A Little Slice of Heaven

I finally did it! I have produced the perfect angel food cake!!!! Thank you, thank you America's Test Kitchen! Not only do they have great recipes that have been put through the ringer, but they also provide videos. This was a major help to me. The last time I tried making this type of cake (um, two years ago?!) I obviously did not fluff the eggs enough. Plus, I think the recipe was kinda botch...

Take a look at my homemade angel food cake and whipped cream. (Please excuse the lighting. It's terrible in our kitchen)

Mmmm... This yummy-deliciousness is definitely going on my table for Easter.




This recipe is very, I mean VERY, time consuming. Sift all of this, add this by the tablespoon, beat forever (literally 10-11 minutes), cool for what seems to be a lifetime... But, oh so worth it in the end though.
Next up, blueberry scone!

Trying to Find That "Something"

One thing I love to do is.... drum roll please.... Take Pictures! Shocking, I know. But, I also love to try and manipulate these pictures with Photoshop. I have run across a few websites that really inspire me (especially this one) to not only take more photos, but to also use my tools, such as Ps! Here are few photographs that I have taken and altered a bit. Let me know what you think!

1) Flower in my "garden" at our old house down in Buckhead.


2) Fence line on my family's farm. This is one of my favorites so far.

The 'after' was not done with just a B/W button. The colors are actually a deep blue and soft yellow.

3) Ferris wheel at the oh so lovely Atlanta Fair...


I love the after. I think the techniques that I used age this particular image a few decades! If I'm loving it still in a few months, I may put this on a wrapped canvas and use it for the boys' party!

So far I am having fun and would like to pursue this a bit more. There are a ton of beautiful Ps actions out there as well, especially from this site, that I just love! I may wait to purchase them because we are in the midst of a meltdown with my Mac. I will surely miss this little white bundle of goodness. :(

The Joys of Life

So things have been busy around here these days. First off, my girlfriend Aubree had her second little boy, Finn. Baylor and Hunter are now 8 months old. I am planning their first birthday party and driving myself crazy over it already!! Teeth are coming in left and right. And last, but not least, crawling and standing........ oh yeah, I said standing, has become the new norm in the Preston household! Here's the breakdown:

Welcome Phineus Muir Bergmann (aka Finn)!!!!

Born February 28 ~ 8 pounds 3 ounces ~ 21.5 inches


He is so precious! It's sad to say but, I almost forgot what it felt like to hold a tiny being in my arms. Those itty bitty baby noises no longer exist in my household anymore. And I miss them... I just cannot believe that Aub has another little one on her hands. But, I do know that our boys will grow up to be best buds! I can't wait for a "real" play date with our 4 boys!

8 Months Old!!!
I really just do not know how to stop old man time from coming around. I blink and my two boys are crawling, sprouting teeth and pulling up! Seriously. I do not think I can handle this. My love for them continues to flourish. And yet, my heart continues to break each time Baylor and Hunter cross another milestone! But, I would never wish for these moments to end. Hunter received his first tooth Sunday and Baylor now has 3 with a 4th coming in as well... Poor little buggers!



Baylor


Hunter


Proud Papa


Showing the boys the geese that came to say hello


Proud Mama (I love Hunter's expression in this photo)


A few weeks ago we took a trip down to the Atlanta Zoo and had such a wonderful time! Of course, the boys had no idea what they were doing, what they should be looking at or where they were. They did however make a new friend...





Here is a photo of Baylor pulling himself up. Note: this is also the same day he started actually crawling!



They had their first taste of meat and here's what they thought about chicken...

They're definitely my children!

Here are some random pictures that I thought I should share

Having a chat across the way

Their first "real" bath!




For some reason this is Hunter and Baylor's new favorite thing to play with!



Reading their favorite book 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear... What Do You See?'



Checking out the loot on Valentine's Day


I cannot wait for the boys' first birthday!!! It is going to be so much fun planning and celebrating this occasion! For some time now I have needed some thing to do, some sort of outlet if you will, to let out this pent up something that is inside of me. I finally have this birthday party that I, not only do I have to do but, cannot wait to get started! The theme will be that of a handmade & vintage circus. I plan on making pretty much everything for their party, to an extent of course. I will keep you updated on my progress and my how-tos! Ahh! Very exciting...

Another Month Passes Us By

So, we're 7 months old this week!!! Doesn't it seem like this is all I have been saying lately?! We're 4 months... 5 months.... 6 months... 7.... 8.................................. Ugh. Why does time have to go by so quickly when you get older?! I can remember as a child, it seemed like my birthday, summer vacation and Christmas break would never get here! Now, it feels like Hunter and Baylor's birthday will be here next week. OK, so in another 4 months but, I think I am going to start planning now!

Here are some photos from their 7 month "photo shoot"...

I love these Sticky Bellies milestone/birthday stickers! If you go to their website (and Facebook page) you can see photos of the boys! How awesome is that?!






