Everyday Moments

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T15:18:00.001-07:00

The kids certainly got into Halloween a lot more this year. So much that I couldn't even keep up with Peyton to take pictures. ha! We got smart this year and hooked up our trailer to haul our kids along with my cousin and one of her kids plus a friend. We had a blast and thankfully this year it felt like Halloween with it being so cold. By the end of the night Peyton said his ears were ice cubes! ha! Definitely a southern kid. Shelby has as much fun as Peyton although had a hard time keeping up...insert Mommy carrying her to most houses. She also was TERRIFIED of any child dressed as a bug...including the 2 year old dressed as a bumble bee. Only my kid!!

Shelby about 5 minutes ago...eating her loot!

Our trailer full of trick or treaters

Little red riding hood!

There are just no words....I love these kids.

This was his scary face. hahaha!

We had to limit the howling to 2 howls per house. He forgot all about howling once he started getting candy.

Last weekend we made our first trip to the fair in Laurel. The kids had a blast and I've come to appreciate the times my parents took me a lot more after spending as much as we did. ha! Peyton LOVED riding the rides and Shelby enjoyed the animals. Can't wait till next year!

Peyton HATED the petting zoo...you can tell by his face. :-)

Shelby on the other hand LOVED it...she would've crawled in the pins with them.

Pony rides!! favorite for all.

The only game Shelby wanted to play...she would've fished for "quack quacks" for hours.

They wanted it, but neither one were really fond of it. Whose kids are these?

The ferris wheel!

Oh sweet soccer. I'm thankful for last years experience because Peyton has improved immensely. He really enjoyed it this year and so did we!!

Getting his trophy at his last game.

Peyton, Maw and Paw at his last game.

Peyton in action!

His first field trip....the snow cone place. :-) They had a ball.

Just because she's cute.

Oh you make me smile!!!

2011-09-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

The last month has been nothing more than difficult. Peyton started kindergarten and after the first week, we had some adjustment issues. Happy to report that he is now well adjusted and enthusiastic about going to school. In the midst of all of those issues, Shelby started Mom's Day Out which insured our first nasty cold and double ear infection. Her sleeping patterns went totally off the wall and for 3 solid weeks no one, but Peyton, was sleeping in this house. Long story short....during those 3 weeks, Mommy got sick, Peyton got sick and worn out isn't even the right word. I'm SO VERY happy to report that after much debating, I think I figured out Shelby's real problem. Reflux. I have started her back on her meds and for the last 4 nights she has been sleeping completely through the night. Oh the joy! Seriously...it's like a different family and different baby. She's happy, sweet and just down right adorable again. So thats been our month....September is definitely off to a better start! The weather is beyond beautiful and we've gotten a fair amount of rain from Tropical Storm Lee...things are lookin' up!!

Sweet Shelby before school this morning. Maw got her this outfit and she definitely mastered the "Sass" today. Oh and I should mention that her shoes are her very first pair of Keds...sweetness!!

We've waited 3 years for La Tech to play USM here in Hattiesburg...of course a Tropical Storm had to move its way in for the weekend. The game was still played and Brad did brave the weather with my brother and his family to watch. Me and the kids got in our gear and watched safely from home.

Cutest Bulldog fan ever...well besides her brother. :-)

Maybe he wins for most enthusiastic.

This one may make Daddy's desk at work.

Back to school night at Peyton's school. This is on the playground...a giant spiderweb. This school knows how to win a little boys heart.

For some reason he was very proud of this wall. No idea why.

Shelby on her 2nd day of Mom's Day Out. She totally rocks pig tails.

Turning 5 and Kindergarten?!!!

2011-08-13T09:00:00.001-07:00

5 years old...thats how old my baby is. I don't like it...at all. He still seems so small to me, but he certainly has a big personality. We could not have asked for a more entertaining, sweet and loving little boy. He is EVERYTHING we could've ever hoped for. Happy 5th Birthday sweet little man!!! We celebrated at Olympic Warrior Gymnastics...at Peyton's request. I love that he can actually have an opinion about this stuff now. The kids had a great time and Olympic Warrior did a fantastic job.

Love this...they were all throwing blocks and yelling happy birthday Peyton!

Yes she was there too.....not sure how much she liked it though.

So Peyton was convinced that THIS year Spiderman would come to his party. He prayed real hard about it, too. hahahaha! Well...I guess his prayers were answered because looked who showed up..

This is when Peyton found Spiderman...the look on his face is priceless.

As were were driving home that afternoon Peyton said to me.."see Mommy..I TOLD you Spiderman would come." Best.Mom and Dad.of.the.year.

Now the biggest event of the week. Peyton started Kindergarten. Not even possible to me. The week went fantastic...he loves his teacher and is making new friends everyday...although he can't tell you any of their names. ha! The first day he had lots to tell us and never stopped from the time he got into the car until he crashed around 5:00 that afternoon. There were lots of new rules he had to tell us about...the whistle on the playground probably stuck best with him. hahahaha!! He's doing great with his school work and is even a little ahead of the game...which shocks us because we considered holding him back due to his test scores at the end of preschool. It's amazing what a summer can do. We are looking forward to watching him grow this year and enjoying all these new experiences with him.

Peyton and Shelby on Friday.

This is Friday....he thought it was waaaay cool that he can wear a belt like daddy and Pop. Hearing how he managed in the bathroom was a riot! hahaha!

First day of school in his brand new classroom!

We were soooo late the first day...traffic was unbelievable. I had to stop for a picture outside of school though...just one and unfortunately he has weird eyes.

So excited for his first day!

He's so stinkin' cute.

No excuses

2011-08-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

I have no excuse. Updating has been non-existent and it ends today. Peyton turned 5 and started kindergarten on the 10th. Shelby is now 18 months and I'm wondering....where did all the time go for both of my kiddos. This year has been an incredibly busy year, but we have enjoyed every second we've spent with these two joys. I honestly cannot even imagine a day without them...how boring would life be. So Peyton has grown up overnight....turning 5 and starting kindergarten all in one day. He announced over the weekend that when he turns 5 he will get a job....the search is still on for that as he told me tonight he has to get taller. Guess I'll let him slide for awhile longer. Shelby is learning something new every single day and blows my mind with her intelligence. She just "gets" it...all. Watching her and Peyton play is probably the highlight of my day. She definitely misses brother when he's not around, but she completely takes advantage of having Mommy's full attention....as do I. So the main reason anyone ever gets on here is to look at pictures. I'm going to attempt to catch you all up...all the way from January. HA!!! wish me luck.

On the trolley with Piper in New Orleans a few weekends ago. We had a blast!

Piper's first beignet at Cafe Du Monde

Spiderman would not eat as it might mess up his "make up"

4th of July in Rosemary Beach with Abby. These kiddos had a fantastic time.

Sweet cousins

Shelby figured out very quickly how to relax by the pool this summer.

Peyton's last t-ball game...he was extremely proud of his trophy

Shelby cheering for Bubba.

Peyton turned out to be a GREAT ball player.

The last day of preschool (insert tears) Pictures of his first day of Kindergarten will come soon...promise!

Had to throw in a little NYC. I was able to get away for a few days with my cousin...AWESOME.TRIP.

Me and Peyt at preschool for their Mother's Day presentation. I love this kid.

Singing "you are my sunshine" Best gift ever.

Bubble fun!!!

We spent Easter in Houston this year. We had lots of egg hunts and enjoyed some family time.

Easter party at school.

Peyton's very first t-ball game.

This kid...to say she's into everything is the understatement of the year. She keeps us on our toes.

Found her on top of Peyt's train table this day....she frequents it often now. :-)

Daddy found a turtle at work...he brought it home for Peyton to see. Thank God Peyton wanted to walk it down to one of the lakes in our neighborhood to set it free. I just knew we had inherited another pet.

One of these days Shelby will figure out to make this thing go on her own...she seems pretty content having us all push her though. She has the princess thing down pat!

We do exist!! We celebrated 11 years in Vegas....kid free. Definitely missed the babies, but we had a great time.

My hunk-a-hunk of burnin' love.

No words.

Valentines day at school!

Great story for this, but unfortunately you can't see the damage. We took Peyton and Piper to the Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas right after Shelby's birthday. He slipped and busted his chin open. It would've required several stitches, but thankfully they just glued it back together. He got a free wolf out of it...I guess thats the silver lining?

100th day of school!

Now I have LOTS of pictures from Shelby's first birthday....we had a professional at her party. But unfortunately the files are too big to put on here. Hopefully I'll be able to get one on here...eventually!

Part Two

2011-02-11T11:11:00.001-08:00

Reading the kids The Night Before Christmas

Peyton setting out his milk and cookies for Santa....he was extremely concerned that Santa would make a mess when he came down the chimney.

Getting our milk and cookies ready!

Santa Baby!

As you can see Shelby enjoyed eating the wrapping paper..could've cared less what Santa brought her.

Love Peyton's excitement.

Shame Shame Shame

2011-02-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

There are no words for why I'm SO SO SO SO behind on blogging. It could be that having two busy kids is the problem...one of which is into EVERYTHING these days. It's a full time job just picking up things she could possibly choke on. I don't even know where to begin so I'll just starting posting pictures and maybe I can get "organized". Blogger is TOTALLY ticking me off today. So it's not letting me upload anymore pictures nor did it save any of my work from earlier. So 3 hours later here's what I got:

Peyton and Shelby with their Great Grandma on Christmas Eve

The family Christmas Eve

Christmas with the "Hoeflers"...cousins from left to right....Josie, Abby, Peyton and Shelby. I had these shirts made for them...we unintentionally spelled JAPS with them. ha!

Peyton cracking up because Shelby would not sit still for pictures.

Abby and Josie

Please notice Abby's face in the next 2 pictures...she cracks me up!

The Lewis Lights...if you're in Hattiesburg at Christmas, you must do this.

Me and my cousin Ashley at the Lewis Lights.

Ashley and her family.

The kids before the Lewis Lights...see our sad little tree in the back? It was the best tree EVER.

The kids' version of helping Mom wrap.

PJ day at school!

Peyton coincidentally had PJ day the same day.

The Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas...short trip to catch up on some Peyton time..Shelby stayed with Maw and Paw. Long story short..we had a great time and it ended with a split chin that required dermabond.

Piper and Peyton ready to swim!

The dreaded Jet Ski's that Peyton busted his chin on.

Busted chin = free stuffed wolf...complete with bandage and bandaid...for the wolf.

This is where the kiddos slept...so cool!

King Cake cupcakes to celebrate a snow day and the 100th day of school.

One for Mommy and one for Daddy.

