Thanksgiving

I truly do try to always have a thankful heart.  I think that it keeps me open to what life really has to offer.  From personal experience, I have learned that when I'm not thankful I close myslef off to big and small wonders that are around me.  I have found that the greatest blessings in my life have come to me from those around me, and when my heart is closed, I miss so much from the amazing people in my life.  So, each day I look for "the good" around me, and in those around me.  Some days are harder than others.  However, there are a few things that will never change, that have been, and will continue to be the greatest blessings in my life.

• Have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life is undoubtedly the first and most amazing blessing ever.  To think of all the people who haven't had the oppurtunity to know the full truth, is humbling to me.  To think of the number of people that have died so that I, and my children, could have a copy of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the preisthood on the earth, and temples overwhelms me.  Truth be told, all other amazing things in my life stem from this blessing.
• I have been lucky enough to find the love of my life.  He is the greatest man I've ever known and I am so lucky to have eternity to be with and learn from him.
• I have been lucky enough to beat the odds and have a beautiful, fun, baby boy.  There were several times in my life when I had to face the potential of not being able to have children.  When I got married I never had felt, as much as I had then, that I wanted to have children.  I guess that's what a good man does to girl.  Everytime Preston crawls up to me and puts his two little hands on my legs I am reminded of how amazing he is, and how blessed I am. 
• I have always had amazing friends to love and laugh with.  We have so much fun and the memories will come to me and I have to smile.  At the most random times I will remember a situation with my friends and smile to myself. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all the wonderful people that have made my life rich and full!

It was 75 degrees on Thanksgiving, so we were at the park loving the swings.

Halloween 2011

Last year for Halloween Brock and I had decided not to dress up.  I was pregnant and the thought of trying to make something fit over me made me want to cry (along with most things).  The day before Halloween, though, Brock came home from work and declared that he had committed to being Willy Wonka at work.  He had recruited two co-workers to be his umpalumpas.  So, in a scramble we tried finding a costume.  Well, the only costumes we could find were pricey.  We couldn't let the umpalumpas down, so we ponied up the money with the promise that we would use that costume this year, as not to make the money a total waste.  So, this year, after borrowing, a little hot glue, some make up and a couple stitches later we came up with our Alice in Wonderland costumes.  Brock and the mad hatter, Preston as the white rabbit, and me as Alice.  It was a lot of fun and Preston stole the show in his bunny outfit. 

He was all tuckered out.  You can see traces of his bunny nose and whiskers,
the rest of the face paint ended up on my tights.

This is a picture of Preston with his 3 month old cousin Madilyn.
Like most men, when a girl starts to cry he's not really sure what to do. 

10 Months and already being recruited for the denver nuggets

We had the 9 month check up this week and here are the vital stats:

• 24 lbs 4oz (90 percentil)
• 32 inches tall (100 percentil)
• 7 teeth
• Crawls really well
• 2 naps a day
• Eating all kinds of solid foods
• Started to show like ( i.e.paddy cake) and dislike for things (i.e.getting his diaper changed)
• He pulls himself up on everything and everyone
• He loves balls of all sizes.  He loves to roll balls across the floor and then chase after it
• He has big blue eyes and still lots and lot of dark brown hair
• He may be the biggest flirt to ever live in Colorado.  All the ladies, wherever we go, love him. 

9 months old and a mom with a greatful heart

Preston is 9 and 1/2 months old and he is active and so fun.  Crawling around, pulling himself up all over the place, grabbing anything he can with his bear claws, and giving anyone that will let him kisses.  I was at the store getting fabric for our Halloween costumes, and I was talking to my sister.  She could hear the little guy flirting with everybody in the store.  She started to cry and told me the following story:
There is a woman in her stake that called her and was talking to her about her baby boy that wasn't crawling at the age of 10 months.  My sister's little boy, that is now a football star, never crawled.  So, they were talking about what my sister did and the experiences she had.  Come to find out, the lady called my sister a couple weeks later to say that her sweet 10 month old baby had cancer in all of his major organs.  He was getting more and more lethargic and they didn't know how long he was going to live. 

So, there I am in Joanne fabrics trying my hardest not to burst into tears just as they called my number to get my fabric cut.  I've been thinking a lot about that situation, and I"m so glad I have a healthy, growing, boy ... even if he is starting to give temper tantrums :)

I love Craig ... and his list!

