Hittin' the Trail

On Sunday, Brennan, Preston and I went for a beautiful drive and hike in the mountains around Mt. Evans.  The weather was perfect - 65-70 degrees.  Yup, eat your heart out Floridians :)  It was absolutely the best day for a hike.  Sadly, it was our first real hike of the summer and Preston loved it.  We bought a Kelty backpack carrier off Craigslist and it is really a great way to get him around until he is a bit bigger and can hike on his own.  Not to say that carrying him around in that is easy.  Whew!  Brennan carried him up and I carried him down.  I thought I was going to make out on that deal, but going down was insanely hard.  I felt so top-heavy that any time I would get the slightest momentum I felt like I was going to tumble down the mountain. 

Just about as soon as we started heading down to head back to the car, Preston fell asleep.  He was literally snoring in my ear most of the way down.  I am so thankful that my child will sleep on the go.  We had a great time and couldn't have asked for a better day or time with our family. 

Daddy & Preston - getting ready to hit the trail

Mommy & Preston - heading down

Hiking wore him out!!!

We absolutely love our life here in Colorado.  We realized this weekend that like most things, we were starting to take this beautiful state and scenery for granted.  Getting outdoors in the mountains and enjoying being together as a family reminded us exactly why it is that we moved here.  God has blessed us so much here and we need to be better about appreciating everything around us.

Ironic

I find it quite interesting and ironic that now that Preston is actually able to say words and starting to put words together, he has mastered the ability to sign for "more".  When he was younger and not really talking at much, we tried so hard to get him to sign for "eat" and "more".  He has decided that now is the time to put that into practice when he can actually just say them. Ha.  Kids are funny and truly do things at their very own pace.  Even though he can say the word, I think I am more proud that he is able to use sign language and totally understands what he is saying and doing.

I love my smart and sweet little boy.

1st Haircut

Preston had his very 1st haircut today.  His hair was really getting long around his ears and starting to get straggly in the back, so after some serious heartache, I decided to go forward with it.  Brennan had been pressuring me for weeks and I decided today was the day.

Let me just say this one time, my husband was right! :) Ha.  Preston looks absolutely adorable and like such a big boy.  He was a champ during the cut and enjoyed his first lollipop (if I have my way it will be a long time before he has another too).  Here are some pictures from the salon and a few from home later in the day.

My boy is such a stud....

Special Big Boy Seat

 cutting - rockin' the hawk.

All done and SO handsome.

Such a ham.  My child LOVES the camera.

Cheeeeeeeeeese!

Such a handsome guy.

Mr. Independent

This video is from about a month ago, but Preston basically insists on feeding himself everything now.  If I put any kind of food on the spoon or fork and try to feed him, he takes it out of my hand and feeds himself.  I swear, he is growing up way too fast.  Enjoy...

Words.

It seems that Preston's vocabulary is increasing by the minute.  Here's the growing list:

Mama
Dada
Baba
Ball
Cheese
Cracker
Na-night
Hugs
Oh no!
Uh-oh!
Ahhh-chu! (fake sneeze)
Up
Dressed
Hi!
Lijah (Elijah is his friend at school)
Diggy (Doggy)

There may be more that I forgotten but I love that our little man is developing a voice.  He has always been a very vocal child, but there is nothing better than hearing him say na-night when he is ready for bed at night.  I feel like our communication has grown to a whole new level. 

I have to say that being a Mom is the greatest gift that God could ever give me.  I can't wait to see all of the amazing things that our family's journey through life will bring.

Rough Life.

Life is rough when you are a few days away from being 15 months old.  Even a leisurely wagon ride is enough to wear out any child (apparently).  Preston decided he couldn't wait 10 minutes to take his afternoon nap and passed out in his wagon on our way home.  Absolutely hysterical.  This is becoming a trend of his.  The child will seriously sleep anywhere.

Hugs.

My sweet boy has actually gotten even sweeter - which I didn't think was possible.  He has officially started giving hugs and saying "hugs" when he does it.  Oh man, it melts my heart to get that big squeeze from him.  I can't get enough of them and love that he actually understands what a hug is.  He is growing up and turning into such a little boy. 

I am still frequently overwhelmed by the joy that my little boy brings to my heart.