Kyle, Jenna... and Payton Marie makes three!

Let it... snow?

2012-01-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Hope you are all staying warm, safe and dry in this weather. I have to admit I was pretty skeptical when the forecasters predicted snow, but it looks like for once they were right!

Sunday morning we heard Payton get up around 8:30 (she has been sleeping in lately, which is VERY nice!), and we brought her into our bed and the three of us looked out the window while the snow fell. She actually seememd pretty interested in it, until she realized it was time for breakfast. After she ate we threw some warm clothes on her and headed outside before it melted!

Hmmm... what is this stuff??

Daddy and I checking ourselves out in the video camera

The only other time she's seen snow was when we went to Sunriver when she was about 10 months old. She wasn't too excited about it, and didn't even want to play in it. But now that Dad taught her how to make snowballs that was a different story!

So fun!

Very intense about this snowball business...

Payton has been developing so quickly lately that it's almost making our heads spin. She has been putting sentences together quite a bit, and saying lots of words that I didn't even know she knew! For example, we were in Target one day with Kyle, who had walked ahead to get something, and Payton turned to me in the cart and said "Where Daddy go?" I just stared at her and all I could do was point at him! She can also say "I want cracker", "I want cheese", etc. She uses those quite a bit! She has even started really responding to us; one night I told her I loved her, and she said "I love you too momma". My heart melted! She can point out so much too. I was reading her a book and she was looking at the pictures and naming things off like trees, flowers, cars, trucks (she REALLY likes saying hi to trucks when we're driving to daycare), and she even said "Papa's truck" when I pointed to a picture of a firetruck :) She's really into Elmo right now, I let her watch one Elmo video and now she'll point to the TV and say "Watch Elmo? Watch Elmo momma?" She loves to sing, but if you sing with her and get too loud she will actually "shhh!" you! It's hilarious! She has so much personality, and it's becoming more and more obvious all the time! My favorite observation that someone made about her is "wow, she really walks with a purpose, huh?" Yep, she definitely has quite the strut!

The other day I heard Payton in the bathroom saying "baby potty, baby potty". When I went in to investigate, Payton had put her baby on her potty and was sitting next to her like we do when she sits on the potty! SO cute!

Stay safe on the roads out there!

Happy New Year, welcome 2012!

2012-01-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

I figured I had better blog before the angry mob starts sending me nasty e-mails :) I was hoping as the holidays wound down that we would have more free time, but of course that is never the case! We had a wonderful Christmas though, it was so much more fun this year now that Payton (sort of) understands what is going on.

This used to be mommy's wrapping paper bin. I thought it was funny to dump everything out and climb in :)

She knows who Santa is (but won't go NEAR him to get a picture!), and loves playing with our stuffed snowmen, she gets really excited when she sees them. We tried telling her that Santa was going to leave her some presents this year, but I think that is one we'll have to work on for next year :) She must have understood more than I realized though, because when family started showing up on Christmas Eve with presents to put under the tree, she screamed "TOYS! TOYS!" and started running around like I had given her an IV of sugar water. She was obsessed with the presents, picking them up, touching them, moving them from one side of the room to the other. We tried to have her play "Santa" and help pass the gifts out, but she kept taking them from people's piles and moving them around. She was into unwrapping them at first, but after a few (because she is very blessed and had many!) she got over it and just wanted to play with the toys she had unwrapped.

Look at all the presents!

Helping Uncle Tanner

We had Christmas Eve at our house, so that we could get Payton to bed at a decent time but still all get to hang out. It was fun hosting our first family event at our new home.

We had a lot of family and gifts!

Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with Grandma Joy

My new Christmas jammies from Grandma Jo :)

After Payton went to sleep, Kyle and I got to work. Payton's big Santa gift was a kitchen, and we also got her a little fold out couch to hang out on.

Tada!

At first Payton only noticed the little stuffed Elmo we had gotten her. Out of all the gifts, she picked the least expensive one! But then she sat on her couch and thought that was pretty cool, and we asked her if she had seen the kitchen yet. Then she looked at it and said "kitchen!"

Coffee anyone?

Hanging with Elmo

My couch turns into a bed--fun! :)

My new kitchen comes with a phone, so I got deep into conversation with... someone!

Grandma Joy got me a ball pit for Christmas, which has been a blast!

Daddy climbed in with me!

My new dress was a huge hit at Christmas dinner! So cute, thanks Grandma Jo!

Unfortunately I was on call for the weekend. It was something I anticipated and understood since I was a new employee (we get the crappy holidays), but I am very glad it's over and I won't have to work Christmas again for several years. I just didn't want to get called Christmas morning, I really wanted to see Payton's expression when she saw her big gift. Luckily, I got to enjoy Christmas morning with my family, at least for a while. It ended up being a busy weekend, but not during the times I really wanted to be with Payton, so that was good.

The following week my parents and Chelsea came down, and even though I had to work, it was so fun to get to see them, and for them to get tons of Payton time.

Drawing in some of my new coloring books with Grandma Jo

Washing my hands before I make everyone some food

I played on the drums while Grandpa Scott practiced his bagpipes!

I wish everyone could have stayed longer, but they had to head back on NYE. After Payton went to bed we had Rick, Sue, Bryan and Lindsey over for drinks and games. We were having so much fun that we didn't even notice when 2011 ended and 2012 began!

This week, it's just been adjusting to real life again. Kyle's back at work, and he was given some exciting news. They are going to hire him part time next semester as a math teacher! He's going to be helping the kids that are struggling with their math proficiencies, and since he will have classes every other day, he can still sub too. He will be an official staff member at West Albany High School, which is a huge step in the door for him. We're hoping that when a social studies teacher retires (and there are two slated to retire in the next year!) then they can give him a couple social studies classes and then he will be full time. We have been so grateful for all of the opportunities he's received at West, and since that is Kyle's dream job, we're really keeping our fingers crossed that everything works out! Kyle's also been keeping busy by helping coach freshman girls basketball, which he is really enjoying. I take Payton to their games whenever I can, and she LOVES going! It's nice because the high school is literally down the street from us, so it's easy to come and go. Whenever I say the word "gym" she looks at me and says "basketball?" :) She just sits there and watches, which is pretty amazing. Hopefully being exposed to sports so young will help her be much more athletic than her momma!

2012 is shaping up to be a good year so far. No big trips planned, but a couple weddings so far, and I have a birthday party to start planning already :) Plus my sister asked me to be her matron of honor, which I am so excited about! Lots of wedding ideas to discuss! Kyle and I would like to plan a long weekend together somewhere maybe this summer, so hopefully that will work out too. This month marks a year I've already been at my "new" job too, which is also crazy to think about.

I have to confess, I have a new obsession which probably hasn't helped my lack of blogging. I decided that since I made a lot of money working call over Christmas, I would splurge and finally buy myself a kindle. I've thought about it before, but haven't had a lot of time for recreational reading, and I wasn't really sure if I would like reading on a screen instead of a book so I've put it off. Well, I LOVE it! I've had it less than two weeks and am already on my fifth book. I'm just sorry I didn't buy it sooner! Kyle laughed at me and asked me the other night who I would save in a fire; him or the kindle? I had to think about it :)

Anyway, hope you are all enjoying the new year! Talk soon!

Merry Christmas to all...

2011-12-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's still hard to believe that Christmas is upon is, isn't it? The year 2011 has come and almost gone. I was reflecting just the other day on what an intense year this has been for us; it has been full of so many ups and downs. It all started with us making a major life changing decision and moving to Albany in January. It meant leaving a job and people that I loved and moving in with my husband and our baby into his parents house, and starting new jobs. The following month our little girl turned a year old, which was a huge milestone. In April Kyle graduated with his Master's degree, and finished his student teaching in June. In May my sweet grandmother lost her long and hard fought battle with cancer. She was one of the kindest, most generous, wonderful women I've ever known, and her death has really affected me. I had always counted on her as one of the most supportive and important people in my life, so to lose her was devastating. I think about her daily, and I always will. In June we finally decided to put our house in Portland on the market; it would take five months for it to sell, but was definitely one of the hightlights of the year! In September Kyle started officially teaching at his alma mater, West Albany high school. It was the culmination of many years of hard work, and he loves what he does. In October we closed on our home in Albany, and moved out of Rick and Sue's. It was nice to be in our own place again, but bittersweet because we had such a great time staying there with them, and they were so wonderful to us by taking us in until we got on our feet. Which brings us to now... I'm not going to lie, I am excited for 2012. I hope it brings prosperity and peace to all!

We've already been in our new house 2 months now, and finally starting to feel settled in with all of the improvements. Our new carpet arrived a few weeks ago and has made a HUGE difference! It looks nice, but more importantly the house smells so much nicer. You're not assaulted by the smell of cat pee every time you walk in the door. 100% worth it!

Ahhh, new carpet. I swear the wall isn't that bright, my camera's flash makes it look funny.

The new carpet in Payton's room

Our stockings :)
e hallway

My grandpa dug this out of his attic, it's a table and chairs that Chelsea and I used to use. Payton loves it!

This is the face she made when I told her to say "cheese!" (with her baby of course!)

Payton has been so much fun to watch, she is saying SO MUCH these days. If you haven't seen her in a while, you would be amazed at how much she's developed! Every morning I get her up, we go down the hallway and she says "Tree! Tree! Hi tree!" We went for a walk tonight and she had to say hello to everything. "Hi bush! Hi car! Hi truck!" It is super cute, she pretty much chatters nonstop. She can sing her abc's all the way through, and even count to ten. She likes identifying everything and everyone. If we're in a room with a bunch of people, she will go around and say hello to each of us, mutliple times. She's getting pretty bossy too :) We jump when she says jump, literally! She loves her books and her babies, and spends most of her time playing with them or following us around. She likes to be doing what we're doing, whether it be laundry, cleaning, getting dressed, you name it. She repeats everything, she seems like such a little sponge. Last weekend we took her to a place called The Little Gym in Corvallis. It's a class where the kids are in a certain age group (Payton's is 19 months to 2 1/2, they're called "beasts"). They sing songs, tumble, play, throw balls, identify colors, that sort of thing. She's usually pretty shy with new people, but after the introductory song she was up and running! She had SO much fun, and Kyle and I had so much fun watching her. We will definitely be going again! Her favorite part was when they had a big parachute that the kids all got to slide on and go under. She was laughing hysterically, it was so cute.

So I know I never posted Thanksgiving pictures (I'm lame). Here are a few for you!

Snuggling with Grandma Jo

Singing songs with cousin Kyanne!

Reading with cousin McKenna

A very special tradition... Great grandpa Book reading Hucklebones

Grandma got me a new purse

See my pretty bracelet?

One of the highlights of the weekend; Zoolights!

Checking out the fish tank...

We had a great weekend! It went by waaaay too fast. Back at home...

Supervising daddy putting up the Christmas lights

I love this one :)

So much fun to explore

We took Payton to an event called Storybook Land that they do every year at Christmas the expo center. It's free, and it's really neat for kids. Payton loved it!

Kyle and I are so excited to watch Payton enjoy Christmas this year. It seems like forever ago that we bought her gifts, and we can't wait to watch her face when she gets to open them. Her big gift from Kyle and I is a big girl kitchen, which we think she will love. The ladies at her daycare told us that she's pretty obsessed with thiers, so I think she'll love having one at home. We were watching home videos from last years Christmas and it is amazing how different Payton is in just a year. Last year she just sat there and stared at everyone; I can only imagine what she will be like this year! Running around, laughing, talking up a storm. We can't wait! :)

Merry Chirstmas everyone! We will miss you Casebolts/Books/Walkers/Cooks. Wish we could be there!

And congratulations to Richard and Chelsea, the future Mr. and Mrs. Falk!!! :)

So much to be thankful for!

2011-11-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

Sooooooooooo... wow. I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted anything! I logged on to my blog and did a double take when I realized it had been (yikes!) almost 4 weeks. I have so much news to report on, so let's get started!

Wonderful wonderful wonderful news... we have OFFICIALLY and FINALLY sold our house in Beaverton! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! We feel so blessed that we don't have to worry about it anymore. It's DONE, and we even closed before our first mortgage payment on our home in Albany is due, so we never had to pay two mortgages. We feel so incredibly lucky; I know so many people having the same problems we were having, and although we did have to take a little bit of a loss, we still feel really blessed to escape that situation and start fresh. Now we really feel like we can take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy our new home. Speaking of...

We've already been in our new house over a month already! It's coming together slowly but surely. I've held off on posting pictures because I wanted to show it with the new carpet (which is coming in a week!). We've absolutely loved living here so far. I'll post a few pics, before and after.

Master bedroom before with random person's stuff...

...after! Still a work in progress. Please ignore the boxes, this was actually taken a couple weeks ago.

Payton's room before...

...and after! It turned out pretty cute!

Kitchen

Deck

Nice big backyard!

The house itself

The neighborhood looking down the street... ahhh suburbia :)

I promise I'll post more pictures of the rooms as they become more complete!

Payton's language skills have really taken off this month. She's starting to formulate sentences, and repeats basically everything we say. And when I say everything, I mean everything! The other day when we were out on an evening walk Kyle jokingly pretended to trip Payton while she was walking. I said "Kyle!", and Payton stopped, turned towards her dad and said "Kyle!" He was not too amused :) She's doing a lot of singing too, well enough so that you can usually tell what songs she's singing. She can sing "twinkle, twinkle", "baa baa black sheep", "abc's", and is even learning to count. She is getting much better at communicating her wants and needs, which is making everyones life a little easier. If I ask her to clean up her toys, she will say "Payton clean up!", or if I told her dad is at home, she will say "Daddy home". It's so amazing to watch those wheels start turning in their brains when they realize that they can speak and have us understand. I can't wait for her to experience the holiday season too. Kyle and I are so excited about Christmas, we have to keep reminding ourselves to rein it in a little bit. She's not even two, she won't remember! Yet we want to buy out the whole store and shower her with gifts. We've already bought a big girl kitchen for her to play at (she's obsessed with playing grown up) and a Disney princess couch for her to lounge on. We just need to grab a few stocking stuffers, and we're done! Until I find something I just have to have :)

My sweet little bookworm

I'll help you grade daddy!

Hmmm...

F! Just kidding :)

We had a great vacation in Gig Harbor for Thanksgiving, I was really sad to leave and get back to real life. I haven't uploaded all of my pictures from this weekend yet, and it's getting pretty late and I'm on call so I think I'm going to hit the hay and blog that stuff another time. Soon, I promise. It was a fun filled weekend, so lots to blog about. Hope you all have a great week!

Trick or treat!

2011-11-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Halloween, but a great first time trick or treating! Payton was ADORABLE in her costume, she was a little bumblee! I had to work until 6:00, so I rushed home, we quickly ate dinner and off we went!

I'm ready to go trick or treating guys!

Aren't I so CUTE?!?!

