The Gubler Family

Super-BARF!

2012-02-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

I will not likely ever forget Super Bowl 2012. Not because of the game, or who played (who did play?) or the yummy food and snacks. No not because of those things, but because of my sweet Paige.

We started the morning off by attending Stake Conference. The kids were excited because Grandma and Grandpa were in our building, so of course they sat with them. Paige would occasionally come back and sit with Casey and I. About the 3rd time, she came back and sat with us and Casey noticed she had a "weird" look on her face. He asked if she was okay and she said she had a tummy ache. Then precisely 5 seconds later, she threw up all over the floor. All over. All over herself. All over Casey's shoes. All over. Seriously, it just kept coming. And by the way, it was the most frightening shade of green you can imagine.

So I grabbed her, cupped my hands to her mouth (as it was still coming) and RAN her outta there, all the while barfing in my hands and down the sleeves of my shirt. We make it in the bathroom, and yep, it's still coming. So I told her to stay there, as I quickly grabbed a handful of paper towels and raced back in there to clean it up, smelling like BARF itself as my sleeves were filled with it. Awesome feeling by the way. Didn't have enough, had to go back for more. People are staring. Probably feeling nauseous themselves. When I came back, someone was there with a mop...thankfully. By the way, where is my husband?? I don't know.

So needless to say, we leave. Poor Paige was white as a ghost and slightly embarrassed. It's a good thing mom's love their kids so much, because this is the second time she's barfed in my hands and down my sleeves. And I'll bet probably not the last. I know it's part of being a mom, yada, yada, yada. But's its still gross, and definitely not my favorite part. Luckily, she is feeling all better and no incidents followed.

So our Super Bowl day was more like a Super BARF day and needless to say our plans to hang out with friends was cancelled. But Caiden took it upon himself to make sure we still had snacks and made a lovely sign too. He's so great :)

And we're off!!

2012-02-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

......almost :)

The stats are in....

2012-01-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Has it already been a year??? I swear just yesterday I was big and fat and miserably pregnant making myself a castor oil cocktail to get this guy here. And now he's ONE?! Wow. I just took him in for his one year appointment and poor thing got himself 6 pokes! 4 shots and one blood draw (which turned into 2). But here are his stats....

At one years old Preston....

- weighs 20.5 lbs (25th percentile)

- 29 inches tall (25th percentile)
- head cirmcumference - can't remember, but in the 75th percentile :)

- has 12 teeth (yes twelve! Paige actually beat him with 16 teeth at one years old)

- is almost walking! I'm certain we'll get there in the next couple of weeks (fingers crossed!)

- is still doing the funny one legged crawl (I like to call it The Hobble)

- is pretty much into everything

- has been sleeping all night for the past 7 months (duh. He's my baby. My babies sleep...or else :)

- loves ALL food. Seriously can't think of ONE thing he's ever refused.

- has the most sensitive skin EVER

- has the cutest smile and laugh EVER

- can say "Mama" "Ni' Ni'" "Dada" and "Nana" (does he know what he's saying? Not as sure)

- is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really precious
- oh, and one other thing that is so funny to watch is how delicate he is when he picks up things. He uses his thumb and pointer finger and is so CAREFUL when he grabs it. The other night we had peas with dinner and he picked up each and every pea individually without squishing one! He's going to be a world renowned surgeon, I just know it!

I didn't exactly throw a big celebration (as in a party) for him. BUT, I did sing "happy birthday" to him several times throughout the day. Oh and I gave him a package of new onesies...AND a new sippy cup. Exciting? I think I made up for it by going ALL OUT with this most fabulous and beautiful CAR cake that I made all by myself, albeit a "clunker" and not so much Lightning McQueen which was the plan. (And it's RED not PINK, got it??) Either way, Caiden thinks I'm THE best cake maker ever and thinks I should go on the show Cake Boss. Thanks bud.

Grandma and Grandpa Gubler came over and gave him this GREAT present. As you can see he was a happy camper!

Then it was time for cake, and I so was hoping that I'd have a baby that dives into the cake and makes a terrible mess. Preston did a pretty good job. The thing with him is he really liked the cake so much he actually succeeded in getting most of it in his mouth with not as much left to make a mess with. It really only took a few seconds for him to eat his entire piece. This boy can eat!

Happy Birthday! We love you Preston (aka Booga Man, Boogie, Boogz, and Boogzie)!!

Hello?

2012-01-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

The other day I was in the office and I heard a series of grunts and groans coming from Preston, which once translated, I know to mean "I could use a little help here!" So I walked in the playroom and found this sweet little face peering up at me.

Apparently Caiden and Paige used the play kitchen to "corner" him in so he would stop getting into their stuff. They were at least kind enough to give him some toys back there. But then they just left, and poor Preston was trying to figure out where the heck everyone went. Just had to get a picture :)

As I've mentioned before, I'm doing quite a bit of "updating" in our house. I had taken the door off to the office so I could paint it and this simple little door hinge has provided HOURS of entertainment for Preston. He flaps it back and forth a million bajillion times and it never gets old. Why again do I spend money on toys?

And speaking of the updating I have officially finished the family room! I'm so excited!! I totally plan to take a picture and post some before-and-afters. Not that anyone out there probably cares too much but I feel it is important to my sanity to see these pictures from time-to-time so that 1.) I have motivation to continue throughout the house and 2.) I have motivation to continue throughout the house. Next up....the kitchen! (Oh my, as I am typing this Preston is literally back to flapping the door hinge.)

In other news, I turned 30. Yep. The big fat 3-0! I am no longer in my twenties. BUT, I must say, my sweet family really spoiled me. So much that I've decided to turn 30 all over again next year! First I woke up to a dozen pink flowers (that Paige picked out) a dozen donuts (that Caiden picked out. I only ate one - can't turn thirty AND fat in the same day) and then my sweet hubs gave me a card (which I want to mention was a Twilight singing card - loved it) full of money! Loved that too! Then he and I went to the Tri-Cities alone and shopped to our hearts content :) Casey's birthday was just a couple of weeks ago too, so he had some birthday money just beggin' to be spent. And a pair of ski boots later, it was. Oh and we went to P.F. Chang's and ate to our hearts content. And we had so much leftover that we ate it again the next day and wouldn't share with the kids. That's what OLD grumpy farts do right?

Now, before you see the next picture, let me explain. I'm a good mom. Really I am. My kids are LOVED. But.....accidents happen I tell ya! (This was a while ago before Preston was even crawling, but I finally just got it transferred from my phone). Now, because I love my child and he loves me ALOT and screams when we're not in the same room together, I tend to take him everywhere I go throughout the house...even when I'm cleaning. He happens to really enjoy watching me do laundry. So I was putting a load in the washer and he was sitting on top of the dryer watching me put the clothes in (like he's done a million times). And I'm right there so he can't fall off. I'm right there! Practically touching him! Well, I turned for just one second - ONE SECOND - to grab some clothes that fell on the floor.....and I swear the next thing I know I'm holding him by his ankle as he had FALLEN INTO THE WASHER!! Now, I have a top loader (obviously) with the giant thing in the middle and so I'm trying to pull him out but he's freaking out, flailing limbs and all (except for the one ankle I had hold of), and I don't know if you've noticed, but he's got himself a nice-sized melon of head and I was seriously strugglin' to pull it out! But finally I did.....and he wasn't happy. I was almost in tears myself and spent the next several hours apologizing to him. Unbelievable. Who has memories of literally pulling their kids out of a washer? Probably just me. I still don't know how it happened. He would always just sit and watch the water run while I filled it with clothes. And just to clarify, it hadn't filled up yet. I guess he just wanted a closer look, and boy did he get one! At least it was a soft landing on the clothes, just not as soft being pulled out. Dang big head of his!

I'm so sorry baby. I love you.

A lot to be GRATEFUL for.....

2011-12-31T20:27:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We made sure to honor some of our favorite traditions....

Gingerbread houses, the reading of The Night Before Christmas (done by Caiden this year, who did a great job :) and of course we open one present, which is always Christmas jammies which the kids always wish is a toy. Never gonna happen kids!

Preston was completely content with wrapping paper, boxes, a loose orange that fell out of someone's stocking and a plastic candy cane. I totally took advantage of this easy-pleasing baby and bought him....nothing. What more did he need???? But Grandma was nice and got him a walker....which I think it's safe to say he likes it.

As for Paige, she fell in love with this doll. It came with an armoire with several outfits and may I just say it is the most organized "dresser" in this house. After we opened presents and were getting ready for Church, she was laying in my bed with her doll and Caiden was reading a book, and I heard Paige whisper "I just love you" (to her doll, not her brother). It made me smile. And chuckle a little too :)

And Mr. Caiden got himself a new pair of skis and boots. Shhhh...nobody tell him they're actually used and not new at all. Hey, come on. Gotta save a buck somewhere. He is SO SO excited to go skiing with his dad. And no, he did not get a new phone. He's eight, who does he need to talk to? Casey got a new phone for his birthday and gave Caiden his old one (except without the phone part). It is solely for games and guess what? I already want to throw it out the window after having smashed it into a thousand pieces with a hammer. It's no secret I'm not a fan of video games, but alas, they have them. However, they are strictly regulated by ME and it is my new favorite thing to take away when they are misbehaving. In that sense, it works wonders :)

Speaking of skiing, the kids were so excited, they convinced Casey to run around the backyard pulling them on skis. They had a blast. Caiden even built a "jump" and was pushing Paige over it....who loved it :)

Sitting through church on Christmas Day, I couldn't help but feel how blessed my family is. In every aspect of life. I couldn't help but think of those out there who were NOT having a "special" Christmas Day with their families and maybe all alone and maybe this was, in fact, one of the worst days of their life. Next year, I am determined to make a new tradition of having the kids buy or donate gifts or time or something to others. I think it's an important experience they need in their life. Yep. That's it. I'm gonna do it. It's officially in writing! A couple years ago when I was Primary Pres., we decided as a presidency to put together a box of items a family needed for Christmas and we left it on their doorstep. We got in our dark clothes and I was the "get-away" driver and we snuck up to their doorstep and rang the doorbell...and RAN for our lives! I was parked in a place where we could see them open the door and wonder who on earth left a box full of goodies on their doorstep. It was seriously so fun! Anyway....those are just my random thoughts this Christmas season. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!

Let's try this again....

2011-12-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

This is going to be mine in a couple of months. Yes, that's right. I am going to be the winner of HGTV's Dream House this year. I'm just documenting now because I am a believer in exercising POSITIVE THINKING. You will see :)

Now, I know I said that last year, but in my defense I was big and fat and pregnant and not as on top of things when it came to daily entering and plus, it was in Vermont. I mean, really, what business do I have in Vermont? None. But this year, it's in Utah. What business do I have in Utah? ALOT!!!!!!!!!!!! So, you see, it's all about timing. Now is the time :) Wish me luck! Wahoo!! Yay me!!! Positive thinking everyone!

Scootin' and Dancin'!!

2011-12-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

First off, sorry these are sideways. It only took me 500 hours to get these dang videos from my phone to my blog. Geeeeeeezzzzzzz. Dang technology.

Anyway, Preston is so cute. Have I mentioned that before? He's starting crawling. And by crawling I mean weird-one-legged-scoot-on-the-butt-thing type of crawl, of course. That's the second video. He's officially into EVERYTHING and has recently discovered the Christmas tree. Ugh.

Then, tonight I looked over at him and he started doing this crazy shake-it-all-around dance just smiling away! So I grabbed my phone and he did it again, except not as much smiling, but just as much shakin'. So funny!!!!!

Just Sayin......

2011-12-13T18:47:00.000-08:00

Eight is GREAT!

2011-12-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

On 11-11-11, Caiden celebrated his very special EIGHTH birthday! He had a grand ole time with his friends at his birthday party, which was held in the arcade at Lake Bowl. Fabulous entertainment for a bunch of crazy eight year old boys. They had a blast :)

One of his favorite gifts was this bow and arrow from Papa. We made sure to have the "this-is-not-a-regular-toy,-you-have-to-really-take-care-of-it" and "your-sister-is-not-target-practice" talk beforehand. I think it went well. No major mishaps so far. And oh, how he loves it! He also got 2 swiss army knives from his other Papa, to which the same pep-talk applied. Apparently, this was the year for weapons :)

Another favorite was his kickball and bases. So easy to please, this little boy. We had a family game of kickball, (where I doubled as photographer - and excelled more at that than an actual player).

You know how some dads go easy on their kids and let them win and not kick the ball their VERY, VERY hardest? Yeah, that didn't really happen :)

"Am I supposed to kick this thing?"

And look who thinks he's pretty awesome :)

Another reason Eight is GREAT is because he's now old enough to be baptized. Yep, I officially have an accountable child. I'm so very proud of Caiden for making this important decision. And so thankful to all the family and friends who came for this event.

It was so awesome that several of Caiden's closest friends were able to make it.

Caiden with his cousins Keenen, Lauren, and baby Scarlett. Lauren came up with my parents from Colorado. I purposely didn't tell Caiden and once she was here, we went to pick him up from school. Lauren was hiding in the back and on the way home, she leaned over and said "Hi". Caiden was so surprised!! It was awesome.

Later I asked Caiden how he felt on this day. He thought about it for a minute and said, "I felt proud". And then my heart melted and oozed right out my body.

Oh, and here's a funny little memory. I'm not exactly sure the conversation said between he and Casey prior to this day. But I know Casey took the time to explain to him just what being baptized means. On the way home he apparently got one little fact a bit mixed up, as he said "But dad...you said I wouldn't remember my sins anymore. And I remember them. Like the time Paige was running to jump and land on the automon and I pushed it away so that she fell flat on her face. I totally remember that." Oh, he's a funny kid!

Family Pictures!

2011-11-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend Michelle took our family pictures last weekend. I love how they turned out. Who knew I had such cute kids? Oh wait, I did.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

Carvin' Pumpkins......

This year Caiden could actually carve his own pumpkin which was nice, so I only ended up doing mine...and Paige's....and Preston's. As usual Paige requested a cat, and if I do say so myself, it pretty much rocks (look at it all lit up - awesome, huh?). And Paige's black polka dots was a nice added touch :) Casey went all out and did the skull. I quite like it. The bottom one was Caiden's second one....yep, he did two and somehow managed not to cut off any of his fingers. I started to worry when he tried to carve hair into his pumpkin.....

