9 Great Years

Happy Anniversary to us! Marrying Jeff is still the best decision I've ever made. :-) We were so excited to celebrate the beginnings of our little family with our Little One this year. She was so excited that she decided we should celebrate with projectile vomit! Poor little P had gotten a round of vaccines in the morning that made her projectile vomit for an hour or so that evening. It may not have been very romantic but, it was certainly memorable!

Home Stretch

Can you believe Jeff is starting is fourth, and final, year of dental school! Yipee! We are so excited! Gainful employment is just around the corner and the countdown is on!

Year1

 

Year 2

 Year 3

 

Year 4

The next picture will be in full graduation regalia! Can't wait! Presley and I are so proud of him. He works so hard and is so dedicated to preparing to provide for his family. After 9 long years of school, the final year is upon us!

6 Months Old!

We've reached Presley's half-year birthday! At 6 months old, Presley is 14 pounds 10 ounces (18th percentile), 26.5 inches long (69th percentile) and has a head circumference of 17 inches (65th percentile). She's just one long and lean ball of love and fun!

• This month's biggest development is our foray into solid foods! Our little lady definitely has a Tobler appetite! So far, her menu consists of rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado, carrots, applesauce, prunes and pears. Her favorite is applesauce--she just devours it! She gets really excited when I put her in her high chair and she sees me coming with her little bowls. But, I have to be careful not to put her in there too early--she gets impatient if I'm taking too long! Since we invested in a Vitamix (which I highly recommend), I'm able to make most of her food and I'm really enjoying doing that. With her new diet comes new intestinal products, which we're adjusting too. And her "poop face" always gives us a giggle.
• P's progressed through several fun new noises this month. She started with farting noises, then she learned how to click her tongue, and now we're on to a fake cough. You can tell she really likes making new sounds because she does them all day long! I think I was making farty noises with her all day every day for a solid week!
• We now have a pretty solid sitter. Although, she still hurls herself backward occasionally and seems to prefer to lie down to play most of the time.
• She still loves to suck her thumb and chew on her toes. She also has found her belly and holds on to it while I change her diaper. It's pretty cute.
• She's still sleeping like a champ. She goes to bed around 9:30pm and sleeps until 7-7:30am, takes a catnap or two in the morning, and then has a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. We moved her to her crib in her room and she made the transition with no problems (it was harder on Jeff than anyone) and really loves sleeping in her crib. She loves to stretch out while she sleeps (arms spread-eagle-like) and then enjoys chatting with the birds on her mobile, or her little lamby, when she wakes up in the morning. She always greets Jeff with a big smile and a squeal when he goes to get her up in the morning.
• P is doing great with the nanny. I still hate dropping her off two mornings a week (that hasn't gotten any better for me) but, it's so nice to know that she's having so much fun. She loves playing with the older kids (Gracie especially) and there is no shortage of attention for her!
• Presley is still pretty vocal. She loves to jabber and sing and makes this noise that's kind of like "hey" as in "Oh hey, there you are!" She usually makes this at her Daddy--who is a source of great fun. She looks at him expectantly and just waits for the fun to begin!
• Bath time has become more fun. She's starting to splash around (which means I usually need a change of clothes when we're done) and play with her water toys and especially seems to enjoy when we pull her out of the tub, blast-off-style, with great flare, and cuddle her up and give her a sandwich hug in her nice warm towel (which has been warming in the dryer).
• Presley loves to play in her exersaucer (which has become even more fun now that she's tall enough to get the toys in her mouth) and still loves Mr. Octopus. She's starting to enjoy reading books (instead of just eating books) and loves when I let her pick through her toy basket and pull everything out. She loves her cups and cans! She can spot one from a mile away!
• Presley is ticklish!
• P is also starting to give hugs and slobbery kisses. They are the best!
• Everywhere we go, people always say, "my goodness, look at those eyes!" We agree--and Jeff is glad that he's built up a collection of firearms for when the boys start coming around.