Peyton and his cupcake and 100 day hat...ironic that they only got to go half a day since it "snowed."

Brad took Peyton to the Monster Truck race last weekend...I found this pic on my camera. HAHAHAHAHA!! I'm guessing Brad and Peyton were kinda out of place.

So many firsts!!

2010-12-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted, Shelby has celebrated her first Thanksgiving and her first annual trip to Birmingham to ride the Polar Express. Shelby LOVED her some Thanksgiving and without a doubt (and not shockingly either) her favorite was Mommy's sweet potato casserole. She also loved her some cranberry sauce...honestly there wasn't much she didn't love. Peyton loved Thanksgiving equally as well especially since some of his favorite people were here to play with him. My cousin and her family joined us and Peyton is in LOVE with her daughters. So a big thank you to Haley and Parker for keeping Peyton entertained all day. After Thanksgiving, we headed to Birmingham for our annual ride one the Polar Express. Peyton was even more excited this year (not a big surprise) and couldn't even be talked to as we waited to board the train. After all...meeting Santa at the North Pole is serious business and one cannot be bothered with silly questions like..."Peyton stand with Mom and take a picture." I love that little man. Shelby being good on the train was going to be a 50/50 shot. Since she despises riding in the car we weren't holding out much hope. To our pleasant surprise she was an angel. I'm sure it helped that Daddy held her the whole way and she watched all these little people acting silly on the train. If somehow I could recreate that experience in the car we'd be golden. ha! She wasn't bothered by Santa....she wasn't excited, but not scared either. I think she was more annoyed that we handed her over to a stranger. She'll love us for it one day. As usual, all the kids got a bell and ornament and of course the coveted chocolate milk and cookie. I seriously think Peyton was more excited about the cookies and milk than Santa. He's definitely my son. In November, Peyton also had his last soccer game. Sadly they lost, but you'd never know it. Each kid got a medal and Peyton is SO proud of it. Peyton also had his Thanksgiving feast at school. LOVED it!!! They had a short program before and he did a fantastic job singing. After the feast he asked me.."Mommy is Thanksgiving coming to my house because this was really yummy." hahahaha!! Sadly enough our Thanksgiving didn't consist of chicken nuggets and trail mix, but he enjoyed it just the same. And thats what we've been doing for the last month!!

Forgot to mention we bought our first real Christmas tree ever. Peyton picked it out....can you tell?

chocolate milk on the Polar Express

Mouth full of cookies

Shelby with her bell

Kainaan, Peyton and Shelby

My two sweeties with her bells

Mr. and Mrs. Claus!!

Peyton seeing Santa at the "North Pole"

Our conductor

She loves her brother!

Love this family pic!!

Waiting to board the train

Shelby waiting to board in her awesome new hat and coat

These next few pics are just me and Shelby having fun one day

Shelby has been clapping for months now...she's showing off here.

This is her "cute" face

Obsessed with sticking her tongue out these days

How big is Shelby? SOOO big!!

Best buddies!

Peyton, Haley and Parker going through the ads at Thanksgiving.

The princess eating her first Thanksgiving meal

TOTALLY forgot to write about the Monster Truck race Brad and Peyton went to. He has not stopped talking about it...Santa just may bring him a remote control one of his own.

Peyton and his teachers.

Our little Indian...I made his costume by the way. Just call me Martha.

Peyton with his Soccer Medal.

Time flies.....

2010-11-07T11:37:00.001-08:00

when you're having fun! Sorry for such a long delay in updates, but honestly we have been spending our time enjoying our kiddos. Since the last post we have been busy with soccer games, a trip to the zoo, a Disney World "vacation", and more soccer games. I'm happy to report that Peyton just finished his first season of soccer...thank you Lord for putting us out of our misery. 8 weeks of soccer games, 30 minutes from our house and NOT ONE WIN. The bad news bears to say the least. Peyton has zero idea that they lost every single game because as long as his coach had a "prize" at the end of the game, he was a winner. Yesterday was his last game and each player got a medal. He was so proud. Last week we took the kids to Disney World. Great idea to go in late October right? wrong. 98 degrees every single day for a solid week. The good news is I have found my soul mate in Shelby because she hates being in the heat as much as I do. A lot of times we found a shady spot or an air conditioned building and hung out while Peyton enjoyed himself. Peyton loved riding rides even though he still is not tall enough to ride anything other than the "baby" rides. I think he most liked meeting characters....but that could be out of not being able to ride the big rides...seriously he was only like 1/2 an inch too small. It was heartbreaking for him and for the first time he realized he's short. :-( But leave it to my baby to always find the positive in a situation...he made the best out of it and had a blast. While we were there little Miss Shelby learned how to crawl. And if you've followed this blog long right about now you're thinking "didn't Peyton learn to crawl at Disney World, too?" Yes he did....and was about Shelby's age. So should we ever have anymore kids we know a visit to Disney World will ensure those children's crawling abilities. Shelby has grown up so much in the last few months. Last week she had her 9 month check up...she's in the 28th percentile and weighs 17lbs 11ozs and is 27 1/2 inches long....little I know, but what do you expect? I just don't have monster babies. Not only is she crawling, but she waves bye bye, gives kisses, says Mama, Dada and Bubba (although it drives Peyton somewhat crazy). Her latest and greatest is when asked "how big is Shelby?" she holds her arms way up and we all say "soooo big" and then she claps. it's awesome and I hope to get it on video soon. She LOVES to eat and will try most anything you give her. Against my better judgement, she and I shared an ice cream cone in Disney World. She literally oinked like a pig...it was great. Speaking of pigs...Shelby was a pig for her first Halloween. ADORABLE is all I can say. Peyton was Mr. Incredible...cute as always. We still have a nice stash of candy left....fortunately my kid is more of cupcake monster and not so much a candy monster...we'll trash it soon. And I think that catches us up for the most part. Peyton will have his Thanksgiving feast at school in a few weeks...pictures for sure to come. He's doing wonderfully in school...learned how to write his name, learned the pledge of allegiance and "You're a Grand Ole Flag". We're so proud of the little person he's becoming. If you've read this far you're obviously committed to this family so I won't let you down and leave you with pictures....hopefully it won't be the new year before I update again. hahahaha!! seriously though.

Mr. Incredible....incredibly cute!

This little piggy....

Our Halloween babies!

Peyton after he destroyed a Mickey Mouse ice cream...please notice the sweaty hair...yes it was hot.

After our Princess dinner at the Grand Floridian

Proof she can crawl.

Me and Peyton on the Aladdin ride....love his face. It's the "all the rides are broken, I don't really want to be on this one and why are you taking my picture AGAIN?" face. He loved it though.

Nana, Pop and the kiddos going into Magic Kingdom.

Us!

Our sweet babies in the Pirate Room...notice how happy they are here...pre sweatiness.

We did the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party our first night...Peyton loved it even though it was hot.

Before the Halloween Party...a very rare pic of Mom and Dad....alone.

hehehehe....she looks so unhappy, but it really wasn't too hot out at this point. it wasn't until we got into the park with 8 million other people that she was done.

Character breakfast at Ohano...the best!!!

Oh Brad...not one picture of us all looking at the same camera.

Love this one!

Day 1 and Peyton was already annoyed with the picture taking

Thats all for Disney...too many to post.

Shelby got a new fall dress so I had to have a mini photo session with her in the back yard. The lighting is terrible though b/c of the time of day.

The New Orleans Zoo

hmm....I think this was before we left for the zoo...proof she can clap.

Ok so now I'm realizing these are all out of order....this is Peyton showing off his new shirt from the zoo.

Family pic at the zoo

My little soccer player

Shelby at the zoo

My sweaty soccer player

My soul mate...it was so hot at this soccer game that Shelby and I had to take cover in the car...and now that I'm thinking about it I may have posted these in an earlier post. Oh well.

Super Star Student of the Week!

2010-09-13T19:37:00.001-07:00

This week Peyton is the super star student of the week at school. Those of you who know will find the irony in that considering what happened last week at school. ha! Those of you who don't know....lets just say there was a full moon out at school last week....and we can all thank Peyton for it. :-) He's going to make a great teenager. So this week at school it's all about Peyton. We had to make a poster with pictures of his family and favorite things to do....sorry to the family and friends who didn't make the poster...we either didn't have a picture (Josie!!) or it was a tough pick between you and the giant fish he caught. :-) Give him a break..he's 4. Tomorrow I'm bringing his favorite snack...batman cupcakes of course. Wednesday, Brad is going to read a book to his class....Peyton prayed about that one in the car last week. It was BEYOND sweet. Peyton is trying to convince me to let him wear his superman costume to school for Thursday...that one is going to require a phone call to his teacher. hahaha And I haven't decided what we'll do for Friday. All week he gets to be "the leader"...at 4 thats a huge deal you know. When asked..."Peyton what did you do at school today"...he's quick to answer "I got to be the leader." It's gonna blow his mind tomorrow when he gets to do it again tomorrow. In other news, Miss Shelby is officially a scooter. She gets extremely frustrated when she can't where she wants to go fast so I have no doubt she'll figure out the crawling thing fast. Pictures of her to come soon...today it's all about Peyton!

After helping me with the cupcakes...he literally had chocolate from ear to ear and elbow to hand. It was great.

Homemade Batman Cupcakes!!

Peyton with his poster...he really made this with little help from us. He picked all the pictures and told me what to write under each one. And he wrote his name too!!

Soccer, birthdays and cowboys...oh my!

2010-08-31T19:59:00.001-07:00

Peyton started soccer practice tonight...he was so excited, but as usual found himself a hole and crawled in it for a little while. :-) He did super when we got there, but got hot and distracted with the playground about halfway through practice and wanted to hide behind our legs. After a good "man to man" talk with dad he was back on the field. I think he's going to have a great season!

Shelby keeping herself entertained during practice.

Sure brother, I'll hold onto this for you!

Mommy, take a picture of me!!!

On the 29th Shelby turned 7 months!! I can't even believe how fast the time is going. Like seriously what has happened to the last 7 months. Shelby just went for her 6 month check up (yes we're a little behind, but back on track now). She weighed 15lbs 3oz and 26 inches long. She's tiny!!! Peyton was a preemie and at 6 months he weighed 16 lbs 3oz...and that was at 6 months...not 7! It completely shocked me. She is longer than he was though so I guess she's going to be tall and skinny!

Here's the sweet girl taking her "birthday" bath!

Have I mentioned she's teething? She's already busted one tooth through and is not working on another one. Our house hasn't been exactly quiet lately. poor baby!

Last week Peyton had Rodeo Roundup at preschool. He was SO into getting dressed up for this...we even had a dress rehearsal the night before. ha!!

