Weekly Happenings - 9/19-9/25

1. This week, Chad & I stopped by Peyton's dance studio during her lesson to see how she was doing. Although she doesn't participate 100% of the time she does seem to be enjoying it and is starting to show us more and more of her "moves" at home. Here are a couple of pictures, the first is just before her class and the second is during the class, though the second one isn't great since I can't go into the studio to watch so I just took a picture of the TV screen! :)

2. Peyton's school takes pictures on a daily basis and posts them on Shutterfly. I really liked this one of Peyton working on her letters -

3. While mowing last week, Chad uncovered a bunny hole. The loud mower scared one of the bunnies so it ran out and hid under the deck. After Chad finished mowing and created a barrier so that Apollo couldn't get to the hole he rescued the scared bunny and took it back home. Peyton was quite excited to see the bunny and "help"!

4. Peyton had the chance to spend some extra time with Grammy & Grandpa all by herself. She loved her getaway to Grammy & Grandpa's which included sleeping in a new (to Peyton) bedroom, going to a fall festival in a near-by town, attending a wedding & reception and of course a little play time over at Great Grandma Mintun's - whew, she was a busy girl!!! While at the fall festival she got to try her hand at a version of "Angry Birds" (one of her favorites on the iPad) with hedge apples in a slingshot and even got to ride a pony. Here are a couple of fun pictures from her visit!

5. This little man is all smiles these days and I finally had my camera close to catch one - priceless. All stress just melts away when he looks up at me with one of these little grins!!

6. On Sunday, September 25th, Garrison was baptized into the Catholic Church at Prince of Peace and it was a very blessed event. A big thank you to Uncle Clint and our friend Marla for being Garrison's Godparents and to all of our family for coming to help us celebrate Garrison's blessed and special day. Garrison was dressed in Daddy's baptism outfit along with the blanket that was used during Daddy's baptism as well. After the ceremony we enjoyed an afternoon of visiting with family & friends and a tasty lunch too! Here are just a few of the pictures from the day -

Weekly Happenings - 9/12-9/18

1. Chad & I started the P90x program and completed our first week - woo hoo!! Needless to say, no one wants to see any pictures of us doing the program but here is Garrison showing off his "Superman" move skills!! :)

2. Friday Grammy & Grandma Mintun came up to visit and help with a few things around the house. Grammy snuck in some snuggle time before it was time to head home and I caught this great pic!

3. Grammy called me on Friday evening and when I was done talking I asked Peyton if she wanted to say hi. At that point, we were all in the kitchen. Apparently Peyton needed some privacy for her conversation as she took the phone into the front room as soon as she got ahold of it. I'm not positive what all Peyton told Grammy but she was quite into the conversation - hilarious!!

4. Saturday we headed to Lexington for the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington event. Before the parade started we visited with Nana, Papa, Aunt Linda, Lindsay & Kelli. We headed up to the parade route a little early and luckily we found a spot under an awning for the parade since it was sprinkling off and on. Peyton had a great time at the parade watching all of the bands and other entries go by clapping for several! Garrison managed to sleep through almost the entire parade all bundled up. :P

5. Since it was raining during the battle re-enactment we visited one of the local apple orchards in Waverly. Peyton had a lot of fun looking at all of the goodies at the orchard and even got to pick-out a mini-pumpkin! The nice people at the orchard even gave Peyton a quarter to ride the horse (always a fan favorite) and a freshly sliced apple!!!

6. On Friday, Peyton told us she wanted to go to church on Sunday. I will be the first to admit that we haven't been the best about getting to church real regularly but we of course wanted to take Peyton since she asked to go. Sunday was a very rainy morning but we got up and ready and headed to church. Since Peyton looked adorable I asked to take her picture but she only wanted me to take it of her back so here you go...Peyton did really well at church and we even enjoyed a donut afterwards. Sunday evening we headed to a picnic with my church mom's group and Peyton had a blast playing on the playground - the girl LOVES to climb on just about anything!!

7. A few firsts for Garrison took place this week as well -

--On Tuesday Garrison slept through the night (7 hours) - YAY!!! Unfortunately, this was a one-time occurrence - hopefully we can have a repeat again soon, for Mommy's sake at least!

--Tuesday night was also Garrison's first night in his crib, what a big boy!

