Gubler Family

First Day of School

2011-08-22T19:19:00.005-06:00

Today was Zaylee's first day of Pre-Kindergarten! YEA!! She was SO super excited! We went to back to school a few days ago and she got to meet her new teacher. Everyday after she asked if she could go meet her new teacher again! When she woke up today she was stoked!!

She got to pick what she wanted to pick for her breakfast: French Toast

She got to pick out her own school outfit (nothing really different than everyday because we didn't buy her any new clothes for school and she picks her own clothes everyday anyway! but shh! don't tell!!) =)

Then it was off to school! She was so excited waiting to enter the building. She was dancing away! She noticed one girl had the same shoes and decided they were going to be friends. The little girl hid behind her dad. A different girl showed up and told Zaylee she wanted to be friends with her! This time it was Zaylee's turn to hide. Crazy girl!

When it was time to line up to go in I think the nerves finally got an edge on her. For the first time she was appeared to be a bit melancholy and reserved. (I know, shocker!!) But alas, with one extra coaxing word from her teacher she was off! Didn't even look back once. I found myself still standing there waiting to see what was going to happen when I realized that standing there was pointless. There was nothing left to see! My little girl is a big girl now! Headed off to school all on her own!

Finally 3:00 rolled around and Jack and I found ourselves standing at the corner waiting for her bus to arrive.

After quite a few extra minutes of standing in the (sweltering!) heat while the bus driver explained the safety rules of exiting the bus, out she came!!

What a girl!!! When asked how it was, she said, "It was fun! We sat on the blue rug, went to lunch, came back and sat on the blue rug and....I don't remember what else." =) Gotta love her!!!

Ah! My little munchkin is all grown up!!!

Swimming

2011-04-29T14:39:00.005-06:00

Today we decided to break out the little kiddie swimming pool and enjoy the sun. It was Zaylee's first swim of the season and Jack's first swim ever. =) The water was pretty cold at first and Jack DID NOT like that but as soon as he got used to it he LOVED it!! Perfectly content and happy for almost a whole hour and then Zaylee wanted to get out. I think Jack would've stayed all day if he could've. I think we have a water boy (haha...) on our hands!!

6 Months!

2011-04-28T13:33:00.004-06:00

Jack turned 6 months today! YEA!! He's getting to be such a big boy! This month he has:

--Found his toes (and thinks they are pretty tasty as well!)
--Started rocking on his hands and knees which led to.....
--CRAWLING!! AHH!!
--Can get himself to a sitting position from any other position
--TRYS to pull himself up in his crib, next to the couch, or up my leg if I'm not holding him--update since I first typed this.....He CAN pull himself up in his crib and bounce when he is ticked!
--Started eating jar foods (shockingly, green beans seem to be his favorite so far!)
--And discovered SHADOWS--he thinks these are especially awesome!

Other things he loves:

--Watering the garden with daddy
--People watching
--Playing with toys, remotes, water bottles, phones, diapers, wipes, etc....yep, anything he can get his hands on!! (Baby proofing has begun....) =(

Reaching out to give loves:

In action:

We love you Jack!!

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-24T13:49:00.003-06:00

Every Easter I see all the moms out there in the online world post cute pics of their kids in their Easter best. So to be cool like all of them I TRY to do it as well.....

HAPPY EASTER, WORLD! =)

Easter Party

2011-04-18T13:01:00.003-06:00

We went to a fun Easter party today and we had a special guest visitor show up....

THE EASTER BUNNY!!

Zaylee was SO excited!!!

She ran and hugged him, ran into the house and found her bunny ears, and ran back out to show him (notice in the second picture the sly look on her face awesome!), and then posed again with Jack.

She must have seen the costume hanging in the bedroom after our guest changed though....she came running up to whisper to me that it wasn't REALLY the Easter Bunny......it was just a human in there! =)

WHAT?!? A new family photo???

2011-04-16T21:49:00.002-06:00

THANKS TRACEY!!!! (Will post more--maybe--when I get them) =)

5 months!

2011-03-28T14:34:00.005-06:00

Jackers is 5 months and he has had a very growing month this time around!

*Tried and DISLIKED rice cereal
*Learned to do raspberries (and did them over and over until his face was soaked for that first week!)
*Rolled back to belly and now you can't lay him down anywhere without him rolling himself clear around the room!
*Started sitting up (he's still pretty wobbly but he's almost got it down!)
*Spent a few hours with his first non family member babysitter (and didn't cry the whole time either--yes that does mean he spent a bit of it that way....)
*Got REALLY grumpy because of his teeth moving around and not even being close to poking through yet but enough to make him ornery.
*Started sleeping better!!!! YEA!!! We finally decided it was time to start making him cry himself to sleep. SO SAD but SO worth it. He is now only getting up typically once a night and everyone (ie. mommy) is MUCH happier as a result.
*Takes about 3 one hour naps during the day.

Wahoo! He sleeps!!

At Seaworld over spring break

We sure love this guy!

4 Month Update

2011-02-28T20:44:00.006-07:00

Jackers is 4 months! CRAZY!

What he's done this month:

*Rolled belly to back....not even close to rolling back to belly but that could be attributed to the fact that he never lets me put him down without screaming!

*Laughed! Loved it! We've had to work to get him to do it again but he has and we love it!

*Favorite things: his fingers and his binkie and of course his mommy! =)

*Loves: To clasp his hands--in prayer fashion (so cute), watching Zaylee splash in the bathtub, to stand and bounce, the light on my cell phone, and to cry, cry, cry! (But we still love him!)

*Stats: Weight 14 lbs 11 ounces (Ha! Pretty close--to my 15 lb guess!) which they say is only the 35th percentile so he's really not too chubby according to the standard! His height was 25 inches (don't know what percentile that was).

And the photos:

His prayer hands. Seriously he does this all the time. Most of the time the fingers are completely interlaced. It is SO cute!

This was actually taken a couple of weeks ago but was too cute to pass up on posting.

And a couple cute shots from today:

And I can't forget my awesome little cutie, Zaylee.

AND....Alex had a birthday this month! Happy Birthday Alex!! We love you!!

Snow Day

2011-02-04T08:26:00.003-07:00

Dear Utah Friends:

You'll love this. Schools are closed, tons of businesses are closed, and Alex got a half day off work all because of this:

And because Alex didn't get the call until after he was already up getting ready, he got up with the kids and I got to sleep in! Love it!

P.S. Half day off just turned into full day! YEA!!

3 months

2011-01-28T17:02:00.006-07:00

Holy Cow! He's already 3 months!!

We love you Jackers and are SO GLAD you are a part of our family!!

So what he's up to:

*Smiling and cooing but only when he wants to. He's great at avoiding eye contact!
*Loves having baths--once you get him in there. He cries and cries while you're putting him in but loves it once he remembers how great they are!
*Sleeping: well, ya not so much. He's up about 3 times a night still and daytimes he'll nap--as long as someone is holding him!
*Nicknames: Jackers, Grumpy Goose, Goober
*Favorite things: Watching Zaylee do whatever she may be doing, being held, listening to the piano, making whoever is holding him stand up, his binkie, and his fists.
*He is very alert and very active and loves to be a part of whatever is happening. If there are people around he wants to be up and looking and watching.
*He hates tummy time.

I spent like forever trying to get some good shots of him today for you all to see. These are my favorites because of his awesome expressions:

He's watching Zaylee run by

Can you see that smiling hiding there?? Love it!

Look closely, those are his furrowed eyebrows.... =)

This was while we were waiting for Zaylee to get out of dance class. Don't mind the dirty mirror--he was LOVING watching the road and the birds and anything that went by!

I tried to get a picture of the two of them together. Ummm...ya right! Take your pick cause this was as good as it got! =)

This one?

Or how about either of these?

I know, I know THIS ONE! =)

Thats okay! We love you both! Happy 3 months Jack!!

2 Months (plus a little)

2011-01-04T21:54:00.009-07:00

**Okay, I wrote this post a month ago and just never posted it! So, here's a month ago and tonight I will do another one for Jack's 3 month....maybe.... =)

December has been such a BUSY month but we have LOVED it! For Jack's second month of life he was showered with visitors.

We had Grandma Barlow, Steph, Dave, Sammy, & Andrew for the first round. (Yes, he is in this photo--can't you see his legs kicking??) =)

Grandma and Grandpa Gubler for the second round.

And we just sent Nathan (the third round) home today. (Although we never did get a pic with Nathan and Jack both in it....hmm....maybe Nate didn't come to see Jack....maybe he just came on vacation and it happened to be right after Jack was born.....hmmm...something to think about.....) =)

How FUN!! =) We are ready for more though. Who is up for it???? =)

Now there is a lot to post about all the fun things we did during December but this post is to primarily update you all on Jack.

He is doing fantastic!

We went for his 2 month well baby appointment last week and he was already 12 pounds 7 ounces. Yes, he is a chubby one! (But believe it or not he is still in the 50th percentile). He is also smiling a lot now and loves to give his little half grin to us everytime we make eye contact so he can wrap us a little bit tighter around his little finger.

Yes, he does still cry a lot--he wouldn't be my baby otherwise--but he is sleeping actually really well (at least compared to how Zaylee was at this point). He goes to bed about 9 and sleeps until about 2 and then it varies. On a good night he'll sleep until 6-7 but on a bad night he is up every two hours afterwards.

He loves his big sister and likes to watch her craziness. She likes to teach him about the "little piggies" and loves to have him be Prince Charming whenever we are playing. She has also been known to mention that when he gets older we are going to get him a tutu so he can go to her dance class with her--Alex definitely scoffed when I told him that story! =)

We also had the opportunity to bless Jack at our house on the 22nd. It was a small crowd (we missed having all you family there!!) but it was a good one. Tracey, Ben, and Sam came down from Austin (you guys rock!), G & G Gubler, a member of the bishopric, and our little family made up the whole of it. It was a great night. Luckily, the day of the blessing Grandma Gubler reminded me that I had Alex's blessing outfit. So we cleaned it up a bit and used it for Jack's blessing. I love the sentimentality of it and am grateful that she reminded me that I had it.

By Christmas morning, Jack finally got the cooing down. He is SO cute to watch when he is cooing. He makes it look like it takes a full effort to get those sounds out but grins everytime he does it. Very proud of himself I would say! =)

And just oh, you guys would love him! So.....COME VISIT! =) (I know, not enough pictures....I will work on it!)

