Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

Independence

We had a great 4-day weekend (yes, 4,) since we took Thursday off to work on our house. However, that resulted in jinxing ourselves. A huge storm blew in Wednesday night and we found ourselves cleaning up the water damage in the basement that night and the next day. But Scott was able to get our new tub/shower surround in on his day "off." We're trying to get our house on the market in hopes of buying a new one. I know, wishful thinking in this economy.

We spent our Fourth of July making stops at various parties. We went on the lake for a bit on Corey's boat to watch some of the airshow. Payton mostly just slept on me the minute the boat started moving and almost the whole time we were out there. She did dip her toes in the water though with her Daddy.


Then we visited my boss and his wife - Team Bisson - for a while. They have two girls, just one year and 2 days a part, and then their friends were in town with their 2-year-old son and a 7-month old daughter. Molly made a rocking good dinner and the best ice cream cake that I can't wait to get the recipe for. Payton enjoyed watching the big kids play and laugh and she even got to play in Isabelle's super pimped out exer-saucer. Team Bisson even sent us home with some baby stuff - a nice highchair and a bath seat. They are such nice people and it was fun to have a few beers, kick back and relax.

We then made our way over to the Deloofs where the boys, err husbands, sat outside and lit off some fireworks. Not a bad show, but Missy Payton and I watched it from inside because we were getting tired. She was so good all day long and such a trooper. I'm always worried when we push ourselves and extend her beyond her routine or schedule. But she partied like a rock star with the best of us. She was about the cutest damn thing you've ever seen her patriotic bikini and bonnet.

Pivot

Payton has this new thing where she likes to get up on one side, put her weight on that elbow and move around in circles. She's really starting to get around the living room now. She's doing this "army" crawl thing where she pulls herself along by her arms and she inch-worms around too. It won't be long before she's really crawling. She's also eating cereal now by the spoon and we're slowing introducing other solids. Her firsts are carrots and bananas. We think her teeth might be bothering her as well, as she is drooling a lot, sleepy and fussier lately.

Here's a series of photos from the other night when she was doing 360-turns around, all while pivoting on that one elbow.

Fatherhood

In honor of Scott's first Father's Day, Payton and I went shopping to get him a gift and decided upon new golf shoes. It's been kind of a joke in our family, considering how much I love shoes, that I bought him just that. Kind of like the husband who buys his wife a bowling ball. He always gets me something electronic and gadgety (this laptop, an mp3 player, a jump drive, digital photo frame) because that's him and that's what he knows.

So in my attempt to not just "get" him something, but to make a lasting memory, I worked some technical magic and produced this video. It's not perfect, in fact I don't know why but when I uploaded it here the music ends before the slides and that's not the case on the video I made for him. Disappointing, but let it play out.

His computer geekness is contagious. Turn up your voumn and break out the Kleenex...

Amigas

Misha and Alexandra made a visit on the weekend while traveling through the Midwest to see friends and family. First we met at Target, because, well who doesn't love Target. Then they came over to the house to hang out and stayed for dinner. Alexandra was really digging Payton and enjoyed holding her. She even helped out quite a bit by feeding Payton a bottle and assisting (observing) a poopy diaper change. It was great to see Misha and Alexandra. It's been awhile, but the nice thing was that it was just like old times. I guess that's the definition of good friends. No matter how long it's been since you last saw each other, it doesn't seem like that much time has passed. Of course, time seems to fly these days and seeing how quickly kids grow and change makes that even more apparent.

Here are a few pictures I took of Alexandra (6.5 years) and Payton (4.5 months):

Rolling

Since there is no better way to describe Payton's ability to now roll over, both from tummy to back and back to tummy, I am attempting to display her newfound skills with a video. This video was taken about a week ago, so she since has mastered the manuever and is making it look even more effortless now. In fact, just about every time you lay her down for diaper changing or bed, she rolls right over to her tummy.

It took forever to upload so it might take awhile for you to view it as well. Be patient (that includes you, Dad).

Enjoy!

Uncles

We visited my family in Illinois two weekends ago for my brother's graduation. This was Matt's first time meeting his niece. I think she's pretty cute, but you should've seen them with her. All the boys better watch out, as these Uncles are going to be quite protective.

Superstar

Needn't say much here. Papa Steve bought these shades for Payton today and she rocked them for a bit. She's ready for her close-up!

Grandpa

No one puts Payton to sleep like her Papa Steve. My Dad is visiting us right now from Florida. Other than him complaining a bit about the cold weather, he is enjoying hanging out with his girls. He holds Payton, talks, cuddles, rocks, feeds and loves her to pieces. Grandpa spent the day with us Saturday while we went to Sears for Payton's 4-month portraits. They turned out fantastic and I can't wait to share them.
It's really cute to watch my Dad with Payton. He said she really reminds him of me as a baby.

Cliffhanger

Oops. I guess I should be more careful about ending on a ...

I didn't know it would elicit such a response. Really, I don't have HUGE news of any sort. No, not pregnant again. No, not moving. No, not changing jobs.

I was just thinking the other day about all the great things to celebrate right now. The big news isn't so much mine, but the joys of others.

Pestows - Liz and Luke's family is expanding as she recently learned she is expecting baby number 3 in her family! Ethan and Abby will be great big brother and big sister to this newest addition and I'm sure the Weirs are overjoyed too.

Greenes - Welcome Henry Luke Greene, the big bundle of joy that joined Eric, Julie and Isaac on May 21. With a labor that lasted less than 3 hours, Julie is the envy of many a mother and such a trooper!

Matt - My brother graduates from high school on Saturday. It's hard to believe that my baby brother is growing up and heading to college this fall. He is such an overachiever. Not just one, but two state championships in football, as well as accolades in basketball and track on top of being a 4.0 student and working a part-time job. He's a great kid who's growing into an even greater man.

Payton - She is growing leaps and bounds right now. Seriously. She's learning so much and developing so quickly lately. Some big milestones are taking place now, like rolling over (That is our big news), holding her bottle (see photo above), and possibly teething. I'll be sure to post more on those soon. Payton just had an incredible week - sleeping through the night almost always now, such a mild-mannered joy during the day and her cuteness kills me. I can't hardly believe she's our baby. A-dor-able!