Thursday, April 28, 2011

New Chair

Peyton got a new chair, and she had a lot to say about it.  I think she likes it :)


Monday, April 25, 2011

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  We had a great weekend and enjoyed the warm weather. 
Friday night Edwin and I were able to go out and have a date night.  It was nothing special, just out to dinner and some shopping...but it was much needed!

Saturday we spent most of the afternoon out and about running errands and browsing through stores.  We did a little yard work later that afternoon and got some good play time in with Peyton.

Sunday morning we gave Peyton her Easter basket and then went to church.  Peyton was having serious meltdown issues and I seriously debated going to church.  She's having a really bad time with a few teeth that are trying to cut through and has been very frustrated with her runny nose.  I decided she may need to get out of the house and she did great at church.  When we got home we went over to my parents house and put Peyton down for her nap.  While she slept we ate Easter lunch with my parents and my Grandma, and when she woke up she enjoyed her own Easter lunch and opened her Easter basket.  We even got to splash in her pool a little yesterday evening since it was so warm!

I can't even say that I dreaded the work week starting because it's going to be a short week for me.  We head to the beach Friday morning for 3 days and I can't wait!



I'm not sure why her hair looks so blonde in this pic, I guess it was the lighting? 

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Poor Girl

My poor baby had such a rough evening yesterday, it broke my heart.  When she woke up yesterday she had a super runny nose but was fine other than that.  When I picked her up she looked like she felt awful.  I immediately recognized all the signs...bright red cheeks, fever, gnawing on her fingers, tons of snot and even more drool...teething had reared its ugly head yet again. 

The last 2 teeth Peyton handled really well and I assumed we were over the worst of the teething until it was time for molars.  Oh wait, she's almost a year old...yes it appears to be molar time for my poor girl.  The snot and drool were worse than I've ever seen and her fever was higher than her usual teething fever, but thankfully still pretty low.  She was in a great mood until we hit about 6:30pm and she just couldn't take it anymore.  She started moaning and groaning and just wanted Mommy to hold her (which I gladly did!).  She got down to play on the floor, looked at me, coughed, and vomited everywhere.  I completely lost it!  Before she could even finish throwing up I had scooped her up (and had throw up all over my shirt), grabbed the phone, and started dialing the Pediatrician...yes I have the number memorized!  Now I knew that she had just gagged a little on all the drool and mucus and she was fine, but I needed a professional to tell me that...and they did.  The sweet nurse told me she was fine as long as her fever didn't spike, she was drinking plenty of fluids, and didn't continue to vomit.  She said she was very sure it was just teething, which was nice to hear even though it didn't make my baby feel any better :(

I snuggled and rocked her before bed and she drifted off to sleep fairly easy.  I got in the bed early because I just knew I'd be up all night with Peyton...yeah right!  That child didn't move all night, in fact we had to wake her up this morning to go to my Mom's.  Granted I still woke every hour or 2 just to look at the monitor and make sure she was Ok, I couldn't help it. 

She was smiling this morning, but still had a very snotty nose.  I'm praying she'll have a good day and a much better evening.  These molars are wicked!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Bye Bye Bottle

Last week I started weaning Peyton off the bottle.  I was really stressed about the whole thing, but it's been much easier than I anticipated.  I attribute her super busy and "on the go" nature to it...she just doesn't have time to take a bottle anymore! 

I started with her morning bottle.  It was a little sad because we always used to cuddle up on the couch and watch cartoons while she had her morning bottle...until a few weeks ago that is.  She had recently started getting up constantly during her bottle to go play or look out the window or just GO in general.  So I knew it was probably time to nix that bottle.  The first day she took her cup fine, she just didn't drink a whole lot.  By the 2nd day she was drinking about 6oz (it's a 12oz cup), and now she's drinking a good 8oz. 

I was going to give her a few days before I took away the afternoon bottle, but Nonnie went ahead and tried it on Monday...she did fine!  She's drinking from that same 12oz cup throughout the day and finishing it, then drinking about 6-7oz of milk in the evening, and a full bedtime bottle.  She has water in between as well.  So now I'm not worried that she's not getting enough calcium, plus she has cheese and yogurt during the day.
 
