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.