Now you've gone & done it...

Now you've gone & done it Janette, you made me feel guilty. :)
I have been doing something really fun... I've been taking a Quilting Class! I decided that I needed to have a happier year which meant that I needed to do something for myself like taking a class. And since I love crafting of any kind & since I have a LOT of fabric (more than I or Donald would like to admit!) I decided on quilting. SO during my usual blogging time (while Payton's asleep) I've been doing sewing 'homework'.
These are the spoils of my hard work. The one above was the one that we were working on in class. In the second picture I showed the backing. I love how bright it is! It is flannel so it will add a little bit of warmth without being bulkier or heavier. The one below was me trying to have a cool backing to the 1st quilt & it was so good that it became a new one. Yeah sometimes I show symptoms of being an over-achiever! In actuality I didn't know what I was getting myself into. So if we ever have another girl I will have matching comforters for them. It will have the same backing as the first.
I haven't actually quilted the first one yet, I don't want to mess it up! I have pinned all the layers & am not sure when I will start but I'll post the finished product when I do.

In the meantime I will do lots of baby quilts to 'practice'. And since I have a lot of flannel I won't have to spend any more money on fabric for a little while. We are still in a little bit of shock at how much the ones above ended up costing us, but that's a whole other story not to be shared. (I honestly don't want to do the math to see how much it ended up being.)

Here's the first one that I finished piecing yesterday & now need to quilt. It's for my nephew Casey. I still have to do the binding (finishing edge) in Red. I love it & am excited to do more.
So today was the last day of my class & plan to take at least 1 additional class to go over triangle & circles. I have definitely had fun & am loving it so far.
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Adventure in dressing yourself!

Payton is learning to dress herself. She has found that it is a lot easier to put things on her bottom half than her top half. As a result every opening is for a leg to go thru.And yes I do paint her toes & they are painted every week. Whenever I want to clip her toe nails I let her hold the polish & then after she gets her toes painted. She actually now waits till they are dry to start moving around. Another sign that my baby has grown up!

Below she's already got her leg thru the neck opening & is trying to stick her foot in the sleeve!
My absolute favorite part about dressing herself is her putting on her own socks.
Yes, 2 socks on 1 foot is a new fashion statement that we all should try! There was one other time where she got 3 socks on one foot. It is easier for her to put socks on her right foot so that foot is usually the one that gets taken care of first or depending on how much patience she has, may be the only foot to have socks on.
And even though the shoes she has on are too big, they are her favorite! They are pink & they sparkle & really what more can a little girl want. Oh yeah, maybe a pony. But her Papaw Don has already taken care of that...
So really what more could she want... other than a house of her very own?!?!?! Any takers?

Playing Cards

Payton loves to play cards. Here is a video of her favorite game. This actually was the 3rd time playing this game but I decided to post this one because she's being a little silly. Also she has picked up a word 'no'. Not to be confused with 'neh'. She being silly in this video so she's not saying it like she usually does but I haven't yet caught that on tape. Also this is a long video so I won't be offended if you don't watch the whole thing!



Sorry about the lack of posts. I'll explain in later posts what I have been doing. I figure I should just get to posting already... right?
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Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week 2/7-2/14

Did you know that this last week was CHD Awareness Week? Have you noticed all the TV personalities wearing red? Here is some info on it.

(Picture taken while at Children's Hospital after her first surgery)

An estimated one in every 100 children born in the United States each year have a malformed heart, making it the most common birth defect. "Few people realize more babies are born with congenital heart defects – approximately 40,000 – than with Spina Bifida, Down's syndrome and hearing loss. Yet, heart defects are sometimes overlooked and not routinely diagnosed in newborns."

• Sometimes during early pregnancy, a baby's heart fails to form properly, resulting in structural abnormalities known as Congenital Heart Defects. Although some defects are genetic, in many cases the cause is unknown.
• It is estimated that 40,000 babies with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are born in the United States each year. More than 1 million American children and adults with Congenital Heart Defects and Childhood Onset Heart Disease are alive today.*
• CHD is the most frequently occurring birth defect, and is the leading cause of birth-defect related deaths.
• Although some babies will be diagnosed at birth, sometimes the diagnosis is not made until days, weeks, months, or even years after. In some cases, CHDs are not detected until adolescence or adulthood.

