The Hubbs Family

Josh's Prom Picture

2011-05-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

T-Ball

2011-04-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

Brycen has started to play T-Ball. It is so funny to watch the games. The kids on the team are 3 & 4 years old and don't have a clue what they are doing even though they practice every week. When they hit the ball they never run to the right base and when a ball is hit into the field all the kids dive into a pile and fight over who gets the ball and by the end of the game usually half of the kids are laying in the field because they are tired and hot. It's some good Saturday morning entertainment. :-)

Yep, that's my kid in the center laying on the field while the coach tries to coax him up.

So tired.

It's about time!

2011-04-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

McKinley is finally starting to walk. She'll be 14 months old next week.

It's Finished!!

2011-04-05T15:30:00.001-07:00

Our home remodel is done. It was a long 2 1/2 weeks with a lot of stress and mess but I am so happy with the way it turned out. It is even better than I could have hoped for. It was definitely worth it!

Before

After

Leah is 3!!

2011-03-31T14:43:00.001-07:00

Leah turned 3 on March 25. We had a small party at home on her birthday then the next day we had a big family party at the park since our house is in chaos right now.

Eating her special birthday breakfast

Days 3-14: Tile, Electrical, Plumbing & Drywall

2011-03-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

They are still plugging along on our house remodel. A little word of advice: home remodeling with three young children is not for the faint of heart. I am DONE! :-)

They finished the tile and electrical and then moved on to the plumbing. This is where we hit a snag. We needed to move the huge black pipe out of the middle of the family room and relocate it to the bathroom. At first, they thought the pipe in the bathroom that they needed was above ground but when they opened the wall they discovered that it was nine inches underground. That was a big problem. This involved bringing in a guy who used a high tech machine to x-ray the floors and tell us exactly where the pipes and post tenstion bars were underground (meaning lots of extra money) and cutting a hole in the exterior wall of our house and then digging underneath the foundation until they could locate the needed pipe. It was a huge, messy and long ordeal but it is now done.

Yesterday they started the drywall and patching all of the holes they cut to do the plumbing and electrical work. They were going to finish today, but the drywall mud wasn't dry yet so they will finish that tomorrow. Then all they will have left is to reattach the carpet. I was really hoping they would be done by this weekend so we could relax and watch conference in our new family room but that's probably not going to happen. But at least there is an end in sight. :-)

Day 2: Tile & Electrical

2011-03-22T08:49:00.001-07:00

It never rains in Arizona, yet it had to rain yesterday. Since they were laying tile I didn't have access to my kitchen unless I went out the front door, around to the gate, through the backyard and in through the back door. That was delightful to do about a thousand times in the rain. Thankfully we can walk on the tile this morning but of course it's bright and sunny now. :-)

Sorry the picture is so dark. We don't have electricity in these rooms right now and since it was raining I had trouble getting enough light for a picture.

Day 1: Demo

2011-03-18T15:47:00.001-07:00

Remodeling!

2011-03-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

When we moved into this house almost a year ago, we didn't realize how small the dining area in the kitchen was. It was very deceiving (it looked much bigger then it actually is) and our kitchen table wouldn't fit. We had to find a small table that would fit but it was still a tight squeeze and it blocked the entrance to our kitchen. I always have bruises on my knees from bumping into the chairs.

Shortly after we moved in, the builder realized what a poor design it was and they redid the floor plan and rebuilt the model home. It was much better and we really liked it so we decided we wanted to do the same thing to our house. We have been saving for almost and year and they are finally starting the remodel today. I am so excited for it to be done!

Downstairs we have the kitchen, family room and den. They are going to remove the wall between the den and the family room and make it one big open room. The den will become our family room and the family room will become our dining room and the entrance to the kitchen will no longer be blocked by the table. It will take them about two weeks to finish it all so for the time being we get to live upstairs. I will try to keep updating with pictures of the progress.

Before picture:

Excuse the half painted walls. We are waiting until they are done with the remodel to finish painting :-)

12 Months Old!!

2011-02-21T07:52:00.003-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday McKinley Brooke!

About McKinley:

She isn't walking yet. She isn't even pulling up. She is just content to crawl around and let her servants (AKA Brycen & Leah) get her what she wants. I can't say that I mind. It's much easier to keep tabs on a crawling baby than a walking one. :-)

She only has two teeth

Says: no no, uh oh, bye bye, night night, momma, dadda, hi and shakes her head yes

Her favorite foods are yogurt, pretzels and puffs

She always carries a kleenex or baby wipe wadded in a ball in her hand. She even sleeps with it. It's her mini security blanket.

She is a screamer, especially when food is involved. If we aren't feeding her fast enough, she screams. If we take something away from her, she screams. If she's happy, she screams. If she wants us to pay attention to her, she screams. We've never had a screamer before and it can get interesting especially at church. I think my ears are permanently damaged from her deafening scream.

She is very good at imitating us. She can mimic almost everything we do especially facial expressions. Her favorite thing to do right now is fold her arms and bow her head when we say a prayer. It is so adorable and she thinks she is so funny.

She still goes to physical therapy for her torticollis. Her head looks awesome and you can hardly tell she had a flat spot. Her torticollis is nearly gone too. They just want her to walk before we can be discharged.

She loves her brother and sister so much. They are her favorite people and can always make her smile.

She is the sweetest most easy going baby and we love her so much!

11 Months Old!

2011-01-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

2010-12-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this blog since Halloween and for good reason. We have had a lot of not so fun things going on around here. How can one family who rarely goes to the doctor, now have more appointments and doctors than we can keep track of? I'll tell you.

