Misc Pics

Goofing around with Daddy Making eggnog

Showing off his potty chart

Here are some random pics of Payton helping Graham make eggnog and of Payton with his completed potty chart. He is done filling his chart with stickers and is officially potty trained. I am surprised by how quickly he was trained (taking about five days) and how well he does when we are out and about as well. Now....if only stopping him from sucking his thumb will be this easy:)

Santa Visit

Needing to be convinced he's not scary Holding a piece of bribery:)

On Friday we decided to go see Santa since we had a snow day:) We were a little worried about how Payton would react this year since he tells me every day that Santa is scary and that he wouldn't sit on his lap:) It took a little coaxing but he eventually sat on his lap and told him that he wanted a bike and a new ducky! Bribery with a candy cane had nothing to do with it....I swear!

Friend Christmas Parties

The whole group

Pam and her tree vegetable pizza

Snowman cheese ball

Becky and Pam

Rebecca and Melissa

Payton and his friends Second generation

Just Chillin'

Opening his guitar

On Friday night I had my annual High School friend party, which was hosted by Kerri and Beth this year at Kerri's house. We did a white elephant gift exchange and had yummy food and drinks. It was so nice to see everyone and catch up! Its amazing how little we see each other even though we all live so close.

On Sunday morning we went to our annual Christmas party with the play group. We always have a great time and the kids play so well together. Payton got a guitar from his secret Santa this year and was super excited. When he realized what it was he yelled, "Rock star!" I have no idea where he learned that:)

It was a busy Sunday, starting with play group, then going to Indiana and ending with my annual ISU Christmas party. The ISU party was hosted by Pam this year and she went above and beyond with the food and decorations. Every year we do a white elephant gift and this year I had the king of all gifts.

Family Christmas Parties

A Toddler Sandwich Opening gifts at Aunt Karen's house

Emma with a bow on her head:)

Opening gifts at Alyssa's house

This weekend we were lucky to spend some time with our families to celebrate an early Christmas. On Saturday we went over to Alyssa and Andy's house for dinner and desert. Unfortunately, Graham was sick so our visit was short but the kids had fun opening their gifts and the food was great! We will hopefully host them at our house after the holidays to make up for our short visit.

On Sunday we went to my Aunt's house for our annual Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Emmett, Jolie, Payton and Hailey had a great time together. I left Graham at home to rest for the day while Payton and I ventured out in the negative 30 degree weather:) We had good company and great food two days in a row!

Check Us Out!

Check out our "Elf" family!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/2YWg7eR5bUegoXXj

Pictures with the Kennedy's

My favorite picture of Payton came back with poor quality and they didn't even offer it on the online proofs so I can't show it to you. It was so cute and not terribly out of focus. I am pretty sure most people wouldn't even notice!

Putting up the Christmas Tree

Payton helping Daddy put the tree up Concentrating hard on putting the ornament in the perfect place
Opening a gift for going potty

We put our Christmas tree up a few days early this year since we were potty training and home all day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Needless to say we were a little bored. Payton had a great time this year and even helped put the ornaments on.

Thanksgiving 2008

Payton, Hailey & Emmett Aunt Karen and Payton snuggling
This is the best picture I could get of the four of them

We went to my parent's house again this year for Thanksgiving. We had a great time and had some very yummy food! Payton, Jolie and Emmett joined us for dinner this year (usually we eat when they go down for their naps) and they had a good time being part of the action but the parents just ended up reheating their own meals later when they were sleeping so we could eat without interruption:) My aunt, cousin and her daughter also joined us again this year!

New Fireplace Doors

Graham and I installed our new fireplace doors Thursday night and boy what a difference they make! I knew the old ones were ugly but after putting up the new ones they make the old ones look hideous!!

Our New "Present"

Potty Training Update

We started full force potty training over our Thanksgiving break since we had five days off together. Payton had already been going in the potty in the mornings but we hadn't really pushed it yet so we thought this was the perfect time. I have to admit, I was nervous but Payton did awesome! The hardest part was staying home:) He had a few accidents in his underwear the first morning so we went naked the rest of the day and he had NO accidents! The next few days we slowly introduced the underwear and pants back and as of Monday, he has had NO accidents during the day. We still do diapers at nap and bedtime until we get this potty thing totally down but he is doing awesome during the day at home and at daycare. Payton is so independent and once I sat back and just let him tell me when he needed to go instead of telling him to go we did great. Now....my biggest struggle is getting him to go potty before bedtime because he is holding it all evening and then letting go at night, which results in peeing through his overnight diaper, pajamas and sheets. Up until last night I was changing sheets every night. Last night he went right before bed and woke up dry this morning. Go figure!

To make a long story short...we are very lucky with the results so far. I truly think it was good to wait with him til he was "ready" to take on the challenge. He loves getting stickers on his chart and understands what it all means.

Naughty or Nice?

Click here to see if Payton made Santa's naughty or nice list? Thanks Becky for the cute idea.

http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/14918-kristy_brown/

Iowa Whirlwind

Payton was a little scared of the cows
Opening gifts in Dubuque

Payton with Great Grandpa Brown

Payton and Emma

The Brown Family

Cole feeding the calf its bottle

This past weekend we extended our annual Dubuque Thanksgiving trip to include Des Moines this year since Graham's Grandparents were unable to make it to Dubuque. On Friday night we left and drove to Des Moines. We spent Saturday hanging out with the Grandparents and Grandpa Al was there too (a bonus:)! On Sunday morning we left Des Moines and headed out Dubuque to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast with Graham's extended family. We always have a great time on the dairy farm, checking out the cows, paint balling and eating yummy food! Payton was still scared of the cows even though he was trying to pump himself up for it the whole 3hr drive there:) We left Dubuque around 5ish and got home around 8 that evening. It was a whirlwind which included 13hrs of driving but was totally worth it. We were so fortunate to see everyone that we did that weekend.

Emmett Turns Two!

Monkey cupcakes for Emmett's Monkey themed party These are too cute
The Birthday Boy All of the kids got monkey masks to wear

Jen and Emmett

Payton playing dress-up with Jolie's boa

Payton had a blast at Emmett's birthday party, as always! It was a monkey theme and my sister made the cutest monkey cupcakes. The kids all got monkey masks that they had to wear as they sang Happy Birthday to Emmett! It was hilarious! Emmett seemed to have a great time and the kids were on a total sugar high by the end of the evening.