Eric and Kristina Gale

No More Diapers!!!

2008-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Well at least until the new baby comes in March. I decided to take the chance and try to potty-train Audrey before I get too big. Plus I was tired of her screaming everytime she had a poopy diaper. She hated it. After only a couple of days she was only having one accident a day. She even weny to church with underwear. It has been eight days now and she didn't have any accidents today and even tells us when she needs to go and sleeps through the night in underwear! Christmas definately came early this year. Since she can be such a difficult child I thought potty-training would be a power struggle nightmare. She decided to give her mom a break. Eric and I just laugh because our daughter who eats crayons is potty-trained.

Imagination ran wild...

2008-12-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

Porter is quite creative now that he is three. He loves pretending to fish (he usually catches a bag of M&M's), being a superhero, and have imaginary pets. He thinks all superheros have wings so he has imaginary wings that he puts on. One day he was crying because he left one of his wings at his friend's house. I had to convince him that his friend dropped it off on our front porch for him. The lastest has been his imaginary dog Clifford who is red but normal dog size. Porter opens the back door when Clifford needs to go to the bathroom. He even has Clifford sit on his lap in the car. He tells his friends they can pet Clifford and then Porter and his friends run around the house playing chase with the pet dog. I have even threatened Porter with Clifford. If he gets out of bed then Clifford has to sleep outside and can't sleep on Porter's bed. Since Eric and I lack in creativity it is fun to see the things Porter comes up with.

It's a girl!

2008-10-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

I finally had my ultrasound today. I think Eric and I both thought it was a boy but no another girl. I'm excited for Audrey to have a sister. She looked very healthy. She kept covering her face so we didn't get a profile. She did flex her arm muscles for us.

So far I like the names Theia (thee-ah) or Tia Michelle. I don't think Eric is a fan.

Porter's Birthday

2008-10-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Porter is now three. He was pretty excited and kept telling me, "My birthday's coming soon, but I can't see it yet." He had a friend bug party (none of the pictures turned out). It was mayhem at our house but I think Porter and his friends had fun.

Porter was so excited about this present he rides it everyday. He is really fast. We had to make a bunch of new rules for playing outside.

October Fun

2008-10-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Over conference weekend I decided to try grinding some of our wheat and made wheat bread. I was amazed that the loaves actually turned out and tasted really good. Audrey liked the bread so much we would catch her sneaking in the kitchen and pulling chunks off the bread to eat.

We always forget that fall really starts in September not October. The leaves were still beautiful.

Triathlon #3 - Coalville, UT

2008-07-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

When the Salem triathlon was rained out I thought it would be a good idea to sign-up for an Olympic distance triathlon. I didn't realize how much more training I would need. I was not ready and really didn't want to do it. Eric finally convinced me that I would at least finish. I did. I didn't even have to walk but my run time went from 7 min miles to 10 which was frustrating. My swim was great (32 min. - that's my time in the pool). My overall time was 3:20. I figured I did okay since it was a qualifying race for the World Championships and most people had thousand dollar bikes. It made me feel pretty good when I was doing better than someone on a $10,000 bike. I think I like the sprint distances better and will stick with those for a while.

Geyer Family Union 2008

2008-07-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the fires in CA our Lake Shasta trip was cancelled and we spent most of our vacation in San Francisco. The first day we went to Marine World and the kids had a blast. Porter loves Thomas the Train.
Porter and cousin Katrina riding Harold. Thanks Katrina for going on so many rides with the kids.

Porter with his cousins on Bertie the Bus.
Porter was so excited to take a picture with "Thomas daddy."

On the way home from San Francisco we stopped at the jelly-belly factory. The kids go a bag of jelly beans and both made themselves sick eating almost the whole bag.
We had a fun but exhausting trip. Porter is super tired still and we have been home for several days.

Lehi Round-up Week

2008-06-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Every small town in Utah has a special week were they celebrate being a town (I guess). Lehi has the round-up week. It is really fun for the kids because they have a ton of free activities all week.

On Friday we went to the museum and Porter and his friend Lilly took a train ride. Then they both got dinosaur tattoos on there shoulders and pink balloons.

Friday night was the mini parade. Audrey loved that they threw candy at her and spent most of the time eating candy and trying to join the parade.
Saturday afternoon they had a bunch of rides and slides for the kids. Porter was pretty brave and went down some crazy shark slide that was over thirty feet high and went through an obstacle course. He had a blast.

