We had Preston's Dedication on Sunday, Nov 4, 2012 at our church in Sunnyvale and I was so glad most of the family could come. It was a very special moment to be up in front of the church and all of us commit to raising Preston under the guidance of our Lord. Preston flashed a smile while Randy (our Pastor) was holding him and that made everyone in the church smile. After the church service, we all ate at Saltgrass and Preston got to open a few gifts his family members gave him. John and Kathy gave Preston a children's Bible story book that I am very excited to read to him soon, Mason and Ellie gave him a "Thank You Prayer" book that we can read and memorize to say each and every night. Brad and Jessie gave him a new sweater and my parents gave him a quotes book that we can read for each day of the year.
We are so blessed to have the family we do and I am so thankful our son has so many hands he can rely on.
Randy starting the Dedication Ceremony
Listening to Randy speak about the importance of raising Preston under the guidance of the Lord
Special moment between Mommy and Preston
Praying over Preston
Preston loved being on stage
Back to Mommy
Thank you to everyone who came to support us and Preston. It meant so much to us!!
Preston is now a 9 month old baby who loves to melt the hearts of his mommy and daddy with his luminous smile, explore everything that falls in his line of sight and voice his enthusiasm with his high pitched squeals and maturing baby sounds. My baby is becoming less of a baby and more independent as each day passes. I try to saver every moment I can where he allows me to kiss all over him, tickle his tummy and hold him as tightly as I want to. Preston is full of energy and has the kindest and most gentle heart.
This month, Preston has learned how to walk using his walker at school and the one at home. At the beginning of the month, we would have to stabilize the walker because he would push it forward faster than he could move his legs with it but by the end of the month he was putting one leg in front of the other fairly quickly and he didn’t need us to assist him anymore. He hasn’t learned the concept of turning the walker yet but he will get there.
Preston officially cut his first tooth this month and more are already on their way. He has done really well with teething and he looks so much older with his new teeth shining through.
We have been working with Preston to hold his own bottle and he is getting there but so far all he can do is hold his bottle when he is laying on his back when getting his diaper changed. He hasn’t yet master holding his bottle while sitting up just yet.
Preston has gotten super good at crawling and he can move very quickly. Its soo cute to watch him zoom across the floor when he sees something he wants or see how excited he gets to follow mommy from room to room.
Preston has also learned how to scream when he isn’t happy about something. We are trying to nip that in the bud right now.
Special Moment:
As everyone knows, I live for the holidays and I was more than ecstatic when October 1st rolled around because that meant Halloween was just around the corner. I decorated the house, planned lots of family events during the month and waited for Oct 31st to finally arrive so I could celebrate the holiday with Preston for the very first time. I thought our special moment this month would be when we went trick-or-treating for the very first time but to my surprise our special moment happened later that night. Although trick-or-treating with him was incredibly special, our special moment happened when we were in the car traveling to another trick-or-treating spot. While I was holding him in my lap his front facing my front, he wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head against my chest and stayed there until we had to move to get out of the car. I know this isn’t a huge moment or anything but I knew he felt save in my arms and I will never forget how that made me feel as his momma.
Preston’s Likes:
At school, Preston along with all the other babies loves to pull the handles on the cabinet doors. The only difference between the ones at school and the ones at home are that ours don’t lock and he can pull them open. He has bumped his head a couple of times on the doors but his curiosity keeps him coming back for more.
We discovered that Preston loves to bang and crunch on empty water bottles. So, now we keep an empty water bottle in his play area so he can bang it on the couch, near the bathtub so he can play with it during bath time and next to our bed so he can crunch on it when we are putting his diaper and clothes on after his bath.
Preston reacts positively to music and he especially likes the song “If your happy and you know it”.
Preston’s Dislikes:
Preston has gotten better about getting his diaper and clothing changed although I’m not sure if he is getting better with it or if we have gotten smarter about it. I always have a toy or his pacifier handy when it’s time to change his diaper or get his clothes on. That boy doesn’t want to stay still long enough for me to get him changed. He is ready to go 24-7.
Preston now understands the phase “no no” and doesn’t like to hear it. He will get pretty upset when he’s not allowed to have or explore something but we just redirect him and he is all good.
Preston hasn’t really shown any amounts of fear beside sudden loud noises so it took me by surprise when he didn’t take very well to the new bath toys we bought him. He loves bubbles so I figured he would love the bubble machine but boy was I wrong. When I turned it on, he heard the buzzing noise and almost leaped completely out of the bath tub. I was not prepared for that and it stunned me to see him react so negatively to something so quickly.
