Big sister material? Maybe not quite yet.

Jeremy and Kristin just welcomed my newest nephew, Brek into the world. He is a total doll. Peyton and I were lucky enough to be able to babysit him for 4 hours on Tuesday. Peyton absolutely loved him. She kept saying "Brek, baby, Brek, baby" She is so used to saying her boyfriend Brock's name that "Brek" was easy for her. She would follow me around asking "hold please." I put her down for her nap and was able to spend a couple hours one-on-one with my 3 day old nephew. I couldn't put him down. It made my ovaries hurt. I LOVE newborns. He is a total doll and I'm so glad he's finally here!

Tulip Festival

Portland is known as the Rose City, but in spring, I think they should call it the Tulip City! There are tulips everywhere (I even have some that I love in my front yard)! The most beautiful tulips! Huge ones- seriously the size of Peyton. My mom and I made Peyton come with us to the annual Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, Oregon. It was so beautiful (albeit quite colder than we had planned for). There were acres of Tulips in every shape and color you could imagine. It was such a fun experience, and I definitely think we'll be going back next year.

Wooden Shoes

I wasn't feeling well and Peyton kept kissing me better. Love that little girl.

She's obsessed with smelling flowers and plants (even the fake ones in people's houses)

For those who aren't squeamish...

Last Wednesday I had my long-awaited surgery to figure out what the heck is wrong with my girly-parts (uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes). The doctor had treated me for PID and thought I had endometriosis. Well we did a laparoscopy and found out I don't have endometriosis, but I had about 30 cysts on my ovaries. Apparently I have PCOS, which is an endocrine disorder, and one of the side effects is that I don't ovulate, which makes my eggs become cysts (some of you will remember that it was a total freak ovulation that got me pregnant with Peyton). They had no idea I had this because about 95% of women with PCOS are overweight, which makes PCOS manifest itself. I have a rarer type of it, which I am actually grateful for. I'm also grateful to finally know what it is that has been affecting me so badly for the past 22 months. It feels so good to finally have some answers. As far as treating it goes, you can only treat the symptoms- most of which I don't have. I have to do some blood work to find out if I'm insulin resistant (another symptom- it will eventually cause Diabetes). If I am we'll treat that with medication, if not I just need to be tested about every 3 years to make sure it doesn't ever develop. The other symptom we'll be treating are the cysts, which means we'll have to get me ovulating. Eventually after I have baby #2 (not any time in the immediate future) I will have to go on estrogen withdrawal treatments so that I won't have as bad of symptoms as I had this time. My doctor also had to cut out some of my vaginal tissue by my episiotomy and re-stitch me, as my old doctor sewed me up in such a way that my tissue was bunching, and causing me serious pain. So I have 3 incisions on my belly and another episiotomy. I'm in pain from the laporoscopy and bleeding from the D&C. I had all the trauma of a c-section and vaginal delivery without a baby to show for it. I feel totally gypped! Besides all that, my recovery is going well. The side effects from the anesthesia and CO2 were the worst part of the whole thing, and those went away within a few days (grogginess, headache, gas pains in my shoulders, nausea, sore throat from intubation). I was so lucky to have my supportive network of family and friends who brought me dinners and watched Peyton for me when I was out of it. My mom was able to come out 5 days after my surgery, and she was a big help too. Plus I had a blast with her. Now I just am very sore, and my episiotomy hurts really bad, but besides that I'm doing very well. All things considered, I've had a great recovery, and I'm so lucky to have a helpful husband and a sweet little girl who has been on her best behavior for me. She likes kissing my stitches on my tummy better. She tells me (and anyone else who is around when she remembers that I have stitches) "mommy owies" and she will get my heating pad for me if I ask her to. Any time I have it she will hug on me or sit on my lap and say "mommy hot". It's really cute. A big thanks to everyone who helped me out while I was an invalid!!

Exactly one year ago...

Was she ever really that little?

She loves it.

I'm chomping at the bit for Peyton to be old enough to start "real" gymnastics and dance lessons! It will be amazing. It's in her blood, and she's so ready. Until then, kindergym is where we are!

"P" is for "Personality"

Peyton seriously cracks me up. Every day. I never want to forget all the funny things she says and does. So naturally I'm going to blog about it... Peyton is the most outgoing little girl I've ever met. She will walk up to strangers (scary, I know) and be like "HI!" and smile at them. People will be looking so grouchy or harried and she will make it a point to greet them and she will sit there and wait until they give her a satisfactory, cordial response. It makes me smile. No one can resist that girl. She is quite charming (when she's in public and not tantruming). Peyton also loves music, as I've mentioned before. She prefers hip-hop (though she will dance to anything- even the ringer of the telephone) and her favorite artists are Ke$ha, Lady GaGa, and the Black Eyed Peas. I'm not even joking. If one of those artists is on, she immediately starts dancing, singing along, clapping and smiling ear to ear. If I happen to change the song, she will say "more mommy more". Today my mom, Peyton and I were all driving and "Imma Be" came on the radio. Within the first 5 seconds she recognized it, gasped loudly, cheered "WHOO", and started rocking her car seat back and forth. My mom and I were in stitches laughing. Tonight at bedtime, we were saying a prayer (one of her favorite things to do). I said "We're thankful for daddy and mommy and Peyton and noni. Please bless-" and Peyton yelled "TINKY!" Apparently I forgot to be thankful for Tinky. I could barely finish the prayer because I was laughing so hard. That little girl is so good for my health!

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We were able to get all the cousins in an Easter picture!

It's hard to imagine this picture will only be current for 4 more days!

Gabe, Henry, Lucy, Sam, Boyd, Charlotte, Macie, Peyton, Max, Ike, Trenton, Marley, Taryn

Duck, Duck, Goose!

