Gabe and Preston's Trip to Utah

Preston was sooo excited to see airplanes!He was even more excited when he found out he could "fly high sky too!"
I'm pretty sure Gabe was just excited that he could take such a good picture of his favorite mountain on the way out of town. He once hiked Mt. Rainier... part of the way, that was before we were married. :)I should have been able to go to Utah too, if it wasn't for this silly child inside of me. I was planning on being there for my brother Tyler and his wife Mara's graduation, but of course I missed it. At least I have a picture to "remember" it by. Tyler and Mara are also expecting a baby boy right around the same time as us. We're excited to see him!This was a really short trip for Gabe and Preston since Gabe was afraid to leave me alone too long in case I went into labor... that still hasn't happened. ;) Anyway, the day they got there Gabe went to a wedding dinner for his brother Mike. Here's the Loftus clan minus Arien who is off in Italy doing a study abroad at the moment.Since children weren't invited to the dinner Preston got to hang out with my family. My mom of course was more than happy about that! Here his is using his sidewalk chalk shaped like footballs and baseballs with his Uncle Kyle.
Then he got to go to the playground and slide with his Uncle Bryant!

He got so dirty outside they had to give him a bath where he pooped in the tub for the first time ever, and my mom had to clean it up! It's all because Kyle was talking about the fact that he shouldn't stay in there long in case he did, so of course he had to prove him right. Do you like how Kyle is avoiding the picture here? He hates getting his picture taken.After his bath Preston got all ready for bed in the pajamas Grandma gave him for Christmas and then got to play with the train for a little while. He was in heaven!The next morning was Mike and Ashley's wedding day. They were married in the beautiful Mt. Timpanogas temple.
Preston recognized that it was a temple and was entranced... can't you tell?
Gabe went to the spot where he proposed to me and took a picture for me since I couldn't be there. Of course it looks a little different. When he proposed it was snowy and cold.

Gabe did a pretty good job as the photographer. He got his dad taking pictures of the newly married bride and groom coming out of the temple.He of course followed them around for a while when they were getting their professional pictures taken.
Aren't they cute?

Gabe and his "little" brother.

I just loved this picture of Gabe's sisters, our nephews, and his Grandma, it's so precious.
The entire clan at the wedding. Preston was apparantly not happy to be getting his picture taken.

He just wanted to walk around the temple grounds with my dad...
and point out all of the flowers. He loves them ever since we went to the tulip festival. Don't worry he didn't pick this one, it had already fallen off.

After the temple they went back to my parent's house where Preston got to hang out with his other Grandma and Grandpa for a while.He was very excited to build a tower!After lunch and nap time Preston got all dressed up for the reception. My mom took him to my Grandma's house on the way (Gabe had to be there early). I guess he kept asking to hold the babies she had there. Just look at that sweet face... this should be a good sign, right?
We at least got one picture of the two of them all dressed up in their tuxes before the reception.Here's Gabe's family once again, with the grandkids too.
Gabe's family including his grandparents. I think the grandkids were done taking pictures by then... at least Preston was.The entire bridal party.
My family went too! Unfortunately we don't have a picture of all of them, but here's Bryant with my mom. Don't they look cute?

Preston was at least happy about one thing at the reception. He got to eat yummy ice cream.
Gabe's old roommate and good friend Brandon and his wife Liz came down for the reception too and brought their son Matthew to hang out with Preston. I think they enjoyed spending a little time together.
Before we knew it, the next morning it was time for the boys to come home again. Of course Preston was still excited as ever to see the planes! If you're wondering what I did the entire time they were gone, I got a lot done, spent time with friends, and got a lot of rest. It was nice to have a little break, catch up on my sleep, and finish my organization projects around the house without Preston getting into my papers. I of course missed my boys and would have loved more than anything to go too, but I had to make the most of what I had. It was also nice to be able to spend a lot of time on the phone with my mom and Gabe which helped me feel more like I was there. Having all the pictures to look at was nice too!

34 Weeks

I'm officially 34 weeks today! Only two weeks to go until I'm off of my medication and off of bed rest. Now we'll just have to see if this little guy really does want to come early, or if he's just going to torture his mommy longer and wait to come out until my due date, or later like his brother. I'm glad that I've been feeling good for the most part and am excited to be able to get out and do things again! Anyway, here's my picture comparison for this week. I think my belly might be rounder and wider this time compared to last time, I don't know it's hard to tell.

Week 34 with Preston

Week 34 with Carter
Here is a picture of my little bare belly. From this angle I don't think it really looks as big as it actually is, but you can see my flattened belly button. This is probably the only picture you'll be seeing of my bare belly too since I photoshopped out my stretchmarks. :) I didn't get any until I was overdue with Preston and they just keep getting worse this time, but still not bad so I shouldn't complain... oh the joys of motherhood.

The Forbidden Field Trip

A few weeks ago on a VERY nice day, I had a doctor's appt. So my friend Sam came to watch Preston for me while I went. When I got back, she told me that she, Holly, and Sarah were going to go to the tulip fields. I couldn't help myself. I was feeling good, the doctor said I was doing good, Preston was sick of constantly being home, and I hadn't been out in months, so I gave in and went with them and am so glad I did! The weather was beautiful and the tulip fields made a great atmosphere for a relaxing afternoon! We spent a lot of time hanging out talking and looking at the pretty scenery.Here's Sam with Macy her "black doggy." Preston loves both of them, even though Macy isn't too fond of him.

Holly Spent a lot of time taking amazing pictures, you can see more here and here. There are some cute ones of Preston, and you might even find one of me in there too... in my pajamas of course. I was still taking it easy. :)

Preston really enjoyed watching Sarah and "baby E I" as he calls him. His name is really Eli, Preston just can't pronounce his L's. I think Eli is the youngest baby he's been around in a while and he was entranced. He still talks about him constantly too.

When we first got there Preston wasn't really sure what to do...but pretty soon he got the idea,

and as always was not happy that mommy was taking pictures of him.

He still doesn't have much of an attention span though. Soon he had his first experience with a mud puddle. Luckily I tricked him in to thinking they were no fun so he steered clear of them from then on.

But then disappeared down an aisle of tulips despite the fact that the sign said not to go in them, I wasn't going to chase him though. ;)Eventually he stopped and came back, looked at the flowers again,and even stood for a minute or two so I could get a closer picture of him before he sat down and started playing peek a...boo out of nowhere!That only lasted a few minutes. Until he was distracted by the planes and helicopters flying overhead.
Or as he would say "fly, high, sky!" At home he can only hear planes when they fly by, but here he was able to see them
and point them out. Over and over again.
The entire time we were there he was eyeing the school bus on the other side of the field. If you couldn't tell he LOVES all things that move. He kept saying "see school bus now?" So I had to let him eventually.

On the way over as we were dodging mud puddles Preston noticed something, he started yelling "two Prestons! two Prestons!" Then he started panicking a little bit like he didn't know what to do. I finally realized he was talking about his shadow.He tried really hard to get away from it but wasn't able to, like in this picture where he's lifting his foot up in the other direction (he thought). I tried to explain to him what it was and eventually he decided it was okay. I think he was really confused when he watched Peter Pan and saw that his shadow really could get away from him. ;)Finally we made it to the bus. he ran up to it and then slowly checked it outpiece by piece. The funny thing is that he didn't really touch it, he was just content looking at it up close. Now that we had seen the bus our day had come to an end. Preston found some "pretty yellow flowers" so I told him we could pick those ones and give them to the girls. He gave them to each one of them as he said their names. Then he wanted to go pick more once he ran out. Luckily he never tried to pick the tulips!

Now every time we see flowers Preston gets really excited! He can see the dandelions in our yard and talks about them all the time. I'm so glad that Preston had fun, and that I had friends there that were willing to help with him. The other good thing is that Preston has been acting a LOT better since then (less temper tantrums) which is also really nice for me. It's amazing what a little fun in the sun can do. Too bad I got burnt to a crisp though. I guess that's what happens when you don't go outside for over two months. :)

Preston's 2nd Easter

Last year Preston and I were in Utah for Easter, so this was Preston's first Easter at home with Mommy and Daddy.  I've had a hard time doing a lot to celebrate holidays the past few months since I'm not supposed to leave the house, and especially can't walk around the hard floors in stores.  Luckily we had Gabe's little Easter bucket I got a few years ago from the dollar store that we could use as Preston's basket (last year he used one at my parent's house), and we had bought a bag of unopened eggs at a garage sale two summers ago so we were set in that department.  I told Gabe to buy some of my favorite Easter candy, and to pick out some of his favorites while he was out grocery shopping for us.  Luckily it all turned out well, and Preston seemed to have a really good time.  He was VERY excited when we told him to find the eggs that Gabe had done so well hiding.  Can you see it in this picture?

 

Preston found it and promptly yelled out "purple egg!"  I think he'd mid-word here.

He wanted to get them all at once.  He would see one and on his way and get distracted and start going after another yelling out the colors along the way.

He found the one on the chair and was getting very frustrated when he couldn't get it out through the slots.  Eventually he figured it out... Unfortunataly, before I could get a better picture.

He liked putting all the eggs in the bag after he found them.

Bentley was very excited about the whole thing too and tried to go after the eggs.  I think one had just rolled under the couch.

Here Preston's checking out his stash.

Finally he gets to see what's inside.  It's pretty sad that he was that excited about just the eggs even before he knew there was candy in them!

Yum!  Jellybeans, or "canning" as Preston calls it... I don't know where he gets that from.

After a sample, he checked out his Easter basket...

and read the book Grandma sent him in the mail, while his mouth was still full.

After an egg half full of jellybeans Preston asked for another but then announced that he was done after only eating a few.  We tried to give him his marshmallow bunny too but after a nibble he was finished with that.  He really does like sweets, but we made sure he ate a full breakfast before the candy. :)

Here's a picture of Preston and I right before church.  I wanted a picture of us together on Easter, unfortunately I didn't shower and get dressed until right before church and since I only go to Sacrament meeting, I knew by the time Preston and Gabe got home Preston would be asleep, and I would be back in my sweats.  So that is why my hair is wet and I have no makeup on.  I put it on as we were driving to church because we were late as usual.  I blame it on the fact that I can't move very fast. ;)  At least Preston is kind of smiling, right?

Overall, we had a fun Easter, thanks to all of Gabe's help!