Mr. Cowboy waiting in the car line.

I think it was saying "giddy up cowboy!"

Why he had to pose in front of his junky train table I don't know, but that's where he wanted to take his picture...the table has since been moved to his room.

Here we go.....

2010-08-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

So here is my attempt at catching up. Probably insanely impossible, but I'm going to try.

May ended with a visit from one of our best friends, Tim. He came to play in a golf tournament with Brad...and to see Shelby and Peyton of course. :-)

This is Shelby at about 4 months...she has mastered pushing up and smiling!

She also started eating some solid foods at 4 months...she really was more excited about the sweet potatoes than she shows.

We started off July with a trip to Gattitown...Peyton's FAVORITE place to go. (Shelby also just turned 5 months)

And Peyton learned how to "work" on Daddy's Mustang...he also got his first ride in it...he now refers to it as "Daddy's Mustang" instead of "that car"

These are just more sweet pictures of Shelby showing off her skills...still 5 months here.

July ended with Peyton going to his first Soccer Camp. He cried like a crazy person the first day, but by the end of the week he was LOVING it. All of the kids had a hard time with the heat though and most of them spent their time just standing there.

Stretching before practice started....Peyton's favorite part of camp was at the end when they got to play with the giant parachute....ironically it had nothing to do with Soccer.

Dressed for success!

And that brings us to Peyton's 4th birthday. :-( My little man is growing up. We had his big party in Bossier...will upload those pictures a little later. Dad took his actual birthday off and we spent the day together....he of course had to have ANOTHER birthday cake.

A week after his birthday, Peyton started Pre-K!! This year he started a new school and he LOVES it...not even one tear since he's started. His teacher is actually from Louisiana so maybe he senses a closeness?? who knows, but I'm glad he's enjoying himself.

And that just about brings us up to date. I know there are things I have left out, but I haven't been the best picture taker in the world. I've relied a lot on grandparents and I have some pictures I still need to get, but this at least is a good "summary" of our last few months. The kids go tomorrow for check-ups...Shelby 6 month (even though she's almost 7 months!) and Peyton's 4 yr. I'm anxious to see what Shelby is weighing these days...the girl LOVES to eat. She's growing so fast and learning new things everyday. She's laughing out loud, attempting to pick up food, picking up toys up and switching hands and even attempting to clap. She is saying "dadada", but I think it's a fluke. ha! I'd say she's a Daddy's girl, but I think she is generally a "whoever will pick me up" girl. hehehe Girlfriend screams like a wild animal if you set her down and walk away. Hoping Mom's Day Out will help some with that...she started the same week Peyton started Pre-K....no pictures..of course. Well, I've met my quota for "me time" today so I better get back to babysitting. ha! Now that the kids are back on a schedule I promise to do better with my updates!!!

more from the beach

2010-07-06T14:07:00.001-07:00

On a roll...

2010-05-31T10:49:00.001-07:00

Peyton had asked us to dig a hole for him...what else would you do in a hole, but a flip?!

This would be the giant school Sting Rays we saw. As you can see they are probably no more than 20 ft off the beach and swimming where we had just been playing. yikes! (insert Peyton's story about the sting ray pushing him...that kid has a HUGE imagination)

The boat.

Ok so maybe she didn't cry the ENTIRE time..but almost.

Peyton and Dad hunting for crabs....gotta have the flashlight.

I think he spotted one here...he particularly liked shining the light in the crab holes...poor crabs.

Complete joy!! Or maybe it was fear...either way he was screaming because Dad caught a crab.

Our Monkey

THIS kid....love him!

Did I mention our beach house had a pool? We thoroughly enjoyed that and Shelby took her first dip...of course cried at first, but I think she ended up loving it.

Occasionally Shelby would smile. :-)

Did Shelby have fun at the beach?

2010-05-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

I'll let you decide.

"Roseberry" Beach

2010-05-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

If you ask Peyton where we just went on vacation, he'll tell you.....Roseberry Beach. We actually just returned from our trip to RoseMARY Beach...but hey it's close enough. We had a blast, but I'm concerned now that Peyton thinks we have 2 homes...his "real" house as he calls it and then the beach house. If only we did buddy!! Peyton is DEFINITELY a little beach bum and I'm convinced that he will spend his young adult days working at some random beach doing random things...he loves it that much. He loved getting his toes in the water and building sand castles...although our castles never really turned into castles as he would destroy anything you attempted to build with his trucks. Typical boy. We hunted for crabs at night and Peyton kept us rolling as he would run and squeal every time he saw one. Before we left the beach at night he'd fill their little crab holes and say "good night crab...have a good night." Our last day at the beach Peyton was sitting his inflatable boat and I was sitting under our tent with Shelby when all of a sudden I realize that Brad has pushed Peyton back to shore and everyone is running out to the ocean. As I look towards Brad I see this big black mass...no it wasn't a shark (although Peyton will tell you 2 sharks bit him on his toe) it was a school of sting rays. We have gone to this beach for I don't know how long and never have I seen anything that cool. There were at least 100 of them and they were probably no more than 30 ft off the beach. It was unbelievable. When I asked Peyton if he saw them he said "yeah and it pushed me". Someone or something is always pushing or biting him...funny kid. All in all it was a great trip...Shelby behaved exactly as I thought she would...no sleep and always crying. I love my baby girl with all my heart, but she is less than even a decent traveler...complete opposite of her brother. But now worries people....she's either going to have to deal with it or I am because traveling we will not stop! So now that this short story has taken me 4 hours to write I think I'll just end with some pictures. I took over 400...but don't worry...I'll only leave you with a few. Ok Blogger just completely freaked out on me so I'm only post a very few pictures. I'll post more tomorrow. Sorry!

Eating Cheetos on the beach....it's an obvious combination.

Of course he had to bring his scooter with us.

He was pulling out a big handful of sand in this one!

And the Oscar goes to.....

Shelby's first trip to the beach...she was less than excited about it.

This pretty much says it all.

So many more cute pics to come.....including some of Shelby! Plus I have some updates on her...stay tuned!

My little 3 will soon be a 4

2010-05-29T06:57:00.001-07:00

Peyton had his last day in 3 yr old preschool a few weeks ago. (insert tears) I can't even believe it. We're so thankful for his teacher, speech therapist and even his new little friends for making this past year one we'll always remember. Peyton started the year as a timid toddler who cried literally everyday I dropped him off, but he ended it as an outgoing, class clown who for the most part would ask "when are we going to school." So now we're taking the summer off and next year will be Peyton's last year of preschool. Seriously where did the time go? I'm excited for next year as Peyton will be starting a new school and will be going 5 days a week...Shelby will also be starting Mom's Day Out in August and I will once again have a little time to myself. It's kind of sad to think that my littlest baby will be big enough to start her own "school"...but the sadness is quickly replaced with complete joy when I think about being able to get my hair cut....in peace.

Peyton and Mrs. Brittany (for the record, he started the school year calling her Mrs. Fifi...he ended the school year calling her Mrs. Brittany. And THAT is what you call good speech therapy)

My sweet baby boy on his last day of 3 yr preschool

This smile...now you can all see why he gets away with murder.

I want to ride the "alligator"

2010-05-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

So I have no pictures that back up this title...it's just something funny Peyton says every time we go to the gym and get on the ELEVATOR. hahaha I guess they do kind of sound the same. Life has certainly gotten in the way of my ability to blog these days. As we speak I'm neglecting my house, laundry and body since I'm not in the gym this morning. The truth is if I don't sit down and do this while Shelby is sleeping and Peyton is at school, it will most likely never happen. And I know there are a few grandparents and great grandparents out there looking for pictures.

For Mothers Day we took the kiddos to New Orleans. We went to the Aquarium and walked to Cafe Du Monde for beignets..yummy! We had a blast and the kids were SO good..best Mothers Day ever.

Peyton enjoying his first beignet

Me and my babies at Cafe Du Monde

Snowballs by the river...can it get any better than this?! Oh and yes...his face and hands were permanently blue for the rest of the day.

At the Aquarium

I was under Peyton holding him up to see!

But I want to get IN the fish tank! ha!

In the Amazon...I think.

This is when you first walk in...he was talking 100 mph in amazement.

Shelby LOVED looking at the fish...she never fussed as long as you parked her in front of some fish.

Outside of the Aquarium

A few weeks ago Brad and Pop went on their yearly trip to Talladega. This year we had the pleasure of having Nana, Amy and Abby come stay with us while they were gone. We had a BLAST and the kiddos kept us laughing all weekend.

Riding in the jeep...Abby got them stuck in a bush...it was too funny..especially since Peyton knows the jeep has a reverse and he told Nana it didn't. ha!

Partners in crime..don't let their sweet smiles fool you!

Love this picture

Abby's expression cracks me up and Peyton's seriousness is ridiculous!

On their Walkie Talkies...which they could never figure out how to work.

This picture pretty much sums up the whole weekend.

and this one.

This picture is for Mamaw...she gave Shelby this blanket and this is how she sleeps with it.

Just a random sweet picture of my princess

I love these kids!

We weren't able to all be home for Easter so the weekend after we all managed to make our way to Bossier and have an Easter Egg hunt. Again these two kept us in stitches.

This was after all our activities that day...he literally passed out sitting up...I love that this kid can sleep anywhere.

My bestie Meredith...she had her son, Cameron, in September..isn't he a cutie?!

10 weeks old and 2 month checkup...and a little bit of Easter

2010-04-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

Thats a lot to cover in one post. Guess I should start with Shelby's stats. Friday she turns 10 weeks old...unbelievable. Today she had her 2 month check up. She weighs a whopping 9lbs 10oz and is 21 3/4 inches long. She's hanging out in the 25th percentile which is exactly where Peyton has been his entire life. And thats just plan weird to me because Shelby is clearly bigger than he was at this age...but whatever!! She took her shots like a trooper....I was so proud. I actually think she cried harder and longer when I took the bandaids off....which made me upset because it was pain I inflicted on her. She has slept most of the day and I won't lie...it's been nice...I just wish it wasn't because she got shots. :-( Easter was pretty low key for us this year. We spent our first ever Easter in Hattiesburg. It was kind of nice for the Easter Bunny to visit our own house and Peyton LOVED the whole process. He put carrots out for him the night before and even begged to stay up so he could share one with the Easter Bunny. He's definitely not scared of "characters". After a quick egg hunt in the house we headed to church where Peyton had a complete meltdown and ended up sitting with us in service. He was good for the most part, but it was a distraction for me. At least we were all together though!!! Enjoy the pictures!!

FINALLY!!! I got some shots of her smiling today

Look at her sad legs...but then she's so happy!!

