Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas everyone!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  We had a very nice Christmas.  (Except for the fact that Payton was sick the entire time!  More on that in a bit...)  I think Payton has gotten the hang of this presents thing!  He was trying to open up everybodys presents.  Even some that I had left under the tree that I need to mail to Iowa.  We all received some wonderful and thoughtful gifts from everybody.  Thank goodness for our play room, because I have no idea where I would put all of the toys if we didn't have it!  On Saturday the three of us celebrated with my mom, my sister and Kellen and had a great time.  I have a few pictures in the photo album, but I can never seem to remember to take very many.  Maybe I should put someone else in charge of being the photographer!  Since mom is still in an apartment we had it at our house.  So I took Friday off of work to prepare!  Mom's house at Christmas is always filled with homemade goodies, so I tried to do the same.  I made lots of cookies, fudge, chocolate covered pretzles and lots of food!!  

Monday morning (after Santa had came) we had Christmas at home with the three of us and later that day my mom and Justins sister, Kristin came over.  We had a big dinner and played with new stuff all day.  (And ate lots of cookies and candy, etc!!!)  Now tomorrow is back to work.   Justin is very happy that the holiday season is over.  He is now back to working normal hours.  It has been a long month for him.  Payton is also very happy to have daddy home more often.  Yesterday he was a daddy's boy and would not let Justin too far out of his sight. 

 

Saturday when we woke up Payton was sick with a really bad sore throat.  And he has had it since.  So needless to say he was not a happy boy most of the weekend.  He would perk up throughout the day (mostly because of new toys and all of the people coming and going) but nighttime has been pretty bad.  So today I took him to the doctor, along with every other child in Kansas apparently, to find out that it is not strep like we had thought.  So that is good news.  Basically it is just a virus and it just has to run its course. We are now on day four, so lets hope it is almost over. 

Our goal was to get mostly potty trained these 4 days that we were home, but with him being sick, that took a back seat.  He has been doing pretty well and is doing pretty good at day care, so hopefully it won't be too long now.  Kristin helped a lot with the potty training yesterday.  She works at a day care, so she has the hang of it! 

 

Payton has now moved up to a toddler bed.  I was a little apprehensive at first.  I had visions of him roaming the house at night.  But he loves his big bed.  He has not gotten out of it once!  The first night I thought it was just a fluke, but it has been over a week now and he is still doing great!  I will continue to keep my fingers crossed!

Payton is now 2 years old!!

Sunday was Paytons birthday!  I can not believe he is already two!  Payton had a lot of fun on his birthday.  He loves trains, so we did a Thomas the Train party.  Everything was Thomas!  Even his cake had a little train on it that moved around on a track.   Payton loves to act silly when other people are around, so he was having a blast showing off to everyone that was here!  My sister even came down from Iowa and my Grandma even flew up from Florida!   He was so exhausted by the end of the party, he could barely hold his head up.  But he was so good the entire night.

We got his 2 year pictures done on Saturday.  I really feel bad for the people working at the portrait studio!  He will be really good in the waiting room, and the minute we go in to the studio he has a complete meltdown!  For some reason he gets scared.  He loves to pose for the camera at home, but this is different. It happens every time, so I shouldn't be shocked.  We did get a couple of okay pictures, not the ones I had in mind, but they will work.  So be looking for them in the mail in a few weeks!

 

He moved up to the two year old room at day care a couple of weeks ago.  So now he is a "big boy".  They have projects to take home and even have show and tell once a week! 

 

He is growing up so fast.  He is starting to talk a lot more and put a couple of words together.  I can usually understand what he is telling me.  He is very good most of the time, but he does have his typical two-year old moments.  Luckily they don't last long and he forgets pretty easily why he was mad or frustrated.  We have started introducing the potty chair.  Nothing real serious yet, but just getting used to the idea. They do it at day care too, so that will help.  I think I will wait until after the holidays before I get to serious about training him. 

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm and I will try to update this a little more often!

Halloween Fun!

Halloween was over a week ago, so this posting is a little late.  But better late then never, right??

Payton had a great time this Halloween.  As you can see by the pictures, he was a lion, again.  He was one last year as well, but that is what I get for waiting until less than two weeks before Halloween to buy a costume!

The Friday before Halloween we had a party at work for all of the kids.  There were over 100 kids there!  I went and picked up Payton and brought him to the party.  At first he was a little frightened by all of the people, but then once he figured this trick or treating thing out, he was okay!  Then on Halloween day they had a party at day care where they had snacks and got all dressed up in their costumes.  That night I took him trick or treating around our neighborhood while Justin stayed home and handed out candy.  Payton would dig through the baskets to find suckers!  Sometime if they didn't have any he would just say "no" and not take any.  At least we got him to say please and thank you everytime.

