I'm back!! And I had a baby!!!

Where to begin????? I have missed you blog, I really have.  Many times I had posts all written and laid out in my head, only it never made it past that point.  And then suddenly a whole year has passed.  How does that happen?  How does a whole year pass and you don't even realize it????  Crazy.  

And it just gets crazier because we had another baby!  A beautiful, adorable, sweet baby girl. :) Miss Emery Claire Gubler was born February 5, 2014 weighing 7lbs 12oz.  I was certain she would be at least 9 pounds and if you had seen me you'd have been certain of that too.  But since I'm the author of this blog, you don't get to see those pictures.  Nope.

Oh man, she is a cutie.  We love love love her.  I suppose for posterity's sake I'll recount the pregnancy and delivery (briefly).  First 3 months - sick, sick, sick.  Last six months - back pain, headaches, back pain.  Castor oil.  Endless walking.  Castor oil...again.  It's time!  Labor - not my worst, not my best.  Got an epidural.  It didn't work.  Ouch.  Cry. Ouch.  And then she was here!!  A perfect little baby girl!  

She had dark hair and Preston's tan skin (still don't know where that comes from!).  She looked to me to be a pretty good mix of Paige and Preston.  I think one of my favorite parts of that day was how excited the kids were to see her! 

Once home, I really did feel pretty good.  The best I have felt with any of the kids.  And they were loving her.  Especially Paige.  I mean, look at her preciousness.

Her first 6 weeks were kinda rough (in the sleeping department).  The roughest of the 4.  I was getting a little nervous.  Her favorite way to sleep is over your shoulder.  She is the cuddliest thing ever and I love it.  So I was thinking she'd probably love her tummy... But that is a major no-no or so we're told.  But one night I decided to try it and she slept the whole dang night.  I almost had a heart attack and went running to check on her.  She was just sound asleep! So a tummy baby she is, and as of right now (3 months old) she has blessed us with all night sleeping for a couple weeks now.  Just when you think you can't love your baby any more, they go and sleep through the night and you love them 100 times more! AND get this.... the girl has two teeth already!! At 2 1/2 months old I thought she was getting a cold as she had a runny nose and was occasionally a bit warm.  A week later I noticed that her two bottom teeth had already broken through the skin! I had no idea she was teething.  Crazy.  I know my babies teeth early but she just might be eating a steak at 6 months old.

Last week, I had a friend take her pictures and I love them!! She is looking more and more like Preston to me. Thanks Michelle! For your viewing pleasure.....

And just in case it's another year before I blog again here's an update on these 3...  (It's still weird to me that I have 4 kids.  Four.  Wow.)

Caiden - 

Caiden continues to be the happiest-go-luckiest kid in the world.  In the words of his soccer coach he is a "bottle of sunshine" and "one of my favorite people in the world.  Period."  He is THE best big brother in the world (particularly to Preston - and he's a hard one.  More on him later :) ).  I'm so glad I had him first, because really he is an awesome kid, who loves kids (I swear he'll have 10 one day) and sets the best example to everyone else.  As much as he is awesome and fun and great and funny he is equally as horrible at chores.  Seriously.  I don't want to use the word lazy, but it does come to mind.  Between he and I it's our greatest challenge.  I don't want to use the words yelling and screaming... but they do come to mind.  More recently, he has taken to a rather expensive taste in clothing.  He even knows everything he wants for next years school clothes shopping.  I took one look at it and said "boy, you better get a job."  So we are "discussing" and "trying out" new PAID chores.  Dishes for me and weed eating for Casey.  I think thus far we've decided it's easier to do it ourselves or just have him go to school naked.  I'll keep you posted on how that goes. :)  It's a good thing we love him so much.

Paige - 

Paige is my girl :)  And she loves me.  Really she does.  Over the past year I probably have about 20 little notes she writes me telling me how much she loves me and how pretty I am and how I clean the tub real good and do the dishes real good "but sometimes they are not clean" and how much she loves my face because it is so pretty and how I'm a good cook... Okay, I'll stop there.  But she's pretty awesome and I do so love these little notes :)  She has taken up piano this past year and does SO good at it.  At least we think, we aren't so musical Casey and I. :) But whatever she's playing, it sounds great to me! I especially love when she sings along with the songs.  Loudly.  She really is an easy and obedient child.  I pray this continues!!

