Keep on Keeping on...

So like everyone else in the blogosphere that isn't a professional blogger I quit blogging. Sad but true, it got away from me. I've recently started working on Deakon's baby book using Project Life and have suprisingly ended up looking to this little blog for tiny details that I have forgotten and even pictures that never survived two complete computer meltdowns (learned my lesson the hard way and now am the proud owner of an external hard drive). Searching through my posts reminded me of why I started doing it in the first place. I'm so grateful that I have pretty much Deakon's entire first year documented so I can be reminded of all the little things that time helps your brain forget. 

So I'm going to keep on keeping on with my little family blog. No one may read it anymore but I know that my family down the road will cherish my posts filled with memories and bad grammar. :] 

So for a little fresh start, Deakon has something he is so excited to share...

...we are thrilled!

Halloween Celebration...

We decided to make the most of October and pack it full of Halloween festivities. 

We "boo'ed" a few of our friends with our favorite Monster Mash Treat...

Let me tell you Booing people and trying to do it secretly is super tricky with a four year old. 

 He loved it though, especially ringing the door bell and running like crazy.

 (Deakon getting his boo face on.)

Then we went to Pheasant Farms and picked pumpkins, looked at farm animals, and even found a cute little lady bug. 

Deakon's heart broke when we wouldn't let him bring his lady bug friend home with him. Like, as in had a little meltdown in the middle of the pumpkin field. He even tried to put it in his pocket thinking I wasn't paying attention 

(I'll be checking pockets apprehensively from now on). 

...and of course he was more excited about the Ladybug than picking the perfect pumpkin. 

A week later we carved the pumpkins, The middle is Deakon's. He put his hands in the pumpkin and said "ewe grwoss" after that I ended up carving it. Lame. He did want a mean face though, which I may be a little biased but I pretty much nailed it free hand. Preston's is the creepy one, let me tell you pumpkin carving is not for the faint of heart. By the time I was done with Deakon's my hand hurt so bad. Half was due to a long week of work but by the time I got to my pumpkin I clearly gave up and carved a lame heart. 

Finally Halloween came. His latest obsession has been Planes. If you couldn't tell from his birthday party.  Deakon's costume was his favorite so far. He told me he wanted to be Duddy Duddy Crwop Hopper. So preston and I put this little diddy together. 

He loved the costume so much he went around all night making airplane noises. SO cute. The look on his face made the work completely worth it.

Deakon fell asleep in the car before he even started.  We woke him up and took him to a little suburb and let him go from house to house.  Then we went to our ward trunk-or-treat. They had cars all lined up in the parking lot and a fire in the middle where everyone hung out and visited. 

We then went and treated ourselves with a good dinner. 

October is over. Whew! Happy Halloween. 

A Plane Party...

Deakon's 4th Birthday wish; a "Duddy Duddy Cwrop Hopper party."

If you have seen the movie Planes then you would know that Duddy Cwrop Hopper is actually Dusty Crophopper, which happens to be Deakon's newest favorite thing. So we had a little party to celebrate our guy turning four. He did much better this year at sharing his new toys, taking turns during the games and playing with his friends. (last year, was a different story) Whew! 

What a difference a year makes. 

Team Payne's Summer According to Instagram...

Our first summer in Washington was great! The weather was amazing (I'm told it hasn't ever been this good), we worked a lot and played a lot. Including two trips to Idaho. Whew!... Now we are gearing up for Fall; family pictures, rain boots, hot chocolate, warm hats, pumpkin everything, preschool, and Seahawks Football! not going to lie, it's kind of fun having a "home team" to root for. 

I used the awesome Simple As That 6x12 insta templates and Project Life Blush Edition Digital Paper Packs to make these collages. I print them out and put them in our project life album at the beginning of each month. Love 'em.

Deakon's Room...

So let me just say that this little bedroom has been a labor of love. I knew I wanted to do something that was more big boy than his nursery but we would have plenty of time for a sports theme or motorcycles in the future as well. I fell in love with some striped bedding from pottery barn but with my little budget that wasn't happening. I knew I wanted stripes somewhere (little did I know exactly how many stripes would actually be in the space. Ha.) So I decided to put big neutral stripes on the wall and get solid bedding. 

Well the paint went up and I was in love, a week later I found a knock off of the bedding I loved so much at Target, I bought it thinking that Deakon was not going to be in the room for that long. It's meant to be a nursery and it's connected to our room. We moved him in there when we first moved so he would be close to us. Eventually he would need to move to a bigger room and I loved the bedding to much to pass on it.

 I know that it's a lot of pattern, A LOT. 

Although, right now though our life seems to be stuck in transition mode if that makes any sense.

 Deakon might be in this room for a year or more and he might not be, so I went with it.

 I tried to find pictures of loved one's we miss in Idaho, so something feels familiar for him.

As well as a collage of our past years instagram photos.

 I plan on changing them out and putting them in an album when the year is done.

I re-purposed the magnet board, It was an old decoration that came from my mom's house that framed some quilting (not done by her). I loved the frame to much to give it to Goodwill. 

Alyssa made the prints for the wall, they ended up being really cute. 

We of course had to have some Idaho pride. :]

The little blue book shelves are spice racks from IKEA, that I painted.We are working on our ABC's so these little magnets were perfect for the wall, although when they came in the mail I had two C's and no G (annoying, and possibly confusing for Deakon). I ordered it from one of those daily deal sites online and there was no way to return it or contact the shop it originally came from. Buyer's beware.