(Picture taken at one of her Cardiology Appointments.)

• Many cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes are caused by undiagnosed CHDs and Childhood Onset Heart Disease.
• Some CHDs may not require treatment other than periodic visits to a Pediatric Cardiologist. Others can be treated with medications or repaired with surgery and/or procedures. Complex defects may require several surgeries and are never really "cured".
• It is estimated that more adults than children are living with congenital heart disease, and this population is expected to grow by 5% each year. Yet, many adults with CHD are not receiving adequate ongoing care from trained specialists.***
• The Congenital Heart Information Network (http://tchin.org) is the only organization of international scope dedicated to meeting the needs of families and individuals affected by CHD.

(Picture taken before her last procedure. She had an emergency heart cathedarization 9/06 & we've been hospital free since then!)

Info taken from http://tchin.org/aware/index.htm.
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My color is Black....

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Black

Your color is black. The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the color for you.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/rd/50651/color/index.jsp?testname=colorogt&resultid=G

Kidspace Museum...

Payton & I went to the free night at Kidspace & Payton had a blast. There is this great play room that has a slide that she just loved. Unfortunately they have a net thing that you have to climb up instead of stairs so I got a work out in lifting Payton to the top so that she could slide down.

There was a science room that had a bunch of magnifying glasses... And Payton was making discoveries everywhere she turned.
They also have this rain drop tower that we climbed to the top of. It took us probably 10 minutes to climb to the top & it was a little bit quicker heading back down. There were a couple of openings that weren't all that big so we had to crawl. Payton got a kick out of it, seeing her mommy crawl. She would look back at me like, 'are you going to make it'. Once she even held out her hand to help me. Oh my sweet girl! On the way down I held Payton's arms & she jumped down to each level. Next time she's going to have to do it herself & crawl down backwards because my back was killing me when we got to the bottom.

She is looking so accomplished! She made it to the top. She went back to this several times, or at least tried to but I don't think that I would have made it another time all the way up & back.

I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do (I probably just took what a normal person would take). She was wandering like a confident child (as opposed to the shy child who doesn't like people) so I did more chasing then picture taking. It was a nice change. She even walked into this dark tunnel thing where there were lots of bugs. She was fine until she was standing with her back to the speaker & this loud chigger noise blasted right behind her. She freaked & I just barely stopped her from running face first into a table they had in the middle. So she was done with that. I was just surprise that she went in there in the first place.

I can't wait to go back. It was perfect because Payton took a late nap & still went to bed on time. I'm hoping to get a membership but we'll see what good ol' uncle sam has in store for us!
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Helper or Opportunist?

Payton can be a really big helper sometimes, but in this case I think she was being an opportunist. Any excuse to play in the water is what I think this is.She masks it so well, doesn't she? Sitting there, working hard.
Seriously it is great that she likes to be right up at the sink with me. Especially now that she is sure enough on her feet that I can actually wash dishes while she stands next to me.
BTW I believe in child-labor & she is very willing as you can see... so if any of you need help with dishes I'll bring her over. She comes equipped with her own scrub brush & smile! Just add water!

Should have said 'no' to the first one....

Payton loves to sort & stack things as you've seen in other posts. She will go back & forth pulling out more & more bottles & if she can convince you to take one bottle you will end up with 10, 15 before you realize you should have said no to the 1st. Really it's not that bad but it's funny because she will give you a certain amount & then take them back or hand them to another person. She doesn't want to leave anyone out of the fun. Luckily my mom's table is just her height... I can still remember when she could walk under the table without hitting her head. My baby is not a baby anymore! :(
And there is her stash. So you can see that the supply is 'endless'. I wouldn't be surprised if every time she pulled them out she pulled out the same number of them. She can be a little OCD at times.
Also that same night she surprised me by walking around the corner with this banana.
This from the same girl that when I gave it to her the first time she gagged until I removed it from her mouth with my finger. And because I believe that you have to introduce something to a child at least a few times to see if they like it (not because I like to see the reaction or anything... com'on that was be terrible!) she hasn't even put it in her mouth (willfully) ever before in her life.
Up until this night I thought that she didn't like the texture. We gave her dried banana chips that she loves so maybe she recognized the taste & didn't mind the texture.
She is always so proud of herself when she does big girl things.
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