Merry Christmas

Just like last year, we went over to my brothers to visit Santa and make Ginger Bread houses. We had so much fun and hope that this is something that we can keep doing for many years to come. Peyton was excited to see Santa and when Santa first walked in Peyton said, "Whoa he's big, he ate all his lunch!" He was so excited, but once we got up next to him Peyton wasn't sure about him. All the kids had fun making their houses. Peyton had more fun eating all the stuff. We actually got a few things on his house and all the kids houses turned out really cute.

Milestones....

Peyton has officially learned to recite his alphabet all by himself! He also knows how to do summer saults on his own. When I figure out how to put videos on here I will share, please forgive me for my lack of computer literacy. Oh yeah must I forget, he now stays in his own bed at night and usually only tries to get up once after being tucked in. YEAH! Thanks to those who commented on the last post. Oh, and Cara- I can't wait for your turn so I can be the one giggling! LOL

Congratulations Peyton on your ABC's! We love you!

Please help!!!

Peyton has graduated to a toddler bed from a crib. The first month he did great with the exception of nap time. So, he hasn't been taking naps. You would think that he would be so tired from no nap time that he wouldn't have the energy to keep getting up at night too. We go through the old regular routine and tuck him into bed. He must not be like other toddlers that get up 30-40 times. No, he is more like the energizer bunny that keeps going and going, getting up 100s of times. It will go on for HOURS at night. I am getting so frustrated and have tried everything. Including the "Super Nanny" technique of making no eye contact and no talking and putting him back in bed. He laughs and just keeps getting up. I have tried threats and bribery. I have literally tried everything. Please give me some suggestions in case there is some miracle technique out there that I have not tried!

At it again

Peyton is just so full of it these days. Everyday it seems I have more and more to write about him. He has quite the imagination, he likes to play with imaginary bubbles. He will pick them up off the floor and blow them into the air, or give one to me or Jake, or eat them. He also plays with imaginary frogs. He is so funny to watch him jump around following one and then pretending it is under the couch or something. I put Peyton in his room one day hoping he'd take a nap and I could here him saying "Mom, I'm ready to get up now." "YOOHOO!??" "Mom, YOOOOOHOOO?" I was just outside his door shaking my head, laughing. Another thing he told me was, "Mommy, I love you." I said "I love you too." Peyton then replied, "I love you all the way." It was so cute. I guess he thought by saying he loves me all the way he is going one step further from when I say I love you more. LOL

My little ham

Oh, where do I begin? Peyton has been up to so much lately and says the funniest things. I need to document them before I forget what they are. Peyton was talking to my mom and I can't remember what he was talking about, but he said " You know what I mean Grandma." We both just laughed and she she said "Yeah Peyton, I know what you mean". Then we were traveling in the car and Peyton informed me that his diaper had leaked. I at first didn't believe him, sometimes he tries things like that just to get out of his seat. I had just changed him before we left SLC and we had just gone through Heber. So we pull over to change him. I change his diaper and his pants and I said "uh oh, your shirt is a little wet too, should we change it?" Peytons reply was " No big deal mom, it will dry. Don't worry 'bout it." Well, then okay. Sometimes I feel like my child is 2 going on 12. Then he was asking me to hold him when he wasn't feeling well. I told him just a minute because we were in the car and his Uncle Tim said, "Peyton will you hold me?" Peyton said "Yeah" then a few minutes later Peyton said, " Of coarse I will mom!" I said "of coarse you will what?" "Of coarse I will hold Tim." Again we just laughed. To top it all off, my mom has a old Mother Goose book that Peyton loves with all these old rhymes. Well, Buggsy taught Peyton a rhyme of his own and we were all blown away when Peyton recited the whole thing word for word by himself. It goes like this....
Three, six, nine
the goose drank wine,
the monkeys chewed tobacco in the street car line.
The line broke,
the monkeys choked
and they all went to heaven in a little row boat!
That is a lot for a two year old to remember if you ask me. Oh yeah, then we went to build-a-bear where Peyton picked out an owl. And of coarse he dressed it like a cowboy! Then I asked what he wanted to name it. He wasn't sure so I started throwing out some ideas. Mr. Owl? Hooter? Hoot? Then Peyton said "Hoot Willer". We made the birth certificate for Hoot Willer and then left. When we got to the car Peyton was asking where his guy was. I said "Who? Hoot?, your owl?" Peyton said "yeah my owl, and his name isn't Hoot. His names Bobby Shafto" Bobby Shafto also comes from the mother goose book. So the owls name has been Bobby Shafto ever since. My little ham also runs around the house and says "I'm runnin' on my Hippy toes!" I love his expressions and his little voice when he says these things. He is so much fun!

