South Padre Island-Pay's First Visit to the Beach

We spent the weekend after Thanksgiving on South Padre Island.  The highlight of the trip was definitely taking Pay to the beach. She had a blast!

By the way, I tried an aerial on the beach and I did it.  And it was surprisingly easy peasy!  My back killed afterward, but still...I could do it!

Payton's 1st Birthday Party

We threw a little party to celebrate both husband's and Payton's birthdays since they are only a week apart.

It was just me, hubby, Pay, Grammy, Poppy, Amber, Brooke, and Tatum.

Brooke went with me to Party City to get Pay a birthday crown {should have gotten one for husband too!} and since she had never seen streamers before we got some of those too and she helped me put them up!

I made a strawberry JELL-O cake for Pay...it's a family tradition.  And I made a Pina Colada poke cake for husband...it's his fave.

I ended up stacking a piece of each cake for Payton's Smash Cake.  It was ugly.  BUT OH SO YUMMY!

She was mesmerized by the candle. Curious about the whip cream.  And then upset because daddy smashed some of the cake in her face.  It was HILARIOUS!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, PAY!

Our Payton is One! When did that happen?

It's kind of a surreal thing to see your child grow up.

I used to look at people who would get all nostalgic and sad about their children growing up and think, "Why are you crying over your kid getting older?  They're more 'fun' when they're older and more independent!"  Well, this past month I got a big ol' smack in my ignorant face.

Many. Many. Many. Many times I found myself looking at old pictures of Payton and reading her birth story and getting misty-eyed.  Ok...let's be real.  I was a big baby wishing I could hold my brand-new, crying-all-the-time, sweet smelling, super soft, itty bitty, and sleepy baby girl again.

Husband thought I had gone cray cray.

There's a special feeling you get when your baby first comes into your world.  It is life-altering.  Your world has changed for all eternity.  This little bundle of joy is yours for forever.  FOR-E-VER!  And it is magical.

It is also scary, terrifying, and exhausting, exhausting, exhausting.

But still, it is absolutely wonderful!  And you discover an all new type of love.  You love this itty bitty baby so much you immediately will do anything to protect it.

And then your baby is ONE!

WHAT????

Where did the time go?  Seriously.  Time flies!  And you love your not-so-itty-bitty TODDLER even more than the moment you first held her in your arms.

Anyway, our little Payton Liberty is ONE now and we just love her more and more each day.

She surprises us everyday with new things she has learned and figured out.  She makes us laugh everyday.  Lately she hasn't been the greatest sleeper and we find ourselves getting frustrated...'cause...you know...we're TIRED!  But then in the morning when she wakes up and is all smiley and giggly we forget about the fact that she got up in the middle of the night with no intention on going back to bed anytime soon.

How can you get mad when your baby smiles at you, reaches for you, squeezes you back when you pick her up and hug her, and gives you a big, open-mouthed kiss on the cheek?  You can't!!!

Now that she is ONE...

SHE NOW...

has 6 teeth

walks with her push and ride car all around the house

is starting to try to talk a lot more

is a picky eater {I'm not happy about this!!!!}

waves HI and BYE
{LOVES TO DANCE!}
starts to bounce, shake, and wave her arms the moment she hears music

wants to hold books and read them all by herself

is very opinionated about everything and will let you know if she likes something or doesn't

will sit on her push and ride car and push herself around

mostly doesn't like to be held

enjoys playing with cars and says "MMMMMM!" when she plays with them

is OBSESSED with her blankie and binkie

naps twice a day still {on most days}

is nursing just twice a day

has crazy, straight hair that I have no idea what to do with

has a toy phone and will bring it up to her ear and talk
is my little copy-cat

says momma usually when she's mad or sad

LOVES her daddy

Her stats:
28 inches long {13th percentile}
19 lbs {38th percentile}

Probably my favorite thing that she does now is when you ask her "What does a cow say?"  She says, "Mooooooo!"  When you ask her, "What does a sheep say?"  She says, "Bababababa!"  And she growls when you ask her, "What does a lion say?"  We're working on saying "Ooh ooh, Ah Ah!"  when we ask her, "What does a monkey say?"

We seriously love this girl to the moon and back and couldn't imagine our life without her!

And while I miss her being an Itty Bitty baby, I absolutely adore watching her grow and learn new things!  I am one proud momma!  And I love to see how much husband is proud of her and to see how much he loves her.  It's the greatest!

{End of cheesy post!}

Now onto a million pictures!  I can't help it.

Payton is 11 Months

My baby girl will be 1 in a month.  I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that idea. Anyway...

Payton is 11 months and

SHE NOW...

claps her hands when she's super happy, hears music, or when we clap

waves to you {and everyone around her} hello

says mama A LOT

has two more teeth coming down on top

LA LA LOVES graham crackers

{that's all she would eat if I let her}

bounces a lot to music while sitting or standing

walks fast around the couch

walks fast while just holding onto one of our hands

is a little more of a momma's girl these days

LOVES books more than most of her toys

will hurry over to me and sit on my lap the moment I start to read a book

likes to turn the pages herself while we're reading and gets mad when I do it
would rather be outside playing in the grass and leaves watching the cars drive by
loves dogs and kids more than anything

is nearly impossible to take pictures of because she moves so fast!

Here are some of the best pictures I could get.

Daddy holding her upside down.

The face she makes when she wants to be held.

The many {cute} faces of Payton Liberty.

She was sick of taking pictures so she got down and found some books she'd rather read.

Random picture that makes her look drunk.

La La LOVE her eyes!