am pregnant. :)

14 1/2 weeks along, so 2nd trimester. Next month we'll be finding out if it's a boy or girl. We are both excited. I must admit, for month #2, with my lack of motivation to do anything other than drag myself to work (seriously, drag), it may have seemed like I wasn't excited to have a human growing inside me. I guess I don't handle "not feeling well" or "not feeling normal" very well. When I get "sick", I don't want to do anything except take a nap. Something I'll need to get over when I have a little life to take care of.

But anyway, yes, I am excited about having a baby! We are moving within the next couple weeks to a bigger place... 3 bedrooms! We are talking about names... which we'll fill you in later. We started a registry at Babies R Us. We are taking a "babymoon" vacation to Oregon this summer. (A "babymoon" is like one last vacation without kids. So the internet says.) I have maternity pants, so comfortable. Ah, and since tax season is over, I work a couple hours less a week, which is nice too.

I have to go.... don't have any belly pics, but when I do, I'll show you. :)

Valentines Day

2010-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Love day this year falls on the Lord's day, Sunday.

We went out to Braza Grill, a Brazilian barbecue place, last night for dinner. It was really good. Then, we hit up Redbox and watched the movie The Accidental Husband. It was cute, worth a $1 in our book.

Today we went to church and are going over to Paul & Andrea's for dinner tonight.

OH, and yesterday I went over to my cousin's house & my aunt taught basic cake decorating skills. We're going to have a few more classes. It was really fun! I'm going to get a cake decorating kit, with pictures, pastry bags, tips, etc for cake decorating. It will be fun... :) While there, I decorated a heart shaped cake which we will enjoy tonight.

So, happy Valentines Day!

Predictions 2010....

2010-01-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Inspired by my friend Andrea's blog, I am going to do a list of "things that will happen" in 2010.

January - Pray for and get a raise or more hours at work. I expect hours to get increased anyway because tax season is starting.

February - Choose a home church. Sell my Camry. (If you are intere

sted in buying it email me or David. It's a great car and I'll be sad to see it go.)

April - Tax season will end so hopefully I won't be as busy at work after the 15th. And if softball season didn't start last month, hopefully it starts this month & I'll be on a team.

May - Go to northern California to be in Melissa & Josh's wedding. Maybe David & I will make a little extended vacation out of it.

June - Go to southern California to be in Crystal & Brett's wedding. Maybe David & I will make a little extended vacation out of it. Possibly move if we can't renew our lease.

July - If we have money left over from our travels, we'll buy a bedroom set. Cal King bed, here we come!

August - Work & live.

September - Celebrate my 26th birthday. David has planned "date days" for my birthdays the last couple years. I'm sure he'll come up with something good. :)

November - Celebrate Thanksgiving & experience random snow showers across Salt Lake City.

December - Travel to visit family for Christmas. Probably be baby hungry again.

I'll check in on this post a year from now with what actually happened in 2010!

Lesson #1 Learn the hard way...

2010-01-08T19:25:00.001-08:00

Don't dry new brown towels with older yellow ones. The yellow towels didn't turn brown, they just came out of the dryer with annoying little brown fuzzies ALL over them. Lesson learned.

A couple pictures

2009-12-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

These are the bobblehead "cake toppers," that aren't really cake toppers at all, with our wedding cake.
This is my Aunt Terri & Uncle Bill. They make me laugh. I want to put this picture on my fridge.
These are our friends Todd & Danielle. They like to steal cameras. They will be going overseas to live & work. We love them.
This is David & I on our honeymoon. We went on a road trip in MA, CT, & RI. We found Clinton, CT.
This is David & I on our wedding day.

Holidays

2009-12-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been in CA for a few days now, enjoying our time with family and friends. We haven't really taken any pictures. I just wanted to post something quickly, to let you know I haven't forgotten about this blog. I do need to post more, make more of a commitment to updating this. We'll see.

Happy New Year!!

PS... Favorite things about CA.... 1. Friends & Family, of course, 2. Kaffa!, 3. Ichi, 4. Cool/Warm weather in December, 5. Holidays in Pasadena, 6. Coffee Bean... :)

Highly Recommended...

2009-12-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

David & I have very much enjoyed watching various shows from PBS & the BBC which could be categorized as the "House" series I guess. Not the "House" you are thinking of that is the witty doctor, but "Manor House", "Texas Ranch House", "1900 House", "Frontier House", "Regency House Party", "Colonial House".

