It's been a while...

What an exhausting last couple weeks this has been! Kyle and I have actually moved quite a lot together in the past few years, but it's a whole new ball game when you have a child. I can do without if I forget something like my cell phone charger, but P-Marie comes with a lot of luggage, and all of it seems important to me and I don't want to forget anything. We had been moving little bits at a time, mostly going over there and working for a few hours after Payton goes to bed, but I didn't want to move all of Payton's stuff until we were ready. We officially stayed for the first time last week, and I was really worried about how she would react to a new room and a new routine. We put her to bed at her normal time though, and she has slept until 7:00 every morning without a peep! I was so relieved, and hope that the transition continues to be this easy for her. It has been very strange for me to wake up and have it be just Payton and I; I'm so used to lots of people around that it seems very weird. There's a big part of me that was really sad to leave Rick and Sue's house; I was so comfortable there, and I have such a great relationship with them that it was like living with some of my closest friends. I know we only moved 5 minutes away, but it will never be the same again and a part of me was really sad about that. We're also really excited though to finally feel settled here, and to make our own home. Payton and I had a fun morning together the first day we were here; after she ate breakfast (her favorite is "goki" which in Payton talk means yogurt), she wandered around the house opening all the different cupboards, drawers, just checking everything out. We even went for a little walk in our new neighborhood, except she didn't want to go in the stroller. She wanted to push her own baby down the sidewalk, thank you very much! :)

Walking her baby down the street

Big girl with her "goki" :)

She is such a big girl it's amazing. She is a copycat these days, and will imitate anything you do or say. This evening I was mopping the kitchen floor, and all of a sudden Payton is behind me. She had grabbed a diaper wipe and started wiping down the floor with me! Her favorite activies are helping load the dishwasher, washing her hands, helping with laundry, throwing her own diapers away, brushing her own hair, putting dirty clothes in the hamper... she is hilarious! Very independent, but if you put her in a room of people she's not familiar with, she will cling to me or Kyle like glue. Her talking is getting so much better, and it is so fun to really be able to communicate with her. She can say some of her favorite foods (and ask for them!) like "goki", "nanana", and "nack" (for snack). I was shocked the other day when I burped in front of her and she turned to me and said "scuse you!" :) She is still very into her babies, and will kiss them and pat their backs when she picks them up. She loves wrapping them up in kitchen dish towels, so I find those all over the house! We call them Payton trails. She's 20 months old today, and just doesn't look like a baby anymore. Sue was saying how she was looking at Bryan and Lindsey's wedding video, and Payton had just turned a year old. She looked so much more little and chubby! She has really thinned out and looks like a lean, active toddler. Her hair just keeps getting longer and longer (and curlier and curlier). It's actually pretty long when we're washing it, but once we're out of the tub it curls right up. She definitely gets that from her daddy!

My mom came down last weekend, which was wonderful. Her and Chelsea came down the weekend before as well to help us move, but I enjoy spending time with them so much that I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted to :) It was a dry day so we took the opportunity to head out to the pumpkin patch!

Haha doesn't she look thrilled?! :)



This one looks good mom!

Picking a pumpkin with Grandma Jo







It was fun, although Payton fell pretty hard right in the dirt near the end (poor thing). She was fine a minute later though! We got her three little pumpkins, and she always touches them as we leave the house. She points to them and says "apple", I have to remind her everytime that they're called pumpkins! :)

Saturday night my mom babysat so that Kyle and I could chaperone homecoming at the high school (chaperoning dances are quickly becoming known as our "date night") The theme was "firehouse", so of course we knew we could count on my dad to hook us up with gear to wear!

Mom, Dad and I before the dance

Representing the Tacoma Fire Department! Woot woot!

The house has been a lot of work, but it's really starting to come together. We have deep cleaned it, shampooed the carpets, installed new blinds, painted several rooms, mopped the garage (it smelled really bad in there because of the previous owners cats but it's a LOT better now), organized box after box after box, and Kyle has even mowed the lawn for the first time! Payton of course had to help. Can't do anything without that girl being all up in our business!

I watched daddy mow the front yard...

... and he let me help in the backyard!

I will post some pictures of the house once I feel like it's a little more presntable, right now it's still a little crazy. Hope everyone is doing well, and you will be hearing from me again soon (I promise I won't let two whole weeks fly by again). Have a great weekend!