Scott, Ashley and Paisley

Happy Birthday, Paisley!

2012-01-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Paisley's birthday, and we went to the doctor last week for her yearly check-up. She is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight, so our girl is average.

We're amazed at how much Paisley has grown and progressed over the last year or so. She is essentially potty trained (during the day, at least), she is saying so many new words and phrases and seems to be putting things together with the English language. She loves to repeat things she hears, especially songs she hears on the radio.

We've recently eliminated nap time, which is great because she goes to bed earlier and stays asleep longer too. She has also gotten better at being a big sister (although she often takes even the lowliest of toys away from London as soon as she starts playing with it).

The last three years have certainly been an adventure, and we're excited to watch her grow as she has the last three years. Enjoy the slideshow!

London: Six Months

2012-01-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how fast the time has passed with London. It definitely doesn't seem like it has been a full six months since she was born, but I guess if the Gregorians say it has, then so be it!

On Thursday, London had her six-month appointment with her pediatrician. It's really fun for us to compare London and Paisley, especially when it comes to their physicals stats. So, let's have at it!

At six months...

London was 24 inches long (5th percentile), and Paisley was 27 inches long (75th - 90th percentile).
London weighed 15 lbs. 4 oz. (25th percentile), and Paisley weighed 17 lbs. 14 oz. (75th - 90th percentile).
London's head was 16.5 inches (25th percentile), and Paisley's was 17 inches (50th - 75th percentile).

So London is quite a bit smaller than Paisley, which didn't surprise us, but I was surprised she was only in the 5th percentile for length. She doesn't seem THAT small to me.

Things London can do...

Sits up extremely well
Has two bottom teeth
Reaches for toys
Puts stuff in her mouth
Enjoys rice cereal and sweet potatoes so far
Gives very soft high-fives
Babbles and says "ooh" and "aww"
Is entertained nicely by Paisley
Can roll over
Lifts her chest up while on her belly
Is veeeery flexible
And other stuff that doesn't come to mind right now

She's been a great baby so far. She's got a different personality than Paisley, but she's a wonderful addition to the Gower Family!

Gower Christmas 2011

2012-01-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

Well the Christmas season has come and gone and we had a lot of fun over the holidays. This post is a very pictured filled one to show all the good times we had through the month of December. We did some of our favorite traditions including: making gingerbread houses, decorating cookies, cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating it. Christmas morning was a blast and it was cool to see Paisley really understand the true meaning of Christmas (because it's all about presents, right?). Paisley remains deathly afraid of Santa Claus, but she was sure thankful for all the toys he brought. She even called him on her play phone and said, "Thank you Santa!" Enjoy the pics!

We picked out the perfect Christmas tree!

London is pretty excited for her first Christmas!

Look who's sitting up now! (Don't worry, I only left for a moment. I really had to go to the bathroom.)

We took the girls to the mall to see Santa. Paisley was deathly afraid and would not sit on Santa's lap. She also became quite protective when I said, "That's fine you don't have to, but London's going to sit on his lap." She quickly replied, "No London! Back in carseat, back in carseat!" London was all smiles on Santa's lap but we couldn't take any pictures due to the mall's policy. (This picture was actually taken at our Ward Christmas party.)

Paisley had fun with these cookies and thought it was pretty cool there was a snowman in them.

I took pictures of the girls this year for our Christmas cards (always a stressful event) and I was so impressed and happy with how well they smiled for the camera (it made it amazingly less stressful). It was really hard to pick the actually pictures for the card because they were so many good ones, so I decided to include them here. Enjoy!

Paisley had a lot of fun putting all the candies on our gingerbread house and London slept through the whole thing. I was really glad the house stood up because I skipped a few steps. (Who has time to let the house set for an hour before you put the decorations on?) I'm proud to say the house is still standing strong today.

Here's Scott and Paisley decorating the Christmas tree! Funny story: Paisley wanted to cut the netting off the tree so Scott helped Paisley hold the scissors and they cut together. While they were cutting, Paisley casually says, "Oh my finger." They get done cutting and when Scott takes his hand off the scissors, there was some blood. He had no idea where it came from. He looks at Paisley's hand and there was a cut on her finger. So THAT'S why Paisley said, "Oh my finger."

We decorated Christmas cookies using a recipe from my mother-in-law (it's SOOOO good.) Paisley had a lot of fun and enjoyed decorating and of course eating the cookies.

Here are the girls' dresses they wore on Christmas morning to church.

Paisley's two favorite phrases she likes to say to London are "Go away!" and "She's hugging me!" I'm sure you can guess which one this is because we can't show you the other.

Here's Christmas morning and the loot Paisley and London accumulated. It looks like Paisley got a lot for Christmas but her big gift was a kitchen and then she got mostly clothes. The poor girl only had like 4 outfits we were rotating through. I'm sure as a teenager she'll be very excited to get clothes but now as an almost 3 year old she was totally disinterested. In fact every time she opened an article of clothing, she would say, "This is for London," and pass it over to her little sister.

The day after Christmas we drove to Scott's parents' house and got to spend a few days with them. Here's Paisley and London with their Uncle Russ. Paisley has a bear stuffed animal she used to call "Rarr." After we visited them during Thanksgiving, Paisley started calling her bear, "Russ." Her kitchen comes with a play phone and on Christmas morning she kept telling us, "I'm going to call Russ." So I think we know who's her favorite uncle now.

Look who's 4 months old!

2011-12-11T19:31:00.001-08:00

London turned 4 months old on November 18 (yes I know, we're still playing catch up). We took her to her 4-month check-up and here are her stats:

Head: 40.5 cm

Length: 22.5 inches

Weight: 13 lbs. 7 oz.

London weighing in at the doctor's office.

We encourage Paisley to sit next to or be near London when she plays because London LOVES to watch Paisley.

London and her Momma!

London actually enjoys belly time (for a little while at least).

We can hardly believe how fast the time has gone. London is now nearly 5 months old and here's what she's been up to: she loves to smile and sing to us, she loves to be thrown in the air and stand on our laps. She makes all kind of gurgling and raspberry noises with her mouth. She's a good sleeper and a good eater which equals happy parenst. Her new accomplishment as of late is rolling over and she is very quick at it. Here's a little video from one of the first times London rolled over. Enjoy!

Look who turned 30!

2011-11-30T14:55:00.001-08:00

On November 19 Scott officially left his 20s and turned 30 years old! We celebrated his birthday on Friday, November 18. Scott came home from work to a "Heart-Attack" by Paisley, London and I. We used paper hearts and wrote on each heart a reason why we love Scott/Daddy. There were 30 hearts in all (Sorry, I didn't take a picture.) Then we went to Carmel, IN to a restaurant called Chappie's. Neither of us had been there before; it was really good. For Scott's birthday cake, we had been eying that ridiculously huge triple-layer chocolate cake with the shaved pieces of chocolate on the sides they have at Costco. We always thought it be cool to get it for one of our birthdays and so we did it for Scott's. When we had our two slices that night, it looked like we hadn't even touched the cake.
Paisley had a lot of fun with Scott's birthday. Given the fact it's been a little over two weeks and everyday since then Paisley has said, "Happy Birthday Daddy!"

Look at this handsome man with his two kiddos!

Look at the three gorgeous ladies you have in your life Scott!

Paisley had a lot of fun singing "Happy Birthday" and helping him blow out his candles.

Halloween

2011-11-28T08:47:00.001-08:00

   Each year for Halloween, our family has had themed costumes. For example, last year Scott was Peter Pan, I was Wendy and Paisley was Tinker Bell. As Halloween was approaching this year, I tried to decide what our costume theme would be. Now with there being four of us, I felt like there were lots of possibilities. I finally decided on, "The Wizard of Oz." So Scott was the Scarecrow, I was the Tin Man, Paisley was Dorothy and London was The Cowardly Lion. Scott's mom helped me make Paisley's costume and I put together the rest of the costumes. Each year it always seems to be a lot of work, but it's so much fun in the end.
     We went Trick-or-Treating with some friends of ours and Paisley had a blast. She did get a little scared when she saw other Trick-or-Treaters who were wearing masks so we tried to avoid those people. Lots of people got a kick out of our costumes and people seemed to love London as the Cowardly Lion.
     Paisley got a lot of candy which means Scott and I got a lot of candy. The only disappointing thing was I can't tell you how many times Paisley grabbed a sucker instead of chocolate. We'll obviously have to train her better for next year.


These are the pumpkins we carved for Halloween. The pumpkin on the far left is a witch. Paisley said "Happy Birthday" to the pumpkin when we lit the candle.

