Sarah and Nick's Wedding Invitation

I know I am probably messing with the copyrights of my sister's photographer by posting these invitations online, but....I LOVE THESE PICTURES!!!! I just got the invitations to my sister's wedding coming up in a few weeks and I truely love how they turned out that I just had to share. Sarah you look like a model! Absolutely goregous. And Nick... what can I say, but handsome! I can't wait to see my little sister on her wedding day.

Spring has sprung at our house

Spring is finally here! I took these pictures last weekend and now our trees are starting to have leaves on them. I just love spring. I keep singing "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!" Craig likes to sing "Popcorn popping on the Christmas Tree" Peyton just laughes because he knows Daddy is just being silly.

My favorite pictures from his photo shoot

When we first got to the studio, Peyton had just woken up from a nap (we live about an hour from the studio... or everything else for that matter) so he really wasn't warmed up to the idea of having his picture taken. Towards the end the photographer got a block with a 1 on it for his first birthday, but Peyton kept pointing to the bear in the corner. He thought it was a dog and kept barking at it. He really wanted to see the bear. So the photographer said that we had time to take a few more pictures with the bear. Well, we put the bear there and Peyton kept hugging it and petting it and giving it loves. He truely loved that bear. It was really cute. We got some really cute pictures with the bear. Then after the pictures were taken, the photographer went to load the pictures into the computer and I was trying to change Peyton's clothes and he kept crying and pointing at the bear and "barking". He really wanted it, so he walked over and got the bear and drug it over to where I was sitting so that he could have the bear and sit on my lap. I think the bear had to have weighed 25 pounds. It was really heavy and Peyton had to have it. It was really funny.

More pictures

Professional Pictures from 3/29/08

We took Peyton to have some professional pictures taken yesterday. I think they turned out really cute. We of course walked out with way too many packages and for some strange reason, we didn't order any 3x5s and ended up with a ton of wallets. I don't know what we were thinking. Anyways, they gave us a CD with all of the pictures on it from the shoot so I thought that I would share some of my favorites.

He is just getting so big and grown-up looking!

This one reminds me of a school picture.

Too cute!

We really liked this one!

Anybody know a good Squirrel Stew Recipe?

So I have decided that I really don't like squirrels much! I bought a bird feeder over a year ago and hung it outside our window on our porch. There it has been for the last year and a half. We would constantly have birds eating at the feeder. I loved to see the different variety of birds, especially the blue birds, and cardinals. Now just recently I have had 2 stinkin' squirrels eating all my bird food out of the feeder. It used to be that I would fill the feeder once every 3 weeks. Well, I filled this feeder up and once the squirrels "discovered" the feeder the entire thing was gone in about 4 days. Plus the birds aren't even able to come around anymore. Peyton really liked watching the birds fly to the feeder. He likes the squirrels too, but they just chomp up all the food then the action is gone. I do have to say that my cat Spartacus loves watching the squirrels because the window is really close to the feeder. I have tried to scare the squirrels away, but I think they are used to me know. I even tried to throw Spartacus out there to chase the squirrels away, but he are a little bit spoiled and got really scared and ran back inside the house. A lot of good he has done. So, anybody have a way to get rid of the squirrels, or does anybody have a good squirrel stew recipe? Just wondering...
Spartacus looking at the tasty squirrel...if he was only not so chicken!

What a beautiful day!

Today the weather was beautiful. It was sunny, warm (about 70), with a gentle breeze. Peyton and I couldn't resist getting out to enjoy the weather. First we went out and enjoyed the yard. Peyton really has a hard time walking on the uneaven surfaces but it is good practice for him.

Peyton had a hard time walking, so he resorted to the ever efficient crawl.

Look at him go!

Trying oh so hard to walk up the steep driveway.

Peyton loves to torment the cats. They really wanted to be outside, but are too chicken to come out!

Peyton loves his kitties Spartacus and Cleo

After lunch, we headed to the park with my friend Shanna and her kids, Kaybri, Mary and Joseph. Joseph is 4 months older than Peyton and now that Peyton is walking, they have such a good time together. Peyton hasn't been to the park since last fall when he wasn't even crawling yet. It was fun to see him experience all the fun things at the park. He LOVES to swing. I didn't think I was going to be able to get him out of the swing to go home. He also loved climbing up on the slide, although he really didn't want to go down the slide. He was funny, he kept crawling from one side of the play castle to the other, like a lion pacing. He also played in the sandbox. He had never touched sand before, and he didn't know what it was. I don't think that he liked the feeling of it much. He was fine sitting in it, but didn't want to play in it.

Here is a cute picture of Joseph and Peyton in the swings.

Peyton was in heaven!

He really didn't like to touch the sand. It made me laugh.

Oh, a slide!

I was bummed that Peyton's eyes were in the middle of a blink, but I still thought this picture was cute.

