Random Tidbits About Me!

OK...I've been tagged by my friends Ansku and Sarah to do this, so here we go! Here are some random tidbits of info about me!

1. I think the worst smells in the world are the smells of dirty rags and old banana peels. I can handle dirty diapers or anything else of that genre, but if there's a dirty rag in the sink, I want to throw up!
2. I don't do well with little sleep. I actually HATE staying up late because I'm thinking the whole time about waking up in the morning...just the THOUGHT of being tired makes me grumpy. However, I can't go to bed if anyone else is up or anything remotely exciting is going on. Growing up, I was always really grumpy after sleepovers. My mom threatened me with no more...she should have followed through with her threats for all of our benefit! I guess I haven't grown out of that!
3. Regardless of the grumpiness resulting from sleep deprivation, I get up almost every morning at 5:15 am to go to the gym. It's the only time that I never have any other commitments to prevent me from working out and I actually love this time to myself and feel more productive for the rest of the day as a result. Somehow the endorphins must cancel out the grumpiness from lack of sleep, or my husband would be suffering terribly!
4. I LOVE reading. I used to think this made me really dorky. One year my parents put really fun stuff about Kimberly and Michael in our family Christmas letter (Kimberly dating and driving, Michael doing crazy little boy stuff, etc.) and then said about me "Robyn loves to read." I was livid! I thought I sounded like the most boring 13-year old on the planet. Now I'm really thankful for the escape a good book brings and hope my kids have the same love for reading!
5. I have lived in Japan, the Dominican Republic and Finland for extended periods of time. I won a scholarship to be an exchange student in Japan the summer between my Junior and Senior years of High School. It was my first time really being away from home. I loved the DR and Finland (years later), but spent the whole 6 weeks in Japan counting down until I could go home! I really wish I would have appreciated what a great opportunity it was instead of being homesick the whole time!
6. I love math! Besides Spanish and Choir, it was always my favorite class in High School. I especially love Algebra...I get a high from solving hard equations! I went to college with the intent of becoming a Math and Spanish teacher. However, I hated my first college Calculus class. I blamed it on the teacher, but really it was probably me being too into the social scene to bother putting the time and effort into really understanding what was going on. I graduated in Marriage, Family and Human Development instead.
7. I turn red really easily...even when I'm not embarrassed! Growing up I had several nicknames resulting from this. I remember boys calling me "Glow Worm" in the 6th grade, and "Red Robyn" later. The ultimate, however, was my Freshman and Sophomore Spanish teacher, Mr. Garcia. He nick-named me "Tomate" (tomato in Spanish). Every single day for two years, he would spend a portion of the class saying, "OK, lets see how red we can get tomate to turn today" and I would--on-cue--proceed to turn very red. I couldn't help it...it worked every time! And yes,unfortunately, it still does!

So that's me! I guess I will tag Michael, Maylene, Eleisha, and Evelyn (and whoever else wants to share!). Tell us some random facts about YOU!

Music City

Well, we're home from our trip to Nashville. I had THE BEST time...it was actually a trip that didn't end with me feeling ready to come home. I guess I'm still in denial since it's taken me 3 days to blog about it! After an emotionally draining START to the trip, it was very rejuvenating!

The Airport
Traveling by myself with Parker was a NIGHTMARE! I don't know how people do it with multiple children...I felt like I'd run three marathons by the time I got to Nashville. It started with security. I was in line, carrying my carry-ons (i.e. Parker's flight entertainment items...not a small bag), trying to take my shoes off, taking Parker out of the stroller, folding the stroller up, chasing Parker as he runs the other direction, having the security guy tell me to take Parker's shoes and jacket off, while Parker squirms and cries the WHOLE time. We made it through, but the worst was yet to come. THE STROLLER was the cause of MANY tantrums on the trip...this was the first. Parker's usually fine going IN the stroller to begin with, but trying to put him BACK in after taking him out is another story.

side note: I took Parker on a walk a few months ago and let him get out at the end to help me push the stroller. He now FREAKS OUT anytime he sees the stroller or hears the word stroller because HE wants to push it.

So yes, Parker threw the fit of the century when I forced him back into the stroller (while trying to put our gear back on). I was feeling flustered and embarrassed, so when Joe called a few minutes later, I was bound to cry. He proceeded to tell me that we'd forgotten to take the car seat out of the car. I started bawling...pregnant, pushing a crying toddler in a stroller, talking on the phone in hysterics...not a pretty picture. My parents now have a toddler car seat of their own...yay!

