ROBERTSONS INC.: February 2012

Tuesday

Ashlyn's Birthday

Ashlyn turned one! I can't believe it! There happened to be a lot going on the weekend of her birthday! In fact, it was seriously one of those weekend I like to call the perfect storm of there being SO MUCH going on. My mom, dad, sisters and cousin were in town for a clogging competition, Collin's mom was also here visiting, I had to judge at a piano event all afternoon Saturday, Collin had district wrestling all day Friday and Saturday, we had all the Ashlyn-Birthday festivities going on, and I had to do the musical number at church on Sunday! To name a few!

But Friday was the day I wanted to have some fun with Ashlyn, on her actual birthday! Here she is in her pretty little birthday girl outfit for the day:

We went to the ZOO! It was so perfect. The weather was so nice, and it wasn't crowded at all. The only bad thing was that it wasn't cheap admission day! But anyway, Ashlyn had a great time. She loved looking at the animals and had so much fun. She crashed on the way home and slept for like an hour in her carseat. My mom, Jodee, Andrea, and McKae all came with us and we had fun!

She especially loved the petting farm where the goats were like, right in her face! Those goats are so weird looking, by the way. I hadn't looked at them closely before. They are weird! Ashlyn thought it was just great. She was a little unsure at first though! (see above!)

Grandma had the great idea to try to get her to sit on a little tiger for a picture. ha ha.

One of the best things of all about the weekend (besides all the birthday stuff) was that Collin's team won districts! ...by almost 200 points! Can you believe that! This was their third year in a row winning. Ashlyn, Nana and I all went and watched the finals, it was so exciting! We love our Patriot Wrestlers! (especially the coach!)

Birthday Bash

We had so much family in town due to all the things going on the weekend of Ashlyn's birthday that we had a family party for her Sunday afternoon. It went well! I felt super exhausted once everything was overwith, it was a lot of work! We had everyone over for dinner while Ashlyn "slept" (of course she didn't sleep a wink all day long. Is this what kids always do on a day you really want them to be in a good mood?)

Then once she got up it was time to party!

I made this banner (thanks to Amber's cricut!)!

The whole party theme was rainbows and polka dots.

We lit the candle and I brought it over...Ashlyn was so intrigued with why everyone was singing together all of a sudden. She also thought the lit candle was really cool. You can see who actually blew out her candle: ha ha

I totally thought she would dig right into the cake, since she always has such an urge to put EVERYTHING in her mouth! I was super wrong! She wouldn't hardly touch it! Maybe because it was a funky rainbow cake? Or she just didn't understand that she was actually allowed to make a mess? It was pretty funny. And anti-climatic!

She finally ate a little! She loved to squish the frosting between her fingers!

She did do a lot of clapping for herself

And she did an awesome job of smearing it allll over her hair. So right after cake was over she got to have a bath (perfect for her party--she is a bath lover!)

Since I knew I wanted to do everything in rainbows I was searching for an awesome rainbow cake recipe. I found a different one that I was originally going to do with a bunch of layers all in the different colors, but it was more time consuming and time wasn't something I had that weekend! So I tried this one and it actually turned out SO COOL!

This picture of course needs to be framed and hung on my Dad's wall.

After bathtime (including hair washing and combing out which is always a party in itself) Ashlyn got to open presents! She got soo many presents! She was spoiled. Although do you consider it spoiled when you think really, they are the sweetest girl and deserve every one? Grandma and Grandpa, Nana, Mom and Dad, and even Great Grandma Swackenberg had all given her so many fun things. The funny thing is that above everything else she got tons of BOOKS, which she was most excited about! Everyone gave her some! She is set for a while!! The best part is she had way more fun ripping up the paper than checking out the actual gifts, besides the books that is.

And then of course she had a break down shortly after all the presents excitement. I'm sure a combination of no napping all day, too much sugar, too many presents, too many people, and whatever else. She did recover and have fun playing with her new things for a while, although she went to bed at an unheard-of early time! And slept until late the next morning! Whew birthdays are exhausting! We love her so much though and are so, so happy she is in our family. I'm glad she had a good birthday and here's to many more fun parties!