First, we'll start with me. The weekend before Halloween my shoulder started hurting. It progressively got worse until about a week after Halloween I woke up in extreme pain. I was having severe muscle spasms and it felt like I was in labor in my shoulder. Ha ha. I could also no longer raise my arm more than an inch. I couldn't get dressed or do my hair or hold my kids. I was miserable. I went to the doctor and they diagnosed me with adhesive capsulitis. It basically means "frozen shoulder". They referred me to an orothopaedic surgeon and physical therapy and told me they don't know what causes it and it can take up to three years to heal. Great!! I also couldn't take any pain medication besides ibuprofen because I have a nursing baby, and sadly that didn't help at all. I went to the orthopaedic surgeon and luckily they didn't think I needed surgery. They did x-rays and didn't find a cause for my problem. They said that this is very common in overweight, 40 year olds (none of which I am) so I just got lucky. I have now been in physical therapy for seven weeks. I go three times a week for 2 hours and I am slowly improving. Yesterday, I was able to dress myself, which is huge. I felt so independent. Ha ha. But now we just discovered that our insurance company thinks I have met my limit for physical therapy so they will no longer pay, even though I am only about 50% recovered. So now get to fight them and hopefully they will agree that paying the small amount for physical therapy is much better than paying for surgery. We shall see.

Next, is Jeff. The Friday before Halloween he was rear ended on the freeway on his way to work. Initially he had some back pain but it progressively got worse. A few weeks ago he had an MRI and it was discovered that he has two herniated discs from the accident. He has been absolutely miserable. He can't sit, stand, walk or sleep comfortably. He goes to physical therapy twice a week and he is also seeing a pain specialist. He will most likely need cortisone shots in his spine within the next few weeks to help him be more functional.

These injuries are pretty bad by themselves but having both parents injured at the same time has been a nightmare. Luckily Jeff's mom came down for a week to help us and my mom had a few days off of work when Camron came home from his mission so she was able to help us. Our new ward has also been great. They brought us dinners for several weeks and helped us out at church with the kids and also babysat when we needed it.

McKinley is also still in physical therapy for her torticollis. She is doing really well especially now that she is crawling. She is slightly behind in her motor skills because of her torticollis and crawling was a huge accomplishment for her. McKinley and I have also been fighting several occurences of thrush this past month. Not fun! So between all of us we have a minimum of 6 doctors appointments each week and many times it's more. Luckily I am much more functional now and hopefully we'll get Jeff feeling better soon but it has been a long few months.

10 Months Old!

2010-12-21T10:55:00.001-07:00

She has finally started crawling and is into everything but she is still the sweetest most easy going baby. She loves to play with Brycen and Leah and follow them around the house and they have so much fun together.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures 2010

2010-12-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

I thought these turned out pretty good considering it was raining and we had to hurry.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Brycen told Jeff he should dress up as grass for Halloween so that is what he did. Ha ha :-)

Jeff had fun decorating our house.

8 months old!!

2010-10-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

She is getting so close to crawling!!

McKinley's Head Update

2010-10-06T15:00:00.001-07:00

The last time I updated about McKinley's neck and head issues we were waiting for a referral to Cranial Technologies for a helmet. We finally got it and scheduled an appointment with them. They took pictures and measurements of her head and of course they were quite adamant that her head shape was severe and that she definitely needed a helmet (We knew they would say that. Our pediatrician warned us to not be swayed by their insistence. Ha ha.) They told us they would have their insurance coordinator call us in about 2 days to tell us what our insurance would cover and what our out of pocket expense would be and then we could make a decision.

Two days later, we got the call we were waiting for and the news wasn't good. We have amazing in-network coverage (no deductible, low copays, & 100% coverage) but because of that our out-of-network coverage is dismal. Our deductible is extremely high ($10,000!!!) and until that is met we have no coverage. Can you guess what network Cranial Tech falls under?? Out-of-network. Of course!! So, they offered us their "fantastic discounted rate" of $2,500. So, we had a difficult decision to make and I agonized over it for nearly a week. Is it really necessary to spend the money for a helmet or will her head eventually round out by itself?? Will we regret not doing it and will her head be oddly shaped for the rest of her life?? Is there another alternative?? That is when I began researching and discovered something called Craniosacral therapy (there's a definition of it here). But basically a therapist can adjust the bones of the skull and help them go back into proper alignment. So right then I made the decision not to do the helmet and scheduled an appointment for McKinley to have craniosacral therapy.

It has been a month now and she has had one appointment with a craniosacral therapist and two with a chiropractor and the difference is astounding. You can hardly tell there was a problem and you really have to look to see the asymmetries which used to be blatantly obvious before. Before we started, she had a difference of 9mm between both sides of her head when they measured (they recommend a helmet if there is a difference of >8mm). Two week ago, it was only 4mm and she gets measured again tomorrow and I'm sure it's even less. I can now say that I am so happy with the decision we made. We didn't have to deal with the time, financial and emotional commitment of a helmet yet her head is still moving towards a normal shape. Her head looks better every day and of course she just gets cuter and cuter.

This week I am going to take pictures of her head to compare with the ones that cranial tech took and I will post them just to show how awesome her head is doing!

7 months old!

2010-09-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

First Day of School!

