Some of My Family

This is my daddy feeding my baby sister Hope.








This is me teaching my older brother Jason how to fill a Pez dispenser and my little brother Logan patiently waiting for Jason to share.








This is my dear sweet beautiful cousin Jenni.

Banana Cream Pie

I just downloaded my Thanksgiving pictures and wanted to share a few with you. These ones are of Leeann helping my Aunt Pam make some Banana Cream Pie. You'd never know by eating the pie that she licked her fingers everytime she smooshed a piece of banana down into the pudding would you?!?!?

Stuff... Stuff... Stuff

Ah, yet another 4:30 awakening in which I can't get back to bed! I think God has spent this last year showing me that people can, and do, get up at this awful hour and they too, live to see another day!

Well, ready or not baby's coming in just two short days! Where did time go? Leeann seems to sense it, she's being somewhat defiant and acting a bit jealous lately. Still very mild mannered for your average two-year old, but a little out of character for her. I just can't wait for her to meet her new baby brother... I know she's going to be an amazing big sister!

Our car is in the shop... waiting for us to decide what to do with it. The intake plenniar (or something?) is broken so it's not keeping in coolant and water, and the power steering pump is broken. Together this adds up to--well, way more money than we want to spend on a car right now! Just a month or so ago we had to get new brakes on the Nissan which also wasn't a cheap fix. The worst part is that Rob and I have been praying and saving (slowly, but surely) for a mini-van. We have a very strong desire to pay cash for a car, but if we pay for this fix out of our already meager mini-van fund it puts us back just that much further. And such is the way life goes! God is, and always has been very faithful to provide for our needs though.

It seems like He's always been content to give us what we need, but never too much more. Three summers ago we managed a little savings and were feeling pretty confident and sure enough Rob's car broke down and we bought the Buick. Just last year about this time we were feeling pretty stable and then we got the most precious little girl in the whole wide world, and all of the expenses that come along with adoption and caring for a little one! And then we also got pregnant, and now the birthing expenses etc. BUT, God truly has shown us that He will always provide for our needs. God provided the perfect jobs for me to transition to being a stay at home mom. So many people have contributed to the adoption fund & given us random gifts for Leeann at just the perfect time. And if you saw the baby's room right now you would be as overwhelmed as we are with the amount of stuff that we've been given in preparation for Baby's arrival. People are sooo incredibly generous!

Looking back on this year we have so much to be grateful for. I think I could write a couple hundred thank-you notes and barely put a dent in the pile of people that we owe a heartfelt thank-you to. Financially, prayerfully, emotionally, babysitting etc. We have so many great family members, friends and church members who have rallied around us in support. THANK YOU!

Please, take a moment to look back on God's provision for you over the last year. How many times did a check, or a gift, a hand-me-down or even a specific coupon come in the mail just when you needed it? How about that phone call that came at just the right time, or that apology or explanation that you so badly needed to hear came to your attention? How many times did you receive well timed advice or an unexpected encouragement? Look back and those times fondly and remember that God cares for you specifically and He desires for you to spend time with Him. I think God delights in meeting our needs, He just wants us to share them with Him and to rely on Him to be our provider. The best part is, He's up and waiting even at this terrible, terrible hour! Hey, I'm grateful He didn't let me go back to sleep, I think I needed this encouragement more than anyone. Have a great day!

Baby Name Game Hint #22

Hint #22: His name is not mentioned in the book of Acts.

Baby Buhl's Friend, Baby Joel

Stephanie and I had the opportunity to take pictures throughout several stages of our pregnancy. However, we missed the 9 month stage because baby Joel was inpatient and had to come 6 weeks early! So, we decided to improvise and you are seeing the results. Here are Baby Buhl and Baby Joel's "9-month" pictures.

Joel is up to 4 pounds and 8 ounces! He's gaining weight consistently and doing very well. Hopefully he'll get to come home in the next week or two until his heart surgery at 3-6 months. Please continue to pray for Baby Joel as he's doing so much better but still has a long road ahead of him. When they bring him home they can't take him out anywhere such as church, stores, around other kids etc. until flu season is over. So our babies probably won't get to meet until sometime this Spring, but I'm confident that they are going to be great friends!

Baby Name Game Hint #21

Hint #21: His name has never been on the top 100 list of boys names as far back as I could find.

(i.e. It's a unique name)

All of this Speculating and no Bling?$?$?$?

A mini reminder that for a mere $5 (toward his college fund--a good cause!) any guess may be confirmed or denied. Once this information is purchased you may share that information with anyone else in your household but you may not let it leak any farther and you absolutely may not post such knowledge on the blog :0)

For an extra $5 we'll even supply the middle name!

