Ruby Days

Our family loves Ruby. She spent the night at our house the day Jane was born, and Nathan said she was absolutely fine with sleeping over. She asked Nathan, "I get to sleep in Eliza's bed!? All night? With her dolls?!" Apparently, she was pretty excited about snuggling with a plush Rapunzel doll. We've had fun hanging out while her mom and dad are busy.

Eliza is pretty lucky to have a friend as sweet and loving as Ruby. These girls have so much fun together.

Jane Katharine Vaughn

After being in Washington for nearly a month, Nathan and I considered staying a little longer, but we both felt like we should come back to Utah for a number of reasons. The most important reason (in my mind) was the fact that Becca's due date was quickly approaching, and I didn't want to chance missing the arrival of little miss Jane. We got back to Springville late Monday night, and I felt relieved that we were home and that Becca was still safely pregnant. Her c-section was scheduled for the following Monday, and Becca's mom and sister, Karen and Christy, had made plans to arrive in Springville on Friday. I was prepared to take Ruby for a couple of days and do whatever possible to help. As many of us know, things don't always go according to plan when it comes to having babies.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up to a text message from Becca saying something like, "I'm having some weird symptoms. Do you think I might be in labor? I'm probably not in labor and it's no big deal, but I thought I would ask." Let me just say: I am so glad Becca texted me. She knows very well that I thought I was in labor, but then decided maybe I wasn't, and then barely made it to the hospital in time to deliver the twins. I immediately called her and could tell she was leaning towards going to her doctor's office, but didn't want to be a bother to anyone--especially if it was a false alarm. Additionally, it was Pioneer Day, a holiday in Utah, and the doctor's offices were closed so Becca had to go to the hospital. Her husband, Kyle, came home from work, and Ruby came over to play.

A couple of hours later, Becca called and tried to tell me as calmly as possible that the baby was coming. She had nothing at the hospital, but luckily, I had a key to her house. I ran over and began frantically collecting things. Nathan took the day off of work and watched the kids as I rushed to the hospital to be with Becca. I was feeling pretty distraught for her--her mom and sister weren't there, she had nothing prepared, and she mentally wasn't expecting a baby that day. That being said, she was excited and had a great attitude considering the craziness of the day.

Becca went back for the c-section with Kyle and a few minutes later (it felt like forever!), she was wheeled back into the room where I was waiting. I talked to Becca until she could be moved and meet her precious little daughter. During the c-section, the doctors discovered a true knot in the umbilical chord. The chord was also wrapped around Jane's neck three times, so it's an extra special miracle that Becca had planned on a c-section.

Jane had some breathing issues, so she had to be on the cpap for a while. Kyle stayed with her and watching the two of them together was pretty adorable.

A little while later, Jane was able to move back to her room with Becca. Jane Katharine Vaughn is perfection.

Kelsey and I were there to give moral support to Becca and keep her distracted from the fact that her mom and sister weren't there. Meanwhile, Karen and Christy were racing from California to Utah in order to meet their precious grandbaby/niece. I was fortunate enough to be there when they met Jane for the first time. Just looking at these pictures again brings tears to my eyes. It was such a special moment.

Meeting your granddaughter for the first time: pure joy. I know because I've seen it, and I just cried because it was so amazing to witness.

I'm so glad I was able to be there for Becca and meet Jane so soon. I am reminded that labor is hard and that women endure incredibly trying and difficult situations for their unborn children. C-sections are not an easy thing to recover from, but Becca willingly endured surgery for her tiny daughter...and she didn't complain anything! I was so impressed by her strength throughout the craziness of the day. And lastly, I was reminded that children are truly miracles from God. Every delivery that goes well really is a miracle.

I'm excited to get to know Baby Jane better! And don't you love her name?

Back to Utah

After nearly a month of being "home" in Othello, we finally headed back to Utah. It was harder than I thought to leave family and friends in the little town, but I'm sure we'll readjust to our normal routine of life in Springville.

Thankfully, there was no throwing up on this road trip, and the kids were so amazing. They were troops as they sat in their carseats for 12 hours on the way home. Brandon bought Eliza a coloring book and markers before we left, and she colored for the entire ride home. I think we have an artist on our hands.

Some of the highlights of the trip home were:

1) Seeing this van

 I thought it was hysterical until I realized that I went to BYU, drive a Honda Odyssey, and already have three kids at 26. I stopped laughing as loudly when I came to those conclusions.

