Things that go bump in the night....

The other night it was Peyton 'going bump in the night'. I awoke to a thud followed by Peyton screaming crying and Willow (our dog) frantic. I rushed to Peyton's room to find her climbing back up her stool into bed. I asked what happened and she said she had fallen off the bed and hit her head on the nightstand and it hurt soooooo bad. A 2.5 foot fall is far for someone that is only 3.5 feet tall! Trying to calm her (and myself!), we snuggled in. Not only was she hurt (no bump), it scared the stuffins' out of her, as well! She was afraid to close her eyes and typical Jennifer was thinking...if you hit your head, you're not supposed to go right to sleep, right? At 2:30AM I didn't want to wake Robert to ask him. We chatted a few minutes and she said all pitiful "Does Daddy know I fell out of bed?" Oh my, DRAMA! She fell asleep shortly, as I stayed a few more minutes watching her. The next morning she was fine and didn't even remember her big trauma!

I realize I'm a month behind on the blog but had to share this story. AND we have BABY bunnies in our back yard! More on that next with pictures!

Our American (Birthday) Girl!

June 28, 2004 - the day our precious angel was born, four years ago - hard to believe. What a great birthday we all had on that Sat., June 28, 2008! Woke up to Peyton's favorite breakfast - her dad's scrambled eggs and toast - then headed out for "the city" - downtown Chicago. We got to American Girl Place about 9:30am, and good thing we did. By 10am it was already PACKED! The city was also packed that weekend with the Taste of Chicago going on, the Cubs/White Sox game, AND Gay-Pride weekend...OH MY!

Peyton was soooo cute and so funny walking around this amazing place (the doll store), as though she couldn't see it all fast enough! Soooooo many dolls and sooooo many outfits. We went in with the intention of only buying her an outfit for the new AG doll Grandma Hines had found at a garage sale, but Daddy was quite taken with the place and Peyton's reaction and decided we should buy her the 2008 doll - Mia, Girl of the Year - .....and some outfits for her! We spent about an hour and half in the store and then made our way towards Rainforest Cafe. The place was right up Peyton's alley with the animals, rain, and even a mascot to take her picture with (after all, she is a Disney girl, you know, and LOVES the characters)!

From there we walked around downtown, hitting famous Michigan Avenue and all the great (expensive) shops. The people watching was the best! We did manage to find a great $4.99 bargain at the Disney Store - a new Ariel swimsuit for Peyton. I think that's the cheapest I've ever gotten out of that store! By 2:30pm Peyton was toast and we headed home for a rest and Peyton's request for dinner - grilled steak and homemade mashed potatoes. It was a great day!

Peyton's BIG Birthday Party!

With moving to a new state and leaving all the friends Peyton had ever known (in her whole life of 3.5 years!), having a birthday party with all her new friends was a big deal. We decided to go all out for her, having 18 kids (some siblings of her friends) and their respective 20 parents.....it was CRAZY! The last BIG party we had was for her 1st birthday and now I remember why! Parties here are very different from the way Robert and I grew up and the parties we went to in Charlotte. Here, it seems to be all about who can outdo the other and spending $$$$....renting HUGE carnival size moon bounce houses, catering food - the last party we went to here (just 2 weeks before Peyton's party) had 3 ponies for the kids to ride, as well as getting their own cowboy hat (30 kids)! Robert said on the way home that he guessed we would be known for the poor-man's parties in the neighborhood!

We had a backyard, water-themed party (old-school style) complete with 2 slip-n-slides, an activity pool, and even a mini-moon bounce borrowed from a friend. The kids had a great time and Peyton said "it the best party ever in the whole wide world" - makes all the stress and hard work more than worth it....and makes a mushy mom's heart just gush! We even had some old friends there, as my good friend Kerry and kids were in town visiting her hubby's parents in Aurora, just down the road. Peyton's cousins - Noah, Wyatt, & Haylie - came from MI, as well as their parents (Rob's older sister Chrissie & hubby Pete) and Grandma & Grandpa Hines - Peyton was in heaven having her family there, too! After a full day of non-stop playing, Peyton was toast, zoning out at 6:30pm upon opening her gifts. She slept 13 hours that night!

Midwest comes a long way...and so do we!

February snow upon our arrival Easter weekend to MI late March, just after closing on our house!

From snow and ice and gray skies this past winter (including April!), to the warm, breezy (at times downright hurricane gust winds!) and sunny summer, we have all come a long way! The journey of leaving yet another great city with fond memories and dear friends has been especially hard - exciting, emotional, fun, challenging and everything in between. We had 5 amazing years in Charlotte, NC. The Carolinas (and Georgia, where Robert and I met) are very near and dear to our hearts, as we travelled to SC on many occasions while living in Charlotte and Atlanta (even getting engaged on the beach at sunset in Hilton Head, SC!). We bought our first home in Charlotte, had our precious angel - our 1st child - and brought her home with family and friends nearby. Now that I look back, it's almost as though we lived in this bubble, in an idealistic world full of fun, love, laughter, friends, and family. We had it all......

(Peyton's on Father's Day sunny, warm June in front of our new house.)

AND WE STILL DO!.....just in a new house, city, and state......a new adventure creating new memories and making new friends. That's what life is all about, right? My favorite saying...."LIVE-LOVE-LAUGH".