Not My plan,.. but the Lords!

Well this is ALWAYS how my life works!!! Every single time!!! I knew AS SOON AS I POSTED MY LAST BLOG SOMETHING LIKE THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!

I will be the first to admit,.. I am a total planner! I am sure that's not to different than most people but I am a little extreme! As soon as we knew Peter was accepted into BYU's MaAcc program,.. I have been keeping my eye on homes in Centerville, I know,.. I am weird!

WELL,.. in relation to my last post, forget everything!

Peter got a job and it isn't at all what we were thinking,.. it's even better! We wanted to be in Centerville, and so Peter was going to get a job that would pay the bills, but not be exactly what he wants. Well he received an unexpected job offer on Friday. At,..

You have probably never heard of it. I know,.. it's a little random, Defiantly NOT the Top 5 Accounting Firms or anything like it. It is a fairly small(as of now) company in Provo(currently, moving soon). They have created software for people who live in Apartment Complexes or rent property, can pay their rent online with check or credit card and also the Management of these Rental communities can manage their residents better,.. people can submit maintenance issues via website, and if you are in the market to move they have nice websites set up for people to shop around!!

This company is in the top 20 fastest growing businesses in the state of Utah, and are expected to be in the top 15 next year and top 5, the year after that.

Peter's undergrad is in Entrepreneurship (masters in Accounting). Being able to jump in a business that has such amazing growth potential is SOOOOO exciting for him. He is just JUMPING inside with excitement. This is his dream job! He loves accounting but not so much the Tax and Audit part, more the small company financial development part.

I heard the guy that stared this company is the founder of

It's also a pretty awesome company. The same guy recently started an Outsourcing company in India. Basically if you need a website created or, software programing done, you can hire someone in India to do it for a LOT less,.. but they keep all of their customer support here in the US! I know awesome right! Here is a picture of this crazy guy who starts all of these companies!
He is actually the guy on the Left. You know,.. he looks an awful lot like this guy,...
This is my CRAZY brother Dave. This is him at his 30th Birthday. Next to my husband, he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I am not going to say too much, or I will be bawling here in a second but it is true,.. this man and the crazy man that started these businesses are one in the same!!! My brother is just Amazing. We are all very excited about his success and know that the amount of time and energy he has put into these companies is defiantly showing. And his loyalty to his friends and family has had a huge impact on his company too. The two other guys in the picture with him are his best friends from growing up. They are all amazing and I just can't say enough about each of them. I love going to bed at night not only knowing that Peter has a job, but he is working beside EXCEPTIONAL men,.. ones that I have always looked up to.

So as the cliche blog goes,... I am SOOO proud(not prideful) of my husband!! All of your hard work has really paid off. Good job Peter,.. I love you Babe!! Thank you for all of your time and effort to support your family and make our lives more secure!! Thank you all for listening to this ridiculously long post!

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes,..

But I am wide awake!! I have spent ALL day,.. and by that I mean ALL day on the computer, day dreaming! With the new semester starting and Fall and Winter fast on it's way, I think that a little bit of depression has set in knowing that summer is pretty much over and my days of having a slight tan are numbered!

As most of you know,.. Peter will be done with his Masters in Accounting this fall. And that means moving on to bigger and better things! It's been really fun to think back on all of our adventures here in the good ole' Provo, and we LOVE our ward and are VERY grateful to Peter's Parents for letting us live in the Condo I don't know how we would have survived. I am even grateful for the couches they let us sit on,.. even if Peter tells people I'm not grateful for them.

I have to admit though,.. I can't get the thought of moving into a HOUSE and decorating it, out of my head. I know,.. I am jumping the gun a little but I am so excited, I could pee,.. because I usually do that if I exert too much energy,.. like typing! ;)

As of now, we will be moving to Centerville(hopefully that won't change). I have been looking at homes for sale there for over a year now, but have just recently admitted that to Peter. I found my dream home there, but we can't do anything about actually buying the house until Peter has a job. So until then, I will just dream of living that home. I REALLY did have a dream about it last night. I had a dream that we had Thanksgiving and Christmas there and it was picture perfect. Which if you know me,.. nothing can be done picture perfect, unless it's making babies cause lets face it,.. Bailey is a stinkin cutie pie!

