First Halloween

Preston's first Halloween has come and gone. Since he's not old enough to trick or treat and mommy and daddy don't need the candy, we had a neighborhood get together instead. Preston is not spoiled in the least so he only had 3 costumes. Luckily he had the opportunity to wear each one. Of course he looked adorable in each costume and once again wowed our neighbors that hadn't met him yet. He never cried and was able to fall asleep even though there were 15-20 people talking loud right outside his nursery. Have I mentioned lately that he is absolutely amazing?? Next year we'll go with one costume and a little trick or treating, but this was definately a great first Halloween for Preston.

Cheyenne the Miracle Worker

It's amazing that a horse can be such a miracle worker. Today Preston and I went to see Cheyenne before we headed out for our afternoon walk. She whinnied and that got Preston to laugh his first real laugh. It was such a wonderful sound! Then I gave her a couple treats and when she grabbed them out of my hand he laughed again. I was surprised that it was a deeper kind of laugh because he squeals such a high pitched, girlish squeal. I was able to hear one more laugh on the start of our walk but I don't know if it was Holly, the leaves blowing or the fact that he liked to hear himself laugh that made him laugh that last glorious time.
This evening Rob got home from a ride and asked if I wanted to cool Cheyenne down. After riding her around the corral I asked Rob if I could take her down the driveway to the main road. Rob and Preston watched me as I made the longest solo trip I've ever made on a horse. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't more than a half mile roundtrip, and that's stretching it, but I enjoyed it. I'm slowing building up my confidence with horses and Preston laughed for the first time all because of Cheyenne the Miracle Worker!

The Past Few Days

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever looked forward to ending a day as much as I did yesterday. Before I get into that let me back up a day. Wednesday morning we woke up to snow on the ground. It was absolutely breath-taking and I was looking forward to staying in all day, getting house work done and relaxing with Preston. When Preston woke up from his morning nap he was screaming, which is pretty rare these days. I went to get him and he had vomitted all over our bed. I cleaned him up but he was still screaming. When I changed his diaper let's just say it wasn't pretty. I called our pediatrician and he said it was most likely a GI infection. He recommended Pedialyte for the next 24 hours. Since we didn't have any I had to take a quick shower (all the while Preston is screaming) and head down the hill to get some. After Preston drank some he settled down and went right to sleep for the ride home. Although I didn't wish for him to be sick, I got to eat a burrito for lunch complete with a caffinated glass of Coke. YUM! That and his grape smelling breath was the only nice part of him having to drink Pedialyte. When we got home, Preston was real clingy. He slept in my arms several times throughout the afternoon. Usually I don't let him take naps in my arms but I have to say I enjoyed snuggling with him. By that evening he was back to his usual self so I thought all was good again. WRONG!! Yesterday started out okay but by the afternoon he had turned into a monster baby. He would scream uncontrollably and I was unable to calm him down no matter what I did. By the time Rob got home I was about out of my mind, having flashbacks of when he was 2 months old doing this on a daily basis. I gave Preston to Rob and left the house to go for a long walk. Holly and I walked until it was almost dark because I needed to get away from the crying and screaming before I lost my mind. As soon as I got home, I was welcomed with the sound of him crying. Rob continued to hold him while I made Rob dinner. Nothing would console him so I fed him his night bottle/medicine early and put him to bed. By that time Rob and I were both pretty frazzled. Southwest was having an AWESOME deal on airfare so we booked two trips and afterwards I questioned whether I even put in the correct destinations. I ate a PBJ sandwich while taking a hot bath then crawled into bed absolutely drained! I am happy to say that today is 1,000 times better and Preston is back to being his happy self. I guess he likes to have "off" days once in awhile to show us how good we really have it with him 98% of the time.

Pumpkin Carving

It was supposed to storm today so I ran all my errands yesterday with the intent of staying indoors today. When we woke up this morning, however, there was a minimal dusting of snow on the ground. But, since it was in the 20's, I decided to keep Preston in anyways. Today is a long day for Rob so I created a long to-do list to make the day go by faster. One of the things was to carve Preston's big pumpkin. My suspicions were right: a 3 1/2 month old does not really participate in carving a pumpkin. I even tried to get him to play with the pumpkin guts (for lack of a better word) but he didn't want anything to do with it. He just wanted to sit there, grabbing at his feet, watching me and Holly. The progression of pictures is how it went (And yes, I put the camera on the auto timer to get pics. so Rob can make fun of me for it....ha!)By the end I was flying completely solo, as you can see. But, the finished product represents Preston as we call him "Boo" or "Boo Man". Maybe next year he'll be a little more into the whole pumpkin carving festivities!