As our house is nearing completion (sometime in December), there are a few big ticket items that we need immediately and soon after that (i.e fridge, washer&dryer, AC compressor, sod to complete our yard ). Then there are a few things that we would like (i.e. hardwood floors on the main floor instead of the builder vinyl, a bigger couch, a bigger bed with matching furniture ).  So, in an effort to acquire some of the necessities at better prices so that we can get some of the items that we want, I turned to Craig's list.  I wasn't all the familiar with Craig, and his list, only from what I had heard.  There was time that I tried to sell some furniture on there, but failed miserably.  When I announced that I was going to try and use "The List" I was met with some resistance because "you don't know the condition this stuff."  "How do you know it's a good deal?".  Despite the initial apprehension, I have made a believer out of the unbelievers.  I was able to get a 2 year old fridge, stainless steal, that would retail for $1,300 for $300.  I was able to get 1 year old washer and dryer, originally would have been $1,500 for $600.   As I was going over this cost savings, it was music to hear "That is a smokin' deal!"  I never thought that I would be one of those people that is so into finding a super bargain, but turns out Craig got the best of me.  I'm running out of room to store these bargains, but so far my parents have been kind enough to re-arrange the garage several times to accommodate a donated deep freeze and the refrigerator.  My Mom jokes that she won't be able to park her car in the garage any more if I keep it up, and my response is "Mom, these are things that Preston needs."  Playing the Grandson card is a dirty trick, I agree, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

This is the back wall of my parents garage, the 2 on the right are my Mom's and the two on the left are ours. 
It's a little snug in there at the moment, but like I said Preston needs these things!

The Haircuting ....



A while back my Mom and I gave Preston his first hair cut.  It needed to be done and he looked mighty handsome after it had been done.  As the months have gone on, his thick hair continues to grow and somedays I would look at him and think that it looked a little shorter.  Or I'd think that something was different about him.  Come to find out, my Mom had been cutting his hair here and there when I wasn't in the same room.  Just whenever she thought that he needed it, she's pull out the scissors and clip a little off the top or sides.  She later confessed that she liked to cut his hair while he was in the bath tub, and that was what contributed to the unevenness on the sides and the "bowl" style hair cut he now has .  I think that my son may have a fear of the scissors, after Grandma gets done with him.



The "Before" picture, where she is deciding where to cut

The "AFTER" picture

Project Glean

So there I was, minding my own business when my kind hearted hubby informed me that we were going to participate in our first service project as a family.  He had signed us up to go out and glean.  "Clean?" "No glean!" "You mean clean, right?"  "No, I mean GLEAN"!  So, off to the dictionary I went.  Farmers in the old testament were commanded to harvest the center of their fields and leave the areas around the field un-harvested for the poor and widowed.  We were going to a farmers field in eastern Colorado and glean the field and that food would then be delivered to a food bank.  After understanding it a bit, I thought that would be fun, but then I had a thought of our tank of a son, and carrying him in the baby bjorn through the fields of some farmers field in the middle of eastern, no where, Colorado, and I had a wave a panic.  I was assured by Brock that we'd be fine and he would carry Preston.  Luckily, we had someone donate a baby backpack for us to use, just in time for the project.  We went out to the farm, which happened to be right off the highway, and embarked on our service adventure.  It only took about 45 minutes and all the cucumbers and squash had been gleaned and off to the food bank.  Our first family service project went off without a hitch.   As I pulled out the camera to document our adventure, Brock said "You're going to blog about this aren't you".  I couldn't let him down, now could I?

8 Months Old ... with a slacker Mom

Just a little delayed ... but it's here :)

Preston turned 8 months 9/17/11.  He is growing big and strong, much to the benefit of my Chiropractor.  He is 24+ pounds, according to the scale at home, and I'm not sure how tall he is, but maybe this will help paint the picture ... I took him to the swings at the park by our house and there was a little girl in the swing next to Preston.  Preston and her were the same size, and actually Preston's legs hung down a little further than the little girls.  The Mom asked how old he was and when I responded she started to laugh.  I asked how old her daughter was and she told me 18 months.  He's a healthy and happy baby boy. 

Here are a few things about 8 month old Preston:

• Loves bath time.  Brock usually does Bath time with him and they both love every minute.
• Loves rides in the stroller.
• Loves to eat things that he can crush and crumble in his hands (Ritz crackers, Grahmcrackers, baby cheese puffs).
• Loves to blow into his sippy cup and feel the air that comes out of the vent on his nose.  He thinks this is hysterical.
• Loves to be tickled under his arms.
• Loves music.  Whether it's musical toys, people singing, classical music on the radio. 
• Likes the swings, for about 8 minutes.
• Likes his little stuffed doggy that we named Fred.
• Likes to drink his bottle only while he's standing or sitting straight up.
• Likes to rock back and forth on his hands and knees.  I think it's just to tease Mom and Dad like he's going to crawl.   He's so close to crawling it's crazy.
• Likes to be outside and watch the leaves blow in the wind or sit in the grass.
• He takes 2 naps, 9:30AM and 1:30PM and goes to bed about 7.  He is a morning person, he'll wake up at 5 and just lay there and talk and play until he gets hungry or I go and get him at 7. 
• He has 7 teeth, 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.  He loves to use his teeth to eat crunchy things.
• He has endured 3 haircuts that will be discussed in another posting.

