Painting - Peyton & Brady Style

 

Painting fun!

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Halloween with Brady and his family.  The boys watched a movie on the garage door while the girls took the babies Trick-or-Treating.  Brady had been practicing saying "Trick-or-Treat" while Peyton just followed along and expected candy.  Brady also insisted on asking everyone if they had a puppy!

 

Peyton really enjoyed playing with the jack-o-lanterns!

 

She did not appreciate Papa Bruce's costume!

 

My fairy princess!

 

Had to stop for a quick snack!

 

Knock, Knock! Trick-or-Treat

Peyton the Flowergirl!

Josh's sister was married in October and Peyton was asked to be the mini-flowergirl.  She had a beautiful dress and super cute pigtails.  She loved all the attention and she danced up a storm with Mason, the mini-ringbearer!  Super fun night!

15 Months

Peyton's stats at her 15 month appointment:
17 pounds, 4 ounces

Daredevil

I'm pretty sure Peyton is part mountain goat.  She climbs on EVERYTHING.  I turn around for one second and she has climbed on top of something...

Sick, Sick, Sick!

So I haven't posted anything in a long... long time... and I'm totally blaming it on our sicknesses... Josh started it with a chest infection & intestinal flu... Peyton got pink eye, then I got a sinus infection, ear infection, and pink eye... then Peyton had a double ear infection and spent 4 days at home... then I got a cough... which is now bronchitis... while caused me to damage my ribs from coughing.  We are just having so much fun...
Some day we are hoping to be healthy... all of us... all at the same time... until then, we are taking care of each other.  Thank goodness.

Do I Win???

So I felt a bit guilty after giving some of my blogging friends (mainly Christine & Chrissy) a hard time about not having an recent posts... and then I realized that I hadn't posted in a while... I thought about posting... and I meant to post several times, but something always came up... usually Peyton.  So to make up for my guilt, I decided to complete a posting marathon today.  So in less than an hour, I posted 6 times... so do I win?
She is full of tricks now- she can squeeze through the baby gate if we aren't super careful about getting it to close AND latch.  She follows chases Duke around the family room.  She turns the cable box on and off and on and off and on and off.... usually during shows that we are trying to watch (maybe she is trying to tell us something).  She loves the doggy-door.... Probably should be renamed Peyton's door.  Since she has been a bit sniffly the past few days she is also a little extra cuddly.  She will put her head on my belly, suck her thumb, and hum to herself... sometimes falling asleep like this.  I know it won't be long before she doesn't want to sit on my lap or cuddle with me, so I try to soak up these moments and engrave them in my heart. 
Lately when Peyton gets up in the morning, she only lasts a few hours before needing a nap... so typically I go back to bed at the same time.  These 6am wake-ups are a bit too much for me while I am on summer vacation!  Peyton was taking 2 2 1/2 hour naps, but she is down to sleeping just 1 hour in the morning... sometimes longer (like right now).  But lately I've been hearing Peyton cry... when she isn't really crying??? Am I going crazy???  What the heck?!  But as I lay in bed knowing that she isn't really crying, I think of many moments that I want to remember forever.  It's like a wake-up call to me... to remember these moments when she is tiny, loving, and precious... can't she stay small forever???

Peyton, Duke, & Daddy

Painting

Peyton wanted to paint for her teachers.  She decided to paint on the inside of their "Thank You" cards for the end of the year.  Peyton did great with cards 1 and 2, but thought she was done... too bad she has 3 teachers!

Peyton's Fashion Sense

Recently Peyton has become more conscious of her fashion.  Unfortunately, I think she is taking after her Daddy's fashion sense!

4th of July

ere are a few pictures from our 4th of July celebrations!

Josh's Birthday

We headed up north to celebrate Josh's 29th birthday.  Peyton was so thoughtful- she booked a little cabin at the Christopher Creek Lodge.  

We enjoyed our time outdoors, had lunch at Kohl's Ranch, and played in the creek.  

Peyton was a great hiker- she fell a few times, got super dirty, but didn't cry a bit.  

Josh thought the dirt on Peyton was "rustic", but I thought it was gross- so she got a nice bath in the sink.

We also headed out to Bear Canyon Lake. 

We had taken Duke there several years ago and wanted to take Peyton as well.

Lunch + Splash Pad = Great day!

 After lunch at Liberty Market with Brady & Lisa, we headed over to the splash pad directly behind the restaurant.
Peyton wasn't quite sure about the water at first so she watched Brady run around for a bit.



Then she decided to have a seat and really have some fun!


I've never seen such a wet child (sans bathtub/swimming pool) in my life.  She was drenched from head to toe.  And since we weren't planning on visiting a splash pad (had no idea it was there), I didn't have a towel or dry clothes for her.  She had a very cool ride home. :)

Reading...

I love reading... it's not secret to most people... I've really always loved reading.  In high school, a friend and I used to exchange books more than we exchanged notes (no, we were NOT nerds!)  Now, I exchange books with my Grandma, sister, friends... and anyone else who is willing to trade.  I just started using the library... I like to have my OWN copy of a book... to save for a rainy day, or to trade really.  And my sister once told me how dirty library books are... nasty really.  But wouldn't you think that people who use the LIBRARY are clean folks who like to wash their hands?  I wish.

I'm currently reading:

I had no idea this book is based on a true story... so much for being an informed reader I suppose!  Unfortunately this book is taking me a bit longer to read that usual.  It is a bit on the long side, but thankfully the plot has picked up (I was bored out of my mind in the beginning) and it is become a quicker read!

Also in my list of current readings:

Some of my recent reads include:

What are your favorite books?  Any suggestions for me?