2010-08-30T15:19:00.002-07:00

Brycen had his first day of preschool today. He was so excited to go back and see Miss Kathy. This year, he didn't cry and he just hopped right out of the car to see his friends. Leah was the only one who cried. She was mad that she didn't get to go too. She has to wait until next year :-)

Brycen has grown up so much over the summer. In the past few weeks he has learned how to pedal a bike (this is huge for him because he has never had an interest before), completely dress and undress himself, and buckle himself into his car seat. He is also getting so good at writing his name and holding his pencil correctly. He also draws really well and has a huge imagination. He is such a big helper and always offers to help me clean. His personality is really blossoming lately and he is quite funny. But of course he is all boy and most of his jokes are about poopy diapers and baby bums. Maybe because that's what he sees his mommy dealing with all day :-) My little boy is growing up so fast and I love to see him learn and grow but it makes me a little sad too.

6 Months Old!!

2010-08-21T08:29:00.007-07:00

Her first taste of solid food.
17 lbs 10 oz
28 inches

McKinley Update

2010-08-13T10:33:00.005-07:00

Now that McKinley has been in physical therapy for six weeks for her torticollis and plagiocephaly, I thought I would update with her progress. She is slowly improving. Her head tilt is less and her flat spot isn't getting worse so that is good. She is sitting up on her own now and rolling everywhere. She is so quick. I will put her down on the floor, turn my back for a few seconds and she will be in another room. She is tolerating 4 hours of tummy time a day and that is helping to strengthen her weak neck muscles. That was a chore to get her to like being on her tummy so much. She was not happy in the beginning. She now moves her head to different positions while she is sleeping, which is a huge improvement, and now she prefers to sleep on her left side which is great because it keeps the pressure off of the back of her head.

Next week, they will remeasure her head and determine if she needs to be referred for a helmet. They are almost certain that she will need one but we should know for sure after we have a consultation at Cranial Technologies. We are hoping to continue to see progress and that she will be able to have a normal head shape after her treatment.

Sitting up. Yay!!

Sleeping on her left side which is good for her head shape.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

2010-07-22T08:14:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday to the best daddy & husband!

We love you!

New Pics!

2010-07-21T10:52:00.004-07:00

Both Grandmas have been asking for updated pictures of the kids so I finally got brave and did it. I have been avoiding it because it is a lot of work to get the kids to sit still and smile. I think I was pretty successful though.

Brycen 4 years old

Leah 2 years old

McKinley 4 months old

Gotta Love Target!

2010-07-21T09:53:00.003-07:00

Target has some of their summer toys on clearance so we decided to go and see what we could find. We found a big sand bucket with a watering can and a shovel for $.99, some sidewalk chalk for $.74 but the biggest hit was a slip and slide for $3.00. The kids LOVE it. It has kept them entertained forever and they have so much fun. Best $3.00 I ever spent. :-)

5 Months Old!

2010-07-21T08:53:00.002-07:00

Hubbs Family Reunion

2010-07-08T11:11:00.003-07:00

This weekend we went to Jeff's family reunion in Prescott. It was the first time that Jeff and all of his siblings had been together in about 10 years. It was also my first time meeting some of them. There were 31 people including 19 grandchildren and we all stayed at Jeff's parent's house. It was so much fun but craziness at the same time. On Friday, we went to a rodeo and it was so fun. The kids enjoyed the buffalos and the bucking broncos. On Saturday, we had family pictures taken in the forest. It was a beautiful area but was a challenge to keep all of the kids clean and from falling into the creek. I will post the pictures when we get them back. We also had an "Un-birthday Party" for the kids. Since we can't be together on all of the birthdays we had one big party for everyone. Each child was assigned another child to buy a gift for. Then they all opened their presents and we had cake. It was fun. On Sunday, we all went to church. I think we took up half of the chapel. Then we came home and had homemade ice cream and watched fireworks from the balcony. On Monday, we packed up and came home. I really enjoyed meeting the rest of Jeff's siblings and we had a blast. I hope we get to visit them more often and we don't have to wait another ten years to get together.

Cousins hunting for lizards. Their favorite activity.

Happy 4th of July!

Leah, McKinley & Brycen

Leah

McKinley

Happy Birthday Brycen!

2010-07-07T14:44:00.003-07:00

4 Years Old!!

His new scooter & sword

Catching Up

2010-06-24T11:15:00.010-07:00

We have had a lot going on the past few months so I need to catch up.

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We Moved!!

No pictures of the inside of the new house yet because it's still a work in progress. I will get them up eventually.

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Backyard Landscaping

We had to do this right away because of the dogs.

Before

After
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Brycen's Preschool Graduation

Saying his part in the program

Dancing

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Whitney's High School Graduation

Flat Head

2010-06-23T15:12:00.005-07:00

Today at the pediatrician, McKinley was diagnosed with Torticollis and Plagiocephaly. Torticollis is when the muscles in one side of the neck are too tight and cause the head to lean to that side. So because McKinley only keeps her head turned to one side, she has developed a pretty severe flat spot (plagiocephaly) on one side of her head despite my best efforts to constantly reposition her head. This is what she looks like all of the time.

So, we now have to go to physical therapy once a week, continue to stretch her neck everytime I change her diaper (I have been doing this for several weeks already), give her 3-4 hours of tummy time everyday (this should be fun since she is usually done after about 5 minutes) and invest in a Bumbo seat to keep pressure off of her head. If that doesn't start helping then in a month we go back to the doctor and start discussing a cranial orthotic helmet to reshape her head. I feel so guilty because I have always been very anal about my kids heads and preventing plagiocephaly. But when a baby is unable to turn their head to the other side then I guess there isn't much I could have done. Let's just hope that all of this physical therapy and stretching will help and she won't have to wear a helmet during the hot summer. That would be miserable.