Dance Recital

2010-12-17T20:22:00.004-07:00

Zaylee had her first dance class recital. She loves the class and her teacher and we love watching her develop her talents and having fun!

This video is of the 2nd time around (they do each group twice...). So this version you miss the super excited wave she gave us when she finally found us in the audience but get to see her fascination with stage lights. =) Dancing quality: not quite as good as the first time but this one was the better video. So, enjoy!

Okay, nevermind....Blogger sucks and after trying to load the video for literally 9 hours I give up. If you want to see it, it's posted on facebook.....

P.S. She did take a solo bow at the end of the first dance (hilarious!) but unfortunately, we missed filming it. =(

The whole dance company:

We saw Santa!

2010-12-17T08:04:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we decided to go pay a visit to Santa Claus. VERY EXCITING! Zaylee was so cute about it. When we got there, the line was blocking her view of him so she asked me to lift her up. "There he is!! I see him!!!" I asked her if she was going to sit on his lap and give him a great big hug. She said that she would and "I'm going to give him a KISS too!" Then immediately put both hands over her mouth with her big mischievious eyes showing how excited she was. It was great!

Jack, well, he wasn't so excited but hey he got his first photo with Santa and didn't even cry!

She gave the hug, forgot the kiss, told him what she wanted, forgot to ask where Mrs. Claus and the reindeer where, and after about 4 shots, finally smiled and looked at the camera for the picture.

So fun! Merry Christmas!

One new picture

2010-12-16T11:11:00.003-07:00

Too lazy to blog but couldn't pass this up. Again, it's a cell phone shot so I apologize for that. (Alex took the camera to work and forgot to bring it home......)

But, just look at my cutie!!!! =) Will try to update more sometime soon....or at least sometime in the future.....

(and no, I still don't know how to rotate photos....)

"G"

2010-11-09T13:50:00.004-07:00

After a short break from school we are finally back in the swing of things. Zaylee has made me feel so good about what we've been accomplishing mainly just because she is so excited to get started doing it again. She told me that she missed having school. (Although she's not too happy that Jack gets to be a part of it because won't stop crying unless he's being held....she told him yesterday that this is HER school time and he could have his OWN school time another time!)

Anyway, the real reason for this post is today she told me, "I think you are like a good teacher, Mom!" It made me feel so happy that she thinks it and that at least I am somewhat successful in one thing I am trying to do!

So with that said, here she is playing with the Green playdough we made for our "G" day today.

The Christmas tree because we read the Grinch; the snail, just because.....

And here he is: Mister Happy Jack! (Pic taken by the Z'ster herself!)

Firsts

2010-11-07T18:49:00.005-07:00

Jack has had quite a few first times this week. I did manage to catch a few of them on film and so here they are!

First bath at home (he hates these--except for when I wash his hair, he immediately quiets down and enjoys that part)

First nap with Daddy on the couch

First outing (2nd day after discharge follow-up visit to the pediatrician)

First Halloween

First cuddle with Mom and Zaylee

First hair spike (taken with a cell phone camera--thus the low quality....)

We sure love this guy!!

Oh and definitely this girl too! Zaylee got to help Daddy do her first big people's puzzle this week while he was off work:

And this guy too! (Actually taken last week on the walk attempt to induce labor naturally....yes, he is riding Zaylee's trike....) =)

We're home!

2010-10-30T11:41:00.009-06:00

Yea! We're home! And we're all doing great!

First, the photos. If you haven't already seen them, Tracey got some great ones that are posted on her blog. (We are SOOO very glad she could come down and help out with Zaylee while we got to hang out at the hospital. Such a relief to know that Zaylee was well taken care of and we had nothing to worry about while we were away. Thanks Tracey!) And now here are the ones that we took at the hospital.

Introducing: Jack Weldon Gubler!
7 pounds 4 ounces; 19 1/4 inches long; born at 5:36 am.

(For those that may be interested, "the story" may be found at the bottom of the post.)

What a peaceful little thing! He likes to just lie around and observe the surroundings or just sleep. Not too much of a crier (fingers crossed). YEA!!

Holding baby brother

Love this photo! Notice the hands: Alex's and Zaylee's supporting him with his little hands on top. Love it! (Blogger rotated it and I don't know how to rotate it back so turn your head to the side for how it's supposed to look and so he's not upside down!....)

Peaceful night the second night (first night? ya not so lovely)

Posing with baby Jack

(Can you tell how excited Zaylee was to be posing for this photo??)

Just before we were officially released.

Not liking that carseat too much!

And now for the random Zaylee shots:
Posing in Jack's pumpkin hat that Tracey made for him.

What happens when Alex is in charge of dressing Zaylee and he lets her pick her own clothes.

"The Story"

So, we were supposed to be induced on Wednesday the 27th which didn't happen. The hospital was overloaded (supposedly, there were a record number of babies born this week) and we were turned away. =( We were very upset that we had to wait another day to meet our sweet boy but dealt with it because we had no other choice! =)

Wednesday night we prepared ourselves to be rejected again on Thursday but still had hopes. At 1:45 am there were no doubts, we would either have this baby at Wilford Hall or they could send us to a different hospital but baby was ready to come! The contractions started about 1 minute long every 6-7 mins and by 2:45 Alex was insistant it was time to call the hospital to see if we could come. They said they did have a bed so head on over. We dropped Zaylee off at a friend's (lifesaver's) house and got to the hospital at about 3:45-4:00 (not sure...didn't really care to look at the clock by that point).

When they checked me they were shocked that I was already dialated to a 6. They started rushing the paperwork and tried to quickly get in an IV line so they could draw blood for a platelet count for the epidural. After blowing two veins they finally got one and got the blood off to the lab. By this time the contractions were already feeling pretty unpleasant and were close enough they decided to get me out of triage and into a labor and delivery room.

We got to L & D and they checked me again and I was well on my way to an 8 and they started to panic a bit....there was still a lot of paperwork that needed to be done! =) I at this point was feeling pretty miserable as one contraction kinda just lead right into the next. That was kinda sucking not to at least have a break between them anymore. So, I told them I didn't care about the epidural anymore and that I would just take the IV drugs. Guess what..."it's too late. You can't have IV drugs now because it's too close to delivery. The baby will be too larthegic." So I asked about an IV drug that an anethesiologist in our ward had told us about that didn't have that effect. "Well, that specific drug requires one-on-one attention with an anethesiologist and to be honest we are understaffed right now and just don't have one available for that. It's okay, you can do it. It'll go quick." (Ya, easy for them to say!)

So, now I know it. No, drugs. Not good news to a major wuss like me. So, I told them, "fine, I am done then. Break my water and lets get this over with." As soon as they did I immediately asked myself what was I thinking!?! Holy cow! I didn't realize how much worse those contractions could get!!! I'll admit it. I screamed a bit. I'll also admit it. I hit Alex a couple of times. (I really only remember one time but he claims there were at least two times.)

After they broke my water I had maybe 5 mins before it was time to push. I pushed for maybe 10-15 mins and it was done. He came out face up which they said is a particularily painful way to have to deliver--go figure. All I know was how glad I was to be done. The resident OB that delivered said that in the future I should always planned to be induced. Ha!

"Thank you! Happy Halloween!"

2010-10-22T20:26:00.007-06:00

Tonight was our ward Halloween party. It was such a good time. Great chili, great conversation, great time for kids, great pie eating contest, and great trunk-or-treat. Overall, I think you get the picture, but it was a great night! =)

Our little Snow White!

Out Trunk-or-Treating

The Spoils!

Now for the best part. Alex, yes, I said Alex, participated in the pie eating contest. Not completely voluntarily (one of his friends in the ward signed him up but he chose not to take his name off surprisingly enough....) but he still did it. Even lucked out and got a chocolate pie. It was great. Didn't get a video, but here is the play by play in photos. Hilarious! Never have I seen him do something like this surrounded by a bunch of people we don't really know. I loved it! He didn't win and said he just felt sick after but it was great entertainment!

Quick update

2010-10-20T18:28:00.002-06:00

Okay so I went in for my 38 week appointment today. Three and a half hours later, here are the results. My blood pressure was high so they were worried about pre-eclampsia. Went and did more tests and they said everything looks fine today. Will go back in on Monday for another non-stress test and then they are going to induce me next Wednesday if I haven't gone by myself before then. Ultrasound results were, "everything looks good!"

For those that may care: dilated to a 3; 50% effaced; stripped membranes today.

For those of you that may or may not care: MY DANG PLATELETS ARE TOO LOW FOR AN EPIDURAL NOW!! SEE I TOLD YOU I SHOULD'VE HAD HIM AT 36 1/2 WEEKS!

Still no name for sure....Zaylee said today, "can we PLEASE name him Jack?" =)

37 Week Ultrasound

2010-10-14T15:07:00.002-06:00

So I had my 37 week ultrasound today since I was measuring too small at my 36 week appointment (32 cm was what I was measuring). I didn't get really anything out of it because the doctor that was supposed to come in to talk to me never came in and eventually the technician just told me I could go. When I asked him the results he said that he wasn't supposed to tell me anything but, "ummmm....it looks alright...." And so with that I will wait until next Wednesday for my OB appointment and hope I can get a clearer explanation of the results.

Here is the ultrasound photo. His head is really low right now so the tech couldn't get a good facial view so as he said to us, "use your imagination." =)

P.S. Today Zaylee was watching a show on t.v. and they asked "what are your talents?" She said "I draw, I play music, I play ball, I ride my bike, I dance....those are my talents!" It was cute and thought I would share! =)

A few other things we've done

2010-10-08T14:53:00.007-06:00

Okay so now I will catch up the few other things we have done lately (or actually some that are not so lately that I'm just barely getting around to posting about....)

**Face Painting at the Oktoberfest at Port San Antonio (Alex is such a great sport--he got one on each cheek!):

(Sorry for the low quality of photos...she refused to pose nicely that night....)

**Very First Dentist appointment:

She did FANTASTIC!! We talked about it for a few days before the appointment and she was amazing. The dentist has a great office that is really welcoming to the kids which I am sure helps a ton. But she let them do it all without a fuss at all. The cleaning, the poking and scraping, and even posed for x-rays! What an awesome girl! Outcome: her enamel is wearing off so unless it slows down she'll probably need caps. Bummer. Guess she got my teeth.

