2007 Year in Review Video, Roberts Hooligan 2nd Year Slideshow, Chair Wars, 2005 Year in Review Slideshow, Birth Announcement, Pregnancy Announcement,

Emily Anne Roberts Memorial Slideshow, First Birthday "Thank You" Video, First Birthday "All Things New" Video, and Christmas 2006 Laughter/Motion Video

 

 

June 20, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 11, 2008

Ashley's birthday get-up, four pre-school friends, Doctor Ashley examines mommy

two grandmothers and curly-headed grandkids, Patti's peoples, four kids and their mother on Mother's Day

Dear Family & Friends,

How in the world are you?  Good here, although we are a little weekend-weary…

Our biggest news is that Ashley turned four today (Sunday), after a big wild party yesterday with lots of the pre-K crowd and relatives attending.  We have waited four years for her birthday to land on the actual Mother’s Day—very special!  Ashley has been a perfect gift from God in every way:  the surprise end to infertility, and a hilarious combination of sweet-shy-funny-inquisitive-beautiful-smart-happy-loving.  We can’t imagine a better big sister for this crew.  She ends her first pre-school year on Friday, and has loved it!  She loves to write letters, and color, and swing, and play CandyLand.  And I guess that her narration skills aren’t bad either, since we now have three Ashley-narrated videos that are finalists for big contests (these days, even Hillary Clinton isn’t as desperate for votes as we are; click on links below if you are willing to help, and feel free to forward this to others!)...

Renuzit/TriScents—$20,000 home makeover (1 vote daily per e-mail address ‘til June 7)

Tyson Gold Medal Mom—trip to the Olympics (1 vote total per e-mail address before June 11)

Bono’s BBQ--$5,000 (we’re not exactly sure how many times you can vote, or how it’s tallied, but voting goes through May 31)

 Our next-biggest news is that Casey is now eating some solid food, he has almost completely stopped throwing up, he is drinking regular milk instead of a milk-formula combo, and is even drinking it out of a sippy cup.  This has made our lives infinitely easier, and it is such a blessing to see these great strides.  All of the kids are on sippy-cups now, so bottle-making is now in our past!!!

Benjamin and Casey and Danielle are as of last week over the 2 ½ point, and talking like crazy, in small sentences (especially Benjamin).  Their conversation is so much fun (except for when it’s driving us crazy).  They lobby for foods that they like, and for basement time and outside time, and just about everything else that comes into their head.  I could spent a lot of time describing them, but the best way to do it would be to refer you to our website (www.expandingrobertses.com), which has new videos on the “kid video” page, including these which we especially recommend (click underlined title to view):  How Workplace Injuries Happen and Temporary Unsanitary and Benja Lets it Shine.  Also, a bunch of recent pictures are on the 2008/2007 update page.

Lisa is an amazing mother, and deserves great great honor on this Mother’s Day.  With a lot of wonderful people helping her, she is succeeding in the impossible job of raising three two-year-olds simultaneously, with a 4-year-old also in the mix, and somehow she manages to look unfazed.  Lisa has had a chance to sing in a trio-quartet at church a couple of times recently, and that has been great.  Tonight we crashed P.F. Chang’s together, and made it more kid-friendly…maybe.

Me?  I’ve been preaching, enjoying Lexington and the church, and in my spare time editing videos—most for the website but a few for these contests too.  One of these days I’ll start running again.

Thanks for keeping up with our family, encouraging us, supporting us, and praying for us.  It has not been a dull ride.

In Christ,

Phil, Lisa, Ashley, Benjamin, Casey & Danielle

 

 

 

May 7, 2008

 

(Benjamin, Casey, Danielle, Mommy and kids at a restaurant)

 

playing in the field

 

(Easter)

 

Ashley, Benjamin (x3), Ashley & Danielle, Casey & Benjamin, the gang

 

the Sara Baker visit

 

Ashley, Benjamin, Danielle (x2), three men in a tub, the gang on Valentine's Day, the gang in their "rowboats," Valentine's props

 

April 21, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

April 2, 2008

 

 

January 2008

 

Ashley (and the Dirt-Man too)

 

Benjamin

 

Casey

 

Danielle

 

everybody

 

 

January 1, 2008

 

l-r:  Casey, Lisa, Danielle, Phil, Benjamin, Ashley; Danielle, Benjamin, Phil, Ashley, Lisa, Casey; Benjamin, Danielle, Casey, Ashley; Lisa, Casey, Danielle, Ashley, Benjamin; Danielle, Casey, Ashley, Benjamin; Danielle, Benjamin, Ashley, Phil, Casey

 

 

l-r:  Ashley, Danielle and Lisa co-bed; Casey, Danielle, Benjamin; Benjamin and Casey advise Daddy; Danielle, Lisa, Benjamin

 

Ashley (in front of and inside the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, in our neighborhood)

 

Benjamin

 

Casey

 

Danielle

 

 

 

November 21, 2007

 

A no-brainer on the naughty/nice question:  we don't even bother faking niceness for Santa himself.