4 Months Old!

2010-06-21T10:06:00.002-07:00

15 lbs 3 oz

26 inches

3 Months Old!!

2010-05-20T13:46:00.006-07:00

Moving day is almost here!!

2010-05-06T15:52:00.003-07:00

Saturday is the big day! You can't really tell from this picture but this is our garage nearly filled from floor to ceiling with boxes. I will be so glad when the chaos is over and life has gone back to normal.

Gila Valley Temple

2010-04-26T14:22:00.004-07:00

On Saturday we went to the open house of the Gila Valley Temple. It is such a beautiful temple and the kids were so excited that they actually got to go inside.

We went with my family

Brycen

McKinley

Leah

There was still snow on the mountains and it was very windy and chilly.

Leah was exhausted on the ride home.

2 Months Old!

2010-04-22T22:48:00.003-07:00

11 lbs 12 oz (75th %) & 24 inches (90th %)

She is my biggest baby. None of my kids have ever been in the 75th % for weight.

She sleeps for 8 hours at night and is always happy. She rarely cries, just smiles all the time. If I could have imagined a perfect baby she would be it. She is great!

I thought this picture was funny.

My Creative Child

2010-04-19T13:01:00.003-07:00

Ever since her 2nd birthday last month, Leah has been obsessed with birthdays. Today, I sat her down to eat lunch and went back to finish making my lunch. I kept hearing her sing the birthday song and when I glanced over I found that she had made her own "birthday cake". She used the bread from her sandwich for the cake, yogurt for the icing and a cheeto for the candle. Then she proceeded to sing happy birthday to herself one more time, blew out the "candle" and ate her cake. She claimed it was delicious. She's so creative.

Ha ha!!

A Rare Moment

2010-04-14T08:48:00.001-07:00

Everyone clean, quiet and happy!

This doesn't happen very often with three kids.

6 Weeks

2010-04-07T15:11:00.002-07:00

6 weeks old already and I finally caught some smiles on camera!

She is such a happy baby.

We're Moving!!

2010-04-07T10:50:00.004-07:00

Last weekend, we started discussing the possibility of putting our house up for rent and looking for a new house. With the addition of a new baby, we have quickly outgrown our current home and it's a great time to buy right now. So on Monday night we went to look at a brand new subdivision that was close by. Lo and behold, they had a spec home that was just finished, we loved it and the price was right with lots of incentives so we bought it! If anyone knows Jeff and I this is very out of character for us. We are never spontaneous especially when it comes to huge financial decisions. But we had to act fast because some of the incentives were ending and everything fell into place. I guess it was meant to be. We are so excited to have a bigger home for our growing family but we are so sad to leave our ward. We love our current ward and several people have called, emailed and posted on facebook telling us not to leave. This will definitely be the hardest part about moving. We hate to leave our wonderful ward family and friends.

Our new house is in Cameron Ranch on Higley and Baseline. It's just right around the corner from our current house. We love this area so we are happy that we are staying close by. It is 2304 square feet. It has three bedrooms, a huge loft upstairs, a den (which we will convert to a fourth bedroom, it just basically needs a door and half a wall filled in), 2 1/2 bathrooms, a formal living room and dining room, a large family room and nice kitchen. It has a ton more space and I am so excited that the kids will have a playroom and so much more space to run around and play.

We close on May 3 and can move in anytime after that. I am so excited to move but not looking forward to all the packing with 3 kids including a newborn. Yikes! But we will survive and everything will work out.

Here is a link to the floor plan.

http://kbhomes.com/Plan~PlanID~00875227-235.2304.aspx

And a few pictures that we took.

Front of the house. The painting and landscaping is finished now.

Kitchen

Family Room & Den

Loft upstairs

Birthday Party & Baby Blessing

2010-04-01T12:20:00.004-07:00

We had a very busy weekend. First we celebrated Leah's 2nd birthday with a party with family. We enjoyed having everyone over. Even though Leah usually likes to be the center of attention she was a little overwhelmed. I don't think I have ever seen her so quiet and subdued. She still had fun though and got lots of fun presents.

On Sunday, we blessed McKinley. She wore her beautiful dress that Grandma Sherri made for her. I'm so glad my kids will have special blessing outfits to keep forever that their grandma made for them. Jeff gave her a wonderful blessing and then everyone came over for lunch. It was a nice day and I'm glad we could spend it with our family.

Happy Birthday Leah!!

2010-03-25T09:51:00.002-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Leah!!

We Love You!

1 Month!

2010-03-25T09:46:00.003-07:00

I can't believe that McKinley is already a month old. She is such a happy, content little thing and is even smiling at us. At her one month check up she weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 23 inches long. Of course she has to be in the 97th percentile for height.
We love having her in our family!

Newborn pictures

2010-02-27T13:56:00.001-07:00

A good friend from our ward who is a photographer came and took pictures of McKinley. She sent me one picture while she is working on editing the rest. She is so cute!!

McKinley Brooke

2010-02-27T12:20:00.010-07:00

McKinley Brooke Hubbs was born on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 9:35 am by VBAC!! She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 21 3/4 inches long.

Everything went great and we are now settling into life at home with 3 kids.

In labor

Meeting baby sister for the first time
First family picture. Classic :-)

Our first baby with dark hair

Going home

Proud big brother

37 Weeks!!

2010-02-05T08:56:00.002-07:00

Well, I haven't updated this blog for a long time. I wanted to update with Christmas and all of the other holiday stuff but our computer isn't cooperating and I can't post pictures right now and that's not very fun so that will have to wait. But I thought I should update briefly before I have this baby.

