Baby Dedication

This past weekend we did a baby dedication for the three babies in our small group. We had Peyton, Gavin and Caleb. It was such a special event and even more special to be able to do it with friends that mean so much to us. We had food, cake and invited all of our friends and family who have been instrumental in supporting us in the endeavor.

Our church has the small groups within the church do a dedication because in reality, the relationships that we have in small groups are the ones that will be praying for us specifically, encouraging us, mentoring us and being the ones to help keep us going. One of the wives from our small group's dad is a pastor at our church and he graciously came out to lead the dedication. Since it is May and insanely hot in Texas, we mostly hung out inside, but decided to have the ceremony outside so everyone could see.

The dedication part was so sweet and inspiring. We appreciated hearing the pastor's words that he spoke about it being our responsibilities to teach Peyton to trust the Lord and to love HIM and serve Him through our words and our actions. Now...during the dedication we saw why these are done when kids are babies. Peyton wanted to get down and run around and at one point, got her lovey and paci and laid down on the grass to go to sleep! What a silly girl! And then when the pastor was done, she promptly waved and said, "bye," to him. Silly!

It was a special day and I am glad we took the time to create those memories!

Playing with Gavin!

Peyton has a wonderful friend named Gavin whose parent's are in our small group. I love it when they get together to play because they have so much fun and now that they are older, they just entertain each other and I feel like I almost have a break because they want nothing to do with me.

Well Gavin's parents had to do some stuff for their upcoming move to Saudi...yes, they are seriously moving to Saudi which makes me and Peyton very sad.

We had so much fun yesterday playing outside, in the sand box, with bubbles and then moving inside for lots more fun!

Mother's Day, Cruising in Mexico and Big Girl Shoes...

So this past week has been crazy busy!

First, I celebrated my second Mother's Day and was treated to breakfast in bed complete with Starbucks and a Polar Heart Rate monitor that I have been wanting as a gift. The best part though was the Peyton kisses that I got and the cuddles in bed! That is the greatest gift ever! I am so in love with that little girl and feel so blessed that God has entrusted her to us and I have the honor of being a parent to her! That afternoon I got to spend some time with my mom getting pedicures so it was nice day!

Well, the rest of the day was mostly spent preparing for a 5 night cruise on the Carnival Estacy out of Galveston with just John! Peyton spent the time on vacation at Granny and Papa's!

Here was ensued while I was packing....

I love how she picked out one of my favorite pair of shoes! The girl has some style! I love it!

So, on Monday John and I dropped off Peyton and headed down to Galveston and boarded the cruise ship for 5 nights of no Peyton...which was so hard! I missed her so much! I know it is important to have alone time and time to focus on our marriage and that we are better parents when our marriage is strong but 5 nights was way too long away from my pumpkin! And, I would say that Granny and Papa agreed!

We sailed for one day at sea (where I go seriously sun burned) and then docked in Progresso, Mexico where John and I decided to take a bus to Merida, one of the oldest cities in that part of Mexico. We walked around, enjoyed the architecture and spent a relaxing afternoon exploring.

The next day we were in Cozumel, Mexico where we went snorkeling! I LOVED it! I was so scared that I would not be able to do the whole breathing in a tube thing but I did great and the view was amazing. As soon as we were done I told John how I wanted to go scuba diving!


Overall it was a relaxing trip, filled with lots of naps, reading books and good conversations! It was a nice time away but I was very ready to be home and see Peyton...and when we got home we found out she was ready to see us too! Granny and Papa did GREAT taking care of her and like the last time we tried to get away....she got sick but this time it required breathing treatments from a mask! I felt AWFUL when I got home and found all this out but know that she was very well cared for. They even convinced her that her mask was her Barney mask! She is even asking to do her mask now. Pretty much she had the child form of Bronchitis and the treatments at home were to keep her out of the hospital. She is much better now, thank God!

All said and done, I don't think I will be planning any long trips away any time soon! I missed her too much, it was a lot for Granny and Papa and I felt awful with her getting sick! At least the next trip is to Canada with Peyton...we should be good there!

Summer is Here..time for some shades!

Time for the shades...the sun is out!

Butterfly Museum

Today Peyton along with her friends Gavin and Caleb visited the Cockrell Butterfly Museum at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The kids were free and it was only $8 for adults which makes for a cheap and fun activity! We were the only people there, so the kids were able to explore and not be in any one's way which is great when you have two curious toddlers. I didn't know whether she would like it but she loved it. When we first entered the museum there was a large caterpillar statue that they wanted to climb around which we attempted to get a photo of all three kids...impossible!

