Preston's stats

Birth: 10 lbs. 11 oz. 21'' long

Discharge: 9 lbs. 11 oz. 21" long

2 week check: 10 lbs. 2 0z. 22.5" long

Today's weight check: 10 lbs. 1 oz. 22.75" long

Since Preston wasn't up to his birth weight at his 2 week check, they made us come back for a weight check 2 weeks later. And as you can see, he actually lost weight. No wonder every time he is awake, all he wants to do is eat...the poor guy is starving. The doctor told us to put some rice cereal in some formula, and also gave us a prescription for an antacid, since Preston spits up like crazy, they think he has acid reflux. Then on Friday we have to go to the hospital and have a barium swallow test done to see where his acid reflux is occurring. I sure hope we can figure all this out. He needs to gain some weight...believe it or not!!

Family Pictures

Thanks to my good friend Erica, we got some awesome family pictures! She is so extremely talented, and I couldn't ask for someone better not only as a photographer, but as a friend! Thanks Erica!

There are lots more pictures that she took, and I'll be posting them soon. She even took some awesome pictures of Preston, I'll post those when I get them. Hope you all enjoyed these. I sure do!!

We're Home

I have to say that my time over at Methodist was awesome! The nursing staff and the doctors were so great, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. But it's sure nice to finally be home.

Drew has been so attentive to Preston. He has to know where he is at at all times. And if Preston starts crying, Drew is right there to rub his head and tell him it's OK..well, it's more of a nugie type rub! This morning he started to share with Preston, he just had to make sure that he had a couple cars with him!

Last night was a little rough for our little chub. My milk hasn't come in yet and so he's been cluster feeding...meaning he's eating ALL the time! So we had to supplement him with an ounce of formula to get him to sleep. Can't wait until my milk comes...then my poor guy won't starve. In fact, his discharge weight was 9 lbs. 11 oz. So he lost a whole pound in the hospital.

And last, but certainly not least, I have to say a HUGE thank you to my dad. Thank you so much for coming out here and taking care of Drew. I can't tell you how much that helped us, and how much Drew loved having you here. And he keeps talking about his gingerbread house! I appreciate all that you do for us, and all that you did for us this past week. You are awesome and I love you so much!

HE IS HERE!!!

So I am new at this, although Courtney is sitting here telling step-by-step of what to do, but I figure since she just gave birth I would do the blogging for everyones benefit of seeing our new little bundle of Joy... did I say little? I meant not so little bundle of joy. He was born at 11:33 am and everything went well in surgery. He is 10 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches, so short and fat. All is well with both mom and baby. Woohoo! The nurse said he would have been 11 lbs had he not peed on her right out of the uterus, way to go son!

So Here is what everyone wants...some pictures of Preston James Giles -

Here's our little guy shortly after his entrance into the world.

If you look closely it shows his weight (he's a chunk!)

New Family of 4

Drew did well with him this afternoon and wanted to hold him and kiss him, but we'll see if that keeps up when we realizes Preston is coming home for good.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers and a special thanks to Steve for for helping take care of my wife (if I hear your watch beep from my wifes belly I'll be a little worried). Preston is looking forward to seeing everyone.

Tomorrow!!!

Well, tomorrow is the BIG day! I have to be at the hospital by 8:30 and the C-section is at 10:30! So for today, we will just be getting the finishing touches done, and hanging out. Kind of weird knowing when Preston will be here, but I like it!

So, hope you all have a wonderful day. I'll post later about our Thanksgiving weekend.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

whew!

A BIG....HUGE CONGRATS goes to my hubby! We found out last night that he PASSED his exam!! What a relief it is for all of us to know that he doesn't have to worry about it again. (Well, at least until he takes his boards next spring).

Good work babe! I love you!

stress...it's almost over.

I can't wait until today is over. We might just get to spend more than an hour with Doug! The reason for only the hour of fun with dad time is because he has been studying like mad to take his big comprehensive exam today. Studying everything he has learned for the past 2 1/2 years, that should be easy right? He's had tons of late nights and early mornings. Tons of "I'll be home from school about 8." Which means, we haven't been able to have dinner together either. (I hate those nights).

So thanks to a friend of ours, Doug was able to receive a blessing last night that he might be able to have the confidence and comfort he needs for his big test today. This comprehensive exam is made to be harder than his PT boards...and he HAS to pass them in order to even take the boards. So no pressure on his part!

All I can say is that I know he will do fine, and I'm proud that he has made it this far. Good luck on your big test babe, I'm at home praying for you!

Aahh

Got back this morning around 2:30 or so from seeing Twilight. All I can say right now is that I loved it! Edward was totally hot, and Bella was perfect! Won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet, but I'll post pictures later when I get them.

movie night

Headed out tonight to see TWILIGHT tonight, midnight showing!!! I'm super excited, so tomorrow I'll share my opinion of it. Hope to see you all "Twerds" there!

relaxing

Last night for our anniversary, Doug and I did just about nothing...literally! It was so relaxing! We dropped Drew off at his cousin's house and then Doug and I bummed around the mall. We then came home and played some cards, watched the Jazz game, and he painted my toe nails! Yep ladies, that's right, I did say he painted my toe nails! While we were at the mall, he bought dark purple nail polish, and came home to paint my nails! What a great hubby!

He brought home flowers for me when he got home from school. Do you like my vase? It's a Nalgene water bottle. I don't have a vase!

And last, but not least, we got the Twilight soundtrack. Now I say we because he likes it just as much as I do! In fact, when I opened it to put it on my i-tunes, he had do put it right to his i-pod!

Hope you all have a good weekend! And try not to freeze!

5

I can't believe it's already been 5 years! Where has time gone? Today is mine and Doug's fifth anniversary...WOW!

Doug and I were married November 14, 2003 in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day, a little cold, but beautiful! I couldn't have asked for a better one. We had a morning ceremony, a luncheon, and then a reception. Let me tell you, by the time we got to the hotel that night, we were exhausted.

We spent our first night and the Anniversary Inn in down town Salt Lake. What a cool experience that was. If any of you have the opportunity to stay at an Anniversary Inn, do. Their rooms are so cool! Our room was called the Room with a View. And what a spectacular view it was. The bay windows overlooked all of the Salt Lake Valley. We drove to Vegas the next day and stayed at the Mandalay Bay hotel...total rip off. And then that next morning we drove to California. We stayed at the most gorgeous Marriott hotel in Dana Point that overlooked the harbor. I want to go back there so bad. It was beautiful. You could see the ocean from our room. The only place we visited was Catalina Island, other than that, we spent most of it together!!

(Laguna Cliffs Marriott)

I can't tell you what an incredible journey this marriage has been for me. Yes, we have had down times, but for the most part it has been wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better person to share the rest of forever with. Doug is such an incredible man and he never ceases to amaze me. He works so hard in school and is such a great father to Drew. Drew absolutely loves to play and wrestle with Doug and it makes me happy to see them enjoy it!

Doug, I love you and couldn't be happier with where we are at right now. I'm so excited to see where the next five years will take us. Happy Anniversary babe!

Mother of the year

You know when you get the feeling that you should do something? Well, this is what happens when you ignore that feeling:

For the past couple of days I've had the feeling to remove the TV off of Drew's dresser and put it in the garage. Well, last night, I hear a huge crash and the scream of death. That's right my friends, the TV fell off the dresser and landed on Drew's head. Apparently he was trying to get his pajamas out of his dresser and the drawer was stuck. So he pulled hard, and down came the TV.

"Way to go mom, nice listening you did." I felt like crap last night because I could have prevented that from happening, and now Drew's head has a massive bruise. Luckily that's all it was. Can you say mother of the year?!!

imagination

Drew's imagination is really taking off. It's funny to me the things he comes up with and the things he does. He talks to himself all day...seriously, all day! He drives his matchbox cars around talking for the cars. He sings songs and finds new things to do. Yesterday was another one of those fun imagination days.

While getting him dressed, he had found a bear from his toy box. It's a football bear, and he hasn't played with it in probably a year. But as soon as he found it, his face lit up and he looked at me and said, "Mom, it's my football bear! He's my best friend. My best friend in the whole world!" I was trying so hard not to laugh, thinking, "Where on earth did you learn that from?" Later that night, he told Doug and I that the football bear had a name, and his name was Cody! Now he carries that bear everywhere.

Another funny thing he's been doing is when he goes to bed at night. He has to have one car, his gigantic puppy, his stuffed cow, four blankets, and now Cody! This kid definitely won't freeze at night.

(That is Cody laying accross his chest!)

can't wait

So I know I'm a nerd, but I can't tell you how excited I am for the Twilight movie...hence the new header and background! In fact, last night, Doug and I saw a preview on TV for it, and I got so excited! Doug laughed at me and told me that he'd never seen me excited for a movie before, which is true. There's never been a movie that has come out that I have really been looking forward to seeing. Maybe it's because I've loved all the books and am just dying to know how they've put it into film. I know it's not going to be as good as the books, but I'm still looking forward to it. Oh-and he is so growing on me as Edward!

Preston had better be good to me and not come until way before the movie or after. I've already bought my ticket and I'm not going to eat it!!

SO DONE!

Some people have got a lot of nerve. A friend of mine posted about this a few weeks ago, and I have to tell you, my situation is nothing like hers is, but it still drives me crazy.

I can't tell you how over I am being pregnant. And apparently I look like I should have popped weeks ago. I have had 8 people in the last two days tell me just how I look...huge. On Saturday, I was walking into the grocery store, (still in the parking lot), when a man pulls up in front of me, rolls down his window, (mind you he has his kids in the car too), and the first thing he says is, "Let me guess, you're having twins?!" I just laughed politely and told him that I wished that was my excuse, and then he says, "Oh wow, you poor thing." The lady walking walking beside me was appalled he would stop and say that. And then, while grocery shopping, one of the workers walked by me and said the same thing, "You're having twins, right?" Again, I tell him no (which I should just play along with it), and he tells me, "That's some good stuff then, some really good stuff." I mean, come on! I know I'm a massive cow right now, but you don't have to say things like that. Don't people know, (especially men, since they are the ones asking me these questions...Women know better), that you don't say things like that to a pregnant woman? When you're this far along, you don't feel pretty at all, let alone comfortable, and then people have the nerve to tell you that you look massive and hoped you wouldn't last until your due date.

Although, I must say, that when women say something to me it's, "Oh honey, I certainly don't envy you." Thank you, thank you very much people. When we went trick-or-treating, a guy asked me if I was in costume, and his wife looked at him and says, "Oh dear, you can pull that off, she's definitely pregnant, that ain't no costume." WHATEVER PEOPLE!!

All I can say is that I'm glad I only have 28 days left, and then maybe I can actually go somewhere without people telling me how massive I am.

Thanks for the chance to vent.

Halloween re-cap

Since I haven't written anything about our Halloween festivities, I decided now would be a good time to share with you the things we did.

A couple weekends ago, we went to Howell's Pumpkin Patch and let Drew pick out a pumpkin. He picked one out, but wouldn't carry it, it was too dirty! Then he got to play in their little kid area. He drove little tractors, (with dad's help), and slid down a slide. Doug went down the slide too, but he had to lay down because it was all enclosed! Then we did this maze that was called the Left Turn Only Maze. You could only make left turns (as the name indicates) to find your way out. Doug and Drew made it, but I gave up in the end and headed out to meet up with them. After that we headed home.

Wednesday, Drew had a little Halloween party at school. He got to wear his costume and parade around for the parents who passed out candy.

As for Halloween, out here they go Trick-or-Treating the night before Halloween. They call it Beggar's Night. So we got Drew all dressed up in his adorable dragon costume and headed out with some friends to a nearby neighborhood. Drew loved running up the lawns to the door to say "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank you!" After about an hour and a half, he was dragging his bag full of goodies asking to go home. It was such a good night. The weather was WONDERFUL! All you needed was a light jacket. I remember our first year here, it was so freezing cold that Drew's little nose wouldn't stop running and his fingers just about had frost bite on them.

Then on Halloween, our ward put on a chili cook off and a Trunk-or-Treat. Doug and I decided to dress up this year and went as the Juno characters. I of course was Juno, and Doug was Paulie Bleeker! Without him the costumes would not have been a success. He looked awesome! Thanks babe for dressing up!

After we got home from our ward party, Drew was so energized. He put on Doug's wrist bands and head band and had to wear them around. In fact, he still puts them on. He thinks they are the coolest!

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours was, but I'm sure glad it's over. We have way too much candy!

QUESTION

Does anyone have a good recipe for donuts? Preferably cake donuts.

Dr. appointment

Today I had a doctor appointment, so far everything is good. I didn't get to see my doctor because he had to leave to go deliver somebody, so I got to see the Nurse Practitioner. When she measured me she told me that I was measuring big. Big enough that she wanted an ultrasound done today. So after my visit with her I got to go in and have the ultrasound done. Well, we found out that our baby just might be on the large side! As of right now, Preston is in the >90th percentile, weighing in at approximately 6lbs. 13oz. I KNOW!! And I still have 5 weeks to go! Which means, he just might be a 9 pounder or more! I am so glad that I'm having a C-section!

After all the measurements were taken from the ultrasound, the technitian switched things over to 4 D and got some good pictures of Preston's face! Let me tell you, he is chubby! Plus he's squished so he looks even more chubby! Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

His fat bottom lip!

Look at those cheeks!!

As you can see in this picture, he's being squished on both sides! But I love the fact that you can see his features! I guess if he's going to be chubby, at least he's cute!!!

Night Eyes

It's something that the Zoo out here puts on. It's a time when the kids can dress up in their costumes and go throughout the zoo trick-or-treating. They decorate the zoo in all sorts of Halloween decor and let the kids roam around.

These three little kids were crazy about their candy! Trying to take their pictures while they had there bag in their hands was quite a challenge, but I'd say we got a few good ones! Drew absolutely loves these two girls and I'm so glad that we were able to spend this fun night out with them! Drew is the dragon, and then we have a cute cowgirl, and an adorable kitty!

