Dear this past week,

Thank you for being awesome, once again.  I really don't want to sound like a talking cliche, but in the last week it has really started to feel a lot like Christmas in our house.  We got a few of our decorations up - which includes our tree - and I can't wait to crank up my favorite Christmas albums (this, this, this, and this) while we decorate the rest of the way!  Some of the happenings of the past week...

We took family Christmas pictures!
And Presley did amazing, as always, with family pictures.  I think this is the 4th year in a row that Tony and I (and now this year, Presley, too!) have gone to Portrait Innovations to take pictures for Christmas!  They always have such a great staff who are friendly and take such great pictures - not to mention the awesome deal they have for the holidays.  Ideally, I'd like to have more relaxed family pictures taken outside of a studio sometime, but for now - this works!  I'll try not to overload you with too many of our pictures & post just a few of my favorites...

Presley's legwarmers at Sparkle in Pink for such a good price and they are such good quality!

Went to the mall with some of our favorite gals!
As if I need any motivation to go shopping as it is, Megan said her and the girls were going to do some shopping at the mall so Presley and I met them out there!  The girls were so well behaved - despite them taking turns throwing their toys out of the strollers every few minutes.  And on top of the fun outing, I ran into my best friend's sister, Hope!  For the first week in a long time, we didn't get to have our weekly play date with the girls... so no picture of the three of their adorableness!

Got our Christmas cards ready to send out!
Not much to say there... just happy to have them done!  Even if people get them super early in the holiday season - for once I won't be waiting until the last minute!

We bought Presley's first Christmas present!
We didn't go out and do any crazy Black Friday shopping - but we did go to Walmart that afternoon and found a few blu-ray movies as well as Presley's first gift!  Tony and I have always agreed we wouldn't be huge on buying Presley a ton of things and going overboard for birthdays and holidays - but when I saw this I felt like Presley would really like to play with something like this - plus we got a really great deal on it!

Playskool Explore and Grow Step Start Walk n Ride

Made our holiday plans!
This includes booking some flights for the three of us - which I am looking forward to.  We finally cashed in our credit card points so we didn't have to pay a dime for our transportation this Christmas!  Woo-Hoo!  It also means we will be bypassing the awfully long car ride!!!  However, this will be Presley's first time flying - so we aren't sure how she will react but I am feeling optimistic about it.  Have any of you moms flown with your little ones while they could still sit on your lap?  If so, how did it go and do you have any tips to make the trip smoother?  She will be 10 months when we leave and I've heard that breastfeeding during take off will make it easier on her ears - so I hope she can relax enough to do that.  (When there is noise around her she wants to be up and investigating everything!)  Anyways, I'm just really looking forward to the holidays this year.  We'd like to stay put as much as possible next Christmas because Presley will be a little older and we will want to start our own traditions with each other at that point!  But that is a whole year away - who knows what our life will be like twelve months from now!!!

Did some secret shopping for my main squeeze!
Like I said in a previous post, I am the worst at keeping gifts a secret, especially from Tony!  I just get so excited about it that I end up telling him right away.  Especially if it's something he'd really like.  For example, the first two stocking stuffers I bought him I ended up giving them to him right away - I am that awful!  In the last week or so I've found 3 gifts for his stocking that I know he'll enjoy and they are still a surprise... so far.  Too bad we have nearly a month to go!

So, that's about it, really.  Hasn't been a terribly eventful week - but it was another wonderful week in the Duggan household!  Now, I'm going to work on my cousin, Breanne, sharing her labor & delivery story and see how she would feel about doing a guest blog... I don't know about everybody else but I absolutely love hearing birthday stories.  Anyways, I will leave you guys with my Nine months in - Nine months out picture!  I got the idea from Megan! How fun!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Giving Thanks.

Like I did last year, I'd like to post 10 things that I am thankful for this year for Thanksgiving.  True to form, I am a little late in putting my blessings into writing - just like last year... but better late than never!  (Which is pretty much my life motto.)

Being a stay at home mom.  I know I am lucky to be able to stay home with Presley each day.  Though it's been something I have taken for granted from time to time, I can see that in hindsight it has given the two of us the chance to create an unbreakable bond.  I feel that this was especially important especially since I was experiencing the baby blues (if not post-partum depression) big time in the beginning - if we hadn't gotten this chance to work on our bond then I have no idea what our relationship would look like at this point.  Just solidifies my belief in everything happening for a reason.