Payton got really excited to go outside and walk, she loves walking around. She walked up to people's doorsteps with us, but got really shy when they answered the door. We went to a few houses in our new neighborhood, and then decided to take the show on the road. We ended up trick or treating at Grandma Sue's house, Great Grandma Joy's, Aunt Pam's, Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lindsey's, and several friends on the way. It was an exhausting night, but it was fun for so many people to see Payton trick or treat! Next year we will definitely be sticking to our neighborhood though :) Payton was really funny, she wouldn't really take the candy out of the bowl (although she took more than half of Rick and Sue's!) In fact at one of the houses she took some animal crackers out of her bag and put them back in the candy bowl!

Charlie was a bumbleebee too!

That's one tired trick or treater... :)

I think Payton really enjoyed it, she even wanted to put her costume on again the next day. Plus she slept in until after 8am, an added bonus!

It's been a while...

2011-10-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

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!

Eye report

2011-10-12T15:50:00.001-07:00

Hey all! I thought I would try and blog real quick about Payton's eye report in between the madness of moving :)

She wasn't scheduled to go to the eye doctor until next month, but I called and tried to get her in sooner because of concerns that it seemed her eye was turning in when she looked to the side. They were able to get us in last Thursday, so off to OHSU we went. Sue went with me, I don't think I could have done it without her! Payton is a handful now that she is running around, getting into everything. Not to mention she does not enjoy the doctor's office now!

Anyway, they took us back to the exam room and after we shared our concerns, the optomotrist did a test that we hadn't done before. He had these cards that had a textured part, and he watches for how your eyes track to it (they're naturally drawn to the textured area; she was sitting in my lap so I did it too, it was weird!) Unfortunately they patch one eye to see how the other is tracking, which she was NOT a fan of. We got through it though, and then he said the doctor would be in in a few minutes. How about an hour and a half later almost!!! I was about at my wits end. It's extremely difficult to entertain a toddler in those tiny exam rooms for that long, especially when you had driven an hour and a half to get there. I had run out of snacks, toys, songs, etc. when the doctor finally came in. He said that the test showed that for whatever reason, her left eye is not tracking as strongly as the right. He said they had noticed this at her last visit in May as well. But her prescription is the same in both eyes, so he wasn't sure why the left one would be "lazier" than the right. He said he would like to do a short term follow up, and have her come back in two months to do the card test again. If her left eye is the same or worse, then they will dilate her eyes to check her prescription and see if that needs to be adjusted. If not, then we will dilate at her second birthday. He said he wasn't concerned if her eye seems to turn when she's side gazing, they're mostly concerned about when it turns and she's looking straight on at something, which I think I've only ever noticed once. He said we could patch her right eye to make the left work harder, but he's not sure how well she would tolerate it and he's not sure it's necessary quite yet. He said he could go either way on that.

So that's the story! Her next appointment is in December, and we will see what the test shows and go from there. I will of course keep you updated!

Things are going well with the house, I will post pics soon. We have Payton's room painted, although it may need to be redone a little bit... the pretty light pink I had picked out dried to what my mother in law so eloquently put as pepto bismol pink. It is BRIGHT! We may need to tone it down with a light accent wall or something. The master bedroom is getting painted tonight, and while the boys tackle that I'm going to start cleaning the bathrooms and the kitchen. Tomorrow I'm headed up to Portland to meet the movers, who are going to drop off all of our stuff on Friday! I can't wait, there's just something about your own things that I miss so much. My plates, my towels, my pictures, everything. It will make our house look much more like a home! :)

New address!

2011-10-10T13:57:00.001-07:00

We have officially closed on our home in Albany! I know you are all going to want to see pictures and hear all the specifics about our new house, plus I have another eye appt. of Payton's to report. I will try to get all this stuff out in a blog as soon as I can, but just an FYI that it may be a few days because we're going to be BUSY! This whole week after Payton goes to bed I'm heading over to the house to clean, scrub, paint, move, etc... It's going to be a pretty exhausting week, but I'm so excited to finally get to work on our house. Much more to come soon!

Our new address is:

1108 33rd Ave SW
Albany, OR 97321

My love to everyone, talk soon! :)

Goodbye September...

2011-09-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-09-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

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!

Halfway through the second year...

2011-08-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

We had quite a busy weekend! Most of it was spent outside, soaking up this beautiful sunshine. Saturday we went to a wedding in St. Paul, where Kyle's fellow civil war reenacter got married. It was a HOT day, full of old friends, kilts andbagpipes!

My strategy during the ceremony; keep her quiet with snacks. She still likes talking though! She turned to her Uncle Bryan during the ceremony and said "hi!" He made the sign to be quiet, so she leaned in close to him and whispered "hi". It was hard not to laugh!

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Sanford!

Kyle dancing the dollar dance with the bride

Payton loved watching everyone dance!

Father daughter dance

Hehe we told him he was too old for her :)

My big 18 MONTH OLD! :)

We had a great time with everyone, it felt like a reenacter reunion! The next day, we had plans to meet up with the Matthews/Niles family for a get together. They are good family friends of the Halls, they all met while reenacting as well. Their daughter Tara has a little girl who turns 1 in just a couple weeks. We decided to go to Silver Falls Park, the same place we went hiking at the end of June. They have a big picnic area with a water area and a playplace. The perfect place to hang with our little gals!

Always snacking :) I thought her hair looks beautiful in this picture...

Let's play ball!

Aaaaaaaaaaand she's off!

Wait! Where was I going with this??

A girl's gotta rest :)

Blowing kisses to the camera!

Payton and Miss Katelynn!

Checking eachother out

We told her to give Katelynn a kiss lol

Playing with bubbles

She's going for it!

We had a great time talking, eating, and watching our girls play. Payton is getting to the point where she's starting to get a little possessive of her things, which is interesting. She didn't really want Katelynn touching her stuff! She isn't like that with the other kids at school, but I thought maybe it's because it's not her belongings there. Now when you're playing with her things what you hear is "No! Mine!" She's also really into pretending to clean. I was wiping off some of her shoes the other day, and she was just staring at me, mesmerized. I gave her a cloth and she started wiping everything down! She loved it! I'm hoping she still loves it when she's in high school :) Dream on, Mom!

Quarter of a century

2011-08-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

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!

That's life...

2011-08-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

August, is that you? How did you get here so quick?? Seems like just yesterday I was still toting around an infant, and now I have a full-fledged toddler on my hands! A toddler that never stops moving. Have you ever heard of one of those? :)

Payton is very curious about how things work these days, and into everything. Just the simplest task, like taking a cap off a water bottle and trying to screw it back on, will entertain her 10 times longer than the million toys I have set out for her to play with. She wants to know what you're doing, too. If we're in the kitchen making dinner she wants to stand on a chair so she can watch, and in the morning if I'm putting on make-up before work she wants to sit on the counter and play with my brushes and stuff. She recently learned the word "mine" (which I was very careful NOT to teach her!) and now likes to scream it if she thinks you're touching something you shouldn't be. She also says "puppy" and "baby" a lot, she thinks anything on four legs is a puppy. We saw a squirrel in the park the other day and she started pointing at it and yelling "puppy!" We're starting to call her Miss Independent, because she wants to do everything on her own, she doesn't need your help thank you very much! If she needs your help she will ask YOU! Below are some pictures of an afternoon outside with the sprinkler. She was pretty wary of it at first, and then she couldn't get enough!

Life has been a little stressful for us lately. The buyer on our house retracted their offer, so we're back to square one. We've lowered the asking price a little bit because we're really motivated to sell it, but can only afford to lose so much money. I'm trying not to lose a lot of sleep over it, but it's hard. We have to sell it to qualify to buy a home down here, so we're kind of stuck. I just keep telling myself to take a deep breath, and pray every night that this will work out for us soon.

My (newly employed!) sister and parents are on their way down to visit us for the weekend. Kyle is gone camping with the boys, but let's be honest, they only come to see Payton anyway :) I'm looking forward to relaxing and hanging with them. We're going to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate Chelsea's new job (she got hired as a full time contracted biology teacher at White River High School in Buckley, WA!), I am so proud of her.

I promise I won't go so long between blogs next time!

What a weekend!

2011-07-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure where to begin this blog, there has been so much going on around here! Lots of good news. For starters, Kyle and I received an offer on our house yesterday, and we accepted! We are so excited. Projected closing date is mid-September, so it's weird to think we have to move all of our stuff by then. To where, we're not sure yet. We've started the pre-approval process for a loan and have even seen some houses, but Kyle and I are going to be so much pickier this time around that our stuff may be moving to a storage unit until we can find the place we really want. We're just glad that we won't be paying a mortgage on a house we don't even live in anymore! In other good news, Kyle for sure got that long term sub position... aaaaaaand the teacher is for sure retiring at the end of the year! We're keeping our fingers crossed that this could be such an amazing opportunity for him, but that's still a long ways off yet. Never a dull moment around here huh?

This weekend was so fun, we packed in a lot of activities in just two days. Friday night Kyle and I went out to dinner and a movie after we put Payton to sleep, and got to feel like "real people" for an evening :) Just kidding, but it's nice to relax at a restaurant with a glass of wine every once in a while and then mosey over to the movie theater. It was so relaxing actually that Kyle fell asleep halfway through the movie! That's when you know you're old and can't stay up late anymore :) Saturday we met up with Kyle's cousin AJ and his girlfriend Mindy and daughter Melina, who is just a month younger than Payton. It's so cool seeing how big our girls are getting! Walking and talking all over the place, and starting to interact with eachother. We ate lunch first, and then wandered around looking at what the Linn County Fair had to offer. We spent a lot of time in the "tot land" area they had set up, doing crafts and stuff. We made "dirt babies"; you put faces on these bags of dirt and then they grow grass "hair". We put glasses on our dirt baby, you can see the finished product below:

We put the girls in this little box they had filled with kernel corn. Payton was so funny, she would not put both her feet in it!

Still not a fan of the corn as you can see... lol

Helping eachother with their dirt babies :)

Giving her new baby some love!

Daddys and their girls on the carousel

We must have really tired Payton out, because she went down for a nap after we got home and we had to wake her up after 3 hours so she wouldn't sleep too late! Grandma Joy came over that night to feed Payton dinner and put her to bed so that Kyle, Sue and I could go to a wedding. We wanted to take Payton, but decided against it because we wanted to stay late and catch up with all of Kyle's old friends (translation: parent's night out!) We were also worried about her staying quiet during the ceremony, she's a pretty energetic little gal. Kyle's friend Emily was getting married, he's known her and their family since kindergarten and she is now a spanish teacher at West Albany High School, so now they'll be co-workers too!

Perfect day for a wedding!

West Albany class of 2003! :)

We had a blast, it was really fun to get to know Kyle's old friends better and hear stories from back in the day. We went home pretty early though, we had a busy Sunday ahead of us!

We met Mindy, AJ and Melina again at the waterpark in Albany for some poolside fun. It was in the 80's that day, so it felt awesome!

Kid paradise!

The girls had polka dot swimsuits with tutus... super cute :)

Let's go swim!

Hmmm... this feels pretty good...

Mom likes this picture because she thinks I look very mischevious and cute...

FUN!

Probaby my favorite picture of the whole day :)

Mommy got in the pool with me too!

We had so much fun hanging this weekend with AJ and Mindy (and of course Melina). We're making plans to take the girls to Enchanted Forest next!

The result of a long day's work :)

Hard to believe my sweet daughter is inching ever closer to the 18 month mark. She amazes us everyday. Tonight we were looking through older pictures of her for a scrapbook Sue is putting together of Payton's first year, and Payton picked up a picture of herself at 6 months old, pointed to it and said "baby". She loves doing movements to songs, for example "If you're happy and you know it" and "head, shoulders, knees and toes" are a few of her favorites. If there is music playing she will dance to it though, doesn't matter what the beat is! She can point out where her nose, ears, eyes, mouth, head, and toes are, and she likes to point where yours are too! Her favorite words right now are probably "no", "help", and "hot". We taught her "hot" when she was trying to touch the oven, and now she thinks everything in the kitchen is "hot" :) She loves wrapping things around her neck (scarves, diaper wipes, whatever she can get her hands on). She has also attempted to wrap a belt and the cords to the blinds around her neck too, so we've had to be really careful about not leaving things out that she can get to. We're also getting to the point where she's "hiding" things (aka picking them up and putting them in random cabinets and cupboards). We found Tanner's X-box controller in the soup cupboard in the kitchen after wondering how in the world it could have wandered off :) She's starting to run, and loves to climb too. Hard to believe just six months ago she was getting the hang of crawling. She is really into books right now, and loves for you to read to her. She will keep on bringing them if you keep on reading them!

This weekend we are going to a family reunion, and it's also the Sweet Home Jamboree. We're not going to go to the concerts, but we will probably go hang out and say hello to everyone. Hopefully the weather continues to be as beautiful as it has been lately!

The last few weeks...

2011-07-15T21:19:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th!

I'm ready to go out on the lake guys!

Grandpa Scott looks good on the jet ski!

Playing on the deck with Grandma Sue

I'm headed out on the dock!

Hanging out in the relaxation station with Daddy. As you can see, I'm not too fond of this lifejacket though.

Mom and Dad had fun going out on the jet ski too

Sisters hanging on the deck

Grandpa Scott was a little afraid of Grandma Jo's driving :)

Teehee :)

Helping Uncle Bryan with his hand

Making funfetti cupcakes with Uncle Tanner

Watching all the boys unload the firewood

Hanging out in the relaxation station

Great Grandpa Book came out and visited us! It was wonderful to see him :)

This was my reaction after seeing my Daddy for the first time in almost a week

Kisses!

Awww :)

Our makeshift bath! We tried to hop in the shower with her, and she did NOT enjoy that!

These are pictures at the kid's museum we went to!

Look mom, a train! (If you look really closely, you can see one of my lower molars back there!)

I didn't play with the trains on the tracks, I liked to pick them up and listen to the noises they made when I dropped them

Playing at one of the activity tables

Petting a kitty at the animal hospital

Shopping for some food at the store

I found something!

Playing in the water

Having a snack with Grandma Jo before we left. I was worn out!

This says it all :) Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful couple weeks!

Unfortunately, only a day or two after I got to the lake for my extended vacation, the rain came and wouldn't leave. It was hard hanging out in the house all day with a one-year-old who wants to go outside and play, so we decided to head back home on Thursday. That evening I noticed Payton was really warm, and took her temp and it was 101. She was tugging at her right ear, so I took her to the doctor today just to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection. He said her ears look clear, but her throat is red and so she probably has a virus. You can definitely tell she feels under the weather. She hasn't been eating much either, which my mom said is how you know something is wrong with Payton! So we're just going to lay low this weekend. I'm keeping my fingers crossed she feels better!

Something pretty came from all the rain... a rainbow!

In the interest of time...

2011-07-11T20:16:00.001-07:00

Since I'm at the lake right now and don't have access to my computer (and thus all my pictures), I thought I would start one blog just talking about what we've been doing lately, and then the next blog I can focus on putting in all the pictures. It gets pretty overwhelming and time consuming if I try to do it all in one, so I'm breaking it up a little bit! Sound good?

