GROWING PAYNES

Yes!  The big day has arrived!!!  Easton is now 1 year old!!  It was kind of odd because as soon as he woke up he seemed so different to me…like such a big boy.  We had to do the day up big so we started off with a chocolate chip pancake breakfast…

Mmmm Mmmm Good!

Then it was time to open a birthday present from good ole Aunt Tal Tal & Uncle Joey…

What could it be????

Well, really Easton opened up his present from Aunt Tal Tal the day before…but that morning he did open a present from his Great Aunt Patti which was the super cute outfit he is wearing in the picture.  The turtle is what he opened the day before  Click here to see a video of Easton opening his present…

The next order of business…the ZOO!!!  We met Easton’s best buddy Avery to share in the experience.  It was a rather warm day…too warm for February if you ask me.  But we put on our sunscreen and went on our way…

Mommy and Easton posed for a few pics while we waited for Avery to arrive.

Avery Arrives in style!

Easton is excited to have his best bud along!

Our first stop…the big cats!!!!  Easton spots a white tiger…

Some quick shots of Avery and his wonderful momma…

Next the boys spot some lazy rhinos…

After all that walking it was time for  ride…

Easton's first ride on a carousel!

This was Avery's third time on a carousel! He showed Easton the ropes

And somehow I managed to get a video on the carousel.  I have no clue how I used to do all of those rides that go “round and round” when I was young.  I was about to revisit my lunch after just a few seconds on that thing.  So here it is…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZYQGkGOlWU

Then we were on to the petting zoo with a very very very protective father.  It was near impossible for me to get a picture of Easton petting a goat because Josh wouldn’t let him near them….so these are the best I could get…

Close but no cigar...look on the positive side Easton...at least you don't have to sanitize your hands when we get out of here.

Our last and final stop was to feed a giraffe a very expensive piece of lettuce…$3.00 a pop!!!  The lady at the zoo told me that lettuce is expensive.  If its the lettuce from my grocery store I can buy an entire head of “organic” lettuce for $3.00.  But does it really matter…it was time to make a memory…can you really put a price tag on that????

Easton was not showing the giraffe much love.

The heat zapped our energy faster than we thought it would so we headed out of the park but not before Easton got a birthday present from Avery…

We had to make one more stop for a very important item to finish the day…

One for each of us!!!

The car ride home was was too precious not to share so here is a video of our fun… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgsNoQdOboc

It was a wonderful day to cap off an amazing year we have spent with our little boy.  We have learned so much this year as parents but I will save all of our lessons for another post.  Thank you to all of our friends and family for supporting us with prayers and unconditional love this year.  We truly have felt God’s hand over our family this year and His blessings have been too numerous to count.  We love you Easton and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect son!

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Easton is taking after his momma!  I think we have been celebrating his birthday for almost a week now.  Today was the best day yet.  Our “old” neighbors Chris and Courtney, from our Avelar Ridge Dr home, came to visit.  They now live in North Carolina and haven’t seen Easton since he was only a few months old.  We met up with them in Tampa for lunch at PF Changs.  Easton got his picture with the big horse…

Then it was into the mall to see what “Aunti CoCo” was up to.  So the boys headed in…I was following behind like the Paparazzi taking pics of them…

We catch her in the act…”Aunt CoCo” was in Old Navy birthday shopping.  Easton was loving it so we had to take some pictures…

My Very First BALL!!!!! and a birthday hat to boot!!!!!

"Oh for me? You shouldn't have."

Then it was back to our house to hang with Chris and Courtney for just a bit…

For some reason the ball made Easton crack up

And for the finale we had to get a pic of Easton with the ladies…

It was a great afternoon to say the least.  You know you have a great friendship when you can pick up right where you left off and never skip a beat.  Chris and Courtney…It was so great to see you!!!!  Your friendship is treasured in our household and you are welcome anytime!  Love ya both!!!