London got a little tired before it all even started.

Here's Paisley and London about to go Trick-or-Treating.

IU Health/BMH Muncie Mini Marathon

2011-11-20T11:19:00.001-08:00

On October 29 I ran the IU Health/BMH (Ball Memorial Hospital) Muncie Mini Marathon. I had been training for 12 weeks prior and I was really happy with how well I did. Most importantly, I beat Scott's 1/2 marathon time (Bam!)

I ran 13.1 miles in 1:50'05" (that's a pace of 8 minutes and 24 seconds per mile.) My fastest mile was 7'52". It was so fun to see Scott, Paisley and London along the race. The first time I saw Paisley I yelled her name, and when she turned around and realized it was me running, I saw her collapse on the ground crying. I think she was a little confused as to why "Mommy is running away from me." As you can imagine, she was pretty excited to see me at the end. When I finished, they had doughnut holes, Mountain Dew and Pepsi for post-race food. (Gotta love Muncie!) They did have some water which was somewhat redeeming. Anyways, Paisley enjoyed the doughnut holes.

In Church the next day, unbeknownst to me my friend was teaching a lesson on not competing with others and being happy for others' accomplishments. Prior to her lesson, when she found out I ran a half-marathon, I said to her, "Wahoo! I beat Scott's half-marathonn time." It was kind of ironic.

Four months for London

2011-11-18T20:25:00.001-08:00

The great thing about having two girls in a row is that you really don't have to buy many (or even any) new clothes. You can just shove the second one into the first one's leftovers. It's great!

Anyway, today marks exactly four months from the day London was born, and we thought it would be a hoot to dress her up in the very same clothes Paisley wore on the day she turned four months old.

Can you tell which one is which, or do you think they are both London, or do you think they are both Paisley? Or is it possible you think they're both Scott as a baby? Do you even think they both look alike? Please leave your best guess in the comments!

Potty training, London's smile, and what we've been up to

2011-10-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy around the Gower home so let me fill you in:

School started up again at the end of August so Scott's been busy with classes and working 20 hours a week as a graduate assistant. He and some friends from our ward drove down to Mississippi at the beginning of September and were able to see the BYU-Ole Miss game. BYU won which made the trip well worth it.

I'm back at the hospital working two nights a week in the Emergency Room. My maternity leave was fun while it lasted, but it's definitely nice to get a paycheck again. I've been running recently and I signed up to run the IU Health/BMH Muncie Mini Marathon at the end of October which I'm pretty excited about.

Paisley is mostly potty trained! Yippee! She's doing an awesome job going pee in the potty but we're still working on going #2. I'll keep you posted. Here are some potty-training pictures of Paisley. As you can see, she likes to multi-task.

Potty treats for Paisley! An incentive and a fun way to learn colors.

About the same time I was potty training Paisley, London started to smile for us which was awesome timing on her part. It definitely helped ease the frustration that came along with potty training. Here are some of the things London's been up to: she holds her head up for long periods of time, she's starting to coo and make sounds when we smile at her, Scott heard her laugh for the first time (and I missed it!), she can stand for a little while (with us supporting her of course), and she's sleeping for a nice stretch at night (6-7 hours).

Paisley and London get along nicely and Paisley's new thing is she likes to dance with London. This involves me holding London as I bob her around to the Toy Story song. I don't know why but Paisley loves it.

Sorry for the quick update but I wanted to post something. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

London at 1 month

London at 2 months

Newborn pictures of London

2011-09-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

So I failed to mention that when I visited my sister in Utah at the beginning of August, not only did we have a blast, but we took some newborn pictures of London. Heidi, my sister, is a professional photographer and always does an amazing job. She took the pictures at my wedding and has taken pictures of our growing family over the years. I hope you all enjoy! (There are three other pictures that wouldn't load, so we'll see if we can get those later.)

London's blessing and fun with family

2011-09-03T08:01:00.001-07:00

Last weekend London had her blessing and Scott's sister, Jessica, went to the temple for the first time. We drove to Scott's parents house in Saint John, IN Thursday night, and Friday morning we drove to the Chicago temple. Scott's brother, Russ, watched Paisley and London while we were in the temple. Paisley had a lot of fun hanging out with her Uncle Russ. After the temple we all went to eat at a salad buffet called Sweet Tomatoes. It was really good!

We spent Saturday hanging out with Scott's family. Paisley got in her swimsuit and played in the pool. As excited as she was with the idea of a pool, she only liked playing on the outside of the pool. That soon changed when Scott started splashing her with water.

Paisley enjoyed splashing Scott with water and LOVED pouring a bucket of water on his head.

Paisley got pretty wet in the end . . .

but she sure had a lot of fun!

On Sunday we blessed London here in Muncie, IN. Scott and his dad were in the circle and London did very well. Not even a peep! After church, we took some pictures. Paisley was somewhat cooperative. She just wanted to run around and play in the grass.

So that was our fun weekend with Scott's family. It was way too short!

A quick trip to Utah and Idaho

2011-08-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of August, London and I flew to Utah and Idaho. We spent 5 days there and although it was short, it was not short on family. I was able to see my sister Heidi and her family (including my new niece Roxy), my mom, my Grandma Smith, Grandma and Grandpa Gower, Grandpa Marley, and some of Scott's aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had a blast and it was so fun to see and visit with everyone.

We left on Friday morning and flew to Salt Lake City. We spent the day with my mom, Heidi and her family. Here's my nephew and niece, Gunner and Roxy. Gunner was so excited to meet London. He loved holding her, patting her cheeks, and showering her with kisses. He also was a big help and retrieved London's blanket and threw away diapers for me. It was so fun and cute to see Gunner interact with London.

On Saturday, we drove to my Grandma Smith's (my mom's mom) house in Firth, Idaho. It was fun to visit with her as there's never a dull moment because she always has something to say. Here's Roxy and London in their Sunday outfits. Roxy was born at the beginning of April and weighed the same as London did when she was born (7 lbs and 1.5 oz.) It was amazing to see how much bigger she was in just a few months time.

My sister Heidi and I were best friends growing up and still are. I don't get to see her much because we live in different states, but it was so fun hanging out and joking around with her.

My mom and her newest granddaughter.

My Grandma Smith and London. London's middle name comes from my middle name and my Grandma Smith (Ashley Iris and Grandma Iris Smith). My Grandma Smith has had a huge influence on my life. She's always fun to talk to and has given me a lot of advice and constantly reminds me to pray and read my scriptures. I am grateful for her and the person she is.

On Sunday morning we drove back to Utah and on the way stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Gower's house in Pocatello, Idaho. London did really well when Grandma Gower was holding her, but cried quite a bit when Grandpa Gower was holding her. I felt kind of bad; too bad kids don't perform when you want them to.

We also stopped in McCammon, Idaho and visited with Grandpa Marley.

Like I said, we had a fun trip and I was grateful London got to meet all of her great-grandparents. (She won't remember it, but at least we have the pictures to show her one day.)

New Pictures of London...

2011-08-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Everything seems to be going well with the new addition to the Gower household. Paisley her doubts (her loud and semi-violent doubts) at the beginning, but she has really grown into her role as a big sister. Now that it has been two full weeks since London was born, it is the perfect time to share some new pictures with everyone.

London hasn't been up to too much. She is sleeping very well at night (like Paisley did), so that's convenient. Anyway, here are some of the things she's been up to:

As we've previously mentioned, Paisley is starting to become the big sister we've wanted her to be all along. She loves holding London (in a controlled environment, of course) and loves helping out by putting her binky back in her mouth. Whenever London starts to fuss or cry, Paisley says "Uh-oh!"

Here's London all snuggled up in a blanket. The way she gets bundled up, you'd never know that Muncie's temperature has been in the 90s pretty much all of her life. (Kids! Am I right?)

I really liked this picture of her during her second bath, but now her umbilical cord stump is finally off. No more sponge baths for this one!

This picture isn't the best, but I like her face in it. In all likelihood, we'll probably keep her.

She's here!

2011-07-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

London Iris Gower was born this morning at 1:45 a.m. She was 7 lbs. 1.5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Her delivery story was a whole lot shorter than Paisley's, and we'll mention it in detail later on. We just wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

Fireworks!

2011-07-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

Still a couple days away from our due date, but we wanted to share Paisley's reaction to the grand finale at the Muncie Fireworks Show on the Fourth of July:

Just a few more days!

2011-07-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we have just a few more days. July 10th is the official due date and we are eager and excited as we await the birth of Baby Girl Gower #2. Scott and I decided to take some pregnancy pictures in downtown Muncie. Paisley was not really into cooperating that day so we only got a couple of shots of her. However, it was still a lot of fun. Scott and I also celebrated our 5 year anniversary on June 24. We can hardly believe it's already been 5 years. It's been a lot of fun and exciting to think of the years to come.

