The next Shawn Johnson?

She's cute,
.......and short and stocky and athletic!

We did take advantage of the 30 degree weather today and went outside! I think we are all tired of being cooped up inside and wanted some fresh air. So at this point 30 degrees is like a heat wave! The sun has made an appearance over Iowa, hopefully this is a sign of good things go come!

I just want to squeeze her! Love those big brown eyes and that little round face!

Credit cards

So with all the new rules and regulations around credit card companies, it got me thinking about how dumb people are with credit cards! I look at credit bureaus every day for work and it always amazes me when people have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt....to Macy's, Walmart, Target, Kohls, Bestbuy.....really? I hope these people all have really nice wardrobes and well decorated houses to compensate for all the interest they are paying on it. Don't get me wrong, we have credit card debt! When we got married we didn't have very much in savings and so we charged. And with the tax return we just got we paid off the last $3000 of our wedding and honeymoon! We have $3000 of revolving debt left to be paid off and I think that is pretty good considering how much I know other people have, and how much debt we had 2 years ago!
I'm hoping to get even more into our savings account, because if you can't pay for it, you probably don't need it! Considering the economy and all the people we hear are getting laid off, we need to be prepared if something were to happen to one of our jobs!

Kids under 12

I heard a commercial on the radio for some fishing show at the the fairgrounds....only $5 for adults and children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult......now just out of curiosity how many children under 12 are going to this show NOT accompanied by an adult?

Also I'm fascinated with the new products that eliminate dryer sheets, the Bounce dryer bar and the Purex 3 in 1 dryer sheets. According to the commericals they are these wonderful, easy, time-savers! I don't know about you, but it doesn't really take me that long to take a dryer sheet out of the box and put it into the dryer?! I'll go ahead and waste that 5 seconds each time I do a load of laundry.


This is the stool Presley got from Holly for her birthday with her name in it! She likes to turn it upside down dumping all the letters on the floor.
Presley hasn't been wanting to take her afternoon naps on the weekends. I'm guessing it's b/c we let her sleep in, if we're lucky that's about 7:30 am. So usually she'll nap from 9:30 till 11:30. In a perfect world she goes back down for her afternoon nap about 2:30 or 3...so Saturday afternoon she laid in her crib and talked and whined for an hour before I just got her up. Sure enough about 5:00 the whining started, falling down when she was walking, hanging on me. So I got her blanket and pacifer, turned on Monsters Inc and she fell asleep on my lap! It was so nice, I'm not sure she's ever just fallen asleep like that! So I laid her down, ate some dinner, took her picture and woke her up a half hour later! Isn't she sweet?

Sunday when I went to wake her up from her morning nap, this is how I found her! In the fetal position, completely covered with her blanket!

Finally home!!!

So we left a busy Phoenix airport at 8:15 this morning, we were all ready to get home! Despite the fact we heard it was snowing......again. At this point, we just expect it to snow and if it doesn't it's kind of a nice surprise! We knew we only had 30 minutes to make our connecting flight in Minneapolis, (and for those of you who don't know, when you sit in the back of a plane, at a airport that is slightly bigger than the DSM airport, this isn't very much time!) so when we landed 15 minutes early we were happy! But then of course, there was a plane still at our terminal and it took 20 minutes for all the people in front of us to file off the plane....at this point we were cutting it close. We had 15 minutes to make it from gate G16 to gate C21 (which are not close together!), we get to gate C21 and that plane is going to Chicago! UGH. They changed our gate to A12....with 7 minutes to go, we continued on our way. Then we hear the announcement, last boarding call for the flight to DSM, the doors will close in 4 minutes! Anyway.....we barely made it! Then we sat on the plane for 45 minutes before we took off!! Frustrating! Once we got to DSM, we circled around the city for 10 minutes waiting for them to clear the runway!...............we got off the plane and was greeted by snow. Pretty and white and cold and never ending.

Presley is getting all 4 of her top teeth! I think she is going to look weird with teeth....I mean, I know everyone has teeth and it looks normal, but for the last year we are used to seeing her with no teeth, so it's just hard to imagine!

I just want to give props to my husband for holdin' down the fort while I was gone. He did a great job around the house and with Presley. She is very lucky to have such a great daddy! I think Steve actually does more around the house when I'm gone! So when should I plan my next trip away?

I noticed Holly hasn't updated her blog since February 8th. She is supposed to be blogging about new things she does every day this year. I hope she has the last 2 weeks memorized since she hasn't been posting! C'mon Holly, just break down and get Internet at home so you can update daily! :)

If you haven't heard, Samantha is pregnant! It was unexpected, but we are fully supporting her. Because frankly, her and Jon are going to need it! :) She just got a job at a daycare, (she is great with kids, so I think she'll enjoy it!) and she has her first doctors appt on Monday. She thinks she is due in August, so only a few short 6 months to go!

I've been eating out every meal for the last 2 weeks. I'm sure the scale will reflect that too. I did workout when I was in Tempe, but it was a mentally exhausting couple weeks.

Have you seen the previews for the movie The Crazies? Steve and his brother helped work on part of the set. So if you see it, remember to look at the porch on the house!

I love genealogy...family history. Have you see the previews for Who Do You Think You Are? (or something that like that, where celebrities find out about relatives in their past) I would love that! I've been able to go pretty far back on my mom's side of the family, I would love a little more information but I have the general names and dates. My dad's side of the family is a different story. My dad and his twin brother were adopted, so finding family history with full names and dates has been challenging. Eventually, I'll have enough time and money to dig a little deeper!

Traveling

Wow, I have learned a lot about traveling this week....and I still have 2 more trips next week!

1) printing your boarding pass before you get the the airport can definietly save time.
2) since the airlines now charge for bags, more people take carry-on luggage! It is amazing the amount of carry-on luggage on these planes! Personally it drives me crazy.
3) the view from a plane is amazing! Seeing houses, snow, mountians, rivers from that view is unbelievable to me! Disappearing into a cloud and coming out the other side, a little freaky, but I love it.
4) i get nervous flying by myself, on my first flight the girl in front of me did the sign of the cross. That was really the first time I thought about the fact that the plane could crash. and unlike most people, i like landing.....touching down to the earth, lowers my chances of the plane crashing! I know, I shouldn't think that way.
5) i could never be a traveling business person, too much time away from home and my family is just not worth it to me.....though i do get a lot of reading done. 2 books in 1 week....I would say that is pretty good!
6) i like the DSM airport! it's small and easy to find everything! you don't have to take a tram to the different terminals! it took me almost 20 minutes to get from one terminal to the next in Minneapolis.....and I only had a 35 minutes between flights. I don't think I'm meant to be a 'big' city girl!
7)) the people who travel with babies amaze me! i would be stressing and these people all act like it's not big deal to take a baby on a plane! i would have NEVER taken Presley on a plane as a baby! i couldn't put all the other passengers thru that! haha! Now that she is a little older, I think she might be ok....but I still don't plan on doing that anytime soo! we can hardly keep her happy in the car for a mile down the road!
8) i missed my baby so so much! don't get me wrong, i missed Steve too. but i know he'll remember me, Presley might not! that is the main reason I had to come home this weekend! she was a little leary of me at first, but she warmed up to me! :) Steve did a great job being a 'single' dad this week, he kept the house clean and they even went to Perkins for dinner one night together! Of course, it does help that she is so happy and good these days! She is getting 3 of her top teeth and you would never know! She still sleeps pretty good and it just overall HAPPY!
we went to dinner tonight and she kept cheesing at the people next to us, instead of glaring! (thank you, b/c that glare was slightly embarrasing!)

Sorry another post about Presley, but really we have nothing else going on in our lives!..and she is so cute, why wouldn't you want to hear about her?

See I told you she likes her bath time! She can hardly stand waiting for the tub to fill! (notice how I so nicely cropped this picture so it would be appropriate for the internet! I would hate to get turned into social services for inappropriate pictures of my 1 year old!)
Today we had Presley's 1st birthday party. Steve and I decided we were going to make her cakes, here is how they turned out! Pretty good, if I do say so myself! Steve gets all the credit for decorating, I only get credit for not burning the cake.

Presley loves food and was not afraid to dig right in and enjoy. She mostly ate the frosting and squeezed the cake between her hands! For a girl who isn't very social, she did pretty good with a house full of family! Once she warmed up to everyone and realized we weren't leaving she actually played pretty well with her cousins! Too bad I was not a good mom, and I didn't get any pictures of all of them! Darn it!