I think this is the first decent family picture we have.

Shelby and her loot

I found an egg

Look what the Easter Bunny left me!

Peyton thought the carrots would be better on top of the eggs.

Leaving out their baskets, eggs and carrots.

I don't know if I ever enjoyed dying Easter eggs....but its definitely not one of my favorite things to do now. Peyton however loved it.

9 weeks...can you believe it?!

2010-04-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is already 9 weeks old. In one sense she feels so brand new and in the other it feels like she's been in our lives forever. Our expectations have been so high for her partly because it HAS felt like she's been here all along and partly because she was a full term baby with none of the problems her brother had. So far she's completely met our expectations and I'm extremely happy to report that she has slept through the night every night but one since last Saturday. On the days I feel challenged I remind myself to slow down and snuggle my babies...the housework will eventually get done and who really cares if the only clothes I have left to wear have holes in them and are 2 sizes too small right? I hope someday my kids remember that Mom took the time to see a movie she did NOT want to see (How to Train Your Dragon) and let her other motherly duties go just so she could spend time with them. So thats where I am 2 months into Shelby's little life and 3 1/2 years into Peyton's. Time flies and drags on at the same time. Here are some pictures of our latest happenings...hope you all have a fantastic Easter...the Easter bunny can't get here fast enough for a certain 3 yr old in our house!

This pic is for Piper..she got Shelby this bear and she LOVES it. She held it like this for the longest time.

Ok I realize Peyton's expression is goofy, but I actually caught Shelby smiling!! yea! Guess this is the first of many of both children not cooperating at the same time.

I could eat them up!

My boys. Peyton was SO excited that Daddy came home early from work today and took him to play golf. He searched the house for a hat and sunglasses like Daddy's.

THIS is my golf club.

This is Easter Field Day at school. Peyton DID NOT want to participate. He completely latched himself to my leg and begged to go home almost the entire time. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. Here he is FINALLY getting into it ...playing duck duck goose with his class and teacher.

Hopping like a bunny...I should point out that Shelby was screaming at this point and I was totally ignoring her so I could get him engaged...it took me hopping like a bunny as well. And all the Mom's looked at me like I was abusing the infant..gimmie a break people.

The sun was SO bright that day...this is the only picture I got with his teacher...too bad they all look like their eyes are frying.

This sweet Mom helped me during the egg hunt. I missed almost all of it because I was feeding Shelby. Thank God for sweet Moms!

Peyton and his friends...the 2 girls on the far right are Ava and Emma...they're twins and Peyton says they're his girlfriends.

Don't let the smile fool you. This was before his meltdown

Shelby at 8 weeks...I'm a little behind.

This child does not have a serious bone in his body. I love him!

Trying to get a smile

2010-03-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

Getting Shelby to smile is not a problem...catching it on camera is!! I tried all day to get one of her smiles...these are the closest I got. She'll be 8 weeks tomorrow!!! I can't believe it. Yesterday I had to take her to the Dr. for a mystery rash on her face...found out it is eczema...also found out she's weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 7ozs. She's a piggy. No pictures of Peyton today...he was not in the mood for pictures today. Funny story though...today they learned about Dandelions at school...they each drew a picture of one and made a wish. Peyton's wish....a baby. Don't get your hopes up little dude.

Here is proof that Brad and I do exist...we were in New Orleans this past weekend and this is our ONLY picture.

All about Peyton...mostly.

2010-03-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our first visit to Bossier with Shelby. She is an AWESOME car rider...not at all like her brother. I really thought we were in for it because she seems to always scream when we get in the car, but fortunately once we got going good it put her right to sleep. Peyton had BLAST in Bossier...to say the least. He got a new Spiderman bike that he has mastered riding...only after one nasty fall. He skinned his elbow pretty good, but it did not prevent him from getting on and trying again. I don't have a good picture of his elbow yet, but I think his Aunt Kelly got one that I'm hoping she'll send my way. My heart literally dropped when he fell and the first thing I thought was he broke his arm since he landed straight on it...thank God he didn't and I guess this was just the first of many heart dropping moments since he is a boy. I'll learn to live with it I guess. The highlight of his weekend, though, was catching a HUGE fish!! He hasn't been fishing since last spring when he caught a few small fish, but this fish was a record setter...for him anyways! And he caught it on a Spiderman fishing pole...of course! I was shocked it didn't break the pole. If we had that fish with us right now he'd be pulling it out of the ice chest to show you...he's that proud. I know a few Grandpas that are proud of him, too...I see lots of fishing trips in his future. It was a great trip home for all, but we're glad to be back in Mississippi and getting back into our routine.

Thought you would all like to see what laundry day looks like at my house.

So proud of his bike...and yes he now wears his helmet!

Peyton climbed his first tree!

This is his HUGE fish...(he calls it his HUGE fish...it's hilarious)

Posing with his fish

Peyton catching his HUGE fish

He caught this tiny fish before the big fish...he wasn't impressed and was actually ready to leave...until he caught Walter..(the HUGE fish)

Little fish

This is a good story...do you see his tiny minnow he's using as bait? His Daddy told him to spit on his bait before he fished for good luck....Peyton took it to a whole other level...he put it IN his mouth and licked it. Yep..disgusting.

By the way...does anyone else think it's weird you use tiny fish to catch big fish? Something is wrong with that circle of life.

Happy 10 years

2010-03-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

Brad and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary last Thursday....we celebrated with the kids...at Longhorn Steakhouse. ha! What a way to celebrate 10 whole years, but what are ya gonna do when you've got a 5 week old. We had a great time and both kids were fantastic...who could ask for more?!! Not much has happened here this week. Shelby turned 5 weeks on Friday. She's getting bigger and bigger, but still not sleeping through the night. She is still only getting up for the one feeding so we feel very fortunate for that. Peyton is still doing wonderfully with his big brother duties. He helps in any way he can and this past week he passed a milestone of his own. He FINALLY is COMPLETELY potty trained. He has been tee-teeing in the potty for almost a year now, but pooping has been a whole other issue. Finally this last week he decided on his own it was time and he hasn't looked back. Thank God for small favors (or big favors depending on who you're talking to.) I never thought I'd get so excited over poop, but such is life. Leaving with a few pictures of the kiddos. Next week Shelby turns a big 6 weeks and we make our maiden voyage to Bossier City...stories and pics to come soon!!

The clown and the princess

I couldn't resist this one...I have NO idea what is up with her eyes!

Me and my babies on our anniversary

Just the girls!

Future Tech Bulldog

2010-02-25T15:03:00.001-08:00

I just realized that every single picture on this post features Shelby with her paci. It's just been one of those days. It started out to be decent. I managed to get showered and dressed before taking Peyton to school because I was taking Shelby with me to get my hair done right after. (when Brad told me my hair was black with a little bit of blonde I decided it was time!) Thats about where the good day ends. I made it all the way to the salon and almost out of my car when I realized I left Shelby's diaper bag at home. So I had to go all the back home to get it because I just knew she would get hungry while I was there. Good thing I went back because as soon as I walked in the salon she spit up everywhere. thankfully I remembered a change of clothing for her. She did extremely well while I got my hair highlighted and cut...she even tolerated a trip to one of my favorite children's store after so I could get more bows for her. Then we pulled into the car lane at Peyton's school and she lost all control. She was clearly hungry so I tried feeding her in the car...not happy. She cried the entire ride home and really has not been very happy since. She did FINALLY drink that bottle and just finished another. Peyton came out of school with some mystery food stuck all over his face and sucker hanging out of his mouth. Needless to say whatever they had was packed with sugar because we fought for 2 hours for a nap. I guess he finally gave in because I haven't heard from him in awhile...Shelby did not want to nap either...so really no one has had a nap. *sigh* It could all be WAY worse though...she could have been up all night, too. But she wasn't....she slept like a big girl in her bed again getting up only twice to eat. I love her.

I'm not sure you can tell in any of these pictures, but her shirt says Louisiana Tech Baby. Thanks to Aunt Mer for her first Tech shirt! (oh and thats a new bow she's wearing, too)

She was getting ready for a good scream here...the paci flew out and everything....it was awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-24T19:24:00.000-08:00

3 weeks and "racing" for the sick kids

2010-02-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

Shelby celebrated her 3 week birthday yesterday...I'd say she didn't realize it, but it seems as though she knows she's getting bigger and is demanding lots of food a lot more often! ha! She must be going through a growth spurt because instead of eating every 3 hours, she'd be a lot happier to eat about every 2 hours. Problem is she won't eat as much every 2 hours so we're really working on holding her off to every 3 hours. That being said, she's still waiting longer to eat in the middle of the night which is perfectly fine with us. For the past week she has been going to bed sometime between 8 and 9 pm and getting up around 2:00 am and 5:00 am to eat. That works for me because honestly it only feels like you have to get up once in the middle of the night to feed her. Sleep deprivation isn't near as bad as it was with Peyton...of course we've had my parents here for the last few days and we haven't had to get up for those feedings!! hahaha! It's been really nice having help the last 3 weeks and we definitely feel ready to take over. Peyton and I have been fighting a horrible cold for the last week so any help we can get we gladly take. I'm finally feeling human again and Peyton is very slowly but surely getting over his. It hasn't slowed him down at all though. On Thursday Peyton participated in a trike-a-thon at his preschool. They rode to raise money for St. Jude and he did an awesome job. Not sure he really understood what he was riding for, but he though it was REALLY cool he got to take his trike to school. ha! Today we hope to get him outside more since the weather is FINALLY sunny and a warm 66 degrees. Spring is finally around the corner...I hope.

Shelby had her first check up this week, too. She now weighs 7lbs 9oz and is 20 1/4 inches long. She's growing so fast!

Riding is serious business

Peyton got a new Spiderman helmet just for the trike-a-thon...if you don't already know, Peyton is obsessed with super heros right now.

Trying to keep up with the bigger bikes...we tried getting him a new bike...he's perfectly happy with his trike right now.

Getting ready to take off

He was so excited!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T12:31:00.001-08:00

You say it's your "birthday"?

2010-02-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

Happy 2 week birthday Shelby!!! So, I thought we lived in South Mississippi, but I think I'm mistaken. Last night and this morning we accumulated about 4 inches of snow...yuck. So not only did we get flurries the day Shelby was born, for her 2 week birthday we had a full out snow storm. I hope this isn't a trend for years to come because birthday parties are going to be hard to plan in the snow. Shelby did not venture out in the white out, but her brother certainly did. He's had several snow ball fights with Mom and Dad and even got to build a snowman with Daddy. To say he loved it would be an understatement....lets just hope he doesn't get sick now...his runny nose was back with a vengeance last night, but I didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't go out this morning. What kind of boring Mommy would I be if I said no right? So fingers crossed sickness stays out of this house!! Enjoy the pics!

