Long time no blog!

Christmas season is upon us! Somehow, it doesn't seem possible. Wasn't it just Halloween?! That must be why this is my first blog this month (sorry y'all). I blinked and the month of November flew by! Our busy household got kicked up a notch this month. Kyle officially started his head coach position coaching freshman girls basketball, and was busy with tryouts and now practices. Not to mention school conferences, sports nights, working football playoff games... plus trying to squeeze a little family time in there! He's been a busy little bee, but he's very good at balancing everything on his plate. He doesn't even do schoolwork or grading while Payton's awake, because that's his family time. He waits until she goes to bed to get to work, which creates some late nights for him; but he doesn't complain, and I'm so glad he makes spending time with Payton such a priority. His b-ball season is going well so far, their first game is tomorrow and they've been practicing every day getting ready. I'll be sure to get some pictures of Kyle coaching this year!

I'm sure the one you really want to hear about is Payton! She has a little bit of a cold right now, just the stuff that's going around at daycare. A runny nose with a little bit of a cough, but we started to run a humidifier in her room at night and that helped tremendously with the coughing. She is SUPER independent right now, I feel like every other sentence out of her mouth is "I do it!" or my favorite one, "that's my job!" She can now climb into her booster chair by herself, climb into the car and her carseat by herself, wash her hands by herself, put on her coat and shoes by herself, for the most part get dressed by herself... she's doing a lot for herself! Sometimes it's frustrating for me because it would be so much faster if I could just do it, but I know it's important to build her confidence in her skills, so I just sit back and try to be patient. She's even trying to read by herself, and Kyle and I were both surprised at how many of her books she could recite back to us. Usually when one of us has finished reading a story she'll say "now I do it" and take the book so she can try to read it to us. It's really cute! Potty training is going ok, if peeing was all she needed to do she would be potty trained by now. Because of constipation issues in the past, she's still terrified of pooping on the toilet. I think we're starting to make progress though; she has pooped on the potty several times in the last week or two! That's a big deal around here! I'm hoping she realizes it's not as scary as she thought so we can really up the potty training effort. She turns 3 in less than three months, and it would be amazing to have her potty trained by then! Payton is also a big imitator these days. I'll never forget the moment I was using the bathroom and she came around the corner, started clapping and said "good job mom! I so proud of you!" She asks us a lot if we're ok, and then she'll say "you're ok, Payton's got you". It's so cute! She's a really good mommy with her babies as well, she gives them lots of hugs and kisses. She's going to be a great big sister someday! Lots of happenings in the month of November, I'll try to cover a few of them thru pictures...

I helped celebrate Aunt Brittney and Uncle Tanner's birthdays!

Watching the Duck game with Uncle Bryan was serious business

I don't even have a caption worthy of this picture :)

Halfway through the month Payton and I travelled to Gig Harbor to visit one of my mom's dearest friends, a woman near and dear to our whole family, Jo. She had been battling cancer since the spring and I didn't want to miss the chance to see her and spend some time with her. She really wanted to see Payton too, she had never met her. I am extremely thankful I went, because Jo passed away one week later. It meant so much to me that I could see her one more time and say goodbye... she was an amazing woman, there was no one like her. She will be greatly missed!

Hanging with Grandma Jo!

And Papa Scott!

And..... Uncle Richard!

Aaaaaaaaaand...... Aunt Chelsea! Can't you tell I'm getting better at posing for pictures? :)

I don't have any pictures from Thanksgiving unfortunately, but we had a very nice and quiet one at Kyle's Aunt Pam's house. Good family, good football, and waaaaaaay too much good food. Payton even took a nap there so Kyle and I got to stay all day! 

This last weekend I was on call part of the weekend, so we kept it low key and spent our time decorating the house for Christmas and Kyle put up all of our Christmas lights (which are a LOT!) I will post pictures of those soon, plus the tree we have yet to get. Hopefully that will go up by this weekend! Payton is super excited about Christmas, and she really loves all the lights. Whenever we drive home in the dark she will point at the lights and yell "Look mom! It's Christmas! I see it!" :)

Kyle and I are getting Payton a "big girl" bed for Christmas. She has always slept so well in her crib that we figured "if it ain't broke don't fix it", but... we know it's time. I'm really hoping the transition goes well, and I actually think she's really going to love it. Her bed has shipped, so now we're just waiting for it! 