I have a tendency to be VERY indecisive, it drives Peter crazy. So right now I can't decide on the type of bed I like. Example,.. I LOVE all of these beds. I have pretty much narrowed it down to only wanting a dark stain bed, but I Do love black too. Tell me which one is your favorite,.. maybe that will help!?

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

Option #4

Option #5

Option #6

Option #7

I think I am leaning towards option #7! but I want Leopard print bedding instead!

Speaking of bedding,.. I am in the market for red bedding,.. I haven't found ANYTHING I like for a really long time. So let me know if you have a secret!!!

It's Wiggle Time!

So,.. Bailey has never really been into watching T.V. Which I was VERY happy about until about a month ago. Bailey is my little shadow. She follows me around all day long and I LOVE IT!! It makes me feel like I just have such a good little helper, and let's face it,.. she is 100% a daddy's girl, so when she wants to be with me I am not going to complain,........... unless,........ her helping has become more of a hindrance than a help. When I am doing the laundry she LOVES to grab the shirt at the bottom and pull it out and then continue to mess everything up, in a very crazy and insane, arms flying, bulged out eyes, and sometimes foaming from the mouth ;). She also loves to help me get ready in the morning and pull everything out of my drawer,.. I still can't find my hair brush! So I have been looking for something to entertain her just while I get ready and sometimes when I am trying to cook dinner. Baby Einstein just doesn't quite cut it anymore.

Peter is a saint and usually lets me sleep in on Saturday and Sunday. So he gets up with Bailey, takes her to the living room, and falls asleep while she plays with her toys. Well she has figured out how to climb out of the blockade we used to have so we had to figure something out and Daddy's turned on the Disney Channel. After a 30 min nap Peter was SHOCKED that she hadn't climbed up on the couch and shove her fingers up his nose and he realized she was FASCINATED by,.. Yes,.. The Wiggles. Bailey LOVES the Wiggles,.. She sits in her bean bag and doesn't budge an inch the entire half hour. So,.. I also LOVE the Wiggles. I can now Shower and usually get my makeup done before she finds me and attempts to help me get ready! I don't really love to let the T.V. babysit her but I am glad that I found something that will help when desperate measures call!!

I know they are totally gay! Especially Jeff(Purple Shirt!)

The down side,... I CAN'T GET THEIR SONGS OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!! The other morning when Peter woke me up, I sat up and starting singing about the nice Pirate, Captain Feather Sword and his ship, the SS Feather Sword! I know right?!? Then there is the Hot Potato, Cold Spaghetti, and Mashed Bananas Song,.. It kills me! I guess we are finally at the stage of just Disney Channel if the T.V. is on. Oh well,.. That's what Tivo is for, Oprah and Dr. Phil will have to wait until bed time or nap time!

Oh Those Summer Days!

So it's official,.. I, Amanda Marie Bateman Robbins, from this day forward vow, to me, to my family, to my dear friends and fellow bloggers, that I will never utter a word of sadness toward having a boring life!!! Although this summer has been SOO much fun, it has been all TOO jammed packed with events. With every event that came and went, we did have lots of fun, don't get me wrong, but I am done! (actually I'm not!) I am done with going, going, going, going, I am NOT, I repeat, Am NOT the energizer bunny. I am human and I will admit when I have had too much, and that is now, (actually I had it about a week ago) Starting with a big trip alone to New York the end of June and we haven't stopped since then. 4 trips to Bear Lake, too many trips to Centerville to count, 2 trips to Logan, 1 trip to SpringHaven, 2 Dr's Appointments, A family reunion planned and executed by yours truly, and my sister and her 6 little ones staying at my place[which if you know the size you would know that there should be no earthly way to fit 7 kids(mine included) and 3 adults in it for a week (and we all lived! it was close though!)] Bailey has DEFINITELY had it.

So anyway, there it is,.. in words! Here are some pictured Highlights of the last month!(has it really only been a month!????)

We had my cute 12 year old nephew for one day. He is from Wyoming and LOVES to hunt and fish and all that cowboy stuff,.. so naturally he died and went to heaven when we took him to Cabela's!!
Bailey has decided that the nook of her arm is a wonderful place to carry things with straps (ie the little camera bag and this bucket!) We LOVE bear Lake!!

