count your blessings, name them one by one.

Preson and Penelope- what an adventure having 2 children has been. My intentions of blogging at least a monthly update on my little ones has once again drastically failed. Oh well- I do what I can, when I can, right? ;)
Penelope is coming up on 8 months next week. She is an absolute breath of fresh air and just a joy to have in our little family. I keep thinking she is just too wonderful to be true- how can a baby be this happy and sweet- all. the. time. I fall in love all over again each day.
She continues to follow the pattern of being long and lean. We gave it a go for as long as possible with breast feeding. I have always been the biggest advocate of breastfeeding along with any holistic and natural way of doing things possible. For some reason, my kiddo's are just too curious to sit still for the long nursing sessions that nature calls them to. They want it wham, bam, thank ya maam! ha! While I did hold out Preson for a full year, Penelope's nursing sessions were just becoming less and less frequent and shorter and shorter sessions. We made it to 6 months breast feeding; 7 months pumping and bottle feeding; and now mama is just not producing enough to provide what baby needs, so now she is on that nasty powdered stuff- so sorry, my sweet Penelope! I will say the stress of wondering if she was getting enough has left me. We are on a great schedule of bottle, play, solids, nap, play- and repeat. I am a stress free mama these days!

Penelope, you are developing right on target. You are following your big brother's pattern of doing the infamous Phillips army crawl. You are a fast little bugger too. I love watching you get up on all fours, bounce back and forth a few times and then flop on your belly and off you go! You are discovering a whole new world beyond your little play mat.
My floors have never been so spotless since Preson was at this stage due to ev.er.y.thing going in your mouth. Im having to really step up my game with the childproofing department. It is a daily process at the tip of my mind every day these days.
You take after mommy in so many ways! You love closed cozy spots. I can always find you under a table or chair. You are a snuggle bug. I love how you will fall asleep on me and daddy and just lay on our shoulder when you are sleepy. You are a chatterbox. You just babble and blow your little raspberries all day long to yourself as well to entertain those seeking smiles.
I also find it precious that you are fascinated with mirrors. I keep one right on your level just so I can watch you gaze and smile into it. I foresee many dress up play days in the future.
Watching Preson interact with you has been quite the adventure. When we go upstairs to get you from your nap- he shrieks with joy and runs right up to your crib to greet your smiling face. He always comes running to me to let me know whenever your crying and has nicknamed you "Puppy" since he has a bit of a hard time stringing 4 syllables together. I wonder if it will stick...
Somedays I wonder if he separates the idea of you being a playmate from a playTHING. He loves to shuffle you back and forth (quite roughly in fact) in your bouncer. He brings you toys whenever you are calling for them and the other day I caught him dragging you across the room by your foot! Luckily you were all smiles, although I did stress to him that that was not ok.

Preson, you are my beautiful little mess these days...and I love you more every day for it! You are a bundle of emotion- so many feelings pumping through your veins and no way of knowing how to filter through them, much less control them!
Every five minutes we are having a good cry- If you want food, you cry. If you are done eating, you cry. If you remember a toy from a friends house or church, you cry. If you see Penelope playing with your toy you cry. If it is nap time, you cry. When you want to see someone, you cry for them and when you are with them you cry. In fact anytime you wish to communicate something to me you pretty much have a mini melt down. Oh to be 2 years old! Thankfully you have mastered the art of the deep breath. Now if mommy could only master it. :)
I love it how you love old fashioned cartoons. Your favorite is Bambi. You ask to watch it every day and you are watching the Sword and the Stone as I write this. I cant wait to take you to the new vintage-inspired Winnie the Pooh movie that is coming out this summer. We will definitely aim for a mid week matinee on that one!
You love all things boy- anything with wheels, action figures, dinosaurs, things that make noise, etc. You are the master of the tricycle. With the way our house is set up, you ride around in a big circles through the house tirelessly and happily for what seems like hours. I absolutely love how you love to read. In fact you would be a very happy boy indeed if mommy would just sit and read to you all day every day. We are still working on independent playtime.

