NEW Blog...

Okay, so we've been on a 5 month break from the whole blogging thing, but we're back and hopefully I can keep the new one updated. I could list several reasons why I have put off making posts on my own blog (new baby, new house, new camera and haven't figured out how to upload pics, etc., etc.), but check everyone else's regularly. However, the primary reason I've not updated this blog is every time I sign in and decide to, I feel overwhelmed at how far behind I am and I never know what to do with this one being primarily about/for just Presley. So, I've created a new blog for our family in general...

www.pokludafamily.blogspot.com

We'd love for you to check it out, but I must warn that it is still in the works of being put together.

Quick update...

We have been pretty busy with the holidays approaching very quickly (parties, get-togethers, shopping, etc.) and the house being close to move-in status and getting ready for that. We are hoping to move sometime next week, hopefully! We'll see. Although we are just "fixing-up" an older home, it almost seems as if we are building from scratch with all the choices and decisions that have to be made and things to be picked out. It's fun at times, but a little stressful at others too. However, the thing that took the longest with this deal was just waiting to close...the fix-up work has actually been really quick. I'll just be glad to be out of the apartment and have a yard for the kiddos to play in, no hammering during nap times, and be able to run out to the car without loading up the entire family to go get one thing.

We had a sonogram last Friday and everything looks great...it is definitely a girl...and just one. (I've been having crazy dreams that we are either having a boy or twin girls...yikes!) She is weighing in at 5 lbs. 5 oz. which is about 50% percentile. They said it looks like she has quite a bit of hair too, but that's what we thought with Presley and she still doesn't have much, although it's definitely been growing more the past few months. :) Speaking of Presley, she has been under the weather the last week with pink-eye and some virus...no fun! But thankfully it looks like she is on the road to recovery and hopefully will be well just in time for all the excitement of the move, Christmas, and a new baby sister.

and we're back...

Yes, I realize that I have not posted in almost 3 months...things have been crazy around here and we have not had Internet access in the apartment until recently. I don't think I ever realized what a blessing it is to have daily Internet access. Anyhow, here are some recent updates with us:

1. We just closed on our house this past week (after having in under contract for 2 1/2 months now) and hope to move in within the next 2-3 weeks! Yay!

2. We are scheduled to deliver our 2nd little girl on Jan. 2...I cannot believe in just a short month that we will be a family of 4!

3. Presley is becoming more precious and sweet with each passing day. Every day it seems that she is learning something new or amazing us with something. She is so much fun and such a sweet blessing!

4. We took a spontaneous trip to Florida back in October. We lost our camera while we were there, and although we have bought a new one, I have not yet figured out how to download and post pictures from it yet. (I hope to get Jonathan to show me this week)

So, that is just a small glimpse of the big things that have been going on with Team Pokluda. I'm so sorry...I feel like I have missed blogging about so many things, but instead of trying to catch up on all the past stuff, I think I'm just going to try to pick up from the present and vow to be better moving forward! I know I always say that, but I really am going to try (as long as I have a computer and Internet to do it with). :)

Also, Happy Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for and I truly feel so blessed for so many things!!!!

18 months...today!

Can you believe my mommy can actually get a bow in my hair these days?

(although it doesn't stay very long usually)

...and little clips. :)

I cannot believe our sweet little girl is already 1 and a half years old!! She has grown so much over the past 18 months, but sometimes I don't even realize it until I look back at pictures or look at myself holding her in the mirror and notice that her feet hang almost to my knees. She is such a loving, considerate, compassionate, caring, gentle, and usually very obedient little girl. She makes my heart melt several times every day by the way she acts and reacts to situations, the way I see her nurturing, motherly characteristics come out when she's playing with her babies, and by her sweet words and thoughts that she is expressing more and more fluently every day! She is truly a bundle of love and joy and we are so very grateful for the sweet blessing that she is in our lives!! Thank you Lord for such a precious gift!!

