Merry Christmas!

So despite the crappy weather we ventured over to Earlham on Thursday night. We had a good time even though Presley was crabby. She wasn't feeling good and she isn't used to being around that many people! She'll just need to get used to that. I have no pictures of the Goodrich Christmas b/c she was so demanding and whining, so that makes me sad. We only stayed a couple hours and drove home very slowly, but we made it! Presley's runny nose and inability to breathe kept her up off and on throughout the night, so that was fun.......Her crying didn't keep Santa away........he came anyway!

Friday morning we went to my parents house to spend Christmas day. It was a fun day of presents, eating and games!

Here is Presley and Grandma Becky together! So cute!

Here is Presley and Grandpa Lester watching the Packer game on Sunday. Presley and I dressed in our Packer stuff to support them.

It looks like they are having a stare-down! But Presley finally has more hair than Grandpa!

We hope you all were able to spend the holiday with your families and that you all had a wonderful time! It was a great Christmas and we hope the new year will be the same!

'The Look'

So Presley goes thru different phases of giving us certain looks. She tilted her head to the right all the time, then she gave us her cheesy smile, now we get THE GLARE!
She basically gives this look to anyone and everyone. It's slightly embarrassing. Hopefully this is just another phase and next week we'll have some other funny face to show you!

Decisions

I hate making decisions with a passion. I don't even like to choose what to have for dinner!
A lot of changes have been made in my department at work. A lot. Some for the better and some for the worse. Then they promoted all of the people below me, and I got nothing for all the work I've done all year.....for all the overtime I've worked, the people I've trained, going with the flow of the changes..Nothing.
I've been looking for a job off and on for months, but there is never really anything out there within my same company. Then a friend of mine, Shannon mentioned a job opening! It was more money, I was tired of the same ole crap and I applied without thinking much of it!
So I had a phone interview Tuesday, I thought it went well. The next Monday I was offered the job. That same Monday, my current job announced they restructured our pay scales. So basically twice in one day I was offered more money! Rock on!.....however, this decision came to be very hard for me. It made me sick to my stomach thinking about what I needed to do. I love my new team and manager and all my friends at my job. I love that my mom lives on my way to work for me to drop off Presley. I love the parking ramp. I applied for this new job partly for the money, which was now not an issue since either way I was getting paid about the same. So.....what do I do??????? Then I had to remember about every time I emailed my sister or my friend Missy, or complained to Steve on the phone about needing a new job, and then I really realized that I needed to take this job. Either way I'm going to wonder if I made the right decision and I think I'm mostly nervous because I HATE CHANGE! I'm sure you'll hear more about this in the coming months. I also have 2 weeks of training in Tempe! How in the world can I be away from my husband and baby for 2 weeks! Wish me luck!

Another Sunday.

Well Steve did a good job of not drinking too much in Creston at the ugly Christmas sweater party. However, he text messaged me about 10 pm because he wasn't feeling good. He managed to get the flu and spent most of the night at a friends house trying to sleep. He didn't get to enjoy his party and then he had to drive 1 hour back to DSM this morning. Poor guy has been in bed all day. Keep your fingers crossed that Presley and I don't get it too!
So Presley and I had another mother/daughter Sunday in our pajamas! I really needed to go to the grocery store, but I didn't want to take her with me and I didn't want Steve near her! So we just hung out, played and took naps!
This was the first time she has tried to get into her toy basket.........
and it may be the last.

2010

So I've been thinking about the new year and what resolutions I need to make. I never keep resolutions for the whole year, but I can at least try! So here are a couple of the things I'm going to TRY to do in 2010!
1) walk in the skywalk 3 times a week. I know I said I was going to start this a couple weeks ago, but honestly I haven't worked a full week in a while! Bad excuse, I know.
2) drink more water, but not buy water bottles. we started buying bottles of water about a year ago, it's just silly to pay that much for water.
3) give all the nieces and nephews their birthday cards before their birthdays. we are the relatives that are always late and I make this resolution every year. But it throws me off b/c there are 3 birthdays in January and I've never prepared for them. (note to self: need to buy Derek, Zac and Sam birthdays cards ASAP!4
4) be more positive. I know I complain a lot, and I need to be reminded that things really aren't that bad! Our life is pretty good, there really shouldn't be that much to complain about!
5) lose 10 pounds. Since Presley is going to be one in February, I can't really continue to call this 'baby weight'.

