Final Countdown

I am finally getting around to updating my blog one final time before baby comes. Life has been crazy around our home and while a lot of it has to do with preparing for our little girl, I still can't believe she is coming so soon! I am scheduled to be induced next Tuesday, September 27th (the day after my birthday- so fun!!) The doctors are anxious to get baby girl here safely and since my body is ready to go they are wanting to induce 1 week earlier than my due date- and I'm definitely not complaining! I can't wait to finally meet my little girl! I am definitely feeling some shock at the idea that I am finally going to be able to take home a baby to raise. Getting a child has been such a long road for us and I can't believe I get to meet our new angel in less than a week! I am emotional, anxious, excited, nervous, and about 100 other emotions that I can't even describe.

As far as my life goes lately, I have been filling my time making things for family, friends, and of course our little girl. Some of the things I made ended up just how I imagined, and others are eh... ok I guess. Here is a little snippet of some things I have been making:

Cross-stitch Salt Lake Temple for some friends in Delaware (they let us live in their house for the summer)

Birthday table runner and bow ties for sister-in-law Maryn and nephew Seth's birthdays

Scarves for Becky and Mom for their birthdays

Baby quilt for our little girl

Car seat cover and nursing cover

Bow holder for all of Girly's little bows and baby bumper for crib

Here is what her nursery currently looks like. I still need to add some more things on the walls so it isn't quite finished but you get a general idea (and yes... we have definitely embraced pink in our house)

View of other wall with changing table (and cute new coat rack in hallway for her little coats)


Here are some other random pictures depicting what has been happening over the last little while:

Trip to Gettysburg

Trip to Boston

Fun at the Delaware beach

Wedding of beautiful friend Jessica

Risenmay Reunion (Dad's side of family)

Fagergren Reunion (Mom's side of family)

Me at 36 and 38 weeks


Also, our amazingly talented friend Kristal took some maternity pictures of us the other day. I will always love looking back on this pregnancy and remembering all of the miracles along the way that have brought this little girl into our family.




We are feeling very blessed and ready for this new addition in our lives. Thanks for all your love and support through the journey!

The Offer

It happened. After a wonderful summer working for an amazing law firm out here in Delaware, Phillip was taken out to lunch by the hiring partners of Ashby & Geddes and offered a permanent position as a full-time associate at their law firm. We have been hoping and praying for this offer all summer (actually... we have been hoping and praying for an offer like this for years). The firm has been greatly impressed with Phillip all summer and though all signs pointed to him getting an offer for next year, the news still sent me into shock. All Phillip had to say was, "Robin, I'm going to be a corporate lawyer!" and I immediately started to cry. In all the time I have known Phillip he has always wanted to be a corporate attorney. I have watched him work so hard and so long for this goal. There were times when he wondered if it would happen and when. Yet here we finally are... reaching that goal! I can't believe it. I couldn't be more proud.

Mixed with those proud tears, however, are the tears of a frightened wife who will now be asked to leave the home that she loves so much in the west and move out to the east on a permanent basis. I'm not going to pretend like this is going to be easy on me. However, life's never perfect and it's not supposed to be. This job is amazing, the firm is amazing, there will be some family out here with us, and we are so, so, so, so blessed!!
(Phillip right after receiving his offer- his excitement is contagious!)

Summer Update

Most people are wondering about my pregnancy (and that's all I really think about these days anyway) so I will start with that. Baby girl is doing great! I couldn't ask for a smoother pregnancy. My little girl is so in tune with my spirit. She knows that I have many worries with this pregnancy and is always willing to give me an extra powerful kick when I start to feel any doubt or fear creep into my life. She is such a blessing to me! I have officially reached the point in my pregnancy when I lost Benjamin (he passed away at around 24 weeks and I delivered him at 26 weeks. I am currently 25 weeks along with this pregnancy). The doctor told me that as I reach this stage I might start having nightmares about this pregnancy going horribly wrong. However, how can I be worried and discouraged when I feel my baby girl move all the time. She makes me laugh out loud every day. I know she is in tune to what I need and I couldn't be more grateful for her little spirit that reaches out and calms my fears every day. I thank my Heavenly Father for her at least 20 times a day. She is such a blessing to me.

