.:Friends:.

ALEXA & KATHERINE

My sweet Alexa has some really great friends here in Kentucky. Katherine P. is one of them. She came over to play today while her mommy had a meeting and the girls had so much fun playing dress up, picking flowers and everything else two little 3 year olds can find to do! We're sure going to miss Katherine!

Payton: 11 Months

Has it really been almost a year? We are having way too much fun with this little lady! Payton has brought so much love and joy into our family! She is so full of life...she has quite the spunky little personality. Lately, she's really started to interact with Alexa. They'll play together, tease each other, get on each other's nerves...and Payton is NOT afraid to let Alexa know just how she feels!! She sticks up for herself, it's so fun to watch!

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This past month:

*Payton popped through ALL 4 top teeth, her laterals first and then her centrals.

*Payton says "Hi" with a southern drawl...soooooo cute!!

*She waves hi and bye all the time.

*She gives kisses by smacking her lips.

*She continues to get into everything...cruising is now her favorite thing.

*Has learned how to fight for things she wants.

*Continues to "yell" if you don't respond to her quickly enough.

*Does not like to be left behind anywhere.

*Has really started to eat table food and LOVES it!

*Is still a very happy baby!

*Is weighing 21.6 lbs...guess it's time to get a new car seat!!

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Happy 11 Months Payton Jae!

So long, farewell...

...it's time to say NOT goodbye. This is NOT goodbye, I won't let it be!!

My beautiful, fabulous friend Taffney (on the left) moved away from Louisville today. :-( We met at a splashpark 2 years ago, our kiddos started playing together and voila...we were instantly the best of friends! She is just an amazing person and I love her to death! I wasn't ready though for her to move, it happened quicker than expected...I was kinda emotionally planning it for around the same time I am moving...so it hit me hard this morning! We met for lunch and she promised she'd be back (she only moved 1.5 hours away) before we leave for Arizona. But it made me realize how quickly my time here in Louisville is coming to an end! I've been trying to spend as much time with friends, trying to have Alexa spend as much time with her friends...but time is going too quickly. I can't seem to get it all done. And I don't want to say goodbye...every time I think about it, I get super emotional. I'm excited for this new chapter in my life, in our lives...but it's never easy moving on. In the meantime, I'm not going to dwell on the so longs, the farewells and I'm gonna make the most of our last weeks here!

LOOK OUT People...

Alexa is on the road!!!

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We were having dinner with friends and they have this mini John Deere and Alexa was hooked! It was her first experience operating a moving vehicle and she loved it. I know it's gonna be hard to keep the car keys once this little lady turns 16!!

Family Picture Time

It's rare that we get a picture of ALL four of us...so I had to post both of them. Plus, the girls are wearing their new spring dresses from Gramma Jenny so we had to show them off!

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Doesn't Alexa look absolutely gorgeous in this first picture??

And then she's such a cheese in this picture...but I love it, it captures her spunky little personality perfectly! Miss Payton was all...whatever, just take the picture already!! :-)

~BIRTHDAY WEEK~

Another year has come and gone and I've once again had a wonderful BIRTHDAY WEEK!!! It started off on Monday, having cheesecake with my FAB-U-LOUS friends, Waveney, Rachael and Taffney. I seriously don't know what I'd do without these ladies!

Then on Tuesday night, we had another Girls' Night...and we went bowling. Oh MY!!!....I hadn't been bowling in probably a decade. But we had some great laughs and a really enjoyable time. I've truly been blessed with wonderful friends here in Louisville. It's definitely going to be hard to say goodbye!

This is what I woke up to the morning of my actual birthday! Kevin had gotten up early and gone to Kroger to get flowers before I even woke up! Impressive, huh!!! What a sweetie I have!

