The Shobes

Halloween pics...............

2011-11-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Madison!

2011-02-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

She got into mommie's make-up and put my favorite eyeshadow on her lips. I could tell she felt really pretty!

My baby turned 2 and it was a great time! Madison is so sweet that it doens't take much for her to be happy. I decided not to do a party this year, but we go lucky because the Shobe's and Courtney came to celebrate which made it really special. We went to Chuck-E-Cheese and then back home for a little party with cake and presents. Madison has recently discovered The Little Mermaid, she strolls through the house singing "ah ah ah, ah ah ah,......". It's adorable. So we made sure she got some mermaid toys, and she also adores Tinkerbell, who she smitten with when she got to meet her at Disneyland. She got some clothes and a little makeup kit complete with a blow dryer and flat iron just like mommie! She says, "mommie, I do make-ups, okay"?

2010-12-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law Elisa is an aspiring photographer, and wanted to take family pictures at Thanksgiving. Our first day at my parent's house in Holbrook, we got snow and decided we would go for it. We were all freezing, but I'm really pleased with the result. Elisa's website is www.loveephotography.com. I think she has a promising future ahead of her!

Poor Vance was frozen

Vance 4 years old

Madison 21 months

Congratulation are in order......

2010-05-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have to brag about my husband today because he is officially a PAC (Certified Physician Assistant). We have been working towards this goal the whole time we have known eachother and now we have finally accomplished it!! I am so thankful and proud of him. We don't know where the road will take us next, but we are quite sure we can make it anywhere now.

Easter Easter Time!

2010-04-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well Easter this year for us was probably more adverterous than Christmas. For some reason, we were just in the mood for fun. We dyed eggs 2 days in a row in preparation for the big day. Then on Easter my mom came over to bring baskets, and they got baskets from Grammie Shobe too. It makes it so nice because we didn't have to buy one thing for Easter. We did an Easter egg hunt with just us, then one with the cousins. I hope in the midst of all the fun, we were able to instill the real purpose of Easter. Here is a snapshot of our Easter................

Vance was so proud of the eggs he dyed. He wanted to take them everywhere, even to bed. I had draw the line there.

Madison had her first jelly beans of Easter morning - I guess she liked them!

I thought our adorable flowers were the perfect place to take an Easter pic. Now I just need a really nice camera and a photographer to take better pictures for me.

Off to the canyon for an Easter egg hunt with the cousins.

Vance's favorite find?.....money of course. He is obsessed with money. Both Grandma's forked out some change and even "a doller cash" as Vance described.

This was Madison sneaking candy away from her brother's basket. Doesn't she look like trouble? She is giving Vance a run for his money.

Easter evening was at my mom's house and she got the boys these super silly glasses. We had a ball with them.

The last 6 months in a nutshell......

2010-03-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

I am such a slacker and I admit it. We have had 2 computers crash on us, so now my pictures are all spread out and I can't even access them til we fix the hard drives. So all I can say is use your external hard drive! Other than that, life is good. Darren graduated in December (woo hoo!) and will be taking his boards in April. We had a minor set back the first time with the boards, but we have been so blessed and I know he's going to succeed this time around. I have been working for about a month is Show Low and it's going great. The drive is a little long, but I'm only working 1 - 2 days a week, which is so nice. It's good to get out of the house because it makes me appreciate my time at home more. Madison turned a year on February 9th. Her life has just gone by so fast. I'm beginning to understand how some families can have lots of kids. The 1st year is hard, but by the end you don't really have a baby any more. It makes me sad, but I look forward to enjoying life with 2 toddlers for a while. Vance is definitely a terrible 3's kid. He's insane, but still manages to be very sweet at times. He is enjoying having Madison more upright now and looks at her as a playmate as well as a punching bag. He Adores his local cousins, Brayden and Trevor, and drives them crazy too. We are all looking forward to the beautiful summer weather here in Holbrook and to enjoying our yard. Here's a few pics of the kids from the last 6 months...........

Vance was so sick the other day and Madison couldn't stop loving on him. She is such a hugger.