Fun One......

This weekend has been a mixture of fun, productive and relaxing. Friday night both of the boys were asleep by 8pm so it gave me a chance to soak in a hot bath and read a book. I love our family time but I also enjoy my alone time once in awhile as well. Yesterday morning Rob hung out with Preston so I could run some errands before my parents came to town. We're having a little Halloween get together at our house next weekend so I had fun picking out decorations and treats for the party. Shortly after I got home my parents showed up. We all went for a walk while Rob rode Cheyenne. It was such a beautiful Fall day and Preston loves being outdoors so I really enjoyed getting exercise in the great outdoors of our neighborhood. Once we got back home I hung out with my parents for awhile before Rob and I got ready to head out for the night. We went to a comedy show downtown and then out to dinner. It was the first time that I didn't CONSTANTLY think/worry about being away from Preston. We throroughly enjoyed our time together and laughed a lot. This morning I made a big breakfast for everyone then we headed off to church. After church we enjoyed a nice big lunch at Texas Roadhouse, our favorite place to eat in town. I was ready for a nap when we got home, but that doesn't usually happen much these days. So I rode Cheyenne around the corral for awhile instead. I had a minor mishap when I didn't steer her away from the roundpin and will have a good sized bruise on my knee from bumping into it pretty good. Now we're back in the house and I'm doing laundry and dishes in between reading my book and relaxing with the boys. What a perfect weekend....I love weekends like this!!

One of Those Days

When I put Preston down last night I had a feeling it wasn't going to be a very good night. I'm used to waking up with him only once these days. But, last night he decided to wake up a few times which wore me out. Then, today, he wouldn't take his usual naps. In fact, he refused to take a morning nap at all. He was cranky, fussing at the drop of a hat. So, I put him in the Baby Bjorn to water the trees and say hi to Cheyenne. He liked being outdoors so much that I decided to take a walk around the block. About the only time he got excited with me all day was when we were on our walk. He squealed when he discovered our shadows and when Holly would run up ahead of us. The only problem was that I had not intended to go for a walk. So, walking up our road in flip flops, carrying a 13ish lb baby and being so out of shape really made the end of the walk interesting. But, he liked it so it was worth it. Once we got home he went back to being fussy (Me being tired probably didn't help). I was finally able to get him to take a 1 1/2 hour nap in the late afternoon by laying down with him. His startle reflex is still in full gear so I held his hands and that helped him go to sleep. When he woke up he was in a little better mood and once daddy got home he was in a bigger better mood. But, it was the first time in a long time that I was very happy when bedtime rolled around. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be better.

Noah's Ark

For awhile I was wondering if we should build an ark. We had 2 horses, 2 dogs, 2 of us.... But, we've downgraded our animal status...and upgraded our human status. As of yesterday we only have one dog and one horse. I was kind of bummed to get rid of Duke but knew it was for the best. He is big and doesn't realize it so we couldn't have him in the house when Preston was down low. It got to be burdensome to keep an eye on him outside all the time and I felt bad having him in the kennel all day. I also wasn't spending the time needed with him for the first two months after Preston was born so he wasn't really trained, other than knowing how to sit and staying in his crate. I hate to admit it but it was rather nice not having to dump food in his bowl upstairs this morning so I could trick him out of the garage to close the door (He's chewed up expensive stuff in the garage). It was also nice to look out and not see the neighbors' shoes, gloves, etc. on our deck. Someday I hope to get another dog because Holly is getting old and can't exercise with me all that well. But, for right now I think we have the perfect one horse one dog household.

Oh Wow!