Sunday

O-N-E

Alright, be prepared for a serious picture BONANZA!

Because....Ashlyn is 1! (this isn't even the Birthday Post--just the last monthly one!)

Ashlyn is . . . the light of our lives! She is always cracking me up and I feel like every night (along with the usual stories about our jobs) we are talking about her and what funny things she has been doing lately. Or not so funny things. :)

Like finding the piano students' candy bar basket!

And accidentally wrapping her head in toilet paper!

And finding mom's snowboarding hat. (I may have helped put it on. Is that not adorable!)

And playing in Lucy's kennel

And eating a WHOLE PEAR

Wearing Dad's hat

I took her outside and let her crawl around a little one day when it was like 55 degrees. She loved it. I can tell once the weather is nicer she will really love being outside. She does now--we just don't go out a lot because I hate bundling her up for like a 10 minute walk. She found the fence, and did this . . .

Like usual. She still has to touch everything with her tongue. Her sensory I guess. It's funny.... but not so funny when it's something like a drain on the floor of the Centennial cafeteria. sick.

I took like a hundred pictures while we were out there.... I cut it down to just a few. She really had a blast checking out the grass and trees, and leaves!

Did I say checking out the leaves? I meant eating them.

And trying to get Lucy to eat them. Lucy was not fooled.

She just looks like such a big girl now, it is crazy to think that she is no longer considered an "infant." I was reading in her baby book back to what types of milestones she reached in her first few months and it's actually easy to see how she IS so "grown up" compared to a year ago... obviously...but still, it's definitely weird.

This is one of my favorite recent pictures! Look at that big smile! Ashlyn has constantly been a very happy baby. She is quick to giggle and laugh if you tickle her, and lately she will just find a little toy or see Lucy do something, or even just see a random stranger, and start giggling a little "fake laugh." but it is so cute. I keep waiting for some stranger anxiety to kick in, but I haven't really noticed it yet. I think she has only been upset when I have left her with a babysitter like, at most 2 times. And this whole weekend with a bunch of family in town she was perfectly happy to go to anyone and everyone, the whole time. So, either she's not that attached to me, or she is generally not a particular girl!

Ashlyn loves going to wrestling matches! The crowd is so loud and it's so exciting in the atmosphere, she will just sit in my lap and look all around and yell in excitement. She really likes to clap her hands when the crowd cheers for a wrestler. She has some cute little Centennial outfits she has rocked at some tournaments and all the home matches this year. And she always gets plenty of attention from all the other wrestling wives and moms. We are lucky that her Dad has such a supportive community he works in.

She is a magnet to the piano! This could partially be because I don't let her into the piano room/office unattended, so it is like, forbidden to go in there and she is always gleeful about it.
But if the piano is open or the digital is on, she loves to stand holding onto the bench and tinkle with her little fingers. Or even better, if someone will hold her on their lap she loves to bang, bang bang! Don't get me wrong, I am not being a stage mom forcing her to play the piano at an early age! ha ha. So far I have pretty much let her work up her own interest about it!

by the way.... something I love: When I am teaching somewhat late into the night and Collin gets home with her, after I hear them come in the door I will hear "thump thump thump" coming down the hallway as fast as she can, and then the door will swing open and she will poke her head in, and laugh and smile at me! It is so fun. I'm so glad she's so excited to come say hi to me and whatever student I have in there. :)

She still love, loves stories. The basket of stories is next to her crib, so a lot of times when I come into get her up, I will find some books in her crib that she has grabbed through the crib bars. She will often just crawl into her room and I will find her in there reading stories. It is so cute.

