State Fair Time

Last Sunday, we made a family trip to the amazing Iowa State Fair. We decided to save some money and go on Extreme Sunday where admission is 1/2 price. Some nice older man also gave us a free ticket while we were waiting in line and we got there early enough that we did not have to pay to park. $5 for the State Fair, what a great deal! The money we spent on food is a whole other story, we won't go into that :) But, it's the State Fair, right?! It was so much fun to spend the day with Preston at the State Fair- all three of us had a blast!

This picture is not of the State Fair. On Saturday, Mommy and Preston went with Daddy over to his friend's house to help build their deck. Justin and his wife, Tiffany, have a little baby around 6 months named Lily. Preston enjoyed playing with her...although he now has a habit of hitting in the face...which Lily did not enjoy.Preston looking at the peeps

Petting a baby goat
Mommy's favorite, the little piggies!

This picture is from last year at the State Fair in the butterfly tent. We absolutely loved this last year, so we decided to take Preston in this year. He definitely had a better view this time :) Sorry there are so many pics of the butterflies...they are all so adorable to me! A butterfly landed on Preston's foot right when we went in. He was so confused about what was on his foot and he kept trying to kick it off. It was funny. If you know Preston, he does not like anything on his feet/toes.

Wearing Daddy's hat....with a butterfly on it.

"Let me see those creatures."

Mommy and Preston...he is holding a butterfly and there is also one on his shoulder.

Daddy and Preston trying to catch a butterfly

We were afraid he would rip their wings off, but he did a pretty good job of being gentle.

So pretty

Next, we went and saw "Buddy" the biggest boar. Sick.

Then, Big Black, the biggest bull. Yuck.

We took Preston to the petting zoo. We bought food to feed the animals and it was grooosss! As you can tell by Mommy's face.

Who knew there was such an animal?! Zedonk- 1/2 zebra, 1/2 donkey

This is when Mommy officially stopped feeding the animals...when this camel's tongue licked my arm in one swipe. Once again, sick.

This was actually a scary picture to be in....Mommy thought the camel was going to start licking us. Preston didn't take his eyes off of him.

Great Grandma Mary and Grandpa Kyle visited us that night. We took another four generation picture because Mommy was very "bloated" in the last one, the day we brought Preston home from the hospital.

Bye Bye

We have been working with Preston to wave "bye bye" and today he just decided that he would start doing it. I was kissing him good bye at Krista's and said "Mommy is going to go bye bye." Preston started waving at Krista when he heard "bye bye." Krista and I both looked at each other and said "Is he waving bye bye?" Yep, he was. And he has done it many times since this morning. It was his last day at Krista's today- he starts the center next Tuesday!

His new favorite thing is to crawl up the stairs....and chase the kitty. We obviously keep a gate on the stairs, but we let him practice it every once and awhile. Preston doesn't understand that he can't just stop and "dive" down when he gets tired of the stairs.

Preston loves to dance. He likes to hang on to his activity walker and "bounce" to the tunes.

This video includes Preston practicing his walking skills. This walker thing is so fast, we have hang on to it otherwise it would fly forward and Preston would hit the floor!

Short Trip to Ventura

A couple weekends ago, we traveled back to Ventura for the day so Preston could meet his Great Uncle Gerry and Great Aunt Jean. It was a short trip, but we are glad we made it because we usually only see them once a year. Thanks to Gma Sue and Aunt Kristi for providing the pics because Mommy forgot her camera! Also...I just want to say thanks to everyone for the helpful comments about childcare. I am feeling more and more confident everyday that he will do fine there....although it does keep me awake at night and I have dreams (or nightmares) about it :) My true fear is that I will not be able to leave when I drop him off the first day and I will quit my job right then and there. I may be over-reacting just a little....my youngest sister, Molly, says that I have become a "crazy mom." Oh, the joys of parenthood!

Shawn, Gma Sue, Aunt Kristi, Preston, and Great Aunt Jean

Preston, Grandma Sue, and Grant

Gpa Larry and Preston ready for bed
Cute pic of Aunt Kristi and the boys

Daddy, Preston, and Grant cruising in Daddy's 73' mustang

Keys in hand....Preston is taking the car for spin

Child Care Anxiety!

