Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  Payton was so excited!  He is just at the right age where he is really into it!  He is really into Santa and loves singing Christmas songs and watching Christmas movies!  On Christmas Eve, Justin's family came down from Iowa and we got to spend the evening with them.  Payton was really happy to see his Uncle Jeremy!  That night we left out cookies and milk for Santa.  He insisted that the reindeer wanted chocolate milk too!  It took a lot of convincing, but I finally got him to realize that he didn't need to leave the reindeer milk outside, that Santa would bring it out to them!  He woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and ran right past all of the presents straight to the plate of half eaten cookies!  He was thrilled!  Santa brought him a new bike which was the highlight of the morning.  His reaction was one I will not forget.  We then opened presents for a while and then went over to my moms and spent yhe rest ofthe day over there.  (It sure is nice having to drive 6 minutes, instead of 6 hours!!)  Payton was a little mellow then, but i think he was on present overload!  A day and a half of opening gifts is a bit much for a little guy!   Friday it was 64 degrees here, so it was a perfect day to try out the new bike!  We have spent the rest of the weekend being very laid back and playing with all of our new toys!!

Overall we had a wonderful Christmas and got to spend lots of time with family.  It was strange to think that next year there will be one more person here!  I think we may need a bigger tree then!!

15 week update

I had a doctors appt yesterday and everything looks great with the baby!  They are not very happy though because instead of gaining weight, I am losing it.  You should would not know it though by looking at my baby bump!!   Hopefully by my next appt in 4 weeks I will be able to put on a few pounds, or at least not lose any. 

My next appt is January 13 and I will have my sonogram!  So as long as the baby is cooperating, I will be able to find out if it is a boy or girl!!

Keeping busy!!

We have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks!  We spent Thanksgiving at my moms and Justin and Payton decided it would be a good time to rake her leaves.  She has some big trees in her back yard so her leaves were inches deep.  Payton was so excited to help daddy.  He actually did a pretty good job.  We have also gone to see Santa and Payton told him his very long list of things he wants for Christmas!  (Thanks to those kid grabbing commercials on TV, his wish list is out of control!!)  This week we attempted to do a gingerbread train.  We have never done one before, and I know why!  What a mess!  It didn't turn out quite like the picture, but not too bad for our first try. 

Payton absoultly loves all things Christmas!  He is fascinated by the lights on the houses and is very proud of the lights that he helped daddy put outside.  Whenever someone comes over he has to show them a surprise, which is taking them out the front door and showing them the lights.  I don't know if he realizes that whoever came over saw them when they pulled up!  He also makes sure that we always have the lights on inside the house as well.  He also told me that he really wants to see Santa when he comes to our house this year.  I am trying to convince him that he comes while we sleep and if we stay up and see him, he might not leave presents!

Just has been working, ALOT!  Thanksgiving weekend was brutal.  We pretty much didn't see him from Thanksgiving night until Sunday night!  While he has been busy working, I have been busy redoing our basement.  When we moved in 5 years ago, the people before us had put up walls and carpet in an attempt to start finishing it.  We then did a little more, nothing spectacular, added a ceiling and a lot of paint, but good enough for a bonus rec room of sorts.  It was then used as an office and room for an extra TV used for the playstation.  When Payton came along, it started turning into a playroom and just started accumulating lots of toys.  I have been wanting to redo it to make the space more usuable for a while.  So, after I moved Payton to his new room a couple of months ago, I started my planning!  I knew when the new baby comes next summer, I would want to get some new baby stuff, but I wanted to keep some of Paytons old nursery things.  So, the new playroom incorporates almost everything from his old room.  I even made cork boards out of his old sheets to hang artwork on!  I am so happy with the results!  I think it is going to be great when the baby comes too because I can sit in the rocker with the baby while Payton is playing.   I am so proud of it because I did the entire thing all by myself!  Justin helped to move the desk and TV, but besides that it was all me!!  I completey rearraanged it and moved the office area to this little extra space that used to have toys and the rest of the room is all playroom!  I added some before and after pictures to the photo album. 

 

Pregnancy update:

Things are going great so far with the pregnancy.  I had an appt and ultrasound on Friday and things are looking great so far.  (I added some ultrasound pictures to the pregnancy album).  I think this week I have finally started getting my appetite back which is a good thing.  I can't imagine going ino the holiday season not wanting to eat!!