Last week felt like the longest week of my life. I decided to let Payton stay with my family at the lake house after the 4th while Kyle and I returned to Albany for the week to work. I really struggled with the decision, because I can't stand to be away from her very long, but in the end I thought it would be what was best for Payton. If we took her home with us, she would just go to daycare all week as usual, and then I would be bringing her back up to the lake anyway the next weekend (so it also saved about 8 hours with a fidgety toddler in the car). I knew that she would have a blast at the lake house, going out in the boat, being outside, hanging out with my parents and sister. So I decided to suck it up and let it happen. It was the hardest on me of course, Payton had a great week! It turned out to be only 4 days, but I missed her SO much. It felt so weird only taking care of myself, like I didn't have enough to do. Kyle and I thought we may even have time to go on a couple dates and see a movie or something, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Tuesday we both had doctor's appointments (gotta try and fit those in when you don't have to get a babysitter!) and then I was on call the rest of the night. Wednesday I went shopping with Sue after work to get some summer stuff (I did not own even one pair of shorts that fit! The blessing/curse of losing baby weight), which was a very successfull trip, but we were gone until after 10:00pm. Then Thursday Kyle had double header softball games... needless to say, we crammed in a whole bunch of stuff, but not as much time together as we hoped! I took off for the lake again Friday night, and we managed to squeeze in a dinner out after work before I left. He was going to a wedding in Roseburg on Saturday, but I wanted to be there when Payton woke up Saturday morning. It felt like Christmas; I couldn't wait to see her! When I heard her wake up, I went in there and she just stared at me like she couldn't believe I was there. I picked her up and we cuddled for a couple minutes, she gave me a kiss and then it was business as usual! I could tell she was glad to see me though, which is the best feeling in the world. Kyle came up Sunday morning, but he had to leave this afternoon. I have the whole week off, but he doesn't unfortunately. He couldn't go another week without seeing Payton though, so he made the trip up to hang with us for a day. Payton was really excited to see him too, she gave him a big kiss! When he asked her if he could have another one she said "no!" and hid her face. We died laughing!

The Halls/Casebolts had a great time over the 4th of July weekend. Crazy to think it was already our third year in a row! I feel so blessed and thankful that ALL of my family loves to get together. I think that's pretty rare, and really special. My parents got a jet ski this year, and it got put to great use by everyone! We didn't really tube or wakeboard much this year, people mostly relaxed and went out on the jet ski if they wanted to get on the water. We took Payton out for a boat ride though to see if she'd like it, and she was pretty indifferent about it. The lifejacket we have for her is pretty tiny though, and looks uncomfortable so that could have taken away from the experience for her... either way, she seems to enjoy it more now! She is blossoming so much it is amazing. I know I say that all the time, but it really is true! She's finally seeming to UNDERSTAND me, which is so cool. For example, she was standing at the door wanting to go outside, and I told her we needed to put some shoes on to go outside. She walked over to where we keep her shoes, picked out a pair and brought them over to me! My jaw dropped big time. Another example is we have this book she likes called "Where oh where is Huggle Buggle Bear?" My mom asked Payton "where oh where is huggle buggle bear?" and she walked over to the coffee table where we keep the books, picked up that book, and walked over to my mom and handed it to her. Things like that I'm noticing all the time now! We changed her diaper and she grabbed the dirty one, and I told her it needs to go in the trashcan. She walked into the kitchen where the trashcan is, and threw it away! So crazy! She has finally figured out the word "no", which I tried to hold off as long as possible :) Now everything is "no". "Payton are you having a good day?" "NO!" "Can we change your diaper?" "No!" "Do you love your mommy?" "No!" It sounds so cute though, so it's pretty endearing. I have a feeling the first time she yells it at me in public it won't be though :) She also looooves to dance. If there's music on, she's shaking her booty! I will get a good video of it sometime, I promise! She's also learning so many new words, it seems like everyday she's got another one. Nose, toes, shoes, home are just a few of the most recent ones... she's such a smart little gal! :)

Kyle got some really great news last week. One of the social studies teachers at West Albany High School is having back surgery in the fall, and they need a sub for the first four months of his classes. Kyle got a call from the principal asking if he would be interested, and he said of course! This is such a great opportunity for him, and the next best thing besides a full time position, which as you can imagine are few and far between these days. He has a solid four months of sub work lined up, and in one of his dream jobs (and the teacher is close to retirement). We are VERY excited!

It's so nice to have the week off. As I write this I am staring out at a sunset on the lake, relaxing with the fam. Tomorrow we are going to take Payton to a hands on childrens museum in Olympia, which I'm really looking forward to. On Wednesday my good friend Elena is coming over to visit, and she's also going to cut my hair, which needs it very badly. It hasn't been cut since before Payton's birthday! Time just seems to slip away, so I'm really looking forward to that and to being able to catch up with her. I'll probably be back in Oregon by the end of the week, and then I'll post pictures! Hope you're all enjoying this wonderful weather!

Lions and tigers and bears... oh my!

2011-06-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend! I was looking forward to it the whole week, so it felt extra special when it finally got here. On Saturday, I had planned a hike for Kyle, Payton and I. We went to Silver Falls State Park, which is about an hour away from Albany, east of Salem. It's actually the largest state park in Oregon, it's huge! Once we finally figured out where to start our hike, we got suited up, put Payton in the backpack, and off we went!

Look guys! The trail is that way!

Payton did good, she pretty much chatted at us the whole time we were walking. We decided to do the shorter hike, just 2.5 miles, because we weren't sure how long our luck would last. What the shorter hike lacked in distance, it definitely made up for in incline though! It took about an hour and a half, so it was perfect. There were several waterfalls along the way, and the hike even takes you right down to them and behind them. Payton didn't really like that though, I think it was too loud for her!

The falls were beautiful. You can see the little trail where you walk behind them!

Whoa look!

Mommy by the falls

I see you :)

We stopped for a snack on the trail, and then finished up our walk. It's sad how out of shape I am, my calves are still hurting!

Sunday was a much anticipated day as well... our first family trip to the zoo! Payton, her parents, and all four grandparents were in attendance. We tried to answer the age-old question... how many people does it take to entertain one toddler? :) She is certainly one loved little girl!

This is looking like it's gonna be a good day guys!

Grandmas!

I wasn't too sure about petting the goats

Walking is so FUN! :)

Snuggling with Grandma Jo

There was a big lawn where they hold concerts and shows, we ate lunch there. It was a nice open space to run around in!

Me and mommy :)

The girls

Riding the train!

Grandpa Scott and I :)

Payton definitely enjoyed it, we all had a great day. I think she was more interested in looking at all the different people than the animals though :) We can't wait to go back, I think everytime we do she will enjoy it more and more!

This weekend is one of the most anticipated weekends of the year for me... 4th of July at the lakehouse! I can't wait, especially since this year I think Payton is going to have a blast going out on the boat, and getting her feet wet in the water. Hope everyone has a great fourth!

School's out... for summer!

2011-06-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

Kyle is officially done student teaching! His last day was on Thursday. Hard to believe it was two years ago that he started this journey, but he is definitely ready to be a teacher. We are all so proud of him! He's applied to two teaching jobs in Corvallis, unfortunately there's not anything open in Albany right now. Hopefully he can get some good experience though, and when the right job opens up he'll be ready! He got a job for the summer working for the city of Albany, paving roads and stuff. This will be the third summer he's done it, and he really likes it. The pay is good, the hours are good, and he gets to be outside all day. He'll get out around the same time he did while teaching, so Payton's schedule doesn't change either as far as daycare goes, which is nice.

So, a lot of you are probably wondering what the heck we are doing with our house... we've actually decided to sell it. We worked hard to get it cleaned out and staged nice, and it officially went on the market last Friday. We've had 4 or 5 showings already this week, so our agent was really encouraged by all the activity. We hope it continues until it sells! We thought about it, and really the only reason we would rent it out would be to not have to pay back our first time home buyer tax credit. I researched it, and you actually don't have to pay it back if you sell your house for a loss (which obviously we have to, although not too bad). Neither Kyle or I are interested in being landlords, and our ultimate desire is to sell it so we can buy a home down here, so we decided to go ahead and give it a shot. Wish us luck!

These last few weeks have been full of graduations; I went to 4 this year! Tanner and Bryan's were the 9th and 11th of this month, very proud of the Hall boys. I took Payton to Bryan's after she had her morning nap, but didn't take her to Tanner's because it started at 7pm. I put her to bed and a friend of Kyle's cousin sat at the house while she slept and I went to the graduation. Worked out pretty well! I'll let my pictures tell the story.

Waiting to go

Tanner getting his diploma!

Giving the principal Mrs. Orsborn a big hug!

Way to go Tanner!

Brothers :)

Proud parents

Hall clan

Tanner said this one's for Chelsea! lol

Tanner and his girlfriend Brittney :)

Snuggling with cousin Courtney at Bryan's graduation. It was a hot muggy day and I was very cuddly.

College grad with his brothers

And his lovely new wife :)

I helped hold the diploma!

Don't I look adorable in a graduation cap?? :)

Payton is doing well, although she has been QUITE cranky lately. She was sent home from daycare on Tuesday with a fever of 101, but we took her to the doctor and her ears looked fine so he just attributed it to a virus. That, coupled with constipation and a bunch of new teeth (I noticed one of her molars in the back poking through), has really set her on edge. She's pretty sensitive, when we used to say bye she would smile and wave, and now she breaks into tears because she understands that someone is really leaving. We just have to remind ourselves to be patient, but it's hard when I'm wondering where my easygoing baby went. She's also decided that she's not interested in taking afternoon naps anymore, which makes for a pretty cranky evening. Her walking is amazing though, it's weird to think just a couple weeks ago she was still crawling around. It's fun to go to the park now and let her wander around and explore. She likes to pick up her jackets and walk around holding them, which is funny to watch. She's imitating us a lot more these days, this morning I had my hands over my mouth and I looked over at her and she slapped her hands over her mouth too, like I had just told her something terrible. Kyle and I died laughing! My parents also came down last weekend, which was wonderful. Payton loves seeing them, and so do I! I kept forgetting they hadn't seen her really walking yet, so it was cool for them to see her walking everywhere. We went on a trip to the park before they had to go home!

Reading with Grandma

Wee!

Down the slide!

Swinging with Grandpa

This weekend isn't really exciting, I'm on call so we don't really have any plans. It's raining outside anyway, so we timed that pretty well :) I'm excited for next weekend though! We're taking Payton to the Portland Zoo for the first time, I think she will love it. My parents are going to try and come down and go with us too, so it should be a fun family outing. I'm also going to try and fit in a hike that weekend so we can really put that baby backpack to use that we got for Christmas. I hope the weather cooperates!

As promised! :)

2011-06-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Baby modeling :) lol

This one is one of my favorites!

Whatcha doing daddy?!

Oooh

Haha!

My new rocketship

Bumper cars!

I'm looking more and more like a little girl these days, not just a baby! :)

This last weekend Sue hosted a graduation party at the Hall house for all three boys; Kyle graduating with his Master's degree, Bryan graduating with his Bachelor's degree, and Tanner graduating high school. If you add in Chelsea's graduation a couple weeks ago, apparently I'm the only one who's not graduating this year. I didn't get the memo!

Party outfit #1...

...and party outfit #2! Mom gave me some watermelon to eat, and wasn't thinking because it stained my white shirt pink. Whoops.

This is my friend Katelynn, I was really confused why my daddy was holding her though

I like throwing the ball!

Cousin Courtney let me eat dinner on her lap!

Can I help you mommy? I'm busy!

I have become very brave and adventurous since figuring out how to walk everywhere. Mom turned around for a couple seconds, and found this when she looked back at me!

Why ride this when I can climb it?

Bathtime!

Brushing my teeth, which I'm not really a fan of these days

And finally... a walking video! This was actually taken several days ago, and she gets better and better at it everyday! She's getting fast, almost running now!

Such a big girl!

The graduation festivities are continuing this week and weekend. Tanner graduates from high school on Thursday, and Bryan graduates from college on Saturday. Plus my parents are coming to visit, so it should be a busy weekend! Congrats to the graduates! :)

15 months

2011-06-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Payton had her 15 month check-up this morning. She weighed 26 Ib 4 oz (90th percentile), and is 32.5 inches long (95th percentile)! Her head circumference is still off the charts, at the 100th percentile. Go figure :) She has officially figured out walking, and is ALL over the place, all the time. It's so cute and fun to watch though! She looks like a little girl when she's walking around, not my little baby. She says about six words other than mama and dada, "up, ball, uh-oh, hi, bye" etc. She hasn't been feeling good lately unfortunately, she is teething, has a cold, and also has a double ear infection. This means a clingy, fussy baby. I've felt so bad for her, and hopefully after a couple days of the antibiotics she will start to feel much better. She hasn't liked us to brush her teeth or look in her mouth, but when I have gotten to peek in there I've noticed at least 3 or 4 new teeth, so it seems like they're sprouting up all at once. I so wish I could take all of her pain away!

A couple weeks ago Payton also had an eye check-up at OHSU with her opthamologist. It was pretty short, he just asked how she was doing with the glasses, and I said great; he said great, see you in six months. We made it worth going up to Portland though, we visited my old friends from work, and also Wee Care. They were all really excited to see Payton, and couldn't believe how big she'd gotten. It was fun to see all the babies that I used to see everyday, they all looked so much bigger too. I always enjoy visiting with my friends, I miss them a lot; but it sure was nice to leave the craziness of Portland again when the day was over.

These last few weeks, as most of you know, have been really tough. It's been hard for me to blog quite honestly, because I know how much my grandma enjoyed it. I know she's not the only one that read it, but she always commented on every post, and whenever I saw her, she was so excited to talk about my blog, and what Payton was doing and how much she enjoyed the pictures. I loved reading her comments, and I really miss them. It is just so weird that she won't ever read my blog again, and so I just didn't want to write one. I know that I need to though, as there are still people that want to be updated on what Payton is doing. It's been a long time since I posted some pics of Paytie (a possible nickname maybe??), but I'm going to head off to bed. My poor grumpy (but sweet!) baby wore me out! I PROMISE to post some pictures for you to enjoy soon :) Goodnight all!

Dear Grandma,

2011-05-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Words cannot express what you have meant to me throughout my life. You have always been there for me, my biggest cheerleader. From my high school dance recital to the birth of my first child, you were there no matter what. You have set an example for me by being so selfless, kind, sweet, and funny; you are truly the epitome of not only a great grandmother, but a genuinely wonderful person. Chelsea and I would get so excited when we got to stay the night at your house with you and Grandpa, we would have so much fun. You would let us eat popcorn for dinner and stay up late (but not too late) watching movies :) You let us dress up in your old clothes and put on your jewelery and shoes, and klunk down the hallway for a fashion show (where you told us we looked fabulous). I remember taking such fun trips with you, like to Newport to see "Kinko" at the aquarium, or camping at Seaside where you guys taught me to ride a bike. I could go on and on, we had so many good times. All of these are memories I will never forget, because you made them so special. I'm still having a hard time believing you're gone, but I will always cherish you and your memory, and will tell Payton Marie one day when we're looking at pictures what a special grandma I had, and how her GiGi loved her so much. I wish Payton had gotten to know you like I was blessed to know you, but I will make sure she knows you through my pictures and my stories. I love you so much Grandma. Death does not seem so scary now, because I know you will be up there waiting for me, with a sweet smile and a warm hug, ready to tell me what has been going on and what I missed while I was down here :) Thank you for making my first 24 years on Earth filled with your love and laughter. I will always miss you and think of you, but I am grateful knowing that we will be together again some day. Rest in peace GiGi.

