Learn from my mistakes!

(that better not be my milk in a cup!)

So I took Payton's bottle away 2 weeks ago and all I can say is I waited too long! She hated life and mostly me for not giving her what she wanted. It took 4 days of seriously crying all the time to finally be ok with her cups. I took the bottle away from Kylee at 1 and had no problem so I really didn't think it would be so bad. Boy was I wrong. I am glad we are done with that. Now all i have to do is get rid of the pacifier at bedtime.... mistake #2. Man I have been lazy with this kid!

Here is my fav picture of Payton from those 4 days... totally yelling at me!

15 Months

Payton had her check up today and she is great. She is growing up so fast. She is now 23 lbs 14oz (50%) and 33 inches tall (95). She was very good. As usual she had a hard time with the shots and I of course forgot the Tylenol so that didn't help. Kylee was hoping this appointment Payton would be big enough to share a room with her but I told her she is gonna have to wait a little longer. I love my girls. Payton has tons of personality. She has finally gotten all 4 molars in and is now back to being her happy self. She likes to do anything the big kids are doing. She is my daring child, unlike Kylee. She loves animals and is never really scared of them, again unlike Kylee. I love how different children can be but the same also. Here are some words Payton says... or at least tries.

• hi
• bye
• daddy
• mam (mom)
• eyee (kylee with out the k and l)
• uh oh
• st (stinky-said when ever some one toots loud)
• ow (I don't know how to spell- said before or after she falls or thinks something will hurt)
• loogy hawking sound (animal sound, mostly for dogs)
• ha (hot and said as she blows)

She does the sign for more, please, and all done but that is it.

I am sure there are others I cant remember but those are the main ones. We love our girl and look forward to more learning and growing!

my hot handy husband

So before chicks are outside in the coop they are in a brooder, a box type cage with a light (heat). We were using a cardboard box but that was getting a little ridiculous to clean. Mike put this cage together in a day and mostly out of scrap wood. He is awesome. He has made it so easy to take care of the chickens... and they like it too.

Kylee likes being able to look at the chicks whenever she wants.
Here are the ladies (3 weeks old)....

Lucy my girl!

Flower sweet girl

Big Red Chicken She is growing so fast!

Coco... short for coconut!

Matilda, our new addition. Love her eyeliner!

So I know the chicken posts are boring to you all but it isn't like you comment anyways so I am going to keep on posting for me!

Mommy & Me

Kylee drew this picture of she and I and I just thought it was so good! She was so proud of herself... so was I!
She drew a house, clouds, the sun , grass, a flower, and she avoided my question of the random triangle in the sky so you can decide what that is!

I look forward to many more masterpieces!

Peeps!

On Christmas morning the girls and I were surprised with four baby chicks as our family gift! Though chicks have turned out to be a lot of work they have been a lot of fun too. I am loving being a mother hen to these cute girls. Chicks grow so fast. I cannot believe how fast they have grown. I am documenting the changes for me to see how fast they change... not just because I am a crazy animal lover( I am though).

Names are still being determined. Suggestions are appreciated. Kylee named the black and white one Flower, and then the lighter red one is Lucy. The white was named daisy but she is super dominate so I need to figure out a strong name.

Look at all those feathers that have already grown in! Crazy fast!

p.s. Why chickens? Fresh eggs I guess. I will take any excuse to have a pet.

Christmas Morning!

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year. We spent our morning opening presents and then went to be with family for the day at Mike's sister's home. The girls loved everything they were given. I have only picture of my girls that morning cause I didn't have my camera. I figure Nikki will blog all the events of the week anyways, and she is way better!! The night before we put out our cookies for Santa and Kylee told me what to say on the note we left for him. She was so concerned Santa was going to eat all the cookies.

Out of all the stuff Santa left Kylee she admires the cheap Dora book first!

Payton loves the Giraffe rocker... finally a good choice!

New glasses for Payton!

Kylee's cash "redrooster". I think she liked it.

Payton barley got the paper off before playing the music on her animal train. Kylee always sings along with it so it is one of the few noisy toys I like.

Mike acting excited about his stocking... he might as well have gotten coal this year!

I loved my stocking and couldn't ask for more. You will see my/family gift in the next post!

Pre-Christmas!

Sunday Christmas Dresses

My sad attempt at a picture of them together!

I thought my girls looked beautiful!