2) Stopping at Chipotle and THEN Chick-fil-a (this requires no further explanation obviously)

3) The Idaho sky

4) The moon in Idaho

I wish these pictures did the sky and the moon justice. I have never seen the moon so large or the sky so beautiful. Nathan and I had to pull over to take pictures and saw a number of cars on the side of the road as other people stood and just watched the sky. I guess I'm a believer in Idaho's beauty now. 

Haleigh Comes to Othello

A few months ago, my brother-in-law moved to Los Angeles to pursue his music career. If you haven't checked out his band yet, you should. The Moth and the Flame is going to be the next huge thing. Trust me. Anyway, I knew he didn't know many people in the area, so I gave him my good friend Haleigh's number. They had met years ago (they were both at our wedding and visited the hospital the day after Eliza was born), but they never really got to know each other.

Haleigh is a people-person, and I knew she would help my introverted brother-in-law get to know all the cool people in LA. Well, after a few weeks of knowing each other, they started dating. Over two months later, they are still going strong. It's so strange that my childhood friend is dating my brother-in-law, but it's awesome.

On Monday, Brandon mentioned that Haleigh might fly out to Othello. She couldn't make it to the reunion due to work, but she still wanted to come and see Brandon's home town, meet his parents, and see Nathan, me, and the kids.

She came on Thursday night, and we had so much fun this weekend. Even though we hadn't seen each other in three years, it didn't feel that long at all. I guess that is what happens when you grow up with another person--you just seem to know them no matter what.

Eliza loves Brandon, and I knew she would also love Haleigh. I was definitely right! Haleigh showed up with a pair of pink princess sunglasses and won Eliza over immediately. They jumped on the trampoline together, and Haleigh showed Eliza how to do backflips and cool jumps. Eliza was thoroughly impressed.

Before the weekend ended, Nathan took some pictures of Haleigh and Brandon together. The fields of hay across the street from the house make the perfect setting for pictures. These two people are just so cute together. I loved editing their pictures because so many of them were wonderful.

Eliza is definitely a fan of her Uncle Brandon and Haleigh :)

A Girl's First Shirley Temple

Tonight, the kids went to one of their first "fancy restaurants." Nathan and I were brave and took all three children to Michael's on the Lake in Moses Lake. Cheryl and Rex were going out to eat with Haleigh and Brandon, and we decided we didn't want to miss out on the good times.

Somehow, the kids were amazingly good. The twins were up way past their bedtimes, but we managed to eat a meal at a real restaurant without disturbing the peace too much. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the evening was Eliza's happiness when a pink Shirley Temple was brought out to her. She took a sip and was in pure heaven!

I look at this picture, and I feel like she is a teenager! She acts so mature sometimes; I just have to keep reminding myself that she is still my little girl and only three years old. I feel lucky that's she is my daughter, and I am glad she enjoys a good Shirley Temple as much as her mother :)

An Empty House (Almost)

The week after family reunions is always depressing for me. The house is quiet, all of our friends are gone, and our children no longer have tons of people to play with. With so many people in the house, the kids were given endless amounts of attention. Even Elliott, who has been very wary of new people, had warmed up to everyone by the end of the week.

Their cousins, aunts, and uncles really gave them tons of attention, especially their cousins Hailey and MaKenna.

The kids loved hanging out with Uncle Brandon. He introduced the twins to Angry Birds, jumped on the trampoline for hours, and even played with Eliza and her dolls.

Fortunately, Grandma, Papa, and Brandon are still here to play. It's going to be hard when we leave next week!

Family Pictures

No Robbins reunion would be complete without family pictures. When you have 30 people together for a weekend only once a year, you better take a group picture! Fortunately, our good friend Wendy Spinelli is an amazing photographer and was able to take our photos. I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. Wendy is so talented!

I took a few pictures of the little ones while Wendy was posing everyone else.

 Elliott kept making the funniest faces, and I couldn't resist focusing the camera on him.

 We attempted to get all four of the one year olds together for a picture and while we were waiting for Anna to join Evie and the twins, Elliott gave the greatest face of his lifetime, and I captured it!

I imagine him thinking, "We're TWINS--NOT triplets!" I can't wait to put this in his yearbook when he is a senior in high school. It's just so perfect.

Brandon took a couple of pictures of Nathan and me, and I love them. It always makes me feel good to know we have an updated family photo and a nice picture of Nathan and me.

I wanted more professional shots taken of our children, so Wendy is coming back later on in the week. I'm so glad I am friends with such amazing people!