SO Peter's Grandma is wonderful and allowed us a few days at the cabin at Bear Lake with my family. My sister and her kids are here from New York and so we invited them up with us. Well the night we got there we sat around and waited for the rain to go away,.. and it didn't,.. so the fire pit was a bust for dinner. So instead we decided to order an Old Ephraim Pizza in Garden City(that's about 10 miles from the cabin-that will be important information later in the story!) If you have never had an Old Ephraim pizza you are missin out!! It is about 3 feet in diameter and has about 20 slices! Its really fun to order and eat! So Bailey was getting tired so we left to go back to the cabin in our car, and my sister, her kids and my mom all went in the mini shaggin wagon(minivan, barf!) -no offence if you own one, just not my cup of tea!- We get back the cabin around 8 and are playing games, laughin, watchin movies, sayin FAMILY prayer, and just having a Grand ole time! Well right at 10 Peter comes in and says, "Hey babe have you seen Ammon lately?" I sat there and thought,.. well no,.. but I haven't been looking for him! (he is my 12 yr old nephew) So we asked his brothers, and they hadn't seen him, and so I asked my sister -the mom- and she was like, we he buckled Reina in, and Dax says from across the room,.. actually mom, I buckled her in. I looked at Peter and we both booked it out the door! We had forgotten Ammon at the Pizza place over 2 hours earlier!! So Peter and I drive as fast as we could back to the restaurant,.. we get there just as they are putting up the chairs to close for the night. I walk in, no platinum blonde in sight! So I give the people at the pizza place my number and said, if you see him,.. please call me! So we leave, call the cops, go to all 2 gas stations and ice cream places in Garden City and see if they had seen him, and with no luck we drove back the cabin FREAKING OUT!!! Well by the time we got there, I get a phone call,.. one of the girls from the pizza place saw Ammon walking while she was driving home. He made it more than half way. Poor kid was trying to WALK back to the cabin which he didn't know where it was located,.. and he was BAWLING!! I love my sister, but I was so glad it wasn't me that left my kid!

All of the Robbins Cousins at Johnny's Birthday!
We are in charge of our Ward Activities and we had a Ward Bonananaza,.. its like a Bonanza but it was Banana Sundays!,.......Bonananaza! I know, I crack my self up!

Besties Cousins!

Bailey has decided that if it's not a onesie it can be lifted and people laugh! It is especially funny in the middle of Sacrament!

Bailey is also VERY good at throwing temper tantrums! Example: Poor Grandma and Grandpa Robbins!
Ahhhhhhh,.. that is me breathing easier now that we sold Peter's motorcycle! It was a sad day for us all,.. but a good decision for our family! He will have another one someday! But Peter had the hardest time with it,.. so I made him a cake! I also helped get me out of the dog house for a not so nice comment earlier that day! I love you babe!
Bateman Family Reunion=I am a bad photographer! Robbins Family Reunion(kinda) Rachel=Awesome Photographer!
My sister and her kids moved to Utah and I am really excited to have them close!
And I know it's a shocker but the ole Spaghetti Bowl I call a brain needs wound up, so I am going to take a class or two this fall and see if I can get the wires attached again! Things are pretty rusty up there!!

So All in all,.. it has been super busy,.. but we will always remember this CRAZY summer!!

Gahhh!

Okay, so this may end up being a ranting a raving post but I am angry.

So today I went to the mall. A good family friend was here this week for a soccer camp at the Y and we went shopping before she left. After all she is from Montana and there isn't good shopping there!! (I usually feel weird saying that, but really,.. there are a few states that really have been forgotten about!) So She is cute and skinny, and 17, and we have a difference in taste, so I went to a few stores that I normally would never stop and wander around in. Well we got the mall a little early and had to wait a little while for the stores to open. (that's how boring my house is!) Bailey was being a beast of the most un-natural kind (which may also have added to my anger) I look over at this little store called 5-7-9. Well I don't really care that they only carry size 5, 7, and 9! Really,.. I don't care! I can embrace my chubby!! I took a little closer look at the window and it says.

We (only) carry size Extra Small, Small and Medium

COME ON!!!!!!! I might wear a size 10, but if you don't want my business put that on your window!!! Not only that but a sign hanging in the window says,..

