26 years on Earth

First I want to say thank you to everyone who made my birthday special! Especially my husband, daughter, and my family! Thanks for the cards and presents!
The morning of my birthday Matt made me the most delicious pancakes for breakfast! He and Paiton sang Happy Birthday to me also!
Then I got to choose what we did so I wanted to do my favorite thing in the world, hang out with them and take pictures! We took Pai to the train depot and took over 300 pictures of her! They turned out so so cute. I will upload those later. The files are huge so it takes awhile.
Then we headed to my parents. My mom made me my favorite dinner - spaghetti! She also made me blizzard pie. Mmmmm..... It was lots of fun. Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Tim came over!! Thanks everyone!! It was probably one of my best birthdays yet, surrounded by the people that love me most!
Amy and the babies came to pick up the CD of Alyson's pictures the morning of my birthday:
It is very tiring being the cutest baby ever!
Hanging out with her boyfriend, Abba. She always has a smile and a wave for him!
Mom made a delicious wine drink for my birthday too! The wine was called "New Age". Too funny because I was a new age!
Yum yum!
After dinner Paiton swam in her new pool Nana bought her. It was really funny because it did NOT look this tiny on the package. We joked that it was actually a Barbie pool.
My little fish splashing in the water. She is definitely my child - loves the water!!
All snuggled up after lots of splashing!
Here are some pictures from a couple days ago. Matt and I worked in the yard ( we have LOTS of work to do there!) Paiton bounced in her seat in the driveway and had a little hat mishap:
Her feet were literally black after all that bouncing on the driveway. Sick!
This picture does not do it justice. Any time we need to wear P out we put her in that seat. She goes bounce crazy! I have a video to put up of her doing it!
Sleeping with her alligator.
Our first dinner in our backyard all summer! It was delicious, but crazy it took us this long to do it!

Our other children, the one's I like to forget we have because they are just TROUBLE!

Spaghetti Mama

Just can't get enough pictures of this beautiful girl. Here she is eating her dinner last night. She had stage 3 food for the first time. That means it is a bigger jar and has chunks in it for her to practice chewing. She had spaghetti and meat sauce last night and she liked it! At first she wasn't too sure, but she ate it all!
"What did you just put in my mouth mommy?"
Hmmm....I think I like it!
Yes I do like it!!! Hooray!!

We found a Baby Einstein Lullaby Time DVD that we play for Paiton before nap time to try and wind her down. Here she is watching intently.

Last night we took Pai Pai to the park to swing! She had lots of fun, it's still one of her favorite things to do!

Having so much fun!!
Of course her alligator had to come with her. For those of you that know Paiton well you know that her favorite animal lately has been an alligator. She has a stuffed one she takes naps with from Nana and Papa. Then I bought her these little plastic ones and there is always one in her hand! She's our Gator Baby!
This morning I was trying to get a picture of her blowing bubbles but as soon as I got the camera out she posed like this until I took her picture:
I guess that means I take a lot of pictures of her? I just can't help it! How can I not with a face like this! Finally got a bubble picture:
Not too much else is new! Paiton is still doing funny things. We were in Winco the other day and every person we passed she waved to and said "Uh Oh!" It was pretty entertaining. We got lots of laughs. Lots of moms said "that must be her newest trick!" Yup!

Alyson Marie

Here are some newborn pictures I did of Amy's baby, Alyson Marie. I am Amy's favorite cousin and because of that she gave Alyson my middle name.
Just kidding :) But here are some cute pictures of the new one!

So Big!

We have had a fun weekend so far! Here's a quick recap. Friday we went to Target and hung out some. Then we went to the movies while Mom watched P. I think I already blogged about that. It was awesome to go out with my hubby! Fun times. Yesterday we headed to Roaring Springs to cool off. As always it was a good time. When we got there Mom and Dad watched Paiton so that I could go on rides! I haven't been on the rides in years. Last year I was pregnant and before that I just didn't really care to. So Matt and I went on a bunch of the rides together and it was a lot of fun! Then we put Paiton down for her nap, swam, and had fun! She is such a little fish, she just loves the water. She loves to float in the river in her baby tube we got her. Then we take her in the pool. If we hold her on her belly she "swims" by kicking her legs like crazy! The lifeguards are always impressed at our little swimmer. She must take after her mommy! We also dunked her under the water a couple times. She is so much fun to play with! Last night we had a bonfire at my parents house. That is always a good time. Time flies during a bonfire and before we know it it's almost midnight and time to head home!
Today it's just me and P while Matt's at tennis. I love Sunday mornings. Matt goes to tennis and Paiton and I get to hang out and have fun, just us girls. Today after we get ready we are going to go grocery shopping and go to Big Lots. May not sound too exciting, but I love doing these things with Paiton! She is good company!
Here is a video I took of her this morning. She is playing the "so big" game. It's too precious! Enjoy!!


