Happy Birthday, Joan!

Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law, Joan, who celebrated her birthday on September 27th!

Last night, the family met up at Red White & Brew for her birthday dinner.  This is where we had our wedding rehearsal dinner nearly 3 years ago!  We hadn't been back in about a year, so it was fun for us all to go and show Peyton where it all began.  :)

We hope you had a wonderful birthday, mom/grandma!  We love you!!

Love, 

Jenny, Steve & Peyton

"Once blessed with a wonderful mother, I am twice blessed with my mother-in-law."

-Unknown

6 Month Pictures!

Peyton had his 6 month pictures taken yesterday and it was so fun!  The photographer has already sent us a sneak peek & we love what we see so far!

He was such a doll during the "photo shoot."  Since he was in a new place and had a new person to look at, he was so serious and wanted to just take it all in.  But he warmed up quickly and she captured some great smiles.  Thanks to my friend Megan who recommended Canyon Photography to us!  :)

Click on the blue link below to view the sneak peek.  Also, while you're there, we'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment after viewing the pictures, since we'll get $20 off our order if we have 15 comments!  Thanks!

Sneak Peek & Comment Link!

P.E.Y.T.O.N.

More developments in the Peyton department!

Saturday, we decided to put Peyton in his crib during nap time and on his tummy.  He's always napped on the couch on his side or tummy, so that I could keep an eye on him and in hopes of rounding his head out.  With the doctor's recommendation of putting him down on his tummy and confidence that he'd be okay (SIDS wise), we decided to give it a shot in his crib.  SUCCESS!!  He napped for nearly 2 hours!  He's been napping in his crib ever since then, and this makes me SO.HAPPY!!  I've been worrying about how hard it would be to re-train him to start napping in his crib, since previous attempts didn't go so well, and by the looks of it, he's already there!

On Saturday, we decided to give Peyton a sippy cup with formula in it, just for kicks.  I expected him to pick it up and throw it down, like he does with his toys, but it's like he knew just what to do with it!  Awesome!  You can hear him drinking in the video.  And his face is red from sleeping on it.  :)

Saturday night, (yes, Saturday was a BIG day!) we went to The Melting Pot for dinner.  Neither of us had been there and I've always wanted to go.  We were worried about bringing Peyton along, since he's been a bit fussy with his teething and it's a nice restaurant.  We gave it a shot though, and he was on his best behavior.  He slept almost the whole time and woke up just in time for dessert - white chocolate fondue.  YUM.

Lastly, we brought out the jumper Sunday night and got a good laugh in.  He loved it and ever since then, has been bouncing every chance he gets!  He's even taken bouncing to a new level in his exersaucer!

Tonight, I took a good look at his gums and found a white, hard tooth coming in!  First time I was actually able to see the tooth.  It'll be here in no time!

My Little Sweet Potato.

Yesterday was Peyton's first taste of the "good stuff."  After 6 months of bland formula and cereal, he finally got to enjoy some sweet potatoes!

I had a blast making it, and is a lot easier than I thought it would be. I even enjoyed some myself, licking the blender dry as if it were cake batter in there. Yum YUM!

Peyton seemed to like my cooking! Although I did get a ton of sour faces, he still ate quite a bit. This morning, however, he had a change of mind, because he didn't eat as much, but tonight he scarfed again.  I'm excited to make him pumpkin in October, I've always wanted to make one, so here's my chance.

This weekend we're gonna get him a highchair, very excited for that! And on a side note, Peyton is in full teething mode.  I felt a bump for the first time this morning, I was never able to for sure tell before.  We're seeing a new personality peek through at times and it's quite funny.  He gets angry and pretty dang mad and chomps on anything near him, including your nose, which is hilarious!  Still, he's amazingly sweet, despite the pain.  I'm hoping the tooth holds out until his 6 months pictures, which are Wednesday.  We'll see!!

Before sweet potatoes.  Steve got him the bib.  Nah, actually I got him it!  ;) 

A bit unsure!