The basic theme is that the producers take a modern day group of people, including families and strangers, and place them in a controlled historical environment to make them live as the people of that year in history did. So, in "Texas Ranch House" a family from California and random guys came to a Texas ranch set up as it was in 1867. They had to wear all the clothes of the period and live the lives of a ranchers family & cowboys. They had to get enough cattle to sell by the end of the summer to pay the mortgage of the ranch.

"1900 House" takes place in England. They took a family in 1999 and placed them in a flat fully furnished as it was in 1900. They had to brush their teeth with soda crystals, cook on an iron stove, wear corsets, and buy meat from the butcher who came door to door.

The shows combine reality tv and history lessons at the same time. These shows bring history to life really. It's hard to know what life was really like 100, 150, or 400 years ago... but these people (and viewers like you) have the opportunity to bring history to life. Would you want to get your milk every day from the dairy cow in your yard? Or tie up a corset every morning? Or shave with a straight edge (cutthroat) razor? Or brush your teeth with soda crystals? Or wash your hair with eggs? Or bake in an iron stove with no temperature gauge but your hand? Interesting stuff!

We've checked out every one of these shows we could find at the local library. (Free movies, btw... why go to Blockbuster or do Netflix when you can check out almost any movie for free?)

Wedding & Honeymoon Pics

2009-12-05T15:58:00.001-08:00

David has posted some pictures from our wedding & honeymoon on his picture gallery. http://gallery.me.com/dc3

We can't post the "official" wedding pics yet, but if you have any pictures from our wedding you can upload them to David's picture gallery. :)

So, it's happening again....

2009-09-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the month...uh, I mean, year when big changes are coming. You know, the weather changes and it gets a little cooler. The "big change" for all those who do not live in So. Cal. or Florida is the COLD weather that's coming. Another "big change" for single people is MARRIAGE, which David & I will be entering into in 11 days. :)

So, the "so, it's happening again...." title is in reference to even another change. We are moving! Moving where? Back to Salt Lake City. It is official. Yes, we are getting married in 11 days, going on a honeymoon, coming back to So. Cal., packing up, and moving to Utah at the beginning of November. Several factors went into the decision making process including our job & housing situations, and desire to live outside of CA. We processed, prayed, "slept on it", charted our options, etc etc. The conclusion: let's go! It's definitely scary, but exciting at the same time.

Yay!!! We are very excited for this adventure. It is hard to say goodbye to family & friends here, but we definitely believe God is giving us an opportunity to leave California (for a while or for good, we don't know) and experience life in another state. Whoo hooo!

Just thought I'd give an update, although it is brief. If you have questions/comments/concerns (in that order), please let me know! :)

Us in Park City Sept 2008.

Dodger Game

2009-07-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to say I thoroughly enjoy baseball games. Unfortunately, this baseball season hasn't seen my usual amount participation as seen in years past. This week I got to go see the Dodgers play against the Rockies. Cat & I went together, we both very much love the Dodgers. We sat in the right pavilion where your ticket includes all you can eat Dodger dogs, soda, nachos, and popcorn. :) I'd say it was worth it... as long as you are hungry & in the mood for ball game food.

Here are some pictures to document our fun time!

My David

2009-06-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

I love this guy.

Idaho & Utah = Udaho

2009-06-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

So, this past week, David & I took a vacation to Coeur d'Alene, ID & Salt Lake City, UT. It was soooooooooooo great! The trip was originally planned around the wedding of our friends, Paul & Andrea White. Because we also love Louis & Lindsey, we decided to take an extra couple days off and spend some time with them. Let me tell you, Coeur d'Alene was so cool! Yes, it's a small town, yes a little worn out, yes a little whiskey tango in parts, BUT I enjoyed it a lot and could picture myself living there.

My favorite parts of the trip were as follows...

In CdA:

1. No set schedule in Coeur d'Alene.

2. We got up leisurely

3. Hit up local coffee shops, enjoyed lattes & bowls of soul.

4. Completed some digital errands

5. Went shopping

6. Walked around

7. Checked out the little farmers market

8. Found a bridal shop that had my wedding dress sample that I could try on, show Lindsey and renew my confidence in the choice I made back in March.