**Visit to Uncle Shawn's and the Dallas Cowboys Stadium!:

**Dallas (Just a few photos from the car...):

Yes, that is the first longhorn we have seen....still not a good look.....

Taken by Zaylee on the way home:

Thanks guys we had so much fun!!! =)

**Zaylee just started dance classes. She loves them! She has been waiting and waiting for the day that she got to start and she is so excited to get to go every week. There is a lady in our ward that teaches them and who is also her nursey leader so Zaylee thinks it's awesome! She is doing beginning tap and ballet. I asked her to show me what she learned but she told me no. And that if I wanted to see her dance well I would just have to go to her class and watch her. Such a sweet little girl! First day:

**Zaylee posing (just because she is cute and wanted to that day!):

**And finally her being the bully at the park. The first photo she was freaking out because she wanted me to come take a picture of her. The second well that's the bully part. Everyone else wanted to climb and she was trying to push them off (okay not literally or I wouldn't have been taking photos but she definitely didn't want them on there!):

Phew! What an exhausting life this poor girl has!! =)

And in case you just tuned in, make sure you scroll down a lot. I was on a roll today so there is quite a lot of new stuff posted!! =)

Preschool activities

2010-10-08T11:50:00.011-06:00

Don't laugh. I never claimed to be a creative or talented person. I've just learned that it doesn't matter really what the end result looks like it's the time spent learning and growing together. With that clause added, as promised, here are some of the fun things we've done (this is mixture of both the brain activities and skill so there is no specific pattern to what you are going to see):

Gingerbread man made of yarn:

Dream Catcher:

Visiting the Duck Pond:

Autumn Leaves:

Homemade finger paints:

Bean Bear:

Card for Daddy & a Heart attack

Animal Puppets:

Alphabet Jello Jigglers:

Decorate for Halloween:

Eyeball Cookies (that's Zaylee's scary face!):

And those are a few things we have done. There are others as well but nothing that was photographed at the time (besides the museum to see the dinosaur exhibit--but those are on Alex's phone so.....) or can not still be photographed like blowing bubbles, baseball cupcakes, building a tent to "camp" in, and eating "ants on a log."

So you may ask if she's learning anything. I say it all depends on the day. Some days I am amazed because I think she actually is and I am succeeding in my goal. Other days I say, "what in the world was I thinking! Completely ineffective!!" Oh well, at least we are having fun! =)

Zaylee's Preschool Stuff

2010-10-08T11:06:00.003-06:00

We (Zaylee and I) are trying to do preschool time with just the two of us at home. I have to say we have done pretty good if I do say so myself. We do it for 45 mins to an hour a day Monday thru Friday. (Excluding most Wednesdays because the library is doing ABC story time where they are coincidently working on the same letter of the alphabet that we are on!) For preschool, we do story time, "brain activity time" where we work on learning letters and writing letters--basically anything that requires her thinking, and then we have "skill building activity time." For this we do anything from learning how to properly use scissors (don't remind me of the hair...), to baking, to playing catch, anything basically. Some days are definitely better than others. We tried to do a treat everyday that corresponded with the letter but then we just ended up having a ton of junk in the house we didn't need and we tried to do singing time but well...neither of us were enjoying that so it went by the wayside.

Anyway, that was just the background info. We've done some fun things during school time. The slideshow is a view of what her idea to do for activity time yesterday. It wasn't what we had planned but we improvised. I think she did a great job! Check it out. (You can move your mouse over the photo to freeze it and read the words if you can't see them good enough).

I'll do a separate post of other fun things we've done at school time. So once again, stay tuned...

25 days...

2010-10-08T10:21:00.003-06:00

You see that counter on the side? It says only 25 days left! YEA!! Hopefully less. No really. Hopefully a lot less!!! Like today would be okay. I am 36 and 1/2 weeks--I'm good and ready! =)

Just a few of the top reasons why:

*If he comes today, my platelets are still high enough I can get an epidural....barely. (Definitely one of the top reasons...)
*If he comes today, we will be forced to finally pick a name for him. (No, we still haven't picked one yet....).
*If he comes today maybe my prego grumpiness will go away!
*If he comes today (like during the day) I will dare to call someone to have them watch Zaylee while our hero Tracey drives down to watch her.
*If he comes today Alex will be upset because he says he's too busy at work until the end of the month--bah! Too bad.
*If he comes today I will be one happy camper!

*If he doesn't I will survive.......maybe..... =)

**No I am not having contractions or anything that would indicate that my wish is about to come true....bummer......

Any votes on names? Can't promise we'll pick what the majority does but would love to hear your vote. We've eliminated it down to these three (in alphabetical order not according to preference....):

1. Evan
2. Jack (Zaylee's personal favorite--Alex's least of course)
3. Riley

P.S. More posts to come....so stay turned. Alex--the guy who thinks blogs are kinda retarded--said I don't blog enough so I'll try to do a couple more updates....

Seaworld

2010-09-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

The last weekend in August we had the chance to go to Seaworld for what I am assuming will be the first of many times. It was Sam's birthday (Zaylee's cousin that just moved to Austin for those of you that don't know...) and Tracey and Ben invited us to go with them. We had so much fun!! We didn't quite make it there when it opened (even though we live less than 10 minutes away--yes, we can see the rollercoaster from our back windows) but we did stay until almost close. We loved it. So, here are the photos:

We went to both the Shamu and the Azul shows. They were awesome. However, I think honestly we all liked the Azul show best. We decided to go to it last minute before we left the part and we loved it. It was a VERY cool show! (Tracey, I highly recommend it; however, it does have a few spots where birds fly overhead. We could warn you and you could close your eyes....=) ).

These are the photos from the Shamu show:

And these are the photos from the Azul show:

There were also divers and other little acts inbetween things that were VERY cool but I didn't get any photos--too busy enjoying! =)

Favorite animal spots? Well, Alex and I both agreed that our favorite were the Sea Lions. Very cool!

Zaylee's? Well she never said, but she keep talking about the sharks so we'll assume that! =) Didn't get any good photos from that but here is one that kinda turned out! =) The one underneath I included just because it looks FREAKY!

After playing in one splashpad area, Zaylee decided it was time to go to the waterpark to play. We played at there for almost 2 hours and of course had a blast there but the camera didn't get to participate so no photos of that. We'll definitely go play there again though! (These are at the splash pad...)

And finally (but really it happened at the first of the day....), Zaylee got to go on one ride while we were there--which she absolutely loved!!!--

By the end of the day Zaylee was starving and exhausted. This was her final snack--popcorn. Here is her hoarding her popcorn. She WOULD NOT share! It was hilarious! =)

Thanks for inviting us Tracey! Seaworld: I'm sure we'll see you again sometime soon!

In our own backyard.....

2010-09-03T09:00:00.001-06:00

So my mom has been wanting pictures of the inside of our new house but I haven't taken any. However, I did get some of the backyard! This was the highlight for Zaylee of moving into this house. She was SO excited when she first looked out her bedroom window and this is what she saw:

"MOMMY THERE IS A PLAYGROUND OUT THERE!!"

She hasn't been able to play on it much yet because it has been too hot and humid but from what she has she loves it. We are looking forward to it cooling down a bit so that we can get all the weeds out of the sandbox underneath it and start having some picnics on the picnic table underneath. Anyone want to come play?? =)

Dallas Cowboys

2010-09-02T09:00:00.006-06:00

One of the best parts of moving to San Antonio? Alex is finally amongst his crowd....San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Cowboys. What could be better than that?? (At least in Alex's opinion...). He loves the painted driveways sporting the Spurs and the Cowboys, being able to walk into almost any store and see the paraphernalia of the two best teams in the world, and being able to attend Cowboy's training practice here in San Antonio.

That was one of the most important things that we did during our first couple weeks of being here. =)

Clear over on the other side of this photo in the white jersey with the coach standing in front of him--he's bent down looking the other way--is where you will find the infamous Tony Romo! To his left--stretching along with everyone else--is one of my favorites....Jason Witten. Yes, that is as close to them as we got! =)

And then my battery died. All the other photos I got were crappy and blurry! Bummer huh! Oh, well. It was still fun! =)

What 3 months can bring....

2010-09-01T09:00:00.001-06:00

-- A new car! YEA! and not so yea.... Sucks when one breaks down right before a big move, but nice to travel in a new car!

-- A COT graduate and a new job! YEA!!

-- A move to San Antonio, TX ~~kinda yea!!~~ =) (Sorry no TX sign picture)

-- A new house (to rent)! YEA!!

-- 31 weeks of pregnancy (well that didn't happen in 3 months but that's where I'm finally at!) YEA!!

A lot of good things going on around the Gubler house. These are the highlights. I'll be posting hopefully reguarly for the next few days to give a few better updates but until then....that's what you have to look forward to hearing about.

The New Hairdo

2010-08-31T19:41:00.004-06:00

So, the guy that cut it said that it actually was a bad cut because her hair is so fine it would be hard to hide the blunt side cuts. He basically decided to do an adult haircut (he said it's the Victoria Beckham from last year hair cut) to try to hide her work. The front and top didn't need much after her cut just a little straightening and then he cut the back way short to match it all. The final result:

(Tried to catch her while running...didn't work so well)

(Not a head on shot but it gives you a good view of the overall)

(And just too cute to resist posting!) =)

Overall, I think it's cute. Totally voided her purpose for cutting it in the first place, though, now it's going to be constantly hanging in her face! =)

Blog Worthy

2010-08-31T10:31:00.007-06:00

Okay, so I have had PLENTY of blog worthy experiences in the last few months (and I will catch up on them some day)but this one required immediate attention. If only so those that I've already called about it can see the photos! =)

One word will explain it all: scissors

Yep, you guessed it--Zaylee cut her hair! Yes, ZAYLEE cut her hair! =)

Lately she has loved playing with scissors. She loves to take paper and cut it into tiny little pieces. And she's been SO good with them! I guess to all good things there must come an end.