This boy just plays hard then plays harder

Vance and his cousins going "snowboarding" in the first snow.

Trevor, Brayden, Gabe and Vance (in other words, trouble)

Orange is for sure Vance's color

Or maybe green is................?? I guess I think he looks good in anything.

Madison and the girls a Christmas (Bella, Madison and Ari)

Madison and her cousin Kedrick are 5 months appart and they adore each other. Madison thinks she's just one of her baby dolls. It's so fun to see the react to each other.

All the girls at Kedrick's blessing

Madison LOVES the swings - she'd be happy in there for hours!

Madison 1 year! Do you think she likes the doll she got for her birthday? I can't tell.

Madison 11 months

Madison 10 months

Madison 9 months

Madison 8 months

Madison 8 months (I had to put both because they were so cute)

We're back...................

2009-09-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while. Madison is already 7 months old and doing great. She is so full of life and just a pure joy. Life is so much easier now than it was even just a month ago. Vance is coming up on his 3rd birthday and is having a ball. We have moved from Vegas to Holbrook and it has been a hard move, but we're doing good. Vance especially loves it here since he has experienced the thrill of the outdoors (at least until the weather permits). Darren is nearing the end of his graduation and is just trying to keep his sanity. He will be done in November - woo hoo! I'm so proud of him and it's gone quite fast. And me, I'm really enjoying having my family so close. My brother and his wife are here with their two boys and new baby girl, which works out so nicely for my kids. And of course my parents are right next door. I know this is going to be a great place to raise my kids. I feel so lucky to have this new life.

Here are some pictures to highlight a few events in the kids lives............

They say not to put Bumbo's on raised surfaces, and I found out why the hard way. Yeah, Madison somehow fell off the counter. I didn't see it happen, I just saw her there then next thing she was on the ground. It was horrible, but she was amazingly okay. She cried, but didn't even have tears. I will never do that again.

See - who needs a public pool?? This is just a small sample of the mischief Vance gets into up here in Holbrook. It truly is a child's playground up here!

Vance discovered mascara and he actually did okay. There was alot on his right lashes. He obviously spends way too much time with his mom!

Poor kid got all scraped up from falling off a table at the park. He has more bumps and bruises than ever from living up here.

He actually looks cute in mommies glasses

Vance with his cousins Brayden and Trevor. If only they were always this still.

Vance's first 3rd birthday party. We did one early since family was in town (he'll have another on his real birthday Sept. 20!!) Courtney, his sister in law had this amazing cake made for him and it was even allergen free just for him. Such a lucky boy.

Just relaxing in my briefs

She LOVES to eat! I have never seen a baby so into food as she is. Every time I eat, she just cries because she wants some. So far no sign of food allergies and I am so happy!

So cute!

Trouble waiting to happen

Madison 5 months old

Madison 6 months old
Madison 7 months old

Madison is 3 months old.............

2009-05-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy month! I can't touch on it all, but here is some of what Madison has experienced this month...........................

She had her first Easter, which we celebrated with the Shobe's at our house in Las Vegas
She started standing up on us a lot more

She became a little more aware of her crazy and loving brother. Whenever Vance sits by her like this he says "2 babies!" He is so sweet to her.

She became a little more attached to her mom

She started smiling a lot more

She met her Grandpa Taylor for the first time while we are up in Holbrook for the month. Darren is doing one of his clinical rotations up here.

We had her blessed up in Holbrook and she was the Belle of the Ball. We had almost all of the Shobe's and 2 of my brother's there with their families. It was a special day. We are falling more and more in love with our little Madison every day!

Madison at 2 months

Madison at 3 months (I forgot her little pony this time!)

Madison is 2 months old!

2009-04-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

All bundled up and ready to face the wind!

Madison had her first smile this month

She went from 6.5 lbs. to 12 lbs. in just 2 months!

Do we have another Vance in the making??

