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 1st Birthday Preston!

12 months...52 weeks...365 days...any way I look at it, my baby has been here for a whole year! What a life changing year it has been! From the moment I laid my eyes on that precious bundle of joy I knew I would never be the same. It's funny to remember how nervous and scared we were to be parents. The responsibility of another human being hit us hard when we were on our way home from the hospital. You mean the nurses don't come with us? Ha!

It has not been an easy road, full of dirty diapers, fussy nights (and days), food fights, fevers and colds, injuries and just flat out parent errors. But despite any tough circumstance, our first year with Preston has been the best of our lives. He has brought so much joy to Blake and I and we can't thank the Lord enough for our beautiful boy. The look of his smile and the sound of his laugh can melt my heart in an instant. Any bad day can be turned around with one of his cuddles :)

Preston's birthday was on November 4th which fell on a Thursday. Blake decided to go into work late so he could spend some birthday time with P. I made us all some pancakes and we sang Happy Birthday to Preston with a candle in his pancake stack. He looked a little confused about the big deal over pancakes and a candle but nonetheless he thoroughly enjoyed his birthday breakfast. That night we took Preston to dinner at Arby's. Yes, Arby's. Preston absolutely loves it. He can eat a whole jr. roast beef and value fries plus a little more! My parents and Blake's mom joined us and we had a great time with the birthday boy.

In addition to turning one, Preston has been a busy boy this month.

-He's cutting a second tooth. It's a top tooth coming in exactly above his single bottom tooth.
-He can't walk on his own but walks along the couch or his music table or anything else he can hold on too.
-He has a fascination with the dog food and water bowl. I've caught him twice eating the dog food (yuck) and had to dig it out of his mouth. And he loves to splash in the water bowl...so now those go up on the counter anytime the little stinker is let loose to crawl around the kitchen.
-We just started on cow's milk the day after his party (post to follow about the party) and he seems to like it "okay". He will drink some of it but not a lot at once. I'm determined to only allow the sippy cup simply because he is not reliant on a bottle and I don't want something else to "wean" away. We will see how it goes...
-Speaking of weaning, Preston decided on Monday afternoon that he no longer wanted to breastfeed...more on that in another post.
-He can say a few words now, not perfectly clear but we know what he's saying. Kitty Kitty was his first word but sounds more like "Ki Ki" and now he has added "Hey" which sounds more like "Hee" but he has learned to wave along with his "Hee" which is so adorable. He waves both hands sometimes and says "Hee, hee, hee." We are still working on "Ma Ma" but every time we say "Ma Ma" he responds with "Da Da." Really? Throw me a bone here baby boy. I just tell myself he's meaning to say "Ma Ma' but it just comes out wrong, ha ha.
-He has started throwing a few fits when he doesn't get his way...for example, I found him splashing in the toilet today (disgusting) and once we washed hands and I put him down, there he goes heading for the toilet again. I tell him no-no and pull him away and here comes the screaming fit...note to self, purchase toilet seat locks this weekend.
-He loves to crawl all over me when I sit in the floor with him. I just love it when he wants to stand up against me and hug me.
-He eats mainly all table foods but still eats a few baby food fruits and baby oatmeal. I've discovered the huge variety of applesauce flavors at the store and Preston seems to enjoy all of them. A new snack that he likes are the Club cracker minis. Mommy likes them too. He wants everything we eat so I have to be sneaky if it's something he can't have...or else a fit will ensue.

I think that's all of his new stuff for this month but he's developing and changing so quickly that new things are happening daily. I truly can't believe how much he has changed and grown this last year. it's amazing to watch such a little baby become a little person complete with his own personality :) We love this little boy so much! Thank you Lord for our precious gift.

Here's a few pictures from Preston's actual birthday. Party post to follow soon!


Birthday Pancakes!

Loving his pancakes

Playing with a cord...geez

Taken at 2:23 p.m. exactly 1 year old :)

Birthday dinner at Arby's

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!

Lots to talk about

The Mosley household has been fairly chaotic these last few weeks since Mommy was preoccupied with Halloween festivities, Preston's first birthday and party arrangements. I'm glad to report everything went smoothly...well, almost. Don't worry, details to be revealed in the posts to follow!

Mr. Awesome

So last Friday night we took Preston to his first football game. We met some friends down at the Hoover Met for the Hoover vs. Mtn. Brook game. Blake's boss' son is the quarterback for Hoover and he had been wanting to see him play anyway so we thought it was a good time to introduce Preston to the world of football. I was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed himself. He had refused all but 30 minutes of a nap the entire day and was already fussy on the way to the game. I wasn't planning on making it through the first quarter...but as soon as he caught glimpse of the busy field and all the people around him he was fascinated and totally absorbed in the chaos. I have this love for ball park hot dogs (It's a must for any athletic event) so we made our stop by the concession stand and headed towards this grassy area in the visiting section. We had a whole section of bleachers to ourselves with a huge area of grass in front of it. I spread out our blanket and Preston was free to roam.

Preston dined on a scrumptious meal of french fries, diced apples cheerios and cookies while I devoured my hot dog and nachos, yum. Blake graciously shared his fries with Preston so he wound up with a second trip to the concession stand. That's how I ended up with a huge tub of popcorn too...and did I mention I brought a huge batch of oatmeal scotchie bars for everyone. Gotta love eating at the ball park. Anyway, enough about food.

Meanwhile...a few boys (around 10 or 11 in age) were hanging around by us and caught the attention of my husband. Anyone who knows Blake can tell you he never meets a stranger and this includes people of all ages. He has this gift of being able to befriend someone immediately. It's quite amazing to watch. So anyway, they start talking baseball and football and then the boys make their way back towards the main crowd. A little while later they are back but with more boys. They start throwing a football so of course Blake joins in...before we know it Blake is arm wrestling with these boys on the bleachers and just having a great time with them. Preston is having a blast just watching them run around and play, probably wishing he could join them. I'm watching these boys rough house and get grass stains all over their clothes and wondering if I'm ready for this in the future. I guess I better get used to it :) So anyway, after a while, one of the boys walks up to Blake and they have the following conversation:

Kid: "Hey, so what's your name?"
Blake: "My name's Blake"
Kid: "Oh, cause we were just calling you Mr. Awesome"

Ha! It was so hilariouis. Blake had the biggest grin on his face after that. He loves kids and I'm so proud that he takes such an interest in making a kid's day. Those boys would just light up when Blake would talk to them about their sports and they seemed surprised that he was actually interested in their responses. I'm so thankful that Blake really is "Mr. Awesome" to Preston and I and I look forward to him playing with Preston and his friends one day like he did with those boys. Fun times ahead! But for now, my baby boy is a Mommy's boy and that's just fine with me :)

Guy on the Go

So I'm having to adjust to my son's new found mobility. He has hit exploration mode in full force. I'm used to him being content just scooting around a room playing with his toys. No sir, not anymore. He follows me to the bathroom, chases the cat into the closet or just excuses himself from the room and starts padding down the hallway. I'm sorry, when did you become so independent, Preston? His two favorite things to do are close doors and play with cords. Safe, right? What a stinker. So now all the cords have to be put away but not sure what to do about the doors. He gets mad if they are open just a crack so he slams them shut...geez. He likes our dog because she tolerates him but he loves the cat because he can't actually get to him. I guess it's the "hard-to-get" that fascinates him. Preston goes as fast as he can to catch him, excitedly calling "ki-ki" (kitty kitty) but as soon as he's within arm's reach, "ki-ki" scadaddles (sp?). It really is a joy though to watch him "find the world" and see where his curiosity takes him, under supervision of course. Preston's first birthday is two weeks away from today and I can't believe this first year is almost behind us. I'm so thankful for every moment that I get to spend staying at home with my boy...even if he is a little mischievous :)

Hashbrown Casserole

This recipe has always been one of my go-to dishes for potlucks. We had a girls movie night this week and boy did we have a smorgasbord of tasty treats. I love pot luck! So anyway, I took some pictures of the hashbrown casserole while I made it so enjoy! It's definitely one of my favs!

You will need:
30 oz bag frozen shredded hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
4 tbls butter, melted (optional)

Mix first four ingredients until completely combined. I also add the melted butter to give it a little more flavor but this is completely optional. I also add salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Crush Ritz crackers and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Side note: I have also made this without the Ritz crackers and it's still delicious, just a little creamier without the crunchy topping.