--Independent smiles & coos - it is so sweet to see Garrison smile when you are talking to him now and hear him coo and "talk" back to you, absolutely priceless!!!

Weekly Happenings - 9/5 - 9/11

1. On Labor Day, Uncle Landen, Aunt April, Wyatt & Whitney came up for a visit and we had a great time!! We started by heading to The Legends where we dined at TREX, a huge hit with the kids! After a little shopping at The Legends we checked-out Cabelas before ending our visit with a special cool treat at Peachwave. (in case you are wondering, Garrison was with us, he was just tucked in his seat between Chad & I in the picture below!)

2. Last Friday was the first Chiefs' Red Friday of the season and the Todd family joined in full force - although Peyton wasn't initially thrilled with her cheerleader outfit she loved it by the time she walked out the door!

3. Peyton loves to take care of her baby brother - this weekend while in Clinton she gave Grandma Mintun & Garrison both full physicals. Luckily, Garrison was pretty pretty relaxed while having his ears examined!

4. Last week (I know, I forgot this part last week...) Garrison tried his first bottle with Daddy. He tried another couple of bottles this weekend while we were in Clinton, this time with Grammy and LOTS of help from Peyton. He still isn't a huge fan of the bottle concept but is becoming a little more accustomed.

5. Peyton attended a wedding reception with Grammy & Grandpa on Saturday night. She had a GREAT time even if she didn't speak a word while she was there. Apparently, however, on the way home she talked non stop, including an announcement that "I'm not married." ;)

6. Debbie, one of Grammy & Grandpa's friends, was nice enough to host a Sip & See for Garrison. We had a great time!! Peyton even got to be the Princess of the party and Ms. Debbie shared her magic wand with her (check-out the 3rd picture below).

7. And two of Mommy & Daddy's friends had the chance to meet Garrison this weekend as well. Ms. Tara (along with Mr. Kyle & Leah) & Ms. Courtney came to visit. We had a great time catching up with everyone!!

Weekly Happenings - 8/29-9/4

1. Peyton is a girl after my very own heart - the girl LOVES to try on shoes!! When we were at Dillards last weekend she even helped herself to some of the display shoes. They may be on the wrong feet but she was quite good at walking around in the heels!

2. On Monday, Garrison turned 1 month old - he weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz and measured 21.5" - 50th percentile for everything. He has even moved up from the 25th percentile for weight where he was at birth.

3. Peyton tried out dance lessons on Monday and she had such a fun time! When we asked her if she wanted to keep taking dance lessons she responded with a confident "yes" and has been talking about it ever since!! Here she is trying on her leotard & tap shoes - adorable! She can't wait to start weekly lessons this coming Tuesday - what a big girl!

4. It is almost time for Garrison to graduate from his bassinet so Daddy & Peyton put together his crib (which was also Peyton's crib and my crib quite a few years ago). Once they had it all together Peyton wanted to try it out with Garrison - she looks a bit like a giant in this picture but I thought it was pretty cute!!

5. Peyton made her first trip to the dentist on Thursday and she was quite a brave little girl. She let the hygienist brush her teeth and let Dr. Matt take a look in her mouth. She has all of her teeth and got a raving review from the dentist - cavity free!

7. Peyton LOVES her little brother - although you can't see either of their faces I wanted to remember this moment. Peyton was working with Garrison on his flash cards and Garrison responded with a smile from time to time. Unforgettable.

8. Garrison made his first trip to Clinton this weekend - we had a great visit with Grammy, Grandpa, Grandma Mintun, Uncle Mark & Aunt Mary - what a fun filled visit.

9. Pinkalicious - Peyton received a book a few weeks ago that is all about a girl who made (and ate too many!) pink cupcakes. Grammy picked up all of the supplies for Peyton to make her very own pink cupcakes. She did an excellent job and was quite proud of the final product!

10. Peyton needs to bring a family picture into school and since we only had one family picture (coming home from the hospital) with Garrison included we took a new picture this weekend -

11. While we were in Clinton Peyton had her first chance to get out on the golf course. Daddy & Grandpa took Peyton out for a few holes and she had an awesome time. Peyton has her own clubs and even her own glove. She did hit the ball a few times but was more interested in driving the cart. I'm not sure who had the best time but I can guarantee a good time was had by all!!!