Paigie started swim classes this week. Technically they are anti drowning classes. She screams the whole time. She screams from when we put her in the swimsuit until we lay her on the towels after the ten minute lesson. The instructors name is Hope…kinda weird…and she says that the screaming is very normal. The classes seem to be taking all of her energy. She wakes up exhausted and in a bad mood. She goes to bed now so early. She basically showers after her swim lesson, eats and then goes to bed Monday through Friday. This weekend was miserable for everyone involved. Her bad behavior hit a new high (or low). On Saturday she took a four hour nap after sleeping in that morning. We only got the basics done this weekend instead of trying to take her to an aircraft museum like we planned. She has a real love of everything aeronautical. I can’t wait until these classes are over. I am sure she feels the same way.

Peyton is now three months and has ended his 3 month growth spurt. For almost two weeks he was eating 50% more milk than he had been. He is such a big boy. He went for his three month pictures and they are adorable. I promise we will post professional pictures soon. He rolled over again and daddy missed it by a second. He looked away and there he went. He is trying to stay upright while sitting now…I think he is still several weeks away from that milestone.

Daddy is done with his spring semester and gets this next week off. I think he could use some personal time. We could both use some mommy/daddy time. See you next week.

Well another week has come and gone.  Mommy survived her first call weekend since being back at work.  I went into the hospital at 4ish and made it home before most everyone got up.  Sunday morning Peyton woke up wanting his mommy to find a daddy instead.  He didn’t seem thrilled by this.  With mommy working the weekend, there was no trip to the park due to exhaustion.  We had a good week though.  Peyton continues to deal with some cold symptoms because of daycare.  He is a great baby.  He rolled over this week for the first time.  He likes to rest on his elbows in bellytime and next thing you know he was belly up!  He was quite shocked!  So I put him back on his belly and flop…belly up again.  He was quite impressed and so was mommy.  Paigie is doing a great job with potty training.  She starts her rescue swim lessons this week.  Mommy is excited and scared.  Her sentence structure is impressive!  She makes nice observations and can get them out clearly.  She has grown so much since we started this new school. 

Nana and Papa came to visit this weekend.  Paigie played with papa and nana had lots of time with Peyton.  Mommy made a southern style dinner that was well received.  Basically it was a restful and enjoyable day.  They are going to North Carolina again for a few months.  Peyton and Paigie will be so big when they come back.  They will be missed.

Another week another sick child…yeah!  Paigie has not been feeling well; Snotty and lots of scary sounding coughs and fever.  Otherwise it has been just another week.  A week without drama can be good.  Peyton is huge.  He now weighs 14.2 pounds according to the bathroom scale.  This puts him at over 100% for weigh and about the same for length.  He looks so much older than his age.  He is so alert and strong!  He is definitely not a baby baby any more.  He still offers easy smiles and loves being with the family.  Chris got the pool heater working and we are looking forward to using the pool.  Paige is going to start rescue swim lessons probably next week.  That will be hard to watch but very important for her and mommy.  I can’t wait to set up the play set for her on the new grass.  I hope she likes it.  We went to Lake Eola again this weekend.  This time we met Angela and her pretty baby Ashlyn.  It was too hot to enjoy so we ended up going to lunch kind of early.  Gotta love Florida…too hot on an April morning to play outside.  Angela’s husband Matt joined us for lunch as well.  Then everyone (including mommy) had a nice long nap.  It was a good day.  Chris is finishing up his spring semester and not looking forward to the summer session.  I can’t wait until summer is over because daddy will be around a lot more. Hope everyone has a great week…talk to you soon. 

 Chris was on spring break this week.  He was nice enough to deal with the contractors/laborers to get the remaining projects done around the house.  So the backyard is looking really great!  In about two weeks we will be able to have Paige and Peyton’s new play set anchored where it is supposed to be.  That should give Paige something to do while mommy focused on giving Peyton the time he needs too.  We never did find any playgrounds worth the drive on the new side of town.  I think we will stick to Lake Eola on the weekends to feed the birds and enjoy the playground.  Daddy also finally got the septic people to bring more dirt and sodded the area.  Basically everything is looking pretty nice.

Peyton is feeling a lot better.  No more ear pain but he has a cough that mommy and daddy don’t like.  He is changing his schedule weekly and mommy is trying to keep up.  He is sleeping longer stints through the night but wakes up very hungry!  Overall a joy with his big smiles.  He is pushing up and holding his head and shoulders up for several minutes while in tummy time.  He is so strong.  Paige is getting into a little trouble a school.  She is expressing herself in some physical ways that result in time outs.  Two year olds have a way about them.  She loves to sing and amazes mommy at her repertoire.  Basically we are blessed.  Hope everyone has a great week…talk to you soon. 

 Second week at work was better.  I took the kids to an easter eggstravaganza at the church where they attend daycare.  Paigie had so much fun.  She did an egg hunt and had her face painted for the first time.  Peyton slept in the sling the whole time.  Peyton continues to give big smiles!  Check out all the pictures on the website.  We had his two month old pictures taken, they are of course adorable.  Mommy continues to be exhausted.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything.  The basics get done for sure.  Peyton had his first non well baby doctors visit.  He spent twelve hours yelling at mommy with a pretty high temp for his age.  I think dad was lucky that it was his first night back at work…he timed that fairly well I think.  He felt better after his ear drained and slept the whole next day after we saw the doctor.  Paigie continues to show how smart she is.  She likes use adjective and adverbs now.  She will tell you “two plates” or “little baby”.  She sings songs all the time.  She got her first write up at school this week.  She tried to take a toy from a child and chaos ensued!  Both kids had writes ups for there efforts.  We also found out that both kids made the cut off for the new daycare that they are starting in August or as early as June possibly.  The daycare is the same place Chris and Sarah went as children.  We like the place a lot and it will make it easier on mommy because they open earlier and are closer to work and home.  Overall things continue to go well.  Have a good week.

Mommy went back to work this week.  Working definitely sucks.  Each day I could feel the fatigue adding.  By Friday I was completely exhausted!  The kids started their new school as well.  Paigie started preschool officially.  They are working on ABC’s and 123′s and she is doing great.  She says her ABC’s completely again instead of adding numbers and stuff.  She knows how to count to 10.  She knows lots of colors and shapes.  She likes to make observations about things she sees; she is such a smart girl.  They are also working with potty training.  The first day she kept her diaper dry all day except nap time.  To my surprise she even made it until morning the next day!  We bribe her with M&M’s when she goes on the potty.  She gets lots of physical play time and her bedtime has been moved forward by an hour to an hour and a half because she is just so tired from playing.  Peyton is the man of the nursery.  He is the only boy with five girls.  All his teachers love him, of course.  Mommy stopped by to feed him on his first day at lunchtime.  With the first day being so bad, I really needed that.  The first two days were especially painful, but each day I seem more like my former self.  I just wonder how long I can use the ‘I just got back from maternity leave’ excuse.  Pumping is no fun.  It is a huge commitment but I love providing a good nutrition for Peyton.  Nana watched Paigie and Peyton on Good Friday.  We love Nana.  She even let Chris and I go out for dinner while she stayed home with Paigie for about and hour.  Paigie couldn’t stop talking about Nana for days.Peyton had his 2 month check up.  He continues to grow as he should and now weights almost 12 pounds.  Watching him getting his shots was more painful for mommy.  I cried longer than he did.  Peyton is starting to play with his first infant toys.  I can hear him playing as we drive to and from school.  They grow too fast!  We ordered a new baby gym for him.  We didn’t like the one we used for Paigie and typically used a blanket on the floor as she got older with toys thrown about.  I can’t wait to give him something for his belly time.  He gets bored and frustrated quickly with belly time right now.  Until next week….