This day has been "off" from the get-go. Preston slept through the night then took a 4 hour nap after only being awake for an hour (He usually take 45 MINUTE naps). Naive me thought he'd be happy the rest of the day, not wanting to nap anymore. Well, he was happy until he woke up from his second nap, realizing we weren't at home anymore. I found a new home for Duke so I met up with the couple before taking Preston to get his pictures taken. He was fine for that errand but as soon as we got to the portrait studio he was not happy. He tolerated a couple minutes of his photo shoot then decided he wanted to take a nap. He took a short catnap while my friend's son got his pictures taken. Then Preston woke up, took a few more pictures then started screaming uncontrollably. He has not done this in awhile and was getting the other kids crying so I was doing everything I could to get him to stop. I changed him out of his lion costume. Then I changed his diaper. I knew he wasn't tired because he had just woken up. So, although I knew he probably wasn't hungry, I tried to nurse him. Without going into detail, let me tell you that it was a mess (literally and figuratively). Finally, I walked out into the mall with him and he settled down. I went in to look at the pictures and he let out a little scream and pooped all over. Turns out he had a tummy ache. He kept passing gas, much to the delight of a little girl standing close by that thought it was hilarious, while I chose pictures. I thought things were good and life was calm. Boy, was I wrong! My friend had gotten to the studio late, which caused us to leave the studio late. That caused Preston's feeding schedule to be off and that caused a whole new round of screaming....all the way up Geiger. Fun times!!! But, all is good now....he is fed and sound asleep. Sweet peace at last!

AMAZING!

"I Just Call You Mine" by Martina McBride

I pinch myself sometimes to make sure I'm not in a dream
That's how it seems
I close my eyes and breathe in the sweetest moments I've ever known
It feels like home
And here I am I want to be your everything
There you are
Turning winter into spring

And everyone who sees you
Always want's to know you
And everyone who knows you
Always have a smile
You're standing ovation after years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
Yeah
I just call you mine

I fall apart
Just a word from you just somehow seems to fix
Whatever's wrong
Oh, you reach into the weakest moments
And remind me that I'm strong
You've got to know
I'd be a fool not to see you even worse
To forget that you're more than I deserve

Cause everyone who sees you
Always want's to know you
And everyone who knows you
Always have a smile
You're standing ovation after years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine

Nothing makes sense when you're not here
As if my whole world disappears
Without you what's the point of it

Cause everyone who sees you
Always want's to know you
And everyone who knows you
Always have a smile
You're the dream that I've been chasin' after years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine

Every time I hear this song my heart melts because I think of Preston. In my book, he has been amazing since he was born. He was born a few weeks early but came out quick, which was amazing. He had health problems the first 3 weeks of his life but fought in an amazing way. Now he shows he's amazing every day in little ways. He really only cries when he needs a basic need met....and when he finishes eating or when he first gets in his carseat. We can go somewhere and keep him up past his bedtime but he'll still keep smiling despite the fact that he's tired. I can run hours of errands with him and he'll be content to look around or take catnaps(except when we go to Walmart, which he HATES!). I can dress him up or give him props, taking pictures of him on a daily basis, and he'll tolerate it. He wows everyone he meets with his smile and charming personality. Everyone tells us that he's such a good baby. We know because he's AMAZING and we're blessed!

Running with Duke

I think I found a new home for Duke as of Wednesday. So, since he only has a couple days left with us, I thought I'd give him some much needed attention. He's got a lot of energy so I thought I'd do us both some good by taking him for a run. It's been well over a year since the last time I ran but I decided to give it a try to get some fresh air. OOH....between the 6,200 ft elevation and the fact that I'm not in shape anymore really got to me! I'd like to say that I turned around after 1/2 mile because it was raining or because I needed to get dinner started. But, the truth is that I felt like my lungs were going to explode and my legs felt like Jell-O. As I was getting back my neighbor stopped me to ask if I'd be on a relay team she is putting together for a 24 hour run next Spring. I was honored to be asked so now I just have to get my butt in gear so I can run a decent distance.

