Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!!!

I think every day is Independence Day for Alexa!! She loves to do things herself and test her mom and dad's limits pretty much all the time these days!! But oh how we love both of our "independent" little girls!!

We've had 2 days of fun celebrating the birth of our nation. Because of a forecast of rain for today, we moved our BBQ to yesterday afternoon. We all ventured out to Sarah R.'s parents' place and had a great time, great food and great conversation with great friends!

And, since it's tradition in our family, I HAD to make my flag cake! It's the 7th year that I've made this cake, I've been doing it since the year I met Kevin and I love it. But I think this year's cake is my favorite...

And here's a closer look! I really outdid myself!! ;-)

We topped the evening off with fireworks at the waterfront. I'm soooo glad they were doing them both nights as it's raining tonight and we wouldn't have gone. At first, Alexa wanted to go home when she heard the first booms...but we preoccupied her with guessing what colors each one was going to be and by the end, she was saying how the fireworks had helped her calm down!!

Then this morning, we started the morning off with red, white and blue pancakes (blueberry pancakes topped with whipped cream, strawberries and more blueberries)! Alexa LOVES pancakes, so these were a big hit with her.

Then we headed over to our community 4th of July celebration with friends - the Sonicos, the Tafoyas and the Curfews. We enjoyed browsing through the various booths and Alexa had fun in the jumping castle.

And we OF COURSE had to get a funnel cake! Last year, we had gotten THE biggest funnel cake and the Curfews who ordered theirs right after us, got one about 1/2 the size of ours...so Brittany was determined to get even this year. And lo and behold...ours was 1/2 the size of theirs!! Still tasty though!

We then enjoyed a vintage car parade to finish off our festivities! We had a great time and are so thankful for this country that we live in and the freedoms we enjoy. Happy 4th Everyone!

And Happy Canada Day a few days ago to all my Canadian peeps!!

Punkin' Girl

WOW...little Miss Payton is 2 months old! These past several weeks since she joined our family have gone by so quickly! We had her 2 month checkup this morning and these are her stats:

12 lbs, 12 oz (95th percentile)

21 3/4 " (25th percentile)

For comparison purposes, Alexa's stats at this age were 13 lbs 6 oz and 23". What a chunker she was!! :-) And here they are, both at 2 months. They are definitely sisters, and both definitely my daughters!!...but there are differences as well. I can actually see some of Kevin in Payton...yay, he really did have a part in all of this!! :-)

Anyways, Payton is such a joy. She has really started to smile now, just in the last couple days, which is so fun! She still isn't on much of a schedule at night but we're working that. She's growing like a weed. It's actually been quite hard on me as I've already had to put away several clothing items that she's grown out of. They really don't stay little very long, do they??!!!

One of my new favorite things is that Alexa calls Payton "punkin' girl". Apparently she hears me call both her and Payton "punkin" so often, that she's taken to saying it as well. I frequently hear her saying to Payton "it's okay punkin' girl" or "ohhhh, punkin' girl", or something else along those lines. It's pretty darn cute if you ask me!!

Alexa is a great big sister, she loves Payton so much!

Happy 2 Months Punkin' Girl!!

Biker Chick!

If you remember, Alexa got this Dora bike for Christmas from her Uncle David (and Santa too!!), but her legs weren't quite long enough to push the pedals back in December. Well, fast forward 6 months and our little lady has grown quite a bit. And now that the weather is nice, we decided to try the bike out. She's been enjoying it at home...but it's kinda hard to push on the carpet so she really hadn't figured out the whole pedal thing yet. But as you can see...it's going to take no time at all before she's riding circles around us!!

And I just love pictures from behind. I LOVE the relationship Alexa has with her daddy...she wants to do everything that he does and be everywhere that he is. I hope they'll always be close and that she'll always be daddy's little girl!

It's Official!!

We got our birth announcement done!!

Thank you Amanda for so generously giving of your time and talents to do this beautiful announcement for us!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Prior to Payton being born, Alexa and I would often go pick Kevin up from school. On our way, we'd drive past Louisville Slugger Field where the minor league baseball team, the Louisville Bats, play. Alexa, without fail, would say "baseball game mom" and "go Ona go" every time we'd pass by (Ona = Arizona, can you tell who her daddy loves???). Anyways, so we'd talk about the baseball games and one time I mentioned that we could go to a game this summer...so then every time after that, when we'd pass the field, she'd say something along the lines of "go to game this summer, mommy go, daddy go, lessa go, taypon go too". She couldn't leave anyone out!!

So today, we went to a baseball game with our friends, the Sonico's, who just moved to Kentucky. They have an adorable little girl, Riley, who Alexa enjoyed hanging out with. She loves to have friends! And we had a great time, despite the heat and humidity!

It's one, two, three strikes you're out at the ol' ball game!!!

Three little words...

make it all worthwhile. What 3 words you might ask?? Well, today I was helping Alexa go potty and was pulling up her shorts when she leaned into me and said "You best mommy". Those 3 words made my day...talk about melting my heart. Sure there are sleepless nights, temper tantrums, poopy diapers (for Payton, not Alexa), latenight feedings (Payton again), mounds of laundry, endless cleaning...and so on...but knowing Alexa thinks I'm the best mommy really does make it all worth it. I can't even express how much I love these two precious girls that my Heavenly Father has entrusted to me. Being their "best mommy" is by far the greatest job I could ever want or ask for!

I just hope she still thinks I'm her "best mommy" when she's 13!! :-)

A day at the zoo...

We love the zoo! Kevin has been on a 3 week break and so we've been enjoying having him around to do all the fun things. We ventured to the zoo this morning and had a great time. Alexa's favorite thing is the carousel and daddy wanted to go with her this time.

Our little monkey girl! She had so much fun looking at the animals today. And so did we...it was the first time we've seen the gorillas in the outdoor part of their exhibit (and we've been to the zoo ALOT!!), so that was fun!

We're going to be really sad when Kevin/daddy has to go back to school! :-(

Picture of the Day

Alexa's new favorite thing!

I have to say, I quite enjoy these adorable boots myself!!

She just looks so darn cute in them!

Summertime Fun!

Another couple firsts this summer - the downtown splash park...

and the JCC pool!!

I know, I know...this is it, I promise! I REALLY won't post about each and every time we head to the pool, the zoo or the various splash parks around the city. However, I said I wouldn't do it EVERY time...but I can't promise about once in awhile...just so you're prepared to see at least a few more pics from our adventures this summer!! :-)

Payton's Blessing Day

Today was Payton's Blessing Day. Her daddy gave her a beautiful blessing and she didn't make a peep the entire time...Phew! It was a great day and we had some wonderful friends come to support us. To the Graves, the Wikles and the Carters...thanks you guys, we love and appreciate your friendship!! Kevin's Uncle Paul and Uncle Wayne also came and participated in the circle for the blessing. We really appreciate their love and support as well, especially with Kevin's parents being out of the country while serving a mission for our Church.

This is us with Taffney, "the guys" and "baby Cali". Alexa absolutely adores "the guys" and was so excited to have them come to church!

Here's the star of the day...our sweet Payton Jae!

This afternoon, we headed to Kevin's cousin Matt's house for a family dinner as Matt and his wife, Jen, also blessed their new baby, Jake, today. He was born two weeks before Payton.

Just a couple more shots of our sweet baby girl!

I also have to send a very big shout out to my Aunt Marina. She made Payton's blessing dress and it is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so sooooo much! She has made both Alexa and Payton's dresses now and I hope they'll treasure them as I do and pass them on to their own kids!

JOY!!

Can't you just tell that these two were having so much fun??!!! We headed to the splash park at the zoo this morning as it was VERY hot here today...hot weather + sunshine + water + good friends = JOY! I know, I promise not to post about EVERY time we head outside for some fun as there are sure to be many MANY more of those days this summer. But these are the firsts this summer. It's definitely taking some getting used to having two kids to haul around this summer. It was soooo easy last summer with just Alexa...no stroller, just her and I and our bag. Now it's a massive double stroller, two kids, several bags of total necessities :-) and one tired mama! But it's so worth it when I see how much fun Alexa has with her friends.

If only...

...Alexa could live outside, she'd be the happiest girl alive! Last week, we enjoyed being outdoors at my friend, Amanda's, place. They just recently got this fabulous swing set/playhouse/slide for their little guy, Karter, and Alexa was in heaven (kudos to Karter's daddy for putting it together!!). Alexa was speechless when she spotted it from the kitchen window!! It was pretty cute. Thanks Amanda and Karter for letting us come play...I'm sure we'll be inviting ourselves over quite a bit this summer!! :-)

Payton's One Month Stats...

We had Payton's one month well-baby visit today and she weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz (75th percentile) and 21 inches long (50th percentile). Her head circumference was also in the 75th percentile so she's growing well. I don't have any one month stats of Alexa's to compare her to as Alexa went from a 2 week check up to a 2 month checkup...but Alexa was always in the 100th percentile for weight so Payton isn't growing as quickly as her big sister. I had already guessed that as Payton likes to eat but she's content with a lot less than Alexa was at this age. But she's healthy and happy and we're so grateful to have her as part of our family.