Paisley Learning to Catch a Ball

2011-06-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

We're getting closer and closer to the arrival of Baby Girl Gower #2. At this point, the due date is just a hair over 2 weeks away. It's amazing how fast the time has flown by with this one. Then again, I'm not the one carrying her around, so...

I thought we'd share some picture of us trying to get Paisley to catch a soccer ball. She used to make a much better effort than she has lately, but it's pretty funny to watch her chicken out.

Picture 1: Here Paisley looks what appears to be ready to catch a ball.

Picture 2: Even before the ball has arrived, she is already bracing herself for the certainty of NOT catching the ball

Picture 3: True to her original plans, she did not catch the ball. (Side note: The ball didn't hit her head.)

Picture 4: Here Paisley looks uncertain as to whether or not it is safe to open her eyes.

Paisley Pictures and Update

2011-05-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

We didn't have a post in awhile, so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of Paisley. Only about 6 weeks until the due date for Baby #2. We're amazed at how quickly the time has passed and excited about what she will be like compared to Paisley. I hope Paisley is as nice to her as she is to her "friends" (pictured below).

Bowling, Fun at the Park, Mothers' Day, and BBQ

2011-05-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty fun spring/summer so far here in Indiana. Paisley got to bowling for the very first time, and she did a pretty good job of it. The bowling was part of a friend's graduation party, and there was a group of other younger kids with which she got to bowl.

She still needs to practice/learn a lot of things about bowling. For example, she needs to learn that it is inappropriate to cross the line at the beginning of the lane. Paisley's ignorance of that tiny rule is what caused me to have to chase her 3/4 of the way down the lane.

Here is a short video of Paisley in the act of bowling. Say what you will about Paisley's bowling skills, she at least has the post-bowl celebration down.

Paisley also has had a lot of fun playing at local parks. These pictures are from a local elementary school playground. Her favorites things from the playground are going down the slide and playing on the swings.
For Mothers' Day we went to Amazing Joe's, a restaurant in Muncie. It was delicious, but it was hardly an even trade for all of Ashley's hard work as the mother of Paisley (and another one soon).
We finally purchased a charcoal grill and have been having a lot of fun grilling and smelling the unique scent of BBQ.

A Belated Easter Post...

2011-05-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

It has certainly been awhile since we have posted, but we're trying - slowly, but surely - to catch up. Small family details: the pregnancy is going well for Ashley (amazed that we have less than "2 months" remaining), Scott has successfully completed his first year of graduate school, and, with the warmer weather, Paisley is enjoying frequent trips to the park and playing outside.

We celebrated Easter a week early this year, and Paisley had a lot of fun. She got to participate in THREE Easter egg hunts. This picture is of her after the one at home, enjoying all of her loot.

It was a lot of fun to watch Paisley yell "Ooooooh!" whenever she saw an egg. She kept that up for each and every one of the 42 eggs. Well done, Paisley.
She also enjoyed an Easter egg hunt at the chapel with a group of kids from church. She had a lot of fun.

In fact, the next time we went to the chapel after the egg hunt, Paisley quickly went to this very spot in hopes of finding another egg. But, alas, they were gone.
She also got to decorate cookies. Much like Christmas, there were times she was more interested in eating the items she put on the cookie instead of the actual cookie.
And finally, this was Paisley's Easter outfit for church this year. She looked very cute in it.

Paisley's new bed

2011-04-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

In preparation for the arrival of Baby Girl Gower #2, we moved Paisley from the crib to a twin size bed. I wasn't quite sure how she would do. Would she like the new bed? Would she long for her crib? Would I be saying goodbye to nap time? So many questions and uncertainties. We decided not to take down the crib, just to put it up in a few months; that seemed silly. So here's Paisley the last time in her crib.

Paisley was SO EXCITED when we put together the bed. She was anxious to hand the tools to Dad and Grandma Gower. When the bed was finished, she got on it and snuggled up to the blankets and her stuffed animals. It was so precious to watch.

That night we took her upstairs and tucked her into bed. We talked excitedly about "sleeping in your new bed tonight" and "you're such a big girl." She was very excited to climb into bed.

About 10 minutes later she started crying. She had obviously climbed out of bed and was crying by the crack of the door because it was unusually loud.

She cried for about 30 minutes and then stopped. We went upstairs to find she had fallen asleep with arms outstretched by the door. I picked her up and put her back in bed.

I heard her cry one other time during the night, but she fell back asleep. The next morning when I woke up, I went to see if she was still in her bed. As I got closer to the door, I could see her little ponytail sticking out from the crack underneath the door. (She had obviously gotten out of bed through the night.) A few minutes later I could hear her wake up, and when we opened the door this is was we found.

Paisley had pulled everything off the bed and slept by the door. Paisley was also holding something in her hand . . . any guesses on what it was? That's right, a Rice Krispie Treat. (We keep some food storage in her room.) I figured after a rough first night, I couldn't take it away. So a Rice Krispie Treat is what she had for breakfast.

Since then, Paisley has done quite well adjusting to her new bed and really seems to like it. Not every nap is perfect, but she doesn't object too much to going into her room for a couple of hours. Usually she falls asleep, and on rare occasions she has other ideas in mind.

New York, New York

2011-04-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ashley and I decided to go to New York City during spring break this year - kind of just to get out of Muncie for a few days and kind of for a 5-year anniversary celebration (but our anniversary isn't until late June).

Here we are in my parents' driveway getting ready to leave. They agreed to take care of Paisley while we were gone, which made the trip even more special.
This is when we got to Pennsylvania. I don't have much to say about that state. It was pretty rainy on the way to NYC, as well as on the way back. This was a state visitors' center.

Here are a couple of pictures of us on Liberty Island when we went to see the Statue of Liberty.

We didn't realize the whole trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island was going to be so long. We were so hungry, and there was a cafe there. Even though our cheeseburgers weren't actually warm, it may have been the best meal we've ever had.

The great thing about New York City being so crowded (especially Times Square) is that you can get a lot of pictures that have several different people posing for pictures. Check out the guy on Ashley's right. He wasn't with us.
Here's us at the Manhattan LDS Temple. Pretty cool to see. It's amazing that even in the middle of the hustle and bustle of NYC, there is still place in which to find peace.

Funny story to go along with this picture of FAO Schwarz (of "Big" fame): Ashley and I were walking through and looking at all of the toys, and Ashley said, "Gosh! I would NEVER bring a kid in here."

Just as she finished her sentence, this girl who was walking in front of us (probably seven or eight years old), immediately turns around with a surprised look on her face.

We still don't think we'd ever take a child there.
Here's us on top of 30 Rock. It was a pretty cool place to take pictures of the NYC skyline, but the Chrysler Building was blocked by another big building. Stupid progress! Anyway, that's the Empire State Building behind us.

We did get a chance to see a show while we were there. Ashley picked "Mary Poppins" as the sign indicates. It was a lot of fun.
Overall, we enjoyed our trip to New York City. We got to see a lot of sights, I had frequent opportunities to speak Portuguese, and we had a lot of fun. However, we both agreed we'd never actually want to live in that region, but it was a nice place to visit.

What do you think this picture means?

2011-03-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

Well, Ashley and I have been taking a long look at our dwindling blog numbers, and we've noticed we haven't been getting the visitors we used to and the comments we used to. So, we thought to ourselves, "Selves, what can we do to guarantee an increase in the consumption of our blog?"

At first, we thought we could climb Mount Everest. But with our schedules and all of the preparation such an event would entail (along with Scott's intense/irrational fear of heights), we decided that wouldn't work.

Then we (or I alone) thought, "What if Ashley were to start growing facial hair? Wouldn't THAT increase readership?" I ran the idea by Ashley, and that also isn't going to happen.

Then we stopped and thought about when our blog was its most popular. It was around the time Ashley was pregnant and after Paisley was born. So, Ashley decided to run that idea by me. I said, "Great. But how would we go about shoving Paisley back through the birth canal?"

Ashley felt I wasn't understanding what she meant. After several hours of her explaining it to me through a variety of media, I finally understood what she meant. That brings us to the point of this blog entry.

Ashley is pregnant. We've actually been sitting on this information for quite some time. We love keeping secrets! Anyway, the baby is scheduled to arrive around July 10...in 2011.

Now the only question is what gender? Will Paisley be a big sister or big brother? Well, that's a ridiculous question, because she remains a girl regardless of the gender. But she will be getting a little sister.