Maiden Voyage

Preston is busy doing "Tummy Time" while watching "Dora the Explorer" (I NEVER thought I'd let my kids watch that show but nothing else is on that will grab his attention and he's not a fan of "Tummy Time"). So, while he's busy I thought I'd blog quick about my maiden voyage on Cheyenne yesterday. Rob took her out for a ride while Preston and I napped. When he got back I saddled up to take her for a ride out of the corral. I don't know who was more nervous....me, her or Rob. All I could think about when I was walking to the corral was when I got bucked off the horse in Egypt. I decided to be a "big girl" though and overcome my fear. I took her down past the neighbor's house with the intent of riding her to the main road. But, I started worrying about Preston being left unattended on our bed (He had pillows propped around him but he's started becoming quite the wiggle worm). So, about a half a block from our house I turned her around and headed back. I'm pretty cautious about things, especially when there's a potential injury factor, so I take things S-L-O-W! But, I was proud that I left the corral and even more proud that Cheyenne did as I instructed. Maybe next time I'll make it out to the main road, which would then mean that I rode her an entire city block. Baby steps......

Fall Weekend

Preston and I had such a great weekend in Cali. We left Thursday morning so we could get to Sacto in time to have lunch with Grandpa. When we left there my mom suggested we visit a friend that I've known my entire life. She is 94 years old so she was a little confused as to who I was or who Preston belonged to. But, he wowed her anyway with his great smile. From there we visited my mom's boss/friend. She is always keeping up to date on Preston and was excited to see him. Her daughter got to meet him as well, holding a baby for the first time.
Friday was the best day though! We got up and went to LaBou (Rob's favorite place....ha!). Then we headed up the hill to Apple Hill. For those of you that have never been, it's an area that has about 15-20 apple farms. Each stop is unique, complete with craft booths, trains, food or any number of other things. Preston is becoming very social these days so he enjoyed sitting in his stroller, looking at the people around him. My mom and I looked at the crafts while the boys (my dad and Preston) hung out. At the last stop my dad and I had fun taking all kinds of staged pictures of Preston. He was a real trooper, just looking around while we snapped a hundred pictures. We were all worn out after our day at Apple Hill so we came home and took naps. After we got rested up, my parents treated me to a great Italian meal. When we got home my aunt, uncle and cousins came over to meet Preston for the first time. They had a lot of fun holding him, making faces at him and getting him to smile. Once again he charmed a new set of people!
While we were having fun, Rob was home sick. He thinks he had strep throat so I was unsure as to when we'd come home. We didn't want to chance Preston getting sick so Rob started on antibiotics and disinfected the house before we came home. Yesterday morning my parents, Preston and I made one more important stop....the pumpkin patch. Carving pumpkins has always been a big deal in our family so we had to start Preston off right. My mom found him the perfect pumpkin that was as big as him. Once again, he was a trooper while my dad got a lot of fun pictures of his first pumpkin patch experience! On my way out of town I had lunch with a friend and stopped to see another friend. I probably would've stalled longer but Preston was in a rare mood, screaming for 2 hours (He cleared out a restaurant where my friend and I had met for lunch)! I just wanted to get on the road so he could calm down and sleep.
We had a great weekend, but it's always nice to be back home and back into the regular routine. Preston was wonderful, like usual, and wowed everyone that saw him. I always think of the Martina McBride song "I Just Call You Mine" as Preston's song. He is absolutely amazing and I realize that more and more each day! We are truly blessed!!!!

Cowgirl?

I've never been into horses ever since I was bucked off one 15 years ago. For several years that was my one and only experience on a horse. I had no desire to ever get on one again. Then I met Rob. Last summer he paid for us to go on a trail ride so I could get used to horses. That didn't convince me that I was going to enjoy horses. Then he bought 2 horses. One terrified me and one was unpredictable when Rob rode him so again I was not convinced that I'd like horses. THEN he got Cheyenne. She is beautiful, docile and patient with me. The first time I got on her I asked Rob to lead me around the corral, not leaving my side. He encouraged me to ride her by myself but I insisted that I was okay. The next time I rode her I was on by myself, without him leading her (but close by), for about 5 minutes. I've fed her, given her treats, talked to her a lot, led her around the property and have fallen in love with her. Now I look forward to Rob riding her because when he gets back I ride her around the corral to cool her down. In fact, the last time I commanded her to pick up the speed a little because I'm building confidence on her. Rob gives me lessons now so I can get used to riding on my own. One of these days I'll feel comfortable enough to open the gate and ride off in the world!

Guess Who?