This was Zaylee's end. I was upstairs getting ready to go to storytime at the library when Zaylee came up stairs because she had hair in her mouth. Duh me I didn't even notice the cutting job....until I asked her why she had so much hair in her mouth. She answered, "I cut my hair!" Then she started to cry. Ahhh...poor girl! I started to laugh! =) When I asked her why, she actually had a logical reason. She told me that she did it so that she wouldn't have to worry about getting food in her hair anymore. (Background information: Her hair always hangs in her face--yes, I do comb it there is just always some that manages to hang in her face about dinner time--thus resulting in getting in the way of her food. And she likes to suck on her hair all the time and so it's always snarly on the sides).

Well, I have to admit, though, I kinda had it coming. She's been telling me all week long that she wants to get her hair cut! But I kept putting it off because she always said she wanted it just like daddy's. Guess she showed me who is boss! Luckily, we might have a future hairdresser in the family. She really didn't do that much damage as far as I can tell.

You be the judge:

And then the wet version after we had combed it all out:

I'll still take her into a salon and get it evened out but it's actually not nearly as drastic it could have been. =)

Most recent pictures of her has her hair in a pony tail or braids but this one was taken last month just before we headed out to TX...it gives you a pretty good idea of what it looked like pre hair cut.

(Click on it to blow it up and see a closer photo of the cute old hair....)

Mini Photo Shoot

2010-06-05T08:29:00.004-06:00

Yesterday morning Zaylee was supposed to go over to a friend's and get some pictures taken with her but unfortunately, it got post-poned. Of course, not before I had gotten her all ready and everything. So, Alex and I took her outside and spent about 15 mins or so catching photos of her with all the flowers in our yard. I am definitely not a photographer but I thought we got some cute shots. *Warning* I think she's the cutest ever so there is going to be a picture overload here... =)

Ultrasound photo

2010-05-25T18:17:00.004-06:00

So, I'm retarded and couldn't figure out this morning how to get my scanned image to work right but I figured it out....so, here he is! =) Also, due date: November 2nd so that puts me at 17 weeks right now.

(Sorry for the graphic image...hopefully no one is offended by ultrasound nudity) =)

And yes, just so you know, I did get lucky to find out that early (14 wks) what we were having.....he was just willing to share it all that day (obviously)--even the nurse was surprised. Definitely not shy--probably means another Zaylee on our hands....oh yea!!! =)

New news.....

2010-05-25T10:10:00.004-06:00

Ya, Alex pointed out last night that I have posted since March. Oops! =)

Not much to say other than that we've been busy! We are coming down to the final weeks before our move. We are looking at June 9th as the official day before we are outta here. We're going a little early to give Alex some time to spend with family before he heads off to officers training the end of June. Then it'll be Zaylee and I with Grandma Barlow for a month before we have to report in San Antonio on August 3rd. The time has sure gone by fast. We're almost to become temporary Texans....scary!!! =)

So, what else we've been up to.....well if you didn't check out the widget on the side bar now would be a good time to do so. Because, that's what we've been up to!! =) It's been a wild ride so far so I know we're only going to have a ton more to look forward to. Pretty much all of March and most of April I could be found on the couch or at the toilet. TMI I know, but it's the truth. Much different than with Zaylee! I was sicker than sick from about 6 weeks to 12 weeks but now that's pretty much tapered off. Since then, we've been busy with doctors. They seem to like me a lot more this pregnancy than last.

Quick run down for those that care and don't know. They thought I had an auto immune blood disease (dealing with my platelets) that ended up being most likely just do to having strep throat the first of March but before they figured that out they sent me to a specialist who performed an ultrasound and there we found out that I also have an abnormality that is called a Single Umbilical Artery. Non-related to the first issue. What that means: I saw a hematologist who called the misdiagnosis on the auto immune disease (most likely....they said they'll still watch it to make sure); I will see the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist every 6 weeks to do ultrasounds to check on the baby due to the SUA; all of the tests that are usually optional (like alpha-fetal protein tests) are mandatory in my pregnancy; I will have non-stress tests from 32 weeks out. Hopefully, with the new info from the hematologist they will decide not to do the bi-monthly blood tests for the platelet issue that was orginally on the agenda as well.

So what that comes down to is since I stopped throwing up numerous times everyday I have been to 5 doctor appointments (2 different specialists), have had my blood drawn 3 times for a total of about 13 vials of blood, and one ultrasound. And, in the next 3 weeks I go back to each of the 3 doctors one time a piece and will have at least one more blood draw. It's been fun. But with all that said, at least most likely there is nothing wrong with me and hopefully the baby will end up being fine as well. We should have a better idea of how things are looking after my next ultrasound on the 15th of June.

Postive out come of all of this: IT'S A BOY!!!

Fingernail Polish

2010-03-15T13:49:00.002-06:00

Okay, the last post I did about this was much more upbeat....

Today Zaylee wanted her fingernails and toenails painted. The most important thing she forgot to ask for was help!!! She spilled almost an entire bottle of RED fingernail polish on her clothes, on the floor, on the drawer it was in, and of course, all over her. No, there are not any pictures of proof. It was the last thing I was thinking about!

But, there is a bit of humor in this. As she sat in time out the entire time I worked on cleaning it up, I had the great priviledge of hearing one of her new original song pieces. "Mommy is mad at me. I made mommy mad." So on, so forth. That was what I had to serenade me through the clean-up process. Nice, huh.

P.S. Someday I will really update my blog with the events going on--not that they are much but still. I will work on it and get back to you sometime sooner or later!! =)

Alex swore today.....

2010-02-09T14:34:00.005-07:00

Okay, it's cheesy but it got your attention, right?? =)

Today Alex was sworn in as a Captain in the Air Force. Yep, that's right, I am a very proud wife and just wanted to share the good news! We went in, signed all of the official documents, and after a short little ceremony he's official!

So, what does that mean? Basically nothing. He's not active duty until he enters Officers Training in June so being made a captain today is just so they can get all of the paperwork sorted and get his orders issued. But as soon as he's entered into the system he can get his military ID and we can start getting discounts! Fun, fun! It was kinda funny to hear the recruiter actually call him Captain Gubler afterwards when he was having him sign the final forms. And yes, Alex thinks that this is going to make it so he's the boss now because "I'm higher ranked--you're just a civilian..." Ya right! We finally settled on me calling him Captain Dork. I think it suits! j/k He's really AWESOME! Love you!! =)

So here's the photos!

The official documentation:

With Major Hariprasad--she's the one that swore him in.

His recruiter TSgt Hawley:

The happy family:

Where'd Daddy Go?

2010-02-04T10:27:00.004-07:00

Last night we were playing hide-and-seek before bedtime. Alex is always saying that he is running out of hiding spaces in our house (there aren't many places to hide in a small house.....) so he found a place that would've been great where Zaylee never would have found him if I wouldn't have spoiled it all by helping (or so he says...). =)

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE FIT!!!!

So Zaylee and I decided to try it out.

She didn't want to get out!!

Oh, the fun that can be found in the tiniest spots..... =)

First and Last

2010-01-22T11:32:00.002-07:00

Well, Nicole is making me do a post to let everyone hear the news. This will be my first blog post and most likely my last post ever as well. It was a good run, but you might as well quit while you're ahead. Anyway, just got news an hour ago that the Air Force had accepted me into their Audiology program, and we've decided that that is what we are going to do. Ciao.

Just because they're cute!

2010-01-21T17:57:00.001-07:00

Okay, this will finally conclude the posts to update all of the pictures I've taken over the last month. What is the story behind this one? Absolutely nothing besides going out to shovel snow. But, aren't they just the best?!

LOVE YOU TWO!!!

All things in order...

2010-01-21T09:00:00.001-07:00

Everyone at Christmas can attest to this but Zaylee has loved lining things up lately and putting things in certain orders. The other day was the perfect example of this. I had taken her letters on the fridge and put them all in alphabetical order (to see if they were all still there!) and came back a little later to find this:

She's a goof!!!

Getting closer....

2010-01-20T18:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I'm getting close to being caught up but still not quite yet. While playing with family for over a week, we found that the kids needed some out of the house time. Well, actually Alex came up with the idea. Brilliantly, he decided to ask the kids (before asking the parents mind you) if they wanted to go to Jumpin' Jacks! Of course there was a resounding "YES!" Meanwhile the adults all wondered how much we were going to have to spend and who was going to be "lucky" enough to go and hang out with all the little ones! Pretty soon we were off!

It was fun! Great idea, Alex! =)

Steph's Family's New Horse

2010-01-20T09:00:00.001-07:00

For Christmas, Steph's family got a new horse (bet you didn't get that from the title of the post, huh....) =) With Zaylee being all excited about horses this Christmas, we knew she'd loved it so we headed over to Washington to go for a ride.

Zaylee absolutely loved feeding the little pony that was there. I think that that was one of her favorite parts. She let him/her eat out of her hand like one time and then after that she would grab the hay, throw it in the stall and say, "here's your dinner horsey!"

Alex found that he too like feeding the horse. (He said this one kinda reminded him of Grandpa Heaton's horse).

The horse, decided that the hay wasn't enough and started going for the strings on Alex's jacket. It was funny!

But even if Alex wouldn't let him eat him, they still decided they could be friends. (I know, I know, I am corney!) =)

Finally, we got to meet Patches. He joined the Burch/Adams family this Christmas. What a fun present!

We asked Zaylee who she wanted to ride with: Mommy, Daddy, or Aunt Steph? No hesitation, Aunt Steph won that battle easily. She didn't have a whole lot to say while she was riding but she seemed to enjoy it. She even reached down and played with Patches mane during the ride!

Of course, I took a turn, but chose not to have a picture of it. I haven't ridden in YEARS and was a little shy about it but I did it and I didn't even fall off! =)

Alex on the other hand was an expert. (Gotta love the face, Alex!)

He even had to show me up by running with Patches (I freaked out when he started to trot!). I have to admit, I was impressed--I'm obviously not much of a cowgirl!

Somewhere in between the posing and the running Alex did ride with Zaylee for a minute for her second time around.....

So, after all was done we were able to say we all successfully rode a horse and it was fun! Thanks for letting us Steph and Dave!

(I just thought this was a cute photo so I had to throw it in!)

The Tree House

2010-01-19T18:37:00.004-07:00

All that Alex's mom wanted for Christmas this year was a tree house. So what does that equate to for all the sons and sons-in-law on the day after Christmas? WORK, WORK, WORK! Don't let them tell you any differently, they LOVED it! (Okay so that may be a BIT of an exaggeration....).