Update on other stuff:  We have finally got Justin a new car.  I really dislike car shopping.  It is not very fun when you have to buy a car in a limited amount of time.  At least mom was on vacation for a week, so we had her car to use.

Mom is now all settled in her apartment.  Lindsey came down this week with a truck-load of moms stuff.  We miss her here at our house, but she is pretty close, so we can see her often.  Hope everyone is doing great.  I just realized that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away!  Where is the time going!

October 21

On Monday Justin was in a car accident.  Luckily he is okay and it was not his fault.  Another car was coming at him and failed to yield and turned in front if him.  But the car is totaled.  So it looks like we are going to need to go car shopping this weekend.  When I saw the car I was pretty shocked that he was not more hurt.  Both other than being pretty sore and having rug-burn type things on his hands due to the airbag, he is okay.

 

Things have been going great with mom living here.  She is really enjoying her job and we are loving having her here.  Every morning when Payton gets up he runs into her room to look for her!  It is pretty cute.  He even recognizes her car now, so when we get home at night if gets excited if he sees her car.  I think Justin has really enjoyed it as well.  Mom has already made him a pie and his favorite, her homemade vegetable soup.  It has been very nice having help with Payton as well.  Last Saturday Justin and I got to go out to dinner by ourselves!! 

School pictures

Payton just got his school pictures back.  He is so handsome!!

 

Busy.... Busy....

I haven't updated our blog in a while, but we have had a lot going on around here!  My mom has decided to move to Kansas City!  We are all so excited that we are going to have Grandma Joy so close!  She starts her new job on October 9, so she will be moving shortly.  Her house in Long Grove is on the market now and she has been very busy getting everything in line in order to move.  She will be staying with us for a little bit until she gets settled.  It will be nice to have inhouse help with Payton!  And Justin seems to think that she might make him a pie or two!!

The other main thing that has been going on around here is it has been determined that Payton has asthma.  We pretty much thought he did before, but now we have a treatment plan and can be proactive about it so hopefully we will not end up staying in the hospital again this winter.  He has an inhaler that he has to use daily throughout the cold months and then we use his nebulizer when he is sick or is wheezing.  (We were already using the neulizer, so that is nothing new to us).  The doctors say chances are he will outgrow it by the time he goes to school, especially since Justin or myself don't have a history of breathing problems.  But we just have to wait and see.

 

Mini vacation in Iowa

We are still trying to get back to our normal routine after our mini vacation in Iowa last week.  Last Friday we left home and headed to my moms.  On Saturday we went and visited Grandpa Gene and had a wedding to go to with my mom and sister.  Payton looked adorable and actually behaved himself the entire wedding!  I was shocked.   Then after the wedding I got to go and have a few drinks with some old friends.  (Not old as in age, but old as in known for a long time!)   It was so much fun.  We decided that we need to get together much more often.

On Sunday we got together with my mom, sister, aunt and cousins and went golfing for the first annual June Sievers Memorial golf tournament.  I had never golfed before so I was not sure how it was going to go, but it was actually a lot of fun.  And I don't think I did that bad.  (Not good, but not that bad!)  While we were golfing, Payton was at my friends house and he had a great time playing with Norah.  When we got there to pick him up, they were both running in circles screaming and giggling.  And it sounded like they did that most of the day!  He had such a good time that we were not even a few blocks away and he was sound asleep in the car. 

On Monday we then loaded the car back up (not an easy task) and headed for Western Iowa.  We were all coming in to town to surprise Justins mom for their wedding anniversary.  We got to see their new cabin and go out on their boat.  On Tuesday, Payton got to ride in a tractor with Grandpa Randy and see some baby pigs. 

Then on Wednesday, we loaded up the car one more time and headed home.  Although, we did not come straight home, we went through Omaha and spent the day at the zoo.  The Omaha Zoo is really neat.  We got to see lots of animals and Payton (and mommy) got to ride the carousel.  Then we finally headed home.

Vacations are wonderful, but it always feels great to be back home!

 

HOT!!!

Can it get any hotter!  Don't get me wrong, I like warm weather.  But when the actual temp is forcasted to be 103.  That is just crazy!  Today is supposed to be better (in the 90's) so I think Payton and I will head to the pool later.  Payton has not been happy about the heat either.  He gets so mad that I won't let him go out and play.  He will bring me his shoes and sit down for me to put them on.  Then drags me to the door.  When I tell him we can't go outside it is to hot, get gets so sad! 

Other than trying to stay cool, not much is new with us.  Payton is starting to use a lot more words.   Sometimes we can actually figure out what he is trying to tell us. 

Here are a few of our favorites:

Elbo = Elmo

Bom Bob = Spongebob

Choo Choo = Thomas the train (or any vehicle that is not a car.  He is a little confused on that one.)