I love you with all my heart,
Jen

Congrats graduate!

2011-05-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a big weekend! I flew to Spokane to attend Chelsea's graduation festivities. I drove up to my friend Kali's house on Friday night so that she could take me to the airport early Saturday morning, which I really appreciated :) It was so nice to catch up with her, I hadn't seen her since December. We turned in early though because 5am came around really quick. I've never flown by myself, so I was a little nervous throughout the checkin process and going through security. I got even more nervous when I realized that I was getting on a tiny lime green plane that I had to walk out onto the tarmac to get to, and then walk up the stairs and climb in! I was in the very back row all by myself, and I tried to just read the magazine I bought about the royal wedding and not worry about all the bumps I was feeling and noises I was hearing. Turns out I didn't need to worry, because I got there just fine! :)

When I left the airport my mom and sister drove up, and off we went! We first went into downtown Spokane for some breakfast, and then of course some shopping. The boys (my dad and Richard, Chelsea's boyfriend) were off golfing for my dad's birthday. We shopped until we almost dropped! We met up with the boys later though for my dad's birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

The gang (minus Kyle and Payton)

After dinner we checked into our respective rooms at the always classy Comfort Inn :) Chelsea and I got to have a room together, and it was fun to stay up and talk girl talk like the old times. We had to get some sleep though, Sunday was a big day!

In the morning our lovely parents brought us some complimentary hotel breakfast while we were getting ready, and then we loaded up into the car and attended baccalaureate together. Then there was lots of picture taking of course, so I'll let them tell the story!

Some of you may remember Joey, he likes to travel to all of our family events :) Of coures he came to Spokane for graduation!

Chelsea had all of her students sign her cap, it was really neat!

The big moment!

Congratulations Chels, we are all very proud of you! :)

2011-05-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Payton is getting so BIG. When did that happen?! She's added a couple new words to her vocabulary, but her favorite one she's figured out is "up", which she pronounces "up-ple". Very cute :) She will be sitting on the floor and put her arms up and say it, and it's just so adorable that no one can resist picking her up. She will also point to her toes if you ask her where they are, and when we are sitting together eating breakfast, she will pick up one of her cheerios off her plate and hold it out for me to eat. She thinks it's hilarious to feed us instead of us feeding her!

It seems like everything these days is a phase. She is moving through so many stages, it's amazing. For example, in case you haven't noticed, Payton is a very good eater :) I'm glad she takes more after her dad in that department! She will eat almost anything you put in front of her, and she eats like we haven't fed her for days. I'm not even sure if she chews sometimes, she seems to almost inhale her food. So when she would be sitting in her highchair and I was feeding her breakfast, if she wanted more she would YELL at me, and start crying. I kept telling myself "it's just a phase, it's just a phase" because it was so frustrating and difficult to be patient, and as soon as I would put more food on her plate, it was gone. I couldn't get it to her fast enough, and she wasn't happy about it! Then magically one day when she ran out of food, she started pointing to it and talking to me, much more patient. It was wonderful! I thanked her over and over again for using an inside voice, and told her what a big girl she was for asking so nicely. Whew, I was very glad that phase was over! Ah, but these phases have just begun I'm sure :)

Not too much new to report on the walking front, she is still pretty cautious about it. She would rather walk while holding onto a wall, a piece of furniture, or even better, someones hand. She is getting much better at standing by herself, and does that quite often. She just has yet to really take off, although I know it's coming.

This morning I dropped Payton off at daycare, and she walked away from me into her caregiver's arms. It is nice that she's so comfortable there now, but it was also kind of bittersweet. Kyle said that when he goes to pick her up she doesn't rush towards him, instead she points and talks at different things, like she's telling him what she did that day. It's been going really well, which I'm very thankful for. She loves looking at the big kids, she just stares at them like she's mesmerized!

Sorry no pictures this post, Kyle is using the laptop (that has the pictures on it) for homework tonight. He is so close to school being done, he can really see the light at the end of the tunnel! I will try and post some in the next day or two for you guys.

This weekend is a very big weekend, I am headed to Spokane for Chelsea's college graduation! I'm driving to Portland Friday night to stay with my friend Kali, then I'm flying out early Saturday morning, and flying home late Sunday evening. It will be a whirlwind of a weekend! We decided not to take Payton and have her stay home with Kyle this weekend. It was a hard decision because I hate being away from her (that's two whole nights!), but that's also a lot of travelling for her for just one day. Plus, I really don't think my loud, boisterous and active (but very sweet) little girl would sit there for several hours during a graduation ceremony without a peep, and I really want to be able to enjoy Chelsea's graduation without worrying about Payton. Plus my dad and Chelsea's birthday area also this weekend, which will be fun to celebrate together. My next blog should be a big one!

So happy graduation to my baby sister, and happy birthday to Chelsea and my dad! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

With the beautiful weather outside, Kyle and I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Payton out in the yard. They turned out pretty cute if I say so myself!

Playing with Daddy. I really like to touch all of the rocks.

Fun!

Hi Mommy!

Would you like this rock?

OK, I'll try to eat it!

Yum!

I surprised my parents by climbing up here ALL by myself (under close supervision of course)

Hmmm, dirt...

Yes. I tried to eat it. I am THAT kid :)

Hope everyone has a fantastic Mother's Day! A special thank you to all of the mothers and grandmothers that we celebrate this Sunday. And, of course, my own mom and grandmothers, who shaped me into becoming the mom that I am today :)

Easter/graduation

2011-04-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it's already the weekend again. This week really seemed to fly by! Between watching shows about the royal wedding (yes, I'm one of those people!), working, and keeping up with my one-year-old, time marches on. Last weekend was Payton's second Easter, but her first one that she could enjoy an Easter basket :)

Payton's Easter loot

Thanks guys!

My Easter outfit :)

We woke up, did Easter baskets, ate some breakfast and went to church. We were a little nervous about her being ok sitting there for an hour, but she did fine. She was pretty interested in my keys for a while, and actually fell asleep for a couple minutes. I was excited about that, but about 5-10 minutes later she was back up and ready to observe everything. We let her have her binky, which I hate because I usually never let her have it outside her crib, but she's in that "discovering my voice" stage and likes to yell for no reason (I know, awesome). I feel bad "plugging" her, but she doesn't really listen to reason yet. And plus, she LOVES her binkies. She has not formed an attachment to any type of stuffed animal or blanket, but man she loves her binkies. She likes to suck on one while she's holding one in her hand at the same time. That's her "lovie"!

Yesterday was Kyle's graduation from Concordia University. I can't even begin to put into words how proud I was sitting in the stands, watching him get his diploma and get "hooded". Kyle got accepted into their Masters of Arts in Teaching program a month after we found out we were pregnant; at the time, we were thinking "what the heck did we do? Are we crazy??" :) We weren't sure how we were going to fit in school, work, and having a baby, but Kyle has done a great job and now we're standing at the finish line. The only day Kyle missed of school was when we were still in the hospital with Payton, right after she was born. He has been extremely dedicated, worked very hard, and will be an exceptional teacher. It is wonderful to see him doing something he's passionate about and enjoys so much, and to think about all of the lives he's going to influence in such a positive way. Way to go Kyle!

Hanging out on Grandpa Scott's shoulders before the ceremony

With my daddy! I am proud, I'm just not showing it right now :)

Proud momma and son

Trying on my daddy's cap

This is Kyle's hood, which I learned that Master's degree recipients receive. He was officially "hooded" by a member of Concordia during the ceremony, and it has his alma mater's colors on it (in this case, blue).

Afterwards we went out for a family dinner to celebrate at Buffalo Wild Wings. My parents came down for the day to watch Kyle graduate, which was very special as well. The sun came out for us, and all in all it was a great day!

Hope the sun came out for all of you, and that you had a great weekend! :)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2011-04-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

What an awesome weekend this has been so far! It was almost 70 degrees today, absolutely beautiful. I finally got to break out some of Payton's summer clothes! We had a pretty laid back day, went to Costco, took Payton to the park, watched the Blazer game (which was AMAZING!), and did some laundry.

Weeeeee!

Daddy pushed me on the swing! I wasn't too into it, just kind of sat there and looked around.

I went down the slide too!

I'm not kicking the soccerball around yet, but I do like to play with it!

Hugs from Uncle Tanner

I rode the seesaw with mommy too!

Payton did something adorable today that I want to share with you guys. She stares at us while we clean her glasses, really intrigued. We breath on them to fog them up, and then wipe them off with a cloth (or usually our shirt). Well today she got a hold of them before we put them on her, and she brought them to her mouth, so I thought she was going to chew on them. She opened her mouth, but instead of putting them in she breathed on them like Kyle and I do! When I realized what she was doing, I cracked up. She is hilarious!

As far as the glasses go, she's doing very well with them. She only ever pulls them off if she's bored and she wants to chew on them, so most of the time she does it when she's in her carseat (and I'm not looking) or in her highchair. It's hard to believe she's only had them for about 2 months, because her face looks naked when she doesn't have them on! We actually get lots of compliments on them, but we do get lots of questions too. We're just glad that the transition has been pretty smooth, and that she doesn't have any problems wearing them.

Hope everyone has a great Easter! I will post again soon with Easter pics :)

These boots are made for walking!

2011-04-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

This isn't the video that shows her best steps, I tried to upload it and it's too long. I'll try and get another video that shows it better, but at least this way you can see!

In case you hadn't noticed, keep reading for the rest of my blog! :)

Long time no blog....

2011-04-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know it's been waaaaaaay too long for those of you wanting a Payton fix. Let's get to it!

I have to tell you this first, because it's so exciting; my baby is officially WALKING!!! She's been able to stand on her own for short periods, and has even taken one or two tentative steps and then fallen forward. But tonight she stood there and took off! It's amazing how proud you are of your kids' achievements, especially something as simple as walking. But I was one proud momma! :) She can take five or six steps at a time, and stand by herself. Such a big girl!

A couple weeks ago we travelled home to Gig Harbor to visit my family. It's so nice to go home, my parents are excited to get up with Payton, and Kyle and I are excited to sleep in a little bit :) We loved seeing everyone!

Can I go outside please?

Who's that pretty girl in the mirror?

Mom caught me about ready to lick the doggy bowl! Gross!

Grandpa reading me a bedtime story. This is what mommy calls my tired eyes.

Wrestling with daddy

Why hello there!

Going for a walk!

I LOVE to be outside! I'm not too sure about the grass though; usually I don't like touching it, so I just sit there "stuck" :)

Last weekend was a pretty productive one at home. Kyle and I went through Payton's closet and boxed up about half of it, stuff that is too small for her. She is now in 18-24 months clothes, and is about a size 5 shoe. Growing girl! We did some shopping, we went out and bought stuff for her first Easter basket. It's not technically her first Easter, but last year she was like a month old, so she wouldn't have been too excited about chasing Easter eggs :) We got her lots of little things, and I know she's going to love exploring her basket. Seems like one of her favorite things to do is take things out of bags, off shelves, out of cabinets, etc. Then she likes to try and put it back!

My little girl is talking (and walking!) up a storm these days. She has added "whoa" to her vocabulary, and is imitating a lot. I've heard her say things that sound like "fish", "up", "out", all sorts of words. We have a horse that she can ride, and when you press it's ear it nays and makes a galloping noise. The other day when it started naying, she would do it too! It was SO cute!

She loves stairs these days, they are her new obsession. She doesn't want to crawl, she wants to walk up and down, up and down the stairs. She could do it all day! She also LOVES to eat. Meal times are actually a little challenging for me, because she is pretty impatient and gets upset if I'm not giving her food fast enough. She sits in her highchair and yells at me! We've eliminated her morning bottle, instead we get her up and she gets breakfast first thing in the morning. She's still getting a bottle before bedtime though, that's our next step. One thing at a time! We try our best to make it a good transition for her.

Last weekend was also a first for me. Kyle and I went to prom! Well, kind of. We were chaperones! I never went to prom in high school, so it was a fun experience for me, and it was nice to do it with my hubby. Tanner and his girlfriend Brittney went, it was their last formal dance together. They looked great!

I made Kyle get a picture with me lol

We went to dinner beforehand with the other chaperones, four other couples. It was really fun, and it was nice to also incorporate that into a date night for Kyle and I. One of the other chaperones was the teacher that Kyle taught under at West Albany High School, and I really enjoyed hearing stories about Kyle teaching. Turns out he's pretty creative! The other week Kyle told me that he had detention the next day. When I looked at him funny, he said he lost a bet, so he had to serve detention. Turns out he bet a kid that if he got an A on his math test that Kyle would have to serve detention. If the kid got less than that, then he would get one. Apparently, that was just the kind of motivation that this kid needed, because he pulled out an A! Kyle kept his promise, and dutifully served detention. He said though that he didn't mind at all, because that meant that kid got an A, and tried hard to learn his math. He absolutely loves teaching so far :)

Payton started a new daycare last week called the North Albany Learning Center. She is in a class with seven other little girls, most of them right around her age. It's been going pretty well so far, although it's hard because Payton is at a tough stage right now. She's super aware of her surroundings, and she's right at the age for separation anxiety. She's also at the fun stage of throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way! I'm sure she will adjust, and they tell me she does just fine after I leave.

My first day at my new "school"

The video of her walking is a very large file, so I think I'm going to post this and then I'll post the video in a separate post...

Hope you all have a great week!

Coming soon!

2011-04-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

We didn't have any internet this weekend (unfortunately I have no idea why either, I'm not nearly techical enough) so I wasn't able to blog. I have a big one coming soon for you guys, promise! :)

Bouncy girl!

2011-04-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

Video of Payton bouncing around! :)

Spring has sprung

2011-04-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this time of year. The weather is finally starting to get a little nice (we can actually go outside!), and it's not dark when I leave work. Payton really loves to be outside, so it's been a lot of fun taking her on walks. I can't wait for the summer when she's walking around herself! I took her on a walk to a park by the house the other day, I thought she would love the swing and maybe even the slides. I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all, because she didn't have much of a reaction to anything, just kind of stared and looked around. Maybe next time!

Walking around on the patio

Don't I look like such a big girl?!

This weekend was my first weekend on call, and it's been going pretty well. Actually, call hasn't been bad for me. There's a running joke at work that I'm the "chosen one" because I rarely get called in when I'm on call. That's why I was kind of nervous for this weekend, because I figured I was due. Of course there's still the rest of the night (knock on wood), but I only had one call Friday night and two back to back Saturday morning. Cool with me!

