Colorado

Steven and I just arrived in Salida, CO because we are taking some of our students skiing for the next 2 days at Monarch Mountain. We are super tired from the drive, but excited to hit the mountain tomorrow morning. We will keep you posted on how things are going the next few days. Oh yes, Preston is staying with the Dalbey's for these 4 days and is doing well. We miss our little buddy and call often for updates! I am sure most new parents would call often when they are away from their child for a few days.

Just for fun

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas is for Children

The Dalbey Trio had a wonderful Christmas this year! We started the week at the Denton home for a Feliz Navidad Christmas celbration. Preston received his very own engraved silver baby cup from Grandpa Denton. We also had some yummy Mexican food - made by Aunt Tracey - and then just spent the night being together. The past day and a half we have been at the Dalbey home for some nice rest and relaxation. We celebrated with some yummy Christmas Quiche and homemade smoothies every morning. We also had a great time being together and exchaning gifts. As you can see by the photo, Preston is enjoying the books and toys he received from Grammie, Papa and Uncle Eric! We hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

Preston's Mug Shot

Merry Christmas

The Dalbey family would like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Friends

On Monday night Steven and I had dinner with a close group of friends. The reason for this special gathering was that our friends, Christi and Doug, were in town from Tucson, Arizona. We had a great time catching up, eating some yummy food and exchanging gifts with one another. I am so thankful for this group of ladies and that we have remained close the past 10 years! I love you!

Christi and Doug
Leah, Christi, Carolyn and Katrina. Emily didn't make the photo :(

sneeze

Here is a short video of Preston from the other day when he sneezed. I think we will need to teach him to cover his nose :) As always, enjoy!

Weekend Update

We started Preston on Rice Cereal this past week. Here is the story:

First - Look at mom and dad for some guidance

Second, stare down the spoon and give it a good smirk

Third, give the cereal a try
Fourth, eat a little bit more because its not so bad :)

Conclusion: Preston is doing well with the cereal and I am sure he will get better as time goes by. Overall, the Dalbey Trio had a nice weekend!

Feeling Better

Steven and I came down with the flu this week - no fun! We both spent a good amount of time in bed and munching on popcicles. Thankfully, we were not sick at the same time and Preston had someone 'healthy' to look after him. We are hoping and praying that he does not get sick. So far, so good. Its such a bummer to get the flu - even when you have had your annual flu shot like we did. The same thing happened last year... I thought they 'got it right' this year. Anyway, I hope we stay healthy for the rest of the winter.

Other news in the Dalbey house is that Preston began eating some rice cereal this week. He did great and not too much food ended up on him. I am enjoying feeding Preston via a spoon and watching him try to much on the soupy cereal. (Random note - I bought the organic rice cereal because it was only 10 cents more than the other stuff. Not bad at all). He is getting the hang of it - slowly. I will make a point to post some video tomorrow in our 'weekend update' report. For now, enjoy the picture of Preston when he found out about Santa.

Preston and Santa

The look on Preston's face when he found out about Santa - pure excitement!

Talking with Daddy

Weekend Update

Its been a while since I uploaded a video, so here is a short clip from the other morning. We were trying to capture Preston's 'words' but it seems as though he can get a little shy when the camera is rolling. We will keep trying to capture some of his super cute giggles and sounds on camera and post them for our readers.

As far as an update on the Dalbey Trio - we had a nice weekend. On Friday, we had a family portrait taken. I plan on scanning the photo and posting it as soon as I can. That night, we stayed home and chilled out with some ice cream and a movie. On Saturday, Steven took my dad to the Ambassadors of Harmony (AOH) concert. Also performing was the quartet, Vocal Spectrum. Steven's brother, Eric Dalbey is a member of the quartet. Steven said they had a great time. Here is a photo of the quartet - check them out at http://www.vocalspectrum.com/

Tonight, we went to a Christmas party for our small group from Church. The food was super yummy, the company was great and we also had our annual White Elephant gift exchange. Steven and I took home a Tshirt and a hand made bird house (not bad). Steven had to steal the bird house for me because I really wanted it. I think I am going to paint it and hang it up outside. I will post a photo when this project is complete. Oh yes, the Dalbey trio is also excited for the western half of Hwy 40 to open up tomorrow morning. This will make traveling out west much easier. Both my parents and Steven's parents live west of our house. Well, that is all for now. Have a happy Monday!

Creston and Gabbie

We would like to take a moment to introduce you to our relatives from Florida. Pictured below is my sister Kristen and her husband john with their two children. My mom recently went to visit them and help out as our nephew has had some medical complications since birth and there have been multiple trips to the hospital. Thankfully they are all doing fairly well and things are much better than they could have been. We thank the Lord for what he has spared them from. Our niece refers to my mom as "Gabbie" instead of Grammie, which we all think works really well. Our niece also has a name for our son Preston. She calls him "Creston" (which seems to be a combination of Kristen and Preston, hence Creston)

Youth Group Christmas Party

We took Preston to his first Youth Group Christmas Party last night. Taking Preston to the party meant that we had to keep him up an hour past his bedtime which is usually around 7pm . Thankfully, he did great and fell asleep as soon as I put him in his carseat at 8pm. It is really great to see the way that Preston continues to become more and more interactive with the people around him. This morning, Preston slept in until about 8:30, and so did I. I nearly missed an appointment since I am so used to hearing little words and grunts comming from the monitor like clock work at about 7am sharp, waking me from my sleep. Preston has been taking longer naps these days, and just keeps getting stronger and growing by the hour. I feel as though this is prep for adolescence when he will once again be taking longer naps and sleeping in every morning, like clock work :). This afternoon, Katrina and I were leaving and getting Preston situated in his car seat, when he began crying much more fiercely than normal. Katrina started to clip him in and zip up his blanket but then trusting her gut, unbuckled him from his seat and picked him up. We both noticed that the clear bottle cover cap was pressed up against his back causing him quite a bit of discomfort...ouch!! Way to go Katrina for trusting your motherly instinct. Here is a picture of Preston sitting in his Bumbo seat (thank you Leah for letting us borrow this). We are going to begin the process of feeding Preston food. We will start slow with some rice cereal and then move onto some other yummy vegetables. I am sure the pictures will get very interesting in the next few weeks.

Newborn Ninja Preston Pins Truman the Tiger Tenaciously

Little Preston has been working on perfecting his "tornado-trunk-twist" these past few nights. This particular picture was taken in the aftermath of Mizzou's loss to Oaklahoma. I (Steven) was particularly struck by the way that Truman was completely ripped down from his tight grip on the side of the crib. I began to look more closely at the scene unfolding before my eyes this morning. I delightfully noticed that Preston had left a trail of Truman, Mr. Rhinoceros, Mr. Giraffe, AND the baby monitor in his wake, before passing out once again under the cover of darkness like a shadow in the night. "Judo Chop!!"

Gymnastics

Last night Steven and I went to watch a gymnastics meet because our friend Sarah was competing. Being at a gymnastics meet brings back a lot of memories for me because I used to be a competitive gymnast. There are days where I really miss doing gymnastics, the smell of chalk, the competitions, etc... I had to quit gymnastics after Middle school but I still have a great love for the sport. Anyway, we had a great time at the meet yesterday and our friend Sarah placed 1st overall. Her team also placed 1st. Way to go Sarah and team Ellisville.

4 months old

Preston is now 4 months old! Where did the time go? We took him to the Dr. yesterday and he is 25 1/2 inches long and weighs 14lbs 12oz. The doctor says he is healthy and is in the normal percentile for both weight and height. Poor little guy also had to get his shots again and he didn't like it. All seems back to 'normal' today and I am looking forward to hanging out with my 'little buddy' when I get home from work!

Preston continues to bring Steven and I a great amount of joy each day. We love to sing and talk to him while also listening to his little 'words'. His new favorite song is Jingle Bells. His face lights up when we start singing and he shows off his toothless smile - very sweet! Preston has also begun to roll over. He has now rolled from his tummy to his back a total of 6 times. He just stretches those little arms up, above his head and flips over. We have a very active baby on our hands! Thank you to everyone for your love, support and prayers the past 4 months. Steven and I don't claim to be expert parents, nor are we perfect, but we strive each day to be parents who love our son, love each other and love the Lord. Enjoy the photo's.

Preston vs. Truman

As many of you know, I am very proud to be a Mizzou Graduate and a Tiger fan! Because I am a tiger fan, I want Preston to grow up and know how cool it is to be a tiger fan. (If you are reading this and have any affection for the horrible school in Lawrence, KS - shame on you). Anyway, I have carefully placed various Mizzou items around our house so that Preston will grow up learning about Mizzou and our awesome mascot, Truman the Tiger. One such place is in his crib.

This morning when I went to get Preston from his crib, I noticed that Truman was not in his normal spot. I think Preston decided to take on or do battle with Truman in the middle of the night. Here is where I found Truman:

Well, I guess Preston won the battle with Truman! I am just happy that he has taken an interest or noticed this little toy hanging in his crib. Now, only 17 years and 8 months till his freshman year at Mizzou! I can't wait. :)

5 years

As of December 1st, Steven has completed 5 years of Youth Ministry at Central. I can't believe it has been 5 years! Most people in Youth Ministry barely last 2 years and Steven has more than doubled that. Not only am I so proud of Steven, but I am so thankful that Central has taken such good care of us. (Oh yes, I want to assure some of our readers that we don't have any plans to leave or do anything else at this point in our lives). I thought I would put a picture of Steven and Eric on the blog because Eric has been a great friend, mentor and source of encouragement to Steven the past 5 plus years. Maybe we will be at Central for another 5 years - we will see :)

Weekend Update

I know its been a few days since our last post, so I thought I would give you another 'weekend update' from the Dalbey Trio. On Friday we continued our Thanksgiving weekend celebration at the Dalbey house visiting with relatives from near and far. This was a wonderful time and I captured a few pictures ( I didn't get my camera out as much as I would have liked).

Here we have Preston with Uncle Eric.

Here is Preston with Gramie Dalbey

Preston likes to hear papa Dalbey play the piano!
On Saturday, the Dalbey Trio was tired and decided to stay home. As you can see by the picture of Preston and Steven, we had a great time doing a whole lot of nothing!

On Sunday, Steven and I put up our Christmas tree. We are going to try to get into the Christmas spirit this year. Perhaps we should stay away from the mall and other major stores so that we don't get 'tired' of hearing Christmas music and seeing Christmas decorations. Does anyone else get tired of Christmas before Christmas arrives?

The month of December came in style with a little bit of snow! We were excited to see just enough to dust the grass and our little house. Hmm, maybe I should get rid of the pumpkin on our front porch - after all - Halloween and Thanksgiving are over!