Quick recap: Paisley will be getting a little sister around July 10, 2011.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, and here is a short video from the ultrasound. This was our favorite, because it showed a profile of the whole body. We're excited!

Jump Paisley, jump!

2011-02-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

If you know Paisley well, you know she is deathly afraid of heights. She's always been reserved and cautious. She's not one to seek out risky thrills involving heights or jumping. To put it in perspective, when she was 15-months old and a confident walker, she would get down on all fours and crawl if she saw a little dip in the sidewalk (I'm talking a 1-2" height difference). Lately we've tried to teach Paisley how to jump. This is how it went (I LOVE her noble attempt near the end):

Recently, we bought Paisley a twin-size mattress. We have it in the living room providing hours of entertainment until we get her a bed. One night I was teaching her how to jump on the bed (you know, the thing every mom should teach their 2-year old). Then I had Paisley jump off a bench to the bed. In Paisley's world THIS IS HUGE! At first she would only jump to me, and then pretty soon she did it all by herself! She was so excited! She would "jump" off the bench and then run to the camera to watch herself on the video. (Little did she know it was the same video.) As you can see "jump" is in quotes and I think you'll understand when you watch the video. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day decorations

2011-02-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I thought I should share some of the decorations I made in my attempts to spiff up our house. I was very pleased with the way they turned out and I was happy with what they added to our house. Enjoy!

Clichéd title: Once there was a snowman...

2011-02-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

This past week in Muncie, we got to experience an ice storm/blizzard, which ended up canceling church yesterday. Both Ashley and I were surprised, because we had been on the roads the day before (including the hour-long drive to Costco), and we thought the roads were fine. Oh well.

Anyway, we decided to go outside and take advantage of all of the snow we received and build Paisley's first-ever snowman. Paisley had a lot of fun watching and patting the snow to help her mom and dad in the construction process.

Having done this in a spur-of-the-moment fashion, we didn't have the usual snowman facial accessories, but we improvised and found some appropriate substitutes (mulch, snow, and a stick).
Here is our finished product all by itself. We had a really good time putting him together.
Unfortunately, all good things eventually come to an end. In the case of this particular snowman, he lasted anywhere between 9 and 18 hours. We noticed his head was starting to dip after the game last night, and when we awoke, we found this (except, at that time, his scarf and hat was still on).
Also, we cleaned the snow and ice off of my car, and I was pretty surprised by how thick the ice was. Ridiculous.

Happy 2nd Birthday Paisley Jane!

2011-01-27T16:40:00.000-08:00

Paisley turned two years old on Saturday, January 22. We can hardly believe how the time has flown and how much she's grown! We had a Curious George-themed party with Chef Pisghetti pizza and Curious George fruit salad. We invited some friends from church and Scott's parents drove down for the day for the celebration. We started off with decorating party bags, we ate, and then it was time for presents. IT WAS INTENSE! I forget how excited kids are about presents and Paisley was just not opening them fast enough. With all the excitement, Paisley was happy to let the kids pitch in and help. Paisley was ECSTATIC when she opened the Dora Legos and let out an "Oh! Oh! Oh!" It was priceless! After that, she was eager to open her own presents.

Next was cake and ice cream. We had practiced blowing out candles earlier in the week so Paisley could perform come the big day. (I should say we only practiced on a lighter instead of actual candles. Sadly, I think it's easier to blow out the lighter.) She was able to blow out one candle and Mom helped her with the other. Paisley had a lot of fun and enjoyed her birthday. We love you Paisley and are excited for many more to come!

New Years in Alaska

2011-01-17T18:34:00.000-08:00

We flew to Alaska for New Years and spent a PACKED week visiting friends and family. We had A BLAST and wish we could have spent one more day. We got to see my little brother, Trenton, who returned from a mission in November and who has never met Paisley. She warmed up to him pretty fast. I saw my old co-workers who I miss and love dearly and we got to hang out with a few of them (Lynn and Tara). We went over to Tara's house for dinner and Paisley was ecstatic to see their dogs! She enjoyed petting them, but got nervous when they came too close. We also hung out with our good friends the Tingeys. We let off poppers with their kids, which I think they enjoyed more than Paisley.

We visited with my best friend from high school, Danielle, and her family. It was fun to catch up and play games. Paisley had A TON of fun!

And of course we spent time with my family. Paisley loved playing with her cousins, especially Mason who is 8 months younger than her. They enjoyed chasing each other around the house. We had some family get togethers and enjoyed joking around and catching up. We were also there to celebrate my Dad's 59th birthday. We had A LOT of fun and quickly remembered why we LOVE Alaska!

Recap of Christmas

2011-01-17T17:53:00.001-08:00

So Scott has always maintained our blog and since he started grad school, I think I was naturally supposed to take it over. I've done a few posts in the past, and when I have, it takes me FOREVER and it always seems really confusing. I like to maintain our blog because I enjoy when friends and family maintain theirs. As I see October was our last post and we've done A TON since then, I thought I better muster up the patience and do a post, so here goes . . .

Well Christmas was a blast including all the festivities leading up to it. Paisley decorated a gingerbread house for the first time. I was very impressed with her skills. I placed the frosting and she placed the candy. A few of the candies went in her mouth instead of on the house, but not too many.

We also decorated sugar cookies. This time a lot more candy went in Paisley's mouth instead of on the cookies, including a Hot Tamale (or two). She did a great job pushing the cookie cutters and placing the cookies on the cookie sheet. She was so proud and excited to eat her cookies when we were done.

I worked Christmas Eve from 7pm - 7am, so we celebrated Christmas in the afternoon when Paisley and I woke up from our naps. We asked Paisley if she was excited to see what Santa brought. She was NOT excited due to her terrible fear of Santa. But I think she changed her mind when she saw the shopping cart. She was SO EXCITED and loved pushing it around all afternoon. We had to convince her to open her other gifts, which she did ever so slowly. She enjoyed pointing to her Dr. Seuss books, Dora shirt, and dalmatian shirt. We had a great Christmas and went over to friends house later that day.

Does this make us bad parents?

2011-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

I know it has once again been awhile since we last posted, and we will get around to posting some of the happenings in our lives. But until then, enjoy this video of Paisley getting startled:

Halloween 2010 = carving pumpkins, ZooBoo, and Trick-or-Treating

2010-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun with Halloween this year. Our festivities began last Wednesday with carving pumpkins. It was Paisley's first time and she seemed to enjoy it. She did not shy away from taking "the guts" out, but I think she was a little surprised at how it felt. I (Ashley) attempted to carve a Curious George, but I think it looked more like a ghoulish goblin. Paisley loved to see the lit up pumpkin and even gave it a hug. That night we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and had pumpkin and chocolate whoopie pies.

On Friday we went to ZooBoo in Indianapolis. We saw a cool dolphin show, an elephant paint a picture, and went trick-or-treating. Paisley loved looking at all the animals, but didn't quite get the idea of trick-or-treating. It was a good thing this was a practice round.

There was an Alaskan Brown Bear at the zoo we just had to see.

(It's ironic to think these animals live a few miles from my parents' house.)

Paisley got to pet the goats, and the goats loved it! Maybe a little too much, because they started to eat her costume and Scott had to quickly pull her away.

Muncie had its trick-or-treating on Saturday from 5 pm - 8 pm. We went with a group of friends from our ward and their kids. Muncie must take their trick-or-treating seriously because there were a ton of kids out on the streets! Paisley didn't get the idea of trick-or-treating at first, but followed the other kids and joined in on the retrieval of candy.

We kept the tradition alive and dressed up for Halloween again. This year we were Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinker Bell. I had a bridesmaid dress from my brother's wedding that worked out nicely. I tried to convince Scott to wear green tights, but he wouldn't have it.

Paisley was so proud of her loot, but she didn't even attempt to open her candy. Instead she had fun putting her candy in a toy truck and pushing it around.

Happy October!

2010-10-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

We are settling in here in Muncie. Our boxes are unpacked and we've almost got all of our furniture. Scott's enjoying his graduate studies and work as a graduate assistant. Ashley is learning a lot in the ER and is looking forward to completing her orientation.

We are definitely enjoying the warm, beautiful fall (a lot different than the cold, wet, and sometimes snowy fall in Alaska). We're looking forward to Halloween and excited for costumes and Paisley's first try at trick-or-treating. Grandma Gower made a couple of fall/Halloween outfits, and Paisley was dying to show off one to the world. Enjoy!

No more lies...

