11 Months and 1 YEAR!!!

Presley is now 1 years old! The whole point of this blog was for me to keep track of things I knew I'd one day forget and to give her something later down the road that gave her fun details of year one.   I'm so so so happy I stuck with writing this monthly blog  .(I'm not a writer and hated English so I'm sure there have been MANY grammatical errors....I may have just made one!)  It's now time to save it on a CD and place it in a box for safe keeping.
 Thinking about the past year memories flash in my mind like an old picture projector.  Such a sweet, tiny little girl that melted my heart every time I looked at her. Her legs were like birds legs and her head only had hair around the bottom.  She loved bath time then and she still does now.  Yes, there's a few pictures that pop up with her screaming her head off and us not knowing what to do with her, but those are slowly fading.  God blessed us with a delicate helpless baby that has blossomed into a fun spirited, full of life, and sometimes feisty little girl. 
Presley, we love you to the moon, around a million times, and back.  You have brought so much joy to us and have made us a family we weren't sure would happen.   Someday when your old enough to read this I hope and pray you know we are beyond blessed to call you our baby girl. 

Every time we gave her a letter to hold she would throw it.  She wanted no part of holding the letters to explain that she was one.

                             I don't think Mav could stick anymore tongue out to clean her face!

 

 

Presley Stats:

Height: 28 inches

Weight: 19 pounds and 4 oz. (She has been here for months!)

Eyes: Blue

Hair Color: Strawberry blond

Talking: Dada, Bubba (for Mav dog), Yeah, no Mamma yet

Walking: While we were visiting Erin and Jonathan she took three steps to Jonathan. We haven't seen any steps since then.  We think it's because Erin fed her chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Eating: She eats almost everything. For sure sweets. If she doesn't like it...mix it with black beans and it still does the trick.  

Favorite things to do: Bath, reading books, walk around the house while holding your hand, put her shoes on her feet,  love of Mav dog or any dog

, picking her nose...yes, this is a new skill,  wave hi to any and everyone in the store, and watching her baby sign language video.

Number Flights: 10!

          A joyful past time.

During the month we went to the beach to visit Erin and Jonathan and then headed West to TX.  It was time to celebrate her 1st birthday!   The flight going there was a train wreck. Screaming and jolting her body everywhere was not really exciting to deal with.  Nor was the lady that called AA to complain about being on a flight with a "screaming baby" and then proceeded to tell us she has an 11 month old that does NOT fly with her.  Coming back was fantastic. Her Big got her her very own seat! She now has an Advantage number and will be wracking up some points. The birthday party was low key but great. She got to spend some time with both sets of families.  It was delightful to have all 13 of her cousins in one place to play. Adam was a proud Daddy when his little girl understood that cake time meant dig in!  Not one of the 12 first birthday (with the exception of Auston York) cake smashes have the kids really dug into their cakes. 

 

 

           Presley loving some time with Daddy and Jonathan. She got to eat cheese puffs with them.

 

Apparently she's now too cool to sit normally and eat.

 

All ready for church.

 

 

Our family:)

 

 

The most exciting event this month was Adam getting a horrendous case of poison ivy.  It's now clear...the ivy growing along the back fence is not good to touch! His case was so bad he ended up on the surgeon's table.   Within two days it had gotten so bad the doctor sent him to the hospital. We are grateful we got it when we did...or he wouldn't have an arm right now. He came home after spending the night being hooked up to antibiotics with five wholes in his arm that had to be repacked with gauze twice a day.  I wasn't much help.  Seeing his flesh was well beyond what I could handle. We have pictures...but I think I will spare you a nauseous stomach.  It was good times good times!

 

Months 9 & 10

These past two months have been great fun watching Presley. Her little personality is coming out more and more.  I know I'm going to have a stinker on my hands.  When you tell Presley no she laughs.   I move her, she laughs, I pop her hand, she laughs. What has been effective is time out in the crib.  So far it's working for us! When she isn't getting into everything she is usually giggling about who know what.  She finds excitement all around her and explores all day long. 
 Presley has discovered swimming in the pool.  She will voluntarily put her face in the water and blow bubbles. She loves the kids pool because it allows her to stand and walk around the edge. We ended month 9 and started month 10 traveling to TX.  I had the grand idea that I would fly in early to see family and meet up with Adam later at his parents lake house.  I will now be rethinking that plan for a LONG time. Every flight we've had so far has been a success. It was now flight number 8 and I knew my time was coming.  I was praying it wasn't the first solo parent flight, and it was.  It was awful. For three awesome hours Presley felt the need to tell everyone on the flight what she was thinking.  She would throw her head forward and hit the seat in front of us, then throw her head to the side and hit the window.  It was a vicious cycle I tell ya! The poor lady working on her ipad didn't stand a chance next to us. Presley, several times, hit her ipad with her sticky hands. All I could do was continually offer apology after apology after apology to everyone who was around me.  I even thought about a getting them a round of drinks.   I could feel their eyes burn through me.  Was it because they flat out felt sorry for me or did they felt I was a misfit parent I'll never know...and I don't want to. We did everything you could passible do to be entertained on a airplane.  We played with water in the bathroom, crawled up and down the isle (and snagged and ate an old cheeto before I could take it out of her mouth), she played with ice, cups, toys...you name it I tried.  Happy that the flight landed... we were greeted off the flight with the flight attendant saying, "my... she has a set of lungs".  I will NEVER fly alone with her again!!  The flight home went much better because Adam was with us and we tossed her back and fourth.
Back to getting to TX. Once we landed we went to Mimi's for a few days. There's fun slash park by her house that Presley enjoyed very much.  Like always, she was spoiled rotten after the first day.