Bound and determined to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having, Brittney and I took Peyton 1 and Peyton 2 to the park and to feed the ducks. The girls had more fun than I can say. It is beyond cute watching their friendship develop. They are 4 months apart, which seemed like so much in the beginning, but now they're pretty close developmentally, and they're adorable together. I love watching them hold hands and run around, hug each other, and get excited when we tell them we're going to see their best friend.

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A little unsure at first, but the ducks weren't shy- the girls had a blast!
Hysterical watching them try to pet the ducks. They both were actually successful a couple of times!

Easter and the potty

Happy Easter! This year we celebrated a rainy Easter Sunday with our family in Portland. It was a great Easter for many reasons, but it was extra special this year because General Conference fell on Easter weekend. What a great tribute to our Savior to celebrate the day of His Resurrection with 4 hours of talks about His life, love, and sacrifice for us. I love remembering the true meaning behind Easter and hope to be able to do a good job of that every year. Saturday night and Sunday almost the whole entire family (minus Phil) got together for festivities. We put the kids down and had a late dinner and did Easter baskets while the boys watched the 2 basketball games. Sunday morning was very laid back at our house- Jade made waffles with Peyton while I got to sleep in a little bit. Then we got Peyton in her Easter dress and let her find her Easter basket. She was so adorable- she had the biggest smile when she saw it and she just started digging through it right on the spot- without even taking it out of its hiding place (Tink's prison). Then I told her to show Jade and I, so she brought it out and showed us for a few minutes, and then she went and put the whole basket and all of its contents back in the prison. I don't know what she was thinking, but it sure was cute! We watched conference, Peyton napped, we cleaned out our garage, and before we knew it, it was time for Easter dinner! We went over to Jade's parents house and the whole family met together for a delicious Easter feast! Then we had 2 [indoor] Easter egg hunts- 1 for the "over 2" crowd, and 1 for the "under 2" crowd. The big kids had a great time finding their eggs. The little kids didn't really know what was going on, but they definitely knew there were treats hiding inside the eggs! Any time Peyton saw a plastic Easter egg, serious whining ensued. The poor girl might be a little deprived of "the good stuff" since the Easter bunny didn't put any candy in her basket at all. My mom thinks it's a travesty. I think it's better never to start her on junk. We'll see who is right in a few years.

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This picture is actually from Marley's birthday party last week, but I had to post it to illustrate many points- 1. Peyton is eyeing the candy and not paying any attention to the singing and candle blowing going on right beside her 2. Peyton has a bruise on the middle of her forehead that is going on 2 full weeks now and 3. Peyton started doing the funniest thing with her tongue. I'm not quite sure where she picked it up, but it cracks me up when I see her with her tongue out like this...Easter morning wrestling. In her dress. Thanks for instigating this daddy.Look closely at the smile on that cute face!Showing off what's left of the goodies in her basketThe "under 2" egg hunt. There are 6 (next Saturday there will be 7) kids under 2 in our family. It was a mad-house in that room! (L to R: Lucy, Taryn, Boyd, Charlotte, Peyton, Henry)

My little Easter Bunny liked the Easter baskets almost as much as her purses. She might be becoming a bit of a hoarder.

On another positive note, Peyton has started potty-training herself! We have been pre-potty-training her for a few months, but nothing serious, just familiarizing her with things. On Saturday night she came up to me and said "mommy poo-poo potty", and then proceeded to go "poo-poo" on the "potty". I am so excited! She's been annoyed by diapers for about a week now, so I think that is her incentive for deciding she's ready for the "big girl potty". I couldn't be happier and I hope this sticks and she gets potty trained very soon! I'll let you know how that works out for us...

Pre-Easter fun!

Before we moved, I went through all of our stuff and decided to donate a ton of stuff we didn't need. Peyton "rescued" a couple of my old purses, and has been inseparable from them ever since. She carries them around or pushes them in one of her strollers or carts. When we leave the house, they come with us. Target? Toys R Us? Yep, we have the purses (or at least one of them). If I was a more indulgent mommy she would even take them to bed with her. She collects things she likes and puts them in the purses. Some of her funnier treasures: grass from the Easter Baskets, lipstick and chapstick or other makeup- which she is OBSESSED with at the moment, a whistle, real silverware or silverware from her play kitchen, puzzle pieces, and pictures that she stole out of my craft room. I love seeing what kinds of things catch her fancy on different days.

I know no one really cares about my Tinky like I do, but seriously how cute is she! She found a spot she loves in the new house- she pushes the pillows off this chair and catches the noontime sun. Whenever she's not with me or in my bed (pathetic, I know) this is where she is. A couple days ago, I came out of my office to see this:Automatically I blamed Tinky, but then I found the real culprit:Peyton tests Tink's patience every day. This morning our friends the Bantons invited us to go to their neighborhood's Easter party/Easter egg hunt. I wanted to get a picture of Peyton holding her Easter basket before the action, and this is what I got instead:

She's not too cooperative once I pull out the camera, but she sure is cute!

Peyton and Brock. This will be the opening picture on their wedding video.

Oh and did I mention Peyton was scared to death of the Easter Bunny?

Nice try, Jade.

Cute little Peyton Easter Egg hunting.

Well, that's it for now. More Easter fun surely to come tomorrow!

No April Fooling...

I am in first place out of our whole family in my March Madness bracket. I don't even like basketball- nor do I pretend to know anything about it. I am beating all the boys- even Justin... who made 4 brackets. Can you believe it? Also out of everyone on the website we used- over 40,000 people, I am ranked 403rd. That means I'm in the top 1% of everybody. Somebody needs to take me to Vegas! (seriously)