Just My Prince and Me

 I really enjoy coming home between my parties all dressed up. Duke looks at me funny... wait... my mom looks funny? Ethnie knows it's me straight off, she's a smartie. I love Ariel. She's my second favorite princess (number one being Belle) and I love being a "red head." If it wasn't so much work I think I'd go red. 

Peanut was sleeping so I got a picture with my favorite little man. He is a Duke you know. ;)

Flashback

 With this move Jakob and I are going through EVERYTHING! It is crazy how much stuff you accumilate over the years and we've only been married for just about five. So we've dejunked, decluttered, and streamlined. I'm sure the refining process will continue in our next move nine months from now. While it is refreshing and time consuming going thourgh every single box, drawer, and closet, it is also fun walking down memory lane. Especially Jakob's memories. 

 Here's a pirate map he drew when he was little. Jakob has been an artist from the start. It was cute seeing all of his sketches an drawings. Such a boy with his pirate map.

 This story made me laugh. It's all about the details. :)

 Jakob also had all of his missionary planners 1-18. His original name badges. He prides himself on never having to get new ones. I can't wait to get these in a frame for Duke's room.  Oh, and of course some teeth??

We also stumbled upon Jakob's white handbook from the mission, complete with half a stick of chewing gum and a tooth pick. SO Jakob. It had us both missing his mission days. I love memory lane.

The Trouble With...

... Rocks in the back yard is Duke likes to eat them. Well lets be seriously sometimes I still see E eating them. So this is how we have to play. Most of the time Duke isn't very fond of this arrangement, especially when sister teases him from the other side. Soon we will be surrounded by grass and he can be as free as can be. Until then, poor guys has to chill with me. :)

Woof

Because sometimes your dog needs a bib too.

Mother's Day

 Let me tell you, I am BIG into holidays. And what is better than a holiday to celebrate you? It was nice to keep things low key since we are in the final stages of our move. I woke up to find this.

 Have I mentioned how cute Jakob can be when he puts his mind to it? Yup, I totally cried. Stupid, simple, perfect and thoughtful things like these mean the world to me. I'd take this over something purchased any day.

I am so beyond blessed to be a mother to two beautiful children. It is the hardest job but it has the greatest rewards. Rediscovering the world with my children every day is such a joy. My children are my world and I couldn't imagine life without either one of them. They have such unique personalities that add such light into my life. I was at a YSA conference once upon a time and President Russell M. Nelson was speaking. He said; If you don't want to be stretched then don't reach to be a parent. I couldn't relate to this more. Being a mother has stretched me and forced me to grow in ways I never knew I could and it's only the beginning. I am so thankful for a husband who helps and supports me. For the wonderful father that he is.  It was a wonderful Mother's Day.

ROAD TRIP! :)

My darling friend Kayla got married. I can't even begin to describe how excited I was for her. She has been through a lot and I am so glad that she is happy. Anyways.... her reception was up in Sandy UT so Jakob and I had a road trip sans children. (Thank you to Mom and Dad who took the babies while we adventured.) Our first stop was in St. George. I desperately wanted to go to the temple. I really want to have a temple checklist if you will. I love them and I really wish that we made more time to visit the temple but since I knew we would probably never be in St. George again I had to go. It was wonderful. I really liked how old it was. 

 Jakob and I rented a car since we don't exactly trust ours. It was a convertible so we had to put the top down. 

 It was fun, but I would never buy one. It was the perfect day in St. George to have the top down though. Beautiful! Not to mention Jakob looked pretty sexy driving one. I'm probably biased though. Once we left St. George we had to FLY! I didn't take the time change into account and we were distended to arrive at the reception 3 minutes before it ended... if we hit all green lights. Jakob flew...

 ... and we made it! It was perfect timing actually. All of the guests had arrived and mingled so I was free to catch up with Kayla without feeling like I was monopolizing her.

 She was STUNNING. Hands down the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. I am so glad that we got to see her. 

 We then headed over to Nick and Tallies to spend the evening. I love visiting with them. They make me smile and I wish we got to see them more. The best part was snuggling 5 day old Salomon. Oh my word... he was darling. It made me miss my babies.

