Christmas in Pictures

I thought I loved Christmas. Then I became a mom. Now, I L.O.V.E. Christmas!!

We wanted Preston's first Christmas to be a great one, and it really was. Christmas Eve, we went to Mass and P wore his smocked Christmas outfit. He hung out in the nursery, while Brian and I went to church. (At church, Brian and I laughed at the other babies there. The ones that just sit in their carseat and look around. HA! That was never our life! We found ourselves sympathizing with the parents whose children were running wild. We are thankful P is still small enough for the nursery because he cannot do church yet!) I picked him up before the final blessing so he could be there for it. We went over to my parents house afterwards because Christmas Eve is also my aunt's birthday, her 50th this year, so we had dinner, headed home, and went to bed. 

The child MUST have known something was up, because around 1 a.m. he woke up laughing and wanting to play. He was hyper! It was strange because he never does that. We FINALLY got him back to sleep around 3:30. So needless to say, by Christmas night, Brian and I were exhausted!

In the morning, we realized Santa had stopped at our house for Preston. He must have been good, because he got a basketball goal, a tunnel, two books, magnets for his board, a toy cell phone, a monster truck, a crane, and a felt tool belt with tools. His stocking was full too, with his favorite foods and some awesome mustaches. :)

My family came over in the morning. We had breakfast and exchanged gifts. My grandparents came in from Alabama to celebrate with us. Around 1:30, we headed over to the Fields and spent the afternoon and night there. P loved playing with his second cousins. He is such a loved little boy and was spoiled by both families. It was definitely the Christmas we had hoped for! Here are lots of pictures from the day...

With daddy on Christmas morning

With my dad, Mook

Our child LOVES bubbles!

With my mom, Mimi

With my brother, Uncle Joe

P loves his tunnel

Ball pit at the Fields

Preston and his 2nd cousin Eva. They are 6 months apart.

The cousins opening gifts

The end of the night. Worn out!

Christmas Card & 2011 In Review

2011 was a year we will never forget. Having a baby in January means we'll never have a calendar year of so many firsts. We are so blessed and so thankful for a happy and healthy child, a marriage that continues to grow, a home that we are making our own, and families that love us no matter what.

Merry Christmas from the Fields Family!

The text on the back of the card reads..

January: Preston Robert Fields enters the world

February: Brian turns 28, Preston's first snow

March: Cami turns 27, Preston smiles

April: Dining room and living room remodel and Easter

May: Preston is baptized, Trip to New York

June: Third wedding anniversary and Brian's first Father's Day

July: Preston starts crawling

August: Preston gets his first tooth 

September: Playroom remodel

October: Preston is a moose for Halloween

November: Preston has his first taste of turkey

December: Preston hopes for a visit from Santa. We printed these before I could add "Preston starts walking!"

What a year it has been! The saying "a baby changes everything" was certainly true for our family. Brian and I laugh about how we don't remember much from February until May. It all just seems like one big blur. We were so sleep deprived! We DEFINITELY remember how hard those first months were, as we learned to adjust to the responsibilities a baby brings, and to life as parents. In a way, we were prepared for the BIG change - Preston - but we weren't really prepared for all the small changes. There are SO many small changes. Life got harder, but richer. Now, here we are celebrating Christmas and planning P's first birthday party. Where did it all go? I think Brian and I will always look back on 2011 as the year we grew the most, both as individuals and as a couple. I am so thankful for this year and all that we were blessed with. It is ending on such a beautiful note... a precious baby boy, two happy parents, and lots of memories left to create!

Merry Christmas to you and yours! :)

Preston's Playroom

I have been meaning to do this for a while, but we have been enjoying this room SO MUCH that I haven't had time to pick it up, hang things, etc. Plus, we are still adding to the room. I find that no room in our house is ever really "done" and there are always more plans for it. I have to say, this room has Pinterest written all over it. You have probably seen the majority of the stuff we did, but I am totally okay with copying! I admit that I am not the most creative person, so Pinterest has been life changing for me :)

The previous owners used it as a master bedroom. It is the only bedroom downstairs, there are 4 more (including one master) upstairs, so we had intended this to be the playroom all along. There is a full bath in here, but we aren't finished with it yet. The room is just off the main living room, so it is a perfect location in the house for toys :) Here are some before pics.

See how gross the rug was? Even grosser was the wallpaper...