 

I hope everyone is doing great and getting ready for Christmas!  Less than 3 weeks to go! 

 

Payton is 4 now!!

My baby boy turned 4 yesterday!  He seems to be such a big boy all of a sudden!  It doesn't seem possible that he is 4.  That means next year he will be 5, and then he starts school after that!  Does that seem possible!   He was very excited for his birthday!  The first thing out of his mouth yesterday morning was, "I'm the birthday boy!!"  We didn't do anything too exciting, just the typical family party at home.  He also brought cupcakes to school.  With Thanksgiving being so late this year, and the news of the baby coming and the layoffs at my work, the last few weeks have been really busy.  So we will probably go and do some more fun stuff this weekend or next weekend.  He had a Mickey Mouse theme for his party last night.  Ever since we went to Disney this summer, he has been really into Mickey, Goofy, Donald and all of the other Disney characters.  So he had Mickey balloons, cake and decorations!   He has been difficult to get to bed tonight and last night because he wants to constantly play with all of his new presents!   Thank you to everyone who made his birthday so special!

Big Brother!!

Paytons going to be a big brother!!!!

We are very excited to annouce that we are expecting a baby on June 10, 2009!  I just had my second doctors appointment (11 weeks) today and everything is going great.  We have now gotten to hear the hearbeat and see it on an ultrasound.  I can not even express how estatic we are.  As some of you know, it has been a long road to get to this point, but it has all been worth it.  A very dear friend of mine told me that even though it may not seem like it at the time, there is a reason that things don't happen how or when we want them to.  And she was exactly right.  I can not imagine this happening at a different time.  Payton and the baby will be 4 1/2 years apart, and although I didn't plan on them being that far apart, I am really getting excited about it.  I am glad that I had so much time to bond with just Payton and to devote all of my time to him.  Since they will be so far apart, I think I will get to enjoy the baby stage of the second one that much more as well.  I know that there are positives and negatives about either having them close in age or far away, but I am really looking forward to their age gap.

I have been feeling pretty good.  I haven't really had any morning sickness.  I do get quesy at times, but nothing like when I was pregnant with Payton.  My only major symptom so far is the extreme tiredness.  This is the first week in 6 weeks that I haven't needed a nap when I get home from work.  So hopefully that means it is passing!  Thank goodness for Justin, he took care of a lot of household and mommy duties so I could nap.  I do notice that I am showing a whole lot earlier!  I am about 2 months ahead of where I was with my first pregnancy.  I talked to everyone I know with two kids and they confirmed the same thing.  So at least I am normal!

Payton seems to be pretty excited about the baby.  He is certain that it is going to be a boy and told me that he will not be happy if it is a girl!  He also told me that we are naming him/her Horsey!  I am anxious to see how he responds to the baby.  I think he will be a big help.  He loves to be my big helper so I am curious to see if that holds true then as well.

I have added some pictures to the Pregnancy and Belly Pictures albums.  I will continue to add to these albums as the pregnancy progresses.  So check back often for more updates on the baby and on Payton!

 

Big boy room!!

Payton just moved to his new big boy furniture!  Up until now, he has still been in a toddler bed and was in desperate need to move to a bigger bed.  Also, the dresser in his room, is meant for a nursery, so it is pretty small.  We had been looking for new furntire for him for about 6 months and could not find anything that we liked or that we wanted, especially for the price.  We really wanted something that he could grow with, and not just get us through the new few years.  We finally found a set that we love!  We had to move him to the spare bedroom, because the layout of his old room would not accomodate the furniture as well.  So, I have been busy the last week, getting his room painted and all ready.  I think his room is my new favorite room in our house!   He is really excited to have his new big boy room!  I added some pictures to the album of his old room and his new room so you an see what a big difference it is.  I still have a few more decorative things that I need to add to it, but I just haven't had the chance to get them up or to get them painted.

Way, Way behind...

For any of you who check our blog on a regular basis, I apologize for being so behind!!  The last four weeks have been filled with multiple weddings, a trip to Vegas, a birthday party and lots of other various activities.  This past Sunday was the first day I didn't have to go anywhere!  It was so nice to be home.  Of course, there was a ton of housework that we had fallen behind on after being gone so much, but at least I didn't have to go anywhere!!