2010-10-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

OK, yes, we are behind on our posts, but I've decided I going to stop lying about trying to do better. If I say we'll do it, then we won't, and we'll be liars. We'll just post when we want to. That way, everyone's happy. Anyway, here are some pictures from our time in NW Indiana with my parents.

We went to a Chicago White Sox game with some friends. It was Paisley's first baseball game, and they won, so it was an all-around winner!

Also, my brother Travis, his wife Nika, and their two kids Ayda and Zander came to visit as well, and Paisley had a lot of fun with her two Gower cousins. She adored Ayda and followed her around pretty much the entire time.

Ashley's sister Heidi also came, and we all went to Chicago. Here we are at the Chicago pizzeria Gino's East.

One day we went to some kids place in Hobart (I forget the name of it), but Paisley seemed to enjoy it plenty.

Uncle Russ spending some quality time with all of his nieces and nephew.

Almost the whole Gower family (Ashley was taking this particular picture). We don't get together too often, so it's nice to document it when it does happen.
She sure seems to like corn a lot, huh?
I think my dad gets bored mowing the lawn by himself, so Paisley and her cousins took turns keeping him company.

Our Transcontinental Adventure!

2010-09-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

We have not been very good at keeping up with this since we moved - or even when we were getting close to moving. I am hoping to make up for it with an enormous post about our trip to Indiana from Alaska.

Overall, I'd say the trip was a lot of fun. It felt a lot longer than nine days, but we had a lot of fun along the way. Canada's well-placed campgrounds along the Alaska Highway made things pretty easy. And Paisley actually did a pretty good job of maintaining sanity...her sanity.

Here we are at the beginning of the trip - Ashley's parents house. The first picture is with Ashley's parents and the second one is with Scott's parents. Everybody's smiling because it hasn't sunk in exactly how long we'll be in a car...just yet.

That Paisley is always trying to work the system. Here she is trying to claim dual citizenship. That won't get her far.

How do you keep a crying baby quiet during a unfathomably long road trip. I'm not sure, but ripping up tourist guides from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, seemed to help out.
This is the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. I think there are supposed to be about 70,000 signs here from over the years.

This is the beginning of the Alaska Highway, however, for us it was the end of the highway. After this, the trip seemed to go a lot faster. We had divided highways and multi-lane roads. It was better.

This is just a funny picture of Paisley that I liked.

Here's Paisley and Ashley during the sea lion show at the West Edmonton Mall. Paisley really liked the show!

These are some pictures of the wildlife we saw in Canada. We were actually quite disappointed in the small number of animals we saw. On the way up, it was much different.

We're confused in the picture, because Montana was NOT a state we were slated to pass through. As it turns out, we made a wrong turn some time in Saskatchewan, and put us a little off course. Luckily, my brother Travis and the invention of Google Maps were able to help us out.
Here's us when we finally did arrive in North Dakota. Look how festive of a sign North Dakota has. Thank you, ND!

So that's all of the pictures we have from our trip. We didn't take any pictures while we were in Wisconsin, Illinois or when we arrived in Indiana. I guess at that point we just wanted to get done with the trip. After 3,700 miles or so, can you really blame us?

We really are alive still...

2010-08-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time (again), but we wanted to say we've arrived safely from Alaska. Things have been pretty busy, and we'll write more eventually. However, we thought we'd share this video of Paisley watching the intro to "101 Dalmatians." It's hilarious.

Fourth of July Mega-post with lots of pictures!

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

The purpose of this post is threefold. First, we wanted to tell you all about our Fourth of July Camping Trip to Fairbanks. Second, we wanted everyone to know for sure that Paisley's swollen eye had actually returned to normal. It has, and it had by the time we had posted the pictures in the first place. And finally, we took a long look at the recent pictures of Paisley in our blog. With all of the allergic reactions, messy eating and unflattering sleeping positions, Paisley didn't come off as the cute little girl that she is, so we wanted to rectify that immediately.

Let's do this!

We got going north for about an hour and then we stopped at Miller's Market in Houston, AK, for some ice cream. I had a vanilla cone with caramel flavoring on it, and Ashley had a chocolate-and-vanilla swirl. And Paisley? After a few initial tastes, Paisley decided she wanted no more and rejected our future offers. In fact, she seemed to be more intrigued by the giant fake cone outside.
Ironically, that last picture and this next picture were taken maybe 10 minutes apart.
Also ironically, later on in the trip, these pictures were taken seconds apart.
Later on, we stopped at a viewing spot for Mt. McKinley. Once again, it was a cloudy day, so we didn't get to see much of anything, but we thought we'd at least take a picture of Paisley in front of a drawing of the mountain range.
After a couple hours in the backseat, Paisley offered to drive the rest of the way.
But after we informed her we still had over 4 1/2 hours of driving left, she was happy to get back in her car seat.
After we arrived at our campsite, Paisley's mouth and eyes opened as wide as possible at the new places she'd be able to explore, and she had the bumps, bruises, mosquito bites, etc. to prove it.
Paisley has been sleeping in her own room for all but about 3 weeks of her life, so she was excited to go to bed with Mom and Dad (even though they fell asleep before she did).
The next morning we got up and went to North Pole, AK, to see their Fourth (Third) of July parade. Paisley was pretty much emotionless throughout the entire thing, and rejected candy from numerous parade participants. (What have we done?!) She did like the Frisbee, balloon (attached to her shoe) and necklace given to her.
After the parade, we went to visit Santa Claus at his home. I thought she'd cry immediately after being placed in his lap, but nothing happened. A side note: I was semi-suspicious of Santa because of his distinct Boston accent. I almost felt they weren't even trying by hiring him.
And here's another funny letter we saw. Kids have come so far!
After our visit to North Pole, we got back in the car and drove to Chena Hot Springs. We couldn't take Paisley into the hot springs, but there was a pool, and we had a lot of fun in there, too. (What do you think of Paisley's new swimsuit?)
Then we came back to camp, and we introduced her - or at least tried - to s'mores. It was like pulling teeth to get her to eat any of it, but we managed to convince her to eat about 1/3 of the treat. She seemed more excited to take pictures than eat sweets.
The next day, on the actual Fourth, we went to Pioneer Park in Fairbanks for an Independence Day ceremony involving a gun salute to all 50 states. We cheered after both Alaska and Indiana, but I'd bet my life our Indiana cheers were our only heard cheers. They had a lot of stuff for kids at the park, but not really much for 17-month-old girls. But Paisley was OK with that, because she had a lot of fun of their swings and slides.

After playing with some snap-its and other pseudo-fireworks (we'll post that video later), we came back to camp and did what the founding fathers would have wanted: we cooked up some reindeer bratwurst. While my fire left A LOT to be desired, it was still good enough to cook my brat.
Ultimately, we were just happy to spend the holiday together as a family. It was our 5th Fourth of July as a married couple, and we're excited to have many, many more!

Another Surprise Allergic Reaction

2010-07-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

About 6-9 months ago we let Paisley try a little peanut butter, the backbone of the American family for generations. Little did we know, she was apparently not ready for it, at least not yet. The doctor said this doesn't necessarily mean she is allergic to PB, and we can try again later.

Another thing we (specifically, me: Scott Gower) didn't know is that you could have an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. This was the case presented to us a the day after Fathers' Day. On Sunday, Paisley was bitten on the forehead, just a little above her eyebrow, and WHAM! This is what we awoke to the next morning:

For the most part, she seemed really normal and happy for the entire day, so we tried to treat her like we would any other day: we went out, we ate, we went to a friend's house, we went to a park. We couldn't help but notice the pointing fingers of the other children. What a poor experience our little Quasimo-- I mean, Paisley. What a poor experience our little Paisley went through!

Summer Racing

2010-06-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

With the summer in Alaska comes the season of road racing, and the Gowers are no exception. Recently, our family was represented in two of the races here in Anchorage. Ashley once again ran the AK Run for Women, and then a week later, she ran a leg in the Mayor's Marathon Relay, while Scott ran the half-marathon event.

Ashley had her best showing ever in the Run for Women. She did the five-mile race in 39:25, an average of 7:53 per mile. In 2009, she ran it in 43:29. In 2008, she did it in 45:23. In 2007, she finished in 48:56. And in 2004, her time was 48:57 (she was absent from AK in 2005 and 2006). You've come a long way, baby! Here is some video footage of her finishing the race:

What the video DIDN'T show was Ashley's post-race vomit (yes, she threw up). We're so proud of her!

As you can see by the picture below, Paisley was stoked out of her mind to be there.
Ashley and three coworkers formed an alliance and ran the Mayor's Marathon relay (Team Providence Heart Center). She ran the second leg, a little over eight miles on a gravel road. They finished in 4:07:29.