But this is his real masterpiece - The Pumpkin Eating the Pumpkin. I think it's great. I did the top and bottom - one for me and one for Preston. Everyone deserves equal representation right?

Halloween Night....

Caiden - a Ninja....Paige - a "pretty, but mean" Witch.....Preston - a Spider

This was one cold and tired little spider. So we bundled him up in the stroller, and when that didn't work, we gave him his first-ever sucker....and it did the trick....and the treat, haha!

After trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gublers. Caiden discovered on the way there that he got several full size candy bars (and I was super excited too because Twix is one of the best things here on Earth. Right next to Ding Dongs.) Both kids got even got some money from our neighbors. Not bad. Maybe I will dress up next year :)

And by the end of the night, Preston decided this whole candy thing was pretty awesome....I love this little spider :)

The latest with.....

2011-10-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

CAIDEN

My big Second Grader! What a little stud he is :) I can't believe he's gonna be EIGHT in just a couple of weeks! Who sped time up all of sudden??? Anyway, I love this kid. It's never hard to get a smile out of him. Except the morning of this picture, he wasn't too happy that I made him wear a collared shirt (not his favorite). He only has two and naturally, he wanted to wear the other one, but it happened to be the shirt he wore in last years school pictures (yeah, it still fits). "Who CARES!" he says. Um.....ME. I use these school pictures as covers for their scrapbooks. We can't have the cover of him on last years scrapbook and the cover of him in this years scrapbook wearing the SAME SHIRT! I mean COME ON!

Funny story - A few days ago I picked him up from school and he said to me as he got in the car, "Mom, I wish I was at Knolls Vista." "Why??" I ask (thinking something bad has happened). "The girls here drive me NUTS! They're always bugging me and talking to me. They're so annoying!" I then had to explain to him that no matter where he's at he will have to deal with annoying people....forever....for the rest of his life. He stared at me with big eyes. AND I explained to him that when you're as good looking as you are, girls are just gonna want to talk to you. And then he rolled his big eyes. Haha.

We also just finished up Fall Soccer (insert happy dance). He had days where he loved it and he had days where it was a struggle to get him to go to practice. The games he loved. He definitely got in the action a bit more this season, but still remains a bit timid. He did his very best though, and I was a super proud mama. His favorite position to play was defense, and was pretty good at it. Least favorite - goalie, for sure. He played it a few times and if the other team scored on him even just once, it just crushed him.

The very last game of the season, we showed up only to find that the other team didn't show. So his coach decided to have them scrimmage each other. Not only were they super tired (having no breaks) but I was surprised to see how much more aggressive the boys were with each other! I think just taking away that pressure and probably knowing each other so well, they just let loose a bit. It was the best I've ever seen Caiden and the other boys play!

and here's his biggest fan....

PAIGE

This little girl is growing up right before my eyes. And literally GROW-ing. She's up to Caiden's nose now. How did this girl get all the height and her brothers not so much?? She also is loving school and slowly learning to read. (We will get there, right?) She still remains to be a bit on the shy side - at school, that is. At home, good gracious she is loud! And is so very, very funny! She constantly cracks me up.

This Fall I signed Paige up for gymnastics and she LOVED it! She was so excited to go each week and would get ready hours before it was time to leave. And you get to wear a sparkly new leotard with a matching hair pretty?!?!?! Pure excitement, I tell you.

This is her first time doing it and once we were there I discovered that she couldn't....really...do a somersault....at all. It was a bit hysterical. In fact, when she was just running around, one image (or person actually) came to my mind. PHOEBE BUFFET. Yes, Phobe from Friends running through Central Park. (Here is a video if you're not familiar. And if you're not familiar shame on you! Friends was the best show ever!)

Now do NOT think for one minute that I am making fun of my sweet little Paigey. If you remember correctly, Phoebe ran like that because it was just too boring to run the other way. She was the one having the most fun. And let me tell you, Paige has the MOST fun there. She is smiling from ear to ear the WHOLE time. I LOVE her and I LOVE her many Phoebe ways. Another Phoebe-like trait that I love is whenever she stumbles (whether slightly or full-on crashes on her head) she exclaims "I'm Okaaaaay!!!" Oh, it kills me! (I honestly have thoughts of changing her middle name to Phoebe. Seriously.)

So this is her trying to do a somersault the first day.....

But she improved drastically and could successfully perform several somersaults in a row in fabulous form. See video below. That's my girl :) I really wanted to keep her in gymnastics, but it ain't exactly cheap. Maybe next spring....

PRESTON

What's new with Preston? Well, he's still cute. He's a little over nine months now and about 18 pounds. Poor little guy is following his big brother's growth trend (who happens to be following my growth trend. Sorry guys). Anyway, this little guy is so dang precious. I hold him and I feel such pure happiness. He should be crawling by now but it's not happening. He HATES tummy time and the instant he's on his tummy he flips over. Fast. But yet, he loves to stand. So I think he just might skip crawling altogether and start walking. Hopefully not yet. I'm not quite ready for him to be mobile.

He's a happy little thing too. I am so blessed to have had happy babies.

You may be wondering what the little red spots are on his cheeks. My poor Preston has suffered from excema since about 3 months old. At first it was from head-to-toe and the worst cradle cap you've ever seen. Poor guy was miserable! Luckily, after seeing a dermatologist, we got several medicines that cleared it up everywhere....except his poor little cheeks. Teething like crazy and constantly putting things in and out of his mouth doesn't help. The only day it was clear was the day I took him in for his pictures at Walmart, which is the reason I took him in for pictures. I thought a miracle occurred when he woke up with clear cheeks! But it was back the next day, and has been there ever since. I do hope it heals soon.

But either way, we just love him so much. Caiden and Paige love him and it is the greatest thing to watch them play with him and make him laugh. He thinks they're pretty great too.

Oh and the latest with ME and CASEY???? Not a whole lot. We just work our little tails off updating this home. It's coming along though. Maybe some "after" pictures soon? Maybe????

Lego-MANIAC!

2011-10-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

This post is specifically for Caiden. He has been begging and begging and begging me to make a scrapbook FULL of pictures of his Lego creations only....but it hasn't exactly happened. So just in case it never does (which is likely) here is proof of his mad skills.....

Now, I can not recall the exact function and purpose of every little creation and every little lego guy, but trust me when I say that EVERYTHING included on each creation has a reason for being there. A very long and detailed purpose which I heard ALL about as I was taking the pictures and later while I was cleaning, and making dinner, and changing a diaper, and on and on and on and on for the rest of our lives. But.....I gotta say, I love it!

Good job Caiden! You are so enthusiastic and talented and creative and detailed and focused - now let's try to apply all of this towards your homework :)

Oh so cute!

2011-10-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I took Preston in to get his pictures taken and they turned out SO flippin' cute! Just look at this face......

Isn't it delicious?! I love it. I love him. I just want to take a bite out of those adorable little cheeks. (In a very loving way, of course). We've decided he is a perfect half-and-half mix of Caiden and Paige as a baby. And since Caiden is pretty darn cute and Paige is pretty darn cute, I think that makes him doubly cute. Yes. Yes, it does.

Then he was doing so well, that I took my chances and threw in Caiden and Paige....and Voila! It turned out great too. How did I get so lucky to have such adorable kids?

In other news...Papa Gubler is a celebrity! See for yourself..... He was featured in the local Basin Business Journal. Just what do local CEO's do in their spare time?? SURF! A big fat article was written about him and his mad skills. Caiden and Paige are quite impressed. Way to go Papa!

Operation DE-GRANDMA-FY has BEGUN!

2011-09-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we've been in this house nearly one year (holy moly is that right????) I'm suddenly embarassed now that I haven't started on this process sooner.....

Anyway, a sweet little old lady and her hubby were the only occupants this home had ever seen. So while incredibly clean and well-maintained, the color scheme is a bit.....how should I put it?....DREADFUL! Her two favorite colors were teal and peach, which I like to call Ugly and Uglier, and they are EVERYWHERE throughout the house. Especially the teal. The lighting fixtures are literally sponge-painted TEAL for crying out loud, not to mention the walls are a horrifying peachy pink color. Then the carpet ranges in colors blue, pink, and green. Oh yeah, and there's carpet in the bathrooms. Bathrooms!! I mean, who does this??? Only old people!

SO....now that school is back in session and I have a bit more time on my hands I am planning to do some serious Extreme Home Makeover this winter. It's going to be fabulous!! HGTV just might want to hire me when I'm done. First things first, the FRONT DOOR. Yep. It's teal too.

The Hideous "BEFORE"....

And now the Stunning "AFTER". I love it!! Don't you love it?????

Next up, we are painting the outside of the house. Nothing wrong with the color there (well except the trim. It's teal too. Ugh.) But the siding in some spots needs touch ups, so that's next on the list before winter comes. By the way, if there's anyone out there just dying to work a paintbrush, come on over! You are very welcome here!

Then, when that's done, and the weather starts to get cold and I go into hibernate mode, the inside of the house will be getting some serious attention. I can not WAIT!

(Is anyone still reading this post?)

Why you want to leeeeeave me????

2011-09-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Anyone know what movie that's from? Well, it pretty much sums up how I felt this first day of school. Two children in elementary school, one in kindergarten, one in second grade. Both so excited.....to leave me. Tear :(

Okay, maybe they were excited for school itself. First....Caiden.

What a little stud. This year he was a bit less excited and bit more nervous than usual as he is at a new school this year and knows very few kids. Two to be exact. But Caiden is a happy-go-lucky kid. He makes friends in less than a second. When I picked him up and asked how it was he said "Best.First.Day.Ever." (haha!) Then he told me about a kid he played with at recess. What's his name? "Uh....I don't know. But he had on a Transformer shirt." Well, that explains it. "And guess what? There's a kid who's SMALLER than me in my class!" Sweet!

And then Paige.....

Honestly, I think she was most excited to wear her new school clothes and shoes and use her new backpack and get her hair done "reeeeeeally curly!" The day before there were a couple of times I truly thought she was going to spontaneously combust from PURE excitement. She kept asking me if it was time to go to bed yet. Then the morning of, she was so excited to get dressed and have me braid and curl her hair. Then on the way to school, I looked back at both of them as we made the last turn and said "are you getting excited?" and Paige exclaimed "I love my HAIR!". I about crashed and died laughing.

Once in the classroom, the nerves set in a bit. But not too much. She was off playing and scoping things out and paid no attention to me leaving. My little girl is in kindergarten.

Later when I picked her up, she was all smiles from ear to ear. Then she opened her backpack....."but....I didn't even get any homework?" Oh, the disappointment.

So it's just me and Preston now. Everyone left us. Real cool.

Trip to Grandma's

2011-09-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

After stopping in Utah to spend time with my sister and her new baby, we then headed over to spend time at my parents home in Pagosa Springs. Casey flew in too. We had a grand ole time. Babysitters a-plenty (grandma + 3 nieces) we actually got to get away for a bit and hit some golf balls. Now, my last (and only) golfing experience was when Casey and I were dating and we spent the weekend in Salt Lake with my sister and her husband. Let's just say somehow I managed to get SMACKED in the head by a golf ball. Did I mention this was just minature golfing? I'm seriously talented.

I can happily report that I did not get hit in the head this time, but as you can see the talent continues. Look closely at the second picture. I've clearly swung....and yet the ball remains on the ground. Talent. That confirms what I've always known....I'm just not good at sports that involve balls. (And you may take that however you'd like :)

Moving on....we mostly just chilled and took it easy all week. I read an entire book while I was there, The Help. (So GREAT!!) I can't say I've been reading much lately. Too much housework. Dang housework.

One day we did take the kids down to the river for a bit...

Preston wasn't so sure about the ice cold water :) Oh, I should mention that he decided to cut the top FOUR teeth during the week we were here. I mean really, what baby gets 4 teeth at one time??? Poor thing. That makes him just 6 1/2 months old with 6 teeth. Fun times.

Welcome Miss Scarlett!

2011-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

My newest little niece, Scarlett Jovi Shaw, arrived on July 15, 2011 (promptly on her due date) and we were SO HAPPY and excited to meet her! Everything went perfect with her labor and delivery (so perfect that I still feel a bit jealous over it :) So a couple of weeks later I drove down with the kids to soak her up a bit.....

(I'm not sure what's going on with Paige's hair here....)

Weighing only 6lbs (something-tiny ounces ?) she is definitely the smallest baby I think I've ever held. I'm used to my giant 8 1/2 pound Gubler babies. Preston seemed like a TANK next to her (of course, he is 6 months old at this point, but still). But oh, how precious she is! Look for yourself....

And STYLISH too! I mean, have you ever seen a baby ride in such STYLE???? She is one lucky little girl!

I can't wait for her and Preston to be running around getting into all sorts of mischief, haha! Speaking of which, I was able to spend the week there with just Preston as my mom graciously took Caiden and Paige back to her house. I tried to spend some time teaching him to sit up....but he wasn't cooperating so much...

....but we did manage to learn one very important skill....holding his own bottle! I literally gain an extra 2 hours of time by him reaching this simple milestone. Love.It.

Love these babies!

Silverwood Theme Park

2011-09-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

The summer seemed to start so late for me as the kids didn't get out of school until the17th of June and the temperatures never seemed to get out of the low 80's. As I mentioned before, we spent ALOT of time out in the yard. Those "after" pictures I promised...um...it might have to wait a bit.

But we did manage to have lots of fun over the summer. Because that's what we do. We have fun. Fun is good for the soul.

Of course we spent time at the pool, as usual. But not as much because of the cool weather. It's no fun to be at the pool when you're cold. It's not natural and it's not right. Do I have pictures? No. Why? I could never remember to bring the camera. Ah well.

BUT we did decide to spend one very fun day at Silverwood Theme Park with our good friends, the Wiseman family. Most of the kids got free passes from their teachers during the school year for meeting their reading goals, so a cheap trip it was :)

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE roller coasters? AND water slides? Seriously, I may have been the most excited one there.

We spent the morning in the amusement park riding rides. Caiden rode Tremors along with the rest of the Wiseman boys (not exactly knowing what they were in store for). I sat out with Paige. She nearly had a heart attack on a mild boat ride prior to this, so I figured she might not like Tremors so much. But the rest of the boys made it through with no tears....possibly because they were too stunned to cry, ha. I was quite impressed. Could we get them to ride any other roller coasters? Not so much. But they had fun on the rest of the kid rides.....dumbo, helicopters, bumperboats....