I'm 37 weeks now. I'm pretty uncomfortable and very ready. I had a doctor appointment yesterday and I'm 2 cm and 75% effaced. Last week I was 1 cm and 25% effaced so I have made some decent progress. I hope that means I don't have too much longer. The kids are so excited. Everyday Brycen asks me if the baby has come out yet. He is so excited to hold her and show her his toys. Leah always wants to feel the baby kick. She likes to use my belly as a pillow and thinks it's funny when the baby kicks her. We are all so excited to meet the newest member of our family!!

Halloween

2009-11-06T15:00:00.006-07:00

Carving pumpkins

Leah was in love with her little pumpkin

Elmo & Buzz Lightyear

Spencer & Kelly dressed up as Thing 1 & Thing 2

I just had to post this picture. Leah finally has enough hair for pigtails. Yay!!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these. Our internet has been acting up and I've been sick for a week.

Surprise!!!

2009-09-16T13:32:00.004-07:00

We had another ultrasound yesterday. From what they could see, the baby looked good. It was very stubborn and stayed curled in a ball most of the time so I have to go back next week for another ultrasound. But we got a surprise. The baby is no longer a boy. It's a GIRL!! We're still in shock but we are excited too.

A Smile

2009-09-12T12:24:00.002-07:00

Leah always makes me smile even when she's doing something naughty.

Yes, all those clothes were nicely folded in the basket but how can you get mad at a face like that? :-)

A Funeral & The Beach

2009-09-09T08:35:00.013-07:00

Last week, Jeff's grandma passed away so we headed to California for the funeral. It was a nice service and it was fun to see some of Jeff's extended family that we hadn't seen in a while. After that we stayed a few extra days and went to the beach. We had a really fun time. We found a 4 star hotel on Priceline.com for $45 a night right off the beach. Brycen had been asking to go to the beach for a long time but of course once we got there he was terrified of the water and only wanted to play in the sand. Leah loved it and kept trying to go out into the water as far as she could.

After that we rode the Auto Ferry to Balboa Island. It's this really cool boat that you drive your car on and it takes you across the water to the island.

Our view from the boat.

Then we drove by Jeff's childhood home in Costa Mesa. He hadn't been back since he moved when he was 9 years old. Then we realized he only lived 10 minutes from Disneyland so we drove down there and went to DownTown Disney and had lunch. It was a very busy, but fun trip and we hope to go back soon.

Jeff's childhood home

At DownTown Disney

First Day of Preschool!

2009-08-18T10:21:00.003-07:00

Today was Brycen's first day of preschool. He was a little nervous about it and when I dropped him off he cried. Even Leah cried and kept asking where her brother was. It made me so sad. But his teacher is an awesome lady in our ward and I know he will love it.

It's a...

2009-08-10T19:31:00.002-07:00

BOY!! We had an ultrasound today and everything looked great. We are so excited to have another boy. Although, Brycen was a little upset that it wasn't another sister and that there weren't three babies in mommy's tummy. I'm glad it's just one.

Announcement!

2009-07-20T09:30:00.003-07:00

Baby #3 will be joining our family in February 2010!!

We got to hear the heart beat last week and we have an ultrasound in 2 weeks. We are so excited to add another baby to our family!!

Potty Training

2009-07-20T09:25:00.004-07:00

After Brycen's birthday we decided to give potty training another try. We had tried a few months earlier but he was definitely not ready so we took a break. I wasn't expecting much from him but he surprised us. Something clicked in those months while we took a break and he has done awesome! It has only been two weeks but he is now in underwear full time and has only had a few accidents. He even sleeps all night and wakes up dry. It feels so weird to only have one child in diapers now. I never thought this day would come.

Yesterday, he just wanted to sit on the potty and play with his toys. He stayed there for about an hour. Silly boy!

Brycen's 3rd Birthday

2009-07-20T09:18:00.004-07:00

Brycen turned 3 on July 6. He got to have two parties. One in Prescott with Jeff's family while we were there for the Fourth of July and then one with my family after we got home. He got his beloved Geo Trax that he had been asking for for at least 6 months. He has played with them everyday since and never wants to put them down. They really are an awesome toy.

He had his 3 year checkup and he is 35 lbs and 44 inches tall!! He is way off the charts for height just like his daddy.

I can't believe my baby is 3!!

Geo Trax!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T12:55:00.003-07:00

Leah's Bad Day

2009-06-19T08:42:00.003-07:00

We always knew that Leah was going to be our first child to send us to the ER or urgent care and that finally happened this week.

Leah was playing in the backyard and she tripped and fell face first into the rocks. I immediately picked her up and she had a few scrapes on her face and I didn't think it was that bad until I saw a small shadow in the corner of her eye. At first I thought it really was just a shadow and then I realized, as it got bigger, that her eye was filling with blood. We rushed her to urgent care where they checked her out and said that they didn't see any serious damage but they referred us to an opthalmologist so they could check to be sure. We took her the next morning where they dilated her pupils to make sure there was no permanent damage. They said she was very lucky that she didn't have more serious damage. They diagnosed her with a sub conjunctival hemorrhage and told us that it would heal within two weeks. They said it looks a lot worse than it actually is but it still looks terrible. Poor baby!