So while the men worked:

(Which was NEVER frustrating!!)

(Yes, I just cropped this from one of the other photos but the close-up on their faces was classic!)

The children ran,

Played in the dirt and rocks,

Said hello to ALL of grandma's snowmen,

Posed for cute photos,

And were just all around cheesers!

And if that just doesn't beat all, I didn't even get a photo of the finished project!! But, they LOVED the tree house most of all. They all had a blast climbing up and running around. GREAT WORK GUYS!!!

Potty Training

2010-01-19T17:21:00.003-07:00

Yes, it's true. We're potty trained!!! Most of you that actually read my blog already know this (and have heard ALL about it) but for those of you that may not know, we worked hard and we're done! =) Warning, this is going to be a long--mainly words--post so you only have to read if you are REALLY interested. (It's mainly just a journal post.)

This was day one (January 6):

We (okay, I need to stop with the plural at this point), Zaylee spent all day in just her unders as we worked on the process of pottying in the toilet.

I based my training off of a book recommended by a friend: "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day." I knew of 8 success stories using this method so I figured it was going to be piece of cake! Well, let me tell you. Anyone that knows Zaylee knows that she is not textbook material. She has a definite mind of her own! When the book said to give her a treat as a reward for completing a step she had no interest. It says make sure the child drinks a lot, well, she had decided that day she was going to try a liquid fast--no interest in ANY kind of drink! And so on so forth. She just did the opposite of everything the book said she would do.

So we tried a little bit of adaptation. I kept a lot of the ideas but just altered it a bit for what I thought would work for her. The first few days were pretty challenging and I had a few doubtful people tell me just to put her back in diapers (you know who you are--shame on you! j/k) =) But I was determined that once I started, she was not under any circumstances going to ever put a diaper back on. And we didn't! It took about a week but by that point she was almost completely trained. She still did have the occasional accident but they were rare. Now she will loudly announce what she has to do and take off running. She's completely independant with it other than she can't reach to wash her own hands and she still needs the convincing of the need for wiping. She has had no accidents outside of the house (YEA!) and has even held it in the mall long enough for us to find a public toilet she could use. After falling in the toilet at church during nursery the first week we thought she would have an aversion to that but this Sunday she did great going numerous times during the meetings. (I think she finds it fun to be a big girl!)

Nighttime updates then I am done. Nights at first were pretty challenging for her and still are not competely mastered but she's doing great. I decided that I didn't want to use pull-ups either so for the first week I did a lot of washing in the mornings but now when she wakes up in the middle of the night (no she still doesn't sleep though the night!!!!!) she is dry and will go potty in the toilet when we tell her to then she will stay dry for the rest of the night after that. Now this is not an every night occasion, mind you, but it's more often now than not.

So, to conclude, it didn't take less than a day but I am still happy with a week and 1/2 - 2 weeks time frame!

**This post is completely out of order with the posts still to come, but I just had to post it now--I didn't want to wait until I was done updating the rest to get it out there!!**

Christmas Presents

2010-01-19T09:00:00.002-07:00

You'd think that with getting a new camera for Christmas (yea!!) that I would have a ton of photos. Well, I don't. We video taped the opening of presents and then the day was just busy so not many got taken. However, I do have a few. So sit back and enjoy!

First of all, we have to start of with Grandma Gubler's Christmas tree--she's amazing. This is one of the three trees. I didn't get pictures of the others but I love them!

Of course, we have to get Alex being a great poser for my first shot with my new camera....

Zaylee was so excited about opening presents (okay so this picture is not the best image describing that but really she was!!). This is one of the presents from Grandma. When we were opening the presents that morning she was so excited! She kept telling us that "this is not yours, this is mine!" It was great! She loved it!

As you can tell, the piggy bank from Grandma was definitely one of those presents she loved!

Almost all of the whole clan getting ready to open presents from Grandma (and Grandpa--we know Grandma did all of the work but he gets some credit, right??) and gifts from the siblings:

Okay, so this picture might have been a better description of the excitement she had opening the presents....gotta love her!!

And somewhere through it all, Zaylee found a spot that she thought was a great place to rest from all of the activities--Grandpa's belly. She sure loves her grandpa! =)

Lots to update!

2010-01-18T17:57:00.003-07:00

Well, with it being Christmas and all I have a lot to update. I'm not going to do it all in one post though, so check back and I'll try to get up to date.

For starters:

Zaylee got to sit on Santa's lap TWICE this year. She was VERY excited about it. The first time was at our ward Christmas party. The whole time she kept talking to us all about what she was going to ask him (like where his reindeer were) and what she wanted for Christmas. She sat willingly and was perfectly content to be there but she got completely gun-shy. She didn't say a word. She stared straight ahead at some random spot on the wall and completely froze. As soon as she got off, she started telling Alex all about how she got to sit on Santa's lap and how he told her about his reindeer (I asked about them for her). She just didn't dare to say an actual word TO HIM. It was great! =) The ward took photos but I haven't gotten it yet so no photo accounts of that one.

The second time she got to sit on Santa's lap was at the La Verkin Christmas party. This time she was all prepared. We talked to her about how she actually had to SAY something to Santa in order to get it. Once again, she was completely stoked about it. She kept practing all week about how when she sat on his lap she was going to ask for a "dolly and a horse." She had it down perfect. And when the time came, she nailed it!! She sat, he asked, she told. It was great! =) The photo didn't turn out great but this is what I got:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-24T09:24:00.002-07:00

*Once again, photos are courtsey of Tracey! =)

A Few Quick Family Photos

2009-12-23T21:32:00.003-07:00

So at Steph's wedding, one of our favorite family photographers, Tracey, took some pictures for us. All of you that got Christmas cards have already seen them, but I'm proud so here they are for the rest of you! (And to those of you who didn't get Christmas cards....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! WE LOVE YOU!!) =)

Lights at Temple Square

2009-12-16T22:02:00.005-07:00

For FHE we took a trip up to Temple Square to see the lights. Zaylee loved all of the "mommies, daddy's, and babies" (translation: the nativities). We also decided to go on a tour of the conference center while we were there. It was a lot of fun! I didn't get many photos because I thought that they all looked blurred through my camera, but here are a few!

Graham Cracker Houses

2009-12-14T12:29:00.003-07:00

For play date this month we made graham cracker houses! It was so much fun. Granted a two year old definitely finds eating the candy much more entertaining than making a house out of it!

Here's the photos from our fun morning:

Getting started....

Caught sneaking the candy!

Finally she got the hang of putting the candy on the house...

Finished project!

It was fun! Thanks Heidi!

Grandma's Caramels

2009-12-13T23:05:00.003-07:00

Well, I did it! Tracey inspired me this year to try to make Grandma's caramels. Thanks Tracey! It was such a great experience for me. It brought back a lot of memories of Grandma and Christmas's with her. Of course, we all remember the green cup used to test when the caramels were ready, sitting around her yellow kitchen table cutting wax paper and wrapping the caramels, the fridge full of caramels after she was done, and delivering them to everyone in town. Not to mention just the overall Christmas memories of singing Christmas songs (including the Chipmunks Christmas album!), decorating her Christmas tree while she sat on the couch and instructed us on how to place the icicles just right, and even sitting by her old coal stove drying our hair after baths at her house. Ahh, so many good memories. I think I've found my new Christmas tradition. It'll be one of the best ways for me to honor and remember Grandma. Love you, Grandma! Miss you!

*Note* I even have the old yellow counter-tops to make it seem even more like the old days! =)

"I dressed myself!"

2009-12-13T23:01:00.002-07:00

So, this wasn't the first time that she has put her own clothes on, but it was the first time that she picked out matching clothes, put them on with the tags in back, and right side out! I'm so proud! =) Granted, this was about 2 weeks ago and we have yet to see it happen again, but miracles do happen! (I did the shoes and socks...) Goodness, she's just growing up so fast!

Awesome song....

2009-11-23T12:37:00.002-07:00

This is a song that is by a friend of mine. It is amazing. Enterprise people, you know this one--Sam Arnold.

Please listen--but fair warning, it will probably make you cry.

Quick updates

2009-11-18T12:53:00.003-07:00

So yes, we are now proud owners of a brand new partially eaten library book!! Hurray!! And it only cost $21.00! How fun! **yes, very sarcastic!** I did just end up taking it in and explaining the situation. They were nice about it but seemed to be absolutely flabbergasted that she actually ate it! Oh, well, that's my girl! =)

Also, I was asked to tell what was in our 72 hour kit meal bags. Well, I didn't want to list them all here so I am going to link you to the website that I got the idea from. So, click here if you are interested in looking at it. We did do a few minor changes to what they suggested but basically just followed their plan. Just arrow down a bit and you will see the day by day outline.

72 hour kits

2009-11-15T16:49:00.004-07:00

We've been working on our 72 hour kits for the past year and I think we are finally done. Yesterday we sat down and went through the food portion of our kit and now I am pleased to say that we can now all eat for three days in an emergency!! YEA!!!

This was an idea that I found online. You have three labelled bags for each member of your family (one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day). So 9 bags for each member with their designated meals for each day. Pretty cool huh!

What to do.....

2009-11-15T16:44:00.003-07:00

If your child rips the page of a library book and then proceeds to EAT said ripped library page, do you have to actually tell the librarian and show them or can you just walk in with money and pay for the book so you don't have to get the "are you kidding me, are you really sad enough parents that you'll let your child eat library books??" look? (Even if you do deserve the look...)

No seriously, please tell me. I am so embarrassed and really want to know!!! And no, we will not be checking out anymore library books until she understands fully and clearly that books are NOT for eating!!!!

Look familiar....

2009-11-11T16:33:00.004-07:00

"CHEESE!" (yes, she was very proud of herself...)

Yep, she did it again. This time, it wasn't washable marker though and this time it was Daddy who failed to see it happening while Mommy was at work.....how long does it take for permanent marker to wash out?? And does it come out of microfiber sofas???

Halloween

2009-11-03T15:53:00.002-07:00

Okay, so this was the only photo that was actually taken on Halloween night. I know, pathetic of me. This photo was actually taken by our landlord. It's her husband and two of their three kids that are in the photo with us.

