expired

Go Daddy is giving my blog url the boot. SO. We have moved! If you don't mind seeing post after post of Oaklen's face, then hop on over. We are startin' fresh over at laurengerber.blogspot.com.

This little boy

I feel like I haven't posted in a long time but it really hasn't been that long. Things have sure changed quickly over here, though! I swear Oaklen changes and grows each morning I wake up. It's insane. 

(He got a haircut. I really tried to let it grow out again but I just couldn't do it. 

So I chopped it all off. And now he looks like he's 5)

The terrible two's are still going on strong here, but we're learning to love him through it. He's a firecracker, and so headstrong. And his quick wittiness is killing us. I'm raising myself in boy version, I'm telling you. It should be interesting.

(Boo at the Zoo, dressed as a biker/rocker/tough guy...?)

We started potty training him a few weeks ago. He had no interest whatsoever in using the potty but one day he kept talking about it and wanting to try. So off to the store we went and bought lots of his favorite characters (Diego) on big boy undies. He did amazingly well the first couple weeks. Then we had some issues. And I was having issues with his issues that constantly ended up on the floor. But we pushed through it with the little strength I had left and he's been doing awesome ever since! He has accidents every now and then when out in public. If he is happy and distracted (especially if there are kids around) he forgets and wets his pants. I just have to work on reminded him more often. Man, is it nice not having to change a stinky diaper!! 

(his attempt at putting his undies on all by himself)

Some things Oaklen has said that is noteworthy:

• on a drive home one night we smelled the very stinky dairy/cow smell in the car. I told him that it was the cows that were so stinky outside. Well a few days later, in a bathroom stall next to a lady going #2, he loudly kept repeating, "Stinky cows, mom! Stinky cows!"
• I let Oak take a quick power nap one afternoon. As I tried to wake him up, he looked up at me with a very serious face and said "Mom. I'm busy" and fell right back down to the couch. 
• One morning Oak and I were laying in bed cuddling when I tooted (which I never do, of course. How gross!) and Oaklen got right up close to me with a frown on his face and said "Mom, you go poo-poo's in the toilet!" 
• If he's cold he asks me to warm him up, which means I promptly need to rub his arms and back and hold him close. 
• When he yells to get Dad's attention he says Strat instead. 

He's cute and we like him a lot. =)

Currently

Loving: Netflix and Online window shopping. Sometimes both at the same time. 

Reading: A book my mom gave me for Christmas that I can never remember the title to. But Matched and City of Ashes is on my list.

Watching: Prison Break. Hello?! Where have I been and why has nobody told me about this show? It's amazing. And Wentworth Miller's face is amazing. Having the name Wentworth in the 21st century is not so amazing.

Anticipating: Fall and the holidays. I didn't think I'd say this but I am over this summer. I just can't take this 100+ degree weather. And I really like my winter clothes. 

Listening to: Right now? My son yelling toddler profanities at me. Music wise, The Civil Wars have become my new favorite. I absolutely love each and every song they have. I'm also diggin' Lana Del Rey.  

Planning: To work out and get toned. But I've been telling myself that for the past 2 years. I loath exercise.

Working on: my tan, baby. 

Wishing: I was on a vacation to London or Ireland. A very, very long vacation.

oy vey

Excuse me while I've taken a break from this dear blog of ours. 

I'm not even sure what excuse to throw at you. 

You'd think that I have a monster 2 year old clinging to my leg or something. 

Oh yeah, that's right...I do. 

So let's do a quick Julie-like wrap up post of our recent activities, eh?

(if you're not already following us ladies (Jaime where'd you go?!) over here, then you should. Because that's my new form of blogging.)

I actually did it. 

I cut off his shoulder length, wispy fine hair....on accident. 

And I might have cried a little....

It's really hard to cut a toddler's hair. Especially when you don't know how to cut hair. 

So we went to the professionals the next day.

This little boy went #2 on the big boy potty! (hence the plate of treats) 

And I was happy. 

And thought maybe this was the start to potty training. 

So I went all Kate Gosselin style and took a picture of said #2 to show dad when he got home. 

And every day since that wondrous occasion we have gotten further and further away from potty training. And now the word "potty" is Oak's cue for screaming. 

So, maybe when he's 5?

We've been babysitting this precious little gift of love 

for the past month (or two...or eight), and will be watching him until 

the end of summer for my cousin, Trevor. 

What started out as, "awwww!" and big furry hugs and slobbery kisses and pure doggy joy.....

turned into this......

and this.....

which also led him to chewing and eating 

pretty much everything but our deck, and by some miracle, our garden. 

So now I see him like this....

ok, I'm kidding. We still kind of love him. 

He'll probably still be alive when you get back, Trevor. 

 Just watering the peas in the nude. 

Ain't no thang

Straton and Oak went shopping at the new (freakishly huge) City Creek Center in SLC. 

And he bought Oak lots of cute clothes.

Including this hat in which he put on him Jay-Z style. 

Ain't no thang

And we bought this beaut' 

His name is Terry. Terry the traveling trailer. 

He was born in the 50's and needs a little TLC 

which we are more than happy to provide.

Ain't no thang.

a little laughter for your day

my heart just about broke with every happy hop from this sweet man!

yes it has

(picture was taken on the long and lonely road back home to Utah)

This applies to more than one area in my life at the moment. 

And I can't help but to be happy about it. 