Preston - 

Holy cow.  We have a tornado in our house that we call Preston.  He keeps me on my toes like nobody's business.  But this kid is DANG cute and he knows it.  And funny.  No one can make me laugh like he can.  No one can also make me scream as loud as he can or make me want to run away to the Caribbean all alone and live in a tiny hut on the beach with just my Kindle and a lifetime supply of Dr. Pepper.  Not that I've thought about it or anything :)  And no one loves their big brother as much as Preston loves Caiden.  He is absolutely obsessed with everything Caiden does.  Everything.  Everything.  He even repeats stories Caiden tells, about school or his friends, as he is telling it! It's like this little echo follows Caiden around everywhere he goes.  Everyday when Caiden leaves for school he pouts "But will you come back??? Come back okay!" Our most recent battle is him getting dressed everyday.  You think that's simple? It's not.  Not for him.  He wants jammies on everyday all day.  And not just one pair, several throughout the day.  In fact I believe he went to bed tonight with both jammy pants and shorts on at the same time.  He's resorted to saying in his prayers, "please bless that I can get dressed".  Poor thing.  Only divine help will cure this one I've concluded.  I've learned with him, just as one "issue" is solved another begins.  Like right now... There's currently "a dinosaur in the wall that says roar" and he won't go down the hallway alone.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring. :)

As for me and Casey, we keep trucking along. Four kids is busy.  Whoever said it's all the same after 3....  I'd like to track them down have a little chit chat.  It's not the same.  At all.  But I'm not complaining.  I love my little family.  I'm just learning to adjust to 17 million unfinished tasks with no great prospects of them being finished anytime soon. However, I have officially finished painting every single wall inside and outside of this house.  Do you know the joy that brings me?  Probably not. But maybe I will post some before and after pics.  I think I've said that before.  Don't hold me to it. 

A few funnies....

I'm behind on posts.  Story of my life these days.  I keep imagining a day where the house stays clean and I'm done painting bedrooms and I don't have to do my 2 piddly jobs from home and I can just sit and catch up on my scrapbooks and blogs.  Until then....I may grace you with my presence for a few random funny happenings and updates.

March 16th - Casey and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary.  We went to the Tri-Cities for some shopping and dinner.  We stopped at Outback to eat and when we entered the only available table was in the bar area.  The hostess looked at us and said "Are you two over 21??"  Hahaha!  I thought that was a memory worth noting :) The perks of looking like we're still 12 :)  Later we went and test drove some Suburbans.  I want one.  Casey wants a truck.  Who will win? Hmm....

And here's a funny about Paige.  Occasionally she has some liar-liar-pants-on-fire moments.  Nothing big.  Just basic "did you brush your teeth?" answered with a very firm YES, even though her toothbrush is totally dry.  Or "did you get the candy down for Preston just to quiet him up?"  answered with a firm NO, even though she's the only one in the house at the time who can climb up the pantry shelves.  You get the idea.

So, it begins when I keep getting notices from the school that I owe lunch money on her account.  But I'm confused because I don't get the notices for Caiden's account nearly as much and they pretty much eat hot lunch together on the same days - maybe once or twice a week.  I keep asking her "how come I always owe for you and not Caiden?  Are you eating hot lunch plus the lunch I pack for you every morning?"  Firm (and innocent) No, Mom.  And I believe her because she is a picky eater and I certainly know she's not eating the beefy bean burritos.  Whatever.  Life continues.  But so do the notices.  Finally, I decide to call the school and see if someone is accidentally using her card.  They pull up a print out of all the dates she's eating hot lunch.  And it's only once or twice a week, just as I expected. I'm confused. Then the lady says to me "well, you know she eats breakfast too, don't you?"  What?????  "Yes ma'am, every Monday and Wednesday morning." I then look at the lunch calendar and see that that is French Toast Sticks and Cinnamon Roll days.  Two of Paige's very favorite things.  Oh how it made me laugh.  And kinda want to ring her neck :)  So I asked her about it later and she fessed up.  French Toast Sticks and Cinnamon Rolls.  Little Stinker.  I asked Caiden if he knew she was eating breakfast at school to which he replied "What?! We can eat breakfast at school?!?!"  Crazy kids.

Anywho, life continues to roll along as usual.  I have been truckin along getting the house painted.  Only 3 more rooms to go! I shall have to post some before and after pictures soon :)

I'm very much looking forward to summer and sleeping in! Yes, indeed.  It can not come quick enough.

Just Waitin'....

You can pretty much count on Preston being here at this very window morning, lunch time, and afternoon.

In the morning when he's watching Caiden and Paige get on the bus (after he's given them "huggies").  You might hear things like this...."Byyyyye, byyyye!  Caynen, get down! (as he climbs the stone pillars), BUS! BUS! A BUS!"