As for eating... she is slowly coming around. For the past month she has been on complete Spoon Rebellion -- at least with me and Collin apparently my friend Chandra who watches her can get her to eat like, 2 jars of babyfood in one sitting... I can't get her to accept more than like 5 bites at most. And that is even trying to be sneaky! She does, however, love to eat stuff she can pick up herself! Now that she is off formula, I am working on finding more options for her! She loves graham crackers, goldfish, cheerios, puffs, baby cheetos, bread, pears, bananas, peaches, peas, and pretty much any kind of meat. So, I guess that list isn't horrible, although it's like 70% starches. nice. Whatever. She also still LOOOOVES to drink from her straw sippy cup. Oh how she loves that thing. She will even drink milk and V8 Fusion juice out of it.

This is a scene we see a lot. It is when I have to fix her hair. Which is like every other day. I should really comb it out every day, but let's face it I do not always have the time to get her seated in her high chair, with sufficient snacks/toys/other entertainment, with enough time to spray detangler, comb, and smother with hair lotion. I do smother her hair every day, which works pretty well on the off-combing days. She usually also gets to watch Sesame Street or Baby Einstein at this time, which she looooves. I have to say I am pretty proud of her hair. It is over 6 inches long now, and I think pretty healthy and moisturized. Not bad for a white momma!

Other things Ashlyn likes:

-fluffy stuffed animals (especially a certain polar bear--she will just laugh and snuggle with him!)

-her blanket! Can't go to sleep without it!

-music playing while she goes to sleep--lately this has also been a staple!

-Crawling around to explore, no matter where we are.

-Bathtime! She has discovered how much fun it is to splash!

-Cookies! I barely started giving her a cookie every so often. She gets all excited and gobbles it down.

-Lucy's water bowl...some things never change

-any chance to get into the bathroom!

-walks in the stroller....although only if we're moving.

-Looking at her reflection, in a window or mirror. She just loves to look at that cute baby!

-Dancing to music! She can seriously bebop!

-Grabbing the wreath on the front door, every. single. time we come in!

Other dislikes:

-getting strapped into her carseat.

-having to sit still when she doesn't want to, no matter the circumstance.

-when Lucy knocks her over (ha ha, had to put that one in. Who would like that)... should revise that to "accidentally knocks her over."

-getting out of the bathtub. Sorry kid, you've got such dry skin you can't stay in there forever.

-Getting her hair fixed (unless seriously distracted)

-when the stroller stops moving

-when the grocery cart stops moving

Anyway, I love this little snuggle buns so much. She is seriously a sweetheart and such a happy girl. I'm lucky I get to spend my days with her. I am excited for the times we have together ahead of us. Happy 1, Ashlyn!

(Birthday Post to come soon! It was awesome!)

Thursday

Pet Peeves

I have always been meaning to do this post. Like, for years. Yes it is exactly what the title says it is. A list of my pet peeves. I reserve the right to revise (which I think will basically mean add to) this list whenever I want!

I think I am posting this because like everything on this list has happened to me today. Or it seems like it.

Some things that BUG me:

1. Those loud, I mean FREAKIN LOUD motorcycles. You know, the kind you can hear coming from a mile down the road, it completely deafens you as it drives by, and then you can hear it driving another mile down the road. I know it is some egotistical male (or female) "I am so freaking cool" thing, but I absolutely, positively hate them.

2. My dog scratching to go outside. Then scratching to go inside. Then scratching to go outside. Then scratching to go inside. Then scratching to go outside. Then scratching to go inside. etc. etc. etc. grrrrrr!!!

3. When people, I mean common, everyday people, have word verification just to leave a comment on their blog. Seriously? Do you get a lot of spam regularly from robots posting crap to your blog? Especially when it's private... for some reason I always get so annoyed if, after posting a big comment, I have to do that extra step of typing in 2 words that I, a non-robot, can hardly read. No offense if you have that. It just bugs me.

4. When I have waited all week to watch one, I mean ONE show, the only one I really am interested in, and when I turn on the TV planning to sit down and relax, it's not on and instead there is an hour-long "special" on all the school choices in Idaho! Not only did they rob me of my one hour of joy, but it's a whole hour of propaganda crap that is everything wrong with the Idaho school system?!?! (ok, that really only happened once, last week. But it REALLY bugged me!)

