Presley Brooke Turns ONE

One year ago today my husband was less than 48 hours days post op, we had just found out that he most likely had cancer, and the greatest thing of all, I had just had the most precious little girl in the world. When all the craziness was happening a year ago today, Joel and I sat in the maternity ward staring at our sweet addition talking about how her timing just could not have been better. She was a huge blessing and joy to our life the moment she joined our family, and the year following hasn't changed a bit. Presley has brought so much laughter and joy into our home. She is a little firecracker already at age 1. She has us all wrapped around her little finger and she knows it. She is the most adorable little mischevious girl in the world and we feel forever blessed and lucky to have her in our little family.
Today, as we did with Van, we had a big 1st Birthday bash at our house. Presley hardly knew what was going on, but she sure did love the attention! Thank you to all of our friends and family that made this a special day for my little one. We sure do love our little stinker!

 

 

(Vander kinda liked this SWEET pair of sunglasses sissy got!)



Van Man- 28 Months

This is a very random month to do an update on Vander, but since today HAPPENS to be his 28 month mark, I thought, what the heck, hes long overdue for an update!
I have no idea where to even begin with him because he is an absolute riot! He is my best buddy in the entire world. He is the happiest, funniest, craziest, sweetest, goofiest kid ever! Heres what my little stud is up to these days....

- He loves counting, anything and everything
- He has learned pretty much all of the letters and their sounds, all thanks to "The Letter Factory" which was watched at least 60 times in the car.
- He loves to jump, wrestle, run, basically anything rough and crazy
- He loves to build forts and/or hide
- He literally never stops talking, UNLESS hes watching a "show", in that case... silence...
- He is obsessed with the Ipad which I am not thrilled about. And ever since we got Netflix it has taken it to a whole new awful level.
- Even more devasting is his favorite show right now- Which is "Horseland". The most girly, pathetic, annoying show on Netflix. But it has horses, therefore its his favorite.
- He LOVES to sing. Especially Happy Birthday. He wakes up singing Happy Birthday and falls asleep singing Happy Birthday. He also loves to change the words of songs to say anything he wants, but keeps the tunes perfectly as the original song
- He has a love hate relationship with his sister. He constantly asking us to put her "night night", but then constantly going into her room to wake her up from her naps long before she should be awake
- He gives the most gentle hugs and kisses and truely LOVES his family and extended family with all his heart
- He gets so so excited when anyone comes over, it doesn't matter who it is, its the most exciting thing in the world
- He says no to almost anything at first, then actually thinks about it and decides what the real answer is
- He is getting SO smart, talking in full sentences now and can hold a full conversation which is SO fun!
- There is so so much I am leaving off, but I could honestly go on forever. He is my side kick and we are just the best of buddies.

Splish Splash! Warm weather has arrived!

This week was the first week in a long time that it hasn't been brisk outside. Last year at this time Vander would literally spend hours in the backyard playing with rocks, water, toys, cars... It was bliss! Then it got cold, he stayed indoors all day and would tug on my leg all day long trying to get me to build him a fort. Well hallelujah, its outdoor/patio play weather again! And to top it off, he has his little sister to play with him outside this time! Jackpot!

We got Van a water playtable for Christmas and up until today it has sat assembled and bone dry on the patio. Today we got to fill it with water and it kept him entertained for quite a while. I do however though think that Sis is more excited about it in Vander. She does LOVE to splash and play in the toilet, but is used to getting pulled away quickly and being very sad. This is like a giant toilet.. buts its much cleaner :)

Here are some pics from our day!

PS- It is important to note that Vander is at the stage where he will not sit still, will not look at the camera and will NOT stop talking. Makes for some very difficult photo taking :)

 

 

 I couldn't resist posting this pic of Vans little girlfriend Blake. Shes so adorable! (She was more excited about playing with the bubbles than splashing in the water)

 

 Just talking.. the entire time... non stop

 

 

 The only way I could get him to look at the camera was to ask him to show me his animals. He proceeded to show me every animal and let me take a picture of them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So happy!

 

 Our girl that refuses to walk but can stand a manuver with no issues at all. Stubborn!

 

 Van racing around on his scooter- Hes obsessed.

 

This was after the splashing outside, but this is what Presley does while we do Crossfit in the garage, she sits at the gate and watches almost the entire time. This is her watching daddy workout.

11 Months : Presley Brooke

Holy Cow.. I knew I was behind on blogging- but I did not realize HOW far. Fail.. Epic Fail.
I kept such good records of Vander and how he was growing and progressing and I have nothing on Sis for the past 5 months. Poor thing. The joys of being the 2nd child ;)
Well, as very well indicated by not doing a blog post for 3 months, life is SO busy. My work is slammed, Joel got a promotion and is now busier than ever, and along with that, so our our kids!

Here's what Presley is up to these days....
-She is into everything. She loves to explore and will silently disappear for long periods of time to remote locations in the house
-She loves to climb! She is a daredevil and is scared of practically nothing
-She just got her first two teeth about 3 weeks ago. Her top Right and Bottom left? Weird? In the past week her other top tooth has come in, and right now we are enjoying the breakthrough of bottom tooth #2.
-She can stand for a solid 30 seconds or so on her own. And can stand up on her own, but she all but refuses to walk. She has taken 1 step, 1 time.
-She is the fastest crawler EVER. Which may be why she has no desire to walk. She can crawl from one end of the house to the other in 20 seconds flat.
-She hates crawling with her bare knees on the tile while results in an awkward tipy toe crawl. Its hilarious
-She loves anything you feed her. She has just really started eating normal people food and venturing away from baby food slowly and shes loving it
-She adores her brother. He is the most funny person in the world to her. If he smiles at her, she laughs, if he tackles her, she laughs. He can do no wrong. Vander on the other hand is constantly asking if we will put sissy "night night". AKA- Get her away from me.