Scott did well, too. He finished the 13.1 miles in 1 hour 57 minutes and 54 seconds, which was an improvement from last year's 2:01:25. He was pretty happy, but he fell short of his goal. Under two hours was good enough.

Messy Eater

2010-06-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

We recently found out how much Paisley likes watermelon. We were at Ashley's hospital's picnic a couple weeks back, and we gave her watermelon for one of first times, and she loved it. She actually ate like four pieces or so. We've given her a lot more since. It's great because it keeps her busy for awhile, but she is pretty messy with it, and she doesn't like getting her face and hands wiped. Oh well.
Here's another highlight from that picnic: Ashley riding, or attempting to ride, a mechanical salmon. Enjoy!

Also, Paisley doesn't leave her messiness to just watermelons. I gave her a little bowl of blueberries a few weeks back and this was the result:

Winner Creek Hike

2010-06-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

One of the things we like the most about living in Alaska (during the summer, at least) is all of the many wonderful hikes to go on. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take go for one in Girdwood, AK, called Winner Creek. It was about five miles long, and we had a fun time.

Paisley didn't get too far into the trip before she needed to take a good nap. Luckily, the trip was long enough for her to get such a nap.
Halfway through the trail we got to cross the river with this handy-dandy hand tram. Speaking as the person who did the vast majority of the rope-pulling, I think a good old-fashioned bridge would have made sense.

Paisley also liked napping during the actual hike. I don't know how she can sleep like that, but she did.
"Alright, Mr. Tree, could you please turn your head and cough?"

A tired Sunday afternoon...

2010-06-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

While it is difficult to tell which side of the family Paisley most resembles, these pictures leave no doubt about one particular inherited trait:

Paisley on a Horse

2010-06-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

So we'll have to apologize for not keeping up with the blog. With all of the packing and preparations, we have put off new postings. However, we have a handful of postings on the way. In the meantime, I will leave you with this video.

The purpose of this video is twofold. 1) We recorded Paisley having some fun at a Cinco de Mayo party we went to, and 2) I have just begun using the newest version of iMovie, and just testing it out. The album background at the beginning won't be on future videos, but I just wanted to see what it looked like.

Laughing Baby

2010-05-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

We've started all of the obnoxious things that go along with moving, most notably, the packing. Luckily, we happened to have bought some packing tape. Paisley was really thankful, too. We had no idea just how handy it would be.

Oh, and please disregard the huge bruise line on her forehead. She had a little accident a few days before this. As you can see by the shape of the bruise, she whacked her head on a very straight object.

If you haven't heard it, it's news to you

2010-05-07T09:28:00.001-07:00

While I am pretty sure most people already know, I don't think I have taken the time to mention it here. Ashley, Paisley and I will be moving to Muncie, Indiana, this summer as I begin the public relations master's program at Ball State University. The program lasts about two years, and who knows where we'll end up after that? While we will miss the many friends we've made in Alaska, we know this is the right move and are excited to begin the next phase of our lives.

On a semi-related note, we have found out just how wonderful Craigslist is. We are trying to "de-junk" before moving, and Ashley put a bunch of stuff on there yesterday. Within hours we had sold all but two things. Almost makes us wonder if we put the price high enough!

Board Certified Cardiac Vascular Nurse did someone say?

2010-05-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's me. I don't think a lot of people know, (which is exactly the way I wanted it) but I've been studying and studying to take this test, and Saturday morning I took it. I was so nervous, but felt confident with all my preparation. It was a doozy of a test: 175 questions total (150 scored and 25 sample questions). I felt my heart pounding as I waited for the results. When I saw on the paper I had passed, the only thing that stopped me from screaming "YES!" out loud, was being socially aware of other people taking their tests.

What's this Board Certification thing all about anyways? The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is the organization who offers the test. They offer certifications for all different kinds of nursing (pediatrics, mother-baby, community health, etc.). They're also the organization that awards hospitals Magnet status- a prestigous award for hospitals that demonstrates excellent nursing care and whose nurses are happy. The ANCC's certification program:

". . . validate nurses' skills, knowledge, and abilities. ANCC board certification and recognition empowers nurses within their professional sphere of activity and contributes to better patient outcomes." (http://www.nursecredentialing.org/Certification.aspx)

And it's not just going in and taking a test. I had to have been a full-time nurse for two years, have a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice in cardiac vascular nursing, and have 30 hours of continuing education in cardiac vascular nursing.

So what does this mean for me, here are a couple of perks:

1.) I get to sign my name Ashley Gower RN-BC and we all know the more acronyms you have after your name the smarter you look.

2.) Providence gives me $1000 bonus and reimburses me for the test.

3.) Some hospitals pay you a higher wage for being board certified (I hope Ball Memorial Hospital thinks that way!).

Paisley on Photo Booth

2010-04-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

I was semi-bored tonight, so I decided to try to capture the perfect picture of Paisley using the the camera on the computer. Some turned out alright, but I think both Paisley and I learned the most valuable lesson of all: patience.

Not ready...

Still no....

Almost...

Can you tell Paisley doesn't understand the whole photography concept just yet?

Paisley: The Climber

2010-04-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was sitting at the computer working on some things. Paisley was in the room with me playing with her toys. After awhile, I noticed it had become suspiciously quiet. I turned around to see what was going on. Paisley had managed to climb onto a stack of papers that were sitting behind her Boppy and she was playing with the top of a diaper box. At that moment I thought to myself, "Oh no, Paisley is officially a climber."

Easter Pictures

2010-04-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

It's a little belated, but here is a collage of Easter pictures Ashley took of Paisley in her first Easter dress. It was hard to get Paisley to sit down, which is why you can see her crouching like Benito Santiago (long-time MLB catcher) in many of the pictures. However, when Paisley is in her dress, it's quite obvious she loves it. She has a look of "Don't you like my new dress?" on her face.

Are your taxes done yet?

2010-04-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, these are older pictures.

It's Official!

2010-04-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

I can manage to grab 5 pieces of Paisley's hair and put it in a ponytail! I'll admit, she looks pretty cute with her tiny sprout of hair coming out the top. One day that ponytail won't look so pathetic.

(I apologize for the middle picture, the camera kind of washed out her face.)

Paisley, how we love you...

2010-04-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

You know something? I've really become attached to our daughter Paisley. Ashley's sister asked us to write down 10 things we love about Paisley. I'm a little bit surprised by how much fun we had discussing our top 10. So I thought we'd share with you what we came up with...in no particular order:

1.) It may sound cliche, but we love her smile and her laugh, it always makes us smile and laugh.

2.) It's funny to see her walk around the house as if she has a million things to do. ("I got to take out all those pots and pans, push that basket around, and put the remote control in the laundry basket; I only got 'til 9 o'clock so I best be moving.")

3.) We love her bedhead when she wakes up from a nap! It's nice in the front and all crazy in the back! (Business in the front, party in the back!)

4.) We think it's funny to see her walk around the house with a pair of socks or a dishtowel in her mouth, likes she's a dog or something, we don't know where she gets it.

5.) When we put her down to sleep at night, we lay her in the crib, and put the blanket on her. When we put the blanket on her, she hugs it and giggles as if she doesn't remember she doesn't like going to bed.

6.) Paisley's always been one for food. I love that she can palm her bottle and when she sees us making a bottle she gets a big smile on her face and claps her hands.

7.) Scott loves the fact she's always been intrigued with basketball.

8.) It was so exciting to see her crawl for the first time. I think I realized at that moment that crawling is actually difficult; the whole opposite arm and opposite leg thing.

9.) Before she learned to crawl, she would roll to wherever it was she was going. She would roll from one side of the house to the other, it was funny to watch.

9.) We let Paisley play with the phone and when she was 6 or 7 months old she dialed 911! We didn't think she was capable of getting three numbers in a row and then pushing "send".

10.) Paisley can pull all of her toys out of the box and leave it there for hours totally uninterested, but as soon as I start picking them up and putting them away, she comes over as if to say, "Oh, are we playing this game again?"

2010 Iditarod

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

2009

2010

Like we did last year and the year before that, we went to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod through the streets of downtown Anchorage. Contrary to popular belief, Anchorage's streets don't look like that during the winter. We have plows, too. They bring in snow and create a sort of dog-mushing track.
Last year, Paisley was only about a month and a half old, and she really didn't get a chance to look at much. As you can see by the following picture, she was more interested in the dogs than the mushers:
While she was in a better mood than at the parade, Paisley wasn't in love with us leaving her on the track to take pictures.
Here's one of Ashley and Paisley watching four-time Iditarod winner (including 2010) Lance Mackey.