Last week was Melina's first birthday, Payton's second cousin. Today we went to her birthday party at a bounce house in Corvallis! One of Payton's favorite games these days is getting to bounce on the bed, so we were hoping she would love it. She will climb up to the headboard and then fall backwards onto a mountain of pillows, then giggle and climb up again. We put her in one of the bouncy toys, and she immediately started to cry and wanted out. We thought oh no, this is going to be a long party, but... we took her over to an area where there were some toys and other things to play with, and after playing with those for a while she relaxed and was having fun. I think she was just a little overwhelmed at first. We took her back into the bounce house and she loved it!

This was not the reaction we were hoping for lol

I'm doing better mommy!

Going through the tunnel!

I swore my child would never go into a ball pit... oh well lol

Wheeee!

Hanging with daddy...

... and mommy! :)

Crazy to think they're already one!

Great uncle Tony, cousin AJ, cousin Melina, Great Grandma Sharan, Great Grandpa Ron, daddy, me and Grandpa Rick

Melina was such a cutie!

Melina and her mommy Mindy!

YUM! I think she had more fun playing with it than eating it!

Happy birthday to little Miss Melina! :)

Here's a couple more pics to get you through until my next blog...

I'm gonna get you!

I love playing with my feet!

So serious...

... seriously cute anyway! :)

2011-03-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

When I got home from work yesterday, Kyle asked me if I would like to see something Payton did that day. I of course said sure! My jaw dropped in amazement when this is what I saw:

Payton has not been able to walk by herself like that before! Usually when she tries to push that thing she pushes too hard with her upper body and then her legs can't keep up, but she all of a sudden was able to balance and walk around like it was no big deal! Makes me wonder if walking could be just around the corner, a little sooner than I thought...

My little baby seems like such a big girl these days. She has been doing a lot of pointing lately; I'm not sure when she figured that one out, it seems like everyday she's doing something new! She points to things she likes, things she is curious about, etc. She has been LOVING this weather, I definitely think we have an outdoor girl on our hands. She will crawl up to the sliding glass door and point outside, especially to this fish pond that Sue has in her backyard. When I came home from work yesterday I found Kyle and Payton outside on a bench staring at the fish in the pond. Kyle has also been taking her on walks when it's nice, and she gets a big grin on her face when you put her up in the backpack carrier. She's imitating us a LOT more too. When my dad asked her if she could say Grandpa she said something that sounded like "grambob" and when Kyle's aunt Pam asked her to say Pam, she said something that sounded just like it! She can also say "uh-oh", which is really, really cute. It seems like she understands more and more everyday!

Hope everyone is enjoying these nice few days of sunshine!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Hall!

2011-03-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Bryan and Lindsey are officially hitched! It was a crazy weekend, but so much fun. We had a blast, and my parents came down to be on official Payton duty, which meant that we could have fun dancing the night away (which we did - it is a Hall wedding after all!) We definitely appreciated it!

I unfortunately don't really have any pictures yet, because they used my camera for the guest book pictures. For the guest book they had Kyle's cousins take pictures of the guests, then the guests wrote on this little card. We're going to print all the pictures and put it with the corresponding card in a book! Pretty cool idea, but that's why my camera was MIA during the reception. I did, however, find this little gem on Facebook today:

How many people does it take to help the bride go to the bathroom? :)

I have known Bryan for five years now, and love him like a brother. It was so awesome yesterday to see him so happy, and to marry his best friend and the love of his life. They are perfect for eachother, and I was so honored to be a part of their special day :) As soon as I have access to some more pictures (that don't include toilets... lol) I will definitely post them!

We had Payton stay the night at the hotel with us Friday night, but she was not sleeping or napping well at all, so the night of the wedding my mom and dad offered to take her back to Albany so she could get some sleep in her crib. She's getting to the point now where she's much more aware of her surroundings, and it's a little bit harder to travel without it affecting her at all. She did great during the wedding though, in fact during one of the prayers I looked over at where she was sitting and she was staring straight at me, smiling and waving. Such a cutie! :)

I got a new camera, an "actual" camera with a lens, not just a point and shoot. I've really been enjoying taking pictures of Payton, and I can definitely tell the difference in quality already.

Playing with mommy's scarf...

...and chewing on my glasses, lovely.

Hi mommy

Hanging with Uncle Tanner!

Grandma Jo helping me with bathtime

I'm doing chores already... loading the dishwasher! :)

Silly time with daddy

I love being up high! Thanks Grandma Sue!

Reading a book...

Kyle, Payton and I have the Hall household to ourselves this week. Bryan and Lindsey are off on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico, and Rick, Sue and Tanner are in Arizona with Tanner's baseball team. Kyle is on spring break, but we've got plenty around here to do to keep him busy :) Hope you all have a great week (and for those of you who have this week off, enjoy!)

First year pics

2011-03-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Kyle and I went and had Payton's first year pictures taken yesterday. Usually when we do professional pictures she sits there and stares wide eyed at the photographer. I don't know if the glasses made the difference, or just the fact that she is older now, but we sat her down and she was like a baby model! It was awesome.

She did a great job. My baby looks so big! *tear*

I wanted to mention a special moment for Kyle and I... Tomorrow we have officially been together for 5 years. Five years ago, on March 15th, Kyle and I went on our first date to Coldstone Creamery (we didn't have enough money to go to dinner, so we went out for ice cream). When we got back to Kyle's house, he asked me to be his girlfriend... and the rest is history! :) The last five years have been the best of my life, and I am very very blessed. I love you Kyle!

2011-03-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

You know what I realized today is? One year ago was Payton's due date. I used to dream a lot of this day when I was pregnant, thinking of the little girl I was going to welcome into the world, what she would be like, who she would look like, etc. One year later, I have a fun, cute, sweet, loud, spirited little girl who looks like the perfect mix between me and Kyle. We're pretty darn blessed :) Payton is getting reaaaaally close to talking these days. In fact, she's starting to repeat me! When I ask "can you say mommy?" she will say "momma", and if I ask her to say "daddy", she will say "dada". She's fascinated with books lately, she loves staring at them and talking to them as she turns the pages. She's doing really well with switching to whole milk, we're glad she hasn't had any problems. We're brushing her teeth every night now, but she's mostly interested in just chewing on the toothbrush :) Every day is something new, a new adventure!

I love books!

Hello?

My mom tried to put my hair into a ponytail. It turned out pretty cute!

On Sunday I'm going to get Payton's one year pictures done (just a couple weeks late... oops) I'm hoping they turn out well! And then... it's wedding week! :) Gonna be busy, but I promise to blog!

12 month check up!

2011-03-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Payton's official 1 year stats are in:

Weight: 24Ib 11oz (92nd percentile)
Height: 31.5" (Greater than 95th percentile)
Head circumference: 19" (100th percentile!)

He said she looks great, very healthy. He gave us the ok to start whole milk, so we've started mixing it into her bottles, about 50% formula and 50% milk. Our plan is to get her used to whole milk, and then we will be slowly taking the bottle away. She's doing really great with her glasses, she rarely tries to mess with them, and if she does, it's usually to chew on them. We've had countless people tell us how adorable they look, and we would have to agree!

I took this video this morning, lately Payton has been playing "phone" a lot. She will do it with her cell phone, a remote control, her sippy cup... she's pretty funny :) She holds it up to her ear and answers!

One year ago...

2011-02-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Payton's first birthday... our little girl is officially a year old. Payton Marie Hall was born at 10:52am on February 27, 2010. She weighed 8Ibs 4oz and was 21.5 inches long.

3 weeks before Payton was born... that's a lot of baby in there!

I wasn't due for a couple more weeks, and since everyone told me that your first baby almost always goes overdue, Kyle and I were sure we still had a couple weeks and decided it was a good idea to visit family in Albany for the weekend. He convinced me by telling me that it would be one of the last times he could hang out with his brothers like the old times, without any responsibilites. He was very, very right :) I was laying in bed reading a book late at night (about childhood vaccinations, which I never got to finish unfortunately) when I felt like I was leaking. I went to the bathroom and confirmed it, so I woke Kyle up. We called my doctors office and they told me to give maternity a call and tell them that I would be coming in later that morning. She told me to go home, get a full nights sleep, take a shower, then come into the hospital to get checked out. We waited for Kyle's mom to get her bag packed so she could come with us, then took off. I had started to have some cramps, nothing too bad though. We got in the car, and when Kyle turned the corner to get out of the neighborhood my water GUSHED; and the real pain began. Kyle said that he's never driven so fast on I-5, we went 80-100 mph the whole way there. I couldn't even talk I was hurting so bad, by the time we got to Portland my contractions were 2 minutes apart lasting over a minute... needless to say, we didn't have time to swing by our house and pick up our bags, instead we headed straight to the hospital. I had to be admitted through the ER because it was about 4am on a Saturday, but they took one look at me, threw me in a wheelchair and took me straight to maternity. I got dressed in a hospital gown, and a nurse came in to check me; I was at 9cm! So about two hours after my water broke (and without any anesthetic), it was time to push. And push. And push, and push, and push. The only good thing about pushing for so long was that my mom got there in time, I was really relieved to see her. After about 3.5 hours of pushing and getting absolutely nowhere, the midwife who was attending me (it was a Saturday so I just got whoever was on call) called in a doctor to assess me. He gave me the option of manually turning the baby with forceps and then pushing for ANOTHER couple hours (and it only worked about half the time), or a c-section. I wasn't comfortable with my baby spending so long trying to get out, and Kyle and I had talked about it before and we really wanted to avoid the forceps and vaccuum, so we opted for a cesarean. They had just started another one, and since they weren't fully staffed because it was the weekend, I had to wait my turn (again, still without anesthetic!) to get into the OR. Finally, about 6 hours after arriving at the hospital, I was wheeled into the OR to have my baby. I didn't even feel the spinal shot, but I did feel the immediate relief from the pain that it provided. It was AWESOME. The whole morning had gone by in a blur, but it was like time stopped when my baby was born... it had been an extremely stressful morning, but when we heard our daughter cry, it was all worth it. At 10:52am, she was finally here!

Sweet little angel...

We pretty much just stared at her for the next 3 days we were in the hospital. She was perfect, and we loved sharing her with family and friends. We were discharged on March 2nd, and made the trek back to our house in Beaverton, back to the real world to start our lives as a family of three!

One year later, and our baby is growing up. She is definitely showing her personality! She loves music and loves to dance. She is getting more and more excited about reading books, and has started to point to different things while I'm reading. She is constantly on the move, crawling and climbing. She definitely doesn't sit still! Her favorite toys are anything that make noise, and she really likes touching mom and dad's toys (also known as our cell phones and computers). She loves to eat, and wants whatever you're eating (and she will yell at you until you give it to her!) She loves splashing in her bath, but she gets tired of it pretty quickly and is ready to move on to the next exciting activity. She's so much fun, and she even said her first word yesterday; she told her Aunt Chelsea "bye bye"! :)

This last year has made me and Kyle grow up a lot; I thought we were pretty responsible, we were homeowners, had college degrees, but nothing quite prepares you for parenthood. It has really been a journey, and we look forward to the many years we have in front of us as a family. We are very, very blessed :)

We had Payton's party yesterday here in Albany, which was a success. Kyle and I were probably more exhausted than the birthday girl, it's a lot of work to throw a party!

Kyle's cousin Sarah and her friend made these adorable cupcakes for Payton; they were delicious!

The birthday girl!

Payton and I with Mindy and Payton's second cousin, Melina. Her birthday is next month!

The Hall family

Opening presents! Payton got lots of great stuff!

I got a message this weekend that Payton's glasses were ready for pick-up, so after I got off work today we headed over to Corvallis to get them. It was funny, when the optician first put them on her face, she just sat there and looked around... made me wonder if she was seeing things a lot clearer and just taking it all in. She's tried to take them off a couple times, but we've been pleasantly surprised that for the most part, she kept them on without a problem. Hopefully once she realizes how much better she can see with them she will love them, I think it just bothers her to have something on her face. They look VERY cute on her!

I will definitely let you know how it is going! I have a feeling it is going to be an ongoing process :)

Happy birthday to my cute, sweet, funny little girl!

Birthday weekend

2011-02-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Hello there! Welcome to party central, we're in full swing birthday mode! We had Payton's first party last weekend in Gig Harbor, and now we're getting ready to celebrate the official day this weekend in Albany. I can't believe it's really almost here!

We headed up to Gig Harbor Friday afternoon around 3:30, although unfortunately we didn't get to my parents house until after 8:00. It felt like a reaaaallllly long car ride. Payton is not into just sitting these days, she wants to be getting into everything and exploring, so she wasn't thrilled about sitting in her carseat for so long. But we made it! I got to visit Elena on Saturday and get my hair done, and it was so nice to catch up with her and get pampered at the same time. We got done right as the party started, so when I got to the house there was already a driveway full of cars. All of our family came out to celebrate Payton's big day with us, which we so appreciated. It was a great party, a big thank you to my parents for hosting it!

My birthday outfit!

Some of my party decorations!

Funfetti cupcakes... yum!

Hanging with Great Grandma Book!

I got lots of great gifts!

I really liked the tissue paper and ribbons

I LOVED my cupcake! I picked up the whole thing and tried to stuff it in my mouth!

YUM!

My mom and dad have survived a year of parenthood! :)

Daddy always makes me laugh :)

Thank you to all of our family who came out to celebrate with us!

We took Payton to a basketball game at the high school last week after work. She was a little overwhelmed at first, but pretty soon she couldn't take her eyes off the court. She loved it! She even was dancing when the band played, it was SO cute. Check it out below!

Well, that's all for now. Next time I blog I will be the proud momma of a ONE-YEAR-OLD!!!

So...

2011-02-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

I took Payton to OHSU today to see her opthamologist, and the verdict is in... she does need glasses. Unfortunately her farsightedness has not improved, and he told us that if she does not start wearing glasses then she is at risk of her vision never developing normally. He said that she is more farsighted right now than most people will be in their entire lifetime, and that she may just be one of those people that always need glasses. How did I handle this news you ask? I have two schools of thought. One part of me is devastated, I'm not going to lie. My little baby needs glasses?? I don't want my baby to have to go through anything that may give her potential hardship (I think all of us moms out there can feel me on that one). On the other hand, I keep telling myself to chill out, that it's just glasses; millions of people have them, including lots of children. I don't think they're as common in babies, but I was surprised how much info there was on babies in glasses when I hit the internet (if you're interested in checking that out, I found a great site called www.littlefoureyes.com). When you look at her though she seems fine, so it's just so hard for me to believe that she struggles so much to see. He told us it's not that she can't see, but her eyes have to work really really hard to focus, much harder than they should have to. She doesn't know any different, so she doesn't complain. We're going to get her fitted with some frames sometime in the next week, and then go from there...

In a way, if you think about it, I almost think of Payton's hemangiomas as a godsend; if she had never had them, she would have never gotten checked out by an opthamologist, and we would not have figured this problem out probably until she started school. This past year has been quite a journey, and although some things have turned out a little (ok a lot) differently than I expected, I could not feel more blessed with the amazing little person in my life that I have the privelege of calling my daughter.

