Home away from home

Well, I've been in Texas for a week and a day now. So far so good. Only six more weeks to go. Texas is very flat, but thankfully there is not much humidity. And there has been only a couple of thunderstorms so far - no tornadoes...., yet - however there was one in the area just a week before I got here. Good timing on my part, I guess. I am training as an Aircraft Fuel Systems Technician for the Idaho Air National Guard and I am temporarily stationed here at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. I am about an hour and half south of Oklahoma City and the same time frame north of Dallas. I plan to get out on my evenings and weekends and see as much of the area as possible. It is actually very pretty here even though it is so flat. I went to Oklahoma City last Saturday and was surprised at how clean and modern their downtown is - and very "artsy". It is actually a very cultural city with much to do with the arts, performing arts, zoos, and sports. I look forward to spending more time in OK City and visiting the Federal Building Monument. And I'm sure that Dallas and Fort Worth will have much to offer, too. As for Sheppard, this is a very big base. It is the training base for enlisted medical personnel, new jet pilots, many different aircraft specialties, and many different military branches. So far I have seen soldiers training from the Army, Navy, Marines, from Norway and Kuwait - all right here. And this is just one of our many training bases. There is constant activity on the ground and in the air here. I would be intimidated to go to war against us, but that is politics and I don't like to discuss military or politics. So anyway, I miss you all and look forward to getting home soon.

New Wheels

The kids needed a new ride to accommodate the two of them, so we had to say goodbye to Bob and hello to Phil and Ted. As you can see Connor sits on top for now while Braden lays flat. Later when Braden is big enough there is an attachment so Connor sits underneath and Braden sits on the top. Pretty cool ride.

There have been a few nicknames for Bradens hair. The latest has been given by my Uncle Dick, Hawk (after mowhawk). I have had many people ask me what I use in his hair to get it to stand up. I have been told he gets this great look from me. Story has it my mom used to keep my wild hair held down in a curl with a clip. She kept thinking it would get long enough to lay down on its own. Eventually it got longer, but only the tips fell over from the weight. I think its kinda stylish.

Good ol' Fallon

Connor, Braden, and I are currently in my home town of Fallon while Rich is in Texas for his training for the National Guard for 7 weeks. It is nice to spend some time with my mom. I don't know if she will be able to handle us for another 6 weeks. Connor can be exhausting with all his energy. Braden is one month today! My how time passes quickly.
Braden enjoyed a little time outside on a warm day of over 70 degrees. Connor and our dog Jack are enjoying the country life and Connor actually pet the horse today without prompting. That is a big step considering the first day we were here he came running back to the house crying when he had only made it half way down the hill to go feed the horse with grandma. My moms riding mower is as close as we get to a tractor here at her place and Connor loved riding with "Unc" Chris. His cousin Jordan loves following him around and having someone younger than herself to play with and be a mother to. Connor is very creative and you can see by his version of a train. My mom and I have to ride every day, but we never get far because we have to stop so he can fix the train tracks. We will have to check out the train museum in Carson City and possibly a train ride from Reno to Truckee on Amtrack. He is addicted to trains.
One thing I don't miss about Fallon......all the wind. We've had several days of it since we've been here. One thing we miss in Fallon is our da da. We love and miss him lots and talk to him several times each day.

It's official....

We traded the beautiful 2006 Subaru Outback I bought for Julie's birthday for this lovely 2004 Honda Odyssey. Yes, we have a minivan...which officially declares us a family. Or instead of a minivan, we have a MAV (as my buddy Cory likes to call it) - a Mormon Assault Vehicle. We tried for one week to carry the two boys in the back seat of the Subaru. I had to sit right on the steering wheel when Connor was sitting behind me in the Subie, and the handle on Braden's car seat wouldn't click in its locked position because it would hit the passenger seat. Julie only needed once to try and sit between the boys in the middle of the seat, which wasn't too safe or comfortable. So we had to say goodbye to cool and sporty car that symbolized our adventureous nature and say hello to the "we'll see you at the soccer field", safe and dependable people hauler. Mind you, we're not complaining. The Honda is actually pretty sweet - I mean, power sliding doors - Come on! That's cool. And it has lots of room..., and cup holders. And we can stretch our legs out. So good-bye ol' Subie - we will miss you.

Also, we wanted to add a couple of cute pictures of Connor taken this evening. He is being such a sweet big brother and still knows how to charm us. We are working hard to be sure he doesn't feel left out in all the attention of his new baby brother.

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.