In other news, I start my new job officially tomorrow! It is going to be A LOT of work and I'm kind of nervous of how I am going to balance it all. Working from home is harder than I had expected. It's hard to balance what to do and when to do it. And if Paiton needs me I have to be able to put on hold whatever I'm working on because no matter what, she will always come first! But, we have sacrificed a lot for me to be able to do this and I worked hard through college so I think I deserve to be able to do this and I'm glad I can for my family! Wish me luck!

Look at that tush!

Here are some more pictures of our model! It was bath time but naked Paiton wanted to roll around on the bed for a little while first. And if you had this figure you'd want to show it off too! :)
Sticking her tongue out as usual. We want to thank Titi Cami for teaching her this. Now anytime she gets in trouble or is being a stinker, out comes the tongue!
And we definitely have some bragging to do! Paiton is learning new tricks so fast! Yesterday my mom watched her so that Matt and I could go to the movies. We haven't been out without the baby in months. We think the last time was back in December! It was nice to go. Nana took such good care of Paiton and when we came home she had taught her two new tricks!! When we say "How big is Paiton?" She holds her arms up over head and we go "So Big!!" It is really cute. Mom said she also started trying to say Uh Oh! Can't believe we missed that one! She loves throwing things on the floor and making us pick them up and yesterday she kept doing it to Nana and Grandma Riggs and they kept saying Uh Oh and then she started trying to say it! Too stinking smart this baby is!
On Thursday I was cleaning out her dresser and she was sitting on a blanket on the floor with me. When I looked over she was hiding her face in the blanket. She apparently taught herself how to play peek a boo! Here is a video I took. I had to run and grab the camera to capture our first game of peek a boo! I just am surprised every day that she learns so quickly. This is SUCH a fun age.



As I am sitting here typing Matt and I are sitting at the table with Paiton. She threw her toy off the highchair, looked at us and said clear as day "Uh oh!" I LOVE THIS GIRL!!! SHE IS SO SMART!!!

Photoshoot

I did a photo shoot with Paiton last night. It was just a quick one as it was almost bed time. I want to keep doing shots of her in her tutu's that I made her as she gets older. So here they are, in no particular order.





Today I am doing Alyson's newborn pictures so those will be up eventually too!

Backwards scooting!

Here is my silly girl eating her toes on the couch:
I don't blame her, they're the cutest toes ever!!
Here are a couple pics of my baby girl playing on the floor. She is an expert at getting where she wants to be. She looks behind her, spins around until her feet are pointed where she wants to go, and then cruises backwards! Of course the first thing to catch her attention is the dog water. Great!
I bought these leg warmers (as Matt calls them) before she was born. They were recommended for people with wood floors so that as they are learning to crawl it doesn't hurt their knees! How cute is she!? Very happy to be able to get around.
A short video I took just with my camera, not the camcorder. Little Miss Scooty!

Ear Piercing!

We have big news! We got this little girls ears pierced! Actually I did, Matt was at tennis :) I took her down to Claire's and we did it! It was fast and easy. She cried for just about 2 minutes maybe and then was laughing and telling stories! What a tough little girl we have, no sissy's for us! :)
Trying to get a picture of the pierced ears was harder than getting them pierced! This was the best I could do:
See the little diamond? Too cute.
Here she is playing in her toy at Nana's with Maya keeping a close eye on her. What a good dog.


I finally kind of got a picture of her two big girl teeth on the bottom. So cute, but very sharp! Don't mind my old lady hands.It has been over 100 degrees here every day for quite awhile now. I like it! So we of course have been going to Roaring Springs nearly every day. Paiton loves it and gets us out of the house and I'm getting a good tan!
I bought her these little plastic alligator toys at Target. It was a 3 pack for $1, cheap little things. They are now Paiton's best friends. She keeps one with her at all times - while eating, while taking a nap, while playing in the water, everything! This morning as soon as she woke up Matt said she was pulling stuff off the headboard trying to get her alligator! She's so funny! Here she is taking a nap at the water park, with alligator in hand of course :)

She also quite the stander now. We are seriously thinking she may skip crawling and just start walking! Here she is looking out the sliding glass door at Nana and Papa's. She was playing with Maya.
Me and my girl hanging at Nana's.
We are so lucky to have the most gorgeous girl to be on this planet!