All he wants for New Years...

...is his TWO FRONT TEETH!!!

Sweet Citrus ~~

1st pink grapefruit off our tree - EVER!!And I had to share it with this other grapefruit lover....

We have about 9 grapefruits this year, which obviously will not last long in this household! The oranges we'll give a couple more weeks before picking. Lovin' getting our daily dose of vitamin C right from our own backyard! :)

Happy 1st Birthday PrEsToN!!!!

I literally have not sat still for the past four days!! Christmas Eve, Christmas day, running about a good majority of the day Saturday, then food prep and finishing up house cleaning after church today. Whew!!

It's hard to believe that our little guy is 1 year old!!! I didn't have much time to dwell on the fact since we were so consumed with Christmas. We had some family members over for dinner & ice cream sundaes to celebrate Preston's birthday!He went to town on the frosting and barely got in to the actual cupcake before I took it away, afraid that he'd be sick all over the place from the sugar!!From us, he got a wagon and a new big-kid hooded bath towel. Lame, I know, but what do you get a 1 year old, two days after Christmas, that is the 4th child in a family that has just about every toy??! At least he loves his wagon! ;)

Gpa & Gma Palmer gave him a set of mini sports ballsGpa & Gma Hamilton game him a little activity cubeGpa & Gma LeBaron gave him $20 cash, which will go into his bank account, thankyouverymuch!

Momma with the birthday boy ~ Matt & I sure do make cute kids! ;)

Biggest gift hits from Christmas:

Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Farm - last minute thought by Santa ended up being a good decision!! He loves opening the gate to crawl through, flipping the light switch up and down and carrying the hen's eggs around.Elmo Knows Your Name cell phone - You hook this thing up to your computer via USB and program your child's name into the phone so Elmo actually says, "Hello Preston!"Ball popper - NO! We bought this as a replacement for the one Brooklyn and Blake got for their 1st birthday, 6 years ago. All my kids have loved this toy and I frequently give it as first birthday gifts. Our old one was dying a slow death so I thought we needed a new one for Preston to enjoy. He cries EVERY time we turn the thing on!!!!!! LOL! It is rather loud....One of my favorite parts of of having a toddler (sniff, sniff) is them learning to say words. This is what Preston can say so far:
da

Mama
all done
hi
bye bye
signs "more"
signs "all done"
waves bye-bye
points

He is cruising along furniture, but still won't stand alone. Looks like he's following in his older siblings' footsteps (no pun intended) on being a slow walker!

He can climb the stairs - FAST!!! Took care of that with a new baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. Preston just stands on the first step and shakes the gate now, haha!

He loves being with the big sibs. And getting into their things! haha He's such a Daddy's boy, too! His face just lights up when Matt comes into the room. "Da" is by far his most frequently said word.

He is a GREAT eater and I haven't found one thing he won't eat yet. Bananas aren't his fave, but I recently covered them with crushed Cheerios and he ate them! Still nursing about 6 times a day.

Preston loves to plink on the piano. And I love seeing his stretch his cute fingers up on the keys to play a tune! ♪♫

★ Happy Birthday, Presty-boy!!! ★

Daddy, Mommy, your sister and brothers love you very much! One year ago, you were given to our family to watch over and care for here in this life. We can't imagine our family without you. May this next year bring many more joys as you enter a new stage in your life. XOXOXO

The last of the Advent Fairy & Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve day, the kids and I finished up some last minute shopping for Daddy.

We ordered pizza and ate while we tracked Santa on the NORAD website

B&B sprinkled their reindeer food on our back lawn

Then we got down to Advent Fairy business!!!

Open one gift, read the Christmas Story, and don't forget to leave cookies & milk for Santa Clause and a few carrots for his reindeer!

The FIRST gift of Christmas....

...PJs, of course!!!

These minuscule carrots are actually from our garden! And though they obviously were not quite ready to be picked, the reindeer didn't seem to mind. ;)

~*~*~*CHRISTMAS Day*~*~*~

Santa's been here!!!!!!

Brooklyn slept in the boys' room on an air mattress that night. I remember doing the same with my siblings and we could hardly contain our excitement as we tried to stay up long enough to hear the bells on Santa's sleigh or the sound of hooves on the rooftop. Matt's family had this tradition where his Dad would set some sort of "trap" for the kids so he could hear if they tried to sneak out before it was time to get up Christmas morning. So this year, Matt set up our very first trap for the kids! It was very simple, to break them in easily. ;) Matt hung a blanket in the doorway with jingle bells on it and they had to come through the blanket without making the bells ring.

Here they are, ready to come down the stairs to see what Santa brought!!Littlest Pet Shop for Brooklyn+Bakugan for Blake+and Bakugan for Gavin+Preston got the Laugh & Learn Farm+Prest wasn't very much into opening giftsIt was a very merry Wii-Christmas for us!!!