Later that day, my lovely friend, Brinn, organized a picnic at the park in my honor! Thanks Brinn, it was just what I needed and thanks to all those who came! (Oh and yes, I AM 32, but Brinn couldn't find the other single candle so I'll just pretend to be 31 for another year!! ;-))

It was such a beautiful day. We had a great time and the girls were in heaven. Alexa had so many little friends to play with and Payton got to play in the grass for the first time. She was a little hesitant to begin with but soon was crawling all over!

Oh how I love my girls! They were so well-behaved on my big day...

the best birthday present ever!!!

Kevin had school all day on Thursday and then even had to work that night so we celebrated on Friday and he made me a delicious steak dinner for lunch. Sesame teriyaki steak, cheesy smashed potatoes, asparagus and cheesecake! Mmmmmmmm....it was sooooo good!

Thanks babe!

After nap time, we took the girls to the park as it really feels like Spring has arrived and we just can't handle being indoors any longer! As you can see, Alexa was in heaven once again! She's going to love having a backyard of her very own!!

And to top off my birthday week...I chopped my hair off this morning! I had been growing my hair out for 3 years and it was finally time for a change. What do you think???!!!

Thanks again to all those who made my birthday so fabulous! I'll try not to be sad that I have to wait a whole year to celebrate again!!! :-) I guess I'll just start preparing for Kevin's birthday next month...I already have his present which I'm soooo excited about but shhhhhh, don't tell him!!!

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'Til next year...

{Spring is in the Air!}

The weather has turned BEAUTIFUL the last few days and so we took advantage of it and headed to the zoo with our good friends, the Bergmeiers! Alexa was sooooo excited to go to the zoo again...she told me that she's "been asking all the cold time to go and now it's warm"!

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Jonny and Alexa sneaking a peek at the little monkeys.

Then we moved onto the gorillas. Alexa LOVES gorillas!

I think we stayed in the gorilla exhibit for a good 1/2 hour, at least.

I had to get the token shot of Alexa measuring up to the huge gorilla silhouette. The other two are from November 2009 and June 2009. I thought I had more pictures of her at younger ages, but I couldn't find them.

Jonny wanted his turn too!

The trainers/zookeepers were feeding the gorillas while we were there and the kiddos were enthralled.

Then we moved onto the park.

Alexa was so proud of herself for being able to walk across these all by herself this year!

And we can't forget Miss Payton! She had a blast chillin' in her stroller eatin' snacks!

Aaaahhhh, the life! :-)

~One Sweet Chick X 2~

I was feelin' the need for a jump start on Spring...so I bought these adorable Spring/Easter themed shirts for the girls! Alexa loves to have Payton match her these days, so we completed the ensemble with jean skirts and tights! I pretty much have the cutest chicks ever!!

Different...but similar!!

My sweet ladies definitely have some similarities in the looks department...but they also have their own unique qualities as well. I know who is who...can YOU tell who is who???

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(Payton: left, Alexa: right)

~LOVES~

We have a lot of love for each other in our little family!!!

Fun times in Arizona!

Our trip was a success...WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!! Wow, we're really entering into the world of grownups! But we're so excited. Here it is!

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This is the morning we saw the house for the first time!

Right after we put in our first offer on our first home!

Trying to relax and enjoy the day while we waited to hear back about our offer. My sister, Tausha, flew in from Canada to help us with buying our first home. She's a realtor in Canada and wanted to learn how it's done in the States. It was such a huge blessing having someone in our corner to help us along with this whole process! Thanks Taush!

We took Tausha and Madison (my neice came too) on a tour of the University of Arizona Campus. We had beautiful weather the entire time we were there. Here is where Kevin proposed to me almost exactly 6 years ago (on March 8th). YES, Kevin proposed to me on the UofA campus. :-) Those who know us well enough, know that that's exactly what Kevin would do!! But really, the fountain in front of Old Main is a really beautiful spot...I wasn't disappointed in the least!! And we thought it was fitting to take another picture for memory's sake!! :-)

And since we had put in an offer on the house we LOVE, and were just playing the waiting game, we thought...why not go to a basketball game? Kevin was in heaven!! It really was a lot of fun to do a lot of the things Kevin and I did when we were dating and newly married. And with no kids with us, it kinda felt like we were newly married again! Thanks Duane for taking us to the game, we all had a great time!