Christmas Eve at the Dilger's

Our little family!

The DiPadova Grand kids!

(minus Austin and Brice, we missed you!)

Christmas Eve we went to Mike's sisters house and had a delicious meal and spent time with the family. It is so much fun having the family together. We had Mike's sister Nikki and family here and brother Nick and my favorite mother and father in-law, Nick and Linda. We love family!

Haircut!

Here is a picture I took with my phone while I was driving ... smart right?

I got a haircut the other day and I am excited about it. My hair is always the same, just the length changes here and there. This time I got bangs and tons of layers... I am proud of myself for having the guts to do it. I feel like I have a style now. I think this cut lifted my spirits. I am lucky and was able to trade some vinyl lettering for it so it didn't cost me a thing... plus I found a new hair stylist I feel I can trust with my hair. Seriously, why is it so hard to find a hair stylist? I have been here for a year and a half and this is the first person I really like and can afford. My sister in-law Dannielle just got her hair cut too and liked it as well... so if you are here in AZ and need a cut call Michelle Love, she is the best!

p.s. in this pic all I did is blow dry... it looks cuter when I curl it.

A Pooh Anniversary

On Saturday Mike and I celebrated our 6Th anniversary. We started the day going to breakfast at Coco's, I think the only time we go to breakfast at a restaurant is when Mike's family is visiting, so it was special. Then we got to go see "A Winnie the Pooh Christmas" at the theater where our good friend works. It was a gift from Mike and Barb Christensen. The girls liked the show and Kylee loved giving hugs, getting autographs, and taking pictures with the actors after the show. After we got treated to lunch with the Christensen's. Yummy. After lunch Mike and Barb offered to take the girls home and watch them so we could have a kid free night. We doubled with Jess and Mark and enjoyed delicious treats and a movie. It was a great day.

Happy Payton with a full tummy.


Five minutes later....

Kylee is my sleeper... she doesn't last in the car.

A big thanks to the Christensen family for making our anniversary day special. A bigger thanks to Mike for putting up with all of me these past 6 years!

Ward Christmas Party

We had a lot of fun at this years party. Both the girls were scared of Santa at first but then Kylee saw her friends were sitting on his lap so she decided it was ok. Payton has a new love for the camera. She sees it and says"chsss". Here are some of my favorite shots of the night!

Walking in Daddy's shoes

I came across these pictures from a month or so ago. I thought they were to cute to not want to look back on. Payton loves shoes of all sorts and sizes! If you hold a shoe she will sit and hold her foot up for you to put it on her... even if it isn't her shoe. Here she found Daddy's shoes on the floor and decided to put them on. I think the size 14 shoe is the same length as her whole leg.

With some help from Daddy she stood up in them and thought she was so cool.

She walked right out of them and then looked at the shoes confused as to why they didn't come with her.

I love the chubby legs!

While Grandma was here over Thanksgiving time Kylee decided she was gonna be Grandma's shadow. Where ever Grandma was Kylee was one step behind. She would cook, clean, read, get dressed and anything else she could do with her. Here are a few pics of them hanging out.


Here is Kylee watching TV with Grandpa. It took her all of 5 minutes to fall asleep once she saw Grandpa was watching Hallmark Channel movies! She was sitting on the arm of the couch and slowly slid right into Grandpa's back. I think the last thing she said was " I am not tired!"

I am lucky Kylee has such great relationships with both sets of her grandparents. We love our families and all the time we get to spend with them.

Where or where have my little lids gone?

Such a sweet innocent smile! You would never expect the mischief this kid has inside her!

Payton has a tendency to whine while I cook but she recently took a liking to the lids in the Tupperware cabinet. She has been quiet so I just let her be with the lids as I cook. Little did I know this is what she was doing while be so quiet.

After dinner one night I went to put the leftovers away and couldn't find any lids. I looked all over then remembered Payton played with them by the stove. I figured at least one had probably accidentally been kicked under. I pulled out the drawer to find all these!

I washed all the lids and like 20 minutes after I put them a way she was at it again. My new predicament : have quiet while cooking and no lids or a whiny kid climbing my leg and my lids in the cabinet where they belong?

Hmmm...What to do??

p.s. Dont judge me by my nasty floor under the stove unless you pull the drawer out from under your stove and have a spotless floor. If it is... then we probably arent friends anyways!