I hope you all have a spooky & safe Halloween!
XOXO,
Jenny, Steve, Peyton, & Gingersnap
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Five Year Wedding Anniversary!
Happy 5 year wedding anniversary to my wonderful husband, Steve! I LOVE YOU so much! To many, many more years of growing old together!!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The Great Pumpkin Patch.
I took Peyton to The Great Pumpkin patch at Desert Botanical Garden today with my friend Haydee and her daughter, Grace. We had a great time. Peyton really liked the hay maze, he could've spent a lot of time in that thing!
He picked up a pumpkin right away and handed it to me. I felt kinda bad that I exchanged it for a better one, but I'm sure he appreciates it. :)
He was super scared when we first walked into the petting zoo. I actually think he was shaking. But after a few minutes, he was all about it! He especially loved petting the chickens and saying, "Bawk Bawk Bawk" and moving his arms like one.
My sweet little pumpkin.
Yes, he really is sweet. :)
Haydee and her daughter, Grace.
Mom & Pey... he's been calling me mom lately (as opposed to mommy or mama). So I call him Pey in response. Then he says, "No! Peyton!" haha
We had a nice time! We took a hay ride to get to the pumpkin patch, which was fun. I'd like to take Peyton to a bigger pumpkin patch with more activities, but time is running out!
Peyton's 1st Football Game!
Peyton attended his first football game last Thursday when ASU hosted Oregon. It was a sold-out game and excitement was in the air!
We've taken Peyton to a tailgate party back in 2010 when he was still a baby, but this time was a whole new ballgame!
He had a blast at the tailgate with all the extended family. It was LOUD where we were at and at first he had a blank stare on his face -- I thought for sure he'd have some sort of freak out moment. But he took everything in, let me tell you, he didn't miss a lick. The kid is super social and we are so blessed for that. He "partied like a rockstar" and then it was onto the game!
He loved the game as much as the tailgate. He kept putting up his pitchfork and saying, "GO DEVILS!", he'd cheer when the crowd would cheer (we were sitting by Oregon fans so it was funny he'd cheer whenever they did), and he put up his arms whenever they'd (usually Oregon, haha) make a touchdown. He was so enthralled with all of the action, he only used his blankie for about 5 min and the phone games for 5 min. I was shocked! I was prepared to entertain him once he got sleepy, but he did great.
Also, there's a ton of airplane traffic over the stadium so from the moment we got to the tailgate to the moment we got back to the car, he pointed out every.single.airplane as if it were the first he'd seen. Now that kept him busy! Who knew I could count on the airplane traffic?!
As you can see from this video, he's already enthralled with everything that's going on around him. But I especially love his "pitchFOURk". :)
We've taken Peyton to a tailgate party back in 2010 when he was still a baby, but this time was a whole new ballgame!
He had a blast at the tailgate with all the extended family. It was LOUD where we were at and at first he had a blank stare on his face -- I thought for sure he'd have some sort of freak out moment. But he took everything in, let me tell you, he didn't miss a lick. The kid is super social and we are so blessed for that. He "partied like a rockstar" and then it was onto the game!
He loved the game as much as the tailgate. He kept putting up his pitchfork and saying, "GO DEVILS!", he'd cheer when the crowd would cheer (we were sitting by Oregon fans so it was funny he'd cheer whenever they did), and he put up his arms whenever they'd (usually Oregon, haha) make a touchdown. He was so enthralled with all of the action, he only used his blankie for about 5 min and the phone games for 5 min. I was shocked! I was prepared to entertain him once he got sleepy, but he did great.
Also, there's a ton of airplane traffic over the stadium so from the moment we got to the tailgate to the moment we got back to the car, he pointed out every.single.airplane as if it were the first he'd seen. Now that kept him busy! Who knew I could count on the airplane traffic?!
As you can see from this video, he's already enthralled with everything that's going on around him. But I especially love his "pitchFOURk". :)
Here's Peyton again showing his "pitchFOURk". I wonder if that's why he does it...