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Im not sure what President’s day is all about…honoring our past presidents???  All I really know is that it gives my husband an extra day to spend with us making for a nice long weekend!!!  And last weekend was exactly that!!!  For Josh Saturday started off with 18 holes of golf with some of his buddies at the base golf course but not before Easton got some playtime in.  Check out this video of Easton’s new game…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPDmhBce41E

Easton and I had a great morning at home.  He tried red peppers for the first time.  I would say he liked them for the most part.  He likes chewing on them and sucking all the water out of them but then he just stores them in his mouth like a little chipmunk…

After dad got home from his golf game we had a tasty lunch.  This is one of our new favorite quick meals…Chili Chicken Tortillas.  The best part is the avocado sour cream!!!!  It was easy to whip up thanks to my new food processor…

After lunch we decided it was time to go out and get Easton some birthday presents.  I have been kind of the birthday grinch I guess.  I just assume save his big birthday party for next year when he is a little older and we will be in St. Louis closer to family.  But Josh will not have any part of that so we are doing his birthday up as big as we can.  So we headed out with no clue of what to get him…but we did come across a few small finds which we of course let him play with right away.  We got him some big “lego-like” blocks…they are flexible and he really likes chewing on them. We also got him some flashcards which I think I am more in love with than he is.  They are so cute I just want to frame them!!!!

And then we got him his first truck…

We still have a little shopping to do but I think he has plenty to keep him occupied!!!!

Then Sunday we had Easton’s 1st birthday pictures with Rebecca of Rebecca Dodson Photography (www.rebeccadodsonphotography.com).  Here are some sneak peeks from the shoot posted on her website..

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By some sort of miracle by husband was given the day off today!!!!  I am not usually one to care much about Valentine’s Day but having him home today made the day extra special. 

Both Josh and I have been very good at keeping our New Years Resolution…eat out less, cook nutritious meals more, lose lots of weight.  That is…until today.  We felt that this special day called for a little bit of cheating…on our diet that is   It all started with lunch at Maggiano’s.  We are both big time Italian food lovers but it has been so long since we have had it.  Not to mention Maggiano’s is one of my favorite Italian Restaurants and where Josh took me on one of our first dates.  So we got dressed up and headed out…

This Valentine’s Day was by far the best…having Easton along with us.  He entertained us at the table with his new learned skill…coloring!!!!  Many times the host/hostess has asked us if the little one needed crayons.  For some reason I always look at them like they are crazy.  I always assumed Easton would just eat them.  But this time I decided to give it a whirl.  Boy did he love it…and I think we might have a righty…

Easton's Masterpiece #1

Easton's Masterpiece #2

 It was an absolute joy to have Easton with us today.  I think at one point he had conversations going with people at 4 different tables.  In addition to his coloring he was very into waving and clapping at everyone.  He also enjoyed a little bit of momma’s pasta.  He didn’t even throw any food on the floor.  After lunch, we walked around the mall a little…ya know to burn off some calories   And then we ended our meal with a bang!!!!  A Wright’s Cafe RED VELVET CUPCAKE!!!!  It was a day of indulgence to say the least…

But don’t worry…we got right back on track once we got home.  Momma whipped out her Valentines day present and put it to good use…

 I used my new food processor to make a low fat homemade marinara sauce.  Im going to use it in a veggie lasagna Im making tomorrow night.  I think daddy will benefit from my new piece of machinery!

Having my two main men with me today made this the best Valentines Day EVER!!!  I love you guys!!!!!

CLICK below to see video of Easton at our Valentine’s Day Lunch…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_XbEjhQVlg

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Well I guess by the time we arrived into the mountains we were more than a mile high but still…time went by too fast!!!!  We just couldn’t get enough of the snow covered trees and mountains during our very first family vacation to Keystone, CO.   Not only was this our first vacation with Easton but it was Easton’s first time seeing snow!!!  Unfortunately, he was a little under the weather…taking antibiotics for an ear infection…so he didn’t get to do a lot of playing in the snow (or any at all for that matter).  Next year hopefully Easton will be able to join us for some snow tubing  or rolling around in the snow…I don’t think he will be skiing yet though.

