Swimming with Dora!

Today, Daddy and I took your to Riverchase to go swimming with our friends Mike and Stacey and their two kids, Jake and Maddie!

You are such a water baby! You literally have no fear. Me, on the other hand, I chase behind you non-stop, overwhelmed with anxiety! Your dad is much better at letting you learn "the hard way" than I am. I don't like to ever see you fall or struggle, especially not in the water, when I know that you will swallow it or get it up your nose! :) Your dad is much better at letting you experience things on your own. I wish I had his strength sometimes....but I just tell myself I'm so overprotective because I love you SO much!

The best part about swimming with you today was going down the slide with Dora. Dora is your little swimming buddy (You are obsessed with everything DORA!) We were cracking up laughing when you went down the slide because you would climb the stairs and once you got to the top, you would throw your arms out and say, "I did it Momma!" Then I would hand you Dora. As we all waited for you at the bottom of the slide, we couldn't really see you. The slide was oddly shaped. All of a sudden, we would see your Dora doll coming sailing down the slide (all by herself), then a few seconds later, you would come sailing on down, too! It was so funny to sit at the bottom and see Dora come rushing down (before you!) It was hysterical that you didn't keep her with you. It was like you were letting her have her own fun! Haha! It really was comical and everyone that would walk by and see it, would crack up laughing.

Sometimes, as a parent, you think it's the big things that you want to remember. And you do. But to me, it's the small things, like the funny memory of Dora and the slide at the pool that I never want to forget. I had a great day with you today.

Love,
Mommy

Your 1st St. Louis Cardinals Game!

Daddy and I have been looking forward to this day for a long time! The day we get to take our little mini me to her First Cardinals' game! We are big baseball fans, and couldn't wait to take our littlest fan with us to a game. 
You have been watching this show called "Dinosaurs" and there is this episode that you LOVE! In it, the little dinosaur says, "Take me out to the Ballllll gaammmmee!!" You repeat that every time you watch that episode, so we taught you to say it when you saw people playing baseball as well. 
We went to the game today, and the Cardinals' were playing the Phillies. It was a late afternoon game and it was so incredibly hot!! I thought you were going to be crabby because of the heat, but you were and are always such a little trooper! Nothing stops you from laughing and having fun. You enjoyed watching the game and would always ask, "Mommy, he okay?" every time a baseball player would hit the ball or make a catch. You brought your little Fredbird along with you, and were so excited because we kept telling you that you were going to meet the real Fredbird. Well, you loved watching Fredbird from a distance and spotting him around the stadium, but you were NOT happy when Fredbird got anywhere close to you! Haha! 

After the game, it was "Kids Run the Bases" Day, so we stood in line to do that. You had so much fun, and smiled and laughed with Daddy the entire time you two ran around the bases! It was so fun to watch. Pretty awesome that you got to go on the field AND run the bases at your very first Cardinal game ever! 


Daddy and I will always be YOUR biggest Fans,

Mommy

Dedicating You To Christ

"My lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying. For this child I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated her to the LORD; as long as she lives, she is dedicated to the Lord." 

Today is your Baby Dedication! We are so excited for this day, and have been waiting for it for a long time. Right now, we attend "Faith Church." This church is non-denominational. The reason why we chose this route, rather than a traditional baptism is becuase we want you to be able to choose your religion for yourself later on in life. We did not want to choose that for you, before you had a say in what YOU believe. A dedication means that we, as your parents, dedicate ourselves to raising you in a home where God is loved and worshiped. It is our promise to raise you to know the Love of God and more importantly, how much God loves you. 

Your dad and I have been inspired by a man by the name of Jeff Bethke. He came out with a video called "Jesus vs. Religion" and I am currently reading his book which is titled the same. We love God, we believe in his son, Jesus, but we are not the biggest fan of "religion" and we do believe that there is a difference. We like to attend Faith church, because it seems like they are accepting of EVERYONE. We believe that God loves us all, equally, regardless of our background, how often we attend church, sins that we have committed, etc. Your dad and I don't believe in judging others and we sometimes feel that certain "religions" do just that. We don't believe that you have to pray to a preacher to have your voice heard by God, we believe that we are all loved and heard by our God the same, whether you are a sinner or a preacher. The church that we attend seems to hold these same beliefs. All different walks of life come to this church, all for the same reason, to praise God and to thank him for their abundant blessings; not to judge or criticize others. 

Dedicating you is a big deal to us. As your parents, we fear and worry about so many things, and one of the biggest of these fears is this world that we live in. There are so many bad things that happen on a day to day basis, and so many stresses in life that can really weigh you down as a person. Without your love for God and your Faith, we fear that living this life can sometimes be too difficult. We want you to always remember that you are NEVER alone. We believe whole heartily in God, in Heave, in an Afterlife, etc. We will all live together, eternally, after this life on Earth. 