 

I will try and recap a couple of highlights of the past month.   For some reason I don't have a lot of pictures, but I added a few.  Some of them were cell phone pictures, so they might not be the best quality.  We went to a wedding here in Kansas of a coworker of Justins.  One of his friends has a son close to Paytons age that was in the wedding.  So the two of them played alot.  Payton was really shy at first.  He even told me that he wanted to be shy! Then after eatting all of the M&M favors on our table, he was no longer shy!  He started dancing so funny.  I have never seen him act like that before. It was hilarous!  I have no idea what he was doing, but I captured it on my phone.

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The next weekend Justin and I headed to Las Vegas for another wedding.  We had a wonderful time.  It was the first time we have ever both been away from Payton for more then one night.  And we had only done that twice since he was born!  He stayed at Grandma Joys while we were gone.  They had a wonderful time!  He didn't even want to come home when we got home, he wanted to stay at Grandmas!!  A big thank you to my mom for watching him for 4 days!  It was a much needed get away for the two of us.

 

In other news--Payton is doing great in PreK!  I was a little nervous at first, because I knew he was ready academically, but socially, he is still just 3 1/2-4, while most of the kids in his class are 4 and 5.  The first day or two at drop off and pickup we had a few minor issues because things were different then what he was used to, but we have not had one issue since then and the teacher said he is going great.  Right now he is learning how to spell the colors.  They are also learning sight words.  This has really sparked an interest in wanting to read.  He is constantly asking me what stuff says in books or on signs, etc.   I think being with the older kids has helped alot as well.  He has started playing by himself a lot more and using a lot of imaginative play.  I can sometimes hear him in his room talking to his stuffed animals and playing.  I keep trying to catch it on video, but I am not sneaky enough! 

 

I am happy and sad that summer is over.  We love summer to be able to play outside, but I am actually looking forward to fall.  Payton is very aware that his birthday is coming up and after his birthday Santa comes.  So I think the holidays this year will be a lot of fun because he is really into it!

 

 

Boats, tractors and golf carts!

These are all of the things that Payton got to 'drive' last weekend!  We had a fun filled trip to Western Iowa last weekend to visit Grandma and Grandpa Schulte and Uncle Jeremy!  Aunt Kristin went up with us as well.  The first day we went to visit all of the Great Grandparents and then we went on a boat ride.  Grandpa Randy even let Payton drive the boat!!  I think they both loved it.  The next day we went golfing.  Payton got to try out his new golf clubs.  He was very fascinated with the ball washer thing.  That is not really a surprise for Payton!  While we were golfing, he got to sit on Justins lap and help drive the golf cart.  After golfing, we headed to the farm so Payton could go for a tractor ride.  He had been talking about it for days, so he was very excited when Grandpa told him to take his pick.   Then, we had to go in the field to show Payton the corn because he was confused as to why it was green and not yellow.  I am not sure who was having more fun...Payton or Grandpa Randy!!

Then, on the last day we all went to Omaha to go to the zoo on our way home!

 

In other news, we just found out that Payton is going to be moving to the Pre-K class next week.  It is early for him to move up, but they feel he is ready.  They think that if he stays in his current class he will get bored, because the items they are going to be learning in the next few months he has already mastered.  So he is pretty excited to move up with the big kids.  It is much more of a structured environment.  His class will be working on sight words, simple addition and subraction, spelling, writing and phonics.  I think he will do great.  He does really well in a learning environment and is like a sponge, he just absorbs information.  The only downside of moving up this early, is that he will be in this class until he starts kindergarten, which isn't for two years.  So we may have a problem keeping him challenged next year.  But I have a whole year to worry about that!

HOT, HOT, HOT

It has been so HOT down here the last few days.  This was what my car was reporting as the temp on Sunday.  (Yes, it says 102 degrees!)

It has been near 100 for a few days now.  Despite the heat, we had a busy and fun weekend!!  Saturday we went to a T-Bones baseball game.   They are a semi-pro baseball team in the area.  It was a lot of fun!  Tickets are super cheap, so we got great seats. 

