Guess Who's 1?

It's our little turtle Sig! Why yes, we do refer to our turtles as "The Kids," don't you? Since Sig has gotten so big we have moved him over to the Mom Tobler plantation where he's joined Walter in the tomato box. He has much more room to roam there and gets much more sun than he did on our patio. We will take him back once we get a place big enough to house him but for now, Mom's place is best.

I can't believe how big he's gotten! Most of his growth has been in the last 6 months.

Here he is last year. A solid 2" from head to foot. It's hard to believe he was ever that tiny.

And this year! He's a good 3 1/2" and much heavier. I love turtles! (Does it show?) Happy birthday Sig!

We're HOME!

We are finally back in our apartment! My cousin Jessica came to Vegas for a week and as our wedding gift to her and her hubby, Jakob and I gave them our apartment. Mom and Dad Tobler graciously let us stay with them while our home was occupied. Not that I'm not grateful for Mom and Dad's hospitality but there's no place like home in the comfort of your own bed. I am glad we gave up our apartment, they really needed it, and it made me appreciate my little home more.

Jakob started his first day of fall semester today. He wasn't excited. I tried to remind him he only has one year left and that made him a little happier. I'm so proud of all of the hard work and dedication he puts into everything that he does. He works so hard to provide for our family and I am so proud. I have an amazing husband and he will be such an amazing father. I am one lucky girl!

Fair Thee Well iPhone

For quite some time now Jakob has been threatening to get rid of our iPhones. I really didn't think he'd do it, plus, I loved my iPhone. There was no way I was downgrading to something that wasn't "smart." Last week he finally pulled the trigger, we are now proud Cricket customers. The LG is a little bit strange to work with after having an iPhone for the past 5 years, but I really quite like it. Even better I like spending 50% less on our phone bill each month without losing any smart phone features. So far we are very pleased with our new phones. I think we should have made the switch awhile ago.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Well, new to us anyways. Last week there was a tragedy in our little family. Red Thunder (my 99 Pontiac Grand Am) passed away. While on my way to a party last week all of a sudden the engine started rocking. Thinking it could perhaps be a similar problem that just occurred in Jakob's Lumina I gave him a call. He was frustrated as most people are when cars have problems, not to mention we had just repaired his car. He went and did some research and looked under the hood. He claimed that the rocking engine was simply from the air conditioning and I would just have to hold out for the rest of the summer until things cooled down. Not ideal but hey, it's cheaper than taking it to the shop to be fixed. We then drove it to church the next day just to ensure his diagnosis was correct. It wasn't. There was smoke billowing out from the exhaust pipe amongst other various symptoms that didn't seem to be connected. We decided it needed to go into the shop.

Jakob was driving it Tuesday morning on the way to the shop. The smoke was bad and not 2 miles onto the free way he ends up pulling over. The car had over heated, no big deal I thought, it over heats all of the time... nope this was BAD. Striking the plan to go to our mechanic on the other side of the city we moved slowly to a mechanic much closer. Block by block we waited for the engine to cool down. We knew she was a goner but we had a diagnostic done anyways. The mechanic didn't even give us a quote that's how bad it was and it looked like it wasn't simply one problem.

So the hunt began! I've never had to look for a car before and this was overwhelming. I searched for a week with nothing we were too excited about. Made a few calls on ones we were interested in but they had already been sold. Either the miles were too high, or the price was too high. Any perfect matches were long gone. I didn't feel good in my heart about any of them, not it mention it was difficult to discuss when Jakob didn't get home until later in the evening. One night after reviewing my list he jumped on Craigslist himself. The first car he clicked on was it, that was the one. It was a relief but frustrating that after a week of hunting, the first car he clicked on ended up being the car that we bought. Ugh! Men!

It is a 2001 Dodge Stratus and let's just say my heart is happy. For some unknown reason I've always had a issue with Dodges, and it's not based on any facts or knowledge I just simply didn't like them. All that has changed. I think I'm a convert. It drives very similarly to my Grand Am which is a plus. It's four doors (a necessity with a baby on the way), has brand new tires and has power everything. The only disadvantage would be the power locks. On my Grand Am there was a 10 second delay before the doors would lock, on this one it's instant. Let's just say I had an extra set of keys made. Over all I am very happy and even better Jakob is happy. It is such a relief to have two cars again!

Baby Bump

Here you go Janet. Here is my little bump at 13 1/2 weeks. It's so exciting to see some evidence of our little one that doesn't make me nauseous. Most of the time you can't even see my little bump, people at work ask me all the time if I'm sure I'm expecting. Yup, I'm sure.