" Where Medium is the new Large"

Talk about a punch in my chubby face. I understand, Not every store can be a big and tall store,.. and I am fine with that,.. but I am not Tall,.. and I am CERTAINLY not BIG! Maybe I have REVERSE Body Dismorphic Disorder and I am Larger than what I see in the Mirror, but since when did a size 10 become abnormally large and (in my opinion in this case) discriminated against almost.

I admit I may be over reacting, but I can't even tell you how mad it made me. Why don't they just post a sign in front of the door that says,..

"If you are bigger than a medium, please don't come in here,.. we would hate for our clothing to be seen on "fat" people". GAHHHHHHH!!

They did have cute shoes,.. but I won't give them my money!! ( I don't really have any to give them,.. but IF I did!!!)

As for what is new IN the Robbins house hold,..

Bailey sleeping, or lack of sleeping is getting to the best of me. She has decided that it's cool to sleep in Mom and Dad's bed and wakes up EVERY HOUR (infants don't even do that!) and cries, and I don't usually give in until about 4:30a.m. So If you have suggestions that don't include a muzzle(yes I have considered it!) PLEASE share. Right now I feel like I am just starving her and she is just waking up to eat. Last night she downed 30 ounces(I think,.. I lost track after filling her bottle 2 times but I am pretty sure it happened one more time) of milk. She deffinatly doesn't LOOK like she is going with out(she also can't shop at 5-7-9)

We have just been going, going, going, going, having company and going some more. I am ALMOST to the end of my rope with going. I am sure that a lack of sleep isn't helping my attitude about it all. 2 more weekends at Bear Lake(2 down) 1 weekend at SpringHaven and I am sure other things that I can't remember at the moment.

Thanks for listening to my ranting and raving. I hope you all still have your sanity, because I am pretty sure that have lost mine!!!

I feel like I always have to add pictures so here are Bailey's 1 year pictures. Thanks Rachel. My sister-in-law takes Bailey's pictures and they are ALWAYS so amazing! I can't thank her enough!!

Let Freedom Ring!

Everyone else was posting their 4th of July events, and so I must follow the movement! I'm kidding, I have been meaning to all week, but a series of unfortunate events has meant not much time for it all! So anyway here is the story!

We started our adventurous weekend on Thursday afternoon. After being stuck in YUCK traffic for 2 hours in Salt Lake we FINALLY made it to Centerville. They had their fireworks that night and it was really fun. Not the most amazing show I have ever witnessed but nothing really compares to the 4th at Mount Rushmore, or Stadium or Fire(even from across the street! who really wants to listen to Miley Cyrus anyway!?) Bailey was interested in the Fireworks for the first 10 minutes, MAYBE and then wanted to run over to this group of little boys and kiss them!

So then on Friday(the 4th) we woke up and went to the Centerville Parade. It was pretty neat. Peter wasn't super stoked to go, but I wanted Bailey to be able to go, even though she didn't care for it whatsoever! I was entertained!

As soon as the Parade was over we hit the road to enjoy a weekend of Allergies, I mean fun!! Peter's Grandma is SOO cute and fun. Every year she throws a Birthday Bash with a different theme. It's her way of being able to celebrate all of her kids, grand kids, and great grand kids birthdays. They have a little cabin right on the shore of Bear Lake, and that's where it is every year the weekend of or after 4th of July. This years theme was Circus.

Peter INSISTED on being an Angry Clown, and was about to have a panic attack when I joked that I wasn't painting his face to be so. I love that the older kids even go all out for it!

Like mother, Like Son. This is Peter's Aunt(above) and Cousin Riley(below) Kay is HILARIOUS!!! I love the chest hair, but the uni-brow has to be my favorite! Hahahaha,.. I can't stop laughing!

Oh Riley, This is SO Riley! He actually wore these shorts for a weekend at Lake Powell with a bunch of friends. I know, it's disturbing, but I had to post it!

Not only is the Birthday Bash loads of fun, but the Lake is right there too, and when you have your cousins with you, it's like a big bag of what I like to call Insta-Fun!

Bailey, this is how you put on Sunscreen! You gotta get the end of your nose, don't forget!