My house has never been a bigger mess- and for the first time I don't even care! I have stopped my ways of nonstop go, go, go and have submitted to focussing my attention of being a mother. Sitting still and giving my children the attention the need and deserve. I love my life and am so blessed to stay home with my babies. I thank God each day for that privilege and I will not take it for granted.
The other night a few of my wonderful friends and family surprised me for my birthday for an evening of wining and dining! They all surprised me with presents and cupcakes and lots of love- made me feel so loved and special!

My Little Prince

I have a 2-year old. It is completely mind blowing how fast time flies when you look at it from certain perspective. And how in other ways I can't believe there was ever life before Preson. It really makes me question why we waited so long to have children. He is our best buddy and a total blast!

While there have been ups- some of my favorites have been teaching him his letters and numbers, watching him do his first somersault (in his words, "SUPERsault"), hearing him whisper "I yuh yoo" for the first time, going to see "Missy Mouse" at Disney World, getting his first haircut, bouncing Penelope air born in her bouncer, feeding her her bottle and giving her eskimos...
And then there have been some heartbreakers too- hearing him cry watching someone get hurt on America's Funniest Home Video's, watching him do that somersault off the sofa onto his little noggin :(, his struggle with learning to eat...

The list goes on for both of these categories. We are at a crossroads with so many areas with Preson. He is finally starting to eat. He still eats like a bird and is in the 3rd % for his weight, but by golly the child is eating and that is "WINNING!" in my book :)

We finally made the switch to Preson's big boy room. He loves tromping up and down those stairs (scares me to death!) and counting each one as we go.

We aren't rushing to get him switched over to his toddler bed quite yet, so I have peace of mind that he wont go wandering up and down in the middle of the night. Now both he and Penelope are upstairs in their rooms. (stay posted on that!)

The other night the "paci-fairy" came. Preson is not one to always have a pacifier in his mouth, but somewhere along the way, we incorporated it into his night-time routine and he has just always soothed himself to sleep with it. So I prepared him every night for about a week before his 2nd birthday. I explained to him that now that he was turning 2, he was a big boy and the paci fairy would be coming to take his paci's to heaven for all the new babies to use. We had a couple of nights where he cried for it a little bit, but he quickly got the hang of it and is doing much better. Let's just hope we don't have any relapses along the way.

And finally, last Sunday, was Preson's second birthday party. With his first birthday, we were in the process of moving and let me just tell you, the kid got the shaft on the big ONE. So, I was thinking through all the hundreds of Preson fetishes and finally narrowed it down to his most long lived love- fire engines. I am obsessed with all things handmade and insisted on killing myself with DIY-ing everything. The day before, my friend Jess called me telling me that I was not going to be making the red velvet cupcakes I had just purchased all the ingredients for. But rather that I had 30 of them waiting for pickup at Tampa's finest bakery- Wrights.

Besides being a bit overstimulated (both of us :), It was an awesome day. All his little toddler buddies and about 20 of our closest friends and family made it out. I am pretty sure my children draw a bigger crowd than their parents do! The party was a blast to put together, but the best part was when the big red fire truck pulled to our yard. Our good friend "Dustin the fireman" pulled some strings and was able to surprise the party! The day was filled with some wonderful memories.

Preson Peek, I YUH YOU!! You are my sunshine and I am so very blessed to have you as my little boy. I treasure you each and every day.

Love, Mommy

Unsuspecting Anticipation

It has been so long since I last blogged. To be honest, I have written a few posts but after reading them, decided they were just a little too personal for posting. This pregnancy has been wonderful to me physically with minimal side effects, but it has been so tough emotionally. My hormones have had me on the verge of tears over the smallest little things- nearly every day. I am surrounded by the most amazing people and yet I have felt so alone for the last 9 months. I know it has everything to do with this pregnancy and it is one thing I am looking forward to coming to an end in these next couple of weeks. In the meantime, it has drawn me so very close to my heavenly Father. One thing I have learned is that when you feel alone and when you feel there is no one to turn to, he is there. It's a shame we so often let ourselves get to that place before turning to him.
I can hardly believe I am now only 2 weeks out from meeting my little pumpkin. I am definitely preparing myself differently this time around than with Preson. For one, I am not planning on being super woman with laboring naturally at a birthing center for 2 days. I am going to try to do a VBAC, but I will be in a hospital setting and if my midwife tells me I need to C- Sec it, I am totally at peace with that. I will plan on going as long as possible without the epidural, however if the labor veers in the direction of my 52 hour labor with Preson, I will not be putting myself through that again. I went through enough natural labor for all my children combined in my first labor experience. Lately I have been reminiscing over Preson when he was first born. Here we are in his first moments of life outside the womb.

