Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

Payton got to meet Santa for the the first time but no such luck sitting on his lap...that H1N1 freaks me out! I LOVE Molbaks so much!!

Kel & I make cookies with the moms every year, here we are in our festive aprons :)

O Christmas Tree

We got our tree about a week ago & I made Payton a Christmas tutu, it was too big to tie the ribbon around like I planned and she didn't like wearing it so we got the best pictures we could before she lost it. Our cutie little tree is just her size! I will try & get some more but it just might not happen!

Payton's First Food!

Yesterday we let Payton have a little bit of rice cereal for the first time, we also got to try out the high chair! She did pretty well, she seemed a little weirded out by the whole thing but she was trying to 'chew' sort of! It was cute though she seemed to really like sitting at the table with us, we are going to try again tonight! I am really excited to start making her real food myself but for now formula & organic whole grain rice cereal it is, yummy! Here are the pix!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Wednesday morning Austin & I packed Payton up and drove to Moses Lake to visit his grandparents & parents. We were very thankful the pass was clear both ways and Payton slept the whole time both ways. It was very fun to see his grandparents & the food was delicious! Now on to Christmas!

Trip Down Holiday {memory} Lane

This time of year has so many fun things as well as bringing back all the wonderful memories I have of my childhood Christmases. I put together a list of my top favorite things and memories growing up...Two of my favorite memories I couldn't find the photos for. Here are the best in no particular order...

1} Microsoft Christmas Party: Ok, these were out of control amazingness & I can't even begin to explain how wonderful they were, they were actually better than Disneyland, no joke. Every year was a different theme and were so over the top you would think you were dreaming. Unlimited candy, presents, concerts, video games, bounce houses, Santa, unlimited pizza, photo booths, you name it, they had it & every year I looked forward to them...too bad the stockholders found out and got mad....

2} Going to my grandparent's friends' houses for Christmas parties: Now they probably weren't that cool but there was a lot of food and treats & all the kids would cozy up in this little room and watch a Christmas movie, I just loved it, simple but fun!

3} Stockings: Ok, so we weren't allowed to open presents until my parents woke up, and we weren't allowed to wake them, but we were allowed to open our stockings, waking up & seeing what Santa put in there was always SUPER exciting!


4} Christmas Eve: When I was I would think that would be the year I would see Santa and of course I would fall right to sleep after dinner with friends and family, a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' and opening our Christmas PJ's. But this is my favorite night of the year no matter how old I am! I love, love, love Christmas Eve it's time with friends and family & the highlight of the Christmas season!

5} Picking out the Tree: Always important because the tree is the epitome of all the Christmas decorating, it's important to get one that is perfect all the way around and smells amazing, it also has to have strong enough branches to hold the heavier ornaments!

6} Decorating the tree: OH SO IMPORTANT, looking at the tree makes you feel warm and fuzzy all Christmas long, and seriously, balance is key! LOVE IT!

7} Going Downtown: Every year we go downtown, there's something so magical about downtown Seattle at Christmas. We would go shop, get pictures with Santa, go to dinner & see a play at 5th Ave or Paramount or the Nutcracker. I still love doing this although we stopped sitting on Santa's lap, thank goodness!

REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES & ENJOY THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!

hEllooo,

i wint four a wak 2day. iT wuz SUnnY and therE wer Loz of treez. I um getting Big. I am fiv munths 2day. xoxo P

More Elf Fun!

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Just *elfin* Around

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Holiday Season

For me, the Holidays started November 1st, but for most people, the Christmas season doesn't start until after Thanksgiving but for me Thanksgiving is just a part of the Christmas season. I am loving being back here with the clean air smell {even Austin comments on it} the crisp air, some sun some rain & I am loving the time change! Last night I helped my mom put the 'Christmas Village' up and plan to continue the decorating until Thanksgiving when it ALL goes up! Since we were in Denver the last 2 years I haven't been able to pick out a tree in quite a while but this year it's one of the things I am most looking forward to! Walking into Starbucks {as I already mentioned} always smells, and looks like the holidays this time of year and even downtown Kirkland was putting up their real garlands-they smell like Christmas and make me so happy! It has been a weird adjustment moving back though trying to juggle a baby, friends and family {and for 4 weeks, a job} I think things are finally starting to feel normal again & are only going to get better, it's my favorite time of year & I have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

Beautiful Seattle Day

This week has been just beautiful and today was incredible! We took a walk into Kirkland and all around town with a few little stops along the way, we had a ton of fun here's the one picture I got :)

My Sweet Savannah

I discovered this blog when I went to a craft fair & saw the cute things she makes...check out her blog, super cute stuff! I am a little obsessed! http://mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com/, also check out her etsy store, the link is on her blog...she has a lot more than what is featured, I am sure you could contact her!

