Payton: 8 Months

It's been EIGHT months since this little lady joined our family!! Why won't time just stand still??

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A few tidbits about Payton at 8 months old:

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*She LOVES to eat...anything and everything I put in front of her, no dislikes whatsoever!

*She has finally taken a liking to formula!!

*We are days away from NO MORE NURSING!!

*Alexa can make her laugh like no other.

*She's saying "mamamama" "dadada" "babababa" "yayayaya".

*She'll be playing just fine with Kevin and then cries when she hears or sees her mommy, trying to make me think she hasn't been treated well!!! Silly girl, I'm on to her!

*She's still teasing us with the whole crawling thing...it's close, I can feel it!

*Her favorite outfit is her Arizona onesie, pants and jacket (According to Kevin).

*She does not like getting dressed.

*She's sleeping pretty well through the night...but we still have our not so good nights.

*She loves bathtime.

*She loves the "A-B-C" Song.

*She's still getting a breathing treatment almost once a day (for controlling purposes - we're hoping the dryer weather in AZ takes care of breathing issues for both girls!!).

*She's such a happy baby...always has a big smile on her face.

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We are so grateful for this little angel!

Happy 8 Months Payton!!

Same*Same

I WANT TO BE LIKE YOU

So it's usually the younger sibling who looks up to the older sibling and wants to be like that older sibling, do what that older sibling can do, etc....is it not???!!! Well, in our household right now, Alexa wants to be like Payton. Today, she wanted to wear a big bow like Payton. And most days, she wants to be able to do what Payton does or get treated the way Payton does. If Kevin or I are holding Payton a certain way, then we have to hold Alexa that way too...if we're playing with Payton a certain way, then we have to play with Alexa that way too. I'm sure the tables will turn and as soon as Payton can vocalize what she wants too, that she'll be doing the same thing. Right now, we're happy to oblige Alexa (for the most part)...it's not easy having someone come in and take your spot as "numero uno"!!

Stockings, Presents & More....OH MY!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA'LL!!

First off, the stockings! Kevin and I have a tradition of going to the dollar store, wandering through the aisles together pointing out things we each would like, then splitting up and using our $10 limit for each other, picking things out to surprise the other person. It's always been a lot of fun. But now that Alexa's old enough to know what's going on at Christmas, we had to tweak things a bit...we still went to the dollar store...but we had to tell her that we were helping Santa out, that mommys and daddys pick some things out to help Santa, but that Santa is really in charge of the stockings. She didn't question it one bit! And she had a lot of fun helping daddy (and Santa) pick things out for Payton since we now had to split up two and two and I took Payton. So here we are opening our stockings. Alexa couldn't wait to check out her loot. I think her favorite thing was her Princess Toothpaste (see picture below!!). My favorite part was giving Kevin his GIANT toothbrush...fitting, don't ya think??!! :-) And Payton, well...she just enjoyed it all!!

Then there were the presents!

Alexa was sooooo excited for her Cinderella doll from her cousin, Ainsley!

We had a great Christmas morning. We love our girls so much and it was so fun to see their delight and wonder. We are so grateful for this time of year, for the birth of our Savior and the holiday season to focus more on Him and His life. We hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas!

Santa Came!!

Santa Claus didn't forget about us! He even ate the milk and cookies Alexa left out for him!

And look what Santa (with the help of Grams & Gramps Mortenson and Grams & Gramps Baker) left for Alexa this year! She LOVES it! I took a video of her reaction, or THOUGHT I did anyways, but it wasn't on my camera when I downloaded the pictures. I'm so sad!! Just know that she really does love it and I love it too!! And I'm sure it won't be long until Payton is loving it as well!

~Christmas Eve~

We have a tradition in my family to get new pajamas on Christmas Eve. It's one of my favorite memories and so I've carried it on in my own little family. Alexa was so mad at us the day we went to buy our Christmas Jammies because we wouldn't let her see them....they were a SURPRISE! So by the time Christmas Eve rolled around, she was pretty excited to finally see her jammies.

And then she helped Payton unwrap hers and Payton didn't really know what to think about this whole present thing!

MATCHING JAMMIES!!! I've been so excited to see them in these cutest jammies ever!

And here's Alexa showing off her new pj's!

Then we tried to get a family picture....this is one of several takes that didn't turn out but I thought this one was pretty funny!!

Here's the keeper!

Mortenson Family - Christmas Eve 2009!

Then we went to our friends, the West's, for a Christmas Eve Party. There was good food, great company and the wonderful Spirit of Christmas! They had all the children participate in the reading of the Nativity and Alexa got to be an angel.

Here's our little family by the West's beautiful Christmas tree.

Our photographer wanted to take an "artistic shot"!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Now it's time for Santa to come...

Randomness

Just some random pictures from this past week. Earlier last week, Alexa had a play date with her friend, Katherine P. Whenever they get together, these two LOVE to play dress up. It probably helps that Katherine has anything and everything you could ever want to play dress up with so Alexa is in HEAVEN!!!