Could not get away without posting some of Shelby...isn't she sweet?

Danny, if you call her a bow head I will cut you! ;-)

This would officially be a Mississippi snowman

Snowball fight!!!

Yep, he loved it THAT much

Our babies

2010-02-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

Aren't they sweet?

One week old and a day late

2010-02-06T10:50:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Shelby turned 1 week old!! At the risk of jinxing myself I'm going to say the first week was easy. Could have been all the help though. (wink wink) My Mom left this morning and I immediately went into panic mode. Then I remembered Nana and Pop will be here tomorrow for backup. Shelby is doing decent through the night..still up every 3 hours. She goes longer between feedings during the day so our mission today has been to keep her awake as much as possible so that maybe she'll have a 5 hr stretch during the night....if we're lucky. Peyton has proven to be an excellent big brother...always willing to help and ALWAYS checking on "his" baby Shelby. Tonight and next week will be the big test as I try to manage Shelby and Peyton's school schedule. Luckily I'll have lots of backup with Nana and Pop, but my mission is to get a routine while they are here...just in case I sink. Thats all for now...all was quiet for about 5 minutes in the house so I thought I'd update....now it's circus again. Enjoy some pics!

All things sweet

2010-02-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Of course all of these pictures are in backwards order, but at this point I figure I'm lucky to have gotten any on. ha! We finally made it home Sunday afternoon and I think the whole family was more than thrilled to get out of the hospital. Before Shelby arrived, Peyton had expressed a want to have a birthday party for her when she got home from the hospital. We figured since we were bringing another human in his life it's the least we could do. Maw and Nana took him to buy party supplies on Saturday and I must say he planned the perfect party. We had Spiderman cake, a basketball pinata and Minnie Mouse balloons...what little girl could ask for more?! It was awesome. Shelby had gotten Peyton a present from her and so far it's rarely left his arm...I think he likes it. Our first night home proved to be fairly uneventful. Shelby has had issues with hiccups which makes her incredibly mad, but today we're thinking we got them worked out with her Dr. Brown's bottles. The hiccups made for a long night, but thankfully Peyton's sleep was not affected at all. By 1:30 am, Brad and I were throwing up the white flag and had Nana stay up with Shelby. We're hoping tonight the hiccups subside because we're fairly certain she will sleep for longer periods without them. If not...Maw will be pulling night duty. ha!! Tomorrow we take her in to be weighed again...when we left the hospital yesterday Shelby had only lost one ounce...she's a very good eater to say the least. The Dr. said they like to see them back at their birth weight by their 2 week visit..yeah I don't think we're going to have the problem. Enjoy the pictures and continue looking for more updates!!!

Peyton and his gift from baby Shelby

Peyton blowing out "Shelby's" candles

Pretty sure she's the sweetest little thing ever!!!

Getting ready to leave the hospital....thinking that sweater might be a little too big for awhile. ha!

She loves her groceries!

There are no words for this one...melting their Mommy's heart

She may have been in a milk coma

I love how proud he is and how disgusted she is...awesome.

Shelby Leigh

2010-01-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

Shelby was welcomed to this world this morning at 8:48 am weighing 6lbs 12 oz and exactly 19 inches. She is doing WONDERFULLY and has already stolen our hearts for life. Peyton has done incredibly well with her and is NO DOUBT the proudest big brother I've ever seen. Tonight he told me "thank you Mommy for baby Shelby." Melt my heart!!!

Lisa and her babies

One big happy family!

Peyton LOVES Shelby's "itty bitty nose"

Nana and Pop

Maw and Paw

I've looked better but who cares...she's finally here!

Our sweet baby girl

VERY proud big brother

Chipmunks

2010-01-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

We took Peyton to his very first movie today. He LOVED it. He woke up literally bouncing off the walls this morning because he was so pumped to go see "chipmunks." We asked him if he was going to get popcorn at the movies and his response was...."oh yeah..I get popcorn." And then he proceeded to get into the pantry and pull a box of popcorn out. Brad was so proud that he was being economical. I however explained that you buy popcorn there. He got his "kids combo" which consisted of an Icee, popcorn and gummie bears. He ate all the gummie bears before the movie started and drank all his Icee plus mine before the movie was over. He loved it. I'll have to say the movie was beyond slow, but Peyton enjoyed and thats all that mattered. He fell asleep in the car on the way home and now all that sugar has kicked in and his bouncing again. I'm guessing today is going to be a napless day, but it was so worth it!!!

Eating his popcorn before the movie started

Had to get a picture with the chipmunks!

He was SO proud he had his very own ticket

Posing with dad before we left this morning

And here is a preggo shot for all who have asked....36 weeks and 3 days. I'm huge, but doesn't Peyton look so proud of his sister?!!

Christmas catch up

2010-01-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas Peyton had his Christmas program at school. Maw, Nana and Pop all came down for the big event which made us nervous because we weren't sure how he was going to do. He performed well in the first 5 minutes or so of the program and then we lost him. ha!! He then rolled around on the stage, put his crown over his face and chewed on his shirt for awhile. He clearly got a little uneasy sitting up there for so long and wanted Mommy. It still was fun to watch and I hope the grandparents enjoyed it as much as we did!! and as usual I loaded all these pictures backwards!! oh well enjoy anyways.

Apparently his teacher was telling him to smile....he took her literally.

This is when we lost him....he had major issues with his crown....he was a wise man by the way.

Getting into the music

REALLY getting into the music!

Just had to throw this one in here. I put this outfit on him one morning and he got a big giggle out of it...he said I dressed him like Paw!! this kid is a riot.

'Cause thats the way things happen on the Polar Express!

2009-12-07T16:34:00.001-08:00

We took Peyton to Birmingham this weekend to ride the Polar Express. In Peyton's words..."That was really really awesome!" We had a great time and Peyton even gave Santa his paci that we've been trying to get rid of. Unfortunately it didn't last. He was completely ok with it until bedtime when the tears started to flow and the words "I no like ho ho" came out of his sweet mouth...I caved and gave him the extra paci I brought just in case. I'm not going to apologize to any of my judges either....I can't stand to see my sweet baby cry and God knows I don't want to him hate Santa!!! I know he'll get rid of it when he's ready and honestly he's probably close...giving it to a stranger for any amount of time is huge at our house. We all had a fantastic time seeing our friends from Tennessee and Peyton especially had fun playing with his friend. We can't wait to take him next year!!

It was cooooold!!! Peyton was bundled up waiting to board the train...did I mention it snowed the day we left for Birmingham?

Peyton getting his ticket punched

He refused to take his jacked/hat/gloves off at first...not sure why

Finally!!

Looking for the North Pole

Having a snack on the way to the North Pole...he's 100% my son..."we're going to see Santa...cool now where's some food"

Peyton and Kainaan spot Santa and Mrs. Claus on our train!!

He DID NOT like the elves...thats another story, but lets just say he's terrified of elves. ha!

Peyton with Santa and Mrs. Claus...look closely in Santa's hand...thats the paci!!!

He even got cookies and chocolate milk

Best Buddies!

Waving bye to Santa

Showering the ones you love...with gifts and snow.

2009-12-04T19:09:00.001-08:00

It snowed pretty hard here tonight in South Mississippi...pretty sure thats why we moved from Kansas. The difference I guess is this will all be gone tomorrow and the anticipation of the snow was the same as when I was a kid...because we never got it. It was awesome and Peyton LOVED it...he was only sad Maw, Paw, Nana and Pop weren't here to share with him.

My wonderful best friend and her mother gave me the best baby shower ever in November. It was so much fun and Shelby got lots of wonderful things to get her little life started. We feel so loved!!

This is Amy, Nana, Me and my Mom

This is me and my friend Liz...we've been friends since the 5th grade and she just happened to be in town that weekend...how awesome!!

Me and the hostesses

Peyton is a Penguin

2009-11-01T18:15:00.001-08:00

Peyton had a BLAST trick or treating this year. He was most excited to dress up in his costume and when he realized he got candy too, he was shocked to say the least. Mommy made it to a few houses with him before I had to pass out candy at our house, but Peyton made it to about 7 houses with Daddy, Nana and Pop. He really enjoyed handing out candy after and was exhausted by bedtime. I have to say this year was definitely more enjoyable than the 2 years past and now I can't wait to see his reaction to Christmas!!

He even had the penguin walk down

Not one picture of him looking at the camera with us...so sad.

Have you ever seen a cuter Penguin?

Random fun

2009-10-27T19:56:00.001-07:00

So far this year we have not made it to the "pumpin" patch. So sad because we've gone the last 2 years with Peyton. We had plans to take him this past weekend with Maw and Piper, but Maw got sick and had to cancel her trip....which meant Peyton wanted nothing to do with pumpkin patch. ha!! We were actually shocked Saturday morning when we all got up early and Peyton informed us he wanted to "stay at his house"...but we were more than happy to hang out and be lazy. Maybe we'll get to go this weekend with Nana and Pop, but rain is predicted for Friday and there is no way this family will be tracking through the mud just to get a pumpkin. We'll see. For now our lives have been pretty low key...guess we're saving up for the arrival of baby Shelby! We have been working on her room this week and finally making some progress. I can't wait to see the finished project. All is going well with baby and so far I've had no problems. I'm still seeing either my heart Dr. or baby Dr. every 2 weeks...which is getting old, but is keeping me healthy so I'll do what it takes. Thats about all thats happening here!! I'll leave you with some random pictures of the last few weeks!

Peyton was wearing his bat hat when I picked him up from school today.
Peyton ready for the Cowboys game!

Peyton holding baby Cameron...he's going to be such a good big brother!

There are no words.

Peyton's big boy bed

2009-10-11T20:03:00.001-07:00

Wow! I managed to somewhat catch up today. If this is the first post you're reading be sure to scroll down...I made a lot today!!
Last weekend we decided that it was time for Peyton to transfer to his full size bed. He hasn't been sleeping well in his toddler bed and well....we could use that mattress for Shelby! ha! He helped us put it together which sadly I have no pictures of. It was so exciting for him. Needless to say we have had no problems whatsoever getting him adjusted to sleeping in the big bed. He's sleeping until 8:00 again and not waking up at all in the night...I mean not even once. And the days of him crying to sleep with us are gone. Guess he just wanted some space. So far every transition we have made with Peyton has been easy breezy....now if we could just get rid of the paci. (I know....he's 3...don't judge me!)

This was really funny. Peyton insisted on getting a picture with Daddy before bed...he had to pose the exact same way as his dad. He studied his legs and then positioned himself for a "cheese!" Awesome.

Peyton tackling daddy

This is part of his nightly routine. He and Daddy get in their football stance and then tackle each other.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

2009-10-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun with the little guy in Gulf Shores. The reality is that was the first trip we have taken just the 3 of us and probably the last before Shelby comes. It was awesome being able to give him our undivided attention and I think he enjoyed it just as much!

This has nothing to do with the beach. Peyton helped me make Monkey Munch the other day and was very proud to show it off.

Peyton buried in the sand.

Midnight snack time!!! Nothing like a powdered donut before bed..hey..we were on vacation.

He honestly tried very hard to get sand on every inch of his body.

Practicing his surfing skills?

Screaming because the water was getting close...this was his favorite thing to do.

And this was his 2nd favorite...he loved for Brad to pick him up fast when a wave would come in...pretty sure the whole beach could hear him squeal.

Wasting no time getting started...we had not even put the tent up yet.

This is the life!

First Day of School

2009-10-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Peyton started his first day of 3 yr old preschool shortly after his birthday. So far he is doing really well and LOVES his teacher. He no longer cries when I drop him off and is a chatter box the whole way home. I'm so thankful that we have a great place to take him that he loves. His speech is getting better everyday and every week he learns a new letter that he is anxious to tell us about...all week! hahaha

My handsome 3 yr old before the 1st day of school

They made these hats while the parents were in a meeting...he was very interested in those scissors...probably because he's not allowed to use them at our house!! hahaha
Probably should be working with him a bit on how to use scissors....he had no clue.

They were to bring their favorite teddy bear on the 1st day...of course Peyton had to bring Woody instead of a stinkin' teddy bear. All the kids thought he was way cool.

Finally fixed!!!

2009-10-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

Brad spent some time yesterday making room on my computer. I can proudly say I can post pictures again. So for now I'm just going to try and catch up the last few months.

The morning of Peyton's Birthday we took him to Strawn's...his favorite breakfast place in Bossier.

The family and Peyton's first baseball game...The Shreveport Captains.

Poor Piper had to share her ice cream with a 3 yr old who refused to use a spoon.
Pizza's good!

Sunday after his party...having lunch with Nana, Pop, Abby, Amy and Josh

These next two pictures are priceless...these two should have been brother and sister.

Sorry Abby....but we love your reaction to Peyton winning that battle!

Do you see a pattern here?

Peyton getting ready to jump in

I have to stop there with his birthday...literally I think I have almost 1000 pictures total and there is no way I could post all of my favorites.

Big boy beds and other fun things

2009-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my plea to my computer savvy husband....please fix the memory on my computer!!! This is why I have not posted pictures on the blog in like a million years. I'm completely out of memory on my computer and at this point it won't even let me view pics off of my camera. So Brad if you're reading....fix it!!!

On to more fun things. I still need to finish posting pictures from Peyton's party and hopefully that will come soon. Since then we've had some fun and exciting things happen. I celebrated my 31st birthday on Sept. 15th and got the ultimate birthday present. We had an ultrasound bright and early that morning and found out Peyton will have a little sister!! Still can't believe it. After lots and lots of discussions we've finally decided on our precious little girl's name...Shelby Leigh. She and Peyton will share the same middle name, but will be spelled differently. We're beyond thrilled and I'm so looking forward to getting her nursery done. Peyton is less than excited, but hopefully that will come with time. He recently asked us if he could go back to Disney World to see Mickey..I of course told him sure and this time we can bring his baby sister with us! To that he said "No thanks Mommy, I take Maw." So Maw I guess you won the golden ticket. He then went on to say he wanted to take everyone in the family except baby Shelby. We'll just have to see about that. The weekend after my birthday we headed to Gulf Shores for a quick, but just long enough family vacation. Peyton had a BLAST on the beach...loved everything about playing in the sand....still apprehensive about the ocean. Since then Brad has made a trip to Dallas for a Monday Night football game and Peyton has graduated to a full size bed. He absolutely LOVES his new bed and transitioned with absolutely no problems. Every morning he brags on himself for sleeping all night in his bed. For those who don't know, we had some problems the last few weeks with getting him to sleep in his toddler bed. He was constantly scared of monsters and wanted to get in bed with us. After a few weeks of that we decided he was playing us a bit and decided that maybe he just wasn't comfortable in that small bed. Seems to have been the case, but he's only been in his full size bed for 2 nights. Keep your fingers crossed!! So now our days are full of Dr.'s appts, school and getting ready for baby. With all the holidays between now and Feb. 10th it's going to fly by. Hopefully by the end of this week Brad will have magically fixed my computer and I can add some pictures. Until then....stay patient!!

Playing catch up

2009-08-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

So I'm not a very good blogger these days, but Peyton started preschool this week so I'm hoping that will allow for more time to keep updated. I will post his first day of school, but right now I have to play catch up. Most importantly, Peyton turned 3 August 10th!! Can you believe are little baby is 3? I don't like it...not at all. But I will say that these are some fun days...he's that age where you never know whats going to come out of his mouth....it's great. He had a great birthday party with a yummy Scooby Doo cake, lots of friends and family and of course swimming. We debated a long time about what to do for his party and ultimately his favorite thing to do in the summer is swim at Maw and Paw's....so how could we do anything else. It was hot...very hot and I'm very appreciative to the family that came and did not swim...how they managed I have no idea, but Peyton loved having each and every one of you there. I'm going to attempt to post A LOT of pictures from that day. I may have to post this as a two part blog, but have patience!! It will happen!!

Peyton blowing out his candle...I love how Colten is just dying to help!! He could hardly stand it!

Abby kept trying to give Peyton a hug..he kept giving her the "no I don't think so" look...it eventually led to Abby lifting her dress being super cute...it still didn't work.

Abby, Peyton and Lindsey having dinner

These two are like peas and carrots...ALWAYS together! I love it!

Brad was trying hard to give me a heart attack...Peyton is fearless!

Piper looked like she needed a push

Peyton's Scooby Doo cake...to hear him say this is worth every bit of cake!

Stay tunned for part 2!!!

The worst blogger...EVER

2009-07-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I've blogged. Wow. The last month has been a whirlwind to say the least and there's no end in sight! At the end of June we flew to Kansas City to see Brad's family. We had a great time and Peyton LOVED riding on the plane. He's still talking about it. He did so good on the plane...we even got comments on how well behaved he was. Thats always comforting to hear especially when we have had some not good reports from Mom's Day Out lately. No pictures to post from the trip yet...I need to get them from Nana. For the 4th of July Peyton went to Bossier to spend the weekend with Maw and Paw. All I can say is thank God for grandparents because we needed the weekend more than we knew. It's even better when the grandparents call and ask for him and we don't have to beg!! hahaha. Since then we have celebrated Brad's birthday..unfortunately he spent his actual birthday in Alabama without us, but we managed to get a fun weekend in before that. Nana and Pop came down and we took a trip to the coast where we ate awesome bbq, shopped till dropped and got fresh shrimp off the shrimp boats. Pretty good day!! Last weekend we went back to the coast to take Peyton to the water park....or as he calls it the "balew pawk". He absolutely LOVES that place although this trip wasn't quite as fun for me...as I couldn't ride any of the slides. Which brings me to our next piece of exciting news....Peyton is going to be a big brother!!! I'm sure most reading this already know this and it's old news, but I had to write about it. We're beyond excited...and can't wait to find out that it's a girl!! (give me a break I'm trying to will it to be a girl ok!) I'm 11 weeks along and thankfully starting to feel human again. I've spent the last 6 weeks feeling sick all day everyday..very much a different pregnancy from Peyton. It seems to be getting better though and soon we can start the fun stuff as we hope to find out if it's a boy or girl sometime in September...we hope. My official due date is Feb. 10th, but we're not holding out much hope that this one will go much longer than Peyton did...we're praying it does. I'm crossing my fingers that I stay healthy with no complications and hopefully we'll be able to go to Bossier for Christmas. I think that just about catches us up. The next few weeks will be busy for us as Peyton turns the big 3 on August 10th. We're having a pool party on the 8th for him and he has informed me today he wants a Scooby Doo cake...which he'll have one way or another. Pictures to come soon I hope...tried scanning pictures of baby #2, but as most things electronic in my house...it doesn't work. Stay tuned!!!

Ok I lied....here's just a sweet picture of the little man!!

Video as promised

2009-06-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

This is somewhat of a long video, but it's really only a small part of Peytons performance. The 2 year olds put on a performance for parents so we could see all that they learned...I had no idea Peyton knew any of these songs!! Sorry some of it is a little shaky...we had to make do with our digital camera video...it's a long story. Hope you enjoy a little piece of that day!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So far behind

2009-06-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm so far behind so I'm just leaving you with pictures today! Enjoy!

What we did on a rainy day in Knoxville

There are no words for this messiness!

He MAY love riding horses

Waiting to ride the pony in Knoxville

Always taking an opportunity to say "cheese!"

Notice how he's managed to get his little hand in to the smallest goat...so sweet.

Feeding the animals

Peyton at his end of the year program at school...great video to follow soon!

This is how we dress for play in Mississippi!

And this is what happens when school is out and we get bored

You didn't think I'd miss out on the fun did you?

Sprinkler time!

As promised....our next American Idol

2009-05-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

It's a little long, but you have to watch until the end...thats the best part!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mothers Day and our next American Idol

2009-05-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

I could not have asked for a better Mother's Day! My boys treated me well. Saturday we took Peyton to the water park in Gulfport. To say he loved it would be an understatement. He wouldn't even stop to eat lunch and everyone knows how much Peyton likes to eat! We had a fantastic time and I'm thinking of getting season passes for the summer. Sunday the boys let me sleep in...sweet sweet sleep. It was the best present ever. We went out for lunch and did some shopping at Old Navy and then spent the remainder of the day being lazy. It was fabulous!

Having a Mother's Day cupcake

So much fun

Who's having more fun...Peyton or Daddy?

Peyton loved this slide....it looked like a boat.

And his most favorite...the "blah" or frog to you and me.

