Father's Day

Little behind on my posts :) The annual Springspree celebration was on Father's Day weekend this year, so we went to the park and looked at the booths and saw an amazing bike show. I never knew I liked that kind of thing, but it was pretty neat! We walked over to the lake to cool off and let Preston walk in the water. We also got a picture of Brandon and Preston in the same spot that my dad was holding me 38 years ago on Father's Day. Very enjoyable day spent with my 2 favorite boys ♥

Happy Birthday to ME!

I celebrated another birthday yesterday - didn't I just do that last year?! I started the day off by going to the gym and then coming home and cleaning the bathroom. Luckily my day got more fun by going out to dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants and then going to the Penny Arcade. Preston had fun riding the kiddie rides and I had fun beating Brandon in a game of CSI pinball (by 4 million points!).

Mother's Day

My 2nd Mother's Day was full of fun. I got to sleep in (one of the best gifts EVER!) and woke up to a wonderful homemade breakfast. I had flowers and a sweet, sappy card waiting for me on the table. I made rose-shaped bath fizzies for all my mommy friends (thanks Pinterest!) and we hand delivered all of those and then spent the afternoon at the outside arcade on the West side of town. It has been unusually warm here lately, but one this one day, we actually got rain and it was COLD!! It was even cold for me and I'm never cold! We bundled Preston up in 2 coats, a hat and my gloves and put him on the kiddie rides. He had a good time, and I enjoyed being with my family. We went out to dinner and had a yummy dessert - a Pizookie trio. It's like a cookie baked in a deep dish pizza pan, topped with ice cream and other sugary goodness. What's not to like?! We got the Red Velvet Cake, Triple Chocolate, and Cookies and Cream. The last one was my favorite which is odd because I loathe Oreos! We came home and I enjoyed a warm bath using my homemade fizzies and had a glass of wine (or 4) - a gift from my FIL. Perfect end to a perfect day :)

Lavender Rose bath fizzies

Love this picture of my 2 guys

Driving the tow truck (he's man enough to sit in a pink truck!)

Kissing the Incredible Hulk

Riding the grasshopper - look at how brave mama is!!  I am terrified of real 'hoppers but this one was ok.

Chilling on the hammock-swing

Pizookie trio

Kissing mama

Thank you Preston for picking me to be your mama!! I love you!

Preston is 18 months old today!!

My little pumpkin is 18 months old today! He is such an energetic boy and is always on the move.  We are so happy to have this little sweetie in our lives.

He recently took his 3rd airplane ride - we flew to Iowa for 2 weeks to visit family. He was the center of attention the entire time! Whenever my cousins came over, they would immediately whisk him away. They were like mother hens playing with him and feeding him. They did a great job and it gave me some much enjoyed free time and he was eating up all the attention. Someone asked me if he was walking yet because he was always being carried around - LOL!! While we were there, we celebrated my Grandma's 89th birthday and had 35 people at the house for Easter dinner! There was an egg hunt outside and Preston got his own Easter basket which was almost as big as he is! We went down to the Mississippi River so Preston could touch the water. We went back later that night so we could see the bridge lit up. It changes colors several times every minute and is really pretty. A big storm moved in during our last weekend and the tornado sirens went off. That was pretty scary! Luckily all we got was rain and strong winds. Other than that one storm, the weather was beautiful and we had a great visit.

Valentine Rose

I received a beautiful bouquet of roses on Valentine's Day from my wonderful hubby ♥ I love taking pictures of flowers, especially when they're mine :)

Electric Safari at the Zoo

We took Preston to the zoo for the first time right after Christmas. They decorate the zoo with animated animals displays and lots and lots of lights. It's beautiful to see and we usually go every year. It was so much different to go as a family of 3. I was more excited about his reaction and loved watching him take it all in. For the first 30 minutes, he just stared at everything and didn't make a noise - very unlike him!! It was a wonderful night and not too cold which made the experience even better.

Preston got to ride his first carousel. He wasn't too sure of it at first, but I think he enjoyed it. This was our first time on it too - it went fast!! His favorites were seeing the giraffes and the stinky, loud hippos. We all had a good time and I can't wait to take him back to see all the other animals.

Christmas 2011

We all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. It was pretty low key this year - not a lot of gifts or stress and lots of time spent with family eating way too much food. Santa was very good to Preston though. He had fun opening gifts and ripping the paper into confetti sized pieces. His favorite present was a plush rocking horse. He figured out quickly that if you press the ear, the horse makes galloping noises.

He's started doing a lot of new things lately. He does a 'happy dance' after he takes a bite of food. I didn't teach him that, but it's really cute! He's also learning how to dance. Right now, it's just a foot stomp, but he's got rhythm. Out of the blue, he started twirling around in circles. He spins really fast and will get dizzy and fall down. He knows where his nose is and instead of pointing to it, he'll inhale and exhale quickly. If you ask him to do 'muscles', he'll squeeze his hands and flex his arms - and he has a muscleman face to go with it. He's such a ham! And he just started saying 'hi'. It's usually when he sees one of our kitties. He'll wave and give a high pitched 'hi'!!

Happy New Year!

Halloween Penguin

Preston dressed up as a penguin for Halloween this year. I bought it it September and hoped he would be walking by Halloween so he could waddle in his costume - which he did!! He wore it all day as we drove around to visit Daddy and Grandma at work and then at night when we went trick-or-treating at the neighbor's houses. He was a good sport and didn't seem to mind wearing it - he wasn't too keen about the hat though, but it stayed on most of the time.

Preston is 1!

12 month picture. This was the best shot I could get - he was tired and hated the hat.

Birthday bath with Mohawk!