Finally, on Saturday night we went to the Lehi Rodeo with 6 other couples from our ward. It was a lot of fun. I think we will need to take the kids next year. They would love it.

Triathlon #2

2008-06-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

This morning Eric and I finished a full sprint triathlon in Provo. It was a lot of fun and I did much better than I thought I would (except for the swim). I finished in 1:32 and ran 7 min miles. I was pretty excited, that's the fasted mile I've ever ran in my life.

Triathlon #1

2008-06-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today was the exciting day for our first triathlon. We woke up to 40 degree weather and rain. I thought it would let up by the time the race started but it just rained harder and harder. We stood out in the freezing rain for hours to find out that they canceled the bike and shortened the swim from 800 meters to 500 meters. The water was 48 degrees. I couldn't even keep my head under water because it took my breath away, the water was so cold. I managed to do the swim in 12 min which is okay considering I thought I was going to drowned in the freezing water. Most of the timers didn't work and my run was not recorded.

I was so disappointed. I just kept telling myself we spend the money to encourage us to train. Which was well worth the money considering Eric lost 20 lbs and I got rid of my "mommy tummy."

We signed up for another triathlon for June 21st in Provo. We have to prove to ourselves that we can actually do it.

FHE Hike

2008-06-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

On Monday night we decided to go for a hike. I guess that is one of the good parts of living in Utah, there are so many fun outdoor things to do just 15 min from our house.Audrey got the nickname of pig on the trip. She wanted to walk the whole time. If we picked her up she would start squirming and squeal like a pig. It was pretty funny. I don't know where she gets her crazy independence from.

Eric and Audrey with the beautiful view.
Meltdown at the water fall. Porter was crying because the water was getting him. He didn't take a nap that day and was super tired.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-06-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

We decided to go camping with the Deans. We don't get to see the Deans very often so we were so excited. The best part of the trip was seeing our friends, other than that it was cold and tiring. The kids had fun and I guess that is all that matters.

I found Porter in the cooler with a bunch of toys and snacks. He thought it was the greatest thing.
Audrey loved her camping chair. She would just sit there and swing her legs.

Porter had a blast hiking. He kept telling us we had to hurry and run away from the bears.

Fathers and Sons Campout

2008-05-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

Eric took Porter to the ward Fathers and Sons Campout. Porter was so excited. He kept telling us how he was going to sleep in a tent and pack a backpack with his clothes. He had a blast! The rest of the weekend he followed Eric around everywhere. I think it was a really good bonding time. Audrey and I invited a bunch of friends over and had a fun girls night.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Eric had to speak on Mother's Day and I was subbing for nursery so I had the kids the whole three hours of church. Eric made it up to me by changing all the poopy diapers and making dinner. I ended up getting a stomach bug and threw-up all Sunday night and Eric had to take care of everything on Monday too. Luckily I'm feeling better today.

Also, some excited news: Eric passed his last exam for his contractor's license! We are really excited but are still unsure what he is going to do with it.

A night alone

2008-05-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Eric got a free hotel in Midway, which is close to Park City. We had a great time being alone. It has been over a year and a half since we have had a night away together. We had a great time miniture golfing, swimming, dining, and mountain biking. It was hard to come home.

New York City

2008-05-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

My mom and two of my sisters decided we needed to do something for girls weekend beside Women's Conference. So off to NYC we went. We saw three shows: Wicked, Curtains, and Legally Blond. We took a carriage ride through Central Park, went to the Natural History Museum (Night at the Museum) and did some shopping on canal street. My sisters helped my purchase my first purse ever! Eric teases me that I'm finally giving in to the girly side of me. Let's just say buying a purse on canal street was the most adventurous thing we did during our whole trip. Eric and the kids survived the whole 4 1/2 days without mom. Eric even took the kids to the whole 3 hours of church alone. I was pretty impressed. I think I would have taken them home for naps after sacrament meeting.

5 things about...

2008-05-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Audrey
1. She loves to flirt with everyone. She has to make sure everyone in the room acknowledges her. She gets other moms in the library to hold her and read her books.
2. She loves accessories. She loves wearing hats, necklaces, hair bows, bracelets, anything girly.
3. She eats more than I do. She can eat a whole enchilada and a bunch of rice. One night she ate so much at dinner she looked like she was nine months pregnant.
4. She yells mommy all day long.
5. She loves her big brother and follows him around everywhere.

