Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas!  Ours was wonderful!  Payton was a lot of fun this year.  He was really into having Santa and his reindeer come to his house.  He had been talking about Santa for the entire month of December!  Once while we were shopping for presents we were at Cabellas, a hunting store, and there were deer displayed in and around the store and Payton told me and everyone else who would listen that those were Santas reindeer and they were coming to his house! 

 

We started off the Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve with Justins parents and sister.  They came to our house and we had a big dinner and opened presents.  We had a great time.  The only bad thing was that I completely forgot to get out my camera so I don't have any pictures to share from then.  Christmas morning we celebrated with the 3 of us in the morning and then that afternoon went over to my moms house.  My Grandma is visiting from Florida, so we got to spend Christmas with her as well.  Then on the 26th, I took the day off of work so Payton and I could stay home and play with new toys all day long! 

 

As much as I love Christmas, I was ready for it to be over and to get my house back in order.  We are also glad to have daddy home more and back to working normal hours instead of those crazy holiday hours.  I am looking forward to a happy, healthy and exciting 2008! 

Happy 60th Grandpa Gene and seeing Santa

I am a little behind on my blogs, so I am going to try and recap...

The weekend of the 16th I went to Iowa for a quick trip to see my dad for his birthday.  Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa Gene!!  While I was up there I got to visit with some of my friends and their kids.  Payton stayed here with Justin and while he worked mom watched Payton.  Mom, Lindsey and Kellen took Payton to see a Holiday train that had Santa on it!  Payton loved it!  I will put some pictures in the album section.

Happy Birthday!

Payton turned 3 this week!  My baby is such a big boy now!  We feel so lucky to have such a loving, caring, smart and funny little boy in our lives.  It is so hard to believe that he is already 3 years old.  But on the other hand, it is amazing  to see all of the things he has learned and how much he has changed through those years.  

 

3 months:

 

6 months:

 

18 months:

 

2 years old:

 

3 years old:

 

 

Payton had a fun birthday weekend!  On Saturday my mom and I took him to Union Station and Crown Center to see the holiday train exhibit and lots of Christmas decorations.  Then we ate at the Crayola Cafe.  On Sunday we celebrated his birthday with a Disney Cars themed party.  He had a great time and got lots of thoughtful gifts.  We started the party with a bit of a meltdown, but when you mix a 3 year old with no nap and presents and a cake that he can not have yet, it isn't pretty!  After the meltdown, then he was good to go!  On Monday (his actual birthday) he brought Cars themed cupcakes to school.  That night we took him to Chucky Cheese.  He had a great time there.  There were so many things to do there he couldn't decide what to do first!  He just kept running around he was so excited! 

I have added lots of pictures to the photo album of his birthday weekend. 

 

 

Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Ours was nice and relaxing.  Mom got to host her first holiday in her new house!  It was nice to have us all together.  It has been five years since we have all been together for Thanksgiving!    After dinner Justin, Kristin, Payton and myself braved the COLD to head down to the Plaza for the lighting ceremony.  This is something that Justin and I have done every Thanksgiving since we lived here.  The pictures below are from the Plaza.  (They are a little blurry, I took them from the warmth of the car!)

 

   

 

We are now preparing for Paytons birthday next week.  It seems impossible that he is going to be 3 already!   We have an appointment this week to get his 3 year pictures done.  Wish me luck, we have yet to have a good experience getting photos taken!

 

3 year checkup

Payton had his 3 year checkup this morning and is doing great!  He weighs 29 1/2 pounds and is 36 3/4 inches tall.  That puts him in the 20th percentile for weight and the 45th percentile for height.   The doctor was not concerned that he is only in the 20th percentile, he said that he is growing steadly.  If you have aver seen his daddy, you know that Payton will probably not ever be very big! 

He is on target if not ahead on all of the developmental targets for a 3 year old. 

And it seems like our new asthma action plan that we got a few months ago is working so far.  It is more proactive then it used to be, but it seems to be helping.  When his asthma does flare up, it doesn't last as long as it used to.  The big test will be this winter though when all of the cold an flu viruses are going around.    But overall, the doctor said he is going great!