He's growing so much and is becoming so aware of the world around him, it's lots of fun to watch.

The Big Race

There's a strong possibility that I love pain.  There are several instances to prove that statement, but here is the latest.  I decided that to 1) To help me stay sane while our house is being built 2) as well as get back into shape after Mr. Preston's arrival, and since I am now officially unemployed, I'm going to run a 1/2 Marathon in November here in Colorado.  I have been able to sell this particular "brand of crazy" to a few of my dear friends.  So, each day Preston and I strap on our running shoes and slowly but surely put in the miles.  I say slowly and I mean slowly!  I'm not in running shape, plus the jogging stroller weighs 20 pounds and Preston is 23 pounds so I'm pushing a hefty 40+ pounds around the suburbs of Colorado.  Preston is a great partner though, he only whimpers a little when I go too slow up a hill and the sun is in his eyes. Most of the time he's looking around and he holds one foot out straight and then drops it and taps it against the stroller.  He gets really excited now that we'll stop at parks and swing on the swing, while I'm trying to catch my breath and look like I love pain. 

So, if there's anyone out there reading this that wants to join in the F-U-N, let me know and we can all share in the pain and suffering. 

He's been wearing his cool Adidas running outfit.

The Mint Contraversy

As Preston gets closer and closer to getting to the age where time-outs will be apart of our daily routine, there is one issue that Brock and I can not agree on.  That is the question as to the introduction of certain foods.  I do not have a strong aversion to any normal food.  However, Brock has a very strong dislike, even hate for mint.  He will leave a room if there is the smell of mint.  He purposely buys the Orange infused toothpaste so that he doesn't have to endure the lingering mint taste, that normal tooth paste leaves.  I have never met anyone that hates mint like my sweet husband does.  The funny thing is that whenever I think I'm being sneaky and eat something that is mint, he suddenly shows up and can smell it on my breath immediately.   As an example, he was at his Grandparents house, and I was at home with Preston while he was napping.  My Mom had these york peppermint patty M&M's.  I saw them and thought "Yummy and I can get away with it for sure, Brock is at his Grandparents house without the car.  There's no chance of me getting hassled."  No sooner did I put one in my mouth, he comes walking through the front door and the first words out of his mouth were " Are you eating mint"? 

I wish this was an isolate instance, but it is not.  I've gotten busted on several occasions.   So, as we start to introduce more and more solid foods, and Preston is using is 5 little teeth so well, I am reminded frequently as to the restriction of introducing mint at any time to our son ...  however he will be choosing for himself.

7 Months Old

Mr Preston turned 7 months this month and he's as sweet as they come.  Lots of fun, lots of smiles, and lots of giggles. 

I keep getting the question "Has he always been this wiggly?"  He is a wiggle worm.  He likes his independence, which is hard because he's not crawling yet.  Brock will put him on floor and crawl around him to help show him how to crawl.  Preston thinks it's so funny to watch his Daddy crawl. 

The second question I get is " Has he always been this heavy?"  He's a big boy, tall and chubby.  22+ pounds and growing. 

He has 4 teeth, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom and is super smiley.  He loves his exer-saucer.  He loves to show everyone that he can jump like a big boy.

Below are pictures taken by his photographer Mom ... clearly she's an expert. 

He's holding his favorite toy, a toothpaste tube roller. 

He's saying "Mom, is that you?  I'm blind from the flash"

Here he's showing how tall he is. 

A pile of dirt, 2 teeth, and a hair cut ...

This is a picture of Brock and I putting a "sold" sign on our new plot of land that we're building a house on!  We're really excited about it.  We're building in a place called Meridian Village, it's in between Parker and Lone Tree Colorado.  Never thought that I would be building a brand new house for our family to live in, but it worked out perfectly.  The house should be done in late December to mid-January, right now the lot is the holding place for the dirt from other lots that are under construction.  Today (8/4) I actually spend a couple hours at the design center picking all kinds of fun stuff out.  We are a blessed family, and super excited. 

Our lot is # 206

And who doesn't love half naked baby pictures?  I certainly do.  Preston loves books and here is is trying to get a hold of one favorites after his 2nd hair cut.  He now has 2 teeth on bottom.  They are adorable and very hard to get pictures of. 