 The next morning w were back on the road. Only to hit a freak blizzard. I'm from Canada folks... it was a blizzard. We could hardly see in front of us it was so bad in some places. Semi's rolled over, car accident after car accident. People stuck in the ditch.

 Needless to say it was crazy. The roads were clear yesterday. So we took it slow coming home. You could tell we were parents. We wanted to get home safe to out babies. 

 We pulled over at a truck stop and I made a snow man with a fruit snack carrot for a nose :)

 Jakob and I also experienced our first gas station hot dog. It was rather tasty! I was surprised!

Finally we were back to sunshine! I think I'm going to go in shock when I get to Nashville. Snow... ugh! All in all it was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad that we went! It was nice to have some time just hubby and wife and to visit family and friends. It was nice to hold our babies again. It's crazy how much you miss them after 32 hours.

A Day in the Life of the Toblers

Help from my little man.

 The view I normally have.

 Plugged in. 

 A quick snack = a full sleeve of crackers.

Love, Love, Love my life!!

9 Months

• Weight: I packed those stats from his last visit. Oops. Don't worry he's still massive :)
• Nicknames: Uke, Little Man, Monkey, Most of the time we call him "Duke Manfred"  or just Manfred.

• Duke is MY boy! If I am in the room he needs to be with me. If he hears my voice he starts to cry looking for me. It's nice to be loved since I'm lower down on E's totem pole. This boy is all mine.
• This boy is furniture surfing.He not only walks but RUNS while he holds your hands. He wants to be going, doing, moving. If his toes weren't so small he'd fly!

• We are teething! Woah Nelly! Poor guy is much crankier but it's just sad because you know he hurts. We tried orajel and it worked wonders. I'm thinking we will see some teeth soon!!
• He started solids! He is loving eating meats and veggies. He is eating chicken, beef, roast, hamburger. Like I said before if it's food he's all about it. He's not so fond of cheese. I swear I did not plan this!

• Duke Manfred's schedule is... what it is. His day time schedule is set. He naps great and get tired like clock work. He goes down for bed no problem but he is still up 2 sometimes 3 times a night. I am at a loss. tough love is hard while he's teething... BAA! It'll sort itself out soon! 
• Duke is a cuddler. He likes to climb up on my lap and plant a big wet kiss right on my mouth. There is usually tongue involved. It is wonderful! He also likes to burrow his head into my lap or chest. He's a snuggler, just not for lengthy periods of time.  

• He loves the outdoors. He loves sitting in the stroller or playing out on Gramma's lawn. He loves going to the park and crawling around. I'm excited for Nashville and all of the grass there!
• If I'm not in the room Duke is a pretty independent boy. He is very good at playing with toys or his sister while I get things done. 

• Duke LOVES the T.V. he likes to sit there glued watching Buzz, Nemo or Frozen. He watches what Sister watches and he's happy to do it. He gets excited and bounces up and down when Elmo comes on. I wonder if we'll have another fan?
• Duke loves technology. Remotes, my phone, the tablet. He really enjoys playing peek-a-boo barn. 

• The most ticklish boy ever. He is super ticklish on his chunky legs. But it isn't hard to make him laugh. Love this boy!
• Duke likes to roll during diaper changes. He is SUPER wiggly. It takes a lot of distractions, funny voices and singing to keep him still.
• Manfred learned how to use a sippy cup this month. He's not really fond of juice, which is totally different from his sister. He usually sucks some back and then spits it all out. He really enjoys smoothies through straws though.

May I just mention how much I love this months round of photos? I may be biased but I seriously think he is the CUTEST baby in the world and these pictures reflect his ever growing personality perfectly. He is becoming more like a little boy and less like a baby every day. He is getting opinions, wants attention, loves to be with me and I love to be with him. He fills a spot in my heart I never knew was empty. I was scared to have a boy. The unknown. I'm a girl, I had a girl and now here's a boy.. what do I do with a boy?! The answer: you love them, you snuggle them and you cherish them because it goes by SOOO fast. I love him more than words.