School's Out for Summer!

That was fast! Summer is here already. Peyton had her last day of tap, ballet and gymnastics, and they let the parents come and watch. She moved up a level in gym, which I'm excited about (she, on the other hand, has no clue what that means). At preschool, they celebrated Peyton's birthday by letting her bring a birthday treat as the class snack. She chose...doughnuts. That girl loves herself some doughnuts! We had a few special last-week of school-playdates with Peyton's friends Abbey and Arellia, as well as a special visit from the Janecks- all the way from Bend. Peyton and Peyton even had their first sleepover! They stayed up a little while talking when they should have been asleep, and they woke up way too early, but other than that, they did really well. I assigned Jade to get a picture for the good old blog, but my honey forgot. Sad. The Sunday before Peyton's birthday, we had family dinner with just Grandma, Grandpa and Mutti. Peyton got her own special dessert, and fancy table settings. She thought she was so special! Also, Peyton had her last day of Preschool! The teachers invited the parents to come to the classroom a half hour before school was over, and the kids were all wearing little graduation caps, and the teachers gave them little diplomas and portfolios of some of their work. It was too cute! My baby is growing up way too fast. I almost cried. Also, we went to the Pediatric Orthopedic Hand Surgeon- everything is ok with Peyton's crushed finger. They were a little worried about her nail bed and growth plate, but thankfully all is well. She ended up losing her nail, but besides that, she's as good as new! Hopefully she will be more careful closing doors now.

:

:

Coach Ruth

She has started giving me weird "thumbs-up"'s all the time.

Special pre-birthday dessert made with love by Grandma.

Okay, I'm sorry, but they are SO fun to match!

big girl

I read about a cute tradition (on Pinterest, of course) where a mom has a "welcome to summer" party every year for her kids on their last day of school. She has a banner for them to run through that says "Welcome to summer", and they each get a "basket of summer fun" filled with things to do during the summer. That night they have a family pizza party and sleepover. I thought it sounded so fun, so I threw it together for Peyton's last day. I also let her choose where to go for her special birthday lunch. Wait for it... McDonald's...

More art

Cute little buddies- look at those graduation caps!

Teacher Chrissy

Teacher Jenelle

Photo Shoot

 When we were in Las Vegas, Aunt Buttons and her girlfriends were doing a little photo shoot around my mom's neighborhood. Peyton really wanted to go with the big girls, and they were nice enough to let her. I got some cute shots of my pretty girl!

Field Trip, Matching Outfits and Roseola

Peyton had her 2nd field trip of the school year. We went to a little farm called Plumper Pumpkin Patch- somewhere we've actually been before with friends and family around Halloween. Peyton had such a great time. First we took a hayride in a tractor to see the whole farm. Then they took us to have a lesson on bees (thankfully the hive they had on display was empty). Then they took us around to see all the animals. That was Peyton's and my favorite part. There were 2 week old calves. They were so cute. I even let one of them nurse on my fingers. I love when they do that. After the animals, the kids had a little lesson on farming pumpkins. Then they each got 5 pumpkin seeds that they were able to plant; and they even marked them with their school name. I told Peyton that when it's Halloween time, we could come back and get one of the pumpkins that she planted. She is pretty fired up about that. The best part of the field trip was that Taryn and Ashley were there, since Taryn goes to Peyton's school since turning 3 in March. Peyton loved having her cousin with her. Over Memorial Day weekend we just pretty much relaxed. Piper was sick, so she and I didn't even leave the house. This past Friday Jade took Peyton over to Uncle Justin's house to have a campout with him and his kids and Uncle Jeremy and his kids. They got rained out. It was June 1st. Typical Oregon. She had a great time though. When she came home the next morning, she said to me, "Mommy, I wish I could stay there for three days." So funny that she specified 3 days. On Saturday, Piper woke up with a rash on her face that got progressively worse throughout the day. This morning (Sunday) I decided to take her in to the clinic at our pediatrician's office. Sure enough, she has roseola. Peyton never had it, but it's a pretty common rash caused by a virus. She also has an ear infection on top of the viral infection. My poor baby! I can tell she's not comfortable, and it breaks my heart. She has been needing lots of love and cuddles, which I am happy to give. 

:

:

Taryn-Ashley-Peyton

Petting a pregnant donkey

 I LOVE matching outfits!

 I also love sleeping babies with wide open mouths. It's so precious to me- I just kiss it over and over. Piper fell asleep in the middle of nursing. I love the milk running down her face.