Yesterday my friends threw me the most beautiful baby shower. this is the only picture I have at this time (Thank you, Ali!) but I will certainly be sure to post more when they become available. It was just a very nice lazy Sunday soiree under the oak trees of my friend, Jen's backyard. Every detail- from the monogrammed burlap table runners to the little button accents to the pre-addressed thank you note station- was perfect. My sweet friends, Jessica and Tiffany really nailed it with all the little things that make me smile and feel loved. And that is just what I was desperately needing at this time in life- a little love from my girls.

I am in overdrive with the nesting phase of my pregnancy. Sewing like a mad woman, deep cleaning out all our little nooks and crannies, trying to plan ahead how to go about juggling our meals after the baby comes, etc. My poor husband is at the mercy of his slave- driver of a wife. We have been working so hard to get our home to a place where we can relax when this baby comes and not feel stressed about all the pending projects that are half done. We have just finished our most recent project of subway-tiling the bathroom walls. Feels so good to get that one done! We still have many things to do, but I think we are finally getting to a place of peace with their incompletion. This is the bathroom in the midst of our tiling project. I know! I know! I need to get more after pictures up!

One of the biggest things I have been fearing with the arrival of little Penelope, is my 20 month-old, Preson. I have no idea what to expect. I just cant comprehend how, at this point, I will be able to give the same love I have for him, to this new little one. It almost breaks my heart that he is so sweet and oblivious to everything that is happening and how one day very soon, we will bring her home from the hospital and everything will change.
Every day, my husband and I just sit back and watch him and beam with pride and talk about the joy that he brings us every day. We were driving today and Tommy reached over and held my hand and said, "ya know, I think we have a pretty great life, don't you?"
I am overwhelmed with this wonderful life that God is allowing us to live. I don't take it for granted. I anticipate and look forward to every new day.

My lil, Peek-a-Boo

This post probably wont do too much for anyone's reading- it is mainly for mama's treasure of her memories with Preson Peek. I am just treasuring every moment I have with my little one- savoring each little stage of his life. It is a blessing to watch him come into his own. Each day it is something new and I anticipate what the discovery of the day will be. He is so wonderful-just a total joy that I do not take for granted for a second.

About a week ago, it was like a switch just flipped and my teething, fusser-bug was replaced with my happy, content little boy again. Lately it has been him discovering his little imagination. He loves to see what your reaction will be to his performances of silliness.
He is always popping out from behind things saying, "BOO!" with a huge grin on his face and then he will just wait as he anticipates your reaction.
It is a joy to watch him roll around on the ground as though he is rolling down a hill.
He LOVES to sit on everything- from his little rocking chair (on it's side) to his oversized building blocks to the large basket filled with blankets in the living room.
He is INTO everything. I am constantly having to redirect him from things he isn't supposed be touching. When will it sink in what "don't touch!" means??
He always wants to crawl up into anyone's lap that will have him, for reading time (not usually making it to the end of the book). Every night before we pray with him and lay him in his crib, he runs over to his "Goodnight Moon" book crying "mooon!, moooon!" What is it with that book anyways that makes all kids LOVE it? Subliminal messages, maybe?
He is so precious with his own little language that has evolved from that sweet baby babbling that I will miss- He will try to repeat so many words and he totally butchers em- adorable.
He keeps me on my toes constantly and I am just having so much fun with this kid!

(photo taken by my good friend, Joy Engdahl- Thanks for the cute pic, Joy!)