Stella's First Dance Performance

Yesterday we attended Stella's very first dance recital! It is moments like these that I have been waiting for with much anticipation. With Stella having been sick for the past two and a half weeks I wasn't sure how well she would remember the dance. Much to my surprise she did a great job. Granted there were parts she was a step or two behind, not to mention the dumb hangnail that was distracting to her at times, but all in all we were impressed! All the girls looked beautiful in their little ballerina outfits! When we got there I promised Stella if she would cooperate and do the dance we would go out for ice cream afterwards. And sure enough she made sure I didn't forget my promise! We were glad to have Dellany, Tremayne, Suzanne, Gen and Abs there to cheer Stella on. Miss Natalie's husband, Jason, presented all the girls with two long stemmed roses after their performance. Following which, Bill, Tremayne, Dell, Tristan, Stella and myself hung out at the only fast food restaurant within ten minutes of our house for some much deserved ice cream. Thanks for making the trip Higby's! Always glad to see you! We are very proud of our little Stella! She is such a fun girl and we love her so much!

The last few months....

May Madness!

WOW! May was such a busy month. Of course that's kind of a given in the Robbins family seeing as how we have about 10 birthdays! I figured I would write what we've all been up to and add the pictures soon. If I had faster Internet service I could blog more often! Anyways, Stella turned the big 4 on May 5th! She is getting to be such a big girl. She has about two weeks each year where she thinks it's her birthday everyday. Among our three families, the Duffins, Robbins and Carrolls it lasts forever! But, she loves it! She certainly got spoiled. She got lots of fun gifts. I can't believe it's already been 4 years since we brought her home from the hospital. Where does the time go? Then she graduated from her pre pre-school. She still has another year of pre-school, but they had a little graduation at the library for the kids. We were so proud of our little Stella Bella! She really enjoyed her first year of school and had such a great pre-school teacher, Miss Amy. She is already looking forward to having her again in the fall as a teacher. And lastly for Stella's news she got her first official haircut! Other than the occasional trim she has done to herself. It finally has gotten long enough I decided to take her to get her hair cut. She liked sitting in the big chair and having her hair done. As soon as it was over she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm a princess!" When does she not? She is our little princess.

And then there is Tristan, of course. Not as much going on with him this month. However, it is so much fun watching him figure out how to say things. I think he'll be talking a ton in about 2 months from now, if not sooner. He studies Stella so much and tries to say whatever she says. The other day he heard her singing a pre-school song and started saying "A tootie ta". LOVE IT! He is so darn cute I can hardly stand it! Then he copied my mom when she said "IKEA". He doesn't so much says actual words as much as expressions. One of my favorites is when he says "Wow, wow, wow" when he gets excited and "Ta-Da!". Tristan is all over the place! If he's not running in circles around the house, he's either holding onto my leg, playing in the yard, or cruising around on his little hot wheels 4-wheeler.

As for Bill and I, Bill has been hard at work finishing the basement. We are getting pretty close and can't wait to have some more room. It's all painted and now he is laying the floor, which looks great! He's such the handyman! I have several projects going and I feel so busy all the time, but I love it that way. I just wrote a book for my children about our journey towards getting them. It's called "I Carried You in My Heart." I still have some editing to do but hope to get it done so I can have other people buy it if they want. I had so much fun writing it and reminiscing about the past. It's been a crazy couple of years!

And last but not least, Emily and Rob had their beautiful baby boy on June 7th. Dylan Scott Smith is finally here after much anticipation! He is adorable and is such a sweet baby. We love him to pieces! He looks a lot like Rob except for maybe the eyes. I have never seen so much hair on a baby! That is definitely not a Robbins trait!

So that is what we have been up to if anyone is wondering. I promise to get pictures of all these events posted ASAP!