Easter 2009...

Well, this was Peyton's 1st Easter because it was before she was born last year. We went to MLC yesterday for a great day of celebrating Jesus. I am so thankful that His grace is BIG enough for ME and all my failures. Today, we headed to Peachtree City to my mom's & had lunch and hung out. Peyton enjoyed playing with her Easter Basket, eggs (w/cheerios inside), stuffed lamb & duck, and new purple ball!!!

Two Birthday Parties...

BIRTHDAY FUN!!!

I had two birthday parties for my first birthday. My first was with my nana, and cousins Olivia & Annika. They came a couple of weeks before my birthday, so we celebrated with them. They got me a princess balloon & a chocolate cake just for me.




I'M TURNING ONE!!!
My second party was with my friends and family that are close by. We had quite the crowd--twenty-nine people in all. My mom fixed a strawberry cake just for me & then a big one for everyone else to share. The theme was zoo animals, because I love animals and we were supposed to go to the zoo the next day...but, it stormed all day.


my birthday party dress

My friends Colin, Ryan, Cole, and Dax came to my party.


I was playing peek-a-boo with Mr. Louie using my books.
Uncle Daniel came to my party too!



eating & enjoying my cake--I ate all the strawberries off the top before I dove in


opening my presents from YaYa, Papa Joe, and Uncle Josh after everyone left---I was exhausted.

An Update on Peyton at 1 Year!!!

Well, Peyton is one now & is doing so many big girl things besides looking so big! So here are a few quick things about our girl:

• 31.1 inches (97%) - not really shocking
• 21.8 pounds (63%)
• Head: 18.2 inches (81%)

Things I Like to Do:

• Talk, Talk, Talk (especially at home) - words I say: dad, WOW (my favorite), moo (but I say boo), quack (whack), yeah, no & no-no (there is a distinction to her), what's that?, dog, bye bye, more, momma (on accident sometimes); I also like to repeat all sorts of things or just make up words...I am trying to say giraffe because of a video I watch & when I don't know how to say something I usually say wow or dog instead:)
• I am way more interested in solving problems & talking than walking, so I'm taking my time. I walk all over the house with my walker and around all the furniture. I really like to push the dining chairs around the room. I took four steps on my own last weekend, but just get bashful when I try to walk--so, I'll keep crawling for now.
• I love cleaning up my toys now (mom likes this) by putting them in the basket, bin, or my animals in the ark
• I enjoy my stacking rings, but I get frustrated when there is one missing because the other one won't go down all the way.
• I like to show love to my toys & dolls by holding them against my shoulder and putting my head down on them
• I like to point at everything
• I love to do the motions to different songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
  
• She is wearing 12-18 month clothes (they look so much bigger than the 6-9 month stuff)
• She loves to look at what you ask her about like "Do you want to go to bed?" and she will look at or go to her bed. She does this with outside, baby doll, her walker, her kitchen toys, and some other things--it is fun to watch her learning about new things
• I still love to read! YAY!
  
• She will "blow" when you come to wipe her nose...it is cute!
• She is learning to stack things just to knock them over; she concentrates so much when she is doing this.
  

Happy Birthday Peyton...

Well one year ago I was in labor with our beautiful girl. She was born at 9:13pm...3 hours short of being an April Fool's Baby. I cannot believe how fast this last year has gone & how much we love having her as a part of our family. I will spend the next few days updating, sharing pics, and remembering this first year. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEYTON!

Happy Anniversary...

It's been four years with you, babe. I love you. Thanks for loving me.

Playground Fun...

On Friday, Peyton and I went to the park with Dax, Cole, and Farah for a picnic and some play time. I forgot my camera, but she had a blast. She went down the slide, crawled around a lot, tried to climb various things, and walked around the edges some. She was actually quite dirty & completely exhausted when we got home. On Saturday, Buck and I took her to the neighborhood park. She played so hard and laughed a lot.

11 MONTH PICS...

Here are Peyton's 11 month pics. She is getting so big & doing so many new things. We are really enjoying this time:

Are we done yet?

Thank You...

No one wants to go through tough times, but these days it just seems like the norm around us. What I do know though, is that most people do not have an amazing support system around them. God has given us that & I must be thankful. Over the past few weeks, life has been tough dealing with this miscarriage in the midst of so much other uncertainty in our lives. But so many people have been there for us, so thanks...

Rodney & Sarah, Louie & Lindsay, Bryan & Karen...our growth group--we love doing life with you; we are so thankful for you--thank you for the flowers, card, food (so much food, Lindsay!) and coming over to help with Peyton. Thank you for your prayers every step of the way.

Amy Chase & Bev Maloney - thank you for coming to our home and taking care of our girl

The Mountain Lake Staff - thank you for loving us, praying for us, providing meals, and picking up the slack around the office without me there (especially with volunteers)

Tricia Lovejoy - thanks for letting me know there is someone out there who has been in the same place & came out the other side still able to praise God for all He has done. Thank you for the encouraging words & listening ears.

Farah - thanks for being a great friend--I know you are always available, always there to listen & remind me how great our God is

Peyton - thanks for giving me lots of love even though I could not pick you up for several days or play with you how I like

Buck...thanks for choosing to walk through life with me. I cannot imagine it without you. Thank you for taking time to go to the doc with me, stay home with me, take care of our girl, keep our home clean, make me rest, make me drink water, make me rest, and just be there with me. I love you, babe.

FREE PANCAKES...

Hey, I just wanted to let everyone know that today is NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY and so today they are giving away free shortstacks of pancakes all day...so stop by sometime today!

Some of My Favorite Things...

These are some things I love to do now that I am ten and a half months old:

• climb the stairs at our house--that's been loads of fun
• play with anything electronic--cell phones, remotes, computers, the Wii
• say "yes" and "no"
• rub bananas in my hair--this just started out of the blue
• sit & read
• carry my baby doll around wherever I go
• practice walking with my walker
• lay my head down on anything soft and "rest"
• ignore my mom & dad when they tell me to do or not do something
• stand up next to my crib and pull my blanket through the slats so I can roll around in it & play peek-a-boo with someone or just with myself
  

My New Chair...

While we were on vacation, we got Peyton a new chair from IKEA. We thought it would be awhile before she could get in it herself, but yesterday afternoon she climbed right up into it.

Our Mini Vacation...

This week our family went on a mini vacation. On Wednesday, we went to Auburn for a visit. Buck & I went to the Auburn v. Arkansas basketball game. WAR EAGLE! We visited lots of friends & walked around on the campus that has changed so much I can barely recognize it.

Thursday afternoon we drove back to my mom's house & visited for the evening. Then, on Friday night, my mom kept Peyton so that Buck & I could go to a hotel for Valentine's Day. Buck splurged all weekend on me & we had such a good time. Friday night we went to Longhorn for an early dinner. Dan Reeves was eating there too. Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit before going to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. Saturday morning we slept in!!!! Then we went to Honeybaked Ham for brunch before doing some shopping and watching "He's Just Not That Into You".

We came home last night & are taking today to relax and finish our vacation. Here are a few pics:

Peyton sitting next to the Auburn seal

Peyton & Beth in front of Samford at the Auburn sign

Peyton with Suellen & JD Good...Mike & Jess were already gone. We also visited Theresa Ward, Steve Thompson, and the Updegraff family.

Want to Buy Our House...

Do you know anyone looking for a home?

http://www.82highlandpointcir.com/

Almost 10 Months...

Peyton with mom on Christmas Day

So, it has been awhile since I posted, so I thought I'd give an update of things Peyton is doing at 10 months (2 days away).

• getting a bit braver in her "walking" --holding on to furniture & moving around--hopefully she will take her time on this one
• she has two bottom teeth & has started to "crunch" her cheerios when she puts them in her mouth; we have started brushing her teeth, but she thinks it is a game where she is supposed to stick her tongue out which of course covers her teeth
  
• she loves grabbing a blanket & throwing it over her head to play peek-a-boo
• her favorite word besides dad is "yes"...most of the time it sounds kind of like "duh"
• she has slowed down a bit in her growth & is not way bigger than other babies now
• still loves bathtime and has even decided that is a great place to poop a couple of times
• has shown a few signs of separation anxiety, but is fine in about 30 seconds--this is a very new feeling for me
• still loves to eat everything--she had a kids meal at Applebees this past week (a mini burger & fries) and loved it; she also loves quesadillas with beans, green peppers, and cheese and macaroni & cheese could be her favorite thing
• she enjoys dancing; usually she will stand up at the coffee table & stomp her feet to the beat
  

Unprovoked Love...

There are not many things better than Peyton showing me love. Give me a hug. Give me a kiss. She usually responds with a hug or kiss or a big smile. But, last night was maybe my best moment with her yet. I slipped out of our student ministry environment a bit early to pick her up. We had a meeting before, so it had already been a long day and she had been in childcare for most of it. So, I went in to pick her up and was talking to the ladies in the room. Peyton leaned over and gave me the sweetest kiss on my cheek without me asking. Simple & Sweet. I could not have asked for more. I am so glad she is my daughter.

Teaching Kids About Money...And So Much More...

My friend Farah was telling me about these banks she found online that have different compartments (see the blog link to the right) to teach kids about spending, saving, giving, and investing. I also think you can make some cool ones. I found this website that gives parents & teachers great ideas for teaching about these ideas: The Mint So, check it out!

A Few Pictures...

Here are a few pics from our trip to Pensacola. My Great Aunt Kim took these!

out at the beach with family...

learning to eat spaghetti...my Great Uncle Carmen wanted me to learn to slurp

laying on the floor in the living room...just being happy

I blinked

just relaxing in my pj's

CONTEST on the SMARTER SPENDING blog...

Click here to visit my other blog & check out the new contest. You can win a $10 giftcard just for sharing your ideas with me and other readers!

Stay Tuned...

Well...the internet hasn't been that great on our mac (where all the pics are), so that is why there has been a break from pics. I still have some great pics from Christmas coming soon, plus lots of updates on our family...so, STAY TUNED!

Nine Months Old....

So, our girl is nine months old as of yesterday. Here is a bit of an update:

• 20lbs. & 29 inches long - she is started to level out a bit
• We have our first tooth...it has pushed through this past week
• She is crawling fast & loves to be chased
• She started eating meats--she has had ham, turkey, and ground beef. I think she liked them okay, but the texture of the beef was a little weird to her
• She went to the beach for the first time while we were in Pensacola for Christmas
• She got a big girl carseat, even though it has to face the back for a few more months