Now it's bedtime bottle time and I'm just not there.  Yes, I'M the one that's having the hard time weaning from this bottle.  I look forward to bedtime every single day, it's my favorite time.  I love going in her room, rocking her, and singing to her while she has her bottle.  I love the way she stares up at me like I'm the only person in the world that matters to her.  I just cherish that time so much.  She'll be 1 in less than 2 weeks, she's taking steps and trying to walk, she's so busy every second that she's awake...but that bedtime belongs to me.  Sooo, I'm going to hold off for a little until I can find a suitable bedtime routine that I'm OK with and doesn't make me want to cry. 

All in all, I'm so relieved that this bottle weaning went so well.  I've heard horror stories and I was nervous.  I don't know if it helped that Peyton never took a pacifier (she HATED them) or that she never did like using the normal sippy cups, only sippy's with straws for my diva!  Either way I'm going to be very happy to stop washing bottles...even though there are parts I will miss.  Not to mention I have bought my LAST container of formula, woo hoo!!!!  It's 1/2 gone and I can't wait to not buy that liquid gold anymore! 

Monday, April 18, 2011

1 Year Pics



Last week we decided to do a few shots of Peyton in her 1yr birthday outfit.  I LOVE this little outfit, and her sparkly sneakers definitely complete the ensemble.  I can't believe she kept the headband on, she usually jerks them off.  Of course the tutu is more for the pictures than the party, she can't really play very well in a fluffy tutu, but gosh it's cute!







Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Just Strolling

First Steps

Peyton took her first steps last night, it was totally unexpected!  She really hasn't seemed interested in trying to walk.  She'll cruise on the furniture all day long, but would much rather crawl to get around.  This weekend I noticed she was standing own her own a lot more now that she's realizing crawling outside hurts in shorts and sundresses. 
Last night she was standing against the couch and I was just a little more than an arms reach away holding her Minnie and Mickey.  She wanted them so bad...she reached her hand out and I kept mine just short of hers....then she took 2 steps and got to her toys!  I couldn't believe it...it took me a few minutes to process what happened.  Of course Edwin was working and I couldn't get her to do it again so I could video it.  Later she was playing in my bedroom and took another step on her own...no camera yet again. 
Who knows if she'll do it again any time soon or not, but it was such an amazing thing to witness.  I teared up after it happened, my baby is growing in to a toddler right before my eyes!

Monday, April 11, 2011

A Weekend Photo Shoot

This weekend was so wonderful...even with the crummy weather on Saturday.  Friday night we picked up Peyton's slide and ended up playing outside until 8pm. we lost all track of time.  Saturday we invited some friends over to grill out and we had "planned" to light the fire pit as well.  Needless to say the fire pit didn't happen and all the kids had to play inside, but we still had a great time!  Sunday we all went to church and then we had a photo session with Peyton.  Sunday night after Peyton went to bed, the hubby and I lit up the fire pit and grilled out for a 2nd night.  We sat outside together until 9pm and just enjoyed the silence.  Nights like that remind me why I love living out in the country!
A few months ago we invested in a digital SLR camera so we could do our own photos and get really good pics of Peyton.  We've always used JC Penney before but for her Easter and 1 year pics, we really wanted to try to do them ourselves.  So yesterday we took time to do some Spring/Easter pics and in a week or so we'll put Peyton in her birthday outfit and do her 1 yr pics.  I can't even begin to express how happy I am with these photos.  I can't wait to get them printed and framed!  Here are a few (of the 30 something odd pics we took!) of my favorites...











Friday, April 8, 2011

To Tweet or Not to Tweet...

So I've had a Twitter account for several months now, but I've never done anything with it.  The whole thing just overwhelmed me and I gave up trying to figure it out.  Lately I've had several friends jump on the Twitter train so I thought I'd give it another chance...I'm still not impressed.  Am I missing something?  Does anyone use Twitter and care to explain it to me?!  I know it's basically like updating your status on Facebook, but the language confuses the hell out of me.  I don't know, maybe I'm just not interesting enough to tweet! 