My husband's job.  If it wasn't for Tony's job and the fact that he is such a hardworking, dedicated man, I wouldn't have the opportunity to stay home with Presley full time.  He has gotten laid off from work in the past, but thank the Lord, that hasn't happened since becoming pregnant or bringing Presley home.  We. Are. So. Blessed.  He loves Presley so much, so I know what a sacrifice it is for him to wake up at the crack of dawn and leave his family each day, but we are so thankful for such an amazing man in our life.

Reliable transportation.  A few months ago I was having car trouble and it got progressively worse really quickly and because it is a 1992, we figured that maybe it was time to say goodbye to my car.  Thankfully, that was not the case!  All that needed to be replaced was the timing belt and thanks to our trusty mechanic, it was also fixable within our budget.  We had planned to buy a new family car in a year or so, but because my car was gone for a while (and Tony's civic is a two-door & not much of a family car), we decided to go ahead and buy our family car!  So now I drive our Honda Fit and Tony drives our '92 Corolla to work everyday.  The extra bills are a pain in the ass, but thankfully we are also making that work as well.

Presley.  She has the best laugh, the sweetest smile, and a personality that I'm in awe of.  She makes me want to be a better person every second.  God knew what he was doing when he sent Presley to us; she made our new, little family so solid - even though at any given moment we felt like we were on shaky grounds because we had absolutely no idea what we were doing!  When we first brought Presley home, I was almost mourning over the fact that it would never be just the two of us (Tony and I) ever again... mostly because it had been just us two for so many years through dating and our engagement.  We have a greater appreciation for our alone time as husband and wife so much more than before.  Presley has given us such a sense of purpose - whoever said threes a crowd was certainly not talking about our family!  She is the best baby we could have ever been given.

My husband.  I could never have asked for a more fun partner or a more loving father for our kids (assuming we will have more in the future).  Though we continue to have our ups and downs, we work through them and love each other more through each bump in the road.  Our life may not be full of glamor - usually it's full of diapers & drool, but it is full of huge smiles.  And I would marry him all over again in a heartbeat.

Weekly play dates.  I can NOT forget to mention the weekly play dates Megan and I have been having because they have really kept me sane and given me so much to look forward to every week!  We are so blessed to have friends with girls around the same age as Presley; not only are they going to be great friends to Presley over the years, but they have already helped Presley learn new things!  After each of our play dates, Presley comes home doing something new almost every time.  Alli and Molly have taught her how to wave, how to use her voice, and even how to army crawl.  I know she would have done these things eventually, but I kid you not, she watches these girls and imitates them like crazy!  And I am so lucky to have Megan as a friend!!!  I consider myself very lucky to know the Ebner/Darras family.

 Friends.  The friends who still want to be with me even though I've changed so much in the last year; who are truly understanding of my insatiable need to be with my family as much as I can since bringing Presley home; friends that have no problem picking up where we left off - whether it was a few days since we last talked or a few months.  I really have learned that it's quality, not quantity when it comes to friends - that has never been more true than now.  And dear lord, I cannot forget to mention my mom friends. I've gotten so much help along the way from various mom friends through encouraging words, listening ears, helpful advice, hand-me-downs, and unconditional support and love!  If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes just as much if not more to condition a mama!  I'd be lost without everyone along the way - including all my fellow blog moms.

Health.  Enough said.  We are happy and healthy and that is something I will never, ever forget to give thanks for.

Family.  I know bragging is an unbecoming quality, but you guys, I have the best in-laws imaginable - I am SO in love with Tony's family!  Though I have known and loved them for quite some time now, they continue to surprise me with how much they care about one another and the amount of love and support they give freely.  I'm also so thankful for all our family members who have brought little ones into this crazy world this past year - Tony's cousin Danielle had baby boy John in May, my sister Amanda had baby girl Anne Marie in July, and my cousin Breanne had baby boy Emory this month!  Presley is going to be blessed with playmates and I've already been so blessed with having these three new moms to lean on!  Not to mention, my little sister Ashley has just been such a blessing in showing so much love and understanding and support to me throughout the last nine months - I can always turn to her and I am so thankful that will always stay the same.  I'm also thankful for having my mom live so close to us as well as the amazing time we had with my family (plus all the amazing Asians!!!!) for Thanksgiving!

Goals.  This might seem a little weird - but I am so thankful for the goals we've set for our family.  I know that our plans aren't always the plans God have for us - and BOY have we learned that over the last year!!! - but I am so hopeful and excited for our future... wherever that may lead us. 



