5 months

Preston was 5 months old on the 17th! I've been trying to keep track of all the cute little things he does. He is army crawling now! His little feet are starting to get dirty from digging into the carpet. I swear I vacuum constantly...and I shampoo probably every 6 months. We don't even wear shoes in the house, yet the carpet still stains his knees and feet. I think it's all the dust we get from empty lots and construction around us. I hate carpet. His hair is getting blonder, and his eyes are still a nice shade of blue! He isn't slobbering near as much as he was. I can actually leave the bibs off and he doesn't soak his shirt! He is starting to sit up alone but falls over pretty quick...we'll give that another month! Preston is a rolling master... he goes in between and around things. I have to really watch him so he doesn't get stuck! He's getting the hand eye coordination thing down; he doesn't just whack himself in the face with his toys anymore. He can move things from one hand to the other...and knows exactly where his mouth is. That is where everything goes! He still likes to scream for fun...it's this extremely high pitched scream...it really surprises you that it comes out of such a tiny body. It's not only a mad scream, because he does it when he's happy too! I guess his lungs are good! It's so fun to watch him play. I like to sit back and watch daddy talk to him and tickle him. He anticipates when we are going to make him laugh and gets a big smile on his face. He is starting to respond to other people laughing. I do a loud fake laugh at him sometimes and he'll just crack up. He seems to love music. Josh started playing the clarinet this semester and when the baby hears it, he does this little hum scream type thing (sorry hard to explain) and gets all happy. If he's crying, I'll sing an upbeat song to him, and he'll laugh. He is definitely trying out his little vocal cords. He does different sounds, in different tones..it's really cute. He finally noticed himself in the mirror the other day. He did a quick smile then looked away...but I had him playing in his bouncy chair in front of the fire place and I caught him staring at his reflection in the glass cover. He was smiling and moving slightly to see if it would follow...ADORABLE! I don't know if I mentioned this last month or not, but he's been figuring out his feet and hands...and that they actually have a purpose. I sit back and watch him....he'll go to grab something, see his hand there and stop to watch it. He puts it up in front of his face and turns it back and forth slowly....then wiggles his fingers a little bit. It's so awesome to see the amazed look on his face. It's almost like, "wow...look what I have, and see what I can do with it!" Then his attention breaks...short attention span...and he's off to what he was going to do in the first place. I just want to put in here....I remember Peyton doing these little things when he was a baby...and it was even more amazing as a first time Mom to watch those things. I'm just disappointed that I don't have all those fun things recorded. I have the main things down...like crawling, walking, eating, etc. but I don't have things written out...it makes me feel bad! Anyway, thank goodness for the blog!


This is just some picture randomness that I found and added from his 5th month :)

My little birthday boy!

Peyton turned 6 on January 15th...yes, I said he turned 6! Where did the time go? I have a mixture of emotions. Pride: he's grown to be such a loving, beautiful and smart boy! Sadness and Amazement: it's hard to watch your baby grow up and start becoming an independent, strong little person! Peyton is such an emotional being...if he's happy or excited, you can see it in his face...there's no hiding his emotions! You know when he's angry, sad, or even guilty! He is not one to keep things inside. It's a good quality to have.....depending on the situation! But that is why we love him so much. He is who he is....and he's a wonderful little man!

His birthday party was on January 18th. He invited a lot of kids...in total I think there were 13 kids at my house. It was a good party...we did dinner and a movie. We had pizza and bread sticks. Then cake and ice cream of course! Then we had popcorn and goodies while the kids watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". It was one of Peyton's better parties. So much fun! I think this will be a birthday to remember!

Peyton picked out his "army" cake. He wanted a big tank on it!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy!

Some friends....

Peyton with his oodles of presents!

More friends.....

2 of Peyton's very best friends! I really regretted buying those noise makers!!

Watching the movie....finally slightly peaceful in the house!

I'm eating!

We wrapped up Preston's second round of antibiotics today...hopefully we are completely done with the ear infections for a while! He has a little bit of a snotty nose, so I'm a little worried. He was put on a stronger antibiotic this time around, so I can't imagine it didn't work. He seems to be feeling well. This sick kid stuff is new to me! Peyton rarely got sick when he was a baby. Here we are just 4 1/2 months in, and Preston has already had 2 ear infections. I honestly don't know what the difference is. I don't think I'm doing anything different to cause the problem. I just have to accept that Preston is a bit more complicated!

