Monday, December 11, 2017

Peyton - Sixteen Months

Noah 16 Months
  • Stats: Size 5 Diapers | 18mo -2T clothing
  • Size: 24lbs
  • New Abilities: Guys, He can walk! Finally!  And all over the place I may add.   He goes everywhere walking now and is super good at it. He falls here and there, especially in slippery areas but for the most part can do it all.  He does up and down the stairs and climbs on the step stool in the kitchen.  He moves and I love it!  And the other big thing is he's getting really good with his fork and spoon handling and mostly eats with utensils because I'm pretty sure he hates having dirty hands.  Guess that makes sense.
  • Communication:  This from last month is still pretty much the same "He can say "mama" & "dada" and can do signs for "more" and "milk".  He can also shake his head for "no".  He babbles a ton and is always singing and making noises.  He can point to whatever he needs and mostly gets his message out. Personality wise, Peyton just does what he wants.  He's quite the stinker and thinks everything is funny, even when he's being naughty. He gets into everything and wants to be where ever I am.  His most favorite things to do is be in the kitchen right up next to the stove and watch and help cook.  He likes to stir things in the pan and is a pretty good helper. He's one loveable kid though.  His cuddles are amazing and will snuggle with you most of the day if he's not in his exploring mood.  He loooves his brother and can hold his own with Noah.  He even has started hitting him or pushing him out of the way.  *eye roll*  He's one tough little guy." 
  • Sleep: Sleeping 7:30p-7/7:30a at night.   Two naps during the day still 1.5-2hrs, something one is a little shorter.  We will be moving him up at daycare in the next month and they take only one nap.  I don't like it since he only takes short little naps as it is and I do not need a grumpy kid.  Maybe, for whatever reason, he will surprise us and start sleeping one long nap at school since he gets a blanket, a stuffed animal and a cot...?  We can only hope.  Until then, we're sticking with the two naps as long as we can.
  • Mom Check-In: I'm doing great.  Getting things done for Christmas and feeling great about it.  It's nice to be in an easy routine. Working out regularly for the last year has done wonders for me and my attitude in general and I love having that scheduled time to get away and do something for myself.  If you're in the Grand Rapids area Renew Mama is such an amazing place to work out and connect with other moms and I'm super grateful for them. 

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Decorating for Christmas

It was so much fun this year decorating the Christmas tree.  Noah was a huge help and did the kids Christmas tree all by himself and I didn't really have to make any adjustments because he did such a good job.   We got a couple new ornaments he helped pick out and he really liked that we added those on the tree too.  I see a tradition happening.
Since we got a way too big tree (oops) and had to cut the top off, we had to buy extra lights to fill up the whole tree.  We headed to Target on none other than early morning on black Friday to pick some up and finished decorating the tree by the end of the day.  Peyton was pretty useless but he sure was cute in his Christmas PJ's. We really thought he would be all about pulling things off the tree but surprisingly our little naughty boy has been pretty good so far. Well, minus my favorite pig ornament he keeps trying to take off and snuggle.   I guess I can't blame him, that pig is pretty cute.

At the end of the night after we put Peyton down for bed Noah and I stayed up and talked about all the things he wanted for Christmas and wrote our own Santa letter.   He was really excited to give it to him when we saw him this week and told him all about his batman legos.   We're prepped and ready to go for Christmas!

Friday, December 1, 2017

Picking out our Christmas Tree

We were on the ball this year and picked out our tree the day before Thanksgiving.  We were hoping we would have the place to ourselves and we were right!  I guess everyone is busy prepping for the holidays to come pick out a tree.  We were one of the only ones there which made it so much more fun.  Peyton patiently waited in the sled while the rest of the family walked around looking for the perfect tree.  We found it, or so we thought, until we brought it home and realized it was about two feet too tall.  Oops!

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Christmas Pictures 2017

We got on the ball early this year and took some family pictures. I waited until the last possible moment last year hoping it would snow and we could get some fun snowy white pictures and we just ended up freezing our butts off, sipping hot chocolate in the car every couple of minutes to warm up.  The kids were actually really great through it all but I figured it would probably be better if we just skipped that hassle and got them done just a tad early.  As usual, Kelly did an amazing job and although we had two kiddos who weren't all that into it we managed to get a couple good ones to use on our Christmas cards. Plus I got to wear a tulle skirt so all is well in the world.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Peyton - Fifteen Months

Noah Fifteen Months
Seriously, I feel so bad this is the first update for Peyton in forever.  I haven't even done a one year update.  What happens to parents who have five or six kids?  Do they forget things this bad too?  Oh man...   Honestly, the only reason I even checked was because we think that Peyton is transitioning to one nap and I wanted to check when Noah did that.  Then I scrolled back to Peyton and... whoops.  So here we go.  Fifteen month update for Peyton and I promise at least with these I'll get better.

