Sharing

Peyton and I had a long day yesterday...I was exhausted from staying up until 1:00 AM with my friend (see previous post) and Peyton woke up at 4:00 AM for no reason so she was all out of sorts all day. Then we drove to the airport which made Peyton fall asleep out of boredom not during her normal nap so she was all messed up on her normal routine. Even though it was a long day we had a pretty good day (until about 4:00 PM when she was super cranky and all I wanted was for daddy to come home and save me).

While we were playing yesterday I gave Peyton a plastic ring thing and then I would ask for it back...this was our dialogue:

Mom: "Here you go Peyton."

Peyton: [Accepts toy with excitement]

Mom: "Can I have your toy Peyton?" [holds out hand]

Peyton: [Gives toy to mom]

Mom: "Thank you so much!" [says really excited]

Peyton: [smiles and waves her hands in excitement]

This went on for about 10 minutes before she lost interest but it was so much fun!

Other fun things we have done the past couple of days is learn how to bang on pots/plastic bowls and discover the different sounds they make. She was interested for a brief period and then was more interested in getting things in her mouth.

She is growing up so much and is always trying to grab things, move in some way. I am pretty sure it won't long before she is off crawling and exploring and I know she is going to be a handful.

Why I wish Oregon was closer....

Monday afternoon we had a visit from my college roommate/best friend/maid of honor Megan! She lives in Oregon and was in Beaumont for her grandmother's wedding. Instead of heading straight home she decided to spend Monday night with us and then leave Tuesday. I was so excited about getting to see her, having her finally see our house and meeting Peyton.
We had such a great time together! I miss her so much! I know that she is thinking about moving back to Texas someday with her husband and I am really hoping they do. Megan is the type of friend that there are no masks with. She is honest and always herself. You get complete honesty and transparency from her and you can do the same with her. What was so nice about this visit was that she was married last June and this was the first time that we were together both as wives. It brought a whole new aspect to our friendship and such a blessing to talk with such a good friend about something that we now share!

We spent the afternoon Monday playing with Peyton and it was so weird to see my college roommate here playing with my daughter. We have gone through so much together and I love that I can share this part of my life with her.

John came home from work and once I got Peyton into bed we went out just the girls for some Mexican food! We had so much fun talking and talking about everything!

We then came home and hung out and talked with John until about 1:00 AM in the morning. Of course Peyton woke up early the next day (she knows when mommy doesn't get any sleep) so I was up at 4:00 AM with her. I was exhausted most of yesterday but it was worth it!

I thought it would be fun to share some of the photos of Megan and I over the 5 1/2 years that we have known each other. We still find it mind boggling that we went from being potluck roommates our sophomore year of college to now being married and sitting in the living room of my house surrounded by baby toys.

Our joint 20th Birthday Party about a month after we met..potluck roommates

My 21st Birthday

Graduation May 2006

My Wedding -October 2006

Visiting Megan in Oregon - September 2007

Pregnant at Megan's Bachelorette Party - May 2008

Megan's Wedding in Oregon - June 2008

Post #200

Yes...I have written 200 blog posts since we were pregnant with Peyton! Somehow our mundane life has provided enough content for 200 posts...well...some of them might now have been interesting enough and we could have done without but either way....Crazy! 

In honor of the 200 post it will be ridiculously long and random post but I have a bunch of random things I have been meaning to blog about without having the time to do it...so here it goes.....

• Last week we celebrated 2 years in our house! I remember when we decided to go ahead and build our home and how we watched it being built and moving in. It has been such a blessing to have a home to make our own and we are so grateful! I know that the day will come (in about 3 years is what we are planning) that we will have to move and I already dread that day. We have built so many memories here!