Halloween

A few weeks ago we went to SLC and were staying w/ my brother and sister-in-law and Peyton came down with some kind of stomach flu. Well, we rode out w/ my mom and had no car to leave when he was sick. I felt like crap because I didn't want to get everyone else sick. Well, the bug ran it's coarse and then we came home. Peyton had also picked up a little cough from the virus. Two weeks later the cough was still there, but almost gone and Peyton had been fine since we were out there. We decided to go back out w/ my mom again. What are the chances of Peyton getting sick again....right? We'll apparently they are pretty dang good. We had again been around my brother and sister-in-law and their baby and we were staying at my grandma's house. Peyton was alright at first then his cough took a turn and was croupy and he would cough so hard he would puke. Again we had no car and felt like we were contaminating everyone w/ this bug. I guess my little Peyton is just not the traveling type. We came home on Fri. and he was starting to feel better, then by Sat. he wanted to go trick-or-treating. Our plans for that were kind of up in the air, waiting to see how he felt. He acted pretty good all day and his cough was minimal compared to before. So we dressed him up, just like he wanted and went to Grandparents houses. We informed them that he had been sick and they still insisted we take him by. Then we just came home to rest. It turned out pretty good and I am hoping he is done with these sick bugs for a while. Peyton wanted to be a "cowboy like his Uncle Matt". How'd we do?

update on kidneys

Peyton had his check-up on his kidneys at Primary Childrens a couple of weeks ago. One took 15 minutes to drain and the other 13 minutes! WOOHOO! Normal is 15 and under. Just one more check-up in one year to make sure they are still functioning at a normal rate and then no more doctors for that ever again! Peyton is so tough and we are so proud of him! (he didn't even shed a tear when they did the catheter and IV, the radiologists couldn't even believe it. They said at his age they all cry.) We are so thankful for the wonderful doctors and the wonderful radiologists. Thanks to all of them! And thanks to Heavenly Father for answering our prayers and helping Peyton get through this without having to go through surgery. We hope that Peyton will continue on this road and get good news again next year:)

continued...

Okay, I had to run when I did the last post and I didn't have time to get my favorite part in. When I walked in the door from Rock Jam, Peyton came running over to me and said "Mommy!". I loved it, he is always excited to see Jake but not so enthusiastic when I come in the door, guess that is what happens when your always together. I picked him up and gave him a big hug. He was hugging me back and then he looked at me and while rubbing my arm, he said, "I am so proud of you." I said, "Well thanks". It is so funny what kids come up with and just to see how sincere he was, was a hoot.

Girls just wanna have fun!

My best friend Courtnie and I decided to go to Rock Jam. Her parents go every year. So, we left the kids home to bond with their dads, and away we went. We met her parents in Fruita, then headed to the concert. We just went for one day, because two days was too long for us to be away from our kids and hubbies. We had so much fun just dancing, singing, laughing and being silly! The concert was great! We saw the Marshall Tucker Band, 38 Special, Puddle of Mudd and Chickenfoot. We just might have to make this a tradition!

Projects

I am kind of a slacker when it comes to blogging. Here a few projects that were done a while ago, that I kept meaning to get on here. The first one is this cute old book shelf/toy box that Jake's mom had given us for Peyton. I painted it bright blue to match his room and I thought it turned out really cute. Here are the before and after pics.

Our other big project was our yard. It still has a long way to go. But, it actually looks like people live here now. Jake and two of his buddies, Travis and Jesse, did our sprinkler system. They even did a drip system where my plants and flowers will be. They also helped with the sod. Thanks again guys! It's awesome and I am so excited that we are finally getting somewhere with it!

This was taken the day we laid the sod. It is looking much better now! I will keep posting pics as we get it better and better!

July 24th

For July 24th we went to stay with my Grandma Abbott. We had such a good time with her and Peyton did not want to come home. He kept saying he wanted to stay with Grandma. I said okay, but me and daddy have to leave. He just said k- bye and waived. We had to bribe him to get in the car. I know the feeling of not wanting to leave her house. Her house has always been my favorite place to go away from home. Here are a few pics from the 24th. I thought that Grandma was going to have a heart attack that we were doing sparklers right on the porch. She looks alot more calm in the pic. haha-- Peyton did so many snaps, that is 5 boxes on the sidewalk. He loved 'em. We did lots of other fun bigger ones on the street. I didn't get any pics of those.

Stuntman

Santa had brought this little four-wheeler for Peyton and apparently he is grown out of it. We often find him doing tricks on it. He can ride it backwards, ride standing on the foot pegs and ride standing up on the seat. He also likes to run it into things like the couch, fridge and of course the walls and peel out. Leaving lovely little peel out marks on our baseboards.