5. Facebook complainers. I guess I am equally bugged by Facebook braggers. When I say this I mean that is pretty much exclusively what they post. Either complaint after complaint, or brag, brag, brag. Maybe this complaint should really just be about facebook in general. I don't know. I guess my real annoyance is at facebook posts, in general. And yet I do it to. sigh.

6. When an un-known number calls my phone....and doesn't leave a message. Who are you? How did you get this number?

7. When I finally, for once in like 2 weeks, decide that I want to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, pour the cereal, get out a spoon, open the fridge only to find.... there's no milk!! GRRR!!

8. When Ashlyn feeds her food to Lucy. Oh this makes me so mad.

9. When a piano student calls to cancel their lesson during (or half an hour before) their lesson, and then asks if they can reschedule. I want to say, " sure, my time is of no value. Please just assume that I had nothing better to do today than sit around waiting for you.... of course I am willing to do this again tomorrow." This doesn't apply to if they are sick.

10. When I try to open the car door and then realize I haven't unlocked it. You know how you yank it so hard assuming it's going to open, and then you're totally denied?! So annoying. Then you have to dig out your keys and it takes like, 20 more seconds. Super bug.

11. Super slow drivers. It's always when I'm short on time. But that being said, I also really hate it when people ride my tail when I'm driving the speed limit. I guess I'm just a generally angry driver! ha ha

Well I know there are more. Unfortunately I can't ever think of them on the spot. Check back, there will probably be more added today!

ps-this post is purely for fun. I am really not trying to offend, alienate, or otherwise anyone who reads this. Further, this post is not in any way meant to reflect how this or any other of my days has gone. IT'S JUST FOR FUN PEOPLE!

A Visit

Sam and Megan came up for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was fun to have them (as always) and especially because in just a couple of months they will have their own little one, they probably won't be making trips like that up here much in the near future!

Before they got here we were refilling Lucy's food and we left the empty bag on the floor (with a couple of tempting morsels inside of course) to see what she would do. And yep this is what she did.

Saturday Sam, Megan and I ran a few errands before coming back home to chill for a while before . . We went to BOGUS! I was so excited about this. We had actually planned it before we knew Sam and Megan were coming, but Megan offered to watch Ashlyn (or rather I should say Sam offered for her... ha ha) while we went, so it worked out great. (we of course would have loved to have Megan come along but I dont' think it is really her cup of tea right now being 5 months prego and all) We also took Dustin up with us, this was his first time going ever! I took a shot of all of us before we hit the mountain, and of course look who was being a dweeb and wouldn't take off all his face gear.

We had a blast up there (I did anyway) and I hope we can get up there one more time before this winter is over... super wishful thinking that maybe that will be more than once! Ever since I FINALLY figured out how to carve last winter it is a super blast now. (not just a mega-quad workout!!) We stayed until 9:30 then headed back home to some crock pot MEAT sandwiches! yum!

Sunday Ashlyn was on her best behavior ever at church. I was thinking I might have to convince Sam and Megan to move into our ward so that she will act like that every week. Anyway, after church we had a little Super Bowl watching...which turned into Sam and Collin watching while Megan and I did other things. :)

They had brought Ashlyn a present for her birthday, wahoo! It was a bubbles machine for bath time. I thought (well we all did) that Ashlyn would think it was so cool, since she loves bath time already. Well we were wrong. The next morning when I was bathing her Sam set it up and we tried it.... and she started crying! A little too scary I guess. I think if we ease into it next time she will like it more. It was funny just because that was not the reaction anyone was expecting. Maybe it was because 3 people were crowded around the tub watching her...?

Anyway, somehow this is the only picture Megan is in. der! Sorry Megan. I really need to remember to take pictures during these visits more!

Thanks for coming guys! It was a fun weekend!