Tiny Town and the little suprise ...

My sister and her family came to visit this past weekend.  She has 3 kids and they are all a lot of fun.  The youngest of her kids is a little boy named Brady.  He's 3 years old.  Preston had a great time watching Brady play with tons of toy cars and trucks. 

Saturday we all went up to Tiny Town which is a little spot up in the mountains that has these intricate doll houses, and a miniature train to ride.  I was carrying Preston in the Baby Bjorn, that was the easiest way to get around all the small models and my arms were exhausted from holding the chunk for several hours the day before while house hunting.  So, there we were waiting for the tiny train to leave the tiny station and Preston chomped down on my finger (his favorite chew toy), only then did I feel his first tooth had come in.  It shocked me for a second because I'm not used to anything sharp in his mouth.  He always surprises his Mom with new tricks! 

My sister Heidi and her hubby in the back, and me with Mr Tooth. 

6 Month Stats

Preston turned 6 months old on Sunday July 17th.  I have to say that the first 3 months seemed to go slow while I was trying to figure out how to do the "Mom" thing.  From 3 to 6 months, it has gone so fast.  Here are the stats:

• 21 lbs 4 oz. (95th percentile)
• 29 1/8 inches tall. (98th percentile)
• He's lot all of his baby hair (it was black and thick when he was born).  Now his hair is lighter and filling in more light brown. 
• Rolls over both ways. (tummy to back and back to tummy)
• New tooth any day!  I can feel the tooth on the front bottom right through he gums.
• Sleeps from 7:30/8 PM until 6AM at which time he wakes up for a little snack and then goes back to sleep for 1-1.5 hrs.
• 2 naps a day, each about 2 hours long.
• He loves to talk, especially to other babies. 
• He has the funniest squeal/laugh. 
• He's close to sitting up on his own. 
• He can get his bum up in the air but he's not as good at getting his front end up into the crawling position.  20lbs is a lot to get up :)
• He's eating all kinds of fruit and veggies mixed with rice, oatmeal, or barley cereal. 
• He loves drinking from his sippy cup.
• He's the best jogging partner a girl could have.  He loves his stroller and loves being out side!  He never complains if I'm going too slow up the hills. 
• He loves books and being read to.
• He loves bath time.
• He loves sitting outside on the back deck, in his little seat, watching the trees.
• He loves to sneeze.  It's the cutest thing!
• He loves music.  Whether Brock and I sing to him, music at church, or we have a string quartet CD for the car and if he's fussing and I turn that CD on, he immediately is calm. 
• He likes to send picture text messages to his Grandparents so they can see how big he's growing. 

He's so lovable and fun, we couldn't love him more!  Here are some pictures of the little/big guy.





Six Months old 





Having Fun with Daddy!






One day he rolled over, grabbed the empty bottle, and put it in his mouth. 



He loves play time in his exer-saucer!  He likesto jump up and down and stomp his feet. 



This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Preston.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

So, there we were  Brock, Preston, and I just being lazy on a Sunday afternoon.  Brock went to get a Popsicle and there Preston was looking at him with his big blue eyes.  You could see him thinking "What is that?  It looks delicious!"  So, Brock gave him a little lick and he got the biggest smile on his face and licked his lips and started wiggling in his seat.  They ended up sharing that Popsicle and then one more. 

When Brock would take it out of his mouth he would move forward to try and stop him.

"This is so delicious!"

This was Popsicle number two, it was gone in less than 2  minutes.

Father's Day

One of Brock's brothers (Brian) lives close to us, and luckily we get to spend time with him and his wife!  So, we went out to dinner the Friday before Father's Day and before we left Brian, who is a total goof, walks up with a present wrapped for Brock.  Flattered, Brock opens the box to find a matching T-shirt ...

Brian and Tiffany's baby is due in July.  And Yes we made them wear the matching shirts to dinner :)

My Son, the Sunglasses Model

My Dad, the self proclaimed "Sunglass King" sells sunglasses all over southern Colorado and parts of Kansas and New Mexico.  You know those sunglasses stands in the gas stations ... Ya, he sells those.  He's retired but took on this job as something to do.  He just started to get the kids sunglasses and so he wanted to try them out on Preston and that's how we got the following pictures.  Preston did really well, he didn't try to rip them off or anything.  They were a little big so they fell off really easily.  So we're starting Preston off early in the Modeling world. 

Hot Stuff!!

A little too big of Sunglasses, and a little too small of a nose.

Little ears just aren't ideal for holding up sunglasses

I'm too Sexy

Can we be done??

Are you guys serious?