Boring Mommy Post (for my own nostalgic benefit)

Funny things Peyton has been saying and doing lately...

"Bunkies"- sprinkles

"Careful, mommy, careful"

"1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10"

"ab, ab, ab, abc, c, ab, e, e, e"

"1, 2, 3, pink, 6"

she calls everything that she likes "pink"

singing "happy birthday to you" totally unprompted, out of nowhere

whenever she is really bugged with me, because she wants something, she'll breathe in and say "mom [pause] please [pause]"

"hoed ju"- hold you (hold me)

burps, then says "I burp. Pardon me burp"

"tummy button"- belly button

"thank you. welcome" instead of just "thank you"

"Yay-dee gaga"- Lady Gaga

"I want one..."

sometimes calls us "Jade" and "Ash" (ie: "No, Jade, more fishies.") It's super fully, but we're trying really hard to break the habit.

When we pulled into the pharmacy drive-thru, and when they sent me back the prescription (in a white paper bag), Peyton said "French fries please, mom"

She loves to go through lists of all the people she knows. She's actually getting really good at names.

I tried to get her to trade in her binky for a fish. It almost worked, but she wasn't quite ready. Now we have a pink and purple betta fish named "pink binky" and a pink binky.

"I don't want that" or "I don't want it" every single time I do something she doesn't like. I guess it's better than whining or tantruming, but still.

Lately she's been stingy with hugs and kisses. I'll say "Can mommy have a kiss?" And she'll say "No." And I'll say "okay", and she'll say "ONE" and proceed to give me ONE kiss or hug. I should note that she never denies her daddy a hug or a kiss. And he always gets more than ONE.

New pet.

Another Great Utah Trip

It kind of feels like we've been in Utah more this summer than in Portland! We just got back from a very hectic (but VERY fun!) Utah trip. This trip was even more fun because we went with (almost) our whole family to go to Jade's cousin Sydney's wedding. Jade drove down to Utah early last Wednesday morning, so he could work along the way and left Peyton, Tinky and me home all alone until Saturday, when we flew out to Utah to meet him. The first red flag of the trip was the 2 hour ride to the airport. 2 hours! That drive usually takes 35 minutes, one hour tops if you're in rush hour traffic. But we were blessed with our flight being delayed 2 1/2 hours (how often do you consider that a blessing?) so we were able to make our flight. Peyton was actually pretty amazing on the flight. My secret weapon: strapping her in her car seat. It was one of my best ideas ever. We spent the night with Steph and Rawlin, and then in the morning, we went to Sacrament meeting with Jerai and Phil in our old ward. It was so fun to see lots of our old friends. It made me miss Utah a little. We spent the afternoon with Jerai, Phil and Boyd at Phil's family's house, taking the kids on 4-wheeler rides, jumping on the tramp, and letting them pet the bulls. Peyton loved the bulls. We had a delicious dinner with the Moultons, played an intense game of Boccie Ball, then went up to South Jordan to see Jade's favorite old mission companion, Jessie Clark, and his wife and little girls. Peyton had a great time playing with Abby, and the adults all had a great time visiting, catching up and playing a raucous game of Scattergories. The boys tried to cheat, but we still managed to beat them. Monday we had breakfast with the Clark's, then headed to Steph's salon to get our hair done and to put Peyton down for a nap. We had a Schindler/Thelin family luncheon at Pizza Factory, and we were all happy to have the private room in the back, because there were 4 toddlers running around and it was crazy. We seriously love those Schindlers; and we all gave a concerted effort to get them to relocate to Portland. Monday night Peyton was super grouchy from her barely-nap, so we decided not to inflict her wrath on anyone, and we just got a hotel room in Orem, put her to bed early, got Cold Stone, and watched The Bachelorette (well, I watched it, and Jade slept). Tuesday we all woke up well-rested and happy, and we dropped Peyton off at the Moulton's, where our angels Jill and Beth volunteered to babysit Peyton (along with Boyd) while we were at the wedding in Salt Lake. The sealing was beautiful, the bride was beautiful, the weather was beautiful; the day was basically perfect. We had a family luncheon after the sealing and pictures (lots of pictures) at the Joseph Smith building; which I had never been to, but has an absolutely stunning view of the temple grounds. After the luncheon we went to fetch our little one, then headed back up to Sandy for the reception. It was at this place called La Jardin, which is a beautiful greenhouse that you can rent out for receptions. It turned out so great! Everything was so cute, and so Sydney. It really was awesome. We left the reception early so we could get on the road at a decent time, because we had a long drive ahead of us. We drove the 5 hours to Boise, then stayed the night at a little hotel, then got up (way too) early with our bad sleeper, then made the drive home. It should have only taken about 7 hours, but Jade worked along the way, making stops every few towns, so the drive ended up taking about 13 hours. It was brutal. Peyton was an all-star though, which is more than a mom could ask for. Like always, it was a great trip, but I'm happy to be home and back to our normal routine.

