Opinionated Peyton

It literally happened over night. One day it was pouring, then the next day (Monday) it was sunny and warm and... there are blooms on the bushes and trees! Just overnight! We've all been enjoying this sunny weather so much. I'm not delusional, so I don't expect it to stay this way, but man we've sure loved it. I even caught Tinky outside lounging in one of our chairs, sunbathing for a half hour.

In other news, Peyton has become quite the Prima Donna. The girl has an opinion about EVERYthing. She now insists on picking out her own clothes (usually a dress- and she begs for her fur coat and snowsuit), her type of sock (leg warmers, ruffley socks and bright pink socks are the favorites), and which pair of shoes to wear (usually her pink sparkly Chucks or her pink jelly shoes). She picks out exactly which bow she wants, whether she wants a hat or headband, and which bracelet (or bracelets) she wants to wear. She chooses which food she wants, and loves fishies but only in the package- she will not accept a handful of fish under any circumstance. She picks which book to read and what toys to play with. She chooses songs on my IPod (She tells me "no please" when she doesn't like the song or "more please" when she wants to hear the song again). The girl knows what she wants! It's a little unnerving at times, but at least she didn't inherit my indecisive gene.

Also, Peyton reached a big milestone- she's finally in a convertible car seat and not just a baby carrier. The poor girl is still 15 pounds away from the baby seat's weight limit, but she was getting so tall that she looked like she could use a little more leg room. The new car seat can go front facing or rear facing, and even though she weighs (barely) enough to go front facing, after a great deal of research, we've made the decision to keep her rear facing until she is too big to do it safely (our car seat caps out at 45 pounds), as it is by far the safest way for her to ride. I'm just hoping that she doesn't get too sick of facing the back seat. I am counting on the fact that she has nothing else to compare it to, so maybe she'll just think that's the normal way to ride. I can see the whining in my mind's eye... I hope we'll never be in a bad accident, but if we were, and something happened to her because she was forward-facing just so I didn't have to listen to her whine, I would never ever forgive myself. I know not everyone feels the same way I do- everyone has their own opinion, and everyone does what's right for their own family. Hopefully I'm not known as the mean mommy for it!

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Sunbathing

Big girl chair

I don't know if this picture is gross or cute. She loves Tinky so much!

Priceless picture.

Back for a bit...

We're back for a bit from our Vegas Vacation. Last week Jade rented a booth at the Outdoorsman's Show in Portland (it's the largest sportsman's show in the country if you ask him- no wonder he loves it) for New York Life, which was great, but it meant he would be gone Tuesday through Sunday, 7am to 11pm every night. I decided that wouldn't be very much fun for Peyton and I, so we made a last minute visit to Las Vegas. The trip was so fun! The first 3 days it rained- poured actually. I love the warm rain that Las Vegas offers, so I was in heaven. The rest of the trip the weather was warm and sunny and beautiful. Perfect February weather. We did a ton of fun things in Las Vegas, but mostly we just relaxed and hung out with my family. Peyton and I were both sick for 4 days, so it was great to have my momma there to take care of us! Peyton competed in another beauty pageant. This pageant taught me a lot about myself. First of all- I am absolutely not cut out to be a pageant mom. I will never- NEVER- have my 3 year old spray tanned, eyebrows shaped to nothingness, and painted with a FULL face of makeup. It's just not something that sits well with me. So, that might have been the end of Peyton's career as a beauty queen. Sorry honey- momma loves you too much to do that to you. I have not, however, given up my love of getting my baby all dolled up- age appropriately- and letting her show off a little bit. We're just not going to do any more "high glitz" (read: TOTALLY FAKE) pageants. We'll stick to pageants where toddlers are allowed to walk around without makeup and fake teeth. Despite the 6 hour long pageant that made for an un-napped, cranky baby, Peyton did really well. She certainly had much more personality at her first pageant, where it was a one-hour ordeal where she didn't have to miss her nap. She was crowned Princess, and it was really fun for me to dress her up in her 3 looks: Party Wear, Casual, and Swim. Unfortunately by the time Casual Wear was over, Peyton was freaking out, so we didn't get any pictures, but she wore a darling yellow and white polka dot dress with daisies, and she carried a bouquet of daisies to match. My mom and I had a really good time, and it was extra fun to have Misha and Harli with us there again. Besides the pageant, we toilet papered and decorated one of my mom's best friend's houses for her birthday (what a sight we were- a bunch of women from 23 to 47 TP-ing a house), got to visit some friends, eat some really good food (gotta love Las Vegas), and spend real quality time with my family. We can't wait to go back (SOON) for another visit!

PartyWear

Back of the darling dress

Little girl loves her Noni

Finally a happy face

Little girls

This is the best shot I could get. Uncooperative baby.

After the pageant Peyton ate dinner and pudding for dessert. She made a little bit of a mess. My favorite thing is The Joker smile she drew.

Afterwards, she needed a sink bath. Dirty, dirty water.

But she loved it!

For the crowning ceremony, we had to bribe her with a pixie stick.

Princess

Wish we had gotten a better picture than a cell pone picture. The whole yard and house looked really good! Happy birthday Debbie!

Great Wolf

We have had so much fun around here lately! Last Monday Jade turned 28! I can't believe it. When I met him he was 23... Wow time really flies! We had a great family birthday party for him on Sunday night. We watched the Vikings/Saints game and despite the Vikings' loss, we had a great night. On Jade's actual birthday, we went to dinner with our friends Lacie and Frank (whose birthday is on the same day as Jade's). We let the boys choose the restaurant, so we ended up at Outback Steakhouse (how many years in a row is it?) Then Jade and I went and saw The Blind Side. It was SUCH a great movie- even Jade liked it! Peyton and I went to OMSI with the Janeck girls. It's so fun watching the girls interact now that they're older. They were holding hands, and running around together. We all had a great time. Friday night we celebrated my friend Lacie's birthday with a Girls Night Out! We went and saw When in Rome, which was super cute, then we went and had dessert and played a game and talked until 12:30 in the morning! That is very late in mommy time!! Saturday we went to Peyton's friend Annika's 1st birthday party. Peyton had a blast running around with all the other little kids around 1-2. Last night we just got back from a 2 day Thelin extravaganza! Awhile ago we decided it would be super fun to take a mini-vacation some time this winter, to break up the rain. So we planned a trip to the Washington location of Great Wolf Lodge (a hotel chain with an indoor water park for hotel guests only at each one). We stayed for 2 days and 1 night, and it was so fun! They had so much to do: a huge toddler only area with beach entry on all sides that was only a foot deep, so Peyton could run all over the place. It had 2 little slides and a big fort and lots of water shooters and things she could climb on and sit on. She loved it. There was a big wave pool which Peyton also loved. Well actually she mostly loved playing on the tubes in the pool. There was an activity pool with a ropes course and basketball hoops- which the big boys loved. There was a big water fort in the middle of everything with a 100 gallon bucket of water that got dumped out every 2 minutes. There were tons of water features all over the place. And the best part of all was all of the rides! They had 2 small twisty slides that the kids loved (we even sent Peyton down a few times), 2 large twisty slides that you could ride single or double in a tube, one huge tube slide that you could ride with up to 5 people on, and best of all- the cyclone- a 4 person tube ride where it drops you in a vortex and you go up and down the sides. The tube rides were so awesome- especially if you went with a few of the men. They weighed it down enough that we would fly down the rides. Peyton's very favorite part of the park was the thing she kept asking for over and over again: "wa wa hot, wa wa hot"... the hot tub! It was hilarious. After playing in the cold water for awhile, she would always come tell me "wa wa hot"- she was ready to get warm in the hot tub! We also celebrated Gabey's 5th birthday there! He was so happy to have his party at Great Wolf. The trip seemed to go by too fast (though by dinner time on the last day almost everyone was ready to leave the water park), and already we're back to the grind. What a fun get-away!