Sleeping Beauty

Her first dress

There's just something about daddies with their little girls

Madison at 1 month

Madison at 2 months

Is it April already? I thought time went fast before, but with Madison here it is just flying. We had a lot of fun this month. We have our good days and bad days, but they're mostly good. We have been the Hotel del Shobe with visitors coming every week-end, and it's been great. Vance loves all the attention and it's kept me motivated to keep up on the house work too! We've spent alot of time at the Bellagio since it has free entertainment for our guests. Madison usually stays in the stroller but Vance Loves the water show. I can't believe how big Madison has gotten already. I wish I could freeze time for just a bit.

Just Vance.............

2009-03-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

Ever since we had Madison, my time with Vance has been at least cut in half. It makes me sad, but he has adjusted very nicely. He can entertain himself almost as much as he entertains me. The other day I was wondering where he was because I hadn't seen him in a while. There he was in the back yard just jabbering away to himself and drawing on his pad. He was out there for probably 10 minutes doing this. I thought it was so cute. Just sitting in nature looking for inspiration for his drawings. I love watching him grow!

Vance still has his food allergies and every time I think he has improved, he'll find a gold fish or lick my milky spoon from cereal and throw up again. It makes me so sad for him to see us eating normal food and know our normal food is his poison. But alas! I went to Whole Foods and found some waffles that Vance can eat. I didn't know if he would like them because 'special food' isn't the best tasting. But I poured on the syrup, and he was in HEAVEN. He ate that thing so fast. I was soo happy for him. Since then, he asks for waffles for every meal. I also found some chocolate chip cookies and pretzels that he can tolerate. Thank goodness for Whole Foods!

2009-03-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

This was at the end of the session. It's hard being adorable!

We caught her sleeping with her fingers like this, so sweet!

I had to throw in a pic of Vance!

This is one of my favorites.

Another fave..........

And another fave.....okay, I love them all.

My friend came over last week and took these adorable pics. She says she needs more practice, but I think she did so good. I am thrilled to have these. Madison was just out the whole time, so we didn't get any awake pics. But that's okay - babies make funny awake faces. Thing are going good so far. Madison has something going on in her gut to where I can hear her stomach growling all the time. It's really loud and I think it makes her uncomfortable a lot. Every day is different, but today is going great. She's a really good baby except for the hours of 6 - 9 pm which I think must be her witching hours. I forgive her though because she is so dang precious. She could cry all day long if she wanted to.

And Vance is Vance. He has the most fun personality - just happy all the time so I have a hard time finding something to discipline him with. Nothing seems to phase him. And I am amazed and entertained by what comes out of his mouth everyday. He's getting more and more independent which is good and bad. Good because he will play by himself for longer periods of time, and bad because he gets into more mischief. Since we're home so much more now, he gets so excited to just go to Target - poor thing.

Madison is 3 weeks old!

2009-03-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

So I know 3 weeks doesn't sound that old, but to me it is already going way too fast. At her 2 week visit, Madison was 8 lbs. and 20.5 inches long. She has already gained 1 lb. and 11 oz. She is still very much a newborn, but I feel like she is changing before my eyes. I am just trying to enjoy all the precious moments I can before she's as big as Vance.

Texas Trip

2009-02-26T15:43:00.000-08:00

Sleeping beauty
Elizabeth (due in May), me, Madison and Rhonda

Madison and her cousin Emma

Well Madison wasn't even 2 weeks old when she and I flew to Texas. It was one of the more difficult things I've done for a long time. Vance stayed home while my mom watched him. It was hard taking her so young and hard leaving Vance at such a difficult time for him - but it was all with good reason. Darren's brother did a ton of dental work for me that I had been putting off. He was so nice, he woulnd't let me pay him a dime. He sacrificed about 10 hours of his week-end time with me in his dental chair. And the Shobes took good care of me. I'm lucky to have such great in-laws.

2009-02-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

Vance thinks Madison is a toy!

Love at first sight..............
But it didn't last long!

It took Vance a few days to even show any interest in his new sister, but since then he has taken quite a liking to her. He likes to give her lots of kisses and pats her head. I have been so worried about how I was going to keep him busy while feeding her, but he has been so good. He just plays until I'm done and hardly complains. Until yesterday, he had my mom to distract him, but he did so good today even with her gone. I am so lucky to be his mom!