Someone in this house went to sleep at 8:15 last night and didn't wake up til 7am this morning, despite the 60 mph winds all night. This someone has never slept through the night before so this is a big deal. Another someone in the house, who is bigger, was not able to sleep through the night. This someone woke up every hour from 1am on to make sure the other someone was okay, even though the Angelcare monitor was on. Don't know if this was a fluke thing or will become the norm but both someones woke up very happy!

FINALLY!!!

I was ecstatic to see the computer sitting in front of the garage when I got home today. When you go without a computer for any length of time it makes life a little more difficult. So, I am glad to be back in the land of technology! Now to fill you in on the last three weeks or so of our lives.
Shortly after my last blog Preston transitioned into his "big boy crib". I had a harder time with it than he did. He's actually doing pretty well in his room. Most nights he wakes up once to eat and then goes right back to sleep. When he wakes up at 5:30 (usually when the garage door opens for Rob to leave) I bring him to bed with me for a couple hours. Our new schedule works out great for all of us.
When I took Preston for his 2 month vaccinations (he was late getting them because of his virus) I mentioned that he was doing a lot of lip smacking. Since that's a sign of seizures in babies our pediatrician wanted to be on the safe side and make sure Preston wasn't having any. So, last week we woke up early and went in for an EEG. The tech said Preston was a picture perfect kid for behaving during an EEG. After it was over we sat on pins and needles, waiting to hear back with results. Finally, the doctor called to say that everything came back normal...Praise the Lord!!
Now that Preston is 3 months old we are really enjoying his personality and milestones. He now talks up a storm, smiles, plays hide-n-seek and loves his toys. He doesn't usually cry unless he needs something, which is a very welcome relief. He smiles in response to us and it melts our hearts. Parenting is now a whole lot more fun!
We are in the process of finding a new home for Duke. He is quite the "Wild child" puppy and we don't trust him with Preston on the floor. He is so hyper and I don't spend the time I need to with him. So, we'd like to find a new home where he can get the attention he needs and deserves.
Last month Rob actually got off early on a Saturday so we had a family "date night". We went to a new place called Tahoe Burger for dinner. There was a mechanical bull there, which I decided to try. It was my first time and a lot of fun! We didn't get any pictures but it's a mental picture that I'm sure some won't forget....ha! Then I played this golf game and won Rob and me Tahoe Burger t-shirts. From there we met up with friends at the Grand Sierra and watched a guy make a new world record for a dirtbike jump. He jumped twice because his first jump wasn't good enough, in the rider's opinion. He came back and jumped over 300 feet!
Last week something exciting happened. I got a letter, accepting me into the Children's Writing Institute. I had to submit a story and apptitude test so I was thrilled to be accepted. It'd be a dream come true to stay at home with our kid(s)- no,I'm not pregnant!-and become an author. This program guarantees that I'll have a manuscript to a publisher by the time I'm done so it's an exciting opportunity.
This past weekend Rob and I went to Southern California to celebrate my birthday while Preston stayed at home with my parents. We left Saturday morning and came back late Sunday night. We cut our trip short because we were having "Preston withdrawals". Rob handled it better than I did. I kept crying so we ended up leaving the NASCAR race before it was over. My favorite part of my birthday was coming home to Preston, asleep in his crib! For my birthday Rob got me a beautiful ruby ring (Preston's birthstone) and Preston gave me a birthday card with a special birthday wish.
So, there you have it: Our lives in Readers' Digest version. I had written more but lost it when our internet went out (We're having a big storm right now). But, rest assured, I will be blogging a lot more now that we have our computer back.

Miss Us????

You may be wondering why we haven't blogged in awhile. It's because our home computer crashed. It was supposed to be an easy fix once the CDs arrived (Duke chewed up the first set that came late last week). After trying to repair it yesterday I was informed by Gateway that it was a larger problem. So, I am at Kinko's, where I just shipped our laptop to Texas. It seems we'll be without a computer for a couple more weeks.....GGRRRR!!! It makes us realize how much we depend on technology. Since I am paying by the minute to blog I'll give you a teaser for what's to come....... new pics, a world record jump, rehoming Duke, Preston in the big boy crib, sleepless nights, first ride on Cheyenne, a mechanical bull and much more. Stay tuned to find out the latest in our lives!!