I had my last doctor's appointment today and Baby Buhl is still head up, so everything is a go for Friday. We'll be up at the hospital about 10ish though surgery doesn't start until 12:30 or 1:00. We will do one last confirmation that he's still breech just before surgery, but every day that passes makes that less and less likely. It's hard to believe that the birth of our baby is just a few short days away! Time FLIES! In the mean time we continue to do last minute cleaning, shopping and baby preparations. Leeann and I got haircuts today and the family will get pictures done tomorrow. The car is going in the shop because it's having some issues. I think it needs a doctor worse than I do! We earnestly pray that it's a quick, easy and cheap fix whatever it is!

My doctor speculates that the baby is between 7 and 7.5 pounds right now. I speculate that I should go take the sheets out of the dryer and put them on my bed before the 7 pound baby and I both fall asleep which I imagine will be very shortly. We're simply pooped, it's been a long day!

Feeling Big and Getting Bigger!

So, getting dressed this late in the game is quite a chore I tell ya! My clothes that all fit just a short week ago are now making me feel like a college grad trying to fit into her middle school jeans and such. Oh well, such is life! Rob and I have our last Doctor's appointment this evening, I'll let you know how it goes. It's hard to believe this time is coming up on us so fast! I got some more work done in the baby's room last night and I keep ticking stuff off of my to-do list. Eroica and I are going to exchange some stuff at Target today and pick up some of the necessary essentials left on our list. Lot's to do, little time... but we're almost done! Rob reminds me of that constantly... just a few more days, just a few more days! I'm headed out for the day so you'll have to finish the comment war without me...

Love,
Robyn

Anxiously Awaiting GPB's Next Guess...

Baby Name Game Hint #20

Hint#20: His name begins with a letter that comes after “M” in the alphabet.

Baby Name Game Hint #19

Hint #19: His name is not Timothy (sorry Grandpa!)

Okay, people got stuck on Timothy too fast. It has been our intention all along to narrow down the clues to include Timothy as a possible answer. However, the game stopped being as fun as it could be so we have written out new clues for the 5 remaining days until baby comes. Good luck!

World War III

World War III has been occurring in my tummy all night. Oh no, not those "I'm ready to come out" kind of wars, but those "uh-oh, I'm right-side up and I'm supposed to be upside-down" kind of wars. "Maybe I'll try to get up-side down?" Sure, good in theory that he's finally trying to flip but it's a little too late for that one. This 6+ pound baby in my tummy has no room to be doing somersaults this late in the game. He really should have thought about this a couple of weeks ago when he might have still had some room to turn! So, in the meantime my right rib feels more bruised than ever and I had a terrible nights sleep. I can literally feel him move his little bottom up underneath my right rib then get stuck. Right now he's laying sideways virtually, but his head still hasn't moved from it's original position. Somebody ought to tell him that if he has any chance of flipping his head has to move first.

I tried to appease him with some Cocoa Pebbles, a peace-offering, we'll see if that gets my day off to a better start than my night. I was tossing and turning in bed and decided I ought to get up--there's no use in us both having a terrible nights sleep, (me and Rob, not me and the baby--the baby doesn't seem to sleep much at night). Anyway, I had a bad dream that Rob robbed a bi-mart, and he only got $30 out of the deal. I screamed at him all of the way home because now he was going to get arrested and I was going to have to go to the hospital all by myself and take care of the kids and he would lose his job etc. I even told him that the worse part is that his conscience isn't going to let him keep it anyway and I knew he'd turn himself in even if he didn't get caught. So I woke Rob up to tell him this news this morning and all he said to me is, "You know I'd give it back." He didn't reassure me that he'd never do it, only that he'd give it back!

Today will be my last Sunday at church with only one child. I have a hard enough time getting up and ready on time when I'm just caring for two of us, I can't imagine a third. This is where a Saturday night service would come in very handy! I'll have to do a better job in the future of laying out clothes and maybe even breakfast in advance. It's so hard to believe that in less than a week I will really get to meet my little boy. Time flies! I'm so excited!

I think the thing I'm most excited about is for Leeann to meet her little brother. This has been a long anticipated event that has spanned the last 1/3 of her little life. It will drastically change the dynamics of our family, but it's going to make it so much fun! She's been extra excited about her babies lately, constantly feeding them and putting them to sleep and holding them. I know that she knows, I just don't know how well she actually understands that this baby in mommy's tummy is coming out very soon and will come to live with us. As much as I am excitedly anticipating the birth of our boy, I'm most excited about Leeann getting to come into the room and us spending our first few minutes together as a family. We're pretty sure that this is the end of the road for building our family. A family of four seems to be a good fit for us right now. This, of course, is subject to change down the road... but for now the future holds just the four of us.

