Christmas 2010

Preston had a much better go-around on his second Christmas. Last year, he was not even two months old and still having colicky symptoms. He was pretty miserable. Poor baby. So boy was I glad to have a happy boy this Christmas. 

We had lots of fun Christmas activities with Preston throughout December. We went to the Christmas tree farm and hosted our playgroup Christmas party. We kept two of my nephews one night and made a gingerbread house and watched Christmas cartoons. And we also took Preston to see Santa...who he hated.  But in his defense, it was his bedtime by the time we got up in line to Santa and he was already cranky...so handing him off to a strange bearded man probably wasn't the best idea. Oh well, memories!

It's tradition for us to spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Blake's side. It was so fun having Preston actually enjoy the family Christmas chaos of opening presents on Christmas Eve. My nephews LOVE present time so I think Preston figured out quickly that ripping up paper will get you a prize underneath!

I enjoyed playing Santa this year even though Preston is still not quite old enough to understand how any of it works. Christmas morning we had to keep pulling him back to his stack of goods because he kept crawling away to the kitchen...I'm sure he will be ripping into them next year. We also got a wonderful blanket of Christmas snow that morning! It was so beautiful to see it coming down and on Jesus' birthday! How awesome is that?

Here's pictures of our Christmas fun!

Thanksgiving and the Iron Bowl

We had a great Thanksgiving with our families. My brother Shane came in town from South Carolina so it was nice to have everyone together again. We had a late lunch and my parents and an early dinner at Blake's grandparents. Totally stuffed...but oh so delicious. I absolutely love Thanksgiving food. I could eat Turkey and dressing weekly. Yum. Preston was a trooper and had a great time despite only having a 30 minute nap in the car.

Blake had a friend with an extra ticket to the Iron Bowl so he planned to head down to Tuscaloosa. Seeing as the game was on Black Friday, our day went like this: My brother met me at Target (b/c Blake would not allow me to go by myself and someone had to stay home w/Preston) at 3:30 AM to score a few deals on Christmas presents when they opened at 4:00. I know, I'm nuts. We had fun though! I don't get to hang out with my brother too often now that he's in South Carolina so it was nice of him to let me drag him all over Trussville in the wee hours of the morning :)

I got back by 9:00 just in time Blake to leave for the game. So we were both happy. I got to shop and he got to go to the game. Preston and I watched the game over at my parents house and we had a fun time watching Auburn win!!! War Eagle! Below are a few pictures of both Thanksgiving and the Iron Bowl

Got your Christmas card yet?

First off let me just say that while I am blogging about Shutterfly today to promote their 2010 Holiday card collection and receive 50 free cards, I am not pulling your leg when I also tell you they have an amazing company with awesome products. I have been using Shutterfly since 2003 and have nothing but positive feedback for all my photo purchases. I have made photo calendars, photo books, baby announcements and all sizes prints and enlargements.

This year they have some fabulous Christmas card designs http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards and I can't wait to get started on ours! They have an abundance of options to choose from so every family can have that perfect card to share with loved ones. And not only do they have regular photo paper cards, they offer 5x7 and 5x5 (new!) photo cards printed on cardstock!

As mentioned above, Shutterfly has an array of items available for every picture need. Their calendars make awesome Christmas gifts and you can't really go wrong with a coffee mug for Mom or Dad. I strongly encourage you to check them out for your next photo gift or prints. They frequently have great promotions for shipping and I've always received my photos in a quick turnaround time.

Don't feel left out fellow bloggers. You can use your blog and get this great deal too! Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

And after the holidays, keep Shutterfly in mind throughout the rest of the year. I'm sure you will love it as much as I do!

Happy Halloween

Preston celebrated his first Halloween this year. I'm sad because it was his last "first" holiday. He was born four days after Halloween last year so we had just missed the cut. Now everything will be his second going forward. It's definitely bittersweet...okay, I'll save my mushiness for his one year post. Anyway, we always have a big Halloween party at my brother and sister-in-law's house every year. They have a huge neighborhood that is filled with trick-or-treaters so it's always a lot of fun. We dressed Preston up as a "lil monster" which was absolutely adorable. My first choice was a skunk but Daddy didn't agree with me on that one...but I loved the little blue fuzzy monster too. Preston hated the headpiece so he mainly wore it for pictures. He decided to trick or treat without it. He loved being carried around (he only lasted a few minutes in his riding car) the neighborhood and observing the spooky festivities. He got a good bit of candy in his sweet little bucket so Mommy and Daddy pawed through it after he went to bed...hehehe.