Preston turned 1 yesterday! Daddy took the day off so we enjoy the day as a family. We celebrated by taking him to the dr. for his on year check-up complete with shots (sorry buddy!). He got his first flu shot and several others. He's always done really good with shots so hopefully he doesn't have a reaction to any of these. It's been a wonderful first year and we're so blessed to have this little guy in our lives.

He's now walking really well and it's so fun to see him waddle around. He has now figured out how to crawl up the stairs, but hasn't figured out how to get down. He gets up a few steps, looks back and panics. He finally started clapping! I've tried teaching him how to do it for months and he would flap both arms, but couldn't clap them together. He just started doing it out of the blue about a week ago. He points at everything and says 'ssssssss'. Not sure what that means, but it's cute :) He loves to point at airplanes in the sky and kitties. He still only says 'mama', 'dada' and 'uh-oh' but mama is his favorite thing to say ♥ He tried pumpkin for the first time on his birthday and liked it and we're switching him from formula to whole milk. He noticed a difference so we're going to slowly wean him off the formula by mixing the two for a week or so. He drank that just fine.

His big birthday party is tomorrow so I'll post pictures from that soon.

Happy 1st Birthday to our
lil' pumpkin!

Labor Day weekend

We had a fun 'Labor Free' weekend.

The city has a hot air balloon show every year and it's one of the only times I enjoy getting up before the sunrise. We went Saturday morning, but it was too windy and the balloons didn't lift off. We went again Sunday morning and the weather was perfect - coolish and not a cloud in the sky.


We headed out of town to take Preston on his first train ride. It's near the Royal Gorge Bridge which is the world's highest suspension bridge. I used to live close by and have been there a million times. Every family or friend that visited took a trip there. It's quite a breathtaking experience. I love trains and saw this one advertised (heavily!) on tv recently. I'd driven by, but never ridden this train. It's a scenic 3 mile trip that gives you a view of the bridge. The weather was cool and it was sunny and beautiful. Days like that you never want to end. Preston enjoyed the ride and so did we.



*You can click on the pictures for a larger image*

First Father's Day...and peas!

We enjoyed a relaxing, fun first Father's Day. We met up with my inlaws for a Sunday brunch and then back to the family house for some playtime with the cousins. Then, we got to come home, take a nap and go out to dinner and do some shopping. That's my idea of a pretty perfect day. Preston was SO tired by the time we got home, but mama had to get some pictures of him and his Papa. Pictures are not optional, especially on holidays :)



He also tried homemade peas for the first time and LOVED them! They were bright green and so pretty - very different from the watery, olive colored jarred peas. I'm still enjoying making all of his food. He's a very good eater! *Notice the appropriate "I Love Daddy" jammies he's wearing*

Father's Day - then and now

Here's the gift I made for my dad for Father's Day this year.

The top picture is of the 2 of us when I was 11 days old exactly 37 years ago today. The bottom picture is of me and Preston in the same location 37 years later - he's 33 weeks old. The trees by the lake have really grown in that time! But overall, it looks very similar. The park now has more plaques/statues in the area (the one by us is a Veteran's Memorial), an added recreation court and a big parking lot - you can see our new car in the bottom picture at the left :)

Hope he likes it!

Mother's Day

Here's some pictures from my first Mother's Day as a Mother :)

We went to the park and Preston got to play on the swings. It was a beautiful day and I am so thankful to have this sweet little boy in my life.

^Ignore the super dirty swing!^

^You're right, Mommy loves you!!^

^He fell asleep in the stroller at the park. I love this picture of his feeties sticking out ^

^The 2 of us with the pretty tulips sent by my dad^

First Easter

We celebrated Preston's first Easter yesterday. I know he's still too little to know the meaning of the holiday and can't eat the candy (mama will help him out!), but we still had fun buying goodies for him and spending time together as a family. Next Easter will be really fun for us and him! I bought him a new outfit for Easter - new shoes, new overalls (it had a picture of a bunny on the front and said "Somebunny Loves Me"), and a new bunny hat. We also drew whiskers on his cheeks for added cuteness :)

Bird's nests for Easter

I made these bird's nests for my hubby's co-workers. They were very easy to make and they taste really good!

Bird Nests

Butterscotch chips
Coconut
Chow Mein Noodles
Jelly Beans
Peeps

In a large bowl, melt a bag of butterscotch chips, add some coconut and about 3 cups of Chow Mein Noodles. Mix it all together and form into nests (I used gloves). Add jelly beans before the nests harden so they stick. I like how the Chow Mein noodles look like sticks....and the coconut looks like grass.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Hamburger cookies

I made these hamburger cookies for April Fool's Day. They were so easy and so fun to make....and they're vegetarian!

Hamburger Cookies

• Nilla wafers


• Mint cookies (I used Keebler)


• Coconut


• Red and yellow frosting


• Green food coloring


• Water


• Corn syrup


• Sesame seeds

Place Nilla wafer flat side up on cookie sheet. Add mint cookie and put in oven for a minute just to soften the chocolate and adhere it to the Nilla wafer. Tint coconut green with food coloring and a few drops of water. Sprinkle on chocolate cookie while still warm to make 'lettuce'. Add red and yellow frosting for 'ketchup and mustard'. Brush top of Nilla wafer with corn syrup and sprinkle on sesame seeds for the top bun. Press onto frosting.

Irish Dinner

This is the dinner I made for St. Patrick's Day this year. I just love making themed meals. We had a little leprechaun as the centerpiece :)

• Shepherd's Pie
• Steamed cabbage
• Irish soda bread
  
  
  
  
  I've never had or made Shepherd's Pie before so I looked up several recipes and then combined several of them to make something that sounded good. It's basically ground beef (I used soy), veggies like carrots, peas, onion and celery and then potatoes on top. We all liked it! I used a pastry bag to pipe the mashed potatoes on top to make it fancy and then put it under the broiler to give it color.