Mid-Week Update

• I have been all out of sorts this week. Monday morning I accidentally dropped the blender on my Pampered Chef pizza stone. This was a wedding gift and we literally use it every day to cook something. We have had several wedding gift casualties over the past seven years. Sad. :(
  
• Presley has really bonded with her daddy over the last little bit. She stood and watched him mow for the longest time the other night. She looked so sweet. BUT don't be fooled, she would scream and yell at him when he was out of sight. She can melt my heart and drive me bananas at the exact same moment like no one else.

 

 

• Presley has a tooth coming in up top. It hasn't broken the gums yet, but it is there. I let her have a Popsicle to try to soothe her. She ate about 1/16 of it before she dumped it out. I think it soothed her gums for a little bit though.

• I am attempting a new system of listing three chores I plan to get done each day. It seems to be helping keep things from getting so out of hand around here. I haven't done a super great job at it though, but I make myself add the unfinished jobs to my new list and that helps keep me accountable. Putting Presley in the laundry basket helps. :)

• My grandma gave me the stuff to make a strawberry pie this week. It is Caleb's favorite dessert. I have made tons of them over the past several years, but I really messed it up this time. I misread the directions and once I started, I new that it was wrong. I started over and just never got it right after that. It is more like Strawberry soup. Ha!

• Rylan's(the baby I keep) great grandmother passed away this week. He wasn't here today and won't be for the rest of the week. Prayers for their family are appreciated.

• We spent most of the day at the park today. Everyone got a little more sun than planned. I tried to keep Presley out of the sun and protected as much as possible, but she still got a little on her nose, cheeks, and one shoulder. Our friend Amie joined us. I have named her Nanny Amie. She spoils me and makes me feel like a celebrity SAHM with a nanny.

• I attempted to pull some weeds in the landscaping while the kids napped today, when I discovered a snake curled up right next to our garage. I ran away and refused to go back out until Caleb got home and took care of it. He battled that snake and won.

• I had planned on setting out flowers the rest of this week since I would have one less kid during the day. However, it may take me a few days to recover from discovering that bad boy. He was just SO close to the house and our high traffic area.
• This week has been crazy. Just little things combining together to form real life moments. I like real life. The what in the world- where is the candid camera-this can't be real life moments, these are the moments Caleb and I laugh at late at night. These are the moments we remember. These are the moments that bond us as a family. So, I will take the imperfect moments along with the perfect ones, because, after all, that is what real life is. A combination of perfect and imperfect moments coming together to make one completely wonderful life. :)

Happy Mid Week!!!

7 Months

Presley is 7 months.

 

Each day we grow more and more in love with our sweet girl. She is silly, dramatic, sensitive, sweet, loving, and so much fun!

She has developed quite the personality!

She makes the girliest noises. We all love it!

 

We get so tickled at her. She does this hard breathing out of her nose when she is mad, done with something, or irritated. She big belly laughs at her daddy and brother. She watches every move Brady or  I make.

 

At 7 months Presley is...

 

• wearing size 3 diapers.
• wearing size 6 months clothes and a few 6-9 months clothes.
• laughing and "talking" all the time.
• saying "dada". She can mixes a lot of sounds. I could have sworn she said "duck" at church the other day. Noah heard her also, because he looked at me and said, "she can talk!"
• nursing 4-5 times a day and eating baby food and/or cereal twice a day. She has had rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, green peas, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, avocado, carrots, a little banana, and prunes. (The prunes are only if needed for bathroom purposes, you get the idea.) We are sticking with mostly cereal and veggies for right now.
• taking one long nap and 1-2 short naps per day.
• waving and patting. She is getting better and better about doing it on demand.
• scooting A LITTLE on her tummy. It isn't a full scoot or a crawl, but she can maneuver herself just enough to get a toy or object just out of her reach. I DO NOT CONSIDER HER MOBILE. It is minimal, but it is a start. I give her a couple more months to be into everything!
• picking up puffs and other small objects with her thumb and finger. She doesn't put the puffs in  her mouth, she usually drops them in the floor.
• loves her brother.
• recognizing family members and friends.
• doing very well in Bible class.
• sleeping from 7:30-8pm until 5-7am. Occasionally I hear her in between, but she soothes herself back to sleep or I go give her the paci.
• loving paci and blankey!  

