Baby Shower for Peyton

Even though we are expecting our second child, some girls from our youth group wanted to give me a baby shower to love on our sweet little girl, Peyton. The shower took place this past Saturday and it was a great blessing. Here are a few photos from the event. First, Kaylie leading the group in some games.

Second, yummy food.

Third, a yummy cake. Oh yes, her full name is Peyton Sullivan Dalbey :)

Here is the group of girls from the event - thank you!

Here are the girls from my small group who led and planned the shower - thank you.

Random

Here is an update on the happenings of life in the Dalbey family.

First, Steven made it to Colorado and back on the annual Senior High Youth Trip. He had a great time and here is a picture of the group out in Crested Butte, CO.

Second, I gathered with some friends for Breakfast the other morning and had a wonderful time catching up, laughing and praying with and for one another. My sweet friend, Megan, gave me these lovely tulips as an encouragement these last few days before Peyton's arrival. Tulips are my favorite flower. They just seem to make everything look and feel happy.

Third, I had a brand new newborn boy outfit that I found stuffed in a bag...oops. I took it in to a consignment store this afternoon and exchanged the outfit for this cute dress. I am excited to meet our little girl :)

Photos from Grandad Denton

Well, the Dalbey Trio is doing much better. Even though I had a slight re lapse of the flu on Monday night, we all now seem to have re entered the land of the healthy and are sleeping through the night. Thank you, again, to Grammie and Papa Dalbey for caring for Preston while I was sick and Steven was out of town.

Update on Peyton: I am now 36.5 weeks pregnant...can I really be this far along? Yes, its true. I plan on posting photos of my belly on Saturday as I have a friend/student/budding photographer who is going to do my maternity photo shoot. I am super excited. I am also 50% effaced and 1cm dilated. I'm not sure if this means anything but just thought I would give you an update. I am also having a final ultrasound next Tuesday and hope to post a couple good pictures.

Photos: Many of you know that I now work for my dad at his Law Office here in St. Louis. While at work today I was downloading some photos from his camera regarding a case and found a few random photos from Christmas. I thought they were so cute that I just had to post them. Enjoy.

First, here is Preston with 2 of his cousins, Alice & Ava.

Second,Here are a couple cute pictures of Preston opening up some of his Thomas the Tank Engine gifts. He is so excited!

the past few days

Well, the Dalbey family has had an interesting couple of days. After a long, hard day on Thursday with Preston being sick, Steven left that night for a youth ski trip to CO. It made me sad that I wasn't going for the first time in 7 years. Yes, I will be honest - I shed a few years. After he left, I put Preston to bed but was still very concerned about him b/c he had a fever. I called our Dr's. medical exchange and ended up talking with a pediatric nurse from St. Louis Children's Hospital. I forgot this lady's name but she was so helpful. She gave me a plan to care for Preston and went through everything to make sure he didn't have any rare digestive issues or food poisoning, etc... I also learned the classic signs of dehydration and the different stages of foods you wean children back on to after they have been sick. By Friday morning we were doing better. Here is a picture of Preston watching some more TV in our bedroom. He didn't each much on Friday but started to hold down liquids.

By Friday evening it seemed that Preston was on the mend and I put him to bed in his 'new' big boy bed. Steven had taken the time to convert the crib to a bed on Wednesday before Preston came down with the flu bug and had not slept in his bed since. He did very well on his first try. I had to tell him about 4 stories and sing to him for a while but he fell asleep and stayed in his bed all night long.
Saturday was also a good day. Preston had energy, he started eating more food and kept it down. We even made a quick trip to the grocery store to buy milk, bread, and a prize for sleeping in his new bed. By Saturday night, I thought we were doing well and that I wan't going to get sick...I was wrong.

Sunday morning, around 1am, Preston fell out of his bed. We have a gate, but needed a few more screws to install. I had placed blankets and toys on the floor to catch him if he fell, but he still fell out and I think it scared him quite a bit. I brought Preston in our room to sleep but soon realized that I felt horrible. I made a trip the bathroom around 1:30am....I will spare you the details. Then around 3:30am Preston woke up crying and would not stop. I thought he was having a bad dream but his crying lasted almost 2 hours. This was all going on as I felt like I was going to be sick at any moment. Oh yes, did I mention that I am 36 weeks pregnant - not fun. At 4:45am I finally sent a text to my father in law asking for help. He came over and picked up Preston around 5:30AM...just as Preston started to calm down and right after I made another trip to the bathroom.

So, Preston is with Grammie and Papa (THANK YOU) and I am home trying to recover. I got sick again after Preston left but then slept and just woke up about 30 minutes ago. I drank a little water and am still holding it down. I feel 'better' but very weak and exhausted. We will see what today brings. I am now going back to bed.

Preston is sick

I don't think anyone likes being sick. I also don't think any parent enjoys seeing their child sick. Today, Preston is sick. He has not been able to keep anything down since yesterday evening. All we have been doing is cuddling in bed and watching multiple episodes of 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and 'Richard Scary Mysteries'. I am sure 'Dinosaur Train' and 'Curious George' will be in the DVD player soon. Thankfully, I have been able to give him 2 teaspoons of Pedialyte every 20 minutes the past hour (per Dr.'s instructions) and he is hanging in there...please keep him in your prayers. I just checked on him and he fell asleep watching TV. Poor little guy. Oh yes, please pray that I don't get sick. I am currently 35 weeks along and don't need anything else to add to my plate. Here are a few pictures of the little boy.

Photos on the go

Here are a couple pictures of Preston from today that I took with my phone camera.

First Picture: Preston and Mommy's sunglasses. I think its time to buy him his own pair.

Second Picture: Preston and the cheer/dance team girls. I coached my last game of the season this evening and Preston needed to come along. Thankfully, he was more interested in the pom poms than the cute girls :)

Peyton has a crib

Peyton now has a crib! Thank you, Steven, for putting it together this morning. Oh yes, Preston really likes his sister's crib. He wanted to sleep in her bed but I told him that he had to sleep in his own bed. Thankfully, he didn't put up a fuss but he did tell me that he wanted to cuddle with his sister when she came out of mommy's tummy. I think my heart melted. Now, we just need a few more clothes, some diapers and a baby :)

Preston Outside

Here are a few pictures of my time this afternoon outside with Preston. Before I continue let me assure our readers that I did put mittens on his hands. He took them off multiple times and insisted that he didn't want to wear them. I think you can see him wearing the gloves while riding his trike. I learned from his teachers this afternoon that he apparantly had this 'I don't want/need to listen to adults' perspective all day long. We will need to work on that. Anyway, we went outside for a little sledding in our front yard and then some exploring in our back yard. Poor guy, he wants to ride his trike so badly. If only the weather would help him out. The snow/ice did, however, make for some great photos. I also took the time to take some artistic photos. I will post a few of them on my photography blog, All Things Simple, later this evening. The blog address is http://www.allthingssimplephotography.blogspot.com/

Ice/Snow Day

What do you do on a snowy/icy day? First, read books.
Second, color pictures. Here is mommy's picture:
Here is Preston's picture:
Here is the coloring station:
Third, clean the kitchen.
Fourth, work on potty training.
Fifth, play with every toy you own and make a huge mess in your room.
Finally, enjoy the ice/snow outside and wonder if the road will be clear by morning.