New Soul

Oh - how we forgot what it was like to be up all night. Sleep all day, awake all night: Braden is just like his brother. I think we're getting adjusted....I think. Maybe I should speak for myself as I'm not in charge of the midnight feedings. Anyway, no matter how you look at it - it is truly a blessing. We are so happy to be parents another time and love this new soul so very much, even if he does get up every two hours. Well, we all know the drill.

Braden Carter Robinson

Man, I'm such a slacker. You'd think that it'd take the birth of a baby or something drastic to get me to update our blog.

Well, you're in luck cuz a babe has been born. We are happy to say that Braden finally decided to join our family on Sunday, March 16th at 9am. Granted he was two weeks early, but we just couldn't wait any longer, and at 9lbs I definitely don't think Julie wanted to wait any longer. For the last week everytime Julie got up in the middle of the night to pee I'd be like "Is this it?! Where's my bag?! Where's your bag?! I'm waking up Connor." And of course she would just be "Go back to sleep, I'm just peeing." So we were both a bit anxious. But you have to understand that Julie was dilated to a 4 and 1/2 and 90% ephased (sp) just last Thursday. The doctor didn't think she'd make it through the weekend - and I guess she was right. Sunday morning at 4am Julie's water broke. This time she wasn't just peeing, and wouldn't you know this time she had to wake me (guess there were too many false alarms so I didn't think it was a big deal anymore if she got up at night). We arrived at the hospital at 5:10am. The nurse checked Julie and she was now dilated to almost a 7. Julie wanted an epidural so the nurse got the labs done right away (way to go Nurse Anne cuz I didn't want Julie to have to deliver natural - that would hurt me, too). Still, all this takes a little time. It's about 8:30 now and we're just waiting for the on-call doc to arrive. Julie's no longer in pain which is good because I'm watching the monitor and seeing these major contractions taking place and I'm thinking she'd have ripped my hand off if she was still needing to hold it for that one. Anyway, the doc asks Julie to give her a push so she can see if Braden is ready. That's nearly all it took. The doc said "STOP!" - she still needed to get her gloves and gown on. I guess she wasn't expecting Julie and Braden to be that ready. Well just a few pushes more and Braden was here. And I thought she had a fast and easy delivery with Connor - this one was nothing.
So, all is well. He is a healthy, healthy baby. All the parts are there and where they should be. And Julie is doing pretty well herself. It was nice to be able to come home early and get settled into a comfortable environment versus having to hang out at the hospital.
Connor is pretty happy to have a little baby brother around. He likes to hug, kiss and hold him. We'll have to get some better pictures of the two boys together. So far they haven't turned out well enough to post.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Sorry it's been so long...

Can't believe it's been almost two months since our last post. Things get away from us during the holidays. We enjoyed Christmas and the New Year.., and Connor really enjoyed the holidays this year as he is now old enough to appreciate the Christmas lights and decorations around town. He spotted Santa Claus everywhere.

We just returned from a short trip to Eastern Idaho. Julie attended Rick's College (which we all know now as BYU Idaho) a few years ago. They have just opened a new temple in the town of Rexburg so we took the opportunity to attend the open house. The temple was absolutely beautiful as you would expect; and Julie really enjoyed going back to her old college town.

Our new baby is coming along as well as one could hope. He is still scheduled to join us on March 30. Hopefully he'll decide to come a little earlier as I have orders to go to Sheppard Air Force Base in Witchita Falls, Texas on April 15. I will be attending my occupational training for the Idaho Air National Guard as an A-10 fuel systems technician (the A-10 is an attack jet currently being used in the Middle East). I will be in school for 8 weeks...so the earlier the little guy gets here the more time I have to spend with him before I go.

We still haven't decided on a name for the new one, but someone suggested Braden and it seems to be Julie's favorite so far.

Thanks for visiting us - we hope to hear from everyone soon.

The turkey was good....zzzz, zzzz, zzzz...

We had a good holiday feasting on the bird and ham. We spent the evening with Julie's sister and her family. It was nice to have time together without our busy work schedules interfering. We took part in the holiday shopping blitz for the first time this year, too. Our mall opened up at 1am on Friday. It was a big marketing promotion and the first year our mall opened this early. I wasn't tired and decided to check it out. Julie and Connor went to bed so I went it alone - which was for the best. I figured there would be a couple hundred crazy people like myself there to check out the holiday deals, but I didn't expect thousands of people. Apparently neither did the mall. I got to the mall at 12:50am and already the entire parking lot was full and every entrance had lines stretching around the corners. Our mall isn't gigantic, but it certainly isn't small. It was totally outrageous. The police had to be called for crowd control. I have to say that it was kind of fun (because I waited to go inside until after the rush), but not worth doing again. I stood in line for an hour to make my purchases for Connor at The Children's Store. I got home at 3am, then Julie got up at 5am to do her round. She said she went to Target first, but quickly left as the crowd was crazy. Overall, we scored some good deals, but I don't think we'll be doing it again - besides - where's the spirit of Christmas in all this?

Thanks for the baby name suggestions that we have received so far. We haven't decided on anything yet, but so far Julie likes Braden...and I like what she likes (if I'm smart).

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!

We're having a .......

Today was our 20 week ultrasound - just moving right along. As you can see (you may need to click the photos to enlarge so you can see), Connor is going to have a little brother. We are very excited. It was cool to see his heart beating and that all four chambers of the heart were there. We were able to see the two brain hemispheres. All is developing as it should. We expect this baby boy to arrive around March 23. Connor does not quite fully understand the baby in the belly just yet, but he's getting there. We have no idea as for a name, so perhaps we'll open it up to suggestions. The winner gets to purchase a year supply of diapers for the new baby.

Short trip to Kennewick

We finally were able to get out of town, even if just for a weekend. We went to Kennewick, Washington to visit some friends from our old ward. It was nice to see the Riveras again. On our way we stayed in a hotel in La Grande, Oregon. Connor is seen ordering room service (juice and suckers - his favorites). Connor had a great time playing with the Rivera's daughter, Taylor. We'd like to thank the Riveras for a wonderful visit. It was fun to stay up late and play Guitar Hero - and yes, we now want a Wii of our own. Also in the slideshow; a photo of Julie and Connor at Columbia Park on the Columbia River and a photo of what happens when you leave Nesquik chocolate milk powder on the counter within a child's reach.



Don't forget you can click on the slideshow to open it for a bigger view.

Home and Halloween

View the slide show to see photos of Connor as a pirate



Choo Choo Train - Connor's favorite toys are trains (probably because he's seen Polar Express about 100 times)

Aaarrgh, Matey!! This little pirate will steal your treasure...of candy. Connor had a great time going to the neighbors and the church trunk-or-treat. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the sword.