Monday, December 16, 2013

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Happy Birthday to Payton!!! (Nov. 3rd)
Payton and Mimi!


Three Generations



I just can't get enough of that smile!
 I can't believe she is already a year old! Where did all the time go? I feel like yesterday she would curl up on my chest and just lay there and snuggle with me. Now when i try to snuggle with her she wiggles and cries and smacks me and laughs till she gets to where she wants to go. She doesn't even look like that cute little baby in these new born pictures I have! I miss that little baby! But at the same time it is sooo much fun to watch her grow and learn. Like for instance today when i was nursing her she unlatched herself and sat up and looked at me and smiled then signed 'more' and went back to nursing. It was so stinkin adorable! Also I'll be in the kitchen cleaning when i hear her jibber jabbering and i turn around and she is sitting on the floor with all her books scattered around her with one propped open on her lap and she is turning the pages and talking as if reading her book out loud the way I read them to her! and another: Today I started playing 'Round and Round the Rickety Road' on her palm the way that my Mom played with me when i was a kid and after I was done she grabbed my hand and did it back to me. Or after her baths when I brush her hair and then put the brush down she very quickly grabs it and brushes her hair some more as if to say "i can do it!." She makes me smile every day and I'm so happy that I am the one lucky enough to be her Mom.







We had a blast at her birthday party. We had a lot of great friends over and had lots of cupcakes. And Payton started walking on her birthday and has never gone back to crawling! Now she pretty much runs everywhere!



Monday, November 18, 2013

Halloween

For halloween we dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland. Payton was Alice, Levi was the Mad Hatter, and I was the Cheshire Cat. I made Paytons costume, then i randomly came across my ears and tail at a thrift store, we bought a small hat and turned it into a giant top hat for levi and then found a diva red wig at the thrift store that i teased to make it what we needed. It was a lot of fun putting your costumes together. I think total with all three of our costumes at the most I spent $50.
We went trick-or-treating at my work so all the residents could enjoy Payton, then we drove to a friends house and then we picked up Lisa, Levi's mom from the airport. We didn't do a lot but it was a lot of fun with very little stress, which is my kind of night!





Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Fall Family Pictures

We decided to take family pictures again. We took them out in our yard after I got off work. I think they turned out great. There is no editing done to these. Maybe if i get some time someday i will edit some of them…












We Tried to get some of Daddy and daughter but Payton hadn't seen me all day and all she wanted was for me to hold her. As soon as Levi took her from me she would start screaming. It was kinda funny. 
I love my little family!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Life of Pay