Then on Sunday we went to a fun pool that has lots of slides, spray features and a lazy river.  It was a great way to beat the heat.  Payton loved it.  So I have a feeling that we will be back there a few more times!  I have added some pictures to the Summer Fun album.

We are leaving this week to head to Western Iowa to spend a few days visiting up there, so I am sure I will have lots more pictures to post next week. 

Summer Fun

Last weekend we took Payton to Paradise Park.  It is a fun place for kids of all ages with lots of interactive play.  He loved the pretend town where you could go to the bank, the grocery store and the pizza parlor!   While we were there we there we played minature golf as well.  Payton had never played before so we were not quite sure what to expect, but he got 2 hole in ones!  I think it was proably just a fluke, but we were pretty speechless when he did the first one! 

He passed his swimming lessons with flying colors!!  Everyday in the bathtub he shows me what he learned.  I am amazed at what they can teach preschoolers.  I am anxious to take him to the pool myself to see what he can do. 

4th of July 2008

We had a wonderful trip to Iowa for the 4th of July!!  The weather was terrific.  High 70's, low 80s the entire time!  The entire trip was jam packed with visiting everyone.  We got to spend a ton of time with lots of family and friends.   It was great to get to see Payton interact with other children of all ages.  We do not have a lot of kids by us, so besides at preschool, he doesn't get to play with other kids that much.   On the way up, we drove through the Iowa City/Coralville area to see the flood damage.  It was heart breaking to see a place I used to call home devasted like that.  We spent the 4th at the Dixon park and enjoyed awesome fireworks!  Payton got to spend a lot of time swimming, which is great since he started his second session of swimming lessons on Monday. 

He seems to be enjoying his swimming lessons.   He used to be a little hesitant around the water, but not anymore.  So I guess they are paying off! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Disney

We had a WONDERFUL time at Disney World!  It truly was magical!  The trip started on Monday with the alarm going off at 2:30 am! We had to be out the door by 4:15am in order to make it to the airport on time.  We were at our hotel by noon and we were instantly submerged in all things Mickey!   We spent all day Tuesday at Magic Kingdom.  And by all day, I mean ALL DAY! (7:45am until midnight, with a 2 hour break in the afternoon!!)  Wednesday was at Epcot and Thursday at Hollywood Studios, then swimming and home on Friday.  Payton was able to meet many of the Disney characters in the parks and at the character dinner that we booked.  He was literally giddy with excitement.  He kept jumping up and down and screaming.  It melted my heart to see him so excited.  He did amazing the entire trip.  Especially considering the lack of sleep the whole trip and constantly going, going, going.  I think we will be planning more trips to Disney World in the future! 

I added a bunch of pictures from the trip to the photo album for you to enjoy. 

The countdown begins!

We are going to Disney World!  We are so excited!  Payton askes me no less than 10 times a day (I am not kidding) when we are going to Mickey Mouse's house!  Justin is even getting more excited as the days go on as he talks to other people that have gone there as well.  We both have stressful and demanding jobs, so we are thrilled to get away from it all for a bit.  What a better way to do that then go to the Happiest Place on Earth!

The trip is very special for me.  Disney was a big part of our lives when we were children.  We were fortunate to be able to go many times.  I even used to also collect anything Mickey as a child.  So, I have lots of fond family memories there.   So to be able to share the same thing with my family feels wonderful.

And, for anyone who knows me, they know I am a big planner.  Planning for 3 full days in the parks (relatively short trip in Disney terms) takes a lot of planning and organization.  So, this is perfect that I get to go on a trip and do lots of planning as well!!

Spring is here!

This weekend was wonderful!  It was near 70 degrees all weekend so we took full advantage of the nice weather and played outside a lot on Sunday and did some shopping outside on Saturday.  

 

 

Watch out dad!!

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Video: riding jeep

 

Check out my swing!

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Video: playing ball

 

Payton has now learned how to spell his last name and is learning about the planets this week!

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Video: spelling last name

 

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Video: planets

 

Also, for some reason he is now very into picking out his own clothes.  I had heard about the daily clothing battles from my friends that have girls and I thought that since we had a boy we could maybe skip this.  But, nope!   We compromise though, he can pick out his PJ's and play clothes and I get to pick out what we wear out and to school.  His choice of PJ's is usually quite interesting!  I put a photo of one in the album.  