If you check our blog regularly, you know that I am really bad about posting regularly. I keep telling myself that if I ever get caught up on "old news" that I'll vow to stay up to date and that it will be easier to just post the day by day things that I don't want to forget. So, here is a little of what's been going on in our lives (with pics) over the past couple of months, and hopefully it will get us caught up (besides me posting some pics from our Cali trip this summer...which I hope to have up by the end of the week)...

Mommy gave me my first pedicure the other day!

She wondered if I was too young, but I saw her painting her toes and really wanted my done...I even sat very still with my toes pointed out the entire time.

2 of my favorite things these days include: DANCING and HATS!

...oh, and of course "pretend" talking on the phone.

If you catch me on a good day, I even enjoy really talking on the phone, with someone on the other end.

PLAY DATES! Oh, how I love playing and getting together with other friends (and mommy REALLY enjoys it too!) ...

Earlier this summer we went to the Addison fountains with my friend Carsen and her mommy and daddy...it was so much fun, although it was too cold that day to get in and I really wanted to!

These are my friends, Anna and Elle. They came swimming with me one day and then we all got to play in the bathtub together to wash off before dinner.

Almost every week, we get together with my buddies Collin and Jackson! We always have so much fun, and our mommies do too!!

This wasn't actually a play date (Parker is not quite old/big enough), but mommy and daddy got to babysit baby Parker the other night for Aunt Ali and Uncle Marshall. We all loved it! They got to experience a little taste of life with 2 (which they think will be a little overwhelming at first) and I got to experience having a new baby around...They say I'm going to be such a great big sis!!

I love my mommy...

...and my daddy SO much!!!

Daddy and I get our workout each day by doing push-ups!

Mommy and daddy decided they might try to start potty training me to see of I liked it or had any interest before the baby comes (they even bought me my very own "little" potty that I love to PLAY with)...as of right now I've had NO success, but I am beginning to tell mommy while or after I have gone in my diapee.

short sentences...

Okay, so they're really short, but mommy is amazed and excited and that I've started putting 2-3 words together to make some very short sentences. It started the other day when I saw daddy's car sitting beside mommy's and I pointed, saying "Daddy's car", then daddy was pretending to sleep and I pointed, saying "daddy sleep" and imitated him snoring, but I also like to say sentences with "I like...." as the starter. The other day mommy and I were at the store and as she was picking out some apples, I kept repeating "I like apples", "I like apples." I also like to put on hats and sign "hat" while saying "I like hat". Mommy and daddy think it's so cute, but what do I do that they don't think it cute...we'll I better not answer that right now, I'm sure I could think of a few things. :)

It's a .....

This morning mommy and daddy went to mommy's doctor to in order to have a sonogram to verify that I will be having a baby SISTER in January. We are all really excited! They actually had a sonogram 5 weeks ago and the dr. told them that she was 95% sure they would be having another girl, but today it was confirmed with 99.9% certainty! Mommy and Daddy are praying for another little girl as sweet as me!!

Here are just a few cute pics mommy thought she'd post since it's been soooo long:

Obviously, this picture proves how long it's been since mommy's posted...I would so not be wearing pants in this summer weather, but I do still LOVE to wear my sunglasses outside...mommy loves it when I squint my eyes and say, "bight (bright)", "sunnnnnn" and point when I don't have them on.

I LOVE to drink out of a straw, especially when I get to share out of the same cup with mommy! :)

hiding in the pillows on the guest bed with my bear

At our old house, I loved sitting on the bottom stair, esp. while eating my snacks...mommy and daddy were always amazed that I would never go above the first couple of steps unless someone was with me. They pray I always obey as well as I do "most" of the time.

I know, I know!!!

Okay, so I've been MIA for the past couple of months...we'll on my blog any way, but we have some really good excuses. Here is a quick summary and mommy promises to post again really soon with more details and pics...

1. On mother's day, mommy and daddy surprisingly found out that they are expecting another sweet little baby, which means...I'm going to be a big sister!!! Yeah!!! Shortly after finding out, mommy got really sick (almost everyday for the next several weeks she had morning sickness!). :( yuck! However, we learned that daddy could really pick up the slack around the house when he needed to; and thankfully now she is feeling sooooo much better! :)

2. With being pregnant, sick, and exhausted, mommy has been napping whenever I do.

3. We sold our house the beginning of July, moved into a really cool apartment for 3 months, and hope to find a new house before our lease is up!?

4. We've been traveling quite a bit, with it being summer and all...


More detailed posts and pics coming soon!!!

exciting news...

2 recent events have occurred in the past week that make my heart smile, so I just had to share...

Last Wednesday, April 30th, my mommy and daddy's dear friends, Alison and Marshall Treadaway delivered their sweet baby boy, Parker Garret. He weighed 7lbs. 5oz. and was 20.5 inches long. He is soooo adorable! I can't wait until he gets a little bigger and is able to play with me! Mommy is going to try to post some pics soon.

Also, today my friend Collin came over to play while his mommy (my mommy's BFFE) and daddy went in for a sonogram to find out if he was going to have a baby brother or sister this Fall. We'll, they were elated to tell us that they were having a sweet, little GIRL when they came to pick Collin up!! Yay!! My BFFE is on her way, due Sept. 25th. :)

WALKING!!!

As of this past week, I am officially a WALKER! I've been taking a few steps every now and then since I turned a year, but since this past Thursday, April 24th, I actually have a desire to walk and try really hard at it. It makes me feel so proud of myself when I walk from 1 thing to another without holding on to anything, and the smiles and cheers that come from mommy and daddy make it even so much more exciting for me! Last week I started standing up from sitting down all by myself and felt pretty steady, so I decided it was about time to be confident in myself and go ahead and at least try to walk on my own for more than 1 or 2 steps. I now can take several (7-12) steps from one thing to another all by myself and it seems that number keeps growing each day. Now sure, I occasionally fall down, get to going too fast and have a little tumble, and even crawl when I'm on a mission to get to something far away in a hurry, but for the most part I am doing pretty good! Nana and Papa are coming up just for a quick visit today, so I can't wait to show them my new skills...also, mommy hopes to get a video of me walking on here soon.

My weekend with Nana...

My Nana came up this past Thursday and stayed through the weekend...we had SOOOO much fun besides the fact that Papa couldn't come and daddy had to work most of the weekend!!! On Friday, we just hung out at the house most of the day, went to Target, and Nana took me for a couple of rides in my wagon outside. Then on Saturday we went shopping at Aunt Mel Mel's store in uptown for mommy and Nana, and then they took me to Toys R Us!! I was in awe the entire time we were there...it was AMAZING!! They have so many toys!!! I wanted EVERY baby doll and ball that I saw!! Nana even bought me my very own shopping cart and a huge ball...thank you so very much!!! I've had so much fun playing with them both! She really wanted to buy me another baby doll too, but mommy said she could next time. I can't wait 'til next time!!! Then on Sunday, Nana watched me during the morning while mommy and daddy went to help with service day at our church and then mommy and Nana took me to the park that afternoon!! It was to much fun...I went up and down the slides numerous times, chased birds through the grass, and even played in the dirt (mommy couldn't believe how much fun I had playing in the dirt...I'm usually really particular about about touching things and textures!). Mommy is really sad she didn't have her camera with her to capture all the fun we had, but here are a few pictures after all the fun...

I love my Nana!!