All in all I think his little room turned out really cute, he loves it and I love doing it. 

So this one time...

I went on a limb and entered a givaway. A giveaway from a pretty talented chick named Molly that does digital design. Low and behold I won!

 See....

I got a brand new pretty header for this little blog. Isn't it cute?! I have never won anything in my life so I was shocked when I saw my name announced as the winner. She's awesome, I threw a bunch of descriptive abstract words at her and she came up with this. Her shop is Tank and Tink Digital Designs. 

Thanks so much Molly!

I feel like I should go buy a lottery ticket...

Year Three...

1- I have a little piece of my heart and soul walking around exploring this crazy world. That's both exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

2- Patience...Patience...Patience.

3- A little one wanting more independence is both a curse and a blessing.

4- Potty training is hell in a hand basket straight from the devil himself.

5- A nuclear meltdown from a three year old in public can send a mom straight to tears of embarrassment 

(see year two #3 ).

6- I know becoming a mother is the most humbling yet gratifying gift that I could ever be blessed with.

Year Two...

1- Anything your baby does is amazing/entertaining... literally anything.

2- Having a social butterfly for a child is a blessing, even though I would love to be clung to, or missed every once in a while.

3- The terrible two's have nothing on age three, Nothing.

4- Children make holidays that much more fun.

5- Taking family pictures is a joke.

6- Your children love you as fiercely as you love them.

Things I Have Learned Since Becoming a Mom...

I'm a mom...I've been a mom for three years now and in that three years I have learned some things. Some good things, some funny things, some useful things, some random things. I've decided that taking the time to jot down a list of  these lessons I have learned by the year, would be both reflective and therapeutic in a way for me and entertaining to my children in the future. Who knows maybe these lessons learned will eventually be cherished by me and my children...maybe not. Whatever they do my kids will know how becoming their mother affected me, challenged me, and changed me for the better. To me that is priceless. 

So that's the plan, every year around Mother's Day.  I have some catching up to to do so bare with me for the next three days...Thankfully the past three years are pretty fresh in my brain.

Year One:

1- Great things come in small packages.

2- Sleep deprivation is inevitable.

3- It is amazing how you can love something so fiercely...immediately.

4- When a diaper comes off...Boy Scout Motto; BE PREPARED.

5- Our lives changed forever on 10.12.09 

A Quick Little Anecdote...

So the other day Deakon and I went to see Dr. Hawley for his well child visit, she wanted to evaluate his speech so she started to ask him questions...

Dr. Hawley: "Deakon what's your favorite fruit?"

Deakon: "mmm...fru nacks!"

Seriously kid...way to make me look bad.

Dr. Hawley: "Okay, what's your favorite vegtable?"

Eyes up toward the right corner of the ceiling, hand cupping chin, index finger tapping lips,thinking really hard...

 Deakon: ..."fwench fwies!"

Who gets the worst mom of the year award...This momma.

So here's proof that Deakon, your favorite fruit at the age of three is in fact bananas. NOT fruit snacks.

Silly Kid.

Besides Blogging I've...

Been landing jobs left and right. Okay not exactly left and right but compared to my luck in Idaho things have really turned around. YAY! I have managed to be hired at two different offices working a total of three days a week between the two. The offices are so nice, the DDS's are awesome and I'm really liking getting paid to do what I learned in school. Plus I'm home enough to feel like I'm getting in quality time with Deakon as well. It's great! So much better than the eight months I was left jobless in Idaho. I finally received my license in January and was hired at the offices a week later.

Enjoying being home with this little dude. He's getting quite the personality and our conversations we have daily are beyond my favorite. His little brain is starting to put things together faster than I can keep up with...

 Making grand attempts to catch up on Project Life. I've tackled 2012 and bought a new kit for 2013. It's brought back my love of scarpbooking. It's easy, and cute and I love that I'm actually documenting our everyday moments...

Finishing Deakon's room. This room has been a work in progress and I think I'm getting all the little touches put together... I will do a post about that soon.

 (Also Preston and I got a new king bed, cue the angel chorus singing hallelujah! So with a new bed naturally comes a new bedroom for us. Right? uh-huh.)

Being Preston's cheerleader. Ya know in October when we came out here Preston took a standardized Police exam that sends results to various departments in the state that accept the test. Well, not far after the big move we started to get letters from police departments saying he needed to take the new version of the test that came out in January and they weren't going to accept the old tests. FRUSTRATING. Needless to say Preston took an exam for Bellingham Police department who are looking to hire and is ranked #6 on their list. That's huge! So now we wait, and wait and cross our fingers, and see where that leads us. 

Visiting Idaho, man I miss home...so bad. I got to hop on a plane and visit for a week or so. It was so fun, and made me miss home even more.

We spent quality time with family and went and visited very missed friends...A visit to Chik.Fil.A and Cafe Rio may have happened a time or two as well.

 Celebrated Grandma No no's 90th birthday. 90. crazy. Love that sweet woman.

Also I've been fighting off the urge to get one of these...

 source 

I want one so bad! I either need a bunny or a baby and the baby thing isn't happening as easily as it did the  first time. At least that's my counter argument in Preston and I's bunny debate.

Hip-pity hop...