Payton turns 1!

We went to Eric & Erin's this weekend for Miss Payton's very first birthday party!!! I must warn you - this post is overflowing with pictures. I took around 200 (Yea-I'm a psycho...) & there were soooo many cute ones I couldn't decide!

The birthday girl! Couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?! Erin had the apartment all decked out for the special occasion!
B-rad & I brought a card table & chairs because there were going to be 14(!) of us in their apartment so we needed some extra seats. (And that was just Erin's family!) Madelyn was ready to chow down!

B-rad has never seen Rusty, but they had an instant connection. B-rad loved rough housing with him & Rusty loved it right back. Erin even told me we could bring Rusty home. Uhm, yea-I vetoed that... I tried to say, "Oh, I think Eric would rather let me take Madelyn than Rusty..." To which he replied, "I'll let you have Erin, Madelyn AND Payton. You can leave Rusty..."

Told ya there was a full house!

We had a yummy dinner of potato soup, chili, hot dogs & chips. After Eric fed Payton, she found the chips next to her seat. We caught her stuffing salt & vinegar chips into her mouth! YUCK!

'What Auntie Jaime? They're good!'

Birthday cake!

Poor Rusty got put back in his kennel during the cake portion of the evening. Doesn't he look pitiful?!

Happy Birthday to Payton!

She did pretty good about digging into her cake.

Then she started to stream-line & using both hands.

MMMMMM good...

I SO wish I could do this when I eat chocolate cake...

She wasn't getting messy enough for Erin...

So she decided to give her a helpful nudge...

And put her face right in that cake! (Oh how I love Erin for moments like this...)

We laughed & laughed...

Then Payton figured out she could scrape it off her face & right into her mouth!

Notice how Erin has Madelyn between her & Payton? Good move...she was wearing white after all! WHAT.A.MESS!

Mike (Erin's dad...) got the honor of hosing Payton down!

Family portrait!

Payton's hair was ca-razy after her hose down! It reminded me of Ace Ventura:Pet Detective!

Present time! We got Payton 2 sleepers & a bath toy. She screamed. Erin says that's code for, "I LIKE IT!"

Let me tell ya about Payton's grandparents. She has like 9 sets! Brian & Lora of course, Erin's dad, Mike & his wife, Tina. Then she has Eric's mom and Eric's dad & his wife. Shew! These girls are gonna rack up during the holidays! Anyway - each grandparent has their 'name' ya know? Like Brian & Lora are Pappaw & Grammy. Well, then Mike & Tina are Pappaw & Gram.

Mike & Tina got Payton these boots. Erin was more excited than Payton! Erin is ALL about shoes. Payton? Not so much...

Tina also has an infatuation for getting the girls hair bows. And the girls don't care a thing about them. Right after this pre-occupied smile, she yanked it outta her hair.

So I told you Payton doesn't care about shoes, right? She had a pair of boots on the coffee table. And her Uncle B-rad decided might as well get some use out of them.

And ya'll think I don't have kids...
Grammy & the birthday girl!

Madelyn just loved all of Payton's new things! She put on her zebra hat & then wanted to play with her lawn mower from Brian & Lora (Pappaw & Grammy).

And don't forget about Cole! After seeing me take Madelyn's pic, he just HAD to put the hat on & have his pic taken.

Madelyn wouldn't leave Payton's lawn mower alone. So I tried to divert her attention & asked her to show me the Christmas tree in her room! See who's right there beside her?

Erin & Eric have made Madelyn's bed into a big girl bed since I visited . I said, "Oh, Madelyn-show me how you lay in your biiiiiig girl bed!"

And Cole had to show me how HE would lay in a biiiiiig girl bed...if he was a girl & all...

So we all had our bellies full of yummy food & even yummier cake. Presents were over & this is when the par-tay got started!

You know how it is - you've had a too few many drinks....& you get kinda hot....so you have to start taking off some clothes... And before you know it - you hear music...in your own head...

And the rhythm inside you just can't stop...

you've gotta shake your groove thang...

Erin put one of the sleepers we got Payton on her to get her ready for bed. Erin said, "I can't believe you didn't get a purple one!" Uhm-where I went had no purple ones or I totally would have. However, this one is flower-y AND it does have SOME purple... Tina (Gram) went into the girls' room & brought out more of those damn hair bows. I'm tellin' ya - she's obsessed! Soon after this pic, the girls yanked them outta their hair. I think she's fighting an up hill battle...

Thanks again, Hoehn's, for letting us come share in Payton's special day!

The kinds of things I'M thankful for

So it's Thanksgiving. The time of year to reflect. To be thankful. To eat until you want to die.

And while I am just as thankful as the next guy for our families, friends, loyal stalkers, our health, our jobs, blah blah blah.... I'm not really the mushy gushy type, so I thought I'd put my special sorta spin on thankfulness.

In no particular order:

My bed. Whoa do I love my bed. Matter of fact, I just woke up from a 2 & 1/2 hour nap on it. Ya know how it is when you travel & you just can't sleep because it's not 'your' bed? That's me. Love.my.bed! Or maybe I just love.to.sleep? Who knows? If you look carefully to the left, you can see the old lamp in front of my new lamp from Ikea. Yea, uhm-haven't had time to get the extra special light bulb it takes. Hmph.

YES, the bedding is purple. If you didn't notice - well then you don't really know me at all... Ahhh, my dvr. How thankful I am for it. Without my dvr, I would never be able to watch so much tv. PLUS I haven't had to watch a commercial in years...

Next up - PURSES. Thankful for them! This is my newest treasure. You may remember I just purchased a zebra pattern purse back in the summer? Yea-what of it? I have a sickness people. I've explained that... I am thankful that my brother cuts up the yummy turkey every year. That's his job.
I am thankful that B-rad & Jeremy aren't scared of going to hell when they re-arrange the nativity on moms table.

I am super thankful for this big pot of homemade noodles just like my Granny used to make. If you have never had homemade noodles your life is just not complete! I am also thankful that every year I get to taste-test the noodles to make sure they're done. That's MY job.

I am thankful that my mommy makes us so much food every year. In turn I will get left overs for lunch tomorrow. These mashed potatoes will be magically transformed into what I call 'Peppermint patties.' Mom adds flour to the potatoes, makes them into round patties & then fries them up. Yum-my! Technically they're called mashed potato patties but that's not as cute as me calling them peppermint patties when I was little.

Uh - unless it's just another thing my family does? Does anyone else eat peppermint patties?!

I am thankful that Jeremy's girlfriend, Rhonda, is fresh meat & keeps my dad occupied. He asks her questions & tells her stories non-stop. Wonder where I get my big mouth from?! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!