Baby Boy Todd - 29 weeks

Last Thursday we had our 3D ultrasound and were thrilled that Peyton, Grammy & Papa Arthur and Grandma & Papa Todd were able to join us for the exciting event! Peyton thought it was pretty cool but an hour of looking at baby was a little much for her so she enjoyed some fun toys (thanks Grammy) and pretzel M&Ms (thanks Grandma) to help pass the time!

Here are a few of my favorite pics of our precious little boy! BBT is now about 2 lbs. 14 oz. (from my Dr. appointment today) and is doing great!

BBT's Foot with his big toe sticking up -

And here he is furrowing his brow -

Visit with Grammy & Papa

After our fun trip to Silver Dollar City, Daddy had the opportunity to play in a golf tournament at the Payne Stewart course in Branson so Mommy stayed with him while Peyton headed back to Clinton with Grammy & Papa - a mini vacation for all! :) Friday night, Chad & I had the chance to enjoy some shopping at the outlet mall and a nice dinner at Outback - an excellent night out!! Then on Saturday, our friend Courtney came down to visit and Courtney & I enjoyed yet another meal at Joe's Crab Shack - yummy - and some shopping at Branson Landing.

Meanwhile, Peyton enjoyed her mini-vacation with Grammy, Papa & Grandma Mintun with lots of outside play, bubbles, going out to eat and going to church! We all thought she would sleep the entire way home because she had to be exhausted after her trip to Silver Dollar City but instead she sang and played more than half the way there! They even stopped at McDonald's and when asked if she wanted a Sprite she responded with, "yes, please, and a hamburger" which she ate the entire thing! While in Clinton, Peyton also enjoyed a trip to the grocery store (her absolute favorite) where she rode the horse outside 3 times. She even let Grammy put money in the horse so it moved - a first!! Peyton was excited to tell us about everything she had been up to when we picked her up on Sunday afternoon. Here are a couple of pictures to enjoy!

Silver Dollar City

Thursday morning we headed down to Silver Dollar City for a mini-vacation before Daddy was scheduled to play in a golf tournament in Branson. Grammy & Papa joined us for our trip to Silver Dollar City and we are so glad they did! We arrived a little after 10 and stayed until 4 - quite a day for a little girl and this pregnant Momma to say the least! Peyton's tummy wasn't feeling so great when we first arrived but as soon as she felt better she was like a different child. Her favorites included riding the train (though she covered her ears the entire time), playing with the foam balls at the Geyser Gulch area, riding the bouncing frogs and playing in the water land mine. We had such a great day!! After checking out the house we would be staying at we headed down to Branson Landing for an awesome dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. I ordered crab legs so they brought me a bib. Peyton thought it was quite hilarious that Mommy had to wear a bib and reminded me several times during dinner that I was making a mess! After our tasty meal we finished up the day at Orange Leaf - Peyton LOVES picking out her yogurt and toppings. She crashed for the night and then was ready to go again on Friday!

Here are just a couple of pics from our fun trip to SDC!

ZOO

Last weekend we also headed out to the KC Zoo with Aunt April, Wyatt & Whitney for the day. It was COLD especially for May but we had such a great time!! Because it was chilly the zoo wasn't very crowded so the kids got to run around and explore at their own pace - it was so fun to see them checking everything out together. I think the Nakita, the polar bear, was the biggest hit but they also liked seeing all of the other animals too! It was so cute to see Peyton reach-out for Wyatt or Whitney's hand as they ran along or even when she was riding in her stroller. I think the feeling is mutual!

Priceless, right??

Checking out the napping tigers with Daddy -

And Peyton really wanted to take a picture herself - I think she did a pretty good job of capturing one with the zebras. Also, check-out the skyfari that is scheduled to open sometime this Spring - should be an awesome way to see Africa at the zoo!

Our Little Monkey

Last weekend, Peyton was invited to Noelle's birthday party (one of her neighborhood friends) at Monkey Business. Peyton wasn't quite sure what to think at first and stuck to the toddler area but after Mommy climbed a few things with her she fell in love!! Her favorite activity was climbing up the basket-weave jungle gym to the rope swing closely followed by the inflatable obstacle course. Check out a few of the fun pics I captured below.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Time to catch-up after having a few busy weeks and a computer that completely crashed!! Luckily, no pictures were lost - whew!

We had a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend! Daddy played in a golf tournament with Papa Arthur on Saturday so Peyton, Grammy, Grandma Mintun & I enjoyed a fun morning of being together which included lots of bubbles, chalk and Peyton's endless chatter (so priceless!!) We enjoyed a tasty lunch outside (Peyton's choice - the girl LOVES to be outside!!) Peyton took a short nap and was ready to go swimming when she woke up! Although she wasn't quite sure about the aquatic center this time around, she decided she wanted to get into the big pool - who needs a zero entry pool at age 2...She loved bouncing around in the water and even had the chance to shoot a few baskets. Too bad the lifeguard didn't tell us the basketball goal lowered until it was almost time to go! Oh well - this Momma got her exercise! :) We headed home after over an hour of swimming to get ready to celebrate with the Mintun clan that had all gathered at Grammy & Papa's for a tasty freshly grilled dinner! What a great way to start the weekend!!