Hunter and Baylor are growing up so fast! Hunter is now working on his first tooth (waking mom up at 4:30 this morning!) and Baylor's second is wanting to show up and join in on the fun. Crawling is a common move around here and eating everything in sight... well, let's just say the apple doesn't fall from the tree, dad! These two are always smiling and laughing, which in turn makes me smile and laugh all of the time! You will see why below.

here...


... and here




By the way, Bruizer is coming home this week! I am so thankful for Sam and Kristine (Ken's nephew and his wife)! They have really helped us out with Bruizer and his kidney infection. He had a little surgery last week, has been recovering nicely and comes home Friday... Couldn't ask for a better outcome! Love this little kitty...

News Flash ~~~

BAYLOR HAS HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!
The past couple of weeks should have really been my sign of what was to come. Baylor would not finish his bottle or bowls of food, no matter how many tries or pin downs. I kept saying "this is a sign of teething", but I got nothing. And, he bit down on my leg a couple of times and it hurt! Hurt like he had teeth in that tiny mouth of his. Then BAM! Last night I found an itty bitty tooth! Now what? One baby crawling and another teething... I'm afraid that my life is about to be turned upside down. And all of this before 7 months.

Also, I completely forgot to give you the boys' doctor updates. We went last week for their 6 month check ups. Here are their stats:
Baylor weighs 15 pounds, 5 ounces and is 27 1/4" long (80th percentile!). Long and lean!
Hunter weighs 15 pounds, 11 ounces and is 26 1/2" long. He's right in the middle at 50th percentile.
The doctors told us that to discard the percentile measurements with twins because they'll never really matter, as multiples can never catch up with a singleton. I must say, these two seem to be doing just fine catching up! I do hope that one of them (I'm thinking Baylor) will be nice and tall like their Uncle JP and my mom's dad. I did not get so lucky, or my sister who is shorter than me!

I'm sure we'll have more to update you on soon! Happy Super Bowl weekend! Go Packers.... or Steelers ~ who ever you're rooting for I guess........

This Is Going To Be A Long One...

There has been a ton going on lately, so brace yourself for a long post! Baylor and Hunter turned another corner and are now 6 months old; snow and ice turns Atlanta into a desolate metropolis; and, back down to Bartow/Waynesboro we go for round 2 of our family Christmas get together.

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

OH. MY. GOODNESS. It has been soooo cold outside! The second week of January brought in colder weather, ice and snow! Lots of snow. And boy did we know it... roads and highways were shut down due to ice, our driveway was coated in ice and the lake behind our house had a nice layer as well!!! Here are some pics from our very first "winter storm"!

The ducks and geese were walking everywhere...

Growing up
Baylor and Hunter are now 183 days old. 24 weeks old. SIX MONTHS OLD!!! Where did the time go? Did I sleep for a month and miss something? B & H are practically sitting up on their own, using high chairs and eating tons of different foods these days! Oh yeah! And did I mention that they're pretty much crawling!!!!!







Baylor

learning to crawl

Hunter

learning to crawl

Our little bohemian

"who's that handsome fella?"

Did I mention that Hunter is crawling?!!!? How exciting! Here's a little video that David captured this morning.



Here's another fun video of the Hunter & Baylor enjoying a little peek-a-boo with mommy!




Family Christmas ~ Take 2
We were scheduled to have Christmas with my mom's family Christmas weekend. But with the flu bouncing around, everyone decided to have a rain check. So the Preston family packed it all up, again, and went down to Waynesboro for our family get together. We had such a great time! My family finally met B & H and McKenzie was such a sweet little cousin playing with the boys and holding them!




To & Fro
Although the weather was pretty crappy in the beginning, it's been a wee bit tame lately. So it's been great to take the boys out and about! We met some friends for lunch on MLK day and the boys got to meet their little girl, Sofia. She's so stinking precious!

Sofia eating her delicious eclaire after yummy fish tacos at Taqueria

We took the boys on their first trip to Athens this week to watch their (and our) first basketball game! Needless to say we were not there for long... the halftime show was awesome! ~ Can you just hear the sarcasm?

This pic was taken by a drunk college kid... so I guess it was great according to his standards!



On this same Athens trip we got to see Aunt Jackie! It was nice seeing my sister in the middle of the week. A nice change of pace.


Today was B-E-A-UTIFUL!!! 69° + sunny = perfect day for a stroll down in Virginia Highlands!! We had lunch on the patio at Osteria, walked around and did a little window shopping, fed the boys on a bench and had some fabulous gelato! This day couldn't get any better!





Just for fun, here are some cute pictures of the boys

Hunter loves to make this scrunchy face now. I don't know where he got it from, but it's so funny!


and again...


Granny Smith apples were not the way to go for a first apple experience!





Looking out into the unknown...


Showing Bruizer a little love


(Our poor Bruizer had to be taken to the ER vet last night. I found a good amount of blood in the tub and David rushed him to the vet. It turns out he has a kidney infection. My poor kitty!!! The vet said he may be ok. Once they remove the catheter we'll know more. I will keep you posted on his condition.)

Hanging out with mommy in the kitchen, just mixing up some bottles