frustration at it's best

Warning: I'm about to vent, big time. Reader discretion is advised.

I'm beyond frustrated, about everything....

Start. Rant.

Frustrated:

because for the past 12 months I have been infusing my son with his nurses supervision and rocking at it. 3 months ago, nurse left us (because I was more than capable of doing infusions on my own) and the past dozen times I've tried I CANNOT GET A FREAKIN VEIN! I knew how to do it, and now I don't...how does that happen? Now I have to call nurse once a week and ask her to make the 450 mile round-trip drive to come put a needle in my son(s) because I used to be able to do it and now I can't!

because my laundry is never. ever. ending.

because I wake up 3+ times a night because between the 3 of my kids, they wake up 3+ times a night needing something.

because I can't remember the last time I slept for at least 5 consecutive hours.

because when I don't get more than 8 hrs. of sleep, I'm grumpy and moody. make the conclusion.

because baby #3 did an unspeakable toll on my body and for the love of all things good I cannot get it back to the way it once was.

because my exercise class is doing salsa. I DO NOT do salsa.

because I spend 30 minutes making healthy meals such as steel-cut oats with dried fruit and agave nectar and all my kids want is a poptart.

because I spend 30 minutes making healthy meals such as steel-cut oats with dried fruit and agave nectar and all I want is a poptart.

because my husband is trying very hard to get an MBA (while working beyond full time to provide for the mess of a family he has) and I cannot create a quiet, library-like atmosphere for him to study in at home, so he has to study elsewhere, so we rarely see him, and when we do, he usually has his noise-cancelling headphones on.

because I've come to the conclusion that I'm prone to seasonal depression and I've had enough winter already for crying out loud!

because I don't have time to shower until nap time, at which point I all too often opt to nap (due to lack of 5 hrs. of consecutive sleep), so I almost always stink and rarely put on makeup.

because when I do take the occasional shower, I always have an audience, staring at my oh-so-lovely-post-baby #3-body!

because my kids watch too much TV.

because when I've had enough of too much TV-watching, I take them to the library and am too out-of-it to notice until we get home that 4 of the 5 books my children check out are in Spanish.

So, there you have it, frustration at it's best. Sorry for all the complaints, just keepin' it honest.

End. Rant.

Any parent knows, parenting is no walk in the park. There's a saying that I love and often remind myself of: "the days are long but the years are short." Man, I love these kids. I'm honored that God chose me to be their mama! Sometimes (usually when we've had more than a few trying or difficult moments in our day), I go into their rooms at night, after they're asleep and curl up next to them, kiss them, smell them, just stare at them. I know I won't always have this privilege. It's too precious for words...

surprise package

Today, G got a package in the mail from Auntie A. A while back she was in Nairobi and picked up this little African baby doll for her. G was so excited and can't wiat to take her to school for show-and-tell on Friday. Thanks so much A! We can't wait to see you in a few months!

Adoption Made Hard

Are you interested in adoption? Do you want to know how to make it quick, easy, & painless? Then you have come to the WRONG place!

We knew that we have moved a lot but it wasn’t until we started the paperwork for the adoption that we realized just how many times we have moved. Let’s start with me (Kirk). I left the home I grew up in back in 1997. Since that time I have moved exactly once a year, which equates to 13 TIMES! Try explaining that to the case worker that came to do our home study. Next, let’s examine the whereabouts of my sweet wife over the past decade. Becca left the friendly confines of her parent’s house in 1999. She isn’t near as well travelled as me. She has only moved 11 times.

Not only have we each moved a plethora of times, but our family has lived in 4 different states in 8 years. Consequently, we need 4 different states to do background checks and child abuse checks. Fun stuff! Just filling out the address portion of the various applications takes an entire night for us to do.

Did I mention that our bank doesn’t have a branch within a 200 mile radius of us? You would have thought that with us moving so many times that we would have finally “cut the cord” with Wells Fargo, but that isn’t the case. One of the only things that haven’t changed in the last decade is our BANK, and you need certain managers to sign and verify certain documents. On a positive note, I do have a notary in my office that we have at our disposal which is REALLY helpful.

Also, if you are interested in adopting and you have multiple children it may be wise to wait until they are all sleeping through the night, weaned and potty trained.

In regards to any sort of update, we had our home study last week. The home study included a young lady asking us 6 hours worth of in-depth family and marriage questions. Oh, that brings me to my next piece of advice, if you have a choice when doing your home study; try to have it done in ONE day. Ours was split into two (not by our choice) and so she saw our kids in the evening, which anyone with young kids knows that evenings are when we are NOT at our best as a family! Regardless, we made it through and are now just waiting on my passport (I am only well-traveled within the US) so we can wrap up our dossier.

Needless to say, here's two reason's why it's all worth it. The reminders came at a perfect time. Amos is home! Also, we had the awesome privilege of welcoming home this beautiful baby girl below. Some friends of ours brought her home from Ethiopia this past weekend. She had quite the community gathering and paparazzi waiting for her at the airport. I think we were all crying tears of joy. Welcome home sweet Sosi!

Amos Story

This is an amazing story from an amazing man! The song is called Amos Story. The musician (Aaron Ivey), adopted 2 children from Haiti. Their names happen to be Amos & Story. He and his wife currently have Story, but some political red tape has kept Amos in Haiti. Amos survived the recent earthquake unharmed, and we are praying he will be home soon. I hope you all enjoy this as much as we do. If you like it, he has a new CD out that is also pretty awesome! Both Amos & Story are in the video. Have a blessed week! - The Robbins Nest

baby mamas!

this is too cute..,

help Haiti

Want to help and not sure how? Click here. As I sit here glued to CNN, my stomach is in knots. It's hard to go on with all of the mundane, daily tasks when the damage and devastation is so great in little Haiti and realistically, there's not a lot I can do but pray. They are so poor, seem so helpless and their resources, well, they just don't have much. It's heart-wrenching. And the children, oh, those precious children. Praying they will be comforted and protected. I'm really at a loss for words.

Our little guy is already 6 months! And let me tell you...loving, kissing and squeezing on these sweet cheeks every day, well, it just doesn't get much better than this!!