 

Thank you Mimi for letting us have so much fun at your house!!

Once we left Mimi's we headed off to see Presley's Great Grandmother and Granddad's home. She has a great time waving back and fourth to Granddad.  This was a very meaningful moment for sure.  Not too many kids get to meet their great grandparents, and Presley has 3!

After hanging out with them...we headed off to Dallas. Poor girl  already had too much fun for the day.

While we were in Dallas we visited my sister and her family. We got to swim and jump on the trampoline with all the kiddos!

Presley was very intrigued with Braxton's goggles. She tried hard to take them while in the pool.

After swimming Braxton let her wear his goggles.  She loved these things!

All the boys are so sweet with her. They pat her head and gave her their best toys to play with. These boys will be recruited to our house for Presley's first date!

She was NOT missing out on getting any attention! (Thanks Morgan for letting us hang out with you on your birthday!)

We stayed a few days at my sisters then we headed off to Adam's parents lake house.  We had a wonderful time of course and ate everything in sight. Presley had her first beef rib, cupcake, 4th of July parade,  and ride on the water!

  Her Daddy placed her on the tube and they cruised around for a little bit on the lake. My heart was beating a fast while watching her.

Riding a tube is hard work and she worked up an appetite for some cheerios.

   Yummy ribs! Tricia said this looks like it's from Honey Boo Boo. :(

  Yummy cupcake!

All the kiddos ready for the parade.

Presley Stats:
Weight: Almost 19 pounds
Height: I didn't get a number but was told she's in the 56 percentile. She for sure doesn't take after me in that area.
Teeth?: None! Still none!
New Tricks: Walking her train and crawling up the stairs. She has stood on her own a few times, but falls down due to getting excited.
What's she eating?: Almost everything we eat. The girl LOVES black beans. If she doesn't like something we can mix it with black beans and it will be gone in two seconds. 
All the commotion from traveling made her not want her bottle anymore!! I didn't fight it at all. She pushed it away at her dinner meal and she hasn't seen it since. We got off easy with that one. I'm sure it will be a different story with the pacifier.

 

And of course she still loves bath time. She now waits outside the tub as the water fills up!

 

8 Months of fun!

Presley is on her last few days of being 8 months old. Three more and she will be a year! WOW. The trials, lessons learned and fun times we've had make me hopeful and fearful of a lifetime of parenting. There's so many things we've already done wrong and she's not even one! Presely was dedicated at our church this week, and after the dedication we were given a book called Praying Circles Around Your Children. It's a very thin easy read, but had some great pointers that have helped me deal with all the mistakes I've made, and the ones still waiting to come. The first part that stood out was my prayers for my children are the greatest legacy I can leave behind. This is so very important, but good golly so hard for me to be consistent with. I strive daily for Presley to see what I saw my mom doing growing up.  I don't remember very many mornings or evenings seeing my mom without her large black Bible, cup of coffee and with her head down in prayer. What she was praying for I'll never know, but after becoming a parent, I'm pretty sure Tricia and I were in there somewhere. The visual of her reading her Bible, praying, listening to Christian music, and beating the fear of God into us as kids will be my mom's greatest memory for me. What an accomplishment! The idea of her prayers are being answered for me, and my children sends chills up my arms. I'm so lucky and grateful to have a parents that diligently prayed and taught us God's love is the single most important thing on this Earth.  So as Adam and I had Presely dedicated this month,  we will strive to leave a very long legacy of prayers for her and her family.

Aunt Tricia got to be there!

Presely Stats:

Weight: 19 pounds

Height: we will find out in a few days

Teeth: zero...I have a feeling she's going to pop out four at one time:(

Talking:Bababab She says this every time she sees a dog.

New Tricks: Crawling in full force, claps wen you clap and starting to understand these crazy sign language signals I've been showing her for the past three months. She also understands that when I wake her up from her nap and ask, " where does your passy go?" She knows to take it out of her mouth and put it in her crib. She's so smart! hehe

Here's a video of what happens when she crawls onto the hardwood. We've now purchased more PJ's that don't have legs or feet so this no longer happens:)

Fun things we did this month: We went to visit Adam's cousins that live a few hours from us. While we were there we ate and ate and made a colossal mess in their home. We hope they still love us!   They are lucky enough to live five minutes from the beach. Memorial Day weekend was chilly, but we faced the beach anyway. Presley didn't think twice about being in the sand and was all about trying to eat it. Presley also got to get LOTS of love from their puppy Truckee. 

