Sittin' Pretty

I completely forgot to blog about Payton's ability to sit up on her own. So...Payton can sit!!! She has been doing it for about two weeks now so she was approximately 4 months. December 17 was the day she did it for the first time...at least that I saw. It was very exciting & now she is really quite good at it. I still put the Boppy around her because she does tend to fall over after a while. I think she gets tired and lazy but it really is super cute to see her sitting there. She seems to be very proud of herself too because she smiles and giggles. I love watching her grow.

Tubby Time

One of Payton's favorite things is bath time! She loves the water. Watching her in the tub always makes me laugh because she gets SO excited.Well, that and all her little rolls. It's even more fun to watch her now because she is sitting up my herself and can grab things on her own. I'm hoping her love for water will carry over to the pool someday.

Amma got her some new bath toys for Christmas and they have been a really big hit. They float, make noise and best of all she can put them in her month...what could be better?

She loves the tub so much that if I get her out too early she throws the hissy fit. Yesterday she took a nice long tub so when she got out she was a happy camper & I was able to get a picture of her snuggled into her Dani Lane hooded towel.

Christmas with the Myrick's

Every Christmas Eve we go to the 4:00 service at Christ Memorial with my parents then we head to the Myrick's for some really good dinner. This year was no different. I love having these traditions they make Christmas feel like Christmas. I'm sure everyone knows what I mean.

This year on Christmas Morning Bryan, Payton & I got to start our own Christmas tradition. We woke up, turned on the Christmas music, had breakfest then opened presents in our Pj's. It was great. Little P sat on the couch and opened all her presents...ok, Bryan & I opened all her presents but I think she liked them after they were opened. She mainly tried to eat them all rather then play with them but it was still cute. Our new tradition is nothing too exciting but I'm sure it will be something we do for many years to come and I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year.

After all that excitement we headed over to Bryan's parent's house for some more breakfest and presents. Payton slept through most of it but after she woke up she had a few gifts to open.

Later on in the day Bryan's extended family came over, we played some cards, ate, and again...Payton had more gifts to open. It was a long day & when we finally got home we were all very tired. All in all it was a great first Christmas for Payton.

Genzink Christmas

Payton officially had her first Christmas party last night. We spent the evening at my parent's house to celebrate with the immediate Genzink family. I think she really enjoyed herself. She did sleep through part of the gift opening & when she was awake couldn't really open any of them but she did enjoy them after they were opened.
One thing we never run out of...food! I think my mom says the same thing every year, 'we have way too much food left!' but each year instead of eliminating, we add. There were crab legs, shrimp, salad, smoked pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, bread, and lots and lots of goodies, oh and of course...desert! I think I gained 12 lbs.
After dinner Hannah & Noah recited the Christmas story. I believe this was their favorite part of the night. At one point they both said they didn't care about the presents because that is not what Christmas is about, Christmas is about Jesus. Now, how sweet and cute is that for an 8 year old and a six year old to say. They melt my heart that is for sure.
Even though they both know the TRUE meaning of Christmas (Ava does too) and I truly believe they would be fine without any gifts, one of my favorite things is still watching them open their gifts. They get so excited, especially Ava. She is three and at that age when Christmas is just the greatest.

I love being with my family and celebrating Christmas. It's sad that another year of this get together is over but once again I will be looking forward to it next year.

Heather's Birthday

Today is Heather's 29th birthday...yes, I just said her age, she'll be ok with it. I just wanted to take a moment to wish her a Super, Excellent, Wonderful day! Heather, you are a wonderful sister & I love you very much. Thanks for everything you do for me.

Now with that said, I believe it would be appropriate to mention some slightly embarressing moments/facts about Heather and her 29 years. :) (I'm her sister...it's my job to do this) So, if you have any momories to share. PLEASE post a comment...I'll get things rolling with this... :)

1. Back in high school, Heather's idea of working out was sitting with her feet under the coach and a bowl of ice cream in her hand doing crunches.

Christmas Card Pictures

Every year we take our annual Christmas card pictures. Here are a few of them.

'Tis The Season

Christmas is fast approaching. All my decorations were put up this past week and it is starting to feel a little more 'Christmasy' at the Myrick house. Our outside lights are up, which I have to say are my favorite of all our decorations, and our tree is up, decorated and well...slightly odd looking. It's not the best looking tree there ever was but it is ours so I love it. It leans slightly so we will not be putting Payton any where near it but again...it's ours.