Brian worked and worked on removing the wallpaper. The previous owners did not prep the walls before they put up their wallpaper in 1964, so it was a bear to get down.

After a few weeks of working after P went to bed, it was finally all gone and ready for patching, priming, and painting.

So, here are the main things that we did:

 - Removed wallpaper

 - Painted room and bathroom Ben Moore Salisbury Green, including a chalkboard wall on one side

 - Previous owner left the rug, and we had it cleaned

 - Added a TV, along with some fun furnishings from Ikea and other fun places

I kind of saw this room coming together in "stations" - like a TV/movie station, art area, and lounge area. We are planning on using this as a playroom for a while, so it will be interesting to see how it evolves over time.

We debated long and hard over the chalkboard wall. Would it be really dusty? Would it make a mess? The pictures of the walls on Pinterest were so cool though. We decided you only live once and painted it chalkboard. We've had kids over who have gone crazy on it, and while it makes a little mess, it is super easy to clean up. We used this paint, and we were very happy with it. The wall is a nice black color, although when it was wet, it looked deep purple. After a minor freak out, it dried to very black. It is such a cool accent wall, and really bold. Here it is!

The PLAY letters are from a One Kings Lane sale. My mom and I made the floor pillows using a tutorial from Pinterest. They weren't easy - Pinterest deceived us! But P loves them, and jumps into them. I'm sure you recognize the Ikea spice racks for bookshelves and the oil drip pan for magnets :)

The little table was ours growing up, and it shows. It is so worn, but it will be great for when P is a little older.

My plan for the blank wall above is to do a huge pin board, where art can be displayed. I already have a few of P's originals saved for the wall! :)

There is not much furniture in the room and we plan to keep it that way for a little while. P is into EVERYTHING and since we are constantly saving him from the peril of furniture, we found it best to leave it out of the room for the most part.

We love this room and it is quickly becoming the most used room in our house!

Ridiculous Week

The foyer is coming along! We love coming home from a day at work and seeing the progress. Since this is the first time we have hired someone to help us, it's kind of surreal to know all that work is being done while we are in our offices going about our day :) Here are a few pics of where we (actually THEY) are in the process...

It looks like they will be here a few more days. The paper took longer than they thought to get off. Can you believe how different it looks already? I'll do a full post on it when they are through.

So, the title of this post is incredibly fitting. We thought it was a big week because Preston said his first word. Well, two more huge things happened this week that I wanted to document.

Tuesday night, Brian had a work dinner so he got home around 7:30. I was putting Preston to bed in his crib, and Brian walked in P's room. He said "Hey buddy! I missed you." Preston looked up at him and goes "hey daddy". Um.... WHAT?!?!?! We were both in shock. I mean, he said like he had said it a thousand times. Brian and I proceeded to analyze it for like an hour. Was he just babbling and it sounded like that? But he was sure of himself and the timing was perfect! Who knows!

The other major development happened Wednesday night. P was not really having bedtime, so we were letting him crawl all over his bedroom to get some of his energy out. Brian pulled out a Dr. Seuss book and started reading to him. Out of nowhere, Preston stood up and took 4 good steps! I considered it his "first steps" because he was very steady on his feet, and really went a decent distance across the rug in his room. He was very sure of himself. I cried. Brian did too, but only because he was reading the book and not looking at his son, who was taking his first steps :) I tried to yell for Brian to look up, but I was so shocked that nothing came out! We have seen him take steps before, but NOTHING like this! It was so cool. Maybe he'll really be moving by Christmas! Go Preston!! :)

Here is one of him taking a few steps... I gotta be a proud mom and say that he walks much better than this, but catching it on camera is HARD!



Of course, walking doesn't come without a serious casualty!

He walked right into the TV stand in the playroom. There was a little blood, but other than that, he should be fine. He is a tough kid :)

Ha!

We had a fun weekend. Friday night we had my work Christmas party. Every year, our boss cooks an amazing dinner for us, and all of us and our husbands eat dinner together. We look forward to it every year, and she always throws such a great party for us. It was fun to have a night away from home. We stayed out of the house Saturday since the workers were here, and headed out to the Germantown Christmas Parade. It was cute, just COLD. The parade goes by my aunt and uncle's house, so it was nice to have a place to park :) We will definitely go again next year. We worked in the yard, cooked, and just had a low key Sunday. My dad and Brian worked on our bathroom upstairs, as we have been having some plumbing issues. Thankfully, they got them fixed.

Back to the grind tomorrow!