I have the perfect frame in Oak's room for this picture. I guess it fits him quite nicely, too. =)

life according to instagram

A little Instagram goodness. I'm new! @laurgerber

This Easter weekend was big and empty to fill as we please. Straton had Friday off (oh yeah, remember him? The man that's been working like a crazy person?) so we had a nice family weekend. We spent lots of time at baby animal days, petting the stinky goats and holding bunnies and chickens. The line for the baby bears was over a mile long so we scratched that off of our to-do list and bought some yummy candy instead. That's one reason I like Easter. Easter candy. And from the picture of my (surprise) Easter basket from Strat, you can tell I was really diggin' Easter this year!

Hopefully Spring has sprung and is here to stay this time. We could use a lot more weekends like this one. Skateboard rides included. 

morning glow

Absolutely nothing was accomplished today. Unless a marathon of Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse count. Then we got a lot done. I normally don't let the t.v. do all the babysitting but I'm far too busy re-heating my rice bag and downing ibuprofen to care much right now. But we did have the perfect lighting and one happy boy right after breakfast this morning.

This little curl on the left side of his head kills me.

Oaklen at the park

Oaklen and I couldn't pass up this beautiful weather we had today. We spent a chunk of our day at the park and we had it all to ourselves! I forgot how much Oak loves to swing. I can't wait to get him outside in a tank top and shorts and let him run wild. Until then, we'll happily take these spring-like days.

03.01.10

This sweet baby turned two on March 1st! We celebrated it well while on vacation in Oregon visiting my family. It seems like such a short amount of time, yet we feel like he's been in our family for much longer. He's the perfect recipe of sweet, stubborn, loving and independent. Those big gushy lips and beautiful blue eyes can melt any girl's heart.

Happy second birthday, big guy!
--xox

dear Oak,

These last few weeks have been...challenging. Probably the most challenging since you've been born. With each month as you got older, your dad and I kept saying "this is my favorite stage!". We just loved seeing your growing personality and watching you learn. Eighteen months was so fun. You were such a little boy and not a baby anymore. And I was surprisingly OK with that.
And then month 22 and 23 came.

I have to admit. As much as I love your stinkin' guts, I can't WAIT for this stage to be OVER. I can't figure out what's to blame. The terrible twos? Two year molars? Separation anxiety? Night terrors? It's been a battle. And the last two weeks have been complete torture. You scream, cry, growl, whine, smack, hit and throw tantrums at everything. You wake up between midnight and 2 every night (every night!!) screaming at the top of your lungs. Sometimes for more than an hour each night. Things like the word "no", your car seat, or heaven forbid, mom taking a shower without you, means a one way ticket to tantrum town. And your meltdowns are ugly. I have been tested beyond belief, my patience went from 0 to -6 overnight and of course not being able to lift you has made things 5 times worse.

But the good things (because I promise I still love you) are still there. Underneath this new attitude is the same sweet Oaklen who has to have mama, and only mama, kiss his owie's when he's hurt or sad. The little boy who wakes up at night and kisses mom on the head before returning to his sleepy dreams. Or climbing into mom's lap whenever she's sitting, just because you want to be near her and feel her touch.

As hard as these times may be, I'm grateful for them. Because when those few sweet and glorious moments happen, I appreciate them more than I normally would. It's a nice reminder that, hey, I do kind of like having you around. ;-)

I love you, little boy.
But good riddance to these terrible twos!

wishing a happy birthday.....

to Straton!

you're such a sweet husband and father.

always supportive, helpful and working hard for our family.

We love you!!

xx - Oakie & mama

under the weather

Oaklen has been pretty lucky. 

He's rarely ever sick and when he is it's nothing too serious.

Go figure, the year I forget to get our flu shots 

we all get sick. over and over again.

It's hard to get Oaklen to eat much of anything

but he is a trooper. 

Besides his 101+ fever, you'd never be able to tell he wasn't feeling well.

Sometimes though he'll do things like this that just breaks my heart.

We're ready for summer.

i can't think of a cool post title

Excuse the lack of posting. I feel like blogging has had it's fifteen minutes of fame, and I'm a little burned out with it. Not to mention it's become nothing but Oaklen updates. Which is a good thing, but hopefully I'll be turning my blog into a book one day and it would be nice if I could have a family book. Not another baby book for Oak (as much as we love him).

We do have some fun things coming up real soon. Like 2 birthdays, family pictures (hopefully in the snow), and trying to get Oaklen to eat yummy sweets like ice cream, whip cream and pudding. He's never been a fan and I find that so not normal.

P.S. you can find me over at a year of you and me which is a new site my sisters and I have recently started. And I actually keep up with that one.

i did it

I had an epiphany last night.

Laying in bed at 1:51 a.m. and unable to sleep (like usual), it hit me. hard.
I have to delete my facebook account! And my Twitter! And clear out half of my google reader (which keeps bringing back what I delete, every stinkin' time!) because, let's face it, I barely even READ what the post actually says anyway! And I'll unsubscribe from any emails I get, and immediately delete, or put off for weeks!

And so it is done. I got up from bed right then and there and did it. I actually deleted my facebook account! It's a big deal, folks.

I finally saw the whole picture. And I admitted to myself that I was failing myself as a mother, a friend and a wife. I spent far too much time looking at other people's children then my own son. I spent far too much time oogling the outfit she was wearing, or the craft someone did that made me jealous, or the house that was decorated so beautifully. It was eating me alive and yet I couldn't pull myself away.

Cold turkey is the way I had to go. And I have to admit, I already feel pretty good. It will be awesome having a full day of nothing but mommy business, dinner making, toddler chasing and becoming the best wife I can possibly be.

So here's to unplugging from my online life and plugging into my real one. And to making 2012 the best year yet.