It was such a fun night. Zaylee had a blast knocking on doors and saying "treat" to everyone that answered. We tried to get her to say trick-or-treat but for some reason treat was all she could get out! =) She tried to end with "Happy Halloween!" But it ended up more like "Happy Do Do." (Don't know where that one came from!!) Over all it was really fun night! Zaylee even had a chance to use her "Care Bear Stare!" on a barking dog. The owners got a kick out of that one!

Hope you all had a great one as well!

It was a first for me.......

2009-10-27T20:54:00.002-06:00

Have you ever been rejected from attending a church conference?? Well me neither, until tonight! There was a big LDS Church and Scouting relationships conference at the SL tabernacle tonight and I don't think they were anticipating quite the crowd that showed up. After searching for parking, I finally entered Temple Square gates about 5 minutes before the start time to find the doors shut and a line of people outside. After a bunch of hemming and hawing and shuffling to the assembly hall for overflow attempts, we finally had an usher come in and tell us that because they weren't planning on it they couldn't get audio/video in the assembly hall and there was no room in the tabernacle so we could all just go home. If I were to guess I would say there were a couple hundred of us sent home. Crazy huh!

So, I enjoyed a nice visit to the visitors center. It's been a long time since I've had the chance to go sit next to the Christus Statue and just feel the spirit that is there. It was a great chance for me to sit and read my scriptures and ponder all that the Savior has done for me in my life. I know that is something that I need to do more of.

Being turned away was a new experience for me but this was definitely not a wasted trip. I am so grateful for it!

Pumpkins!

2009-10-27T09:18:00.013-06:00

Yesterday for play date we went pumpkin hunting!

The kids had a blast riding in the wheelbarrow:

Zaylee just couldn't hold still she kept running and running--there were too many pumpkins to see them all!

I did finally get her to sit down long enough to pose for a couple of photos!

Afterwards we headed over to our friends house for painting, eating, and Cinderalla watching:

That evening we decided for Family Home Evening to carve pumpkins for our activity. Now, I haven't done this in years but it was fun!!

Zaylee didn't actually pull any of the guts out, but she looked in and promptly responded "Ewww! That's cucky!!"

Zaylee added a little marker to her painted pumpkin:

My carving (I know not very original):

Alex's one eyed monster:

Final finished pumpkin family (with a handsome man in the background & a cute girl poking around the side!):

What a fun day!!

****UPDATE****

And this is what happens when you not watching your child because you are too busy posting about pumpkins and you forgot to take care the markers from the night before!!!

Where have we been??

2009-10-20T12:55:00.012-06:00

Okay, so there is no good answer to that question but I've finally decided to update you all on the last oh 3 months....

It hasn't been an overly busy summer but definitely a fun one!

The last post before this one was just before the 4th of July so we will start there.

For the 4th we had a blast in LaVerkin! We started with a swim in the Virgin River,

We watched the parade,

Enjoyed all the spoils,

Got Zaylee's first face paint (the final product didn't turn out to well so you just get the preview....),

And watched Grandpa get dunked!!

That night the fireworks were awesome!

THANKS FOR THE FUN!!

Next on the agenda....CAMPING! For this trip we went west to North Willow Canyon near Grantsville.

We were visited by a cow,

Played in the nearby stream,

Built rock houses from our rock collection,

And watched as Alex climbed and declared himself as King of the Rocks!

Our next camping trip was to Yuba Lake. The water and sand were fun! The wind was INSANE! As a result....no pictures! Zaylee loved it all until she was hit with the big sand blast and then we enjoyed time in the tent playing cards, prepping dinner, eating, and just all around playing inside. Speaking of tents....luckily (I guess you could put it that way) earlier that morning our zipper broke and Alex had to drive to the closest town to buy a new bigger one--so at least it was roomy!

After Yuba we decided for our next family outing a hotel would be a nicer way to go. So for our anniversary we decided to pack up and head to Fort Collins, CO!!

Did we know anything about it before we got there: NO!!
Did we have fun: YES!!
Did I take any pictures: ...uh...no.....

Following vacation, we kept ourselves busy with the starting back up of school, baptisms for the nephews, baby blessings, and continuing working on applications for Alex's 4th year. He's applying for the Air Force and it's quite the process!! But, he's got an interview on Thursday so keep your fingers crossed!!

On the weekend of the baptisms, while Alex and Zaylee had fun in LaVerkin I stayed up here and enjoyed the company of my family--including a hike back up to Donut Falls. This would be the third trip this year. The first was a previous post and the second, I didn't take any pictures. Actually I didn't from this trip either but I am using these photos courtesy of Kurt & Jill (sorry I didn't ask guys but I know you love me and don't mind, right???)

AWESOME!!

And you can see more on Steph's blog

And now you (or at least I) am almost up to date.

There are a few other fun things that have happened like our getting to go to The Scarlet Pimpernel for free (Thanks Greg & Carolyn!!), pine nut hunting--yep, just hunting, no finding--with Grandpa Gubler, Levi's family, and Rayn's family (that was a ton of fun guys! Thanks for letting Zaylee and I come! I wish I would've taken pictures!!) getting to go to St. George and to go through the temple with Uncle Lynn and Aunt Sandra, Alex's interview with Dixie Hearing and Balance (we still haven't heard back on that one yet), and Witches Night Out (Kasey and Saddie took pictures so check with them if you want to see how awesome we all looked!!)

Now finally, a preview for our Halloween:

In case you don't want to watch the video:

And what you may ask has this litte cutie pie been doing during this WHOLE update??

(Yes, that is a glare she's giving me!)

So...GOOD-BYE!!! (But hopefully not for the next 3 months!) I'm going to play with her! =)

First nail polish

2009-07-02T11:31:00.005-06:00

Okay, I know this is a dorky thing to blog about but it's a first! I was painting my toenails today and Zaylee sat there watching. Then all of a sudden...."me too, Mommy?" She sat on my lap so nicely while we painted her toenails. And she was so excited when we finished. It's a silver nail polish so you can't see it in the photos too well but here they are!

Playing with cousins

2009-07-02T11:28:00.006-06:00

The other day Zaylee and I went down to Kasey's to play. Zaylee had so much fun. We are so glad that Kasey lives close enough that these kids have the chance to play together and have fun.

Afterwards, Kasey and I decided to put on movie for the kids while we watched one ourselves. Of course, the kids got bored before we did. Towards the end, they took off upstairs (which is bad because the first time they did this it ended in Dryden eating the rest of the candy in my purse and Zaylee and Emory finishing off the rest of my gum). But, since our movie was almost over we decided to just leave them there and finish our movie in peace. I know, scary! Well, after the show we went upstairs to find all three sitting around the kitchen table happy as could be. Dryden had gotten each of them bowls, poured their cereal, and sat the boxes in front of the girls so they would have something to read while they ate. It was SO cute!!

Donutfalls

2009-06-27T23:20:00.005-06:00

Today Alex, Zaylee and I decided it would be fun to go hiking. I heard from my co-workers a while back about this cool hike just up Big Cottonwood Canyon so off we went. Zaylee fell asleep on the way up so we ended up carrying her for most of the way up but she did a great job on the way back. She loved all of the rocks that were in the path and she tried to make sure she stepped on every one of them. "I go up on the rock!" It was great! You know, I am a really bad photographer...I just realized that I didn't even get a picture of her doing it. But, here are the pictures that I did take:

This is heading up the trail. The water was traveling so fast...it kinda freaked me out to have Zaylee that close.....

This is as close as we were able to get to the falls. (Click here to see what the falls supposedly look like...) The water is still pretty high. Where the log crosses the river is where you are supposed to be able to cross to get up the actual fall. Some people were brave enough to try, but not me!

But of course, Zaylee still wanted to go into the "wawa" so we braved it and she loved it. However as you can tell in the last couple of shots, she wasn't satisfied with just being held or sitting there, she wanted in!!

These are a couple of scenes from the trail that I thought were cool. (There were a lot of chipmunks on the trail and I tried to get a shot when they would pose, but they were camera shy and as soon as I took the picture they would run so, none of the blurry shots were saved...)

And last but not least, I was able to get Zaylee to pose for one shot:

Overall, it was a fun hike and I would do it again...next time though when I can actually get up close enough to the falls to see them!

Zaylee's Birthday!

2009-06-23T08:41:00.009-06:00

I can't believe I have a two year old! Oh, wait, tantrums, bossiness, tall enough to reach the stuff on counters she's not supposed to get, smart/strong enough to push chairs over to the things she can't reach....I CAN believe it, I do have a two year old!! =)

We had a fun birthday this year. It was a multiple day occurence this year. On Thursday we wento Jumpin' Jacks with Rayn, Kasey, and kids, opened presents from them, and then had pizza and popcicles. And then on Thursday we opened more presents, went out to breakfast, went to the zoo with Steph and her family, took naps, and had cupcakes and ice cream that night. She even blew out her own candles this year. It was a fun year. I think her favorite part this year was opening her presents. It was fun to watch her. My batteries in my camera were dead for the first day except for a couple of shots of her opening presents, but here are other pictures.

Opening Presents:

At the zoo:

Thanks everyone that made it a fun year this year! We love you all!

Updates....

2009-05-21T17:23:00.003-06:00

Okay so it's been like 3 weeks (okay so almost a month) since I posted so it's time for updates! There are 7 posts to follow so just flip though or enjoy reading them. Which ever you prefer. In the meantime, here are some cute pictures to start you out with:

Helping make dinner -

Playing outside -

"I found this and put it on myself...aren't I cute!!" -

Zaylee's new bed

2009-05-21T17:21:00.004-06:00

We got this at a yard sale last summer for like $20 or around there. Alex and I stained it, Kurt and Jill gave us the mattress, the blanket is a present that I got when I graduated from high school and ta-da! Zaylee has a new bed!! YEA!!

Making Rolls

2009-05-21T17:17:00.004-06:00

Alex wanted homemade rolls for dinner the other night so Zaylee and I went to work. Zaylee loves to help mix things but her most favorite thing is the flour. To put it in her own words, "Ummm....tha's gooood, huh!!"

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Yes, she is licking the counter.....