We pray everyday that you become a God fearing woman, with a heart for others, and a strong faith to get you through the darkest times in your life. 

You were created, uniquely you, in his image. We thank him everyday for blessing us with the opportunity to be your mom and dad. 

You did so good today. You were scared of the pastor, but only when he would try to touch you! :) Your had lots of family who came to watch you be dedicated as well:

Grandma and Grandpa Jordan, Grandma and Grandpa Marks, Aunt Ashley, Aunt Lauren, Uncle Michael and Aunt Amy, Grandma Helen and Aunt Shelly, Your cousins Hailey and Ella, Your Great Aunt Donna, Your Great Uncle Neil and Aunt Marla, Your 2nd cousin, Ryan, and our best friends Mike and Stacey and their kids, Jake and Maddie! 

Payton, The moment you were born, I realized the most important thing I needed to do and the best job I would ever have in this life time is being your mom. You made me see that I was suddenly able to love harder than ever and loving someone else even more than myself, is my destiny. You have already brought so much joy into my life. I love you more than I ever thought possible, or than I could ever imagine. You are where my journey begins. 

You are my heart.

Mommy

"I Go Potty!"

Tonight you went on the "Big Girl" potty for the very first time! We were just trying it out for fun, and you actually went! You were so proud of yourself, and we were overwhelmed with pride! It's so fun and incredible watching you grow, and hit milestones/accomplishments like this. You are far from potty trained, but it was so much fun to watch as you beamed with pride, feeling like you did something so awesome! 

Afterwards, you kept telling us (and family over the phone): "I Go Potty!!" 

A Reflection Of The Year...

It's the final day of 2013, and we are about to adventure into 2014! It's so hard to believe that you are almost 2! These two years have flown by so fast, and there has been nothing better than watching you grow, change, and develop into your own little person this year.

Your dad and I have enjoyed so many memories with you this year, there is no way to list them here. Here are just a few of our favorite memories from 2013 with you:

• Watching you grow, learn how to walk, talk, climb, run, and explore. It seems like each day you would do something that Daddy and I couldn't wait to tell each other about. You are always the topic of our conversations and we are always so proud and want to share all of your accomplishments and milestones with everyone! 
• We celebrated your first birthday at the beginning of this year and that was so much fun. We had it at the Arnold Rec Center and all of your family came to celebrate with you! My favorite part of your party was the slideshow that Daddy and I created for everyone to watch. It played pictures of you throughout your first year. Daddy's favorite part was you wearing your brand new "Jordans." (Daddy is obsessed with shoes!)
• Taking you to the Zoo, Grant's Farm, Aunt Ashley's soccer games, and all kinds of other events. You were really starting to explore this year and it was fun to just chase you around everywhere!
• Going swimming! You LOVE water! You took swimming lessons as soon as you turned 6 months old, and you loved every minute of it! We both had so much fun taking you swimming and watching you laugh and splash your way through the water.
• Going to music class and the Little Gym! We enrolled you in classes throughout the year at Gymboree and The Little Gym. You took music classes and "play/Gymnastic" classes here. You absolutely LOVED the music classes. It was so much fun watching you try to communicate with other little people your size, and to watch as you did your "drum solo" each time we went to music class. Daddy would attend every class that he could. A lot of families have "one or the other" parent at classes, but we would both always take you. Both of us enjoyed it too much to not go. There is nothing better than watching you play and explore, as the world is so new to you! It's really refreshing to look at the world through your eyes! 
• A not so good memory was the Fourth of July party this year. We were having so much fun, until you got your hands on a smoke bomb that had been recently lit, and you burned both of your little hands so bad. It was the hardest thing that we ever had to do, was to watch you hurt like that. You healed up fine, and you will never remember it....but we always will. It's scarred on our hearts!
• Taking you to see animals, or the ponies at Granny Jordan's house. You are OBSESSED with animals this year! We loved to take you to Suson Park to see the cows, horses, and other animals. At Granny's house, you would go out in to the field and run after the little ponies. You have NO FEAR at all! You've even ridden the little ponies a couple of times, of which you LOVE! You are definitely our little "Rodeo Queen!" Speaking of rodeos, we took you to your first one ever this year and you were so impressed! You sat right up at the fence, and would yell with delight when the bulls would come out bucking! You were so entertained all night and looked absolutely darling in your cowgirl hat and cowgirl boots. That was such a fun time and great memory of this year.
• One of Daddy's favorite memories was a few months ago, you were playing with his phone. About 20 minutes later, he couldn't find his phone anywhere. You weren't really able to talk, but just for fun, he kept asking you where his phone was. You walked him right to the toy room door, he opened it for you, and you walked him over to your play kitchen, opened up the microwave, and got his phone out! He was tickled to death! He could not believe that you understood what he was saying and that you remembered where you had put it. He was so proud! He told everyone he knew that story!