2009 has been a wonderful year. Wonderfully tiring, frustrating, amazing, surprising, stressful, and satisfying all rolled into one short year!

Long week.

Steve stayed home with Presley on Wednesday, she was very whiny and didn't want to nap. That makes for a long day! Our friend Kari, was going to watch her for us on Thursday and I was thinking about NOT taking her there and putting Kari thru all that! Well, it turned out that Kari's little boy was getting sick and had a fever! So Steve and I each took a half day. I stayed home that morning and Steve took off the afternoon. It worked out pretty good! That night we had Steve's work Christmas party! Holly was nice enough to come watch Presley for us. Presley was very good for her and went to bed very early too! The party was great! Free food and drinks, it is nice that such a small construction company is able to do that for their employees considering most construction companies are slowing going out of business!
Friday was my day to stay home with P-dog, she was pretty good. I took her into work to see everyone! She glared at everyone. She has an evil glare that she picked up somewhere over the last couple days and does it ALL the time!
We took her to see Santa that evening. We knew she would cry, but she didn't flip out as much as I thought she would! Santa said he hasn't see crocodile tears as big as hers!
So today we basically stayed home, got the Christmas cards done and mailed, presents wrapped and some cleaning done! My parents got back from Texas so I took Presley over to see them. Grandma was very excited to see her grandbaby! (and I think Presley missed them too!)
We were invited over to Susie's house, so we swung over there and hung out with the family for awhile. Presley was pretty good! She can get scared and shy when she is in a different place. But she played and glared at all of them. Susie got an awesome picture of Presley's new glare, I'll have to post that picture once I get it! Thanks Susie, the flan was great and Presley had a good time playing with your (dusty) toys! :)
Steve went back to Creston for another ugly Christmas sweater party, let's hope this one doesn't end the same way the last one did...with Steve hung over! :)

Overall the week was good, even though Miss Presley didn't seem like herself most days. We missed Grandma and Grandpa a lot but hope they had a good trip.

Cute!

So when Samantha was babysitting Presley she brought over her dog Scout. Presley likes Scout b/c she doesn't bark! While they were watching Baby Einstein, they both wanted to sit on her lap. How cute is this pic?

Vegas baby!

So we booked a trip to Vegas! I've been looking for a while but I haven't been able to actually book the trip! I think the snow storm we got last week, finally convinced me that we need to get out of town! A nice 4 day weekend, maybe a little warmer weather and a nice way to spend some of our tax return! :) My mom has been nice enough to volunteer her babysitting services for the long weekend! Thanks mom!!!!

We are on day two without Grandma babysitting. Yesterday I stayed home, Presley was pretty good. A little whiny, but I think she was tired of seeing me and being stuck at home. She has her fathers energy and need to get out of the house! Aunt Samantha came over and watched her today. She was really whiny, but they made it thru the day with Baby Einstein! We think she might be getting some teeth. Hopefully it's teeth and she's not getting sick! Tomorrow Steve is lucky enough to stay home with his baby girl! Of course, he is trying to figure out where they can go tomorrow, so they don't have to sit at home all day! :)

Baby, it's cold outside!

Another weekend has gone by. Saturday morning Presley and I met the fam at Texas Roadhouse for Holly's birthday lunch! Steve had to go to a funeral for his sister-in-laws father. I wish we all could've gone to pay our respects to Stu, but with the long drive and Presley's napping, it just wasn't going to work out that way for us. So Steve went to represent our family. I can't imagine what they are going thru. I don't know what I would do if I lost one of my parents. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Presley napping. She was so cute with her little diaper butt in the air, in the fetal position. I couldn't help but capturing that moment. On a side note, she had taken 2 steps a couple times in the last week! She is no where near being able to walk yet, but she wishes she was!
Mommy and Presley in front of the tree. We don't have that many (good) pictures together, so I was happy this one turned out!

Our friends Damian and Jen had an Ugly Sweater party on Saturday night. So we put on our best 'ugly' sweaters! I borrowed mine from Colleen's mom, (thank you Cathy!) and Steve went to Kmart (they had the best selection, in case you ever need one!) and found a real nice outfit! He decided he wanted to go ALL out, I think he thought it was Halloween. It was hideous and hilarious! (yes, that is a Santa coffee mug he is drinking from!)