I wish I had a picture of the most insane ride I've EVER been on. The After Shock. CA-RAZY!!!! First of all it's one of those rides where your feet dangle and you're hooked to the track from above. It starts by pulling you backwards up into the air 170 feet so your staring at the concrete and praying the simple harness that holds you in doesn't decide to malfunction. Then....it suddenly drops you and you are going 500 mph (or something like 65 mph, but it FEELS like 500) all over the place, upside down, spinning and twirling, screaming and praying and then you are shot up into the air and it STOPS....170 feet high and this time your staring straight into the sky wondering what in the HELLS BELLS you're doing on this insane ride and THEN....it drops you again and you do it all over again....backwards, ending up in the original starting position 170 feet in the air staring at the concrete below. Yup. By the time I was done, I was crying (I didn't even remember starting but apparently I did because I had tears rolling down my face) and all my muscles were instantly sore from being so tense and wrapping my arms around the harness so tight, holding on for DEAR LIFE. Loved it. So much fun. Totally doing it again.

Then we headed over to the the water park, Boulder Beach. But unfortunately it was not the warmest day, and then add wind to that. Kinda disappointing. We stood in line for one water slide, Avalanche Mountain, (Caiden was so scared for some reason, and Paige was not at all - Just when I think I can predict their behavior they change it all up on me :) As we stood there with teeth chattering and bodies shivering hoping that the water down the water slide was heated - maybe? - we decided maybe it was a bit too cold for the water park. Poo. I do so love the water slides. But the kids had SO much fun in the wave pool and such - despite the cold.

Here's Paige and Adam. I really hope they get married some day.

Fun, fun day. I think maybe we'll do it again...:)

A little eavesdropping.....

2011-08-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago in the playroom....(Caiden playing legos, Paige playing Barbies)

Paige: "Caiden, which dress should she wear? The blue or pink one?"
Caiden: (annoyed) "Paige!! I'm not a girl!!"..........(mumbles) "the blue one."
Paige: "Oh. Yeah. I like the blue too. And which SHOES should she wear? Um...there's dark blue or light blue. Which one?"
Caiden: "PAIGE!!! I'm not A GIRL!!......the light blue".

Then last night.....

Paige: "Mom, what time is it?"
Me: "8:30"
Paige: "Is it time for bed?"
Me: "Yes".
Paige: (runs down the hall) "CAIDEN! We have to go to bed now!"
Caiden: (through gritted teeth) "Paige! I told you not to ask mom if it's time for bed! She always says "Yes!"
Paige: "But why? I'm tired. I love going to bed."

Then, later they are in bed:

Paige: "Dad! Open the door a little! I can't see my BLANKETS!"
Casey: (opens the door)
Paige: "Thanks!......MORON!!!!!" (dies laughing)
Casey: "What?! What did you say?"
Caiden: "She called you a MORON!" (dies laughing)

Sweet baby boy....

2011-08-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

My little baby boy is six months old now. At his last checkup he weighed in at 15lbs 10oz and 26 inches long. So while he appears to be the chunky monkey that he is, he's actually slowed down quite a bit in his growth. The doctor even said I was welcome to add a little more to his diet, but I hardly think this kid is starving. I mean have you seen his thunder thighs? Or better yet his cute squishy cheeks? He's just following the trend of the Gubler babies - born huge, get fatter by the second for the first couple of months, then slowly taper down until they pretty much quit growing all together. (Poor Caiden is still the smallest kid in his whole class - but by far the smartest and the cutest. How 'bout those stats, thank you.)

Anyway, here's a few pics of little Preston. This is from a while back, but one of my favorites. I walked into the office to find him holding a knife while sporting a sideways hat. Hmmm....wonder who decorated him this time. Either way, it's the cutest little hoodlum I've ever seen.

As I mentioned he's started on solid foods, and oh my. He's never refused one single bite. He's yet to meet a vegetable that he doesn't like. Love it. Just like his big brother, who will eat any and everything.

We're also working on sitting up. And it's coming along. As long as he has someone to observe and entertain him, he'll stay in a sitting position. But as soon as he's alone (or bored) backwards he goes, right over the boppy.

Please excuse the excess drool there. He's proving to be a bit like his big sister and got his first 2 teeth at just 4 1/2 months old. And right now (at 6 months) he happens to be cutting 2 more plus his 2 front teeth are sitting just below the surface. So I'm thinking the drool is gonna be with us for a while.

Have I mentioned how much I love to squeeze this kid? Well I do. And so does his daddy, and his brother, and his sister. He's quite the irresistible guy.

Lately......

2011-07-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

What have we been up to this (incredibly mild and cool) summer? Two words: Yard Work. (Of which, we are forever grateful for the mild temperatures :)

We moved into this house about 7 months ago and we love, love, love it. Especially the yard. Or right now, the idea of the yard, ha. The previous owners were an elderly couple and only maintained half the yard, which didn't seem like that big of a deal. They did a pretty good job. I was even pleasantly suprised to see beautiful roses blooming all around the house....

and then.....there's the other half of the yard....that has completely consumed our lives this summer, and I fear possibly next summer as well. First, there is this random strip in the middle of the yard that although small, was a huge pain in our you-know-what getting it cleared out. It was originally bordered by tall huge arbivitous trees (so mad I don't have a proper before picture). And then it was filled with random rock pathways and annoyances that made it long and tiresome to clear. Finally we have gotten it cleared enough to plant grass. Oh what a happy day that was :)

But there's lots of other annoyances to take care of like this random patch of....I'm not really sure.

Then there's this section that might look like grass, but it's not. It's a terrible infestion of the most evil weed known to man. It's a tiny little weed but the roots are literally 3 feet long and thus, a tangled mess that is impossible to pull. I hate it and it causes me stress. See the tree in the bottom left corner. When we moved in I leaned on it and it fell over. That can't be good.

Then there's the way back part, which has never been maintained, and is full of an even more evil weed. We call them the pokey weeds (I don't know the scientific term) but it does just that. They are sharp pokey little tiny things that stick to your shoes (we found out real quick not to walk around barefoot in this yard - ouch!) and that is the reason for the giant cardboard box you see. We must scrape all the pokey's off before walking back to the house so as not to track them into the good grass and kill the poor children's feet (or pop the tires on the new lawn mower. Casey is definitely more worried about this than Caiden and Paige's feet.)

So that is what we do all day, every day of our lives. I am hoping to have some fabulous "after" pictures with a big play area for the kids and big huge garden area for me and a big fire pit complete with seating for entertaining guests, but...well, we'll see. If only I could take a picture of what this yard looks like in my head. It's beautiful. Till then.....

Paige is FIVE!

2011-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Paige's fifth birthday. This year she was very excited for it. The day before her actual birthday, she kept asking me "Can't we just do it now?". So on the morning of (quite early) she came running into my room and yelled "I'm FIIIIIIVE!". So I told her to go peek in the playroom, where she found this.....

and the rest is history. Yes, there were more presents and a (small) party and a cake and so on and so on...but does any of that matter when you have a dollhouse bigger than you to play with? Not so much. She was in heaven. (And thanks to my nieces who were getting rid of it and allowed me to take it off their hands :)

Here's a video for your viewing pleasure....(sorry it's sideways)

Paige, at FIVE years old, you are:

- so so so very HILARIOUS. not to be confused with....
- CRAZY (they are 2 completely different things :)
- despite the hilarity and craziness that goes on at home, you still remain my SHY little girl in public.
- such a good big AND little sister to your even crazier brothers
- still very afraid of automatic flushing toilets
- continues to use the words "i guess" in place "if" - it's very confusing to people - but since I'm fluent in Paigenese, I'm usually available to translate.
- loves barbies, princesses, movies, coloring, nail polish, puzzles, CANDY and planning out your outfits (with matching hair pretties) days in advance.
- so tiny, and yet so hungry ALL.THE.TIME
- and just so sweet and cute and funny we could all squeeze you to death!

Completely lost my mind!

2011-06-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I had quite the brain fart, let's say, and for some unexplicable reason I want to remember it. So here goes...

I was preparing to leave town for 2 weeks (to Utah) and needed to refill a prescription to take with me. So I call it in and go to pick it up. (It's a Friday, by the way). The pharamcist tells me my insurance won't actually cover it until the next day and to come back. Very annoying. But, I don't actually make it back there till the following Monday. (Keep in mind I'm leaving at 5:30am the next morning (Tues) and I have a million things to get done and errands to run before I go - I just want to make note of that because it makes me feel better.)

So, on that busy Monday, Preston happens to have a Dr.'s appointment and ends up needing 3 prescriptions, which the Dr.calls in. I think to myself that I'll just pick his up when I pick mine up later that day and I plan to do it while Caiden is at soccer practice. So I drop Caiden off at practice that evening and hope to run 3 errands in that one hour. Well, my first errand went all wrong and took forever and I left feeling very irritated - and I just want to make note of that because it also makes me feel better :)

So I rush to Walgreens to pick up the prescriptions. (Now remember, I'm irritated and in a hurry.) To make matters worse there is this ridiculous woman who spots me as I walk in (with my cute baby in tow) and apparently misinterprets my rushed/annoyed look for a please-come-talk-to-me-and-my-baby-and-then-follow-me-around-the-store-all-whilst-asking-crazy-none-of-your-business-questions-as-if-we-are-best-friends look. No joke. She literally follows me to the pharmacy counter and I'm trying my best to lose her without running her over with my cart.

So I approach the counter and hurriedly tell the pharmacist I have 3 prescriptions for my son and one for me to pick up. She finds the ones for Preston, but says that someone has already picked up the one for me.  Not possible, I tell her, because I was there just a few days ago and you wouldn't let me pick it up because my insurance wouldn't pay for it. (Keep in mind the crazy lady is STILL there just a-chattering away). My irritation level is rising and my patience level is dangerously dipping. The pharmacists insists that someone picked it up already - in fact it was earlier that morning at 10am. What??? (Meanwhile crazy lady is now telling me about her 4 grandchildren whose names all begin with the letter "M" and how she likes to call them her "M&M's" and then she laughs hysterically and I'm trying really hard to listen to the pharmacist and not punch the crazy lady in her crazy face!)   So....as you can imagine, I'm starting to get a little bit SNIPPY.

"Look", I tell her, "I'm leaving at 5am tomorrow morning, and I need this prescription to take with me and it was here 3 days ago so why is it not here now??"  She doesn't know. She just knows that someone came, picked it up and paid for it at 10am that morning. (Don't worry - the crazy lady hasn't left and now she's trying to talk to Paige - who, let's be honest doesn't really like people, especially crazy ones (I've taught her well).  "Well, you obviously gave it to the wrong person," I tell the pharmacist.  She again says there's nothing she can do until the tapes are reviewed so they can see who picked it up and she thinks they can get that done by tonight. Whatever. I'm done.

(It's about to get good).....

So I open my purse to get my wallet and pay for Preston's prescriptions, and there's a small bag inside....from Walgreens....from the pharmacy....with my prescription in it.  Huh???? I'm so confuuuuuused!

THEN.....it all comes back to me, as if someone smacked me in the head. It was ME! I was THERE! That morning!!!! I went through the drive thru and I picked it UP....and I paid for it!! OH MY GOSH!  So once I come to this realization, I'm SO embarassed and at first I almost don't say anything until I realize that they're going to review the tapes and then have to call me and say....."um...CRAZY LADY, it was you!!!!" Now I'm the CRAZY LADY!

So....I regain my composure...as best I can and I pull out the bag and show it the pharmacist and I tell her "Oh.My.Gosh. I am SO sorry. I have lost my mind."  Luckily, she laughs and doesn't punch me in my crazy face. Then, (mostly to make myself feel better) I tell her that I just had a baby a couple of months ago and I haven't slept in a LONG time and clearly, I'm losing it.

And the worst part is, I still only vaguely remember picking it up. I remember being at the drive thru window, but not so much getting there or even paying for it. Where was my brain???? So I told Casey this story (mostly to convince him on why this upcoming vacation was so necessary for the sake of my HEALTH!) and I thought maybe he would find it humorous. Instead he told me (very seriously) #1 - you are crazy, #2 - you're kinda mean, and #3 - I don't really like that your driving around town with our kids in the car and you have no idea where you are or what you're doing.  Can't say I blame him.

Want to hear the greatest part of the story?  You might be wondering what this very important prescription I just had to have before I left town was. Nope. Not Prozac.  It was my birth control!  HA! Clearly, I need this more than anything because if I have one more baby, my brain just might ooze right out my head!

Now wait.....there's a little bit more. So the next day, I fly into Utah and I'm telling my sister this awesome story and we're having a good laugh and all. Then I notice that she's wearing a cute hoodie.  And I go to tell her but what comes out is "That's a cute onesie!" Ahh! And then I struggle to remember the word "hoodie" - shirt....i mean, jacket...no....coat...i mean....HOODIE! Oh, how I struggle!

I blogged...just a little

2011-06-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have done it. I am caught up. (But I cheated and back dated everything so as to appear the Super Mom that I am. Yeah right. The following SEVEN posts are new!

Preston....and more Preston

2011-05-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have neglected to post pictures of my sweet Preston...but that doesn't mean I haven't been taking them. Obviously. Just looking back over the past couple of months, I'm shocked at how much he's changed....and how much hair he has lost :(. But he's sure not lacking in the cute department. He's not hard to love, this guy.

This was on his Blessing Day. He was such a tired guy. And just look at all that fuzzy dark hair. I miss it.

...the beginnings of a smile....

.....just chillin....

Caiden loves him, and I think it's pretty cute when he holds him like this. Although, Preston usually has a very mistrusting look as if to say "Really? You're letting this kid run around with me in his arms?" Hey, he only smacked your head once on the door knob...:) And the one on the right is one of my favorites too. I often walk into the room and he magically has all these items in his arms - the remote for instance. I guess in case he wanted to change the channel? Caiden and Paige really help take care of him, ha.

.....and we're SMILING!....

Could he get any cuter??? Methinks not.

Mother's Day

2011-05-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to be a mom...

