A few of Payton's favorite things!

Payton isn't allowed to play with the matchbox cars b/c he puts everything in his mouth and sometimes the little wheels fall off! So on the rare occasion he IS allowed in the box, he tries to pull EVERY car out! Did I mention there is about 300 of them?



Out of all the neat toys Payton got for Christmas...this box has been the most entertaining!

Bundle up!

We've been taking advantage of this nice COLD weather we've been blessed with as well as the vacated duck pond up the street! Payton usually stays in the buggy where it's warm so Erik's been speeding around the pond with him so they can "skate fast and look at girls". Men.

Nice cousins!

Now that Payton has been "cruising" for a while, his cousin Mason has taken full advantage of his walking/pushing abilities!

Happy Holidays!

Well, I'm happy to report we had a fabulous Christmas! Not only did we get some great gifts, but we got to spend the whole week with family! Disma surprised Helmi with a ticket to the US, my parents and Maari ferried up from P-burg, Ana Alan and Mason live down the street and of course my Aunt Cindy and family are here as well!

We got a late start on opening our presents as poor Erik had to do a barge assist that started at 5am and so he didn't get home until 1pm.


Payton was more interested in playing in all the wrapping paper than anything else!


But he did enjoy ripping into his presents (and ours too!)

After all the presents were opened, we went up to the duck pond by our house and got in a little skating and a mini hockey game!

Nanny pushed the boys around on the ice.

Sneaky little bugger!

So, I turned my back on him for ONE second...to grab the wet clothes from the washer. Well when I went to put them into the dryer, this is what I found:

He played in there for about 5 minutes! And then he pooped, and I didn't want to smell him anymore :)

Hair Craze

I've been dying to put Emma's hair in pigtails, and she FINALLY let me do it! Well, then I got a little carried away....


Sorry Payton, I hope these pictures don't come back to haunt you when you're 16!! :)


Whoops...stay away from the crazy lady with the comb and hair clips!!

(Not sure why this photo is sideways...it isn't loaded on my computer that way.)

Weekend Getaway!

WE'RE BAAAAAAACK! As some of you may know, we had an unexpected trip to Spokane. Erik's grandma Bernie passed away and we just returned home from our trip south. Payton was a great traveler this time! He rarely squawked in the car (a HUGE improvement for those that know his track record!), slept most of the time on the airplane, and had a great time visiting with all the relatives!

Since we had an extra day in Spokane before we came back home, we stopped at Charlie's best friend Isla's house...and ended up on their buffalo farm in the freezing temperatures watching Isla's husband and son vaccinate some mama's and their calves!


The Herd.


Bundled up, watching the action!


Mama getting her vaccination.


Baby's turn! He was sooooo stinkin' cute and little! Probably the size of Cedar, our dog!

Who needs to walk!?!

My parents bought Mason a little electric 4-wheeler last year. He has since outgrown it and so it was passed on to Payton. He's a bit too young for it, but he likes to ride it! I have to hold the "go" button (and him!) and drive him all over the house! It's quite the thigh burner!

He's a little excited here.... :)

Tribute to Grandma Bernie

Erik's Grandma Bernie passed away yesterday at the age of 92 (almost 93?).

She had many grandkids and a few great grandkids, but I think Payton might have been her favorite :) She always told us that he was the sweetest baby alive (Boy did he have her fooled!! *haha*)

This photo was taken in June aboard the Alaskan Pride (the boat my dad was running). I hope if I make it to 92, I'm HALF as spry as she was!

We will miss her tons, I'm so grateful she got to meet Payton and spend some time with him! I can't wait until he's older to tell him what a wonderful great grandma he had!

Where's Da-da?

The many faces of Payton

I've been playing around with the settings on my camera, and got a few cute pictures of Payton :) Not one of them is the same! He's such a little ham!


He definitely looks like a Dreisbach here...



He can drink out of a straw now!!

Mini-me

Poor Erik. Payton is SUCH a mini version of me! :-)


(Amber, age 4; Me, probably a year)

Ergo love!

I must admit, I'm head over heels in love with my Ergo Baby Carrier. I realized today that I don't think I could have survived the last 9.5 months without it! Payton loves it too. I call it my "never fail" because no matter what kind of a mood Payton is in, once he's in Ergo he calms right down and (if tired) falls asleep!

I mostly carry him on my back these days, and it's funny, as soon as I transfer him from hip to back to secure him in the carrier, he starts hitting me with excitement b/c he knows what coming :)

For those mom's who are reading this and haven't experience Ergo...go buy one! They are spendy, but SOOO worth every penny! There. That's my plug for Ergo :)

Even Payton loves playing with it!

Payton and friends!

Yesterday Payton had a few friends over! Conor (6 months) and Raiden (7 months), it was impossible to get them all to look at the camera, and even harder to get them all in the same shot :) So Turkey and I put the mirror up for them to stare at and got a few shots worth sharing. It was soo cute watching them interact with each other...even though Payton was being a bully and stealing toys from the younger ones!!

