AZ

On the plane ride to AZ
Tessa and Paxton's eating arrangements

One of our escapes was to get pedicures. It was my first ever! Pathetic, I know! Tiffani could not believe it. I think I am hooked now!
This teeter-totter looked so fun at Tiffani's mom's house, I just had to try!
Seth and Lyric giving it a try
The assembly line bathing process!
They both had their elephant towels they loved

Just being silly kids
These two are the quiet ones out of their siblings! Tessa is about five months older then Paxton.
One evening, they helped bake and decorate Easter cupcakes, of which I had no problem eating WAY too many of!

Tiffani gave Paxton his first "snip" I call it a snip, because it was not even enough hair to consider a real haricut. He had these two little horns on the side that were getting a little too wacky. It was the smallest amount of hair, but made him look so different! She didn't even touch the rest of his hair. I felt so sad, but it turned out really good!


His first hairdresser!
On our way to the car, back in Cali. My mom would have had great anxiety seeing me push this stroller and hold all seven thousand bags! It almost felt impossible, but I did it! Tiffani was SO NICE to park her car and help me into the airport in Arizona. I had the opportunity to miss my flight because the security there is so ridiculously insane! We were literally sprinting across the airport, but no such luck. I don't think I have ran like that since junior high! They were inspecting my pump and breast milk as though it was explosive liquid! I was rather irritated. Then, the lady at the ticket counter had the audacity to ask for Paxton's birth certificate because he looked two! Come on now, I know he is a big boy, but does he really look two!?!? He is eight months old, for Pete's sake! I told her, "Do you want me to take him out of the stroller so he can show you that he can't walk, let alone crawl? He doesn't even talk, besides a little babbling or mama and dada!" I was furious. She warned me that I needed to bring it next time or they would charge me for a ticket.

Lyric, Paxton, and I took a fun 6 day trip to Arizona last week. We went to visit my best friend, Tiffani, and her family. I was a little daring and flew out of an airport that was 2 1/2 hours away from my house. I paid $100 per ticket, rather than close to $300 just for one. So, even factoring in gas and parking, I saved money. This was Paxton's first plane ride and Lyric's tenth! They did very well.

We were greeted with the warm Arizona weather. It was in the eighties, which I know is not hot, just a little warm for February-March weather! The week was so much fun. The kids had so much fun together. Tiffani and I just kept laughing at the fact that we went from hanging out as punk teenagers, to hanging out with four children under four!

We ate lots of fun food, thanks to my list of places "I had to eat at because they are not in Cali!" Fuddruckers, Cafe Rio, Golden Spoon, and Schlotzsky's are just a few to name! Tiffani eats quite a bit healthier than me, so her body was in shock with all of the crap she was filling it with. Mine, on the other hand, was completely used to it!

Thanks to Tiffani's mom, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and cousins, we were even lucky enough to sneak away from our kiddos a few times and do some shopping and pampering! The week went by way to fast and I was sad to leave, Lyric was too. She wanted Seth to come back to California with us.

Unfortunately, we did not get as many pictures as we would have liked. The camera I brought only held six pictures, I could not find the memory card. Tiff temporarily lost her camera for the first few days we were there. Oh well, we got some cute ones!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Today, my niece, Alyson Joy, turns 7! I lived with her for the first year of her life, and that seems like it was just yesterday! Alyson lives in Utah, so we don't get to see her as often as we'd like to, but we still sure love her!

WE LOVE YOU ALYSON!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

Music To My Ears

"Mom, can I have more asparagus?" This was the best thing I heard all day. We had asparagus with dinner, and she absolutely loved it. She asked for three servings. You see, Lyric does not have a very good relationship with food. Therefore, mommy, Lyric, and food, sometimes, okay always, butt heads! "Lyric, please eat. Lyric, do you need a time out? Lyric, when you eat it makes your tummy happy and it makes mommy happy." These are just a few of my repetitious lines I say four thousand times a day! With every meal, I know there is a 90% chance that she won't just sit down and eat. I am not even one of those moms that makes one thing and makes her eat it, not that there's anything wrong with that. I like her to try new things, but I also like to make things that I know will be less frustrating to get her to eat.

After church, yesterday, Lyric took a nap. When she woke up, I asked if she wanted a hamburger and french fries, this is what I had made Mike and I. She said yes. So I gave her A THIRD of a hamburger and some fries. She immediately starts making excuses. "I have to go potty, I am not hungry, I don't like this, I'm too cold." And anything else you can imagine. So I tell her that she will not be going to Jordyn and Lexi's house unless she eats. ONE HOUR later, she decides to give in and actually eat, not all of it, but she ate!

I wish that I didn't like or care about food, especially soda and sweets!

Too Cute

I just had to post this picture of my dad and Paxton. Jamie took it last night when we were at her house. Isn't it the cutest thing ever?!?!

Shades

I found these cute little glasses for Paxton at Target, gotta love the dollar section! He actually really likes them. He doesn't try to rip them of yet, I know that will come soon. Lyric also loves her sunglasses. She really likes using them to keep the sun out of her face. I just had to snap this cute picture of them.

Not So Much

Well, Saturday night went just like I had hoped it wouldn't! About two hours after I put him down, he woke up to eat. This part isn't so unusual. After he ate, I laid him back down in the crib.

Then, I went to bed and crossed my fingers! Just a few short hours later, I heard Lyric start crying! I raced to the room hoping to help her before it woke Paxton up, but I was too late! Lyric has night terror issues and I just know that this sort of thing would probably happen at least five times a week. Hmph, we'll see!

This is just his bed of choice, MINE!