Here is a nice family picture of us in our sweaters. We couldn't find Presley an ugly sweater, so she got a cute one instead!

The party was a lot of fun and I think Steve won for the best 'ugly' sweater! Presley and I left the party about 8:15 (way too late for her!) and Steve stuck around to enjoy the fun. And fun they had, or so I guess from the hangover he had today. He slept on the couch b/c I didn't want to deal with him when he got home! :)

Today Presley and I hung out and went over to Kari's to say hi. Kari is going to watch Presley on Thursday for us since my parents will be out of town. Presley seemed rather comfortable in their house and didn't seem too scared, so that made me feel a little more comfortable. This will be the first time we have left her all day with someone other than family!

Then we went to the mall and had lunch and I bought a new pair of shoes (I really needed them! I'll have to tell you that story too!) By the time we got home it was time for a nap, for both of us!

I have tomorrow off from work! But I think I'll be taking Presley in to see everyone, it will give us a good reason to get out of the house (and I forgot to complete my timecard for last week!)

Things you might not know about me

1. I wear a white tank top under 90% of my shirts. It became a habit when I got pregnant, not sure why. It smoothes everything out and helps hold in the tummy!

2. Steve and I have been together for 7 years now. Married for two.

3. I love sleep. I love naps. I love sleeping in late. Steve does too. Sometimes when we worked at Von Maur, we wouldn't have to be at work until noon. We both had instances where we overslept and were late for our 12 o'clock shifts. Pretty sad, huh?

4. I've bought 3 cars since I was 18. Steve is on his third car in 7 years.

5. I've had 6 jobs since I was 16. Target for 6 years, Von Maur for 2 and Wells Fargo for 6. The other 3 were small part time jobs that I didn't have for very long. Obviously I don't like change.

6. I had a skin cancer scare about 5 years ago. I probably deserved it, after all the weekends I spent in the sun. I worshiped the sun! LOVED it! You never think it will happen to you. And even now the people closest to me still lay out, use tanning beds and tanning oils. I'm sure they don't think it can happen to them either.

7. I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in Management, I don't want to be a manager. I originally was going to get an accounting degree, that was hard and way too much work!

Snow Day

So you've probably heard, seen or experienced our snow storm. Started Monday night and is finally slowing down. Now we are dealing with cold and wind! YUCK! So today has been a pajama day! Presley and I are still in our pj's, Steve isn't but only b/c he has snow blowed the driveway for the second time today!
Here is our baby all bundled up!
Presley loves to pull the DVD's off the TV stand, notice the full basket of toys behind her that she ignores!Here is a picture of our poor table. The snow drift on the right is almost as tall as the table!
I hate snow, but I do feel sorry for people that have never experienced or seen it!

Cry

I hate snow!!! Sure it looks pretty, until it melts and gets dirty and just sucks! If I never had to go out in the snow, I would like it a lot better!

The weekend was pretty good, too fast as always and not as productive as we wanted it to be. Friday night I went with Holly to her work Christmas party! Our friend Andrea works there too, so she brought April as her date and the 4 of us girls went together! It was fun! They are lucky they work for a company that still provides a Christmas party, and one with an open bar! I work for a fairly large financial company that is actually making money right now and we don't get anything, not even our department does anything. If we are lucky, they'll let us wear jeans! WOW!

Saturday afternoon went over to Janelle and Ryan's house so Janelle could take some pictures of Presley! Presley was not very cooperative. She basically just stared. No smiling. She did cry a couple times, so I'm sure those will be cute b/c she does have the perfect pouty lip! Thanks Janelle for putting up with us! :)
Saturday night we met our friends Brock and Jackie at Jethro's BBQ for dinner and drinks. It was very good! Presley was good, she loves all the people and stuff to look at. She was sitting right below some of the TV's there, so I'm sure she thought everyone was looking at her, which is perfect since she likes to stare at everyone!

