blanket frenzy...

i may have a slight obsession with the fabric minky. its practically all i have used with Preston, and i figured that i would probably do the same with this babe as well. However, i was given lots of soft cuddly blankets for pres, so in order for baby girl to get her minky-fix i decided to make a few. Luckily lis had a baby girl as well so we have some of the same blankets that i made for little janer-girl, and then followed suit and made one for mine as well.

The first two are one sided minky, and the other side a cute soft cotton flannel. love how they turned out.

This next one is certainly more for me than for baby girl. It is quite large. I made it with the intent for me to stay warm during late-night/early-morning feedings. I used a darling flannel sheet set that i found at costco for one side and then just a already made soft pink blanket for the other, then just sewed the two together. its pretty fantastic, i tried it out the other night while preston woke up crying in the night and i rocked him back to sleep, so i know it'll get good use

and lastly, this one. probably going to be my favorite. A friend made Preston one just like this and I have deemed it his "favorite" blanket, although he doesn't really choose favorites....it is the blanket he sleeps with at night and when i ask him to get his blanket, that is the one he usually gets. It is double-sided minky, and really its the perfect size to grow into. So i duplicated it and made baby girl one too. First i made Jane the same one, same color combo, different minky styles though, and it might have been a bit of a learning process for me to figure out the piping-process, but i certainly improved on mine (however it is still far from perfect). I just finished this one this morning and LOVE how it turned out. i'm sure it will become a favorite of hers as well.

I still have quite the stash of minky, but hoping i won't have to make any more while i sit at home going stir-crazy waiting for her to get here.
I don't think she is in any hurry at all.
Chase, Melissa, and my father in law all have the same thought that she is going to be about a week-overdue. YUCK. i hope not, but we shall see. Chase thinks i am just much too comfortable to have a baby anytime soon. Pretty sure the castrol-oil trick will make me really uncomfortable in a hurry, but i don't think i'm quite to that point of desperation yet.

the end....

i can see it, the end that is. It is coming up quickly. Yesterday marked my 39th week, and today i had my dr.'s appointment. Sadly, there was nothing too exciting to announce since my last weeks appointment (still dilated to a 2 and 70% thinned). I was kinda bummed out, because since my last appointment i have felt quite crampy with a loss of energy, so of course i expected progress, but no. Which is totally fine, since i am really in no big hurry to get her here...i am still putting finishing touches on her nursery & trying ever-so-hard to teach preston how to be soft and not hit (which by the way, i am failing at .....hints, please). Thankfully, i still feel pretty dang good considering i'm 39 weeks. I got started a week early with Preston, so i never got to experience any of these labor feelings...it is kinda fun not knowing what to expect or when, but the planner-side of me is kinda freaking out as well. Regardless, we are getting ever-so-excited to meet her. There is something so very precious about newborns. oh i can't wait.

so hang in there friends, an exciting baby announcing post will be coming shortly.

until then, enjoy these awesome pictures of my growing belly @ 39 weeks, along with Preston finger-smears all over my mirrors, and my dirty bathroom, which will get cleaned tomorrow....oh and preston twirling himself up in the shower curtain, that's a really fun game to play.

soak it up....

I have approximately 3 weeks before baby #2 arrives.
that being said, i have been trying to soak up everything this sweet boy of mine has to give.
some days it makes me sad to think it won't just be the two of us anymore, we have quite the connection.
When i first found out i was pregnant, i was pretty sad that i wouldn't have as much time as i "planned" to give Preston all the attention that i thought he needed from me.
Lately, i linger a little longer rocking preston to sleep. I've never really been one to let preston rock-a-bye, partly because i thought he needed to fall asleep entirely on his own, and partly because he wouldn't let me rock him. Well, he's wised up a bit, and lets us cuddle with him a bit. And even though he's fully capable of falling asleep on his own, most nights i rock him till he's fast asleep. Because i can.
Who knows, things might not change that much for us when baby girl arrives, but i'm not taking my chances.
I'm going to play, make messes, love, cuddle, teach, and be silly with my little guy as much as i can while its just the two of us.
so for three more weeks (+ or -)...were going to be soaking it all up, enjoying life as we know it....

the festivities

We had a wonderful Christmas.

We spent Christmas eve and morning with my family and as usual it was wonderful. My parents brought our christmas gifts to us earlier in the week so that we wouldn't have to haul it all home, so it was a simple morning, but wonderful nonetheless. They gave Chase and I quite the loot of food storage, which might sound boring, but i find it quite awesome. My mom is the queen of food storage, and if i could be 1/100th like her, i'd be sitting pretty. so thanks m&d for getting us going in that direction. practical but perfect. plus my mom gave me a facial which i am dying to use, but think i will wait till after babies arrival to have a little r&r time while she watches my kids. They gave preston a new slide, which is currently his FAVORITE toy in the house. He spends most of the day either sliding down it, or jumping on top of it yelling my name so that i will watch him. I will have to post a video of him on it later. he seriously loves it. Thanks mom & dad. Sadly, i didn't get a single picture @ my parents house so all i've got is this one from rach. After church, we headed to the Jones to spend a few days with them...Do notice the 14ft Christmas tree that i decorated, it was quite the job, but i'd say it turned out quite nicely.