Whew! I'm ready for bed and it's only 5:00pm...you guys wore me out!

p.s. Nana, mommy and daddy are so grateful for you and wanted to say thanks so much for letting them have 3 date nights in a row! What a treat!! :)

catching up...Cuero

A few weekends ago we went down to Cuero for my great-grandma's 95th birthday and to spend some time with Lala and Pops and all my other family on my daddy's side. We had so much fun and I so wish we got to see that side of the family more often! It was quite a busy weekend...we had dinner with Honey and Gramps as soon as we arrived on Friday night, went to Lala's spring fling at her school on Saturday afternoon, went to church and had dinner at the Country Club on Sat. night, and then celebrated Grandma Pokluda's 95th birthday on Sunday. I guarantee I never had a dull moment...I got to play at the park, pop bubbles outside, see horses, and play with my cousins Audrey and Joshua, all of which are some of my favorites! I can't believe mommy didn't get more pics, but here are a few from Lala's spring fling at her school...



I love you and miss you Lala!

Mommy, these new shoes make it so much more fun to walk in the grass.

Wow! Mommy look at that cool bounce house!! When will I be big enough to do that?

catching up...a day in downtown Dallas

These really nice Indians were standing outside the DWA! I really wish we could have gone inside...if this was outside, I can't wait to see what is inside.














On Good Friday, Daddy was off work so we loaded up and headed downtown to go to The Dallas World Aquarium; however mommy and daddy forgot that it was Good Friday and so of course the line to get in the Aquarium was wrapped all the way around the building and we decided to for-go that adventure. They promised we would come back again soon though, and we still had a great day out and about in downtown. We ate at one of the underground food courts, walked around and enjoyed the sights and sounds, and then decided to visit the Dallas Museum of Art since the Aquarium was too crowded. Here are a few pictures from our day...

Daddy snapped this shot of mommy and I finishing our food in the food court.

Oooooo...I love waterfalls! Actually I love anything that has to do with water!

Hey guys! Please don't leave me!?...this art is cool and all, but I like y'all much better!

Okay, enough of a quiet museum for a little one like me...let's get outta here!

coloring and grass...

Today mommy, daddy and I met Uncle Maffew and Aunt Mel Mel at Chuys for a late lunch after church and a nap. Restaurants usually always give me a fun coloring sheet and crayons, but I usually don't get to see them for very long because mommy or daddy take them away because I like to use my beaver skills to sharpen the crayons and tear the paper. However, today after Aunty Mel Mel and daddy showed me how to use them, I actually tried to color the fishy picture all by myself! I did such a fantastic job!!!...I never once tried to put the crayon in my mouth, I held the crayon correctly all by myself, and I even made some pretty marks on my paper that actually showed up (with all the different colors might I add)! I think I've inherited my daddy's super duper art skills! Mommy said the next task we'll work on is staying in the lines.

Also, today we went over to my friends Anna and Elle Jacobs' house for dinner and some fun, and I was reminded yet again that I am NOT very fond of GRASS! I don;t understand why mommy wants a new house with a big backyard and lots of grass because that stuff is prickly and scary! I don't plan on crawling through it any time soon and if by then I'm walking, you'd better put some shoes on me!

"big" milestones...

So, I've been doing a few impressive things the last few days...Yay for me!

1. This past week I have been wanting to put myself to sleep in my crib for my naps (and I'm back to taking 2 pretty solid naps, instead of refusing my afternoon nap...mommy is grateful for this!) Now, I still love for mommy to read me my stories, rock me, and sing me a couple of songs, but then it just seems like I can get more comfortable in my bed to dose off to wonderland.

2. As of the day before yesterday, I can officially crawl out of my toy chest all by myself! I have been crawling in to play for some time now, but somebody always had to help me out, but not any more. I am so proud of myself...I just step out with one foot, get my hands placed right on the edge, turn myself around, and then pull the other leg out.

3. I took 3 steps this morning!! I'm still pretty unsure about this whole walking thing, but I wanted to show off a little, so this morning as mommy was cooking breakfast and daddy and I were playing in the living room, I walked to him from one of my stand up toys, with a sippy cup in my mouth...wow, impressive huh!? However, that was enough for me...it put a huge smile on my face and lots of praise and claps from mommy and daddy, so that was enough to last the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow I'll surprise mommy and show her my new skills since she missed the actual action today.?