Presley with Erin and Johnathan. Johnathan is an instructor for the marine special forces (don't mess with him:) , and we thank and appreciate all the families and friends that have lost loved ones defending our country. I don't think anyone really understands the sacrifice these families make. It's no small task and not just anyone can do it. They aren't recognized enough for their commitments.

Presley also got to swing for the first time! I'm an awful mom for just now introducing her to this. Better now then never!

I'm gonna make this place your home...and seven months

A few weeks ago we were sitting in church and the band played a song by Phillip Phillips called Home.  I had heard it before but had never really listened to the words.  When I got home I looked up the words and felt God breaking walls on my heart.  The main line to the song is I'm gonna make this place your home.  Doesn't sound deep, but if you were in my shoes you'd understand.  I've had a very hard time just living in the "now" . I know, if you were a child of my day you can hear Garth from Wayne's World saying, " just live in the now man!"  The area we purchased our home is due to high resale statistics,  all the updates to the home are for when we sell it and head back to TX, everything I do is with a mind set of I'll be leaving soon.  Even down to looking into locking Presley in a current Texas university rates.  When I read the words to this song it hit me like a brick on the forehead!  God wants me to make this my home.  Doesn't mean it's forever, doesn't mean anything but allow him to make Durham your home for now. Don't miss out on what's in front of you. I know, sounds so elementary...guess God has to really dummy things down for me to understand haha! So I'm committed to making this my families home while we are here:)
Durham never felt like home until after our eventful travels to LA to visit my family.  To make a long story short here it is bullet style.

• Flight was suppose to leave Durham to Lafayette LA at 4:00pm April 19th.
• Two large storms were heading our way. They put us on the plane with the idea that we will beat the storm.
• Four other planes had the same idea and we were last in line.

You don't want to see this while sitting on a airplane.



• After an hour, back to the gate we go.
• After another 30 minutes, off the airplane we go.
• In the meantime we have now missed our layover in Atlanta, but can get on the early morning flight out.
• Back on the plane and we sit...sit...sit some more. Oh! Lightning just struck the terminal???!!!

She was too sleepy to keep up with the madness.


• Computer system is down so they have to check on the bags by hand.
• 8:30pm we took off to Atlanta. (keep in mind we have asked three people to make sure that our luggage stops in Atlanta...they said for sure it would)
• In Atlanta waiting for bags. By bags I mean baby food, baby bed, clothes, EVERYTHING!
• No bags...we find out they went to LA. I'm now balling my eyes out. I'm hungry, cold (it was 40 degrees and we were in flip flops), tired and my child is now delirious.
• Check into a hotel.
• 5:00am my awesome husband and babies daddy took a cab to the store to get baby food and tooth brushes.
• 10:00am the plane takes off on time to LA.
• We get to LA and it takes them an hour to find our bags.
• Alida and Jon along with Caleb were nice enough to meet us and give us one of their cars so we could head off to see my dad. THANK YOU ALIDA AND JON!!! YOU ROCK!!

Alright, now that I've gotten past the madness we can move along! Presley got to hang out with her Paw Paw and Granny for the first time! Did I get pictures?? NOPE I didn't have my camera and my iPhone was dead from not having a charger the night before:/ We will wait for Grannie to send us some! While we were with them Presley wasn't in the greatest of moods. She had been up all night playing with her feet because she wasn't in a sleep sac. But they were awesome enough to love on her anyways. She was happy enough to give Paw Paw a few smile and smooches. She even got a super cute new outfit that we can't wait to take pictures in!
After visiting with Paw Paw and Granny we headed of to Aunt Rose and Uncle Jimmie's house.  When we pulled up Presley was greeted by a slew of her aunts, uncles, cousins, and Mimi (she wanted nothing to do with any of them).  It was a blessing to have my Cajun family meet my baby girl.  By this time she was hanging on by a thread. The poor girl was DONE.
That night we headed to Alida's and got some much needed rest then headed back to Durham the next day. It was a trip for sure and it was awesome to see everyone!  Through this trip Adam and I have developed a new saying called Lafayette.  When something is happening and one of us has a bad feeling about it one can say Lafayette and that means we stop what we are doing.  Thanks everyone for the great visit and thank you Granny and Paw Paw for Presley's new outfit. We LOVE it.
Needless to say we were happy to make it home all in one piece.

Presley Stats for 7 Months
Weight:19 pounds
Height: no sure...we will find out at 9 months.
New Tricks: Talking with meaning. Well, I don't mean talking, but her babbles sound more like a conversation. She can get  up onto her hands and knees. She pulled up on the ottoman once. She will now smile for the camera on command. She's been doing it for a while I just never knew if she understood...and now I know she understands. If there's a camera...there will be a smile for sure.

Presley in the background all smiles for the camera! She was playing with her cousine Caleb.

Favorite Food: Puffs. She could eat her body weight in them.
Flights now taken: 7 and did great on all of them.
Not so fun things this month: First really bad diaper rash. So bad we had to air it out for a while. She was as happy as could be!

Daddy and Presley cuddles.