Fur Rondy Parade

2010-03-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

I think we've got some catching up to do with the posts. Since we are at the end of March, it's probably the perfect time to post something from the end of February. Once again, we went to the Fur Rondy parade. We went a couple of years ago, but we didn't get much candy. Apparently, people have some sort of moral objection to giving candy to childless adults. But now that we are child-ful, it was perfect.

Get candy? Yeah, we got a lot of it. The only problem was Paisley didn't seem to like being outside. At the same time, she didn't seem to hate it either. These two photos illustrate her look the entire time:
Also, we're not even sure it was the outside that made her that way. We brought her inside, and this is what she looked like:
Anyway, Ashley and I got candy, and we all got lots of memories.

Fun with water!

2010-03-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, in the midst of a snowstorm, we thought to ourselves, "Selves, you know what'd be great right now? Going to a water park." So we packed it up and went to H2Oasis, an indoor water park.

Paisley doesn't have a lot of experience with pools and water parks, so it was fun to see how she'd do. I like to make it known the pictures shown here are from the last 10 minutes, so don't let them fool you. The first hour or so, Paisley showed no emotions except for the occasional cry. Eventually, she got over it and started to enjoy herself as the picture clearly show.

We hope she enjoys water parks, because that's what she getting!

Paisley's Sleepy Dinner

2010-03-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

Last night when we were eating dinner, Paisley decided she could no longer stay awake, and she fell asleep in her highchair.

Spinning Around

2010-02-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Paisley really likes to be spun around in our computer chair. Then again, who doesn't? (Yes, that is an invitation to be spun around in our computer chair. Just let us know!)

Chuck E. Cheese

2010-02-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

So once again, it has been awhile since we last posted. A lot of things have happened, but I guess we just haven't gotten around to posting pictures/information about them. Anyway, just know we are still alive and doing well.

Right around her birthday, Paisley made her inaugural visit to Chuck E. Cheese (you know, where a kid can be a kid?). The occasion was her cousin's 4th-birthday party. We put her on some little rides and, initially, we didn't think she liked them too much. She showed almost no emotion at all.

No emotion...until we tried to take her off. Then she erupted into Mount St. Angry, with tears spewing forth like a bathroom shower head.

But it was fun to see her slowly start to get happier and happier with each ride. And as you can clearly see, she was quite the social butterfly with the following people:

Bob the Builder

Fetch the Vet

And, of course, Mr. Chuck E. Cheese himself.

Paisley's First Birthday Party

2010-01-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

Paisley had a wonderful first birthday party. Mainly because it was her first crack at eating someting sweet. The following video is pretty much her trying to find her way around her very first cupcake. It's deliciously fun to watch. (Yes, that was a pun.)

VIDEO: Exciting Birthday Surprise

2010-01-23T19:00:00.000-08:00

Paisley: One-year Review

2010-01-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Paisley's first birthday, so we would like to take you on a journey through the first 12 months of Paisley's life. Some of you may even find yourselves in the slideshow. To those, we say "Congratulations!" To those who are not, we insist a hearty "Try harder" or "Better luck next year."

Enjoy!

Christmas in Indiana

2010-01-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Paisley really had a lot of fun learning all about Daddy's roots in Northwestern Indiana. She slept in his old bedroom, she broke bread with his family, she played in his old backyard, she met some of his friends, she had Christmas where he had Christmas. Paisley really wanted to know what made her father (Scott Gower) tick. To do that, she had to visit the place that shaped his life the most: St. John, Indiana.
A special gift-wrapped bottle for breakfast on Christmas morning.Playing with one of the many, MANY snowmen residing within the Gower household.Hangin' out on a Saturday night with Mom, Dad, and new friends Aaron Volk, Brandon and Laura Gumbiner.

Fun with Christmas Gifts

2010-01-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas was pretty great for Paisley. She got a lot of gifts that she really loves. This video highlights her enjoyment of a type of pushcart/four-wheeler. Whatever the actual name of the toy is, she loves it. And she loves her Aunt Nika, Uncle Travis and cousins Ayda and Zander for getting it for her.

The Gower Holiday Card

2010-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

(Pre) Christmastime at the Lunds

2010-01-09T22:43:00.000-08:00

We are falling behind again, obviously, but we did have somewhat of an excuse this time. We went to Indiana for Christmas this year, which was Paisley's first trip to the Gower grandparents' house. So we've been out of town for a bit. I feel like that's a legitimate excuse. We were like 4,000 miles from our home base. Anyway, we'll post some pictures from that trip later. For now, we wanted to post pictures from the Lund Family Christmas Party we had before we left to The Region.

Paisley enjoyed opening gifts...we just wish she was a quite a bit better at it. She definitely likes playing with underneath the wrapping paper. This toy she got from her Uncle Garon and Aunt Rachel. I don't know what it is called, but she loves it, and it has entertained her for great chunks of time. We'll have to post some video of her playing with it, because it is quite entertaining to watch her get entertain by it.

We concluded the big family party by making "gingerbread" houses. A fun time was had by all, and we'll look forward to the next get-together.

Paisley and Jolie

2009-12-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

Jolie is the daughter of Danielle (Ashley's best friend from high school) and Nathan Jabaay. Periodically, Ashley and Danielle will do a little switch-a-roo and babysit while the other works.

Jolie is Paisley's best friend, but it is debatable whether or not that friendship is reciprocated. Every once and awhile they get a chance to bond, and as you can see by this video, their relationship has come quite a ways. This was taken the last time Jolie came to visit.

Earthquaked Paisley

2009-12-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

Paisley really likes to be bounced around on a knee. Enjoy!

Cutting down the Christmas Tree...

2009-12-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

As we do every year, we went out and cut down our Christmas tree for 2009. This year was obviously Paisley's first time, and we did it on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

As usual, the pickings were a little slim, so we tried to find the one that best suited our needs for a Christmas tree. Unfortunately, this is what we got. It's not bad, but we'd appreciate a much more full tree. The ones we get are usually one step above Homer Simpson's head and Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.
We've always just jammed the tree in through the trunk, but since we now have another person in the back seat, we had to tie it to the top of our Toyota Corolla. We were a little worried about it falling off while driving 65-70 mph for 40 miles or so, but everything seemed to work out for the best.
Most importantly, and despite getting over a cold (we bundled her up good) and having chapped lips, Paisley was a very good sport throughout the whole thing. "Until next year!" she undoubtedly said with a smile.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

2009-12-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

We seem to be falling behind with our posts pretty easily. Hopefully, we can get back on track.

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving. We went to Ashley's Uncle Bruce and Aunt Allison's house. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of great food, played Cranium and went to the church and played basketball. Overall, a great day!

Paisley's First Word

2009-11-18T07:51:00.000-08:00

White for the next six months!

2009-11-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it finally came, and, unfortunately, it brought a lot of its friends too.

The snow finally showed its ugly face here in Anchorage. While I had seen very small and insignificant snowflakes a couple weeks ago, these were the first that actually amounted to something on the ground.

Though this isn't the first time Paisley has seen Old Man Winter's dandruff, she was born on Jan. 22, so she has few-to-no memories of it. It's fun to see her look at it. It definitely interests her.

We decided to take her out to our apartment balcony and take some winter pictures. We hope you like them!

Happy Halloween 2009!

2009-11-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Once again, the Gowers had a wonderful Halloween. As you know, we enjoy coming up with coordinated costumes, and this year, with our new addition to the family, we decided to team up and go as The First Thanksgiving. We actually came up with this idea last year before Paisley was even born. We were at Babies 'R' Us, and came across this little turkey costume. Luckily, they had it for sale again this year.
We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and got a lot of candy. Despite all of the cold weather, Paisley had a great time - most of the time. Here are some more pictures from Halloween 2009.
I think I know a little girl who's going to be oh-so grateful for parents that gave the best first Halloween of all time!
She likes candy bars. She just doesn't know how good they are inside of the wrapper.
By the night's end and the trip to Grandma and Grandpa Lund's house, Paisley might have been a tad worn out. But we think she had a great time, and she looks forward to next year.

Paisley is Crawling!

2009-10-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Once again, I need to apologize for not posting recently.

Anyway, sometime last week Paisley started crawling, and she has been getter better every day. In this video, she even crawls while hiccuping, which I imagine is no small task. She even managed to choose her vocation at such an early age. We couldn't be prouder.

We're doing fine. We're having a lot of fun with Paisley and enjoying life overall. If you get a chance, check out my other blog.