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Jade took Peyton for a ride on the 4-wheeler (Peyton calls anything with a motor a "ride")

Cutie little cousins

Sisters (minus Kris)and with Mom Siblings (minus Jer)a tribute picture, to Jeremy

Don't know quite what this face is, but I sure do love it.She kept pulling up the tulle on her dress and looking through it- it was actually pretty funny.I put this picture on to show some of the details of the reception (plus the greenhouse), but also because I thought Peyton's face was pretty classic (see below)

She was pretty happy to be sitting with the big girls

Last, but not least: the Beautiful Bride

Independence Day (and more)

I loved that Independence Day was on a Sunday this year- it gave us the whole weekend to celebrate our country's freedom! We started off our holiday with church, then Peyton's naptime and then a big family BBQ at JaNea and Nipper's. The kids had a great time running around and watching their dads and Uncle Frank lighting (illegal) fireworks. They thought that was pretty awesome. Peyton surprisingly loved fireworks- she called them "pop-pops" or "poppers" and even if she heard one but couldn't see it, she would tell me "mommy pop!" We put her to bed early at left her and the triplets with Uncle Nipper, so we could go to the huge neighborhood fireworks show by our house. It was a 45 minute show- like I said, HUGE!

Last week it was beautiful weather- sunny and in the 90's, which feels lots warmer in Portland. We spend almost all day in the sun, every day. We went to the park a few times, the fountains a few times, the pool a few times and golf course for Pasta Night with our friends Joe, Kate and Annika. Saturday we went with all the Comcast boys to Punch Bowl Falls, a beautiful waterfall on Eagle Creek in Hood River, OR (by famous Mt. Hood). It was an easy, 2 mile hike that is through a gorgeous forest. We brought Peyton in her backpack carrier and she thought it was fantastic. Tink came too, of course, and she loved it all- except the freezing cold water in the Creek. Jade caught his (already broken twice) ankle worng on a rock, and re-sprained it. That was exciting. Also, all the guys (except my injured husband) cliff-jumped the 80+ foot waterfall. They're crazy. Lots of them had bruises and sore bottoms after that. If the waterfall looks familiar, that's because it's in the temple video (the one with the brunette woman)!

Lately...

We've been trying to soak up every single minute of heat and sunshine we can! We've been on lots of fun adventures since we've been back from Vegas/Utah...

We went to this awesome new park with 2 huge play structures (really creative, cool ones) and a big fountain. We went with the Janecks, and the girls had a blast. We went swimming at Brittney's aunt's pool. It was heated to 85 degrees and it was super warm and sunny outside. Basically perfect. None of us wanted it to end.The girls loved jumping to us in the water. Peyton kept wanting to go off the diving board, which was great for her, but really hard for me- treading water constantly.

For Father's Day, we bought the boys and their dad a pass to "Threat Dynamics", an indoor gun range with situation simulators. They were in a room with about 300 degrees of projections of different scenarios where they had to react and not get themselves killed (shocked/zapped with their gun). The boys all loved it!

Super-eventful Saturday

Today Peyton and I went to a parade with Grandma, Gabe, and Sam (and Grandpa, but he made a sacrifice and stayed in the car because there was nowhere to park). It was so fun! Peyton loved every minute of it- she just stood there and waved and jumped up and down. She was having a blast. She danced when any floats with music or a band walked by, and she was absolutely mesmerized by the fancy horses. She was so excited about the candy too. Any time someone would throw candy by us, Peyton would sprint to get it. Luckily her cousins were really patient with her and let her pick up lots of it. A few times she actually ran out in the middle of the parade on her quest for candy. 2 year olds can be quite fast when they have the proper motivation. Several of the candy-passer-outers stopped by to give Peyton candy right in her hand or in her bag, which was so nice. She felt like that whole parade was for her. It was really cute. Then we came home, and after nap Peyton had a babysitter come over so that Jade and I could go out with the Comcast guys and their wives to "Rock the Range"- an event over at the golf course. Well, we were there for about 2 hours, and it was just starting to get fun when Jade got a phone call from the babysitter's dad. Our carbon monoxide detectors were going off in the house! Our poor babysitter (who luckily lives right next door) took Tink and Peyton over to her house and had her dad go over to our house to check things out. Jade got off the phone with him and said to his friends "Well, guys, what do you want to do now?" I was like "Uh- go home!" Typical guy. Eventually Jade decided it was indeed a good idea for us to go home, and so we did. And when we got home, guess what we saw... A firetruck. With 3 firemen. I was grateful, but embarrassed, and a little amused. Luckily there wasn't any carbon monoxide, just a short in the wiring of the detectors. Anyway, it was a pretty eventful night, and I can never resist doing a post.

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She wouldn't turn away from the parade for me to get a picture

Cheering on some float. That face is pretty special.

