Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!!!

We had the best time this weekend with Ashley and Adyson!!! It was so wonderful getting to catch up and hang out like we did in college. The kiddos became best friends too, but I must admit they had the hardest time sharing!! We had to go to Target on the second day they were here and get them both the same baby doll so they wouldn't fight over the same one. Overall the weekend was fabulous!! We ate at Cheesecake Factory, twice, went to Marble Slab a couple times, and Sunday night Matt watched the girls and we went to Los Cucos and afterwards went and got Starbucks and just talked. We shopped a lot, and Sunday we took the girls to the Beach Club and the Water Park. We stayed up every night until 3 in the morning. It is amazing how much Ashley and I can talk. I don't think we could ever run out of things to talk about. I guess that is why she is my best friend! One last thing, Payten swam all by herself while we were at the Beach Club on Sunday. She always swims just fine with her floaties on, but she wanted them off so I took them off and decided to work with her on her swimming. No joke, we got to the deep end of the pool and I let go of her and she swam all by herself! I started to cry b/c I was soooo proud of her. I'm sure Ashley thought I was retarted!!! I made her swim to me a couple times before we left just so she could practice. It is so cute to see her doggy paddle with her little head above the water. I am very proud of her!! :)

My little Sunshine!!!

She is my "little sunshine girl". She is getting so tan b/c we are at the pool at least 2-3 times per week. A little overboard, I know, but she loves the pool, and I cannot complain about that!! What girl doesn't like a tan?? She can almost swim on her own. She typically wears floaties around but for about 30 minutes I will take them off and work with her on swimming. She will jump into the pool and come all th way up and doggie paddle to the side. I have to help her a little, but overall, I am very impressed with her swimming skills. She is able to keep her head above water for about 5-10 seconds. She is learning how to keep her arms and legs kicking at the same time. I think by the end of the summer she will know how to swim. She is also mastering the diving board. She will jump into the water and come back up.... matt and i help her to the side of the pool and then she will want to do it again! Of course, it is so much fun. Matt and I went off the diving board a couple times this past Saturday. I forgot how much fun it was to act like a little kid. Payten found it pretty amusing too. She would say, again... so we would jump off the diving board again. Payten and Meme Linda had lots of fun playing in the water. The weather was ablosutely gorgeous the whole day, so we stayed and played all day long. So, little Paytie has decided that she wants to call both of our moms, Meme!!??? Okay, I guess that is okay... she will have a Meme Linda and a Meme Jan??? It's pretty cute that she thinks of them both as Meme's, but she also calls both of our Dad's, Papa. Well, that poses a problem. They are both Mike, so I guess they will both be Papa Mike!!?? :) Maybe as she gets older she will start to call them something else. I figure we will let her decide. At the Beach Club in our neighborhood you can rent canoes for free. Payten didn't know what to think about the little boat. She had a hard time sitting still and I was worried the whole time that we were going to tip over into the lake. She had a good time....They have sail boats too, so maybe after we master the canoes, Payten can learn how to sail a boat. :) Payten now loves to drink her cereal milk..... she discovered that if you wait to drink the milk until the end, it will be nice and sweet... she had just got done eating Frosted Mini Wheats. She is a cereal girl just like her Mommy!! :) sed much. I would rather stay home and rent a movie for half the price and get to relax and cuddle on the couch!! :) Plus, we both missed our little Paytie by the time we made it back home.

Pics with Aunt JJ

Here are a couple more pics that Betsy took while we were in Oklahoma. For some odd reason my computer doesn't recognize the disc with the pictures on it, so I only have the pictures that Betsy sent me via e-mail. Hopfully I will be able to transfer them from Matt's work computer. We had so much fun with Aunt JJ. We ate way too much, layed out and played in the pool, stayed up late talking (I would still be talking and she would be crashed out sleeping), and shopped till we dropped. I definitely think Jennifer will never come visit me again! The trip taking her to the airport was a complete NIGHTMARE! First off, I almost killed her, second we almost ran out of gas, and third she made her flight by one minute. Seriously, her flight let at 2:20 and we didn't even pull into the airport until 2:00 on the dot! You better believe I was praying very hard. When she called me to tell me that she made the flight, I told her that God held the plane for her. He heard my prayer!!! Now that I think about it the whole experience was pretty funny, but in the moment I was not very happy. Houston traffic made it very difficult!!! Okay so that is the one thing I cannot stand about living in Texas. Other then pulling out in front of a semi truck to make the entrance onto the highway we made it the the airport safely. Thank you Jesus for not letting us get hit by the huge truck!! VERY close call!!! :) Thanks Jennifer for coming and visiting us. We love you lots! You are so sweet and I cannot wait to hang out again. Hope your new job goes well. By the way, we love visitors!! So if anyone wants to come and visit, we would love to have you. Ashley and Adyson are coming to visit us next weekend. We are going to take the girls to Sea World. I know Payten will absolutely love Sea World. She is so fascinated with big fish. (just like her mommy.) Today I was going through the paper and there was a huge shark on the front page. She stared at it for the longest time and finally her eyes got really big and she said, "BIG SHARK". It was so funny....She spent the next 10 minutes making sure I knew that there was a big shark on the page. I was extremely stuffed in this picture. We had just came from eating Mexican food at Los Cucos. Why is Mexican food sooooooo good?

Friday Fun!!!

Well, we just got back from Chick-Fil-A. Payten played in the kid center and then for dessert we got a cookies and cream milk shake. They are sooo yummy!!! Seriously, they are the best. But I advise you not to even get one b/c you will become addicted to them, as Paytie and I already need one once a week!! :) So, by the time we got home she had her ice cream all over her face. I thought it was pretty adorable. Now when you say lets take a picture, she says, "Cheeze". It's pretty funny. I think in a couple of these pics you can tell she is saying cheeze and posing for the camera. I am soo excited....Jennifer is coming to visit us tomorrow!! She is staying until Tuesday. We are going to have so much fun. Payten is already saying, "Aunt JJ". Hopfully we will do some baby shopping! I miss shopping for baby stuff. Anway, hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. I will post new pics next week.

Random Pics

Matt and I had so much fun on Saturday night. We went to dinner at Babin's Seafood with two different couples and then they came over to our house and played games until 1:00 in the morning. I had to get up the next day and work. I was pooped out! Payten stayed home with the babysitter while we ate dinner, so it was nice to enjoy the company and eat my food in nice, slow bites. I got blackened chicken with rice. Very yummy! I have to admit I missed her for that short period we were gone! We are so happy that Scott, Bethany, Wes, and Alison live down here now. They both live within 5 miles of our house. It is so much fun to get together with other couples. We really enjoy getting to know other people.... the first few months down here we really didn't know too many people, so it is nice to be social again!! :) I have made a really good friend from the gym. She has two girls Payten's age, so we hang out a lot during the week. Okay, I am rambling on and I have to get up in 6 hours..... good night! :) Here are some pics of Payten taking care of her kids. :) On Friday I went and got her a high chair/ bouncy chair for her babies. I don't think she has stopped playing with it since the minute I finished putting it together. She is going to be a good mommy one day! We were driving home from grocery shopping and there was a beautiful rainbow that went all the way across the sky. Matt and I agreed that we have never seen a rainbow more beautiful then this one. So when we got home I grabbed my camera and took some shots. Looking at the rainbow in the sky I realized how amazing our Heavenly Father is and how much he loves us.

Happy 2nd Birthday Paytie

Here are a couple pictures that Betsy took for Payten's 2 year old pictures. She did a great job!! If anyone needs pictures taken, I would definitely reccommend her! :) http://www.gregoryphotography.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Payten Mackenzie