Busy Bee

It's always something new with Payton everyday :) Now he LOVES to crawl over to the toy box/book shelf and pull out all the books! Luckily none have landed on his toes yet!

Payton and the step.

I've been meaning to get a video clip of Payton crawling down the step into our living room. It's hilarious! He's done this a thousand times, and you'd think it would hurt...but he just keeps on going!

Payton vs Dog dish

This morning Payton was playing with the dog's dishes, like he always does, but this time the dog dish won! Poor little Payton! I didn't notice his boo-boo until an hour later!



The culprit!

9 Month check-up!

Payton had his 9 month check up today. All is well...mostly. He had a fever last night and today. Nothing major, just low grade. Both his ears were red, so I need to keep an eye on them to make sure he doesn't get an ear infection.
Normally the 9 month check is a shot-free one! But since it's flu season...no such luck. Luckily it's only one, and Nurse Dawn was really fast! Payton didn't start to cry until AFTER she was done! Even then, the tears only lasted a few seconds.

My little chubster tipped the scales at 21 lbs 14.6 oz. No meals missed around here! He was also 28" long. I've added a few pictures taken today so you all could see my little chunk-o-love in his full (almost) glory :)

My busy little bee...

Payton's been crawling for 2 months now, and has become quite the little busy-body! I'm constantly chasing him around the house! It's a real good workout! I'm ALWAYS pulling him away from the shoe rack and the dog dishes. I don't know what it is about those two things...



His latest obsession has been the piano. He plays with the foot pedals, reaches up and plinks on the keys. Who knows, maybe he'll be a famous musician someday :)

New Hat n Scarf!

Payton and I went for a walk yesterday with Aunty Lexa. We met at the trailhead and she had brought a gift for Payton that she had made. It was the CUTEST hat/scarf/bootie set you'll ever see! The booties were a bit too small, so she's going to make some bigger ones, but the hat and scarf fit perfectly! I didn't have the camera with me on our walk, so the pictures had to wait until we got home.

Sleep Log.

So for the past 9 months, Payton has been a HORRIBLE sleeper. After many sleep interrupted nights and numerous tears, I discovered the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution". Let me tell ya, it's been a God-send!!

In a nutshell, the author offers many techniques to help you gently teach your baby to sleep through the night without having to let them cry-it-out. In chapter 1, Elizabeth (the author), states that after 10 days/nights of using the methods described in the book 42% (of 60 test families) had babies sleeping thru the night (technically it's a 5 hour stretch). After Day 20, 53% here sleeping thru the night. After day 60, 92% were sleeping thru the night. (What about the other 8%, you ask? Enter Payton.)

We are almost to the DAY 60 marker...11/14. And while Payton has "technically" slept thru the night a few times, he's not consistent. One method Elizabeth recommends is to do a sleep log every 10 days so you can track your improvement! I have only done 2, in almost 60 days. BUT I have seen some improvement, and I am starting to think the light at the end of the tunnel is still lit!!
Here are my logs:
LOG 1
Date: Sept 26th

Asleep time: 7:15pm

Awake time: 7:30am

Total number of awakenings: 5

longest sleep span: 4 hours

total hours of sleep: 11 hr 40 min

Okay, now LOG 2
Date: Nov 8th

Asleep time: 7:30pm

Awake time: 0500

Total number of awakenings: 2

longest sleep span: 4 hours

total hours of sleep: 9 hr 30 min

So far he's been waking up earlier...BUT he only woke up twice last night!
I'm going to call that a success :)

Arg. Naptime.

Well today's morning nap didn't go as well as planned. It took me an hour and a HALF to get him to sleep!!!!!!!!! He usually takes a morning nap within 1-2 hours of waking up. So this morning he's up with the chickens (6 am) so he's pretty tired by 8am. Those that know Payton real well know that he's a champion sleep fighter! We go into his room and do the usual nap/bedtime routine: check diaper, turn on lullabies, shut off the lights, and nurse/rock in the rocking chair. After about 15 min. he's out...or so I think! As soon as I lay him down, he immediately rolls over and starts crying. Great. So I pick him back up and return to the rocker. Well now he thinks that his 5 min shut-eye is good enough. WRONG! After many attempts to get him to settle down and nurse, I give up and let him sit in his crib and cry for a few minutes. I, in the meantime, went outside to get some fresh air (and to keep myself from losing it and crying right along with him!). Ten minutes later, he's sobbing (believe me, it's all an act! He stopped the second I picked him up!) and ready to nurse again! So we get out the Brest Friend pillow b/c it's soft :) and try his for the THIRD time. Well you know what they say...third time's the charm! Now he's in his crib. Asleep! Yay me!