Snapshots

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

The girls in their Easter dresses--the first Milwaukee Easter that we have been able to take pictures outside! It's been summer-like weather here for a week and no snow on the ground. Peyton really doesn't sit for pictures these days, so I was lucky to get the one of her and Paige sitting and both smiling. Even with the elbow to Paige's neck!

Spontaneous Trip to Chicago

2010-04-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ryan had a half day off of work this past Friday, so he suggested that we pack up and head to Chicago. I'm not really the spontaneous type, so this was a good exercise for me! We ended up having a great time. We went swimming in the hotel pool on Friday night and then headed to the Chicago Children's Museum on Saturday before heading home. Here are a few pictures of the girls from the pool. Check out those lips on Peyton--we saw those lips on ultrasound before she was born--even the ultrasound tech noticed them!

Once there was a snowman. . .

2010-04-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

We built a snowman back in February. Paige was so excited!

Christmas 2009

2010-04-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Kara took these cute pictures of the girls for Christmas!

Last Halloween (October 2009)

2010-03-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, Peyton wasn't too happy when we took these pictures, so we got a lot like the one of her crying. But in the end she was happy as could be (I bribed her with my keys--works every time!). Now if I could just get a good picture of the two kids together. . . this was the best I could do.

Peyton's First Birthday (October 2009)

2010-03-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

We took Peyton to Noodles for her first birthday dinner. We then had cupcakes at home, which she wasn't as into as I thought she would be. We're considering doing a maternity test--not likely that a child of mine doesn't have a sweet tooth!

Peyton's Pinkie

2009-11-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

Last night around 7:30pm, Paige went to her room to grab a book. Peyton began crawling after her, and for some reason Paige closed the door to her room. Ryan heard Peyton scream first, so he went over to see what was wrong. He yelled for me to come, saying that Peyton's finger was stuck in the door. On the hinge side. The door was completely shut. Ryan was trying to open the door without further smashing her finger. He got it open enough, and I got her finger unstuck from the door. What I saw next I did not know was possible--not in my wildest imagination of injuries. Imagine a cartoon character who smashes his finger with a hammer, flattening it. Now you know what Peyton's finger looked like. Flat as a pancake and bent in all the wrong directions. I started screaming to Ryan, "What do we do?! What do we do?!" It looked so bad I couldn't even look at it anymore. Ryan, thinking clearly, said we should get everyone in the car and drive to the hospital. All I could think was that I hoped she wouldn't lose her finger. By the time we got to the hospital, her finger had begun to look like a finger again, though it was incredibly swollen and purple. She had stopped crying, so I was hoping she wasn't in too much pain. At the ER, they took an X-ray and discovered that it wasn't broken. They did see a tiny piece of bone that they think might have detached, but the Dr. said that would be absorbed and wouldn't cause any issues. We were surely relieved that it wasn't broken, and lucky that it didn't sever her finger. As you can see from the pictures, it is super swollen and on the underside she has a few blood blisters and dark bruising. Nevertheless, Peyton has been doing very well, hardly phased by the injury other than being a little careful with that finger when she crawls/plays.

In Loving Memory

2009-10-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

On our last night in Utah I got a call from my brother that he had just taken my mom to the hospital. Although fine earlier that day (she had watched my sister's kids and helped around her house), that afternoon she had come down with flu-like symptoms and by that evening had become so lethargic it worried my brother. The Drs. determined that she had a bacterial infection and immediately began antibiotics. We were sure that with the antibiotic treatment she would recover. However, at 5:30 the next morning my cell phone rang. My brother informed me that it didn't look good and that we needed to come to Denver. We were supposed to fly to Milwaukee that night, so we changed the flight to get on the next plane to Denver. When we got there, my mom had been diagnosed with multiple organ failure. They were doing everything they could to try to rid her body of the infection, but it ultimately took her that evening (July 8th)--not much more than 24 hours from the onset of symptoms. My family and I were crushed. This was so sudden and unexpected. We had a beautiful service for her that was perfect, and we felt comfort in being surrounded by family and friends who showed their love and support. I am still dealing with the heartache, the longing, and the loss. I miss her so much it hurts, but it is getting better with time. She was a wonderful person--and an even better mom. Thanks, Mom, for the 28 years I had with you!

