Daddy's Got Style...

My Mr. Preston took me out to breakfast this morning and then we went to the mall. It was quite the fun little date! We also browsed through the baby clothes in Gottshalks and Charley picked out an outfit for Eden. :) I know he's got good taste when it comes to clothes, but this little number exceeded my expectations. What was even cuter was watching him carry it through the store as we made our way up to the checkout. He's so excited to be a daddy.


Isn't that adorable?

I'm officially halfway through this pregnancy today. I still can't believe how incredibly fast it's gone. If all my pregnancies are this easy, we just may end up with a dozen or so. Funny how paranoid I was about morning sickness when it barely affected me at all (Praise God). Today we are trying to clear out the room that will be Eden's nursery. I never knew how fun it would be to get ready for a baby! I can't wait to hold her in my arms for the very first time. Did I mention I felt her kick for the first time last week while at my sister's house? I've felt her twice since then as well. It's truly amazing. How could ANYone go through a pregnancy and NOT believe in a soveriegn, wonderful Creator?

Home to Alaska

Coming home after visiting my sister and her family was a little bit easier this time knowing that I'll see her & Coie in 4 months when Eden is due. We had such a wonderful time out there... as usual. I definitely have the coolest sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephews in the world. I don't think I can go much longer with them living so, SO far away. At any rate, we got there the day before Valentine's Day . On Saturday, Charley got up and went out to buy roses and candy for all the girls in the house...but appropriately, his wife received the largest bouquet. I'm just the luckiest girl ever to have that man as a husband.


So, I think Jen and me broke our record for daily trips to Walmart... and Blockbuster.

Last Sunday we all went to Wonderworks (which is an indoor, science-type-of amusement park). Frankly, it made my head spin a little. I prefer the kind of amusement parks where I DON'T have to use my brain. Like Disney Land, or 6 Flags. That's okay though, the kids had fun.

Here's a picture that I stole from Coie's blog of her, Emmi and me. I love Coie's expression. It's so her.


I meant to include this picture in my last post, but forgot to. So I stole it from my sister's blog to put here. It's my very Asian nephew the day Jen, Coie, Ryann, me and him went to Chinese for Coie's birthday lunch. After we finished eating, he very carefully put the chopsticks BACK in the little paper holder they came in, brought them home, and proceeded to pick up everything in sight with them. He is the coolest 5 year old nephew I ever had. Also the most obnoxious. But that's ok. ;)


I'm glad I cleaned my house before we left for our trip. There's nothing worse than coming home to a big, fat mess. Thankfully, our plane ride was uneventful. Although, our trip OUT there a week ago was interesting. We almost missed our flight during our layover in Minneapolis. I can't believe how huge that dumb airport is. While we were booking it down to our gate from the OTHER end of the airport, we stopped to use the tram (I was plumb tired out). While we waited for it to get there, I noticed my reflection in the window, and with shock and awe at how round I've gotten in just the last few weeks, I said, "My word, Charley, I'm a house". My dear, loving and always tactful husband stepped back, looked me up and down and replied, "um, actually, you're more like a shed". If his quick and witty comment hadn't made me laugh as much as it did, I would have probably thumped him on the forehead.

ANYways, speaking of getting more round, I'm only 3 days away from reaching the halfway point in this pregnancy. I'm praising God for his grace and mercy during the past 4 months. I hardly had any morning sickness at all, and this little girl is growing wonderfully! She's quite the acrobat actually, judging from the last ultrasound. Figures, she's probably going to be like I was as a kid- bouncing off the walls and always having SOMEthing to say. Heavens was I an attention hog. But my fingers are still crossed that she'll be more like her dad was: quiet, cute, shy and reserved. Although, he obviously grew out of that, so there's just no telling.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we've officially decided on the name, Eden Grace Preston. I like its meaning, too. Eden means 'delight' or 'paradise', and Grace means 'God's favor'. My sister and a few friends in TN got me THE cutest little outfits for her. And I found a few darling items at Baby Gap and Oshkosh during a couple of our many shopping trips. This week, Daddy-to-be and I are going to focus on clearing out what will be Eden's nursery so that we'll be able to start decorating it. I'd like to do a butterfly/garden theme ... which is appropriate considering her name. I haven't told you that yet, have I, Charley? Um. Well now you know... but as always, veto power is still all yours.

And finally, I'm REALLY, SUPER stoked about some other things that might be happening this Summer (along with the birth of my little one), but I can't really divulge that info quite yet. All I will say is that this may be the very best Summer that I've had in.. well, forever. :)

Busy Busy...

Here are some pics from our time so far here...

Last night we went out for a big birthday dinner for Coie and Ryann. Some of my favorite people were there... here's a pic of my sis and me. Look at how ROUND I'm getting.

Maria Roy and me

Angie Johnston and me

Here is my beautiful niece Ryann- the one and only Igarashi Social butterfly.

Here's James at the mall. We took him with us on our girls day out (thursday- Coie's birthday).

And here's worn out Coie.

Then we went and got pedicures, but Ryann chose not to participate. Instead she decided to sit and crochet my baby a blanket. Isn't she sweeeeet?

Coie and me getting our toenails painted...

I'll post more pics soon. I just can't BELIEVE how fast this trip has gone! It's SO SAD.

Check'n in from TN

Today is my incredible, wonderful, fabulous niece's birthday. Coie is 20 today. AMAZING. It seems like just yesterday we were two little kids running around getting each other in trouble. I'm so thankful that we can be out here for her birthday. Anyways, we are going to have a grand day of shopping and eating... and more shopping. And then more eating.

We got here late last Friday night and will be here until Tuesday. It's already gone way. too. fast. But that's how it always goes. My sister is the greatest. We've had so much fun doing pretty much nothing. Charley's such a good sport. Since Geoff, Jen's husband, has to work so much, Charley just goofs around outside with the kids- building or burning stuff... one or the other.