I love everything about this time of year...yes, even the cold & snow. It makes me want to cuddle up in a blanket, light an apple cinnamon Yankee candle and watch Christmas movies.

This year is going to be extra fun for Bryan & I. Even though we are only going to get Payton one or two things this year we are both SO excited to go shopping for her. She, on the other hand, already gave (and continues to give) us our gift. The gift of giggles. She let us capture a 'burst' on video the other day so when I figure out how to download it I will be sure to post it!

Our big boy - Chester

Chester LOVES winter too. It is fun to watch him in the snow because he thinks it's the greatest thing ever. He's only 1 & 1/2 so he is still a puppy at heart and he definitely still plays in the snow like a puppy. He even chases after falling snow and snowballs...so funny!

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is the day I remember to do what I should be doing every day...thanking God for the endless blessings he's giving me & my family. I have been blessed this year for sure. I mean, God is has allowed me to be Payton' mom! What could be better?! It is hard to believe that last thanksgiving I didn't even know about the tiny gift living close to my heart & now here she is smiling & giggling & bring Bryan and I so much joy. What a great God I have that He loves me enough to give me such a blessing.
There are so many other things that I could list. There is Bryan...he is an amazing husband but even a more amazing dad. Watching him with P makes my heart overflow with love & pride. My family...My parents do so much for me. I can't even begin to say how much it means to me to have them in my life. My siblings are not only my family but they are great friends & I know I can count on them to be there for me if I need them. Then there are my nieces & nephew...they make me smile each time I see them because of the innocence they project & their sweet personalities. My Friends...Bryan & I are blessed to have many different 'groups' of friends. Each 'group' brings something different to our lives. It is sometimes hard seeing everyone as often as we would like but what a great problem to have in my option. My Girls...There are a few women in my life that I refer to as 'the girls' & they are all amazing people who are great friends. We, again, may not see each other as much as we would like but when we do we definitely make up for all the times we don't get to.
I am going to stop with that but there is so much more!

Birthday

Today is my 27th birthday. I don't feel 27. Twenty-Seven used to be old. I don't feel that old. I went to the HCHS football game on Friday night & to be honest...I still feel 18 some days.
Life is good though. I have been extremely blessed in my 27 years. God has given me good health, a great family and wonderful friends. There have been some tough times but they are greatly out weighted by the great times. Here are a few of my favs...in no particular order. :) (there are a ton more but it's late & I'm tired so this is what you get)
Night before the last day of high school - Almost our entire senior class went & had a bon fire. We stayed up all night just hanging out. It was completely innocent but a lot of fun.
My 14th B-day party - Nothing fancy but I went with a group of girls & some guys to the Maze Craze in GR. I just remember it being really fun.
Glen Lake - This was a family vacation that went on for almost 15 years. The Vermuelen's, Slenk's (Michelle's Fam), Slenk's (Becky's Fam), and us all were there at the same time at the end of July beginning of Aug. There are just certian smells that will bring me instantly back to this place.
There was a night spent with Sam, Kate & Al lison that was crazy. It involved a video camara, bean bag filler & Peter's car...I'll never forget it. Enough said. :)
That first REAL kiss...I'll keep the details of that one to myself. :)
My Wedding day - God knew 27 years ago who I would marry & I am so thankful to Him for who He made for me.
Payton's Birthday - It is truly amazing how much love can come in such a small package. Being a mom is one of the greatest gifts.

One Week Down...Way Too Many to Go!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts & prayers over the past week. I have definitely felt them. That is not to say it hasn't been a tough week because it has. I missed my Pookie Bear at TON!! But things are getting a little easier.
One of the hardest parts is that when I get home after work I feel like I still don't get to spend any time with her. By the time I get home it's 5:30/quarter to 6 then I feed her, let her play while I make dinner, I eat, I clean up, if I'm lucky we have time for a bath which I love, feed her again, and then put her to bed. I HATE that. Half the time I end up not eating until after 9 o'clock when she is in bed because I feel guilty. Am I alone in this?
So I guess my point is...I'm still looking for that two or three day a week job with benefits. :)

Transition of Power...?

My cousin Traci posted this on her blog & I thought it was a great reminder so, I too am posting it on my blog. (See, we are sharing the wealth already :)
Although the election didn't turn out the way we wanted, here are 10 top things that still are true, no matter who is president!
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?!!!

It's a Jungle Out There

Happy Halloween! Payton was a giraffe for her first Halloween. She was ADORABLE! I really think she enjoyed it too because she was very happy for the most part.