Utah Trip July 2009

2009-10-24T20:28:00.001-07:00

We had such a good time in Utah over the 4th of July! We went to the Tracy Aviary--Paige loved seeing all the different birds. The best find, though, was a bird nest in a corner between the wall and the ceiling at the entrance to the restrooms. Not anything planned by the aviary--but the baby birds were so cute and we got to watch the mom come back to feed them. The dad was keeping watch the whole time a short distance away. They were so cute! Anyway, we also visited the dowtown library in Salt Lake since Paige LOVES libraries. She had so much fun--they had lots of nooks where kids could find a cozy spot to read. Peyton even perused the shelves! We also went to the Bee's game on the 4th for fireworks. The game went really long--13 innings! By the end we were all chanting in our heads: "somebody, anybody, win so we can finally watch the fireworks!" Amazingly, the girls did really well with all that waiting (it was 11pm before the fireworks started). Peyton stayed up the whole time--until the fireworks started and then she promptly fell asleep. I guess the stadium lights were bothering her more than the loud booms! We also got to spend time with many of Ryan's relatives, which we loved visiting. We wish we could see them more often!

Colorado Trip May 2009

2009-07-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

During our trip to Denver in May we were able to go to a Rockies game with the aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Colorado Trip May 2009 II

2009-07-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

While visiting Denver, we took Paige and Peyton to Tiny Town. Paige LOVED Tiny Town, as you can see from the pictures. Yea for the Library! The second photo is of her looking out the window of her favorite Tiny Town building--the windmill. She even hollered to some kids walking by to come into her house, which they did. After they were inside for a few minutes she said, "okay, time to go. Thanks for coming!" We also went to Dinosaur ridge with the cousins and saw real dinosaur bones. Paige is pictured with her cousins in front of a dinosaur statue. The other picture is of a pretend dinosaur dig they have set up for kids. The last picture is at the Mother Cabrini Shrine, not too far from Dinosaur Ridge. We sure had a great trip!

Peyton's First Cereal April 2009

2009-07-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Peyton had her first cereal at 6 months. Unlike her sister, who LOVED solid foods, Peyton was a little more wary. In fact she outright hated it. In addition, the rice cereal caused her to have tummy issues, so we had to move on to veggies, which she took a while to accept as well. Just evidence to the fact that every kid is different!

Easter 2009

2009-07-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

We sure had a fun Easter. We were so happy that Ryan's mom could be with us during her spring break. Paige had a great time coloring Easter eggs, going on an egg hunt, and seeing what the Easter bunny brought her. As you can see, the stickers we used to decorate the Easter eggs ended up on Paige's face too! And on everyone else's faces, for that matter--why not? Paige and Peyton both got dressed up in their matching dresses for church on Sunday.

Paige's Ballet Recital

2009-07-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

Paige had her ballet recital in February, 2009. Just seeing her on stage made me so happy I wanted to cry--it must be the proud mom in me. She LOVED being up there--so much it was a little scary. Her class did two dances, a ballet one to an instrumental number and a tap dance to a princess song.

Valentine's Day 2009

2009-07-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Paige sure had fun going to parties and eating lots of sugar cookies! Peyton tolerated all the hullabaloo, but had fun posing for this picture.

Christmas 2008

2009-07-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time spending Christmas with Ryan's family in Salt Lake! Paige loved decorating cookies for Santa and was so excited on Christmas morning to find that he actually ate them! She had so much fun opening present after present. Which is more than we can say for Peyton. She was not in the Christmas spirit at all. I think she actually would have rather been sleeping than opening presents. I think the picture of her says it all. We also had the fun opportunity to go to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. The girls were sure bundled up, but being used to Wisconsin winters, we were ready to brave the cold!

