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?