Many faces!

I am completely aware that I have become one of those bloggers who only posts pictures of their kids, but I am always behind the camera, and Josh runs away from me when he sees me coming with it. Besides, I think this girl is pretty cute, and it's my blog so I can post whatever I want. Right? Right. ANYWAY, I got some cute pictures of Payton's first tooth. The second one on the bottom has come through too, and so has one on top. Also, do you see that glimmer on her ears? Yep, I got her ears pierced finally and I love it! She didn't even cry when they did the first one, and after the second one she pulled a face, but a cookie fixed that right away. She hasn't bothered them at all and she lets me clean them with no problems. Oh, and we did have some family pictures taken, (a couple of different times, long story) and here are my favorites..

Bangs, a tooth, and walking..

I feel like within the last week or so, this girl has grown up. Her first tooth finally broke through, I cut bangs so her hairstyle actually has some purpose, and she started walking. (not like, running through our house or anything) She is so determined and can take several steps completely alone. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I love seeing her chubby legs being put to good use, but I miss my newborn who used to cuddle and fall asleep in my arms. However, she is at a fun age because she is learning to much and I can't wait to see what she will do next!

Sometimes...

this guy thinks he is a cat

and as I was going through my pictures I remembered I had taken this to post, but never did. So, here is our home we bought in April...

yay!

Happy Happy Birthday...to me!!

The big 23....dun dun dun. Just kidding. 23 doesn't sound old to me. Perhaps that is because I still feel like I am 16. Who knows. This year was great! Josh told me he wanted to surprise me about where we were going to dinner. Now, for a brief explanation, one of my favorite TV channels is the food network. (yup, I admitted it. Josh makes fun of me because he doesn't understand why I like to spend all day watching other people make food) anyway, a show I love is Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. So he did some research online and found the address to Moochies, and funny little dive we had seen on an episode awhile ago. We headed downtown for one of the best Philly cheese steaks ever. Delicious. While we were there we snapped some pictures of me and baby girl to document this momentous occasion, (my birthday, not Moochies) and Payton is just too cute not to take pictures of

Josh's photog stills aren't too bad if I don't say so myself........

Later we had family/friends over for some cake and ice cream. Good times!

9 months, a little late

Miss Payton turned 9 months on Oct 28th. She weights 18.5 pounds and is 28.5 inches tall. She is such a busy girl, which she totally gets from her daddy. She has way more energy than me, but I love to watch her learn about everything around her. She is so curious about everything, mostly Sergeant, and crawls as fast as she can to explore. She has been standing on her own now, and tries really hard to take a step, but loses her balance and falls. Still no teeth, but there are 2 bumps on her bottom gum that look quite promising. She babbles all the time, but doesn't really say words yet. She always had her own way of showing her excitement, and this week when she sees something she really likes, she starts flapping her arms as fast as she can. I love it. The Halloween photos I took of her were supposed to be for her 9 months, but I snapped the above one of her today cuz I think she is so cute. (and cuz I have a new lens that I absolutely LOVE)

Now I also have to mention a little man who turned 3 on Oct 25th. I can't believe we have had Sergeant for almost 3 years. (we got him in January 2007) He is such a part of the family and so patient with Payton. I was so worried about how he would be with a baby, but he really is great. Most of you know how I am about dogs. I don't know how I would have been able to get through the passing of Lacey if I had not had this little guy. He has is behavioral problems, but he has the funniest personality.

(In this picture, his head is resting on my knee because I was eating a cookie and he really wanted me to share)

Party!

We had our own celebration this Halloween at our house to prevent us from doing absolutely nothing on this holiday. Josh was a creepy clown (a costume he put together about an hour before the party) and I went as a 50's girl. We had lots of food, sat by the fire, and then watched a movie. Fun!

So proud...

One tiny witch...

He he he...

Look what I just made...

I saw these at the mall but they were the wrong colors for Paytons witch costume I made for Halloween. So being the creative genius I am (ha), I custom made one to match. It is not just a wand, but a spell caster. Is that right? It doesn't sound right. It is 2:30 in the morning so it sounds right to me. Anyway, I love it and kinda want one for myself. She is gonna be the cutest little witch ever!

Pigtails...

What do ya think?

8 Months

Tomorrow my baby girl will be 8 months old. I can't believe How much she is learning everyday. She started crawling a few weeks ago, and she now pulls herself up on EVERYTHING and walks along furniture. Just yesterday, she let go of the couch that she was balancing on and stood alone for a good 20 seconds!! I screamed I was so excited. She still loves to play (harass) Sergeant, and although most days I am so exhausted, I really am lucky to work graves so I have the whole day to spend with her. Here are the rest of her tutu photo session. I am still trying to figure out my camera and photoshop, so any of you photographers out there, if you have any tips about how I could make these better, I am listening!!

(I started off with bad lighting, and even photoshop can't really fix that)

Tiny Dancer.....

A teaser of Paytons 8 month photos we worked on today,

more to come......

So excited

Recently got this:

Better photos, here I come!!

now if I can just figure out how to use it...

Cousins

To start off, I had the opportunity to take some pictures of my new niece Akasha the other day. She was quite cooperative. Her only job was to lie there and look cute though.

Then it was Paytons and Akashas turn.....

So far so good, lets try some with all three......

As you can see, that did not go so well.....

.............I give up

7 Months

Um, how did this happen? I couldn't have asked for a better baby. At 7 months this girl is just so happy and content. I can set her down on the floor and she crawls around keeping herself busy. She can't quite sit up, she one-cheeks it. All you have to do is make eye contact with her and she grins like she hasn't seen you for days. She absolutely loves her baby food, bananas and peas especially, and on more than one occasion she has eaten a whole jar+ in one sitting. Her thighs show it too. Every night she goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up singing in the morning at 8am. (for those counting impaired, that's 12 hours. boo-ya!) She things Sergeant is hilarious and that they are best friends. I kinda think he finds her an annoyance. I'm sad I don't have a newborn anymore, but I am loving how much she is growing and learning everyday.

Love ya girlie

I took these pictures at the park the other day with no intention of them being her 7 months photos. However, as you can tell from the lack of 6 month, 5 month, 4 month, okay you get the idea, I think these will work perfectly.

These two make me giggle

Just thought I'd share

I just got the chills

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-new-moon-jacob-preview.html#watch

Must have been...

one serious nap

I love this cute girls hair. I can't, however, figure out what the heck to do with it. Some of it is so long products don't seem to work. I have tried just water, hairspray, mousse, and baby lotion. I don't want to cut it because I'm afraid she will look like a boy with the little mans haircut. Oh, here is what I got with the mousse:

I'm open to any other suggestions

A Swim?

We had a pretty great weekend. It started with the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house on Friday. We met up with some of Josh's family and headed out. One car accident (not us) and keys locked in the car (us) later, we finally made it. Payton screamed her way through the temple, so Josh took her out on the lawn. The temple was beautiful. Here are some pics in the car on the way when Payton was still happy....

Saturday my sister-in-law had been telling us about a beach that was practically in our neighborhood, ummmm pretty sure if there was a lake and a beach in our neighborhood we would know about it. Or not. Up the street and practically overlooking the valley is this great man-made lake. (okay so apparently it is the storage for the secondary water for the homes up here, but I am going to call it a lake) So they put nice sand around it and BAM, a beach!! Tucked in the middle of our neighborhood. So fun!!

Pretty much this is where we will be spending the rest of the summer :)