There are so many memories and so many fun things that we did this year. I wish I would have written down more of them. Even though the above is just a few of those cherished times with you, Daddy and I both hold all of those other memories in our heart. Everyday with you is special. 

Here are a few things that you currently love:

• Boots! You have several pairs and you love them! Hearing you say "boots" is the cutest thing! 
• Jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, etc. Especially if it's Mommy's! You will sit for hours and put 20 necklaces on, take them off, and repeat. It's amazing how much it entertains you! 
• Pens, pencils, markers, etc. You went through a phase where you constantly took markers and pens in and out of a cup, over and over! You would put them all in, one by one, and the end that wrote had to go down first. You were very particular about how your pens went into the cup. You loved when someone would sit with you so you could hand them the pens, and then take them back and put them in the cup...and repeat! 
• Animals! You especially love your two pets, Chloe and Dude. Chloe is our dog and Dude is our cat. Everytime we leave the house, as we are backing out of the driveway, you yell, "Bye Chloe, Bye Dude!" It's so precious! 
• I never let you have anything to drink other than water or milk. We recently started letting you have some juice (Plum Juice), and you love it! Now, I hear, "Momma, Ju Ju!" a whole lot! 
• Cheese-its! You are obsessed with them! You also love Vanilla wafers, crackers, and ice cream treats. 
• You are recently obsessed with Babies, both real and fake! It's so cute to see you around other real babies. You get right in their face and say, "Hi, Baby!" You love to look at and talk to babies. You love your fake babies too. You are starting to take your babies with you places, you have recently started to try and feed and do real life things with your babies too! 
• BOOKS! We read so many books every single day! We always read you a book before you go to sleep, nap or bedtime. For a long time, you never stayed interested long enough to get through a book. You always wanted to get down and do something else. Well for the last few months, that has totally changed. You love to sit and look at books. Now, you talk through the book and try to mock what we are saying or doing. You try to count, sing, and talk like we do when we are reading to you! It is a must that we read at least 2-3 books each night before you go to sleep. Right now, your absolute favorite book is this book with a green dinosaur on it, called, "RAWR!" This is by far your favorite and one that we must read every single night! You walk around saying, "Rawr!" all the time! It's so adorable! You also love to take Mommy's bras and out them over your eyes, and when you do, you yell, "RAWR!" Although it's inappropriate, it's priceless! Granny Jordan taught you how to do that. Everytime you see a Dinosaur or "monster" of some sort, you shout, RAWR!
• Trains! You love to watch trains, and watching you as you move your arms and say, "Choo Choo" is the best! 
• You love to organize things! You especially like to do this when we go to stores to shop. You like to reorganize and rearrange things on the shelf. The best memory of this was at Christmas time this year at Target. You took all the little tress off the shelf and organized them in a row on the floor. When you were all done, you organized them back on to the shelf! We got this on tape, and am so glad we did! 
• Words that you currently say: You say "No" alot. You have had your "yes's and No's mixed up for quite some time. You pretty much say "no" for everything, we just know by the tone of your voice if it really means yes or not. You say, "please, Granny, Papa, no, Chloe, Dude, Momma, Daddy, Up, Michael, Cheese, Ju Ju (juice), and much more. You are really starting to mock a lot of what we say. Your vocabulary expands every single day! 
• You love PaPa (Jordan). You talk about him all the time, every time you get on the phone, you pretend like you are talking to him, etc. However, when he comes around, you don't like to get to close. You will give high fives, and kisses when you leave, but other than that, you kind of keep your distance. You do this with a lot of strangers or family that you don't see on an everyday basis. You get really shy and cling to us, but as soon as we tell you that we are leaving and going "bye bye", you open up and act yourself! You love to say bye, give high fives, "fist pump", and gives kisses. 
• There is nothing more that you love than music. Singing, dancing, watching other people sing and dance, etc. You are definitely a music girl! Your current favorite song is your ABC's. Your favorite station to listen to on Pandora is "Nursery Rhyme Medley's" and if you are crabby in the car, I always turn this on. It usually quiets you right away. 
• You love Mickey Mouse, Dora, Doc McStuffins, your play kitchen, and anything that you can ride on or be pushed on!
• You loved Christmas time this year. You were amazed by Christmas lights, and it was so fun to watch you as you enjoyed them. It would make me cry and I watched the joy in your eyes throughout this holiday season. You did NOT like Santa Claus this year, and you did not get your picture with him because of it. You screamed something horrible and made us feel so terrible, so we didn't force you! But you loved to see "fake" Santa statues or dolls and every time you saw a picture or something of Santa Claus, you always said, "Momma, Daddy, HO HO!" Whenever you would see something that you love, a new toy, etc. you always yelled out, "Wooooooooooowwwwwww Momma!!" This is one of my very favorite memories from you this year. Just hearing you say that and watching your excitement was awesome. There is nothing better! 
• You really weren't into opening gifts this year. You loved the new toys (your favorites this year were your drum set and your play kitchen, and your Doc McStuffins inflatable ball pit). You weren't all that interested in opening the gifts up though. 