 

"I always wondered why babies spend so much time sucking their thumbs.  Then I tasted baby food."

- Robert Orben

Six Months!

On September 14th, Peyton turned 1/2 year old! Boy, is this hard to believe. Time surely flies! My friend Rachel and I were talking & decided that all the cliche sayings have a whole new meaning and are so true once you have kids. "Enjoy it while it lasts... they grow SO FAST!" is one I've heard over & over and already I'm telling people that. "I love you more than anything in the world" is another that couldn't be any truer. And of course, "time flies."

On to Peyton! He had his 6 month check-up today. His stats were:

Weight - 18 lbs, 11 oz (70%)

Height - 27.5 in (80%)

Head - 17.5 in (70%)

Honestly, as usual, I thought he'd be heavier because he surely feels like 20+ lbs! But I'm happy he's where he's at, to me it's just perfect!

He's ready to start fruits and veggies, so today I'll start with something yummy for him, probably a veggie. He's to eat 3 meals a day along with his bottles. What a big boy he's becoming!!

During his check-up, the doctor was squeezing his legs, arms, and tummy to make sure everything felt right. He always does this routine, but today Peyton stared CRACKING UP! Oh my goodness, we all couldn't stop laughing! He must be ticklish, because he was laughing the whole time! Then, the doctor continued to do it just for fun. I wanted to bust out my camera and take a video, but I didn't want the peditrition to think I'm one of "those moms." lol. :)

The biggest question we had today was, is he teething? Does he have an ear infection? Is it a cold? What is going on with our poor baby lately?! And we got our answer... it's teething! The Dr. felt his bottom gums and said sure enough, he could feel some bumps and was even able to tell us that the bottom left tooth would pop up in 1-2 weeks. I knew it! Mom knows best! (another cliche saying that means more to me now!) I still think he has a touch of a cold, but for sure he's teething and quite frankly, I'm glad. I'm glad he's going through this pain for something. I have to admit though, there's something about a toothless baby that keeps them a "baby." Once they get a tooth, it's like they turn into a toddler. I'm a little sad to see his toothless smile go, but as with every milestone he hits, the only thing that gets me through it is knowing I get to do this all over again. :)

Our last discussion with the doc was about his flat spot on the back of his head. It's been flat since he was about 2 months, and I was hoping it was getting better since I was doing the best I could to keep him off it. It's borderline being an issue, ie: wearing a helmet to correct it. He's sending us to a specialist to get it measured, and we'll go from there. I've been worried about it for so long, that a helmet would really relieve me more than anything. He would wear it for about 3 months, which is nothing in comparison for a nicely shaped head for the rest of his life. Don't get me wrong, I don't think you would notice it unless I showed you it or you knew to look, but it is definitely flatter than the normal babies head. I'll keep you posted!

Things he's been doing this past month:

-Started rolling belly to back on a regular basis.

-Is sitting well on his own, but only for a short period before toppling over.

-Started grabbing toes NON-STOP!

-Started cracking up on a regular basis.

-Started cereal.

-Started noticeably teething.

-Started noticeably growing more hair.

-And as for me... my hair has finally stopped falling out!! Yaay!!

Peyton's wearing 6-9 month clothing, but 9 month fit's a little better.

A sneak peak into month 7 - I'm going to start sign language with him & I'm going to start making his baby food. Two things I've been looking forward to since I was pregnant!

6 month photos

Dinner with Amanda

Sitting so well

His frustrated look, that I now believe

is his teething look - biting the lower

lip for comfort? Think so!

These days, he doesn't stay on his

play mat very long before rolling

off it. :)

Grandmas turn to feed Peyton!

Love this round face!!

"As a mother, my job is to take care of what is possible and trust God with the impossible."

-Ruth Bell Graham

A week has come & gone!

I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm writing to let you know that I'll be blogging soon!

In the meantime, here's a bit of what's been going on this past week:

*Peyton has been sick! :( Cold? Teething? A bit of both!

