Thanks Natalie :-)

This is the sign my great friend Natalie made to hang at work to announce the exciting arrival of Harper!! Thanks Natalie for making such a cute announcement for us!!

quickly...

Just wanted to post a few pictures quickly - I know I need to post more of Harper, hopefully after this weekend I will get that done!!

Harpers outfit for Friday night...our Platte County Relay -- courtesy of Aunt Amanda :-)

It has the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon on it and says "my first relay" on the front...

and, "i stroll for my sister & gramma" on the back...

How cute and how clever! Thanks amanda :-)

Charli feeding Harper for the first time at home.

Wynston being overly protective of Harper...all four boys took a nap on the couch together!

Charli pulled her stool into Harper's room so she can see him and help me while I get him ready. She loves to hear him make noises and "talk" to her. She likes to report to me when he opens his mouth, talks, is hungry, opens his eyes to her, and when he is happy or sad!! Today she noticed a few wrinkles on his legs and told me that we need to get him new legs :-) She is doing really well with him - most of the time ignoring him! Today she didn't understand why she had to be quiet and got upset about that...but Harper will just get used to the noise around here in time I guess!!

For those in the area, just a reminder that the Relay is tomorrow night at the park! This is an event we have been working for all year. And, as the co-chair for the county I am very excited it is here...yet it is bitter sweet because I won't be as involved as originally planned now that Harper is here!! Next year :-)

have a great weekend everyone!!

Introducing....

...the new family of four :-)

BIG thanks to Court for posting those pictures yesterday of Harper. I want to apologize to a few of you out there who didn't get a call from me on Friday. For some reason my phone isn't working well in my room, even when I am near a window...so it was a little frustrating making phone calls with spotty service!! Time got away from me, one day after another..and here we are. So please - no hard feelings?!!

Harper is doing well, and we expect to go home tomorrow! He is a little jaundice, but with the ABO blood incompatibility we expected that to come, and because of that we were able to keep a close eye on it before it got too bad! So, tomorrow will be a big day to see how he has improved!

There isn't too much to report - but will post more pictures when I get home!!

Charli is warming up to him, but have noticed she does better when it is just the four of us. Last night I picked him up and he was fussing a little, she said "give him to me mommy, I will make him happy." And sure enough she did!! The very first second she laid eyes on him she smiled and said "when he gets lost we will get a new one"!!!!!!!!! :-) But...today she fed him and held him...and loved on him - so we are making progress!! She is three, why would a newborn be exciting for her?!!! Chad said that Friday night after prayers she said "God is Great, God is Great, I love Harper" :-)

giving kisses to Harper

still my little girl :-)

the new crew!!

peacefully sleeping!

yes...this is what he did as soon as he was born!! So, he has not had access to those long little fingers since!!! Poor guy has had them all wrapped up in his shirts while we are here..he was going to town on that little thumb, I could not believe it!! He was about 1 hour old in this picture...

It's a BOY!!!!!!

Harper James

Harper was born June 19, 2009 at 8:42am!
6lbs 8oz
20"
Fuzzy hair....with maybe a tint of red?!!!

Charli is pretty unimpressed with her little brother, but
has managed to give a few kisses and innocent smiles!

Ill post more pictures as soon as I can - just wanted
to share a quick glimpse!! 

Thanks to Courtney for taking care of this for me!!

The Preisters -
Chad, Brenda, Charli and Harper :)

will there be another...?

Will there be another post before baby Preister comes to greet the world?! Maybe...?!!! Does anyone want to wager their prediction on the details - gender, day, time, size, and name?!

Grandma and Grandpa Borg came over last night and they went "bug hunting" and I guess this means they lay in the grass and look for bugs...not sure what they do when they find them, but Charli thought it was the best! She has been acting more shy each day, this just started in the past week or so. I hope it is just a short stage because she has been so social up until now...I guess she is my daughter so I am sure she will grow out of this quickly and start bugging everyone again soon :-)

Chad and Charli are all snuggled up on the couch drinking milk and watching "wonder pets" so I thought I would take advantage of the time and upload some pictures!!

38 weeks and counting -- again with the dirty mirror, which I DO clean!

I told her I wanted to take a picture of her in her new shorts...so she lifted them up for you to see! She thought she was being so resourceful here :-)

the "bug hunters"...this of course could only be done AFTER cleaning the slide :-)

Cinderella - Cinderella

Charli had a great time this week playing with two of her grandma's who came to watch her while we didn't have daycare this week!! Grandma Preister brought bubbles one of the days - and it looks as if Charli decided she wanted to catch them with her mouth! She also had a lot of fun drawing on her chalkboard and also coloring all over the driveway!