And here he is dancing at the tailgate! It's funny how he wave's bye when he's done.
Tailgate fun!
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| Little fam :) |
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| Peyton put his arm around me and pulled me in - he was grabbing me super tight, it seriously melted my heart! |
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| With Uncle Andy |
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| With 2nd cousin Megan |
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| Heading to the game! Still taking it all in! |
Go Sun Devils!
Okay, so we lost horribly. The first minute of the game was the best. We actually made a comeback (or something) in the last few minutes of the game so we didn't get beat as bad as it was looking to be. BUT, we still had fun!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
GO DEBILS!
This morning at breakfast Peyton looked at me with his thumb tucked in and four fingers showing and randomly said, "GO DEBILS!" (that's how he says it, what he means is DEVILS"). I showed him the correct way and snapped a pic. He's definitely a little Sun Devil football fan!!
Big Boy Bed Update.
I've been so MIA from blogging lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't had a lot to blog about! One of the things I wanna make sure I cover is how it's been going in his big boy bed.
So the first few nights and naps were easy. I thought we hit the jackpot. Then, the struggle started.
We spent about the next week with him trying to get him to fall asleep. Whatever he requested, we'd do. It took me back to the newborn days when you're training your child to sleep, only now we're re-training him to sleep in a big boy bed. Same concept, different age. I kept telling myself not to cave and do the "bad" things; after all the hard work and consistency I put in during his first year, I wasn't going to screw it up with being lax and lazy about it now.
But this is how that week went: the routine was bath, 2 books, 2 prayers, then goodnight. What started happening was the bath took 30 min, 2 books turned into 6, and 2 prayers turned into 8. The whole process took well over an hour, from a mere 20 min. THEN, we'd finally shut the door and he'd climb out of bed and lay in the hallway with a collection of his blankets. The first night he went into the hallway, we didn't know it. I got up from the couch and saw him laying there and it SCARED THE LIVING CRAP out of me. Eventually, we knew he was laying in the hallway but we were so tired of having to take him back to his bed and read more books and say more prayers (because we caved and did all that again), that he'd lay there for 30 min to an hour. Eventually he'd go to bed when we did.
Then I tried laying in bed with him. A big no-no, but I didn't know what else to do AND I was worried he might be scared of his new bed. I did that a few nights for 20 min or so and learned that he was not afraid at all and just wound up wanting to play. If anything good came out of that, it confirmed that he's NOT scared and I really needed to know that. :)
Steve started putting the gate up in his door way to keep him from coming into the hallway. That worked for a handful of nights, but he still wound up out of his bed and on the floor. We'd let him sleep on the floor all night. Eventually I felt bad and knew something had to change.
My friend Megan coached me on what to do and gave me the confidence that I'd lost along the past year to BE FIRM and STAND MY GROUND. If he gets out of bed, waste no time and go put him back. Don't read books, don't say prayers, just put him back into bed.
Soooo, that's what I did. It took a mere two nights of this and he was trained. The first night when he climbed out of bed, instead of pretending like I did't know and let him fall asleep on the ground, I went in there and put him in his bed, with a little struggle from him. I did that about 4 times that night in probably 6 min. :)
The next night he only climbed out twice. Since then, he started requesting "No Gate" and my response is, "I will only put the gate up if you climb out of bed" and he hasn't climbed out since!!!! *Let me note that when I say, "I" what I mean is, "we" because Steve was right by my side 100% of the way. He rocked it.*
Nap time was a lot easier throughout the whole process for some reason. But now we're golden with both nap and bed time. It took probably 3 weeks total for the routine to be back to about 30 min and he falls right asleep. Check that one off the list!!
I have a few things left to paint and hang in his room, so until that's done, I won't be posting the room pics. But here's a few to leave you with!
So the first few nights and naps were easy. I thought we hit the jackpot. Then, the struggle started.
We spent about the next week with him trying to get him to fall asleep. Whatever he requested, we'd do. It took me back to the newborn days when you're training your child to sleep, only now we're re-training him to sleep in a big boy bed. Same concept, different age. I kept telling myself not to cave and do the "bad" things; after all the hard work and consistency I put in during his first year, I wasn't going to screw it up with being lax and lazy about it now.
But this is how that week went: the routine was bath, 2 books, 2 prayers, then goodnight. What started happening was the bath took 30 min, 2 books turned into 6, and 2 prayers turned into 8. The whole process took well over an hour, from a mere 20 min. THEN, we'd finally shut the door and he'd climb out of bed and lay in the hallway with a collection of his blankets. The first night he went into the hallway, we didn't know it. I got up from the couch and saw him laying there and it SCARED THE LIVING CRAP out of me. Eventually, we knew he was laying in the hallway but we were so tired of having to take him back to his bed and read more books and say more prayers (because we caved and did all that again), that he'd lay there for 30 min to an hour. Eventually he'd go to bed when we did.
Then I tried laying in bed with him. A big no-no, but I didn't know what else to do AND I was worried he might be scared of his new bed. I did that a few nights for 20 min or so and learned that he was not afraid at all and just wound up wanting to play. If anything good came out of that, it confirmed that he's NOT scared and I really needed to know that. :)
Steve started putting the gate up in his door way to keep him from coming into the hallway. That worked for a handful of nights, but he still wound up out of his bed and on the floor. We'd let him sleep on the floor all night. Eventually I felt bad and knew something had to change.
My friend Megan coached me on what to do and gave me the confidence that I'd lost along the past year to BE FIRM and STAND MY GROUND. If he gets out of bed, waste no time and go put him back. Don't read books, don't say prayers, just put him back into bed.
Soooo, that's what I did. It took a mere two nights of this and he was trained. The first night when he climbed out of bed, instead of pretending like I did't know and let him fall asleep on the ground, I went in there and put him in his bed, with a little struggle from him. I did that about 4 times that night in probably 6 min. :)
The next night he only climbed out twice. Since then, he started requesting "No Gate" and my response is, "I will only put the gate up if you climb out of bed" and he hasn't climbed out since!!!! *Let me note that when I say, "I" what I mean is, "we" because Steve was right by my side 100% of the way. He rocked it.*
Nap time was a lot easier throughout the whole process for some reason. But now we're golden with both nap and bed time. It took probably 3 weeks total for the routine to be back to about 30 min and he falls right asleep. Check that one off the list!!
I have a few things left to paint and hang in his room, so until that's done, I won't be posting the room pics. But here's a few to leave you with!
Potty Training!!
I wanna scream at the top of my lungs, "PEYTON WENT POO ON THE POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I swear this kid is an angel.
How it went down:
We've been reading potty books for about 6 months now. I have the pull-ups. I have the big-boy undies. I (now) have the cookies. I have the knowledge and I have a son who is totally ready, but I have a huge fear -- that I will fail at doing this the right way & make the process even worse. So I've been procrastinating. Then enter the big boy bed = the prefect excuse to procrastinate potty training even longer. Who wants to deal with two major milestones at once? =)
Anyway, I hit the jackpot when I found the book, "Potty Train" at the library - a story about riding a choo-choo train to get potty trained. Funny, Peyton started calling it "Potty Choo Choo" which made us laugh. I also found a book called, "My Big Boy Underwear" which we've been reading & he loves. I believe the books are what made this process easy. And introducing it early on with books, then watching his interest change slowly over the 6 months of reading them was a huge cue to me that he's excited and ready. Not to mention that we're completely settled into his new bed, so that's no excuse anymore.
