The Truth is.....

(or Thursday)

The Truth is- I haven't posted truths in a long time. But that ends now! 

The Truth is- I really need a new pillow, bad. BUT, it's impossible to shop for a new pillow. Think about it. When you go to buy a pillow you squish it with your hands, maybe hold it and rest your head on it, but thats not how you sleep on a pillow! They need a pillow testing station. I know. Genius idea. 

The Truth is- The other day I was watching a Documentary (nerd alert) and one of the people giving their opinion on the documentary was Roseanne Cash, Johnny Cash's daughter.  I kept looking at her thinking "she doesn't look anything like Johnny Cash". Then I realized I was thinking of Joaquin Phoenix who played Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. And the truth is, no, Roseanne Cash doesn't look a thing like Joaquin Phoenix, but does look like the real Johnny Cash. 

The Truth is- I thought that the tag line to Slim Jims was "Step into a slim Jim". Only after I said it out loud did Patrick tell me its really "Snap into a slim jim". Sorry, but step sounds better and is much catchier. 

The Truth is- After watching the show Lie to Me on Netflix where the guy can read people's facial expressions to see if they are lying or hiding something I feel like I can do the same. It's a false sense that I have brought on by watching 30 or so episodes. I felt the same way after watching White Collar where the guy is a con-artist. I thought for sure I could "accidently" bump into someone and steal their wallet without them knowing. Not that I WOULD. But imagine the phenomenal cosmic power I would have if I could read expressions and con people. Unstoppable. 

The Truth is- I came up with this great idea to motivate Jimmy & myself to get into better shape. I told him we should run a 1/2 marathon in November/Dec when he comes home for Thanksgiving/Christmas. Seemed like a good idea until a few days ago I did my first day of 1/2 marathon training. It was "run 2 miles". 3 blisters & some throwing up later I'm thinking this is a TERRIBLE idea. Of course I was running on the treadmill while trying to keep Preston from putting cars on it & then reading him books while I ran. That probably didn't help. We'll see how today goes. 

Instagram

There's an App (for phones) called Instagram that I have been semi obsessed with lately, and so if you don't follow me on there, here is a peak of what I've been snapping/sharing pictures of.....
(and if you do follow me and happen to read my blog sorry for the rerun)

Preston picking out the frozen corn to eat.

"FEED ME FASTER!" 

"There's Baby Jesus. There's Baby Jaxton".
Sorry kid, its all Baby Preston.

Trying to decide what to paint the laundry room...

'

Peach/blueberry cobbler for dinner.
And maybe breakfast the next morning.... 

Red head Bed head

Staying hydrated.

Guess who he's going to be for Halloween ?!?!?!?!!

Working on finger foods.
On todays menu: puffs & avocados.
With a side of smiles. 

I made my own laundry soap!!! This really should get its own post... BUT...
If you want to learn how to do it go HERE .
Next up, making homemade dish washing detergent. 

He looks so good in green... 

"No one understands me like you do" 

Halfy Birthday to Preston!!

Preston's half birthday was on Friday.
It was more of a milestone of we survived the first half of the twos.
And yikes.
Some of these 2 yr old moments are STRESSFUL!!
But only 6 more months and then we are in the terrible 3's! 

To celebrate & mark the occasion we made a cake. If you couldnt tell, our family loves cake. Well and loves to eat in general. But cake has a special place in our heart of hearts. 

The cake making didn't start out too well. Is it only my children who wake up SUPER cranky from naps?! Maybe they get it from me, who knows.
He was excited that I let him crack the eggs by himself. Well, actually he grabbed the eggs and started cracking before I said he could, but he did a really good job! 

 But that was followed by more crankiness.

A few hours later the cake was done and his mood had improved a bit.....

I don't think he understood it was his half birthday, and we didn't sing or have candles or anything b/c I didn't want to confuse him or have him think every time we have cake we need to have candles. But he didn't mind that. 

It was delicious.
Don't believe me, ask Jabba JaJa the Hut. 

OK so lets talk about Preston at 2 1/2. 

He is potty trained. He did this himself. We tried potty training back in February with the timer, and the underwear and the treats for going pee and such, but he just wasn't able to communicate very well when he needed to go, so we stopped and said we'd try again later. About a month ago one morning he woke up and said "No diaper, underwear". And that was that. No more diapers, just underwear. He had a few accidents in the beginning  (mostly nap/night time) but he has been great. He is quite independent with it though and wont allow me in the bathroom with him. If I walk in he says "Noooooooooo mommy go awayyyy" but then calls me back when he needs help wiping. He still announces loudly when he has to go and when he has gone, but I'll take that over changing diapers any day!

He talks A LOT. I don't know if people believe me when I say this because he doesn't talk much at first around people. His most popular phrase is "I need ____" Everything is I NEED. "I need popsicle." "I need go night night more." "I need mow lawn." <-- he mows inside with his toy lawnmower all day long. Practice for the future I'm sure. The other day we were going to Lowes & he said "almost there" and i said "we are almost there, how did you know?" and he said back "I remember". When did he even learn that word?!

He is obsessed with the song "Drive By" by Train. He asks for it over and over again in the car or at home." He calls it the "ah ah" song though b/c the chorus consists of some Ah Ah Ah Ah's. And after watching the music video he now thinks all convertibles are "Ah Ah cars". 

His favorite games are "Ready Set Go" and "Hide and Seek". Both are interesting to play with him. "Ready Set Go" is really just racing around the house sometimes while saying "racing day racing day" over and over. We tried to teach him Hide and Seek last week which he loved. He just gets confused. When he is the one hiding he still wants to count along with you & if your seeking him and say 'where's preston? preston where are you?' he'll answer you and come out instead of hiding. We still have some work to do with that. 

I've said it a million times, but he's brilliant. He knows his numbers to about 17, can spell his name & point out O, B, T when he see's them. He knows his colors, shapes and is getting creative. For example the other day he was drawing on his chalkboard and told me he was making a pirate ship. Ok! 

Things he loves: Peanut butter & jelly, talking about what we're going to do tomorrow, Tobi, spraying things with a water bottle, Backyardigans, making cookies, helping with chores, going to the car wash, Jaxton, doing yard work with Daddy, the pizza place, just about everything.

Let me give you an example of how much he loves Jaxton- 

Jaxton is learning how to go from crawling to sitting and he's still learning how to balance with sitting (he has such a long torso & no chub to hold him up!). So he was sitting in the kitchen and fell backwards and hit his head. He was so so sad and was crying bad. Preston came up to him and said
"you ho-tay Jaxton? Here, red car" and gave Jaxton his favorite red car. Then he said "I go get ice, I be riiiiiiiiight back" and ran to the fridge to try to get some ice. It was so sweet!! He's a good older brother. 

Best $1 I ever spent

 Remember that little table thing I bought at Goodwill last week that I said I was going to make into a chalkboard for Preston?
I actually did it!
I know, I'm just as surprised as you.
I'm the master of starting projects and not finishing.

But this time I followed through and I'm so glad I did.
Preston loves his chalkboard. 

Here he is "writing his name".
Cant you see that  l l l l l spells Preston? 

He actually can spell his name if you ask him to, but has not a clue how to write the letters. 

Jaxton tried to get in on the fun.
Preston wasn't thrilled with the idea at first.

But then he said he could come draw with him.

Jaxton thanked him by trying to clean the chalkboard for him. 

And then ate the chalk.
 

Later that night we decided to try something out that we had seen on Pinterest.
We made spaghetti & dyed the noodles different colors.
Super easy/fast to do & Preston loved it.
He said the green noodles tasted the best.
I agreed. 

So proud.
Such poofy hair.

 Alright, thats enough play time, get back to work. 

P3 (Peter Piper Pizza)

Ok, first of all....
I SERIOUSLY HAVE THE CUTEST BABY EVER!!!
I love this face so much!!!!!

(of course it was because I stopped to take this picture before we left for church yesterday that I forgot his pacifier which made for a very interesting 1st half of Sacrament meeting. Worth it though) 

NOW.
This morning Preston declared to me that "we doing hard work". We cleaned. We de-cluttered the kitchen, vacuumed, did laundry, cleaned the downstiars, we did in fact do hard work.
And all work and no play make Preston & his Mama cranky.
(jaxton is impartial)
So we decided to do something fun, and went to the "pizza place"
aka Peter Piper Pizza.

We totally got our pizza on with the lunch buffet. 

And of course we busted open the piggy bank before we left for some quarters so we could play some games. 

Jaxton joined in on some of the fun.
Dont worry, he is strapped in SUPER tight 

and he didnt' suck on the bar once. 

One of the workers there got a high score on a driving game which earned him a free game & he let Preston play. He loooooooved it.
I pushed the gas and he steered.
Teamwork.
We got 7th place! 

He would sit in this truck and just put a coin in over and over again. I think he rode in it 5 times in a row before I asked if we could please do something else.
Not sure where his shoes went at this point....

Such concentration!
He worked hard for our 32 tickets- which got us a fake rubber spider (yay...) and a tootsie roll (yay!!)

I really love being able to do fun things with them during the day. Preston is so funny & talkative at this point in his life. He'll be 2 1/2 on Friday & I'll have to try to post some of the funny/random stuff that he will say as well as a proper update on him. But if I don't its probably because we're off having fun. 

Dollar Days!

Every Thursday at Goodwill is dollar day. They pick a color tag and anything with that color tag is a dollar.
I LOVE IT!!
It's my top secret place to go to get my kids clothes.
And I know which Goodwill's have the best clothes/shoes or Home stuff. 

Preston is starting to like going, we'll look and see what color is on sale that day & then he'll point out all those colors. Of course it helps that I have a purse full of snacks and things to entertain him so I can find all the good deals.

These are the treasures I found today: 

*4 woven baskets
*tv tray that I'm going to spray paint with chalkboard paint for Preston to do chalk on

*3 metal baskets that I think I'm going to put towels in, maybe. 

*Green long sleeved shirt for Patrick
*dress for me :D
* 2 pink shirts

* new short sleeved church shirt for Preston 

* 2 short sleeved shirts for Preston

Total:

$13

Total Saved:

$32

WE LOVE THURSDAYS!!!!