It took a while for him to feel comfortable in the bath again but just as he was I screwed it up when I put another new toy in the bath tub with him. This time it was a pink star that made a little water fountain and lit up. Again he ran for the hills when he saw the lights come on and the water start flowing out. I couldn’t believe it. He cried and cried until he no longer saw the star.
Then to my amazement, he got scared for a third time by the green frog I bought to place over the tub facet. He took one look at it, then at me and then cried for me to get him out of the tub. I quickly removed the frog and he was better after a few minutes.
So now, all there is in the bath is his trusty water bottle. I still haven’t figured out why all these toys scared him but they surely did.
Just starting this month, Preston no longer likes his veggies straight from the container. The only way I can get him to eat his veggies is to disguise them by mixing them with his oatmeal flakes. He will eat the fruits from the container but not the veggies. He will also eat level 3 fruits but will not get level 3 veggies. I think the level 3 veggies have too powerful of a smell and he will turn his nose each time.
Happy 9 Months Preston!!
Exploring the interesting blanket
He tends to stick his tongue out when he is concentrating
Man'o man!! I can't believe we just celebrated Preston's very first Halloween. I have been looking forward to this day since I found out I was pregnant. The holidays are so special to me and to share them with your child and family makes them even that much sweeter. After searching all over town and on the internet, I finally found the perfect costume for Preston...a Pirate!! We got his costume embroider with 'Capt'n Jack" on it and it suited him perfectly.
We shared Preston's first Halloween with my Mom and Dad, Bub, Michelle, Jerod, Vicki and Dave. Jerod is on the verge of retiring from trick-or-treating but thankfully he and his parents made the trip out to Plano to walk the streets with us and Preston. Jerod's costume this year consisted of a T-shirt that said "This is my Costume" written in spooky letters, crazy hair spiked with hair glue and pair of black and white sun glasses. I also dressed up this year and went as Brent's favorite animal...a kitten.
Jerod's costume this year
Once everyone arrived at the house, we took a few pictures before it got too dark and then made our way to Preston's first trick-or-treating house!!
Preston loved his orange pumpkin bucket
I was super excited and luckily the house a few doors down from ours was decorated and already had other children going up to it. Preston did great and didn't get scared at all. We made the rounds on our street and then headed to the neighborhood just north of ours and discovered the hot spot of our area. There were kids everywhere and most of the houses were decorated to the nines. Jerod ran from house to house and Preston and I tired our best to keep up. Preston absolutely loved being outside all evening and the dark and spooky sounds didn't seem to faze him one bit.
Our on way to our first house
Preston's first time to trick-or-treat
On to the next house
Spooky grave yard
After we went down several streets, it was time to head back and finally eat some dinner. Vicki gave Preston his bath and then it was time for the Pirate to head to bed. Jerod and I went through all his candy and picked out our favorites and gave the old person candy to Mom and Vicki...hehehe.
I couldn't have asked for a better first Halloween for Preston and I'm already looking forward to next year!!
Kathy invited Jessie and I to go with her to a craft night her church group was having at their church. Kathy had me at "Craft Night'. I was totally in even before I knew what the craft was going to be. I got even more excited when she said we would be carving a pumpkin out of those carvable pumpkins from Hobby Lobby. I have always wanted to get one of those but just never did and this gave me the perfect excuse to get one!! We we arrived, the girls in her group had made food and desserts and I didn't think it could get any better than having food to munch on and a craft to work on. The lady that was helping all the girls was very creative and had some great ideas. I ended up carving a night-before-christmas type face on my pumpkin, Jessie went traditional with her jack-o-lantern and Kathy made a cute witch's legs that she carved and painted. We had so much fun that Kathy ended up emailing us and invited us over to her house in November to do a Christmas Craft Night. Can't wait for that one!! I've already got so many ideas of the craft I want to bring...so hard to choose just one!
Another great tradition is now in the works!!
I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Carrie Underwood concert and I knew just who I wanted to bring with me...Mindi of course!! There aren't too many people I get excited about to see in concert but Carrie Underwood is one of them. I was curious what kind of performer she would be and I have to say, she didn't disappoint. Mindi and I got to park VIP style and we had great food to eat on along with the best cookies in the world...may goodness, I ate 2 of them which would probably equal like 4-5 regular cookies. The opening act was really good too although I felt a little old watching a young Hunter Hayes perform. Carrie sang all my favorite songs and I got to sing along with my best buddy. Great night for sure!!
