So I'm lazy...

I was so excited about using my iPad mini to post with, and then I never did anything with it. So much has happened this year! My parents served an honorable six-month mission in the beautiful Canada Vancouver, British Columbia mission, specifically on Queen Charlotte Island also known as Haida Gwaii. During that time, Jake and I were responsible for running my dad's businesses. I did the finances for all five stores, and then Jake ran the Vancouver location. This became our preparation for eventually owning and running our own business come September. So in August, after my parents came home, Jake and I packed up and left beautiful, green Washington for Idaho Falls, Idaho. We were able to purchase a home in Ammon not too far from our store's location, and despite the issues surrounding our mortgage, are happy with our choice. 

On September 16, we received all our shelving and merchandise and began the week-and-a-half process of setting up the store. After a few bumps, we were able to open the doors by October 1 and are trying to get into the rhythm of maintaining inventory and finances. We are excited for this amazing opportunity and know the hard work and long hours will eventually pay off.

Other milestones and happenings having occurred since January are Gregor turned 3 and is officially potty-trained as of September, Evan turned 1 and is just a few weeks from going to nursery on his own, and we got two kittens for the boys to enjoy. 

New way to share

I was really excited to find that Google has a blogger app so I can post from my new iPad mini (which is amazing, by the way). This post is a bit of a test to see how well the app works and what I can do with it.

The pictures are of Evan in his high chair and Gregor pushing Evan around on a little car.

Picture Update

Here are some photos from Christmas and other times.

Evan chilling in Daddy's hat.

The boys. Notice Evan is only interested in his pacifier and Gregor looks annoyed that he has to be apart of the event.

Gregor's desk that he got for Christmas.

I love this one.

Been a while...

As I was reading some friends' blogs, I decided I needed to get back into my blog again. So the most major events for the Bigler's are: 1) Jake graduated from BYU with his Bachelor of Science in Facility and Property Management and a business minor. I am so proud of him for accomplishing this as well as relieved. It's nice to not have to live the student life anymore as well as juggling my work schedule with Jake's school schedule and when we need a babysitter. Although the transition to stay-at-home mom has been difficult, I know it's worth it. 2) We no longer live in Utah! Yay, especially with the snow they're getting right now, I am happy we are in Washington where it is very rare to get that kind of weather.

Our boys are growing every day, and it's fun to watch them learn new things. Gregor is 2 1/2 and definitely acts like it. We are currently dealing with him tackling other kids in nursery as well as his brother at home. He tries to venture into biting, but that usually doesn't last long. He loves is Disney Cars die-cast cars; that is the one set of toys he protects and will not share with anybody else. His imagination is fun with what he says his cars are doing. He also loves the Toy Story characters and practically everything Disney. Evan is just about 9 months old and crawling everywhere. He loves to escape up the stairs when he can and has recently learned to go down them with a little help. Sometimes he'll stand on his own for a few seconds, so he'll probably be an early walker like his brother was.

I have pictures to post, they are just on various devices, so my goal is to have them up soon!

My Family

Jake and I spent majority of our Christmas break in Idaho, so I wasn't going to make it to Washington. However, on December 23, I got word that my Grandma Mansius passed away. She was 87 and a wonderful grandmother, but I was happy to see her go peacefully. The funeral was on December 31 in Kennewick, WA, and all of my siblings were able to make it (although two already live in the Tri-Cities, so it wasn't a big trip for them!) This is the first time we've all been together since Jake's and mine wedding, so we made an effort to take a family photo. Not bad for a quick setup and about 5 minutes total! The photo will be outdated in April when my second little boy will be born, and then Tara is due with her 5th in June, but that's okay. It was a very special occassion, and I was glad to be a part of it!

Oh, happenings...

The computer I'm currently using doesn't have pictures, so I'll have to post some updated ones later. I just haven't posted anything for so long, I thought I'd give a little update. Jake is almost done with school! Yay! We're looking at June as the earliest graduation date. He recently scored the highest on one of his final exams, which is awesome when he seriously thought he was going to fail the class and have to retake it, which it's only taught in the Fall. Now we just need to get through these last 4 weeks of the semester and hope he does well in his other classes! We also recently found out he was awarded more scholarship monies randomly. We are definitely grateful for this unexpected blessing.

