She's ONE!!

We had Peyton's first birthday party last Saturday! I'm so happy with how everything turned out! Her theme was "She's a wild one" because...well...she IS a wild one! She is our crazy child and we couldn't think of any other theme that fit her big personality more! 

When I was staying at home with Peyton, I had BIG plans for this party. However, since starting work at the beginning of the month, I just didn't have the time anymore to plan plan plan. I think the party turned our perfect for the amount of time and effort I put into it. And, let's be real, first birthday parties are way more for the parents than they are for the kiddo anyways! We made it a year! One exciting, exhausting, and amazing year at that! 

Thank you to our friends and family that made it out to the house to help us celebrate sweet P! We appreciate it more than you know and feel so blessed that you all love Peyton the way you do! 

Without further ado, I give you... Peyton's party in pictures! 

Of course the wild one wouldn't just sit in the high chair like she is supposed to!

Phew, what fun we had!! Year one is officially in the books!

Pey's First Trip to Boston

Last month, we finally made a trek back to my favorite city in the country. We moved away last May so it had been over a full year since we had been back...which is really just way, way too long.

Our flight out of Atlanta left a little after 10 PM on Wednesday night. We were really hoping Peyton would do us right and sleep the whole way there since this was already way past her bedtime. Man, were we wrong! She fell asleep for about 30 minutes in the car on the way to the airport and then proceeded to stay awake until 12:30... 15 minutes before our flight landed in Boston. She squirmed, screamed, and kicked for a solid two hours before finally giving in to sleep. We hated being "those people" on the plane, especially on such a late night flight, but there was literally nothing we could do to keep her calm. Needless to say, it was a pretty rough flight and the exact opposite of our flights to Miami a few weeks ago! On the flip side, she completely wore herself out during that flight, so when she finally did fall asleep, she was OUT. She didn't flinch during the landing, transporting her from our laps into the Baby Bjorn, on the bus ride over to the rental car lot, transporting her from the Bjorn to the car seat, and finally from the car seat into her pack n play for the night, not waking up until 10 the next morning! Phew!

We visited with Rachel and Chris for just a few minutes at 2:30 AM when we got to their house, but called it a night pretty early. On Thursday, we lounged around the house in the morning, venturing out at lunch time to a restaurant at a driving range, called.... The Range. After lunch, we spent an hour or so lounging outside at the driving range before heading back to the house to get ready for dinner! Rachel and James M. graciously offered to host our friends from LCC at their house for a good old fashioned pot-luck style dinner! It was so good to get to share a meal with these people again, introduce them all to Peyton, and get to meet their new additions, Noah and Braylon!

After dinner, we drove over to the Grant's house so that Wally, Kath, and Sarah could meet little P! Peyton was a little champ and stayed up playing with Kath and Sarah until around 10 pm!

Friday was spent wandering around Assembly Row with Rachel G., Rachel F., Chris, Ryan, and P. We did some shopping (Hello, LOFT!) and then some drinking at a local brewery! That evening, we went back to the Grant/Mirski house to grill out and put Peyton down for an earlier bedtime! We stayed up watching some gymnastics for a little while, but all crashed pretty early!

Saturday was the big day of the trip! I got up bright and early and headed over to Wally and Kathy's house to meet the rest of Rachel's bridesmaids and help set up for the shower! The shower went perfectly and everything was so beautiful! There is definitely something special about watching one of your best friends be completely covered in love and gifts from the people around her! We all love you, Rachel and Chris!!

Sunday morning, we unfortunately had to wake up before the butt crack of dawn to head back to Georgia. It was such a wonderful trip to Boston and the countdown has definitely begun for our next trip!!

Peyton Eve: 11 Months

Ugh, Ya'll. I'm SO far behind on this whole blog thing. We've had lots of summer trips and special events that  I just haven't had the time to write about lately. Sad day. Hopefully soon I'll be able to catch the ole blog up on our life events! In the meantime, I can't miss a monthly update. I mean, I've made it TEN months, I can't crap out now!

I am still in disbelief that our sweet little one is coming up on her first birthday. Where did this year go? I can't believe it. Birthday party planning mode is in full effect over here and we've already had her one year photo session with our favorite photographer, Liz! Just wait until you see the cuteness! It's too much.

Peyton at ELEVEN months:

Weight: 19 lbs.  

Birth: 6 lbs. 10 oz.

Peyton is still in size 3 diapers and wearing 9-12 month clothes. She is in 12 month footed-sleepers though because homegirl is loooooong. I'll be curious to see what percentile she falls into at her one year check up next month!

Peyton Loves: 

Playing outside

Talking 

Eating All. The. Things 

Playing with the door stoppers

Cheerios
Being in the pool
Playing with her water table

Peyton Hates:

Being hungry 

Not being the center of attention
Being told "no"

What's New This Month: 

1. Peyton's vocabulary has seriously expanded this month! She's always been a babbler, but this month she really starting copying the same sounds as us. She can now say: mama, dada, mimi, nana, puppy, pretty, baby, and more. I'm not convinced she truly knows what any of those words mean other than more. When she wants more of something she definitely knows to ask for it now and it's the cutest thing. Once or twice she has looked at herself in the mirror and said baby or pretty and looked at my parents dog and said puppy...but I'm just not convinced she wasn't just saying sounds and got it right. #soadvanced. 

2. Peyton stands all on her own and has starting taking little teeny tiny baby steps. It's really clear though that she's just not confident enough to take those big girl steps all on her own. I think she could walk, but she just chooses to spider crawl everywhere. Knees off the ground and butt up in the air...that's how she rolls. 

3. Peyton went to daycare for the first time ever this month! I got hired as a second grade teacher in Marietta City Schools at the beginning of the summer. Shortly after, we began our search for a daycare to bring Peyton to three days a week. After meeting with a few people and talking on the phone to 200 daycare facilities, we finally found the perfect match for Peyton! Last week, I dropped her off for a trial day while I attended some new teacher training and I'm happy to report that everything went perfectly. Peyton was the center of attention with the big kids and was well-loved all day long. Plus, Miss Sarah sent me pictures throughout the day which helped ease my mama-mind. Starting next week, P will be hanging out with Nana on Mondays, Miss Sarah Tuesday-Thursday, and Mimi on Fridays! Lucky girl! 

4. Peyton has EIGHT teeth now and is totally able to munch down on some food! For these last few teeth, she has gotten a really runny nose and slightly fussy, but it hasn't affected her to much and  her sleep has still be great (knock on wood) so we can't complain too much around here! 

Peyton, how are you eleven months old already. You impress your dad and me daily with your new skills and ever-developing personality. You are definitely our wild child and always keep us on our toes. We love you! 

11-Month Photo Dump: