'Da Coach

 Yes friends you are looking at the picture correctly! That IS Mike Ditka. Zack and I had a night downtown together to celebrate both of our birthdays. Payton had a sleep over at "Ya Ya" and Grandpa's house while we did and overnight in a beautiful historic hotel and dinner at Ditka's restaurant. We started the day by checking into our hotel , The Allerton, and walked up and down Michigan Avenue window shopping. It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to not be on a nap schedule,lol. We both got each other new outfits to where to dinner which I blame on meeting 'Da Coach! I felt amazing in my new digs and was ready for a night out on the town. We decided to walk over a little early to the restaurant to have a drink and relax be fore we order dinner. We were seated right away and ordered some drinks. We did not even get half way through our first drinks before the bartender came over and said we were in the Coach's table ,he was on his way, and we had to move. I was shocked but of course my pessimistic self told Zack "oh sure! They tell everyone that so they wait around and spend more!",LOL. We were moved to the table right next to them and before we knew it dinner came (which was amazing) and so did Ditka's wife. At one point I truly had to tell Zack to stop staring. Then we both started to get excited and nervous. Question #1, What do we have for him to sign, we will just have to buy the menu.Question#2 Do we want to bother him while he is having a nice dinner with friends and family Question#3 Is this truly happening right now!? Lets all remember how big of fans we are of the Chicago Bears as well as the Coach (Ditka) of the '85 bears. We did not take the spelling of Walter Payton's name for Payton for no reason. Zack immediately went to check out the souvenir shop for anything for Ditka to sign and I immediately starting texting my dad about how would we approach him. Still Ditka was not at the restaurant and I started to lose hope. Zack pretty much made me order dessert to wait it out,LOL. I decided to go to the bathroom and , a little buzzed, started talking up a lady i met. Knew her life story by the end. I walk out to my table and Zack has the biggest grin on his face and there is "Da Coach arm length width apart. Zack told me someone already got a picture with him and i immediately told him to go down and buy Bears jersey throm the souvenir shop downstairs!Next thing ya know Ditka looks down at me while taking a picture with other people and say "What are you doing?, I want to take a picture with you!". He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said he would wait for my hubby to get back to get a pic! So excited , Zack came bouncing up the stairs and couldn't believe we were already talking! We got a great picture and autograph signed Jersey! So amazing and 'Da Coach was a very nice guy! Hear is to our "Lil Payton, as in the 85 Bear Walter the great!

What a FUN dinner! After that we were pretty tired from all the excitement and drinking of waiting Ditka out! We headed back to our hotel and called it a night. I love my hubby very much and glad we both got that great birthday gift!

8 Months and Crawling!

Oh my goodness Payton is on the move! Its amazing to me that our little one is crawling! She had been what I call slithering for a bit and then I got the call at work a week ago from Daddy that she was crawling froward! Now that she has gotten the hang of it there is no fear. She is getting into everything and going as fast as she can. She has also now started to pull up on furniture, etc. to her knees. Oh boy i am sure pulling up to standing position is next! Payton also will rock or sway to any type of music playing, which is SO cute. Since she has been moving I can already tell some of the cute baby chub is starting to fall off a little bit, sweety angel. Payton is now eating 4 six oz. bottles a day. She eats breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then a bedtime bottle. She is getting the hang of finger foods like puffs and yogurt puffs. She has popped another top tooth and I still think she is working on more. Right now she has her two bottom teeth(which she popped first) and her top two fang teeth. I think she is also working on the top two teeth because she is sensitive when you rub there. With this past teething stint she made me nervous because there was a whole breakfast time where she wouldn't eat. She got really congested and irritated. We have just been keeping up with the Tylenol and Orajel. Payton it seems has made her wake up time in the morning more like 7am rather then back in the day of her sleeping till about 7:30 am or so. Payton is in 12 month clothing now and seems to be sticking with it for a while. She is the sweetest baby EVER! Payton loves to be outside, which is good for mommy and daddy, and loves crawling after our dog and cat. Every night when I get home from working late or before bed I love going in her room and giving her a kiss goodnight! She is beautiful and such a sound sleeper. It is always interesting to see what position i catch her sleeping in though. Some of the positions I have seen her sleep in CANNOT be comfortable but she seems to be all tuckered in and at peace. Zack says she takes after me in this aspect, LOL. I can't believe we are just a few short weeks away from 9 months. Don't worry I already have ideas for her first birthday,lol.

YaYa and Aunt Annie took Payton and Bel to good 'ol Santa's Village while mommy and daddy were at work! It now is a small petting zoo with a few rides. I guess Payton was obsessed with the turtles,lol

poor teething baby! She loves ice in her munchie bag

YaYa loves P.K.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great Fourth of July! We stared the day out going up to the South Elgin parade. We had ALL the family there ( including my Bill and Marsha Leppin). Payton liked the parade. I think she loved playing with all her other cousins ( Isabel, Blake, Reese, Riley) and people watching more though!LOL she started to get a little fussy because it was cutting into her first nap but started to snooze a little bit in her stroller. She is such a good baby. Even if we get off schedule with her naps to do something special she gets herself back on! After the parade we all headed back to Diane's house (traditionally) for snacks and visiting. Tons of fun! Then back to my parents we went to swim and have a BBQ. To top everything else off , before I put Payton down for her second nap I found a white cap! yep that's right, Payton FINALLY popped another tooth. She has got a little top tooth now and we will see how long it is before another one comes.What a great day. Thank you to all our present and past soldiers for fighting for this amazing country and for the freedom that my beautiful daughter will be able to have.