We started Preston on rice cereal tonight! Let me just say, he loved it! I think he wanted more, but I was nervous to give him too much on his first go round. With a not so good history of tummy problems, I wasn't going to over do it! He didn't seem to have much of a problem working the food in his mouth...I think it's all the practice he's had eating his antibiotics! He kept trying to grab the spoon from me and would pull the sleeve of my shirt toward him so he could get another bite! It went really well. We've reached another milestone!

The New Year

Just quickly for record purposes....Preston slept through the night on the 30th and again on the 31st! He slept from about 11:30 or 12 until about 5:30 or 6 both nights! That's like 6 hours of sleep! I wasn't prepared for it, so I woke up approximately every 2 hours (freaking out) to check on him. I kept thinking there must be something wrong. He was just snoozing away peacefully. I need to relax!

Now, on to the New Year! This was my first New Year's Eve off in probably 4-5 years. I can't even remember the last time I was home for it. This year I was able to stay with my family. Jared, Josh and Caile snowboarded all day...so they were a bit tired that night. We went to dinner and just relaxed. My husband thought we'd do something fun, but it all kind of fizzled. Peyton wanted to make clock cookies to eat at midnight....a little idea he stole from "Max and Ruby". So at about 11:00 we made some sugar cookies and decorated them. Only a few actually looked like clocks...the rest were random designs that the kids felt like making. It was fun though. We lounged in the family room....reading books, watching t.v. When the New Year came we didn't even watch the ball drop, or do the countdown. I think I was busy finishing the last of the cookies. Suddenly Jared said, "Happy New Year!" He gathered the kids and they all went outside to yell "Happy New Year!" to all of the neighbors. When I made it outside, there were fireworks everywhere. Even a few that probably shouldn't have been out there. It was a good show for us though! Josh decided to dig out our stash of fireworks left over from 4th of July. Our next door neighbors and their kids came out to watch our fireworks too. It was fun. It wasn't a spectacular show....and I was freezing....but that's part of the fun! I feel bad that I was tired and not over enthusiastic. The kids had fun though....and we ate our clock cookies before going to bed. I wish I had the frame of mind to take pictures! I didn't even get one! We have the memory though :)

For the new year, we always try to come up with some wishes or goals to accomplish. This year was a little bit hard for me. It's hard to come up with things to wish for when you feel like you already have everything you've ever wanted!

My husband and I decided for us:

1. Budgeting is a very important goal. It's hard to make a budget because my income changes...depending on how much I'm on call. Also Jared only gets paid once a month from one of his jobs, then every 2 weeks from his other job. We've attempted it before and it got really complicated. We just have to bite the bullet and do it! Jared is the one who got us started on paying things off...now he seems the most resistant. I have to figure out how to get him excited about it again!

2. Organization! That one can be tough. We had that goal last year...and it did get better. I've said this before, but when you basically live out of boxes for a few years, it's hard to get things in order. We still have boxes full of stuff in the basement that I have no idea what to do with! It's not just organizing things, it's organizing time also. With a new baby in the house, we are having to change our whole schedule around and figure out new ways to manage.

3. Be happy! Not that we aren't "happy", it's just easy to get caught up in the mundane things in life. Go to work, come home, clean the house, take the kids to school, help with homework, feed the baby, go to bed, etc. We have it as a goal to make those little things count and find happiness in even the simplest things. I hope this one works out...it would be nice to feel happy all the time...or most of the time! :)

Well, I would throw weight loss/getting healthy in here...but usually it's just a futile effort. Then I just get depressed because it was a goal I didn't reach. So, lets not go there! Maybe if the "happy" thing works out, the weight will come off all by itself :)

Happy 2010 everyone! We wish for nothing but the best for all of our family and friends this coming year!

Some fun stuff

Preston has been trying to copy us...and blows little raspberries! SOOO cute! He mostly just spits, cuz he's a slobbery kid...but it's adorable anyway. He's attempting to scoot himself across the floor and tries to eat everything! Sorry kids...no more Lego's downstairs! If he can't get what he wants by scooting, he rolls until he can get there. He hit his head on the coffee table the other day, mid roll. He only cried for a minute...Mommy fixed him!

Peyton has been doing really well in school and is starting to read and write. As far as I know, the first word he spelled (without being prompted) all on his own was CANDY. He spelled it just like it sounds.....KANDE. When he came home with his school papers and "kande" was written on it...I just cracked up! How cute is that?! He tried, and really did pretty well! I mean honestly...he's 5, in Kindergarten! I know for a fact I didn't start reading until 1st grade. They just put the pressure on a little sooner now I guess.


Peyton's teacher seems to be falling in love with him more every day. She walks out with the kids and tells me funny stories about what Peyton did that day. He likes to sing songs to the class, and they are usually songs that the teacher wouldn't expect from him. Like a song that's on "G Force" from the Black Eyed Peas. "Boom boom boom, gotta get that boom boom boom"! So funny! He seems to think he's a little entertainer because he did a Michael Jackson dance for the class the other day too. I guess he spun around and said, "Ow!" Who wouldn't love that kid?! The most recent story the teacher told me was that Peyton said he and his girlfriend Katy are going to get married when they are big....but they have to have a date first...."and tonight is our first date". When I asked him what kind of date they were going to have, he said, "you go get something to eat, duh!" Katy's Mom told me that Katy told her the same thing. They have it all planned out that they are getting married when they are big. They even leave the classroom holding hands sometimes. So funny! Peyton asked me the other day if you have to kiss when you get married. I about peed my pants. He wants to get married, but kissing girls is gross! LOL. Awww, the innocence of my little boy! I hope he keeps his fun personality!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

Christmas was a little bit different this year. I was scheduled to work Christmas night, so we had to change things a little. We decided to have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. We didn't have family over this year....and obviously couldn't go anywhere. So, it was just a small little thing at home. We had a nice dinner, just ham. I couldn't bring myself to make a whole turkey for 5 people. It was delicious food anyway! I think I'm starting to enjoy small family holidays. I love our family, but the calm that comes with staying home and not worrying about getting somewhere, or entertaining a crowd. It's just so much easier!

We did our normal Christmas Eve tradition of opening PJs. The kids loved theirs! Peyton got PJs that said "Big Brother" on them. He loved that! And Preston's were "my first Christmas" PJs. We just did slipper socks this year...we have too many unused pairs of slippers around the house! After opening our PJs, we danced around the house to Christmas music, and started a new Christmas puzzle. I think everyone started getting cranky, and it got late very fast. The kids got to bed after a lot of coaxing, and after we threatened that Santa doesn't come if you aren't asleep. That seemed to work for Peyton. He asked if he could sleep under the tree so that he could meet Santa...I had to disappoint him :(

Santa and Mrs. Santa were up very late, wrapping presents and setting up the stockings. (it was about 3 a.m. when they went to bed). Of course they went overboard with presents again this year! It seems like no matter how much they plan on "cutting back" for Christmas, they still end up with too much stuff! Maybe next year!

The kids got up early....and Daddy made them stay in bed for a while. We were extra tired from the night before....but finally we made our way downstairs.

This was Preston's first Christmas! We know that he won't remember it, so everything we did was more for us than him. We wanted the pictures and the memories! He was such a good boy...and tried to open his presents himself by eating the wrapping off! We had to help him a bit.

The kids got all of their presents opened....to describe it in a word...SPOILED! We all got too much stuff, but it was a lot of fun! This is the mess that followed the fun!



I made cinnamon and orange rolls for breakfast Yummy! Then I went to bed to prepare for my night shift. Turns out that I was cancelled that night anyway...but you can't plan on that, or count on that happening. So I ended up spending the evening with my family....we played with our new toys and had a wonderful Christmas!

Trimming the tree

The kids worked really hard on getting the tree in order. They climbed the ladder...or should I say "fought" over who got to climb the ladder! They really tried hard to make the tree beautiful! I usually do a little work over to all of the decorations after the kids are through....but this year it didn't happen. I was a bit too lazy. It looked pretty good anyway! It's funny how much they love decorating for Christmas. I think it helps build the excitement for Christmas day. When the tree is up, they know it's so much closer!