This morning Steve went to the walk-in clinic b/c his shoulder and neck have been killing him. He can hardly move or turn his head and he couldn't take the pain anymore. They gave him a muscle relaxer and some pain relief and told him not to lift more than 20 pounds. Lovely. Let's hope he gets better soon!
We had a pretty unsuccessful trip to the mall and Target. I had all intentions of getting a little Christmas shopping done, but ended up buying Presley clothes. She was whiny and not real happy about sitting in her stroller, so we all went home and took naps! I love naps!........................ and I still hate snow.

Ducks vs Beavers

We are watching the football game between the Ducks and the Beavers, doesn't sound real tough does it?

Something very exciting is happening tomorrow.....we are making the last payment on Steve's student loans!...............now don't get me wrong this is a big deal, until you realize that we only pay $25 a month and his loan from 10 years ago was for a very small amount, for the one semester he went to college. So in another 5-7 years I can announce that my student loans have been paid off!...don't worry, I'm paying more then $25 a month on mine! ha

We've watched 2 Netflicks movies in 4 days! That's crazy for us! Living on the wild side huh? The Bucket List and 21, both good! After watching 21, Steve thinks he is going to make millions by counting cards in Vegas. I say, go for it! Bring me the money!

Christmas, I love. My checking account hates. We have to buy presents for 18 people, that doesn't include me, Steve or Presley. Only 4 out of those 18 are my immediate family! The Goodrich family has kids up the ying-yang, from 18 years old to 6 months old! Needless to say the older ones will be getting their usual $20 and the youngers ones, the coolest thing we can find for about $10! ha.

10 months old! Yikes!

Presley is 10 months old now! OMG! She is now so happy and fun! Now we fully understand the joys of being parents! I look forward to picking her up from daycare after work! Our favorite part of the day is waking her up in the morning and it's almost a competition to see who can get her laughing more!
Our baby girl -

• loves walking along furniture or with her walking toy. She loves climbing over things, instead of going around them. She's even let go of things and just stood there standing by herself, not for a long time but it happens!
• sleeps! People, she actually sleeps now! Usually we can get a good 11 hours out of her at night. She sometimes will wake up in the middle of the night looking for her pacifer but hey, I'm not complaining!
• knows what a doggy says....I knew that her grunting would be useful someday. If you ask her what a doggy says, she'll usually grunt or growl. Of course, we've been asking her what Santa says and obviously Santa grunts or growls too.....So this whole thing might just be coincedence.
• doesn't like to do tricks anymore (sounds like I'm talking about a dog, huh?) will occasionally play pat-a-cake or wave bye-bye.....but that is only occasionally. No so-big, or scrunchy-face smile, she hardly claps for herself anymore. I guess she's past all that and is ready for bigger and better things.
• still doesn't talk. There is a mumble or babble every so often, but no syllables. No dada, baba, mama.....nothing.
• can wear most of her 12 month clothes, some things are still too big. The problem with a lot of baby clothes is a lot of the sizes come in 6-9 months and then 12 months...and the 6-9 months stuff is officially too small. The clothes that are just plain ole 9 months still fit though.
• has 3 nicknames - Presley Pie, Peanut, and Baby Girl
• loves to eat! That must be the Moeller in her, which probably isn't the trait I want her to have. If you give her 10 Cheerios, she will grab then all with both hands and stuff then all in her mouth, it's almost as if she is starving. She'll eat all the time if you let her! She loves real food too, but Gerber yogurt bites are her absolute favorite!

She is taking a sneak peak at some of her Christmas presents! Being nosy is a Moeller trait too!
Still trying to get after her presents! She hasn't really tried to go after the tree or ornaments yet, but she does like the bows on the presents!

So happy!

Love the long weekends!

So Friday night we had the Goodrich Thanksgiving. Presley was extremely whiny all day...and she continued that night as well. She pouted if anyone would look at her, wouldn't let anyone hold her. It was fun, as long as everyone left her alone! :) Occasionally she would crawl over to take toys away from her little cousin Ava. Ava, is 3 months younger than Presley but only weighs 1 lbs less! Here is Ava posing for the camera!
Presley had done a very good job of sleeping this weekend and that makes us very happy! I think I might be more tired now that I'm actually getting more than 8 hours of sleep a night. She went to sleep at 8:15 pm Friday night and didn't get up till 8 am Saturday morning! Yeehaw!!!
Saturday we just hung out, got some errands done and went to dinner. Presley loves getting water from a straw!

She thinks she is such a big girl!