Then at lunch time waiting for daddy.  Except for when daddy takes a late lunch, and well, that just doesn't go over well.  He leans on the window sill and calls for "Daddy.....Daddy.....Daddy....coming?....coming?????..."  (Patience isn't exactly a strength right now). Then "DADDY! DADDY HERE!" followed by pounding on the window and hysterical laughter.  

Then after he wakes up from his nap and knows the kids are about to get home.  Again with the calling....and the "coming?????"s.  Then "PAIGEY!" and "Caynen??, Caynen, COME ON!" (because Caiden takes forever and has to run around the yard and thrown his backpack all over the place before he comes inside :)

But the BEST is if he sees people walking by and says hi to them and their dogs and their bikes and the cars and you name it.  And my all time favorite is when he yells at the birds to "GO!".  Apparently birds have to be in constant flight....and again - not a lot of patience on his part if they dare land in the yard.

Oh my, it never gets old :)

Sad Day

A very sad (and possibly expensive) day.....

....with two slightly scared and guilt-stricken boys.

I know.  I know.  It's bound to happen when you've got boys playing ball in the back yard.....

But the truth always comes out.  Especially after two moms interrogate the culprits separately :)

We learned that they weren't necessarily playing "baseball".  More like "throw-the-ball-on-the-roof-and-watch-it-roll-down".  I guess it was all going well until......

Needless to say, we had a conversation that night about taking responsibility for our actions, NOT lying, NOT telling half-truths....cuz Mama always finds out :)

Disney World!!

The whole Gubler Gang, (and I mean the WHOLE Gubler Gang) packed our bags and went to Disney World in Orlando, Florida!  For eight glorious days we played from sun up to sun down (and might I add how wonderfully warm that sun was!).  Did you know the Palm Tree is my favorite kind of tree in the whole world?  You'll never see snow on a palm tree.  Ever.

 

First off, may we all shout out a HUGE thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Gubler for making this trip possible for everyone!  And for being the best baby-sitters to Preston, who wasn't always the easiest child to babysit.  And maybe a quick apology to Grandma for wearing her completely out.  Sorry about that :)

On to the parks...

Hollywood Studios

 Highlights:
* This was Caiden's favorite park due to the Tower of Tower ride and the Rockin Roller Coaster ride. 
* Paige was quite Brave all week riding roller coasters too, so it was only fitting that she have her own Brave doll.  I nicknamed her my "little Merida" all week.  She was SO excited and treated that doll like it was fine china.
* Preston is becoming fast friends with Uncle Jason and enjoys riding on his shoulders.  Which was helpful when he decided he was sick of his stroller.
* The perfect weather - not too hot, definitely not cold.  Paige kept asking me "Mom, is this as cold as it gets here?"  Yes!

 Animal Kingdom

* Of course, the Mount Everest ride.  Another of Caiden's favorites.  Even Paige went on this one - miss little Brave :)
* Giraffes, lions, gorillas, hippos, monkeys - we love the animals. 
* Dinoland
* I think this was the park that Preston was naughtiest in.  That explains why Casey is feeding him to a lion in the bottom left picture. 
* The beautiful warm sunny weather :)

Epcot

* See the 3 musketeers in front of the Planets there?  We all took a claustrophobic-G-force-simulated ride to space.  Once back on Earth, we realize we would all have made lousy astronauts.  Nauseated.  Nauseated. Nauseated. All except Caiden.  He loved it and wanted to go again, but no one was willing to go with him.
* I wish I could have gone into every country and eaten at every restaurant :)
* Sunshine
* Warmth
* Palm trees

Sea World

* Shamu!!  We all loved Shamu! The kids got little stuffed Shamu's from Gma and Gpa.
* Loved the dolphin show.  Very impressive!

* Caiden and Paige and Preston had the time of their lives at the "kid park".  There was a Shamu Roller Coaster ride that they rode repeatedly! Along with countless other kid-friendly rides.

* Preston discovered the trains and carousel.  And so did Papa :)

* Casey and I enjoyed the 2 roller coasters here.  I'm so glad he shares in my need to torture myself to go on every ridiculous roller coaster ride.  I love them and hate them at the same time.  The Manta was pretty unforgettable (top left).  Instead of sitting, you are laying flat against the rails with nothing buy sky in front of you!  Except for me; my eyes were shut the whole time! It was awesome.