She is really changing and becoming acting more like an older baby with each day. We are all enjoying her more and more each day.

Here she is on her birthday and each month up until now.  I love how you can see her thighs grow. Girl has some big thighs! They are perfect for tickling and kissing! ;)

 

Here is Brady and Presley side by side at 7 months. They look a lot alike to me. I also see the differences. Brady weighed a little less and was a little longer at this age. They definitely look like brother and sister to me!

 

We love every second with our sweet girl. She has been such a blessing to our family. Brady adores her and HATES to hear her upset. It is so very sweet. I have a feeling the next few months will fly bye and we will be celebrating a birthday before we know it. Ahhh!

Sometimes I just look at Caleb and say, "Can you believe we have TWO awesome kids?". Sometimes I feel so blessed, my heart could burst.

 

Happy 7 months, Pres!!!

A Few Favorites

2 posts in one day, who am I?

Here are a few favorite iphone pics from the last several weeks!

Some from Instagram, some not. They are in no particular order...

A little glimpse.

We have spent the last week or so doing a little...

 

 

playground playing...

 

sleepy time lullaby-ing...

 

gummy smile grinning...

 

baby snuggling...

 

 

bedtime Bible reading...

 

Bounce house jumping...

 

fun friend time spending...

 

recliner silly-ing...

 

no nap- recliner resting...

 

pre-bath posing...

 

remnants of crazy, no nap day findings...

 

friend birthday celebrating...

 

playtime cooing...

 

and Sunday napping.

 

I realize I made some of those words up. I don't care, spell check, don't care!

 

Note: The trash picture was what I found in my car when I went to pick up a pizza one night this past weekend. I was like "whoa, it was a crazy day the other day!" I meant to clean it up then, but had my hands full and I forgot once I got inside. (It is not uncommon for me to start something else and completely forget what I needed to do in the first place these days!) Well, I forgot until the next morning when Caleb came in from loading up our car for church. He said, "what in the world happened in your car." I said, "Oops, I know! We had a crazy day the other day." To which he replied, "Apparently". We had to laugh. Laughter is how we get through most days. :) It is all picked up now, but it happens from time to time. ;) In fact, it is more often than I would like to admit.

This week

• The weather has been so nice the better part of this week. We have spent a lot of time outside, playing with the Frisbee, taking Marley on walks, kickball, rolling Presley in the wagon, basketball, sitting in the shade on a blanket, and trimming bushes. Unfortunately, our allergies are suffering. Regardless, the three of us have really enjoyed some pleasant outdoor activities, even though we all have runny noses. :)

No pictures, we were busy playing. ;)

• We found out this week that Brady and Presley will have another BOY cousin. My sister, Bryan, and Noah will add baby Oliver to their family come February.

I stole this pic from my sister.

            I guessed boy from the beginning. I just saw Noah with a brother and everyone I know right now is having boys. Noah adores Brady and loves all things ball and swords. I am not partial to any sibling combinations. I think all are unique and special in there own way. I think siblings are super important and a huge blessing, whatever the combination!

• Presley is growing. She is so so so good through the week!!! (The weekends are, uhm, a different story.) I am very thankful she is so good, because Brady often gives me a run for my money through the week. ;) Sometimes he gets a little mouthy and he just has so much energy! He is such a strong willed and opinionated child. I know this will be a good thing one day.

• I made my favorite pinterest find this week. I have made it before. We love this cake! It is so easy and so yummy!  I didn't use as much butter as the recipe calls for this time and it was still so good.

 recipe

• Brady got to have a night out with "aunt" Debra tonight. She is Caleb's mother's best friend and has always been Caleb's "Aunt" Debra. Her family loves our family well. She brought Brady some awesome Spiderman shoes! Brady told her he wanted to go to Toots to eat, he wanted a hamburger and french fries, and he wanted to play the motorcycle game while he was there. See what I mean, strong willed and opinionated. All of his wishes were met. I think she even tried to buy him a toy at Toys-R-Us and he told her he didn't need it. He amazes me everyday.

• I discovered that Brady knows his right from his left. We were talking about something and he corrected me telling me which was the right side and which was the left. I was floored. I asked how he knew that and he replied, "my favorite song is to the right to the right, to the left to the left." He was referring to the Cupid Shuffle. He learned his right from his left from the Cupid Shuffle. I am not sure what to think of that.