Presley has such a happy spirit and is such a joy to be around. She's so laid back and loves to play.  My goal every day is to make sure she knows just how much she is loved and how happy I am to be her Momma.

A Weekend at Grammy's

We spent a nice weekend in Tampa with Presley's Grammy, Grandfather and Auntie Greer! Presley had lots of fun playing with her loved ones and enjoyed all of the loves and cuddles!

Presley was especially excited about Harley. She kept her eyes on him and reached for him whenever he got close. 

He was pretty interested in her until she started pulling he ears and trying to eat him (I told her this was only acceptable in Korea).

We tried to teach her how to "be soft" with the doggy but, Harley seemed to learn more quickly and just kept his distance.

He didn't really seem to enjoy her noises either. On Saturday morning, Presley was happily playing and squealing --he decided it was too loud (for a deaf dog) and tried to be let back in with a sleeping Greer for some peace and quiet.

She got in a lot of good squeezes...

 ...and story time...

 ...and really enjoyed Grammy's bath toys!

Tidbits

Yum! Avocado!

And carrots!

Presley was pretty excited to get her hands on this giant bottle!

I set P down to play while I got some work done and came to find her like this. I thought, "oh cute, she's all snuggly and ready for a nap". I picked her up and walked over to the couch to feed her, noticing something sticky on my sock but not really thinking anything of it, sat down and then felt something warm and squishy on my arm. Yup, poop all over my arm, poop all over my sock that was now all over the rug, poop on my pants, her pants, my shirt, her shirt, and all over her play mat and blanket. After my initial disgust, I decided to just be grateful for her healthy and moving bowels and that I decided to put on a pair of socks that morning.

This just never gets old.

My First Mother's Day

I was so excited this year to celebrate my first Mother's Day as a Mommy! My loves spoiled me! Saturday, we spent a little bit of time at the pool. Presley seemed to enjoy the water more this go round--she even bent down to do some splashing! The water was a little too cold for us all to get in but, it was very relaxing to just sit and play (in between swatting at the love bugs, man I hate those things)!

Sunday, Jeff got up and made me breakfast in bed--a first for me! He put together quite a spread! French toast, scrambled eggs, maple sausage and fruit. I thought he couldn't cook but, really he's been holding out on me for 9 years!

We spent the day relaxing, had a nice walk and then Jeff treated me to another culinary treat for dinner--steak, potatoes and even a Jeff-made angel food cake with strawberries! Y.U.M.!

I cannot even begin to adequately describe how much being a Mommy means to me and how much I love it. I've learned more about myself, Jeff, and my Heavenly Father in the last few months than I have in my lifetime before it. Being a Mommy has given me a greater sense of purpose and accomplishment than anything else has (or will) and it is a privilege to spend my days (and nights) caring for such a beautiful daughter of God. When people ask, I always tell them being a Mommy "is the greatest thing, ever." And I really mean it.

Look Who's Sitting Up!

She's still a bit wobbly but, she's starting to sit up like a big girl!

It's a big day!

This Cinco de Mayo was a big day for these Toblers! However, instead of celebrating the day with Mexican food and margaritas (virgin, of course), we celebrated by taking Presley to her very first birthday pool party  and initiating our foray into (semi) solid foods! It was a great day!

I must say, I was more excited about getting her into this little swimming suit that I was about getting her in the pool. I mean, really, wouldn't it be great if we thought jelly-rolls like that were cute on adults!?!

The water was a little chilly, and I think that curbed her enthusiasm.

She seemed more impressed with her sunglasses, which were fun to chew on.

"I don't know what all the fuss is about, that water is cold!"

Frankly, she was perfectly content to just chew on this napkin...

...or this bottle and watch all of the other kids play in the chilly pool.

 

 

 After the party, and a much needed nap, it was time for our little P to eat some "real" food! She's been eying ours for weeks and we were excited to feed her some delicious, gourmet, rice cereal!

She started out pretty excited...

...and then she realized that rice cereal doesn't taste so great!

"Um, next time can we try something better?"