The "In Crowd"

I took Peyton in to daycare yesterday with no carrier because she is such a big girl now and has a big girl car seat. I sat her down on the rug and a couple girls (cute ones) came over and sat by her and asked her if she wanted to listen to their music with them. It was the cutest thing! The song was “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Fergie. One of the little girls told me that Peyton is a big girl and she only cries when she is hungry. I felt like she was beginning to be accepted in the “popular crowd” from the big kids room.

And then I started to worry about what it would be like to raise a good kid who is popular, yet nice to everyone and who isn’t hung up on stereo types. And then I got overwhelmed and decided I’d just do the best I could and raise her to be kind and loving and hope for the best.

Full Social Calendar

Peyton has been Miss Social Butterfly lately…going to baseball games, being spoiled by her Aunts feeding her ice cream, eating at a Japenese steakhouse, participating in the Trolley Run, and snatching bargains at garage sales.

She had a lot of fun at the baseball game, once she kinda figured out what was going on. The first time everyone cheered, it scared her and she cried. But after that, her eyes would just get big and she would look around like she was trying to figure it all out. We even got her a first time fan certificate with her name and the date on it. I’m sure it’ll end up in a box in the basement, but it’s pretty special right now.

Aunt Tami fed her ice cream when we all went to lunch. It started with just a little lick off the cone and then if we would have let her, she would have grabbed the whole cone and finished it. I wish I had packed my camera with me.

She also loved the steakhouse restaurant. Lot’s of stuff going on for her to watch. She squawked and squealed and had a grand time. She even dressed up for the occasion and wore a skirt for the first time!

She was pushed for 4 miles in the Trolley Run, and of course loved it also. What was there not to love? She sat there and took it all in while mom huffed and puffed and entire time pushing 18 lbs of baby and probably another 20 lbs of stroller, wondering where the finish line was. Ha! Seriously though….4 miles. I couldn’t tell you the last time I even walked an entire mile, not even packing the extra pounds along….but we did it. And I think in under an hour and half! Several times she would just start blabbing to herself and when she got tired she just crashed out and napped. Next year, she’ll be able to do her own little Trolley Run for kids. It’s approx 25 feet and so darn cute to watch. I can’t wait! They also have several other activities for the kids like an obstacle course, face painting and clowns will make balloon objects of the kids choice. One problem……I’m not fond of clowns or balloons. This year Traci’s kids, Booker and Bodey, got balloons and Peyton and I just hung out in the background, but one of clowns noticed and brought me over a flower and said Peyton was too young for balloons, but I wasn’t. What do you in that situation? I thanked him, but never made eye contact and shoved it under the stroller, hoping it wouldn’t hit something and pop. It honestly blew out at some point, but Booker would ask where Baby Peyton’s balloon was and when I would tell him it blew away, he would say "No, baby Peyton no have a balloon because him’s mommy popped it”. (He does know the difference between girls and boys, but when talking, everyone is a boy.) It was so cute to hear him say that, but it did make me feel bad. Poor Peyton….she’ll never get clowns at her birthday parties and the balloons will be under protest.

a late Easter posting

Aunt Tami and Grandma Jeffries came to visit over Easter weekend. Unfortunately, most of what they saw was a sick baby (teething and vomiting) and a stressed, freaked out mommy. She vomited 10+ times on Saturday afternoon and just wasn't herself. It was so sad because she wanted to be active and "ooh" and "goo", but just didn't feel like it. She went through about six days of vomiting and then was back to teething and being cranky, which I would be also if I didn't commit suicide first. (I've heard if adults teethed, they would commit suicide because of the pain involved.) We did get some good pictures over the weekend though.

Lil' Swimmer

Peyton went swimming for the first time last night at Auntie Meghan’s apartment complex. There was no P in OOL before she got in, but since she didn’t wear her little swimmers, no guarantees she didn’t leave a little behind.

and then she crashed out.......

Adventures in Babysitting

We used a babysitter for the first time the weekend before last. I wasn't nervous about who it was, but more so things like, is she available? What do I pay her? I don't want to rip her off or insult her because I want her to come back, but I don't want to start something that isn't necessary either. What things do I need to go over with her? Do I need to give her a tour of our gigantic house or will she find the bathroom on her own? What time do we have to be home? How late will I be able to stay up/out? Do I even need to worry about what time we have to be home if I can't even stay awake that long? I mean seriously....830 is bedtime around our household anymore, so come 10pm and it feels like 2am!


The girl that watched the infant room in the afternoons is who we called. We called her last minute, on Thursday I think, because my mom had originally committed to babysitting, but then they called for a range of 2-12" of snow, so understandably, she backed out. The weather was another question that I had to freak out about. Does that mean we shouldn't go? Luckily, Becca was available and I was shocked she didn't already have plans. I probably sounded ancient when I told her we would be home around midnight or 1230, thinking that would keep her out too late, but she said they usually START going out around that time. Seems so long ago when I was doing that.