Fun New Toys

Peyton's 1st birthday party is in just under a month (yikes!).  We sent out a birthday list to the Grandparents with things Edwin and I Peyton may want or need, and pretty much the entire list is stuff for outdoors.  Peyton LOVES being outside, and now that the weather is warming up we spend a lot of time there.  The issue has been that she's so incredibly active, and there's just not a lot for her to do unless we go to the park.  She's not walking yet and doesn't want to be held when she's outside, so that leaves crawling all over the place...and for some reason she loves crawling on the concrete, it makes my knees hurt just thinking about it. 

Edwin and I bought Peyton a cool slide as one of her birthday gifts and decided we would just go ahead and give it to her now.  We're picking it up today and I can't wait to get it out in the yard.  She's become quite the climber lately, and I'm sure she'll be all over this thing!  Here's a pic of the one we got. 
My parents decided to get her a cool sandbox.  This is the gift I was most excited about because Peyton loves some sand.  She could spend hours just playing in the sand at the park (just another reason I can't wait for the beach this summer).  With the recent rash of beautiful weather, we just couldn't wait to give it to her!  So my parents went ahead and picked it up and let us put it in the yard this week.  They got a really awesome sandbox that has an attached table and umbrella.  We bought the sand for it last night and ended up playing in it until almost 8pm...I totally forgot about bedtime!  Here's the sandbox we got...

and here's my Princess in it.  I think she likes it!!!


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Official

My new job is FINALLY official (government is soooo slow)...super excited!  I've been doing this job for about 2 months now, but minus the title and compensation.  I'm at the same place I've been working for the past 3 years, I just moved from the front desk to my own office.  It's actually pretty nice not to have to be the "new kid" and meet all new people....just pack a few boxes and move down the hall.  It feels good to actually be using that degree I spent so much time and money on again (and am still spending money on).   

Sunday, April 3, 2011

11 Months Old!

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe my princess is already 11 months old!  I'm sure I say this every month as well, but this has been one of my favorite months so far.  Peyton has SO much personality and has learned so much in the past month.  Every month it's like she's this totally new person.  She's constantly finding new ways to express herself.  We don't have an official doctor's appointment until 12 months, so I have "stats" to share.  But here's a little bit about my munchkin at 11 months...

  • She talks all.the.time.
  • Points to different body parts when you ask her where they are...hair, ear, nose, belly, toes, and mouth.
  • Goes to bed at 7:30pm, wakes between 7am and 7:30am.
  • Naps around 10am and 3pm....except Sundays.
  • Eats 3 meals a day and 2 snacks.
  • Loves water in her sippy cup.
  • Loves basically anything Edwin and I are eating.
  • Waves at everyone and everything.
  • Is finally easing up with the separation anxiety and clinginess.  They say it peaks between 12 and 18 months, but I swear hers peaked around 9 months and is now starting to ease off. 
  • She's still unsure of strange adults (mainly men), but has NEVER had any shyness around other kids/babies.  This kid LOVES other kids and will jump from my arms to go play.  I always feel bad for other little ones that are more reserved with new kids, because Peyton goes straight to them and just doesn't understand why they don't jump to play with her....I love it lol. 
  • Throws her arms up in the air when we yell "Touchdown".
  • Pants like a dog when we say "What does Otis do?"  (he's a pug so he has loud breathing)
  • Says "woof woof, kitty kitty, Mama, Dada, bird"...and a zillion other things in her own language :)
  • Has 2 speeds...Full throttle and asleep.
  • Loves to dance, whether there's music playing or not.
  • Has just recently started to lay down and give us some cuddle time during the day.
  • Stands on her own for short periods of time and walks behind her walking toys, but doesn't seem to concerned with learning to walk on her own yet.  She knows she can get where she wants much faster by crawling for the moment. 
  • Is a complete and total camera ham...see below!