29 Weeks

Baby Girl is healthy and growing.  I feel a bit bad that this is my first real belly shot.  I'll do better once she doesn't look so much like a globe!

It was a slow week.  Ryan went back to work after having several days off for the holidays.  Rooke went back to preschool.  Gretchen and I had tea parties and spent an entire morning at the doctor's office for routine visits.  Glad to report that all three of the Payne girls are healthy!  

Rooke is hit and miss for naps these days.  Mostly miss.  He still has rest time, but yesterday was day four that he came down from his room after rest time was over and asked me to play Lincoln Logs with him.  Ryan and I found this set for five bucks at a garage sale and held onto it for Christmas.  It's been a hit.  And as much as I tire of building log cabins just so the bad guys can knock them down and narrating stories about plastic people missing the train, I am grateful for some great one-on-one imaginative play time with my son.  He's awesome.  

Nine Years Strong

Today marks nine years that I have had the blessing of being married to Ryan.  

He's still my favorite.  

I am more in love with him today than I was when we said "I do" 3,285 days ago.  

Happy Anniversary to my man.  I love you.

Ryan's been having fun with the Istagram app on his phone . . .

So Ryan didn't take this one, but isn't my sister beautiful?!

The 25th

The four of us spent a wonderful Christmas day together.  Stockings were fun, breakfast was yummy, church was a worshipful blessing, gifts abounded, naps were long, and Skype still baffles me.

JOY to the WORLD . . . the LORD has come!

Merry Christmas!!

Gretchen Turns Two

Our little girl turned TWO yesterday!  We had a great time celebrating Gretchen Ruth and the absolute joy she brings to our family.  She is spunky, fun, gives great cuddles, loves babies, and thinks her brother is great.  We love her - bring on the twos!

We started with "Minnie Mouse" pancakes and her family presents - a purple car from Rooke and a booster seat that will let her sit at the big table with the family.  The high chair can take a break for about a year!

She picked out her whole outfit - accessories included.  She's been wearing the "birthday girl" shirt for several months now because I didn't hide it well enough and she likes the polka-dots on the sleeves, but I was glad she wanted to actually wear it on her big day.

"It's my birthday.  Don't mess with me."

After a morning walk to enjoy the sun, she got to open presents from KayeK and Big Daddy!

We had a long tea party with her new tea set!  Thank you!

Naps are better on birthdays. 

After Daddy came home, we opened Grammy Deb and G-Daddy's presents while talking to Grammy Deb on Skype.  She was so excited about the Elmo pajamas, she wanted to wear them right away!  Thank you!

Dinner included french fries and ketchup - her favorite.  Then it was time for cake!

It was a happy day!

Almost Two

I simply CANNOT believe she turns TWO this week.  In some ways, she seems completely two already.  But in many other ways, I'm not ready to admit that she's growing up this fast.  I've been trying to capture some of her personality on video (with grandparents in mind).  Here are a couple snippets . . . they both happen to be just after she's woken up.  I really like my girl.

Gingerbread Houses

Grammy Deb sent a gingerbread house kit for the kids to work on - thank you!  We had a great time decorating together.  The walls needed a little mending . . . nothing a glue gun couldn't handle.

It was fun to see them work together

We had so much fun with the first one, we invited some friends over today to make more houses!  I took my friend's idea and used my glue gun again to hold the houses together - genius.  Gretchen went sugar crazy and had something in her mouth most of the time we were at the table.  Why decorate the roof when you could eat the decorations?!

Indoor Playground

Welcome to the Payne's indoor play gym (and a messy living room preparing for a Christmas tree!)