Goodbye September...

Kyle, Payton and I had a wonderful weekend in Gig Harbor with family and friends celebrating my grandma's life. My heart was immensely warmed when I realized how many people had come to remember her with us; we counted almost 90! The church was packed, and I definitely think it was a testament to the woman that GiGi was. It was such an emotional, hard day, and yet it felt really good to all get together and have a good cry; it felt healing, which I think we had been missing as a family. It was the first time we have all been together without my grandma being there, so it was a strange feeling as well. It made me realize that my grandma was the glue that held us together, truly the life of our family. I miss and think about her every single day... I am so glad that we were all able to come together and celebrate her life with everyone she loved and who loved her. It was a very touching, emotional and moving day.

Old school... Grandma with me and baby Chelsea :)

Miss Payton Marie is a very busy little girl. I swear she grows every day! She seems to be constantly figuring out a way to reach new things, get in new drawers and cabinets, shimmy her way into different nooks and crannies. She can now reach door knobs and light switches, so we're in a whole new ball game as far as babyproofing goes. She is very much a mommy's girl these days, she is my little shadow. She wants to watch what I'm doing and help me whether it be laundry, dishes, cleaning up, etc. She wants me to hold her a LOT, even reaching for me and whining when she's in the carseat. It's very flattering, and yet sometimes frustrating at the same time... but I wouldn't change it :)

A week or so ago I tried to take her outside and do a little "photoshoot" in the backyard. I think I got some good ones if I do say so myself!

Sweet girl

Model pose :)

Who says a girly girl can't mow the lawn?!













This week Kyle and I celebrated three years of marriage. Sometimes I can't believe how much our lives have changed in that short amount of time! Jobs, houses, moves, a baby, school... I think we are both looking forward to life becoming more predictable and getting into a comfortable routine. Our house in Albany is scheduled to close sometime next week (keeping my fingers crossed!), and once all that stress is done, I'm really looking forward to settling in and making it our home. Hard to believe it's almost October already, the holidays will be here before we know it. Yikes!

The seasons are changing...

Fall is finally here! I can feel the seasons changing, I even turned the seat warmer on in my car the other morning. This is my absolute favorite time of the year; the weather is still nice but has that wonderful crisp feel, you can start wearing your favorite boots and sweaters again, soup and hot chocolate is suddenly much more appealing, football has begun... I could go on and on! Plus Payton has a ton of cute fall clothes that I've been dying to see her wear :)

Everytime I look at her, I marvel at how smart and beautiful she is. I'm trying to teacher her numbers, but the only one she is interested in saying is "two", she just likes saying that one over and over again! I've taught her "thank you" and "please", and she will even say them on her own (although most of the time it's "what do you say Payton?") She likes saying "excuse you" too. She can say so many words, but we're still working on her stringing more sentences together. For example, she can say "up" and "daddy", but doesn't want to say "up daddy". I'm sure that will come with time though! Her appetite has started decreasing a little bit, although she's still always ready to eat. She has officially moved up to the toddler room at daycare, which is 18 months to 3 year-olds. The biggest difference is the kids sleep on little cots instead of cribs, but they've said that she's done great so far! She has become extremely shy if she isn't familiar with you, but she warms up after a while. She's pretty fearless, and therefore pretty clumsy. She's a trooper though, and gets over stuff pretty quick! She wants nothing more these days than to be your helper, whether it be laundry (see below), dishes, or even throwing away her own dirty diaper!



I like going down the slide all by myself, but Mom still feels better when Dad goes down next to me :)





My mom is worried that I'm going to be taller than her soon!



Little daredevil rockclimber

Oregon girl :)

Kyle has officially been at the high school for a couple weeks, and is absolutely loving it. A lot of his students recognized him from when he student taught last year, and they were all excited to have him back, which is a good sign :) He's even been making extra money by supervising the students at the football games and dances, he says it's fun to be so involved.

The official first day picture!

I have been very hesitant about saying anything until it was a for sure thing, but it looks like Kyle and I will be buying a house in Albany in a couple weeks! We couldn't afford the loss we would have to take on our Portland home, and so we decided we will be turning it into a rental, and we are going forward with purchasing a home down here. We have a signed contract and the inspection is done, but as we know from our last real estate experience, nothing is for sure until you have a key in your hand. We are so extremely excited though to be able to have our own place again! Living at Rick and Sue's has been wonderful, and we will forever be grateful to them for everything they've done for us to be able to make this move down here. We are very much looking forward to our own house though, which I'm sure anyone can understand. It's a one story house, about 1600 square feet but on a quarter acre lot, so it has a big backyard. It's in a very established and safe neighborhood, which was important to us, and only about a mile away from the school and 1.5 miles from the hospital. It's a little older, built in the 70's, but the home inspector said it's a great home and in great shape. We're hoping for a smooth closing and a smooth move, so please keep your fingers crossed for us and I will keep you posted!

Next weekend we are headed to Gig Harbor for my Grandma's memorial. It will be a very tough and emotional day, but I know that grieving together as a family and remembering and celebrating my Grandma's life will be extremely helpful for all of us to gain closure. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her, and I don't think that will ever change; but I think this will help us all feel more at peace about her not being here with us anymore.

Hope you all have a wonderful week, enjoy this beautiful fall weather!

Stats

18 month check-up was yesterday and the stats are in, drumroll please... Weight is 28 pounds 12 ounces (above 90th percentile), height is 34 inches (above 95th percentile), and head circumference is 49 centimeters (above 95th percentile). Needless to say, he said her growth is awesome! He was very pleased. This Dr. appointment was very different from any other doctor appointment I've taken her to though. Now she's starting to realize what going to the doctor means, and she does NOT want them to touch her! Lots of screaming and flailing, but we managed to get through it (and even got some stickers at the end as a prize). She got two shots, her last Hep A and the flu shot, and she doesn't need to go back again until she's two, and no more shots until she's three, which is nice!

I'm on call this weekend, so no big plans... it's supposed to be 96 degrees tomorrow, so I'm going to just try and stick to air conditioned spaces as much as possible. I don't do so well when it's THAT hot! Hope everyone has a good weekend, I'll blog with pictures soon!