Happily Ever After

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

2010-10-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Kaylee

Kaylee turned 7 at the beginning of the month and we threw her a party, her first "friend" party. Each of the girls got to make a bracelet, they came up with some really cute things!

Then we played a few games. The girls loved hot potato and played it probably 15-20 times. Here's some pics of them playing the balloon popping game

Next up we played a game where you put vaseline on your nose, put your face in a bowl of cottonballs and whoever got the most cottonballs stuck to their face won. I wasn't sure how this game was going to go over, but I wanted to do something different. Well, I'll definitely do it again because it was a HIT! After someone had won the prize, the girls all wanted to play again and again just for fun. They even got Carl and I to try at the end :)

Last up we opened presents and had cupcakes

I can't believe it's been seven years since I first held Kaylee in my arms. We had a great time celebrating the blessing that she is in our lives.

For my beading friends

2010-07-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

For all of my beading friends, a designer I love is having a game on her website and giving away 1 free pattern to everyone who plays. If you're interested, her blog is http://fdekszer.blogspot.com/2010/06/game.html

Bonding Time

2010-07-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

With both Carl and I unemployed, we have a lot of family time. Carl and Kaylee have been doing stuff together to bond. Here are three of my favorite activities:

Carl has been doing a lot of work on his Jeep, here's Kaylee helping him do an oil change

Carl and Kaylee both LOVE spaghetti. Carl was making it every couple of days, whenever their leftovers ran out. Finally he decided to teach Kaylee how to make it so she can help him. She loves being his little helper!

A couple days ago Kaylee came running in the house telling me I just HAD to come watch what she was doing. Here's what I found them doing:

I love seeing my two favorite people bonding like this. It's been a slow process, but we're getting there. It's a great feeling to have that family bond between the three of us!

Girls pampering night

2010-07-24T14:46:00.001-07:00

One day this week Kaylee and I watched Live with Regis & Kelly. They had a segment on at-home beauty treatments and ever since then, Kaylee has been bugging me to try it. So yesterday I went to the grocery store and got the ingredients that we didn't already have.

We did two treatments, one to remove buildup, and one to condition. Recipes can be found here.

Our shower caps came in a three pack, so Kaylee decided Carl should join in the fun. He was a good sport, but he also doesn't know I'm posting this pic on our blog LOL!

At the end of the night we decided it was fun, but next time we're not doing homemade stuff, getting the bits of avocado out of our hair wasn't fun. We're already planning our next pampering night, Kaylee has lots of ideas. I love having my little girl to do this fun stuff with!

Way to go!

2010-05-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today at school Kaylee was recognized with the Climbing Higher award. All the students get it as some point during the year and today was Kaylee's turn. She was recognized for her willingness to help others with their schoolwork.

It's a girl!

2010-03-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

No I'm not pregnant.... we got a puppy!

Carl had a Great Dane when he met me, but I was so allergic that he gave her back to his ex-wife. Ever since we bought our house last fall he's been wanting a dog. Our neighbors have a Yorkie that I'm not allergic to, and that got us researching what breeds are supposed to be hypoallergenic.

On Monday after we met Carl for lunch (it was my birthday) he sent us on a search for a dog. We went to the Humane Society first to try to find a dog there, but they had no dogs that were the right breeds. Besides, I got so sick in there that I couldn't tell if I was reacting to a specific dog or not.

Our search ended when we found Miley. She is a schnauzer, maltese and yorkie mix. We stayed and played with her for a while and I had no allergies to her! Kaylee was SO excited that we were getting a puppy, and she's proven herself to be a good dog owner.

Here's the newest addition to our family:

I didn't know puppies could be so calm. She's quite happy to be carried around and held all day. And falls asleep in your arms too

Our Energizer Bunny

2009-12-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

When I was little and we were being rowdy at my Nana's house, she'd send us outside to run around the house. Carl and I came up with a new version of wearing Kaylee out:

Christmas in our new home

2009-12-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

This Christmas Carl, Kaylee and I are extremely happy and blessed to have a home to call our own! It was a long, frustrating process, but right before Thanksgiving we finally closed. We love our house and have discovered we couldn't have bought in a better area. Our neighbors are so nice and giving.

A week ago I got in a car accident, so our Christmas preparations didn't go as planned. I have bulging disks in my lower neck that cause a LOT of pain, and weakness in my arms. I can't drive because I'm on pain medication, so my normal shopping didn't happen. Kaylee was supposed to be at her dads this year, but it didn't work out, so we got to have her with us! I was excited, but sad because I hadn't made my normal preparations. Carl was nice enough to take me shopping one night, but I had a two hour time limit of being out of the house. Luckily, we got everything bought and home in that time frame!

Being in pain and not able to do the normal material things I usually do has helped me to focus more on the spirit of the holiday. It's hard to feel thankful when I'm in so much pain, but I am very thankful that the accident wasn't worse than it was. And having Carl here to help out, well I can't even imagine going through this without him. He's taken over doing everything, even feeding our pets! Tonight my parents came over for dinner and he did all the cooking and cleaning. And the turkey - AMAZING!! It was so juicy and had the best flavor. I am SO grateful I married someone who loves to cook and is so good at it!

I recently got an iphone, so for Christmas I gave Kaylee my ipod. To say she was excited to get it would be an understatement. Aside from the ipod she got a Zhu Zhu pet, 2 Barbies and a Barbie Horse, Pixos and a ton of clothes. But, this morning you would have thought all she got was an ipod...