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season... I just love this time of year! The decorations, the lights, the music, the movies, the treats, the list goes on and on. I have 5 days off at Christmas time this year, so I'm really excited to just relax with family and enjoy everyone's company. I can't wait! Blog again soon!

Happy Halloween!

Fear not, faithful blog followers! The wait will be well worth it... I have LOTS of Halloween related activities to show you. Let's get started!

Weekend before last, my mom came down to visit, which was awesome. On Saturday morning during a break in the rain, we all ran out to the pumpkin patch!

We went to a family farm where they also sell produce... and home made donuts! They smelled delicious, so we had to buy some. Payton loved it!

Family picture! (Notice still clutching the donut)

Pumpkins!

My Grandmas! :)

SO muddy!

Her weight's not included, right?!

We stayed semi-dry!

We had a great weekend, just spending the rest of the time relaxing and hanging out. I'm really looking forward to when my parents retire and can hopefully spend a lot more time with us! :)

The following week Payton's daycare class was taking a field trip to another local pumpkin patch. I got the day off so I could be a parent volunteer!

Payton observing the other kids looking for pumpkins. She didn't really like touching them; she thought they were too dirty!

Cutest pumpkin in the patch

This is an attempt at a group picture with toddlers... very successful as you can see!

Payton and her friends waiting for hot chocolate. From left to right: Brody, Alexandra (everyone calls her Flower... don't ask), Payton, Alex, Pyper, and Luke. 

Yum!

Payton got to pick out her own little pumpkin to take home, it's sitting on the dining room table. Now every morning when she gets up there for breakfast she sees it, and talks about going to the pumpkin patch. She got to go on a hay ride too, but her favorite part of all was riding the bus back and forth! She talked about it for days!

Last weekend I was on call, so we couldn't do much. We decided to go to an open swim just to see if Payton liked being in the water. She's liked swimming before, but I was thinking of starting her in lessons and wanted to see how she would do. She loved it!

I love hugs!

And kisses too! 

I'm having so much fun!

She really seemed to enjoy it, so tonight Kyle and I took her to her first lesson. She was amazing! She's a natural. She even put her face in the water, which I didn't think she would do for a while (this is a little girl who's afraid when the wind blows). There was only one other little girl in the class and she left halfway through, so it was practically a private lesson. We're looking forward to taking her back!

Sunday morning we decided to carve pumpkins. When I told Payton of our plans and to meet us in the garage, this is what I found:

Warning: apparently pumpkin carving is so dangerous you need a helmet! And, just like her momma, she would rather watch Kyle get his hands dirty from the comfort of her own chair :)

Exhibit A: This is Payton's face when Kyle tried to get her to touch some of the pumpkin innards. I can't blame her, I feel the same way!

The finished product!

Yesterday was, of course, Halloween. Payton wasn't very excited about wearing her costume until she got to school and realized everyone else was dressing up too. Then she kept walking up to people and saying "I a cowgirl!" She was the CUTEST cowgirl ever; seriously, you had to see the costume in person to do it justice.

Mommy took this picture at breakfast yesterday before I got in my costume; don't I look so grown up??

Yeehaw!

For trick or treating this year we decided to take Payton to a "trunk or treat". They do it in a church parking lot, and you basically go from car to car (most of them are themed) and trick or treat out of people's trunks. It might sound a little weird, but it was actually really great; it had an almost festival feel to it, and to us it was like one stop shopping. Payton is pretty shy right now, and I had a feeling getting her to walk up to complete strangers doors and talk to them would not be happening. She wouldn't say "trick or treat" or "thank you", she just stared at people when they talked to her. She's not shy if she knows you, but if she doesn't you probably won't hear a peep out of her! Oh well... maybe next year!

Look! A fire truck!

I even got to climb inside it!

