2 years old!!

Today Bryce is 2 years old. I can hardly believe it was 2 years ago today that he made his fast entrance into this world. My baby is turning into a very big boy! And now a look back over the past 2 years. Starting the day he was born, then 1 year old and now a big 2 year old boy!

A new niece, 4th of July and visits with family

On July 1st the newest addition to the Payton side of our family came into this world. My niece, Audrey Jane, was born and is already a cherished member of the family. On the 4th of July we packed up some things and headed down to Winston-Salem, NC where my brother, sister-in-law and nieces live to celebrate the 4th and to meet and welcome Audrey into our family.

The boys had a great time visiting with their cousin, Grace, who is almost 3. And we all enjoyed spending some family time together. We are hoping to get down again soon so we can watch Audrey grow! :)

Boys Bday Party

On June 28th we had a birthday party for both of our boys. Started out at The Little Gym for a ton of fun with friends and then back to our house to celebrate with family with a pizza dinner and playing. Both boys had a great time and loved having friends and family there to help celebrate!

4 years old!!

It's hard to believe but Hayes is 4 years old today! I can still remember quite well getting to the hospital around 11 pm on June 29th and his arrival the next morning. He had a great birthday weekend with a party and lots of visitors, but I will post about that later. For now a look back at Hayes through the last 4 years. Newborn, 1 year old, 2 year old, 3 year old and now a 4 year old!

Summer Days

Not a whole lot to report around here. We are enjoying our summer. The boys and I spent a week in PA visiting my parents and enjoying their pool. Both boys had a great time especially Hayes who did not want to leave! We also got to celebrate my nephew's 3rd birthday with him which was quite a treat. :)




Now we are preparing for the boys birthday party which will be this Saturday, June 28th! We have a ton of family coming into town for it so we will have a full house! Just can't believe Hayes is almost 4 years old and Bryce is almost 2 years old! Where has the time gone?!

Sports Skills Show Day at The Little Gym

Today was Hayes' last day of his sports skills class at The Little Gym. Family and friends were invited to join in the class in order for the kids to show what they had learned. Hayes loved having an audience and really showed off. Bryce had a blast running around the gym and playing. I think he was just so happy to finally get to go in the big room! Hayes really has learned a lot about the various sports they played in the class, like hockey, golf and baseball. He received a medal at the end of class and was very excited about that. To celebrate, we went to our favorite mexican restaurant for lunch which Mom Mom treated us to! Thanks Mom Mom!

A first injury

We spent the majority of Memorial Day weekend at Chris' parents house on the Rappahannock River. The boys love going there and spending their days running around, playing in the sand and water and helping Mom Mom & Pop do things. Unfortunately, Bryce got his first somewhat big injury while we were there. He tripped and fell face first into a wooden bench and has quite the black eye because of it. Bryce was upset when it happened, but seems unphased by it now. I think it bothers us to look at it more than it hurts him.

Mother's Day Tea

Today Hayes' class had a Mother's Day Tea for all the mother's & grandmothers of the children. The children sang songs for us, presented us with gifts and then we had a nice snack and chat with them. It was very sweet and so well done. Hayes' preschool teachers are amazing! Hayes was quite excited that his Mom Mom (Chris' Mom) and I were at his school! :)

Cowboy

Hayes' preschool did a spring photo session and the theme was cowboys. While I found this a little odd when I first heard about it, the pictures turned out really well. They even had pony's for the kids to sit on!

A trip to the zoo and daily life

We have been trying to take advantage of the warm spring weather we have been having and doing as much as possible outside.
The boys and I spend every free morning we can at a playground and today the whole family ventured out to the The Metro-Richmond Zoo.
The boys had a nice time, Chris & Hayes rode the sky ride which Bryce wasn't very happy about. He does not like to be left out!

The boys also played on some of the smaller rides before we left, although Bryce was not a fan of those either as you can see in one of the pictures.






Our spring has been going very well. Chris is enjoying mowing the grass again and working out in the yard. He & Hayes planted some seeds and are growing sunflowers, basil and chives. Hayes is actually pretty fascinated by it. He likes to check them everyday to see how much they have grown.

The boys are doing well and both growing so much every day. Bryce is talking more and more and even trying to joke with us. He also loves to sing and is getting closer to being able to sing all of the ABC's. He also loves to dance and jump right now.

Hayes is still loving preschool. I know he will be sad when he has a few months off at the end of May. But he will be going to summer camp in July, plus doing swim lessons and lots of outside playtime during the summer.