Bear Lake, and the 4th were so fun! We ended up cutting it a few hours short because I wasn't feeling too great but when we left, we were tired from all of the fun! So tired, we could have fallen asleep in freezing cold water in a floatie tube like this!

Need a DP for this one!

So this will probably be a marathon post so if you need to go to the bathroom, get a drink, maybe lunch I suggest doing that now, I just ran a got a DP (Dr. Pepper, it was perscription!) I am kidding, I don't think it will be that long, unlees I keep babbling on and on about nothing like I am currently doing!?

So Bailey and I returned form our trip to New York to visit the Gerber clan(my sister Deb) It was a LONG plane ride there but we both survived sitting in a seat for 4 1/2 hours and not taking any running breaks. I didn't really like the idea of Bailey running around a plane incase of unexpected turbulance. With my luck she would have fallen and cracked her head open and then where would we be? The reason for the trip was for Perrin's Graduation from High School! Shout out Perrin!

We decided to take this really cool boat ride along the St. Laurence River up into Canada to tour the "Thousand Islands". -yes like the salad dressing!- So all of these freaky-deekie rich people buy these islands and build their summer homes on them. One man decided to build a home for his wife. He loved her so much that he blasted out pieces of the island to make it in a heart shape and the decided to carry the heart theme throughout the home, Castle more like. Here are some pictures

Play House Dining Room

Ball Room>>>>

So on the Boat ride, this cute Grandma really took a liking to Bailey and she wanted to hold her. Bailey was being BEAST and I was trying to get her to go to sleep but I guess she wanted to take a crack at it and at that point, I would have done anything! So Bailey was having a BLAST playing with the buttons on her shirt and before we knew it, she was asleep! So,.. Thank you Grandma that we never asked your name! You were very cute with your ear plugs and all!

This little house with just enough extra water around it for a lawn chair is the "mother-in-law quarters!" I die laughing every time I think about this! And the mother in law quarters is for the husbands mother-in-law so it would be my mom! Sorry mom!

So then here is the rest of the story, about a year before the home(castle) was completed his wife died of pneumonia (at the age of 43) and he had all construction stopped and he personally vowed to never step foot on the island again, and made his children promise to never return or complete the home until after his death. (He was the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan) So He live to be like 87 or something like that, and after he died his kids never finished it either. So YEARS later the property was sold to the Historic Restoration people and they have gone in and tried to restore it. So it was really cool to walk through it.

This is Gabe blowing bubbles for Bailey, She loved that too!

On Saturday before we left we threw my sister in law Alicia a baby shower, She was due on July 7th. I decided to get creative and copy an idea that I have seen before and make this Fruit Basket. It didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to, but I have ideas for next time!

Alicia had the baby on Monday! Little Lilly, I haven't met her yet, But I am excited to!! So their brood of 4 is now 5!

And Finally Our trip home! Bailey did MUCH better on the way home which after a long trip away from Peter and being on my own, it was a huge relief to not have to wrestle her for 4 1/2 hours! We flew in ON Bailey's Birthday so when Peter came to get us, he brought presents! I ordered Squeaker shoes FOREVER ago and they finally came when I was gone, and we also got Bailey a forward facing car seat! It was so great! She LOVED IT! We needed to stop at Costco and we decided not to put Bailey in a cart and let her break in her new shoes. She was SO funny about it! She would run a few steps, stop and bend over to play with her shoes and stand up with a HUGE smile on her face and keep running! It was really cute!

Peter's Mom and Dad get to come home after a long 4 years of serving in Argentina. They also flew in that night and so we stuck around to celebrate! With it being Bailey's First Birthday, Jan and Lynn coming home, and Dave and Rachel(Peter's sister) finished renovating their new house, we cracked out some good ole' Marie Calender pies and Ice Cream and had a feast!

I think Lynn was pretty happy that Bailey was letting him feed her because last time they came home for a visit, Bailey didn't really want anything to do with him. But she decided VERY quickly this time that she really loved him! I don't think that the pie had anything to do with it!?

We are going to have a bigger actual birthday party with Balloons, and streamers and her own cake later in the month so that my mom and dad can be there. So expect much more to come! Summer is always FILLED with fun events and Bailey is just getting bigger and smarter every day!