Too much TV

Jake brought home this cute little horny toad for Peyton. He thought it was so cool! We asked him, so what do you want to name him? Peyton sat that for a minute -as if in deep thought- then he yelled out, "His name is Geico!" I guess that is the sign that our two year old watches too much TV.

If you want something done..... Do it yourself

So in April I was getting bids and such for landscaping. I found somebody who had a decent price and I had heard that they do a really nice job. They did the yard up the road from me and it looks great. We decided to go ahead and go through them. He said he was working on a job and had another one the following week. He would just throw us in between because ours isn't that big and wont take long at all. He said it would be all the way finished in two weeks! I was so excited! Well, two weeks went by and still they never showed or called. I called him, he said the rain was holding them back and they would hopefully be here the following week to get started. Well, a couple more weeks went by and a no show no call again. Then I called him and he said he would be here the next wed. I remember because I was going out of town and couldn't wait to come home to my new yard. Well, I came home to even taller weeds. I had called him again and he said he would give me a call back after checking with his guys but he thought they'd be able to do it the following week. Never heard from him again for 2 more weeks. Finally, I called him again and he told me the rain was really holding them back. I said I understand. He said they would be here that Fri. and if they didn't show Fri. It would for sure be Mon. or Tues. So that next Wed. After he didn't show or call again I called him. He said this rain and dtdtdta. I said I understand, we were just hoping that it could have been done by July 7th because we are having company. I don't want it rushed not done right. He said, Oh I wouldn't do that to ya. I told him alot of the time that it has rained around other parts of town it hasn't rained at our house and instead of his workers going home they could have been coming over here and been making $. He said he would talk to his guys and call me back tonight or tomorrow. Tonight and tomorrow went by ---NOTHING-- I called him the next day. He said "I have a cement truck right here and I can't hear you." I'll call you right back. That evening when Jake got home, Jake asked if I had talked to him and I said no I left him a message this morning leaving my cell # to make sure if I wasn't at home he could still reach me. He never called so I called him this afternoon and i told him about the cement truck and the guy saying he'd call me right back. But, I still hadn't heard back from him. Jake got the phone and called him and he told Jake, when your wife first called me I told her I was booked for the year. REALLY??? Then he said, I have been calling your house today to get permission to come over and your wife hasn't answered. REALLY??? Jake said, You have permission!! We want it to get done!! I know it's a holiday weekend but we wanted it to be done. He said the guys working for him don't celebrate the fourth and he'll see if he can get them to come and give us a call back. He never called back. In the meantime, I found out that he has a business partner, so I decided I would call him to see if we were even on a schedule and if we weren't I would get someone else. I didn't want to be the jerk and schedule someone else if the first guy was actually gonna show. I told the business partner what had happened briefly and asked if we were on some kind of schedule. He said he'd check and call me back. Well, the other guy called back and was all ticked at me!! REALLY?? He said if you are going to go behind my back and talk crap to my partner you'd just better go somewhere else. I told him I didn't and that I just wanted to know if we were on a schedule and if it would ever get done because you always say your gonna be here and you don't show and then you say you'll call back and you don't call. He told me if I was gonna be that way and go behind his back to go somewhere else. I told him that is fine we had already made those arrangments and I would make sure NOT to recommend him to anybody that I knew. That was this morning. I felt horrible not knowing what was said between his partner and him I called the partner back. I told him that I was really sorry I didn't mean to cause any problems between them. I know that they are in business together. It wasn't my intentions to "go behind the other guys back and talk crap" I just wanted to know if they had us scheduled. He said "I am sorry." I don't deal w/ that part of the business and you didn't know that when you called me and all I told my partner was to make sure that you were taken care of. I told him well, we are taken care of all right! I didn't want to be on bad terms w/ anyone. But, he told me to go elsewhere and we had already started to get that lined out anyway. He was so nice and apologized again for his partner and said "hey, you and I are on good terms". I told him thanks and goodbye. So this morning. Two of Jakes wonderful friends came over and have been working on it. We should have the sprinkler in by today and the sod down on about Tues. YAY!! Thanks so much to JAKE, TRAVIS, and JESSE! We are finally going to have a front yard!!! and save $$$$ YAY!! THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN YOU GUYS!!!!

New pics

Peyton and I went and stayed with my Grandma for 5 days. It was a great visit. My brother had surgery- so my Dad and Deb came out to support him. The surgery went well and it was fun for Peyton to get to see his Grandpa Doug and Grandma Debbie. We went to the disney train- which was cool for adults! Not children! Once we finally got on the train after a 2 hour wait, Peyton was ready to go and could careless about the train. Peyton was really warming up to his cousin Porter and their dog Frankie. Which was fun to see. We also had new pics taken of Peyton that turned out adorable! Thank you KIERA! And thanks MARA for setting it up! Oh yeah- and thank you TIM for teaching Peyton the great facial expressions!