Oh, how I laughed till it hurt! There's no point in denying it. I do love to lay in bed. Maybe it's because I'm so tall and skinny, haha! Usually, I'm reading a book and not just laying there, but to Caiden I guess its all the same. This paper was bound in a book along with all the other students, so not only did every parent see this (oh my!) but I also noticed that I wasn't the only "tired" mom. Lots of other kids said their moms loved to "rest" or "sleep" or "relax", not so much "lay in bed" but its ok. I won't forget this one!! I do so love my kids! Oh, and Preston slept ALL the way through the night for the FIRST time! Possibly the best present ever....after all, I do love to lay in bed! Oh, I'm still laughing.....

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Easter egg hunt in the backyard....

someone's determined.....

My little Soccer Tot

2011-04-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

I signed Paige up for her first lesson of soccer in Soccer Tots. I was curious how she might (or might not) participate, given that she is my super shy little girl. One of her favorite friends, Kylan, was in the class with her and to my surprise she was so excited every week to go. I loved watching her and I discovered that she kinda....runs like Phoebe. (Remember on Friends when Phoebe goes running through Central Park?) It was awesome! I love that girl!

It was mandatory that she have her "socca hair" done every time too, which consisted of a pony tail (aka "allllll the hair up") and a headband. And there was no deviating from this whatsoever. Just so you know.

Way to go Paige!

Snowbird 2011

2011-04-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

We've been coming here every year for as long as I can remember. My grandpa began the timeshare tradition, who then passed it to his kids, and my parents have now passed it to us. I love it and my kids love it. (It was kinda a busy/crazy week and somehow these are the only photos I managed. Sad.)

But we put both kids on ski's - this is Caiden's third time and he just cruised along...

and Paige's first time...

I wasn't sure how this was gonna go. I'll admit, I was expecting lots of tears and flailing of arms and legs - but to my surprise, she did great! A bit hestitant at first, she didn't want to put her full weight on the skis and more or less let Casey "carry" her.

Then my dad tried skiing backwards with her in this awesome yoga pose of his while she hung onto his head, but it caused a bit of a head rush for him which led to a bloody nose, which sorta freaked Paige out. It was hilarious.

But soon enough Casey had her doing it by herself. And when she would fall, she'd giggle and get right back up. I was quite proud of my little Paigey.

And Preston - well, he pretty much did this the whole time. Lots of sleep and lots of snuggles with Aunt Rebecca.

He's proving to be a fabulous little traveler already :)

SURPRISE Baby Shower!

2011-03-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Another reason I needed/wanted to leave early for our trip to Utah was because me and my mom were covertly trying to plan a surprise baby shower for my sister, who is pregnant with her first baby. It's hard for us all to get together at the same time, so I figured why not during our Snowbird week, when everyone's already there. It was so fun being sneaky and planning it all the while staying at her house. I was so worried she was going to find out....but we pulled it off magnificently!

We disguised it by having a girls shopping day down in Salt Lake (which is a very normal thing - no suspicions there) and having lunch at Olive Garden, where everyone would be waiting when we arrived. It was fabulous! Except for the hostess guy who nearly ruined it when he said to us "Are you here for the baby shower?" and my sister-in-law fiercely whispered "Shut up!!!!!" But then they led us to the back where everyone (cousins, aunts, a couple friends from college) were waiting. She was so confused! And surprised! I'm so mad I didn't get a picture of her face.

fun times....

good food.....

and lots of presents!

Oh, and I pulled out my Kelley-crafty skills and made this beautiful diaper cake. I'm impressed, at least. And it matches the baby's room (which is all done in pink and black and white paisley). So adorable. I can't wait to see this baby already!

Bon Jovi....again!

2011-03-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you are planning a trip and you find out that your good friend Jon Bon Jovi (remember how he practically loves me) is performing in that exact same city, only a week before your scheduled trip???? Leave your husband with the kids and buy tickets of course!

First I must say that my husband rocks. He puts up with my craziness (and that of my sister as well) when we spontaneously decide we need a girls trip...and to see Jon again. Now I didn't leave all the kids with him, just Caiden, as we were already pulling him out of school for a week for our annual Snowbird trip. I felt it would be irresponsible of me to have him miss another week of school. And since I'm the picture of responsibilty itself, I took Paige and Preston with me. You know, priorities. Casey wasn't exactly happy about this plan, nor did he share my excitement (in any way, shape, or form), but he went along (if a bit begrudgingly) and didn't try to tell me no. Mostly because it is highly unlikely I would listen :) but also because he rocks. Plus, I told him he would have a fabulous time bonding with his oldest son, just the boys. AND it was obvious I needed to get away as I was starting to lose my mind after having just gotten over the RSV fiasco with Preston and adjusting to life with 3 kids. Seriously, I had a MAJOR crazy-full-on-lost-my-mind (and memory) moment...and it was clear I needed a break. (It's actually a funny story, maybe I will share it sometime, if I get over my embarassment first :)

But on to more important matters....the concert itself. We had a blast!!! It was so fun and they put on such a great show.

And check out how great our seats were! I'm pretty sure he spotted us....and was happy we were there.

Unfortunately, we did not get to ~~stalk~~ meet him after the show. I had 2 children I needed to pick up and get to bed. That's just me, being all responsible. Like I said, priorities.

RSV and No Teeth

2011-03-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

Preston is approaching 2 months! And what a crazy past few weeks it has been. It all started with Paige getting sick...and then it was downhill from there for everyone. (Not that I'm blaming her, that's just who it started with).

First she randomly gets sick in the middle of the night and then develops a cold. Then, Caiden wakes up one morning and his eyes are freakishly swollen. (Wish I had taken a picture). That lasted a couple of days and it was very weird. My eyes watered every time I looked at him. Then my throat starts hurting REALLY bad. Thought maybe I had strep. Then I wake up with a lovely fat cold sore on my lip and my mouth is FULL of ridiculous, painful canker sores. (TMI, I know. But it hurt!) I could hardly stand to eat or chew anything and was pretty much on a liquid diet for a few days. (However, it did help me lose the last of my baby weight hanging around :) I tried so hard to keep all of this nastiness from Preston, but how is that even humanly possible with both kids sneezing and coughing all over (and their idea of "covering their mouth" is anything but that) and me being in such close contact with him all the time???? It's not possible, I tell you.

So sadly, Preston starts to develop a cold. First the runny nose and congestion, then slowly a cough develops, which seems to get worse as time goes by. Then he starts to lack in nursing and I can't get him to eat very well. So I take him in, honestly thinking he has an ear infection. Nope. RSV!!! I sorta freaked out when his doctor told me. Isn't that a serious thing?

So then all the tests are ordered. First they start with the nebulizer, which he actually LOVED. I literally watched my baby get high right before my eyes. His eyes got all lupe-y looking and his arms fell to his sides as he breathed in the vapors. It was pretty funny. Then a blood test, with not one, but two pokes. They couldn't get it in the first arm and had to do it in the other, all whilst screaming bloody murder. Not so funny. I just couldn't handle the tortured scream coming from my baby. You know the kind where they let out a huge cry and then they're silent and breathless for a few seconds, and then comes the next one even louder and they're shaking in pain? Yep. I pretty much lost it too and cried with him. Then a chest x-ray - not as bad as the blood draw, but not as pleasant as the nebulizer. Then, back up stairs where they put a huge long tube up each nostril and sucked all the junk out of his lungs. He didn't love that either. THEN, the doctor tells me RSV almost always leads to ear infections and the fact that he doesn't have his first set of immunizations would put him at risk of menigitis. Don't want that. So 3 more shots it is, right in the thigh. I fail to mention that Paige is with me and doesn't understand why they are torturing our baby. After the first failed blood draw, she put her hands over her eyes and says "I don't want to watch anymore!" Me too girlie.

So the doctor contemplates having him stay the night in the hospital. Huh? But she sends us home and tells me to watch for a fever and if his breathing gets any more labored. Then we go back the next morning and the next morning for follow ups. They get his blood tests back and there's something detected that shouldn't be there. They're thinking just a contaminate, but not sure. So guess what? Another blood draw. And in both arms too. He cries, I cry, Paige hides. Then his doctor says his lungs sound not as good as the day before and with it being Friday and not able to come in over the weekend she decides he needs monitoring at the hospital overnight. Before we go they do one more nebulizer treatment, which he LOVES, and then a steriod shot, which he does not love so much.

And that's how he ended up in what I call the baby jail. Is this not the most frightening looking crib you've ever seen. Every time the nurse checked him, she raise the rail all the way up, and as soon as she left, right back down it went. I mean, he's a baby - not an animal/criminal, and I'm right here. I can see if he suddenly learns how to sit up, roll over and fall off a bed.

So me and my boy just hung out with this obnoxious little cord wrapped around his little teeny tiny toe. It monitored his oxygen levels, which needed to be above 95 and the closer to 100 the better. Gradually they got stronger and he started eating better and never once developed a fever, which is good. And his blood tests came back okay. So the next day we went home. Yay! Then come Monday morning we go back to the doctors office for a follow up, and what do you know - an ear infection. So he's on antibiotics, but totally over the cough and weird labored-wheezing breathing.

He's even started smiling a bit. Mostly at the walls and ceiling, and only a little bit at us. We're pretty sure he has imaginary friends. I'm just SO grateful he's back to being his healthy little self and it really puts into perspective how hard it would be to have a baby that needed constant monitoring and in and out of the hospital. My heart goes out to them. I think Heavenly Father knows what I can and can't handle. I cried over a blood draw for pete's sake.

Speaking of things I can't handle, here's another one.....

This crazy kid has had his 2 front teeth loose FOR-E-VER. It literally got to the point where they were dangling and when he would talk it would hit his bottom lip and move. I could NOT bear it. I tried pulling out the first one, and Caiden nearly died of a panic attack. No joke. He started breathing heavily and saying "m-my h-heart is b-beating s-s-so F-FAST!!!" and then "I think I'm gonna throw up" and runs to the bathroom and starts gagging (but no throw up). Are you freakin kidding me? I used to pull my teeth out in school. Seriously. I get bored easily. So when Casey got home, I said "Go pull your son's tooth out NOW!" and wa-la, he yanked it out. Then a few weeks later the other one was ready to come out and Caiden lost all trust in Casey. He would not let him near his tooth. But after much convincing and wailing and gnashing of teeth (literally) Casey ripped the other one out. And now we have this toothless little boy who speaks with a lisp :)

And Paige....what has she been up to? Just her crazy little hilarious self. I've no pictures, but take my word for it.

One Month

2011-02-17T17:48:00.001-08:00

My sweet baby boy is officially one month old today. I've always been told and even thought so myself that the first month is the hardest. But really, this past month hasn't been that bad. He has been a pretty sweet baby. Only getting upset when he's hungry, poopy, and tired - all of which are easily remedied.

I must say, I was significantly happier once the belly button and circumcision were all healed. I very much hate those processes. As far as sleep, I am tired, but it could be so much worse. I'm usually up twice a night, around 2ish and 5ish. The challenge is falling back to sleep. If I could just do that, I'd be much more alert. However, the past two nights he has slept from 10:30 to almost 5:30! It has been great!

There is one small matter that has me deeply saddened. His beautiful dark hair is beginning to fall out! What happened to my one baby that had hair???? He looks like he is suffering from a receding hair line. I hope it doesn't all fall out! Oh, and he has quite the case of baby acne right now. Caiden and Paige went through it pretty bad too, but I'm sure it will be gone soon....I hope :) Regardless, he is adorable.

I can't get enough of holding him, scratch that - squeezing him. I just love newborns. Casey will often say to me "You're staring at him again. Why do you stare at him so much?" Do you really have to ask? But really, he's guilty of it too :)

The kids are still loving him like crazy too. Last night I took Preston and went over to a friends house. I got home right after Casey put the kids to bed. I peeked to see if they were still awake and Caiden (half-asleep) said "Mom, I didn't even get to hold Preston today. Can I just hold him?" So he climbs down from the bunk bed and holds him for about 10 sec. and thens says "Ok." And went back to bed. So cute.

As far as my time - well it's pretty much gone. Why didn't anyone tell me that 3 kids is significantly busier than 2? I feel like I can't get anything done. I can certainly start something, but rarely do I find the time to finish it. I realized that I have literally lost about 4 hours of my day to just nursing alone. Ugh! Not to mention all the diaper changing (and sometimes the whole outfit too).

This is pretty much my daily routine right now:
Race to get the kids to school at 8:30, come home, feed Preston, clean up breakfast, try to squeeze in some time to work on the computer before I have to shower and go pick up Paige from preschool. Then we get her, and by the time we get home it's lunch time. Wait a minute...did I even eat breakfast? Then Preston's hungry again...and probably poopy. Feed him, then I have about an hour and a half or so to either run errands or clean up my disgustingly messy house. It's a toss up on which one I decide to do. Then before I know it it's time to get Caiden, which shouldn't take long, but it does because he has to talk to E.V.E.R.Y. single child he passes on the playground. Finally get home, Preston is hungry...again...and poopy...again. Then it's practically dinner time (oh how I hate dinner time...and cooking...it's just ridiculous), then gotta do homework and reading with Caiden, which takes forever because he's....easily distracted. Then bath time...whaddya know..Preston's hungry again. Then bed time...which takes forever too because the kids have gotten their second wind and are bouncing off the walls. Then finally they're in bed and now it's Prestons' bath time. And the kitchen is full of dirty dishes and no one has clean clothes tomorrow. Do I have the energy do it? Hmmm....I won't answer that. Then, it's about 9:00....and I'm freakin exhausted. Feed Preston one last time and try my hardest to convince him to sleep all night (don't laugh, it's working) and then it's almost 10:00. It's either "good night" or "oh my gosh, I haven't showered yet" and in that case it's a quick shower and then "good night"....all to just wake up and do it again tomorrow :)

Ahhh......yes, I'm loving my little newborn....but very much looking forward to summer, with no schedules and where my only priority is "how long should we stay at the pool today"?

I'm a cow....

2011-02-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

So, my kids have been struggling with the concept of nursing. And my explanations have been quite vague. I've tried to explain it as appropiately as possible, but I just can't bring myself to say the necessary words that would explain how it works. Do they need to know the details? I don't really think so.

Caiden has quit asking questions but not Paige. So on the way to school yesterday Paige says:
"Mom, how you feed the baby I guess you don't have a bottle? (Oh, I should mention that for some reason Paige always says "I guess" in place of "if". It's something we're working on...)