Though this was our first family vaction…it was not Easton’s first time traveling by plane.  He is a pro when it comes to navigating the airport.  We arrived at the airport bright and early Sunday morning and Easton was ready to get the show on the road…

Thankfully, the flight left on time.  It was a 4 hour flight direct to Denver, CO.  It was also a completely full flight so that meant Easton was crawling all over mom and dad for 4 hours   Actually, he was a very good passenger.  He stayed awake the first hour and a half but then fell asleep on momma for the remainder of the flight. Once we arrived at the Denver airport we met up with Goo Goo and Grand-Dad and hopped on a shuttle bus to go pick up the rental car.  Easton got a kick out of being in a moving vehicle without being strapped into a car seat.  He likes Grand-Dad’s lap much better…

That afternoon we arrived to our beautiful home in the mountains where we met Uncle Joey and Aunt Tal Tal who drove in from Arkansas…

That night was the Super Bowl.  Aunt Tal Tal got to the condo early enough to get the chili cooking so we had plenty to eat during the game.  That night Josh and I went and got fitted for our skis and I started to get nervous.  It had been almost 7 years since I skied last.  I wondered if I was going to be miserable or if I would just pick things right back up.  Well, we proceeded with our plans.  We rented our skis and settled in for the night.  Easton loved exploring the new “pad.”  Thankfully, there were plenty of baby gates to keep Easton in safe quarters.

We got up early the next morning and made our new favorite breakfast…Banana Pecan Oatmeal.  After fueling up, it was time to face the mountain.  Josh and I clothed ourselves carefully in warm layers and head to the slopes…

I didn't know what condition I would be in after our day of skiing so I opted for a "before" pic

So we got off the shuttle, walked through the village, put on our ski armour and headed up the mountain on the gondola.  I was nervous but not too nervous.  I knew the green runs were pretty gentle and just figured we’d take it easy going down a few of those to warm up and then go from there.  Josh and I exited the gondola and were greeted by one of the lift operators.  He said, “You know this isn’t the top of the mountain?  This is just the first stop on the gondola.”  We said, “Oh no big deal…this is our first run so we will just warm up on one of the short ”green” runs.”  He looked at us and said, ”Well there are no green runs here…they are all blue.”  By that time our gondola car had already left.  Josh and I just looked at each other and said ohh well…I guess we are going to warm up on a blue.  Thanks to a wonderful thing called “muscle memory” everything came right back.  That is not to say that my muscle strength came right back but atleast I could control myself down the slopes.  Josh, having spent four years skiing while he was at the Academy, of course picked it right back up too.  After a few runs…I guess I was feeling a little brave.  We got off the ski lift and I looked at the sign.  All of the runs were black diamonds.  I did happen to see a sign for a blue run off in the distance but for some reason I thought we should go for a black…

We went for the GRIZZ!

At this point I must back up and tell you that weeks before the trip I started preaching to Josh that he was not a young college boy anymore and he would not be tempting any crazy jumps or skiing fast and reckless down the slopes.  Now here I am pushing us down a black diamond when neither of us had skied in years.  But we went for it.  I soon realized this wasn’t like any black I had skied.  At Keystone they have an area called the Outback…which is mostly black runs…but through the woods.  There are no wide open spaces.  Just narrow trails about 4 feet wide.  I quickly realized the need for helmets at this point.  One slip of the ski and you end up hitting a tree.  Once I got over the fear of the run I stopped and looked around…it was breath taking.  I felt like I was right in the middle of Narnia…

Obviously, we beat the Grizz since I am here writing about it, but our out of shape legs took a beating.  Not to mention we started missing our little buddy so that day we did just a few more runs and headed in early.  That wasn’t such a good idea…we soon realized that we hadn’t brought a key to the condo and everyone else was out and about.  We decided to take some random pics of ourselves while we waited outside for Goo Goo, Grand-Dad and Easton to come home and let us in… 

We were so excited to see Easton once they got home.  We spent the rest of the day and night snuggling up with Easton or chasing him around the condo.  He figured out how to climb up into a chair all by himself…

The next day we skied again but Joey and Talia joined us.  We were in for a rude awaking though.  The mountain got about 6 inches of powder and it hadn’t been groomed.  Powder = extra leg muscles required!!!!!!  Thankfully, we hadn’t skied too long the day before so we still had enough muscle juice to get us through the day.  We even tried another black called “Mouse Trap.”  It was much shorter than the Grizz was the day before, however I did manage to run into a few trees and even pop a few skis off.  Josh of course waited patiently for me and helped me get my skis back on.  That night we decide to forgo cooking and went to eat at a local restaurant in town…

"Ummm...tastey!!! I'll take one of everything!"

The next day we spent with Easton…just hanging out.  He really loved breakfast time…

That day while Grand-Dad, Uncle Joey and Aunt Tal Tal skied we went out on the town.  For lunch we went into River Run Village and got a bite to eat…

That night we enjoyed some fresh made pizza and played “Chicken Foot.”  Unfortunately, the next morning it was time to pack up and go   I wasn’t ready to get back to real life.  Though life in Tampa isn’t too shabby… there is just something about the mountains that sucks me in.  Not to mention it was great for Josh, Easton, me to spend some time together away from the responsibilities of work and running a household.  It was a time of good ole fun!!!  We hope each year we will be able to do some sort of ski trip.  Next year…perhaps Lake Tahoe!!!! Never been…would love to go!!! Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the trip…

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Just before our big trip to Colorado we decided Easton’s hair need a little clean up.  We decided to take him to Short Cuts 4 Kids at the mall.  I thought he would enjoy the atmosphere which is tailored completely to kids.  The hair cutting chairs look like fire trucks and airplanes…not to mention there are  little TVs at every station.  Why wouldn’t he love it????  I’ll tell you why…first of all he is in the “stranger danger” phase.  So a “strange” woman coming at him with a pair of clippers was a recipe for disaster.  Thankfully, we were able to calm him down but at the expense of his blood sugar levels.  That’s right…I bribed my kid with his very first DUM DUM.   Boy were his taste buds tantalized.  As I held the DUM DUM in my hand drool just poured out of Easton’s mouth down my arm.  After all was said and done we ended up with a $20 tab and one cute hair cut!!!!!

Warming Up to the DUM DUM

In a sugar coma by now. See the drool dripping from my chin????

"Um ma'am can you take a little more off the top???"

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So I already told you about what Josh and I have been doing…and I won’t bore you with anymore details about that…but Easton has been up to so much too!!!!  I guess the biggest milestone since our last post is that he got his first teeth.  This of course happened over Thanksgiving when Mimi and G-Pa were visiting.  Easton got 4 teeth at once.  It took him 9 months to get them but they came in with a vengence.  It really wasn’t too bad.  We had a couple of long nights but overall he was pretty pleasant for our guests…

Easton also had his 9 month check up around this same time.  He was 31″ long (92nd percentile), 18lbs 6oz (44th percentile), and I don’t remember his head circumference but he was in the 96th percentile   It appears Easton is really taking after his daddy there   So basically I read those measurements as Easton being long, lean, and very very smart

Around mid december Easton graduated from his “army crawl” to a full blown “crawling on all fours” crawl. Josh also taught him to pull up in his crib which has manifested itself in other areas around the house…including the stairs…

Easton also started trying a lot of new foods starting around the holidays.  The kid will eat almost anything you put in front of him but he really likes chicken, bananas, cheerios, and his favorite baby treats are MUM – MUMS.  He actually calls them by name.  He doesn’t really call many other things by name.  He says Ma-Ma, Da-Da, Mum-Mum and NO NO.  Yeah, somehow he picked that one up real easy.

So the most exciting thing about the last few months was that Easton got to spend his first Thanksgiving and Christmas with grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles.  Here are a few of pics from the holidays…

THANKSGIVING w/ MIMI and G-PA

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No there was no cuckoo’s nest involved but rather a large stadium of sorts…Raymond James Stadium to be specific   On Sunday Josh and his crew were privileged to do the fly over for the Buccaneer’s game!  As thousands of fans listened to the final words of the National Anthem being sung…Josh was in the jet, seconds away, feeling perhaps the most pressure he has ever felt to “get it right.”  As the singer drug out the final words of the song it looked as though they might arrive too early but with a few tweeks…they screamed by as low as they possibly could providing quite a show for the fans and ofcourse…right on time.  After they landed back at the base Easton and I met up with him and drove to the stadium.  Josh and his crew were ushered all around the stadium and given VIP treatment.  Meanwhile, Easton and I talked our way into the club level seating and enjoyed watching the game and meeting lots of new people.  Easton is quite a magnet for all sorts of people  

