Big Girl! :)

We can't believe how old Payton is starting to look in all her photos!!  My goodness, she is growing.  We just know she will be crawling soon, as soon as she can figure out how to get her tummy off the ground, haha! She has also been much more vocal lately.  We actually had to step out of church last Sunday because she was talking so much.  Also, she has just started reaching for people.  She reached out for me this week, and it just melted my heart!! 

Mommy and Payton have sure been enjoying our days at home!   We have been trying to savor those last few days of summer by taking lots of walks in the stroller and playing in the pool!  :)

5 Months Old!

We are officially another month older!  Little Payton celebrated her 5 month birthday this week, and boy have we had a busy one!  Grandma Kelly and Aunt Kyla got to spend a couple nights with us.  On Wednesday, we spent the day at the zoo and then headed over to Louisville to do some shopping and enjoy some girl time.  Aunt Kyla is getting ready to go back to school soon, (where has the summer gone?!) and wanted to spend some quality time with Payton before her semester starts.  It was a nice little get-away!  On Saturday, Miss Payton had her first play date with her friend Addi, and we got to visit my close friend Laurna, who is on bed rest at St.Mary's waiting on the arrival of her precious twin boys, Keaton and Kendall.  Visiting her is always an inspiration to me as a parent.  I look back and think about all the little things I complained about when I was carrying Payton and how it doesn't even compare to what she is going through.  The other admiral thing about talking with her throughout her whole experience is how I have never heard her say anything negative about her 32 days of bed rest in the hospital!!  All she will ever mention is how excited and grateful she is that her boys are growing healthy.  Hearing her say that is a constant reminder of how we really do become mothers from the second we learn that we are expecting.  It seems like every one of our child's wants, needs, and desires instantly become OUR main wants, needs, and desires no matter what it is we have to go through.  Ryan and I talk about this often, for there have been many nights when we were either out with friends and had to leave early because Payton just was not having it, or we were out to dinner with a group of friends and were taking turns to eat due to the fact that one of us had to either be feeding or entertaining little Payton.  We joke that we are probably scaring our friends out of having children, but the reality is that no matter how exhausting the situation may seem at the time, our top priority intantly becomes making sure Payton is content and happy, rather than enjoying a nice dinner. (not to say that we don't REALLY enjoy a quiet meal when we get one, haha!)  This is one of the most amazing aspects of parenting that we have experienced so far, the tremendous amount of joy that goes along with being able to meet Payton's needs and desires.   I think this is probably the closest we can get to understanding God's love for us!  So, thanks Kendall and Keaton for reminding us what life is all about!!

Payton's 5 month birthday comes as a significant mark for me, because it would have been when I returned to school, had I decided to not stay home for the year.  I am SO grateful to my husband for working hard to make this possible for me.  Although I am going to miss starting another school year and meeting another group of students, I know that I would regret not spending time at home with Payton during these first few years of her life if I knew it WAS possible for me to stay home.  I am very aware that this is not a reality for some people or the best choice for some mothers, and I SO respect and admire the strength of working moms!!!  However, it is the best choice for us during this time in our lives, and I am going to do my best to enjoy every minute and not take a day for granted!!!!

Payton is now starting to get up on all fours in preparation for crawling.  She has been eating her cereal twice a day now, and we are still on the hunt to find more food that she likes.  She surely can't live off sweet potatoes, haha!!  She is also very close to sitting up by herself and is starting to hold her own bottle.  Wonder when she is going to get bored of mommy and daddy and need a little play mate??????  Not sure dad is quite ready to think about that yet.......who knows!!

Messy Smiles!

Well, we finally found a food that Miss Payton likes.......sweet potatoes!  So far, I have tried carrots, apples, and peaches, and she didn't seem to want much to do with any of them.  However, yesterday we decided to give sweet potatoes a whirl, and sure enough, little Payton was all smiles.  Boy are we a messy eater!  I have about decided that maybe she just wasn't quite ready for the spoon before, so we are going to give the other foods a second try again soon. 

Since my last post, Payton got to spend some more time with cousin Harper.  I always know that Payton is growing more and more everyday, but I never realize exactly how much she has grown until I see her next to Harper, who is now 6 weeks old.  What a big girl we have!!  They sure are 2 little sweeties!

Splish, Splash I was Taking a Bath!

We love bath time!  Payton's new favorite toy is her little rubber ducky that her Grandma Trudy got her.  Too cute!  I was looking back at previous posts and noticed that when she was 4 weeks, I had listed that she did not like bath time.  Boy has this changed!  I am glad, for I was really hoping that she would like the water!

Bouncing Baby

Little Miss Payton seems to no longer be content laying in the floor under her jungle gym.  All she does is immediately roll over onto her tummy and then fusses when she gets there, because she can't make it back over to her back.  We've about decided that she needs a little change of pace, so mommy decided to put her bouncer together this morning.  I think she's still a little too small for it, but it did seem to keep her entertained for a while!