So I'm contemplating on how to properly answer (and it's 8:30 in the morning, and I'm tired and apparently my brain was taking too long) and Caiden pipes in:

"Mom....is like a cow, Paige. And Preston....he's like....her baby cow." (very matter of factly)

And Paige replies "Oooooohhhhhh." As if that clears it all up.

And we haven't had any questions since. So....I'm a cow.

Oh, this baby.....

2011-01-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

I just can't get enough of his cute squishy cheeks. He is barely a week old now and already I feel like he is getting too big too fast.

So for posterity's sake and memories sake I shall record the tale of his birth. (Don't worry, I won't be too graphic, but for any of you who don't love stories of labor and delivery, just skip on down. Kim, maybe you shouldn't read this :)

Well, as you can tell from previous posts, I was more than ready to deliver even though I had a few weeks to go. Why? Simply because I don't have 6-pound babies. I have almost 9-pound babies. Not so fun. So at my 35 week check-up, I was at a 1 and at my 36 week check-up, I moved to a 2, and at 37 weeks I was barely a 3. I had had a couple of days where I thought maybe I was going into labor as I started to have contractions, but sadly they always stopped. However, my doctor had predicted that he would be coming that weekend. Well the weekend came and went and still no baby. I'm getting really frustrated and plain awnry (more than the usual) at this point. I don't imagine I was too fun to be around.

So I tried walking and walking and walking some more. And then I tried a little bit more walking. Oh yeah, and did I mention I tried walking? Nothing. So some friends and family members suggested that I try some castor oil. And some other friends strongly suggested that I NOT try castor oil. I'd say an equal amount swore that it worked and others swore that I'd be sick and miserable and in the bathroom all night and still pregnant. What to do? On Sat. night, I hummed and hawed over it, and just couldn't bring myself to do it. I mean, I'm trying to get rid of my discomfort, not add to it, right? Then Sunday morning, I woke up still pregnant and probably at my very grumpiest. Everyone was getting ready for church and the thought of getting dressed, all fat and ugly was not appealing. Then when I went to take a shower and there was no hot water, I pretty much fell apart and declared "I'm not going!!" Needless to say, nobody begged me to come and everyone willingly left me behind :)

Then, by Sunday night, I just didn't care anymore. Could it possibly be that bad? So I did it. Except that I was kinda a wimp and I only did half the recommended dose (1oz instead of 2oz) mixed with orange juice. It was NASTY! It felt like I was drinking liquid Vaseline, with a hint of orange. (Oh, I think I just gagged again.) Then I went to bed. I woke around 2 in the morning with some severe stomach cramps. I'm thinking "Oh.My.Goodness. What have I just done to myself? This sucks!!" Spent a little time in the bathroom, then went back to bed. Then I woke up again at 3:30 in the morning, but with a different kind of cramping. Could these possibly be labor pains, I'm wondering???????? So I get up and walk around the house a bit and sure enough they are coming and going about every 5 minutes or so. But they're not too painful. Shouldn't it hurt more if they're real labor pains? And what happened to the part where I was supposed to be sick and in the bathroom ALL night long?? So I wait a little bit, thinking they're bound to stop on their own, as they had done the couple times before, but.....they don't!

So finally around 6ish, I wake Casey and tell him I think I'm in labor and let's go to the hospital before the contractions stop. I figure once I'm there, I will just refuse to leave. Even if they tell me it's a false alarm, I just won't go home. I simply won't do it. Then I wake my parents (who came up a few days prior to this) and tell them "I'm gonna go have a baby now!" Caiden hears me and says "What?! You're going to the hospital mom??? Now? The baby is coming now? Cool!!"

So we get there finally around 7ish, they check me and sure enough it is real labor and I'm at a 4. (Castor oil rocks! And I might add, it was rather ingenious of me to take only half the dose. Ingenious. Not weak.) So I ask the nurse what I have to be at in order to get an epidural. She sweetly replies, "Just a 4." Even though I'm not in too much pain, I quickly tell her I really, really want one of those.....right now. (I'm not one of those women who need to prove how tough I am. I figure I'm a woman, I can have babies, and it hurts. Nuff said. Let's just get on with the drugs already. I call it being smart.) So up comes Mr. Epidural Man (aka Ed) and I was a little nervous because I was really planning on Tim (the guy who did such an excellent job with Paige) but he proved to be just as good. About 4 hours later, my doctor (Dr. Russell) informs me it is about time. (She actually sped things up a bit with a little pitocin as she had somewhere she absolutely had to be at 1:00 and I was not open to another Dr. delivering my baby - just her.) Then about 4 pushes later, my little (or not so little) baby Preston was here!!!!! Weighing 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20 inches long (almost identical to Caiden who was 8 pounds 9 ounces, 20.5 inches long) except that Preston was almost 2 weeks early. I think I would have had a 10lb baby if I had gone another 2 weeks. Yikes!

They placed him on my chest (with my permission) right after he was born. He was very purple and a bit slimy. Kinda gross - but not when it's your own baby of course. Immediately we knew he was over 8 pounds.

Caiden and Paige were so excited to see him....

Caiden got to listen to his heart beat....

We were shocked at how much hair he had and how dark too! It might not seem like a lot but after 2 bald babies, one blonde and one red head, it was a bit surprising.

And from there, it's history. Everything with me and the baby checked out great, and we both went home the next day. Of course, once the epidural wore off I realized how sore I was (and how big he was) and had a little trouble walking for a couple of days. But now, not even a week has past and I feel pretty darn good. I have even squeezed into my jeans! Yay! (They're kinda tight and I usually only last in them for half a day before the sweats are back on, but still - it's something.)

And did I mention what a good baby he is? The first 2 nights I had to wake him to feed him. He would have slept all night had I not woken him. I kept waking up thinking, shouldn't he be crying? Isn't he hungry? So I'd go check on him, and he'd be sound asleep. Amazing baby he is. Then on the third night, he proved to be entirely normal and I got up about 6 times with him that night :) But it's okay. Now having gone through this 2 times before and knowing that yes, indeed, the day will come that I will sleep again, it's not as hard for me to get up in the night. I remember with Caiden (and even Paige) thinking that I would never sleep again. But I look back now and realize that is the shortest time, and even though I don't love being sleep deprived, I am trying to soak up every minute with him while he's this little. Plus the fact that I was functioning on about 3 hours of interrupted sleep a night during the last month of pregnancy is also making this a lot easier for me :). We've yet to have any uncontrollable crying spells. In fact, he doesn't cry much at all. Not even when he is hungry. It's more of a grunt and groan and a big ole wide mouth searching for food. It's too cute. I so hope this all continues.......

Such a sleepy guy....

Here are some more pics of our precious little guy. Caiden and Paige are completely in love with their little brother.

Isn't he so cute????? I just can't get enough of him!

Introducing......

2011-01-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Preston David Gubler

Born January 17, 2011 at 11:34 am

Weighing 8lbs 8oz and 20 inches

He is tiny and sweet, adorable and perfect and so, so, so LOVED!

More details to follow......

So they say......

2011-01-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

I've it heard it said before that when you really, really want something it is more likely to become a reality when you put it in writing. So......

I would like to be the winner of this years HGTV Dream Home Giveaway.....

and I would like to have this baby TONIGHT or TOMORROW......

Slight distraction.....

2011-01-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

Well, it's obvious by the lack of newborn baby pictures that I'm stiiiiiiillllll pregnant. I moved up to a whopping 2. I guess I should be grateful that I'm something, but somehow I'm just....uncomfortable. Doesn't my Dr. realize how much this baby is growing every minute inside me? He's going to kill me when he comes out. It's not a good thing when even my maternity clothes are too small. Paige tells me everyday "Um...mom, that doesn't fit your baby." Tear :(

But.....the other day something arrived at my doorstep that made me super happy. I'll warn you, it's a strange thing to get excited over - maybe I'm losing my mind a bit - but nonetheless it has brightened my mood. It is this....

Yep! A new Dyson Vacuum! I have wanted one of these for so long and I have been trying to convince Casey why on earth it is worth the money (and they aren't too cheap) for even longer. And finally....my man came through. This was my beloved Christmas present. And I don't care that it just got here 2 days ago. He was searching for a good deal and since he's married to the Queen of Good Deals, I fully understand that sometimes you just have to be patient.

Our old vacuum wasn't even worthy of the name "vacuum". When you have to go over a small piece of thread 4 or 5 times before it sucks it up....it's time to get a new one. And not to mention how freakin heavy it was. I threw my back out every time I vacuumed. So even though this one is loads lighter than our other one, it was still just heavy enough to tweak my back in that obnoxious spot that has bothered me this whole pregnancy. (And I'm sure the 35lb belly hanging off my lower spine is not helping much.) Anyway, Casey vacuumed the whole house last night with it and even exclaimed when he was done "Look how much stuff it picked up!" Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii KNOW! I'm sure once this baby is born I will be vacuuming up a storm!

..........I fear I've definitely lost my mind.............

This is what I feel like.....

2011-01-02T22:34:00.000-08:00

No...that's not actually me - but it is definitely what I feel like. I am SO ready to hold this baby in my arms and no longer in my stomach. Now technically I have a little over 3 weeks left, but I've never made it to my due date. Paige was 3 weeks early and Caiden was a week early. (And they weren't exactly tiny babies). So really....it could happen anytime now, right?????? Please keep your fingers crossed with me!

The anticipation of when and how it is going to happen is killing me. With Paige, it was all so unexpected. I really had no idea I was in labor. I simply went to my scheduled 37 week appointment and my doctor says "Well, geez! You're at a 5 and your water is about to break!" Huh?! She sends me straight to the hospital and sure enough within a half hour my water breaks (all I could think about is how I was going to go to Walmart after my appointment and how embarrassing that would have been!). Then they tell me the anesthesiologist needs to give me the epidural right then because he would be stuck in surgery for the rest of day. Fine with me! I think I only felt a couple of contractions before it took effect. The epidural slowed things down a bit so while waiting they offered me popsicles and I watched TV. Then when it was time, I was so completely numb and immobilized that I actually had to ask if I was pushing. After 2 pushes I heard a baby crying and she was here. It was so perfect. Caiden's labor? Not perfect. I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just say it involves an inexperienced intern, 3 failed attempts at an epidural, a large baby with a large head, 3 solid hours of pushing, and ultimately a vacuum. So I'm praying this time around it will be filled with fabulous drugs, nurses, anesthesiologists, and if it's not to much to ask I really did enjoy those popsicles.

At my last appointment, my doctor said I was at a one, which doesn't mean all that much and with it being my 3rd pregnancy she wasn't that surprised. (But I'll take it. It's better than nothin!) Then, this past Friday I really thought something was happening. I've been feeling Braxton Hicks contractions for a while now, no biggie. But Thurs. night they started to increase a bit in intensity and tightness and a couple of them actually started to hurt. But they were still pretty far apart so I went to bed and all night I felt a constant, yet subtle cramping. Then all day Friday, I felt the contractions coming and going - some mild and some more intense. And I was feeling super uncomfortable (more than the usual) and I'm thinking "this is it!!" (And I'm feeling very proud of the baby for being on board with my plan of having him on Dec. 31 so we get the extra tax write-off and avoid our insurance starting all over again on Jan. 1st - he's so smart!) So I kinda start to panic because the crib is yet to be put together, haven't found the car seat in our messy garage yet, and still don't have any of the baby's clothes located or washed yet. What am I waiting for?? So I inform Casey that we have GOT to get this done...pronto. A couple of hours later, we've accomplished these things and then..................everything stops. Contractions stop coming and crampiness goes away. I go to bed that night (and no, I don't sleep - my body seems to have given up on that one weeks ago) but I also noticed I'm not in pain. Darn. Then all day Saturday.....nothing. Then today....nada. Now I'm thinking this baby is a teaser - and I'm not laughing.

So tomorrow morning I have another appointment and I'm anxious to see if I've progressed at all. If I'm still at a one, I might cry. I'm so ready.....

A-singin' and a-posin'

2010-12-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

We attended both Caiden and Paige's Christmas Programs....

Paige was awfully shy, but awfully cute...all pretty in her Christmas dress and curly hair....

Here she is with best bud, Adam...

And Caiden at his Program....not only did they sing this year but they did quite a bit of dancing too. I got a video of him and at the end of one song, he did the cutest cha-cha-cha! I died laughing a little....

And each year I'm usually really good at getting family pictures taken and sending them out with Christmas cards, but as my usual photographer has moved far away (Jami, come back!) and as I'm quite large and round right now, it just didn't happen. So here is my lame attempt to get some cute pics of my little ones. (Clearly, I need to stick to hiring a professional...)

Thanksgiving - and a move....

2010-12-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

Unfortuately, I have no pictures of this year's Thanksgiving...but I have good reason. We moved on Thanksgiving Day.

Let me back up....

For almost 2 years we had been trying to sell our home and things were...slow-going to say the least. We had many viewings but never any offers. In those 2 years we looked at several different homes that we would have been interested in, if only we could get an offer on our home. But most of those homes seem to come and go and we still sat trying to sell ours. Luckily, we weren't being forced to sell or anything; it was just something we wanted to do at this time in our life with our family growing, so there was no stress involved....just frustration. Anyway, as I started to get further along in my pregnancy we were debating about giving up for the time being. I was ready to call our realtor and cancel our listing, and that very day she called to say someone wanted to look at the house. Ok, fine. One more time I figured and then we're done. Well, to our utter and complete surprise the people wanted it. And not only that, but they had cash. Cash! AND they wanted to buy it as a rental investment, so they tell us we can rent for as long as we need until we find a house. Um.....SOLD! So we did some looking around at what houses were available and there were a couple we were interested in, but some for reason or other, it just didn't pan out and didn't feel right. So we figured we'd just rent till the baby was born and then look more aggressively. Then I spot another house, that hadn't been on the market for long. Long story short, we looked at it and loved it. Only problem - it was a little out of our price range. But we offered them what we could....and they took it! And wa-la....we were moving! Finally! We were utterly amazed and so incredibly thankful. Things couldn't have fallen into place more perfectly. It was a lesson to me that things just don't work when you try to force it. It happens when it is right.

Anyway, we moved the week of Thanksgiving, thanks to friends and family helping out. It also happened to be record-breaking cold temperatures (the highs barely over 10 degrees) and tons of snow. Come to think of it, when we moved almost 6 years ago into our first house it was also record-breaking cold temperatures. Oops. Maybe we brought that on.

So now....we are in and we are unpacked and we are so happy and relieved. Mostly me, as I desperately wanted this to all be over with before the holidays and the baby coming. The kids love it too. It's a cute modest home that a little old grandma lived in. Her favorite colors were teal and peach, also known as ugly and uglier. Needless to say, there is some major de-grandmafication that will be going on once the baby is born :) But as I said, she was a grandma and never did any children live here....so the home was in immaculate condition. I couldn't have been more thankful for that. I haven't taken any pictures yet of the home. But it's on my to-do list. Maybe I'll get some good before and after's once the baby is born :)

Caiden turns 7!!

2010-12-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

My boy is 7. Unbelievable.

He had quite the party too. He definitely scored with me being big and fat and tired and pregnant. I originally did not plan on spending money to rent a place for a party....again. And I was in no mood to entertain a bunch of kids in a house full of boxes. (I was trying to implement the we-only-have-big-parties-on-even-years idea, but it was not working). So I made a deal with Caiden - either we use the money I would normally spend on renting a place for a party or we use the money for actual gifts and have a celebration with just family. He choose the party idea with no hesitation.

So, this year we had the party at AIM Gymnastic's Center. It's a little more pricey than some other options, but they set-up, clean-up, chaperone, and it's private. No one else was there but us and there was no where for the kids to escape to. And they allow for 20 kids (and Caiden had 18 on his list). So basically, I was able to sit my fat self down and not have to do a thing and they had a BLAST.

The main attraction was the new foam pit....and I have to admit - I badly wanted to try it out. It looked so fun as they launched themselves off the trampoline into the pit. But I didn't think my unborn baby would have appreciated it....

There was so much for them to do and it really catered to all ages - as we had kids that ranged from 4 to 10. They were entertained the whole time and I could barely get them to take a break for cupcakes and presents.....

Now, you may wonder what they are doing here.....

....I was a forgetful mom and forgot the candles for the cupcakes! So one of Caiden's friends suggested they could be the candles and Caiden could blow them down. I thought that was super creative and fun, so here they are - 7 human candles!

Then time for presents....

He was ecstatic as legos are the ONLY thing on the brain right now.

So here's to you Caiden:

Happy Birthday!

We love you so much and here are my 7 most favorite things about you:

1. Your big HUGE smile that is almost always planted on your face.

2. Your an awesome big brother - and it is my single favorite moment of the day to hear you exclaim "Bye Paige!" every morning when I drop you off for school. I love it.

3. You are so smart - you love school and you do SO good.

4. You have been the best helper while mom has been pregnant. What would I do at the store when I can't bend over and get the things on the bottom shelf? I don't know.

5. You are a great friend - you love to play with almost everyone of all ages and kids love to play with you.

6. You're full of questions - (which sometimes drives me crazy) but better that the wheels are always turning than stuck in the mud.

7. You're crazy - plain and simple. And we love it.

Halloween

2010-12-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

For Halloween....

I was able to help out in Caiden's classroom for his Halloween Party. There were different stations set up where they learned different things about pumpkins. Everyone thought it was real funny that my belly looked like a pumpkin...haha.

I even got to eat lunch with Caiden and his friends. Most of the kids chose bring their food back the classroom and eat with their moms. But not my little social butterfly Caiden. He insisted we eat in the cafeteria with all his friends. I'm sure I looked real cute trying to get in and out of their little lunch tables and sitting amongst all the first graders....but I figure I ought to take advantage of my son actually wanting me to eat lunch with him and hang out with his friends. It's awfully cute. However, I was a bit shocked when suddenly they turned out the lights and told the kids they had to be quiet while they ate. What? Because they haven't been told that all morning while in class and now they can't take a break and chat with their friends? Caiden told me they do that almost everyday. So basically, I thought that was ABSURD and was a bad example and continued to chat with Caiden and his friends. And I sweetly smiled as the lunch ladies passed by. :)

Then we went back the classroom and split up in groups and carved pumpkins....

What cute kiddos....

Then for Paige's Halloween Party, she got to wear her Ariel costume to preschool....

THEN, I planned to take my kids out trick-or-treating on Halloween, the 31st of October, just like the rest of the world. But apparently dumb Moses Lake decided to celebrate it on the 30th, since the 31st was a Sunday. What's the big deal? It's a family outing, people! Yes, I had heard this around town, but figured there'd still be people out on Halloween night. And as Casey and I had to spend Sat. the 30th at a ward Halloween party, I obviously couldn't take the kids out that night. But figured no big deal. There will be trick or treaters on Halloween. WRONG! I was so mad. And I'm still mad at the city for this one. Can you tell? Anyway, luckily a few friends of mine were as perturbed as I was so our kids trick-or-treated at their house running from the front door to the back door over and over again until the candy bowl was emptied. Ariel and Iron Man were happy at last.

from the front door...

to the back door.....

and back to the front.....times about 50.

Oh yeah, and somewhere in the midst of things, we managed to take time to carve pumpkins. I got lucky this year as one of them is the one from Caiden's class; the little one Caiden actually did all by himself (nice job!); Paige painted one at school; so that only left one for me to carve. Paige said she wanted a kitty. And if I do say so myself, I did a freakin amazing job! Check out that cat! Meow!

New Orleans

2010-12-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

Back in September, Casey and I took a trip to New Orleans! I have been wanting to take him there for the past 8 years and show him where I grew up and the crazy and fun places New Orleans has to offer (and there are lots!) So when one of my very best friends called me and told me she was getting married, I jumped at the opportunity to go. And so we were off....

(Oh, and somehow in the months and weeks leading up to it, the rest of my family - parents and siblings - decided to go also. So it sorta turned into another fun-filled Peart Family Vacation :) And a big thanks to dear friends Carrie and Randy for their "suthern hospitality" in letting the whole Peart clan crash at their place.

Anyway, in the small amount of time we were there, I was deteremined to show Casey everything. First things first....SWAMP TOUR! Yep! This one was also for me. In all the years I lived there, I never went on one of these. So the whole family went....

Then we met our guide and loaded ourselves onto the airboat and we were off into the heart of the swamps. I wish I had gotten a picture of the I-really-hope-this-boat-doesn't-break-down look on Casey's face :)

In no time, the alligators were swimming up to the boat. The guide was feeding them marshmellows (aka "swamp crack") because they are attracted to the color white. Note to self: Never where white when falling into a swamp.

Then the guide let us take turns holding a baby alligator that he had brought along for the ride. This was quite a hilarious experience. Mom was first, and she got real friendly with the alligator....

Then later, I did it....

"Hello, little alligator!" And if you're wondering, they were not at all slimy or slippery as I was expecting them to be. By the way, I should mention how jealous Caiden was when he heard we were going on a swamp tour. He LOVES alligators. And I have nothing to do with this one. He just plain likes them. He also happens to like the show "Swamp People" on the History Channel. (If you've never seen it, you should watch it. It's...amusing.) Anyway, I convinced Casey he needed to hold this little alligator....for the children.

And for fun, we made Rebecca do it too, who was....a little apprehensive.

Oh, and Caiden was insistent that when we saw an alligator to stroke it between the eyes so it would fall asleep. I think maybe they learned this one on Diego, of which is inaccurate. Unless, our guide was wrong....and I'm not sure of his intelligence level. But if he knows anything, I'm thinking it's alligators. He demonstrated the correct way to make a baby alligator fall asleep - flip him upside down and stroke his belly. Makes sense to me.

Then things got a little crazy when he tried to pull a larger alligator into the boat....

Moving along.....then we headed down into the heart of New Orleans - the French Quarter - and did some shopping and sight-seeing.

St. Louis Cathedral...

crazy, spray-painted Mime

the French Market....

Bourbon Street....I picked the most appropriate picture...ha! Just kidding, we walked down Bourbon during the day, so it was totally calm....to us. Casey said "Wow, people are crazy". I said "Yeah, come back at 2 in the morning and you'll see what crazy really looks like."

and my all-time favorite place to get fat - Cafe Du Monde. Yummy. Yummy. Beignets.

and then we walked along the Riverwalk and the Mighty Mississippi River...

(and I just want to clarify that I'm not a total fat cow, I'm 5 1/2 months pregnant here)

As I mentioned, it was my friend Whitney's wedding and it was so fun to catch up with a bunch of old friends too....

Then, of course, I had to give Casey the tour of good ole Mandeville and show him where I lived....our houses....

(yeah, I have no shame....I'm aware that someone lives there, but I lived there first!)

I was told that when Katrina happened a BIG tree went right through the roof of this home - and right through my old bedroom too (top left window)

We also went by my old schools, and went to church at my old ward and ate at EVERY place we loved. By the end of the trip I was real glad to be able to blame my fatness on the baby. Of all things, I think I miss the food the most. Definitely not the humidity. I forgot how freakin hot it is there and wondered how we did it when we were little....and I wondered how and why on Earth anyone would want to be pregnant and live in that heat. Ugh!

We also toured the Oak Alley Plantation....

The oak trees were unbelievable.....

Then on the last day, we toured a cemetary near the French Quarter. That was interesting. If it hadn't have been so hot, it would've have been pretty creepy. There's so much history in places like these. And the amazing part is they still hold funerals and burials there today.

You can tell which ones get visitors.....

and which ones don't.....

And that was our lovely trip to New Orleans. Hopefully, not our last....

Where have I been???

2010-11-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

My poor blog is suffering! There is so much I've neglected to blog about lately. But I have good reason (and fully plan to catch up....someday). First of all, we finally sold our house and moved! After 2 years of trying we finally got a solid offer and even found ourselves a great new home for our family. Everything happened so fast and we are so thankful - me especially as I am approaching the 8th month of pregnancy and so glad to be done with the whole moving process :).

Speaking of my pregnancy, all is going well. I just went to the doctors today and me and the baby are accidentally measuring huge so they upped my due date a week! So for all you people who have been lying to my face that I'm not that big, you can now stop. I've officially been told we are measuring "a little large". (Not that I didn't already know that.)

Anyway, my days are now filled with trying to unpack everything, get everything ready for the baby, continue to post on my other site, and I'm really hoping to come across the boxes of Christmas decorations one of these days. But in the meantime I hope to catch up on all that I've missed lately. Namely, our awesome trip to New Orleans back in Sept. (wow, I'm really behind), Halloween, Caiden turned 7 (what?!), and lots of other randomness. We shall see what I manage to accomplish this month......

Amazing!!!

2010-11-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

I had to have another ultrasound today and the Tech snuck me into the "4D room". Oh.My.Goodness. It's almost like a real picture! Obviously I've never had one before and I am SO unbelievably amazed at how well you can see him. (It was even clearer on their screens.) I feel like I know what he's gonna look like! Very exciting!

{And that scary looking stub thing is the umbilical cord I think. The tech assured me he has full arms and legs despite how it may look}

And then this is my favorite....here he is in action sucking on his thumb! I think he must think he has a huge thumb because that is one big ,wide, open mouth. I love it.

Speaking of this sweet little baby, all is going well so far. I had to have this second ultrasound to "get a better view" of some things. But I really think it was simply just that. In the first ultrasound, he was situated very low and they couldn't get the most ideal images. So I'm not too worried about anything. Plus, he moves and kicks almost all.day.long. I'm thinking he's quite a healthy little guy :) I am getting bigger and bigger and rounder and rounder and wanting to be done more and more. I so love newborns, but I SO do NOT love being pregnant. I know, I shouldn't complain - we're both healthy. And I'm grateful. I'm just also very D.O.N.E. Too bad I have almost 3 months left, ha! But today reminded me it's all worth it in the end. Right? Someone else please remind of that too......

Sweet, Happy, Cheesy Caiden

2010-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

Caiden brought home his school pictures....and I love them!! I really never have to worry about him not smiling in pictures. Ever. And really in life too. He is just a happy kid. Not that he doesn't make me want to pull my hair out at times, or completely ignore me, or ~~argue~~ negogiate everything possible. He just does all these things very happily. But really what I love most about this picture is how it captures his personality perfectly. Happy, sweet, smiley, cheesy, goofy, full of energy, smart, slightly obnoxious, funny and just so, so, so CUTE!

The other night before I went to bed I peaked into the kids room and saw Caiden sleeping like this....

Oh how he cracks me up! Just HOW does one get into this position, stay in it long enough to fall asleep, and then once asleep.....keep sleeping?? Love it.

Check out my new site - From Deals to Steals

2010-10-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

So...I'm on to a new adventure. I have created my very own blog called From Deals to Steals where I will be featuring the best deals around Moses Lake and whatever online deals I find that us Moses Lakers can take advantage of. I'll be providing store lists each week (Safeway, Rite Aid, Walgreens) and their best deals with coupon match ups. So for those who haven't already quit reading this post, and are interested on how to save LOTS of money, check it out! And if you're really into it, grab my button (on the side bar) and post it on your blog. .....And feel free to contact me if you have questions on how all this couponing stuff works!

I can CAN!!!

2010-09-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

Oh my! Just what on earth have I turned into???? Take a look at the "fruits of my labor". Haha, no pun intended. I actually did all of this! 15 jars of salsa and 42 jars of pears. Holy moly. A friend of mine gave me a ton tomatoes and jalepenos from her garden and 15 jars later I had me some canned salsa. Then, last Monday, Casey and I took the kids and picked 60lbs of pears at a friends orchard. It took all freakin day long and I was beginning to question what I had gotten myself into, but the end result is so exciting. Once again, who'd of thunk I'd ever endeavor on such a thing? Oh, and Casey even helped me can all the pears. Who'd of thunk that one either?? Yay for us and our pears and salsa...

Paige's first day...

2010-09-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

My Paigey girl started her second year of preschool at Happy Hearts. And she was excited! Mostly to see her friend Adam again. She really missed him. (We'll see if she makes any girl friends this year :)

She wanted me to curl her hair "like a princess" and then half way through decided it was taking too long and made several attempts to escape. I got it as best I could without burning her with the hot curling iron. I think it's pretty cute. I wish she would let me curl her hair everyday....

She's not too sure about her new teacher yet....

But that's just Paige and her stranger anxiety...

Weird to think I now have 3 mornings a week to myself. That's almost 9 hours of me-time! Hmmm....I'm thinking I better take advantage of that before little baby boy joins our family.

Look Mom! No hands!

2010-09-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

Summer 2010

2010-09-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what we did all summer long.....

Caiden got pretty comfortable on the kneeboard....

....and Paige in the water with Papa...

