Neighborhood Fun

We have GREAT neighbors - we are so lucky that Peyton has many neighborhood friends and that all the kids are so close in age. Last night, one of our neighbors invited us over for some water play after dinner. Of course, Peyton quickly accepted and had such a great time! Thanks to the Bacas & Baalmanns for a fun summer evening!!!

Mommy Turned 30!!!!

Yes, that's right, Mommy turned 30 on Saturday!!! We had a great day that started with our new family tradition of donuts & coffee. Peyton loved getting to pick-out everyone's donuts at the donut shop and when Daddy tried to eat one that she picked out for herself that did not go over well! Later in the morning, Grammy & Papa arrived to join in the celebration so we headed to lunch at Olive Garden - one of my favorites and definitely the best place to take Peyton as she ALWAYS eats well there and has a good time! After lunch the boys headed back to check-out the work that was being done on our new roof while the girls did a little shopping and then took a driving tour of Overland Park/Olathe so that Peyton could get in a short nap - she was definitely not going to sleep with a new roof being put on!! When we got home we enjoyed birthday cake - Peyton thought it was quite entertaining to watch Mommy blow out SO many candles!

To continue the celebration, Chad & I headed up to the Legend's to meet-up with several of my friends from college who were also turning 30 within the last year. We had an awesome dinner followed by a trip to the comedy club which was great and then we wrapped-up the evening with drinks (and desserts for us pregnant ladies!) at another restaurant. I even made it until 11:30 before we headed home. It was so great to see everyone and have a chance to catch-up - it has been a long time since all of us have gotten together! A big thanks to Tara for coordinating the get together!! :)

While we were out with my friends, Peyton, Grammy & Papa headed to Oak Park Mall to escape the pounding on the roof. From what I have heard they had a great time in the play areas, riding the carousel and even doing a little shopping! Since the roofers weren't done until close to 10, Peyton had an extra late bedtime which meant that much more play time with Grammy & Papa!

On Sunday morning we headed to First Watch for a tasty breakfast before it was time for Grammy & Papa to head home. Whew, what a busy but GREAT weekend!!!



The girls - Amanda, Bethany, Tara, Bobbi, Katy, Amanda & Tara


And the three pregnant ladies - Katy & I are both due in August and Bethany is due in November


And you can't go to Wild Bill's without a picture with the bull -


Earlier in the day Peyton had a fun time playing outside with Grammy & Papa -




And here is Peyton with Grammy on one of her carousel rides!

Soccer Time!

Peyton has now finished her second week of soccer and she seems to really like it! She is still a little hesitant and is sometimes more interested in what everyone else is doing but she is at least having a good time!



Daddy & Peyton getting ready for "practice".

And a few family pictures too...

Peyton's 2.5 Year Pictures

Love this pictures - looks like she is staring so deeply into the camera!!

Baby Bump at 30 weeks (almost)

Ice Baby Too Cold

Apparently we listen to Sirius 90's on 9 a little too much as Peyton has included in her prayer the last TWO nights, "God Bless Ice Baby Too Cold." It is almost impossible to not laugh at this addition to her prayer but she is very serious about including it - so cute!!!

Another busy, long weekend with lots of fun & visitors!

This last weekend was finally a bit warmer, thank goodness!!! To take advantage of the beautiful weather we of course headed to the pool. Although we did visit the baby pool, Peyton really prefers to be in the big pool. She doesn't even need to swing all that much - she just loes watching the big kids splash and jump in the water. Peyton is getting quite good at jumping into our arms (even though she doesn't like us to be too far from the edge) and getting into the water by herself while holding on to the side. I wonder how brave she will be by the end of the summer!!

On Sunday Peyton decided she wanted pancakes for breakfast so we mixed some up. She was so excited, that is, until it was time to eat the final product! Oh well, Daddy & I enjoyed our pancakes!!

After a tasty breakfast, Daddy headed to his golf tournament which, by the way, HE WON!!! Congratulations Daddy!!!

While Daddy was playing golf, Peyton & I did some things around the house before heading to our neighbor friend Kate's 3rd birthday party. Peyton had so much fun playing with all of the kids, eating cake and even getting her first temporary tattoo!

Since I had not slept the night before and wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep-up with Peyton's energy level for the rest of the day, Grammy, Papa (whom Peyton has started calling Grandpa again part of the time), Grandma Mintun & Murray came up to visit and entertain Peyton. Everyone had a great visit, which was capped off with a trip to McDonald's for dinner. Check-out Peyton's cool shark tattoo in her picture with Grammy below.

This was the outfit Peyton wore to McD's - her swimsuit with her shorts - classy, I know, but she was happy!

Then Peyton got an extended weekend when Grandma & Papa Todd came up to spend the day with Peyton. From what I hear they enjoyed a tasty breakfast at First Watch (one of our favorites!) and a trip to Lowe's in the morning. Peyton loved turning the light switches on and off and checking-out all of the doorbells at Lowe's but was very excited she didn't have to pick out flowers (no idea where this one came from!). After a short nap it was time to play a little outside and since it was SO hot Peyton insisted on playing with the waterhose. I'm betting Grandma & Papa ended-up more wet than Peyton.

After I got home Papa gave Peyton a few "airplane" rides in a chair. When Papa was tired of this game they tried a train game. This one didn't hold Peyton's interest near as long but I thought it was a fun picture!

Our little soccer player...

Last Friday Peyton started soccer practice with Daddy in a local Me & Mini-Me Soccer class. She had such a great time and was so excited to tell me all about it when they got home - I loved hearing all of her fun stories! She remembered her coaches names, told me what she learned and Daddy said she did an awesome job listening, especially when playing Red Light, Green Light.

Here's Daddy showing Peyton a new game on his phone as we were trying to kill a little bit of time before soccer practice.

And since Peyton is turning into such a big girl she got to pick-out some stickers for her walls as we start to shift her room from her nursery decor to more of a big girl room theme. She chose Tinkerbell - check-out how much fun she had putting her new stickers up!

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

This year we had a quiet but very fun Memorial Day Weekend as a family! We spent tons of time together - it was the best long weekend!! Although we did lots of running around, shopping, exploring, etc. we also found time to get started on cleaning out BBT's room - a task that is still not complete but at least we are making progress!!

Here are a couple of pictures from our visit to Park Place. Peyton thought the splash area was pretty cool but LOVED the fun chairs on the lawn.

Later on we found some time for bubbles...

And a quick golf lesson from Daddy, with her very own real iron - impressive!

Daddy even took Peyton to the pool on Monday when the weather was not as cooperative - it was down right cold but they went and she had such a good time!!! Thanks for taking one for the team, Daddy!!