Birth Announcement

Here is the birth announcement I made for Peyton. Since handmade announcements take so much time, we only sent out a handful to immediate family.

Halloween 2008

Paige was so excited to be Cinderella for Halloween this year! Peyton was a pumpkin (to go along with the Cinderella theme), though didn't spend much time in her costume as she was so little. Paige got to don her Cinderella dress at a few Halloween parties, and then had a lot of fun trick-or-treating on Halloween night with her friend, Anoushka (the cute zebra!).

Peyton Eliza--October 14, 2008

Peyton Eliza was born on October 14, 2008 at 2:46pm. She was 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches. Everything went beautifully, and Peyton and Mommy are doing well. Paige LOVES her new baby sister and was so excited to meet her (as you can tell by the huge grin on her face in the picture). Paige loves to hold her and give her kisses, and even makes up songs about her.

Apple Picking 2008

My one reason to look forward to fall--apple picking at The Elegant Farmer. We love the hay ride, picking a peck of apples, and taking home a caramel apple pie baked in a paper bag (you have not experienced apple pie until you have had this!). Unfortunately a hail storm hurt the crop this year, so the apples weren't quite up to par, but we just go for the experience anyway, so we didn't mind so much. Oh, and I included a shot of the baby bump--I know there has been a lot of curiosity out there as I am getting close to the due date!

Paige's 3-year Pictures (in part)

I did a photo shoot with Paige, but had a hard time getting a natural smile out of her and she didn't cooperate for very long for the more candid shots I wanted to get. But I still wanted to post how cute her haircut turned out from the day before these pictures were taken. I'll post more if I get them taken soon enough!

First Day of Preschool

Paige had her first day of preschool group in early September. There are 5 kids in the group and the other moms and I trade off hosting the group at our houses (we have it once a week). Paige was so excited for it--and of course I had to get a picture of her with her cute little backpack! The bear was for show and tell, which the kids do each week.

Paige's 3rd Birthday--08-08-08!

We celebrated Paige's 3rd birthday by taking her to the Children's Museum. Ryan took a 1/2 day off from work to join in the festivities. Paige loved grocery shopping, fixing the car in the auto shop, and exploring all of the fun exhibits. We then asked her where she wanted to go for dinner, and of course she chose McDonald's. We took her home after that to open presents and have cake and ice cream. We let her stay up to watch some of the Olympic opening ceremonies--telling her that they were celebrating her birthday!

Catch-up--4th of July 2008

This was our first Milwaukee 4th as every other year we have been out of town. We took it all in with the Wauwatosa city parade in the morning--you can see Paige waving her flag at all the people in the parade--a BBQ in the afternoon, and then we went up to Cedarburg for fireworks that night. Paige loved the parade, had fun at the BBQ, and would have loved the fireworks, I'm sure, if she had stayed awake for them! Silly Paige stayed up the entire time until they started the fireworks, then decided to cuddle up with Ryan and went right to sleep! I guess loud banging noises have that effect on her!

Catch-Up--San Diego Trip May 2008

We had a blast in San Diego! Between the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, and Seaworld, Paige got to see koalas, pandas, elephants, giraffes, dolphins, whales, sea lions. . . just to name a few. But of course, Paige's favorite was seeing Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Bert, and the Count at Seaworld's very own Breakfast with Elmo and Friends. Of course, with all the excitement, not much breakfast got eaten! As you can see by the last photo, Paige was exhausted by the time we got home from the trip!

Catch Up--Minneapolis Trip March 2008

We took a weekend trip up to Minneapolis and while there we visited the Mall of America. It is HUGE! The highlight for Paige, of course, was the indoor amusement park--her first experience on rides!

Mother's Day 2008; Ryan hacks in. Hope this works

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Easter 2008

Here are the pictures from Easter! Paige LOVED hunting for the eggs and said she felt like Cinderella in her Easter dress. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day 2008

The day before Valentine's Day, Paige went to a friend's house to decorate a valentine bag and heart-shaped cookies. On Valentine's Day, we went to a special Valentine's Day themed storytime, and then that night she opened her cards and presents. Unfortunately, she got so excited, she tripped over one of her toys and ran straight into the corner of the armoir, causing her to split her lip. She is so tough, though, and decided she was "all better" soon after. Here are some pictures from the festivities (the last one showing her fat lip :( ).

Snow Day! January 2008

Well, this is the 20th snowiest winter in Milwaukee. . . so far. Paige and I thought we would take advantage of all of the white stuff falling from the sky and go out to play in it. Paige wasn't so sure at first (when we started walking through the deep snow, she kept saying "Oh no!" because she was afraid of getting her boots wet--until I explained that that's what they're for!), but then she got used to it and made snow angels (2nd picture), and even took a bite of snow (3rd picture). Yum! It was only 15 degrees outside, so we really had to bundle up (by the way, 15 degrees isn't bad for us--this last weekend was -11, with wind chill of -35 :) ).

Christmas 2007

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from Christmas. Ryan, Paige, and I had a wonderful time visiting family in Denver, and then were glad that Ryan's mom could join us in Milwaukee for New Year's. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

First Haircut!

November 2007

Well, we finally did it. Ryan was telling me for months that Paige needed a haircut (especially since when her hair was wet you could see that it went down to the middle of her back!). I, of course, resisted because I knew that as soon as we cut it all of her cute little curls would be gone forever. But, it finally got long enough to where it wasn't that curly anymore anyway (plus it was very uneven--though you could only tell when it was wet because of the curl). So, we took her to Snip Its, a kids haircut place, and here's the proof! Much to my relief, it's still got a little curl in it!