Just in the last few weeks you have really started to develop a personality of your own, with very strong likes and dislikes. We witnessed our very first tantrum (you were on the floor, legs kicking, screaming, etc). You have grown into a toddler and are no longer our "baby." This next year ought to be interesting as we try to learn how to help you grow and express your feelings, and learn how to punish you as well! It's not easy when a two year old runs the house! :)

We know this next year is going to be filled with so many more memories, so many more "firsts" for you, heartaches, and joy. We are ready to take it on, with our little "Butterbutt" by our side. Cheers to a happy and healthy year ahead of us. We both love you with every ounce of our heart and soul. 

XOXOXOXO,

Mommy

In Closing, on this Day of Love....

Dear Payton,

This will be my final entry to this book. Today is Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2013. I wanted to make your book all about your first year, so it's time to close this chapter and begin a new one. 

Today is a very special day for our family. Your daddy and I were married on Valentine's Day in the year of 2009. As of today, we have been married for 4 years. 

Four years ago today....we were an excited couple on our wedding day, both wondering about our future and what it might hold. We were in love, now married, and had just bought our first home. We were both young and free, willing to take on life! We knew we wanted children and we both had the same vision for our future: A big family to call our own. We both dreamed of the days when we would celebrate all that life has to offer with our children. It was about a year after we were married that we knew we wanted to start that family. Little did we know at the time that it would take us a lot longer than what we thought to begin our first pregnancy. Days turned into months, and months turned into years...and we wept as we longed for a tiny miracle to call our own. It was on May 7th, 2011 that we found out we were going to be parents. 

While mommy was pregnant, we would talk to you, sing to you, dream about you, and share with each other and the world how much we already loved you. 

Now you are here, and you are just over a year old...but I feel like I have loved you forever. I have dreamed about being your mommy for as long as I can remember. There is nothing in this entire universe that could ever compare to the joy and happiness that you have brought to your Daddy and I's life. You have made our life and our relationship so much more beautiful. As you continue to grow, to develop as a person, and take in this world around you, please remember one thing. You are loved today, you will be loved tomorrow, and everyday for the rest of your life. There is nothing that could ever come between or take away our love for you. You are loved in a way that is priceless, a way that is never ending. You are loved all because you are YOU. We wouldn't want you any other way. The person you were born to be and will become is perfect. You were created in God's love, and sent from Heaven for us to raise. We thank God every single day for choosing us as your family on Earth. You are the greatest blessing, and you have made me the happiest girl on the face of this Earth, just by being you. 

You are developing, learning, and growing each and every day. It seems as if everyday, you learn something new. As your parents, we are so excited to journey through your life with you. We cannot wait to see what your life has in store. Watching you grow and develop into a beautiful girl and strong woman is the reason why I was put on this Earth. My life has purpose because of you. Thank you for blessing your daddy and I with this gift. 

On Valentine's Day and everyday....I love you. We love you. You will forever be my sweet, sweet baby girl. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Is my baby a toddler?

Tonight, as I was giving you a bath, I was out of no where struck with the realization that you are no longer a "baby." As I watched your face, and your little closed mouth smile...and noticed how your hair was hitting your shoulders when I got it wet, I saw a "big" girl. I stopped for a second and just looked at you. You looked back at me and smiled, without showing your teeth (which by the way is the sweetest smile EVER) as if you were trying to ease my heart that was all of a sudden breaking! You are just over a year old, and you have still looked like my baby.. Until this moment......in this moment....you looked like a little girl. To fight the tears, I started to sing my normal, silly, made up bath song that I always sing to you. 

Now, when you get out of the tub, you yell and fuss at me because you want to get up, or because you want your milk, or whatever  You have quite the personality now, and you know what you want! Before, my little "baby" would just lay there and listen to me sing. Now, you are so much more vocal and you're expressing your opinions well already! But you know what...you still stop and listen when you hear me sing. I wonder how much longer until that fades, too.

 I love you sweet Baby Butterbutt, and no matter how old you grow...

You will always be my "Baby" 

Love, 

Mommy