Sad baby just wants to cuddle

 Roseola

 So heartbreaking!!

Goings On

Spring is in full-force around here. We had a few gorgeous days- even getting to the 80's with not a cloud in the sky, and then days like today- in the low 50's and pouring. Well, we take what we can get. Jade went to Palm Springs for a conference for New York Life. It was for the top 50 agents in the western zone. I'm so proud of him. He spent 3 days golfing at a super nice resort. He even was picked up from the airport in a town car. I can't believe he didn't invite me! Peyton fractured her finger at the tip. She shut it in her closet door, which folds accordian-style. It was so sad! Luckily kids heal pretty fast, so after a couple weeks of "buddy tape"-ing it, it was as good as new. Peyton's preschool class had a Mother's Day party. It was super cute. The kids sang us a couple songs and then they gave us a card and jewelry box they had made for us, then we got to do a craft with them and have a snack together. It was really cute, and I LOVE the homemade Mother's Day gift. I remember making those for my mom. I can't believe my baby is old enough for that. Mother's Day was great. I got to sleep in an extra hour, and Jade and Peyton brought me breakfast in bed. You can't beat that! At church I only had to teach one hour instead of two, and Peyton sang a really sweet song with the other Primary kids. I loved watching her sing (even though she only sang about 25% of the words). For dinner, the boys all cooked for the girls. Food always tastes so good when you don't have to cook it or clean up after you eat it! Jade and I played in a little couples' golf tournament at our club. The theme was "Fiesta on the Fairway", so we dressed in costume and they had lots of yummy Mexican food. Our team didn't place, but Jade did win "KP" (the shot closest to the pin) on one of the holes, so he made $20. It paid for 1/2 our babysitting! On Saturday I threw a baby shower for one of my best girlfriends and her sweet baby girl Sutton. It was really fun and turned out super cute. Sunday Peyton gave her first talk in Primary! She had been asking the Primary Secretary for a couple weeks to bear her testimony, so when she asked if I thought Peyton would be ready to give a talk, I told her yes. Peyton was really funny. At first she was a little quiet, and mostly said her talk to me (I was standing right next to her). Then she warmed up and said her talk. She also played with the microphone for a couple seconds after realizing it made a loud creaking noise and getting a bunch of laughs from the kids in Primary. And in the middle of one sentence she stopped abruptly and asked me why there were stickers on the step-stool. She had been practicing what she wanted to say for her testimony (I made the decision not to coach her on it, but rather to let her say what she was truly feeling), but ended up not saying a thing. Afterwards she told me that she wants to bear her testimony next week. I think she was disappointed that she didn't get out what she wanted to say. Overall, she did a great job and she was really cute and funny to watch. Piper started crawling. One day she took about two tiny crawls forward, then the next day she didn't have a single inch of forward-progress, and then the next day she just [literally] crawled across the room. I guess she had been holding out on me. In any case, she is totally mobile now. I'm so grateful she is developmentally on-track, but selfishly I really don't like her crawling. She also cut a tooth. It's been 3 weeks now, and its mate still hasn't grown in. All Peyton's teeth grew in within a couple days of their mirror-tooth. I'm starting to think Piper doesn't have a bottom-right tooth. It's a darling little crooked smile.

:

:

Peyton and her classmates

 Peyton with her great teachers Chrissy and Jenelle

 Can you see that cute little snaggle-tooth?

loves

 I scored a Mexico jersey at Goodwill. I couldn't find anything for Jade, so he just got a sombrero.

The only picture I got with the guest of honor.

 Cute Cousins! Piper sure looks mad, huh?

Peyton, waiting to be called for her talk

Mother's Day Interview

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
That you love me. You always say that.

2. What makes Mommy happy?
When I obey.

3. What makes Mommy sad?
When I don't obey.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
[laughs] When you hug me and tickle me.

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
I don't know.

6. How old is Mommy?
Uh. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-19-11-12-13-14-28-29. How old are you, mommy?

7. How tall is Mommy?
[holds her hand up] That big, right mom?

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Go shopping and when I get you doughnuts when you're in the hospital.

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
You, my darling, you... Go to the gym.

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know. Drawing.

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Playing

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Making cars.

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
You don't do any jobs. Daddy just does jobs.

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Tacos

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
When you smile, like that [pointing at a picture of me and Jade].

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Rapunzel; because I love you.

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
We go shopping and we get doughnuts, and when you're in the hospital, I bring you doughnuts.

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
Because we both love to be with daddy.