On that note, I'm pretty sure she'll be the cutest kid I've ever seen with glasses! This was after trying chocolate pudding for the first time. Yum!

P.S. I forgot to tell you in my last post... We're going to see Elton John in concert on Thursday! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!

LAST dose!

2011-02-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

I know it's been too long since I've blogged last, I apologize. I don't know where the time goes, but we've already been here four weeks. Crazy! This will be a busy blog, so let's get to it!

Yesterday was a pretty momentous occasion for us... Payton's LAST dose of propranolol. She was on it for 8 months, since last June. Kyle and I are so thankful for this medicine and everything it has done for her, it could not have turned out better. It was easy, inexpensive, noninvasive, and super effective. We are very, very lucky. Here's one last comparison:

The day she started the medicine, 3.5 months old...

11.5 months old. All I can say is wow!

My mom was able to make it down last weekend for Lindsey's bridal shower, which worked out great because she got to have the whole weekend with Payton. As soon as she got to the house we took off for the party, which was at Lindsey's church in Monmouth. It was fun! Made me excited for the wedding... just five weeks away!

Lindsey with all the loot

The bouquet for the rehearsal!

The boys brought Payton by after she took her morning nap; hanging with Grandma Jo!

My little lady with the lady of honor

Our little girl is doing amazing. I can't believe how much fun she is! She's a big girl, last time we were at the doctor she weighed 24 pounds, 9 ounces. She's had a little bit of a cold lately, but she hasn't let it slow her down. If you play some music she will wiggle and move her shoulders, it's really cute to watch her dance. She's also talking a lot more, it sounds like her own little language; you can tell that real words are just around the corner. Her favorite food right now is probably bananas, and not the baby food thank you very much! She wants to eat what's on your plate, and gets a little angry if you don't give it to her. She wants to walk by herself, she tries to swat your hands away if you help her, but she doesn't quite have the balance yet. She is cruising though! She has also hit the climbing stage, we lowered her crib as low as it would go. Speaking of her crib, the other day in her room she crawled right up to it and stood there like she wanted to get in, so we set her in there and she thought it was SO fun! She bounced and rolled around, and even played peek a boo with us. One of her favorite activities these days is opening and closing doors, cabinets, anything she can get her hands on. Once it's open, anything is fair game and she likes pulling everything out (and making a mess). She's had a new smile lately that is really funny, she likes to scrunch her face! I don't know where she got it from, but it's pretty cute. Someone also taught her how to snap her fingers, although when she does it she looks like she's asking for money :) On Monday she has an appointment at OHSU with her opthamologist. They're going to dilate her eyes, and this is the appointment where he's going to decide if she needs glasses, so it's a big appointment. I know it's not a big deal if she does, but I'm hoping that her eyesight has improved in the last couple months! I will let you know how it goes!

"After nap" hair

I rooted for Grandpa Rick's Steelers on Superbowl Sunday!

Begging for food at the table :)

Um... yeah. This one is pretty self-explanatory!

The classic scrunch face :)

This weekend is busy getting stuff done. I'm trying to do our taxes, and I also have to sign up for health benefits so that they start next month. Tonight I'm going to Ladies Night Out, which is a fundraiser for the senior class all night party. It's spa related, so manicures, pedicures, hair stuff, and a glass of wine. Sounds like a pretty good evening! Everything is going pretty well at work, I'm still working on vascular and it's making more and more sense. I take my first night of call with someone next week, so that will be interesting. Kyle is loving student teaching, he's having a lot of fun. He's teaching freshman social studies right now, and is really enjoying it. He has about a month left at the high school before he goes to the middle school for math for 12 weeks.

The traditional first day of school picture! :)

Next weekend we're celebrating Payton's birthday in Gig Harbor at my parents house; I can't wait! I can't believe it's already time to start celebrating her birthday. I'm extremely interested to see what she will think of cake and frosting :) Hope you're all having a good week, I promise I won't go two weeks in between blogs next time! Talk to you soon!

2011-01-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

Things are going well around the Hall household. Here are a few pics! :)

I got into the tupperware drawer!

Messy but cute :)

Check out all my chompers!

Haha, mom took this picture after dinner... she calls it the crazy baby picture!

Me and daddy

Little crawler

Hard to believe my first birthday is in just 4 weeks!

Playing catch

2011-01-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

Payton loves to throw a ball (she's already more athletic than her mother) and even congratulates herself on a job well done. Check it out!

TGIF

2011-01-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness it's Friday! I'm not used to working five days (I've been spoiled with working only four), so it just seemed like a longer week than usual. I'm finally starting to feel a little more settled at work though. All the different computer systems are making sense, and I'm becoming more familiar with scanning on the different machines. Enough about me though, I know who you really want to see! :) Payton wants to climb EVERYTHING! It's not safe to turn your eyes away from her for a second. She's been feeling so much better, back to her happy self. We've pushed her bedtime back towards 8:00, she's been waking up around 7:30 in the morning (which is awesome!) since I don't have to wake her up so early to go to work. She's been abandoning the army crawl and has been crawling regularly, even trying to bear crawl, which is hilarious to watch. Her sense of humor is really starting to emerge. The other day Kyle pretended to drink her bottle and she cracked up laughing, and she giggles and flails her arms around if you play peek a boo with her because she gets so excited. The days seem to be going by so fast...

Helping mom do laundry :)

Also helping us pack!

I have enough hair to start putting bows in!

Dad helping me drive the car - I thought it was so much fun!

Pretty blue eyes :)

I'm gonna get you!

Ooooh a glass door

I want to climb it...

I did it!

That was FUN mommy! :)

NEW!

2011-01-18T20:59:00.001-08:00

Whew, what a whirlwind the last few days have been! My brain feels like it's about to explode with new information and experiences. The last couple days have been pretty exhausting, but we seem to be settling into a routine here pretty nicely. Kyle, Payton and I moved down to Albany on Saturday afternoon with the help of my parents (who are AWESOME by the way!) We only took the "essentials", but turns out we needed to go back to U-Haul and get a bigger truck. It's amazing how much stuff you can have that you don't even know about. Rick and Sue left Sunday for Hawaii, so it's pretty much just been me, Payton and the boys. Payton has her own room, and Kyle and I are staying in Bryan's old room, which was Kyle's room in high school (Bryan is very graciously staying in a trailer in the driveway until his wedding in March--he's the best! Thank you Uncle Bryan :) Our stuff has been put away and organized, it feels good to finally be more settled.

My first day at Albany General Hospital was yesterday. I showed up at HR and filled out some paperwork, got my badge, watched a video on hand hygiene (yawn) and then headed over to the ultrasound department. One of the techs was off and another called in sick, so someone from Nuclear Medicine offered to walk me around since ultrasound was slammed. She helped me get some of my computer logins, passwords, all that stuff. I got to shadow ultrasound again in the afternoon, and it was a little overwhelming. I'm a quick learner and I know I can do it, but the idea of learning vascular (there's a LOT to learn!) is a pretty daunting task. Plus new computer systems, variations in protocols, new faces... when I went back today though it seemed a little easier, so I think by the end of this week I will feel more comfortable with everything.

Last night though... ROUGH. Easily one of the worst nights Kyle and I have had with Payton. Luckily we rarely have any bad nights, but she was a very unhappy camper last night. I felt so bad for her, you could tell she was in pain, but it's so frustrating that she can't tell you what's hurting her. She was up most of the night fussing and crying, and finally calmed down when I put some numbing drops in her ears. I asked Kyle to call her new pediatrician's office first thing in the morning so she could be seen, because we suspected she had another ear infection. This doctor was recommended to us by Kyle's aunt (who is an OB nurse and knows a lot of the pediatricians), and he is awesome! He checked Payton out, and she has an ear infection in both ears. Poor little girl :( So she's back on antibiotics again, and will hopefully start feeling better soon.

After my sleepless night I had to drive to Corvallis to attend my CPR recertification... fun. Not. Oh well, I only have to go every two years! I spent the rest of the day back at the hospital, trying to learn the computer systems. They haven't really had a chance to sit down with me though and do some specific computer training because they've been busy, so hopefully we can work in some time for that soon. I've only done a little bit of scanning, which has also been a challenge because I haven't scanned on one of their machines since college. So I'm reallllllly rusty, and still trying to figure out where all the knobs and everything are. I was so focused on learning the machine today that I completely forgot to take an important picture, and I felt like such an idiot. They were extremely nice about it, but I hate making mistakes like that, especially when I'm making first impressions and I know I'm better than that. I just told myself to take a deep breath. There's always tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm headed to the clinic in North Albany to get some 3D training for one of the machines, which should be fun. Then the rest of the week will be at the hospital learning as much as I can. I'm going to be working full time for the next 4-6 weeks, then I will probably start my regular shift at the beginning of March, which my manager said will usually be about 10:00 - 5:00. So awesome! That coupled with a less than 10 minute commute home means a lot more time with my family, which I'm very excited about!

Our little girl is starting to get into EVERYTHING, and I know it's just beginning. She can pull to standing, and has even started cruising a little bit. She got her first big bruise last week from falling, right on her forehead. It freaked me out, but I was assured by our parents that it is probably the first of many once she hits this stage. She doesn't want to bother with getting dressed or getting her diaper changed, she just wants to immediately roll over and try to climb something... which means every diaper change pretty much turns into wrestling match. She is now down to propranolol just once a day, and in about a week and a half it will be once every other day. Just three more weeks, and then she will be DONE! Amazing to think she's been on it for almost 8 months. Payton loves playing peek a boo, and we found out she can be very ticklish on her feet. She shakes her head "no" a lot, every question you ask her is no. She is very loud, and if she doesn't think you're paying enough attention to her she will give a little scream just to let you know she's still there. She loves to imitate sounds; if you make a funny noise, chances are she will try to copy you. It's so fun, like having a little conversation. She is sticking her tongue out a lot, I don't know why! I thought she was maybe feeling her new teeth with her tongue, but who knows. She's also started to drool a lot again; maybe a new tooth is on it's way? :)

Anyway, got another full day of learning ahead of me tomorrow! My next post will have pictures I promise. Have a great rest of the week!

Happy birthday to Ashlyn and Connor!

Payton Cracking Up!

2011-01-17T22:56:00.000-08:00

Lindsey took this the other evening. Isn't it the cutest laugh ever???

First day at work went great, exhausting but met a lot of nice people. Have CPR recertification first thing in the morning, so I'm going to head to bed. Will blog lots more details soon!

Last day

2011-01-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today was my last day at Providence... needless to say, it was a very emotional day. It's just so hard for me to grasp that I won't be working with and seeing these people everyday! They've been a big part of my life for the last three and a half years, and have taught me everything I know about the career that I love. I managed to hold it together throughout the day with only minor breakdowns, but I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I don't work there anymore. It probably won't really hit me until I walk into Albany General and they slap a badge on me and ask me to scan. I am starting an exciting new chapter, but that doesn't make it any easier to close the old one. Payton's last day at Wee Care was also hard for me; those women are so amazing at what they do and the program they run, and I'm going to miss seeing them and all the little ones everyday!

My teachers and classmates made this for me, aren't they sweet?!?!

Payton is doing amazing, we say this all the time but every day she is more and more fun. She can now push herself up into the sitting position from the floor, and is even pulling herself to her knees by herself when she grabs onto something (see video below). She will put her foot under her like she wants to stand, but can't quite get her weight on it, her foot just slips everywhere :) She was a little cranky over the weekend, but I think we figured out why; her two front teeth on the top have popped through. She now has two teeth on the bottom, and four on the top. We're working on teaching her "gentle" (she likes to swat at people's faces when they get close) and also the concept of an "inside voice". I finally ordered her a new carseat, she is waaaay too big for her infant one. This one will go up to 70 pounds and can be both rear facing and front facing, so we should get several years worth of use out of it. She's slowly transitioning into 18 months sizes for clothes, one of her notes from Wee Care the other day said that she's starting to look like a toddler in her clothes, not just a baby. Weird to think February is just a few short weeks away...

The rest of the week Kyle and I are going to be getting organized, packing stuff up into boxes and getting ready to move the essential stuff. I also have to go shopping for work clothes, at my new job they don't wear scrubs, it's business casual with a lab coat. I don't have a lot of that stuff, and I don't think they want me to show up in my jeans and Ugg boots :) It's definitely a good excuse to go shopping!

I'll keep everyone updated on the move!

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

My first post of the year! We rang in 2011 in Sunriver with the Casebolts and the Halls. I love when all of us get together! Neither Kyle or I worked on Friday, so we took off around noon... going over the pass took FOREVER though! We didn't get there until after 5:00, so by the time we got there we were definitely tired of being on the road. Time to party! Well, kind of. Our definition of "party" has changed a lot over the last year or two :) We had several studio condos, and it was nice that everyone could have their own space, especially Payton. She went to bed around 8:00, and my mom and Sue hung out in her room so the rest of us could have a chance to be loud and play games. Hard to believe another year is here already! 2010 was a huge year for us, and this year is shaping up to be pretty eventful as well.

Going for a walk in Sunriver!

All bundled up

This is my latest art project from school! I made a reindeer with my foot

So I mentioned in my last blog that Kyle and I are moving. Even though it's been our eventual intention to move, I never imagined it would happen so quickly; it's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that I only have a couple more days of work at Providence. Kyle was planning on student teaching in Albany starting in February, but we just figured he would commute until graduation. After that, we thought I would start looking for jobs based on whether or not Kyle got a job in the Albany school district. Every once in a while I would peruse different websites to look at what kind of jobs were out there, and when I looked at Samaritan's website they had just posted a job in ultrasound at Albany General. It was a .8 position, which means it's 32 hours per week. I kept coming back to it for a day or two, then decided to mention it to Kyle. The thing about positions in smaller hospitals is that they don't open up very often; the turnover is much lower. I couldn't help but think this may be our chance for the small town life we were craving. Not that Albany is a tiny town, but Kyle and I were becoming more and more frustrated living in Portland with the traffic and busy pace of life. We're just not cut out for living in the city long-term. The factors keeping me here were the love of my co-workers and Wee Care, and obviously our house. We decided though that I should just apply and see where it takes us. If I didn't get it then it wasn't meant to be, but if I did then we would consider our options at that point. I got contacted for an interview, and was offered the job the week after. After consulting with our families, we decided that this would be the best option for us at this point. The biggest thing holding us back is our house; we figured we would be in Portland for a while, so a couple years ago it made sense to buy it. We can't sell it, so we've decided we're goint to rent it out. In the meantime, we're going to be staying with Kyle's parents until that happens. Not the ideal situation for anyone, but they have been so gracious in moving their lives around so we can stay, and we're really thankful they're helping us out so much.