Paisley Likes a Good Scare

2009-09-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to get some video footage of Paisley laughing for quite some time. Anytime we find something that amuses her, we try to grab a camera and film her. But every time we put the camcorder on her, she gives us the stone face.

This time, when we found something to entertain her, we just set a camera down and kept doing what we were doing - which was trying to scare her (it turns out she loves a good scare). It turned out great, so enjoy!

The Alaska State Fair

2009-09-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Once again, this was actually a while ago, probably over a month ago. We went to the state fair. It was a lot more fun with Paisley, because she got to see a whole bunch of new things like rabbits, hens, roosters, and giant produce, and she loved it. She's such a little trooper! She pretty much goes with the flow on whatever thing we want to do. We are very blessed to have such an easygoing baby. Here are some pictures from our trip to the 2009 Alaska State Fair:

Standing Up in the Crib

2009-09-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

I know we haven't posted in a while, and I suppose we're sorry, but we just haven't gotten around to doing it lately. Anyway, this entry is about a month and a half late. Back then, Paisley was just starting to get better at standing up while holding on to something. She LOVES standing up in her crib. This is about a minute worth of her standing in the crib:

Oh, and the answer to Ashley's question towards the end of the video was "No."

Fifth Stop: Idaho Falls

2009-09-07T21:08:00.001-07:00

We left from the Salt Lake City Airport on Monday, August 3, but our flight didn't leave until 9 p.m., so we had just enough time to shoot up to Idaho Falls to visit Will, Jamie, and Ellie Anderson. It was great to see them and a good way to end our vacation. We had a lot of fun traveling from place to place, and we got to do everything we wanted. By the time we got to the airport to turn in our rental car, we had put over 2,800 miles on it and traveled through three different states. Thanks to all that helped to make our vacation as fun it was!

Fourth Stop: Oregon

2009-08-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Our next stop brings us to the state of Oregon to visit my brother Travis, his wife Nika, and their kids Ayda, 3, and Zander, 3 months. Zander was blessed on Aug. 2, so we decided, in spite of people thinking we were crazy, to drive from Idaho to just outside of Portland during our vacation. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Travis and Nika. We went to the Rose Garden, and Paisley seemed to enjoy that.
She definitely enjoyed getting to know her cousin Ayda. This picture does no justice to the amount of love Ayda showered upon Paisley on a constant and consistent basis.We also managed to find our way to the Nike headquarters. There's a lot of cool stuff there, including this bike rack, which I thought was pretty sharp:
We also got to swing by another company's headquarters: Tillamook Cheese. It was great! Ashley had found out that Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, was its centennial celebration, so it was basically like the Tillamook State Fair: games, booths (with samples), and entertainment.
To answer your question, yes, that is us with Medium Sharp Cheddar. Paisley seemed to like him a lot.

I told them we like their cheese, and so they let us meet Tillie the Cow. I can't imagine they do that for everyone - probably just their high-rollers.
And Paisley had a great time, too! As you can see, she can hardly contain herself.After Tillamook, we went to the Oregon Coast. I'd be lying if I said I remembered which beach it was we went to, so we'll just call it "Oregon Beach." Anyway, the water was X-tremely cold, but my sister Jessica, Ashley and I decided we weren't going to let a little hypothermia get in the way of an experience. So we stripped to our swimsuits and jumped into the ocean. It was cold, and a little saltier than I imagined, but we had fun. I have some video of this adventure, but it is not ready yet.
All in all, we had a lot of fun in Oregon, and Paisley was able to keep a smile on her face, despite the hours and hours she spent in her car seat.

Also, check out my other blog.

Third Stop: Utah!

2009-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Our next stop takes us to the **insert preferred adjective here** state of Utah. Unfortunately, we weren't as good at taking pictures in Utah. We did take some pictures, but we definitely forgot to take all of the ones we probably wanted.

First, we stopped in Farmington, Utah, to see the Paul and Denise Welch and family. We remembered to take one picture, and it was of Ashley's cousin Jacob with Paisley. Nevertheless, it was still great to see everyone there. We hadn't seen them since we moved up to Alaska.
Next, we went down to Provo to visit the Sullivans. It was great to spend a few days with them, and we had oh-so-much fun! We went to Tucano's, had a barbecue, played ultimate frisbee, met up with the newlyweds Daniel and Natalie Anderson, went swimming, went to the Park City Outlet Mall, and listened to Owen Sullivan do his impression of a horse over and over and over again (I couldn't get enough of it!). We had a lot of fun with everyone, and we hope they had fun as well!

Owen and Paisley: the first meeting

Owen was prompted to hold Paisley's hand for the first time, but he did it all the time without being asked after that.

Owen, Landon, Merideth, Ashley, Scott, Paisley, Daniel, Natalie at the barbecue.

Here's the video (I only got it on my phone, so this is footage of footage) of Owen Sullivan's impression of a horse. It's terrific!

Next stop: Oregon!

Second Stop: The Greater Pocatello Area

2009-08-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure where to place Firth - in with Rexburg or Pocatello? We only made one stop there, so it didn't warrant its own blog entry, so after consulting with Google Maps, I've found it is closer to Pocatello than Rexburg. Thus, we will lump it in with Pokie.

Our next stop was Firth to visit Ashley's Grandma Iris Smith. We went with Johnny, Heidi, Gunner, and Jack. It was great for her to spend some time with some of her great grandchildren.

Then we went down to McCammon to visit my Grandpa Marley and a lot of other family. While not all of the family on the Marley was there, it was still fun to get to sit, eat, and talk with family we don't get to see too often.

The next day we were in Pocatello for the soiree with the Gower side. Once again, a lot of fun to see many people we don't get to see on a regular basis. Ashley was so good at remembering to get pictures of Paisley with family members - especially great grandparents. Here are some more pictures.

Four Generations

Next stop: Utah!

First Stop: Rexburg, Idaho

2009-08-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ashley, Paisley and I got to go down to the Lower 48 for a couple of weeks and see some friends and family. Our first stop was Rexburg, Idaho.

Ashley and I first met as EFY counselors at BYU-Idaho in the summer of 2005. We dated in Rexburg, got engaged in Rexburg, and lived in Rexburg for about a year after getting married. Needless to say, Rexburg is a special place to us.

It was great to visit and see some of the changes to the campus and town over the last two years. Oddly enough, there weren't too many changes to the town of Rexburg. It was really just the new temple and road to the temple that we noticed. The campus continues to be perpetually under construction, with the new events center being built, along with additions to the MC building.
We also had another reason for going up to Rexburg. Our brother-in-law Johnny graduated on July 23. We're grateful we were able to be there for it. It was great hanging out with Johnny, Heidi, Gunner, and Jack (who we got to meet for the very first time).

Next Stop: The Greater Pocatello, Idaho, Area.

All Things and Everything Blog

2009-08-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

I know we just got back from vacation, and we have a lot of pictures/things to blog about, but I wanted to take some time to plug my new blog.

Ever since leaving Idaho and my job as a sportswriter at the Post Register, I have missed writing. Granted, there are times I haven't missed it all and times I have barely even missed it, but many more times I have missed it badly.

I enjoy writing and would like to get back to doing it on a consistent basis. Enter my new blog.

Many of you may have already known about my previous third-person sports. I have taken the posts from that and put them into a new blog, which won't be relegated to only sports. It will include my thoughts on many more topics, such as movies, TV, politics, and just anything that comes to mind.

The blog address is allthingsandeverything.blogspot.com.

Please feel free to read and follow it as you desire to do so. Thanks.

Sleep on the Side

2009-08-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

Paisley the Cowgirl

2009-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, our nephew Gabe had his sixth birthday party, and there was a pony at the party. Someone also had a baby cowboy/girl outfit, and we got to dress her up in it. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from her cowgirl experience.

Paula Lund, Paisley, Gary Lund, Ashley, and Garon Lund

Dipnet Fishing

2009-07-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Scott Gower, not known for his fishing skills/desires, has finally found a way to enjoy the aforementioned activity: dipnet fishing. Check out the pictures to figure out how it is done, or to figure out how it is done by Scott. Basically, you stick a big net into the ocean and wait for a fish to find its way into the net. If you come at the right time (an hour and a half or so after high tide), there really isn't any waiting involved. Since that eliminates any of the mind-numbingly boring waiting involved in other kinds of fishing, it makes dipnetting a Scott-Gower favorite. Overall, Scott caught two flounder and eight salmon. It was a great trip!

Neighborhood Moose Sighting

2009-07-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

One summer day here in Anchorage, Ashley looked out the window and saw a moose and her very small calf walking down our street. So I went out and recorded some video of them. There's not a lot of footage, but enjoy it anyway!