Sweet Peyton

Peyton has been 'talking' now for a couple weeks and it is music to my ears. Here are a few photos of her from this afternoon and a short video. Enjoy :)

First, our sweet girl. She is almost 11 weeks old and doing very well.

Next we have Peyton and Mommy. I'm not sure what she is looking at...probobly the Van Gogh picture of Starry Night on the wall.
A first - Preston and Peyton both smiling at the camera :-)
Here is the video of Peyton 'talking'.

Fun Weekend

The Dalbey Four had a wonderful weekend. It started on Friday night with a visit to Grammie and Papa's house. My camera battery was low so I will post photos of our time with them when I get pictures from Steven's dad. On Saturday, Katrina headed off to a bridal shower for a a friend named Angie. Angie is getting married to Josh who is Steven's close friend from the Church. Here are a couple pictures from the shower.
This is a photo of Peyton being held by my dear friend, Amity. Amity and I went to high school together.
After the Bridal shower, I joined Steven and Preston at a special going away party for our dear friends, the Warrens. After more than 10 years of close friendship, the Warrens are moving to Texas. Here is a sweet photo of Preston and Eli. We sure are going to miss you and hope to come and visit soon.

On Sunday, the Dalbey Four went to Church and then over to Grandma and Grandad's house for another Memorial Day celebration. We took Preston outside and let him have some fun with the hose. As you can see, the kid is more than happy - he is having a BLAST!

Later on Sunday, I headed over to a Graduation Party for Miss Leah. Leah is a student from our Church Youth Group that I have been blessed to be a part of her life. I am so proud of the young woman she has become and look forward to seeing what is in store for her in the months and years to come.

Oh yes, here is a sweet photo of Preston from our time and Grandma and Grandad's house. She is growing and becomming more of a little girl each day. She is also sleeping around 8 hours at night. This makes me a happy and thankful mommy :)

On Sunday, I took the kids and joined my dad for a Route 66 adventure. Steven stayed home to work on some outdoor painting at our house. My dad drove us down to Devil's Elbow, a small town outside Rolla, MO on the old part of Route 66. We had a very nice lunch and did some touring around the historic town. Here are a few photos. First, Preston in front of an old fire truck.
A cool beverage on a hot day is always nice. This soda is awesome...probobaly because it uses real cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup.

Here is a picture of the Route 66 sign by the old bridge.

Here is my sweet Aunt Mary who has been visiting from Texas.

I hope to post a few more photos in the next few days. Oh yes, you can also check out more phtoos on Facebook.

Cousins

Preston and Peyton are fortunate to already have many cousins at their young age. While we don't get to spend too much time with them as some live out of state and some, including ourselves, are busy with life in general, we enjoy the moments we do have to spend time with them. Here are a few photos:

First, we have Peyton with her cousins Alice and Ava. Peyton is 2 months, Alice is 10 months and Ava is 16 months.

Next, we have a photo of Preston with his cousins Jack and Natalie at the Magic House. Preston and Jack are 2 and a half and Natalie is 4 and a half.

Storm Damage

Our home experienced a bit of damage from the storm that came through on Monday. We also lost our power for a day and a half and needed to re-locate to Grammie and Papa's house. Here are few photos of the down trees in our front and back yard. I also tried to take a photo of our neighbors yard who lost half of his tree and took down the power lines. Here is Ameren UE fixing our line.

Here is the view into our neighbors yard. You can almost see the thick tree lying on the ground.

We lost a nice size branch from our tree in the front yard. Thankfully, the city came and trimmed our tree and turned the down branch into mulch.

While our storm damage was limited to some down tree branches and power lines, our home is safe and we are safe. Re - locating for a couple nights was not fun, but nothing too bad compared to what the people in Joplin, Missouri are currently experiencing. I am thankful we are safe and my thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost so much more.

Great Grandparents

On Sunday, the Dalbey Four were able to spend time with the Great Grandparents. It began with a surprise visit from Grandma Dalbey or Grossi (which is the Swiss/German word for Great Grandma) and Steven's Aunt Barb and Uncle Jeff. They even brought us lunch all the way from KC - how wonderful. Here are a few photos. First, we have the Dalbey Four :)

Here we have the Dalbey Family with Jeff, Barb and Grandma.

Here is the Mark Dalbey family...minus John and Eric.