WARNING- there are lots of pics in this post. Too many cute ones I had a hard time choosing just a couple.

In case you were wondering...

Everybody always asks if Peyton still like his cowboy hat and boots. So in case you were also wondering, here is the answer....

Seven Years!

Monday was our seventh anniversary. It is so crazy how time flies. I don't even feel old enough to be married for 7 years. I have loved all seven years that we have spent together and I look forward to the future. Jake is so wonderful and I am so thankful to have him in my life. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father to our child. There isn't alot to do around here and Jake had to work so we couldn't really go anywhere. We went out to dinner and then rented movies and came home. We didn't have a sitter, so we took Peyton with us. I couldn't have had a better time though. We always have so much fun when we are together. Thanks Jake for being so wonderful and treating me like a princess!! I love you!!

Our little Cowboy

Peyton got a cowboy hat and cowboy boots from his Grandpa Doug and Grandma Debbie for his birthday. While we were getting them out of the box I said, "What is it?" Peyton said, "A cowboy hat like Uncle Matt!" And he squealed this high pitch squeal! He was so excited he could barely contain himself. Ever since he took them out of the box he has pretty much been wearing them. Unless I have had to take them from him for baths and bedtime. Here are a few pics of our little cowboy! The pic of him in the white t-shirt and jeans standing is when he first put them on. You can see the excitement in his face. The pic of him crying on the couch is when I told him he had to take them off to get in the tub.

The big two!

Monday was Peytons birthday and he got a new bike and a helmet. He thinks the helmet is a hat. He threw a kicking, screaming fit when I wouldn't let him wear it to the store yesterday. He got a blue and orange cake just like he requested. He got so many cute clothes and fun toys from all his family and friends. And this is the fish that his Grandma Sherrie and uncle Sage got for him. He decided to name him Real Lyland. He just calls him Lyland for short. -don't ask me where he thought of that name???- He had a great birthday! Thank you to all who got him cards and gifts, he loves them all so much! Oh and I forget about the "puter" he got a cute whinnie the pooh computer and he loves it!

Now that we have our team together for the Relay for Life, we are now accepting donations. If anybody is interested in donating please let me know. You can also do sponsorship if you know any companys who would want to do something like that. I also have more info. for raffle tickets they are raffling some really cool prizes. There is rims and tires from Dans Tire, 3 mo. membership to curves, rec. center punch pass, 1/2 beef, quilt, patio furniture to name a few. Also we have luminaries available for 10$ each. Remember all donations are tax. deduct. Let me know if you want to help. Thanks

Visitors

Last week we had some visitors. We bbq'd hamburgers and hotdogs and just visited. The kids had fun playing together and balancing pine cones on their heads. I love it when I get to spend time with my family. I wished that it could happen more often. We missed those who couldn't make it, but enjoyed the time with those who came. Hopefully we will all get together again soon!

Who are these people?

Yep that is Peyton and I. Peyton got a haircut and he looks so handsome! And that is me as a brunette, strange I know. Everyone is so used to seeing me blonde. It is fun to change it up though.

Join the Cause

My friend and I are putting a team together for the Relay for Life, which will be held June 5th and 6th. Please let me know if you would like to be a part of this wonderful cause and join our team. You do not have to be present to be a part of the team. I need to know by the end of April if you would like to help out. There will also be a raffle with 8 awesome prizes! And I have luminaries if you would like to purchase one in honor of someone fighting the battle against cancer or in memory of someone who has lost the battle. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like any more info. or would like to join our team. Please leave me the best # to contact you. Thanks so much!

Happy Easter!

Peyton actually was starting to feel a little better on Saturday. So we colored easter eggs and Jakes mom and little brother came over. I warned them they might get sick but they chose to come over anyway. We had so much fun! Peyton loved it! About every egg he touched ended up broken though. Easter morning Peyton went straight to his basket to see what the Easter Bunny had brought for him. Then he looked around the house and found all but 2 eggs. He would say "I see one!", then he would go get it and throw it in the basket. I mean literally throw them, everytime one went in the basket you could hear- CRACK! He had lots of fun though. We had planned to go to church then go up to my moms but, Peyton was not feeling all the way better yet and Jake said he felt like he was getting sick and I was loosing my voice so we cancelled all our plans and just hung out at home all day. It was nice, but we sure wished everyone would have been feeling better.