Payton is really starting to interact with Alexa now. I love to see the two of them playing together!

Alexa was being really quiet one afternoon and this is what I found!! I love it. I hope she always loves to read as much as I do!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh so PRETTY!

My sweet, dear, generous friend Nancy sent the girls these beautiful dresses and sweaters for Christmas! I got the package earlier this week and couldn't wait for today to dress them up! And Alexa was so excited too. The day it came, she had to try the dress on to "see if it fits mom" and then proceeded to twirl around the living room in her "new ballerina dress". And she was equally excited to show Payton her matching dress. I sure hope these girls are always the best of friends!

Thanks again Nance! We love you!

{Church Christmas Party}

Tonight was our church Christmas Party. The theme was 'The Grinch' and we had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the evening, unfortunately no picture of all of us together, and no pictures of the decorations and our great friends. I guess we were busy having fun!! Oh and Alexa purposely wouldn't look at the camera!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Not feeling good

My sweet little peanut came down with an ear infection this week. She's been fighting a cold for several days and then a fever hit and the poor thing woke up from her nap today with a temperature of 103.7 F. She's such a trooper though and is still a happy baby, despite not feeling well! Here's hoping she feels better soon!

~DaTe NiGhT~

Me and my Love!!!

It had been quite some time since Kevin and I had enjoyed a date night so we figured it was high time. And since his parents sent us some money for Christmas, we decided to use a little on a nice dinner out. Thanks Mom and Dad Mortenson, it was a great Christmas present!!! :-)

I know we've raved about this restaurant before, but really, everyone needs to try Varanese!!! The food is DEEEEEE-LICIOUS and very reasonably priced! We love it and are going to miss it when we leave Kentucky. We're already trying to think of another event/occasion prior to Graduation so we can go again!

Shake Your Bootie!!

Oh she's gonna hate us when she's older!!!! We're definitely showing these pictures at her wedding! :-) She was having so much fun playing dress up and dancing and she didn't even mind that I wanted to take pictures! What a crack up our little lady is. She makes us smile and laugh on a daily basis!

Only a few more months...

...until we call this home!!

It's OFFICIAL...we know where we're going once graduation takes place in May. Kevin has accepted a position for a one year AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) program in Tucson and we couldn't be more excited! The above picture is taken from "A" Mountain, not far from where we used to live before moving to Kentucky.

And this picture is taken in northwest Tucson, near the Catalina Mountains, where we hope to be living once we return to Tucson. This is where we want to settle and put down roots so we are extremely grateful for this opportunity, especially in light of the recent economic situation which is making it difficult for a lot of dentists to find work. And we feel so blessed that things are working out so well. We know it will be difficult to leave the wonderful, lifelong friends we've made here, but we really are looking forward to starting this new chapter in our lives!

WARM weather here we come!!!!

Deck The Halls with...

LOTS OF FROSTING!!!!

For Family Home Evening tonight, we started another new family tradition...making a gingerbread house together! Alexa LOVED it. We actually bought the kit a few weeks ago and she's been asking ever since if it's time to make the "cookie house" yet. Boy was she glad that it was FINALLY time!

I think she enjoyed the frosting and candy more than the actual decorating, she kept asking for "another taste" and if she could have "just one more treat".

But she was pretty proud of the finished product!

'Unbearably Cute'

{A Special Call}

Guess who called our house tonight????

SANTA CLAUS!

(I guess Alexa's been a good girl this year!!)

~Christmas Pretties~

Of all the pretty lights, ornaments, decorations, etc. we'll see during this holiday season...

these two beautiful little ladies are my favorite Christmas Pretties of all!!

Letter to Santa

OHHHHHH how I love Christmas!!! And it's sooooooo much more fun with kids! Especially now that Alexa is old enough to really enjoy all the little things leading up to Christmas. We've been spending a lot of time talking about Santa's naughty and nice lists these days and how Alexa really needs to try and stay on the "nice" list (which has been great help in avoiding some, not all, but SOME tantrums and whining!!!). And we've also been talking about writing a letter to Santa to let him know what Alexa, the nice little girl, would like for Christmas! When I told her about it, she said "I going to make him a card cuz he be so happy"!! So along with her letter saying she wanted a "robot" and a "little boat", she drew him a card and then she decorated the envelope as well. It's cute because she's asked for just about everything she sees a commercial for, but when it came time to actually do a list, this is all she could think of!! :-)

Anyways, today, we ventured to the mall where there was a SPECIAL mail box inside Macy's just for letters to Santa Claus. Alexa was so excited to put the letter in that I just about didn't get a picture of it!!

And then she had to make sure it was really gone!

After that, we wandered through the mall and Alexa loved seeing all the Christmas trees, especially this HUGE one! We also tried to visit Santa and it would have been THE perfect time as there was no line but Alexa didn't want to sit on his lap. Maybe another year! We've never done it yet though, so why start now??? Oh well!!

I'm really looking forward to more Christmas fun in the next few weeks!