Today Charli and I got to go play with Braxton for a few hours and babysit, he was very easy for us...so it will be easy to go back :-)

When we got home this afternoon she spent well over an hour cleaning her slide off! She was so good at getting the top, sides, and even underneath the slide! She was funny to watch, it was a big and important project for her!!

deep in her creativity!

grandpa and Charli at the poker run

clean-clean...

scrub-scrub!

rain dance??

Well...we hosted our 3rd Annual Charli's Angels Poker Run this past Sunday. What a glorious day it was, if you were hoping to get a free car wash courtesy of mother nature!! It rained all morning which absolutely put a damper on the attendance for the day, but we moved forward with the event and were happy with the end result!! After all - the ONLY thing that matters is raising money!!!

We are so thankful for the riders and drivers who came out to support our cause and enjoy their hobby even though the weather was less than ideal. We truly appreciate you!! We would also like to send a big thank you to those who came for the meal later that evening. Through everyone's hard word and support we are able to donate over $1,300 to childhood cancer research and support this year. I am so proud of our friends and family who host this event - in the past two years we have donated over $4,000 to these very worthy groups. That is something we are extremely proud of!! It would not have been possible without the riders...so thank you for braving the elements!!

37 weeks

'i love the circus'

Charli had her first circus experience last night! She thought it was pretty cool! She was excited to see a monkey (which she didn't see) because "I really love monkeys" she told me! But she did not want to see camels, because she was afraid of them!! Good thing they weren't there!!

Grandma and Grandpa Preister met us there for the big night and Charli enjoyed most of the circus attached to them. During intermission Grandpa took her to ride on a pony and go down a big slide! She wanted nothing to do with riding on the elephant, maybe next year?!!

Before the circus got started a clown named Maverick came up to Charli and said that she needed to find him after the show for something special. We didn't really know what that was about, but thought it was special so we were all looking forward to seeing what it was!

After the show we went to find Mr. Maverick the clown and he told Charli that he wore small hearts under his eyes to show the little kids how much he loves them and wants them to have fun, and at each show he wears a special ring that has a heart on it too...and at some shows he picks a very special kiddo to give his ring to - and he picked Charli!! So he put the ring on Charli's finger, and she was so proud of it!!! Then Grandpa took her back to the souvenir booth to buy a balloon!!! She was so happy when we left, and had such a good time - I am SO glad we took her!!

On our way to the car Grandpa told her that next year we would come back and bring baby Braxton and the baby in mommy's tummy...to which I said she would rather leave the "babies" at home and go along probably!! She followed that up with something about leaving the baby AT the circus!! :-)

Thanks grandma and grandpa for making the circus special for her...she was talking about it first thing this morning -- she went to the circus with grandma and grandpa (forget that WE were there, right?!!) and she got to sit on grandmas lap to see the guys fall over and be silly!!

Charli and Maverick

Grandpa and Charli...they look pretty proud of each other I would say!

BIG elephant!!

she looks so little on that big slide!

mmmm, ice :-)

Chad thinks this might have been HIS first circus too, but his dad says no!! Either way...the first one he remembers! What a big night for these two :-)

getting ready for it to start!!

she loved this pony ride, she even "wore my seat belt mom"...the saddle had a leather harness for the kids to fasten!!

i'm the big-big sister :-)

Charli is really getting in to the "big sister" role in her world this week! She at one point said she would not go by Chalri anymore, but we were to call her "the big-big sister"!!! So, we feed into it!!

She is getting so attached to her music and bedtime prayers and can sign each song with me word for word, and then will sing them almost perfect alone and will say her prayers wtih us too!! So, if anyone needs "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Jesus Loves Me", or "You Are My Sunshine" sang at an upcoming event - book her now :-)

Today Chad and Charli took their almost daily trip to the park and Charli biffed it pretty good. She has learned to walk herself up the slide and I guess that is how it happened! I have to give her credit though, she does not give up! She can get 3/4 of the way up the slide and end up sliding down on her tummy...and get right back up there to walk up again until she reaches the top!

We had a doctors appointment last night - heartbeat was around 140-150 -- right in the middle for those who like to predict boy/girl based on that!!

enjoy the pictures :-)

look at my fat lips mom!

rocking her baby, feeding her a bottle, and keeping her warm with a silky!

right after this she asked me to "roll her up to she shoulders mom" - and she showed me how to swaddle her up!! too funny!

she wanted a picture of her shoes!

just for fun :D