Last week, we ventured out to the State Fair Parade. It was busy and very hot, but we stayed for a little bit. We left at #85 and there were over 200 floats in the parade. Fortunately, Preston did not get our sickness from last week and we are all doing well this week. Daddy went tubing in Eldora with his friends last weekend, so Mommy and Preston went to Greene to hang out with some family. Preston got some "new" clothes at a couple garage sales on Saturday. We are also in the process of switching day cares and after touring and asking many, many questions, Preston will be going to a center in Altoona starting Sept 1st. His current in-home provider decided that she would rather find a different job (since he is the only one there) and we have been thinking that Preston needs some more tots his age to hang out with. We are very excited for Preston to get some friends, but also very nervous. Preston is used to being the only child around and his every demand is met immediately, everywhere he goes. Now there will be 7 other toddlers around with only 2 staff, which makes Mommy very anxious. I don't quite understand how 2 staff can get 8 toddlers fed, laid down for a naps, play time outside, etc.....without some major catastrophe; I can barely do 1! Preston's schedule is a little off compared to the day care's schedule, so we are going to practice getting him on their eating/napping schedule starting this weekend. If anyone has any advice about day cares (advantages, disadvantages of in-home, center, etc) I would love to hear it! Hopefully everything works out for the better. Here are a few pics from the last week. I also need to blog some pics from Aunt Kristi which include our trip to Ventura, but my email site was down tonight. Soon I hope!

I bought this shirt because it reminded me of Aunt Paige. She used to watch Adventures in Babysitting constantly and Thor is the hero that the little girl "Sarah" was obsessed about. I just watched the movie last week also (I had to stay up until 1am!) and it was still just as good! We bought this toy to help Preston practice walking. He is basically too intrigued by all the noisy buttons on it that he doesn't want to walk with it, just play. It also goes way too fast for him to do it by himself!

Daddy and Preston goofing around

Mommy and Preston at the State Fair Parade. We are going to the Fair this weekend hopefully!

Mommy's back got really sore, so Preston switched to Daddy's shoulders. He obviously sees something very interesting in the parade.

Can't really tell, but this picture is of Shawn Johnson and her "Dancing with the Stars" partner.

"Let me help you get that Grandma." Preston helped Grandma in the garden too. He is such a good helper :)

Preston giving Great Grandpa Dale a high five

Preston had a picnic at Grandpa Kyle's.

Too busy eating his "veggie stick cheetos" to take a pic with Aunt Molly

"Please can I get in Aunt Molly?"

Preston was so excited to splash around in Grandpa Kyle's pool, we let him get in with his clothes on. Boy did he have fun! He can even crawl around in this pool and go where he wants.

First time eating pudding!

Preston loves to take the toilet paper off the roll and rip it up

After the downstairs roll was unraveled, he moved to the upstairs bathroom while Mommy got ready. Currently, we do not put tp on the rolls...they are up where Preston cannot reach!

Sickness

So, now Daddy is home from work sick. His stomach started hurting last night and then he got sick in the middle of the night. I thought maybe I just ate something that didn't agree with me a couple days ago, but I am pretty sure we are passing around some sort of flu now. Now, we are just hoping that Preston does not get sick. I need to wash all the sheets and disinfect everything! Daddy is hoping he feels better soon so he can go camping/tubing this weekend.

Just Hangin' Out

We have oodles and oodles of pictures, so I thought I would just share some from here and there over the last couple weeks. Mommy is taking a sick day today since she had to call Daddy home from work yesterday because she was throwing up. Not sure what was wrong, ate something bad or 24 hr bug....but I am feeling much better today. I am just resting and doing some work (and play) on the computer. Daddy and Preston are upstairs taking a long nap.

In this picture, Preston is stuck under the chair because he was trying to climb obstacles to get to some picture frames I was trying to hide from him. He is not happy that I am taking pictures instead of helping him get free :) It is very hard to change Preston's diaper, he loves to roll over and take off in the nude.
One night Preston was having a hard time falling asleep, so I gave him one of his soft bears to hold. He fell right asleep. So precious!

He loves to stand up on anything and everything. Unfortunately, this has caused a lot of

injuries, but I guess that is how it goes when you are learning new things every day! Preston's hair is getting pretty long and hangs over his ears now. Mommy is debating whether he should get a haircut or not because she was asked recently "Is it a girl or a boy?" Gggrrr...who asks that!

He is even getting some curls....

Mommy was letting Preston play with his butt paste when he obviously got it open and started eating it. I turned around and saw this little stinker.

His favorite toys are not "toys." They are spatulas, pans, butt paste tubes, pop/water bottles, picture frames, remotes, phones, cords, camcorders, cable and internet connectors. Unfortunately, he cannot play with most of these things, so this makes him very angry.

We got this license plate for Grandpa Kyle for Father's Day. It means: Preston Kyle's Grandpa.

Mommy recently got out this Noah's Ark from Preston's baptism. He enjoys putting the animals in the ark and taking them out.

"Found a zebra, Mom."

Mommy and Preston went to the park one hot day. Preston is riding on a ladybug.

"My mom is crazy."

He doesn't look too enthused riding on the bumblebee.

Or in the swing....but it was really hot that day. We headed home after this.