Anniversary!

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary!  Can you believe it has been 5 years! Justin has actually put with with me and my slightly obsessive cleaning/organizing/etc. for that long!  (For a bit of nostalgia, I am adding a few pictures from 5 years ago to the album).

Due to the Easter weekend and the fact that Justin is working today, we celebrated our anniversary last wekend.  We had a little getaway.  Not really away, but we stayed downtown and went out to eat at a really nice restaurant.  I was even able to squeeze in a very much needed massage at the hotel health club.  It was great to get away.  Not that I don't love being mom and running our household, but it was nice to not have to think about any of that stuff for 24 hours.  While we were there, Payton spent the night at my moms.  We weren't quite sure how it would go considering that he has never stayed anywhere without us before.  But he did great.  He had a great time at Grandma Joy's.   He is always much more behaved for her than he is for us (isn't that typical) so it all went well.

 

On another note, Payton is still amazing me at what he learns and how fast he can pick things up.  He is working on spelling his last name and is beginning to write.    I have learned that he is ahead of the other kids at day care/preschool his same age.  I guess that helps balance out the minor behavorial issues we are having right now!  (See post below)

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

3 years olds...

Whoever developed the term “Terrible Twos” obviously did it before their child turned three!!  All’s that I can say is WOW, I don’t even recognize my child sometimes.  I have learned that I am not alone though.  I have been doing lots of reading and talking with other parents and most of them agree, that the Threes are much worse than the Twos.   With Two, we had the occasional tantrum, but nothing major.  And it was usually when he was overly tired.  But with Three, you get the attitudes, stubbornness and pushing every limit possible. 

They strive to be so independent at this age, which is great, but can also be part of the problem.  For example, Payton loves to help clean around the house and help me in the kitchen.  So he just doesn’t understand why when he is sitting on the counter helping me clean off dishes (and spraying water everywhere and flooding the kitchen at the same time) he has to get down, because to him he is helping.

I just keep telling myself that this is a phase and he won’t be three forever.  Only 8 months and 15 days left of the Threes.  (Not that I am counting or anything!!)

Girls night out and Texas

We had a very busy and exciting weekend!  My good friend from high school was going to be in Kansas City this weekend so I got to spend time with the girls on Friday.   We all met for lunch and then met again later for dinner and drinks.  We had a great time and I think we need to do it more often.  It was a much needed night out for all of us I think!

Then, the next morning Justin, Payton and I headed to Dallas, Texas!  We went down there to visit some friends of ours.  After the 8 hour drive we hung out at their house and Payton and their one year old daughter played.  On Sunday we spent the day at a Science Museum and an Acquarium.  The science museum had an adorable childrens section that the kids could play in.  Then we did a little shopping.  Justin had to go and check out their Dick's Sporting Goods.  (You would think that he sees enough of that store everyday!!)   On Monday we headed back to Kansas.   On the way home we stopped in Oklahoma at a park that had some waterfalls and caves.  The weather was so nice down there.  When we left on Monday, it was 82 degrees!  When we got home to Kansas, it was 32!  It was a nice break from the cold, but I am still sick of winter and I want it to be over!! 

 

Nothing much...

Sorry it has been such a long time since I last posted.  It has been pretty uneventful around here the last month.  We really haven't done much except a quick trip to western Iowa last weekend for Justin's moms surprise birthday party and working alot.  Payton and I are both fighting colds right now.  We are ready for winter to be over! 

Payton is really into coloring right now and doing craft projects and playing with play-dough.  He has gotten a lot better at coloring lately.  He still scribbles all over the paper, but now you can tell that he is actually trying to color specific things.

This is something he did a week or so ago:

 

He is also learning so much at day care/preschool.  He has learned how to spell his first name.  They are working on last names but he hasn't quite got it yet.  I asked him how to spell my name and he told me that I don't have a name!   In the last couple of months, he has also learned the seasons, the days of the week and the months of the year.  Here are some videos that i took from my cell phone.  (They are not the best quality since they were from my phone, but I think you should still be able to see them.

 

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Video: spelling name

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Video: months