Hippa = Hippo

ga gone = all gone or all done

Ma = Mom, milk and more.  So that one gets a little tricky sometimes! 

choos = shoes

cucker  sucker

cacks = snacks (fruit snacks specifically)

ba ball = baseball

Fun Filled Weekend

Payton and I had a great time in Iowa this weekend!  He was such a great boy too.  He did really good on the drive there and back.  Payton was very excited to see Grandma Joy.  He was a grandmas boy this weekend for sure.   On Friday we went to my moms neighbors and splashed around in their pool and chased the kitties around the yard.  Saturday we got up and went to my sisters new restaurant and had some yummy food!  Then we went to the park and spent the afternoon and evening there.  It was HOT!!  Thank you to our cousin Allie for playing with Payton and taking him off my hands for a while!  I can only climb on the playground so much. We got to see lots of friends and family and Payton had lots of kids to play with.  Then we got to see some really good fireworks!  Payton was a little scared at first, but by the end he was saying, "WOW" and clapping.  So I think he liked them.  On Sunday we went to my friend Erin's house.  It was her daughters 3rd birthday.  Payton had lots of kids to play with there too.  We had a great time. Thanks for inviting us Erin!!  On Monday we went to go see Grandpa Gene.  We got to play with lots of toy trucks when we were there.  Then on Monday night we drove home.  We left about bedtime so Payton would sleep the whole way.  It made a long night for me, but it was well worth it!  Overall we had a great weekend!  Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th!!

Make sure and check out the pictures! 

Getting ready for the weekend....

On Friday Payton and I are heading to Iowa again.  We are going to the 4th of July celebration in Dixon on Saturday and will get to see lots of family and friends as well.  Justin has to work all weekend, so he doesn't get to go.  He is pretty bummed that he won't get us see us for a few days.  But I am sure it will be nice to have a quiet house!

We are looking forward to the trip, although not the car ride!  I am crossing my fingers that Payton sleeps at least half of the way up.  It is not very easy to travel with him anymore when there is only one of us.  I know Grandma Joy is getting anxious to see him again even though she just saw him two weeks ago.  I love going to Dixon for the fireworks.  It is the best way to see all of my extended family.  And its lots of fun too!  So hopefully I will see lots of you this weekend!  I should have lots of pictures to post next week.

 

June 25

Today we went to a Childrens Farmestead that is pretty close to our house.  Payton had a great time.  He could run around and pet the baby goats and lambs.  He just kept running around in circles trying to chase all of them.  He even felt the need to hug a few of the goats.  I am surprised he didn't try and take one home!

He has become such a chatter box lately!  I wish I could understand what he is saying because he makes it sound like it is very important!  His new word is banana.  But he says 'banammana'.  It is really cute.  His other new word is Choo Choo.  He loves trains.  Whenever he sees one he says choo choo.  When I pick him up from day care, he points at the DVD player in the car and says Choo Choo.  It took me a few days and then I realized that he wanted to watch his Thomas movie. 

Surprise party!

This past weekend my sister and I threw my mom a surprise 60th birthday party!  It turned out perfect!  She was totally shocked.   It took a lot of planning and keeping secrets to get it pulled off, but we did it!  She was really surprised that we had her mom fly up from Florida and her sister drive up from St. Louis.  There was a great turn out.  Thank you to everyone who was able to come.   I have no pictures because my camera battery was dead.  So if anyone took any pictures, let me know so I can get doubles!

Vacation

At the end of May, we went to Florida for vacation.  It was so much fun.  Payton had a great time.  We also got to spend some time with my grandma, that was really nice.  She had not seen Payton since he was 3 weeks old, so she was thrilled to see him.  Payton was amazing on the flight.  I was a little worried, since he does not like to sit at all.  But he did really well.  The first full day we were there he was a little frightened of the water and did not like the sand touching his toes, but by the end of the day he was running all over.  The next day we went to Busch Gardens.  It was a perfect place for toddlers.  It is the perfect mix of animals, rides and things to see and do.  Payton loves animals, so had a great time there as well.  We spent a few days just driving around and spending time with grandma.  Then the last full day we were there we went back to the beach.  Payton loved it this time.  He would run out to the water and yell and the waves and then when the waves spashed on his feet he would run back up the beach giggling.  All in all it was a great trip.  We were very sad to come home and get back to our normal lives.  We are already planning our trip for next year!  (You can see pictures by looking at the photo album).

Let's try this....

Hello Everyone!

I thought I would try something new.  I am going to try doing a blog type thing instead of our website.   I like having the website, but it takes a very long time to update.  This blog is VERY easy and fast to update and it is free which the website was not, so hey, that is an extra added bonus!    I will probably keep the website around for a little bit until I decide what I like better.   My plan is to update this with entries more often.  So be sure to check back frequently!   I plan on keeping it as a diary of sorts as to the daily events of what happens in our life. 

Let me know which you like better, or if I am wasting my time completely!