Fun times at the pool.....

Both kids took swim lessons....Caiden was the smallest and youngest in his class (by far) but he actually kept up with the big kids quite well. I was super impressed....

He was so excited to learn to jump off the diving board with no life jacket and no help in the water...Yay! He definitely walked away from swim lessons a stronger and more skilled swimmer....

And this girl....

.....she owes me 25 bucks!!

This is the girl that doesn't liked to be splashed, or put her head under water...just float and twirl in her bright pink floaty. We did the Mommy and Me class, which was all moms and their kids no older than 18 months, and then there was me and my 4 yr old. A little awkward.

I did my best to convince her to try to blow bubbles....

and after 2 weeks this was the best "jump" I could get out of her....

.....could be impressive if the water were more than 6 inches deep.

Oh well. It's not like I'm trying to raise an Olympic swimmer here. Maybe next summer....

It's a.....

2010-09-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

BOY!! Today I had my ultrasound and we discovered that we are having a boy! Casey and Caiden are especially excited and Paige is doing...ok. She wasn't overly thrilled when I told her it was a boy, but she didn't get too upset either. I told her she would still help me feed the baby and hold the baby and dress the baby and she said "Can we buy him new shoes?" Why, sure! Whereas Caiden insisted that he didn't want "two sisters that will bug me forever". So everyone is excited and I am most happy and thankful that everything and everyone appears to be healthy. The radiologist still has to review everything in detail and then report it to my doctor, but I'm thinking all is well.

It is amazing how technology has improved even in the last 5 years. We sat and watched this baby's thumb go in and out of his mouth. Already taking after his big brother! Caiden was also sucking his thumb in his ultrasound. We got a picture of it but it's not very clear. Even with the advanced technology, I still sometimes felt like Rachel on Friends as the ultrasound tech. would point out different things like "here's the kidneys" and "here's the stomach" and "here's the bladder" - uh-huh, yeah I see all of that too. Not! One thing about this baby is that he is situated very low. The guy had a hard time getting all of the measurements. He had me rolling from side to side and I kept feeling the baby kick back when he'd push on my belly. I kept thinking myself, even before the ultrasound, that this baby felt really low. All the movements I feel are much lower than I remember in my other 2 pregnancies. My doctor says the uterus is up where it's supposed to be; this baby just chooses to situate himself very low down. My bladder is not too appreciative of this. So hopefully as he gets bigger he'll move himself up a bit.

Speaking of big, Caiden took one look at the picture and said "whoa! he has a big head!" I also noticed that, but I'm choosing to overlook it and deny it because the thought of giving birth to one more big-headed baby is just too much for me to handle right now. So here's to our newest little boy to be!

First Grade

2010-09-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Caiden had a successful day of first grade. We had met his teacher the day before and he was super excited that 2 of his friends from last year are in his class again. So once he had on his favorite new Lego Batman shirt and a packed lunch, he couldn't get out of the door fast enough.

We parked and walked him to his class. Once inside, I saw a roomful of silent, nervous, adorable little first graders (and only one hysterically crying little boy). Natually I had to take a picture of him at his desk. Love the "seriously, mom???" look....

So I hung out for a few minutes until Paige kept saying "Can we go now???" Then....it was time to go. I stood outside and just felt like I didn't want to leave. I wasn't necessarily sad, but I just felt like I wanted to stand outside the builiding for a minute. Probably would have if Paige hadn't been pulling me to the car. Anyway, I kept myself busy all day occasionally thinking/stressing whether or not he was having fun. Then....time to pick him up. He gets in the car and says "First grade is fun!!" Yay! Thanks to lunch and 2 recesses, he loves, loves school. I don't hear much about what they learn, but I hear about everything that goes on at lunch and recess. He is so funny!

Last day of Summer :(

2010-08-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

It is the last day of summer. It is 61 degrees outside. And it is raining. Hardly the way we wanted to spend our last few days of freedom. What is with this weather?? It hasn't been much more than 70 degrees for the past few days. If this is any indication that winter is coming early, I'm going to start crying right now.

On the other hand, it is the last day of summer. I can not believe my little Caiden starts 1st grade tomorrow! I am feeling just about every emotion right now. Excited for Caiden (only because he's so excited), and sad for Paige because she is really going to miss her big brother, and sad for me because he's just getting so big, and nervous for him because its a big school with big fat 5th graders and what if they try to mess with my boy??? Except that he's not nervous at all. Just excited. I asked him at dinner tonight what he thinks they'll be doing on the first day. He says "um....probably go to recess...and see my old friends....and chase girls." Nice. Add worry into that mix.

So today, we went to meet his teacher, Mrs. Pruett (who I liked immediately). She mailed a letter stating we could come today to drop off their school supplies and pick out their desk. Caiden is in an actual classroom in the building, not in a portable. Why is this worth stating? Well, simply because when I was little and went to ghetto Woodlake Elementary I never once had a class in the actual school building - only portables. Ghetto portables that leaked when it rained. Then I went on to middle school excited to actually be in a building, but nope. Only portables again. It wasn't till 7th grade that I actually had a class in a building. So naturally, I feel some excitement over this issue. And kinda some jealousy too. And proud that my Caiden is going to such a high class school as Knolls Vista, ha. Anyway, he picked out his desk and his cubby and is super excited for tomorrow morning. So I think we are ready. At least we got a haircut out of the way a couple of weeks ago.

So....I think I'm excited, but probably around 2:00 tomorrow I'll be wondering where in the heck he is and why my house is so quiet and empty.

Anyway, I'll be posting our "summer of fun" pics soon. It mostly consists of 2 things - the pool and the lake. It's what we do best.

Better late than never.....

2010-08-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

For some reason it has taken me forever to get around to posting our 4th of July trip to Pagosa. But better late than never, right?

So, to begin I must give out an award to....The Two Best Travelers of All Time...Caiden and Paige....{applause and cheering}

Now, I have never claimed to have the most well behaved children (because that would be a lie) nor the most mild (because that would also be a lie), but I am pretty sure I do have the best little travelers....EVER. We drove a total of 18 hours (just me and them, no Casey) and not once did they get out of their seats, and only once did they attempt a pillow fight which was immediately vetoed after I was hit while driving. There was, however, countless "Are we there yeeeeeeettttt?" and "how much loooongggerrrrrrrr?" But other than that, they completely rocked. (And I feel I have to take some credit for that because I am one heck of a traveler myself and I'm pretty sure they got this awesome gene from me, which I got from my parents :) So, a big thanks to the DVD player, Star Wars, Max & Ruby, handi-snacks, part-time passenger Aunt Kimmy, and Bon Jovi and large amounts of caffenieted drinks (for me) for making it all possible.

Now on to our trip....

We first stopped in Salt Lake at my sister's so we could attend the midnight showing of "Eclipse". This was quite the experience as I discovered how seriously these Utahn's take their Twilight. Oh my....it was crazy, insane, shocking, ridiculous, and absurd. I loved every minute of it.

Then, on to Pagosa to Grandma and Grandpa Peart's. Within hours of arriving the craziness

began (unfortunately I don't have pictures to document this, but must record it for memories sake). While scary and alarming at first, it turned into hilarity once we discovered everyone was okay. Caiden was with his cousins, Tanner and Lauren, out for a joy ride on the Ranger (a normal activity). All of a sudden Caiden and Lauren come bursting through the front door in a half-crying/full-on panicked state screaming "A REALLY S-SCARY THING JUST HAP-HAPPENED!!" (I thought they had seen a bear - another semi-normal thing). "What happened?!?!" "Tanner was dr-driving the Ranger and was looking at a b-bird and then we r-rolled off the driveway" (sniff, sniff, panic, panic). Initially we first thought that Tanner was stuck under the Ranger so Kim and I shot out the door and ran down the driveway. Now I should explain that my parents don't exactly have a normal driveway. It's one you basically need 4-wheel drive to get up and it's real long and windy and rocky and mountain-y. We get down there and see that Tanner is just fine, except for kinda sulking around with a sheepish ah-crap-I-just-rolled-the-Ranger look on his face. Then we get the whole story....Apparently they were making their way down the driveway when they spot an interesting bird and Tanner doesn't realize how close they are to the edge and the front wheel goes off. He stops and attempts to reverse but can't get enough traction and Ranger slowly tips to its side and off the driveway. No rolling, no tumbling, no bodies being thrown about, just a simple tip-over. Simple to Caiden and Lauren? Not so much. There was lots of "I'm so mad at you Tanner!!" and "I'm never riding anywhere with you again" and "You need a licer's drivence!" The panic looked on their faces and sound in their voices was pee-your-pants funny!!!! But we eventually calmed them down and did a "yay for seatbelts" dance. And within hours they were best friends with Tanner once again. Classic.

Anyway, moving on, we did a little flying....(Caiden and Paige call it the "Who-dat" airplane, Ha!)

....please excuse me and my pajama attire. My dad is an early riser...and I am not.

Caiden got to ride co-pilot, which he loved and then once we were airborne, Paige sat on my dad's lap. He did his famous "pulling G's" trick (where your stomach ends up in your throat). Normally, this is a favorite of mine, as a kid and an adult, but I quickly discovered it takes on a completely different feeling when you're pregnant. Not quite as fun as I remembered.

Later, we attended Pagosa's 4th of July parade. My dad started it off with his flying buddies as they flew in formation over the parade...

Can you tell what was Paige's favorite part?

Afterwards, there was the most amazing double rainbow...I have never seen a double rainbow before. I didn't even know that could happen. The pictures don't do it justice.

Then we waded in the San Juan river a bit....

THEN...on the last day there, we decided to go tubing down the River. So we dropped off a few of the adults and kids (Caiden included) at a higher spot up in the river and the rest of us drove down a bit further to watch them come down. It was taking a bit longer than expected and I had the feeling that there was some tip-overs resulting in uncooperative children. (I think Caiden had met his quota for "tip-overs" for the week). Sure enough, I was right. It's not that the river was rough with huge rapids, it's that there was more than one person to a tube and the distribution of weight caused it to be...shall we say unsteady. So there was not one, not two, not three, but FOUR tip-overs. Caiden was D.O.N.E. At one point, my dad said he stood up on a rock and loudly announced "I HATE THIS RIVER. I'M NOT GOING ANYMORE!" Against his will, they grabbed him and finally made it to where we were waiting. And this is how he stood for a long time....

So, I'm thinking he's not gonna grow up to be a white water rafting guide....big deal.

Now, look to the upper left of this picture and you will see the largest "rapid" the river had to offer. The adults took turns going over it....

Rodney makes it through....

Kim makes it through....

Kelley makes it through....

Grandpa makes it through....just barely...

And Grandma...wait a second...where's Grandma? Oh, well she collided with another person and flipped right over....there's her head!

A great little trip!

A creation for me....

2010-08-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned how popular legos are in our house? Well, they are. Big time. Caiden is the master of creations - spaceships, rockets, boats, cars, motorcycles, you name it. And Paige has gotten quite into it as well, given the limited amount of legos Caiden "allows" her to play with. Naturally, as a big brother he has allotted her all the legos he doesn't like, are broken, or suffering from some sort of deformation.

But last night....as they were bouncing off the walls and contributing heavily to my pounding headache, I tried to distract them by requesting they build me something out of legos. I was soon presented with a "house" complete with the most amazing features. I just love their little brains!

And so here it is....

Now on to the features....Paige made sure I had a front door (thank you) and a back door (that's the gate-looking thing in the back). To the left of the front door is a security system, also know as the "bad guy trap". The red shooter-looking things blast them away and it also works on dogs. Awesome! The two things I'm most afraid of - bad guys and dogs. Then, inside the home, see the blue piece with the white lego on top? That's my bed and the white piece is my pillow. And if you look closely my "blanket" is kept in the large white compartment. This compartment also doubles as my "cool bathtub". Then, take note that when I'm laying in bed I can watch iCarly on my very own "big screen TV". And now for my very favorite feature - see the object to the right of the house? Well that's my very own motorized robot that takes care of all my "outside" chores. Now really, don't you wish you had a house like this?

Deep thoughts by Caiden....

2010-07-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

C: Mom, don't you wish sometimes that a metorite would land in our backyard?
Me: Um...no.
C: What about an aliant {alien}?
Me: Not really.

C: Dad, what happens when someone gets fired? Do you get, like, a hot stick that's on fire and poke 'em with it?
Casey: (dies laughing)

C: Mom, do you think if we went up to the sun and poured lots of bottles of water on it, it would go out?
Me: #1 - You can't go visit the sun. You'll catch on fire. #2 - You can't put the sun out with a few bottles of water.
C: Yeah, but like, if you had ALOT of bottles of water you could. Seriously.
Me: Ummm...not so much.

The wheels are always turning in this kids head....maybe not always in the right direction...but turning nonetheless.

The latest....

2010-07-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well I think most people know this already or if you've seen me lately you've probably at least wondered....I'm not just getting fat, I'm pregnant!! Yep, baby #3 is on the way!! And though, I may only be 2 1/2 months along I am already poking out. I don't really have the option to keep it a secret for too long. Dang giant Gubler babies! My doctor has assured me there is only one in there but I am starting to wonder :) So the official due date is January 28th. Caiden and Paige are SO excited and it is SO fun (and funny) to hear them talk about it to each other. So far Caiden hopes it is a boy named Luke Skywalker and Paige hopes it is a girl named Princess Leia. There may be some disappointment in their future...

So now, can someone tell me how to get one of those tracker things that counts the days on my blog??

Last day of Kindergarten!

2010-06-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Caiden has officially completed Kindergarten! His last day was spent at the Aquatic Center. All of Knolls Vista and 2 other schools were there for the day, and oh my, talk about craziness. 1500 kids at the pool! I just had to get a picture of Caiden with Mrs. Nash (along with his new friend Jacob - can you tell the excitement was running high that day? I could hardly get them to sit still long enough to snap the picture). I can't brag enough about his teacher. She is THE best teacher ever. How many kids want to invite their teachers to their birthday parties? Seriously, Caiden (whose birthday isn't for another 5 months) has already asked me if Mrs. Nash can come. So cute. I am just so grateful Caiden got such a good teacher. He learned so much! So naturally, I was a bit disappointed when I found out she's moving to 5th grade. What?! Who will teach Paige?! I already feel stressed over it!