Straight Into Our Hearts

At my doctors appointment on Thursday I had the wonderful opportunity to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. It is one thing to see it flicker on the ultrasound monitor and another to actually hear the flutter of our child's heart. I was consumed by several emotions all at once. I'm sure my doctor had a good time watching them all shoot across my face. There was wonder, excitement, joy, and finally marvel. I sat there for the first time feeling this bond form between this child who I hadn't met yet and myself as a mother. It was there before but it's intensity couldn't compare to this. I know that bond will only grow as the pregnancy continues and as our child arrives. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to become a mother.

For those that are interested our new official due date is February 24th, 2012. Jakob is a little disappointed that it's no longer the 29th. Our baby's heart beat was 150-160 beats per minute. We will be going in to discover the gender on the 29th of September however Jakob and I will not know. We want to have a gender reveal party. This is a new fad that has come about and we're super excited about it! The doctor will write down the gender on a slip of paper and place it in a sealed envelope. We will then take it to a friend of the family who will bake a cake that will be gender neutral on the outside but the cake batter will be either pink or blue. Once we cut into it we will know the gender. At first we didn't think that Jakob would be able to make it to the ultrasound and I wanted us to be able to find out together. This way our family and friends who wish to join us will be able to. I am super excited. We will be making the grand announcement tentatively on October 7th.

We'd like to thank everyone for their love and support. It means the world to us! We are so blessed to have such an amazing family and such wonderful friends.

A First for Jakob

I have come to realize that my family adores Jakob. There was some serious bonding that went on throughout the three days Jakob visited my family in California. I left him to be part of the decorating squad at the church (for Jessica's reception) with family members he had never even met before. A few hours later I had returned and here he was cracking jokes with everyone. I expected nothing less but to see it in action was wonderful.

Then there was Uncle Mark. Not that Jakob ever had a problem with Mark, they actually get along very well, he simply did not trust his profession. As I'm sure you can tell my Uncle is a chiropractor. Jakob is of the mind set "If it's not broken don't fix it." He's never had his back adjusted or his neck cracked. Growing up my mother went to the chiropractor all of the time and we got adjusted along with her. I love the feeling of popping!

Last visit we had to California was Christmas two years ago. I was teasing Jakob about getting adjusted and he wanted nothing to do with it. This year however I mentioned the idea once again. He must have gotten to know Mark well because he didn't even put up a fight. I let him go first so he wouldn't have to see exactly what Mark does. He was fine until he had to have his neck done. I could tell he was uncomfortable. All done! He said he felt no different but he had a head ache the next day from all of the toxins that were released. Silly boy should have drank some water. Thank you once again to Mark and Brendalee for letting us stay with you in your very full home! We truly appreciate your hospitality. We look forward to visiting you soon :).

Jessica's Wedding

Some of my readers may know my MOH (for Mom Tobler Maid of Honor) and cousin Jessica. She got sealed in the Oakland temple on August 4th and it was amazing. She looked incredible and I am so happy for her and her husband Chad. This above picture is my favorite one of the day. We actually stole the idea of Chad holding the flowers from her cake topper of all things. These two are precious.

Getting ready in the morning was a GONG SHOW! We got up at 6:00 thinking that 2 1/2 hours would be plenty of time to do Jessica's hair and allow me to get ready. Wrong. Half way through curling her hair I could feel my body about to shut down. My hands were shaking and I had to put my head between my legs to keep myself from fainting. At this point neither Jessica nor my aunt knew that I was expecting. My aunt Brendalee looked at me and said "Are you sure you're not pregnant?" as she placed a cold cloth on my neck. I looked at her and said "If I say yes will you leave me alone." She smiles at me and made me drink some juice and that right there was the first time I threw up. All my hope of keeping this a secret was gone. I wanted this to be Jessica's day and not take any of the light and here I am getting ill in the trash can when I have work to be done. They were super excited for me and even asked if I wanted to announce it to the family at their luncheon after the wedding. Yeah right! This was her day, not mine and I planned on keeping it that way. :)

I then left to get cleaned up and Brendalee took over Jessica's hair. I was still in my P.J's as we were racing down to the car. Down to the wire yes but it was fun!

On her way to the temple. She was stunning. I couldn't help but be envious.

The newly wed Chad and Jessica Blackburn.

The Blackburn boys. This is one large family. Chad has eight siblings which makes nine children all together and there are currently 24 grandchildren with 2 more on the way. Needless to say their family reunions are a little bit bigger than ours :)

Blackburn boys with Jessica :)

The Heyden Family. M.I.A: G-pa, Jakob, Jared, Uncle Calvin, Ashely & Michael.


This little girl was simply adorable! She just stood and watched Jessica and Chad from afar the entire time.

The van den Berge's and G-ma Heyden. M.I.A: Jakob & Jared.

I then stole Chad & Jess to take some photo's of the temple grounds without the entire crew.

I didn't notice the flash went off so this is over exposed but never the less I love this shot.

Twirling. That girl rocked that dress! It fit her perfectly and she was breath taking!

It was a beautiful day. Congratulations to the newly weds. I love you both and we'll see you soon!!

Sometimes...

... Things do not go as planned. One Saturday morning Mamma v and I popped out of bed bright and early to partake in the wonders formally known as yard sales. That particular weekend however was horrible. We didn't find one single treasure. We were a little put out, so we went to McDonald's for breakfast so I could get a B.L.T. bagel. I used to get one all the time after seminary in Canada, alas Mickey D's in the states does not make B.L.T. bagels. Once again, I was put out. So we went to Ross to find some shoes. Nothing. Needless to say our day of shopping didn't go as planned but we a had a lot of laughs along the way. Thanks for making days that don't go as planned special and days to remember. Love you Mom!

Relaxation

Is there anything better than a pedicure? I think not! Mamma van den Berge treated me to a mani pedi and my word it was divine!

Beautiful picture I know. The flash was taking forever! Thank you Mamma! It was wonderful! Love you!

Little Feet

As I'm sure most know by now Jakob and I are expecting. We are so excited and I'm even more excited I can finally talk freely about it. Secrets are horrible! We are due either the 21st or 29th of February (yes leap year.) We'll know for sure at our next ultra sound on the 16th.

My entire life whenever people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I always said something that will let me be with my children. I cannot wait to be a mother. I honestly don't think the concept has fully sunk in yet and we are already three months along. We are so excited and can hardly wait until our little bundle of joy arrives. I will admit I am taking full advantage of my peace and quiet, soon it will be but a memory. I can't wait!

Mom has asked me 4 times in 2 days if I'm expecting and each time I'd reply with a not so convincing "Nope." I thought I had done pretty well hiding it since I have a cold and can use that as a cover up for my sleeping habits. While we were getting ready for the day (talk about the most "uncute" way to announce this ever!) Mom asked me again only this time she accused me of lying to her. She then put her head to my stomach and asked "Is there anyone in there?" How could I not tell her? I laughed and said yes, and she just beamed. It was exactly the reaction I was hoping for. This is her first grand child and you can tell she's excited to become "Oma."

My father was adorable. He was so excited and just beamed. He had some trouble keeping the secret and spilled the beans but who can blame him? This will be Daddy's second grand child (my half brother has a daughter named Mya)

For Mom and Dad Tobler we didn't do anything special. They were just as happy with plain old words as they would be with a picture. It will be grand baby number 6 on the Tobler side. I think that is pretty cool because I was grand baby number 6 on my mothers side of the family. Like I said before we are so excited and can't believe that we're already 3 months along! Time is flying. Before I know it we'll be parents!

Just Chime In

My mother was with Jakob and I for two weeks so naturally we had to have a project to work on. So we made chimes for my primary children to play in the primary program and at Christmas time.

After three trips to Home Depot we finally got all of the things that we needed. It was time consuming work. Thankfully we had a premade set we kidnapped from the primary chorister in my home ward in Canada. Huge shout out to Allison! You rock!

First we had to cut each pipe. We made not one, not two but three sets! That's a lot of cutting!

We then labeled each note...
... and painted wooden balls for mallets.

It took my mother 5 hours to write out all of the Christmas songs in just one book. She's a trooper!

We even had Jakob drilling holes. It was a fun project and I have to add some final touches but it'll be perfect for the program. The primary children are so excited! I shall post some pictures of them playing them. They are so cute!

Finally!!

We're home! So much has happened over the past three weeks. I shall post soon but right now we're just enjoying having some peace and quiet. Have a wonderful Sunday. Amen.

< 3

It has been two years since Jakob and I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. We have had many adventures, joys, and some bumps along the way and I wouldn't trade one second of it for the world. I am so thankful for Jakob and all that he does for me and to provide for our little home. He sacrifices so much and he never complains. He is strong, brave and my best friend. I am lucky I'm in love with my best friend. Here is to a wonderful year to come full of it's own set of adventures. Happy anniversary babe.