* Warm, sunny weather :)

 Universal Studios

* Love Universal!
* Another crazy ridiculous roller coaster ride that we did (eyes shut).  On this one, there were speakers on the headrest and you could select what song to listen too while flying about.  Every time I hear the The Black Eyed Peas, I feel strangely anxious.
* There were lots of great shows here.  Caiden tried desparately to volunteer for every show.  He even tried to volunteer me once.  That kid!
* Have I mentioned the perfect weather?

Magic Kingdom

* Such a magical place :)

* How much did Paige love seeing all the Princesses and Mickey Mouse? A lot!

* Space Mountain

* Car ride - Caiden embraced his "inner-Peart" and took me on a crazy car ride.  

* Preston had the time of his life watching the cars go by.

Thank goodness for motorcycles and water!  Now, as you can imagine a Disney World trip is slightly harder with a 2 year old.  Really, he did pretty good.  He loves to be outside and run around.  It's just a little harder to chase him here.  If it weren't for the water features, and his trusty little motorcycle, and food, we would have been in a world of hurt.  My favorite was when he'd try to ride his tiny 3-inch motorcycle (top middle).  We love this kid.

Back at the hotel, there was all kinds of entertainment for the kids too.  A little playground with slides.  Preston was a big fan.  The pool. An arcade room.  Let 's talk about the arcade room.

Funny story.  So we are eating dinner late one night at the adjoining Applebee's Restaurant.  The kids are done eating and are not interested in waiting for the adults to finish, particularly Preston.  So Caiden and Paige offer to take him around the corner to the arcade room.  I agree after giving very strict instructions to watch him The.Whole.Time.  Do not take your eyes off him or your dead.  About 5 minutes later, Caiden comes running into the restaurant - ALONE.  Just as I'm opening my mouth to say "Why aren't you with your brother????!!!!!" he says to me "Mom! Preston fell down and there's a stranger holding him and he won't give him to me!"   WHAT?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I RUN out there and this is what I see.  Preston is hysterically crying.  He is in the arms of a young guy.  The guy is holding an ice-cream sandwich to his head.  Beneath the ice-cream sandwich is an enormous goose egg on his forehead, growing right before our eyes. 

I take Preston from him, and I'm trying to calm him down and the guy is freaking out.  Freaking out.  "He's not OK!  You need to call the paramedics!  You need to call the paramedics now!  He needs an x-ray! Now!"  This isn't helping to calm Preston down, not to mention people are staring. At this point Casey is out there and I head for our room.  I hear him pestering Casey "You need to call the paramedics, man! He's not OK!!"

Now, if I had never seen a goose egg like this before (and the picture doesn't do it justice.  It looked like half an egg was protruding out of his head) I would have been freaking out too.  In fact, I did when Caiden got one when he was little.  As soon as I got up to the room, Preston had stopped crying and was happily driving his motorcycle while pointing to his head saying "I bonkie head!"

So once Caiden gets up to the room I say "WHAT.HAPPENED???" (fiercely whisper with me now).  And this is what happened:

"Preston was riding the car ride.  Then I helped him down.  But he tripped when he stood up and smacked his head on the edge.  Then this guy comes running over and takes him from me. And I'm like "Dude, give him to me!" and he's like "Dude no! He's not ok!"  And I'm like "Dude, I got this!" And he's like "Dude no! He needs help!" and I'm like "Dude, give him to me!  I got it! This happens ALL the time!"  and he's like "Dude, WHERE'S YOUR MOM?!" 

It took everything in me to not die laughing.  And if you could have seen Caiden.  It took everything in him to hold back his tears.  I was just happy to hear that he was actually watching and playing with Preston and that he when he realized crazy-man wasn't going to give him up, he immediately got me.  I think that man must have thought we were the most irresponsible parents on the face of the planet!

Anyway, it was a trip to remember, that's for sure!  We had so much fun and soon as we landed in Seattle, everyone did this....

Look who's 2!

My little man is two!  How the time flies :)  I can't remember his exact stats, but he's slightly bigger than Caiden was at this age (not that that is too hard :) but still a little guy overall.  Except for his head.  Definitely has the big Gubler head.  And I personally feel like he weighs a ton!

What can I say about this kid at two years old??  He's funny and cute and talking really great.  He's persistent and fiesty and has quite the temper.  He's FAST.  Seriously, I may have a future track runner on my hands.  He's cute, oh I said that already.  He loves his motorcycle (mo'cyc-er!) and airplanes.  Doesn't really like TV.  He LOVES to be outside.  He LOVES his brother and sister.  It's adorable.  Finally after 6 months of crying, he's attending nursery.  Oh my, the poor nursery leaders!  He's also very loud (happy or mad).  He gives great hugs. He's a good eater, but not very good at sitting still....at all.  Doesn't love long car rides, but who does?  Luckily we haven't had any issues thus far with his peanut allergy (yay!).  Currently, we are "discussing" potty training.  Just discussing, no action yet.  He doesn't like when I'm working on the computer (trying to push me out of the chair at this very moment :)  And he's cute.  I love his laugh and how warm his cheeks are when he wakes up from his nap (can't stop kissing them) and I especially love that he is back to taking naps and sleeping all night long.  REALLY love that.  I guess to sum it up, I just love him SO much!  Even when he makes me crazy, which is every day.

As you can see I pulled out my most crafty skills (also known as Pinterest) and made an Elmo cake.  Not bad, eh?

Happy Birthday to our wild child!

Grandma GG's

A while back Casey's grandmother passed away (lovingly known as "GG" to my kids).  We got to spend a little time with her back in September.  I'm glad we captured this picture.  She was a wonderful lady and is now reunited with her hubby!

The kids sure enjoyed this visit :)  Caiden fell in love with the 4-wheeler.  And I mean truly IN.LOVE.  We could not get him off it.  And Paige enjoyed riding it for about 5 minutes, up until she ran over her own foot. Yeah, you read that right.  From then on, she had the help of Casey or Papa riding behind. And Mr. Preston found himself a tractor, and like his big brother, he fell in love too.

Playing a little catch up: Preston Edition

Time for a little catch up....  Let's start with this stud muffin, shall we?

So I came across these pictures and forgot how much fun Preston had this past summer at the pool.  First off, no I don't know where he gets his beautiful golden brown tan.  Yes, he really did come from me and Casey.  Now that that's cleared up...

He particularly loved the sprinklers - namely drinking it and putting his head in it.  The pool, not so much.  Maybe next summer. 

And also watching the wave riders with friend Bryce.  I love his gorilla stance, ha!

And this was a while back too... I was in the kitchen one day and heard some crackling sounds, followed by some chompy-chomp sounds and then heavy breathing.  I know what that is!

Little monkey climbed up, got the Cap'N Crunch (great choice by the way) and went to town.  I opened the pantry door and he had an innocent "May I help you?" look. 

He really gets away with everything.

Family Pictures!

Fall Family Pictures!  Thanks to my sweet friend Michele for taking these!  There's so many I love, just had to post them all :)

Seattle Trip!

Back in August we took a little family vacay to Seattle - just us - and had SO much fun!  First stop was the Aquarium....

 The kids were slightly disappointed that there were no sharks (so was I), but they had fun anyhow.  Even convinced Caiden and Paige to touch the starfish.  Harder task than you might think.

The next day we went to the Pacific Science Center and this was a huge hit.  The kids definitely want to come back here and I highly recommend it.  There's so much hands-on entertainment for all ages.  I quite enjoyed it myself :)

And who knew a simple ramp could provide so much entertainment?  Forget the toys and experiments to play with, how bout a wheel chair ramp?!  Preston laughed and giggled himself silly.  I could really use one of these in the house.  He's such a cute monster.

 

Then for our last day there, we were headed to the Zoo - the main attraction :)  Have to save the best for last, you know.  How excited was Paige to see a zebra? VERY.  And Caiden, the bears - yes, please. . 

Unfortunately, for Preston this marked the third day of really no napping, and it showed.  Lots of stares from strangers - almost like he was his own exhibit, ha.  But once he crashed in the stroller for a bit, he was all smiles.  Like I said, a monster, but a cute one.  Just look at that face

 And I thought it was so funny that of all the animals in the zoo, Caiden was insistent that he see the cranes.  Who actually goes through the bird section?  We did, because "Mom, the crane's my favorite one on Kung Fu Panda".  So here they are with their best impersonations...

And almost as fun as all these events was the swimming pool at our 5 star hotel, not really.  I bid on a hotel through Priceline and we managed a 2 star Holiday Inn, which was actually okay except in was in Renton and that was a bit annoying.  Oh well, that's what you get when you go cheap :) The kids however, couldn't get enough of the pool.

 My other favorite part of the trip was Caiden's comments driving throughout downtown Seattle, aka the "city".  "Dad, don't you love driving in the CITY??" (No.) "Paige, which do you like better - the CITY or the country?"  Really, you'd think we lived in the middle of nowhere and never visit large cities....oh wait, that's slightly true....