The Flight
When I booked it, I didn't realize I had TWO layovers. I never changed planes, so it looked direct to me...oops! On each flight, Parker got tired and ALMOST fell asleep, but then we landed. Grrrrr... And took off again. He was pretty good, but I felt really sorry for the person in front of us. Constant tray banging and seat kicking. There was minimal crying, however, so I can't complain TOO much. I told Joe that on the way home I was going to sit by myself so I could read and sleep and HE could entertain for 6 hours! I still wish I had done that...

Heaven
I met my mom at the airport and everything was all better. I was in heaven for a week and a half. Parker instantly knew and loved my parents. He woke up every morning saying, "Bapa? Nannu?" looking for his G-parents. It was SUCH a great break for me!

My mom was an amazing tour guide...she actually knew her way around! Yes, I was shocked when she picked me up by herself at the airport...so not my mom! It's still so weird that they live in Tennessee...I never knew where we were going, but it was beautiful! We didn't do TOO much, but time flew by as we:

• *went on morning walks
• *drank smoothies
• *ate at cute Southern places (BBQ AND Auto Shop, anyone?)
• *visited the Carnton Plantation (civil war site)
• *went shopping
• *watched Elmo OVER and OVER
• *witnessed stroller tantrums

HALLOWEEN

Parker was NEMO. He LOVED his costume. I loved watching him walk as the tail wiggled back and forth with his little waddle. He was SORT OF interested in Trick-Or-Treating, but didn't care that we only went to about 7 houses. He was really excited to dump out his bag afterwards to see what everyone had put in it. He REALLY loved being outside. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, so we sat outside with my mom handing out candy. She actually got her decorations out in her standard fashion at about 4:00 pm on Halloween...nice, mom!

SAYING GOOD-BYE

I really hate living SO FAR AWAY from my parents and family, but I feel like it makes us really cherish the time we have together when we get it, so it must be a blessing in disguise. We'll see them in a few weeks, but when they come here we have to SHARE them. I LOVED having them all to myself for a while!

THE FLIGHT HOME

Traveling with Joe made things five gazillion times better. We did have a few stroller tantrums in the airport, but Joe handled it while I sat and read...so nice! Parker was exhausted, so when he finally fell asleep on me on the way home, I thought it was safe to do the unthinkable and transfer him to Joe. BAD IDEA. This resulted in Parker waking up and kicking and screaming for 20 minutes straight. This included hysterical back arching and head banging. Everyone around us gave us really nice looks...sorry...I'm sure they thought we were TRYING to torture our child by waking him up. He eventually cried himself back to sleep and we made it home in one piece with all of our luggage (this is almost unheard of in our family). The trip was just what I needed...thanks for everything Bapa and Nannu!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!!!!!!!

Joe's Birthday was last week...October 23rd. I was HOPING to make it super special for him, but was busy packing for Tennessee. If I were normal, I would have just thrown stuff into a suitcase and called it good. Packing for me this time meant cleaning out my closet (filling 4 trash bags with clothes for Deseret Industries), and cleaning the whole house top to bottom. I just can't leave a dirty house. Unfortunately for Joe, he's not coming until TOMORROW. Being the good husband that he is, though, he's home re-cleaning whatever he's dirtied since I left so that we can still come home to a clean house. That alone deserves a special birthday tribute, so here's to the many things I love about Joe!

1. He's a GREAT daddy! While it's true that sometimes his idea of "watching" Parker for me means getting up early so that I can sleep in only for me to be awakened by Parker's crying at my bedroom door while Joe is asleep on the couch, he really loves spending time with Parker. And Parker is SO GLAD when daddy comes home! 2. Joe will HONESTLY eat anything. This makes my job SO MUCH EASIER. Not only will he eat whatever I make him, he usually likes it. I can only think of ONE time so far in 3 1/2 years of marriage that something was so bad that he couldn't take more than a few bites. I knew it had to be REALLY bad for Joe not to eat it. Luckily I was in a good mood and laughed with him about it.
3. He loves to have a good time. He's also very willing to compromise for the benefit of others. He'll go along with ANYTHING if it's what everyone else wants to do. (He doesn't compromise his standards, however...) Joe is VERY easy-going...much less high-maintenance than I am (unfortunately for him)!

4. Joe is incredibly adventurous! He'll try ANYTHING if it sounds remotely fun (unlike me...I don't like trying new things unless I know I'll be good at them.) Joe's not afraid of laughing at himself and he's usually pretty good at whatever he tries! 5. Joe tries really hard to make everyone happy...especially me! I'm definitely the "fighter" in the relationship. Sometimes I just really want to fight, but it never works with Joe. I usually end up laughing instead!
6. Joe is very sentimental...more-so than I am! He really wanted to save hairs from Parker's first haircut...I thought a picture would suffice!
7. He loves his family! He's a great husband, father, son, brother, and uncle. Everyone needs an Uncle Joe! (Doesn't Luke look like Parker in this picture?)
8. Joe's great at planning for the future. I'm definitely the spender...he's the saver.