9. We also had "gooies" (giant ice cream sundaes)

10. Went out to breakfast

11. Enjoyed Lindsey's cooking

12. Participated in good conversation

13. Just enjoyed being friends.

14. Picking up our rental car that should have been a Corrola, but actually was a red Mercedes Benz! What up!

15. Talking about being eco-friendly

16. Being educated about cloth diapers

In Salt Lake City:

1. Breakfast with Mara at the Park Cafe

2. Late night convos with Erik & Deborah

3. Park Potatoes at the Park Cafe

4. Hanging out with Ana & Jillian Borrego, and being further educated about cloth diapers

5. Rumbi fries & Caribbean Chicken Salad

6. Heidi & Daniel Rogers, & Heidi's homemade headband

7. Chatting with Shannon, Bethany & Laura

8. Celebrating Paul & Andrea's nuptuals

9. Seeing Dave Kroeze

10. Green apple licorice

11. Enjoying all of Andrea's wedding details (table set ups, guest book, decor, food, etc etc)

12. Seeing tons of friends from the Adventure at the wedding

13. Hanging out with David, Erik, Deborah, Heidi & Daniel at the McHenry's

14. Mountains!

Overall, it was great!

*"Udaho" is not a term I came up with. I stole it from Cat Ryono & her associates.*

Food Network

2009-06-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

I really like the Food Network. I find myself turning on the tv hoping that Iron Chef America is going to be on. Love it! Last week, they played the same episode like 5 times. I would turn on the tv and happily see that Iron Chef was on. I watched for 1 minute and discovered it was the same episode on the day before or 3 days before. Sucks dude. Tonight was different. It was an episode I hadn't seen yet. Whoo hoo! Who knew strip steak was so versatile?

Engagement Pictures (2)

2009-06-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here is another link to see engagement pictures, but this time you'll see tons of them instead of just 17. Enjoy!

http://gallery.me.com/dc3#100269

The Casita

2009-05-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

So, this post is dedicated to Stacey Warner & Dr. Hallie Wells. (And Andrea too, because this is how we keep up with each others lives.)
We talked about blogging & the Casita this weekend, so here you go.

Stacey is saying "I am so excited, I think I can see Shamu from here!"

Hallie is reflecting on her life lived in beautiful Oregon.

I, apparently, wish I could fly.

Engagement Pictures...

2009-05-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well, (I realized all my blogs start with "So" or "Well".... I'm keeping the tradition alive.)

Here is a link to our photographer's blog. They just posted some of our engagement pics. Have a look!

http://photographymathieu.blogspot.com/2009/05/robyn-david-engaged.html

Jobs

2009-04-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

So, starting jobs & ending jobs, and generally working a job, can be stressful at times. There are highs, lows, and unpredictability at times. In the last three years I have had 3 jobs, all started at part time, 2 turned into full time.

The first month of a new job is an interesting one. "Seriously, I have to say all that when I answer the phone?" Or, "Ok, I have to approve every $10 I spend on the company card for post-it purchases." And, "This work a 15 year old could do. Thanks for the lesson in humility, Lord." Also, "Yes, my first paycheck! Wow, why do I have to give to social security when I'm not even guaranteed the S.S. program will be around when I'm in my 60's?"

The last month is usually... "Finally!" Or, "I'm going to wear sweats today. What are they going to do, fire me?" I always have left jobs on my own terms. I've never really been fired. I also have had something else to move to. Well, this time it's different.

I moved back to California, from Utah, to spend more time with my family and boyfriend (at the time). I also was feeling like it was time to move on from working at Standing Together, where I had been employed for 2 years. I packed up everything and moved back to Pasadena. I was living in a house with great roommates, now I'm in my older brother's old room in my parents house. I went from living independent of my family to living under Warren & Ruth's roof, as well as working back at the family business. Those were the things I was getting away from by moving to Utah. God taught me about surrendering my plans to His plan. He showed me how prideful I was and I'm not entitled to get my way all the time. He also walked me through a new season.

On the job subject... I was humbled to come into a job situation that was not ideal. I won't give all the details, but it hasn't been good. It has been extremely hard for me to wake up every morning and get ready for work. I typically sleep for 7-8 hours, but over the last 60 days, I could sleep 9-10 hours! My body knows that I haven't wanted to go to my place of employment. Weird!

I am ending this job maybe today, maybe next week, or maybe in 5 weeks. I don't even know! Do I have another option lined up? Tentatively. Doesn't sound too secure, huh? Well, I have a peace about it. I know California is like the worst place to find a job right now, but God will provide. David & I are planning a wedding which costs money. I drive a car, which costs money. And so on and so on. God is faithful. He provides.

Cat(s)

2009-04-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Cat(s)

1. Cat Ryono

2. Cat the feline

3. Cats the musical

Blogging on Blogging

2009-04-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

Well, today I had the privilege to spend some quality time with my dear friend Cat. Whether she realized/knew it or not, I felt a little off today. Like all the ducks weren't lining up in a row or I was half a second behind in talking/responding. (As I speak, I'm having trouble thinking of how to even write a sentence!) Oh well. You & I will just have to deal with it.