Well all good things must come to an end, so my mom finally had to say goodbye. She was with us a solid 2 weeks, and I wish it could have been longer. She did so much for us that it's impossible to mention everything. She surely will be missed. Thanks mom - we're so lucky to have you!

More Madison..........

2009-02-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

Madison has a murmur...........

But they did an echo and an EKG and it is benign! We are so happy!

Superstar!

First Bath! Love the cry face!

Little baby in a big seat!

I am loving her hair!

The best Valentine ever!

2009-02-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few more pics of our little angle. She is doing so great. Having the second child is so wonderful because you get the perfect little baby without all the anxiety you had with the first. I am LOVING this!

Meet Madison!

2009-02-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

Madison and her Daddy!

First night home!

Madison Sage (20 minutes old)

Well despite my impatience, Madison came not a moment too soon. She was born on Monday, February 9 at 2:05 pm. She was just a little bigger than Vance weighing in at 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. She has a good amount of hair which I was pretty excited about. It's dark now but I am curious to see how it turns out. I went to the hospital at about 11:30 that morning and had her by 2:05. It all went so fast I hardly felt the epidural! I can't complain though. I was so happy to get to sleep at home and have her during the day - I couldn't have planned it better. I only wish my mom would have made it, but she was stuck in the car for 8 hours on what should have been a 4.5 hour trip. The weather was horrible that day. But it all worked out, she's here now to take care of Vance. We are so proud and happy to have a new addition to the family and I am loving the pink! We got to come home the next day at about 7:30 pm because I was anxious to see the new dynamic. Vance is doing well. He is so wrapped up in having Grammy here that he hardly misses my attention. He hasn't shown any signs of jealously as of yet and I am thrilled. But I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Snow in LAs Vegas???

2009-02-07T20:17:00.000-08:00

I didn't want to play catch up, but I had to post these pics of our amazing winter wonderland right here in Las Vegas. On Dec. 17th, it started snowing at 11:00 am and didn't stop 'til the next morning. They hadn't had snow like this here since the 60's or something. We were thrilled and Vance couldn't get enough. He is obsessed with watching wakeboarding/snowboarding/skateboarding videos on youtube and often pretends he's doing it with whatever flat thing he can find on the floor. He had his first snowboarding experience, although he did it sitting down. We even had enough snow to build a snowman!! 3 days after the snowfall, you could hardly tell it happened at all, but we definitely made the most of it while we could!!

Courtney and Dave

2009-02-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

These are just a few pics from Vance's Aunt Courney's wedding. Courtney was such a beautiful bride! We had so much fun and we are so happy for them. Vance was so cute in his wedding garb. At the temple, all he wanted to do was climb that tree. What a BOY!!

Is She Ever Gonna Come..............??

2009-02-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

39 Weeks and Counting

Hey guys! Yet again, I have let several months pass without posting on here. They were important months too with Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, etc. But that's all over so I won't play catch up. I just thought I'd post some pregie pics for those of you who were wondering how my bump is coming along. It's been a great pregnancy since I got passed the yucky part in the beginning. Now I am due in 4 days, but my body doesn't seem to be aware of that fact. There is nothing going on to indicate that I will be having a baby anytime soon. I am getting more and more excited as the days pass, but I know I should just enjoy the few nights of sleep I have left. I know she'll come when she's ready - and hopefully she'll be healthy too. I can't wait to meet her!

Vance and the Baby Abby

2008-10-19T20:30:00.001-07:00

Okay I know these pictures are a little dark but there's a funny story that goes with them so I had to post them. My friend, Becca, came over with her new baby Abby and her husband the other night. First of all, Vance is obsessed with Becca. We saw ran into her once at Walmart and now every time we go, he says, "Becca, Becca," right when we walk through the doors. Well, we had Abby on the couch and he just wanted to lay right by her and kept giving her kisses. Then he started trying to hold her so we proped her in his lap and he immediately was so still. He had this look on his face like, "I can't belive this happening to me," and he didn't move an inch. It was so PRECIOUS!! As soon as we picked her up, he was back to his normal, dancing, crazy self. I can't WAIT to see him with our new little girl.