• Monday night we went to a funeral visitation for our friend's grandfather. We had prepared Brady by telling him that Mr. Joe went to heaven. After approximately 5 minutes of being there Brady says, "Mom he isn't in heaven, he is right there!" pointing to the casket. He follows that up with "But this isn't heaven!" He continued to loudly discuss the body and the casket until we left. Sweet statements like," where are his legs" and "why are his hands praying in that box". Obviously, he lacks sensitivity. Caleb and I were in separate cars so he took Brady and I took Presley on the way home. As we were getting in the car both kids were crying in separate vehicles. Caleb and I just had to laugh. Caleb asked, "when did this become our life?"

That has been our week in a nutshell! It is not super fancy or glamorous, but it is ours and we love it. (I totally just sang Fergie's Glamorous while trying to spell glamorous.)

Updates

Sunday was our last Children's Bible Hour for the summer of 2012. Brady completed his worksheet, so he received a prize, a $5 McDonald's gift card. When we got home Brady exclaimed, "Hey Dad! Guess what, I got a McDonald's credit card!!!!"  He keeps us laughing!

Presley had her 1 month Dr appointment today. She weighed a whopping 10 lbs and 4 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. Girl is a great eater. There are no concerns of how much she is getting here.

I had a super normal and low key birthday this year and it was just perfect. We had a really yummy steak dinner at my parents house. Caleb got me a cookie cake. I took in lots of kisses from my sweet babies. Noah(my nephew) got me a cupcake birthday card that said, "Happy Birthday Daughter-In-Law!" It was perfect.

Sunday morning when I got Presley out of her swaddle blanket to change her and get her ready for church, she started pee peeing every where. That is pretty normal, but I was rushing and wadded up her gown and swaddle blanket and thought I threw it into the hamper. Fast forward to Monday after I did the laundry I couldn't find the swaddle blanket anywhere. I looked high and low, but still couldn't find it. I jokingly said to Caleb I hope I didn't throw it away when I threw the diaper away. I started thinking and thought I should check the trash. Low and behold, there was the swaddle blanket and her gown. Yep, I threw it away! Way to go, Mommy!

We have a pretty normal week this week. Life with 2 kiddos is twice as crazy, but twice as sweet! We are really enjoying all of it! :)



Recent Happenings

• The weather has been beautiful recently. Brady has been really big on picking me a flower. His daddy is teaching him young. So sweet!

• We hiked walked to a waterfall on some land my parents bought to sell this past weekend. (My parents are and have been for a long time in the real estate business, so it isn't odd for them to do this.)Brady loved it. We went to the easiest one to get to because we had a preggo and a 3 year old. Ha! The waterfall was pretty, but difficult to get a great picture of.

• Tuesday was National Pancake Day, so we went to IHOP for free pancakes. Brady ate his entire stack of 3 regular size pancakes. The waitress was shocked, he ate them all. I told her he would, he loves pancakes!

Before

After

• Yesterday, we met my sister, Noah, and my grandmother for lunch. Caleb was off so he tagged along. Amy had her husband meet us as well. We all had a good time. I forgot my camera so no pictures.

• After lunch, my grandmother took us and Amy to Wal-mart. She had each family get a cart and said, "O'kay, get what you need, paper towels, laundry detergent, snacks, whatever." It was so nice of her. Brady had no trouble picking out some things. We came home with doughnuts, oreos, Capri Suns, fruit snacks, and Kool-aid packets. Ha Ha! Of course we got some other things as well. She kept telling us we needed to get a little more. It was so nice of her and unexpected. It was a little harder than it sounds because we didn't want to overdo it or get too much.  I am so blessed to have 2 living grandmothers.

• Today they are predicting severe storms and tornadoes in our area. I have never been one to  get real uptight about storms, just aware and cautious at times. However, when Brady was just months old our town got hit by a large tornado and a young mother and her infant baby were killed. Many families we know had severe damage to their homes. Since, I have been a little more scared of storms. It is worse when you have a family anyway. Brady and I are trying to figure out our plan for the day. Well, I am trying to figure out our plan for the day. We don't have a basement or real safe place other than the central bathroom or closet. Hopefully, it won't get as bad as they say.