What are you guys most thankful for this year?

Happy 9 month birthday, my little turkey!

Wow.  I know I say this every month - and I will probably be saying this for the rest of my life - but I cannot believe how fast the time is going!  Our little baby girl is a mere three months away from her first birthday!  And it truly feels like just yesterday that we were celebrating her THREE month birthday! As I said before, she weighed in at 16 pounds 13.5 ounces and was 27 inches tall!  Her head (75%) and height (between the 50-75%) have followed the same curve as always but her weight has started to drop off her curve (25%).  We will go back in a month to weigh her to make sure everything is okay.

I learn more and more about Presley everyday, especially as her personality develops and emerges.  As much as I enjoy hogging her to myself, I think one of my favorite things is watching how she interacts with other people.  Here is what my little beauty has been up to...

• She no longer keeps bows on her head.  Once she realizes it's there, she reaches up and tugs it down off her head with no problem.  She is getting strong and extremely smart!
• Presley's outgrown most of her 6-9 month clothing (especially her pants) and is moving into her 9-12 month stuff.  She's been in 12 month sleepers for a few weeks now, but we only have a few of them.  Does anyone know a good place to buy sleepers?  I know you can get them just about anywhere, but I am looking for good quality, a good deal, and something warm enough for this time of year.
• Ladies and gentlemen, we have a semi-crawler!  She is more of a scooter and spin-around-in-a-circle kinda girl... but hey, whatever works!  She is really getting around these days.
• We had our first choking experience this past weekend with Presley.  And wouldn't you know it was one of those child-friendly puffs?  My mom had literally just taught me what to do in case that were to ever happen - so it was fresh on my mind.  I picked her up as fast as I could, faced her body/face downward, and smacked her on the back a few times.  The puff and some puke came right up and she was just fine.  I'm sure she would have gotten the puff down herself without my intervening, but I wasn't going to take that chance.  I'm not gonna lie, I really felt like a bad ass in that moment.  And a capable mommy.  My mom was there to witness it all, too, and she said, "You really did everything just right!"  Sounds like I had a good teacher, thanks Mom! ;)
• Still in a size 3 diaper, still loves water in her sippy cup, and is getting more comfortable with dogs!
• Sleep training using the Ferber/progressive waiting method was a SUCCESS!  And Presley is also taking a daily nap (usually) lasting about an hour and a half most days.  This is WONDERFUL.  If any of you moms would like to know any more about our experience, just let me know and I'd be happy to share more in depth.

• She's learning to give kisses and every so often if you ask nicely enough, she complies and there is absolutely nothing sweeter than baby kisses.
• Still a little waving machine!  But only when the mood arises.  Her mood has been hit and miss this past week - Tony and I think it's another round of teething!
• Presley is even more into table food these days.  She thinks that whatever Tony and I eat are fair game for her!  This is why we wait to eat dinner until after she's in bed most nights, though we don't mind sharing the things that she can eat.
• We think she had a negative reaction to either quinoa or broccoli last week.  She had eczema-type rashes all over her so we are gonna wait to give her either of those for a little bit.  This is the first time she's reacted negatively to any foods!
• We've made it to our 9 month breastfeeding goal!  And I certainly couldn't have done it without all the support I've gotten along the way - especially the support and encouragement I receive from my husband every day.  So, it's time to set the BIG goal, FINALLY!  Our next goal is to keep breastfeeding until 12 months and I don't see us stopping now.
• Presley shared one of her snacks with me the other day.  I asked her if Mama could have one and I leaned forward & opened my mouth - she picked up on of her little snacks and dropped it in my mouth!!!  I was shocked!  She didn't do it again, though, and was quick to shove those little snacks in her own mouth from then out!
• So excited to celebrate our first Thanksgiving as a family of three with friends and family this week!  Looking forward to good food and good times and especially getting the chance to meet and hopefully love on the newest baby in our family - mister Emory!  (I say hopefully because there will be a lot of excited family members there to hold this new sweetie.)

