Our Little Piece of Heaven

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Not to brag but...

She really is a good little swimmer, and at 19 months! She did two weeks of ISR-type swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer and Jeff has been practicing with her every day since. She's our little fish!

Monday, May 20, 2013

18 Months!

Our little Sweet P is 1 1/2 !! It's unbelievable how much she's grown and how fast the time has gone! At 18 months, Presley is 32 3/4 inches tall (78th percentile) and weighs 22 lbs 4 ounces (19th percentile). And boy do we get a kick out of her!

P has always been very verbal but, we've definitely had a language explosion! She talks constantly and has a pretty big vocabulary. We are always amazed at how much she understands. I had to take her to the doctor for a rash on her face not long ago and that morning, I told her where we were going and why. When the doctor walked in the exam room, she asked P how she was doing and P got this concerned look on her face and said "a rash."
Presley is still a good eater and, thankfully, she seems to enjoy her vegetables. She loves her morning fruit and spinach "shakes" (or "green drinks" as Gramma Jan calls them) and enjoys broccoli, green beans and zucchini. She has also developed a love for Oreos and E.L. Fudge cookies but, they must be double stuffed (otherwise, they're not worth eating). I think cheese is her favorite food---she eats a lot of cheese. Seriously, a lot of cheese.
We started the summer with swim lessons and have been amazed at how quickly she's learned. The lessons were every day for 2 weeks and while the first 3 days were rough, she quickly learned how to swim with her face in the water, how to "monkey" along the wall, and how to turn back to the wall and/or stairs after she pushes off. She hates to float on her back no matter what we do. She's been swimming with Daddy every day since and has really come a long way, but that deserves a post of it's own!

Presley had dropped down to 1 nap during the day and still sleeps about 12 hours at night. She loves to read books by herself in bed after we lay her down and we love to sit and watch her read to her stuffed animal friends.
She finally figured out how to get onto her knees for prayers at night. It took a few nights of practice to finally figure out how to assume the position but, now she's got it. She kind of winds up and slides into it while shouting "knees"!
Presley has a new obsession with Elmo. Her Elmo doll, her Elmo shirts, and watching Elmo on the iPad. This girl seriously cannot get enough. We've had to ration her iPad time and get multiple Elmo shirts so that we have one available if the other one is in the wash. She is also obsessed with shoes (a girl after my own heart). Jeff went to check on her before we went to bed one night and when he moved her a bit she squeaked out, "shoes." Loved it.
In addition to shoes and Elmo, she's starting to have an opinion about what she wears. She especially loves her new jammies and gets excited to pick out what she'll be wearing to bed. She's particularly fond of a set with a giraffe eating ice cream on the front of the shirt.

She can definitely be a stinker and puts on her sassy-pants occasionally. She has a "stink face" and she's not afraid to use it! I apologize if you've been on the receiving end of this face. I assure you she still loves you!

P started going into the nursery Primary class at church (for kids aged 1.5-3) without me and Jeff and boy does she love that! She has a lot of fun playing, loves to give hugs and kisses to the other kids, and especially enjoys snack time. I was worried about separation anxiety but, it seems that I'm the only one with that!
If she had her way, we'd spend all of our time outside. She loves riding her new tricycle, swimming, feeding the turtles and fish in the pond, swinging at the park, and hunting for bugs and lizards (which she does with Daddy, of course).

We sure love our little Presley-girl and are just so happy that she's in our family. Our home is a happy one and she's definitely is a big part of that! We love to laugh and play with her and are so grateful that she's ours.

Friday, May 17, 2013

10 Years in the Making...Introducing the Newest Dr. Tobler

It was amazing how quickly graduation day came and went. We've been looking forward to this day for 10 years and it was every bit as gratifying as we thought it would be. We were so fortunate to have so many of our family there to celebrate with us!

The graduation ceremony was held at the Phillips Center for Performing Arts and it was so fun to see the room decorated in UF's orange and blue, dentistry's purple, and the graduates dressed in their regalia.

In the sea of new dentists...

...was my new dentist!

I was pretty much a puddle the whole time! When Jeff got his hood, I don't think I've ever been more proud! Drs. Weinstein and Hauptman draped his doctoral hood on him.

He walked across the stage and received his diploma from Dean Dolan and we all help up our signs (per Hart/Hackett tradition) and cheered wildly!

After Jeff received his hood, I couldn't wait to finally give him a hug and congratulate my hard-working (and soon to be gainfully employed) man!

P looks awfully concerned in this photo but, I assure you, she was very happy and proud of her Daddy!

Jeff was fortunate to have made some great friends in dental school. They made me feel old (a lot) and always managed to call during nap time but, we are grateful for their friendship.

Phil and Jeff

Jeff and Don

Jeff and Shavon

The three stooges...Jeff, Phil and Melika

Jeff had the most wonderful team leader for his clinic the last two years. Dr. Weinstein was such a great help to Jeff and I know he enjoyed working with her every day.

Perhaps Jeff's biggest fan is his little Sweet P! She will never remember joining our family in the midst of dental school but, I will be sure she knows how hard Daddy worked to provide for his family!

There are two Dr. Toblers in this picture too! Pretty cool, huh!?! We were so glad that Kyle and Charlie came to celebrate with us.

Jeff and his proud parents. We had a lot of fun celebrating with them over graduation week!

Of course, no graduation would be complete without signs courtesy of Ashley. After so many graduations, she's got them down! They are such a fun tradition. It's a great way to leave no doubt who we are there supporting, embarrass the graduate a little bit, and it makes it much easier to find each other in a large crowd!

Graduation would also be incomplete without one of these gems...us being us (in all of our glory). Clearly, Ashley was fully committed to this. I.love.us.

No celebration would be complete without a nice meal. So, we all went to Mark's U.S. Prime--one of our favorite places to celebrate!

Nothing says "we did it!" like a 20 oz bone-in ribeye.I think everyone enjoyed their delicious beef, except Jeff's mom...who ordered chicken (which was met with great disapproval).

This cake looked a whole lot better than it tasted (seriously, don't order cake from Flour Pot Bakery. Stick to Publix)

Thankfully, we had these delicious gator sugar cookies as a back up! So cute (and delicious)!

Dinner was so much fun and a great end to a fabulous day. We all had a great giggle when Jeff opened his gift from the Hacketts and Peepers (which were a fancy set of golf clubs). My mom thought she'd be really cleaver and put some club playing cards in the bag to hint at the gift. She exclaimed, "Do you get it? They're clubs!" Unfortunately, she had put in the spades (or shovels). It was pretty funny!

I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am of Jeff. He worked so hard to accomplish a goal he set more than 10 years ago. Despite set-backs along the way, he persisted and did everything he could to achieve his dream, our dream. Watching Jeff receive his hood and diploma, and have his Doctoral degree conferred, was one of the most rewarding moments of my life and I am so grateful to him for working so hard and to Him for blessing us along the way.

After 15 years in Gainesville for me and 11 years for Jeff, we are finally ready to close the "student" chapter in our lives and move onto the next...life as the Drs. Tobler and Sweet P in the great state of Texas. Viva Frisco!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

It's About That Time!

Graduation is tomorrow! TOMORROW!! After 10 long years we are finally done! Can't wait to see this guy walk across the stage and to have another Dr. Tobler in the house!