Puppy Love

Peyton has had this cute little friend at school for the past couple years.  Her name is Katie.  They play together really well.  She comes over for play dates, and he goes to her house sometimes.  In Kindergarten, they used to come out of school holding hands.  Peyton even declared a couple times that he was going to marry Katie, "because she's cute."  I've told him that now is not the time to worry about getting married, so they can be just friends.  He still insists that she's his girlfriend.  While we were in CA over Christmas break, Peyton was asked about his girlfriend by the family.

Family: "So, Peyton, do you have a girlfriend?"
Peyton: "Yes"
Family: "What's her name?"
Peyton: "Katie"
Family: "What does she look like?"
Peyton: "Well, sometimes she wears 2 bows in her hair."

He notices the bows in her hair!  Awwww Puppy Love!

"Uh"

Preston has his own language.  He sometimes says something that sounds like "oodie goodie" or "oydie goydie", I still can't figure out what that one means.  Then he'll say, "wassat"  which I think means, "what's that?"  The problem is, he also says, "is at is"  while pointing, which I also think means "what is that?"  He understands more words that he'll actually try to say.  He'll point to the light when I ask him where it is.  He'll point to his belly button, and he'll go get his "ba ba" if I ask him to.  The thing is, his favorite word right now is "uh", sort of the cavemanish "UHH".  He points and shows me things that all have that same pronunciation in his vocabulary, yet he expects me to be able to translate.  For example, yesterday morning Preston brought me one of his snow boots.  He said, "uh" and handed it to me.  I thought, "ok, he wants me to see this boot."  I told Preston, "thank you" and put the boot down.  He cried, grabbed the boot and handed it back to me with another "uh".  I told him "thank you" again and handed him back the boot.  He was getting angry at this point and said, "uh" very forcefully, handed me the boot, then stood on his tippy toes.  I picked him up and put him on my lap.  He grabbed the boot and gave it to me again.  That's when I realized that "uh" actually means, "I want you to put this boot on my foot woman!!"   I put the boot on his little foot and he limped around happily, until he came across the other boot and wanted it on too.  I understood the language better the second time around....maybe I'll become fluent in Prestonese.

Wow....that was fun

Thanksgiving.  A time to be Thankful.  A time to be grateful for the things we have in life, to cherish our family.  My Thanksgiving was a bit more....well let's just say stressful.  The Hubster took a couple extra days off of work.  I was so excited to actually spend some time with him and my kids.  Generally the Hubster works all week, and I work weekends.  This makes for a tough family life, since we hardly ever see each other.  So, Wednesday, aka Thanksgiving Eve, we were all hanging out at home, as a family.  The Hubster planned an actual date for he and I.  We were going to see Harry Potter....yes the "nude scene" one.  I had to get a few last minute things from the store first.  I got in the car, started backing down the driveway, and BAM.   I hit our other car in the driveway.  First of all, I forgot it was there...I'm used to backing out, without the Hubster's car blocking the driveway.  Also, it was dark, so I seriously couldn't see it.  I know, I know....excuses.  I pulled forward and assessed the damage.  We will need a new panel above the left front tire and a new side view mirror.  I get back in the car, straighten out as much as I can and begin to back out again.....and Bump.  Imagine that, I hit the dang car again!!  Basically in the same spot.  No extra damage occurred, but I wanted to cry.  I pulled forward, jumped out of the car and handed the keys to the Hubster.  All I could think was, "how are we suppose to pay for this and manage Christmas at the same time?"  Just like everyone else, we struggle a little in this economy.  I sat pretty much silent for the next few hours until it was time to go to the movie.  I almost didn't go, but the Hubster forced me.....he already paid for the tickets.  So, we get to the movie theater.  I'm walking head down with my hands in my pockets.  It was COLD!  I step over a curb and get whacked in the head with a tree branch.  My hair is caught in the branch.  Seriously?  Like my day hasn't been bad enough!  I ripped my hair out of the branch and broke down crying, in the middle of the theater parking lot.  I know, funny right?!  Can you imagine how that must have looked?  I have some serious anxiety issues apparently.

Although I didn't feel any better about our situation, Thanksgiving was a little better.  Considering it was our oldest son's birthday as well, I had to snap out of it, right?  I got up early to make a birthday breakfast.  When the Hubster got out of bed, I tried to take a nap.  It didn't really work since our 15 month old....who was suppose to be taking a nap.....kept playing in the crib.  I rallied and helped the Hubster with dinner.  We had a good dinner and spent the evening with some neighbors.  Our oldest son seemed to have a good birthday.  Pumpkin pie was his cake of choice this year.  It was interesting to say the least.

I'm still trying to snap out of the looming depression that is hanging over me.  My mom used to get depressed every year around Thanksgiving and Christmas time......oh Lord, please tell me I'm not turning into my Mother!

Ultimately, I'm thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for the things I do have in life.  But, I'm entitled to feel sorry for myself once in a while, right?   

Climbing!

The other day Preston pushed the bench from our table over to the counter. I didn't think much of it....he's not big enough to climb onto the bench....so I wasn't paying super close attention. The next time I looked over, Preston was standing on the bench, getting a drink of water from a cup on the counter! Startled, I ran over to get him down. I then realized what my smart little boy did. He pushed the bench over to the new box of diapers I just bought. He got onto the diaper box, then onto the bench, where of course he could stand up and get the drink he wanted so badly! This wouldn't be so odd if he were a little bigger, but he's only 13 months old! Most children are barely learning how to walk.....yet he's getting drinks from the top of the counter. I'm soooo in trouble with this little one!! I wish I had a picture....but in my panic, it didn't cross my mind to grab the camera.....

Pictures are here!!

We FINALLY had some pictures taken of the kids! Preston has NEVER had professional pictures in his life.....so at a year old, it had to be done! We decided to go ahead and have all of the kids photographed, instead of paying for the dorky pictures that they take at the school every year. We always pay way too much for one pose that we usually don't like! Anyway, I think they all turned out wonderful! I can't wait to hang these in my home!!

Barf Vader

Only a big nerd would buy this shirt for his son...but I have to admit, it's kinda cute!

Preston is one!

It's so incredible how fast a year can go by. Even with the cranky days, not much sleep, milk allergies, and multiple ear infections, it all went too fast! From his tiny 6 lbs 9 oz to a whopping 21 lbs. Through all the stages of rolling over, crawling, walking, running, spinning in circles and dancing. Screaming and crying every time we put him in his car seat to sometimes enjoying the ride....and bopping his head up in down to the music in the car. In just one measly year, my little Preston went from an infant who needed even the most basic of things done for him, to a child who likes his independence, gets into everything, throws huge temper tantrums, and gives hugs and kisses.

Some of his other recent qualities/accomplishments:

He's a biter...but we are working on that!

He's not talking alot, but he babbles like crazy and tries to mimic what we say, even if it means nothing to him.

So far he's doing well with the words "Dada" (of course), "Mama" (only on rare occasions, when he's screaming and mad), "Bye Bye" (which sounds more like "Die Die" and he waves when he says it!), "Yay", and "Uh oh".

Jared got his daddy's boy. Preston lights up every time Jared walks into the room, and cries every time he walks out.

He likes to put everything in his mouth.......still.

He's learning to climb......recently he climbed onto a bench seat and got himself a drink of some body's water from on top of the counter. (talk about scaring me to death!) Just want to send a big sarcastic "thank you" to the darn "walking early gene".

Recently found his belly button....and now points to it when we ask, "where's your button?"

He gets into his swing and on his little four wheeler all by

himself.

He's cutting 4 new teeth right now.....the 2 teeth next to his front to teeth, and two molars in the back on top. Poor baby!

He's such a good eater! Will try anything...but prefers to eat from other peoples plate instead of his own.

Loves his all of his siblings and wants them to hold him all of the time. He likes to sit on their laps if they are sitting on the floor.

He is fascinated by his big brother Peyton.....those two play together surprisingly well....considering there is a 5 1/2 year gap between them. Preston lights up when he sees Peyton and runs to give him hugs....it's super adorable! It's like he just knows its his big bro.

Mommy, Peyton and Preston 8/17/10. Preston's actual birthday, but he was sick :(

Preston just got over a horrible sickness called herpangina....basically like hand, foot and mouth disease. Poor little babe! We don't know where he caught it, but was running a fever for a few days. I thought he had another ear infection, but when we took him to the doctor, we found out that he had really bad ulcers in his mouth! No wonder he wouldn't eat! For the next few days, Preston ran a super high fever. I couldn't get him below 100 degrees even with medicine for a couple days....and his fevers would run as high as 103. The hard part was, there was nothing else I could do for him, we just had to wait it out. Finally after about 10 days, it went away. We put off getting his year old pictures because of it (pictures to come). We put his birthday party off because of another darn ear infection.

We had a great Birthday party a week after his birthday, with just our little family and a couple neighbors we invited over....last minute. We invited family but knew they wouldn't make it because of distance. It was fun anyway....Preston loved digging into the cake! He opened all of his cute gifts! Thanks to Grandma Egbert for sending the cute outfits and books for Preston....he loves those books!! We got him a cool little four wheeler....that he LOVES! He got a couple other small toys like a telephone, a dancing cow, some stacking rings, etc. All of those things that seem really boring to us, but babies seem to love! Oh, he also got a leap frog dog that talks to him and sings, it's pretty darn cute!

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY!