::GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN::

THIS is what goes on at our house a lot of the time!!

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What would we do without this little lady who, despite her issues with throwing fits right now, brings soooooo much light, life and love into our home and family!

We love you Alexa!!

...:::Payton: 13 Months:::...

On Saturday, May 29th, Miss Payton turned 13 Months Old!!

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What a BIG girl we have on our hands now! May was a huge month for her! We started off the month with her 1 year well baby check up on May 3rd. Her stats:

21.8 lbs (50th percentile)

28 3/4" (50th percentile)

According to her stats, she's right at average but Payton is ANYTHING but average! She's our little sweetheart and we just love her way too much!! :-)

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*She stood up unassisted - May 7th

*She took 3-4 steps on her own - May 15th

*She took multiple steps on her own - May 17th

*AND SHE'S WALKING!!!! - May 19th

*She stood up to walk unassisted - May 22nd

*She says: "Yay", "tane too" (thank you), "dis" (this) and babbles non-stop

*She points to everything she wants and shakes her head "no" vehemently when she doesn't want something!!

*She got the stomach flu - May 16th and it seemed to last FOREVER!

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She's just our little peanut and we can't get enough of her. Her little BIG personality is sure starting to shine through and we love what she adds to our family. We really couldn't imagine life without her!

..::Family Pictures::..

The week before we left Louisville, my wonderfully talented friend, Amanda, took our family pictures. We're sad our own personal photographer lives so far away now!! :-(

I love LOVE them Amanda, thank you soooo soooo much!

And since it was recently Payton's first birthday, Amanda took her one year pictures as well! What a cutie we have! Happy First Birthday sweet Payton!!

:::Updates Galore:::

Okay, so if you've been wondering where the Mortensons have been this past month...it's been a little crazy. Between the move across the country, moving into our first home, unpacking and getting organized, having family in town, projects, projects and more projects, the stomach flu...I just haven't had time to sit down at my computer for 2 minutes, let alone actually download pictures, edit them and then update the blog. BUT....it's done now. There are a plethora of posts going back to April 29th that are all new. So grab some popcorn, an ice cold beverage and enjoy the read 'cuz...WE'RE BACK!!! :-)

{Lately}

While my mom and sister were here, we did manage to fit in a couple fun things in between all our projects! Our community has two pools, so we made it there a couple times and I'm sure we'll live there practically all summer!!

We ate at In-N-Out Burger!! Yummmmmmmm! Payton was having a great time!!

Not sure why we didn't get any pics of the rest of us!!

Payton enjoying playing on Beeta's air mattress one night!

And here's our only proof that Beeta was actually here. We really didn't take any pictures! I told her the night before they were to leave that we needed to actually get ready for lunch the next day so we could be cute for pictures. And then I came down with the flu and that so much didn't happen....so no pictures of me with my mom and sister. Next trip, I guess!

We had a great time with them though and hope to see them again soon!

::Projects - Before & Afters::

My mom and sister, Benita, came to visit this past week! I took FULL advantage of having my mamasita in town to help me with little (okay mostly big) projects I had on my wish list!! Here are a few:

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My kitchen table! I LOVE how it turned out!

The garage was just exposed drywall and needed to be painted. Alexa even joined in on the fun!

Our coffee table and end table for the family room. I forgot to take a before picture but they were light like my kitchen table used to be.

The handle on our front door and the kitchen faucet are an oiled bronze finish and so I had bought the same finish for the curtain rod in the kitchen to hang the chocolate brown curtains and decided to run with it...I found some oiled bronze spray paint which has become my new best friend! I absolutely LOVE how the hardware in my kitchen turned out with just a few coats of spray paint!!

And my silver clock didn't really go with my new decor so I took the spray paint can to it too!!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love my "new" clock!!!

And while we're at it...why don't we paint my corner shelf too???

And as if my mom wasn't kept busy enough while she was here...let's have her help Kevin lay sod too! I would have loved to have been out there helping but it just so happened that me and the girls were down with the stomach flu! Yuck! Kevin wasn't feeling that great either but managed to push through!