Preston enjoyed playing in the little red car patiently waiting to open presents...he's cute. and then, he opened his fun gifts from Grandma Kath & Papa Ru....he got a fun car track & a bike, which he quite enjoys as well. I had no ideas for preston this year, so i set the grandparents free, and they chose great gifts.The next few days following Christmas were spent playing in the snow & relaxing. Preston wouldn't keep gloves on his hands so he didn't love being put down in the snow but he loved being outside watching the other boys sled & play and riding with dad on the snowmobile.

And these next pictures might be my favorite. Most of the cousins were swimming in the pool @ Grandmas, but we had already taken preston earlier in the day, so we weren't going to take him again....well, he had different plans. We walked into the pool room to find Pres sitting nicely on the pool steps in all his clothes waiting for someone to come swimming with him. Don't worry there were adults in the pool, just not chase or i. To say preston loves that pool is quite the understatement, but i was so happy that he just sat there and didn't go any deeper than the steps.

Can't believe 2011 is over. it was a fabulous year...full of fun & surprises. and i can't wait for what this next year will bring.

Merry Christmas

cards are sent out.

neighborhood gifts delivered.

shopping complete.

halls are decked.

presents are not wrapped.

we are ready for christmas.

we hope you all have a happy holiday.

love, us

{28}

Yesterday, the man of our house had a birthday! We celebrated by going out to lunch at Famous Daves and doing some shopping. i know right, birthday shopping on his birthday, i was quite surprised it was allowed. but it was for him, so it was okay.

We are pretty lucky, pres & i, to have this guy in our lives. he treats us pretty dang good. I can't even describe how much Chase loves his boy, they have a cute relationship. and i just love him for more reasons than i can name. He's a great other half for me, and a great daddy too.

clearly Preston is the most fun to take pictures of, even if it is daddy's day.

16 months

say it isn't so.... is he really 16 months old. about to be a big brother? oh dear. sometimes i fear for his little sister, and other times i think it will be the sweetest relationship formed. the doc said yesterday at his 15 month appointment (even though he is almost 16 mo) that it will be most definately a love/hate relationship. which i expected. Not too many changes in the the little guy since i last posted about him. he has had some rough bouts with sicknesses the last little while. yuck, can it be over yet? it seems to be one thing after another, but i tell you if i have to catch anymore throw up in my hands, or change 14 poopy diapers in one day again then i'm taking a vacation....hopefully we can be done with it all soon, even though its unlikely since were rapidly approaching sick season. we will most likely opt to stay indoors for the majority of the winter. Preston sure does keep us laughing and smiling though. he is getting the funnest personality.

I've been jotting down some of the things pres is up to these days that i don't want to forget

-cries terribly when he sees his daddy leave for work, or a meeting. he is used to chase just being gone when he wakes up, but now that the season is over he has to watch him leave, and doesn't like it one bit.

-Asks for lots of attention from Chase and I, he is sure to make sure we are watching him when he is doing something funny or mischevious.

-loves giving kisses. big-wide-open-mouthed-kisses.

-loves to honk our noses, especially when i am rocking him and he is supposed to be being quiet.

-LOVES to lift up my shirt and give baby sister a kiss, sometimes i ask him where baby sister is and he lifts up my shirt to show me, other times he just goes straight for the belly and attacks it.

-attempts to climb onto anything possible in our house.

-loves to feed himself. although he is terrible at it.

-quite possibly my favorite of them all is how he folds his arms everytime he gets in his chair so we can say prayer, or at bedtime. sweetest thing ever.

-kinda turned into a pickier eater. he's not too bad, but definetely worse than he's ever been. But, he loves cold cereal, especially cheerios and ramen noodles. and anything sweet.

-can seriously untwist ANY lid with his mouth. If it has a twisty lid, and it can fit in his mouth, he will get it undone. we have certainly learned the hard way with this one, as drinks have been dumped on him, my makeup all over the floor, and so many more. i don't think we can stop this habit either.

-chipped one of his front teeth, most likely due to the fact that everthing goes in his mouth. oh well, its a baby tooth.

-still loves baby einstein.

-LOVES to dance.

-throws WAY too many fits for my liking.

-loves taking baths and swimming at grandma & grandpas. getting very confident in the water which makes me quite nervous.

-will cuddle with me and only me. occasionally he will lay his head on someone elses shoulder but will only let me rock him or cuddle him.

-likes to drink out of cup like mom & dad, usually he takes of the lid to his sippy so that he can drink out of the cup like a big boy.

-doesn't have a huge vocabulary, but we've heard him say several things a few times.

-momma, dadda, mooo, no, this, that, duck, kitty, horsey, down, ball, nana (banana), shoe, baby, chair....and i'm sure more but thats all i can think of right now.

-he jibber-jabbers all day long though, and we can't wait for them to turn into actual words.

-He often claps for himself when we say good job preston, but it is a silent clap, i've never actually hear noise from his hands....a good golfers clap i'd say.
He's a fun little guy.