I think my tummy has doubled since I've been here. I don't know if it's because Eden Grace is getting bigger, or because of all the Schwan's ice cream I've been consuming. It's probably a little of both. Apparently, according to babycenter.com, she's the size of a bell pepper now. :) My sister got her THE cutest outfit, complete with her first pair of little shoesies (naturally, marrying into the Preston family, I have to add an 'ies' to everything that relates to baby Eden).

Well, we need to get going. Jen and I are taking Coie out this morning for a coffee and muffin date.

Pictures to come later!!

Picture Day for Baby Preston!

Well, as I said before, we found out day before yesterday that we are having a baby GIRL! We couldn't be MORE happy. Calling our friends and family was a blast, but of all people, my sister was DEFINITELY the most enthusiastic and freakishly excited (*almost* as much as ME) that we are having a girl. I love my sister. I honestly don't know what I would do without her. It kills me that she has to live soooo far away. I'm just so thankful that we will be out there in TWO days. I miss my family!!!

So, as promised, here are a few pics from the ultrasound. She had the hic-ups while we watched her wiggle and move around. It was SO cute. Isn't she ADORABLE? ... that is, in a fetus-still-developing-can't-really-tell-what's-what kind of way.

Here she is 'reclining'. She's got her arms bent back with her hands behind her head... cool and collected, just like Dad. I hope she gets his emotional make-up too, rather than mine. :)

Here she is with her little arm over her face.
Sleeps like Mom. ;)
That's the placenta there next to her head.

A good profile pic.. look at that tiny nose. I already want to just kiss it!!!

And here's her little feet... SO CUTE. :)

Here's another pic of my GROWING belly. It seems like it's getting bigger by the day now... as in, NOTICEABLY bigger by the day. Yikes. You may have already seen this if you looked through my pics on facebook. But it definitely does a good job showing the 'enlarging process'. While I'm stoked to have this baby, I'm worried about what my poor tummy is going to look like after all of this.

Happy Daddy... he loves his baby's Mama!

Gotta get to work!! Have a wonderful day!

PS What do you think of my new layout? I needed something a little more 'spring/summery'... the last one was very much Fall-ish. My sister was probably right in that it screams, "I'M HAVING A BABY GIRL!!". hehe that's ok. ;)

It's a......

Today is the day Charley and I have been waiting and waiting... and waiting for!!! We went to find out what our little sweetie is - and prayed he/she would cooperate. Well, it was a while before the baby DID cooperate, but *finally* the technician (who was AWESOME by the way) said, "So you're going to TN in a few days? You know what the nice thing about TN is this time of year? They start putting out a lot of cute Spring dresses ...." It was starting to click... then he said, "you're gonna have to pick up a few because you're having a baby GIRL!!

You can't know how excited I was! And Charley's been wanting a baby girl since before he can remember! I couldn't stop giggling! The technician said, "oh that's good, keep laughing, that'll help her move to a different position... maybe she'll quit standing on her head and I can measure her spine!!" Like I said, she didn't want to cooperate. We got some great little pictures of her too, which I will post asap. Charley will have to drag out and dust off his old scanner, and we'll get them on here so ya'all can see our little girl (she still looks somewhat alien-ish, but that's okay!) :)

God is SO awesome! My brother-in-law emailed me a few minutes ago congratulating us and reminded me what Psalm 127:3 says:

"Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4) As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth.
5) Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."

What a blessing she will be! Thanks for your prayers as we continue on in this pregnancy... Praise God!! :)

Papa Preston

I think Charley's getting excited about this baby...


Last night he sang 'The B-I-B-L-E" to my tummy. :) It will be really neat when he (we) can feel the baby start to kick.

Only a week now before heading out to TN to see my wonderful seeeeeeeester whom I love. I am SO excited! And only 3 more days before finding out if this little one is a boy or a girl! What a fantastic week this will be!

Making Progress

I finally have a bit of a bump... see?


Notice Charley's toy there next to me? I know he wants a girl, but deep down, I think he NEEDS a boy. Anyways, Pretty exciting. Supposedly, baby Preston is the size of an avocado. Speaking of avocados... I had nachos for lunch today from Taco King and the guacamole they gave me was SO SALTY I could barely eat it. The nerve. Anyways, I'm 4 months now and feeling great! I can't wait to get out to see the Igarashis (and my friends Maria and Angie and possibly Lydia) in TN next week! I'll have (hopefully) just found out what this little one is, and we can do some shopping! :) Charley and I (mostly Charley though) finished painting our bedroom yesterday after the superbowl. It's nice to finally see it come together. Next on the list: the nursery! Here are some before and after pics of our bedroom:

Isn't he just adorable?

Here's what I did most the time:

The finished product... these pictures don't do it justice. Plus, we still need to get some pics and decorations up on the walls. It looks pretty boring right now. all in due time.

When I got home from work today, I had a visitor waiting for me next to my driveway:

Here Moosey, Moosey, Moosey

God has been so good this week. Thanks to everyone who prayed for my nephew Bo. We are now waiting to hear back from the doctors regarding the test they did on the mass they removed from Bo's leg. We are trusting that it is nothing to worry about. The doctors have said that they are nearly sure that it is not cancerous. Isn't the Lord awesome?

If you haven't heard yet, we've been waiting to see if Mount Redoubt is going to erupt. If it does, there's a good chance we will all die. (kidding). If it erupts, we'll have a dusting of ash all over Anchorage. Exciting, no? Actually, there's not a dust mask to be found in this city. We bought some water, ceran wrap, air filters, goggles, and some other supplies to be prepared in case it *does* blow, but we shall see. I'll keep you posted...