This is Peyton demonstrating her newest obsession: putting on socks/tights/leggings/leg warmers. She uses everything as leg warmers. She will either take her socks and shoes and pants off to put them on, or sometimes she just goes right over the pants. In these pictures she put on my finger-less gloves over her pants as leg warmers. The girl cracks me up. At Outback. Notice that the birthday boys wore matching shirts!Snack breakGoing down the twisty slide. I think she's holding on to the sides for dear life.Gabe took Peyton down the slide. I don't think she was too excited about it.She was much happier with JadeThe girl knows what she wants. "This way daddy. Come on. Move faster."

Much to say about nothing

I usually don't go this long without posting, but somehow after all the hustle and bustle of the October-December holidays, we've had a relatively quiet few weeks around here. It has been wonderful! Jade and I started ballroom dance lessons together! We're only doing it for one month, but it is so fun! Jade's not that into it, but I absolutely love it, and he's a good sport about it. We are learning the Waltz and the 2-step. Surprisingly enough, for all his talk about hating dancing, Jade moves pretty well on the dance floor! Peyton and I have been keeping busy with lots of play dates and other indoor-adventures to keep us entertained during the rainy days. Peyton also is legally allowed to go to nursery now! It is wonderful. I had been going in with her the past 2 months, to get her adjusted, but it wasn't going too well. She was all-right during nursery, but if I would even pretend to leave, she would throw a fit. Then 2 miracles happened. At the new year, our church time switched from 11am (horrible time- nap time starts at 12, so she was missing almost her entire nap, which made her a monster in nursery) to 9am! Hooray! 9am is perfection. The other miracle was that Jade and I figured out if he just dropped her off at nursery without me, and didn't even go in the room, that she would go in nursery with no problems! It has been great! Also, she is finally old enough where I feel comfortable leaving her in the day care at the gym, which means that I am able to go work out every day!! It has been an absolute dream! Last night, Jade had his first annual New York Life new year kickoff party! It was at the Allison Inn in Newberg, OR- beautiful wine country about 45 minutes southwest of Portland. The Inn is brand new, and so pretty. Jade had work meetings all day, then he played 9 holes of golf with one of his friends from work [in the rain!], and then I met him for the cocktail party, dinner and awards ceremony that night. It was really great. Jade won just about every award he could win- more than anyone else that night- even the guys that have been there for 25 years. There were 3 main awards, and Jade won 2 of them- "New Associate of the Year" and "Rookie of the Year" (there are approximately 20 other rookies and about 35 other new associates!) He was one of only 2 guys to win the "Life All Star" award. He also won a spot on the "Executive Council", the "2009 Class Commission Leader", and the 2009 "Eagle Award" for being the New Associate Life Leader. He works so hard every day, and it is so nice to see his efforts recognized. He even gave a little speech. It was pretty funny, about 5 minutes before he was supposed to get up, he leaned over to me and was like "I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to say- I probably should have written a speech." Of course he did great and made everyone laugh, and needless to say, I am a very proud wife!

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Jade took these pictures one Sunday morning on his cell phone. Peyton came and woke me and Tinky up with Jade. She was sitting on my back and pulling the covers off Tinky and me, then crawling over Tink, giving her "loves".Peyton on her first "official" day in nursery. Jade was 100% serious when he asked me "what's wrong with her dress?" "What do you mean, honey?" "Why is it so puffy?"Peyton started cutting her top 2 canines a couple weeks ago, and it has been quite an ordeal. Her teeth really hadn't ever bothered her until then. Anyway, she was totally cuddly for a few days and we loved it so much we decided to document it!Poor little girl. At least it's all over now!Last Saturday the Thelins came over and Max and Ike played with Tinky the whole time. We wanted to take a picture of them in her kennel, and this is what we ended up with- a picture of Tink with super-hero eyes!Jade was dipping his bread in some dip, and Peyton asked him to get up on his lap. When he pulled her up, she started dipping the bread just like he had been doing. She picks up EVERYthing we do!At The Allison Inn (how handsome is Jade in a tux?!)Jade giving his speech

Jade's awards. Congrats babe! And a big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Thelin for watching our little lady for us!!

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures back from my good friend Julie. I love them!