Lake Powell

2010-06-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

We took our first ever trip to Lake Powell! My brother often vacations there with his boat and toy hauler and invited us to camp out with them all week. Camping in a 5th wheel with a bathroom and kitchen and bed and nearby showers is my kind of camping. Camping in a tent with no showers and never being free of dirt or sand - not so much. So we jumped at the opportunity and with the cold windy weather we have been having in Moses Lake, I welcomed the 106 degrees heat with open arms.

We spent most of the time out on the boat and we found out quickly just how much colder the water is in Lake Powell than here in Moses Lake. Brrr! But then again, it was 106 degrees, so it felt heavenly. And the rocks and canyons are just so pretty! So much exploring to do and cliff jumping!

With much convincing, Caiden jumped off the rock, but I was too slow and only got the aftersplash. I couldn't convince him to do it again :(

Casey and his skills.....gotta love the look on his face in the wipe out shot. That's gotta hurt...I don't know how he does it.

This is the extent of my skills...although I'm certain that one time I caught air. It may not have been visible to the human eye, but I'm certain that for a split second of a split second I was airborne.....And gotta love the look on my dad's face - now, that's some concentration!

And this is what Paige does best - SNACK! She kills me. Completely kills me. It makes me so crazy that she thinks she needs to snack every second of every day. Did I mention it kills me? But she did do some major rockin out to the music and that was pretty funny....

Tanner found a lizard that became the kids' pet for a while. They kept it in an empty water bottle and it rode around on the boat with us.

And Caiden and Lauren were inseparable the whole time. They had a blast! Kids never get bored with water and sand around! Now the sand was pretty dang hot so they took it upon themselves to "water" all of the sand so it wouldn't burn our feet. Quite a job! And so funny! And speaking of funny, on the way home it was evident just how hard he played all week when he slept for over 16 hours. My boy was tired!

And on the very last day Caiden kneeboarded. We so tried all week to get him to wakeboard, but to no avail. But he did kneeboard/bellyboard and I was a super proud mom.

Here's to Lake Powell! I hope someday we make it back again!

F.O.U.R.

2010-06-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

My little girl is FOUR! Oh my! We celebrated Paige's birthday a few days early since we would be in Lake Powell on the day of her birthday (that post is yet to come:). We just had a small party with Grandma and Grandpa Gubler and Aunt Kimmy was here visiting too. With all the craziness going on, there just wasn't much time for a party, but....I still came through with decorating the house with streamers and balloons and what not and I sort of had this crazy idea to actually attempt to make a cake - not just plain ole cake in a plain ole cake pan - but a REALLY cool cake, like in the shape of something. My sister thought I was crazy, but I started to google around and found a cake that I thought I could manage - and HOLY COW!!!! I AM AMAZING!! Check out my Paige's super awesome butterfly cake!!

Seriously, people do you see that?!?!? Can you believe I actually did that????? (Now, for all you fabulous and talented cake decorators who might be reading this please don't rain on my parade. In fact, I prefer not to hear your comments all together :) And the best part was when I was making it and Caiden and Paige were my audience and Caiden kept saying "Wow, Mom! That is the best cake ever!" "Oh my gosh, Mom! You are the best cake maker ever!" "That cake is so cool mom!" I know!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Except now, Caiden has big plans for his birthday cake, and I'm a little nervous).

Okay, back to the matter at hand - Paige is four! My sweet, teeny, tiny, petite little girl is four! Casey and I bought her her first bike with training wheels - and not just any bike - a BARBIE bike, complete with streamers, a bell, a basket, AND a mini-bike that you're Barbie can ride with you. I couldn't pass this one up and she LOVED it. I gave this to her when she woke up (that explains the jammies) and since it was raining outside, she rode it up and down the hallway all day.

Then later that night we opened the rest of her presents. Caiden was struggling a bit with her getting all these presents. "It's not fair." And so he convinced Paige to let him "hand" the presents to her and if she couldn't open it he would "help" her. It basically drove me crazy, but I have to remind myself, he's only 6.

Paige is big into dress-up right now and just starting to get into Barbies too - so what better than matching dresses for you and you're Barbie?

And then it was time for cake, and to be honest it was a bit hard for me to cut up my masterpiece.

So in honor of Paige, here are some things that describe you at age 4:

* you LOVE, LOVE your baby dolls and are always tucking them in their beds and pushing them around in your stroller
* you also LOVE your big brother and can have just as much fun with legos as with your dolls. (And sometimes he makes you angry and I see a small little violent streak come out in you :)
* you LOVE the color pink - actually "obsessed" might be a better word
* you are SO, SO shy! Not at home - in fact, you are very loud at home, but in public and around strangers you are terrifyingly shy.
* you prefer to play with boys than girls - maybe that's just cause there aren't many girls around your age
* you are a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE eater and it makes me so crazy! All you want to do is snack all day and when it comes to meals, I want to pull my hair out - but I still LOVE you.
* you are very afraid of bugs, but surprisingly not dogs, which makes me wonder how you are related to me.
* you are also afraid of automatic flushing toilets and there aren't too many things that make me laugh harder
than watching you panic that the toilet is going "flush you". Seriously, so funny.
* all your "l's" come out as "w's". We love to hear you say "Lauren loves lollipops." It never gets old.
* you LOVE to watch movies - ALL DAY - and it makes mom a little crazy too.
* you LOVE Max & Ruby, Hello Kitty, Tom & Jerry, & Bolt - yes, you're very random.
* you refuse daddy kisses if he has "whiskers"
* you LOVE to play with daddy's Ipod and it is shocking how good you are at it.
* you are just so FUNNY and SWEET and I never want you to get big!

And one more time, just in case you forgot, I did this......for you Paige.

AMAZING!

The Marlins

2010-06-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Caiden finished another season of T-Ball with Team Marlins. ("Like Nemo's dad??") And he LOVED it. I don't know if baseball is gonna be his thing, but he sure loved every minute of it and constantly wanted to practice in the backyard, even after an hour long game we'd get home and he'd say "Mom, can we go practice some more?" So cute. Some say T-Ball can be a boring sport to watch, but I found it to be quite hilarious at times. I watched as the coach struggled and struggled to explain things to them and they were completely clueless. And I watched how at times, it would turn into a football game as they tried to tackle each other to get to the ball. Most of the kids still had no idea where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base was and that made things entertaining. Some of my favorite highlights this season were:

* watching Caiden catch (or pick up off the ground) the ball at first base and instead of touching the base to get the runner out or throwing it to 2nd, or even 3rd, he decided to chase after the runner all the way to 3rd base and personally tag him with the ball. Classic.

*watching Caiden nearly pee his pants in the middle of a game. He had to go so bad he was holding himself with his mit and jumping up and down and spinning in circles. Against his will, I took him out of the game and MADE him go. He was VERY mad at me and insisted he didn't even have to go. Yeah, right. But then later that night he said to me "Mom, I was dying in my game" me- "I know. Let this be a lesson that mom knows everything." him- "I know! I know! That's what they always say in school. Mom knows best!" Ha!Ha!

*watching the ball bounce right off his helmet as he ran to first and he hardly noticed. Also, noticing that he was pretty much the only kid whose head filled up the entire helmet. What can I say? He's got big brains!

*and lastly, watching him and another teammate running at full speed towards each other to catch the ball and they completely collided! Caiden sort of held a grudge against that kid for the rest of the season....

Hmmm....what do I do next?

Goofing around....

Go Marlins!

Memorial Day in Missoula

2010-05-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day Weekend, we drove over to Missoula, MT to stay with my brother. My mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law came up too. We were hoping for a nice sunny weekend, but unfortunately it was rainy and chilly. But we made the best of it, of course! The girls did some shopping and eating out (duh! - we do that come rain or shine :) The boys had a football game going on in the front yard....

Caiden could often be heard saying "Come on guys! We need to make a master plan!" Hence, the intense huddle.

Then, everyone participated in some basketball games created by Uncle Jesse's family...and it was a hoot!

We played "Poison" and "Lightning". Now I don't so much remember all the details and rules to the games but one involved screaming "Poison!" and everyone had to FREEZE in their tracks (hence, the crazy poses) and the other was a bit of a race to make a basket before the person behind you. I didn't so much rock at the second game, despite the picture of my mad skills below, ha.

And this is what Paige did while everyone was playing and running around.....Play with the kitties! And she told me many times over the weekend "this kitty so really likes me." Yes, Paigey.

And count on my child to find immense entertainment out of a window well. Note to self: Get a daylight basement in our next house.

Then we decided to take a stroll on their property to a nearby creek and unbeknownst to us all the drama that awaited us...dun! dun! dun!

It all started with completely calm and normal driving done by Papa...

Then we get to the creek and as everyone is calmly peering into the flowing stream, Papa obnoxiously throws the largest rock ever into the creek and drenches us all. Well, mostly just Paige, of whom doesn't exactly take a joke so well....but she got her revenge by splashing him back and then she was all smiles....

And THEN, in the midst of the crazy rock throwing and splashing, Caiden runs up the hill and happens to stand in the one and only spot of a giant red-ant hill. All of a sudden, he comes running down in a panic that a bug was on his hand. Now, don't judge me, but my initial reaction was to roll my eyes deep into the back of my head. It drives me crazy that my son and daughter are more afraid of bugs than me. They panic when a housefly gets into the house and Paige thinks the tiniest of moving creatures is a black widow that is trying to eat her. So, at first, I paid no attention, and then all of a sudden I see my brother run up to Caiden and start attacking his legs. And then I noticed the tons of red ants crawling all up his legs and all over his shoes. And then I felt bad. So we ripped his pants off and there were several ants that had gotten inside and he was freaking out and I was freaking out. I so wish I had gotten a picture of him in his underwear! (and I'm sure he's thankful I didn't, because you know I would have no shame in posting it). So we get the ants off and his pants back on and I take a closer look at this ant hill, and oh my! Those are some HUGE ants. And I grew up in Louisiana. Trust me, I know my red ants!

But the four wheeler rides with his cousins seemed to help him forget about the killer ants...

A fun weekend in Montana!

Paige's End of the Year Preschool Program

2010-05-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Paige has officially finished her first year of Preschool at Happy Hearts and they celebrated with an end of the year program. According to her teachers, by the end of the year she finally would talk to them and occasionally smile at them. Her teacher even told me of a time that she talked in class and another little boy exclaimed, "She can talk! Paige can talk!"

My sweet little Paige is just so, so shy! (Certainly not at home, of course. She is at times the only thing I can hear. But in public.....that's a different story.) I can barely get her to smile and pose for me in pictures, so I wasn't too surprised to see her not smiling in her school pictures. Oh well. On a side note, I will always remember this year as the year of the hair disaster followed by the missing chunk of bangs - a very sad day indeed. But both are beginning to finally grow out and think I just might be over it completely....

It is one of my favorite things to see at the end of the year what all the kids want to be when they grow up. They are always posted along the walls for all to read and Paige did not disappoint...
I love that she got confused! And for the record, that is the first I have heard about her wanting to be a teacher. Maybe she loved preschool more than she let on!

And then all the preschool children serenaded us with tons of cute songs and to my utter surprise, I witnessed my little Paigey actually singing along and doing the hand motions. So cute. And of course, she is standing next to best friend, Adam.

And this was her favorite song to sing (peanuuuuut - peanut butter - and jelly!) and I couldn't get enough of her cute little hand motions.

Talent

2010-05-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

An ode to Mothers....

2010-05-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

I hope this is as inspiring to you as it was to me...sure makes all the bad days worth it....

::Invisible Mothers::

“It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I’m not a pair of hands ; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’ I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: ‘To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, nocupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.”

-written by Nicole Johnson

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Lots of Randoms....

2010-05-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

First off....Books! Caiden's reading has just taken off in the last couple of months. He loves books and he's now read cover to cover "Green Eggs & Ham", "Hop on Pop", and "The Cat in the Hat". (We love Dr. Suess, can you tell?) He came home from school one day and very excitedly said "Mom, we got to read like bosses today!"..."Bosses??"...."Yeah, you know...with our feet up on the desk." Love it! And love Mrs. Nash for making reading so fun!

So lately, Caiden has been noticing that the books I read are "fat" books and he says he wants to read "fat" books. I told him next year maybe (or maybe the next) he might be ready to start Harry Potter. He was very excited at this thought! But for now, he just likes to pretend he's reading "fat" books. And I just had laugh when I saw this Sunday afternoon....

...of all books, he picked "Lord of the Rings" which I have to admit that I couldn't even get through. It's not the easiest of reads on my book shelf. But Caiden has inspired me to attempt to get through the trilogy as soon as I'm done with the next 15 books in line I have waiting :) Anyway, I'm just so glad he has a love for reading I hope it lasts!

And speaking of reading, this is another one of his favorite things to do, although I don't think there is much reading going on as there is wishing. We get these lego magazines in the mail every so often and they are filled with amazing lego sets that cost about $200 (yeah, right!) But a kid can dream....

And lately, this little guy has days where he is so eager to help me around the house. What? Yes, it's not often but I take advantage of it to the fullest extent!

Now on to Paige....

I have a store that I go to where I sell my old clothes and the kids old toys and what not and once in a blue moon I find some half-decent clothes for the kids. I found this dress for Paige (it's a little big) but she FELL.IN.LOVE. It was so funny. I've never seen her so excited to go to church! And she couldn't stop talking about her new dress. Casey told her she needed to blow her nose and her reply was "I know. But I just really like my dress."

Crazy kids!

Ghana

2010-04-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

.....Team Ghana, that is. I guess this year for Spring Kinder-Soccer, the traditional team names of Tigers and Bulldogs and Bears weren't educational enough. Instead every team was the name of a country and Caiden was on Team Ghana. "Ghana? What's a Ghana, mom?"

Nonetheless, Caiden had fun. It's more of a social thing for him than anything else. But we've come a long way from standing in the middle of the field with a confused look watching everyone run past him. At the second game of the season, Casey, half joking/half serious, told Caiden he'd give him a buck if he scored a goal. To our amazement, he scored 3 and didn't let us forget about paying up. Caiden also got some good advice from Papa Gubler "Just stand by the goal and then when the ball comes near, kick it in!" And 3 goals (and 3 dollars) later it worked! Those also happened to be the only goals of the season, as we told him money was no longer going to be involved. I sometimes worry how motivated by money this kid is. (Hopefully it's a sign that he'll grow up to be hard-working, successful business man and not a greedy, ungrateful young man).