Quarter of a century

As of yesterday, I have been blessed to have lived on this Earth for 25 years. I am so lucky to have so many special family and friends that have loved and supported me throughout all my different stages of life; from child to teenager, college grad to new mom. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, I love you all very much!

My parents and sister came down last weekend to celebrate with me; we had a blast! Plus we got to enjoy red velvet cake, my favorite... yum!

My birthday is significant to me in another way also; it means in a few days, Payton will officially be 18 months old. 18 months ago I was about to give birth to a little girl who would do nothing more than sleep, cry, and poop. Now I'm the mother of a very active and entertaining daughter, who amazes me every single day with how she's developing and learning. She has become very maternal lately, and whereas before she ignored stuffed animals and dolls and could care less for them, now she can't get enough of them! She calls them all her "babies", and carts them around with her everywhere. Someone at daycare told Kyle that she walks around most of the day with a doll in her hand, and even uses blankets and burp clothes to wrap them up in a "blankie". She kisses them, pats them on the back, it is SO adorable. Kyle and I are suckers and bought her a baby doll today complete with a stroller and diaper bag.

Playing with her baby!

Thanks Mommy and Daddy, I love my new stroller!

This weekend we joined the Halls for some camping. We decided to just make a daytrip out of it and relax at home the rest of the time, but we went out to the campground for some river floating and delicious dinner.

Exploring the campsite

FUN!









Kyle is officially done working for the city, and is heading to the high school tomorrow to start to get his classroom together. He is BEYOND excited! He's been working hard for two years to start his career, and now that the moment is here he is itching to get into the classroom. Payton has been visiting the toddler room a lot at daycare, they move the kids up around 18 months so she is the next one to move. She likes it a lot, they tell me she's usually mad if they take her back to the infant room! She's mimicking EVERYTHING these days, even if someone sneezes, which is hilarious. She's also running around everywhere, and therefore a little clumsy. She's at a difficult age to go shopping with, because she wants to touch every piece of clothing, and boy is she mad if you take it away from her! She has her 18 month check-up in a couple weeks, and as always we're really curious to see how tall she is and how much she weighs. She feels like she gets heavier everyday! :)

Enjoy these last few weeks of summer, I will blog again soon!