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!

18 months

Peyton is 18 months old now! Crazy!

She had her 18 month check up a couple of weeks ago and the doctor is more than happy with how she is growing and developing. She is just over 23 pounds and still pretty tall (87%)!

She is such a precious little girl and is super silly and loving and so strong willed at the same time! It makes me laugh for so many reasons!

Honestly...where has the time gone. Isn't she adorable!

Last March...6 months old!

18 months old (before her haircut)!

Playing with friends

So while I was in Canada Peyton was home with John. So he wouldn't have to take off from work we had two amazing friends watch Peyton for us. We are so blessed to have such a great community around us and thankful that they watched Peyton so I could attend the funeral and John could work.

Check out pictures from her day at with the Shelton's and the Perry's!!

Morris Gordon Topping

I left my last post saying that our trip to Vancouver was shadowed by hearing that my Grandfather had passed away. I intended on following up that post the next day but honestly my grief and pain was still strong and I think I just kept finding reasons not to blog.

I am not going to write a long post about who my Grandfather was, what he meant to me or about the funeral or anything really...it is just too hard right now. Someday I will and I will tell you how he accepted the Lord at 84 years old!

Right now I just wanted to share some memories through pictures of my grandpa from the past three years. Looking back I am so thankful that I got to dance with him at my wedding, and introduce him to my precious daughter, his great granddaughter.

Morris Gordon Topping
April 13, 1926 to February 25, 2010

Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Peyton and I headed up to Vancouver for an amazing time with family and experiencing the Olympic culture. We headed to Seattle first and after picking up the car we headed to the hotel for some naps. Peyton was ready to get going with her brochures!

After naps we headed to Pikes Market where I was again reminded how much I LOVE Seattle. I fell deeply in love with that city. We walked around and experienced the atmosphere and some yummy ice cream. We walked down by the water and had some seafood for dinner and then walked the insane hills while pushing Peyton home to the hotel. I figured that was my leg workout for the week!

The next day we all packed up and headed to the Space Needle first and took in the sights of Seattle and the scenery...beautiful! Did I say again how much I want to live there! Following the Space Needle we drove towards the border, exploring Bellingham and Blaine on our way. Washington is such a beautiful state. We crossed the border late that day and into Vancouver shortly later.

We LOVED our time in Vancouver! I loved seeing my family and spending time up there. Just like Seattle, Vancouver was amazing and I fell in LOVE! Do you see a pattern of wanting to live in the Pacific Northwest? We had great weather and even the couple of rainy days didn't detour me from wanting to move.

Peyton did amazing with sitting in the stroller which was one of my biggest fears. We figured out a system that whenever she could walk I would let her as long as she would hold onto the stroller. Most of the time she would just hold on and walk and then would get tired and actually ask to get in...perfect!

Here are some of the sites and sounds we saw around town as we were walking around...

One day my Aunt Maureen and I took Peyton to the aquarium which I was a little hesitant about doing because I wasn't sure whether she would like it but she LOVED it. Her favorite exhibits were the floor to ceiling tropical fish tank and this tank that had sharks and turtles. She was so happy to watch the fish. Since it was pretty empty she was able to run around and go wherever she wanted to. It was a great outing!

On Thursday Peyton and I went with my dad and Shannon to the Women's Gold Medal Hockey Game! It was an amazing experience and even better since CANADA WON! Peyton did pretty well watching until the fog horn went off for the goal and she was very upset and I managed to calm her down until it went off again and it went downhill from there. She made it through the game but we walked the concourse for the medal ceremony. She was so cute during the game though and would cheer with everyone and had eyes as big as saucers!


Our trip was wonderful but unfortunately we received the sad news that my Grandfather, Morris Topping, who lived in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada (North of Toronto) passed away on Wednesday night. He had fallen on Christmas Eve breaking his hip and had recovered from that and the surgery associated with it but had complications with his bowels and had surgery Monday and died from complications.

My mom went immediately to be with her family and asked that we stay in Vancouver and finish the Olympics since we couldn't do anything in Toronto so we did and then the craziness of travel started. We drove to Seattle on Friday night and then I flew home on Saturday, dropped Peyton off with John and flew out Sunday morning with my sister Ashley to Buffalo to meet my dad and sister to drive to Bracebridge for the funeral on Monday morning.

Craziness

Craziness...it is what to describe these past couple of weeks. We were in Vancouver for the Olympics/visiting family, flew home to Houston and up to Buffalo around 12 hours later to drive to Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada for my grandfather's funeral and then back home a couple of days later. So...I am behind on my blogging and will be working this week on updating!