First Time For Everything

Tonight I, very spontaneously, decided to put Paxton in the crib when he fell asleep for "the night." As you can tell by the pictures, it was VERY spontaneous. Part of Lyric's lady bug crib bumper, half of a mobile, Minnie and Mickey, and some fun pink and purple blankets all adorn him! I have not put his own bedding in that I bought almost a year ago! The crib is also in Lyric's room! I feel so confused as to what to do.

Our plans have been to move him into the office, and move the computer in our room. Now that that time is here, it doesn't sound so appealing having a computer in our room. The thought of Lyric and Paxton sharing a room just flat out scares me to death! They are both such light sleepers. I can only imagine that they would be waking each other up 17 times every single night!

We shall see. He has been in there asleep for 1 1/2 hours now, and I keep waiting for him to wake up any minute. I think he is enjoying the space he has to stretch out. Keep in mind, he has been sleeping in his swing seat, in the bassinet! Technically, he spends most of the night in bed with me, another thing I would like to start eliminating! Oh, these hurdles that feel so big at the time, but feel so good when they are done! I have the monitor turned up nice and high so I can be sure to hear him when he wakes up! Between the way our house is set up, and the fact that we keep pretty loud fans on in the night, I would never hear him without the monitor!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today, my mom gave us all (the girls) these really cute hand-made aprons for Valentine's Day. They are so adorable and exquisitely made. The girls were so excited, she had even put some cooking utensils in the little pocket for them! Jamie has some other really cute pictures on her blog that we took with her camera. Thank you, Mom!!!

Grumatikul Airs

I apologize for any grammar mistakes in my posts from the past two weeks, and any future ones. For some reason, my spell check is not working. I try to proof read my posts, but I know I miss some mistakes. I wonder why mine is not working?

Countdown

In a few weeks, Lyric, Paxton and I, are going to Arizona. I am going to be visiting my best friend, Tiffani. It takes a lot more work than it used to, but it is so worth it! She came here in October, so now I am going there. We have to take advantage of the time before each of our youngest turn two, and then there will be three airplane tickets to buy!

I am so excited to go. I hate that we live so far away from eachother. But, we sure have a lot of fun when we see are able to visit! So, I sort of made the mistake of telling Lyric that we were going to Arizona. I know that sounds mean to call it a mistake, but if you could only understand the intensity and frequency that she inquires about when we are leaving! She looks at the clock and asks about it. I try explaining to her that it is "In a really, really long time. So very long Lyric. Not today, not tomorrow. We still have dance class, and Harmony, and church, and lots of other things to do before we go." I decided to do something fun to try to help her. Yesterday, we made the little paper links. I told her that we take one off everyday and on the last one is the day that we leave! She was very excited about it and I sure hope it helps!

Pax and Pey

As Paxton is getting a little older, he is showing a lot more interest in Peyton. Last week I had her at my house for a few hours. She found two binkies in my room. She sat by Paxton and they were entertained for a good twenty minutes! She would put one in her mouth and one in his, then she would take them out and switch. It was too cute to watch.

Sort Of

I wouldn't say that Paxton is officially holding his own bottle quite yet. He'll do it sometimes, and even then he'll drink a little and then start biting and playing with it. Still though, for me, this is a good thing. Times when I am trying to pump while feeding him a bottle, can feel a little impossible! This feels so young because Lyric didn't start holding her own bottle until she was 11 months!

AHHHH!

I cannot find these chips anywhere! They are literally my favorite chip! I have been to five stores trying to find them. I see every other flavor of baked chip except these. I don't even see the slot where they would normally be. Are they really getting rid of this flavor? I would be so sad. My search shall continue!

Some Days

Let me just preface this by saying that I love my daughter to death! On that note, some days I feel like I am riding a psychotic rollercoaster with her all day long! I know all kids go through moods and fazes, but there are some that I wouldn't mind fast forwarding through! These past few weeks, Lyric has been EXTRA trying. She is defiant in every way humanly possible, and will not listen no matter what I tell her the consequence will be. Whether it's meal time, clean up time, getting dressed time, doing hair time, or just breathing oxygen time, she finds some way to get my blood boiling at a rather high temperature. I really try to take the patient route. I was not blessed with an abundance of it, but I really try to use what I have! I think her and I just have an emotional mother daughter connection and she knows what knobs turn up the heat!

I know that she has had a hard time with Mike being gone for school. She is not used to going days in a row without seeing him. Today I looked at her and said, "Lyric, what is wrong? Why are you so say?" She said, "I just want my daddy." That nearly broke my heart. This evening they are going on a little date together. I figured they could get some much needed one on one time!

Soon this will pass and I will be looking back wondering why this faze felt so hard, especially compared to the teenage years!

7 Months

Jamie got this CUTE outfit in Hawaii!! Don't mind his belly hanging out,

I forgot to do the bottom button.

Let's try this again! Somehow, my post got deleted!

Paxton is seven months today. Here are a few bits about him.

-He still despises babyfood and wants the "real" stuff. Yesterday, I gave him a scrambled egg yolk and he inhaled it!

-He has two bottom teeth.

-He is STILL in our room. Kindergarten will be my cutoff!

-He makes a "dadadada" sound.

-He has yet to roll over.

-He does this thing with his hands, my mom says it looks like he is driving a Harley! It's really funny.

-He loves putting his hand up to his mouth and making that noise all babies make.

I just love this baby. He is such a happy, easy going guy, so far! He could sit and be entertained all day by Lyric. She absolutely mesmorizes him! I love this 7-9 month phase. I want to hit the pause button and savor it!