This was her present from the Hensley's, she thinks she is pretty cool!

Well I'm off to Tempe tomorrow without a personal computer so I'll be back next weekend! Miss me!

Sitting

I'm just sitting at work not doing anything. I leave Sunday for Tempe and I don't want to get started on anything and not finish it. So I'll just sit here. Heck, right now I have no responsibilites anyway!

I'm so happy that I have a husband who is involved enough with Presley that I know he'll do a great job when I'm gone. He knows her schedule, what she likes, the bedtime routines. Some mom's let the dad's get away with not doing their fair share of 'baby' work! He'll be able to handle everything, and of course he will realize how much easier it is when I'm around to help! I told him that he needs to be organized in order for things to go smoothly! It will be good daddy/daughter time! At her 1 year appt the doctor was a little surprised that she doesn't have a parent preference, normally at this age they begin to want either mom or dad over the other parent. But Presley is an equal opportunity child!

too much going on

Well my body has decided to catch a cold...now is NOT the right time for that! There is just too much going on and too much to get done.
Saturday we made a practice birthday cake, so my mom got a nicely decorated #1 cake for her birthday! and that night I had girls night with a couple of my closest girlies! It was fun, low key and the margaritas were yummy!
Sunday we had Presley's pictures taken as I posted before and then went to my parents for my birthday dinner! Then Tuesday Samantha watched Presley so Steve and I could go to Johnny's Italian Steakhouse for my birthday dinner! yummy!!!
I started feeling crappy on Wednesday and today it hit me hard! Headache, scratchy throat, runny, stuffy nose. I left work early to try and sleep, but wasn't able to sleep that much!
We are having Presley's birthday party on Saturday and we have a house to clean, laundry to do, a cake to bake and decorate, presents to wrap and we need to go to the grocery store at some point.....and I don't feel good. Steve has been very helpful tonight, while I just sit here looking hot as ever!
and with all that being said, I leave for Tempe Sunday at noon. I'm actually coming back on Friday but then I leave again next Sunday for another 5 days! I'm not sure all that traveling for 48 hours at home is worth it, but to be away from Presley for 2 whole weeks is just too long!
So as I said before......This is not a good time for me to get sick! ugh!

Presley Grace

February 3rd 2009, our lives changed!
After a couple months we got used to this screaming baby!
Our once 5 pound 12 ounce baby girl is now a 22.5 pound (68%) 29 inch tall (48%) crazy, walking 1 year old! (who cries and screams more when the doctor is looking in her ears and listening to her heart beat than she does when she gets her shots?!)

She is still a daddy's girl!

and she loves her mommy too!

Presley was so small, we went out and bought a couple premie outfits for her. She was the same size as my cabbage patch doll!

and now.....well she won't lay still long enough to get a good picture!

She is completely the apple of our eye. She lights up the room with her smile. Her laugh makes you laugh! She brings a new happiness into our lives.

Our 1 year old:

• prefers to walk, she still uses walls, chairs and people to get around but she does a pretty good job by herself too.
• loves books! She usually sits on my lap and we read... though she'll get bored after about 5 pages.
• has finally started babbling!
• shakes her head no, puts her hand to her mouth to blow kisses, will clench her fists to flex, and will find her nose and tummy every now and then.....when she is in the mood!
• just had one of her top teeth poke thru, so now she has 3!
• is happy as can be! She sleeps good, plays good, eats good!
• still loves baths and hates the car (I know! Babies are supposed to love the car!)
• takes her pacifer in the car (only b/c we get tired of listening to her cry every time we go anywhere!) and to fall asleep.
• is wearing 12 month clothes.
• will eventually have enough hair for pigtails and braids!
  

UNO!

Our baby is 1 year old! Here are her pictures that we had taken yesterday. She was shockingly in a very good mood! It helps that whenever we say 'cheese!', 'smile!', or 'show me your teeth!'...she'll smile! We went to Portrait Innovations. We had never been there, but we had heard good things so we thought we'd try it out! It was a little more expensive, but you get more pictures, so we have pictures coming out our ears! So if anyone wants a picture (or 10, or 20, or 30) let us know! ha!