Josh and his crew spent the third quarter down on the field where they got to see all the action.  And when I say action….I mean…well lets just say they were positioned conveniently close to the little Buccaneer cheerleaders.  They even managed to snap a picture with them…how innocent right????  Well, the main reason they were down there was that they introduced them during a break in the action.  They played the ”Top Gun” music and had a video of them doing the fly over on the big screen.  Then they announced each member of the crew and the crowd all gave them a standing ovation!!!  It really was very neat for me and Easton to be a part of and we were so very proud.  After being announced on the field Josh was able to come up and walk around with Easton and me for a bit.  It was amazing how many people stopped to thank Josh for his service and tell him how great it was to see them fly over.  Easton was popular too…there was a lady that I saw multiple times and would say in a crazy kind of way, “I LOVE THAT BABY!”  I was kind of worried she was going to nab him right out of the baby carrier I was holding him in.  So I made sure that he was indeed securely fastened in there and we went on our way

After the game we were invited down, right outside the Bucs locker room where we had a little meet and greet/autograph session with the players as they were heading out.  We got some great pictures and an autographed pennant-type thing for Easton’s room!   We also found out down there that Easton knows how to hive five.  After finishing their autograph…one of the players put his hand up for a high five and Easton didn’t leave him hangin!!!!!  So from there on out Easton high fived every player that came by.  It was also neat to see these big macho men talking to everyone like the “manly men” they are and then when they came to Easton all of the sudden they melted and started talking in baby voices   Too bad we didn’t bring a video camera

It was a very exhausting day in the end and it would have been easier for Easton and me to stay home…but I was so happy we were able to be there to support Josh and create great memories for our family!  And Easton never made the slighest whimper or whine the entire time we were there…such a great baby boy!

Below are some pictures from the day and a video link to the fly over.  Enjoy!!!!

A view of the stadium from out the back of Josh's plane

Hey there BLONDIE!!!! WATCH YOUR POM PON!!!!!

A little bit of family time!

Come on dad just let me see um!

FLY OVER VIDEO LINK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GW5rSoIgcA

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Easton is just a little over 7 months right now and has been up to so much in the last month.  Things are starting to change around here as Easton is getting more mobile.  Not only is he rolling over all of creation but he is starting to move pretty swiftly doing a little “army crawl” or as I like to call it “the inch worm.”  Along with becoming more mobile he is just into everything…well any and everything he is not supposed to be into.  He loves the remote control but as soon as you hand that over he is looking to the cell phone.  Once he weasles that out of my hand he wants the laptop that I am working on…always wanting something bigger and better and more expensive to break.  Thankfully we haven’t had any real mishaps yet. 

Another great feat for Easton this month is that he learned to hold his own bottle and feed himself.  He also loves trying new food in this little food net that we have.  It can be a bit of a mess but it amuses him for a while so I let him go at it and deal with the mess later.  Im glad he is becoming more of an independant eater because Easton has quite the appetite…he is eating four times a day.  At each feeding he drinks a 6oz bottle and eats a 4oz jar of baby food…he actually cries at the end of the bottle because he wants more.  I have learned, however if I give him more he ends up spitting it up.   So I deal with a little whining and then we move on to something new. 

Easton’s speech has also advanced quite a bit too.  He has always been pretty vocal…making lots of motor noises and goo’s and ga’s but recently he has started with “da-da-dddddaadaaaa” or in other words ”DA-DA.”  I mean seriously is that really fair????  He sees my face all day everyday…I feed him, diaper him, walk him, roll around with him and he says “Da-Da” first????    Really it didn’t bother me too much and I know it makes Josh very happy to hear him say it.  The sad part is that Josh was out of town when he started saying it so Josh had to hear it over the phone…but it was still precious.

Other than that life has been very busy for us.  Josh has been working a lot as his squadron is getting ready for a big inspection.  Easton and I have been having a blast hanging out together each day.  We are starting to enjoy morning walks as the weather gets cooler here and we hope to spend more and more time outside as we get into fall.  We just found out that Mimi and G-Pa are going to be able to come spend Thanksgiving with us so I will be busy finding recipies and collecting any missing kitchen gadgets that will be neccessary to cook our big Thanksgiving dinner.  So now that the update is complete…its time to share pictures and videos from the last month!  ENJOY!!!

Explore under the table

Helping Daddy with his fantasy football lineup

Droolie Drools ALOT

Gettin into mommys stuff!

"But mom I just love your toys better than mine!"

My first pair of tennies!

VIDEO CLIPS…

Easton says DA-DA  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSIq0WQ7PyQ

Easton gets into Momma’s toys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wfYbuiEBM4

Easton laughs at daddy practicing his golf swing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UWk9udlf3c

Easton army crawls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Mcx-hq-Fc

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