hair today, gone tomorrow

     I forgot to mention in the last post, that since Easter... Peyton's dad gave him a haircut.. (which at the same time resulted in me having a major breakdown).  Luckily, I'm now over the fact that Peyton's hair is gone and I actually like it better than before.  I'm still going to let it grow to see if it'll curl up like before, but luckily I'm no longer on the verge of tears when I see that my little boys hair is no longer there!  He's growing into a big boy but he's still my cutie.

to the ocean for a weekend

     Unfortunately, I haven't been too motivated to blog lately...  I guess there just hasn't been a whole lot going on.  Last weekend, however, something pretty exciting went on!  We took Peyton to the beach for the first time.  I'd like to document with a picture because it's just such a beautiful picture.  Hopefully we'll make it back a few more times this summer when the weather is a little nicer and Peyton can actually go in the water- because believe me- he wanted too!

Jesus rose from the grave and we visited a zoo, all in one weekend- kinda

     On Saturday morning, Peyton visited the zoo for the first time!  He did a great job.  We made the mistake of going to the part of the zoo where you can pet and feed the animals first.  From there on, he thought he could pet and feed every animal... including lemurs, lions, and monkeys!  I had to stop him several times from climbing over the fence.  He's a wild (or typical?) 15 month old.

Easter was super busy.  We went to church early, but stayed for the second service to serve in the children ministry.  Peyton was beat by the time we left and took a long nap when we got home.  Later we ate dinner with my family to celebrate.

I don't think people really get the importance of Easter sometimes.  Brandon and I have debated whether or not to teach Peyton about the Easter bunny.  I think because there's really no connection that can be made between the Easter bunny and the Resurrection of Jesus, we probably won't be telling him that a bunny brings him his basket.  It's not like he's asked yet :-) so, we'll see how it goes. 

Peyton had a rough night Saturday... so he woke up in our bed Easter morning.

  I hope Peyton grows up to understand how much Jesus loves him.  So much so that he died on a cross for our sins.  I want him to know that Easter solidified our place in heaven as long as Peyton chooses to believe in Jesus and follow Him.  Jesus rose from the grave and proved to all those who doubted him, that he IS the Messiah.  He is the son of God and he has given us all HOPE beyond this temporary life.  Unfortunately, the Easter bunny just doesn't really fit in.  But, no one said we can't celebrate with baskets and goodies :-)  We'll cross that other bridge when we get to it.  HAPPY EASTER!

 

What a difference a year makes!

Spring Break: Day 2 and Peyton at 15 months

     After a looong Monday... Tuesday was a bit more relaxed.  Peyton and I had a playdate scheduled with a good friend and her 1 year old little boy.  We met up at a park nearby.  The boys played at the playground and then we walked them around the park in the stroller for a while.  It's nice to be able to pretend that I'm a stay-at-home mom sometimes :-)

Anyway... here's a picture of Peyton and his friend Ronin sitting on the bench.

I can't even believe that I really got a picture- this good- of two 1 years old's.  I can barely get a picture of Peyton these days.

It's crazy seeing them so grown up.  Here's Peyton and Ronin just a year ago....

Ronin was just born and Peyton was crushing him with his big head...  I'd say they're destined to be friends for life.


With that said... I need to update this blog about Peyton and all the amazing things he does these days.  This is more for me to write it down somewhere so that I don't forget.  I understand if you're like.. "I'm going to exit this page now..."

So what does Peyton do...
Well.

He says a few things:

• Dada
• Mama
• Dog
• Ball
• Juice or Shoes.. the same word is being used for multiple purposes :-)
• "There he is" after we say...where's Peyton?
• He's said "I love you" but you'd probably call me liar because it's his secret trick that he only does when he feels like it.
• And really long sentences where he is very confident in what he's saying, but we just pretend we know and say "yes Peyton! Really?!"