I mentioned that Kevin and I used to go to the basketball games when we were dating and newly married, right...well, here's proof! This was shortly before we got engaged, I believe. In fact, Kevin really wanted to use this first picture as our engagement photo!!! :-) And then here we are 6 years later! Wow...we looked so young compared to now!

YAY!!! We just signed the contract on our house!!!

And to celebrate, we took Tausha and Madison to one of our favorite restaurants, Oregano's. Mmmmm....it was seriously so good. We also celebrated my birthday early, thanks Taush!! It was a such a fun evening with tons of great food!

And we topped our trip off with the Home Inspection yesterday morning. Here we are right after the inspection was completed and all was deemed well with our house!! Woohoo....we're so excited to start this new chapter in our lives.

And we're so grateful for all the help we received in this process. We were definitely guided and directed from above in the search for the right home for our family. And we had the most amazing realtor! If you ever need a home in Tucson, let us know and we'll point you in the right direction! But really, we can't say enough about how thankful we are for the many blessings we've received lately, and especially pertaining to the purchase of our new home. We hope you all will want to come visit as we'd love to have you!!

Payton: 10 Months

Another month has flown by! Our little lady will be ONE at the end of next month, that's so crazy to me!! She's getting so big. Here are a few things that happened in Payton's life this last month:

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*She had an ear infection and a mild asthmatic episode in early February.

*She started shaking her head "no" on Feb 7th.

*Her left lateral tooth on top came through on Feb 11th.

*She's pulling up to stand now, as of Feb 11th.

*Her right lateral on top came through on Feb 15th.

*She can now crawl up into things like her small rocking chair.

*She went on her first road trip to Indianapolis on Feb 20th.

*She's getting into everything!

*She tries to disappear into the floor, makes herself as flat as possible, when she knows she's doing something she's not supposed too!!

*She loves to copy - fake laughing or coughing - to see how you'll react.

*She's still sleeping like a champ, usually 12-14 hours each night.

*She's still taking at least 2 naps each day, and sometimes even a short 3rd one.

*She doesn't like her breathing treatments.

*She's started taking tubbies with Alexa and she absolutely LOVES being in the water...but she's a little TOO brave!

*She started playing shy and only wants her mommy.

These two are just the joy in my life! Some days are definitely harder than others, but I don't know what I'd do without them! We're leaving them this week with friends so Kevin and I can go to Arizona and buy a house....and I'm having a really hard time with it! I've never left Payton before and Alexa I've only left with Kevin or my mom. I'm sure they'll be just fine but I'm still nervous and anxious! Here's hoping I'll have a good report next week! And wish us luck on the house-hunting!! :-)

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

Payton LOVES to get into the wipes. If the package is left open and within her reach, she makes a beeline for it! And if you turn your back for even just a minute or two, she's got practically the whole package of wipes taken out. She's a quick one!! We've definitely got to keep our eyes on her. I think this is just a glimpse of what she's going to get into in the years to come! :-)

We wouldn't have it any other way though!

We sure love this little lady and her spunky personality!

{Talent Show}

Alexa went to her first Primary Activity at our church last night. They are held quarterly for the 3-11 year olds and this one was a Talent Show. Alexa had gone back and forth deciding between doing a number on her "drums" (aka my kitchen canisters for flour, sugar, etc.) or singing a song. Well, after going to Storytime at our library this past Wednesday and learning a new song about teeth, she decided she wanted to sing that song as her talent. Kinda fitting don't ya think since her daddy is ALMOST done with dental school??!! :-)

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And here's our little singer! I'm so sad I missed it but sooooo glad Kevin was able to get it on video! (I was at home with Payton so she could go to bed on time!)