Well, I suppose it's late enough now that I might even be able to sneak in a shower before Rob wakes up... who knows, maybe I'll get to church on time? Even better, maybe I'll have time to stop by Steamers for a blended chocolate milk with gooey caramel... yum! Okay, that's pushing it... I'll aim for just getting there on time today.

I hope your day is wonderful today, whoever you are. I'm not convinced my blog gets read on the weekends, so I could very well be simply talking to myself. That's okay, I'm sure I'll enjoy reading over these someday. I was never very good about journaling, but I'm actually doing a decent job of keeping up on this one so far. Okay, really, I'm going now...

Less than a Week!

Today we spent the day doing some grocery shopping, sweeping and mopping some floors, doing some general home maintenance etc. I'm trying very hard to whittle down my to-do before baby comes list, but I can't help but to continue finding more things to add to it! Grocery shopping and floors were on the top of my list, so I'm glad to have those out of the way.

Last night Rob, Leeann and I pulled out some foam mats along with a plethora of blankets and pillows and had a family movie night on the floor of our living room. We watched the movie Robots which was quite funny actually. Leeann gets so excited when daddy pulls out all the blankets and pillows... she has way too much fun jumping around and playing on them!

We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow and Leeann is down for the evening so I'm going to go now and see if I can't whittle a few more things off of my list.

Baby Name Game Update as of November 26th

If you are new to the game, or just need a little refresher without scrolling through tons of pointless ranting (I know you check my blog only so you can try to be the first one to figure out his name...) Here are the first 18 hints all in one convenient post:

Hint # 1: His name can be found in the Bible (yeah, I know, that really narrows it down doesn't it? Come on, it's still early in the game)!

Hint #2 He is not named after anyone in our immediate or extended families... that we are aware of anyway!

Hint #3: His name may be shortned to form a nickname. We have not yet decided however, if we will call him by his nickname. Our intention is to use his full first name, at least for a while!

Hint #4: For all you Veggie Tale Fans--He has never been played by a Veggie Tales character (at least I'm pretty sure of this).

Hint #5: His name cannot be found in any of the first 5 books of the Bible.

Hint #6: His name starts with a consonant.

Hint #7: He does not share a name with a Biblical Prophet.

Hint #8: His name cannot be found in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Hint #9: His name appears in more than one book of the Bible.

Hint #10: There are fewer than 8 letters in his name.

Hint #11: His name appears in at least 3 books of the Bible.

Hint #12: His name can be found in the New Testament.

Hint #13: His name contains at least 2 different vowels.

Hint #14: He does not share a name with that of an apostle.

Hint #15: His name cannot be found in the last 5 books of the Bible.

Hint #16: He never spoke to Jesus in person.

Hint # 17: His name does not appear in any of the Gospels.

Hint #18: His name does not appear at all in the Old Testament.

Baby Name Game Hint #18

Hint #18: His name does not appear at all in the Old Testament.

(I had mentioned in an earlier post that it was in the New Testament, but could have possibly been quoted from the OT... well, it's not... just in case you were wondering)

Baby Name Game Hint #17

Hint # 17: His name does not appear in any of the Gospels.

(Matthew, Mark, Luke or John)

Which leaves out Zaccheus, the wee little man. I'm surprised that nobody tried to run with that one. Wouldn't that have just been a funny name for our kid???

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm stuffed. That's all there is to it! Rob, Leeann and I are hanging out with my family in St. Helens today eating and eating and eating some more! My goodness I ate a lot. I''m partially thinking that baby's going to come today, there isn't any room left for him in my tummy! We ate at 1, and I think they're beginning to pull out round two... it's only 3! Thanksgiving with my family is always lots of fun. Ah, memories! I can't write long because I'm here among family right now and I don't get that chance very often. At some point this weekend I'll reflect on everything I'm thankful for...

Baby Name Game Hint #16

Hint #16: He never spoke to Jesus in person.

Baby Name Game Hint #15

Hint #15: His name cannot be found in the last 5 books of the Bible.

(1st, 2nd, 3rd John, Jude, or Revelation)

Baby Name Game Hint #14

Hint #14: He does not share a name with that of an apostle.

An apostle is one of the 12 that Jesus walked with and taught, and spent time with on a regular basis.