Growing UP

Payton is really growing up before my eyes. This month a few big things have happened for him. We registered for kindergarten (Yikes-I have already found myself getting emotional about it), but he is so ready and excited to move on to that phase of life with or without my approval! No, I really am happy if he is! Also he recently graduated from a PLAYSCHOOL that was put on by some High School Students. It was a bit of a sacrifice to wake up early all the time but he sure enjoyed it and was sad when it came to an end. Payton felt so special during his GRADUATION! He is such a cute and happy boy.

Also last week Payton was determined to learn to ride his bike without the training wheels. Mckay has been so busy at work and we just have not taken much time to work with him. Last summer we tried a little one evening, but after much frustration on Payton's side the training wheels went back on. I think he thought that just because it was so easy to ride his bike with them on, it couldn't be THAT hard to just take them off. So on Wednesday night while I was tied up with the Young Women, Mckay tried again because Payton was just begging to learn. So they pumped up the tires and took off the training wheels once again. When I returned home only a couple hours later... both Payton and Mckay were acting all disappointed and said that we will just have to keep trying (all the while Payton could not stop grinning, so I knew something was going on, and being married to Mckay...I am always on my toes anyway). Then they took me outside and wanted to show me what "little" progress Payton had made in just one evening. With a big smile on his face, Payton got his bike in place with the peddles in just the right position, and OFF he went. I could see the joy and excitement on his face as he had set a goal and was determined to make it happen. Sure enough he had learned to ride without training wheels all in the short time I was gone!

At first he was a little shaky and would try to give us a thumbs up while riding, but his confidence and skills have really improved quickly. Payton always wants to ride his bike now and is so proud of himself. Kenzie upgraded from a trike to a bike and feels so big too. This bike was quite used, but that same evening while taking off Payton's training wheels, Mckay fixed Kenzie's bike up a bit and put the training wheels on hers. It took a little while for her to get used to peddling such a big thing with her tiny legs but she learned quickly and now loves it. In fact, one of her tires had just about had it, and we knew that it was on borrowed time. So after a bike ride one evening it popped and all of that green slime squirted everywhere and her tire went flat. She was one heartbroken little girl and it took some time to calm her down and let her know we would get it fixed. All is well now, we found another similar bike at the DI for $8. Taylor goes right along with the crowd. He loves to ride his little bikes and has worn the toes of a few socks and shoes as he speeds around the driveway. He actually keeps up with a very fast walking pace.

This little guy is always on the go and gave me one of my biggest scares thus far. So for the sake of remembering how I felt I will share it. I had been babysitting a few of my sister's kids while her and my mom when to her OB appointment, she is expecting soon. When they returned we got talking and let the kids go outside to play on the trampoline and in the sand box. They all know to stay in the back and don't go out the gate. I took my mom and sister upstairs to show them a few things that I had been working on and also to clean up a few things that the kids had played with. We heard Taylor crying a little but it was not one of those cries that I knew I had to go check on right then, and it stopped shortly after that so I figured that he had just went back to playing with the big kids. A few minutes later we came back downstairs and I decided to go head count and check on the kids. Instead of counting 6 kids I could only find 5...Taylor was missing!!! My heart sunk and I went in to pure panic mode, as my mind kept thinking all the most horrible things that could possibly happen to my little boy. I ran and told my mom and sister that Taylor was lost and no where to be found. The three of us took off in all different directions looking for little Taylor. I remember saying someone needs to say a prayer, and thinking that I needed to call Mckay, but I knew every second was priceless and that I couldn't be caught up on the phone when I should be looking. My mom searched everywhere downstairs and in the backyard. Michelle (who was just put on bed rest for having contractions and needing to wait a little while longer before the baby arrives) ran to the neighbors and looked out front. I started thinking of main danger zones, and ran down sidewalks looking for my baby and wondering where he could have gone as I looked as far as my eyes could see in all directions.I was hoping I could find him soon because I knew by the pain I was feeling from sprinting everywhere that I could not run like that much longer at 7 months pregnant . So I took my own advice and said a prayer that we would find him soon. Not long later I heard Payton yelling that they had found him. When I got back to the house I looked up the stairs when he was just laying on the top looking concerned and wondering what was going on. I can still see that face that I hoped I had not lost forever, it was the most beautiful thing! We then scooped him up and held him for the longest time. I told him that he scared me and that when we yell his name he needs to come out of hiding, but how much of that my 2 year old actually understood I don't know. All I know is that during that 5 minutes (but what really seemed like a lifetime) I grew closer to Taylor and all of my children. I thought terrible things like: what if someone hit him in their car, where is the nearest canal full of water, just how far away had my little boy gotten and would he even know how to get back home, would I ever see him again. It was awful, but the moment I saw his little face peeking down the stairs I loved him even more. He had been upstairs all along, I guess after the little crying spell he had came upstairs to find us but got sidetracked in Kenzie's room. We must have missed him as we went in and out of the rooms he just came from. (So for anyone who now thinks that I am a horrible mom...he was safe in the house all along and we were just assuming the worst that he had went out front instead of staying in the back yard like they all know to do.) Now I feel like a mess and I want to always keep him in my view.

On a lighter note, here is a video of the kids on their bikes.

On Saturday my mom, sisters, and I did something we have never done before. We all splurged and got pedicures- I feel selfish even saying that I did this, but it was a lot of fun to just be pampered for a little while. Thanks to my sweetheart for letting me have a little girl time!

Our toes all pretty!

With the nicer weather Mckay has been feeling the desire to grill and smoke food again. Last week he tired something new: Stuffed jalapenos, wrapped in bacon. I heard they were yummy but failed to try them myself, although I think he did a great job and they looked really cool. He is great at trying new things that he has never attempted before. ***Oh one more story: this week Payton also swallowed a Penny! What!! I thought this would happen maybe at age 2 or 3, but I was wrong. Payton will be 6 in July and we just experienced out first and hopefully final swallowing of $$$. He had been playing with it for a while and then all of a sudden he got really quiet and had a concerned look on his face as he told me that the penny was in his body now. I was surprised by this confession and asked him what it was doing in his mouth in the first place. He told me he didn't mean for it to go way back there and he was trying to get it out, so I am assuming that his reflexes swallowed it up when it went to the back of his mouth. He was pretty nervous at first and cried not knowing what was going to happen now. Mckay and I were able to calm him down. Never fear we met up with the long lost Penny a day or 2 later. I am sure this will be the last for Payton :)!