Height 22 1/4 inches
Weight 11 lbs 12 oz
Head Circumference 38 3/4 cm

Well, Thursday could not have sucked more. I started the day by dropping Peyton off at daycare for a trial run. We got everything together. Diapers and wipes for a few weeks, and of course the boobie juice and bottles for today. Little did I know it would be his only day at Lissette’s  daycare. A couple of hours into our mommy and daddy day alone, Lissette (our home daycare of almost 2 years) calls to tell me she is closing permanently. I frantically call every daycare we ever toured and liked. Many phone calls later, we got very lucky and found a spot for Paigie and Peyton at a preschool we were on the wait list for almost a year ago and they could take them immediately. It is interesting how thing work, not more than an hour before Lissette called to say she would be closing, I told Chris I wasn’t sure I wanted Peyton going to Lissette. I didn’t get a good warm and fuzzy feeling when I dropped him off…she didn’t seem to have her heart in it and we very quickly figured out why. Every cloud does have a silver lining….Peyton continues to grow like wildfire. We just finished his 6 week growth spurt. Three days of eating and two days of sleeping. He is in 3 month clothes and they fit him well. His diapers are no longer big on him and fit him well. His face has changed so much! He still looks like a baby but his newborn features are long gone. They grow too fast.

Paigie continues to grow and change as well. Her independence is obvious but she is now actually able to do a lot of things for herself. She will say potty, leave the living room, potty, wash hands and return with a new diaper for mommy all while mommy is still feeding Peyton. Rather amazing. Her comprehension of language around her seems to be ever growing. She seems to understand more than 75% of conversations around her and will participate. Some of the cute things she says are “no way” and always putting no at the beginning of the sentence. Her favorite sentence is “no sheshe night night” She still calls herself sheshe even though she has clearly established she can say Paige. Toddlers are an amazing age.

Well, mommy started work on March 17^th…more about that in the next blog….

I met my friend Melinda while I was in the Army at Ft Benning, GA. Even though we were at different places in our lives, we became close friends because we had a lot of similarities. We both had big dreams and ambitions. We both come from similarly close families and are a couple of science geeks. We were smart driven women who knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. After we left the Army we kept in touch often. Over the years there were many phone calls and a handful of trips from coast to coast. She saw me gain over a hundred pounds and a husband then lose both (not in that order). We saw each other achieve most of our goals and make compromises and sacrifices to end up in happy lives. She met a man in Phoenix while finishing her bachelor’s degree that she fell in love with; His name is John. She had already experienced marriage and knew a piece of paper didn’t prove anything. They have shared their lives together for many years and have seen the ups and downs of life. John was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma early in their relationship and is happily in remission. They continued to strive for their goals while growing closer. Sadly, Melinda was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma a germ cell cancer of the ovaries almost a year ago. After a year of uncomfortable treatment, she switched to hospice care a few weeks ago. While she has a great support system, she has had more to deal with this past year than just her illness. A few weeks ago her brother chose to take his life. Saying this past year has been tough for Melinda would be an understatement. With that said, driving to Miami to see her I wasn’t sure what I would find. Instead of finding a person who was weak, I found that same person who was full of life I have always known; Always knowing what to say unlike myself. Nothing I can say here can fully validate or explain how much I care for Melinda or how proud of her I am. She is a unique, talented, smart, beautiful woman who has lived her life with dignity and has chosen to die that way as well. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and ask you to pray for her comfort in this phase of her life.

Another week closer to going back to work, have I mentioned how much I don’t want to go back to work? Peyton is socializing more. He has his social smile and giggle down. He just thinks he is so cute! The cutest thing is he snorts when he cries. After he gets a good cry going, he will snort. I shouldn’t laugh but I do. We have gotten used to the new family size and needs even though they seem to be ever-changing. We just came back from our first road trip. That was an adventure. We all piled in the car and drove to see a friend of mine in Miami. She had just enjoyed a cruise to the Caribbean with her husband and we caught her before she flew back to Phoenix. We were only able to spend about a day with her but her time is precious right now. While I would love to take this blog to devote to how much I love Chris, Paigie and Peyton I am going to use my time this week to write a different kind of blog. Please read the next blog that I have devoted to my friend Melinda.