We just feel that in the long term this is the best decision for us. We will have so much more support and help in Albany, and my parents are hoping to eventually come south too someday, which would be perfect. Payton and I won't have to spend an average of probably about 5 hours a week commuting, plus it's a little bit of a reduction in hours for me, which is just more time I get to spend with Payton. I wish I could pick up where I work and all the people in it and just plop it down south, because the last thing I want to do is leave them. They have been some of my best friends over the years, and have taught me everything I know about ultrasound. I could never thank them enough for all the great experiences and memories, and I am determined to stay in touch no matter what. They're my ultrasound family :)

Friday night a bunch of us went out so that we could celebrate my new adventure.

Mom and Dad got a night out! :)

My work peeps... I'm going to miss them sooooooooooooooooo much!

So that's pretty much the scoop. This job will be very different, but I'm excited to start this new chapter. Albany General is very small compared to what I'm used to, so I think it will be a little bit of a culture shock! I will have to learn vascular ultrasound (blood vessels), which I haven't done since college, and I will be taking call as well, so lots of learning and new experiences in my future. Plus Kyle starts student teaching on February 1st, so the next couple weeks are going to be a little crazy. But, we will also get to spend more time together, so we're looking forward to that :) My last day at Providence is this Tuesday, and then Kyle and I are going to spend the rest of the week getting organized and packing up. I start the following Monday... I will be sure to update frequently!

2010-12-31T08:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry about my lack of a Christmas blog, most of us in the Hall household have been sick, sick, sick... 'tis the season I guess! Poor Payton got really sick last week, it was awful. She wasn't getting better on the antibiotics, and so I took her back to the doctor. Turns out, whatever she had was resistant to that particular antibiotic, so she still had an ear infection and was absolutely miserable. At that point she was also so congested that she was wheezing and breathing really fast. It was really scary, I hated seeing her like that! We ended up taking her to urgent care the next night (her doctor's office was too hard to get a hold of because everyone was at a Christmas party, go figure) and they gave her a nebulizer treatment and some albuterol and she has been MUCH better. She's practically a new baby! However, once she started to get better I started to get sick... I actually had to call in sick to work on Monday, which I have never done in my working career. Still not better unfortunately, but managing to make it through the day. But enough about that stuff, let's talk Christmas!

I headed up to Gig Harbor with Payton Christmas Eve morning, and we got there bright and early. Kyle came up as soon as he got off work. We always do Christmas Eve with the Book family, and we were so thankful that we could all be together this year. Grandma has done great since her surgery! Two weeks after brain surgery and she's walking and talking like you'd never know it. She is one amazing lady :) It was fun to watch Payton open gifts, she's funny because she would rip off one piece of wrapping paper and then play with that one piece. We would try to encourage her to open the rest, but only one piece at a time please! She ended up getting a little overwhelmed with everything, she got a LOT of gifts last weekend. Not that we're complaining :) She eventually went to bed, and we continued Christmas Eve downstairs. It was a great holiday as always!

My new stocking (thanks GiGi!) with my mommy and daddy's

Hanging with mommy!

I was VERY interested in the dogs this weekend. My mom and grandma are trying to teach me the word "gentle" because I like to swat at them.

Getting lots of love from Auntie Chelsea!

Opening my Christmas gifts

A holiday tradition... Christmas pajamas from Grandma! Payton got Christmas jammies from her OWN grandma this year... the tradition continues!

The next morning everyone got up with the baby, we were all excited to experience her first Christmas morning with her. We opened our stockings, and then exchanged gifts by the tree. All of the excitement tired her out pretty quick; she was only able to stay awake about two hours in between naps! We had a relaxing day lounging around the house, then headed to my Aunt Tawnya and Uncle David's for dinner and Christmas with the Casebolts. By that point Payton was a pro at this gift thing! Her cousin McKenna helped unwrap all her gifts.

Opening my stocking Christmas morning with my daddy!

The "kids"...

This is fun guys!

I got a BIG present!

It's MINE! lol :)

My mom and dad got this neat gift that will let them take me on hikes and stuff!

Giggling with Grandpa Scott

Hall family :)

My adorable outfit on Christmas day!

Playing with my new kitchen

Kyle headed back to Portland Christmas night because he had to work the next day, but Payton and I stayed at my parent's house through Sunday. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but then again it always seems like holidays fly by way too fast. It was also great being able to spend so much time with my sister; I don't get to see her nearly enough! But before I knew it, it was time to head back to the real world... thank you to everyone who made such a memorable and fun first Christmas for Payton!

A lot of exciting changes have been happening around here, including a really big one... Kyle and I have decided to move. I got offered a job at Albany General Hospital, and I decided to accept it last week. It will be a big change for us, but a very positive one I think. Kyle and I have been wanting to move to a smaller town with less traffic and congestion ever since we had Payton, and we will definitely get that in Albany. So, my last day at Providence is January 11th, and I start at Samaritan on January 17th! It was a hard decision to make, I love my co-workers a lot and it's going to be very hard to leave them. Kyle and I aren't sad to get out of Portland though, and we know we will have more time together and support in Albany. I'll discuss our move in much more detail in a later post!

In other exciting news, Payton is finally starting to really crawl a little bit, exactly one month after she started to army crawl. She will only do it a little bit so far though, and then drop to her stomach and scoot along. At this point, it's much faster for her :) I even got it on video!

We're taking off in just a little bit for Sunriver to spend New Year's with both sides of the family, which is awesome. I can't wait! Just waiting for Payton to wake up from her nap, and then we'll get going. I can't believe tomorrow is already 2011, it seems unreal. As usual though, it's shaping up to be a very exciting year for the Hall family! :)

Happy New Year everyone, I'll blog again soon!

First Christmas

2010-12-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

It has been very busy around the Hall household, getting ready for Payton's first Christmas. Kyle has been working almost every day, I think he's going to be glad once the craziness of Christmas shopping dies down a little bit. It's a catch 22 though, because we're glad he's working so much. This post is going to include a lot of video, hope everyone is ok with that :) We finally got our tree up, and we had Payton help us put her first ornament on the tree before she went to bed. She loves to stare at it!

What is this you guys??

I think I like it!

Hmmm... I want to explore...

Mom and Dad's greatest gift :)

The finished product!

On Friday Payton and I headed down to Albany for the Hall family Christmas, Kyle came separately once he got off work. We did our Christmas exchange that night, and Payton opened her first Christmas presents. She was funny, she looked pretty bewildered that so much attention was on her, and there was so much for her to look at. She liked ripping the paper, but not as much as the bows; she went straight for those! She got lots and lots of presents, and we still have another Christmas next weekend at my parents :) After that it was her bedtime, so we put her to bed and continued our Christmas in the family room. It was a fun night!

We all just hung around the house on Saturday, and that night at dinner Payton finally said the word that was magic to my ears... MAMA! I was so excited I cried, kind of silly but I feel like I've been waiting to hear it forever. Bryan got video of it, but for some reason it's not uploading so I will try again tomorrow. Payton now says mama, dada, baba. She's eating more and more table foods, tonight she had peas and carrots, and she's also tried little bites of mom's grilled cheese and even a cinnamon roll. She likes to munch on cheerios and graham crackers, and we put just a smidge of juice in her sippy cup this weekend and she loved it. Her teacher Sherry told me that they offered her some peaches the other day, and she ate those up too.

Payton got sent home from Wee Care again on Thursday with a fever. She had a little bit of one the night before, but she seemed fine so I thought it may be teething. When they called to tell me about it, it was about 100 so they were just monitoring it. They called back and said she had to go home because it was 102, and by the time Kyle got there it was almost 104. So I called her doctor's office and they got us right in, one of the reasons I love them! She has her first ear infection :( That's actually pretty amazing, considering she's almost 10 months old! She's on some antibiotics and eardrops, and has had a rough couple nights (which means that Kyle and I have also had a rough couple nights) but hopefully it will get better soon! She's also had a cough, which I think is what is actually bothering her the most because it wakes her up at night. 'Tis the season unfortunately!

So my great plans for our first family Christmas card unfortunately have not happened yet. I wanted to get one of us at the Christmas tree farm, and then when that couldn't happen I just wanted one in front of the tree, but we haven't had very much time together so... I hope everyone loves the idea of a New Year's card! :)

Payton giving a high five!

Payton and I are headed up to my parent's on Christmas Eve, once again Kyle will join us once he's off work. I can't wait, it's going to be fun! We're going to be there the whole weekend, visiting lots of family. I hope everyone has a great Christmas surrounded by their loved ones :)

Get well soon Grandma!

2010-12-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how busy this time of year gets, time is just flying by. Christmas is in 11 days?!?!

Our family spent the weekend in Washington visiting my grandmother. She had brain surgery on Thursday to remove a large tumor, and thankfully she has been doing well. To one of the sweetest, kindest, funniest, most generous people I have ever met -- get well soon Grandma! We are all thinking of you and praying for you, and we can't wait to see you for Christmas. Thank you for everyone's thoughts and prayers, it means a lot to us!

Payton is doing great, she's getting so big. We taught her to high five, which is so cute! She loves any toys that she can shake and make noise, and she also loves to try and crawl towards cords, laptops, cell phones, outlets... she's keeping us busy! I think she understands the word "no", although she doesn't really heed it. When I say it to her she stops what she's doing and looks at me, then gets this little smile on her face and goes right back to what she was doing. She's been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, so "traditional" crawling may be around the corner... although Payton hasn't really done anything the traditional way! :) Diaper changes and getting dressed are becoming a big challenge, she just does not want to sit still long enough and immediately flips over when she's placed on her back. She is officially a Dragonfly today, no longer a Ladybug. I'm excited for her to join a class with older babies, I think she'll enjoy their activities more. She loves group time, when they read a book or sing songs with everyone. They also do lots of art projects and stuff, so I think she'll have a great time. We had her LAST dermatology appointment yesterday at OHSU. Yay! He lowered her dose, which we're going to continue for one month. After that we will only give it to her once a day for two weeks, then every other day for two weeks... and then stop! So only two more months of propranolol, which is a weird thought. He said we don't really need to come back to see him unless we notice any bulging around her eye or a lot of regrowth. He also mentioned that if the superficial part of the hemangioma persists we could potentially have it lasered off, but the earliest he would do that would be 2 years old. I don't anticipate us doing anything like that, but we'll see how it looks before she starts school and make a decision then. Hopefully it continues to just go away! We are so thankful that this medication exists (and the fact that it's really cheap didn't hurt either). It's amazing the difference it's made, but we are also thankful that it will soon be over!

Kyle is going to get us a Christmas tree after work today, life got too busy and we didn't make it to a tree farm like I had planned. Oh well, there's always next year :) I'll definitely post pics of our lights, tree and house decorations when I find my camera... it might have gone missing, which is funny because it's usually attached to my right hand. Don't worry though, it can't be too far away! As soon as I find it I will post lots of pictures. We have a little fake tree downstairs as a decoration, and Payton loves looking at it, she breaks into a big smile when she sees it; I think she will be really wowed by a big tree!

This weekend we're doing Christmas at the Hall household, which will be fun. I'm excited to watch Payton tear some wrapping paper! I think she will probably enjoy that just as much as the actual gift. She looooooooooves paper. It tears, it crinkles, it bends, it rips... what's not to love?!

Today is Kyle's birthday! He is 26, which he says sounds so much older than 25 :) When I met him he was just 20, which is funny to think. Happy birthday hubby!

Pictures

2010-12-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

I have THREE new teeth coming in -- one more on the bottom, and two on the top!

Standing all by myself!

I'm gonna come get you mom!

I was looking through some older pictures the other day, and I was amazed at how much she has grown just by looking at her in her car seat! This is 6 months...

...and nine months! She's almost at the height requirement for her carseat, so she'll probably be getting a big girl one around the time she turns a year old.

Was she really ever this little?!

Grandma we are thinking of you all the time and are praying for a smooth recovery. I love you so much; you are the toughest woman I know!

Growing girl!

2010-12-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

I took Payton to her 9 month well check at the pediatrician today, and it went great! She's a big girl. She weighed 22 pounds even (about the 94th percentile), and is 29 inches long (about the 96th percentile!) The nurse measured her length twice because she thought there was no way she'd grown that much! They said she's about the size of an average one-year-old. She's grown four inches and gained four pounds in about three months. Her head circumference was 19 inches, which was off the charts for girls, in almost the 100th percentile. No wonder it's getting harder to carry her around :) Her doctor was really impressed with what the propranolol has done, and said she's right on track developmentally. She got just one shot, the last of her hep B series. She didn't cry, but she did give the nurse a really big pout and a glare!

I went to my appointment in this new outfit my daddy got me!

Crawling... army style!

2010-11-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday, Payton's first Thanksgiving was really fun. We awoke early Thursday morning and drove down to Albany, thankfully no traffic. Eventually we made it over to Grandma Joy's house, which is where we were eating our turkey lunch. It was delicious! After taking a nap, we were all excited to give Payton her first real food; mashed potatoes. I thought for sure they would be a hit, especially with a little gravy. Little did we know we were WRONG! She wouldn't eat them! I was really surprised, she usually eats pretty much anything I give her... I think it might have been a texture thing. We even mashed up some sweet potatoes, but that was a no as well. She kept looking at us like we were trying to torture her!

This looks like a smile, but I'm wincing in disgust!

Ewwwwww

Why are you feeding this to me???

We gave her some baby food after that, and she loved it! She's funny, hopefully starting chunkier foods won't be too much of a challenge.

This is what mommy is thankful for :)

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Uncle Tanner's baseball hat!

Little lovey

It was hard to leave Payton behind Thursday night, but I survived. She took off for Lincoln City with everyone else, and Kyle and I headed back up to Portland to work the next day. Kyle worked about 12 hours on Friday, and after he got off work we headed to the coast for the weekend. Kyle's family rented a huge house, and we all crammed in. There were 17 of us! The only drawback was the noise, because the house was not well insulated at all, and it was VERY noisy all the time. Unfortunately Payton slept really bad because of this, but I tried the best I could to make it ok for her. I think she's teething again also, which definitely didn't help. We watched football, went shopping at the outlet mall, played games, and a few brave souls even took a trip to the beach. A fun weekend!

While I was visiting Payton at Wee Care yesterday she started to army crawl and scoot forward! I can't begin to tell you how proud I was, it is amazing to watch her. She even got up on all fours for a split second, and was even better at it today. She is standing really good on her own holding onto something, she is very sturdy. Her first tooth finally popped through about a week and a half ago, and she's already hard at work on the second one. I can see it under her gums, right next to her first. I swear she grows more hair every night, and if I don't brush it right after her bath it gets really curly. Cheryl said that Payton will probably move up to the Dragonfly room in the next couple weeks, especially now that she's getting mobile. My little baby is growing up!

I took this today at Wee Care...

She did it for her daddy tonight too!

Thursday is Payton's 9 month check up with her pediatrician, and I'm anxious to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. I feel like she's grown so much since we were last there in early September! I will let you know all the details on Thursday.

This weekend will be dedicated to making this house look like Christmas. I'm so excited December is here! We're planning on visiting a Christmas tree farm in Hillsboro on Sunday, it's been years since I've had a fresh cut tree. I prefer the fake kind to be honest, but it will be a fun outing with Payton and something she can look forward to every year. I can't wait to see her face staring at all the lights and shiny decorations!

