~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!

Payton: 7 Months

Our little Payton has become quite the mover and shaker this past month!! We've graduated from just rolling, to scooting backwards everywhere, pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth and pushing herself around in circles with her arms. She's pretty mobile even though she's not yet moving in a forward direction. And she's also become quite the squealer! She never lets us forget that she's there (like we could!!). She's taken to putting on quite the show when she's either hungry and/or tired...a very LOUD show!! Payton has also discovered how useful her hands can be...she's grabbing onto anything and everything in sight! Gone are the days of holding her on my lap and getting various tasks done...she wants to be right in the thick of things, grabbing whatever it is I'm working on or with. Makes it a little trickier to accomplish my ever growing 'to-do' list...but I love watching her learn new things. On the bright side, now that she's a bit more mobile, she's much more content to roll around on the floor for extended periods of time.

A big milestone this month...Payton is almost exclusively eating solid foods!!! We're down to nursing just during the night. It's bittersweet...it's nice to know I'll have my body back in a few short weeks, yet I'm sad at the thought that I'm almost done with that special bonding time with her.

Payton is quite the mama's girl! She does really well with other people (which I'm so grateful for since I take her to the Y just about every day and I don't know what I'd do if she threw a fit each time I left her in the play area), but when her mama is around...she definitely shows a preference to me! Can't say as I blame her!! :-) But her sweet little face lights up whenever she sees her daddy or her sister too. There's no doubt for any of us, that she loves us! And boy do we love her!!

Happy 7 Months Payton!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Happiness is...

...looking into these two faces every day!!!

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago, we had the wonderful opportunity to have my fabulous friend, Amanda, take pictures of our little family. Here are a few of our favorites. Don't worry, I kept our #1 pic a secret as ya'll will get to see it on our Christmas Cards!! Anyways, enjoy...we're so happy with how they turned out. Thanks again Amanda for your friendship, your time and your amazing talent!

And here are a few of Payton's 6 month shots! Oh how I love this sweet girl!

Daddy's Girls!!

These pictures are so special...I love the relationship my girls have with their daddy!

And here's Alexa's 3 year shots!! I can't believe my sweet girl is THREE!! She's turning into such a lovely little lady! We just love and adore her too!

Happy Birthday Princess Alexa!!

Today our baby girl turns THREE!! We decorated last night to surprise Alexa this morning but Kevin had to leave early for school so he didn't get to see Alexa's reaction. Thankfully I remembered to pull out the camera to catch a little bit of it!

The Birthday Girl got to open one present first thing this morning...princess beads. She loves necklaces, really any jewelry actually, so she was quite excited.

We went to the doctor this morning for her three year check-up. We've been fighting a fever all week and so I was worried that my girl wasn't going to get to have a fun birthday. BUT, we've been fever free for over 24 hours now so we were good to go. And Alexa was sooooooo excited to go to the doctor for her VERY own appointment. (She's been quite jealous of all Payton's routine well checks!!) Alexa's stats at 3 years old:

Weight: 31.8 lbs (50th percentile)

Height: 38 " (75th percentile)

Our baby girl has slimmed down and sprouted up!!! She's perfectly healthy and developing as she should, well beyond her age group in some areas even!!

We are so grateful for a healthy, happy little girl!

Once Alexa went down for her nap, Kevin and I got all her party preparations under way.

And then the party began!

Alexa had a great time with all her friends: Karter G., Nathan I., Syndey T., Brielle K. and Zach R. We missed Olan & Quincy C. and Jonny B. - we sure missed you!! Wish I would have gotten a picture of all the kiddos together, but didn't think of it until it was too late. Here's one of the Birthday Girl's sister though! Payton had so much fun celebrating her sister's big day!!!

And here's the Birthday Girl in all her Princess Glory!!!

And we can't forget the singing and blowing out of candles!! Alexa definitely didn't like someone else stealing her thunder so we had to light the candles again!!! :-)

Happy Birthday Miss Alexa.

We sure love you to pieces and hope you had a super special Princess Day!!!

Look who's THREE!!!

It's amazing how fast the time goes! It seems like just yesterday that Alexa joined our family!

So sweet, so tiny!

Before we knew it, she was this cute little baby...not quite walking yet!

And then out of no where she was this adorable toddler, talking all the time and keeping us very entertained!

And NOW...she's is such a big girl! She's no longer my little baby. It's bittersweet. But I love watching her grow and learn new things. Even when she tells me I'm doing things wrong!! :-)

Anyways, HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY our sweet Alexa. We love you tooooooo much!!

(I have more to update...I just haven't had the time lately AND I wanted to get this up right away since this is such a big day in my little girl's life!!)

It won't be long now...

...until lil' Miss Payton is crawling all over the place!! She's now up on all fours, rocking back and forth. She's just itchin' to crawl! I guess it's time to go over the baby-proofing to make sure all is up to speed AND to educate Alexa on what can and canNOT go/stay on the floor!!

The following video is more for the grandparents/family who don't get to see our kiddos on a regular basis. If you want to watch it though, here's fair warning that it's a bit long and the last part really isn't that exciting!!! But Payton does show off some of her recent skillz!! Enjoy!

{Sleepy Cheeks}

I can't even begin to express the joy this sweet girl brings to me!! She had just woken up from a nap and I just had to snap a picture of her rosy cheeks!

I hope it's always like this...

Our girls have the sweetest relationship already and I LOVE it! Alexa adores Payton or "Taypon" as she still calls her!! And Payton gets a kick out of her big sister. Alexa can make Payton giggle and squeal in delight like nothing else. It's so fun to see them really starting to interact with each other. I really hope these two will always stay the best of friends!

Leaves are falling all around...

...On the housetops, on the ground.

Leaves are falling on my nose,

On my head and hands and toes.

Who doesn't love playing in piles of leaves??? Alexa & Jonny sure do!

Miss Alexa looked like a LION when all was said and done!!

Earlier in the day, we ventured to the zoo as we've been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather! As always, we enjoyed looking at the animals and Payton even got to experience her first swing ride! She loved it. You can't really tell from the video, but she was laughing and having a great time! Anyways, we hope this weather lasts so we can enjoy more fun outings!!

For Gramma Jenny!!

Happy Birthday Gramma Jenny!

We love and miss you too much!

Love,

Alexa & Payton

Picture Fun

As you've probably noticed lately on my blog...I've been having fun playing around with my photos. This is no exception. We took the first photo after Alexa's first Boo at the Zoo, so we repeated it again last year. But we didn't park in the same spot this year and it was a cloudy day the day we went to the zoo and so it just didn't happen. But on the morning of Halloween, my wonderful friend, Amanda, took our family pictures downtown. As we wrapped it up and were walking back to the car, I snapped the last picture as Alexa and Kevin had walked on ahead. I thought it showed the transition though...first she can't walk, then she's still pretty little and tuckered out after walking through the zoo, and finally, she's such a big girl now! I can't believe my baby is almost THREE!

Halloween Finale

I got this cute idea from my niece, Brianna...aren't these pizzas so fun??!!! Alexa made hers all by herself and was soooo proud of it. We were invited over to some friends' house for dinner last night after trick-or-treating, so we made these pizzas for our dinner today to complete our Halloween festivities. What a fun way to top things off!! Thanks Bri for the idea!