Part of the museum was interactive, giving you lots of info about butterflies, insects, and much more. The kids got to press buttons, look at real insects in cages, and then got to walk through an area that had butterflies flying around. Then we went downstairs to the rain forest like area and saw an iguana and a waterfall along with some butterflies. The kids mostly enjoyed the water puddles along the walk path! After the museum, we got our lunches and had a little picnic in the park outside. It was a wonderful day and we all enjoyed getting to soak up the sun! It was a wonderful day!

Easter

Peyton LOVED Easter this year! She had multiple Easter egg hunts and quickly picked up on how it all worked. She especially loved the plastic grass in all her many, many baskets! It was all over our house!

We had a wonderful time with my parents, John's mom and my sister Ashley who were all over for a late lunch! I love cooking for everyone!

Here are some pictures from the day!

Easter Portraits

I try make an effort to take Peyton to a park near our house and capture some more portrait like pictures every now and then. Well a couple of weeks ago, Granny and Papa came and helped me get some pictures of her in her Easter dress. I loved her Easter dress this year. It was so girly, frilly and pink. I have a feel she will more of a tomboy so I went ahead and got my girly dress in while I can.

I love this little girl so much!

Nice Weather...Nice Shades

Granny and Papa got Peyton some cool new shades to go with the beautiful Spring weather. She is one cool toddler!

Texas Blue Bonnets

By coincidence...I managed to go out and take this year's blue bonnet's photos the same day as last year! How funny! What is even more fun is looking back at last year's pictures and seeing how much she has changed! I put her in a white dress like last year and it is in the same spot so all that has grown is my precious little baby! I can not believe how fast time flies and how much she grew in a year!

Growing up...

It seems like the past few weeks have been full of experiences that just remind me how big Peyton is getting and how she is no longer my little baby that used to fall asleep on my chest. Yes, she is still a baby but now she is moving into the official toddler phase and it makes me a little sad.

First we started with getting her first haircut! Her bangs were starting to cover her eyes and she refused to wear a bow to keep them out of her eyes so we went and got her haircut. She looks so much older now but very adorable! Also it seems like getting her hair cut, even if it was just her bangs has resulted in the rest of her hair being more curly than normal! She was so good getting her hair cut and only cried when the scissors got close but stayed still and calmed down quickly.
She is also starting to learn the hand movements to all of her songs that we sing regularly and will ask you to start singing the song so she can do the movements. So far we are professionals at the Etsy Bitsy Spider, If you are happy and you know it, Do your ears hang low and Mr. Sun! I have a video that I will try and upload but it might take awhile so we will see!

Here is Peyton at the computer, I guess typing an email! She just walked in there, climbed up on the chair and starting typing away!
The biggest change though is her new big girl bed! Yes, she is no longer in a crib! She started putting her leg over the crib about three weeks ago and could just get her ankle over. Either way we started discussing what we should do since her crib was on the lowest setting. When we bought her crib we didn't go with a convertible crib because we figured she would be in it for awhile and then we would transition her when we needed it for a new baby, well, that plan didn't work and since we didn't have a convertable crib (one that converts into a toddler bed) we went out to Ikea and got her an Minnen extendable bed. It is amazing! It is the width of a twin and starts at a pretty small length but can extend to slightly larger and then finally into a twin sized bed.

Well we had bought the bed on a Friday but didn't have time to put it together and wanted to wait until we had a calm day at home so we could take the time to transition to it. So, on Wednesday Peyton did not want to go down for her nap and after awhile she was quiet so I figured she gave up. When I walked by her room however I noticed a shadow by her door. I kept walking and then realized that they were her feet! I ran into her room and sure enough she was standing my the door. I must have scared her because normally when I get mad at her she laughs (yes I know how bad that sounds and I am working on my scary mom look but that is a whole seperate post) and this time she had fear in her eyes which I am not going to lie gave me a little bit of happiness that I could scare her. I was so scared that she hurt herself and I guess she saw it! Well, I checked her over and she was fine but that night we set up her new bed.

We have it on the smallest size and she LOVES it! Really loves it! She sleeps so much longer and sounder and is so excited to get into her new bed. I was so nervous about getting her to stay in bed but she has adjusted amazingly well. The first night it took about 30 minutes but since then she pretty much stays in bed! We have a baby gate across her door so when she gets up in the morning she isn't wandering around the house so she now just calls for me from there. I am so incredibly proud of her on how well she has adjusted!
I am glad she likes her bed and is sleeping fine BUT....it is SO HARD to see your little baby who looked so small in her crib when we brought her home now in a big girl bed. I did have some tears the first night! I miss my baby!