A Very Special Day

Last night, I put my child to bed as a two year old. This morning, she woke as a three year old. It amazes me to think about how much she has grown in the last year. 

Over the weekend, Payton's grandparents came to visit and we celebrated her birthday with them. Our son has RSV so the rest of the family decided it best not to come (and we agreed). Today, we are making everything a celebration from getting up until going to bed. We also get the rare treat of having lunch with the hubby, which will be a surprise for our daughter.

Payton, you bring so much light to our lives. You have the most giving, loving heart. Your spirit is gentle and you aim to please. You love to clean, take care of brother, and organize; essentially a little caregiver in the making. We love you so much and pray you always find the light in gloomy weather.

Some stats for Payton:

Age: 3 years

Stats: Due to our most recent (and first) ER experience, I know that you are 32 pounds. You are 3 feet, 1 inch tall. You are in a size 3t.

Nicknames: Mostly, we call you Payton. To many of us, you are called P, Miss P, and you like to refer to yourself as Ruth.

Milestones: Your language and cognitive development would definitely be there biggest change. You can say so much now and we can have basic conversations with you. You can say your name and count to 3 (after 3 you typically jump to ten). You like to find and show off your pinkies and thumbs.

Favorite things: You love your family and are very happy when we are all together. Everyday you ask to play choo choo train and go outside to swing and play with your chickens. You have such a varied love for a variety of toys: Minnie Mouse, cars, all books, fishing poles, dolls, and animals. When it comes to coloring, you can stay focused for long periods of time and make sure to use every color. You never miss an opportunity to clean and help.

Signature moves: Girl, you always want to dance. Daddy made the mistake of showing you how to shake your booty and calling it the "butt dance," and you haven't stopped. About six months ago you took your first dance class and continue to beg daily to take another. I'm hoping to get you signed up for summer.

Along with dancing, you also love to sing. At the top of your lungs. From the moment you wake to the moment you go to bed. You love family hugs, telling everyone you love them, and blowing kisses goodbye. Your sweetness gives me warm fuzzies all day.

We love you more than you will ever know. Happy Birthday to my baby.

9 Month Update

As our house is battling colds, I'm taking advantage of using the extra down time to catch up a little on here, while the time lasts. We are on day 6 and I'm hoping we are on the mend. This cold was rough and knocked us out for several days. I have only left the house once this week and that was only because we were going so stir crazy. We grabbed fast food, met the hubby at work, and ate our meal in the vehicle. That alone was exhausting but a good way to get out for a few minutes. 

Our slobbery, lovable baby is another month older. I will never stop questioning how fast time goes. Seriously? How does it go so fast? I believe I will be getting the itch soon to start planning the big 1 year very soon. We have a toddler turning 3 in 8 days, so I am focused on that first. Again, how do I have a 9 month old and almost 3 year old? 

Age:  9 months

Stats: I really have no idea. Insert the momma guilt. He is definitely much bigger than Payton was at this age. He is still in size 12 month clothes but I plan to pull out the next size up later this week (when my health returns). 

Nicknames: We still mostly call him Riley. Riley bug, little guy, big guy, and baby are still commonly used.

Milestones: Riley loves mimicking sounds and having spitting/slobbering contests. We swear he's saying "hi" and "Dadda," but we aren't 100% sure he's aware yet of what he's saying. He can roll to about anywhere he wants to go (and knows it) and is very close to crawling. He loves to have people hold on to him so he can practice standing and walking. He doesn't like feeling left out of anything and wants to be in the same room as everyone. If he isn't allowed outside when the door opens, he throws huge tantrums. The same occurs for baths. What can we say, he knows what he wants.

Sleep has regressed due to growing, teething, sickness, and who knows what else. He does go to bed by 8PM (a few days lately it's been about 6PM). I am up with him almost all throughout the night with waking times varying. He does go back to sleep quickly but I never know how long he will sleep. I have found it easiest to just pull him into bed with me. I may or may not regret this later. Only time will tell.

Riley starts his days at about 6AM. I am in awe that no matter how good or bad our day goes, he still wakes at the exact same time. He is also a rockstar napper. When he lets me know he is ready for a nap (yawning, rubbing eyes, a bit crabby) I just lay him down in his crip with his sound machine on and he goes right to sleep. It doesn't get much better than that. 

Favorite things: Riley still loves attention, especially from his momma and sister. He can't get enough of us. He also really loves to have anything he can find in the carpet and kleexes in his mouth. This keeps mommy very busy trying to keep him away from things he can't have. This was never a big issue with Payton but is definitely a constant struggle with Riley. 

Signature moves: Riley definitely wants to insert himself into the conversation. He loves to chat with everyone and will make sure his presence is known. He also seems to know no stranger, as long as mommy is next to him. His laughter and smile is so contagious. Payton and I can't help but laugh when we are around him.

Riley, you continue to awe us every day. You are growing so fast and learning new things all the time. We are so blessed to call you our own. We love you!

Our First Trip to the ER

Well folks, we almost made it three whole years before making a mad dash to the emergency room for a child. If only our precious daughter could have held out a few more weeks. *Sigh. How do I have an almost three year old? It goes so fast.

Our ER visit wasn't too exciting but it did break us in with what to expect when you head to the emergency room. What did we go to the ER for, you ask? While helping to change the straw in the chicken's coop, Payton took a fall (under her daddy's supervision I'd like to point out) and landed right on some metal.

After some debate and a call to our doctor, they confirmed we should take her in. Her fall occurred at almost the exact same moment our doctor stops taking clients for the day. Again, great timing Payton! :)

We were lucky that no stitches were needed. They did numb the spot and glued it. Payton didn't feel a thing and loved all the attention (and stickers) she got.  

We were in and out in about 40 minutes. So now we are all hoping its at least another three years before we go back. We all came down with colds over the weekend so there may be a chance we will be making a trip to our doctor's office this week if we don't get on the mend soon.

Hope your week is going well.

Animals and Cupcakes

Choosing to live just outside of town made our family more country than I ever would have believed us to be. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would have 2 children, 2 dogs, 2 outside cats, and 6 chickens I would have laughed at how crazy you were talking. Yet, here I am today, watching my toddler play inside our chicken coop with our animals wandering about as we work vigorously to get the coop finished. The chickens are ready to move in.

She wants to live in their coop, too. And then she realizes that would mean being outside, by herself, at night...

Riley loves playing with the tire and putting his hands in the grass while we work.

We also appear to gravitate towards animal related activities since our daughter is very obsessed with any and all creatures (along with the moon) right now. We loaded a sleeping baby and drove to a local 4-h group's family night. They had a baby cow, goat, puppies, and rabbits galore. Payton also got to decorate cupcakes, which she thought was so fun. I was thankful for not having to clean up such a messy activity.

These are the days. I love having littles around.