 

 

 

November 11, 2007

 

 

 

Thanksgiving dinner, clockwise from left:  Casey, Lisa, Danielle, Benjamin, Ashley; Daddy & Ashley ready to go to a Thanksgiving Service at First Christian Church of Lexington

 

Ashley asleep in a jogging stroller; Danielle asleep in the playroom; Casey (left) squares off against Benjamin; Lisa reads to (l-r:) Ashley, Danielle, Benjamin, Casey

 

l-r:  Phil with birthday cake; Casey, Chris, Lauren (back), Danielle (front), Ashley, Benjamin; Nana with Ashley, Benjamin, Danielle & Casey; Greg, Casey, Nana, Danielle, Lisa, Benjamin, Kim holding Chris, Lauren (front), Phil, Ashley; Charlie & Carrie Kennedy join us for birthday dinner

 

l-r:  cake; Benjamin; Casey; Danielle; Benjamin; Benjamin; Casey; Danielle

 

  l-r:  Danielle Lioness, Daddy, Casey Monkey, Benjamin Tiger, Mommy, Ashley Elephant; Casey monkeying around

 

l-r:  cousins Rachel, Luke and Hannah read to Danielle; Grandpa with Danielle, Casey and Benjamin; friend Mary Swails with Casey, Danielle and Benjamin; great-aunts Bev and Nancy with Benjamin, Danielle & Casey

 

pumpkin time with (l-r) Ashley; Ashley and Daddy; Ashley and Mommy; Benjamin, Danielle & Casey; Casey; Danielle; Danielle, Casey, Benjamin & Ashley

 

in the neighborhood park with (l-r) Ashley; Ashley; Benjamin; Danielle & Ashley; Ashley & Casey; Danielle; Casey

 

Danielle looking at birdies at Grandma and Grandpa's place in Tennessee; Danielle shows off her basketball skills; Danielle cools down; Benjamin enjoys his pre-race meal at a Midway, KY 5k

 

Dear Family and Friends,

We are TWO!!! (actually, a few of us are a little older.)  Sunday the 4^th was a big birthday for us, and we can’t believe that two years have passed since the day that the little ones came into the world.  Some new videos and a whole lot of new pictures are on the website (www.expandingrobertses.com), including a special video that shows how far they’ve come in the past year.  Just click:  http://www.expandingrobertses.com/two%20year.wmv .

On the 3rd we had a small party for the kids, made up mostly of relatives and those who regularly come over to help out with the kids.  Then Sunday we had a blood drive at the church (largely dedicated to Lisa and them, since each had received blood two years ago), and then we pillaged Red Robin Restaurant:  since they give a free burger or kids’ meal to anyone having a birthday, we made out like bandits.

Coming up to join us were my parents, Lisa’s mom and her boyfriend Greg, and Lisa’s sister Kim and her kids Lauren and Christian.  The weekend before, we had all gone up to my parents’ house in Tennessee for Homecoming/Alumni Weekend at Milligan College, where Lisa and I both went to school (it was Lisa’s ten-year reunion).

We have been Kentuckians for over six months now.  We are enjoying it very much, and really like Hill-n-Dale Christian Church—a lot of great things have been happening there.  About a month ago, we finally sold our house in Georgia, which was a huge relief.

The kids have each overcome a recent ear infection and are now doing great, as attested to by their two-year check-up a couple days ago…

Benjamin is our lightweight, at 22 lbs. 4 oz..  He is our big talker, and a very persistent one at that (he will say words or phrases such as “big car” or “wipe” indefinitely, as long as it’s in his sight or mind).  He has a huge smile, and is usually the first one at the window waving to me and grinning when I get home from work.