Halloween fun!

Payton had a pretty eventful Halloween this year filled with lots of parties!  The week before the actual holiday we went to a party at the day care that Aunt Kristin works at.  Then, that Friday, we had a party for all of the kids at my work.  It is a pretty big event where everyone brings their kids in and they go trick or treating throughout many of the floors in our buildings.  He became instant friends with the daughter of a friend of mine.  Then on Halloween day he had a party and a parade at day care and then that night we went trick or treating!  Payton loves Halloween!  He thinks it is great that he gets candy!  He was completely obsessed with his candy basket.  He would take it to his room and night and just hold on to it while he slept, even though we had hidden all of the candy.  Then on Halloween night, we were on our way home from Grandmas house and he fell asleep with a sucker in each hand!  

 

Payton started the 3-4 year old class at school last week!  It is a month early, but the director and the teachers felt he was ready.  He had been a handful the last couple of weeks and we think it was because he was ready to move up.  There were quite a few kids in his class that had just turned 2, so he was almost a whole year older then them and just getting bored.   This class is more like school.  He will actually have a monthly homework assignment!  Can you believe it, a 3 year old with homework!

 

Pumpkin Patch!

Today we spent the day at the pumpkin patch!  Payton had lots of fun seeing the animals in the petting zoo and going on a hay rack ride.  Then he found just the right pumpkins for our house.

 

Mom is now settled in her new house.  Last weekend all of her stuff from Iowa came and we got her all unpacked.  She is really happy to be all moved in.  It is a really pretty house and I think she feels quite at home in it.   Her house is nice and close to ours.  It is just a short bike ride away.  My Grandma from Florida came up to help mom get the house all spotless before she moved in.  While she was here she showed Payton a few songs on the piano.  He is very interested in it.  He would just stare her her fingers and try to copy what she did.  Now everytime we go there he goes straight for the piano.   I think we may have a future musician in our house!

 

Payton has been doing great.  He has been learning a lot of 'emotion' words at school.   Sometimes when he is just getting over being upset, he will try and hold back the tears and says, "I happy now."  Or, he sometimes says, "I make mommy happy."  It is pretty cute. 

The other new thing he is constantly saying is, "That's my favorite".  He says it for everything!  It can be food, toys, cartoons, anything, they are always his FAVORITE!

Payton loves to be mommy's helper.  I can pretty much make him do anything around the house if I tell him it would be a big help to mommy!  If he doesn't want to pick up his toys, I just say, "It would be a big help to mommy".  Then he does it!   Now if it were only that easy to get Justin to pick up around the house!!!

Dentist and baby kitty!

Payton had his first trip to the dentist this past week!  He did great!  We are so proud of him!  We found a wonderful pediatric dentist that really does a wonderful job at making the dentist fun for kids.  They even get ice cream and a balloon when they are done!

 

Payton also got a baby kitty this week!  We already have a cat that Payton loves to try and play with.  But he is 7 years old and is pretty content at just laying around.   So we thought it was time to get him his very own kitten.  He just adores her!  She is just over 3 months old, so just the right size for Payton to pick up and carry around the house!  She is a great kitty and pretty mellow.  She doesn't even mind Payton constantly picking her up or trying to hand feed her!  

Rough week...

This was a rough week...   Monday night Payton was admited to the hospital for his asthma.  He is doing much better now though.  Monday he started breathing pretty fast and looked like he was working pretty hard at it.   I was going to start a breathing treatment, but he just wasn't acting right, so I just brought him into Urgent Care at Childrens Mercy instead.  As soon as we got there they led us straight back to a room and saw a doctor right away.  (Pretty unusual, usually you have to wait for a couple of hours.)  They did numerous breathing treatments back to back and gave him a dose of steroids.  They then did chest X-rays to make sure there was no other infection. 

We were admitted up to the floor about 1:30 in the morning and spent the night getting breathing treatments.  When he fell asleep his oxygen levels dropped so he was put on oxygen.  He only needed it for a short time.  He was much better on Tuesday, so they sent us home Tuesday evening.  He is doing much better now, except that the steriods that he is on have him completely wired and hyper.  The first two nights we were home he didn't go to sleep until 4 am!  Last night it was midnight, so I guess that is better!  He is off of the steriods now, so I hope we can get back to a normal routine.

He is now on a more aggressive Asthma action plan, so hopefully the higher doses of preventive medicine will keep us from having to go to the hospital again. 

Here is a picture I took on my cell phone of my little guy on oxygen while he was sleeping.

Finally!

Things have finally started to get back to normal for us.  We have spent the last month or so working like crazy, getting lots of house projects done and helping get Lindsey and Kellen settled in Kansas City. 

 

Work is finally slowing down a little bit for both Justin and myself.  July are very busy months for us anyways and we are down a person at my job. 

We also tackled a few house things.  Justin said I am not allowed to say, "Lets redo (fill in the blank)" for at least two months.  (We will just have to see about that though!)  You will have to check out the new pictures I added to the albums.  It is Justin replacing a leaky/broken faucet with Payton 'assisting'.  It is no wonder that things seem to take along time to get done around here!

Lindsey and Kellen found an apartment and moved about 1-2 weeks ago.  It is in a good location and really close to her work.  So they are both settled in and have started their jobs.

 

Justin has been on vacation this week.  It has been so nice to have him home and Payton is getting some much needed Daddy bonding time.  Now that we are back to normal, things have been going good.  Uncle Jeremy and Mandi came down to visit on Saturday.  Payton was very excited to see them.  I don't think he left Jeremy alone the entire time he was here.  My grandma from Florida came to KC this past week also.  When Payton heard that his Great Grandma was coming he kept saying, "My Happy Birthday!"  He remembered her coming for his birthday last year and thought since she was coming again that it must be his birthday!  So I had to break it to him that it was not his birthday, but it would be in few months.  Payton went to the airport with Grandma and Great Grandma on Sunday to watch Great Grandma leave.  He loved watching the airplanes.  When they got back he told me all about it and talked about it for days! 

 

Payton has been doing great.  It seems like all of a sudden he became such a big boy!  He is now potty trained, which is a huge relief.  He also loves to 'read' his books.  He will actually stay awake in his bed for up to 2 hours and go through all of his books.  I would like him to go to sleep, but I guess if he is going to stay awake, I am happy it is with books.   He is also really into singing and dancing!  He learns lots of new songs at school.  Usually we can figure them out, but every once in a while we have to call Aunt Kristin to help us figure them out.  (She works at a day care).   The most noticiable thing about Payton right now is that he NEVER stops talking!!  His vocabulary has just exploded in the last few months.  My little guy is becoming a big boy! 

 

Now that things have slowed down, hopefully I will be able to add updates more often.  I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Funny Payton story

I don't have a lot of time tonight, but I had to share this funny story!   

First you will need a little backgound info---Payton is pretty much potty trained.  He only wears a pull-up while he sleeps because he sleeps so soundly.   He hasn't had an accident in months, so I pretty much consider him potty trained.   But, when he says he needs to go, you need to find a potty pretty quick. 

 

Tonight Payton and I ran to Lowe's to pick up a few things.  We were in the sink aisle, when he told me he needed to go potty.  So, I said, okay, lets go.  He started walking the other way... to the toilets that were for sale!!   I told him that we needed to go to the back of the store instead.   He said, "NO MOMMY!  That one!"  Then he started to pull his shorts down!  I literally had to drag him to the bathrooms while he was saying, "That potty mommy, that potty." 

 

It was so funny!   There were a few people around giving us a little chuckle.   He didn't think it was to funny though, he just didn't  understand why he couldn't go in the 30 potties that were lined up in a row!  I'm just glad I was paying attention!  Otherwise we might have had to buy one of them!

July

I have been REALLY busy with work lately, so not much new to report.  Things are slowing down now, so hopefully in the next couple of days I should be able to have more of an update.  Until then, I have posted a couple of pictures in the photo album. 

2 more Iowans make the move....

We just found out my sister and Kellen are going to be moving to Kansas City!  They don't know a lot of details yet, it all happened pretty sudden.   They had talked about moving down here someday, but didn't have any specific plans.  Then, late last week, Lindsey was offered a job at Red Robin in Kansas.  (She currently works at Red Robin in Iowa).  So she accepted and is coming down in a few weeks.  They are a little overwhelmed because it is all going a little faster than planned, but they are both very excited.   They still have to get Kellen transferred with UPS and sell the house, but it sounds like Lindsey has to start her new job in a few weeks, so she will be down here soon and staying with us while she looks for an apartment.

Happy Fathers Day!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fathers Day!  Justins birthday was on Sunday as well, so he had two reasons to celebrate!  I think he had a great day.  We started out the day by going to a yummy Fathers Day brunch.  Then, after we filled our bellies we all three took naps!  And we ended up the day by going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (one of our favorites!) with my mom and Kristin.  Justin loved the fact that he got to go out to eat twice in one day and take a nap!  I think that is his idea of a perfect day!    While we were at dinner we were reminded of how much of a flirt Payton is!!  We could not get him to eat his hamburger, he was just not interested.  Then the waitress came up to our table and got him to take a bite.  He would only take a bite when she was there.  Everytime she walked away he would ask where she went and he would look for her and when she would come back if would give her this huge grin!  It  was so funny!  She earned her tip from us that night!

The weather has gotten quite a bit warmer, so Payton and I played outside in the water for 4 hours on Saturday!  I literally had to pry him out of the inflatable pool to get him in the house at 7 pm!!   He also helped me wash the van.  He was actually a big help!  He was in charge of the hose, so I soaped it up and he rinsed!  I really think he is clean obsessed!  He is always cleaning his toys in the sink.  It usually results in soap all over the bathroom, but at least he is trying!  I will try and post some pictures tonight.

Time flies...

I can't believe that it is June already!  Where did the month of May go!  May was a pretty busy month for us.  Early in the month my Aunt and cousin came to visit from St. Louis.  Payton had a great time following Logan around all weekend.  Then, we traveled up to Iowa to go to a friends wedding.  It was great to see lots of people from high school that I haven't seen in years.  We spent the weekend with my sister and visiting some family and friends.  We went to my friend Sarah's house to see her new baby and Payton and Norah had a great time playing.  (I forgot to bring my camera to their house, otherwise I would have some adorable pictures of the two kids!)  Then, the next weekend, Justin's brother Jeremy and his girfriend Mandy came to visit.  It was great to see them!  Unfortunatley it rained all weekend so most of our plans with them were ruined.  We then spent Memorial Day at our house with mom and Kristin.  Justin grilled out and we spent the entire day playing outside.

 

Payton is doing great.  I am still so amazed that it seems like he learns so much everyday.   He is talking up a storm.    You can now have an entire conversation with him.   The things that two year olds say can be so funny!  If we try and wake him up in the morning to get ready he will say, "Go away mommy, I'm sleeping".  

One if the funniest things he says if we are out near the car is, "Bye, see ya, going shopping."  Then if you ask him what he is shopping for he will say, "I buy candy and toys!"

He has also told both Justin and the cat to sit in the 'Naughty Chair' for various reasons.  Its even funnier that Justin will actually do it!

His other new thing is he is deathly afraid of flies!  I have no idea why he developed this fear, but if there is one anywhere near him he completly freaks out!  I am hoping he gets over that soon otherwise it could be a very long summer!!

 

Here is a cute video of Payton and daddy reading:

 

http://vid158.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid158.photobucket.com/albums/t83/nicole531/DSCN1079.flv

Its warm outside!!

It is finally warm outside!  We took full advantage of the weather and played outside all day yesterday!  

Payton is doing great.  Everyday he amazes me by the new things he learns to say.  His new favorite thing is to put up his finger and say "In a minute mommy."  (Can you tell who runs our house!!)  He also says things are "Cool".    Tonight he was dancing and he said, "Shake my bootie".  I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.  I think he learned that from day care because I did not teach him it!   I think he is finally starting to get a little bit taller too.  About two months ago we could not keep him full.  He would eat numerous helping of food and literally take food out of your hand.  The minute he would wake up he would say, "EAT, mommy."   I know that meant that he was getting ready for a growth spurt.  I haven't measured him, but I know he has gotten taller because his shirts now look like crop tops and his pants look like capris!  We had to go shopping this week so he would have some summer clothes that fit.