Back to Cat. We talked about blogging and I realized I hadn't in a while. Sometimes I think of interesting topics to blog about, but if I don't sit down at my computer right away or I don't write out the idea on the receipt in my purse, they will never be posted! I'd like to address such things as Calvinism, Wedding Planning, Cats, etc. I've noticed that people blog for different reasons: daily journal, political issues, "stuff Christians like", etc. My thoughts are random & visits to blogger.com are not consistent, so expect my blog to be updated like once a month.

Just wanted to keep you in the loop I guess. :)

We're Getting Married... :)

2009-03-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday, we went to a place called Huntington Gardens in San Marino and walked around beautiful gardens & museums for about 3 hours. Then, we got in the car to head to a little coffee shop in Pasadena to grab caffeine. After that, we got in the car again and headed out of Pasadena in traffic down to Orange County. We ended up at Little Corona Del Mar. We went down to the beach and climbed on some rocks. He suggested we walk to the other side of the beach... so we did. Oh man, and there all laid out was David's blanket. (Thanks Paul & Jessi!) I knew it was his, but tried to say it wasn't. :)

We sat down, and then I knew it was coming! He had me sit on a rock where he started to pull things out of his backpack. He also pulled a Thermos out from behind a rock. He washed my feet and promised me different things in regard to the rest of our lives. He quoted scripture and asked me to be his wife! I said "ya"... and then "yes"!

(*Side note: A few days ago he told me to shave my legs and wear pants I could roll up. I asked as we were walking if he wanted me to do that so we could walk in the water? He said sure. I told him that it might hurt cause it always hurts to shave your legs & walk in salt water on the same day. He laughed and apologized. I didn't walk in the water. But I knew why he told that to me to shave... it's cause he wanted to wash my feet!)

Hiding behind a rock was a picnic basket with our dinner.... eggs, potatoes & bacon. It was gourmet style. (Thanks Todd & Dani!) We ate a little, but I was too excited to finish. Then he said that we had to go to make it to the steakhouse at the Disneyland Hotel for dessert... best flourless chocolate cake ever! We enjoyed dessert & coffee.... then....

This random guy came up to our table and took a picture of our dessert with his iPhone. He totally sat down at our table and was joking with us. He said that there was a plane waiting at the Long Beach Airport that I was going to get to fly! Crazy.... so we left the restaurant and he drove us to the airport. He gave flying instructions and I assisted in flying the plane! We flew over Long Beach & the Los Angeles port, Huntington Beach, and the fireworks at Disneyland! It was awesome. When we got back to the airport, we enjoyed a glass of champagne. It was so much fun!

He totally surpassed any expectations I had and he did a good job at surprising me. :) Oh man, I got a good one! He's great!

JK+8

2009-02-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

So, my boyfriend, family, & I have a healthy fascination with the TLC show Jon & Kate Plus 8.

The first time David & I sat down to watch TV together, we were in Chicago. After 2 or so episodes, he had all the kids names memorized along with a some of their personality traits.

When I lived in Salt Lake I went to Andrea's house a couple times to watch JK+8. We both enjoyed it and Andrea had cable!

I moved back to Pasadena... Jon & Kate + 8 episodes were definitely added to the DVR list. Ever Monday night is a new episode. And with every episode a renewed desire to have kids one day. This family has inspired my boyfriend to want to have kids someday as well. (Well, this family along with God nudging him with some other factors too.)

Does most of America have the same healthy fascination we do? They are a pretty likable family, with their bearable and seemingly unbearable quirks. Every Monday night you can say "oh how cute" or "can I have one of those?" or "why is she talking over him again?" or "seriously Maddie?" or "Hannah pooped in Hannah's underwears" and the list goes on.

It has begun...

2009-02-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Well, my friend Andrea finally pushed me over the edge. Sounds dramatic? It's really not.

I've decided to create a blog. This decision was inspired by a few people, in no particular order.... 1) Andrea. Her blog is so funny! I only wish I could be as cool as her. I desire for this blog to provide humor like hers does.

2) Cat. She does a great job at updating people in her life about where she is & what she's doing. I desire for this blog to be as informative has hers is.

3) David. He reads everyone else's blog. I want to give him another place to stalk me.

4) Stacey & Hallie. They, also, read everyone else's blog. I want to be the subject of their quality talk time.

5) Robyn. Yes, this is me. I want to be able to verbally vomit sometimes, not only in my journal but online for the above listed to read. I figure this is just another way to be connected to my friends.

So, I look forward to sharing information about what's going on in life from my perspective soon.