19. How are you and Mommy different?
Because we wear different things.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Because you hug me all the time.

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
McDonald's [not even close]

Kicking the Habit

Well, we did it! After many failed attempts, we finally got rid of Peyton's binky! I know, it was a little ridiculous that she had it this long. Trust me, I never thought my almost-4 year old would still have a binky. In my defense, she only had it during naptime and bedtime- never during the day, and never out of bed. She knew she didn't need it, too. I would ask her when she was going to get rid of it, and she would say, "I'm going to keep it forever." If I pointed out that she didn't need it anymore, she would say, "I know I don't need it; I just like it." In the past, when I would try and get rid of it, it resulted in naps going from 3 hours to non-existent, and sleep going from a solid 12 hours every night to about 9. It just wasn't worth it to me. Finally I made a pact with myself. I was going to get rid of that dang binky by the time she was 4. I started talking to her about all the privileges she could have when she was 4, but only if she didn't have a binky, because binkies are for little kids, not big kids. I also told her that she could have the [ridiculously expensive] French baby doll that she had been begging for at the toy store, but since the doll came with a toy binky, she couldn't get it until she got rid of her own binky. Finally one day she just decided she was ready, and took me up on my offer. When Jade got home from work, we took her to the Frozen Yogurt shop and made a little celebration of getting rid of the binky- in the dumpster by the shop, so she knew she wouldn't be able to get it back. She then got frozen yogurt and was totally happy with her decision. Until bedtime. She was a little sad, but understood that she wasn't getting her binky back. Then she told me I could just buy her another one. I hadn't seen that one coming. We stayed strong, and even though it took a couple days for her sleep to go back to normal, she adjusted just fine. She does still tell me once in awhile that she misses her binky, or that she just wants one, but she's pretty much adapted to life without a binky. Although she did tell me that when she's 89, she will get another binky.

Since we've been back

When we got back from Vegas, it took me about a week to feel like I had everything together. Unpacking was a nightmare, and we had so much to catch up on. Peyton started her new term of gymnastics and ballet, and now she's doing tap! She loved tap- I think even more than gym. We had Piper's 6 month well-baby checkup. I can't believe my baby is 6 months old! Time sure goes by fast.  Here are her stats:

Height- 27" (82nd percentile)

Weight- 14.15ob. (20th percentile)

Head Circumference- 44cm (82nd percentile)

She is ahead of the game a little, as far as physical development goes. She inherited that from her daddy, who reached all his physical milestones early. She is almost crawling forwards (she can already crawl backwards). She also does this cute little thing where she gets up on her hands and toes and rocks back and forth. It's like scooting; en pointe (for all you dancers out there). 

Even though we had just gotten back from a really long trip the week before, I decided it would be fun to tag along with Jade on a business trip that he was taking to Bend, OR. We packed our family up at 4:30 on Monday morning and headed out East. Peyton's old best friend, Peyton J, and her family moved out there in the beginning of the year, so we thought it would be fun to go stay with them for a couple days. The girls were SO excited to see each other! Monday we spent the morning catching up, then took the girls to an awesome park to play and enjoy the 75 degree afternoon. It was fun, but WOW, am I glad that I only have 2 kids under 4, and not 4 kids under 4. That was hard! Tuesday morning we took the girls to my friend Brittney's mom's house. They went on a 4-wheeler ride with Peyton J's grandpa and were able to feed and brush their horse, Nala. Peyton loved it! I wish I could raise my kids around horses. We even put a pad on Nala and led the girls around for a little ride. It was the highlight of the trip for Peyton. After a nice long nap, we took the girls to a really cool play place called Bouncing Off The Wall, where they have inflatable obstacle courses, slides and bounce houses, as well as some great creative-play toys. That night we had a barbecue, and we even had a little campfire and et the girls roast marshmallows. After all the girls were finally asleep, we watched the new Mission Impossible DVD. It was so great to spend time with the Janecks again. It almost didn't feel like they had really moved. We hope we get to see them again, Soon!

:

:

Ok, I had to put this picture in here, because it cracks me up! She asked me if she could take a picture of Sage (her imaginary friend of the last year and a half, or so) on my phone. I told her she could. She took 22 pictures (no exaggeration!!) of this:

 Nala

 All smiles, [almost] All the time

 We went to Peyton's friend Brooklyn's birthday party at Pump It Up. Peyton had a great time, and was cracking me up in the group picture- what is she doing with her head?!

Lastly, some recent masterpieces: