Father's Day

We celebrated Steve's 1st Father's Day on Sunday! It was a fun day and we got to celebrate it with both of our dads as well.

We went to AJ's for breakfast. They have an omelet bar every Sunday that we've been to a few times. Their omelets are delicious!

Then we headed over to Steve's parents for an afternoon with the family. My dad and sister also came over. Joan and I spent some time in the kitchen making dinner and I made, from scratch, the cake and frosting! I had an amazing banana cake at my baby shower and was able to get the recipe and duplicate it. Joan had a cream cheese frosting recipe, and the two together were to die for.

At dinner, we asked my oldest sister Laurie, and Steve's oldest brother Andy, to be Peyton's Godparents. They happily accepted! Although, Andy wasn't too thrilled about the Baptism starting at 8am. Hahaha! :) We don't have a date set yet, but are planning on it being in the Fall sometime.

Presents were next. I got Steve a photo collage for his new office at work. I filled it with pictures of us and Peyton. I inscribed "Happy Father's Day 2010. Love, Jenny & Peyton" on the plaque. He loved it!

It was a nice day and so fun to spend it with both of our families. One thing that's started happening more consistently now that Peyton is here, is both of our families get together for holiday's. Before, we would spend the day driving from Steve's parents, to my parents, and that was always a lot of work. Now, we all get together as one BIG family and spend the day at one persons house. It's SO much easier for us, and so much more fun for everyone.

On a side note, my friend Siobhan is being induced today! We are SO EXCITED for them and for Peyton to have a new buddy.

~Daddy's boy, wearing a "Drummer Wanted" shirt~

~Peyton in some cool-dude shades~

~Grandpa & Peyton sleeping~

~Steve's gift from his parents - matching outfits :)~

~Grandpa Dennis opening his card~

"My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."

-Clarence Budington Kelland

Jumpy.

Last Wednesday, as I was coming in from our backyard, out of the corner of my eye, I see these LONG, FUZZY, THICK, HAIRY LEGS coming out from our door mat. Immediately I knew this was not an ordinary spider. It WAS NOT a wolf spider (which is the scariest spider I've seen around home up to this point). As a matter of fact, I wouldn't even call this a spider. It was a BEAST! I ran out front to get our lawn guys who happened to be over and asked one of them to come kill it for me.

I'm so mad because I didn't have the courage to open the door to go inside and get my camera. This would've consisted of me hopping over the beast and chancing him crawling into our house. So I have no proof, which would've made my life much easier these past few days to prove to people (Steve) that this is not an exaggerated story. :)

So our lawn guy takes a look at it, I look at him, and say, "I'm scared!" He looks back at me and says, "So am I!" Hahahaha! He braved it out and killed it with a broom. What was it? A Tarantula! No joke, I knew it the moment I saw those hairy legs. There's no doubt in my mind. Especially after I googled for a picture and found this replica of what I saw:

Yeah, you think looking at this picture is scary, try seeing it in your own backyard!!

Now this next part seems to have nothing to do with all this, but it does -- After pregnancy, a lot of women's hair falls out for several months postpartum. Not clumps, just lots of strands. The reason is, because when you're pregnant, you don't loose as much hair as normal, which is why pregnant women have "beautiful, thick hair." After pregnancy, you loose all that hair you should've lost during those 9 months (hormonal reasons, of course.) Well, my hair has been falling out like a mad woman. You know when a strand hangs off your shirt and tickles your arm? That is happening to me 24/7 and EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS, I THINK IT'S A SPIDER! This seems silly, but imagine being freaked out 15 times a day that a spider is on you! This is NOT good timing! :)

Finally, about 3 weeks ago I found our first cockroach in our house. Did I see this pesky little thing crawling across the floor? No. It decided to crawl out of the paper towel roll as I was getting a paper towel. Again, FREAKED ME OUT! My dad informed me that I could call the City of Gilbert and tell them I have a roach complaint. They take your address and dust the sewer by your house, free of cost. You can do this in any city, FYI. They left a notice on our door 3 days later saying they dusted the sewer. So nice to know! I've only seen one roach since, and that was in our garage.

Long story short, every little thing I catch out the corner of my eye freaks me out. I think it's a roach. Every tickle I get on my arm, I think is a tarantula. Hopefully this will pass soon.

Three Months!

On June 14th, Peyton turned 3 months!

He decided to give us a big boy present that night by sleeping for 11 hours straight!! Yes, 11 hours! The week prior, he had slept for 9 hours, and last night he went 10 hours. I think it's safe to say we've made it through the never ending sleepless nights. I think in another week or two, the 10-11 hour nights will be consistent & the night feedings will be a thing of the past.

Another "talent" our wonderful Peyton has been doing (for a while though) is putting himself to sleep. When I lay him in the crib at night, that instantly wakens him, no matter how sleepy he is. He'll lay there wide-eyed, staring at me and smiling. I try not to "play" with him by smiling back (SO HARD!) and I eventually turn off the light and leave the room. Never do I hear a peep from him. He makes me so happy & proud.

Naps are on the couch these days. Mainly because he has a flat spot on the back of his head, and I lay him down on his tummy to keep him off of that. Since they're not supposed to sleep on their tummy's, I have to keep my eye on him. But I hope in another month it'll get better and I can start training him to take naps in his crib. Right now it's more important to me to rid him of that flat spot, than to get him to take naps in his crib.

Peyton's had a stuffy nose the last 2 weeks, and finally after doing everything I knew to do, I took him to the doctor. It was at it's worst in the morning, and I think that's what was keeping him from sleeping through the night earlier on. Turns out, since he spits-up so much, the spit-up was sitting in the tube that connects to his nose, and during the night when he lays on his back, it can't drain. I simply elevated his mattress and wholah! No more stuffy nose (or at least not nearly as bad) AND that was the night he slept 11 hours.

When I took him to the doctor, I found out he weighs 13 lbs, 12 oz. He gained exactly 2 pounds in 4 weeks, which is normal, or maybe just a hair above normal. The peditrition said the weight gain starts to slow down in the next month or so.

Here's what Peyton's doing at this age:

Lots & lots of smiling

Little laughs once in awhile

Cooing

Sucking his thumb

Putting his hands in his mouth

Producing tons of saliva aka drool!

Follows people around the room with his eyes

Starting to grab at things

Kicking lots during bath time

Sleeping longer at night!

He's eating about 5-6oz per feeding. He fits perfectly in 3-6 month clothes, but will soon be in 6 month clothes.

~3 month picture~

~This is his other look - hands in the mouth all. the. time.!~

~Playdate with friends~

~Bath time!~

~My Cookie Monster~

~Buddies~

"With babies come toys and a whole world of joys and all kinds of fun things to do... With babies come laughter and love ever after... With babies, sweet dreams all come true."

-Unknown

Thumb Sucking

Here's a video of Peyton sucking his thumb today. I especially love all the slobbery, sucking noises he makes when trying to find it. =)

Projects

There's nothing better than the completion of a project. I recently finished my "Belly Book" that tracked my 9 month pregnancy journey . I actually did a good job of keeping up with it throughout my pregnancy, but the last few weeks had yet to to be finished, and I finally got it done!

Already, it's been fun to look back on my pregnancy and especially at the pictures. Here's a little bit of what it looks like:

~First Trimester~

~Second Trimester~

~Third Trimester~

Next up - Peyton's baby book. I found the cutest book that starts with the day we found out we're pregnant up until his 5th birthday.

On a side note, summer is in full force with a whopping 108 degrees today. Somehow Ginger still likes to go outside and sunbathe:

My mom is coming over tomorrow to spend the day with Peyton and I. We're going to lunch and doing some shopping. I'm excited to get some new sundresses and check out the beach clothes for Peyton - our vacay is just around the corner! CANNOT WAIT!

Comic

Thought this comic was cute.

Have a great weekend!

Baby Weight...

When I was pregnant, I always said it was gonna be a fun challenge to get into THE BEST shape I've ever been in once I have Peyton.

Well... I've spent the last several weeks doing my normal workout routine, and realized my normal routine ain't gonna cut it! It works great to maintain what I have, but isn't gonna quite get me into that BEST SHAPE that I promised myself.

AND, what better motivation do I have than our Carlsbad beach vacation coming up in a mere 4 weeks!

So, on Monday we went to Dick's and I got a new pair of tennis shoes (for starters). Boy was I due! After my toenails nearly cut my poor feet up this past month (and not because my nails were long (eww), but because my feet were squished into my now, too-small shoes), I realized that my feet are a new, bigger size since pregnancy! If you remember, during pregnancy my feet swelled up, and I'm sure this has a lot to do with it.

So what's next? Until I feel comfortable taking Peyton to the daycare at the gym, I went to the library and checked out a ton of workout videos to start with. Plus we have a treadmill that I'll continue to use. I got videos like kickboxing, total body conditioning, and I threw a yoga one in there too. Not sure if this will get me into the best shape, but it's a start since my body needs something new.

Then, Steve and I have been very interested in the P90X program that we recently learned about. Now that will get me into shape! We plan on starting that this summer, but baby steps first. :)

While I was at the Perry Library, I picked up a schedule of the weekly classes they have for kids. I was surprised to find that they actually have a class for babies. I guess it's more of singing and interacting with them, than story time. But still something fun for Peyton and I to do!

HaPpY sUmMeR!

PS - Peyton had a huge smile fest the other day! I swear he smiled the biggest I've ever seen for 10 min straight! Here's a pic from it!

Peyton Update!

It's been a while since I've updated you on Peyton - lots of new developments!

Within the past few weeks, Peyton has really found his hands. He looks at them, feels them, and loves to put them in his mouth. He's starting to become a real thumb sucker and is using his newfound knowledge of his hands to help self soothe and keep him occupied.

He's starting to drool, which I find so cute. At first we thought he was just like his mama (I'm a drooler alright), but later learned that babies at his age are starting to produce saliva and don't know how to swallow it yet.

He's starting to smile on demand. It's easier to get him to smile, whereas before it was like, "Oooh hurry! Look! He's smiling! Oh darn, you missed it." He's cooing a ton and we hear little laughs now and then, but anxiously awaiting that big belly laugh!

The most exciting thing is, he's sleeping for much longer periods at night! Last night was the longest, with 6 1/2 hours straight. A few weeks ago I was thrilled when he went 5 hours, then it was 5 1/2, then 6 hours, and last night was a whopping 6 1/2! He's waking up about 3:30am, I feed him, and he's going back to sleep right away, which is also an improvement. Now we're just working on getting him to sleep until 7 or 8am. I really see a light at the end of the tunnel!

At his 2 month appointment, the pediatrician suggested letting him cry-it-out... to put earplugs in and see him in the morning. Although this theory works like a charm and after 2-3 days we could have Peyton sleeping 12 hours at night, I can't bear to do that to him at only 2.5 months! Maybe after countless try's with other methods and at an older age, but not at this point. Especially when I see him learning to do it on his own.

He's ahead of the game at his age already (thanks to the strict bedtime routine I've been doing since 6 weeks), and I'm very interested to see what he can do and how long it takes him. Somehow I still have the energy for this little experiment. However, when we come back from Carlsbad in early July, if he's not sleeping through the night, I plan on doing Dr Ferber's method of crying-it-out, which is far less harsh than the normal method. Please know though, that I don't look down on anyone who does let their baby cry-it-out, I completely understand that there's really nothing worse than being sleep deprived for months at a time. Especially for those who go back to work. And as a matter of fact, I would be more anxious to get the show on the road if I had to go back to work too. But for now, Peyton's surprising me and I think he'll be sleeping 10 hours at night in no time.

Here's a few pic's of what he's been up to!

~Sitting like a big boy!~

~Grandpa visits!~

~Sleeping with my hands together is oh so cute~

~Visiting Aunt Julie at her school band concert~

~Loving my new playmat~

~We still love Ginger too!!~

~Sucking my thumb~

~Uncle Andy visits!~

Mom's birthday party!

I never got the chance to expand on my mom's 60th birthday party that my sisters and I threw for her...

My mom turned the big 6-0 on May 12th, but we threw her a surprise party at Macayo's on May 1st. We rented out a room and decorated it nice and purty! :)

There were about 25-30 of her friends, work friends, neighbors, and family. My Uncle Denny & Aunt Ginger from Riverside, CA came down and helped my sisters and I with the surprise. They told my mom & Bob on Saturday evening that they wanted to have a double date and go to Macayo's and a movie.

When they got to Macayo's, the hostess took them to their "table" which ended up being a room full of her family and friends yelling, "SURPRISE!!" And boy was she!

We spent the next few hours eating, chatting, and passing around Peyton. :)

Mom definitely deserved to have a special surprise party just for her. It's the very least we could do after all that she's done for us girls over the years. We love you momma!