Casey has gained some weight, and is 23 lbs., which is a huge blessing.  He is still pretty difficult to feed, and isn’t eating any solid food, and went through an episode a couple of weeks ago where he was throwing up regularly.  He’s doing fine now, but we have an appointment this coming Tuesday with a group of feeding/gastro specialists in Cincinnati, who will see if they can determine what might be holding him up in this area.  Casey is our thinker, but when you can get his attention he has the biggest smile and brightest eyes, and a contagious laughter.  Therapists that work with him are really impressed with how he’s doing, and confident that he’ll catch up.  Casey is our mischief man, who is much more into asking forgiveness than permission when it comes to things he’s not supposed to touch or do.

Danielle is 24 lb. 9 oz., and is still doing great.  She is very affectionate, and loves to be kissed and squeezed and read to.  She can repeat anything that you tell her to say, usually with a big smile on her face.  She is about to be kicked out of therapy because she’s doing so well.  She is often disciplined for removing her clothes—when she is disciplined, she cries for a minute, then nods her head and says “Okay.”

Ashley is now three and a half.  She is such a big girl, a full-fledged pre-schooler (just click http://www.expandingrobertses.com/ashley%20goes%20to%20preschool.wmv to witness her first pre-school day).  She exercises her imagination well, often as a nurse, a therapist, or a teacher at Dunbar High School.  She has two kids, Lizney (who’s 12) and Hayne (who’s 5—or did she just turn 6?).  Her husband is named Go, and when she proclaimed that it was his birthday recently, I asked how old he was, to which she replied, “65.”  (Our three-year-old’s marriage to an imaginary 65-year-old is something that we’re not that concerned about...yet.)

We remember Emily with great fondness at this time of year—as crazy as it’s been with the gang that we have, and as glad as we are that she’s in heaven, we’d still give anything to have her here with us.  We have made some good strides recently with getting Project Seahorse (www.projectseahorse.net) where we want it to be, and will share that with you later.

Lisa and I have been doing well.  It’s hard to believe that the holidays are here.  We plan to do zero traveling, which will be nice.  It is truly just a busy time of life, where it’s really hard to do much more than work and home.  At the same time, we have had a lot of help, and we are reminded daily of just how richly blessed we are…beyond our wildest dreams.

Thank you for sharing our blessings, for keeping us in your prayers, and for being along for the ride…for 2+ years now!!!

In Christ,

Phil, Lisa, Ashley, Benjamin, Casey & Danielle

 

 

 

September 7, 2007 (1 of 2)

(Ashley, Benjamin, Casey, Danielle, Lisa)

(Jody Blazer with Danielle; Jim and Patricia Thomas with the kids at both 8/07 and 4/06; Uncle Adam with the kids at both 8/07 and 7/06; Jim staves off autograph-seekers)

Dear Family and Friends,

Here’s what’s been going on in our world these days…

Ashley is our scholar.  She started pre-school yesterday.  We have a small backyard bordering the property of a church where the Little Elks Preschool will be educating Ashley--in the finer things--every Tuesday and Thursday from 9-12.  She is super-excited, and we are too.  (You can watch a fun video of this incredible day at http://expandingrobertses.com/ashley%20goes%20to%20preschool.wmv ).

Benjamin is our one-man greeting committee and chief window-watcher.  He loves to say “Hi” and “Bye-bye” repeatedly, according to the situation…or not.  In the front room that is the kids’ gated community/playroom, there is a large window which Benjamin especially loves to post himself at, looking for cars, doggies, and sometimes Daddy.

Casey is our junkfood eater.  He has not been able to eat solid food really at all, and has stumped the therapists who have tried to help him with this issue.  A few days ago, Casey had his first big breakthrough—he chewed a goldfish cracker, and then actually swallowed it, and then did the same with two others and then a cheese puff.  In light of this, it has occurred to me that Casey’s eating issues might not be legitimate at all, and that he might have just staged an elaborate lifelong scheme so that he could live out every man’s dream of subsisting on a diet of goldfish crackers and cheese puffs.  Overall, Casey seems to be catching up with his speech (and eating?) and weight gain, and we have some great therapists and a couple of different therapy options to help him.

Danielle is our parakeet.  She’s repeating just about everything we can throw at her.  She is a great little thinker and talker, and is the first to do multi-syllable phrases (“good morning” “please mommy” “bye bye baby”).  I probably say this in every e-mail, but I’ll say it again:  we’re still searching for the setback that Danielle’s brain bleed was guaranteed to produce, and we still haven’t found anything at all.  Maybe she’ll only be able to win an Olympic silver in gymnastics.