Mom came and stayed at the house last weekend so I could spend the night down at the Plaza with some friends for a bachelorette party.  Payton and Grandma had a lot of fun going out to eat and going to the park.  And it allowed me to go and have some fun with some dear friends that I don't get to see very often.  Win, Win for everyone!!

I hope everyone is enjoying this warm weather!  I know we are!!

Happy Easter!

Not a whole lot is new around here.   We are getting ready to celebrate Easter tomorrow.  Hopefully it won't be too cold so we can hunt Easter eggs in the yard!  (Or maybe in the living room if it is too cold!!)

 

I think I have figured out how to upload videos to this site, so I thought I would share a few!  (The videos are the not best quality, but I think you can still enjoy!)

 

 

This is Payton and Daddy being silly. 

 

 http://s158.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid158.photobucket.com/albums/t83/nicole531/DSCN1000.flv

 

Doing the alphabet-I was to slow with the camera and only caught the end:

 

 http://s158.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid158.photobucket.com/albums/t83/nicole531/DSCN1009.flv

 

Dancing to the cartoons on TV:

 http://s158.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid158.photobucket.com/albums/t83/nicole531/DSCN1011.flv

suburban mom

Well it is official...I can now call myself a suburban mom!  We got a minivan!  I never would have thought that I would get a van, but I LOVE it!  We got a Nissan Quest.  It is really pretty and has lots of features that will take a while to learn.  It is quite a bit larger than my SUV was, so parking has been interesting! 

March 3, 2007

Hello Everyone!  I am sorry that it has taken so long for me to update.   2007 has started out to be a little rough!  It started with Payton being sick, then I have been sick for over two weeks with bronchitis, and then in the middle of that our furnace broke!   So, after lots of asthma treatments for Payton, two trips to the doctor and 5 prescriptions for me, and $1,100 dollars to get our furnace fixed, I think we are starting to get on the road to recovery! 

It hasn't all been bad though.  In January we went up to Lake View, Iowa and celebrated X-Mas with the Schulte side of the family.  Payton got to ride in a tractor with his Grandpa and Uncle Jeremy hooked him up with lots of Iowa Hawkeye clothes.  In January, Payton and I also went to the Quad Cities to visit with his other Grandpa and Aunt Lindsey.  We even got to go see lots of family and friends that we don't get to see very often.   (We decided we need to do that more often!)  A couple of weeks ago we took Payton to Union Station and Science City here in KC.  They have a train exhibit that was a huge hit for Payton.  For Valentines Day, Grandma Joy got Payton tickets to see the Wiggles concert this week.  Payton loved it!  I don't think he blinked the entire show!  The only problem is everyday now he says he wants to go watch the Wiggles!  I will say, "Lets get ready for school" and his response is, "No school mommy.  Wiggles"!

We are a little bummed because we found out that our neighbors on both sides of us are moving.  (I am not really sure that says alot about us if our neighbors are all moving!!)  We are sad because one side has a boy Paytons age that he likes to play with and a new baby boy, and the other side has a baby boy.  I was thinking by next year we could have our own basketball team!  Hopefully the new people will have kids as well.

Payton has been doing great.  He is getting so smart!  He loves working on his puzzles.  (If we get him a new one, he has it mastered in a couple of minutes!)  I think I might have to start getting him a 100 piece puzzle and see what happens!  He also loves to 'read' his books.  He likes to practice the alphabet and counting.  Yesterday he counted to 14!  (He always forgets 6 and 8 though).  We about had heart attacks when he did it.  And I don't think it was a fluke because he did it all night.  Of course today when I try to get him to do it he starts to act silly and won't do it.  But it was still pretty amazing!

I am going to try and add some new pictures to the photo album tonight, so you will have to go and check them out.

Hope everyone is doing well!!