Three day weekend

WOW it was a hot one this weekend! Thank GOODNESS for air conditioning :) We didn't really take Payton outside at all, it was too miserable. I'm a pretty big wuss when it comes to the heat, but what can I say? I grew up in the pacific northwest, and I'm used to the weather being gray and cloudy :) I think it's perfect when the weather is in the 70's and sunny, but lately it's either been way too hot or way too cold!

Friday morning we decided to go to Multnomah Falls, which is about 35 miles east of Portland. I've meant to visit there since I moved here, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's a really popular tourist destination, and is this beautiful 700 foot waterfall. There is a hike too, it is ALL switchbacks uphill. We went a little ways, but not the complete 6 miles; I was in flip flops, not really that prepared :) It was the perfect day for a family outing though!



We strapped Payton in the baby carrier and off we went! She was great the whole time, she was so fascinated she didn't make a peep! She loved staring at the waterfall and all the trees, and people watching too.

Hi mommy :)

Hall family

I couldn't stop staring!

I saw mom and dad drinking out of this bottle, so I really wanted to also

Friday night, my sister and her friend Kendel came into town from Spokane. They were going to go to Eugene to check out the University of Oregon, but somehow got detoured into a weekend of shopping :) While they hit the town on Saturday, I actually had a bridal shower to go to. My good friend Pearl is getting married next month!

Myself and the beautiful bride-to-be. It was really fun to see so many old friends from college; we're so spread out now, but when we're together it's like we're back in Klamath Falls. I didn't go out downtown with the girls though... a lot has changed since those good old Klamath days! Had to get home to be with my baby :)

Yesterday I did a little shopping with the girls, but they had to head home and we pretty much spent the rest of the day relaxing. It was really great to see Chelsea, I don't get to see her nearly enough... And of course I forgot to get a picture of us! Next time for sure :)

Payton is growing so much. She can sit up by herself for a second, but doesn't stay there for very long if one of us isn't supporting her. She recently discovered her toes (see below) and will gum anything and everything she can get her hands on. She's reaching for everything, and still prefers standing over tummy time. She's drooling buckets, the front of her shirt is always wet. We're expecting that first tooth any day now! She starts day care in about two weeks, which I think will be really weird at first but I will actually get to see her more during the day, which I'm selfishly excited about. She's making lots of crazy noises lately, really discovering her voice. Lots of squeals, screams, yelling, babbling, grunting, giggling... she's even imitating me and Kyle a little bit, which is really cute. We'll make a funny noise with our mouth and you can watch her try to do it too. She can tell when one of us has left the room, and let's us know if she's not happy about it :) She's slowly starting to outgrow some of her 6 month clothes, which means we get to start breaking into a new wardrobe!

Have these always been here??

Payton had a follow-up appointment with the eye doctor today. They decided to dilate her eyes again to see if the astigmatism was improving... she wasn't a big a fan of the eye drops today, but got over it in about 2 seconds. After waiting about half an hour for them to kick in, we got back in the exam room to see the doctor. Good news: the astigmatism has improved! He said her hemangioma looks great, and the internal one is putting less pressure on her eye. We were very glad to hear that the medicine is working, not only externally but internally as well. He said to keep up with the propranolol, and hopefully it will improve even more. Poor Payton though, if it's not one thing I swear it's another. This kid can't seem to get a break sometimes! He mentioned again how farsighted she is, but I asked him if that was a big deal because I thought all babies were born farsighted. He told me that most babies are a +1.5 to a +2 on the farsighted scale... Payton is about a +5.5 :( Poor thing! He had Kyle and I look through some lenses to simulate what Payton sees, and it was super blurry, really hard to make out anything. Basically, right now her eyesight is like 20/80. He said we'll check her again in three months, but if it doesn't improve drastically by her first birthday, she will need to get glasses. Or, if we notice that one or both of her eyes crosses, we need to let them know because he said in that case they would want to start her with glasses immediately. He said it's hard to predict if she will always need glasses, but we want to make sure her eyes aren't crossing when she's trying to focus because that could ultimately result in a lazy eye. We're trying to be positive, and hoping that it just improves on it's own... and if she ends up needing baby glasses, then she'll be the cutest baby on the block with them! :)

I just wish I could take away all of her struggles and problems and have them myself. It's hard because so many of my friends have babies, and I wish I was more carefree about parenthood like they are. I just worry about her so much, because I love her more than anything and don't want her to be affected by any of this. She deserves the best, not all these medicines, baby glasses and endless doctor visits. Everytime we go to OHSU though, I see someone who reminds me that our situation could be much much worse, and it helps keep my mind in check. In the long run, Payton's problems are very minor compared to some. My first trip to Doernbecher I was waiting in line at the pharmacy for Payton's prescription; we were about to give her the first dose of propranolol. This little girl, probably no more than three or so, walked up with her mom. You could tell she was a little cancer patient, she didn't have any hair and had a cute hat on her head to cover it up. She smiled at me and hid her face shyly behind her mom's knees; she was so sweet. I think there's a reason kids are so resilient! :)

Let's just say being a first time parent has not exactly played out like I thought it would... is it emotional? Yes. Exhausting? Yes. Difficult? Yes. The most rewarding thing I have ever done? YES!
Coming home to this sweet face every night is worth every second!

Next weekend I'm going out to the lake house with some girlfriends to celebrate my birthday (the big 2-4!) I'm really looking forward to having some girl time, and I'm sure Payton is too! :) Kyle is heading to Bend for his friend Tom's bachelor party... ready for another beautiful summer weekend! Fall will be here before we know it...