Me at 18 weeks:

Me at 25 weeks:


In other news, we are currently living in Delaware while Phillip works for the law firm Ashby & Geddes as a summer associate. He loves his job and loves the firm. They have been treating him very well so far (free meals, going to the shooting range, canoeing, Philly baseball games...) and it seems as though they are trying to win him over on how great it would be if he worked here in Delaware permanently. I told Phillip they have got it all backwards- the person they should be really trying to win over is ME!

Phillip celebrated his 1st pay check by buying a gun! (an AR15-22). It was like watching a little boy on Christmas. Though I'm not a huge gun person, how can you not smile when your husband looks so happy!


I have been enjoying my summer so far out on the east. I have been working on sewing projects and enjoying Phillip's family. The past 2 weeks I was able to spend in Salt Lake with my family while we attended the annual Suzuki String Institute. This is the 3rd year that I went as a violin teacher trainer (I have been going to the camp as a student every year since I was born) and we had a great time! It was fun to spend time with my mom, sister, and darling nieces and nephew. The week was exhausting and by Saturday I could barely stand up straight, but it was worth it for the fun time we had together!

On our way into institute (or is this us leaving institute to go shopping... hmmmm...)

T-shirt Day!:

While I was in Salt Lake I got to visit sweet Benjamin's grave. So lucky to be his mommy!!


So now I am back in Delaware until July 27th. I am excited to continue my fun summer here and watch my baby belly grow!

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Guess What!?

It's time to introduce... Baby Girl Sumpter!! Shocked? Well... join the club. There have been many tears of joy, many tears of anxiety, but most of all... Tears of GRATITUDE!! How grateful I am to be the mother of my sweatheart son, and my new darling girl. How did I get to be so blessed!? Baby girl is wiggly, healthy, and well... perfect. Her due date is set for October 4th!

Finishing up 2010

Wow- There is so much to catch up on it’s overwhelming. The past couple of months have flown by in a blur of business. But being busy is when I’m happiest, so I’m definitely not complaining. Here is the end of 2010/beginning of 2011 at a glance:

My sweet new nephew Peter David Risenmay was sealed to his parents in the Boise temple in October. Watching little Peter with his parents in the temple was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. We love that little boy!

Halloween was spent dressing up and celebrating with friends. I haven’t dressed up just for the enjoyment of dressing up on Halloween in years. Needless to say, I’m a fan.

Of course BYU football was a big part of our fall (however, I must say I'm quite relieved to have the bowl season over with... anyboy else out there ready to watch something else besides football?)

On a sadder note, my Grandpa Bill passed away in November after falling in his home. Every one of his grandchildren was able to attend his funeral. He is greatly missed!

Phillip’s brother John left on his mission to Australia. He is quickly adjusting to his life as an Aussie.

Thanksgiving was spent in Arizona visiting my brother Ben, his wife Maryn, and adorable little Seth. We also spent some time in Arizona with Phillip’s brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Warmer weather and fun family made for a great road trip.

Christmas, as always, was a huge event. It started off busy with me doing 2 violin studio Christmas concerts- one in Provo and one in Salt Lake with my mom’s studio. These fun performances remind me why I love my job so much.

We started our Christmas break by making candy with my expert candy making Grandma Shirley. The candy was amaaaaazing!

On December 22^nd Phillip and I celebrated our 4th year wedding anniversary (ummm... where has the time gone? ). We had a great time going to the Nutcracker Ballet. I love that boy!!

We also celebrated Christmas by having dinner at the club with my cousins and of course having our annual nativity.