Since it's been 100 years since I posted video I thought tonight would be a good night. First off...Peyton has FINALLY learned how to ride his tricycle. It only took forever..the kid next door was born the same month as Peyton and he's already riding a big boy bike with training wheels...geez. But we have video proof he can do it. Then, tonight Peyton really got into American Idol with us. The video I have is of him singing along....it's priceless and be sure to watch to the very end....thats the best part. Ok so after trying to get video loaded ALL NIGHT I've made myself a liar. I only have video of Peyton riding his bike. When I get the other loaded I'll post. Sorry guys!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

An "Incredible" weekend

2009-04-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Lets just start off by saying this might have been Peyton's best weekend...EVER. Daddy and Pop went on their yearly trip to Talladega this weekend so Peyton and I went to Bossier. We got in Wednesday night and pretty much just layed around all day Thursday at the lake..it was great. Friday was the big day. We were going to see Disney on Ice and we had front row seats!! It was worth every penny because Peyton was glued to those characters. It didn't hurt that the whole thing was based on The Incredibles characters...which are Peyton's all time favorite. He's still talking about it and now I want to go back to Disney World....didn't we just get back though?! ha! I think Saturday was even better than Friday. We all decided that we would get up and "go into town" (never thought I'd say those words). While Maw and I got ready, Paw took Peyton down to the pier. As I was blow drying my hair Peyton came running in the house saying something I couldn't understand. I look over and low and behold Paw is holding a fish....a fish that PEYTON caught!! It was his very first fish. He is officially hooked now and isn't too bad of a fisherman either. We went back down to the pier Saturday afternoon and I managed to catch up to Peyton's record....it only took me 30 years to catch as many fish as my 2 year old. I'm a city girl ok. I only wish that I had my video camera during this fishing experience because Peyton's reaction is priceless. It doesn't matter if he caught a fish or not, he's going to scream every time he reels the line in. And I mean ear piercing screams! It's hilarious and you can only appreciate it if you hear and see it. I think the fish are finally getting used to his screams because we still managed to catch a few even though we were sure he scared them away! ha! So now we're back in the Burg and Peyton is still asking where Paw and fish are. I have a feeling in the very near future Peyton is going to want to spend his summers fishing with Paw. Enjoy the pics and I promise updates from our beach trip soon! Oh and I loaded these WAY backwards..sorry!

This is Peyton holding bait...yet another priceless reaction, but you had to be there.

I think this was probably his 3rd fish he caught...see the horror in his eyes?!

Look at his face closely...THIS is the reaction he had every time he reeled the line in.

Proof that I CAN fish....and look really really bad.

Peyton's favorite spot to fish....with Maw.

Peyton's 2nd favorite spot to fish...with Paw!

This is how lazy people get to the lake...just picking Mom and Dad!

Peyton and his very first fish.

Peyton and Paw on the pier

I have no words

These steps were a great place to eat lots of ice cream cones

Mr. Incredible!!

Life...or something like it.

2009-04-19T13:21:00.001-07:00

Take a deep breath and let it go because life is FINALLY getting back to normal. Since Peyton's visit to the E.R. things have been really crazy. The day after his accident we visited the hand Dr. and were able to remove all those bandages...thank God! It was pretty uneventful and Peyton actually fell asleep while we were there. After that, we headed to Bossier for Easter. Peyton had a blast and after being with Paw for about 5 hours, he completely forgot about his finger. Very occasionally he would run to me telling me it hurt, but after Mommy kisses all was well. He had a great time hunting Easter eggs at both sets of grandparents and I'm happy to report that this year no eggs were thrown in the pool! yea! Nana and Pop had put teddy grahams in their eggs and Peyton insisted on opening every egg and eating every single cookie. Maw and Paw had candy in their eggs and thankfully he was so into racing Piper to find eggs, he didn't really realize what was in them...we still have that candy stashed away. ha! Sunday morning found us up super early to head back to Hattiesburg. The weather was forcasted to be really bad and we wanted to get ahead of it. Mission accomplished. So then it was time to unpack and repack for our week at the beach with Uncle D, Aunt Paige and Piper. Also happy to report that Peyton LOVES the sand now and our beach vacations should be much more enjoyable in years to come. Again his finger was never a concern and he had no problem grabbing hands full of sand and throwing them at us. He really enjoyed himself and we had a great time as well. We headed home on Thursday and on Friday morning Peyton got his stitches out. WooHoo!!! I was a nervous wreck that morning. Knowing how he reacted to getting the stitches, I was completely expecting the worst...and it really was. He screamed the most ear piercing screams and I just wanted to die right there. The nurse was SO super sweet and gave him plenty of breaks. In the end he was really brave and as soon as she set her tools down, he was done crying. He managed to make the nurse feel bad enough to send him home with a new teddy bear and truck. His finger looks great now and appears that he will have no problems. We still have to watch what the nail does, but they think he will probably keep it. All in all this has been an insane 2 weeks, but we came out even better on the other side. Tuesday Peyton will go back to school...hopefully without any accidents. Thursday we head back to Bossier to see Disney on Ice and Brad heads to Talladega with his Dad...their yearly man trip. I'll leave you with pictures from Easter...beach pictures soon to come!

Looking for eggs and Maw and Paw's.

I'll get 'em!

Maw and Paw got him a new bell for his swing set...I'm glad it's at their house and not mine.

I think 2 seconds after this picture he fell and skinned his knee...he's all boy!

Nana and Pop's old wagon...perfect for loading rocks.

I got rocks!

Not sure why he felt like he needed to sit in the middle of the track

Huntin for eggs and Nana and Pop's

E.R....no, not that show.

2009-04-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

What a day. This week actually started out wonderfully. Peyton had a play date yesterday with his friend Hayden. We haven't had a play date with him since December because Hayden had gotten pneumonia, but he is all well now! Peyton really enjoyed the day and we set out this morning for school...just like any other day. By 11:30 the phone was ringing...it was school. GASP...what kid did he hit today that required a phone call home?! I only wish it had been that now. Peyton had smashed his pinky in a door at school and I needed to come up there...on my way of course! On the way I really didn't think much of it. Actually I was thinking, why can't they deal with this for another 15 minutes..I usually pick him up at 11:45 anyways. Then it occurred to me...it must be really bad. When I got there they were waiting in the lobby for me...Peyton in the Preschool Pastor's arms with his wrapped in paper towels...and there was a lot of blood. Ok so this is bad now. We put him in the car and take off to the E.R. Peyton hardly cried the whole time in the E.R. Xray was definitely the worst...that was the first time I got a real good look at it. It was really bad. Xray showed no break...thank God! Then we were off to decide what to do next. The Dr. wanted to put him under to stitch up his pinky....uhhhhh NO. I just couldn't see putting him through that for a finger...he's only 2 and who knows how he would deal with anesthesia. So we opted for the finger block. The needle was big and he cried...a lot. The Dr. seemed a bit nervous because lets face it...he's two and one could only expect him to be a wiggle worm. He just doesn't know my fearless freddie. We wrapped Peyton up like a burrito and it was time to sew him up. He was SO BRAVE. He cried a bit, but mostly we just talked about milk shakes, trains, maw, paw, "Pie", nana and pop. All his favorite things. Towards the end I could tell the numbness was wearing off b/c he was becoming anxious. I told the Dr. I thought he could feel it, but thankfully he was already done. He cried the most when they were wrapping it up...go figure. I am so proud of my little man...I don't think I would have been half as good as he was. In the end they called it a partial amputation of his pinky....I think it sounds worse than it really was, but it was kinda dangling. We go tomorrow to the hand Dr. The E.R. Dr. was somewhat worried that Peyton will totally lose his finger nail, but we'll just have to see. Not sure what the hand Dr. is going to do but hopefully he'll have some better ideas for wrapping it b/c that was pure torture to clean it and re wrap it tonight...that was the first time I cried all day. So we're all settling in tonight...much like nothing happened! Peyton played ball with Daddy this afternoon and really hasn't complained much...other than when we have to clean it. I'm so thankful for patience today...most of you know that is one quality I don't have often, but today I managed to put my Mommy shoes on and concentrate on the task at hand. I think Brad thinks something has taken over my body because he's still waiting on the breakdown. ha! All I can say is thank God for even the smallest prayers...like keeping your cool. Sometimes those prayers end up being the biggest.

Peyton and Hayden having lunch

These next few pictures are of Peyton having his traditional "I went to the Dr." milkshake. It's something my mother started when we were kids and I've carried on with mine...hey it always made me feel better...still does!

***update***

Peyton is totally milking this finger injury...in the time I've been sitting here writing this I've had to go over and kiss his "hurt" at least 10 times....and he asks everytime with a huge smile. Could he be any sweeter?

Just to see you smile

2009-03-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Hubfest...it's a festival Hattiesburg has every year, but this year they were celebrating the Burg's 125th anniversary. There were A LOT of people there and it wasn't quite what I thought it would be. Our adventure ended sour when we bought a $3 completely burnt hot dog. I was so mad not to mention I had a small panic attack because of all the people. Just not a good day for Lisa. Peyton made up for it when he turned to me, gave me the biggest smile you ever saw and a bear hug. I guess he knew I needed it.

Last weekend was so beautiful. We spent the whole weekend outside..which was a good thing because we had some pretty nasty storms this past week. Some of you may have seen Magee Mississippi on t.v. this week. They had an F-3 tornado touch down...Magee is about 45 minutes north of us. We had 3 nights of tornadoes and rain, but thankfully all is well now. Hopefully this next week will be uneventful although I see it's suppose to rain again Tuesday...which is the day we're suppose to get our new counter tops!! Guess we'll see.

Peyton working on his golf swing...it's unique for sure!

The family taking cover!! Guess Daddy thought it would be more fun to take pictures of us.

So hopefully next week I'll have some pictures up from our brand new kitchen and bathrooms! We're just finishing up painting the bathroom..I'm pooped. But I know the payoff will be great when we get our new counter tops. Have a great Sunday!!

Just because he's feeling better!

2009-03-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

Peyton is finally back to a normal child...no more sickness! yea! It didn't take him too long to recover and his cough is just about completely gone. So I have just these random pictures to share with you. Hope you enjoy!

Peyton completely passed out after school today!

"Driving" Daddy's new lawn mower

Typical boy...gotta read while he potties...or at least tries to potty

Who could resist this face?!! He had just licked a container of pudding completely clean...this was major controversy at our house last night.

Nine

2009-03-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

Where do I even start? The last few weeks have been complete craziness at our house. Really just the last few days, but it feels like the last few days have taken weeks...if that even makes sense. To start off, 2 weekends ago Nana and Pop came down to stay with Peyton so Brad and I could go to Biloxi. We had a GREAT time and had the best sushi I've ever had in my life. Total hole in the wall place called Chef Scott's in Ocean Springs...if you're ever down there try it out...it's famous!! We met up with our friends Erin and Russ whom we NEVER get to see, so it was nice to hang out with them and do a little gambling. And let me just say that I am 30 years old and that weekend was the first time I EVER sat down at a black jack table. It was an experience, but I managed to make $40 last almost 2 hours. I was proud that I outlasted everyone..even if I didn't technically win. We stayed out way too late and probably had more than enough beer, but it was the relief we both needed...especially since we had no idea what this week was going to bring us. Did I mention that we went to Biloxi to celebrate our 9th anniversary? 9 years people!!! Our actual anniversary was this past Wednesday, but we take the babysitters when we can them ok. So to start this week off....Peyton started with somewhat of a cough on Monday. Nothing major and it didn't seem to bother him much. He had a long night Monday with a few coughing fits and ended up sleeping until 9:00 Tuesday morning...very unlike him. Needless to say he missed school b/c we overslept. It was probably for the best because by Tuesday afternoon he had a fever. Over the next 24 hours he just got progressively worse. Yesterday I tried getting him into the Dr. but of course they were booked. So we spent our actual anniversary exhausted from being up with a sickling all night and day...we had a gourmet dinner made of store bought sushi...yum. Good thing we had already celebrated. By last night Peyton had been running 103.3 degree fever. Thankfully we got him into the Dr. today and here's the verdict....he technically has bronchitis, BUT the Dr. felt like we were on the verge of pneumonia...he doesn't have pneumonia, but if this doesn't clear up we could be looking at it progressing. :-( He's on heavy antibiotics and we're on the watch and see path. If he doesn't start improving in 24 hours we have to bring him back in. As of right now, I would say he's on the mend. Tonight he had a lot more energy and his fever has stayed below 101. He's still not eating, but he is staying hydrated. So I'm basically going on very little sleep this week...getting up at least every hour to check on my man, and I do believe I'm getting delirious. On top of all that we're having some issues with a storage building we're having built. As my brother would say....stick with me and you'll see the dark cloud that always follows. ha! Tomorrow is Friday and we were suppose to go to Bossier for the weekend....obviously that won't be happening. Hopefully the weekend will bring no drama and a healthy baby boy!! So thats it...I'll be sure to keep you all posted as we pray our little man gets over this crud soon!

This is a very random picture, but I thought it was worth posting. Hayden is a friend of Peyton's from school...they had a play date in December and had a blast...as you can tell by Peyton's cheesy grin. Hayden got really sick right after Christmas...with pneumonia of all things....and we haven't been able to play since. He had a long battle, but it looks like he's on the mend. We miss you Hayden, get well soon!!

Crawfish season may be off to a bad start, but....

2009-02-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

My Mom and Dad have them swimming in their pool!! We should have boiled him up, but we let him go free. I just saw today that the price of crawfish is between $5 and $6 a pound. I don't think I've ever seen it that expensive. So sad...hopefully it'll come down soon because Brad can eat a good 10 pounds by himself.

What is that thing Paw?

Sweet Valentine

2009-02-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Today was Peyton's Valentine's Day Party at school. He enjoyed this party much more than the Christmas party...thankfully! He was equally excited with every goody bag he got...even though he had no idea what was in them. He still hasn't realized that they're full of candy. I decided to withhold that stash since during the party he managed to eat 2 cupcakes, 1 cookie, a bag of chips, part of a jelly sandwich and 3 juice boxes. It was a great party even though I'm freaking out over all the sugar he had. Seriously...couldn't we have something other than jelly sandwiches? Oh well...it's only once in a blue moon I guess. So now here it is 3:30 and he STILL has not gone down for nap. We've played outside, done art projects and now are watching Ice Age 2. It's just too much sugar for one day I guess! Enjoy the pictures!

Cheesing it up for the camera!
Collecting his loot

Working on his first cupcake

Admiring his goodies he brought for his friends

Another one of him with his bag before school.

Who really cares?

2009-02-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

I just read an article on Foxnews.com about a ride at DisneyLand in California. They apparently have decided to update the "Small World" ride and add some recent Disney Characters to the mix. Good. Great. Why is it causing so much controversy? Why would anyone be so annoyed at a company for doing a little updating. I mean I get it...cherish the old, classic and traditional...I get it. But have you ever been on the Small World ride? It might possibly be the creepiest ride ever. I don't hate it...it's just creepy. I believe Peyton felt the same way because his expression during that ride was priceless...."Mom, Dad...what the heck is this?" If they added some characters he knew, maybe he would have enjoyed it a little more. After all, Disney is all about marketing to the kids so that their parents have to buy them hundreds of dollars worth of souvenirs and toys. Who can tell their kid no at Disneyland? Anyways, just thought this was a fitting story since we just came off of a 7 day trip to the Happiest Place On Earth. Get over it people...the ride is creepy.

Have a Magical Day!

2009-02-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

We're FINALLY back from our 7 day Disney World vacation. All I can say is.."whew." We had an absolute blast and while I thought the 7 days was going to be way to long for the little guy, it was just enough. I can't even begin to tell you how good he was in the car coming and going....I really expected it to be a nightmare. It did help that on the way to Orlando, he rode with Nana and Pop about half of the way....they would never really tell us the truth about if he was good or bad either...he's always good in the eyes of a grandparent! ha! We dreaded coming home remembering the last time we made that drive, Peyton was 8 months old and had his first stomach bug....not a pleasant trip. This trip proved to be totally different and he did great. Everyday at the parks he was for the most part adaptable. He took naps in his stroller when he got tired and surprisingly actually wanted to ride in his stroller as opposed to walking....that was a huge shocker for me. Now he did have his moments where he wanted to walk and that usually ended in tears because he's not the best listener. He wouldn't wear his "leash" and I was petrified I'd lose him. All in all it was a successful trip. Peyton had even more fun at the parks than I expected. He seemed star struck at ever character and was obsessed with riding trains and carousels. Animal Kingdom was by far my favorite and I was totally shocked to find Peyton sound asleep on the safari. I woke him up for the elephants because he had asked for 2 days to see "bumbo". On our last day there we took Peyton to Disney Hollywood Studios. What a dream come true for him. He got to meet his idols....The Incredibles and Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. He was completely star struck with both, but I think Buzz and Woody were his favorites. After he met them and had his picture taken he plastered himself to the window and just watched them. It was so sweet. Anyways, I could write all day about how much fun we had with Nana, Pop, Amy, Josh and of course, sweet Abby (she kept us entertained!). I know you all came here for the pictures so here we go. Grab a comfy place to sit!!

Peyton does not watch "JoJo's Circus" but he REALLY wanted to see that Lion

Monsters Inc!

I think his smile says it all

He could not take his eyes off of Mr. Incredible

Mickey or as Peyton calls him "toodles"

Can you tell what our ears say? Peyton, Daddy and Mommy!

Disney Hollywood Studios with our ears! This was our only cold and rainy day

Peyton at Margarittaville....cool hat huh?

Pirate Parrot Peyton

His very first "drink"! Not really but they made it look pretty

Look at this face!! I think he might have been tired of me taking pictures

Riding the train with Nana and Pop

One of the few pictures of just me and Peyton

Ok the next 2 pictures are from the Safari...I had to put them on here just so you could see how close we were to the animals...nothing was separating us!

Peyton LOVES the Jungle Book

Animal Kingdom

This was at Sea World...he would not take his sunglasses off that day

After playing in the sand box at Sea World...they were rinsing off

Some random character at Sea World...he is definitely not intimidated by characters

Not happy we were leaving the hotel...we had this giant Roger Rabbit by our room and everyday he wanted to play with it....and always mad when we had to leave

The famous $10 balloon from Magic Kingdom...we got the Monday and it's STILL inflated people!

On the train!

Riding the race cars with Daddy

Time for an icee break

This is from our Character Dining lunch...he got to see Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet..or as he calls him.."Piggy". For some reason this is the only picture I have :-(

Would you look at that mess!! Mac and Cheese baby..it's his favorite, but we needed a wardrobe change after this.

This is for you Paw...ALWAYS stopped to smell the "roses"!!

"Bumbo!!!"

How sweet are they?

This is when we first got to Magic Kingdom on our first day...if you know Peyton you know that the hands in the mouth is out of uncertainty. He does that when he's nervous..it didn't last long.

Proof that Peyton can be evil

2009-01-21T13:59:00.001-08:00

There are hardly words for this except to say...my poor carpet. I could have understood this "accident" if it had been a faulty sippy cup...but the proof is on his face. How else do you end up with red koolaid on your face and belly if not for spitting it everywhere!

What does Peyton's hair look like straight?

2009-01-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

Peyton had to wear his hat outside today because it's so cold. When I took it off...this is what his hair looked like!

Peyton was telling me "NO"..he didn't want his picture taken.

He's saying "That Mine"...everything is his these days.

Peyton and his best bud Woody.

He's just so funny!

2009-01-16T14:20:00.001-08:00

No pictures to post today...sorry. I just have to share this short story with you. At this very moment Peyton and I are watching the Polar Express. If you know Peyton you also know his obsession with trains. Everyday it's "I ride choo choo?". Our only assumption is he wants to go to the mall and ride the train....you know the kind you put quarters in and it does nothing but move up and down. The amount of money we have spent on these rides probably would make us choke...but oh well!! So in the Polar Express there is a part at the beginning and end where there is a snowman waving to the train. Peyton kept saying "Hi dog!!" and waving...but Pepper is nowhere in sight! So I'm trying to figure out what he's saying and FINALLY I figure out it's the snowman on t.v. I mean really..anything thats not human must be a dog right?! ha! So the next words out of his mouth are "All aboard!" It's the cutest thing you've ever heard and one of these days I'll actually catch it on camera. Anyways, just thought I'd share that story with y'all!

Hello? Maw..are you there?

2009-01-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I decided to call Maw and Paw to see what they were up to. Usually during those conversations Peyton always wants to say a few words...just to tell him he loves them and misses them. (or some version of that! ha!) Well yesterday I had intended our conversation to be short and sweet....45 minutes later Peyton still wouldn't give me the phone back. He apparently had LOTS to tell Maw and Paw. I mean yesterday was a big day...he went back to school. From what we could gather he played kick ball at school...we think. He kept saying..."Maw, Paw....uuhhh! and then he'd kick his leg. I've never seen that one before and yesterday it was raining so I figured they did something in the gym that involved kicking. After chasing Peyton around the house with the phone I finally convinced him to sit in the kitchen with me and talk so I could make dinner. He was so cute...he just plopped right there on the floor and talked to Maw. He just felt like talking yesterday I guess...I know Maw and Paw didn't mind. I finally got the phone back when Peyton accidentally hung up on them....when I wouldn't give him the phone back he just layed there crying "Mawww, Pawww!" Pitiful and if my parents had been here they would have put me in time out for not giving him back the phone.

Peyton talking to Maw

"Mom...why are you taking a picture of me talking on the phone?"

Hello? Maw?

Oh what the heck..."Cheeesse!"