And this is one of my favorite pictures of her...

Later she did decide to see what the rest of her presents were... the ZhuZhu pet was a huge hit!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Girls night, gliders & School pic

2009-11-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

Where do I start? Kaylee absolutely loves hanging out and playing with Carl, but lately she's been wanting "Mommy & Kaylee time" without Carl around. Tonight, we went out dinner and came home and did "Girly" things. She took a shower, then I gave her a manicure & pedicure and dried and styled her hair. She was one happy little girl when we were done!

Here's a pic of her mid-girly night:

Next up, for Carls birthday I bought him two sugar gliders. I'm allergic to dogs and he's not a fan of cats, so we compromised on these two girls which we named Saba and Kita:

They're not rodents, they're marsupials! Okay, they still look like rodents though LOL! They are the cutest little things, but take a TON of work. We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into before we got these girls. They require a specific diet that has to be prepared each night for them.

Once gliders are bonded to their owners, they'll go everywhere with them. But, we didn't buy our girls from a breeder, we bought them from a pet store. So, it's taking some time to get them to bond with us. Below are some pics of me feeding them yogurt on a cocktail stirrer. The cocktail stick is necessary because the first time I fed them yogurt from my hand, I got a huge bite! They're warming up to us and even let us pet them tonight :)

Finally, Kaylee got her school pictures back! I am so proud of her, she actually smiled for a picture!

Still alive...

2009-10-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

I have been quiet for a while, but we are still around. We recently bought our first home and are loving it! It will be nice when we're all unpacked and can come home at night and relax, but with us both working full time that's a slow process.

My favorite thing about having a house is all the space! Thankfully Kaylee has outgrown her hiding stage. There's been a few times I've gone looking for her because she's been so quiet that I had no idea where she was. She's enjoying exploring all the rooms and making forts wherever she goes.

When we're moved in and the siding is done on the outside of the house we'll post pictures of our new home :)

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

Kaylee officially took the next step in growing up today - she started kindergarten. We went shopping for clothes last week and it was the first time she let me have NO say in what she wanted to wear. That was a really hard one for me. I've been having fun buying clothes for my girl for the past 6 years. Now suddenly, it seems overnight, she knows what she wants to wear and picks out her own clothes. As she was trying the clothes on, I teared up, my little baby in pink and purple fleece is all gone - now she's wearing shirts with leapard print scarves!!

Mommy, would you hurry up! I'm ready to go to school!!:

Kaylee and Matthew:

Not too sure how she's feeling about all these kids and going to school:

Now she's happy again...

Or at least pretending to be LOL!!

When it was time to say goodbye and go get in line with the rest of her class (this picture just breaks my heart!!) Luckily after this she cheered up

The teacher takes a rope down the line and gets all the kids to hold onto it as they walk to class

She really was happy at this point, until I got the camera out. For some reason she doesn't like as many pictures taken as Mommy wants to take!

I am having mixed emotions on this milestone. I am so proud of Kaylee and the person she's becoming. She is smart, happy and outgoing. But, I miss my little cuddlebug too. Thankfully she still likes it when I want to rock her and sing to her at night before bed.

Blessings

2009-08-11T12:09:00.001-07:00

Carl Schaible

Alison Schaible

A few months ago I was talking to Amber about trials we go through in life. I had decided that it was my lot in life to go through things alone. I had a career, was working towards buying a house on my own and was pretty happy with my life. Going to church alone wasn't my favorite thing, but it was better than not going at all. Of course I wanted to get married again, but I'd given up on the hope that there was someone out there compatible with me. I thought I'd have to settle if I wanted to be married. So, I'd decided that I'd be happy with my life the way it was and I really was!

Little did I know what Heavenly Father had in store for me. It wasn't long after having that talk with Amber that I met Carl. Tall, dark and handsome, good career, great sense of humor and very patient. For the first month we were dating I was just waiting for something to happen, I thought he was too good to be true.

Every day since we got married I've woken up feeling overwhelmed by how blessed I am. Just when I'd decided that being single was my lot in life and coming to terms with that, here comes this amazing man who swept me off my feet.

It just goes to show that you never know when the next twist in your road will come!

Wedding Pictures

2009-08-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

We got our wedding pictures back today! Here are some of our favorites:

Judge Kennedy did a beautiful ceremony

And to answer those of you who've asked me if we really wore sandals to the wedding:

The photographer who did the pictures for our wedding was absolutely amazing! If you're interested in finding out more about his work, go to his website: http://www.jameserickphotography.com/

We're married!

2009-08-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

On Friday we got married in Memory Grove. It was absolutely beautiful! Judge Kennedy did a wonderful ceremony, it was perfect for us. And after Carl and I exchanged rings, Carl gave Kaylee a bracelet I'd made for her with her initials on it. I made them for both Kayli and Kaylee, as their sister bracelets. It was really special how he incorporated that into the ceremony for us. My parents were there with us and Carl's best friend Jim was able to make it too. Jim did the photography and we are SO excited to see it. He took a ton of pictures... we even took our shoes off and went walking in the creek for some of them. As soon as we get them, I'll post them on here for sure.

We had a very relaxing weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching Kaylee!

Our Beginning

2009-07-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday July 31, 2009 our happily ever after will begin. We'll be Carl and Alison Schaible with our daughters Kayli and Kaylee.