I am in my second year of teaching high school, and it's been good, but hard. As many know, we are expecting our second child, which means Mom is sick in the mornings but has a schedule to keep. I am 16 1/2 weeks along, and the appointments have looked good so far - a healthy baby heart beat. I really haven't been that sick, comparatively, which has been another huge blessing for our family, especially where I have to save up my sick days. I'm due the end of April, which at my school is perfect timing. I teach college classes to high school students, and we follow the college schedule. Spring semester ends the first week of May, so I really won't be missing many days of instruction, and then someone else can administer the final exam. The Lord definitely has perfect timing! I just hope I don't come early, which most pregnant women don't hope for :)  Recently, I obtained a second job as an Adjunct Professor at Argosy University in Draper. I will be teaching one class, one evening a week for 7 weeks in January/February. With Jake not working next semester and a baby on the way, we figured the extra income would be nice, and it's pretty decent money for the hours. It will also look good on a resume if I decide to teach at a Community College or do an online class for other universities. The other staff seem really nice and laid back, and I think it will be a great opportunity and experience; my Tuesdays will just be very long.

Gregor is as wonderful as ever! He is always laughing and running around. He loves when both his mom and dad are home because it happens rarely right now. Next Sunday will be his first day in nursery, and we're super excited about that! He is also obsessed with babies, or maybe just the word, and we hope that continues until baby sibling comes. He loves other children; we just hope he doesn't get annoyed when the new baby can't play with him like his cousin Jayce can. We know he'll be a great older brother! And I love his super cute moments when you know he loves you just as much as you love him. For example, I fell asleep in the chair yesterday, and he climbed up and gave me a kiss smack on the lips and laughed! I just hope those moments never cease!

Hopefully I'll post pictures soon! :)

Family Pictures

 These pictures were taken on Gregor's first birthday by a good friend Courtney Hart. We needed a good family picture!

Here is Gregor in his birthday outfit.

 Here he is on his new ride.

 As we were taking pictures, he was running away. He loves being outside and especially walking toward the street.

 See his little smirk? He wasn't the most cooperative :)

This picture is just funny. We were getting him changed for the pictures, and he just had shoes on, so we had to take a picture!

Gregor's First Birthday!

Hey, I'm actually blogging relatively close to the time these pictures were taken! Yay, I'm improving :) So Sunday was Gregor's first birthday! I can't believe it's been a year already! It has definitely flown. These first pictures are of the present Jake got him. Gregor loves it. He was getting really impatient when we had to get it out of the box.

We have this stuffed cat from Build-a-Bear that has a voice box in and meows. Gregor loves it! Every morning when we get him out of bed, he'll meow looking for Kitty, as well as when we come home. You may also notice in these pictures that we buzzed his hair. It's the shortest it's ever been since birth. He also has two bottom teeth and is currently getting his upper front teeth!
Later in the day, we invited family and friends over for cake and ice cream. We had Sheree's family, Jan, Kjerstin, Allison, Eric and Courtney, and later Logan. It was a lot of fun. We appreciated everyone coming. Here are the pictures of his birthday outfit, the cake I made him, and him eating the cake.

 Gregor is showing left-handed tendencies, so I'm instilling in him that baseball is the sport to play :)

 He did not like cake on his face but rather wanted to use his fork!

 Allison did it :)

Happy Birthday little one! We love you tons!

Well needed update

Work, Jake, and Gregor pretty much take up most of time, hence the few updates. But I need to post more pictures of Gregor because that's what everyone cares about anyway :)
It's finals week at BYU, which makes Jake a very happy person! He also started an internship working for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a facility manager in an area of Salt Lake City. He is really liking the job thus far, and we're excited because he will be able to go full time come next week when school is officially done, and then continue until he graduates! It was such a blessing for us for Jake to get this position because it means no moving this summer! Plus it pays decent :)

I am still at Itineris. I really like where I'm at. I have wonderful students, and it's also getting close to the end for me, which is a plus. My first year of teaching was stressful, but definitely not as bad as if I were in a mainstream public school.