We had our 4 month check up this week.  Payton is now 13 pounds, 11 ounces, and 25 1/2 inches tall.  Our pediatrician seemed a little surprised that she was rolling over already, so let's hope that doesn't mean we have a wild child on our hands!   lol!  We've seemed to have taken a few steps back when it comes to sleep this week.  (Up every 3 hours again! ugh!!)  I literally think I went through 6 cups of coffee this morning.  Let's hope it's just a growth spurt and that it will pass soon!  I don't think the word "schedule" or "routine" will ever make it into this girl's vocabulary!  It seems that as soon as I get her into a decent routine, the weekend hits, and I might as well throw it all out the window.  haha!  Oh well, it definitely keeps us on our toes and makes life a little more interesting!! 

Also, kuddos to daddy this week for completing his masters in project management! ((He passed his BIG test!)  We joke, because he can put letters after his signature.  (He is now Ryan Legg,  PMP!  Lol!) He has been taking classes since before Payton was born, so it is now so nice to be able to enjoy family time at night without him having to do classwork or study for a test.  We are all so proud of his hard work!!!!!!

4 Months Old!

Miss Payton turned 4 months old yesterday!  It seems like these monthly birthdays really sneak up on us!  She is now starting to play with some of her toys.  She will reach for them and try to put them straight into her mouth. lol!  We have our 4 month shots next week.  :(  Not looking forward to those!!

      

Sweet Summer Time!!

Wow!  It is hard to believe that it is already July!  What a great summer we have had so far!  It seems like June flew by with the blink of an eye, but that could be because we were so busy.  After getting home from our trip to South Carolina, we left for New Smyrna Beach, Florida two weeks later to attend Brent and Ashli's wedding.  After our 12 hour car ride to South Carlonia, Ryan and I decided that Payton was pretty much maxed out on long car rides.  Because of this, Miss Payton got to experience her first flight.  We hadn't really planned on taking Payton in the first place, but I had an overnight camp the following week at USI for the club I sponsor at school, and mommy could not bear the thought of leaving her sweet baby for 2 whole weeks, SO after getting the OK from our pediatrician for Payton to fly this young, we set out on yet another adventure as a family of 3.  We were both a little nervous about how Payton would do on the plane, and I am not going to lie, for about the first 15 minutes while we were sitting on the plane waiting for it to move, I HIGHLY considered walking off and letting Ryan take the trip solo.  She screamed and screamed!!  (So loud that after she had gotten to sleep, the flight attendant offered Ryan and I a free adult beverage. lol!)  However, as soon as the plane got moving, she was completely fine and went right to sleep and stayed that way through both take-off and landing.  The trip itself was fantastic, and the flight home was MUCH smoother!  Also, after landing back in St. Louis, we were welcomed by such a special treat. My cousin and close friend Cara had had her sweet baby girl that week, and she and her husband Jim live in St. Louis, so Miss Payton got to meet her new baby cousin Harper!  I could not believe how huge Payton felt after holding little Harper.  It is hard to believe she was ever that small!

Speaking of Payton growing, she definitely has some new tricks up her sleeve.  She has MASTERED rolling over both from back to tummy and tummy to back.  I have to be extra careful where I leave her now because she wants to do it ALL the time!  She will also sing with  me!  lol!  When I sing her "Jesus Loves Me," she tries her best to coo and squeal all the way through the song.  So precious!  If I can figure out how, I will attach the video.  In addition to all these new milestones, we tried our hand at eating some baby cereal with a spoon for the first time this week.  I think we have decided that she definitely prefers the bottle for now!!  The pics below kind of say it all!

In the midst of all the craziness this June, Ryan got to celebrate his first Father's Day.  Little Payton did some finger painting for daddy with the help of Aunt Kyla, and put her artwork in a frame that he can put in his office at work.  While we are on the topic of daddy, Miss Payton and I want him to know how proud of him we are! Ryan has been taking classes since January for Project Management and will be all finished at the end of this month!!  Boy are we all ready!  He has done such a good job though and has never once let it get in the way of being a dad.  It doesn't matter what he is in the middle of, if I ask him if he can take Payton for a second, he answers quickly with a bold,  "Of course, I will be happy to take this girl!"  :)

This brings us to July!  We enjoyed the 4th of July weekend at my parents cabin on the river.  Payton LOVED the boat!  She could not stop laughing the entire time it was moving.  Too cute!!  I have about decided that I want things to slow down a bit this month.   Although all the trips and get-togethers are loads of fun, they just make the time go by WAY too fast!  (They also make for a ton of laundry! haha!)  Why can't life come with a pause button?  However, I will say that with each new milestone that we get to be a part of with little Payton comes even more joy, excitement, AND an even greater appreciation for motherhood!

The Girls!!  Checking each other out.

Rolling Over!

Beach Time!

Kick, kick, kick!

Reading my book.

Pausing for a picture!

Mommy and Pay!

Happy 4th of July!

New Cousins!

Boat Time!

I loved the boat!

What in the world is this "spoon" thing all about?