The next day, on actual Halloween, we went to some friends' house and had a big group pumpkin carving. It was a great time of food and fellowship and pumpkin gutting :) I found a carving template for Preston's favorite Nick Jr. character, Moose A. Moose. He absolutely loves this little moose. Well let's just say he was not the easiest thing to carve. Everyone was done with their pumpkins while we were still outlining the moose. We FINALLY got him finished though and though he didn't look too pretty under natural lighting, he lit up nicely in the dark with just a candle inside. Preston didn't really participate very much in this venture but opted to play with his toys and crawl around us most of the night. He had fun though and I think he enjoyed his first Halloween! Here's a few pictures from our Halloween weekend. And his one year post is coming soon!

Happy 4th of July!

We had an awesome 4th of July. After church, we spent the day at my parents' house, grilling out and laying out by the pool. All the guys had a great time playing around in the pool while us girls watched in amusement. Even Baby Julie had her swimsuit on by the pool, although she napped in the shade on her Mommy :) My precious nephews are so funny - they love to swim and play. Uncle Blake likes to play too so he spent some time tossing the boys around in the pool. Fun times! Preston napped while we swam so he didn't partake in the pool that day. However, after he got up we let him get his first taste of watermelon! And the verdict? He loved it! I didn't let him get too much of it though - we didn't want a diaper disaster :)

That evening we headed off to watch the Trussville Freedom fireworks show. We really enjoyed hanging out and getting ready for the fireworks. However, we made the mistake of trying to get our dinner there and the lines were ridiculous! Blake stood in line at Dreamland for a short while and then they ran out of food. Then he got in the Papa Johns line for about 25 minutes when they ran out of food. Ah! So...we made a trip by Arby's after the show. Anyway, my whole family was there along with our friends Ryan and Amber so we really did have fun. I was a bit nervous about how Preston would react to the fireworks but he wasn't scared at all. He actually liked watching them. All in all, this Independence Day was probably the best I've ever had. The only thing we will need to do different next year is bring our own food to the firework show :)

Fun Five Days

The last five days have been busy and fun-filled. It all started with Blake's 27th birthday on Thursday, July 1st. We celebrated with dinner at PF Changs with Blake's family and finished off with a chocolate cake that I made for him (recipe to come later). Side note: I've never been a big fan of PF Changs for some reason and I must say, our dinner was fabulous! Blake and I had such great food that we went back on Saturday night, ha ha


On Friday, Blake had the day off so we loaded up Preston and took a family trip to Atlanta to visit the Georgia Aquarium. This was our first time to take Preston on a trip so it was exciting for us. Preston slept most of the way so he was ready to go once we arrived. And for a weekday, the aquarium was PACKED. I'm sure the holiday weekend had something to do with it though. One thing we learned: buy tickets online at home. We stood in line for nearly 30 minutes, ugh. Anyway, we loved looking at all the fish and animals. They were so beautiful. Due to the crowds, Preston couldn't see very much so he wanted to be held the majority of the time. We took some fun pictures of him by one of the large aquariums and he seemed to enjoy himself looking at the fish. We rounded out our trip by browsing through the gift shop and purchasing a new friend for Preston, a stuffed baby penguin. He has been affectionately named George, taken from his home state :) Preston LOVED him right away and slept with him on the way home.


Waiting in line. This is our new face when we see the camera




Wants to grab the shark



Loving his new friend, George

Saturday, Blake played some golf and then we hit the pool with our good friends, Ryan and Amber. After Preston took a much needed nap, we headed back to PF Changs and did a little shopping.

Sunday was Independence Day! I have a separate post coming for this day. Preston also turned 8 months old so that post is coming too!

Blake was off again on Monday for the holiday so we spent the day hanging around the house and then making a grocery store trip. It was so nice having Blake home for a four day weekend. We really had a blast hanging out with friends, family and of course, our sweet boy. July has definitely gotten off to a great start!

Daddy Day

Blake celebrated his first Father's Day today. I am so thankful for him and the role model he is becoming for our son. Preston loves to play with his Daddy and they have a great time together being silly and having fun. It puts a smile on my face just to sit by and watch them.

"Preston" made a personalized cup for his Daddy that has his handprints and footprints around it. And of course it's orange and blue :) Side note: Getting good handprints and footprints from a 7 month old is nearly impossible - especially with bright paint that you are trying not to get everywhere! It was worth it though. Blake also got a frame containing a collage of pictures of just him and Preston.

We spent the afternoon with my parents and celebrated my Dad's birthday in addition to Father's Day. I know everyone may say this but I truly have THE BEST Daddy in the whole world! He is so selfless and would go to the ends of the earth for his family. He is Preston's only grandfather but he couldn't get a better one. He loves to just walk Preston around showing him new things - he has endless patience when it comes to his grandkids. Little P loves his Granddaddy! And wouldn't you know, Granddaddy got a personalized cup too...in addition to a new lightweight fishing shirt.

All in all we had a wonderful family day...although it would have been a little better if I didn't have a stinkin' cold. Oh well!

Blake and "Daddy's Little Caddy" (On P's shirt)
Blake's picture frame
Daddy's Cup!
Footprints
Helping Granddaddy open his cup

Mother's Day

What a sweet day. I very much enjoyed my first Mother's Day. I beam with pride when I look at my precious boy and I'm so thankful to be his Mama. I'm also proud to be the daughter of my beautiful mother. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing role model and best friend to call Mom. Preston surprised me with a beautiful pair of topaz (his birthstone) earrings for Mother's Day. They were sitting on his crib when I walked in his room (picture below). What a sneaky boy :) Honestly though, I have one thoughtful husband and I'm so thankful that he's mine! He also gave me the New Moon DVD (I'm an obsessed Twilight fan) and a framed photo of Preston and I that our photographer took and I had not yet seen. He is the best! After church we celebrated the day by having lunch with Blake's family and then dinner with mine. My brother, who lives in South Carolina, came in town on Sunday so we had a great time hanging out with him too. We also celebrated both my brother's birthdays with presents and an ice cream cake that I made. It was yummy! My loving sister-in-law made me a scrapbook of Preston for Mother's Day. She is the best! I have Preston's 6 months pictures back and I'll be uploading them soon!

Easter & 5 Months

We had a wonderful Easter this year and I'm so thankful we now have our sweet boy to partake in celebrating our Jesus! What an awesome God we have - he has risen and LIVES!!! I had planned every detail of Easter morning which included us getting to church on time. Um, yeah right. I was up at 6:30 a.m. and it still wasn't enough time. Maybe next year we will opt for the late service instead of the early one. We did manage to take a few pictures of Preston with his Easter basket before rushing him into his clothes and out of the house. We went to my parents' house for an early lunch and then to Blake's grandparents' house for a late lunch :) Preston managed to squeeze in a nap on the drives in between. We had a great time visiting with family. I LOVE our families and it warms my heart to see everyone together having fun. Preston was wiped by the time we got home and was asleep for the night at 7:30 (which by the way, he slept until 3:10 a.m., ate and went back down until 8:00 - so proud!). Preston got lots of goodies from the "Easter Bunny". I want to remember everything so thus the following list:

Children's Bible Stories book

Ducky blankie with his name on it. We have named him Mr. Quack

Fuzzy alligator ring-shaped teether

His first sippy cup!

Small bunny that hops when wound up

Moisturizing bath wash

In addition to Easter, Preston turned 5 months old on Sunday. I truly cannot believe how fast the time is going by. He is changing so much and learning new things constantly. He loves to chew on his hands and suck either his thumb or first two fingers. He is also starting to grab his toes. He loves to play and chew on anything he can wrap his little fingers around. We gave him his sippy cup for the first time today with a little bit of water in it. He starting sucking that water down so fast I couldn't believe it. He loved it! He played with the handles a little bit but couldn't quite grasp it to hold. I honestly didn't even think he would even drink out of it. He's so big! (sniff) And I mean that developmentally AND physically. He is one hefty little guy. My biceps are sure to be bulging before too long :) Preston loves to be talked too and for me to tickle his tummy up to his chin. It cracks him up. He also loves to stare at his Daddy. He will stare and as soon as Blake looks, Preston looks away. It's hilarious. He loves his Daddy so much and Blake can always get him to smile. I can't wait to see what comes next - 6 months here we come!