I do have to say that I have the cutest dragon ever! When we went looking for a costume for Drew, we found this one at Old Navy. I took him into the dressing room to try it on, and then couldn't get him out of it! He was so insistent on this costume, (and it looks adorable on him), that we couldn't pass it up!

My favorite part of the costume is the backside! The bum part poofs out and it's so cute when he walks! I just had to take a picture of it!

prego picture again

I've had a lot of requests for another pregnancy picture, so here you go. I'm almost 34 weeks now and have just over 6 weeks left! The time is going fast, but not fast enough.

I've been cleaning like mad, taking one room at a time so I don't overwhelm myself. I guess you could say that I'm in the "nesting" period. I never got this way when I was pregnant with Drew, and maybe that's because I was working full time then, but I'm definitely a cleaning machine right now. Doug laughs at me because I have everything set up and ready, (some of it sitting in Drew's room waiting to be used)! I can't help it. I am one that has to have everything ready, that way I know what I have and what I might still need. Oh well, hopefully the time will continue to go by and then we'll be able to use all of our stuff!!

On another note, gas here has been dropping quite a bit! Although it's still not where I'd like to see it, it is lower and I'm grateful.

My dad freaks out every time I tell him what gas is here, because it's not dropping so fast in Utah where he's at. I think the last time I talked to him, he said gas was at $3.35 or so a gallon.

tube and train set

To most of you, this would be a tube for the pool. And you're right, that's exactly what it is. But to me, it's something different. This is my belly tube. What's a belly tube you ask, well, this is so I can lay on my belly!

When I was pregnant with Drew, my back hurt a lot. I was working full time in an orthopedic rehab hospital lifting people all day. So when I would come home, my back was so sore. One day when I got home from work, Doug had this laying in front of him on the floor in the living room. Of course my first response was, "Are we going swimming?" He chuckled and said no, and told me to lay down. He massaged my back until it was feeling much better. That's when I fell in love with his idea. As silly as it sounds, (you just lay on your stomach, putting your belly through the hole), I love it. He brought the tube out Monday night so he could practice some of his manual therapy since he had a test on it on Tuesday. Why I haven't brought this out before now I have no idea, but it's not going back in the closet until after the baby is born! Thanks for your silly ideas babe, you're the best!

A letter to Aunt Whitney and Uncle Jason:

Dear Whit and Jason,

Thank you so much for my train set. I get it out every day and play with it with mommy and daddy. It's so much fun! I especially love when it falls off the track!

Love,

Drew

on the border

I have to say that now I know how my mother-in-law feels when she has to check her blood sugar. At my last doctor appointment, we found out that I am on the border of having gestational diabetes. Even though I don't have gestational diabetes, my doctor still wants me to check my blood sugar four times a day. Let me tell you, my fingers are getting sore! When I asked my doctor what this will do to Preston, he said absolutely nothing. He said that it won't make Preston any bigger than what he would be, and that it wouldn't put me as high risk (that's a relief)! So, I guess I need to just be a good girl and continue to check my sugars, and eat what I'm supposed to eat to keep everything normal. That shouldn't be too hard! :)

Funny

Check this out! This would be a picture of Doug in 1956!

And this! It would be me in 1990!

A friend of mine posted some similar pictures of her and her husband on their blog and that's where i got the idea! If you go here you can do the exact same thing! Try it, you'll have fun!

Weekend Fun

We had quite the weekend! Saturday we decided to take a drive and go to the Center Grove Orchard. They had all sorts of things to do for Drew. We got the farmyard pass and that allowed Drew to play in a corn pool, take a hay ride, feed the animals, jump on a big pillow, go through a corn maze, milk a plastic cow, and more! It was worth the drive. I put together a slide show of the Orchard since there were so many fun things.

Sunday morning we let Drew open his gifts since it was his birthday. He was so excited, "The presents are for me?!!!" Once they were all opened, he had to take them downstairs to play with them.

Sunday afternoon, we went with some friends to Ledges State Park. And as my friend would say, It's a little piece of heaven! It's the one place here in Iowa you can go and feel like you're in the mountains! You even go down hill to get to some of the places! It was so beautiful! The river comes across the road a bit and the kids had so much fun throwing rocks into it. We took a picnic and enjoyed each others company.


Sunday night we had a small birthday party for Drew. He had some friends over and they were able to whack a pinata to get some candy. The pinata actually fell off the rope, so Drew decided to beat it with the bat on the ground...it worked! He received so many fun gifts and had yummy chocolate cup cakes.

Yesterday we didn't do anything, and today we went to the library and then have just played at home since the weather is crappy. It's been raining all day and it's pretty cold outside. But on the way to the library, Drew said the funniest thing. He said, "Mom, dad, my ears are tired!" I mean, come on! Are you tired of listening to me or what?!