Here is Presley walking behind her walking toy. She likes to walk back and forth across the room, sometimes she goes too fast and ends up face-planting onto the ground but usually she doesn't cry. One tough cookie!

I don't want to show you her Christmas dress yet, but we got a cute little headband and bow to matcher her outfit. Here is a sneak peak at her bow! :) I'm not sure I like this picture or not, but either way I think it's funny!

We haven't done any bows or headbands yet, for one she hasn't had enough hair! and they always seems like a pain in the ass. So now that she is getting hair and she is pretty good about leaving hats on, I'm hoping we'll use more bows now.

Saturday night she slept from 7:30 pm to 7:15 am! Goooooooo Presleeeeyyyyyy!!!!!!!! But so far today, she has been extremely whiny again! I'm going to see New Moon with Holly, so good luck to Steve this afternoon! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a good time in Creston Wednesday night, we were able to see a lot of people that we don't get to see. Presley slept pretty good considering she was in a different place. She did decide that she was going to wake up at 5:30 Thursday morning. Ugh. So we got up and ready and headed back to Des Moines for Moeller family Thanksgiving.
Presley got this super cute, first Thanksgiving outfit from her great-grandparents! So we had to get a picture of her with her first daycare art project! :) a turkey, made by tracing her cute little hand. She was proud of her work!

Presley was very good at my parents house, she wore that ridiculous hat all day and her afternoon nap was perfectly timed with our dinner! That was nice and convenient! ha!

Here is Grandma Becky and Presley, so happy!

Wife of the year!

So this past weekend was a busy one. Steve went to Iowa City all weekend...two nights...to go to the game and hang out with his friends. Aren't I a nice wife? A bunch of his highschool friends were going and he doesn't get to see them that often and it sounded like fun to me, so how could I expect him to stay home and miss out? I don't want to be one of those wives who doesn't "allow" her husband to do anything. I wasn't going to be mad, we didn't get in a fight about it....I just don't like those couples, and feel sorry for them. I want to be able to go out and have fun, why shouldn't he?
In addition to Steve being gone, I also helped plan a babyshower for my good friend Cindy! My mom was nice enough to watch Presley for a couple hours so I could get prepared and help set-up! It was a success and Presley was very good at the shower, once she got used to everyone.
Overall Presley and I had a good weekend without dad, despite the fact that she didn't want to take her afternoon naps. She did sleep from 7:30 pm to 7 am both nights! Praise the Lord, my baby will sleep!!!!!

Well we are off to Creston tomorrow night to hang out! We don't even have Thanksgiving in Creston, but we always go back to see everyone who is home for the holiday. Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Kathy are being nice enough to watch Presley for a couple hours while we go out! I really need to download and post pictures soon!
Everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Couple pics

We had girls night last Friday, here is a picture of Holly and our wonderful friend April! Aren't they adorable!
Here is Miss Presley hanging out in her onesie and socks. Very stylish!

We made cinnamon rolls for dad Sunday morning (yeah right, really we made them for me and he got what was leftover). She wanted to help, she did a good job.

Exercise?

So I never used to run until about 5 years ago. I started running with my friend Cindy, she kept me going. Not very often I ran very far without her, she was a machine and that helped motivate me, though I still can't run as far as she can. I actually liked running! I ran two 5K's at the Dam to Dam, I felt good about myself. Even when I started out and I could only run 1/2 mile then 1 mile, I felt a sense of accomplishment because I never thought I would be able to run.
I always thought it was ridiculous when people said the first mile is the hardest, but they are right. I don't know if you just get used to breathing right or going thru the motions of running....or if you just go numb!
Well I haven't been running or really any continuance exercise for a little over a year, I hate it. I weigh more now than I ever have (not pregnant), which is now about 10 pounds heavier than before I was pregnant. I watch the Biggest Loser, usually on my couch eating something I'm not supposed to.
I realize when parents say they don't have the time, they really don't. Sure I could work out after work, I could join a gym. I drive by Aspen every day.....hell, I have a treadmill in my basement! But I literally only see Presley for 2 hours a night. That is not enough time. I could workout after she goes to bed or get up in the morning before work but let's be realistic that ain't happenin'. I don't get up early by choice and after I get comfy at home in my sweats, yeah I don't move from the couch.
So I've decided to take time and walk over my lunch hour in the skywalk. It's actually kind of nice to get away from my desk with some time to think by myself. So my goal is to walk 20-30 minutes at least 3 times a week. I know it isn't a lot, but it's better than nothing!