• Peyton has finally started to like and more importantly want solids! This was a testament to kids will do things when they are ready and was very hard for me but it was a good lesson. So...after starting rice cereal around 5 months and then veggies at 6 months and Peyton gagging and refusing to eat so we stopped for a little bit and then restarted with rice and oatmeal and have been doing that twice a day for the past month. At first she wouldn't eat them, then she progressed to eating it but only if she was doing it herself (licking out of the bowl or grabbing the spoon) and then finally this past week she has been cleaning out the bowl, letting me feed her and wanting more! We will be doing cereal for another week and then starting with some yummy fruits. 

• Bottle refusal is still going strong...as shown by her screaming and refusing to eat on Friday. We even tried giving her milk in her cup and she was having none of it. I am not ready to wean her but I do want to be able to be away sometimes. Mostly this new attempt at the bottle has come because I have registered for a photography class in May and have plans to do more that will require me to be away for her bedtime feeding. Since I refuse to skip this class (I have waited three plus months to get a spot) and honestly think that her bedtime feeding is a comfort thing more than actually eating...she will just have to go to bed or wait up until I get home. Poor daddy :(

• We are looking at planning a trip over Memorial Day weekend. This past weekend we have been looking at different options and narrowing it down and then yesterday we pretty much decided where we wanted to go BUT then this whole Swine Flu thing has gotten a little more serious. Even though we weren't planning on going to Mexico, I still would like to wait a couple of days to see what happens. We haven't booked anything yet besides boarding for Titus (which I can cancel up to 72 hours before) so I am just going to see how things go and then make a decision. We REALLY want to go on a vacation and were looking forward to a nice time away as a family of three where we can focus on our marriage and just enjoying spending time with Peyton. After all our deliberation we were so excited about our plans so I am hoping we can still make it work. Stupid Swine Flu!

• Finally...this week is shaping up to be a little crazy! Today and tomorrow my best friend Megan is coming to visit!! She lives in Oregon and the last time I saw here was at her wedding in June (I was 26 weeks pregnant). She is in town for her Grandmother's wedding and is making a stop at our house before leaving tomorrow. She hasn't seen our house and hasn't gotten to meet Peyton yet! I am beyond excited! Then Wednesday I have a play date/bible study then on Thursday/Friday I have some serious work to do to get ready for a Kentucky Derby Party that we are hosting on Saturday. Busy, Busy! Also...we are watching my sister for the next couple of weeks while my mom is off visiting my dad (which means I better be better about blogging about pictures/Peyton's development because she will be going crazy without seeing her "lovey" for two weeks). It isn't too much work but I do have to remember to drop her off and pick her up at school. If anything it makes me get going in the morning instead of going back to sleep.

Baby Pool

Today we got out Peyton's baby pool and tested it out. She LOVED it!

She kind of looked a little confused at why we were having a bath outside and with clothes on but she was pretty amused by the large amount of water around her!

The big neighborhood pool opens up next weekend so we will be making a trip there and checking that out.

My Addiction

Have you noticed my lack of blogging this week? Note the last time I posted something was on Tuesday...do you know what we did on Tuesday night? Well, we went to Mooyah's Hamburgers ...which has nothing to do with my lack of blogging but I wanted to share a cute Peyton picture and story.....

At the restaurant they cook the burgers behind some glass so you can pretty much see them doing everything. Lots of movement and people in silly hats. Well, Peyton was so fascinated by all of the commotion and this was her watching them so intently...what a silly girl!

After dinner John surprised me with a trip to Barnes and Noble to pick a non child related book! To know how much this meant to me you need to know some background info. First, I love reading! This has been a love of mine for sometime now. In Junior High you would find me in my closet or in bed with a light when I was supposed to be sleeping. I couldn't get enough and I read books super fast (like one a day sometimes). This lead to me getting the highest Accelerated Reader (a book reading program in school) points in the state. You were required to get like 60 or so a year and I got around 3,000 points and a really cool certificate! So you can pretty much say that I love to read.

So, I picked out the Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards to read and since Tuesday I could not put it down. It was so good! I love books! I love imagining what the characters are doing or what they look like and picturing the scene. It is better than movies to me.