So here are the pictures of Gregor. He has become an excellent walker and is still such a happy baby!

 So this picture is pretty old. This is when we started feeding Gregor solids. As you look through these pictures, notice how his face is becoming less round.

 Isn't he adorable?! We dressed him as a skeleton for Halloween.

 Just playing on the couch with the remote and being cute!

 This picture is from January. We had a bowling activity with my students right after Christmas break, and one student had received these fake mustaches as a gift, so we stuck one on Gregor!

 Here is Gregor with 3 of Jake's brothers. He's not sure what to think of these three uncles - they're kinda crazy :)

 Chewing on a Nerf sword. These last two pictures were taken in January.

 Being cute while drinking his bottle. He loves these banana chairs!

 His favorite thing to do is find my wallet in my purse and pull everything out of it!

 This was taken a few weeks ago when Gregor was really getting the hang of walking, and of course getting into everything!

 This picture was just two weeks ago or so. Notice he has nuggets in both hands - he's such a pig! But we're happy he's a good eater!

We just got this toy last week, and Gregor loves it! His legs aren't quite long enough to reach the ground, and he has yet to grasp the concept of using his feet to move himself, but he loves it when we push him around. We're trying to convince the grandparents to get him a PowerWheels car for his first birthday in about a month! He's getting so big! Crazy how time flies. Hopefully with summer coming I'll keep up more on the blog!

So it's been a while...

I apologize that I haven't posted anything in a while. Life gets busy, and then I get lazy in my free time. I am still teaching at Itineris Early College High School in West Jordan, and I'll be honest, I'm ready for a longer than two-week break. I'm enjoying teaching, but it is tiring. Jake is still studying at BYU in Facility and Property Management. We are on the downhill - 4 semesters left! 

The pictures below are from Christmas Eve at my brother's house. I don't look that great, but I love the expression on Gregor's face :)  He's growing so big! He's now 8 months and crawling everywhere. I think he's looking forward to the day he learns how to climb up on the couch. He also loves to climb the stairs. He's so happy and such a good baby!

New Pics of Gregor

Hopefully these show up okay. They were taken with Jake's phone, which has a decent camera on it.

He's just so happy and cute! We love him :)

Ebates

For those of you who have never heard of Ebates, this is what it is. It's an online service that gives you cash back for when you shop online. You just need to go through the Ebates website first, and then click to go to the store website. Ebates will give you a certain percentage back! Plus, when you first sign up and use it, they will give you an additional $5.

Go check it out using this link:
http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=YNaMqMsnQOdN3bidozISYA%3D%3D

The last six weeks

I've been a slacker with posting pictures lately, more so with taking them. Gregor is growing so quickly and gets cuter every day, I need to be better about recording it!

This is Gregor in his swing soon after we came home from the hospital. It was still a bit chilly in May, so we kept him well bundled :) I have a picture of Jake sleeping in the recliner with Gregor sleeping on his chest, but Jake didn't have a shirt over his garments, so I won't post it. That's usually what I would do in the mornings after feeding Gregor, and we'd both get a nap. Lately, he doesn't take that morning nap anymore, so we're finding a new routine.

This is after we gave Gregor his first sponge bath at home. His hair is curly when it's wet, so naturally Jake gave him a fro. Then add his wide eyes, and it makes for a great picture! He wasn't a huge fan of sponge baths in the beginning, but now that he can be fully submerged in the water, he enjoys bath time.

 He's just so cute!

 My attempt at a family picture because I didn't have one yet. Not very good, but at least it's recorded!

 Just another cute picture.

Chillin with Dad while wearing a very cute outfit! This was taken the beginning of June, so when Gregor was about 3 weeks.

These were taken on Father's Day, Gregor being just over a month old. We were in the car with my parents on our way to my brother Brandon's house for dinner. Gregor fell asleep holding Daddy's finger!

These are when Gregor was 5 weeks old, and he's on the couch attempting to talk to me!

And again chilling with Daddy. Notice how they're in the same position :)

Gregor is so fun! We are enjoying him very much!