The Robison Clan

Yesterday was my last day of work.

I had mixed feelings about it.

On one hand I am so excited to be a stay at home mom and take care of my baby girl.

On the other hand I am going to miss the Robison family like crazy!

Thankfully we still live close to each other so I will still see them often.

I have been helping them two months short of two years! It's a major chunk of time and I've seen so much growth from the kids and have learned more than I could have imagined from Katie about being a mom. We went to the park on my last day and had a rare occurrence of being the only ones there. It was fabulous and the kids had a blast.

Alfred aka Freddy

This little boy is such a sweetheart! Although little is not exactly the appropriate word. Giant would be more fitting. At 8 months old this guy is wearing 2T clothes and is a load to carry around! He figured out how to crawl this week and wants to be everywhere now. He can also pull him self to a standing position in his crib (good luck Tim and Katie). He devours his food and longs for the time when he has teeth so he can eat more real food! I love kissing his big cheeks, making him laugh, and getting him to fall asleep in my arms.

Joseph, Joe, Jojo, Josie, or Jophes if you ask him

This guy instantly stole my heart when I first started helping the Robisons and he had just turned 1. I taught him how to go up and down the stairs soon after. He has grown into a very sweet and spunky almost 3 year old (in December). He finally started calling me Layna instead of Neena (not sure where that one came from). He loves his dinosaur knock-knock jokes. 

Knock knock

Who's there?

Dinosaur

Dinosaur who?

Rrrrrooooaaaarrrr!!!!!

He'll learn eventually! He is unbelievably smart and has a mind of his own. We always say 'If he wasn't so cute ... ' because he gets into EVERYTHING! But seriously, look at that face!

Henry or Hal (not Mister, or Buddy, or Dude .... "NO I'm Henry!!")

Henry loves to play and he loves his baby brother. A little too aggressively sometimes but it's hard to control the 5 year old (next week) in that 7 year old body. (OH yeah, all the kids except Nellie are off the charts in height and weight, and she's around the 90 percentile.) He has an infectious laugh and often has something planned for his legos and other toys. When he's in the right mood, Henry is the best helper and kindest big brother and little brother. Being the middle child is rough sometimes, but he takes the role with pleasure and does his best to be the oldest brother.

Nellie, Nell Bell, Bella, Nel or simply my inspiration to be a good mother no matter what

(I had to write about Nellie last, because there is so much I want to share, and she's so special to me I want to make it perfect.)

Nellie has the purest spirit of any 7 year old I have ever known. In the past two years her personality and her abilities have bloomed and exploded from her. I have been reflecting this week on all of the positive strides Nellie has made in her life the past two years. It's mind blowing!

Just to list a few:

-she is talking, often using full sentences, and using more language on her own rather than being prompted

-she sits in a booster seat in my car when I take her to speech

-she walks with me from place to place instead of me holding tightly onto her hand so she doesn't run off

-she listens to directions (most of the time, I mean, she's still a kid!)

-she picks out her own clothes to wear and loves to be in dresses and nightgowns

-she loves to perform! She sings I Am a Child of God, Frosty the Snow Man, and a few other songs while her mom plays the piano and her favorite part is the applause (it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen!)

-she often seeks sensory outlets so she loves to swing, jump, and spin. But my favorite it when she seeks hugs. She'll say hug or squeeze and wraps her arms around me. She gives the best hugs!

-I was overwhelmed listening to Nellie work with her therapist and saying things like "my name is Nellie Robison" and "my mom is Katie". Seemingly simple statements for a 7 year old. But for Nellie, who used to be considered non-verbal, it's heartwarming. 

I love Nellie so much and I can't wait to see what other strides she makes in her life. I anticipate being shocked even more by her abilities now that I won't be seeing her everyday or taking her to speech anymore.

 Our last ride in the car together. She saw my phone and immediately said "I want phone please?" She always knows what she wants, it's a matter of getting her to say it right now. But she certainly knows that phrase!

Like I said, she loves spinning!

Sarah aka Sarry (at least that's what Mitch calls her because she calls him Mitchy!)

The oldest of the gang at 8, Sarah has never ending energy and a deep love for her siblings. She loves to play with Freddy and hold him. She is also very excited to meet my baby girl. Sarah does great in school and is especially good in history and spelling. I have had a lot of opportunities to help her with her math and despite what she thinks she was great at math too. Sarah could do anything she puts her mind to, it's just a matter of pausing to focus on her task. Sarah also loves basketball and being so tall we hope she continues to love it because she will be an all star down the road!

Katie aka My Super Hero and the mother of these five beautiful children

(Photo courtesy of Sarah!)

I can't even list all of the things I have learned from Katie the past two years. If I tried this blog post would go on forever, and it almost has just talking about her kids! Tim and Katie are wonderful, patient, and loving parents. They have both become great friends to Mitch and I, and will remain so for the rest of our lives hopefully.

Thank you Katie.

Thank you for letting me make parenting mistakes with your children.

Thank you for always being patient with me.

Thank you for letting me love your kids as if they were my own.

Thank you for trusting me with your children.

Thank you for being the friend and family I've needed the past two years.