I had to get a picture of her backside because it was just too cute.

My Happy Giraffe.We went over to Jen's and took some pictures with Kennedy the poodle, Josi the elephant & Payton the giraffe.

Then we went to Papa & Amma's to get pictures of the cousins. Ava the dragonfly, Bat Girl Hannah, Noah is someone from Star Wars...I don't know who, and Payton.

Lovin' Leaves

Here at the Myrick house in the fall we have a great source of endless fun...tons of leaves! Parker, Lily, and Ava all came over with their dads to enjoy the big pile of leaves in our back yard.

A Time To Celebrate

I think we packed in as many different celebrations this weekend as we possibly could. We started the weekend off by celebrating Bobby's 30th birthday. Jami & Bob invited us all over to their apartment for some great food & drinks. I only went for a couple of hours but it was still good to get out for a little while without the little one...Bryan's mom & dad were kind enough to watch her for a few hours.
Saturday afternoon was spent at New Holland for a wedding shower for Chew & Jami. They are getting married in February and lucky for us they chose to have a destination wedding in the Bahamas! The shower was a lot of fun & Bryan was happy because he was still able to watch the Michigan/Michigan State game. :)
After we left the shower we headed right to CL Construction to Abi Lamar's graduation party. She just recently finished her Grad work & THAT deserves a party. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay there long. We had to pick up Payton from Bryan's parents. They were again kind enough to watch her so we didn't want to take too much advantage.
Then it was off to Ben & Mary Garvelink's for a 30th birthday celebration for Benny & a welcome home party for Ben's brother Matt who just got home from Iraq. We took Payton there which is the bonus of having friends who have babies of their own.
It was a long weekend but it was fun. I'm glad we got to celebrate with everyone. So Happy Birthday Bobby, Congrats Jami & Chew, Happy Graduation Abi, Happy Birthday Benny, & Welcome home Matt!

All About Payton

Ok just a warning... I'm totally going to do a 'mommy' post today, which means I'm going to talk solely about my baby.

God has blessed me beyond measure with this little one. I could not have asked for a better baby. She is 10 weeks old today and I just can't believe it. She is really starting to get a personality and I can tell we are going to get along. :) She is just so good & funny (she thinks so too) & sweet & cute & the cheeks, oh the cheeks!!!

For the past few weeks we have really been working on her 'schedule'. It has been going well for the most part. She wakes up around the same time everyday, goes down for a morning nap about the same time, ect. The problem comes in the evening. She hasn't gotten the memo about how babies are supposed to go to bed before 11. Don't get me wrong, I have been putting her down at 8:30 every night but she is treating it like a cat nap, sleeping for about 45 min to an hour, then not going to bed until 11. Everyone says she will just get it one day so I'm hoping that is the case because, ok I LOVE spending time with her and she is a happy girl at night BUT, mommy can't have a child that stays up that late. Plus, I feel like I can't leave her with a sitter who isn't family because she doesn't have that bedtime thing down. Any suggestions are welcome! :)

Although having her up late does have it's downfalls, if she wouldn't have been up late last night I would not have been blessed with her first giggles! It was only three in a row and she hasn't done it since but they were honest-to-goodness full-fledged giggles. The sweetest sound I have ever heard!!!

Two Months & Counting

I can hardly believe my baby is two months old already! Everyone always says how fast kids grow but until you have one you can not possibly know how true this is.
Along with the two month birthday comes the two month doctors appointment. Bryan & I were both very interested to know how much our little pork chop had actually grown. She is now 23 inches long...2 inches longer then at birth and in the 75th percentile. We both took a guess at her weight. I said 11lb 4oz and Bry said 10lb 6oz. We were both wrong! She is a whopping 12lb 1.5oz!! That is the 75th percentile as well so at least she is proportionate.
She also had to have three shots. Mommy did NOT like this at all! It definitely was not her favorite thing but she did really well considering. She was not as hard to soothe as I thought she would be. I ended up feeding her right in the office which really helped her calm down. (At 12 lbs I betcha couldn't guess she liked food:) They also gave us Tylenol to take home. She definitely hasn't been herself today so I will be happy when tomorrow gets here. Fussy & tired...not a good combo.
I need to relieve my hubby from the crabby baby.