Santa must've known we were itching for some new games to play!!

We were able to keep it simple this year and everyone was happy with their loot! :)

On our last day of visits from the Advent Fairy, she left us this note: Merry Christmas!! Enjoy the day surrounded with those you love the most. ♥

And thus we began our whirlwind of visiting family on Christmas dat!!! Off to my parents, Matt's parents, quick stop by Gma & Gpa LeBaron, back to my parents for a catnap for Prest (poor kid, being dragged around all day) then on to my Uncle David & Aunt Candy's house for Christmas dinner. It was a looooong day, for sure!

Day 23.... Fun project

First of all, I have to state that I am NOT patient when it comes to doing activities with my kids, especially ones that have potential to get messy. BUT, I put all that aside when the Advent Fairy instructed us to

Make magnets to give to our grandparents ~

We all survived and this is what we came up with! A super cute way to display super cute pics of the grandkiddos on the refrigerator!
Truth to be told, the kids had more fun experimenting with the magnets and their polar forces!

Teethbrushing by BIG sis

Tonight we got home past the kids' bedtime and the baby was frantic to be fed and put to bed. I sat down in the recliner to nurse him in his room and I asked Brooklyn if she'd help brush Gavin's teeth. Here's what I heard from Brooklyn through the [jack-and-jill bathroom] door:

"I don't even know how to do this!"

"I'm not doing it like Mom does it, ok?"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"SPIT!!"

I had to stifle my giggles, it was SO cute!! I love tender moments like this, when my kids are interacting with their siblings! Brooklyn did a GREAT job! And Gav was a great sport. :)

Santa & Looking @ Lights ~ Days 21 & 22

This is an exciting one -------

Day 21~ HO, HO, HO! Sit on Santa's lap and celebrate with the Palmer family

Per Palmer family tradition, on the Monday before Christmas, we headed over to Matt's aunt and uncle's house on his dad's side for dinner and our annual visit from the jolly big guy himself.

Preston did GREAT his 1st time seeing Santa! :) He just tried to figure out who this guy was and why we plopped him down on his lap.

Prest even gave him noggins! ;)Gav could hardly wait for his turn! He wants Legos and Bakugans for Christmas.Blake just wants BAKUGAN!Brooklyn's list entailed Littlest Pet Shops and Polly Pockets.
I love that she insists on whispering into Santa's ear!!

Today was Day 22. Drive around to look at all the Christmas lights. Come home and find a special treat! Matt was helping a family in the ward pack up to move so it was just the kids and I again. We definitely missed Daddy!
We also dropped off some goody plates to friends and primary teachers.A subdivision couple miles or so down the way has this Loop of Lights that most everyone on the street participates in. One house even has a bajillion lights that flash with music that you can tune your car stereo to!!! My kids call it the "dancing house." So we sat in front of it for awhile and watched. Then mommy cheated and took the kids through the new Dunkin Donuts drive thru for our treat. ;)

Day 20: Turning our Celebration to the Savior

Quick pic before church. We were already 30 minutes late after all! ((LOL))

Day 20 - Celebrate the reason for the season with the LeBaron family

*NATIVITY*

Preston makes his nativity debut as a sheep. Baaaaaa!Hark! the Herald Angels SingWe Three (or 4 or 5...) Kings

Gavin fell asleep on the drive over to Gpa & Gma LeBaron's and consequently refused to participate in the program. No amount of convincing or coercion worked. He ended up being fixture on my lap. {photo courtesy of Milo LeBaron III}I'm glad that we have the opportunity to sit down and remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of buying gifts and planning/attending parties, which I'm completely guilty of. It's such a neat tradition that the families get to participate in each year, thanks to the LeBarons!

She's keeping us BUSY!

Day 17 - Everyone get cozied up in jammies and watch Elf

I know, a movie night on a school night?? Matt was gonna be home late and I had to do SOMEthing to keep myself sane, so we snuggled up together and watched this funny holiday movie. I love hearing my kids giggle! It's the sweetest thing!Day 18 - Do some Christmas shopping and wrap up the gifts!

No pics of this. Sometimes it's a hassle to take all four kids out on adventures, but this was good. It was fun to let them help pick out items for the people we were shopping for! :)

Day 19 - Bake Christmas goodies galore and deliver them to neighbors while caroling

This day became super hectic so we didn't get as much goodie-making in as I had planned. But we did put together these cookies-in-a-jar to take to our immediate neighbors, thanks to the idea we did in our monthly Relief Society canning class!It pays to be a consumer! :) Brooklyn was called to participate in a toy study and got this as her reward! She was thrilled!