We had such a goood time in Oklahoma!!! I just want to thank everyone for hanging out with us and for helping us celebrate Paytie's 2nd birthday. In this picture, Payten put her princess hat on upside down. I tried to help her put it on, but miss independent wanted to do it all by herself. :) Yummy!!!! I think someone liked their birthday cake a little too much!! Mabye I should have cut it into small pieces, but I thought she only gets to stuff a huge piece of cake in her mouth once a year. Fun memories! :) Don't we look cute!??!??! I think we are all long lost sisters. Payten is so blessed to have all her Great Grandparents in her life! You are all so sweet to her. We love you lots. Right when we got home from being in Oklahoma, we went and ate Mexican food and got Paytie her birthday present. We were trying to decide between the Cadillac Escalade, Hummer, and the jeep. The other cars were more neutral, but Payten really liked this one. She will probably have it worn out before baby #2 comes along anyway. I don't think her little brother would like riding in a purple jeep. :) We now have a huge problem....Payten stands at the garage door and begs to go outside and ride in her car. We got home from the gym earlier today and I could barely get my lunch eaten before she was grabbing my hand and telling me to get up. How can they be so demanding at the age of 2? She loves her new toy and will enjoy riding it around the neighborhood. Daddy and Payten are spending some quality time together. They have a bond that is so special. Payten knows that when Matt walks in the door, it is play time. This picture was taken after her evening bath. She was outside three different times today riding her new jeep. She was pretty pooped out!

Payten LOVES water

Our little Payten loves to play in the water all the time. Anything that has to do with water...Payten is in!! Everytime we pass the Water Park entrance she starts saying, "water park, water park". (even though you can't even see the water park from the road b/c it is hidden by trees, she still knows where you are supposed to turn. I literally have to drag her out of the bath tub in fear that she is going to turn in to a prune. :) Below are some pics we took last Monday at the Water Park. We have so much fun there. I have a really good friend that I met at the gym, and she has two girls around the same age as Payten. We get Chick-Fil-A and then head to play in the water....typically every Friday, you will find us there. But last Monday Daddy took off work so we spent a little family time basking in the sun. (trying to get a base tan so we don't fry in Mexico!!) Payten has now learned to swim. (well with her floaties on) She is so brave and will jump off the side of the pool and into the water. She also is an expert in kicking like a frog and the breast stroke....seriously, i am not joking!!! She is so much fun to be around. She is my little buddy. Oh ya, one of the pics is Payten holding Nala for the first time. She has been trying to pick her up since she could walk. It is so entertaining to watch them play together. They have a love/hate relationship...Payten will chase her around and Nala will finally give in and let Payten pick her up....Nala just takes is so well, although she lets out an ocassional cry for help. :) Work is going really well. I love both of my jobs!!! I am going to get my personal training certificate in September and then will be able to charge a lot more for my services!! :) I have always loved being in the gym, so I am going to take the plunge and get certified. I am also a Children's Coordinator at our church. I basically oversee what is going on, answer any questions parents might have, check in new babies and toddlers, and update the rosters as well as headcounts at the end of Sunday School and "Big" church. It is a lot of work and always extra busy since we have thousands of members, but I love it and believe that God got me that job....I was not even looking for it. Oh ya, I am also on the Leadership team for MOPS. I am excited to meet other moms and get to know women from my church and learn from them. It is encouraging to meet other women who love the Lord....it encourages and inspires me to be a better wife and mother. I am so excited to come back to Oklahoma in less than two weeks. Not only is it Payten's 2nd birthday, but we will get to meet Baby Kennedi for the first time!!!! We are so excited to meet her. We are really looking forward to spending time with everyone.... it is so hard to believe that we have lived in Texas for 6 months now. It has gone by so fast.... We had Scott, Bethany, Wes, Allison, Mike and Tracy over for dinner last Friday night. We had such a great time and it felt like we were back in Bartlesville. We grilled out and played games....it's pretty crazy that four couples are already in Texas from B-ville. I wonder who will be next??? :) I have to admit....I LOVE TEXAS. It is very kid friendly and there is always something to do. I would reccommend this place to anyone!!!!!!! The people are great, the grocery stores are fabulous (Kroger and HEB), Target is my second home, (I got in trouble this month for spending way toooo much there...haha), the community is very clean and beautiful, and the Water park/Beach Club is Payten's dream come true!!! (and mine too.) Okay, I think I have succeeded the maximum amount of words for tonight.. hope no one gets bored with my novel! :)