She just plopped down on the ground and started digging in her candy

Documentation:

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We had Peyton's 2 year check-up today, and I learned some fun things about my little girl...
She is in the 45th percentile for height- 33 3/4"

She moved up to the 2nd percentile for weight!- 22.15 lbs. (she gets that from her mommy)

She is in the 75th percentile for head circumfrence (she gets that from her daddy)

Also, the doctor did the usual developmental exam (basically just asking me questions, and asking her questions). When he was done, he told me she is doing great, and that he was asking 3 year old developmental questions, which she passed with flying colors. So I'm going to have to remember that good news the next time she throws herself on the floor at Target, screaming, and banging her head on the ground.

A few fun 2-year old stories...
Lately I've been asking Peyton what lullaby she would like me to sing her at bedtime. About 75% of the time she requests "Imma Be". So funny.
She always responds to the question "how old are you" with the answer "I'm 3!" I mean always. If you say "no, you're 2." She'll say "No, I'm 3!" It's so funny. I've only ever heard her give a different response one time. It was "I'm pink!" So cute.

Peyton doing one of her favorite pasttimes: riding Tink (or trying to ride Tink)

Whirlwind Month

Where did June go? It always feels like summer months go by so much more quickly than winter months. Why is that? We are finally back home from our Utah-Vegas-Utah-Vegas trip. It was a really great (and busy) month. After I posted last, my mom went to Paris for her friends' wedding (the bride is from France, and they got married in a castle. Literally.) While she was packing, Peyton was getting really sad because she realized my mom was leaving. She kept saying "I go" and "Noni, no". She disappeared for a minute and came back with an armful of her clothes and started packing them in my mom's bag. It was so cute and a little sad. I was in charge of the house and dogs and kids. Surprisingly enough, it was actually really relaxing. The house and dogs parts were easy, and the kids are pretty self-sufficient. Every day while Peyton napped, I laid in the sun and read, taking a dip in the pool when necessary to cool down. It was awesome. I love vacations. Peyton loved swimming, and especially loved jumping into the pool (into my arms). She thought that was about the greatest thing ever. We went on several play-dates and basically just hung out outside, enjoying the sunshine and heat (in Portland, they have had record rainfall for the month of June)(side note- it's July 1st and today it rained almost all day and was super cold. I'm wearing jeans and a sweater. What the heck?) Last Thursday we drove up to Utah. We got to see one of my old young women's leaders/wedding, maternity and baby photographer/oldest family friends, Candace, and her little cutie, Sienna. Peyton loved Sienna, and especially Sienna's trampoline and blueberries. In Utah we stayed with some of our best friends from our old neighborhood, Tristen and Dan. We went to dinner with some of our friends from our old ward (the Brigmans, the Grays and Hubers) one night to Texas Roadhouse, which was delicious. I got to go to Steph and Rawlin's sealing in the Salt Lake temple, which was really nice, and their reception turned out beautiful! Since I was Steph's maid of honor, I brought along Cheyanne to babysit Peyton, which actually worked out quite nicely, and I was able to enjoy most of the festivities. Peyton had an absolute ball at the wedding. I think she thought it was her party, because she just floated around like she was running the show. She loves Steph's parents and calls them "Grandma" and "Grandpa", and she wanted to be held by one of them, or one of Steph's sisters, or Steph or Rawlin the whole time. During the bride and groom's first dance, I had to take Peyton away from the crowd because she kept yelling "Stephy, UP" wanting Steph to hold her. She loved seeing Steph throw the bouquet, and every time she got her hands on my bouquet, she would throw it up just like she had seen Steph do. It was pretty funny! She also loved the fireworks at the end of the reception. She kept saying "mommy, POP, Stephy, POP." She still is talking about them to this day. We drove home Sunday, just in time to pick my mom up from the airport. Peyton was overjoyed to see her Noni. We flew home Tuesday afternoon, and with a few tears from both of us, said goodbye to our family, friends, and the heat and sunshine in Las Vegas. It's been great to be home. Peyton about died when she saw Tinky (and she was pretty happy to see Jade, too). Tink was really excited to see both of us, which actually surprised me a little because while I know she loves me, she is quite partial toward Jade. It made me feel pretty good to know she missed me, because though you non-dog-lovers out there won't understand, I missed that girl so much! Peyton and I are settling back into the routine of home, and though it's always so hard for me to leave my Vegas-home, it's really good to be back to my home-home.

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This is basically the gist of our days in Las Vegas

Peyton loved spending time with her favorite "girlfriend" Aunt Jamie (and Auntie Buttons in the back)Being a big dare-devil at the parkI think she thought those flowers were hers

She wouldn't take my shoes off the whole night

...Except to jump on the tramp

She was so happy to be around Steph. I asked her if Steph was a princess and she said "YES! Pink!"

Throwing her bouquet

She is a really good (and fast) little climber. I turned my back for one second, and she had climbed onto the tall nightstand to talk on the phone.