Here's the reason I get to celebrate this great day!

Peyton shooting some hoops -

Mommy, Peyton & Grammy at the pool -

Bubble Time -

Taking a little rest - Peyton loves to lay on my belly - her pillow keeps getting bigger and bigger!!

Four generations -

And Peyton tried her hand at corn on the cob at dinner - she LOVED it!!

Then on Mother's Day morning Peyton came in and wished me a Happy Mother's Day! We had a pretty low key morning but headed out to get coffee and donuts first thing. Although not the original plan, Peyton wanted to get her donuts at the grocery store and since they have a Starbucks there too we headed to one of her favorite places! Since it was a special day she decided it would be fun to eat at the grocery store so we did - she cracks me up! After breakfast we headed back home for some more outside play. Daddy worked on mowing the yard while us girls spent the morning on the swing set and running around outside. Since the grass was freshly mowed Peyton's feet turned a bit green so I ran some soapy water into the sink - she thought she was pretty hot stuff getting to soak her feet in the sink!

Later in the day we headed over to Independence to meet-up with Grandma & Papa Todd, Nana & Papa Sanders, Uncle Clint & Christy for an early dinner at the Fish Company in Bass Pro. It was quite literally the hottest day so far this year and Peyton wanted to wear her snow boots (check them out in the pic below). Guess she was trying to set a new fashion trend! After dinner Papa took her over to play on the playset for a while before we loaded up the car to head home - have I mentioned that the girl loves to play outside?!!?!

And since we were so busy on Mother's Day weekend, the following Friday Peyton (with with a little help from Daddy) brought home some beautiful flowers for me and surprised me by taking me out to dinner for an extended Mother's Day celebration. Have I mentioned how lucky I am??

Mother's Day Party

Yesterday, Peyton's school hosted a Mother's Day Party with an Orange and Chocolate theme. What a fun idea!! Each of the the kids gave an invitation to their Mommies a couple of days ago and when I arrived we had all sorts of fun things to do! First we started off by making matching braclets (though Peyton wasn't very interested in this task just yet...), enjoyed some tasty cookies & chocolate milk, took some pictures outside on the rocks they all like to climb on and Peyton even had a Mother's Day present for me - a tile with her picture and handprint! Here are a few pictures from our party (and one from earlier in the morning mainly because I thought her outfit was just too adorable!).

Girls' Weekend & Exciting Golf News for Daddy!

Last weekend Daddy headed to Illinois to play in a golf tournament with the Golf Channel Amateur Tour at TPC Deere Run (a course where the John Deere Classic is played by the PGA professionals). Daddy competed with about 11 other people in his division and he placed 3rd! We were so excited for him!! With placing 3rd he even qualified for the national tournament (since this one was a one of the majors) but that is going to be in September and we will probably have our hands full with BBT right about then! Congratulations Daddy!!!

While Daddy was away, Grammy came up for a visit! On Friday night, Grammy, Peyton & I headed down to Lidia's (one of my favorite restaurants in KC) for an early Mother's Day celebration with my friend Marla and her mom too who were all in town to see the Diana exhibit down at Union Station. Peyton did an excellent job at a very nice place to go "out to eat" (one of Peyton's favorite activities)! Then on Saturday we headed back down to Union Station to check-out the Princess Diana exhibit. It was amazing to see her beautiful wedding dress and a lot of her fashion through the years. Most importantly, it was fun to see the exhibit with Grammy, Peyton, Marla & her family! After the exhibit, we headed to Cheddar's for lunch - YUM!!! Grammy helped me get a few things done around the house before heading home on Saturday afternoon, for which I am VERY thankful! After Peyton's nap we headed out to do some shopping and even picked-up some flowers to plant in all our pots for the summer. Sunday was a much calmer day - we just hung around the house and went to the grocery store, probably Peyton's favorite activity of all! What an awesome girls weekend!!

25 Weeks

Wow - time is going by SO quickly! I can't believe we are already into our 26th week. I'm starting to think I need to get busy with organizing BBT's room and clearing out some of our stuff from his closet! BBT is doing GREAT and growing right on schedule. We had another ultrasound earlier this week and the Dr told us his cerebellum looked beautiful! May sound silly but those are awesome words to hear for a parent! :) The Dr. was able to capture an awesome profile and even caught BBT's little foot. BBT is about 1 lb. 11 ounces right now - so tiny!