Yummm... Mom even let me eat a little candy! :)

All in all it was a successful Halloween! Payton still has all of her candy in her pumpkin bag, which she  likes to walk around the house with. She calls it her "purse"! 

This weekend we're celebrating Tanner's birthday! Brittney is coming up from college and hers is the day after his, so we're able to celebrate hers too. The big 2-0! We're going to lunch on Saturday, and then going to watch the Duck game. Other than that, no big plans. Cleaning up around the house, grocery shopping... the usual! Hope you all have a great weekend!

WAY overdue!

I know, I know, it's been WAY too long since I've blogged! I could blame any number of things for my lack of blogging, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that a lot of the delay was due to my new toy... Kyle got me a Kindle Fire for our anniversary a couple weeks ago and I have been a little obsessed with it. OK, maybe a LOT obsessed with it. Actually, I found a new show that I can watch on my Kindle for free (Glee, I LOVE it!), and I'm already on season 3... which would explain what I've been doing with my evenings. Sorry... but I'm back!

Like I mentioned, Kyle and I celebrated four years of marriage at the end of last month. Crazy huh? We weren't able to do anything that weekend because I was on call, but the next weekend we got to go to the duck game together vs. Washington, and since it was a night game we turned it into a date night. We went down early and had dinner at P.F. Changs, then made our way over to the stadium. It was a fun game!

Go Ducks!

Payton actually spent the night at Grandma Sue's house, so Kyle and I even got to sleep in (ahh bliss!) She went to church with Rick and Sue Sunday morning, and when they tried to bring her back home she refused to come! Yep, flat out refused. She then told me she was going to stay at Grandma's, and asked if I was sad. I told her I wanted to hang out with her, and she said that I'll be fine, and she'll be back. Seriously?! So Kyle and I turned it into an opportunity to get a lot done around the house and be productive. We had to practically trick her into coming back home! 

This last week has been busy with work, basketball starting up, our small church group that we joined, and just trying to keep up with Miss P. She is so funny! She cracks us up all the time. Instead of crying, she'll tell Kyle and I "I sad!" She's really into taking care of her babies right now, and it's really cute watching her snuggle them and talk to them. She's a pretty bossy little thing, but Kyle and I always joke that she's the first born of two first borns... she's bound to be in charge! 

Enjoying a hot chocolate with mom!

Yum!

This last weekend we'd been looking forward to for a while... a weekend at the coast! Rick and Sue got some bonus time at their timeshare in Seaside, and invited us along. We were looking forward to some rest and relaxation! We got into Seaside Friday night, got unpacked and settled. Payton slept great, she actually slept in until 9:00 the next morning! Our condo was amazing, it had three bedrooms and looked directly at the ocean. 

The view from our balcony! 

It was the perfect room for Payton; she could have stared at people all day!

It wasn't raining Saturday morning, so we decided to get up and just head to the beach. We didn't know how long we would have, since it was supposed to rain all weekend. We brought along Payton's bike so she could ride along the boardwalk...

Wheee!!!

Then we went for a walk on the beach!

Walking with Grandma Sue 

I love the way she's looking at him :)

Family picture...

Walking along the beach...

Then we found the swings!

After we walked the boardwalk and grabbed some coffee (and of course a hot chocolate for the little lady), we decided to push our luck a little more and go swimming in the pool. I only got one quick picture before it started to really rain!

She LOVED the pool! It started to really pour though, and we had to get back inside...

I had fun!

It was a good thing we got all that in, because once it started to rain it didn't really stop the rest of the weekend. After Payton's nap we went to the outlet mall, then to dinner at Mo's in Cannon Beach, and before we knew it, Saturday was already over. 

Passing the time with a puzzle... she loves them right now!

We headed home Sunday afternoon; the weekend felt too short, we would have loved to have another day. Another day with sunshine would have been perfect! Thank you to Rick and Sue for inviting us, we had a blast!

This next weekend I'm really looking forward to as well, my mom is going to visit! We're going to try to visit the pumpkin patch... weather permitting of course. I'll post pics soon!

Happy birthday to Grandpa Casebolt and Aunt Tanya!