Well in order to finish it in a couple of days I did NOTHING around the house...besides change diapers...no worries, Peyton's quality of care was not affected. Since I finished it pretty quickly John said he would go and get me another book but I told him that our house needed to be cleaned and laundry needed to be done so we should wait a couple of weeks.

Did I say that I love reading?!?

Pain and Movin'

Yesterday was a big day for little Miss Peyton!

First, we were at Granny's house sitting at her desk by the computer and Peyton accidentally bumped her head on the computer. She looked a little shocked but we didn't make a big deal so no meltdown occurred. A couple of minutes later Peyton slowly moved her head down towards to computer and hit it again but it wasn't on accident, she looked up in shock but no response and then she slowly moved her head towards the computer a third time and hit her head...ON PURPOSE! This time she realized that what she was doing was causing the pain and she started crying! What a silly girl! This provided laughs all day long! We decided that she learned about how to inflict pain on herself yesterday!

Then yesterday afternoon we were home playing and Peyton fell over from sitting up. I am not picking her up anymore unless she wants to in order to get her more comfortable moving around and rolling etc. Well, Peyton has been determined to start moving. Every time we come home from a play date where kids are crawling she tries moving all of her body. Lately she has been bouncing up and down while sitting in hopes of creating some movement. I love it!

Well, this time she decided she was going to crawl and she did...but backwards! She did such a good job! She can always turn herself around to face the other way in hopes of moving towards something but instead she just moves backwards. It is cute! I quickly learned that the puppy is the greatest incentive to crawl because she just loves to get near him.

It is definitely time to finish up the baby proofing of the house!

Crazy Rain

I knew it was going to rain on Saturday pretty much all day long but I didn't think it would be that bad. When I thought it had let up I packed up and went over to my mom's because we were going to spend the rest of the rainy day shopping for a prom dress for Shannon. It was going to be a fun afternoon with both of my sisters and my mom. Peyton and I just made it over to my moms and go inside when suddenly what seemed like a hurricane came through. The wind was insane, it was a crazy amount of rain coming sideways and sometimes looked like a fire hose was being directed at the windows along with strong winds. When it was done the streets were flooded, trees were down, fences were down and if trees weren't done they went bent.

The power went out at our house so poor John was all alone in the dark. Here is what it looked like out front our house....

Well, after the rain had stopped and the street in front of my mom's house had drained we thought it would be fine to continue our trip to the mall. As you can imagine that was foolish and we got stuck all over League City trying to avoid high water and eventually turned around.

I like rain but in no way do I like this much.

Spicing Up Play Time

I was reading Kelly's Korner, a blog that I follow and she found a link to a website that has various activities your can do with your child that are age appropriate. I know that I have had a hard time figuring out new things to do with Peyton and welcome the creativity of others to help stimulate Peyton's play times and explore new things together. They will also send you weekly emails with suggested activities for your age. Some are a little challenging mostly because Peyton is just into the middle infant range but I am sure you can adapt them for where your child is.

Today's activity is....

Cause and Effect

Target Age: Middle Infant

What To Do: Your child will enjoy seeing what happens when turning the bedroom light 'on and off.' Help your child turn the light switch on and off. When the light goes on say, "On," and when it goes off say, "Off". Your child will begin to understand cause and effect.

You can check out the website at www.productiveparenting.com

Happy Easter

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter Sunday! I wish I posted yesterday but it was a busy day and by the time I found some free time I was so tired all I wanted to do was nap. It was such a great day though.

Peyton got a little stuffed bunny from the Easter bunny which she thought was pretty cool and tasty....

We started the morning off with a great Sunday service about the hope that the we have in our LIVING Lord. It was nice and even nicer was sitting beside my sisters and my mom for the first time in about four years or so (maybe even five). How more great it would have been if my dad was here and not working overseas...maybe next year. We managed to get home from church not too soaked from the rainstorm and started our Easter festivities.

Peyton was adorable in her Easter dress and loved all of the attention of both of her Aunts, her Granny and Auntie Ashley's boyfriend.