50th Wedding Anniversary

2009-06-07T13:50:00.010-07:00

On Friday, my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We had family fly in for the occasion and we partied all weekend. On Friday afternoon we did a session at the temple. My grandparents are very proud that all five of their children and spouses and all of their grandchildren (who are old enough) are worthy to enter the temple. We had 17 people there minus a few who either couldn't get off work, just had surgery or are on missions. After that we had a large family dinner with some extended family. We presented my grandparents with a quilt that we made that has the handprints of all 20 of their grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren on it.

On Saturday, the whole family (at least 30 people) went to Goldfield Mine & Ghost Town. My great-grandfather discovered the mines there back in the 1890's so we were the VIP guests for the day. We got to do all of the attractions for free and we were given a special tour of the actual mines that my great-grandfather discovered. We had a lot of fun.

Tonight, we are headed over to my grandparents house to hang out and eat food. It has been a very crazy but enjoyable weekend.

June 5, 1959

June 5, 2009

The quilt

Swimming Lessons

2009-06-03T08:58:00.006-07:00

This week the kids started swimming lessons. As always, Brycen is very timid about it and Leah has no fear. She starts squealing and splashing as soon as we get in the water. On the first day, Brycen sat on the steps and said "No Daddy, you go swim. I'll just sit here". He's so funny.

Driving to swimming lessons with their cool sunglasses. They are both obsessed with sunglasses. Brycen even sleeps with his on.

Spencer & Kelly's Wedding

2009-05-31T14:19:00.006-07:00

Spencer & Kelly got married on Friday. It was such a fun, yet very busy day. We started out at the Temple then went to the luncheon. After that we decorated their apartment for when they arrived home that night. Then we headed off to the reception where we spent most of our time making sure our kids didn't fall into the unfenced pool and finished off the night by decorating their car. It was such a fun day. Now the newlyweds are enjoying a honeymoon in Mexico. Congratulations Spencer & Kelly!

The sandwiches at the luncheon

Lifesize cutout of Camron with the garter around his neck.

Phoenix Children's Museum

2009-04-25T15:07:00.007-07:00

Today we went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. It is such a cool place. There were so many fun things for the kids to do.

The Pizza Kitchen

The Grocery Store

The Under 3 Play Area with a house and kitchen

The Noodle Forest

This was Brycen's favorite. We had to practically drag him away from it.

The Car Wash

The Play Area

They also have an art studio, a book loft, a ball room and a race car arena. We had so much fun. I would highly recommend it.

Easter

2009-04-12T15:04:00.003-07:00

Dying easter eggs yesterday

Looking at their easter baskets

All ready for church

Engagement Photo Shoot

2009-04-12T14:49:00.005-07:00

Spencer & Kelly asked me to take their engagement pictures for them. So last Saturday in between conference sessions we went out and had a photo shoot.

Leah's First Birthday Party

2009-04-12T14:20:00.005-07:00

I'm a little late with this but I still wanted to share.

My Baby is 1 Today!!

2009-03-25T07:44:00.006-07:00

Happy Birthday Leah Ashlyn!

About Leah:

Has been walking since she was barely 10 months old. Now she has moved on to running and climbing

Only has two teeth

Says: Doggie, no no, uh oh, hi, bye bye, diaper

Favorite foods are yogurt and cheese

Loves bath time

Is a girly girl. Loves dolls, purses and shoes

Very loveable. Is always giving hugs and kisses and likes to be held

Snorts like a pig all the time (especially in church) and thinks she is hilarious

Outgoing and friendly. Will wave to random people in the store

Very Mischievous. Knows how to get what she wants and has us wrapped around her little finger

We love you baby LeeLee!!

Spring Break

2009-03-24T09:05:00.005-07:00

Since my mom and siblings were off school for spring break we decided to take Brycen to McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale since he LOVES trains. We had so much fun riding the train and the carousel and looking at all the trains. It was a fun day and Brycen is still talking about it!

Leah & Aunt Whitney

Leah & Uncle Josh

Entertaining Leah

2009-03-24T08:51:00.006-07:00

When Leah wakes up in the morning Brycen likes to go in her room and play with her while she's still in her crib. Normally he sings songs or makes silly noises to make her laugh but this morning when I went in there I discovered that Brycen had put all of her toys and half of the contents of her closet in the crib with her. And to top it all off Leah had a super leaky diaper that got all over her toys and clean clothes. Oh well, at least they were happy.

Congrats Spencer & Kelly!

2009-03-01T13:05:00.004-07:00

I have been the only married child in my family for nearly 5 years but now my brother is getting married! I am so happy for him. We are excited to finally have another married couple in the family. Kelly is awesome and we are excited to have her in our family. Congrats Spencer & Kelly!!

Leah is Walking!

2009-02-02T15:07:00.003-07:00

Leah is now officially walking. She has been taking steps here and there since she was 9 months old but last week she decided she was done with crawling. It is so cute to see her walking around the house but it also makes me sad because my baby is growing up.

Ducks and Trains

2009-02-02T14:55:00.006-07:00

Brycen loves trains so last Saturday we took him to Freestone park to ride the train. He also fed the ducks. He had so much fun and talked about it for days afterward.

Riding the train

Leah's First Pigtails

2009-02-02T14:33:00.004-07:00

Leah has finally grown enough hair that I was able to put it in pigtails. She wasn't so thrilled about it though.

Hmm, what are these?

Look! I found one.

I got it out.

Now for the other one.

That feels better!

Christmas (way late)

2009-02-02T14:16:00.004-07:00

Here are a few fun pictures from Christmas.

Leah loved the wrapping paper and boxes more than the presents.

