The Presson Family

Ahhh...I'm FINALLY DONE SHOPPING!!!  I have been at it since the end of September.  I just received my last gift in the mail today so that still needs to be wrapping and then I'm FINISHED!  YAY!!!!  Such a great feeling to have lots of wonderful gifts for all of our family & friends.  Now I just have to wait a couple more days to see them opened.  That's my favorite part!  =) 

I took a vacation day tomorrow so today is my Friday too.  Another YAY!  We have our company Christmas party - potluck lunch at noon, then "Rob Your Neighbor" game and drinks at 5pm.  Should be a good time!  The whole office smells like yummy lil smokies in bbq sauce, and bbq meatballs.  MMMmmmm!  I plan to bake brownies all day tomorrow.  Friday we will be driving to Jefferson City to stay the night for Christmas Eve with Paul's family.  Christmas morning we will be driving back to STL and going straight to my parent's house for their party.  We will probably get home around 9pm and then Paul and I will be putting together Christian's BIG gift from Santa.  He is getting a Dream Kitchen!  The reviews say it will take anywhere from 2-3 hours to assemble...we're hoping we can knock it out in under 2 hours!  Then Sunday morning Paul, Christian and I will have our own family Christmas.  I can't wait to see the look on Paul's face when he opens his gifts!  I got him something really good!!!! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday weekend.  Be safe when you travel ...I heard the weather might be bad Christmas Eve. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We sure do!  This weekend we went to Trader Joe's ...twice and stocked up on milk for Christian!  He goes through the stuff like water.  The first time we went was on Friday (my birthday) since we were going to dinner at Growler's with my parents...mmmmmmmm! The second time was yesterday since we had to pick up Christian from staying with my parents Saturday night.  Paul and I went out for my birthday Saturday to The Melting Pot - mmmm again, and then saw a show at The Funny Bone.  Ian Bagg was the comic and he was great!  Very funny show ...I was crying about half the time! 

I wish they would put a Trader Joe's in south county.  The prices are great, the food is delicious, and they always have different stuff to give me new ideas for dinner.  This time I bought some Garlic & Herb cheese spread (which is already gone - it was so good), Spinach & Ricotta cheese filled ravioli (which might be dinner tonight), Champagne for New Year's Eve (only $6.99), frozen brown rice (which microwaves in only 3 minutes), frozen mandarin orange chicken, frozen steel cut oatmeal (brown sugar & maple syrup flavor), chocolate bon bons (very rich), 3 cheese flatbread pizza (for me - Paul doesn't like the fancy/stinky cheeses), frozen mixed vegetables (for stir-fry), potato pancakes (saving those for when my parents come over for dinner since my dad is a BIG fan of them at Growler's), and these wonderful ham & cheese pastry puffs (it was the sample of the day on Friday... I couldn't resist). 

I also bought White Cheddar puffs, Veggie Sticks, & LOTS of whole milk (for Christian).  TJ's organic whole milk sells for only $2.98 per gallon - I pay $5.99/gallon at Dierbergs!  Crazy!  I would go there weekly just for milk if it was closer.  All of that stuff cost less than $65.00!  I would have easily spent double on all I got at my normal grocery store.  Like I said before...they really need to put a TJ's in the south county/arnold area!!! 

Since we stocked up on Christian's whole milk and have a couple gallons of our milk in the fridge too...I just had to take a picture of all the milk! 

Count them...




















If you counted 6 gallons of milk...you are correct!  6 gallons of milk in our fridge - I think we're set for this week at least.  =)

Paul and I took Christian to Bass Pro Shop yesterday (on my birthday!) to visit Santa at Santa's Workshop.  We got a FREE 4x6" picture of him with Santa.  Even though Christian didn't smile...at least he didn't cry either.  He takes awhile to warm up to strangers so plopping him on a complete stranger's lap and expecting him to smile wasn't going to happen.  I think the picture turned out pretty well considering.  There was a neat train that he just loved!  And he got to sit on his very first 4-wheeler.  He's 100% boy! 

Here are the pics:

Well St. Louis had our first official snow of the season this past weekend.  We woke up Sunday morning to around 2 inches of the white stuff.  The temperature dropped overnight and it's super windy and freezing cold now.  Yuck!!!  We ventured out into the bad weather to get groceries Sunday morning.  Christian FINALLY kept a hat on his head and he looked adorable in it!  He is really starting to look more and more like a little boy instead of a baby...


























Poor Christian was really sick after Thanksgiving.  He had the rotavirus for 12 days!  Typical stomach bug...his symptoms were: vomiting, diarrhea, mild fever on days 2 & 3.  He only acted like he felt "sick" on days 2 & 3.  He had no energy and napped more than usual.  All the diarrhea led to severe diaper rash.  Poor buddy!  =(  I felt so bad for him.  That's the worst feeling in the world...to see your child is sick and you can't take away their pain.  Thank goodness it's over and he's back to his normal happy self again! 

I did read that 90% of infants ages 6 months - 2 years old will get sick with rotavirus and it's actually good because it helps them build immunity to the virus.  Next time he's sick with it will be much less severe.  Always look at the bright side of things!

December 2009 - 6 months old
























November 2010 - 17 months old

Paul made Christian a "Magic Santa" card online.  It's a really cute website ..you should check it out.  Here's the link:  http://magicsanta.ca/player.html?code=JY83XK

Saturday before bed Christian wanted in his crib (odd) so I tossed him in there.  He immediately started jumping up and down acting like a goofball.  =)  Then he tried to climb out of the crib.  Uh oh!  So Paul converted the crib to be a toddler bed.  That basically means the mattress gets lowered even more - to the lowest level and the front railing is replaced with a shorter rail that has a 1.5 ft opening for Christian to climb in and out of bed himself. 

Saturday night he did fine.  Sunday night I heard a "thud" over the monitor and then whimpering.  We went in and saw him sitting on the floor with a very puzzled look on his face!?  It was funny and pathetic.  Last night he did just fine again so hopefully he won't keep falling out.  Poor buddy! 

Here's the big boy bed:

















And here is a pic of the little man before bed last night.  You gotta love that cheeseball smile!!! 

Look at all my teeth!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we sure did.  Christian turned 17 months old on Thanksgiving day!  My cousin Jason, his wife Heidi, and kiddos Tori & Hollie were in town visiting.  Christian and Hollie had an early mini Christmas.  They both had presents to open and wore their new Christmas pjs while playing around the house.  They are getting big so fast and play really well together.  Hollie even tried kissing Christian a couple times!  =) 

Christian got some adorable gifts.  He got 2 train sets, a frog Pillow Pet, and a bulldozer.  He was in desperate need for new toys so Christmas came at the perfect time!  He won't know what to play with next month b/c he'll have soo many new toys. 

We celebrated on Thanksgiving day at Ted & Jackie's house.  Then Friday we headed to New Windsor, IL and spent the weekend at Paul's grandparents house.  We got to eat two turkey dinners!  Yummo!  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family.  Christmas is just around the corner...I better get busy! 

Here is a short video of Hollie stealing Christian's present:



Little man opening his first Christmas present of the year:

1) Christian - He brings such great joy to my life everyday...just seeing his smile makes my ♥ melt!

2) Paul - He is my best friend, my partner in life and I couldn't live without him.

3) My job - even though I don't like it all the time (who likes to work anyway?), I'm very thankful for it and the income it provides me and my family

4) My health - So many people in this world are sick, have diseases, are depressed with life...I'm very thankful to be a healthy & happy person overall.

5) Parents - My parents have always been there for me and continue to help in any way possible.

6) In-laws - I have wonderful IL's who help us out so much by watching Christian during the weekdays and are there for us no matter what we need, no questions asked.

7) Friends - My BFF Vickie lives in Florida so I don't see her often, but no matter what I can depend on her to be there for me when I need to talk.

8) Photography - Without my camera I would have no way to look back and remember all the wonderful things we did throughout the year(s) and how Christian has grown and changed.

9) Doctors - As most of you know my dad had major surgery yesterday. The surgery went well and he should be pain free for the rest of his life thanks to the brilliant doctor. They help save so many lives on a daily basis and for that I'm thankful.

10) Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte - Have you tried it yet?  It's amazing!

What are you thankful for this year?

Grandma Will!  That's what Christian's new Christmasy pjs say.  They're too cute on him (but really, everything is adorable on him).  I'm not biased at all!  =)  I bought Sada dog a cute red & green striped sweater to match.  She was NOT happy when I put that on...but oh well.  She sat still for more than 5 seconds which is amazing.  Christian really liked the dog bone on the back of it.  He kept pointing at it. 

And every time I say, "show me your teeth"...I get this cheesy smile from him.  It's really funny!