I've been so behind on blogging.  I'll explain why soon but for now her's our sweet 6 month old...almost 7 months now! 

 We had her 6 months photos and I am in love with them! These are the two I can share until daddy sees the rest.

 Shes getting better in church. Learning to be quiet and hopefully soon to share her toys.

 So far, two bottom teeth have come through the skin!

 We took our first trip to the local zoo,

 We started homemade puree foods. Shes had carrots and sweet potatoes.

She also loves mum-mums!!

ok thats all for now! 

Welcome Spring

So since today is the first official day of spring I decided to be ambitious and create a spring cleaning list. I don't have a time table since I have PJ to take care of in between cleaning so I imagine once I get to scratch things off I will have to start over and redo those items, but I am looking forward to the house being clean and hopefully clutter-free. Maybe I should have just written "de-clutter" on my list and stuck to that one chore.

I'm a little nervous I won't get all of this finished and will feel a little overwhelmed. I'm allowing myself about a week to get it all down, but I'm hoping I'll have it all done in 3 days. The biggest obstacle will be the windows and upstairs. I only go upstairs at bedtime so motivating myself to get up there and get the work done will be hard.

I just realized I completely forgot to include the LOFT on my list. Ugh, even more to do now. Anyway, good luck with your Spring Cleaning! Here's to many clean houses in the next few weeks.

Almost 5 months

Dear Peighton,

You are almost 5 months old! I cannot believe how much you have grown and changed in the last month. I'm doing this post a little early because you have learned so many new things I want to remember them all. So, I'm going to talk about some of my favorites and then next week I'll talk about the others.

You are finally slightly getting used to the carseat. You still scream and cry...but it's much better than before. You at least wait until we are out of the garage to cry and I have learned that if I hold your hand and slightly caress it you will find your thumb and fall asleep. I look forward to many days like this when I can talk/sing to you and you are not screaming...but listening ;)

Your daddy has your addicted to sports. Before he left, we all dressed in New York Yankee shirts and spent the day together and that evening watched the Yankees on tv for spring training. Someday, your daddy will take you to NY for a Yankee game. We can't wait!

A new favorite thing to do is grab your toes...it even interrupts your sleep. This particular day you played with your toes for about an hour. You were trying to put them in your mouth, but I guess you could not bend that way in your bed.
You were able to get them in your mouth though! You have the most accomplished look on your face. I love seeing how excited you get when you achieve new milestones.
On Friday, we did our first 5k together. When mommy & daddy lived in Hawaii I loved to run...maybe because of the great weather and the free feeling running there. I wish I could say it was a great experience, but it was stressful. We did finish it, but not without obstacles. First, you screamed from the moment we got on the path and then you continued to scream. Along the way I had to pick you up several times, clean up your spit up (it was a bumpy drive), and to make it worse I had horrible hip pain that left me unable to run the last half. You and I crossed the finish line together...with you in my arms because you wanted to me held and out of that stroller!

You will someday understand the sacrifice that your daddy is making for us. He loves us so much that he's willing to leave for a long time to keep us safe and help people in another country find freedom. I know you are too little to understand now, but this is something that you can be proud of and thankful for. Daddy is definitely our hero :)

Your first St. Patrick's day you wanted to be a big girl and sit in the cart. I don't blame you, it's hard to see when you're in the buggie. You look like such a big girl here. I'm not ready for you to grow up so fast.
This particular day we mailed off our first packages to daddy. He will love all the goodies we got him and the special drawing you did for him :) I love when you are smiling...especially when you smile in your car seat.
Peighton you really are a Joy to everyone who loves you. Please slow down and do not be in any hurry to grow up. Take your time.....I'll always be here to hold you when you want to be a baby.

I thank God every night for blessing us with you. I pray your life is filled with love and you understand God's love for us.

First on Camera

This was the first time I ever caught a "first" on camera. I was taking a picture of her playing with her feet for hubby and she stuck her toes in her mouth!

I was super excited and she instantly looked at me and cried...maybe I squealed or something. haha!

Anyway, this picture will go straight to her baby book and be shown to "boy" friends for many years to come ;) Love you Peighton Joy.

My sweet cheeks

This week has been a tough one. Hubby deployed for a short deployment (well, short compared to the others). It was a hard day for all of us, but we know he will be ok and be home soon.

Playing with a weapon (I was not in the room at the time, but pictures alone make me cringe.)

PJ got lots of cuddles that day with daddy.

Our family

In other news, PJ's hair is getting so long. She officially has a mullet :) but putting it up makes it look a little less hillbillyish.

I just love her sweet face and cute cheeks. This girl can make me smile anytime (even when she's refusing to go to sleep like right now.)

She started making super silly faces and funny noises to go along with them.

I just love her little face and chubby cheeks.

So, in a few short weeks Peighton will be 5 months old. I will look back at these pictures and be stunned at all the changes and how fast she grows.

Dear Peighton,

I am amazed at all you do these days. You are growing, changing, and becoming a big girl right before my eyes. I love to see you learn new things like grabbing your toys and my phone. You love to stare at mommy and daddy when you wake up in the morning. You usually make it in to our bed around 2am and stay there until it's time to get up...you make the rules around here so wake up time is usually bright and early. You also are learning to play with the dogs. When they come close to you, you will grab for them and pull their hair. They don't like it, but I think it's pretty telling of how you will treat them in a few months. We are taking a big trip in a few weeks and I am very nervous about how you will be. I beg of you...please please don't scream in your car seat. It will leave mommy with some sanity. For now, continue to be super cute and happy.

I love you,

Mommy

4 months

Peighton Joy, you are 4 months old today! This has been the most blessed 4 months of my life and you bring so much happiness to our home.

Here is what you have been doing in the last few weeks:

You finally found your toes. You spend so much time looking at them with a look of curiosity and finally you grabbed them! You have yet to put them in your mouth like you did while in my tummy.

Just a few days ago you got your first boo boo when one of the doggies accidentally scratched you. You, me, and daddy all cried. A few minutes later you were ok and playing with the doggy again.

Your sleeping has changed A LOT and mommy is exhausted. Since the day you turned 3 months you stopped sleeping through the night. You're waking up every 3.5-4 hours to eat and then fall back to sleep. I am hoping this is just sleep regression and not because you're not getting enough food during the day.

You are becoming so independent these days and you love to plat with your toys and sit up like a big girl.

You are always happy unless you are tired or hungry. You love to smile at daddy and giggle at the dogs. You are such a daddy's girl already.

You are starting to allow me to put you down more often. Which means mommy gets more stuff done during the day, but I still love to hold you and cuddle.

You love your jumper and all the toys that you can reach while playing in it. It also gives you a better view of the doggies so you can watch them play and it gives them better access to give you kisses :)

You are definitely not camera shy. When you see me pick up my phone and point it for a picture you instantly smile and do so until I put it down. This was yesterday and you can probably tell daddy got you dressed :) we love him!

You still love bath time, but you do not like it when I take you out and have to dry you off. I think you get cold so the lotion, diaper, dry hair process is super fast so you don't cry too much. You usually get a bath around 7:30 pm and fall asleep shortly after.

You are SO close to rolling over. You get your entire bottom half of your body turned and then get stuck on your arm. I know you will be rolling over very soon.

You just started doing a fake cough to get us to look at you. You just started this two days ago.

You are only nursing and nursing on demand. Which you usually demand every 3-4 hours!

This month you took your first "road trip". We went to a town called Cuchara about an hour away from our house to visit our favorite burger place. The trip took a little longer because you were so hungry and we had to pull over to feed you.

You still hate your car seat. You are slowly becoming easier to entertain while in it, but after a few minutes you realize what I'm doing and start demanding to get out! I usually carry about 6 toys for you to play with and lots of noisy musical toys as well.

Tomorrow we will find out how much you weight and your length. You are also getting your 4 month immunizations. We do not like this part, but we also want you healthy and strong.

Our favorite change this month has been that you are more vocal. You love to "talk" to us and blow raspberries to get our attention. You also laugh and smile more than ever before and we love that!!!

I am so thankful for a beautiful daughter. God is so so good!

So, now that we are only two weeks away from Peighton turning 4 months old I think it's about time I posted about 3 months.

January 26, 2012

Peighton Joy you turned 3 months old

You are doing so many new things and changing more every day.

Here are a few things you have been up to:

You still suck on your thumb. You mostly do this when you're tired and it's the first sign that you need a nap or time for bed. I love to watch you suck your thumb you are so sweet, pure, and innocent.

You celebrated your first Valentine's day!

We tried to get a picture with you and Ellie since you were in the same outfit on Valentine's day, but you both did not want to do anything, but cry. You were tired and I think not feeling well today so a smile was not happening.

We attempted to feed you with a bottle again, but you do not have a clue what you are doing and refuse to even try. It ends in tears every time we attempt to do the bottle. I wish you would let daddy feed you. I know it will happen with time though. You are still only nursing and only on demand. I am not pumping because it is uncomfortable and lately you've been eating every two hours so I really don't have much time for pumping.

You enjoyed your first Superbowl party at Ellie's house (and Brian & Kim's)

You hold your head up perfectly now. You are still not in love with tummy time, but you tolerate it very well for a short period of time.

Daddy & I are in love with all the funny faces you make these days! We love you so much and look forward to watching you grow up.

Valentine's Morning!

Yo are not feeling yourself today. I don't know if it's a growth spurt or if you're coming down with something. You have appeared to be slightly pale today and sleeping a lot. You're not your usual happy, smiling self.

I rock you to sleep now for your naps and many times I do not want to put you down so we cuddle and take naps together.

You are noticing the dogs now and you giggle at them all the time. Makai seems to enjoy napping with you these days as well.

I enjoy staying home with you all day. I look forward to when you wake up in the mornings because you are so full of smiles.

Since the day you turned 3 months you have not been sleeping through the night anymore. You literally started that day waking up several times a night. I think it had something to do with my milk supply. It seemed to be decreasing, but I have worked very hard to get it back to normal. You wake up to nurse and end up sleeping in our bed for a few hours. We are thinking of upgrading to a King size because a queen is just too small for three people.

We bought you the bumbo chair and while many people say it is not safe, we do not ever put you on high surfaces. You seem to enjoy it because you love to sit up and watch the doggies play. Buck seems to enjoy it too because he has better access to sniffing your face and fingers.

On Superbowl Sunday you and Ellie were supposed to spend time in your bumbos while the adults enjoyed eating and football, but of course with little ones that did not go as planned. There were 4 babies at the superbowl party and you each took turned sleeping, crying, laughing, and pooping :)

You recently started HATING your car seat. You scream almost the whole time and instantly stop crying when we take you out. We have tried musical mirrors, toys, my keys, singing, mobiles, and the radio. You simply hate to be in the car seat.

You are the sunshine of our days! We love you more than you will ever understand (maybe when you become a mom yourself).

You have a smile that is contagious!

I love watching you grow and change. You have become so much more involved in conversation and when you see me get the phone ready for a picture you already know to smile. You are getting plenty of practice for when your grandparents take millions of photos of you.

We love you our sweet girl and look forward to seeing you turn in to a beautiful bright eyed young girl.