So Monday morning came and Peyton said, "Mama, me potty train!" Now I'm not sure if he was telling me he wanted to be potty trained or if he was just still excited about the book, but when a kid tells you, "Mama, me potty train"... YOU TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY AND YOU BETTER POTTY TRAIN THE KID! He's since requested it yesterday morning and today, so I'm all about it!
Monday morning:
He went pee on the potty first thing after waking up. Wore undies for about an hour, accident free, then we headed to library class so he wore a diaper the rest of the day.
Tuesday morning:
Pee'd on the potty first thing after waking up. I asked him after 30 min to please try and go and got a huge NO. Yikes. How do I deal with this? Well, he understands A LOT, so I told him for the hundredth time to make sure and tell me when he has to go. About an hour+ later, we go outside and instantly, he pees (hey, I'll take an easy clean-up!). He tells me, "Uh oh" and he stops. We rush to the potty and he finishes, a lot. Then he wears undies for another hour or so with no accidents, no bathroom at all. Diaper for nap and rest of day.
Wednesday morning:
Pee'd on potty first thing. Asked after 30 min if he had to go, got a huge NO! Okay, I'll leave it up to him to tell me. 30 min later, "Uh oh. Poop!" Rush to the potty, thank goodness only a pebble had come out and then he pushed a few more pebbles out on the potty (poor boy's constipated, but I was expecting a mess and pebbles aren't messy!). 15 min later the same thing, "Poop mama!" so we rush to the potty in time for him to take a BIG BIG POOP ON THE POTTY!!!!!!! We celebrated!!! Then he had a little tiny pee accident about 45 min later. It didn't even hit the ground, his undies were just a tad bit wet. After this he asked for his diaper. I then bribed him with a sucker to wear undies. Up until now I really hadn't bribed him at all - praise was enough. Then nothing until nap time when he took a big pee on the potty prior to his nap!
If the rest of the week goes this well, I have some major thanking to do (up above!). I'm expecting a fall back only because that's what happened with the big boy bed. First few nights/naps were awesome, then a struggle happened. But fingers crossed it continues to go well!!
I swear this kid is an angel.
How it went down:
We've been reading potty books for about 6 months now. I have the pull-ups. I have the big-boy undies. I (now) have the cookies. I have the knowledge and I have a son who is totally ready, but I have a huge fear -- that I will fail at doing this the right way & make the process even worse. So I've been procrastinating. Then enter the big boy bed = the prefect excuse to procrastinate potty training even longer. Who wants to deal with two major milestones at once? =)
Anyway, I hit the jackpot when I found the book, "Potty Train" at the library - a story about riding a choo-choo train to get potty trained. Funny, Peyton started calling it "Potty Choo Choo" which made us laugh. I also found a book called, "My Big Boy Underwear" which we've been reading & he loves. I believe the books are what made this process easy. And introducing it early on with books, then watching his interest change slowly over the 6 months of reading them was a huge cue to me that he's excited and ready. Not to mention that we're completely settled into his new bed, so that's no excuse anymore.
So Monday morning came and Peyton said, "Mama, me potty train!" Now I'm not sure if he was telling me he wanted to be potty trained or if he was just still excited about the book, but when a kid tells you, "Mama, me potty train"... YOU TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY AND YOU BETTER POTTY TRAIN THE KID! He's since requested it yesterday morning and today, so I'm all about it!
Monday morning:
He went pee on the potty first thing after waking up. Wore undies for about an hour, accident free, then we headed to library class so he wore a diaper the rest of the day.
Tuesday morning:
Pee'd on the potty first thing after waking up. I asked him after 30 min to please try and go and got a huge NO. Yikes. How do I deal with this? Well, he understands A LOT, so I told him for the hundredth time to make sure and tell me when he has to go. About an hour+ later, we go outside and instantly, he pees (hey, I'll take an easy clean-up!). He tells me, "Uh oh" and he stops. We rush to the potty and he finishes, a lot. Then he wears undies for another hour or so with no accidents, no bathroom at all. Diaper for nap and rest of day.