*Peyton turned 6 months! His 6 month appointment is on Tuesday, more to come on that.

*Steve was in Texas this week for a real estate conference, so it was just mama and Peyton for a few days.

*Peyton attended Noah's 3rd birthday party today!

*ASU almost, and should've won against Wisconsin today.

That's the gist! More to come!

Peyton & his buddies at the party!

"A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation."

- Andrew Sullivan

Baby Time.

I started going to Baby Time on Thursday mornings, which is a library class for babies. It's so awesome! Peyton really, truly enjoys it. It's a room full of parents and babies from birth - 20 months. For 30 minutes, they play song after song, puppets, books, toys, bubbles, etc. It's all organized and such a great program.

This week my friend Siobhan and her baby Brice joined us. We had such a good time! Later that night, we went over for dinner.

Siobhan & Brice at Baby Time

(notice the appropriate Dr. Seuss onesie)

Peyton & I at Baby Time

At Siobhan's for dinner

"The more that you read, the more things you'll know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

-Dr. Seuss

9/11

Remembering this day brings tears to my eyes. We will NEVER forget.

Rolling & Screeching...

...These are the two things Peyton's been up to lately!

He started rolling over on Wednesday without me luring him with a toy. It was an exciting moment! I knew once he did it on his own, he'd be on a roll, haha. Sure enough, he almost seems like a pro at it by now.

He's been screeching so much these past few weeks, it sounds like we have a teenage girl in the house! Although, I'm starting to wonder if he's learned it from me. I tend to speak to him in a high pitched voice, I'm sure it's super annoying, but I just get so excited and can't help it!

Here's a few video's of Peyton showing off his new talents.

Happy Birthday, Gingersnap!

Yesterday was Ginger's 5th birthday and to be completely honest, I forgot until my alarm on my calendar went off last night. Poor birthday girl!

I guess when you have an actual human baby, pets tend to be a little more like, well, a pet as opposed to your baby. We did give her lots of hugs though. :)

Here's a video I posted last year too. It's one of my fav's! Click here to watch!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Boxer doggie who's so cute and good with Peyton. I love you, Gingie!

"Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one."

-Anonymous

Labor Day Weekend

This Labor Day weekend we headed up to Flagstaff for a weekend in Grandma & Grandpa's "cabin." We hadn't been there since Mother's Day, so it was a much needed trip! The weather was absolutely beautiful. I really don't think I've seen better weather - the days were breezy and cool and the nights were a bit chilly, but no sweater needed.

Our trip usually takes about 3 hours, but this time it took over 5! We had a lot of pit stops to make before we even got out of Gilbert, then we dropped Ginger off at Ryan's house in Phoenix, then finally, off we went. The traffic was pretty slow, but eventually we made it and had a great time.

Peyton's ears were plugged up because of the altitude change and I felt SO SORRY for him. He slept most of the car ride, then woke up and suddenly started crying and grabbing his ears. I fed him, gave him a pacifier to suck, then did my highest pitched voice of Patty Cake to make him smile nice and big (never fails!) in hopes of popping his ears. Thank goodness it worked.

We had a wonderful weekend with lots of family! Here's a little of what we did:

Grandma & Peyton enjoying the cool weather

On our walk

Grandpa feeding Peyton rice cereal

GG (Great Grandma) came over!

Great Aunt Terri came too!

GG & Peyton

First bath in the sink!

The bath time crowd

The boys napping

Lunch at Mama's Burger... Diablo's was closed. :(

At GG's house with his 2nd cousin Megan & daddy

Peyton's Great Uncle Brian and Linus

Pretty wild flowers everywhere. Can't wait for the changing leaves!

Stopped at Barro's on the way home to see Uncle Ryan & eat

Uncle Andy taught me this funny "laugh" that I always do. I started doing it in the car after Steve made a funny, and Peyton thought it was hilarious! So, I kept doing it! I sound funny & I hate that, but in order to get him to laugh sometimes I have to sound goofy myself. :)

"Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild."

-Welsh Proverb