9. When we first started dating, I was still sort of hanging on to a former fling. My dad pointed out the night and day differences between Joe and this guy. He knew by how Joe treated me from the very beginning that I would always be a priority in Joe's life. Not so much with the other dude. How right he was! A girl in our student ward called Joe the "best kept secret in the ward." How right she was! I am so grateful EVERY DAY to be married to this cute, hard-working, fun, smart, amazing guy who puts up with the many faces of me and loves me anyway!

HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY, JOE! I LOVE YOU!

Sorry we've been MIA...

Sorry my mommy hasn't been very good at updating her blog lately. It's kind of my fault, so let me explain. I've been busy:

1. Being sick with an ear infection...not fun!

2. Feeding the cows at Thanksgiving Point.

3. Walking away from scary pony rides.

4. Going to the Scarecrow Festival with Jacob.
5. Visiting the "Witchy Poos" at Gardener Village with my mommy's friend, Aubrey.

6. Playing "Ring Around the Rosie" with Aunt Marci and Jacob.

7. Going to COLD, SNOWY BYU football games.

and most importantly...

8. I have a new girlfriend named Ellie. I walk around the house saying "Ellllla, Ellllla" all day long! Good thing our moms are good friends and they live two houses away...I get to see lots of Ellie. I definitely have a thing for older women!

Is it worth it???

There seems to be an ongoing debate on which is more valuable...time or money? Last February Joe and I found out about a potential offer for a free 42" Plasma TV. We had no idea how time consuming this little offer would be, but low and behold, we finally qualified and our little time-waster arrived yesterday! Joe had to take pictures of the unveiling step by step. It's definitely real, it definitely works, and it definitely took us WAY too much time to qualify for!
One of Joe's old college buddies had done something similar, so Joe had to give it a try. We signed up on a website back in February after putting Parker to bed one night and stayed up until about 3 am completing certain offers, making a spreadsheet so that we remembered when to cancel said offers, etc. By the time we got to the last page of offers, we realized that they were getting increasingly more costly. SO, we held off completing the 18 required offers until they were updated with more reasonable options. A few weeks ago, after many frustrating phone calls, thousands of junk e-mails, and around $100 spent on useless products AKA "offers," we finally qualified. Neither one of us really believed we would actually get the TV, but here's the proof!
So there it stands...on top of our old entertainment center in the basement until we find a more suitable place away from Parker's sticky fingers. Was it worth it? I guess so. Would I recommend it? Probably not. But everyone's invited to our house for all their TV viewing needs...unless of course you have your own that you acquired through more traditional means! What can I say? We like to get the biggest bang for our buck! Somehow it usually works out...

MARATHON #7

Parker and I were sick all last week, so the night before we left for St. George for Joe to run his SEVENTH marathon (FIFTH St. George Marathon), he told me that if I wasn't feeling up to it, we didn't have to go. Nice try, babe. I wasn't going to let him out of it for my sake! My cousins Dan and Matt were also running (Dan's 2nd and Matt's 1st marathon) so we all pitched in and rented a fabulous house for the weekend. Here's Joe the morning of....up and ready to run 26.2 miles at 4:00 am.
Here's Parker after I woke him up at 7:45 (of course he would sleep in the morning I needed him to be awake early!) looking much less awake than Joe! Matt's wife Janice embroidered Parker and the other kids super cute little shirts for the occasion. The back says "Run Daddy Run!" We left the house hoping to see the guys at mile 13, but by the time we made it out of the house and up the canyon, we were pretty sure we'd missed them, so they had to wait for some moral support until mile 23...sorry! I felt terrible, but Joe told me that it was actually encouraging not to see us, because he figured he was running too fast and we missed him. Maybe next time I'll just be at the finish line! Actually, after I saw Joe at mile 23, my Uncle Bill told me to take his car to the finish line so I wouldn't miss him. Unfortunately it took me longer to find a parking spot and walk to the end than it took Joe to run the last 3.2 miles. The same was the case for Dan and Matt...Joe and I found them waiting after the finish line with the mobs of runners while Bill, Kathi, Cindy, Janice and kids were still waiting for them to run past. They were all too fast for us!
Parker was really upset when we saw Joe at mile 23 and he just kept running. Once we found him after the race, Parker did not want to let him out of his sight. I was (and always am) SOOOO proud of Joe! He trained pretty well over the last month, but definitely not as well as he would have liked to the months leading up to the race (hence the trying to get out of the race two nights before). In all his marathons, he's yet to beat his best time (which was also his first marathon). His best time was 3 hours and 36 minutes. Last year he came pretty close at 3 hours and 38 minutes. This year he was 3 hours and 37 minutes! So close! At least he's consistent...and in my mind pretty darn fast! Way to go, Joe!
Do they look like they just ran 26.2 miles? Definitely not...they all walked like old men, though.
The atmosphere at the marathon is always SO fun...it made me think I might want to do another one. Maybe next year. We'll see how I feel....I'll be a lactating mother with a 5-month old baby....hmmmm. Sounds fun, right?