I cant believe that Payton is over 10 months old! She is going to be a year old in a blink of an eye! Where did all the time go? I cant believe she is pretty much a toddler and no longer a baby! I feel like her life is rushing by me.
I love the stage she is at right now (although it keeps me super busy) she is walking around all the furniture and grabbing everything she can get her little hands on. We bought her a musical play walker that she walks all around the living room with. When she pushes it, it sings music to her and she loves it. Payton LOVES music! When a good beat comes on she stops and starts dancing (which looks like mini squats, its adorable.)
She likes to pull all the books off my bookshelf and takes the book covers off and then when I tell her 'no' she gives me a crooked smile that looks just like Levi. She stands at my desk and pulls the mouse and keyboard to the floor. Anything that is within reach she pulls down. And she is tall for her age. She stands at my printer (which is touch screen) and pushes all the buttons and watches it light up, so I have to shut it down after each use. We have a stool next to our bed as our night stand since we gave our bedroom set to Levi's brother, and Levi kept his hand gun there. Key word is 'Kept.' Past tense. She started reaching for it and I was terrified she was gonna pull it down on top of her head and knock herself out. Now she just pulls the stool over on top of her, then cries for me to free her from her trap. Right now as I type she has found my box of envelopes and is pulling them out and spreading them all over the living room :) She pulls on the bottom of our curtains, she stands up in her pack n play and pulls everything off her changing table, she stands at my dresser and tries her hardest to open the drawers and when she is unsuccessful she starts pulling anything she can touch off the top of it. We can no longer keep anything on our tall lamp which has 3 shelves; we cant keep anything on our coffee table; nothing on our little drawer shelf thingy...Ive started packing things away. My thought process: "Were not gonna be able to have this again till she's about 5years old." So I just pack it away.
Payton also loves peek a boo and starts playing it on her own until you catch on. When she wants you to play patty cake she starts clapping her hands until you start singing it to her, then she smiles really big. She loves food. If you are eating around her she will beg like a little puppy until she has some food too. She likes to stick her tongue out in all directions. Which I think she gets from both my Mom and Dad. When they concentrate real hard they either stick their tongue out or bite their tongue. She LOVES to wave to people like Miss America, its pretty cute. *Off topic-She has a LOT of ear wax. IDK where she gets that! I clean my ears maybe twice a month and hardly ever have any wax but I have to clean hers weekly and its gross!
She is not a good sleeper. She gets up about 3 times a night, which is miserable for me. She goes to bed around 10-10:30pm then wakes around 1:30-2:00am and levi brings her to me in bed. When she is finished eating Levi usually brings her back to her bed. Then she is up again right around 4:00am and when she is finished eating I just let her stay in our bed (which is not a smart idea.) She thrashes around in her sleep. She tosses and turns and I end up getting No sleep after she is in our bed. Then she is up around 6:00am to eat and then falls asleep again until anywhere between 7:30am and 10:00am. Then during the day she will nap anywhere from 12:00pm-3:00pm and again usually around 6:00pm-7:00pm. If you have any advice on how to make this more manageable please feel free to share!
Potty training is going really well. She goes PooPoo in her potty almost every day! Ive also started putting her on her potty first thing in the morning, a few times during the day, and right before bed, and almost each time she goes TeeTee. Its exciting! She doesn't ever tell me when she has to go but I think that will come when she starts talking more.
She isn't all perfect. She does throw her fits and cries often. She doesn't like to be held by Dad if Mom is around, she will cry until I hold her and then smile at Levi. I think its kinda funny/cute but it bothers Levi :( She LOVES to play with Levi when you hear her laughing really hard its usually because her Dad is playing/picking on her. And its really cute and fun to watch but I cant get too close because if she sees me then all she wants is me to hold her and all the play is over :( She loves to be chased. She will crawl really fast to you and smile then crawl a short distance away and look back at you and smile again, as if saying "you cant catch me, nah nah nah nah" then if you crawl really fast towards her she  squeals and tries to out  crawl you. Its fun.
Do you feel like you know Payton? That is my objective. Since none of our family is around and no one knows Payton I hope this blog has helped (sorry It is so stinkin long!). We love all of you and miss you very much!



Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Binkie Thief

Payton has never really liked binkies. We have a few in her toy basket and occasionally we will turn around and she will have one in her mouth but not very often. After seeing her cousin, Hawk, with his binkie Payton has decided that we have been depriving her. She now loves binkies and tried and succeeded in stealing Hawks multiple times while on our Florida trip. 

Now that we are home she continues to like binkies and we get to see this at least 3 times a day:


A trip to Florida

My sister Tawny her Husband and their baby boy Hawk were going to Florida to go to Harry Potter land and Universal Studios and they invited anyone and everyone that could come. So Payton and I made the trip. (It was sad that Levi couldnt come :'( but it is busy season for him right now)
We had a connecting flight both ways..bummer right! So we flew to Dallas then on to Orlando and surprisingly Payton did VERY well! I was shocked. I had anxiety the whole week before about flying without Levi and taking Payton. But she was an angel. The baby foods in the squeeze pouches saved my life! I didnt take a lot of pictures because it was too hard so I will share the pictures that I did take :)
Here is a cute one of Hawk and Payton snoozing away in the car.
We caught the Hogwarts Express from platform 9 & 3/4

Tawny, Me, Hawk, and Payton

 

Tawny, Lydon, and baby Hawk
 

Hogwarts castle
 
Quiditch balls
Hogsmead
Getting ready for Universal Stidios
 
Thneed Ville (Payton's favorite movie is 'The Lorax')
 
Transformers was pretty cool Levi would have loved it
 
Rub a dub in the tub with cousin Hawk
 
At cocoa beach
 
I loved the ocean! It was warm and lots of fun. Payton on the other hand just liked to eat the sand...
 
Chillin on the beach
 
Payton and Aunt Tawny...yes Tawny and I have the same swim suit, great minds think alike ;)
 
Tawny and Lydon

It was a blast and Im super glad that we were able to go. My only wish is that Levi could have gone with us. We also went to a wildlife park and got to see 3 alligators in the wild and a lot
 of really cool birds like the blue and white heron and lots of baby whistling ducks.