Get ready for the LONGEST blog post ever. It has been so long since my last post but I just cannot believe how fast everything is going.Where do I start...... Oh boy. Lets start with little P.K'S milestones. We are just a few short weeks from her 1.5 year birthday and she has become a true toddler overnight. Its crazy to me now looking at my new niece Lucy because I can't believe that my little bunny was ever that small. Within the past 2 weeks Payton at nap time and "night night time" has gone down without her sleep sac AND pacifier. I literally made myself sick thinking about taking away the two items. How was I gonna do it without traumatising her? Should we even do it?Will she hate me for life? : ) I know I know, I'm crazy. I knew I the sleep sac had to go because she was just simply outgrowing it and as for the pacifier....... I ALWAYS felt like I wanted to get over that hurdle while she was still pretty young and not old enough to throw a TRUE tantrum. Besides the fact that Payton only took her pacifier at sleep times and when I would go in to check up on her she had thrown it out of her crib. Needless to say Zack and I prepped ourselves for long nights and the"crying it out" method which we truly never had to really use that much. We tried to make "Big Girl" sleep time look appealing. Daddy ran out and bought Payton her own "Big Girl" pillow to sleep in the crib with as well as us having her pick out from her abundant amount of blankets which one she wanted to sleep with. The true test was the first night. We did have to listen to her cry very hard for about 20 minutes which just mortified the BOTH of us. Payton slept throughout the night though just fine. Then the next day for nap she talked to herself for about a full 45 minutes but finally just talked herself right to sleep. After that she was trained! I know I know! She is truly an ANGEL baby. It is so weird to see her with out her sleep sac and pacifier because that was truly still keeping her a baby in my eyes. Kind of bittersweet. I just Love our nighttime routine though now even more because without that "plug" in her mouth I get to hear her talk so much more. We have story time before bed every night and say a prayer together and she just is so sweet. As I read here her stories she talks back , counts, etc. and when we pray together she say "amen,amen". Then its time to get in her crib. She LOVES the pillow that Daddy bought but just not with her in the crib. : ) She likes next to her outside the crib or playing with it out in the living room. She brings her Stella baby and blankie to bed and we talk her in with a "Big Girl" blanket as a "bug as snug as a rug"! She looks at you ,smiles,and says " night night". Then for the kicker ... when I say I love you she replies in the sweetest pea voice" I Lu u". I mean I cannot even tell you how much this child lights up my world. She is now putting small sentences and other things togetehr. She says "peeeese"(please), "Tank u"(thank you), " Welcome"(for your welcome), " All done!", "I got it!" besides just picking up new words everyday. It is funny because she is like having a parrot with you right now. She will repeat the last word of your every sentence. Its hilarious! She likes counting but tonight she shocked me by truly understanding and counting her blocks up to the number 4! I of course applauded forever and praised that she is a baby genius so she continued counting 1-4 for the next 20 minutes. LOVE IT! Payton just LOVES hanging out and spending time with her cousin Bel and is very sweet to her new cousin Lucy. This early spring has just been amazing weather wise and it has brought my sister home for maternity leave, YaYa home for her new job as our day care (we are SO blessed and cannot thank her enough), and Grandma K home for her spring break vacation from work. We had some real fun outings all together as well as getting ready for Easter. Payton absolutely loved dying Easter eggs this year as well as hunting for eggs. I took the day off of work to take her to the South Elgin Easter egg hunt and I don't know if it was the fact that my baby is growing up ,or because it was just such a beautiful day, or maybe both. But as I watched her in the midst of other kids hunt for those eggs I got teary eyed. Tears of joy, while I looked down at this beautiful little girl that is all mine and just SO amazing. Nobody told me that when you become a mother you turn into such a mush ball,lol. OK back to milestones,; )...... Payton is now holding her own utensils. She truly feeds herself her morning yogurt with bowl and spoon while mommy puts on her make-up for work. She also can have a juice box with straw and all! like I said I feel like she went from baby to toddler overnight without me having anything to do with it. I am pretty sure her daddy and I are getting ready to turn her crib into a toddler bed here pretty soon as well. We will see how that goes over. Payton still takes one nap a day , anywhere between 2-3 hours. We push bedtime sometimes but she usually still will walk herself to bed by 7pm and will start talking to herself in the morning by 6.30am. The mornings have gotten earlier for me so unless she is crying I let her talk to herself for awhile before I actually go in and get her. Like I said I feel like changes are happening with her every minute and its hard to keep up. Here are pics of some of our Spring adventures so far........
Payton's first Easter project. She made YaYa , PaPa, and Grandma K Easter Egg wreaths for Easter. She had a blast!
On One of the days of Grandma K's Spring Break we went to the Dupage Childrens Museaum.
We met cuz Holly and Jenny with there kids:Rylee, Reese, and Blake. It is really a great place for kids there ages. There is so much for them to play with and look at. I am pretty sure the bubble and water area was Payton's favorite.
The week before Easter Diane had and Easter get together with all Zack's family. It was so much fun because we cannot usually all get together. This year the Kerruish, Sensors,Sells, and Daviss all made is a priority to see each other. We started the day withan Easter Egg hunt for the kids in the yard. Then we had great food and relaxed. After that it was working off all the food we ate by playing with bubbles with the kids outside. Thanks Diane for such a wonderful family get together. I am so blessed that I get to be a part of such an amazing family.
Next......My mom,sister,and I brought the girls to CosleyZoo. What a beautiful place! They had the most gorgeouse duck pond that Bel and Payton just loved besides other wildlife. Payton and Bel are so much fun to watch together. They are definatly besties right now in life. They run , walk, laugh, and scream together. So sweet! It was a beautiful day as well as a beautiful place and Great company. Thank you to my sister and mother. You guys are the besties in my life! xoxo
Daddy Dyed Easter eggs with his baby girl. Payton was screaming out the colors and dropping the eggs into the different bowls of color. She just had so much fun spending time with Daddy crafting and "high fiving" each other. I just love watching the two of them together.
And were off! To the South Elgin community Easter Egg Hunt That is......
The pictures say everything! And Payton and Bel were photographed by a newspaper that day. Still not sure which one it was but I will stalk that articl down for sure! lol
Happy Easter!!!! We went to church Easter morning and then headed to My mom and dad's house for brunch and ANOTHER Easter egg hunt for the girls. Boy were they spoiled this year! Thanks Easter bunny! Thank you Mom and Dad for once again another amazing holiday filled with amazing fun, family, and food! I am so greatful for such a wonderful family. Zack and I cannot thank our families enough for their daily love and support.
Payton was super excited to wake up and see what the Easter bunny brought her. She got her first tote bag ( which will help mommy drop the diaper bag : ) ) garden tools to play with mommy in the dirt, and a grilling outfit for when she grills out with daddy this summer.
