Weekly Happenings - 11/28 - 12/3

1. At Garrison's school they take lots of pictures which are super fun to check-out daily. Here are a few of my favorites from November -

2. Our little man turned 4 months old on Tuesday - crazy, right?? Here is our pic with Mickey - he really isn't as unhappy as it appears in the picture!!

3. On Wednesday we headed to the Dr. for Peyton's 3-year check-up and Garrison's 4-month check-up. Both are doing great! :) Peyton was asked to pee in a cup which she definitely did not understand so we will instead be taking a sample back in at a later date!

Here are the stats:

Peyton - 38" (60%) and 31 lbs (55%)

Garrison - 25 1/2" (75%) and 13 lbs 9.6 oz (20%)

4. Since Garrison dropped in %s from his last appointment for his weight the Dr. recommended we go ahead and start him on cereal. I had planned on starting him shortly after his appointment anyway so we went ahead and started that night! The first night was great, the second iffy but now he really seems to be getting the hang of eating and even added breakfast over the weekend! Here are a couple of pics of his first experience with cereal!

5. With the holiday season really starting to kick into gear I decided it would be fun to have an advent calendar this year. Each day in December counting down to Christmas, Peyton will have a fun activity ranging anywhere from having a holiday cookie for a snack to going caroling at a local nursing home to donating a toy to a needy child and even building a gingerbread house. I hope that in the years to come we can repeat a lot of our activities and that it will be a fun tradition for her. So far we have enjoyed a holiday cookie for snack, tried hot chocolate with marshmallows, attended the church Christmas party (where we visited Santa!) and built a gingerbread house. Next week the fun continues!

6. Saturday was the Christmas party at our church hosted by the moms' group I'm a part of - it was GREAT! Peyton played several games and was really excited to see Santa. Based on the picture below you can see that she definitely changed her mind when it was actually her turn but Garrison didn't seem to mind meeting Santa for the first time!

7. Peyton definitely is very into repeating everything she sees and hears (man do we have to be extra cautious now!). Here she is feeding cereal to her baby brother doll - gotta love it!!

8. Today we had some visitors - Wyatt, Whitney and Aunt April came by to say hi for a bit while they were up in the city and we are so glad they did! Peyton loves running around the house with her cousins and they all wore each other out! It is so great that Peyton is old enough now to play with her cousins and they take such great care of her! Before we know it Garrison will be joining in on the fun!!

9. This morning we made a fun family purchase - we picked-up a xbox 360 with Kinect. Daddy has wanted one for quite some time and with the sales during the holiday season we thought now was probably the best time to purchase. We picked up a couple of games as well, one being Once Upon a Monster with all of the characters from Sesame Street. Here's a pic of Peyton & Daddy playing - she loved it - especially when she would earn a star for doing well! :)

Weekly Happenings - 11/21 - 11/27

1. Needless to say, our week started with a bit of a birthday hangover for little Miss Peyton - she had such a great birthday!! Then on Tuesday night she caught a (thankfully) 24-hour bug. Oh man, I'm not sure she has been that sick before. Really it was over in about 2 hours but from the time it started until the time it ended we had to change her sheets from her getting sick 4 times, bless her heart! She stayed at home on Wednesday and rested-up for all of our fun Thanksgiving plans and luckily was back to her normal self by the time we departed!

2. Wednesday evening we arrived at Grandma & Grandpa Todd's to begin our Thanksgiving holiday. Since Grandpa couldn't make it to her birthday party they saved her present to give her when we arrived - her first big girl bike. She was a bit hesitant at first but before long she was riding laps around the house. I think she might have loved the bell on her bike as much as the bike itself! She thought it was great fun to chase Grandpa on her bike and try to run him over - look-out! Thursday morning I wanted to get a picture of the kids together in their Thanksgiving outfits but Peyton wasn't thrilled about the idea so I settled for a picture of all four of us (see below). We then headed out to Nana & Papa's for our Thanksgiving lunch. For the first time since I joined the family we all sat at one (albeit long!) table. Peyton had a blast playing with Wyatt & Whitney and seeing the rest of the family. Here are a few pictures from our first stop -









This one is of Peyton & Whitney's parade. Peyton kept telling everyone, "we are a parade" - so cute! She also loved dancing with the halftime dancers on TV but I couldn't get a picture.




3. After lunch and a little visiting we loaded the car back up and headed to Clinton on Thursday evening for the next stop on our itinerary! We visited and relaxed on Thursday night before our big baking day on Friday morning! There weren't many black Friday deals that had us excited so Grammy & I opted to instead head to Walmart after all the crazies were gone around 8. When we were done shopping we went to pick-up Grandma Mintun (Peyton thought we should have picked her up at 7 or before but we assured her Grandma was still sleeping!). Grandpa & Daddy golfed on Friday so that us girls (plus Garrison this year) could get down to business - the business of baking Christmas cookies! Peyton was much more interested this year and unwrapped 7 dozen peanut butter cups, helped make the white trash and even dipped a lot of pretzels. What a big helper!!

On Friday night we headed up to the square in Clinton to enjoy some tasty cookies and fun crafts before watching the annual Christmas parade. Peyton enjoyed the parade much more this year and was really excited to see Santa at the end. We were even lucky enough for it still to be warm enough to let Garrison get out of his car seat to "watch" the parade too!