Happy (almost) Turkey Day!

2010-11-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Sue, Lindsey and Bryan came up to visit. Kyle was working, so Uncle Bryan watched Payton while the girls went to David's Bridal to pick out my bridesmaid dress for Lindsey's wedding, which is just around the corner in March. It was very productive, I found one that we all liked and it is on it's way! Afterwards we all got our rings cleaned at Shane Co. (gotta love when they sparkle!) and by then Kyle was home so we ate some dinner and watched the Beaver game. I know, normally we wouldn't but Lindsey is a beaver fan (and Sue works at Oregon State)... as long as they are not playing Oregon, I will root for any local team! :)

Uncle Bryan feeding me dinner!

Daddy trying to spike my hair... it's grown a lot!

After I took this picture this morning, I realized how many cords I need to move and get off the ground... sure enough, right after I realized it she lunged for them! I'm working on it!

Today was a very relaxing day. Just hanging out around the house getting stuff done, and we topped it off with dinner at Red Robin. Payton was really funny, there was another family across the restaurant with two little boys and she stared at them almost the whole time! She was cracking us up. One of the boys was staring back, but Kyle kept telling Payton that he was too old for her :) She kept reaching for our food, luckily I brought along some cheerios for her to munch on and that kept her pretty occupied.

It's amazing how much Payton is growing. I know I say that all the time, but it seems like at this age their development just explodes. She can now wave hello, turn the page of a book, and even imitate you. If you stick your tongue out at her and blow raspberries, she will blow some right back. It's super cute :) She's also getting to the age where she throws a little fit if you take something away from her that she wants. She gets over it really quick, but lets out quite a scream! She is rolling EVERYWHERE, Kyle and I will set her down on the floor and look at her a minute later and be like "how did you get over there?!" She is also able to use her hands to propel herself in a circle while on her stomach, and looks like she really wants to crawl. Her legs just haven't gotten the message yet! She won't get up on all fours, and whenever we try and put her in that position her legs go rigor mortis and she won't stay on her knees. I know I need to be patient, I'm sure it will come when she's ready :) I can't believe she's already nine months old in just a couple days. In just three short months we'll be putting together the last minute details for her first birthday party. Weird!

Thanksgiving is almost here! Thursday is actually my day off this week, so it's just a normal work week for me. Kyle has this week off from school though, which is nice. We're going to be heading down to Albany early Thursday morning, the plan is to eat early around noon. The Halls and the Hays have rented a house at Lincoln City on the coast for the weekend, so they're all going to leave after we eat and Kyle and I will join them Friday night after we get off work. Kyle has to be at work at 4:30 am, bright and early for all those Black Friday shoppers :) We decided to let Payton go with the family and we'll come back to Portland alone. If she came back with us she would just spend the day in Wee Care, and if she goes to Lincoln City she will get spoiled rotten by about a dozen people who are dying to play with her. A no brainer!

There was a light dusting of snow when I woke up this morning, which makes me nervous for tomorrow. It's funny how your perception of snow changes over the years. 10 years ago I would have been ecstatic, hoping that it got me out of school. Now I just groan and dread having to drive to work in it :) It was super cold today, so I think at the very least it will be icy. Thank goodness I have all wheel drive in the mom-mobile!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Especially the Books and the Casebolts, we will be thinking about you and are sending love your way. Hope you all have a great weekend, and good luck to all you brave Black Friday shoppers! :)

Eye doctor update

2010-11-18T16:54:00.001-08:00

Hello all! Hopefully this weather doesn't find you in the dark, the power went out on us last night! It's been very windy, rainy and stormy here, and they are even saying there is a possibility of snow next week. I really hope not, because that equals the worst traffic ever!

I took Payton to her follow-up eye appointment today at OHSU. The doctor said that her vision looks equal in both eyes, which is good. They decided not to dilate her eyes today because he was hesitant to do any intervention with glasses before she was a year old anyway. So we're going back in 3 months; they will dilate her eyes and if it hasn't improved then he will prescribe her glasses. He said that sometimes they see kids 3-6 months later and it seems like they have a pair of brand new eyes, so I'm glad they're giving her eyes a little bit longer to mature. Plus, my vision insurance doesn't kick in until January, so that works for me :) Hopefully the astigmatism will be totally gone too, since her hemangioma is so much smaller. All in all, a very hopeful appointment!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Date night

2010-11-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I have decided we need to do date night more often! It was much needed, especially now that school and work are in full swing. We usually only get to see eachother for about 15 minutes in the morning when we're getting Payton ready for Wee Care, and maybe an hour or two before we go to bed, and that's if Kyle doesn't have class. We're not really relaxing during that time either, we quickly eat dinner, clean bottles, make bottles for the next day, throw in a load of laundry, Kyle does homework... basically we get ready to wake up and do it all over again. We know that it won't be like that forever, but it's been super busy and we just haven't been able to take the time with eachother. So, our wonderful mothers came down on Friday so that we could go out to dinner and a show! We left after Kyle got home from work. First stop: Olive Garden, which was delicious. I always think Italian food is good though. After we stuffed ourselves, we hopped on a MAX train to head downtown. We were seeing Lisa Lampanelli, who is an insult comic, and totally hilarious. You've probably seen her if you watch any of the celebrity roasts on Comedy Central. We were a couple hours early though, so we got some coffee and wandered around to Pioneer Square downtown. They are already setting up their big Christmas tree! It was a perfect night, it was cold but it wasn't raining so I wasn't complaining. We sat on a bench and just people watched, and talked and talked and talked. Eventually we got up to go to the show, which was just up the street. It was so funny! We were super tired by the time it got over though, when we got home we went straight to bed. Our moms let us sleep in the next day, which was also a rare luxury, and had even done our laundry and vacuuming and stuff. Thank you SO much to my mom and mom-in-law, you guys are the best!

Before the show!

Portlad! :)

On Saturday Kyle relaxed at home with Payton while the girls went shopping. It was a very successfull shopping trip, we went to Target, Payless shoes and Kohls. We made it home just in time for the Duck game! It was definitely a very nerve wracking game to watch. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win!

Go Ducks!

Grandma Sue got me a new toy!

I like to practice my standing with it too

I'm doing a good job! :)

I had Payton's student teacher conference on Thursday, which went well. Cheryl said she's doing great, and is within normal limits for all her skills. She said probably the biggest area she needs to work on is what they call "problem solving", which just means that instead of us handing her toys and stuff to do, we need to work on letting her figure out how to get them herself. So I've been working with Payton a lot by setting her on the floor with some toys out of her reach, and not helping her. She gets a little frustrated at first, but then really concentrates and figures it out!

Official Wee Care picture

Payton wasn't feeling very good again this weekend. She had a low grade fever on and off for a couple days, and was very mellow, not a lot of energy. This weekend was the first time I've EVER seen her not finish a bottle; she drank a couple ounces and then would not drink anymore, closed her eyes and went to sleep on my mom's lap (which is also VERY unlike her). She was not interested in solid food either, but still wanted to try and eat Cheerios. She's been great this morning so far, so I think she's feeling much better!

Her tooth hasn't quite popped through yet, but you can definitely see it!

Today we are off to Costco to get new tires for the Prizm. I've had the current set of tires for almost 7 years, so they are definitely due to be replaced, especially with winter here. They lasted me through most of high school, 2 years in snowy Klamath Falls and 3.5 years in Portland, so it will be with a fond and grateful farewill that we say goodbye. LOL :)

Payton has an appointment with her eye doctor on Thursday, and I'm really anxious to see what he thinks and if he's going to recommend glasses. We recently had open enrollment for our insurance at work, and I enrolled Payton in vision insurance, just in case. We will just have to see what he says!

Oh yeah! It's that time of the month again... no, not that one :) Comparison time, 5 months later!

The one on the back of her head...

... barely noticeable now, especially through all the hair she's grown!

About two months old, you can really see the bulge under the skin in this picture...

... now we don't even notice it!

I thought this was kind of fun too, my mom showed me this picture taken of me at about one year...

... do you see the resemblance?? :)

Growing girl...

2010-11-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Payton has had a lot of exciting changes lately. She is rolling all over the place, and has even started lunging forward for toys from the sitting position, which sends her head first onto the floor onto her tummy. She doesn't really like it, but once she figures out how to hold her head up while doing it I think she will be lunging all over the place. Even though she doesn't crawl quite yet, she still finds a way to get into everything within her reach, which means babyproofing needs to start happening soon. She's very talkative, and if you reach your arms out to her, she will reach hers out for you too. Her front bottom teeth are RIGHT at the surface, I can see them! When I rub my finger on her gums, I feel two sharp little jagged edges, so I'm expecting them to pop up any day now. I've been trying to teach her to clap and wave bye-bye, and yesterday she waved back at me for the first time, which was really cute and exciting. I've caught her several times looking at her hand when I'm changing her diaper, and she stares at it as she slowly opens and closes her fist. I think she's just starting to realize she can control that! :)

Ok, I want these toys... how am I going to do it...

Hmmm... I can't quite reach it...

But Mooooooom!

Ok, I'll try again...

I almost look like I'm on all fours, but I have my foot stuck underneath me!

Ahhh! This isn't working!

Now I'm getting it!

And then I face planted... not too happy about it :)

I'm also getting better at standing! In very short spurts :)

I took her to a Gymboree class last Thursday, on my day off. It was crazy, there were six babies in the class and three of them were born on February 27th! Very random. It was fun, they had lots of different activities for the babies to try and explore. I think I was more tired than Payton at the end though! It was cool to chat with other moms, and see the babies interact with eachother. Plus, Payton took a nice long nap afterwards!

I had a CRAZY hair day on Thursday!

Mom didn't care though, because I'm pretty cute :)

Seriously... it would not be tamed!

Kyle's brother Tanner turned 18 on Thursday, and so on Saturday the Hall family came up to go out to dinner. Little did Tanner know he had some surprises coming! We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, and while we were waiting to be seated Sue gave him his birthday card, which had basketball tickets for the Portland Trailblazers in it. He asked when it was, and we told him right after dinner! Then right after that the Hays family came in, and so his cousins and aunt and uncle surprised him, all wearing Blazers gear. Kyle and I weren't able to go to the game, but Tanner's girlfriend Brittney came up to the game and surprised him too! So it was a great night, and it was the perfect place to take Payton to dinner... very loud! Although I don't let her watch TV at home, and Buffalo Wild Wings is a sports grill so there were like 30 TV's... needless to say, Payton was pretty much in heaven!

With great Aunt Pam and Grandma Sue

Mom and Dad with the birthday boy, Uncle Tanner

Dad let me chew on his celery!

My first time in a highchair at a restaurant!

Today was pretty relaxing, we hit up Costco and Fred Meyer for some groceries. I think after Payton wakes up from her nap we're going to take advantage of this sunshine and go for a walk!

Sitting in the shopping cart like a big girl!

I get Payton's school pictures tomorrow, and I know I'll get suckered into buying more than I should, because I'm sure they'll be adorable :) I'll try and post those sometime this week so you can see them too! I also have a parent teacher conference with Payton's teachers on Thursday, which they do twice a year to talk to the parents and let them know how their child is developing, and any concerns they have. I'll let you know how that goes as well!

Here it is, your moment of Zen. I saw this while out and about today...

Best. License plate. Ever.

2010-11-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Warning: this video is loud! I took this last night before Payton's bath, and in case you've never met her... she yells. A lot. Not angry, just letting you know what she thinks! :)

As promised!

2010-11-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Alright, let's get to the good stuff... pictures! I realized as I was uploading these that I was pretty lame about taking pictures of Chelsea and Richard's visit. Sorry :( That is very unlike me!

Playing with Chelsea and Richard...

Am I a cutie or what?!

I have a feeling her eyes are going to stay blue :)

About to surprise cousin Courtney!

Trick or treat!

Hanging with Daddy and Courtney's boyfriend Myron

And we just got these back today... official Halloween pictures!

Little ladybug

Do I look spooked or what?!

Kyle is taking his math subject test on Thursday, think good thoughts for him! He just found out that his last day of school before he starts student teaching is December 8th, so only about a month left at Concordia. Crazy!

Happy birthday Tanner and Brittney! :)

First Halloween and visitors from Spokane

2010-11-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! Chelsea and her boyfriend Richard came to visit us this weekend, and it was really fun to meet him and see my sister. We hung out, went out to dinner, took a walk around the neighborhood... it was a nice relaxing weekend :) I don't have access to my pictures right now, but will post them soon... in the meantime I will post about the weekend!

On Thursday, Wee Care called me and told me Payton had a fever. She had been acting irritable that morning, and everyone mentioned how she was not her usual happy self. I ran over there to give her some tylenol (one of the many advantages to onsite daycare). If a temperature gets above 100.5 they send the child home, and while I was there they took it again and it was 100.8. Unfortunately, she has to be symptom and fever free for a full 24 hours before she can go back, so she couldn't go back until Monday. I called Kyle at work, and we ultimately decided that he would come take her home and be with her the rest of the day, and I would take Friday off to watch her. Poor thing :( I think she was teething... if I ever thought she was teething before, that was NOTHING compared to this! Let's just say it was a rough couple nights. On Friday night she woke up so upset, I hadn't seen her cry like that since she was a newborn before we got her reflux under control. I was finally able to get her to calm down by holding her and rocking her, but she got upset when I tried to put her back in her crib. So Kyle and I set up the pack n play in our room and let her sleep in there for the night, and she did much better. She has still been occasionally irritable throughout the day, but has been sleeping better, so that's good. No teeth to show for all that drama unfortunately. When I dropped her off at school this morning she was all smiles again though, so I think she's feeling much better!

Kyle worked on Saturday, so Chelsea, Richard and I hung out at the house. They were going to go check out Eugene since Chelsea is thinking of going there for grad school, but Eugene is 2 hours south and they woke up around 10:30 so their day started kind of late... ahhh those good ole college days. What is sleeping in again??? :) We went out for mexican food that night, and when we came back Chelsea passed out on the couch while Richard and I watched the Ducks beat USC (and become the #1 football team in the country!) Kyle was really sad he missed the Duck game, but we recorded it so he could watch it when he came home. After that we were pretty tired, so it was an early bedtime for everyone!

Chelsea set her alarm for 8am on Sunday so they could get going to Eugene, but 10:00 rolled around before anyone woke up :) They decided to go explore downtown Portland instead. While they were doing that, Kyle and I got Payton dressed up and took her "trick or treating" to Kyle's cousin Courtney's apartment. She moved up to Portland in August to start dental school at OHSU, and actually lives just 15 minutes away from us. Pretty ironic that Payton's future dentist was the one to give her her first piece of candy! :) It was fun to chat for a while, and Payton loved staring at Courtney's cat. I was really glad we dressed her up and took her out, I would have felt lame just keeping her at home all day on her first Halloween. We only had about six trick or treaters, so there is a lot of leftover candy to eat.

I'll post pictures from the weekend as soon as I can!