Porter
1. He thinks he can sing. We all know this cannot be since neither one of his parents can sing. He sings all day long. We he talks to me he is singing.
2. He loves to help. Sometimes the help is unwanted but he does it anyway. Mostly he tried to help Audrey sit down while she is screaming at him.
3. He loves learning. He is getting better at counting and can almost sing his abc's.
4. He asks me to cuddle him at night before he goes to bed, or sometimes he asks me to love him. Then I give him hugs and kisses and he says, "Thank you!"
5. He loves to have friends over, play at the park, or do anything social.
6. He is always happy! (I just thought of this one and it just sums Porter up.)

Spring is almost here!

2008-04-16T18:51:00.001-07:00

Audrey is a climber. She finds everyway possible to make a mess.
On Monday it was in the high 70's! I dug out the shorts and sunhats. The kids had fun playing in the dirt.

Easter

2008-04-16T18:49:00.001-07:00

I think the pictures say it all.

Update for the Crazy March

2008-04-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

Eric and I started training for a sprint triathlon in June. We are really excited. So far our great accomplishments are Eric's 3 mile run in 21 minutes and Kristina's 16 min half mile swim and 24:45 min 3 mile run. We are tired from getting up so early for our workouts but it is a lot of fun to see how much we have improved. If I could just learn to ride a bike!

For my birthday Eric made me an amazing ice cream pie.

We often go to "Jump On It." The kids both love jumping on the trampolines and going down all the blow-up slides. The only problem is Audrey has no fear and thinks she can do everything the five year olds are doing.

Porter had his first experience with finger painting. He thought is was a blast.

Happy Birthday Audrey

2008-03-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

Audrey was pretty tired by the time we got to the cake. I think she liked the yellow cake from Eric's birthday better than the chocolate cupcakes I made her.

WOW! I think she got more presents for her birthday than for Christmas.

The Nelson's, Losee's and Uncle Scott joined us to celebrate Audrey's birthday. We had a great time together.

Story Time at the Pool

2008-03-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

Story time was all about Pirates and the sea so they organized a swim party for the last day. The kids had so much fun.

Eric's Birthday

2008-03-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Eric's not a big fan of birthdays but we still had a nice night. We went to Brick Oven for Pizza without the kids. Then we celebrated with cake and milk.

Audrey loved the cake. It took her a minute to really dig in but soon the whole piece was gone!

Audrey Walking

2008-02-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

This week Audrey took her first steps. So far the record is five steps. Here is a little video of her trying to walk.

You know it has been a long winter...

2008-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

When your two year old looks outside and starts to clap saying, "Yeah, grass!"

Update on the Gales

2008-02-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

Porter still doesn't poop in the toilet. I'm beginning to wonder if he ever will. I'm so discouraged with the whole thing. He still does well having a dry underwear during the day and at night. He has finally learned his colors and now cries for the green bowl or the blue spoon. Why did I think teaching him his colors was a good idea? I really want to work on his numbers now.

Audrey is such a girl it drives me crazy! But she is also very sweet and giggly. She finally went down the stairs by herself this past week!

Eric started a new job and is excited to get his contractors license in a few months.

Other than that we are so really for spring. Me and the kids are getting cabin fever. It seems like we are sick or all our friends are sick. With the two feet of snow covering our lawn I'm beginning to wonder is spring will ever come.

Cute Pictures of the Kids

2008-02-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Since I've been such a slacker here are some random pictures of the kids.

Porter and Audrey both love sitting on the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

Porter made a pirate hat from story time. The theme for this winter has been pirates and the ocean. He loves saying "aargh."
Porter thinks I love playing in the snow because Eric or I are always outside shoveling the snow. I think you start to hate the snow when you have to shovel and drive in it.
Maci Jr? Audrey reminds me a lot of her cousin Maci. She is so close to walking. She will take a mini step then gets nervous and sits down. I hope she walks soon.
Here is Audrey and Jordyn (Amy Losee's little girl) at the farm. It was in the forty's that day so we decide to take a trip outside.

Monster Truck Rally

2008-02-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Eric's last day with Granite Mill (the most stressful job he has ever had) and for Valentine's Day we had a romantic date at the Monster Truck Rally. We were disappointed that we didn't spot a single mullet.