Cool Tricks:

• He runs
• He shuffles his feet and breaths really heavy when we say "fast feet Peyton, fast feet!"
• He blows bubbles in the tub
• Always claps after we sing the ABCs
• He's fearless and super athletic.  He does pull ups using the bathroom sink and he dunks basketballs in his mini hoop.

Things I could live without:

• He throws fits sometimes.  He's very determined, so when he can't figure something out or I take something from him- he'll make it clear that he's mad.  He has actually sat in time-out, but he sits there so nicely, I'm not sure that he knows it's a punishment.
• He bites and thinks it's funny because we accidently laugh sometimes... oops.
• He still doesn't eat a whole lot.  And his poop is nasty.  We've actually talked to the doctor about it twice, but they say it's fine?
• Still not the best sleeper.  We're working on it :-)

What he has:

• 4 top front teeth
• 4 bottom front teeth
• 1 molar on top that I can see is pushing through
• Wears a size 4-5 shoe
• Fits most comfortably in 18 mo clothing.. but we stick 12-24mo on him depending on what I want him to wear.
• Really weird curly-straight hair.. don't know where it came from?

Thank you God for this gift, that I do not deserve.  I know that you love him even more than I do- which is impossible to comprehend in my human mind.  Please watch over him... you blessed me with a wild one :-)

Spring Break 2012 Cancun!! ... or not.

     No, Spring Break was not happening in Cancun this year.  I'm spending this break at my house, which is perfectly fine with me.  I love being home during the week and it's nice to be able to relax.  Peyton is at a really fun age to be home with and it makes me really excited for this summer!

So Spring Break started off a little busy...

Spring Break: Day 1

I decided that I would use this time off to complete a home project.  I've been wanting to put in a kitchen backsplash.  Neither Brandon nor I are handy, so even easy projects don't always work out so well for us.  Despite this, we headed to Lowes.

Peyton was an excellent shopper and waited very patiently as we looked around.

Now when it came to backsplash options, there were several.  This is what I was pretty sure I wanted:

• glass tile
• easy
• greenish maybe?

So we found glass tile and we found easy (at least it was supposed to be).  Unfortunately the easy tile didn't come in any greenish colors- so we went with a white/pearl and brown color pattern that looked like this...

The product was the DIY Network Backsplash kit in Pecan.  It's glass tiles that come in sheets of 12x12.  The kit was staged in the store in front of a video of how "easy" it is to do.  The glass tiles are stick on, so you don't have to putty the wall first... which did make it easier.  Here's how it describes itself on the Lowes website:

• DIY network glass tile backsplash kit - 15 sq. ft
• All tools and materials needed for installation included in the box
• Peel-and-stick mosaics and pre-mixed grout
• Save time and money, install and grout on the same day
• Can be installed over almost any flat and smooth surface
• The DIY backsplash kit utilizes a new peel and stick technology specially designed for glass mosaics and a pre-mixed ready-to-use grout
• The DIY backsplash kit is the ultimate ready to use kit for home improvement

Now I will break down the PROS and CONS...

Pros:

1. Peel-and-stick does make it easier.
2. Small tiles are easy to cut and fit in the space we needed them.
3. Pretty inexpensive.  The initial kit cost $145ish.  We had to buy an additional pack of tiles which was about $45 and our own grout.  So it was ended up costing around $200.00.

Cons:

1. The grout was awful.  All of the reviews I read online said to buy your own grout.. but of course I didn't listen.  They were right- I was wrong.  The grout was a mess and Brandon had to go back out TWICE (the first time he got the wrong color) to get pre-mixed grout.
2. Also they say it can be done in less than 2 hours... that was a lie- at least in our case.

So despite the extreme mess we made with the grout... the project was an overall success.  I think it looks ok and I am happy with it for now.  It's far from perfect, but I don't ever expect perfect when it's Brandon and I doing the decorating.

BEFORE PICTURE:

AFTER PICTURE:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Excuse the dirty dishes... it was a long night.

AFTER: