Flu shots, gumballs and a spice rack

Do you love my fall decor?

This is how you know you are a domesticated housewife. I was SO EXCITED when Paul built my new spice rack for above the sink.


Last week was crazy. Peyton turned 1! She had her well baby check up on Wednesday and received her flu shot. I am all for shots and immunizations, however, I HATE when the girls have bad reactions to them!!! Back when Audrey got her chicken pox vaccine she had a terrible reaction with rashes, hives, and a high fever. Peyton had a bad reaction to her flu shot. She received it Wednesday morning around 9:30 and by 7pm she was throwing up uncontrollably. She was shaking and had a fever and could not lay down. I stayed up with her most of the night because, well, I'm mom and moms do that. Paul stayed up with us until 12 or so then got some sleep. I forgot to mention that my midterm is Thursday at 8:00am down in Bakersfield. So she finally went to sleep around 1:30 which means I got about 4 hours of sleep and then woke up to go take my test. I know I'm still young but 4 hours of sleep does not cut it for me anymore. Needless to say, my test score was not my greatest, I managed to get a C. Back to Peyton...the next day (Friday) she is fussy and whining nonstop so I called the doctor and she said of all her patients only 2 have had this reaction. She is doing much better now but that was not fun. I would do anything to trade places with my kids when they are sick. Its the worst feeling having a sick baby that you just want to get better but there isn't much you can do.

Audrey is so funny. We had to go to the mall to get her some more winter clothes and as we are walking in she saw the gumball machine. For those of you that know us really well you know our kids VERY RARELY get candy/cake/sugary stuff. We just eat pretty healthy. But anyway, she saw it and begged to have one so we told her on our way out if she has been really good she can get one. That morning she swiped some quarters off our dresser and stashed them in her pocket (apparently she can be quite a klepto sometimes-more about that later) so she was excited to use "her own" money. On our way out she was jumping up and down so excited to get her gumball and put her quarter in. It didn't work. It ate her money. She had two quarters left so she tried another. It didn't work again. If you could see the look on her face you would have bought her the whole machine. She was devastated to say the least. Paul pounded the machine trying to get one to come out for her. So she tried her last quarter and it worked! She was happier than a kid on Christmas. She was screaming, "Daddy went BOOM (she motioned hitting something" and it WORKED. It really worked. I'm so happy. Oh I'm glad it worked. That was my last one and it worked!" So all day she talked about how Daddy went Boom and made it work. She cherished that gumball for about 4 hours. Should wouldn't even put it in her mouth for 1/2 an hour, content on holding it and telling it how happy she was.

We are heading to the pumpkin patch this week so stay tuned for some really cute pictures.

Routine please?

Audrey's first haircut!



October has been/will be such a full crazy month for us. We love having lots of things to do but sometimes I miss our boring routine.

We went to Prescott last weekend which was a lot of fun. It's funny because I get excited to go and then I remember how much I hate driving 7 1/2 hours with two kids. I almost think it's worse with both Paul and I versus just myself because for some reason the girls are way more difficult with both of us. At least the drive back wasn't as horrible as the drive out there. Maybe that's because we left at 3am instead of 1pm. Either way, it's not a fun drive.

Saturday we had the girls' baptism at St. Germaine's. It was a wonderful ceremony. The Deacon that performed it was so nice and even had a sense of humor. Not something I generally associate with a catholic church, don't ask me why. Anyway, we had lots of family there and the girls did so well. Peyton got a little fussy while he was praying but she was bored, its not like she understood that you should be quiet during prayer! All she could think about was getting down and pulling all the flowers on the alter off. Audrey wore the dress my Grandma Sundquist made for me when I was baptized and Peyton wore a dress my Grandma Duthie made.

After the baptism we went back to my mom's house and had Peyton's first birthday party. We played a game called Quelf, if you've never heard of it, try it. It's the most random, funny, crazy game I have ever played. Audrey and Klayton ran around ALL day playing. Those two are best friends already. Peyton loved all the attention and received so many great gifts. I'm so thankful a lot of my family was able to be there because I miss being around them.

Sunday we woke up early and went to my grandma Duthie's house for her famous pancake breakfast. All my cousins on that side of the family were able to come and it was a blast seeing them and meeting my new cousin-in-laws.