Chris is busy with work. Both his daytime job and with his newly started consulting firm, Fauerbach Consulting.

We are both envisioning some home improvement projects and have been working on little things here and there. We are getting ready to do some painting soon though.

I am mostly busy with the boys on a day to day basis. I will be taking 2 classes over the summer that will go towards working on my teaching licensure. I have also acquired a new passion for jogging/running and plan on doing my first 5k in October!

We hope you all are enjoying your springs as well!

Spring time Fun!

Today was the first day the boys got to play in their new water table. They both had a blast and both were soaked afterwards!

A day in history?

Today marks the very first day that Hayes wore underwear to school! Now while that doesn't sound like much, for a potty training Mommy it is HUGE! Going potty is now a part of our everyday, although we are still struggling with one aspect of it. I'm sure you can all guess what that is. But Hayes has made a huge improvement over the last few weeks and we are so proud of him! :)

Ending March

March has been a really good month for all of us. Hayes had spring break the week following Easter, so we decided to go up to Pennsylvania to spend my birthday, Easter and the following week.

I had a great 29th birthday. My Mom treated me to a manicure/pedicure appointment in the morning and then babysat the boys so that Chris & I could go out to dinner and drinks with 2 of my girlfriends from high school and their significant others. We had a great time just hanging out, eating, drinking and chatting. :) I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Easter was another great day. My sister and her family came over to my parents house and we had an egg hunt and the Easter bunny brought all 4 of the boys baskets. The kids had a great time and we all ate way too much of my Moms delicious Easter lunch.






The rest of the week we did various things. Spent a little time at a nearby playground, went to GiggleBerry Fair in Peddler's Village where we rode the carousel and the boys rode a few rides. We also spent a day at the Philadelphia Zoo, which was great as always.

The boys had a great time visiting with their Nana and Granddaddy and cousins. Hayes didn't want to leave, but I convinced him with the fact that we were going straight to his friend C's birthday party on the Saturday that we left. We left PA early Saturday morning and drove to Herndon, VA where we used to live for a good friends birthday party. Hayes had such a good time and just loved seeing his friend C again.




After a few hours of fun we finally made the drive back home.

My new 'Do

This past Saturday I treated myself to a new hair-do in celebration of my 29th birthday which is this Saturday, March 22nd. I think it came out really well and I am quite happy with it.

Spring has sprung!

Spring seems to have arrived a little early around here. Last week, we enjoyed quite a lot of outside time due to the nice weather. Both boys love to be outside, especially playing in the sandbox or going on the slide in our backyard.

And it continues....

Potty training is still going pretty well with Hayes. He had a 2 day hiatus Monday and Tuesday of this week because he has strep throat and I could barely get him to move off the couch, let alone go to the bathroom. It does not seem to have effected him though. He is back to his regular potty going schedule today! He has completed his first chart of stickers and has moved on to a new one, which I am hoping is the last one. He has to get more stickers this time to receive a reward so that should help. He also seems content to just be going now, so I am not sure the reward is so important to him anymore!

Things have been going fairly well around here. Once we get all this strep throat out of here, we will be even better! Bryce just finished a round of antibiotics for it and has actually had it twice in the last 3 months! Last weekend our friends came for a visit and the kids had a great time together. It was the first time we had a "sleepover" as Hayes calls it. :) I am just amazed at how fast these kids are growing!

And so it begins....I hope

As many of you know we have struggled with getting Hayes interested in potty training. Well, the time seems to have finally come and he is making an attempt to get it down. We are still far from being potty trained, but he is at least interested in trying. He has a reward chart where he gets a sticker each time he goes, as well as chocolate of some kind, either a hershey kiss or a few M&M's. Once he gets a certain amount of stickers in a column on his chart, he receives a car from a set we purchased for him just for potty training. So, far he has gotten 1 car and is on his way to getting a 2nd. Keep your fingers crossed that our days of diapers with Hayes are over! :)

A trip to the circus!

Today we went and saw Ringling Bro's & Barnum & Bailey's circus show called Over the Top. We had such a great time. Bryce loved all the music and lights and was dancing almost the whole time. Both boys loved the animals. Hayes was excited by everything and didn't seem to know where to look first. Afterwards, we asked Hayes what his favorite part was and he said, " The paper (confetti) falling and the elephant that pooped." Chris' favorite part was definitely the motorcyclists that rode around in the sphere shaped cage. I personally found that part nerve racking, especially when there were 6 of them riding around there at one time! We all had such a wonderful time. The circus is a truly uplifting and magical sort of show! :)