This is unrelated to Presley's development - but if I hear one more person comment on how "spoiled" my child is [what does that even mean??] because I care for her all day or because I tend to her needs as they come - I will possibly snap.   
So look everyone, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Please know that it is in my opinion that there is no such thing as spoiling a child with too much love; that makes absolutely ZERO sense.  There is also no such thing as a perfect parent - so when you can look me square in the eyes and tell me you are the perfect parent, then and only then can you comment negatively on the choices I make for my family.  I am open for fluid conversations.  I can take constructive criticism (if it comes from a good place).  I don't think I can take anymore talking behind my back without confronting people or being talked down to without getting personal.  Is this how every new or young mother feels?  If so, then why is it that our society feels that this type of behavior is acceptable?  Why do we feel we've earned the right to judge others?

On another note, one of my friend's mom made a comment just the other day that I was doing a fine job on raising Presley and while it was just very casually made, it really meant a great deal to me.  It also made me reflect on how I talk to others; do I encourage the people I love?  Either way, it was one of the best compliments I could have gotten at this point in my life and a great reminder to be a light to others!

All in all, I am in love with my life.  I love my friends.  I love my family.  I love my sweet nine month little girl.  I am so beyond blessed.  I wouldn't have picked this path for my life but that is what is so amazing about God's plan - it is so much better than our own!  I will leave you guys with some recent pictures -- much love and happy Thanksgiving to you guys; I hope everyone shares the day with some delicious food and reflecting on the people who bring you joy.

Two of my best friends - Katie S. and her nephew, Harlan - Katie D. and her nephew Landyn!
Both of them live out of town and it was so nice to get together while they were here.  Miss them so much!

Molly, Alli, & Presley at their latest hangout session.  Two and a half weeks until the twins are ONE!

Another one of my best friends, Betsy, posing with Presley!

My mom and Presley shortly after the choking incident. 
Presley gave her Gramma/Grammy a kiss before she left, too!

Dear this past week,

You rocked.  Thank you for rocking so hard.  Not only did you fly by, but you also treated me to Breaking Dawn part 2 with my bff last night.  In addition to that wonderful gem, all the new recipes I tried for dinners this week were a huge hit!  This included an extremely easy and delicious Baked Cheese Ravioli recipe that we just finished eating tonight.  Other awesome things this week included....

Presley adding "da-da" to her vocab! 
And Tony could not be happier... he was starting to take it personal!

Our weekly Ali, Presley, Megan, Alli, & Molly play date!
The twins will be ONE year old in about three weeks.  Where in the world has time gone?  They start going to day care around the same time!  Megan and I still talk about having our play dates and I hope we can turn that into a reality!

Could these girls be ANY sweeter?
L to R: Alli, Presley, Molly :)

Buy one get one free Starbucks holiday drinks!
(Mmm... peppermint mocha with half the pumps.)

Another awesome care package from my awesome mother-in-law!

The package she sent included these delicious dipping oils!
So excited to buy some french bread and go to town on these! ;)

Our Christmas cards from Cardstore.com!
And as bad as I want to post them on here... I am not going to spoil the surprise before I even send them out.  I highly, HIGHLY recommend using Cardstore.com - if you haven't done so already, check their website out!

Presley's first visit to see Santa Claus! 
She started crying as soon as Santa walked over to us.  So instead of resisting it, we just kinda went with it and picked out the picture that she looked most upset in.  Go big or go home!

Presley learning to wave for bye-bye!
(She learned waving for "hi" a few weeks back.)  Here she is waving in our birthday (which was Wednesday) video for my sister's fiance, Jonathan!



A visit to the doctor for Presley's 9 month check-up and shots!
She weighed in at 16 pounds 13.5 ounces and was 27 inches tall!  Her head (75%) and height (between the 50-75%) have followed the same curve as always but her weight has started to drop off her curve (25%).  We will go back in a month to weigh her to make sure everything is okay.



We found a stray dog
...and then less than 24 hours later we found her owners with large thanks to social media!  Facebook is so very powerful and useful at connecting folks.

Her name is "Wrigley"

Had one of the best days ever with Presley today.
I don't know what it was about today - if it was Presley's mood or mine or a combination - but I smiled and laughed and enjoyed myself so very much and look forward to so many days like today.




And last weekend, it was my birthday!  I am officially a quarter of a century old and I love where I am at in life.  I don't feel panicky about my age or negative about it at all - especially considering friends and classmates of mine that didn't make it to see these birthdays.  So everybody try your best to remember... birthdays and aging is nothing to complain or be bitter about!  On that note, I hope everybody can take a few moments and reflect on the awesome things that you encountered throughout the week... I will leave you with a few pictures from my birthday celebration at my favorite restaurant - RED ROBIN!