Alyvia

Alyvia Ann Stanclift (my third niece) was born to Kelie and JR on July 29th at 8:12 PM. She weighed 8 pounds even and is 21 inches long. She has a head full of beautiful dark hair with blue eyes and looks a lot like her older sisters Ariana and Annika did when they were born...Absolutely gorgeous!

I was in the hall right outside of the delivery room with my dad and nieces waiting for Alyvia to be born and JR and my mom were in the delivery room with Kelie. Ari and Anni were going crazy with anticipation, they had their ears pressed up against the door and said they could hear crying every few seconds. Once we finally did hear crying in the room, the girls could barely handle being in the hall on the other side of the door and asked every minute for about a half hour if we could go in to see the baby yet. Eventually we were welcomed in to meet Alyvia. Ari and Anni loved looking at, holding and getting to know her (so did I). When it was time to feed Alyvia the girls were very curious as to what was going on and kept trying to peek. When Kelie switched sides, Ari innocently asked "Mom, is there more milk in the other boobie?". JR got to help with Alyvia's first bath while everyone gathered around to watch. Then it was time for us to leave the hospital, Anni leaned over and said in her cute little voice "I will miss you Alyvia".

Do You Remember...

Have you ever seen this before? I stole this idea from another blog that I read and I think it's pretty fun. Leave a comment of a memory that you have of me, something of us together or anything else. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember is fine! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable. :-)

Ariana and Annika

Ari (6) and Anni (4) are both at an age that they say some pretty funny, cute and clever things. I thought I'd try to remember some and write them down to help me remember my girls when they're in St. George.

Annika and I were playing with my dog Diesel when he rolled over on his back trying to get a belly scratch.

• Anni - Is this Diesel's belly button?
• Rob - Yes.
• Anni - What are these other little bumps?
• Rob - Those are his boobies.
• Anni - Thinks for a few seconds...Diesel's boobies are on his tummy and my boobies are up here (as she pulls down her shirt and points).

Ariana had just finished playing with some toys when she started to run off to do something else.

• Rob - Can you come pick up your toys and put them away?
• Ari - Ignores me and keeps walking away.
• Rob - I say louder...Ari, can you come pick up your toys and put them away?
• Ari - You're not the boss of me!
• Rob - Yes I am (I know, childish)!
• Ari - No you're not!
• Rob - I'm the boss of everything (joking of course).
• Ari - Giving me a dirty look...No, you're not Jesus!

After she said that, I couldn't argue anymore. So, I left her alone and she went on to play with something else.

And my favorite. I was sitting at my computer with my back to the door. I heard Ariana's footsteps run in and back out of my room. When I went to check things out, the only thing I noticed was a one dollar bill left by my bed.

• Rob - Do you know who's dollar this is?
• Ari - It's yours.
• Rob - Do you know who put it here?
• Ari - I did.
• Rob - Why?
• Ari - I thought it would make you happy.

How cute are my nieces? They say plenty of other cute and funny things but I just can't think of all of them right now. There will be more posts like this in the future.

T-N-T

After a month or two of debate of what to do with a spot in our back yard where grass wouldn't grow, we decided to put in a small water feature. The digging started three hot days ago and we finished the project today. It looks much better in real life.

My brother Dan did most of the hard work with a little help from my Dad. Once everything was dug out and all the dirt and rocks were moved into place, I had the fun job of picking out the tree and plant life to go around the pond (with Dan and Megan's help).

After we finished planting and moving everything into place, the only thing left to do was give it a name. Since we built the water feature over the spot that we buried my dogs Tommy and Thurman early last year, I thought it was appropriate to name it after them...T-N-T (Get it? Clever huh?). Tomorrow we're going to the pet store to get some fish for the pond. My nieces are in town this weekend and are so excited, I told Ariana and Annika that they could pick out their own fish for the pond and name them.

My Two Dogs

Most of you have your kids to brag about and post pictures of but since I don't have any kids, I'll show off my two dogs. I've had Raji (Boston Terrier) and Diesel (Miniature Pinscher) since they were puppies, they are both about one and a half years old now.


Raji and Diesel are awesome companions! Diesel is a little more independent, he likes exploring the back yard, supervising anything that goes on and doesn't really mind being by himself. Raji on the other hand, is always right by my side whenever I'm home unless we get the frisbee or big ball out, then her total focus in on playing. They both love going in the car, PetSmart and the park are favorite places to go. They are great with other dogs and people and will smother you with kisses if you let them. They both sleep in my bed at night and wake me up plenty to let me know when they don't have enough covers (yes, they have their own blankets) or if they need a belly scratch in the middle of the night.


Since they have been so good lately, they got to go to PetSmart and get new collars that match their leashes. The new collars are alright but they don't look as good as the leather ones they had so I'll probably end up switching the collars back. Diesel's Harley-Davidson spike collar makes him look way tougher anyway and the girl dogs dig him in it too.