What's Cookin'

Here's a little taste of what's been on the back (and front) burners in Robinson County...

Norah is loving her "play kitchen", as she's dubbed it. I'm a little concerned about the health of her "play family", because she seems to think they can survive on a diet consisting solely of macaroni and cheese and cookies.





Chopping onions making you weepy? Here's Norah's solution.













The play kitchen is plenty of fun, but Norah likes cooking in "Mommy's kitchen" even better. (Which means my diabolical scheme to trick her into taking over all my household duties is working!) She is especially interested in knowing what we're cooking (which was pretty funny on this particular night, since it was jambalaya, and she was determined to pronounce it correctly). She also likes our dinner guests (ie--Daddy) to know that SHE cooked dinner. (Because everyone knows that the key to a well-seasoned meal is stirring the pot!) Her favorite thing to help with in the "real" kitchen, ironically is the same as one of her play favorites, cookies! (And I know you're probably thinking it's because I let her lick the beater, but actually Jason usually beats her to the punch...he does at least share with her! And she still eats her fair share of chocolate chips!)


This is one of my cakes from last week. It was for a baby shower for a new couple at church. (Their baby's nursery is decked out in purple with a Baby Snoopy theme) It was so much fun to make a cake so different from my "usual" requests!




And finally, this is a crib quilt that Mom and I designed and made for my cousin Helen, who, along with her sweet hubby, Clint, welcomed their firstborn, Kylie Virginia, into the family on Tuesday.

We chose the colors based on how she and Clint decorated their nursery, and tried to make it fairly similar to Kylie's bedding, so hopefully it will be a good match, and something she'll like.


Here's a close-up of my favorite square. The lines inside the flower's petals are hand-embroidered to give it a little personality. Mom hand-quilted around everything to give it that special, hand-made look.

I'm so excited that Norah and Eli will have an "almost" cousin so close in age!

Little Buddies

Our little angels are doing great-- bonding all the time. Even though I've witnessed it every day since Eli's birth, it never ceases to amaze me how much these two love each other.


If Eli's in the room, Norah is never far from him. She brings whatever she is playing over to where he is so she can be keep an eye on him.












Norah's is still in her "CHEEEESE" photo stage. It is very hard to get a picture of her with a normal face or a natural smile. Oh well, at least I don't ever have to chase her down with the camera.










I know, it looks like he's gazing into the camera, but actually, he's mesmerized by his mobile, which he discovered this week and loves to watch.











I've been trying to capture E's eyelashes on film, and am not having much luck. This is the best I have so far. When he was born, it didn't look like he had any lashes at all, but low and behold, he's got a healthy crop, after all.

Sewing Again (at last!)

Our very good friends, Scott & Sara Nickson welcomed their first-born daughter, Sydney Elizabeth, into their family on February 7th, giving me a great excuse to do a little sewing.

The best part was...drum roll, please...
Jason finished our entertainment cabinet (pictures of that coming soon), so I finally got my sewing desk back! No more sewing on that jumpy card table for me!




These little mary janes are TINY. Already too small for Eli's quickly growing feet! They were one of the most fun, new sewing projects I've tried in a long time. And the Nicksons are both Aggies, so I hope they'll enjoy a little maroon for their new baby girl. (The white on the inside is just some tissue to help keep their shape during shipping)

I have a few other fun show-and-tells to post (more sewing projects and a cake or two)...hopefully I'll get them up soon.

Robinson Weekly Update

At least it feels like this is a weekly blog these days. Honestly, I'm not drowning in the 1-2 kids adjustment...I've just not been in the blogging mood lately. Sorry, guys, but thank you for those who have left and emailed sweet/encouraging comments about missing the blog entries/pictures...it helped me get motivated enough to post something. (Plus, I took some cute pictures of the kids this morning!)

My lack of posting is in no way an indication that I have no news. First off, Norah has an awesome new trick. For Christmas she got a Leap Frog alphabet magnet set. She LOVES it and play with it multiple times, daily (literally). So last week, I decided since she was so interested in letters, why not try to learn something. She can now correctly identify the following letters almost 100% of the time: A (AA's letter), D (Daddy's letter), E (Eli's letter), G (Grant's letter) J (Uncle Johnny's letter), M (Mommy's letter), and P (Aunt Paige's letter). We're working on the actual names of these letters, and so far, she's picking up very fast.

At some point during her lesson on letters, she discovered a new sound. The "luh" (formerly "wuh") sound is now officially part of her vocabulary. I first noticed it on Saturday, when she kept telling me "E-LIE's crying!" She was really annunciating and over-exaggerating the "L" with her tongue and I thought she was just being silly...but after about 3-4 times, I realized---She just said E-Lie...not E.Y.! She's figured out that lifting her tongue is the key to a new phonetic sound. She's really seems to enjoy this new added sound, and uses it every chance she gets ("E-Lie's smi-Ling!" is my favorite). I can tell that she realized she was saying it wrong before, and now knows she's saying it correctly, because she beams with pride each time she says a word with an "l" in it (and of course, waits to be praised).