Rayn's hat

2009-05-21T17:13:00.002-06:00

Rayn gave Zaylee this really cute hat when we were down there and Zaylee immediately wanted to wear it. Well, on the drive to St. George she found that it was a GREAT sun blocker. As soon as the sun started to shine in her eyes, she pulled it down to block it out and soon after she was out like a light! =)

Wilderness Trail Hike

2009-05-21T16:56:00.004-06:00

When we were camping up in Oak Grove again we decided to go for a hike. Well, you can read the details of the hike on Steph's blog but here are the pictures:
This was at the first of the trail. I don't know what this is because I'm not very smart, but I still thought it looked really cool. Just to the left of it is the cocoon that it came out of.

Alex took this shot from the top of the trail. This is the top of Pine Valley Mountain from where he was.

Looking down at Oak Grove from the hike -

Quail Lake and Sand Hollow -

LaVerkin and Hurricane -

This is looking out toward Washington from about 10 minutes before the top of the trail.

The view was awesome and it was a fun hike. However, I advise to anyone that chooses to hike it, don't try it with children, take WATER!!!, and I don't think that just before noon is a good time--there is very little shade on the trail and it's HOT!

Daddy Daugther Fun

2009-05-21T16:46:00.003-06:00

Okay, this is a two day post. First of all, I wanted to post of our trip to Enterprise. But, with all of the car drama that we had, I only got these pictures of Alex and Zaylee. Oh well, they are cute.

Alex climbed the tree:

And Zaylee shortly followed! (Okay, she didn't climb but with a little boost up, she joined him!)

And then I was thinking about what a fun dad Alex is and thought I would include these pictures from a few weeks ago (I am bummed that I didn't get any really good photos, but at least I got these). I came home from work one night to find this in my living room:

I didn't end up getting a picture of the two of them in the fort but they were having fun hiding from me in it!

St. George water park

2009-05-21T16:37:00.005-06:00

Zaylee LOVED playing at the water park in St. George. Even though the water was cold, she had a blast. She would go crazy in the water, run up to me to have me wrap her up in her towel and then she would remember how fun the water was and run back for more. It was so fun watching her play!

The cold water would shock her everytime she put her head under but without fail, she would run to the next one to stick her head under it! What a goof!!

Our Birds

2009-05-21T16:31:00.002-06:00

We came home from our vacation and look what we found! Little baby birds. The first picture was taken on the 15th when and then I took the 2nd picture today. It's amazing how quick they are growing.

Sorry about the angles...being short and all, I have to stand on a chair and then just hold the camera up above them and hope I get a good shot. =)

Hooray!!

2009-04-25T10:25:00.002-06:00

WARNING: NOT FOR THE EASILY DISGUSTED (This will be a tad descriptive....)

Zaylee just pooped on the toilet!!! YEA!! Okay, so as you know, she's been interested...we really haven't focused too much on it but today she ran to her favorite pooping corner (between the wall and the fridge) and started grunting. We asked her if she wanted to poop on the toilet and when she came out Alex ran over to her to help. She sat on the toilet with "stuff" already partially coming out BUT....she kept on pushing and ker-plunk! SUCCESS!!

Our bird nest

2009-04-24T18:06:00.003-06:00

Well, it's not really OURS but we'll call it ours anyway. This is just outside of our back door. Everytime we open the door we see a bird fly away but we haven't been able to figure out what kind it is yet. I took the first two pictures about a week ago and then the last one just today. We're going to have babies!!

Zaylee's new unpleasant feat...

2009-04-24T17:49:00.005-06:00

Well, I was going to post a picture, but decided I probably better not. As I previously mentioned, she likes to take her diaper off and run around naked. Well, her new thing is when she wakes up in the middle of the night instead of just crying and shaking her bed until we come and get her, she now has decided to take off her pj's, throw her diaper out of the crib, then cry, and shake her bed. This has happened nightly for the last 3 or 4 nights.... Last night we got a picture of it... due to child nudity it won't be posted, but here is what happens in the end:

Yes, that is my bed and her hogging it after we got her redressed the other night. Luckily, this was taken after Alex got up so he wasn't completely kicked out of the bed. Kasey suggested using a onesie to prevent the diaper removal...we tried that today...she can get that off as well. Any other suggestions????

Early Mother's Day/Birthday Present

2009-04-24T17:43:00.002-06:00

So, I have many of these (early presents) but I thought I would quickly blog about this deal that we just got.

I got these at Shopko for $30 (after rebate)! I was pretty excited. If any of you have seen my current pots and pans you would be excited for me, too! The set has a roasting pan, open grill, 2 frying pans, sautepan w/lid, 4 pots w/lids, and 6 nylon tools. Pretty cool huh!

Oh wait...

2009-04-14T16:50:00.001-06:00

One last cute photo that I forgot to post but I can't resist showing off:

Easter

2009-04-14T15:40:00.016-06:00

We had such a fun Easter in LaVerkin with family. We always have such fun holidays! We started Saturday by attending the LaVerkin city Easter egg hunt. **warning: this post will have an overload of pictures so just be prepared to sit back & enjoy!**

Zaylee would reach to pick up one piece of candy,

And then pick up her basket and move on to find one more piece of candy.

Therefore, we didn't end up with a lot of candy but even with that, Daddy still tried to raid!!

After the hunt, we went in search of the Easter bunny and some balloons. At first Zaylee was so excited to go see the Easter bunny but when she actually got up to him and he turned to her she freaked out a bit. This was the only picture we were able to get:

She loved the balloons though!

After the hunt we went and hung out at Levi & Saddie's house. Zaylee loved playing with Tomas and I loved holding baby Hazel! We didn't get any pictures but I should've as Zaylee and Tomas played in the fenced in backyard! (oh how I wish I had one of those!!) (Again, sorry Saddie about Zaylee taking your clean clothes out onto the wet back lawn--twice!!)

Then after a short stint at Grandma Gubler's (where she managed to only break one thing in an hour and a half) we moved on to Grandma and Grandpa Heatons for a FANTASTIC lunch and headed out for Easter Egg Hunt the 2nd.

All the kids heading out to hunt:

The hunt in progress:

Enjoying the spoils!

Afterwards we headed back to Grandma Gubler's for a much needed nap in preparation for Easter Egg Hunt the 3rd & 4th. Of these, unfortunately didn't get any photos. The 3rd was for the kids and the 4th was for us adults. Grandma Gubler, you are amazing! It was a ton of fun! Afterwards it was time for making rice krispy easter eggs.

On Sunday, we headed out to church (where Zaylee wanted us to stay for all three hours so she could go to nursery--what a righteous little girl!) =) and then headed off to St. George to visit Grandma Barlow and Aunt Steph and family. We had fun scrounging empty cupboards to see if we could make a dinner out of what we had and then by playing Settlers of Catan with Steph and Ryan. Thanks for playing guys!

Monday morning before heading home, we went on a scavenger hunt to find Great-Grandma Gubler so we could visit her (no one told us she moved!!). Zaylee at first was very shy but as soon as she found the swing in the front yard it was a battle getting her to leave.

And that about sums it up! What a fun weekend! Thanks everyone! We love you!!

Catching up...

2009-04-14T15:08:00.003-06:00

First things first...if you are a faithful follower of my blog, sorry I've been such a slacker lately!! I really haven't had a whole lot to post about (either that, or I'm just to lazy to!!)

I'll first tell you all about Zaylee's new conquests and then we'll move on to the Easter pictures.

Zaylee loves to play dress up. Unfortunately, we don't have any clothes for her to really play dress up in so she takes off the ones she is wearing and raids her dresser. This is a DAILY occurrence!

All alone:

With Daddy's help!:

Other things she's up to:
*taking off her diaper and running around the house naked (we've only had one accident up to this point--*sarcastic* "yippee!!")
*sitting on the potty with her toilet seat--she can even climb up by herself! (no success of anything but sitting but at least we've gotten that far!)
*scooting chairs up to the counters, climbing and getting into trouble!
*stuffing wads of paper up her nose
*learning how to take her own movies out and starting a new one when I tell her "no more shows!"
*asking "why?" over and over when I tell her to "get down from there!!"

*and of course, being her cute little self and making us laugh all the time! =)

Recommendation

2009-03-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a GREAT book to read, here it is:

Kasey gave us this book for Christmas and I LOVED it. Alex always says that when I am passionate about something I think everyone else should be too and it's true! I think that EVERYONE should read this book. And I'm not the only one who likes it...read the reviews at Goodreads.com

If you live in the Salt Lake area, they have a bunch of copies on hand at the library or you can buy it for $6 at the Deseret Book Outlet store or...you can borrow mine. =)

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

2009-03-04T08:21:00.006-07:00

Those are the infamous words of Alex last night as I cut his hair. Here, let me give you a preview (Alex's family...this may look familiar):

Yep, you guessed it! I skunked him! So usually he uses his clippers and does his own and then I go over it one more time to make sure he got it all and then trim his sideburns and neckline. Well, last night I just figured that the guard was on and started at the back of his neck and went straight up to his crown. I didn't even realize that I had done it until he was freaking out. So, he took the 1/8 inch guard and tried to fix it but this is the end result:

Random Pictures

2009-03-02T17:51:00.007-07:00

Howdy all! Just wanted to show off some new snapshots of Zaylee.

Zaylee is trying to figure out how to comb her own hair. Although I admit that I don't do much better, I figure it's still enough that I will keep doing it myself for awhile!

Speaking of hair, she finally has enough that I can do pigtails and we love it!

I tried to get her to stand still so I could get a front view of the pigtails, but she is just way too busy to sit still for a camera shot but I found this picture quite funny. Notice the difference in her personality from the picture on the sidebar.....from sweet little smiling girl, to "check out my new attitude!" dirty looks and all! (Yes, we have cut her bangs since then so they don't hang in her eyes).

One morning after Zaylee's bath she took off running away from me. I decided to just let her be while I cleaned up and this is how I found her. Enjoying my book, in my couch spot, with my cozy blanket. (Do you think I'm in this position too much if she knows how to copycat it that well???) (P.S. The book was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". Weird name, good book...if you want a good read, I enjoyed it!) And yes, you did see right...that is the "Poppins" video cassette in the back ground....we are back to enjoying it now!

Okay, now that last picture was a safe day. Typically when Zaylee runs off and is being quiet for more than oh...say...2 seconds this is what we find! Along with crayon on the stove, kleenex box emptied, diaper wipes pulled completely out, dental floss strung throughout the bathroom, open pjs with deodrant smeared all over the belly or some other wonder to be found...and she's not even 2 yet!!!