I thought I looked cute that night until I saw this picture. Thankfully, Eric still loves me.

Our favorite part was when a truck lost it's front tire and hood.

I Love to See the Temple

2008-02-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

We have been talking about the temple a lot during family home evening and Porter loves watching the Mountain of the Lord (a movie about the building of the Salt Lake Temple). Everytime we past our church and the stake center on the same corner (you have to love utah) Porter would call them the temple. We decide to take him up to Salt Lake so he could see what the temple really looked like. He thought it was pretty neat and now I don't have to hear him call the chapels temples.

You have to love Children's Place. I saw this tie and thought it would be fun to get Porter. I bought it for him on a Wednesday and everyday he asked to wear it. I told him he could only wear it to church. Unfortunately we had an activity to go to on Thursday and Porter started throwing the biggest fit as I was trying to get them out the door. Finally I realized he was mad that we were going to church but he wasn't wearing his new tie. We had a little talk about wearing church clothes to church and wearing play clothes. I finally convienced him it was okay to go without his tie because we were in our play clothes. I got out the kids church clothes a few weeks after buying the tie hoping to get Porter to wear something besides a white or blue shirt but he wouldn't have it. He had to wear his tie. Needless to say I went back to Children's Place again and got him a green tie as well. The only problem is I think he looks kid of dorky with a tie.

Is it really that time of year again?

2007-11-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

Porter loved helping with the tree. So far Audrey hasn't pulled herself up on the tree or eaten any ornaments.

Eric was excited to have Christmas lights on our house for the first time.

Two Nights of Freedom

2007-11-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

I spent my first night way from the kids in over a year the weekend before Thanksgiving. One of my good friends from graduate school got married so I flew to Austin for the wedding. It was really nice to miss the kids. I kept leaving things like nail polish and pens on the floor just because I could.

While you were showering...

2007-11-29T10:08:00.000-08:00

I got hunger and decided to pour myself the whole box of Honey Bunches of Oats.

A week later (mom must not have learned her lesson the first time) I got hungry and found the cooler with two yogurts. I opened the first one and it exploded on the floor all over my pjs and even on the couch.

The Alphabet

2007-11-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

Porter has been practicing his letters and wanted everyone to see how he is doing. He has started randomly asking what letters say throughout the day and especially in the bath with his foam letters. Enjoy the video.

Watch out Porter here I come

2007-11-04T19:37:00.001-08:00

Audrey started crawling a couple of weeks ago and on Halloween she pulled herself up for the first time. Ever since then she is out of control pulling herself up on everything. Audrey loves to torment her older brother by crawling over to him and grabbing whatever toy he is playing with. We thought we solved the problem by having Porter play on the couch but now Audrey just pulls herself up to the couch and grabs at his toys on the couch. Porter's not to sure about having a little sister any more.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Porter screamed any time we tried to put a costume on him so we gave up and he went as a construction worker. Audrey went as a duck. Porter had so much fun trick-or-treating. We went for an hour and a half. Anytime I asked Porter if he wanted to go home he would say, "No, trick-or-treat more." I figured we only do this once a year so we would go until he could no longer walk if he wanted and that is what we did.

Potty-Training

2007-10-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

Porter is growing up fast. Two weeks ago he decided that it was time to be potty trained and he has gone 3 days now without an accident. Since he started standing when he goes he finds it much more exciting. He is doing really well.

Sweet Audrey

2007-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Audrey now has two teeth (but no hair!). When she was teething she had a fever and I assumed it was because of her teeth. But a few days later she broke out in a rash. It turns out she had roseola.

Porter's Birthday

2007-10-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Porter turned two on October 12. Sometimes we forget how young he is. I'm excited to say that I have a 2 year old and a seven month old as oppose to saying I have a one year old and a seven month old.

We took Porter to Jungle Jims for his birthday. It is like an amusement park for toddlers.

This was Porter's cake.

Fall is Here

2007-10-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

We took the kids up Provo canyon to see the leaves changing on the trees.

Tractors, tractors, tractors

2007-09-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the visitors center at Kennecott Copper Mine. Porter loved seeing all the heavy equipment.

Peek-a-Boo

2007-09-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Porter is all boy! He is always hiding and yelling, "Where did Porter go?" After he jumps out at us he says, "Porter funny!"