It's beginning to TASTE a lot like CHRISTMAS!!!

It IS THAT TIME OF YEAR PEEPS! The Starbucks Christmas Cups were revealed yesterday & the Eggnog, Gingerbread & Peppermint drinks came out of hididng! We took a walk into town & I got my lite whip gingerbread steamed soy milk & my mouth was flooded with the taste of the season. It's without question my favorite time of the year & it is now official. I am so excited for all the fun things I will get to do this fall up until Christmas with my new baby girl, who as you can see was equally as drawn to that cup as I was :) Merry Christmas Season Everyone!

Payton's First Halloween

So here's little P with her lady bug costume & my "P" pumpkin, I'll do better next year :)

Carving Pumpkins!

Last night Austin & I realized that Payton has a costume for Halloween this year but no pumpkin; and let's be real, it's not like she's going trick-or-treating...the costume is merely for photographing purposes. So against everything I stand for I headed to QFC for a pumpkin, yes, QFC, I'm sorry people. I actually got a pretty good one. I tried the Martha Stewart technique of poking holes to create the letter "P" it actually turned out pretty fantastic (pix coming tonight). Anyways, I can't believe it's Halloween on Saturday because that means it's almost November, I'm excited out of my mind because November 1 is the start of the Christmas season-my VERY FAVORITE time of year EVER!!! Bring it on! My Mariah & Christina Christmas albums must be found at once!

NO SNOW in Seattle!

I woke up this morning to a ton of Facebook status updates about the 2 feet of snow in Denver...glad I got out when I did! If I were still there I would be stuck at home paralyzed by my fear of driving in the snow, which I am sure would be worse now that I have Payton! Thank goodness I can leave & run errands!

Fun little Fall day!

We woke up today and it was a rainy fall Seattle day. We didn't have a whole lot to do so we decided to go to the Minea Cider Farm in Woodinville. We got some quick photos while we were there, as well as some amazing cider (pictured above, it was so yummy!)

Some Pictures from the last month....Denver to Seattle!

Payton had a nice little nap while we had a nice little dinner at Purple Cafe in Kirkland :)
Giving me some attitude!

Showing off!

Sleeepy Bear!

Hanging out with GiGi during Lunch at Palomino...loving her new Seattle life!
Visiting Fargo's in Colorado Springs for the first time!
Hanging out with mom & dad in Breckenridge before leaving Colorado

Payton's 4 Month Stats!

We went to the pediatrician yesterday, a new one! Payton will be 4 months tomorrow so we had to go in & get all the stats & her checkup! Turns out she has exczema, poor munchkin! This was the picture right before her shots, it was terrible, she was such a happy girl right before, I felt bad doing that too her, but she's tough & she survived!
Also she's
Weight: 14lbs. 7oz. (75%)
Height: 26" (97%!!!)
Head: 40% (it's getting bigger!)
So she's a big girl, though we already knew that! :)

I heart Rachel Ashwell

So this is a long overdue blog, like should have blogged this in March but whatever...So if you know me you know I love Rachel Ashwell aka: the Shabby Chic creator. When I was visiting my grandma & grandpa in Palm Desert I got to go to the Shabby Chic store, it was my first time & can I just say OMG! Ok, so it was incredible I could have bought everything in the store but we're broke so I was out of luck, Darn! Anyways I have been obsessing about this pillow I saw it was a mere $160 ;) ha. But seriously SO cute so I looked it up & put the picture up above. It's adorable it has all these different fabrics in the British flag design & these antique"y" broaches with crystals on them (one's a crown, seriously people, I NEED this!) so CUTE! So anyways, I will just restate that I am obsessed. Give me antiqued furniture, give me white beachy shabby chic everything & I will be one HAPPY girl!

Payton's 2 month checkup

We took Payton in on Friday for her 2 month checkup. This girl is growing like a weed! She's now 23 1/2" (90%) & 12lbs. (80%) & her little head (which she got from me & my dad) is in the 20% :). Poor sweet girl had to have her shots it was the most awful thing to watch, I felt so bad for her! She's also working on tummy time now & has started to giggle...it's so fun! The picture above is right before she had her shots!

Happy 28th Birthday Anne!

Our last night in Seattle was August 18th, or Anne's big 2-8 (yes, we planned this)...We had a little BBQ shindig at the house, it was just a meager little party but I think it turned out to be a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful & the company was perfect. We had delicious burgers & made s'mores for dessert :) I hope she had fun, I sure did!