baby shower with friends

My best friends came into KC last weekend to throw me a baby shower.  Each of them made sacrifices to be there; Polly came with her two week old little girl from Columbia, Sara flew with her 11 month old from Minnesota, Mary Kate flew in from Chicago, and Carly (who is pregnant with twins) drove in from St. Louis.  I so appreciated the sacrifices they made not only to be in KC but to host a shower for me.  They're such great friends; I'm so blessed to have them in my life.

This is Tom with Sara's little girl, Lakin, the night before the shower.  Lakin's birthday is on July 26th so there's a chance Little Meyer and Lakin could share the same bday! 

Polly just had Adelyn two weeks ago! Both mom and baby are looking great!!! 

 Here's Sara (mother of Lakin) holding Adelyn. 

 Adelyn and Little Meyer (kind of) during the pre-shower festivities. 

 Me practicing how to hang out with an infant. 

 Shower time! The theme was a "Little Man Shower" so everyone got to wear bow ties that Polly made! 

Carly and MK rocking the bow ties. 

We were blessed with so many great gifts.  This was a quilt made by my mom's friend Jan.  It was super impressive! 

 The Kiser's drove in from Columbia (sorry I missed you in this pic Emily!).

My brother's girlfriend, Jen, and her mom. 

My babysitter when I was little, Bibi! 

My friend from high school, Julia, drove from Oklahoma for the shower (and made some great burp clothes too!).  

 And last but not least, my mom and I.  

Like I said earlier, this shower was such a blessing.  Not only was it great to start getting things we need for our Little Man, it was far greater to spend time with the people that came to the shower.  I can't say thank you enough to everyone that came! 

garage sales

One of our favorite things to do on the weekends is to check out garage sales.  This summer we've been on the prowl for deals on baby items.  We've struck out quite a bit because most of the sales we go to only have little girl items, but this past weekend we were able to overcome the gender barrier and scored some pretty cute gems.  One of the more notable items we scored was this little Chiefs jacket that we got fo $.50!  The size is 18 months, but we figured for that kind of price it was worth nabbing and hanging onto it until our little guy is big enough to wear it.  (Tom just happend to be wearing his own Chiefs shirt when he modeled the jacket!)

 We also found a little tech-vest from Baby Gap.  Tom and I wear tech-vests all the time in the fall/spring, so now we can match as a family (matching is a very Korean thing to do).

 We found a lot of little onesies and other outfits as well.

 Here is our stack of goods.

We were also really pumped to find this Leap Frog table for $5! Tom cleaned it all up and it looks like new.  

We received instant gratification in getting this little table when my friend Sara's girl, Lakin, came over and enjoyed playing with it.

We were also blessed this weekend with a great baby shower thrown by a few of my friends (more to come on this later).  As we accumulate more and more things it's becoming very real that our little man will be here soon! 

라 버 트 슨

As we blogged about in our mini-series "My Dad is in Korea," my Dad came to Korea in March to check out the country and get a glimpse of our Asian lives.  He loved his time in Korea so much that he came home and had this cool garden stone made.  It's my family's last name, Robertson, written in Korean (and obviously English too). It's a nice little dash of Korea in the middle of a Missouri garden. It is for sure the only one like it on the block, and I think it's pretty cool!

flood

Recently Bonnie and I visited Parkville, Missouri which is a little town that is essentially part of Kansas City. It is situated right in the Missouri River. It is a really pretty and quaint town with some cool shops and restaurants. If you live outside of the midwest you may not have heard but the Missouri River is causing some major flooding from the Dakotas all the way down to Missouri. Parkville is bracing for its turn. The pictures below are sandbag levies the town has put in place to hopefully hold back the flood waters if and when they come.

We visited several stores while we were in Parkville and one of them took special care to highlight where the infamous flood of 1993 crested.

This shops was actually a little ways up a hill. You can see it circled in yellow in this photo from 93.

It was staggering to see how high the water got and we hope that they are spared this summer.

Summer Life

We get asked quite a bit what we've been up to this summer, and we must admit that this summer is so different from the past few we had. Three years ago we were packing up our duplex and preparing to move to Korea. Two years ago we traveled for three weeks through Korea, China, and Vietnam. Last summer was our epic adventure to Europe for three weeks with friends. And this summer....well, it will begin a new sort of adventure when we have our little one but for now it's a lot of laying low and being "grounded" in one place. The first two weeks of our slower paced life were filled with seeing people, going to appointments, and getting caught up on things that we can only do in the States. Now we're kind of scrambling for things to do and a routine. Don't get us wrong, we're thankful for a generous summer break, but it is a big adjustment to go from a pretty demanding job to stillness. So here are a few things that have become part of our summer routine.

1. Being outside as much as possible, especially on days like today that are unseasonably cool for Missouri (seriously, I can't remember the last time it was in the 70's in the middle of summer). This picture is from a quaint little area called Parkville where Tom and I went for a stroll.

2. We've done A LOT of finding coffee shops, getting decaf beverages, and reading.

3. And of course we're trying to do some baby prepping. Check out these cool MU pacifiers we scored today!!!

Tonight we attended a "newborn care class." We even had to practice on a fake doll! Kind of cheesey, but helpful. Here's Tom practicing the "swaddle diaper technique" and me after successfully swaddling our fake baby.

If you find yourself around the Kansas City area give us a holla! We'd love to see more people and continue to get out and about.

It's a rough life...

It's a rough life being Hank Meyer-Robertson.

what we've been up to

Since returning to Kansas City Tom and I have been scratching things off our "to do" list, especially in regards to all things baby. One of the first objectives on Tom's list was to take advantage of the expectant mother parking any where possible.

We also had a doctor's visit with my American doctor that went really well. It was so much more laid back than my Korean doctor visits, which was a nice change of pace for us! The baby and I both appear to be doing well. Tom and I also attended an all day birthing class last Saturday. OH MAN...it was INTENSE. It made this whole process of having a baby and going through labor/delivery a bit more real.

I think some of the posters at the class were a bit outdated. This picture was especially funny to me: Leotard outfit for labor....check.

Even though I'm poking fun at the posters, the class was helpful and gave us a realistic idea of what to expect. Outside of catching up on baby things, we've enjoyed spending time with family. We've gotten to spend time with all of our grandparents, which was great. Here's a picture of my brother and I with my "Papa." He's so excited to become a Great-Grandpa when Little Meyer comes.

After being in KC for a while, Tom and I headed back to the Columbia area for a quick 24 hour trip. It all started with a FANTASTIC trip to Central Dairy, which is a classic ice cream parlor in Jeff City, MO.

Not only is Central Dairy incredibly tasty, it's also super cheap. Tom is holding a "small" one scoop in each hand. This "small" is not only really big, it was also only $2! Now that is a steal of a deal!

Next we headed to the Fitzpatricks' house to swim, eat, and sleep. For one summer in college Tom lived with the Fitzpatricks and was Dane Fitzpatricks' Young Life Leader. Tom became really close to the whole family and we even had dessert at their house on our first official date together! They are a great family and it was fun to spend some time with them. The highlight of swimming was when I got to put my belly face down through the whole of a raft and "lay" on my stomach for the first time in months.

Next we spent the day with one of my best buds, Polly Conner. Polly just recently gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Adelyn Grace who is a week old today. Since Polly had a C-section Tom and I thought we would spend the day at the Conner house and help out however we could. We had such a great time! Adelyn is a CUTIE!

Tom and I both commented that we didn't realize just how small an infant really is! Hanging out with Adelyn definitely got us excited about meeting our little one. I felt like spending the day with her and Polly was like Tom and I's personal parenting seminar where we learned how to take care of an infant. I know when our little guy comes it will be a lot of "on the job training" but it was nice to have a preview of what is to come.

Craft time

Last night Bonnie and her dad had some crafty time together while I was making my grad school presentation. Her parents are in the process of making a small bird house village near the woods in their back yard. Here are father and daughter hard at work:

They call this one was the "hippie house"
And this one is the "Rock Bridge Bruin house"

If you look at the fence on this one you can see that a couple of the pickets have the tops chewed off. That is because Macey the Destroyer (a black lab mix) decided they would be a good chew toy.

Master's Degree... check!

Just about an our ago I completed my final requirement for my master's degree program by doing a presentation of my project document (like a thesis) via ooVoo. I am really happy that I am officially done and can check that off my professional development list. Now it is truly time to enjoy the summer.

Thank you Simpson University. You look nice even though I have never visited your campus.

Preggo x3

Two of my best buds, Carly (middle) and Polly (right), and I got together yesterday for a swim.  This was a special occasion because a.) we only see each other a few times a year and b.) we got to be together in all our pregnant glory!  Carly is at 26 weeks with twin girls, Polly is having a baby on Thursday (Yeahhh!!!), and I'm at almost 33 weeks.  I feel like this will be a picture I cherish for a long time (even though my stomach looks a bit pointer than normal) because it's such a blessing to get to experience pregnancy with these women that I love so much.  Here's to big bellies!

Granny

Tom and I were able to go see his Grandma and Aunt Annie tonight.  We had a great time catching up with her and sharing a meal together.  After dinner Tom's Granny surprised us with a baby gift!  Check it out...

 It's a handmade quilt that one of her friends made.  It was so thoughtful of her!   She is literally one of the sweetest people I've ever met.  Here's a great picture of Tom and his Grandma.