We had a fun afternoon. I am so happy that the weather is warming up so that we can go outside. Listen to me, like 40s and 50s is cold. Sorry to all you northerners that have had to endure actual winters with snow. Anyways, we had a nice day and I really wish the weather would stay like this for a while now. I really am dreading the hot humid summer. I know it is right around the corner. Darn-it.

A little bit about what I have been up to...

I realized that most of the postings that I have put on here, have just been pictures of Peyton. You can probably tell that he is pretty much what our lives revolve around right now, and who can blame us. He is such a good addition to our family. He came at the perfect time in our marriage, and we really have enjoyed becoming a family together.

Craig is really liking the bakery that he works at, although the bakery is really struggling right now. They had to do some layoffs and they are really trying hard to pick up some new contracts, but if they don't there is the possibility that Craig might be out of a job...again. Last time it was hard enough on us and I was working full-time, now I am staying at home with Peyton, so it really would be hard for us until Craig would be able to land another job. Plus the fact that we have only lived in our house a year and a half. We would have to move because there aren't any bakery jobs close by here.

With that in mind, I decided that I would like to have a career to be able to help with our finances if needed. Back in August I started training to be a medical transcriptionist online through Career-step. It is an online course that takes about 640 hours to complete. Basically between 4 and 8 months. Well, I started out pretty good at working on it while Peyton was taking naps and after he went to bed, but lately it has been hard to find time. Needless to say, I am about 40 hours away from....midterm. Ahh! Anyways, after I graduate, I will be able to work from home on my own schedule and not have to leave Peyton. It will be perfect.

One of the reasons for my slow progress is that I am the Primary President for our church and have been since November. (For those of you who don't know what that is, I am in charge of the children's classes for ages 18 months-12 years old for our church. It is a volunteer position). This has kept me pretty busy arranging teachers, planning activities, and sunday lessons. I have really enjoyed this calling, even though it keeps me busy.

The last thing that I decided to do is become a Pampered Chef consultant. (See my next blog) I have really enjoyed doing this. I have had several cooking shows and have meet some new people. I am not much of a cook (Craig can attest to this) and I don't like to stand up and talk in front of people, but I really like doing this and it isn't scary at all! I think my favorite part is all of the cool stuff I have gotten for my kitchen. (Don't tell Craig...I had to promise not to spend more than I have made, so I have to hide some of it. :)


Now for a picture of Peyton. Didn't want to have a post without a picture of my favorite little man! With his "new" smile of course.

I got them!

I finally earned my knives!!! Yeah! For those of you who know what I am talking about, my knives got here this week. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, let me fill you in. I started my own business with the Pampered Chef back in January. As a new recruit I had the opportunity to earn 3 knives from the forged cutlery collection. I had already had the five inch utility knive that I got in my new consultant kit and I really fell in love with it. It made me work really hard to be able to get the other 3 knives. There are still 3 that I don't have. I had to have 4 shows within my first 30 days to earn my knives. Obviously this isn't something that many are able to do because these knives are an awesom bonus. I had to test out to see how sharp they were, so the first thing I did is before using them, I washed them and my sponge slipped off the chef's knife and I sliced my finger. Whoops! They really were sharp. Anyways, I just had to share because I really am excited to have sharp knives. First time ever!


Here are my new knives. I have had the small one for a while, but the big ones are new! I love them!

Peyton is walking

Peyton has started doing this silly face when I take his picture. Not sure what it is! I am afraid if I take him in for professional pictures, that this is what he will do. Not that I don't think it is cute, I do, but not as cute as his regular smile!

Like this one!

Peyton had been taking a few steps here and there, but on Valentine's Day (one day after turning 13 months old) he decided to take 10 steps. I am pretty sure that it had nothing to do with the pieces of M&Ms that Craig was bribbing him with. I am sure that he wanted to walk on his own. Well, since then, he has really gotten good at walking. Sometimes he forgets that he can walk, but he sure trys hard.

I tried to get a good picture of Peyton walking, but he is just too darn fast!

I thought this was just too sweet. Peyton wanted to go and get the newspaper.

He just knew he was a big boy!

Our driveway and sidewalk is really slanty, so Peyton kept loosing his balance. He really wanted to walk though, so Craig helped him. It was so cute to see my giant husband walking while holding the hand on such a little boy. It really was sweet.

Peyton really enjoyed his time outside. He even cried when it was time to go back in. We will have to spend more time outdoors when the weather is nice again. We have had some rain and it is a bit muddy outside.

Peyton has also learned to stack a few items, like pillows and blankets if he needs the extra boost to climb on the coffee table. I haven't gotten a picture of this yet, but I am sure I will. Such a smart little boy. Nothing is out of his reach now. He even knows where he hide the things we don't want him to get. Craig wanted to know what happened to the easy to watch child that stayed where you put him on the floor. I told him long gone!