After this visit, we were able to go and hang out with Great Grandma Koslow (Katrina's Grandma). She 'made' us some yummy Rich and Charlie's salad and pasta and we had a wonderful time catching up.

Wedding

My sister, Tracey, got married this weekend. The wedding was beautiful, the Bride was stunning and we all had a wonderful time. While I let the photographer do his job, I couldn't help but snap a few photos of my own. First, we have the dress - beautiful.

Here we have Tracey's hair - also beautiful!

Here is one picture of Tracey in her dress...more to come from the photographer :)

Tracey and John - a sweet kiss after some yummy cake. Thank you, Lubely's, for your wonderful cake.

Finally, Preston dancing the night away. Thank goodness the kid has rhythm.

Weekend Update

The Dalbey Four had a HUGE weekend. We had a family dinner and Birthday celebration on Wednesday. Thursday, it was my Birthday! Friday, we celebrated the Seminary Graduation with some friends by going to the Zoo. Then we had the Wedding Rehearsal and Dinner for my sister and fiancée that evening. Saturday was wedding festivities and Sunday was family day with Grandparents. It was a busy but exciting weekend and I am going to try to document and update our friends and visitors via the blog. Here we go.

Let me start with Wednesday, we had a very nice Birthday celebration with the Dalbey side of the family. Steven's sister and her 3 children are in town for the week so we couldn't resist seeing them. I, unfortunately, have no pictures to document from our evening together. Thursday, it was my 31st Birthday. We went out to breakfast as a family that morning. I had lunch with my Dad and then dinner at Qdoba with the family. My Birthday present from Steven was a nice hair cut and highlight at the Salon. This is a big deal for me since I get my hair cut about 3 times a year and haven't highlighted my hair in 4 years. Before that, I hadn't highlighted my hair since college. So, I hope to display a picture of my new hair soon.

Friday, we went to the Zoo with the Wilkins family The Wilkins are our friends from

Seminary and our trips with MTW to work with Missionary kids. We are so excited for them to be finished with school. Yes, I did take some great photos at the Zoo and here are a few of my favorite:

First, a picture of Drew and Lindsey. They look so happy to be finished with school.

Next, we have Bryce Wilkins giving Steven and Preston a hug. Bryce is Drew's younger brother and Steven's buddy from our trip to Mexico last October. Bryce left yesterday for a 15 month mission trip to Kenya. We love you and will miss you.

Here is a lovely flower from the zoo :)

Here we have Preston checking out the animals.

Finally, a cool picture of a Giraffe that made its way right up to the fence. I guess he just wanted to say hi :)

I will start another post in just a bit to continue documenting our fun weekend!

Preston picking flowers

Preston and I were outside yesterday afternoon taking pictures and watching the cars drive by our house when I asked him if he would pick some 'flowers' for his little sister. He was very excited to take on this task. Just look at this picture - so sweet. He even picked some flowers for mommy and daddy!

2 Months

Peyton is 2 months old today. Wow! Here is a sweet photos of our little girl.

She continues to be a sweet baby and is learning new things every day. She continues to smile and 'talk' when prompted. She started doing this about 2 weeks ago. She also started holding on to things this past Saturday. She now grabs my fingers and her blanket. She has also been working on tummy time the past couple weeks and is improving each day. Her big brother loves to help her with tummy time - super cute. She sleeps about 5 - 6 hours at night and we hope this will continue to improve. She is also around 11lbs and big enough to fit into her cloth diapers. This is saving us a trip to the store every week. Nursing is also going very well and this one is a huge shocker to me since I had to pump and bottle feed with Preston. Overall, we love our little girl and are very thankful for the joy she brings to our life.

Camera Phone

I really like having a camera with my phone. Its nice to snap a quick photo on the go of those sweet moments and send them to family and friends. Here are a couple photos from last week that I really like that I thought I would share. Oh yes, random thought, Peyton started grabbing and holding on to things Saturday. She now loves to grab my fingers and her blanket - super cute! Preston also continues to expand his vocabulary and it is amazing to hear.