9 month stats at 9 1/2 months

Presley had her 9 month appt today. She was pretty good, she likes the nurse alot more than she likes the doctor!
She is 19 lbs 11 oz which is the 65th percentile, up from the 50th % and she is 27 1/2 inches tall which is the 49th percentile. We joke that she is short and fat, but really she is just right! :)
The doctor was happy with her growth and development. She was happy that Presley will stand flat-footed since most still like to stand on their tippy toes. The doctor said she wouldn't be surprised if she was walking by her 1st birthday b/c she is so strong-willed. 1) Strong-willed is definitely a good word for Presley. 2) her 1st birthday? yeah right, and we thought she'd be crawling by 7 months, that didn't happen.
Presley also got her flu shot, we skipped the H1N1 shot. I'm just not convinced that she needs it. Hopefully, I won't regret that and she'll stay healthy! She was very good for her flu shot, she cried more when the doctor was checking her over than she did for the shot! That's right, she's one tough cookie!
I had to make her 1 year appointment for the first week of February. :( That makes me sad. Times really does go too fast!

Attitude

I put my 9 month old in size 12 month pajama's tonight. They were a little big on her, but not too big that she couldn't wear them. My baby is growing too fast! Someone make it stop! She is so fun right now, I don't want her to get older!

She also loves grandma! She doesn't want to leave grandma when I pick her up! I figured this would happen eventually, and I'll try not to take it personally! :)

Presley is starting to throw fits. Isn't she too young for this? She was eating yogurt bites and they were gone, she got all tense and starting screaming and crying b/c she wanted more yogurt bites! I gave her Cheerios instead and in between every Cheerio she cried and swung her arms around, b/c that is not what she wanted! Calm down child!

We tried to watch Sleeping Beauty this afternoon. I never realized that Sleeping Beauty is 16 years old and falling in love. They need to rethink her age. She needs to be about 25 before they make her falling in love and getting married! What are these Disney people thinking? :)

Tis the season...

to be thankful!
Seems the new trend on Facebook is to post something you are thankful for every day until Thanksgiving. So I'm going to condense it all into one blog to make it easy. 11 days until Thanksgiving, so here are 12 things I am thankful for....in no particular order! :)

1. My Husband- You are my rock. You keep me from going crazy and drive me crazy all at the same time. In the last 9 months I have learned that you have much more patience that I do and that you are a wonderful father. You make me laugh, and I am lucky to have you.
2. Presley Grace - Even though I have complained about you more than once, we are thankful that we have such a beautiful, happy, healthy baby. You amaze us! You are more work than we ever expected, but seeing that smile every day makes it worth it!
3. My parents - I am thankful that we are lucky enough to have you so close to us. You are great role models, in both marriage and parenting. You have always been there for us! I am thankful that Presley will get to grow up close to her grandparents!
4. Family - I am thankful that both our families are so close. That if we ever need anything we know we can count on them. I am thankful that we are lucky enough to plan reunions and vacations so that we are able to spend time with each other. We are also thankful that both of our families conveniently celebrate the holidays at different times, that way we don't have to pick and choose who we are going to spend time with!
5. My sisters and girlfriends- You all rock! I am so lucky to have wonderful sisters and awesome girlfriends! You all have been more than willing to babysit Presley (some of you may regret offering after the time you have spent with her! :). I am thankful that we started Girls Night Out about 3 years ago and that we can still get 15 girls out for dinner, drinks and talking. You guys make me laugh, you relax me, you make me happy. Whether I have known you for 10 years or 10 months, I am thankful to have you in my life!
6. Our jobs- I am thankful that we have both been lucky enough to maintain our jobs thru all the layoffs going on.
7. Health insurance- I am thankful we didn't have to pay the full medical bill after having Presley. Other people aren't so lucky. Either way the epideral is worth it, insurance or not! :)
8. Daycare- We are thankful that we have the best babysitter/daycare provider in the world. Who doesn't charge us full price even though she probably should, given the difficult child we have. We are thankful that we didn't have to place her in a daycare center, the level of care might be the same but the level of love can't compare to what we have. Thank you!!!
9. People who inspire me - as I mentioned in my previous post, there are a lot blogs from people that inspire me. They make me want to be a better, nicer person. Most of these people I don't know, but I am thankful for the people I actually know who inspire me. Susie - You are the most determined person I know. Holly - You shaved your head, need I say more. Colleen- I wish I had your drive and energy. Jay - You and your wife deserve the best. I could go on and on with details about these 4 people and others but there just isn't time right now. I am thankful enough to have ALL of you to look up to.
10. The ability - the ability to do what we want. the ability to have things we want or need. the ability to have cars, cell phones, internet, cable, a house. the ability to perform our every day activities with no problems or challenges. Everyone takes these things for granted, but I am thankful we have the ability to live our lives the way we do.
11. Technology - I am thankful for the technology that allows me to take pictures and videos of my baby. To be able to post them on this blog so my family out of state can watch her grow. To have Facebook and reconnect with people that I haven't talked to in years. It is great to catch up and be nosy! :)