Peyton's Blessing

2009-07-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Peyton was blessed on November 9, 2008. She slept through the whole thing! Her Daddy gave her such a sweet blessing, and it was extra special that she got to wear the dress that her mommy, aunts, sister, and cousin have all worn. I was sure feeling the pressure to keep that thing clean!

Birth Announcement

2008-12-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-27T12:40:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-27T12:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-10-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-14T12:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-14T12:33:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Easter 2008

2008-04-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-02-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-01-12T18:41:00.001-08:00

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!

Halloween!

2007-11-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Paige was the cutest little Big Bird for Hallowen this year! Here are the official pictures I took of her at our local zoo. It was a lot of chasing her around and trying to get the Big Bird head to stay on, but we did end up with these cute ones.

Trick or Treat

2007-11-01T19:30:00.001-07:00

In Wisconsin, you get your pick of days to celebrate Halloween. Since Ryan's mom was in town, we decided to take Paige to Sussex (10 miles west of us) on Saturday night. They were scheduled for trick-or-treating from 6-8pm. Paige LOVED her Big Bird costume, though it was hard to get her to keep the head on. She was so excited about getting candy, she RAN from house to house as if it were a race! We would get up to the door, Mommy would hold the Big Bird head up so the people could tell who she was, we'd ring the doorbell, Paige would say "Trick or treat," as clear as day, and she would hold out her basket for the candy. She'd say "Thank you," and then we would tell her to say, "Happy Halloween," only she would just say, "Halloween!" It was so cute to see how into it she was. I guess there isn't much to it in a two year-old mind--you dress up, say "trick or treat," and strangers give you candy! What more is there to get!

Apple Picking Extravaganza 2007!

2007-09-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

This was our 2nd annual apple picking extravaganza and our new favorite family tradition. We go to a farm in Mukwonago, WI called The Elegant Farmer. We went on a tractor-pulled hay ride, picked a peck of apples in the gorgeous orchard, rode the hay ride by the pumpkin patch, ate BBQ pulled pork sandwiches for lunch (yum!), and took home a delectable caramel apple pie baked in a paper bag.

Family Pictures

2007-09-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

We took family pictures last week with the help of our friend, Kara Pothier. Here are a few of my favorites. Kara has a few on her camera as well, so there may be more to come.

Big Bird, Ernie, and Bert

2007-09-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago, Ryan was getting Paige ready for bed while I was at a book club meeting. We always say a prayer with Paige before she goes to bed, and often she says it herself. Often she will list people she knows to pray for them. This particular night, she decided to add a few to the mix. Ryan had to try really hard not to laugh when Paige said, "bless Big Bird, and Ernie, and Bert, and Daddy and Mommy" with complete seriousness! Too funny!

Carthage

2007-09-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

As part of our Nauvoo trip, we visited Carthage Jail, the site where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred. As you can see from the pictures, the bullet hole is still in the door to the room where the men were being kept. The window to the left of the bed is the one from which Joseph fell.

Nauvoooo

2007-09-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Our family visited Nauvoo over Labor Day weekend (only Paige called it "Nauvooooo"). We had a wonderful time, though discovered that it isn't exactly two-year-old friendly! We still loved it, however, and hope you enjoy these pictures from our trip.

Paige's Photo Shoot

2007-09-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Enjoy these pictures of Paige from this summer. Paige wasn't being very cooperative at this particular photo session, so I was surprised to find these cute pictures when I put them on our computer.

Paige is 2!

2007-09-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Paige Lindsay turned 2 on August 8, 2007! She loved singing "Happy Birthday to You!" to herself, and was so excited to blow out the candles. Now after every time she sings "Happy Birthday," she pretends that she is blowing out candles. Too cute!