I love St. Louis

As I was driving to work this morning, I was reflecting on all the things I love about St. Louis. I am from St. Louis - born and raised. I call myself a true native to this city and it is my home. While many move to St. Louis and love living here, I think it takes time to become a true Saint Louisan...at least 10 years, if not more. To truly be one you have to do more than just hit up a Cardinals Game, tour the Anheuser Busch Brewery, take a ride up the arch, visit Ted Drews and go to the Zoo. You have to live through many cycles of St. Louis weather and get used to it being 30 degrees one day and 75 degrees the next. You have to visit the Soulard Farmers market and pick up some fresh produce. You must call that highway that travels East and West through the city Highway 40, not I-64. You have to ride the Carousel at Faust Park. You need to sled down Art Hill in snow AND ice. You must visit Crown Candy. You must also ride your bike on the Katy Trail. Let me also add that the first question you ask someone when you meet them for the first time is 'where did you go to high school'? (note - this is not a judgmental question, just a conversation piece). Oh yes, I think I need to add some food to this list. You must love St. Louis thin crust Pizza (Imo's) and real Italian food from the Hill. My personal favorite is Trattoria Marcella on Watson. You must NEVER call St. Louis Bread Company Panera. Just call it Bread Co. Some other amazing places to visit in St. Louis include: Forest Park (its FREE), the Botanical Gardens (I highly recommend the train display every Christmas), Gus' Pretzels, The Transportation Museum, Grant's Farm (feed the goats), and the Magic House. Ok, there are many more places I could list to go and visit or restaurants to visit, but the point I am trying to make is that I love my city, my home. I hope and pray that I will never leave.

Mr. Zebra part 2

Some of you may remember a post about Preston looking at Mr. Zebra and reaching for him in his pack n play. Here is a photo:

Peyton is now continuing the tradition of reaching for Mr. Zebra in the pack n play.

She looks so happy!

Happy Belated Mother's Day

I wish I could sit here and write something very sweet about what its like to be a mom, but my tired brain cannot find the words. Instead, I will post a few pictures of me with my children. Yes, I am very thankful for them and love each moment with them. Even when I am tired and just want some time to myself, I am still thankful for my little boy and girl and all that they bring to my life and teach me. For example: yesterday, I was learning about sacrifice. Peyton was asleep and I thought I would sneak down to the kitchen to clean up and have a few moments of quiet while Preston played with his toys. Um, no. Preston insisted that I come back upstairs and play with him. To be honest, he didn't want me to leave his side the entire afternoon. While this was not an ideal situation for me, I reflect today on how much my son loves me and wants to be with me. Yes, sometimes that means I have to sacrifice what I want to do, even if it is 5 minutes alone to clean the kitchen :) Well, here are those pictures. Enjoy.

Oh yes, Happy belated Mother's Day.

Here is my favorite picture from yesterday afternoon!

Preston went to the Doctor

We took Preston to the doctor this week because he was having a sore bottom after going to the potty. Thankfully, nothing is wrong...he was just a little backed up. We now have him on some medicine and all seems to be just fine. Here are a few pictures of the kids waiting to see the doctor. I think all kids love that plastic paper they put down on the exam table.

I think Preston looks so cute here. He did so well letting the doctor check to make sure everything was ok.

Who's that Kid that's Rocking Kicks...

...that kid would be Peyton. My sister, Sherrie, gave me these awesome pink converse shoes! So far, these are the only shoes that will stay on Peyton's feet.

Here is a picture of Peyton outside this afternoon. We ended up only staying outside for about 5 minutes because it was so hot. Thankfully, she looks super cute in her little sun hat :)

My Computer is Sick

So, my computer has been acting a bit sick the past couple days and I need to have a friend look into the problem. Because of this issues, I have stayed away from my computer and doing more important things like sleeping and laundry :) I did, however, capture this cute picture of Peyton the other day in her flower dress with my phone and thought I would share it with our readers. Enjoy!

Smiling

Our little girl started smiling this week. This is such a huge milestone and we are so excited to see her grow and develop more each day. I will try to post a video of the little girl this week :)

I also want to take a moment to talk about my photography. Some of you may know that I 'launched' my photography blog/business last fall. I am encouraged to say that I have had a few clients the past few weeks and hope/pray to have more in the coming months. I love photography and come alive when I am out taking pictures. Please visit my blog and check out the pictures. The website is www.allthingssimplephotography.blogspot.com Oh yes, I often post better pictures of Peyton and Preston on this blog page or on my Facebook site. Enjoy.