We rang in the New Year at Phillip’s cousin’s house in Lehi. Lots of food, games, and… well… more food!

(sorry... this is somehow the best picture that I got from that night... not very exciting or New Yearish...)

Our latest adventure was this past weekend when we went to the Midway cabin with a bunch of Phillip’s law school buddies (and the girls got to tag along too). These guys are so great together and have made life in law school so much fun!


Phew… I think that is all. Life should be settling down now as we get deeper into law school and deeper into boring ol' winter.

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Happy 2011!!

Happiness

A lot of people don't like that blogs are turning into "brags"- basically people just bragging about how great their "perfect" life is. I look up to the people who can talk about their struggles on their blogs. I respect and adore these people because they are brave enough to say- "hey, I'm not perfect... who's with me!" Well, my life is not perfect. However, I hope that you will excuse me for not diving into the current struggles in my life. If you want, I will be more than happy to talk with you personally about my struggles (I am not ashamed or shy about them), but because I don't know exactly who is reading and following my blog, I'm not going to dive into them here. So... I think I will share some exciting things that have been happening in my life lately. These events make me happy and so why wouldn't I want to share them in hopes that maybe they might make you happy as well :-)

First, my birthday was yesterday. Yay for being 24! (that's not old... right?) When I was young I hated it when my birthday was on a Sunday. Believe it or not, that was the one day a year when I liked going to school because everyone could know and celebrate my birthday with me. However, now that I'm older, I find that I LOVE having my birthday on a Sunday. I was able to be surrounded by my family and Phillip didn't have to do law school work. Perfect! We spent most of the day in Salt Lake with my family. As we drove home to Provo I was happy and satisfied with my day. Little did I know that my sweet husband had planned a big surprise party waiting for me in our apartment when we got home! 33 people ended up cramming themselves into our apartment to celebrate my birthday. Completely embarassing? YES. Completely in love with my husband for surrounding me with people that I love on my birthday? YES!! It was... perfect.

Today I am overwhelmed with the love that I felt yesterday from friends, family, and my husband who I adore. Thanks everyone for such a great day!!

There is one more piece of happy news to share with you all today. Drum roll please...

Phillip got a hired by an amazing firm for a summer associate position next summer!!

In this current economy, we know just what a big blessing this is. The firm that Phillip will be working with (Ashby & Geddes) sounds amazing. They don't kill you off with tons of work like the other firms he was considering but they still pay well. They only hire 1 to 2 summer associates a year because unless you bomb your summer with them, they plan on hiring you after law school as a permanent employee. Seems like a dream come true, right?

So are ya ready for the clencher?..........

The law firm is in Delaware.

Far away from so many people that I love, but full of opportunites. So, east coast... here we come...

Sumpter Pride

Phillip and I just got back from an awesome trip to Delaware to see the Sumpter family. Phillip has been living out there since June doing an internship for Judge Kent Jordan on the United States Court of Appeals, for the Third Circuit. He had an amazing experience with the Judge and learned so much. As an added bonus, Phillip has been able to spend the summer living at his parents house and spending well needed time with his parents and 8 siblings. They had a blast together. I joined the party at the beginning of July. It was the first time since I joined the family in 2006 that we had the entire family together- 12 of us!










Some of the highlights of the trip were going to the beach every weekend, visiting Washington DC, and making movies together. For those of you who know the Sumpters, you know that they have a tradition of making funny and entertaining movies as a family.
To show you just how creative and great the Sumpter family is, here is a movie they created. The family actually made this movie after we left Delaware. It was in response to a video that Phillip had sent the family showing the BYU football photo shoot (have I mentioned that the entire family is die-hard BYU fans?) Here is the orginal video that Phillip sent the family:



Pretty dang awesome. Well of course the Sumpters wanted in on the fun, so his siblings made their own version of the photo shoot for Phillip to enjoy:


Is it any wonder why we miss these guys? Priceless...