Thanks Mom for all your help! We could never have accomplished all the things we did without you here. What a fun, busy week we had! Aren't you looking forward to your next visit when you can actually relax??? :-)

~And she's WALKING!!!~

We knew it wouldn't be long before this happened! She's been attempting a few steps here and there and just really wants to walk holding your hand...but then all of a sudden this afternoon, she just took off. I guess she realized she could do it and now she doesn't want to stop!

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Way to go Payton!!

[Getting Organized]

So here's a sneak peak at what we've gotten accomplished so far...The girls' playroom. Eventually, I'd like more shelving and bins to get it much more organized than you see, but that'll come! In the meantime, it's SOOOO nice having a separate space for all their toys!

The downstairs powder room. Not much going on here. It's actually quite spacious, across from the toilet, there's still quite a bit of room so one day I'll put in some more storage in there. Maybe a cute cabinet to hold all the extra toilet paper and cleaning supplies or something!

This is Payton's room. Not a lot going on in here...so far just the curtains! And thanks to Gramma Jenny for Payton's birthday present (the curtains), I think they turned out cute. We haven't even set up Payton's crib yet as we need to get a twin bed for Alexa before we can put the crib/toddler mattress back in the crib since we were borrowing one from a friend in Louisville and had to give it back. So once we can get Alexa's twin bed, then poor Miss Payton will get her bed back too!! And then maybe I'll be motivated enough to put up pictures and shelves in her room!

The upstairs guest bathroom. It's also the girls' bathroom and Alexa LOVES that there's two sinks, one for her and one for Payton!

And Alexa's room. We painted it pink (thanks Mom!!!) on top, the cute wainscoting was already there. Hopefully soon we'll be able to get her a twin bed and I want to paint the pink letters in her name white so they stand out more.

That's about it so far. I've got more pics of the fun projects we've been doing so stay tuned!!

.::Move-IN Day::.

It's OFFICIAL....we're homeowners!!!

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We have our keys and we've moved in! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the actual move INTO the house...kinda like how I forgot to take pictures of the move OUT of our apartment in Louisville. I've been a lil' preoccupied lately!!! :-) But here we are just before we headed over to our new house yesterday.

The last couple days have been difficult...to say the least. Travelling across the country with two little ones, dealing with a 3 hour time change, not being in our own element or having our own things around, not having daddy around...all these things have taken their toll! I really couldn't be a single parent! But we're all back together now and we're in our new house. We've got a lot of unpacking and organizing to do...but at least we can get back to some sort of routine and schedule!

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Oh and by the way...I LOVE my house!! :-)

More pictures to come of the fun little things we've been up to!

.:Moving Days & Goodbyes:.

I say Moving Days in the plural form because we packed up the truck on Monday and actually started the move out West on Tuesday. It was quite the process. But we're so grateful for wonderful friends who helped us out. We had several guys come help load our truck up, my fabulous friend and neighbor watched my girls all day and then fed us dinner that night. Kevin's parents were a constant support in loading and cleaning our apartment. It was a long busy day...but one that will hold memories forever!

For many weeks now, every time I would think about moving and having to say goodbye, I'd get emotional. We've made some really great friends in the 5 years we've been in Louisville and it's hard to say goodbye. Becky, I'm so sooooo glad your sweet little family moved into the apartment below us. We have loved getting to know you guys. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was having such a great friend live so close by and having our kids be such good friends. We miss you soooo much already! Thank you again for all your help, especially the last few weeks while I was getting ready to move. I really couldn't have done it without you!

After all the packing was done, my dear friends, Waveney, Brinn and Sarah came and stole me away for a treat to say goodbye. It wasn't easy. But it was so nice to sit and visit and reminisce about good times. You ladies are wonderful!

Here's Kevin and his dad in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday. I flew back to Arizona with my girls and my mother-in-law while Kevin and his dad made the trek driving our huge moving truck with one car in tow and driving the other car. I'm glad it was him and not me!!

It was pouring rain that morning so this is the best picture we could get of the two of us before we said goodbye to our home for the last five years! Louisville...you've treated us well, thank you for all the good times!