A Duet

I've been meaning to post this for awhile.

Matt caught this on video and it is very cute!

our new nephew

As far as the extended Robbins' family goes, Hannah is not the baby anymore. (Don't worry Hannah you're still our baby!) We have a new nephew - Caleb! He was born at 3:31am on July 23rd.

I was on call to come watch my two nieces if Debbie went into labor in the middle of the night and at 2am I got the call that I was needed. So I rushed on over, they headed to the hospital and low & behold 15 minutes after they got there - Caleb was born!

Hannah & I got to the be their first visitors. She wasn't sure what to think of the little guy and she definitely didn't like me holding him.

Ryan and Debbie with their newest addition!

catching up!

Due to weariness and some camera trouble (luckily both are now resolved), I've been behind in uploading recent pictures. So here they are:

the day after we returned from India, through drowsy eyes, we celebrated my 29th birthday with a delicious cake from Cold Stone Creamery. it was peanut butter playground - my favorite!

that next weekend we traveled to Matt's parents' house and made good use of everything water.

the pool:

the pool toys:

and the water table

Baby Lariam

Many of you have asked me what types of shots Hannah had to get to travel to India. In fact, she had all the shots she needed after her one year old appointment. But she did need to take Malaria medicine - Lariam for those of you who are familiar with this. They don't make it in liquid form (like every other baby medicine). Her prescription was 1/6 of a pill. The pharmacy claimed they could not cut it for me, but recommended I cut it and then mash it up into some food. So here is Hannah taking a dose of Lariam in a spoonful of ice cream (to follow up on a previous blog). She never even noticed. And as for the crazy dreams that often accompany Lariam - I wish I knew...

Shopping in India

and now let the stories begin...

Our first day in India all the ladies on our team went shopping in Chennai for salawar camises. Next to a sarree this is the main type of clothing worn by women in India. I heard it sometimes referred to as a suit. It is esentially a baggy pair of pants, a long tunic, and a scarf (don't forget the scarf, it is a cumbersome but essential part of the outfit - it is honestly scandalous to not wear it). Since the village we were in is still very traditional (i.e. no jeans at all!), all the women set out to purchase 2 or 3 of these outfits to wear for the entirety of our time there. It was quite an experience. We went to a department store of sorts that had floor to ceiling shelves with little plastic bags that contained each outfit. There were male workers behind a counter and we pointed to a bag, they'd take it off the shelf, show us the fabric, print, & price and then we'd point to another plastic bag and we'd repeat the process. I alone probably had the men take 30 bags off the shelf. Times that by the 10 women on our team - by the end of our 45 min. shopping spree there were hundreds of these outfits laid out on the counter. The funniest part - there are no real sizes - just child, teen, adult. This is accomplished by having the largest drawstring waist I've ever seen in a pair of pants - think quadruple the size of maternity pants. It was quite hilarious to put them on. I finally chose 3 a little more expensive, but very stylish outfits - that I was quite happy with.

My mom made the comment later that it was so nice to not worry about having to put together an outfit. They came ready made and we just chose which ones we like! Way less overwhelming than walking into a store here in the States and putting together individual pieces. Maybe we can take a hint from the Indians on this note.

here are my mom and I in our new outfits...

7 years!

7 years ago today, Matt & I were married at Central Presbyterian Church in Merced, CA. Our marriage has been such an adventure. I think the thing that will most mark this past year, is the first year of parenthood culminating in our trip to India.

Here we are on the steps of the cottage we shared with my mom and 5 college women for the 2 weeks we were in India:

As you can tell, Hannah had a great time!

I can't wait to see what the next 7 years hold for our family!

Back Home

We're back at home, but not officially back to ourselves yet. Jet lag is brutal, jet lag with a baby is beyond brutal.

Because I cannot form complete thoughts, I will post a precious picture from our trip.

Here is Hannah in her very cute Indian dress

As more sleep comes, so will the stories and photos... I promise.