Our Peanut at Four Months

Oh my goodness I can't believe we are already through half of month four. Payton went in for her four month doc visit more at like four and a half months. A week before her doctors visit she received her FIRST cold. The poor thing was buggery and had a bit of a cough. I was waiting for this to happen considering she was a winter baby and had made it through just fine. Part of me wanted her to get one so we could get it done and over with and mommy and daddy new what to expect , but then another part of me ( the neurotic part, lol) didn't want her to because I was worried it would get really bad. Needless to say my poor mother had to have me constantly ask her to hear her lungs to make sure it was not turning into anything worse! OH BROTHER! Sorry mom, :). Payton actually really has a good demeanor on her. She went through the cold still happy and sleeping pretty well through the night. When we went to see the doctor I wasn't sure if they were going to give her the five vaccines she needed because she was still a bit congested. Our pleasantly plump baby weighed in at 16 pounds 2 ounces and 25 inches in length. The doctor says she is a happy healthy baby which I would agree with! They went ahead and gave her her vaccines ( 4 shots and one oral) AGAIN Payton took it like a champ. Not much crying and calmed down pretty well. This time after shots Payton seemed a bit irritated. She has been a stellar baby with sleeping through the night but the night of her shots not so much. I was up with her three times in the middle of the night! It brought me back to the newborn stage, lol. Like I said she was coming off a cold, had the shots, and we were told by the doctor that her bottom gums seemed a bit swollen (teething). I think it was a perfect storm of irritation!Payton wakes up everyday and seems to be adding something else to her repertoire. Its amazing! In the beginning of the month I think she realized her own voice and started talking more and more. Now by mid month she is really getting more physical. She is sitting , not entirely unassisted, but when propped up she put hands on knees and last about 15-30 seconds before falling to the side. So fun to watch her try to get her bearings. She has realized where her feet are so at diaper changes it takes abit longer with her grabbing her toes and holding on for dear life.Within the past few days she has realized how to plant her feet on the ground and stand assisted. She LOVES it. When her grandma Kerruish was over for a visit we were laughing on how she seems to want to go go go all the time.Zack and I have gotten to hear a little bit more of her belly laughs which I cannot tell you how much that melts my heart. I wish I could hear them all the time.If you pick the right moment our peanut on her tummy will now lift with her hands underneath her. Payton is still not an entirely huge fan of tummy time which is funny to me, because when she was a newborn she LOVED falling asleep on my chest on her tummy.Payton also is sitting really well in her bumbo now and is enjoying her rice cereal. This week we gave her some oatmeal and next week it will be barley cereal. At five months we will start introducing veggies and fruits! fingers crossed no allergies yet. She really likes to play and bite down on her spoon after feeding is done. The biting as well as constant drooling is what is giving us a little bit of the heads up that she is getting herself ready for teeth. She is a beautiful baby with a great little personality growing. As much as I can get frustrated at times I love her with all my heart and can't imagine my life without her. Her smiles and coos could melt any ones heart. Her eyelashes are the longest things I have ever seen and I could just kiss the dimple on her chin she inherited from her daddy all the time. I love this child more then life itself!

Payton playing in her exesaucer at "Ya Ya's" house

Always biting on everything

all dressed up and nowhere to go!

Aunt Annie reading to the girls at our first story time at the book store.

Favorite cousins at Boo Bel's two year birthday party!

Happy in the A.M.

our little "Morning Girl"!

Rice Cereal...The Breakfast of Champions!

Today Payton ate her very first bowl of rice cereal! Payton has been sleeping 12 hour stretches through the night since she was 8 weeks old. She goes down at 7pm and wakes at 7-7:15am. So since we are SO close to her 4 month birthday and she has decided the past couple of days to wake up around 5:30am and SUCK down her bottle we thought she is a growing girl and the bottles just aren't holding her over so much.Because I am a little neurotic (I don't know why?nobody in my family is!lol) I spent a whole 24 hours thinking.......well when in the day I am I suppose to give it to her?....how much?....what if she has a reaction?...blah blah blah blah! So this morning when she woke early enough so that daddy could play with us before work we just went for it. I had to give her a bit of her bottle first to hold her off a bit. She was pretty confused in the beginning, but by the end of the bowl( that's right I said the END of the bowl) she got used to it and was opening her mouth wide for me! I was not expecting her to finish the whole bowl , but she was game for it! I think she was ready for solids! Of course she kicked probably more then half of it out but she took a good amount down too!So proud of my big girl!

Payton at 3 Months!

Our little peanut is growing stronger and stronger everyday! Payton is still sleeping those wonderful 12 hour stretches thru the night. Bedtime at 7pm and sleeps until she wakes up for the day around 7:15 am. I am sure this will change when she starts teething etc. , but we are loving our sleep through the night! Payton loves to spend time in her play mat batting at the rattle and swatting at the big furry stuffed bee that plays music right above her. She is now holding onto toys and bringing EVERYTHING up to her mouth to explore. At tummy time when she is ready she will lift her head up a good 90 degrees, and when mommy rolls her over from back to tummy she has figured out how to pull her own arms out from underneath her. She is not doing any rolling on her own yet , but she seems like she might be a real mover. When she is layed down on a blanket Zack and I always say Payton " where you going so fast". Arms and legs going and going like she really is getting somewhere.LOL She has accomplished some time in the Bumbo chair, which means she really has awesome control of her head so fast. What a big girl.She is a drool queen right now. So much so that we have to put special lotion on her cheeks and dimpled chin because they get chapped. She does not seem to mind at all!LOL We did not have a doctors visit this month so no update on her numbers. But if she is still staying consistent with everything and how much she is eating I would guess she could be close to 14 pounds! She still hasn't decided really on her napping yet. Somedays we can get a good 2 hour nap out of her and other days it is nothing but cat naps all day long. After a long day of being crabby and fussy for no apparent reason ( I think due to a growth spurt) late that night she decided to give her daddy and I her first real big belly laugh. We haven't heard one since but it was the most precious thing I ever heard. It made the day worth every penny. Payton truly is a happy camper. She only seems to get fussy when she is a bit overtired or going through a growth spurt.Zack an I still look at each other on a weekly basis and cannot believe that this is our little one and we made her. I would have to say we do good work!

Maternity Leave is OVER! Sad!

Back to work I went! It was really hard for me to leave Payton at the end of my 10 week maternity leave. It seemed just when she started to smile and coo at me I had to go back to work. I have to say I am VERY lucky because my mom is watching her for us right now. It is A LOT easier when you are handing her off to grandma for the day. Payton is getting watched by my mom right now Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Wednesday and Friday night Zack gets to have bedtime and bedtime routine with Payton because I work past her bedtime. Then On Saturdays when I am at work Zack gets time with her also. It is nice that they get there designated daddy daughter time! By the end of the week I have to say Ia m hurting pretty bad. I am usually exhausted. My Fridays into Saturdays are especially bad because I work late Friday nights and early Saturday mornings. I get sad because I don't get much time with my peanut between those two days. I have been back to work now about a month and I am still trying to kinda get balance between full time mommy and full time stylist! All in time. I was very dedicated to my job before baby and always wanted to be the best! Now I expect to be dedicated still but also be dedicated and the BEST mommy EVER! LOL I am a bit of a perfectionist. What I have learned so far is that priorities come first! My Family is the most important  thing to me and I have learned to say " NO" a lot quicker because of this.

Payton's Two Month Doc Visit!

This little Peanut is a CHAMP! We had our two month doctors visit today. This means besides the normal check-up Payton had to get 4 vaccines and 1 oral vaccine. We will start with her check-up. Baby Payton weighed in at 12 pounds 5 ounces.Her height is 23 1/2 inches and her head circumference is 15 1/2. The doctor told us in ALL aspects she is a healthy growing baby! YES!  Payton seemed to wake up this morning in the BEST of moods. Smiling, talking, and gurgling to her daddy and I. You would think this would make us both happy but we were so sad because we new what was coming for her. shots, shot, and more shots! Payton was even smiling and cooing at our doctor through her check-up. I think he was even a little sad that he was gonna have to be the bad guy and give her the shots. She sucked the oral vaccine down like it was the best tasting thing EVER, and with her shots there was a bit of crying with each prick but then she calmed herself down very quickly. I think it was more traumatic for me and her dad then her.LOL She seemed to handle it well the rest of the day. She ate her normal amount,etc. She was just a  bit sleepy. I love this little nugget SO much. She is talking (cooing) up a storm . It is like we are almost holding conversations with each other. She has LOTS of smiles when she is ready for it. She still is an AMAZING sleeper at night. It seems right now that about once a week she will literally sleep almost a 9-10 hour stretch. She has spoiled us, because now when she gets up once a night we think " Oh she didn't sleep so well". I know mother's of the world want to shoot me! She is still little back and forth on her daytime sleeping. It seems some days it is easy peasy , and she will fall asleep at a blink. Some days though we fight each other. I know you can't really rely on any schedule right now with her still being so young, but I like to give her at least the opportunity to sleep about every 2 hours during the day. I know it sounds cliche but this little girl has changed my life forever. Her and her amazing father is what comes first in my life. Another doctors visit under our belt. Me and Zack are starting to get the hang of this.

Happy New Year! 2011

Happy New Year to everyone! Payton got to spend the night at grandma and grandpa Davis's house on New Year Eve while Zack and I had a night to ourselves! I was told that Payton was an angel! She hung out with her cousin Bel and went down for bed in evening just fine! Zack and I went out to dinner with Annie, Jason, Mallory, and Jamie. We had a GREAT dinner and then went back to Mallory and Jamie's house to taste test all of Jamie's homemade wine and beer!Oh boy : ) Then it was off to our friend Kyle and Amy's house to ring in the New Year. We had a great time ,although it was kinda hard for me to stay awake till midnight! getting so old!LOL It was awesome to have an evening out with my hubby (date night) and we can't wait for what this next year holds for us! Here is to 2011!