There is a brief summary of what I am thankful for during this Thanksgiving season. There are so many other things I could list out! Basically, we have a pretty good life. I need to stop my complaining and realize that we have things pretty darn good!

Why?

Why does the dentist ask you questions when they have your mouth pryed open?

Why do I love when someone is driving fast and bobbin and weavin thru traffic and they get stopped at a red light. Or they are in the lefthand lane and get behind someone waiting to turn left. Sweet satisfaction rushes thru me!

Why is it every year about this time we struggle with money? Every year! and we haven't bought any Christmas presents yet....and then February hits and we get our tax returns and we get back on track for another 9 months. It's annoying!

Why are there some people that you just can't get along with? I know different personalities, beliefs, opinions....blahblah. There is one specific person at work that I DO NOT mesh well with. I don't know if he feels the same toward me, but I purposely walk the other direction or avoid my own desk if I know he is looking for me! I think I'm nice to most people at work, but he just pushes my buttons and irritates me. He is the one person that I will be mean to! I'm not the only one who feels this way about this person, so it's not me!

Blogs

As you might have noticed I have a list of the blogs that I follow. Some of these blogs are about friends and family. Most of my list are about people that I have never met, but I feel like I know these families! Some of them I have been following for a couple years, I have seen their children grow! I don't know why everyone else's lives interest me so much, maybe it is the way they write, or the jokes inside their stories, or the struggles of their every days lives. A lot of these people are an inspiration to me, if you get the chance to read some of their stories, I highly recommend it. Some of these people have been thru life changing events, some are struggling for their lives every day...they are courageous enough to write their stories where we all can read and be touched by them.

More laughs!

Sorry, but I had to post another video of Presley laughing. It just makes me so happy! When there are so many negative things in this world, at least this can make me smile!

A Night Away!

So we got up at 4:30 Saturday morning to drive to Iowa City for the Iowa football game! Grandma Becky was nice enough to come over to our house that morning so that we wouldn't have to wake Presley up! They also watched her overnight for us! This is the second night in nine months that she has stayed overnight away from us. We knew she would do great and she did!
We started tailgating early, Steve got in a couple games of tippy-cup and bean bags. It was fun to get away and pretend we were young again! ha!
We had awesome tickets for the game, thanks to Stalker Chevrolet Cadillac in Creston! You could see everything. I heard Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were there too, can you find them?

This was before we started to lose the game :( Boo

We stayed with Ryan and Randi, so after the game we headed back to their house. We hung out by the fire pit and had a nice dinner! Here is their little man Wyatt, who is freaking adorable! Yes, he is eating chip dip with a spoon....courtesy of his grandma! :)

We actually were up fairly early Sunday morning, it's always hard to sleep at someone else's house. We were home by 9:30 and Presley was in the middle of her morning nap, so we used that time to get some things done before we went to pick her up. Since we were the last people in the neighborhood to rake our leaves, we figured we better get down to business in the front yard. (the backyard is another story!)

We then got Presley in her overalls so we could take some pictures in the leaves! She wasn't too sure about it, but didn't try to eat as many leaves as I thought she would!

See, there are advantages to living in an older neighborhood with big trees and lots of leaves! You get pictures like these! :)

We put her to work. She was a good helper!

.........................and then she tried to get away!

Overall, it was a fun and tiring weekend! We are too old to do this all the time, that is for sure! Plus, we missed our smiling baby! But it is good to get away once in a while to be Steve and Jessica, instead of Mom and Dad! :)

Laughing Presley

She just cracks me up! Thought I would share and spread the happiness!

3/4 = 9 months

Wow, I actually think Presley has really changed in the last month. She is learning and doing a lot these days! On Tuesday she will be 9 months old! OMG!!! She is so fun now! Though she can still be a pain in the butt....we'll go ahead and keep her! :) We don't have her check up for another 2 weeks, but we are guessing she is still in the 50th percentile.
Our 9 month old:

• plays pat-a-cake.
• likes to clap, mostly for herself after she does anything!
• will wave goodbye, but usually ends up just clapping for herself.
• actually crawls now! Can go from sitting to crawling but isn't so good at sitting back up again.
• pulls herself up to anything and everything! and prefers to be standing a majority of the time, likes to walk along the couch, the chair...or anything she can reach. She now likes to stand up in her crib too, which is kinda a pain in the butt!
• finally got her two bottom teeth!
• makes babbling sounds....finally!
• likes to play ball, when she 'throws' the ball back...she of course, starts clapping for herself!
• does fairly well sleeping thru the night. As long as she isn't teething or getting a cold!
• loves bath time! She can be crying her eyes out and the minute she sees the bath water running she is smiling and excited!

Trick or Treat!

We decided to take Presley to Earlham to go trick or treating with her cousins on Saturday night! Since Presley can't walk and can't eat candy, it was just an excuse to get her dressed up and have all of us participate in the fun! Earlham goes all out with their trick or treaters! There are so many kids, the parents just sit on their front steps b/c there is no time to go back inside and wait for the next kids to arrive! Many of the houses give out beer to the parents! It was the first time I actually thought it would be nice to live in such a small town! haha!!
Here is Presley in her ladybug costume and her cousin Ava as a peacock! Aren't they cute!!
Presley was less than thrilled to be in her costume but this was one of the smiles we got out of her that night!

Mommy and Presley, since we don't have that many good pictures together...mainly b/c mommy looks stupid in most pictures!

Once we left Earlham we went to Holly's house for her house-warming/Halloween party. It was fun! Lots of good people and food, decorated for the holiday and she doesn't live too far from a cemetary! Spppoookkkkyyyyyy!!!!!
This was my Aunt Ann in her creepy baby costume, I couldn't look at her in the face with this thing on! It just creeped me out!

Here is Steve dressed up as Slash! Presley wasn't too happy about dad looking like this!

Since we got the set the clocks back this weekend, you would think we'd take advantage of the extra hour of sleep. WRONG!!!! Keeping Presley up past her normal bedtime was obviously a hug mistake since she decided she was going to cry from 1-3 am. Mommy got very little sleep.

Despite Presley being cranky most of the weekend, we did get a couple cute pics of her smiling!

It just makes you smile, doesn't it?

Tesla and mullets

So Steve won tickets to one of his favorite bands Tesla. They played at the Val Air Ballroom on Tuesday night. I had never even heard Tesla until I met Steve....and this is the 3rd time I've seen them in concert in 7 years! They are very good live and sound awesome!
Here is the lead singer...no idea what his name is. I'm sure he is on some sort of drugs, but what 80's rock band isn't?? ha!
My good friend Nicola was there! We've known each other since we were born and she was my personal attendant in our wedding! Even our mom's have been best friends forever! (BFF'S!)

Tesla does bring out some of Des Moines' finest. I have never seen so many men with long hair or mullets! More per capita than the Iowa State Fair!

So I decided to start a mullet collection. This guy was the best! Steve calls this one the Kentucky Waterfall.

and this was a dude. His long, flowing hair caught my eye immediately! Even the little guy in the background had a mullet!We were surrounded by the definition of white trash. We got home and looked up the definition of white trash and there was a picture of this guy! I think it's rather hot, I'm trying to get Steve to grow his hair like this...we all know he can do it!

**Disclaimer** If any of my friends or family know any of these people, I apologize for using their pictures without their consent. This blog was posted for entertainment purposes only, not to hurt anybody's feelings!