Cranes

Yesterday was an absolutely perfect day for a day at Cranes Apple Orchard. It seemed a little more like summer then fall but it was great to see all the fall colors and spend some time doing some fall activities. Mom, Heather, Ava, Payton & I spent the afternoon at Cranes. We grabbed some lunch at the restaurant, had a small photo shoot & then went apple pickin'. Lunch was very good. I had never eaten there before and was pleasantly surprised. We, however, were not the only people who thought it was a good idea to eat there. The wait gave us a good opportunity to take some pictures of the girls.
Ava had a blast picking apples. We left with a few more then we needed due to her enthusiasm about the whole thing. I attempted to make an apple crisp with all of them but I'm not sure how it turned out. It tastes ok but I don't think it looks like it is supposed to. Oh well, I don't bake!

Fall Fever

I absolutely LOVE this time of year!
There is something about the way the air smells and the color of the trees that make me think of soccer games & football. No other time of year makes me think back to high school then this. Dressing up in new school cloths, going to games dressed in that sweater you just had to have along with the new pair of jeans you've been dying to wear. Meeting up with friends before the game so you didn't make your grand entrance alone. Maybe it's just me but that was always something I looked forward to.
Fall is still a season I look forward to. I'm no longer attending high school soccer games scouting out the boys in uniform but the trees still turn color and the fall air still has the smell I love. My fall days are now made up of walks with Payton & Chester, watching Michigan football with friends, trips to Cranes with Heather & my mom and 'hunters widow's girls nights' (I'm not a hunters widow but I'm there for moral support...can't let them drink wine alone :).
Life has changed that is for sure but I think it's just getting better.
(Of course there are still football games, new sweaters and those fabulous pair of jeans.)

Trip to the Big House

Our second annual trip to Ann Arbor for some good 'ol Michigan Football tailgating was supposed to start at 8:30 am. Running on only 4 1/2 hours of sleep, due to Payton deciding not to sleep well on one of the few nights I have to get up early...go fig, I got a slow start to the morning. Everything takes four times as long with the wee one around plus, this being the first time I had left her for an entire day, I had a lot of stuff to get ready.

Payton got to spend the day with some of her favorite people. She spent the 1st shift (as I like to call it) with Grandma & Grandpa Myrick, the 2nd with Aunt Becky, Hannah & Noah & the 3rd with Alisa & Tiffanie. It was hard to leave her I'm not going to lie but I knew she was going to be in good hands.

Bryan & I dropped her off at 8:30 then headed to the Potts' to met the crew at 9. We loaded up the rented conversion van with all the tailgating essentials and hit the road. The Big House or bust!

Being able to all ride together was a major bonus and was well worth the rental fee. We were definitely rockin' the van. However, we did forget the Michigan car flags and giant magnets which is apparently a requirement for Michigan Football caravans as we found out on the way to the game.

Tailgating was great. Good food, good drinks, good company. People watching is always interesting at events like this. Some people go all out to show their team spirit. We didn't go crazy with the Michigan spirit but most of us were sporting some sort of Michigan apparel. Even Mary Garvelink put on the maize & blue...some State grad. :) (We were unable to convert her however)

Even though the Wolverine's were unable to pull off a win, the Big House experience is always worth the trip. Nothing beats the fall weather & football!

A Day With Josi

I am EXHAUSTED! I have to give props to anyone who has two children under the age of two. Today I watched Josi Potter from about 9 am to 3 pm and let me tell you...between her, Payton & Chester (our dog)...I am worn out. Even with some extra hands helping me out I still had a hard time keeping up with all of them. Josi is a typical one year old, SO busy...very good little girl, just busy, which I am not used to with a 7 week old.

We went over to my parent's house for some of the day because there are more age appropriate toys to entertain. Heather & Ava showed up there too so it gave her even more to do. All in all it was a great day but it was tiring. :)

Dani Lane Digs

Aunt Heather just recently learned how to sow which has been extremely beneficial to Payton & I. The other day she made Payton a couple of headbands and they were so super cute that we just had to put her in a Dani Lane onesie and have a mini photo shoot. The headband is something new Heather has been working on. This is only the second one but I'm sure they will be a best seller.

Baptism

We celebrated another milestone in Payton's life yesterday. She was baptised at the 11 am Watershed service by Trent. It was a great service and a very special day. She wore the same dress & booties as I did for my baptism and was baptised with Jordan River water that I brought back from Israel over 10 years ago. Bryan laughed that I was thinking so far ahead so many years ago...I guess it's a girl thing. Following the service we were able to go back to Papa & Amma's house for some Hog Wild BBQ & Cake.
We were able to share the day with so many of our family members and friends. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. They were willing to take time out of their busy lives to celebrate this wonderful day with us.