  • Stats: Size 5 Diapers | 18mo clothing
  • Size: 23.9lbs (67th%) - 30.5in (23rd%) My poor little shorty
  • New Abilities: His walking is getting better but nowhere near where Noah was at this point.   He can get around a couple of feet at a time.  Mostly best when he's barefoot and on carpet but he slips and falls a lot and trips over his feet and mostly just ends up crawling.. but at least he's trying right?  He's getting there, just taking a little (lot) longer.
  • Communication:  He can say "mama" & "dada" and can do signs for "more" and "milk".  He can also shake his head for "no".  He babbles a ton and is always singing and making noises.  He can point to whatever he needs and mostly gets his message out. Personality wise, Peyton just does what he wants.  He's quite the stinker and thinks everything is funny, even when he's being naughty. He gets into everything and wants to be where ever I am.  His most favorite things to do is be in the kitchen right up next to the stove and watch and help cook.  He likes to stir things in the pan and is a pretty good helper. He's one loveable kid though.  His cuddles are amazing and will snuggle with you most of the day if he's not in his exploring mood.  He loooves his brother and can hold his own with Noah.  He even has started hitting him or pushing him out of the way.  *eye roll*  He's one tough little guy. 
  • Sleep: His sleeping in probably not as consistent as it was with Noah but goes down great at 7:30pm and wakes up around 6:30-7:00am with no wake-ups at night. When he's a school he takes three short 40mins-1hr naps and when he's home he takes one really good nap and one shorter nap.   One 2ish or more hours and the other 1.5-2.  Recently though he's refused a second nap after a super long ( like three hourish) nap and he can stay up the rest of the day with only a little grumpyness.... hence the maybe he's going to one nap?  We'll see.
  • Mom Check-In: I'm doing great.  It's so crazy to see the difference this kid is for my attitude and with Noah.  I feel so much more happy in general and I'm much more healthy and it just makes me more excited for life with these kids. I'm really excited for this holiday season and just being together more as a family.  There will be a lot more days off with vacations and holidays and I can't wait for everyone to be together. 

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Life Lately

I realize, as usual I've been slacking here on the blog, although in my defense updating this is not my top priority when I'm keeping up with the two littles.  Not to mention taking pictures is the last thing on my mind when I'm snuggling and playing with them.  I really do try to put the phone down and enjoy our time together.


We've been busy working on our Fall Bucket List and making good progress.  We've decorated the house for fall which Noah loves to help with.  We've picked out Halloween costumes, made some yummy desserts and other treats, we've been outside roasting s'mores, making fires, picking the last of the garden and eating all the raspberries we can.


We've watched way too much football for my taste, but Noah is loving it.  We even headed to to watch some GV football in person.  The kids loved it.  I crashed at the end of the night and slept like a little baby.  Two kids at a football game is tough work!  We've even taken our winter pictures for  our Christmas cards so we're for sure ahead of the game.  Now if we could just get Peyton to start walking....

Monday, September 11, 2017

Fall Bucket List

The weather outside is starting to feel crisp and the geese are all flocking to our lake making noise outside our windows at an ungodly hour which means fall is right around the corner. I'm already excited for jeans and sweatshirt weather, cold after dinner walks and nights watching some TV snuggled by the fireplace.  I have so many things I want to do as a family or at least with the kids so I jotted down some ideas.  This weekend we crossed the first one of our lists and headed to the Apple Festival in Sparta for some bouncy houses, turtle racing and lots of free apples.


After  couple of hours of getting all of our energy out we headed back home with both kids passed out before we even left the parking lot.  Success for all of us but better yet when they were both in bed by eight... me by 8:30.


Thursday, August 10, 2017

Peyton David Turns 1!

Noah's First Birthday Party
What a sweet mischievous kid that Peyton is.  I can already see trouble for me in the future.  He's so loving, gives kisses and hugs and yet you find him getting into all drawers and pulling things out everywhere in the kitchen.  He heads to the stairs the moment you take your eye off him.  Stinker.

I can honestly say he's been my easiest baby yet.  Maybe because he's the second one, or maybe because he was just an easy kid but regardless he's been a very much needed addition to the family and I can't wait to see what the next year has waiting for him.

For Peyton's party we did our usual big family get together.  We bought a tent, rented some tables and chairs and went outside.  So much easier for cleanup and plenty of room for the kids to run around.  It was a little windy but the weather held out great and wasn't too hot for August so we were happy.  I made lasagna and salad, and cake and cupcakes.  We kept it simple and just enjoyed having people around.

Unlike Noah, Peyton went all in on his cupcake and seemed just as oblivious when singing Happy Birthday.  Overall, another party success!  Thanks everyone that came out an celebrated!