Lisa and I are doing well—tired on most days, but overall good.  A few weeks ago, I took a week to be alone at a cabin near the Cumberland River and worked on some big work projects and enjoyed the solitude.  Hopefully in the next month or so, Lisa will have a chance to follow suit.  Since our last update, we’ve had some great visitors to the church and/or our home—my parents, Jody Blazer, Jeff and Delaney Vines, Joe and Janet and Amelie Steffen, Jim and Patricia Thomas, Uncle Adam Davidson, and Richard and Carol McKinley.  Please stop in if you’re coming to or near Lexington!

The church is going really well—this month, we’ll be having a Spiritual Emphasis Week that has been in the works for months.  It has been nice to get through a good summer and start gearing up for a new schoolyear and Christmas and such.  In the next week, I will run the Project Seahorse idea by the nurse manager at the NICU here in town (at the University of Kentucky Medical Center).

With less than two months until the big Birthday #2, we feel like we’re in a very good place and that the Lord has really blessed us.  Thanks for taking an interest in our crazy family, for praying for us, and for being a huge part of that blessing…

In Christ,

Phil, Lisa, Ashley, Benjamin, Casey and Danielle

P.S. There are new videos on the website at http://expandingrobertses.com/kid_videos.htm if you would like to check them out.  Of course we think that all of them are equally amazingly cute, but “kissing in the playroom” might be the one to watch, even if it takes a while to load.

 

September 7, 2007 (2 of 2)

Dear Family and Friends,

This morning we learned of the sudden unexpected passing of Mary Brown, our dear friend in Savannah who was so instrumental in helping us through our toughest times two years ago.  Even though many of you receiving this did not know Mary, we’d like to tell you a little bit about what Mary meant to our family...

                --When we were pregnant with the quads, Mary and her husband Kevin and kids Sean and Katie reached out to us again and again before we left for Phoenix.  They had their home group bring us food (more than we could eat), and came over to help with Ashley on several occasions.  It was a family that Mary told about us (Rich and Terri Milling) that allowed us to use their Ford Expedition the entire five months that we were in Phoenix

                --Before we left and then after the babies were born, the Browns and their small group sent us cards and letters, especially from the kids in the group

                --When the babies were two weeks old, Mary flew to Phoenix to help us with Ashley.  You may remember that this was right after Emily got sick and before she died.  It was a very tense sad time, and even Lisa had not fully recovered, but Mary simply served us by loving Ashley and letting us be at the hospital around the clock.  Mary barely got to even see the babies herself, but never complained

                --When we were getting ready to come home from Phoenix, Mary worked tirelessly to try to get us a ride on a Gulfstream jet so that we wouldn’t have to go through the airport.  Even though it didn’t work out, one of the strollers that the Browns sent to us in Phoenix did help us make it through the airport

                --Mary and Kevin attended and videoed both of Emily’s Savannah memorial services and made them into keepsake DVDs for us

                --When we came home from Phoenix, Mary came over to help us with late night feedings on several occasions; at the babies’ first birthday, Mary and Kevin gave us the three animal kid chairs (monkey, lion and sheep) that you see in almost every one of our pictures from the last year

                --While many, many, many people reached out a hand to help us over the past two years, Mary extended her whole heart and personally took our family under her wing as her ministry during the time when we were in greatest need

                Two weeks ago, Kevin and Mary returned from China with a little girl that they had worked and prayed for years to adopt.  Please pray for Kevin and Katie and Sean and their new daughter, and for all those whose lives will have a void because of Mary’s absence.

                We are eternally grateful for Mary Brown.

In Christ,

Phil, Lisa, Ashley, Benjamin, Casey, Danielle & Emily

  

July 5, 2007

 

  Ashley's birthday, with grandparents and cousins

 

  Indianapolis with Great-Grandma Roberts, cousin Patti and cousins Eric and Michelle

 

Ashley, Benjamin, Casey, Danielle

 

the great outdoors

 

Mother's Day, Father's Day, Danielle, Play-Doh kids

 

Danielle and Ashley at sister Emily's gravesite

 

beach group

 

more beach group

 

Ashley at the beach

 

Benja at the beach

 

Casey at the beach

 

Danielle at the beach

 

 

 

 

Dear Family & Friends,

The babies are twenty months old as of yesterday, and we’ve been in Lexington for two months—thus, 10% of their lives (the Kentucky chapter) has passed by since our last update.  Also, today marks two years to the day since we went public with the news that Lisa was expecting four babies, and we can’t remember that fact without saying a huge thank you to everyone for keeping our heads above water.

Two things are clear about our move to Lexington:  1) We really like it here—the church and community and people have been absolutely wonderful for us thus far; and 2) We did not move here in order to slow down!  Life has been a whirlwind of activity in the last two months…

In addition to unpacking, and preaching (Sunday will be 11 consecutive weeks in the pulpit, a new personal record), we have also celebrated Ashley’s third birthday on May 11 with my cousin Dennis and his family; headed to Indianapolis to see the kids’ Great Grandma Roberts, 93, my cousin Patti and family, and my brother Ron and family, all in one day; gone to the beach for a week with my extended family; made a quick trip to Nashville, Tennessee for a wedding (just the two of us); headed to Cleveland, Ohio for a Women of Faith conference (just Lisa, and 40+ ladies); hung out with a number of family and loved ones here, including Lisa’s mom Patti, my parents, Arizona NICU nurse Jane Hodges, Brad and Beth Lindborg from Savannah, Denny and Connie Shippy from Savannah, the Wymer family from Tennessee, Dan Smith from Ohio, and probably a few others who are presently escaping me.

Every picture and video we could grab a hold of is on our website; four videos that we highly recommend you watch (worth the upload wait) are at these links:  http://www.expandingrobertses.com/beach%202007.wmv ; http://www.expandingrobertses.com/day%20at%20the%20tracks.wmv ; http://www.expandingrobertses.com/ashley's%20third%20birthday.wmv ; http://www.expandingrobertses.com/the%20danielle%20casey%20play%20sessions.wmv .  They are, respectively:  the beach; horseracing; Ashley’s birthday, and Casey and Danielle at their craziest.

The kids are adjusting well to their new surroundings, and we have enjoyed a great team of helpers here, as we did in Savannah.  It has been wonderful to get everyone to church every week, and each Tuesday since summer started we have gone to Fazzoli’s together (what an adventure)

Ashley is in a “big girl bed,” carries a purse, and a doll that she named Linda has replaced Juanita and Conchita as her #1 baby; she will start pre-school in September (two days a week) at a church so close to our house that she refers to it, almost accurately, as “in our yard”.  Benjamin has had some allergy issues, but is responding well to Allegra and an inhaler; he is talking quite a bit these days, and has the biggest smile—and strongest will—of the three.  Casey began to lag behind in his weight, but we are now working with him on a high-calorie regimen that he is responding well to; he is still not eating solid food, and is not talking, but is getting good therapies to help him with both, and his cognition/direction-following seem excellent.  Danielle is still hard to believe; she is talking well, walking well, happy, smart, loves to read and cuddle, points things out in books, and—all in all—barely has any need whatsoever for all of the therapies that her medical history easily qualifies her for.  Could there be something to prayer?

Lisa is doing an extraordinary job with the kids and with getting us settled; I don’t know how she pulls it off, but the Lord picked the perfect woman to take this crazy journey with me.  As for me, I’m enjoying my new role (you can listen in to my Sunday messages at www.hillndale.com if you’re ever interested), and looking forward to seeing what fun and challenges lie around the next corner.

Thank you again for praying for us, and for taking an interest in our family.

In Christ,

Phil, Lisa, Ashley, Benjamin, Casey and Danielle

 

 

May 2, 2007

 

(Ashley and Conchita; Lisa sorts through hand-me-down shoes; Ashley and lion; Ashley and her good buddy Cissy)

 

(Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin)

 

(Casey, Casey, Casey and Grandpa, Casey)

 

(Danielle, Danielle, Danielle and Jody)

 

(l-r:  Danielle, Casey, Benjamin; Casey, Danielle, Benjamin, Ashley; Benjamin, Danielle, Casey; Benjamin, Casey)

 

(l-r:  Grandpa, Benjamin, Grandma, Casey, Danielle, Great-Grandma Sahli, Ashley; Ashley, Grandma, Danielle, Casey, Grandpa, Benjamin; Danielle, Mommy, Benjamin, Ashley, Daddy, Casey; Casey, Ashley, Cousin Chris, Danielle, Cousin Lauren, Benjamin; Lisa, Patti, Kim)

 

  (l-r:  house, neighborhood in bloom, Ashley and bubbles, Ashley in the nuthouse [or getting close, anyway])

 

 

 

April 7, 2007

 

 

 

April 2, 2007