Committed

I recently made a commitment to at least try to start running. I know that statement is somewhat contradictory. A friend at school told me about a couch to 5k program she is doing. It is a 9 week program that "supposedly" has you running a 5k at the end. I don't like running, and have never claimed to like it. I figure if I can stick with it for 9 weeks maybe I will understand why people enjoy it so much. You may be wondering why in the world do I feel so inclined to post it on the blog? Well, I'm thinking maybe this is my accountability. If you see me, ask me if I'm still doing it. I am two workouts in right now and am surprisingly enjoying it. However, please keep in mind I am running short intervals and doing mostly brisk walking in between. I am determined to complete the program just to prove it to myself. Stay tuned...

11 months

Payton turned 11 months this past Thursday! At evelen months:
-She walks everywhere she goes.
-She still isn't much into big people food, I think it's a texture thing.
-The past three days she has been bottle free!!!! She has been drinking all of her formula out of a sippy cup. You have no ideas how excited/nervous I was about this endeavor.
-She still only has 4 teeth (2 top and 2 bottom).
-She is sleeping much better through the night after all the trouble that we had at about 9 months. I have finally toughened up and let her cry it out. She is now going right back to sleep.
-Her favorite book is Brown Bear Brown Bear and I swear she can say Brown Bear when she reads it.
-She uses sign language for "more" and sometimes "thank you."
-Her favorite play place is Mollie's food bowl.
-She attempts to play with Mollie by bringing her the squirrel. Mollie is warming up to her, but not quite there yet.
-She is stubborn and hard headed. I have a feeling we are going to have a very strong willed child on our hands.

Weekend in Music City

We celebrated the long weekend by getting away in Nashville. It was so nice to get out of town for a weekend. We spent Saturday exploring downtown. Saturday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry and got to see some pretty cool people...
Dierks Bentley...

Vince Gill...

and Carrie Underwood.

But of course this little cowgirl was the best of all!

We spent the day Sunday going to the Country Music Hall of Fame, shopping, and relaxing. Payton was really a good girl all weekend. I must admit, I was very worried about getting her off schedule and out of her normal surroundings. Our only difficult moments were sleeping time. Of course, I guess it might have been better had I remembered the bottom mat to the pack and play. :) On our way out of town Monday she got to ride on her very first carousel. She absolutely loved it!

Bundeled Up

I think this little monkey is absolutely precious all bundled up. Now we're just wondering what we are going to do all weekend with below freezing temperatures!

We've transitioned back into reality this week, and actually had a pretty good week. Payton is walking as much as she crawls these days (or maybe even more). She is jabbering all of the time, and sometimes even getting a few words in here and there. Her new favorite is "Chase." I think she picked this up from Ella. She always looks at the picture of all three of them on the table and point and says his name. I was reading a magazine last night that had a picture of a baby boy on the back, and she kept saying Chase over and over again. I had no clue why she kept saying his name, and finally Jonathan pointed out that she was pointing to the picture on the magazine. Another word I hear frequently is baby. When she sees a picture of herself, she often points and says "baby." She has learned where her nose and mouth is this week, but is having a little trouble with the eyes. It's crazy to see how much she is picking up and learning every single day.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Happy New Year!

2009 was definitely a great year! With the addition of our little monkey, 2010 will be hard to top! I look forward to watching her grow and learn in the upcoming year. I have been going back through a lot of the posts from 2009 as I am trying to get the blog printed into a book, and I am reminded of how fast she has grown! May you all be filled with wonderful blessings in 2010!

Christmas around the world...

or maybe just around Auburn. It sure does feel like we've been around the world. I can't imagine people who really have to travel to every stop. Our stops around Auburn make it crazy enough. Payton had a wonderful first Christmas and we now have more toys than we could ever imagine. Payton doesn't care much for crowds and chaos, which caused a good bit of fussiness during a lot of the gatherings. Regardless, I think she really enjoyed everything. I feel like things have been non stop lately. We started the festivities the Saturday before Christmas with the Wood family. Luckily, Granny was able to join us and we had a great time eating at Wayne and Penny's house.



Payton playing with cousin Chad. He let her play with his cell phone and she didn't really know what to think. Cell phones are a major no-no around our house.

Pawpaw and Renee' with all of the children and grandchildren.

Trippi and Lisa came over the 23rd, and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. Payton loves her talking stuffed dog. She is very into cuddling with anything soft.
Christmas Eve night we went over to my parent's house to visit with my family. Payton and Kayden got to play together. Aren't his cheeks scrumptious??

Payton got several great toys. She got stackable rings and stuffed animal from LeAnn and Michael, a bug that teaches shapes and colors from Great Bamama, a Minnie Mouse for her to carry around from Barbara and Art, and a Golden Book Bible from the Richardson clan.


Christmas morning we checked out everything that Santa brought! The Gerber stars and balls were by far the favorite of everything. She also got an alphabet train (that came with a million pieces) and a pop up tent/tunnel. Santa forgot to bring over her picnic table, but it has since found its way home. Please excuse our appearance. These are true Christmas morning pictures.



After playing with gifts from Santa, we headed to Nana and Pop's. She got so many great things from everyone.

Payton got a wagon (and many other fun things)! She and Ella took a stroll around the house. Ella got Payton a ball popper to play with.

Nanny got Payton a ride on toy that plays "Muffin Man" OVER AND OVER again (it also doesn't have a power switch). Payton absolutely loves it though. She just gets frustrated when she runs into something and can't back up. We'll get there!

Chillin' on the bean bag Uncle Jeremy gave her. Look at that gut!

Going on her first wagon ride outside the day after Christmas.

I didn't get a picture of Payton playing with her bath toy set that Grady and Vicki gave her, but she loves it! Barbara and Chuck got her the Baby Genius CD that we always listen to at home. Now we can listen to it in the car! The child loves music.
After visiting there, we went to Waverly to my grandmother's house for breakfast (yes-I did say breakfast). Everything else had taken place before 9 AM. Kayden gave Payton a really cool lady bug that also is a book! I had never seen one like this before.



After leaving Waverly, we headed straight to my parents house to do presents with them. Bamama came to down to help...



I didn't get a picture of her on the slide, but here is a picture of her on the rocking horse a few days after Christmas.

Uncle Andy gave us a really cool stroller that can actually fit in my car, and Payton loves it. The true test was the Wal-Mart trip and she didn't make a sound the entire time! Thanks Andy!
After a few minutes of not hearing Payton, I went into the kithen and this is what I found. I couldn't resist this picture. What can I say? She is her momma's child.

Afterwards, we went back to Nana and Pop's for a late lunch. We just finished up Christmas last night with Pawpaw and Renee'. Payton loved her stackable rings that light up and make sounds. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because I was dealing with a fussy baby that has an ear infection and is teething. If anyone is still reading this ridculously long post, you must love us. As you can tell, we had a wonderful Christmas and definitely count the blessings that we have in our lives. Thank you so much to everyone not only for the presents, but for the great company and fun memories.

This week

Look at these sweet babies in front of the Christmas tree!

Payton has found a new love for cereal bars. These pictures don't even do the mess justice. By the time she finished the thing it was in her ears, nose, hair, and eyes.

The little monkey has really started trying to walk more this week. Instead of having to have someone there to encourage her, she has stood up several times and just taken off after what she wanted.

I guess it would be a good choice to go wrap some presents instead of uploading pictures. We don't have a single present under our tree right now.