We went over to Granny's and Peyton had her own Easter basket waiting for her and then she had her own Easter egg hunt with little eggs that Papa had left for her. They were shaped like animals and she thought they were pretty interesting.

We then had a grown up Easter egg hunt which had a nice twist this year leaving me with $20 for my egg hunting efforts (I spent that this morning on a cute sundress I have been wanting at Target).

Peyton talked to Papa on the phone and she was smiling and really listening to him talk to her and even talked back. It was adorable! She has always loved to hear him talk!

After the hunt we had a wonderful lunch as a family. It was delicious and Peyton even had her own seat complete with fine china and crystal toasting glass perfect for her size. She of course knew exactly what to do and drank out of it like a big girl.

Ashley and I were responsible for dessert this year so she brought a yummy trifle and I made a cake called a Strawberry Freeze which was so yummy. It was really easy to make so I will have to make it again and take a picture of it next time so I can blog about the recipe! Great use for our fresh strawberries from Frobergs.

It was a busy day but such a beautiful day celebrating the hope we have in the resurrection of Jesus!
I will leave you with Peyton's bible verse from Pee Wee Ville for the month....

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Beach Time

Because having your first Easter Egg Hunt wasn't enough excitement for the day (see previous post)...Peyton also went to the beach for the first time.

Some of my mom's friends and their daughter drove from West Houston to spend the day with my mom and they all decided to go to Galveston so we all headed down there. The original plan was to spend the afternoon with my mom, Auntie Shannon, Auntie Ashley, and my mom's friends and their daughter. Well, shortly after arriving Shannon slipped on a rock and sliced her foot open. Not cool! They wrapped it up in a towel and my mom, Shannon and Ashley made a trip to UTMB. She didn't need stitches and she is in pain but doing OK and should be fine but we could have done without all of that. So, while they were off visiting Galveston's ER...John, Peyton and I enjoyed the company of my mom's guests! We had a blast hanging out with them and it was a good afternoon.

Now about Peyton and what she thought about this beach adventure...she LOVED it! She is such and outdoors girl. She loves being outside and is so happy. As soon as we got out of the car she was looking around and watching the waves. When we got settled on our blanket she was watching everything and eating the sandcastle toys that I bought for her. When we made it down to the water she was full of giggles! She loved feeling the sand and then when the water touched her feet she was even happier. It was so much fun and we love seeing her experience new things. Trips to the beach will be more and more frequent especially since it so close and free!

We are all pretty tired from our busy day and Peyton is out for the night although she was surprisingly happy for such a busy day...maybe my easy going baby is making a comeback...I sure hope so!

What a wonderful Good Friday!

Side note.....John and I realized today while we were at the beach that on August 9, 2003 we were there on a date and we made a sandcastle and then that night we went to Kemah for dinner and John asked me to be his girlfriend. Here is a picture of us from 6 years ago to go along with this trip down memory lane....

Yes..mommy had a nose ring! Doesn't help me much with the, "you shouldn't pierce your body talk," in about 12 years or so.

Almost 6 years later and here we are with our precious little girl. I would have never thought that was possible 6 years ago!

First Easter Egg Hunt

Today the mom's group that I am a part of had their annual Easter Egg Hunt! Peyton is a little too young to actually hunt any eggs but either way it is always fun to be outside, have a picnic and Peyton LOVES watching the big kids. She managed to find three eggs and put them in her mouth. The best part was that since it was daddy's Friday off he was able to join us....overall, it was a great morning out as a family!

Texas Blue Bonnets

It is pretty much a Texas tradition to find a patch of Blue Bonnets and stick your kids in them for pictures. Well, we did that for the first time last week but it was the middle of the day and all of my pictures were very washed out which was a bummer. So, we went out last night around 6:00 PM and took some new pictures. Peyton loved the flowers both times we went and was very content to just sit there, look around and have her picture taken. She was actually crying the way there and the Blue Bonnets were just the thing to make her happy. There are a couple more here as well.

My Little Easter Bunny