So, I did my research about prices and decided just to ask her what she charges. It ends up it was nothing to freak out about because what I had in mind is about what she receives anyway, plus a little more.....to keep her wanting to come back so we can keep our social calendar up. Ha! Our friends Darren and Amy brought their boys over for her to watch also, so we did the introductions, I gave her the grand tour and off we went. AJ and I talked about how much we missed her while we were out, but we didn't call to check on her at all because we knew she was in good hands. The concert was great and the weather was "get around-able", but not the best of conditions. Maybe a good 4" of slush is what we ended up with when all was said and done. But we made it home and she gave us the report. She said Peyton went down fine and was very tired. The boys played video games all night and then crashed in our bed. And then she told us the funniest thing. Bless his heart, it's not really funny, I just think it is because I'm immature. Connor was having trouble "poo-ing" so he asked her to rub his back. Poor guy....but I couldn't stop laughing at it because all I was thinking about was what I would do if I was babysitting kids that I'd never met and I was asked to do this? I'd hesitate because I'm immature, but of course I'd do it. I hope I don't sound like a bad mom. I shouldn't laugh. It was only funny because I'd had the most beers I'd had since before I was pregnant and Becca was so serious when she told the story. She said he would ask her to rub higher and then push harder. And then she said his legs fell asleep because he sat there so long. She is a true childcare provider because she didn't giggle or anything when telling us what happened and she continued on, like a professional, just doing their job. Everything ended up ok with the bathroom situation. Maybe I get this from my dad who always manages to talk about "poo" at the most inappropriate times? He's almost 60 and still finds the word hilirious.


So, off Becca went and I felt the need to watch her leave the drive-way like she was one of my kids taking the car for the first time. I guess it's a good thing I did watch because she ended up sliding down the driveway, taking out our mailbox and getting stuck half way in the yard and half way in the street. I made AJ run out and check on her and he tried to push her out, but nothing. Then he came up with the brilliant idea to use the Jeep to back up to her car, with a piece of ply-wood in between the vehicles, and try to push her out. Did he seriously think it was going to work? All that happened was the Jeep about went over her car like it was a monster truck crushing vehicles. So I'm yelling at him to stop, while still trying to keep quiet and not wake Peyton and the neighbors. Becca ended up having to call her mom to bring their big truck and the tow rope and they pulled her out around 130am. Her mom is the daycare owner, so I was sure that she was going to charge us more that next week for getting her out of bed at 130 in the morning.

Despite all of the little obstacles, it turned out to be a nice outing and we plan to do it again.....every once in a while.

Blame Game

When we went to church with the Duncan's, Hunter rode with us. He is the sweetest, cutest, most polite kid ever. He rode next to Peyton and was making sure she was okay the whole way there, putting her pacifier back in if she needed it, keeping the sun out of her eyes, etc. We were a little over half way there and smelled something horrible - the smell was identical to when you drive by a chicken coop (or turkey for those of you who know the joke) and your whole car is consumed with the smell of $hit (no nice way to put it) and rotten feet. AJ was about to puke and we couldn't figure out what it was. I totally tried to blame it on Hunter, thinking he was covering "an accident" up and was embarrassed to say something. I even asked him about it. Poor guy....really...he is 7 and doesn't poop his pants still. But it sure didn't smell like our daughter (like her "poopies" have a specific smell), so we were in denial and still trying to blame it on the innocent one. When we finally got there, and we all got air, we took her out of the carseat and sure enough....Pey Pey poopied! So, Hunter, I'm sorry I tried to blame it on you.

I don't understand how do the cutest of people produce the nastiest things? I guess it only gets worse as we add more solids, huh?

Peyton's Prayer

We attended a new church (a non-denominational one) with the Duncan Family last weekend and although it was much different from a Catholic mass, it was very nice. The first half is completely music and then the Preacher preaches during the last half. He is a fabulous speaker and is very intriguing to listen to. It's just very hard to think of anything outside of a Catholic mass when that is all I've ever experienced. AJ did not grow up Catholic and doesn't understand a lot about it, which neither do I, and I should, having attended a Catholic school K-12. AJ said this was the first time that he has understood what the message was about. I'm excited to go back because it's something that AJ seems passionate about. I'll need to work on getting used to the random "amens" that people blurt out and the waiving of the arms during the music, not to mention the mohawks, the pink dyed hair and the tattoos. But they emphasize that anyone and everyone is welcome. It's not that I'm "judging" people at all. I'm just not used to seeing all of that in the church environment because I honestly believe that if someone with a mohawk attended the Catholic church that I grew up in, they would be looked upon, whispered about and definitely judged.

They had a band for the music and Peyton really enjoyed it. Everyone sang along, even me, and I'm not a singer and don't feel bad for not singing in church anymore, but I felt motivated to do it. People clapped during the upbeat songs, occasionally waived their arms, and a couple people fell down to the ground--in worship, I guess. Again, I’m not making fun or anything, but have to make a point to mention it since it was so different to me from the normal Catholic mass. During one of the more serious songs there was a pause in the music where there was only background music playing and a guy went up to say a prayer in the mic. It felt very quiet in the room because it was so serious and moving and then Peyton just belted out to her pacifier, like she was really telling it all about something? And she continued on for a good part of his prayer. I’m sure it truly wasn’t all that long, but it seemed like it was to me. I used to get nervous and hot and my palms would sweat at church and restaurants when she started to get worked up, but not anymore. I just let her go on because she must have important things to say during certain times? Bless her heart. She just wants to be heard also. Although I want her to be heard, for all of you who know what the “exit plan” is……I’m still not ready to do away with it yet. You gotta do what you gotta do when extreme measures call.