Catching Up

 It's time to do a bit of catching up on my long-neglected blog! We had a few highlights in February worth noting.

First, my mom and sisters came to Gainesville for a weekend of estrogen-fueled fun and Ashley surprised us with some fun news! She and Jay are expecting a little boy! Hoorah! We can't wait to meet their little man. I'm sure he'll arrive wearing loafers, just like his Daddy ;-)

We spent the weekend eating way too much, shopping for Ashley's maternity wardrobe, and getting hooked (or re-hooked for me) on Downton Abbey. Jeff, Presley and I had been stricken with a nasty stomach flu just before their visit and despite us all feeling better, and a thorough house cleaning, 100% of our house guests went home with our stomach bug. Aren't we great hosts!?! At least it gave the girls an excuse to lay in bed for a day or two and watch more Downton Abbey :-)

February is also peak strawberry season in Florida and we ate our fair share! We even shared some!

 

Presley continues to become more and more independent. She now mostly feeds herself. It's messy at time but, she's getting the hang of it!

She's also starting to help us clean. Jeff was wiping up the floor after dinner one night and P ran to her drawer, picked out this little shirt, and started to help.

We also gave her what has been hands-down her favorite toy to date...a little doll stroller. That little thing goes with us everywhere!

We started taking P into the nursery at church. She's not quite old enough to go on her own yet but, we stay and play and we all really enjoy it! Snack time is, of course, her favorite. She also likes to do her silly laugh during lesson time and get all of the other little ones going too...such a big personality for such a little body!

We also had a scary experience that led to some food allergy testing. P had the tiniest bit of peanut butter one Friday evening and immediately she had red spots around her mouth and her voice went hoarse. She didn't have trouble breathing but, we dosed her with Benedryl and kept close eye in her while her symptoms went away. The next day we started carrying an epinephrine pen with us every where we go. A couple of weeks later, the allergist confirmed what we suspected...no nuts for our little P!

We got a little antsy at the allergists office so, we turned on a little Taylor Swift and got our grove on. Like all little girls under 12, P loves T. Swift and she really loves dancing too!

And since February is one of the months that we love living on Florida, we spent a lot of time out on the patio playing and practicing sitting in our tailgate chairs.

Miss Independent

P has been using her utensils for a while now but, just this last week, she started insisting that she receives no help. It makes meal time very messy!

Making Her Daddy Proud

This is one of her new favorite things. We now brush several times a day!

Pretty, Pretty...Daddy?

Presley is starting to get into dress-ups...and she's pulling her Daddy in with her!

It was very Merry, in deed!

We had such a wonderful Christmas! P got more into it that we expected, which made it all the more fun!

We started the holiday festivities with a lovely church service. I really enjoyed the music and Jeff and Presley enjoyed roaming the halls of the church! (We're in that stage where only one of us really gets anything from church services!)

After church, we loaded up our fancy new sleigh and headed to Tampa to Christmas as my mom's. We instituted a Tobler tradition when we arrived--graham cracker house building! We were surprised at the creativity and craftsmanship of so many first-time builders!

Jeff took another stab at his Christmas pirate ship (which was an impressive structure to start with)...

Greer and her boyfriend, Patrick, worked together on a quaint little candy cottage with plenty of landscaping! When I say "worked together," I mean Patrick did all of the work and Greer bailed on him at the first sign of collapse. Once he saved the structure, she returned again--a fair-weather builder, for sure!

Ashley and Jay built Notre Dame--which was solid enough to withstand gale-forced winds.

Unfortunately, Jeff's ship taught everyone a valuable lesson about the delicate balance between enough candy and too much (so much so that it becomes the demise of the structure!).

My little two-story house was cute and even managed a few first-place votes.

In the end, it was Greer and Patrick that took the prize (our respect). Beginners luck, I say!

On Christmas Eve, we sent the men-folk to the golf course while we spent the day cooking, watching movies, and chatting. When the boys returned, we had a "light lunch" (of heavy hors d'ovuers), Braden passed out on the couch...

P had lots of fun and attention playing...

Jeff and Jay didn't stray too far from the food (and Jeff made his famous face, just for Ashley)...

And I didn't stray too far from my culinary creations!

We had our delicious prime rib dinner that evening and even P enjoyed some! She was mostly interested in the potatoes and her beans but, I think she knew it was a special dinner!

After dinner, we got all geared up to go and spread the reindeer food on the lawn to make sure Santa stopped for us.

Presley loved throwing the reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter)! She had glitter everywhere!

After a quick walk, we came inside for a family photo.

During which Ashley, the photographer, said "one, two, three...we're pregnant!"

We were so excited! It's so great to have a little Peep on the way and another cousin for Presley!

We all opened our Christmas jammies...

Sung some carols...

And called it a night so that Santa could come (and his elves could get to work!)

Christmas morning began much earlier than in years passed since we have our Sweet P!

Presley was excited to see what Santa brought her

A water table, a tent with tunnels, a little Gator chair, and a basket ball hoop!

She likes it when I fill her shirt full of balls :-)

Great minds think alike...we both got each other black wayfarers!

It was a fabulous Christmas--full of great food, great company, and great fun!