Saturday we had planned on playing golf but the weather decided otherwise with lots of rain. :( We then wrapped-up our Thanksgiving celebration with a tasty dinner with the Mintun clan at Grammy & Grandpa's. Our count at the table stayed the same this year as last - we missed Great-Grandpa but welcomed Garrison to the table this year - check-out our big guy in his high chair!!




















4. We headed home on Saturday night and enjoyed a fun family day at home on Sunday. Much of the day was spent decorating for Christmas and seeing Peyton's reaction to many things made the time spent pulling it together all worth it!

This year we started a new tradition with Peyton, Elf on the Shelf. On Friday night we watched the Elf on the Shelf special on TV and Peyton thought it was pretty cool but when our elf, whom Peyton named "Tinkerbell," appeared, her eyes lit-up and her smile was priceless. It is amazing to me how much more she understands the Christmas concept this year and to see everything through her eyes is absolutely priceless.

As far as decorating, Peyton was a big help with the tree and had a great time helping me with the ornaments and even putting a few on herself. Then at the end of the day, with a boost from Daddy, Peyton helped put the angel on our new 9' Christmas tree - so fun! And while Mommy decorated the inside, Daddy decorated the outside. The outside was pretty much a requirement after a bit of a guilt trip from Peyton. For the last week or so Peyton has been noticing "Christimas lights" or at least that's how Peyton says it! When she would see them she would say, "Look _____, Christimas lights, they are pretty. We don't have Christimas lights..." So cute! Since Peyton has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger she now has Christimas lights. We went outside after dark for the official lighting and her reaction here did not disappoint!





5. Also during the day on Sunday, Daddy headed downstairs to exercise. Peyton was excited to join him and even joined in on the fun. This picture doesn't do the action justice - it was hilarious to watch them both jumping around together - love it!!!

Weekly Happenings - 11/14 - 11/20 - Birthday Edition!

Hang in there with me, this is going to be a LONG one! :)

1. Peyton is quite a photographer in training - she LOVES to take my camera and snap a few (or 10) pictures - here is one of her masterpieces!

2. Just a couple of my favorite pics from the week. Peyton loves her baby brother so very much, it is really sweet. Monday night when we were getting ready to read books, Peyton ran over to Garrison, gave him a hug and said, "I love you, Garrison." Wow - that melted this Mommy's heart!!!

3. Friday was "Save a Turkey, Eat Spaghetti" lunch at the kids' daycare. Since Garrison isn't eating quite yet we dined with Peyton in her classroom. The kids had so much fun having their parents join them for lunch. The second picture is Peyton with her two besties at school, Kate & Kate!





4. Saturday we headed to a wedding of one my high school classmates. Peyton was very excited to see Grammy & Grandpa at the wedding and overall very excited to attend the wedding. When we were getting ready she wanted to wear her "wedding dress" (aka the dress she wore to the last wedding she went to with Grammy & Grandpa!). Since it was a little too chilly for a sleeveless dress she agreed to wear her new long-sleeve dress which is adorable on her. The best quote from the day was after the bride walked down the aisle and Peyton couldn't see her because everyone was standing at which point she turned to me and said, "Where'd the white girl go?" Hilarious!!






5. Sunday was the big day, Peyton turned 3 years old - WOW - when did that happen?? Friday we had gone out to Red Robin for dinner and since we were celebrating her birthday they brought her an ice cream sundae and sang to her - this did NOT go well...lots of tears...oh well, at least she enjoyed her ice cream! We started the day on Sunday by opening a few presents from Mommy & Daddy, the favorite being her new Dora watch. Granted, she can't tell time but she absolutely loves having a watch like Mommy & Daddy!!





After lunch it was time to get ready for the big party! Here is our annual picture with Pooh, my how she has grown!!



This year we had Peyton's party at Monkey Bizness and it was a huge success. Peyton had so much fun running around non-stop for an hour with all of her friends. We were so glad so many of her family members and friends could make it to the big event! Garrison even got in on the action! Unfortunately, the singing of Happy Birthday didn't go much better at her party but she quickly recovered to eat some cake and open her presents! :)


























6. And here are a few of Peyton's favorites at age 3:
Color: Pink & Purple are a pretty close tie
Character: Diego & Dora
Phrase: Too many to count, you say something daily that cracks us up! Here recently though, you have started adding extra words to your phrases such as, "Probably Not" or "Probably Yes" instead of just yes & no. You are very polite and are now saying "May I" and remembering "please" and "thank-you" all on your own!
Book: Probably your Princess books - Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs, Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots & Do Princesses Scrape their Knees?
Poem: Pancakes by Shel Silverstein
Funniest Word: Diego - you can't quite say it right, even when we practice!
Favorite Toy: Purple Baby (not to be confused with Other Purple Baby...)
Food: You are such a good eater - you'll eat just about anything and get excited about trying new foods. Fruits & Veggies are still top on your list though you do love candy now!
Song: Twinkle, Twinkle....little star, dinosaur, traffic light or any other variation we make-up at bedtime; Goodnight Sweetheart
Movie: Tinkerbell; Rapunzel is a favorite right now as well