And finally after all of that, who could resist this little girl! Ya, I know the picture of me is not fabulous (I absolutely hate pictures), but look at her little grin and the way she has cozied right in on my lap. How could you not just love her!?

Birthday Cookies

2009-02-17T22:04:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday Alex!! Alex's birthday was actually yesterday but we were having too much fun to take the time to blog about it. We really didn't do much but just had a great day as a family. Alex got Fable II for his birthday last week so he said I couldn't spend more than a couple of dollars for a present for him on his actual birthday. So he ended up with Chocodiles and Oreos. The funny thing is I think that he was about as excited for those as he was for the game! We did end up getting him Seafarers of Catan as well, but that's just cause I like to spoil him and we got it for a good deal. =) So the day was spent playing Catan and then we all went out to the Chinese Gourmet for dinner. It was a fun day! We love having Daddy around all day!!!

As you can see, Zaylee is just like her daddy when it comes to cookies. As soon as we sang Happy Birthday and gave him the cookies she was begging for a try. We left the room for a minute and came back to find her with two cookies smashed together and the face of a cookie monster! So although Alex wouldn't let me take pictures of him, I did get Zaylee enjoying his presents.

Shrek Obsessed

2009-02-13T16:24:00.005-07:00

Well, I just noticed that it's been awhile since I have posted so I decided to go through my pictures to see if there is anything to post about. Shrek seems to be the reoccuring theme so here are a bunch of Zaylee new favorite toys!

Zaylee with Shrek the first day we got him--we had had the little ones for quite awhile but the big one was a gift from her adopted grandma--our primary president that was just released.

For Zaylee's naptimes the first few weeks after getting her new Shrek she had to have her naps with ALL of her Shrek toys (Don't ya just love her chubby little face!!) =)

Mom and Zaylee coloring time--it actually ended up being Mom and Shrek cast coloring time. Zaylee made sure each character had their own crayon and if I tried to borrow it from them she freaked out at me!

On a side note, I was just given new primary counselor duties. Now I am over 8-10 year old Cub Scouts and am absolutely clueless! SO all you primary wonder women out there any clues you could give me on how to fulfill my calling would be GREATLY appreciated! =) Thanks!!! (No, really, I am serious I want you to leave me messages or call me or email me or anything...I really need your help!!!)

Playing

2009-01-20T18:29:00.002-07:00

PEEK-A-BOO!!

Setting the table

2009-01-20T18:16:00.003-07:00

The other morning Zaylee was helping make breakfast and I decided to see what she would do if I gave her everything to set the table. I think she did a pretty great job! (Don't mind all of the boxes and stuff...she didn't do that part-that's just my messy table.)

18 Months Plus a little

2009-01-07T18:05:00.003-07:00

I'm a little slow posting about Zaylee turning 18 months, but we just had her doctors appointment yesterday so that's a good reason for posting almost 3 weeks late, right? The doctor said that she is doing really good and is right where she needs to be. She weighed 23.9 pounds and was 32 3/4 inch tall. If I remember right she was in the 30 something percentile on weight and 46th on height. She did so good with him. He's impressed about her stranger anxiety...she really doesn't have it too much!

Last week was her first week at nursery all by herself since she had cold her first week and then we were out of town. She did SO good!!! I took her in and she immediately ran to where the toys were (it's helped that we've taken her in a little here and there prior to her actually being 18 months). When I left she didn't even care and stayed the whole two hours without any incidents! I was SO happy!! When we got home I was asking her questions about it and she just couldn't stop jibber-jabbering! I didn't understand a word of it but she was sure excited!

Anyway, she would not pose for a picture for me, so after chasing her around the house trying to get her to settle for just a second this was the best I got! I can't believe how big she is getting!!

Dancing Video

2008-12-29T20:32:00.003-07:00

FYI: The song is from "Mary Poppins" with a little added Alex flare. =)

Christmas Night at Aunt Rayn's

2008-12-29T20:21:00.004-07:00

Phew...we are almost done. This is the last one to catch us up...that is unless I can get the awesome video of the kids dancing to work--if so, that'll be next and last...for now. Thanks for all the fun everyone!

I didn't get any pictures of the older kids or of the adults (who would want to see us adults anyway!) But here are the young ones playing with their treasures.

Christmas Day at Aunt Steph's

2008-12-29T20:15:00.003-07:00

The first two pictures are Sammy's Christmas Eve letter to Santa. Make sure you read the letter in the second picture...she did a great job! =)

Our Family Nativity

2008-12-29T20:03:00.002-07:00

Sammy was Mary, Andrew was Joseph, a baby doll was baby Jesus, Ryan, Steph, and Mom were the three wisemen, Zaylee was the shepherd, and I was the angel. Alex played the wonderful role of narrator. It was pretty haphazard but it was fun. We didn't get any pictures of me or the shepherd Zaylee because she ran around and kept trying to steal baby Jesus. Oh, what fun!!

Random Pictures from Christmas Vacation

2008-12-29T19:51:00.002-07:00

Helping Grandma do dishes

Just chilling with Sammy and Andrew on Grandma's bed

Taking CJ for a walk

"No, I really want to take him for a walk...outside!"

Playing in Burch's Christmas bucket

Cheeto Face

2008-12-29T19:40:00.003-07:00

This was taken during the trip to St. George....boy does this girl love her Cheetos!!

The Snow

2008-12-29T19:28:00.002-07:00

So, I know I haven't posted in a while so I am going to try to catch up here in the next few posts. First of all, I am SO glad that we missed the huge snowstorm and instead just enjoyed rain in St. George! But, I did take a couple of pictures of the snowfall before we left that I thought looked pretty cool. Right after I took this picture I decided to go out and shovel snow for something fun to do. Zaylee loved it! She normally hates the snow and doesn't want anything to do with it, but she had a ball shoveling that snow! I didn't have a camera to catch the action but she had herself a little pole and was following me around for about 30 minutes just pushing the snow. It was great! We may have a futurer worker on our hands! (hopefully!!)

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T21:33:00.007-07:00

Okay, sadly enough I didn't even get any pictures of the actual Thanksgiving festivities but we sure had fun! Thanks to all of the Heaton family that worked to put together such a great weekend. Alex told me that the final count ended up being 75. That still just blows my mind. It's great to see so much family though and try to figure out who everyone is and who they belong to--especially all the kids! (Yes, I will admit, I am still having a rough time with that!!) =) It's always fun to go south and get to see both sides of the family for all of the holidays; we are so blessed to live so close to everyone. We love you all! Anyway, here are a few of the pictures that I did end up taking.

Zaylee and Alex posing for the camera.

Zaylee sick of posing for the camera (I just had to include this one because I thought it was a great showing of her wonderful tantrums when she isn't getting her way) =)

One of Grandma Gubler's 3 amazing Christmas trees.

Helping Grandma figure out how to work the camera

Zaylee loved Grandpa Gubler this time. She got to go on numerous drives with him, play with him, and she even convinced him to watch Mary Poppins on Sunday morning instead of football--amazing little girl I tell you! =)

We decided on Friday night to go with my mom, Steph, and Andrew to see the lighting of the Christmas lights at the St. George Temple. I had never gone before and thought that it was a great experience to be there. I was sad that none of the pictures that I took ended up turning out but this one seemed post worthy.

Nativity in front of the temple

The statue of Christ in the vistors center

Our Little Helper

2008-12-01T20:31:00.004-07:00

So, it's bedtime, Zaylee has just had her bath and is in her p.j.'s just waiting for us and the next thing we know, here she comes with the mop and bucket! She got it out of the cupboard on her own and went to work. Guess she's trying to tell me something! But, what a great little girl! =)

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

2008-11-20T19:33:00.004-07:00

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - "what you say when you don't know what to say"
Well, I haven't posted in a while and this was the first thing I thought of to post when I didn't know what else to post about! (Go figure!) =) Actually, it is perfectly fitting though! Zaylee's new FAVORITE movie is "Mary Poppins." She loves to just sit on the couch and watch it over and over and over. Besides "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks" it is pretty much the ONLY time she will just sit down and watch t.v. (or just sit down as far as that goes). So, here are some pictures of her doing just that today as we started "Mary Poppins" for the first of 4 times for the day. P.S. I think that my favorite line from the movie comes from Mrs. Banks during her first song, "Though we adore men individually, we agree that as a group they're rather stupid..." (No offense Alex, you know I love you!) I just think that line is GREAT! =) So, to Mary Poppins, WE LOVE YOU! =)

2008-11-20T19:13:00.003-07:00

So, Sara nominated me for this great award! How exciting! I didn't think that my blog was that great so, THANKS, Sara!! With that said, now I'm supposed to nominate 5 other blogs to pass this award on to!

So, to keep to the spirit of giving blog awards, 5 of you (in no specific order) here you go!
1: Rayn - you've done a great job on your blog....it's a lot cuter than mine now!
2: Saddie - love the family theme song on your page--as well, you guys are just awesome
3: Emily - you always have such cute pictures and are just fun to follow!
4: Ashlyn - constant updates! love it!!
5: Melinda's cake blog - just look at it, self explanatory

All of you have great blogs. I love to keep up dated on them all. (Everyone else's blogs that I look at you are all honorary winners and can give yourself the award if you would like!) =)

For the 2nd part of the award's requirements, here are my 5 addictions!
1: Reading
2: Internet usage (I spend way to much time on here!)
3: Snack foods
4: Snocones
5: My family (of course!!)

Here are the rules to receiving this award:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions:On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gadget. Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Loving the Fall

2008-10-27T18:39:00.004-06:00

Tonight was such a beautiful night outside Zaylee and I decided to go out and enjoy it. It was perfect fall weather and Zaylee had a blast playing with and collecting all of the leaves.

Witches Night Out

2008-10-27T18:34:00.002-06:00

Here is me, Kasey, and Barbara (Kasey's friend from church) all dressed up for Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. It was a ton of fun. We met up with Rebecca and Katrina while we were there and went shopping, had a snack at the bakery, and stood around in the cold waiting for our names to get drawn out for the $100 gift cards...it didn't happen but oh well, it was still fun. I didn't take my camera with me but at least we got this one before we left. (Thanks for making my costume for me Steph!)