I am loved...

One of my clients came in today and handed me a chocolate covered fortune cookie. I decided around the 3pm slump to check it out. It was delish! The chocolate was so smooth and creamy. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

The "fortune" inside said, "The best love comes in large doses of unconditional affection." Isn't that beautiful? I thought to myself about all the unconditional affection I receive at home from my two precious children. Peyton lavishes me with hugs and kisses every time I turn around and Makenna has just learned to give kisses on the mouth. I don't have to do anything or say anything...they do this because they love me...love in the purist form. I am so loved.

Tooth Fairy Part Two

It looks the Tooth Fairy will be visiting our house again...tonight to be exact. Peyton came into our room at 3:00 in the morning and said, "momma, I had a bad dream...I lost my tooth". Well, being the cleverly sharp minded person that I am at 3am I thought that was one statement. I thought he had dreamed that he lost his tooth. Then he proceeded to SHOW me the tooth. I told him to set it on his nightstand for tomorrow night and that the Tooth Fairy would come then. I certainly wasn't planning on getting up at that hour to give him a buck! (darn lazy Tooth Fairy!) We prayed over his sleep that he wouldn't have any more bad dreams and off he went.

By the way...Peyton was disappointed in the money that the Tooth Fairy left for him last week. He said he didn't like the dollar coin because he couldn't put it in his wallet. He wants paper money from now on...P-I-C-K-Y! (I hope to post a toothless grin soon.)

Day Out with Brian

Yesterday was a bank holiday (yea!) so I was off and Brian decided to take it off too. We took the kids to daycare (no I don't feel guilty b/c they love playing with their friends!) and we went shopping...we even looked at diamonds...I love me some diamonds! Then we went to Red Lobster for a feast of salmon, crab legs and coconut shrimp (my mouth is watering just thinking about how yummy it was!). After lunch we went to the movies and saw Paul Blart Mall Cop...along with everyone else in Greenville who was off work and out of school. It was pretty good...it gave us some laughs that's for sure!

We had a great time just doing our own thing...it's been a long time since we've been able to do that. We love our children but spending time together, just the two of us, was wonderful! I think we'll do it again next bank holiday! :)

Makenna Stands

Yesterday was a BIG day for us. Peyton got the Terrific Kid award, he lost his first tooth, and Makenna started standing unassisted.

She looked like such a big girl! (my baby is growing so fast! sniff, sniff) You could see the muscles flexing in her feet while she was balancing. We tried to encourage her to take a step but she's not quite there yet.

It's only a matter of time...

Tooth Fairy

Peyton lost his first tooth yesterday afternoon! He said his friend "helped him". Who knows what all that involved...ha ha...at least it was already loose. He was very excited about putting it under his pillow.

Meanwhile I'm out at 8:30 in the evening in pink lounge pants (go Life is Good!) and tennis shoes trying to find a gold dollar coin. I was going out for sundaes from McDonald's so I checked there...the little guy waiting on me recommended the bank!!!! (pretty funny since I at one!) Then I tried 2 gas stations and finally got lucky! Whew hoo! Mission accomplished.

Peyton slept on the other side of this bed so that the tooth fairy would have plenty of room to get under his pillow. He was very happy when he woke up this morning to that bright shinny gold coin. :)

Peyton is a "Terrific Kid"!

Peyton was nominated by his teacher for the Terrific Kids award sponsored by Kiwanas. We are so proud of him! Mrs. Pitman stated that he's always kind and generous and considerate of others. That's my Peyton...SWEET and LOVABLE!

The school hosted an awards ceremony this morning in the cafeteria and all of the terrific kids received goodies while proud parents took lots of pictures. Peyton received a certificate along with a t-shirt, a pencil, a free Chick-fil-a kids meal, and of course the Terrific Kid bumper sticker. Yes, I will proudly display it! We are so proud of you Peyton!

Box Fun

Who needs toys when you have boxes right? This box came from Makenna's car seat and Peyton and Makenna both have had the best time playing in it...it was sad to actually put it out with trash this morning...but it HAD to go!

Future Chefs

Watch out Bobby Flay and Rachel Ray! There are new stars on the horizon!

Makenna in her Big Girl Car Seat

There's a pretty big smile behind that bumper! (pacifier) I think she likes it!

Makenna's New Car Seat

Brian and I have had one heck of a weekend trying to get Makenna moved from her infant car seat that sits backward to a regular car seat that faces forward. We had plans to use the ones that we used with Peyton. I had mine stored in the storage building and Brian's was in the trunk of his car. Brian got his installed but when he went to install mine, we couldn't find the straps for the 5 point harness system. Apparently our good intentions of cleaning out the storage building led to the straps getting thrown out by mistake. We jumped online and found a really cute, reasonably priced seat at Walmart. We took out Brian's seat and placed his straps into my seat and reinstalled it in Brian's car since mine was in better condition.

ANYWAY...we bought the one from Walmart and after a couple of hours of Brian losing his temper decided it wouldn't work due to the positioning of the holes that the car seat belt uses to hold the seat in place. He said, "you can take it back because I don't ever want to see it again!"

We jumped back online (thank God for the Internet!) and found a car seat similar to the one we had previously. Peyton and I ran over to Baby Depot after dinner and picked it up. I was very excited because it is super cute. It's chocolate and pink with some flowers for detail. It has extra padding that can be removed and since she's still so little, I'm glad that some of this will help fill in the gaps and will make longer trips more comfortable.

Brian ended up installing it right before church and had no problems other than getting the tags off. He cut his finger cutting one tag...but he looked awfully cute wearing his pink hello kitty band aid to church!

Another Makenna Update

Makenna has two more teeth! She likes to do these things in two's. Her top two are coming in now...I knew that's what all the drooling was about!

Makenna's 1 Year Wellness Visit

Makenna had her 1 year check up yesterday. She weighs 21 pounds and is 29" long. She's in the 50% percentile for both height and weight. But the best news? She can officially come out of the infant car seat! Whew who! She'll be forward facing this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing her sweet little face when I check my right blind spot while driving. :)

Here are a few things she's doing right now:

• She waves bye-bye
• She says mom-ma and dad-da and hi (and I think she's saying "bumper" which is what we call her pacifier)
• She sways/rocks to the beat of music
• She crawls and walks assisted
• Her favorite thing to do is put items into something else
• She blows kisses and catches kisses
• She gives kisses
• She knows what "no no" means and is already giving us that look that melts us (this one will be hard to discipline!)
• She blows her nose...I know this sounds crazy but she really does!
• She eats everything..even with only 2 teeth!

Happy New Year from Peyton and Makenna

(hats courtesy of Sid and Heiko...thanks guys!)

New Year's Eve

Brian and I went to a great New Year's Eve party at Sid's house. Great people, great food, great fun. Happy New Year's everyone!

Makenna Loves a Man in Uniform...

Out of all the toys Makenna got for Christmas, she loves her brother's GI Joe's the most.