Easter Morning!

Uncle Nate gave Payton her 1st bunny for Easter! We were all dressed in our pretty pink dress and ready to go to church....we all made it to church on time, all 9 of us! Then we came home and Payton opened her Easter basket with all her beach goodies in it...notice the pink crocs...they are the cutest!

Happy Easter Payton!

Granna Sue and Grandad...Brian's parents with Payton right before her nap- she made it all the way through church and then could barley hold her eyes open any longer...needless to say after everyone left she slept for almost 3 hours!

My mom and I in the midst of all the flash bulbs....I think Payton is going to by a model!
It was great to have my whole family here- we haven't all been together since Christmas...my dad Mike, Mitchell, Mark, my mom Jann, Payton, me and Brian (from L to R)

Here is Daddy Carving our Easter ham....it was sooo good and the smell in our house was awesome!

Granjann and Granna Sue in the kitchen hard at work getting lunch ready! It was the best Easter/Birthday lunch that you could have. It was so good to have both families up in NWA and get to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior as well as my B-day....It was a great weekend! The flowers were sent from my Uncle John...they were so pretty and added so much to the decor!

You would think that this would be the after lunch shot....but it was before! Nothing like a little cat nap before a big yummy meal!

Happy 30th Mommy!

What a weekend! It started with a big birthday celebration at Shogun for me and my brother Mitchell whose birthday was Tuesday. He was in Florida for his birthday...poor him...and so we joined the celebrations together and had a great time. Brian's parents and brother came up and we enjoyed a fun and eventful dinner! Here is my dad, brother Mark, and brother in law Nate patiently awaiting the entertainment and dinner to arrive....
WOW! Look at that flame Payton! The hibachi chef...Jackie...lit a huge fire on the grill and Payton loved it! We were a little nervous, but she was a champ as always! She was very entertained!
Oh look a candle! If you have never been to shogun then you are missing out on the chair dancing and the strobe light action that comes with the b-day celebration! It was quite a hoot to watch Payton dance in her highchair to the music that they played every time someone had a b-day....yes...the lights dim in the whole restaurant and it becomes no secret who is celebrating!
Happy 22nd Birthday to Mitchell!

Can't pinch me!

These Irish eyes are smiling...or shining...however the song goes....Payton had on her green today so there is no pinching allowed...well maybe just a little on those sweet cheeks!
Look! We are holding our cup by ourselves! It still takes a couple of tries to get it right, but she is getting there!
This was Mommy playing dress up before the photo shoot with the bunnies. I wanted to make sure this dress fit ok. It was made by a lady named Diane that I worked with last year! I wish I could learn how to do that.. it is beautiful!
Here is our little Spring flower! I loved this picture the best, but I added the one below it because you can finally see her 2 bottom teeth if you look close enough! They are there for sure and it is so cute because you can see them more when she is laughing and saying "ma-ma" Yes... she has said it! Her Daddy is pretty jealous, so we are now working hard on his name!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's way!

OK- let me say that the bunnies were a HUGE success! I was a little worried being the scheduled mom that I am that she would be napping or eating or something during the shoot- but my perfectly flexible child came through like a champ! She wan't sure about the bunny at first, but she was very gentile with him.....I have so many cute pictures, these are just a little taste....
This is her friend Presley Kate who had her shoot right after ours so she "hopped" in a few pictures with her friend Payton....they are going to be best buds when they grow up!


The bunny was on his best behavior as well! He just sat there and let all the babies play with him! We had such a fun day! I have more pictures from today as well- that will have to be tomorrow's job to post those! Happy Easter early!

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail...

Today we went to the mall to get out of the house a little and we got to see the Easter Bunny! I am trying to be a better mom since I totally forgot and missed out on Santa- we weren't going to let this one slip away from us....it was perfect and there was nobody in line...maybe it was due to the fact that the Easter bunny is a little scarier than I remember as a child. But Payton did great and smiled the whole time! I think she is going to be a bunny fan! Let's hope so since this week we are going to get her picture taken with live bunnies! I will have to keep you updated on that adventure!
Payton and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of our friend Kerry's twins, Ellie and Lindley Kate...but not too anxious because we don't want her to go into labor early! But here is Payton helping wrap some presents that we sent to them in California. She is just now getting to the stage where she is getting into things because she can just crawl right over and get them! She was very interested in the wrapping process....hopefully she will get her Daddy's wrapping genes...the engineer in him makes his a wrapping genius- it has to be perfect...mine...wrapped with love!

A Glorious Sunday!

Does anyone but me find this picture amazing?? This is how we found our little tummy sleeper this morning! I knew that I heard her around 5 this morning, she was just chatting to herself....then all of a sudden...nothing....she had fallen asleep on her back! This is a good thing!
We had to be outside to enjoy the 70's weather that we had today...it didn't last long, but it was so nice! Payton is liking the breeze...she blinks her eyes and grins...it is so cute!
Here is our latest trick...get the kleenex box ready grandma's! I guess she is ready to come see y'all since she is trying to get into her carseat! She is doing a great job at crawling now and when she pulls up she has started to lean back and sit on her knees! She is getting so big!

Payton is learning how to clean herself off when she is done eating! This is a trick that I learned while working at the IDC- let the children wipe their own mouths and hands- she sure gets messy enough! Daddy does a great job of keeping her clean, Mom on the other hand needs all the washcloths she can get....and then a change of clothes for both of us! We celebrated out 4 year anniversary yesterday! It is hard to believe that it has been that long! Brian took me to Ruth's Chris for dinner and it was awesome! The steak was amazing! Our friend Sarah Pennington watched Payton for us so we could go have a date night...Thank you Sarah! Here is a picture of us all dressed up and ready to go. You can't really tell, but I got my hair cut the other day and it is pretty cute!
Today we went to Petra Cafe with our friend Stephanie from Dallas. They didn't have any highchairs so we had to use a booster seat! Payton is such a big girl sitting in the booster seat! She was great during lunch ( she really didn't lean like she looks like) and then fell asleep on the way home....she is snoozing away now in her bed. Which reminds me....she is sleeping all night now from 7:30 to 7:30.....we have dropped the 5th feeding and so now we can all sleep so well! I can't believe that she sleeps about 12 hours a night! Yea Payton!!!