Family Ho Down!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Mandy had one of these on her blog...I had to try it! Taylor gets to be Joe's square dance partner!

Growing up WAY TOO FAST!

The last few weeks have been developmentally HUGE for Parker. Before it becomes totally normal that he can do what he does, I want to remember how AMAZED I am at how fast he's growing up! In the past few weeks he has:

• ***Started walking EXCLUSIVELY! He's been taking steps for quite a while, but he's finally taken off...it is SO CUTE!
• ***Learned how to say all the animal noises. He knows what a cow ("mooooo"), sheep ("baaa"), pig (he moves his nose trying to snort), horse ("naaaaay"), snake ("ssssss"), cat ("maaaaow"), dog ("wub wub"), lion ("waaaaaw"), bear ("waaaa"), duck ("wa wa wa" while moving his hands in a quacking motion), owl ("hoooo"), and fish ("ub ub ub") say. My favorite is the cat...he puts FULL emotion into the maaaaaow!
• ***Learned to say: Nannu, eat ("eee" while pointing to his mouth), story ("owy"), milk ("maaa"), belly ("dilly"), nose, eyes, ear, hair, bye, hello ("awo"), mommy, daddy, puppy, fish, shoes, spoon ("poo"), shoe ("oosh"), doggy, stinky, and car. I'm sure half the time I'm the only one who understands anything he says, but it is SO FUN that he's starting to say what he wants to say!
• ***Learned to feed himself 100% of the time with a fork or spoon in each hand.
• ***Given up his morning nap for just one afternoon nap!

I am LOVING the phase Parker is in right now. I'm actually having a hard time realizing that he won't be my only little daytime buddy anymore once the baby is born. He's become a great shopping partner, cuddler, and sleeper. Starting over sounds so overwhelming! I am just SO GRATEFUL for my sweet little boy...I was looking at Kimberly's blog the other day listening to "There Goes My Life" and totally started bawling thinking about my baby growing up! I'm sure many of you can relate...I just hope I have it in me to love my second baby as much as I love my first!

Zabela vs. Henrietta

I'm going to attach an email from my dad with a list of names he thinks would be PERFECT for our baby girl...I think I'm going to need a bit more input...what do y'all think?

OK, so I’m thinking about my second granddaughter who is about to come into the world.
Yes, I’m excited.
I’m thinking we should help Robyn with the baby’s name.
Maybe all y’all should blog about potential names.
Seeing as I don’t blog too much I wanted to get things started with potential names for the cute little girl.
Here is my initial list:
Harriet
Henrietta
Gina
Carmen
Julie
Kimberly
Diane (my favorite – this should be her middle name)
Bobby (then we could say what about Bobby)
Roberta
Sherri
Shirley
Shirleen
Frances (Do you know how to tell if this is a boy or girl Frances?)
Hermana
Little sis
Big sis
Diego (Devon didn’t use it so it must be open)
Pamela
Marcia
Terri
Stacey
Laura
Kelli
Frederica
Janice

OK, this isn’t my top 25 but that is all I could come up with.

Have a great day. I hope this helps with your selection process.

I love all y’all.
Dad

And here's Devon's response...also a GREAT big help...

Here are my leading names.
Juanita
Angelita
Blanca
Enriqueta
Esperanza
Jesusa
Macarena
Marisol
Paca
Peppi

My Favorite Zabela Diane Gadd,

You have to admit, it has a ring to it!

Devo

IT'S A..................

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, it's true...I'm in shock! Joe and I went in for the Ultrasound today and told the lady that we'd both be really surprised if it was a girl. I've really wanted a girl, but sort of talked myself out of it because the odds were definitely not in my favor. With the babies that are due in Joe's family, there will be 12 boys and now 5 girls. We're both really excited. I couldn't choose just one ultrasound picture to publish, so you get to enjoy ALL of them! Isn't SHE cute?