4. just for the records...i now have 8 teeth and am eating just about any and everything, although I definitely have an opinion about many foods (and it varies from day to day, which I like and don't like?)! I do however, love to bite off pieces of just about anything that mommy or daddy is eating.

Mommy says I'm starting to grow up too fast...bitter sweet! :(

Just Playin'

One of my favorite things to do when I'm playin' at home is climb inside my toy box and sit and rummage through all my toys, stopping to examine some and throwing some out if they're of no interest to me at the moment. Mommy just wishes that I could get my self back out because she is always waiting for me to let her know I'm ready...

'hmmmm...what do I want to play with today?'

'I love my sesame street music book...I can even push the music buttons all by my self now!'

'aaahhh, I'm getting tired....

...I better get out and get ready for night-night.'


'Mommy, can you help me out here...you know I can't quite do this by myself yet!'

I also LOVE books and love being read to! I have so many cool books and they never seem to get old...I love hearing them over and over! Nana even sometimes changes the words when she reads them to me, and it makes for an exciting new story. I can also point out familiar pictures and call many of the objects in the books by name, like the puppy dog, kitty cat ("mouw"), "bbbbbn" (balloon), ball, bee ("bzzzzzz"), bunny rabbit, teddy bear ("br br"), duck ("du"), and the birds. Mommy and Daddy are amazed at how smart I am and how well I understand them these days! They always are telling me what a sweet little angel I am, and I can't argue with that!

ONE!

Yesterday was my 1st Birthday! Mommy and Daddy can't believe that I am already 1 years old! On Saturday, they had a really fun birthday party for me, that included all my family and friends, minus a few. I had so much fun and I'm so grateful for all the cool presents, even though I would have been just as grateful to just see every one's smiling faces! I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Mommy decided that it would be fun to have a super cute and unique birthday outfit, so what better to show off my princessness than a fluffy, pink tutu!

This is a picture of me trying on my new accessory...'what is this?'...'I'm not really sure, but it's kind of fun!'.

'am I going to be able to get around in this thing?'

My daddy is so creative and while he was out getting some last minute items for my party, he ran across this really cool background and decided to set up a picture shoot in the front of our house with one of his motorcycles (or his current one any how). It turned out to be a big hit and lots of fun!

I got some really cool gifts at my party too!...and I didn't even ask for anything!?

Thanks so much everyone for being so generous and thoughtful!

Yea!! I love books!!!

...and babies!

My very own princess see n' say...wow!

My party was actually the day before my birthday, so mommy and daddy waited to give me their gifts until the following day (my real birthday)...it was like Christmas all over again!

I really am so grateful for everyone that made it such a special day for me!!

I love you all sooooo much!!!

steps towards walking all by myself...

This is one of my cool Christmas present.

And this is one of my favorite things to do these days!

My Aunt Melissa and Uncle Matthew got me this really cool car for Christmas and it turns into a push toy as well. I love for mommy and daddy (anyone for that matter) to push me around the house on it, while I make the "vroom, vroom" sound, but I've been a little nervous to actually stand behind it and push it, much less walk with it...that is until the day before yesterday. Daddy kept telling me I could do it, but I was a little unsure and would always just squat down when they'd put me behind it. However, I guess with all his encouragement, it made me believe in myself, but I wanted to try it with mommy first before I showed off my new skills to daddy. So, the day before yesterday, mommy and I were playing in the living room and I decided I'd crawl over, pull myself up and see if I could really stand there without any help...mommy was so excited to see me just do that, I thought I'd go ahead and see if I could walk behind it too. Sure enough, daddy was right!! I was a little shaky and slow at first, but I think I've got the hang of it now...yeah for me!! Mommy was so excited, she praised me so many times and had to get on the phone with daddy right away...he too was really excited and couldn't wait to rush home to see for himself! What will they do when I actually take those first steps all by myself??...I can't wait to find out!

Look at me go!

Ummm...daddy, can I get a little help here!?

Thanks daddy! You're the best!

And I'm off again!