The cozy coupe was the kid's favorite present. They still fight about who gets to drive.

I got a new back drop stand and back drop paper for Christmas so here is a photo shoot I did with them.

Brycen insisted that Cow Cow was in the picture too.

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T07:42:00.003-07:00

That went well :-)

Elf Yourself

2008-12-19T22:02:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Catching Up

2008-12-17T09:53:00.007-07:00

It has been a while since I last updated. Things have been crazy lately with the holidays. But the shopping is done and the gifts are wrapped and most of the parties are over so I have a few minutes.

First I'll start with Thanksgiving. We went to Prescott to celebrate it with Jeff's family. We had a yummy meal and an enjoyable time. It was also my birthday on Thanksgiving so we celebrated that too. On Thanksgiving night, Jeff left at midnight to get in line at Walmart for their black Friday sale. Oh the things my husband will do to get a deal, especially considering it was around 34 degrees. He was first in line and got some awesome deals. He was quite proud of himself.

When we got home from Prescott we decided to put up the Christmas decorations. The kids were so excited to help.

We are quickly outgrowing our house so this year we didn't have anywhere to put our gigantic tree. So we bought this tall, skinny tree. It hardly takes up any room and is pretty cute. Hopefully someday we will buy a bigger house so we can use our big tree again.

Leah loves the tree. We had to bolt it to the wall to keep her from pulling it over.

We have it decorated now too. I just haven't taken a picture yet.

Outside putting up the lights.

We also saw Santa Clause and played in fake snow at the Borgata in Scottsdale and we went Christmas Caroling at a nursing home with all of my extended family. My mom has the pictures of these events on her camera so hopefully I will get them and post them soon.

This week we are hoping to see Santa Clause at the mall and go to the Temple lights. I love this time of year. There are so many fun things to do.

First Steps

2008-11-12T17:54:00.003-07:00

She's only 7 months old!!

Family Pictures

2008-11-10T14:24:00.011-07:00

Every fall we take a family picture. This year we decided to be brave and attempt it ourselves. And amazingly, it turned out to be one of my favorites. Both kids behaved so well and we didn't even have any meltdowns!!

We also did the kids individual pictures. Leah loves the camera. That's why she has so many pictures. Brycen runs the other way when he sees a camera.

I also thought it would be fun to post all of our previous family pictures.

2004

2005

2006

2007

Halloween

2008-11-03T15:42:00.009-07:00

The Pumpkins

An Elephant & A Peanut

The Candy!!

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-17T15:30:00.005-07:00

I've been tagged by Kristi. I'm so boring that I had to have Jeff help me come up with 7 interesting things. That's why it's taken me awhile to get this up. So here are 7 random and/or weird facts about me.

1. I absolutely despise talking on the phone. I avoid it at all costs. We have caller ID and I closely screen my calls so I don't have to talk on it more than necessary. Even worse is actually having to make a call. I would much rather email or text. I think it's hereditary because several other family members have "phone phobia" also.

2. I am extremely frugal (so is Jeff so we make a good match). I rarely pay full price for anything. I clip coupons, watch sales and buy clearance. If I'm making an expensive purchase I research it to death to make sure I'm getting the best deal possible. I feel guilty if I have to pay full price. It's actually really fun and rewarding when I go to the grocery store and buy $100 worth of groceries and only pay $25.

3. I love photography, especially taking pictures of my kids. My dream job was to be a photographer at Walmart when I was little. I'm hoping to be able to take a photography class once I no longer have a nursing baby that will let me leave the house for more than an hour or two.

4. I am a safety freak when it comes to my kids. Being a nurse, I always have the worst case scenario in my head and have seen so many things happen to others that could have been prevented, so I do my best to protect my kids. I am especially anal about car safety. I am very particular about how my kids' car seats are installed and used and my family thinks I'm crazy for it (I say the one who does the research makes the rules). I have done countless hours of research on child passenger safety and I have even thought about becoming a child passenger safety technician. "I'd rather be safe than sorry" is my motto.

5. I don't like to drive. I never have and don't think I ever will. I had never even driven on the freeway until I started nursing school and had to to get to school and different hospitals. I think it stems back to me being crazy about car safety.

6. My nickname is Pokey. My brothers gave me this name when we were younger after my mom ordered a huge box of imitation M&M's, called Pokies, from the Relief Society and I ate the whole box by myself before my mom could use them for baking cookies. Yummy!

7. I love candy. I crave it all the time especially when I am pregnant. When I go grocery shopping I have to purposely avoid the candy aisle or I would buy everything in sight. But even though I eat a lot of candy I'm lucky and have healthy teeth. Halloween is a very bad time of year for me. : )

I'm going to have to break the rules and not tag anyone back because I don't really have anyone to tag. Yeah, I'm lame. : )

Disneyland!!

2008-10-14T11:28:00.019-07:00

We just got back from a fun filled week at Disneyland. We had a blast. Brycen loved it and is already asking to go back. His new favorite word is "Disneyland". Jeff (who hadn't been to Disneyland since he was 9 years old) had so much fun he is already planning a trip back next year.

Brycen and Camron so excited to go into Disneyland.

Riding Dumbo

Leah was so exhausted she fell asleep sitting up.

Soaked after riding the river rapids ride at California Adventure

Family picture in front of the waterfall

Brycen watching the parade.

Ready for another fun day.

In Toon Town

Brycen, Jeff & Grandpa riding the lady bugs in A Bug's Land.

By some cute Halloween decorations.