Belated Birthday Pics!

2008-10-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Vance turned 2 on September 20th. I just can't believe it. We had a nice little party for him with about 7 of his friends, which was a good crowd. We basically let the kids run wild for a couple hours since 2 year olds don't really like structure. My friend made the cake to go along with the Tonka Truck theme and it was so cute. She's really good. Unfortunately, Vance couldn't have that cake so we made one just for him. Even though he really didn't like his cake, we had a good laugh watching him spit it out all over. Poor thing!

Oh my gosh!

2008-09-23T18:07:00.000-07:00

Okay so I had my ultrasound today and everthing looks good! The baby is right on track and I am 20 weeks along. We got a ton of pictures, but we don't have a scanner so I don't know how to post them. So I just posted this picture of Vance instead. Anyway, the funniest part of the whole things was when the doctor said, "Well Alison, if this baby is a boy, then you're going to have to buy him a penis," ha ha! Don't worry, it's not a he/she. We're haveing a girl, hence the purple text!!! I can't believe it. I was totally in the 'boy' frame of mind. I just don't see myself with a little girl. But we are very excited! I didn't even have any solid girl names, just boys. That's going to be a lot of fun though.

Pregnancy Update

2008-09-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been such a slacker about posting about this pregnancy. I guess there just hasn't been much to tell yet. Everything has been good. I've a bit More nauseous and tired than I was with Vance, and that part doesn't seem to be over quite yet. I'm almost 19 weeks according to the doctor, but my counter on the blog says I'm 20 weeks. Either way, I'm due February 11. I don't have any pics of my belly yet because I hardly see Darren and when I do, I forget to ask him to take some pics. But I will say that I am showing. I thought I would be huge because I popped out right away it seemed. But now I'm probably like I was with Vance. I could feel the movement a lot earlier though, at about 15 weeks, so that was cool. My goal is to work out the whole time so we'll see if I make it. I can't stand paying for my gym membership and not going, even if I hate it. The most exciting part happens tomorrow when we find out what we're having. I can't wait! I'll be sure to post about that.

Labor Day

2008-09-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

This year Labor Day was special because I finally got to have some of my family at my house. Usually Darren and I are the couple that goes everywhere, so it was nice to have them here for once. Emily and her husband came down with their 3 kids, and my parents met us here. Our house wasn't the most ideal size for all of us, but we made it work. We had so much fun! Vance loved having all the kids around for built in entertainment. When we have company, I hardly hear from him bacause he's so happy! Next time, we need to get babysitters so we can have some adult time!! Here are just a few things we did together!

You can't tell, but we are actaully at the Shark Reaf Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay. Vance was in heaven and Ethan thought the fish were stinky!

Brittany and Taylor on the Choo Choo. I love this pic!

With all the kids it was hard to do a lot of running around so we did a bit of hanging out at my house. Doesn't Eddie look so excited! This is in our back yard. Grass would be nice but this kids don't seem to mind it too much. We had a kiddie pool and they thought we were at Sun Splash! Thanks for coming guys! I hope we get to see you again soon!

My 2 Boys!

2008-09-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this because I think it is so adorable that they're matching. And this was just a cool time at the lake to take pictures. Vance is totally a water boy. I love my 2 boys!!

I'm back!

2008-09-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Okay so it's been a while (2 months) since my last post. Our internet has been sketchy so everytime I tried to post, I would get cut off and looses it all. Finally I gave up, but now I hope we have the prob. fixed for good. Sorry if I lost touch with some of you. There's much to catch up on but I don't have time now. Just wanted to say hello!

Fender Bender

2008-07-25T21:22:00.001-07:00

My first car accident to date...........................hopefully my last!! I was met a friend and a new rec. center to take the boys swimming, and this is what I left with. I was reversing and I see this huge SUV coming at me. I stopped and slammed on the horn, but she couldn't hear over all of her kids. I heard a crunch and it was all over. At least it was totally NOT my fault and I am so thankful the woman who hit me was an honest person. She called her insurance right away and we're already getting it fixed on Monday. Luckily all the damage is on the door, so they'll just replace that. Vance was in the car, but thankfully on the other side. Basically, if I had to be in a wreck, this is the kind I would opt for. We'll have a rental car for probably over a week, anyone up for Canada???