Wednesday morning:
Pee'd on potty first thing. Asked after 30 min if he had to go, got a huge NO! Okay, I'll leave it up to him to tell me. 30 min later, "Uh oh. Poop!" Rush to the potty, thank goodness only a pebble had come out and then he pushed a few more pebbles out on the potty (poor boy's constipated, but I was expecting a mess and pebbles aren't messy!). 15 min later the same thing, "Poop mama!" so we rush to the potty in time for him to take a BIG BIG POOP ON THE POTTY!!!!!!! We celebrated!!! Then he had a little tiny pee accident about 45 min later. It didn't even hit the ground, his undies were just a tad bit wet. After this he asked for his diaper. I then bribed him with a sucker to wear undies. Up until now I really hadn't bribed him at all - praise was enough. Then nothing until nap time when he took a big pee on the potty prior to his nap!
If the rest of the week goes this well, I have some major thanking to do (up above!). I'm expecting a fall back only because that's what happened with the big boy bed. First few nights/naps were awesome, then a struggle happened. But fingers crossed it continues to go well!!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Genny's "She's Ready to Pop" Baby Shower!
Yesterday, my sister Julie, Albert, and I threw a baby shower for our dear friend Genny who's due to have their first baby (a boy!) the day before Thanksgiving.
We went with the theme, "She's Ready to Pop!" It was such a fun theme because it was way cute and super easy! The weather was gorgeous, happened to be a high of just over 80*, which was the coolest it's been yet and it's back up in the 90's today and all week!
We went with the theme, "She's Ready to Pop!" It was such a fun theme because it was way cute and super easy! The weather was gorgeous, happened to be a high of just over 80*, which was the coolest it's been yet and it's back up in the 90's today and all week!
"Ready to Pop" banner
Blow "Pop" Martinis (sprite & a Dum Dum sucker)
Cake "Pops"
Dum Dum "Pops", "Pop" Rocks, & Tootsie Roll "Pops"
Banana cupcakes
"Pop"corn
The table
Soda "Pop" & Water
Party Favors
Party Favors - "Thanks for popping by Genny's Baby Shower"
The table set-up
My personal favorite - the centerpieces! Lollipop trees!
Genny's loot
Now for the inside where the food was served...
"Pop" chips (which are delicious btw!)
Macaroni Salad
"Pop"ular deviled eggs
"Pop"corn chicken
"Pop"over chicken salad sandwiches
*We also had Jalapeño "Pop"ers & a fruit salad.*
One of our games was sooo funny & original! I bought these 1" plastic babies and put one in each ice cube slot of an ice tray. Since it was an outdoor party, this was perfect - each guest got an ice cube with a baby inside (I know, kinda creepy too!). Whoever got their baby out first yelled, "My water broke!" and won. Everyone laughed so hard, it was a success!
A friend of ours & Gennys is making her a quilt - each guest colored a square that will be turned into a quilt.
Opening gifts
Genny at 34 weeks!
Julie, Genny, and I
Julie, Genny, me, and Albert
Julie, our mom, and I
This morning it was a little too quiet so I went to find Peyton. He's obsessed with this lollipop tree and was sitting by it with a handful of suckers! Last night he got in trouble for opening a few and eating them. It was very sweet that I found him only holding them this morning... but soon he dug in! And he just happened to be wearing his "Official Candy Inspector" halloween pj's!
He's also been obsessed with the cake pops I made. HO-LY COW. I mean really obsessed! It turned into a battle day & night until they were out of the house. I'd give him one and he'd agree on ONE, and then I'd give him ONE MORE to keep him from freaking out, but then he just wanted them all! He'd wake up after his nap and the first word out of his mouth was, "cake pop!" Finally Steve told him they tasted like poop (we were desperate because NO wasn't working!) and he stopped. ;)
Anyway, it was such a successful shower, Genny was very happy. Now it's countdown to baby Elliott Maxwell's appearance!!!
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