The only character picture we got. The lines were so long to take a picture it was crazy.

Taking a break. Brycen is sleeping in the stroller.

Showing off their souvenirs. Brycen got a Buzz Lightyear "helicopter" and Leah a Piglet.

Exhausted on the long drive home.

Photo Shoot

2008-09-15T10:01:00.011-07:00

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday. She has been asking for an updated picture of the kids so I decided to be brave and attempt a photo shoot with both kids. I haven't done one recently because Brycen can't sit still for 2 seconds and I usually end up drenched in sweat and grumpy so it's not a very fun experience. This photo shoot was no different but we did end up with one half way decent picture (out of about 30). Brycen looks kind of goofy but my Mom loves it so I guess that's what counts.

Here are a couple outtakes that I thought were funny. Brycen is such a silly boy. It is definitely an adventure when doing a photo shoot with him. : )

(They are unedited so excuse the backgrounds.)

Solid Food

2008-09-15T09:41:00.009-07:00

Leah is 5 1/2 months old now so we decided to give her a little taste of solid food. She has always been a voracious eater so it was no suprise that she loved it!! I couldn't get the spoon to her mouth fast enough and she kept trying to feed herself. It was so cute.

Trying to feed herself.

Licking every last bit off the bib.

Trying to drink out of a sippy cup.

Brycen wanted to wear a bib too. He even took a bite of her rice cereal. Yuck!

Bath Time

All clean!

She's Sitting!

2008-09-05T09:27:00.005-07:00

My baby is growing up. Leah is just barely 5 months old and she has already been sitting for a week. Now she is getting up on her hands and knees and trying to crawl. She is so young for this. Brycen didn't sit up until after 6 months and he didn't crawl until 8 months. She is growing up way too fast and it makes me so sad. But it is fun to watch her grow and develop. She is so much fun.

Rough Week

2008-09-05T08:58:00.004-07:00

This past week has been rough. Last Friday, my mom had surgery to remove one of her kidneys. The doctors had been monitoring a small tumor on her kidney for about a year and a few weeks ago, at her most recent MRI, they noticed the tumor was changing. So they decided to remove it so they could do a biopsy. On Wednesday, we got the news that the tumor was cancer. Luckily, they caught it very early and they were able to remove all the cancer during the surgery. The odds are very low that the cancer will return so we are cautiously optimistic that everything will be fine. My mom is healing well and everything is going fine so far but it is still very scary to know that your mom has cancer. We are so thankful that the cancer was caught early and we will continue to pray for her to have good health for many years to come.

Trip to Prescott

2008-08-26T07:19:00.014-07:00

This past weekend we went to Prescott to visit Jeff's parents. His grandma and two aunts were visiting from Utah and California so we went up to visit along with Jeff's brother and his family from Chandler. It was a full house. It was fun to see Jeff's grandma because we hadn't seen her since Brycen's blessing and she got to meet Leah. This was probably the last time she would be able to travel because she is getting older and her health is declining. The weather was perfect. Every afternoon a storm would roll in and cool everything down about 20 degrees. We had fun sitting on the deck and playing cards and letting the kids play in the grass. It was a nice little vacation.

Brycen & Leah snuggling with Daddy.

Playing in the grass.

Some of the grandkids with great grandma.

Brycen, Ashton, Leah, Dami & Ty

They have amazing wood floors that are perfect for a photo shoot.

Pictures

2008-08-13T10:32:00.016-07:00

I love pictures. I like to take them of my kids and I like to look at other people's. So I thought I would post some fun pictures from the last few months.

Leah's blessing dress that Grandma Sherri made her.

Brycen loves playing with Uncle Josh. I think it's because they are on the same maturity level. : )

Brycen's 2nd birthday

Leah's first time in her exersaucer. Brycen liked playing with it too.

This train keeps Leah entertained forever.

Brycen and Leah playing in the crib together.

My little thumb sucker. She refuses to take a pacifier. She prefers her thumb.

A few cute ones of Leah.

And finally, this about sums up the relationship between Brycen & Leah. They love to be together

Our Summer

2008-08-12T14:18:00.007-07:00

It has been a long time since we last updated this blog. During that time we added Leah Ashlyn to our family on March 25, 2008. She is such a sweet, easy going baby and we love having her in our family.

Brycen turned 2 on July 6. He is energetic and all boy. He loves being a big brother to Leah.

In June my Grandma Hardy died from complications of a stroke she had a year earlier. We miss her and are sad that she is gone but we are happy that she is with my grandpa and no longer suffering.

My brother Camron received his mission call a few weeks ago. He is going to the Boise, Idaho Spanish speaking mission. He leaves Oct. 29 and we are so excited for him.

It Begins

2007-09-20T17:39:00.002-07:00

Life at the Hubbs begins on the internet now. Brycen is 14 months old now and growing like a weed. No one knows were he gets these genes from yet. I think it is the UPS mans but we will have to wait for the test. Brycen is a curious boy who likes to get into everything now. He can reach half way back on the counter tops making just about everything accessible to him, so watching him is definately a 24 hour job now. Here is a picture from his last photo shoot. Don't let the picture deceive you it takes several takes before you can find a happy boy during picture time.

We learned last week that we will be adding a brand new sister to Brycen's family, so the Hubbs are very excited. We are expecting our new little one March 29, 2008. With this comes all of the symptoms that are associated with pregnancy. Mom has been plagued by sickness usually lasting through out the day and progressively gets worse as night befalls us. But even with all of that mom is very excited to have her first little girl to be able to primp up and cuddle with.