RaNdOmNeSs

These are just things that are floating through my mind that aren't big enough to deserve a blog post all of their own so I'm putting them all here in one.

1. I feel like I am CONSTANTLY buying a new box of laundry detergent so I decided to actually see how long it took me to go through one of these giants.ONE MONTH!!!! To the DAY! 95 loads, the box says. Crazy. No wonder I feel like I'm forever doing laundry. 'Cause I AM!!! Next I'm going to have to keep track of exactly how many loads *I* get out of a box of soap.

2. What do all these items have in common???E.V.E.R.Y. single one I found in Blake's pockets while sorting through laundry!!!! That kid.

3. I think I'm a dang good watermelon picker!!! As in from the grocery store. You can find me picking up a dozen or so melons, giving them a few good spanks, listening for just the right *thump*. Sometimes I do a victory cry/dance when I cut into a melon that looks and smells perfect. Weird, I know, but I'm proud of this talent! I love the designs in this one....4. I got a new phone. And I just had the fact reiterated to me that I'm not a fan of change. And I'm horrible about making decisions, especially right there on the spot. I thought I was soooo far away from this point, but alas, here I am all grown up and finally joining the 21st century!
It's a Droid. And I can't think "Droid" without hearing it just like on the commercials. I'm still learning how to use this new fandangled piece of technology. Matt says this phone LOOKS like "my" phone. Hmmmm, I wonder why???? ;)

5. We've recently become acquainted to these beauties. Thermos FUNtainer beverage bottle is the official name, thank you Google. Around here, we call them "flick-open cups."Because that's what they do, flick open. See?I first bought Brooklyn, Blake and Gavin each one to take with us on our California trip and that's when we knew they were for us!! They keep drinks super cold, even if we leave them in our sweltering car while we run errands during the summer. They aren't cheap ($13/piece) but in my mind, drinks that stay cold for hot sweaty kids equals a price worth paying. Plus we can wash and reuse these instead of throwing away plastic water bottles, so we're helping the environment, right? We now own two sets of these cups in Star Wars, Toy Story, Hello Kitty, Spiderman, Cars and Tinkerbell varieties. :)

6. I {heart} Old Navy. Matt wishes I didn't {heart} Old Navy so much. The end.

My baby is 18 months old

Seriously? How did that happen? Where does the time go???

He's exactly 18 months today so it was his first time in nursery today at church. I'm still convinced that he's too young to go. Matt thinks otherwise, probably since he's the one who has to wrangle Preston all through the last two hours of church!!! And yes I played paparazzi in the CHURCH hallway!!!! Who does that???Of course he walked in and never looked back! I peeked in on him a couple times and he was just bopping around, doing his thing. *sigh*Tonight was our last nursing session. I am ready to be done but it's still bittersweet. Who knows if I'll ever have the chance to nurse another baby?

★ All about Preston @ 18 months ★

Up on the table is his favorite spot. I have to keep the chairs pulled out away from the table so he can't climb up!His favorite thing to help me with is putting laundry from the washer into the dryer. He says "IN!" as he puts the clothes in, tosses in the dryer sheet then shuts the door. So cute!Kid loves apples. I just give him a whole one and he goes to town!!! He eats it down to a tiny little ball (see in his hand), probably as close as you can get without eating the core!Well check stats will come in a couple weeks, I'll add them back here. At his 15 month well check, I mentioned again to our pediatrician that we were still battling with hives and eczema pretty badly as well as 4+ dirty diapers a day and I was sure he must be allergic to SOMEthing he was ingesting. So she sent us for a blood draw. That was pretty much a nightmare!!!The culprits I was assuming it was, milk or egg, came back negative. But apparently, he IS allergic to TOMATO!!!!! Pizza, spaghetti sauce, salsa, BBQ sauce, plain ole tomatoes, sheesh!!! I still haven't requested the paperwork to see HOW allergic he is, but the ped recommended staying away from them until he is 3 years old then reintroducing. What is with my kids and bizarre food allergies???!

Preston is definitely not as talkative as Gavin was at the same age, but his vocabulary is increasing daily! Words he says: Mommy/Mom, Daddy, Matt (lol!), Gaaaaa (Gavin), Beek (Blake), Beck (Brooklyn), Jesus, Papa (grandpa), Jack (my parents dog), baby, hat, milk, drink, snack, apple, nana (banana), bape (grape), berry, hi, bye-bye, ball, boon (balloon), uh-oh, done, binky, doggie, duck, stuck, yuck, rock, hot, side (outside), up, down, in, shut, sit, bath, soft, set GO!, eye, eeee (ear), nose, mouth, teeth, WoodyWoodyWoody (from Toy Story), Minnie, Donald (not sure if this one is the character or McDonalds??), Elmo and I'm sure a ton of others I can't think of at the moment.

He does this funny growl thing, like someone might do when they get frustrated, like "Uuuuugh!" He does it when something falls down or drops. I'll have to see if I can get it on video and put it here. It's one of my favorite things he does!

He is very good at following directions and understands a lot better than he speaks. I can't wait until he can communicate a little bit better with us so we don't have as much crying going on. He's started to throw mini-tantrums by dropping himself to the floor and rolling around a bit. At this moment, it's cute. ;) Still a very "busy" child and if there is something to be getting into, he's there!!! We're seeing the beginnings of separation anxiety when we leave to go somewhere (in the house or out). If I'm sitting on the floor, he's sitting on my lap. He love love loves his Daddy and as soon as he hears that garage door open around 6pm, he gets soooo excited!!! He's pretty much a great eater and there are only a few things that he's not into.

I love how fun and inquisitive toddlers are, but I know in a blink of an eye, he's going to be 2 and not much of a baby anymore. I'm just trying to snuggle with him as much as I can and enjoy this stage while were in it. We sure do love our Presty-boy!!!

One Year of Karate -^*_*^-

It's hard to believe that Blake has been taking karate lessons for a year already!!!!! He has successfully moved through the Little Ninjas program (white belt, white w/ yellow stripe, orange stripe, purple stripe then blue stripe belts) and now is on to the Youth Karate program as of today. Blake loves that he gets an "army man" belt at this level!! (I know every form and teacher is different so this may not be familiar to everyone)

At the end of April, our instructor decided not to renew his lease in the building space and is now teaching private lessons out of his garage, which he converted into a studio. Blake only has one 30 minute lesson per week now, which makes it harder to remember the routines without practicing at home, but he does MUCH better in a one-on-one setting. The stuff that Blake is doing now is getting more complex and harder to keep straight, so I actually had to bring a clipboard and write down every single step and with which hand/arm/leg to use so *I* could help him practice in between classes!!! It took a lot of work for Blake to earn this last belt and I am so proud of how far he has come. I'm hoping that this can be a lifelong passion for Blake; he seems to do really well in the memorization and execution of each combination and technique.

My little karate kid

Summer Fun with Cousins

Last week, we met up with Jen, Josh, Emi and Adam to play at the San Tan Village splash pad. I didn't know how busy it would be so I didn't bring Preston's swimsuit because I was worried he'd get trampled by kids. Turned out it wasn't busy at all, so I let him loose, white trash as ever, in his adorable cut-off denim shorts!

Then we cooled off with a yummy treat! Thanks guys!!

Today, we headed to Tempe with Kristin, Andrew and Spencer to check out the brand new Arizona SeaLife Aquarium at Arizona Mills mall. The kids liked it, but I can't say they were enthralled or WOWed by it. We were in and out in just over an hour. I'm glad we went so we can say we've been there done that, but I'm not sure it was worth the admission, even with a discount coupon!! I guess I only had one other aquarium to compare it to and The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is kind of a big deal!!! Good pictures were hard to come by since it's entirely low light in there, but I think I managed a few.....

Blake and Brooklyn touch starfish in the "tide pools"Gav up close and personal w/ a puffer fishPreston watches the raysBlake peeping through a port hole at the rays and sharksThey had these cool little "bubbles" that the kids could
poke their heads up into to get a better look at the fishWatching all the fishMy favorite of the day!! Kristin w/ Andrew & SpenceSeahorsesAmazing jellyfish!The "tunnel"

I'm sure there will be many more fun adventures to come! I can hardly believe we only have a little more than 6 weeks of summer left!!!

LOOK who's 30!!!!!!!!

^^^ THIS GUY!!!! ^^^

The first half of the day was a bit busy, he helped his sister pack up for their move across the country for med school. When he got back, I was out the door for our sister-in-law's baby shower. Once everyone got settled in the afternoon, we sent him on a treasure hunt to find his birthday gifts. :)

He was successful with the help from a few cute kidlets! ;)From the kids, this Super Soaker water GUNAnd from me, the best wife in the world.............what is it????????????????A REAL GUN!!!!!

Storytime!! ;)

Matt's been wanting a pistol for a loooooooooooong time. His brother has one and what Derek has, Matt must have. lol! It's been on the "want" list, but all the "needs" (ie. car repairs, bills, etc.) kept pushing the gun farther and farther down. Matt would talk about it here and there, but knew that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Well, about Spring Break-ish time, I decided that I wanted surprise Matt *BIG TIME* for his 30th birthday and get him this gun. I talked with his brother to find out the exact model he wanted. I was really hesitant still because #1, I've never purchased anything that expensive without Matt by my side, let alone a GUN!! and #2, I wasn't sure if Matt would care that the gun would be registered in my name instead of his. The element of surprise on his actual birthday won over so I bought the gun while Matt was away on a business related trip at the beginning of May and stashed it at his brother's house for 6 weeks. It was a HARD secret to keep (especially for Gavin who was with me when I bought it!), but he was definitely surprised and I loved that!!!! Now he feels like a real man. haha!

Tonight to celebrate, we decided to get a sitter for Preston and take Brooklyn, Blake and Gavin to the movie theater to see Karate Kid. It was super late for the kids but we all enjoyed the movie very much!

The kids showing off their awesome karate poses~And I guess as wife of the year, I should appear in this blog post somewhere.... ;)Happy Birthday, Matt!!!!!!!