Visit to Holbrook

2008-07-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Peaches had Puppies!!
Vance's Ta - tor
Boys just love dirt
Swimming at the Holbrook Pool
What a cutie pie
Ready to Race

After Telluride, we were back in Holbrook for some more fun! And Vance couldn't get enough. If we left his shoes off, he would only go as far as the grass would take him, and my parents have A LOT of grass all around the house. So he would wake up, open the door, and just be outside all day long coming in only for drinks and food. Oh and the naps were so long there because he would tucker himself out in the sun. He absolutely loved being with his cousins Brayden and Treavor. Their fave was digging in the sandbox Grammie bought, but they also rode bikes, blew bubbles, played with the puppies, rode Grandmpa's 'tractor', went swimming, played on the hammock, you name it. It was a constant party and I really didn't want to come home back to the heat. This age with Vance right now is SO much fun and I am treasuring every moment before Baby #2 arrives.

Telluride

2008-07-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Vance playing in Mountain Village in Telluride
Staking out our spot to watch the fireworks

Our Family

Okay, so I'm a little behind on 'updating.' We had a bit of a busy month but things have come to a hault finally. Where should I start. Well, first we moved in June from our appartment into a much more spacious house and we're loving it, especially Vance. He mostly loves the back yard, even though it's just the oh so lovely desert landscaping rocks. He also loves the playroom/loft we have here. The move went okay, better than our last move, thanks to all who helped us!! My mom came to help and brought her little dogs. I couldn't have done without her. The stress of the move and the pregnancy made me get sick, so I didn't feel like doing too much once we got over to the house. Then we left right away for Holbrook, then on to Telluride for the 4th of July. That was quite an adventure. We had never done anything like that with Vance before, and he surprisingly did great! Telluride was beautiful and the weather was amazing. I didn't want to leave, it was such a nice break. We didn't see too many fireworks because they started way after Vance's bedtime. We stayed for the first few then took the gondola back to our place. You could still see the show from the gondola though and it was quite magical. The next day, the whole gang went jeeping and Vance and I opted to stay in so he could catch up on his missed sleep from the night before. They had fun in the jeeps, and Vance and I had a great day just going on walks and playing. There was a concert and lots of free entertainment for the kids right outside our place. It was so much fun!!

Lake Junkie

2008-06-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

We took Vance to the lake for the first time a couple weeks ago. I was so nervous, but he did great and we all had a blast. Looks like Vance may follow his father's footsteps and be a wakeboarder.

Nail Polish Disaster

2008-06-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well Vance finally figured out how to get the nail polish open. I guess he was trying to paint his face like mommy does in the morning. This picture doesn't even show how bad it was. And I had no idea where to begin getting it off. At least he knows now that he doesn't like the taste of nail polish remover.

2008-06-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

The other day I was looking for Vance all over the place. Our appartment is pretty small so I counldn't figure out where he could be hiding. Finally, I heard some clanking in the laundry room, and there he was, looking all adorable in the dryer. I've never seen something so cute coming out of the dryer.

Rock and Roll Kid

2008-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Vance is currently taking his first class at the rec. center. We have so much fun. When he arrives, people say 'here's the dancer'. Anytime he hears any kind of a beat he starts moving and shaking. Even when a ceiling fan clanks he dances to the beat. We sings songs, run around with kids his age, play on the gym equipment (for kids), play with balls, and best of all - have bubble time. I love being a mom!

Belize

2008-06-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

This was on our trip to Caye Caulker, Belize in Central America. It was my first time out of the country and it was crazy to see a 3rd world country. This island is so small, there aren't even any cars there, and people just walk arounsd barefoot. We didn't have Vance with us, and I was thankful for that since finding normal food was difficult. However, I was ready to go home after a couple of days just to see him .