She's still loving her big sister role and looks out for E every chance she gets. "Mommy, careful--don't drop him!" "Mommy, read Eli story!" "Mommy, Eli's hungry. Feed him!" (Ok, maybe it's made her a little bossy too...but it's all in the best interest of her brother, who she clearly loves very much.)


One of my favorite pictures from this morning's mini photo shoot

I know it totally looks like she pinched him and is playing coy, but in truth, E was tired of the flash, and N just happened to be making a funny face. I just had to share because it made me smile. It reminds me of a great picture of my sister and me when we were close to this age.

Update on the Kiddies

Norah is pacifier-free for going on 2 weeks, and she's not looking back. She had only been using it in bed, but a few weeks ago I noticed it seemed more like she was just using it as a stall tactic (ie--one more thing to ask/search for to delay going to bed), so I decided to try pulling the plug. We got ready for nap as usual, and after our stories, she asked, "Mommy, where's paci?" I told her it was gone, but that it was ok because big girls don't need paci's, anyway. That was it. She didn't question it and hasn't asked for it since.



My latest, favorite Norah words and phrases:
"Oh no, my foop fops! " Exclaimed all 37 times the 2-sizes-too-big flip flops she insisted on wearing to Walmart this morning fell to the floor.
"Well, ash-uh-lee, Mommy..." Preceeds whatever wisdoms she sees fit to impart at the moment. (Ex: N: What's a-matter Mommy?" A: Mommy can't find the remote." N: "Well, ash-uh-lee Mommy, remote is where is." Thanks, sugar.)

"P-Yuck!!" exclaimed at anything she deems vile, disgusting, stinky, and/or gross.

"I sorry,_____" Either used as an apology, or (more often than not), Norah's way of telling YOU that you need to apologize to her. (If this is the case, she'll continue repeating the phrase until you finally tell her you're sorry.)

"I like your _______" Norah is going through a very complementary phase...which is great for my self-esteem! Since we hang out together for most of the day, I get to hear things like, "I like your hair, mommy", and "I like your apron, Mommy" all day long. This morning, I walked in to find her leaning over her brother, saying, "Eli, I like your head".



As for Eli...













He's finally started smiling! (And what a charming smile it is! )
















No one wins his smiles faster than his big sister.













He really finds her amusing, which is a blessing since she likes to smother him with attention and affection!














He likes to eat...a LOT. During the day he chows down every 2-3 hours. From about 5-9pm, he eats every 30 minutes to an hour! It's like he's afraid I'm gonna starve him through the night so he has to "stock up" before bedtime...and for the record, I don't starve him through the night, either. He still wants to eat every 3-5 hours throughout the night, and I comply each time he calls.

Aside from being so hungry, he's a great baby. Very content, a great sleeper, eater, and cuddle bug.

I'm a Fraud

I guess I've always known the day would come when Norah would come to the startling realization that I am not the smartest person in the world...I just didn't count on her discovering it quite this soon. This morning, my normally mild-mannered toddler burst into tears of frustration because I failed to solve the Rubik's cube she had brought to me with instructions to "Fix it, Mommy". I twisted the cube a few times and got about 75% of yellow on one side, and handed it back to her, hoping that would be good enough to satisfy her, but oh no. She pushed it back toward me, saying, "No. More yellow Mommy." And when I failed to perform this seemingly menial task, the waterworks began. Sorry, sweetheart, Mommy's not a genius, after all--it's just been an elaborate hoax.

I Like Eli

Well, of course I like my Eli, that goes without saying. Who could help but love this sweet grin? But the Eli I'm referring to in my post title is Eli Manning--as in quarterback for the champions of Super Bowl 42. About halfway through the season I noticed how much scrutiny the poor guy was under by all of the sports commentators on ESPN (and everywhere else, really), and I declared that I was pulling for him. I mean, it's gotta be rough enough being known the "little brother" of stand-out quarterback, Peyton Manning (who, by the way, I also like a whole lot) without having to be constantly reviewed as "lacking" by anyone who matters in sports. Add to that a former teammate who gave an interview stating that Eli was comical and awkward as a leader, and you've got a great Cinderella story when the guy comes back to upset one of the greatest football teams in the history of the game (I'm referring to the now 18-1, formerly perfect '07-08 New England Patriots, who just about everyone expected to win the Super Bowl with no trouble).

Now I'll admit, about 80% of my initial liking of Eli Manning had to do with the fact that he has a great name...but the more I watched him, the better I liked him, and by the time the Super Bowl rolled around, I was really pulling for him. After having watched it, I can honestly say that he didn't' disappoint. It was, in my opinion the best Super Bowl I've ever watched, and the icing on the cake was watching all those formerly critical commentators on ESPN eat crow. I predict an avalanche of Peyton/Eli sibling rivalry commercials in '08. (Oh, and by the way, the sleeping pictures of Eli don't really have anything to do with this post, but I figured I'd throw something cute in for the non-sports-enthusiasts)

Speaking of football, I did a fun cake for a Super Bowl birthday party this weekend, so I just had to share.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled (non-sports-inclusive) blog. (Oh, and for the record...I like Norah too)