The rest of this month is going to be nonstop. Today Audrey had school pictures and she had on such a cute outfit. Thursday I am helping out her class for their field trip to the apple orchard. Next week is Peyton's actual birthday and I have midterms. We also have to find time in between all this for Paul to go down to LA and meet with the coast guard recruiter to schedule his ASVAB and another test. Some of you may not know but Paul is going to apply to the coast guard's blue 21 program which guarantees a flight position after officer school. It's a very competitive program but Paul is the perfect candidate for it. We will see what happens...

Fall is just right

I LOVE fall. I have to say it's my favorite season. I love the coloring of the leaves, the cooler temperatures, the need to hang some festive fall decor, everything about fall feels peaceful to me. I am searching for "the perfect tree" right now for some beautiful fall photos of the girls. The problem is it can't be too tall or you won't see it and the leaves have to have all the right colors. I know, all these expectations over a simple tree.

We are gearing up for our Prescott trip this week. We leave either late night Wednesday or early morning Thursday. It just depends on what time Paul gets off work Wednesday. It should be a fun visit. I love seeing family and friends and catching up with everyone. Paul surprisingly says he is really looking forward to going out there. Never in my life would I think Paul would say he is excited to go to Prescott. HAHA. We are having the girls baptized on Saturday and following that we will have Peyton's first birthday party.

Even just typing "first birthday party" brings tears to my eyes. I can't believe she is turning one and walking all over the place already. I wish she would stay a baby forever and always want to cuddle with her mommy. She is driving us a little crazy though because of her picky eating. ALL she wants for every meal is a PB&J. Really!? That has virtually no nutritional value! Maybe a few grams of protein in the peanut butter but that's it. So we have been trying to sneak in fruits and veggies with her meals but her anti-healthy-food eyes always find it and she picks it out. We will just have to keep trying. Luckily, I'm pretty persistent when I want something so we will see who wins this battle of the wills. She loves to "share" things right now. Meaning she gives it to you but you must give it back when she's ready. We are working on that one.

Audrey is just a ball of energy. Some days I don't know how to keep up with her! Like her Daddy she has to be moving nonstop all day. Her art projects at school are starting to look amazing. She really takes her time and works on making them look just how she wants it. She did not get her creativity from me though, that one is all Paul. Maybe some art lessons from Uncle Steven are in the future?? She is still completely infatuated with rocks. Every time we go for a walk I have to empty at least 50 that she had to bring home in the stroller. I learned pretty quickly to ALWAYS check her pockets before doing laundry. It turns out the loud thumping in the washer was not just from a heavy load, she snuck some decent size rocks in her pockets that I missed somehow.

By the way, I thought taking statistics would be much easier than calculus and now I am seriously reconsidering that thought. Statistics is not such a walk in the park. I have to thoroughly apply myself to understand what I am doing. I do love my anthropology class though. It's very thought provoking and makes me question all kinds of things in today culture.

Pictures to come...

Vegas Baby

Well Paul and I took our first trip away from the girls in a long time. We didn't want to go too far and we didn't want to spend too much money so we decided on Vegas. You are probably thinking...Not spend too much money??? How is that possible in Vegas?? First of all we are not into gambling. As Paul would say, we might as well flush quarters down the toilet to see if they come back. So that wasn't a high priority for us. We also aren't big drinkers, unless you count 1-2 drinks per month as drinking a lot. Now you are probably thinking well maybe you just wanted to try all the good restaurants there?? Nope, we purposely picked a nice hotel that came with a kitchen so we didn't have to eat out a lot. But even without all that, we had an amazing time. We got to do a little shopping, during which we remembered how relaxing it can be without kids tagging along. We slept in a little and enjoyed a quiet breakfast. We got dressed up and went out dancing. We did lots of people watching because Vegas is probably close to number one for places that have the craziest people. Of course we missed the girls the whole time. Our hotel, The Polo Towers, has the coolest looking kids water area. It has all kinds of water toys and features so everytime we walked past it we would look at eachother and laugh because we were both thinking how much the girls would love it.

Meantime, my mom and Dean came to Tehachapi to watch the girls while we were gone. They apparently had a blast. Both the girls were excited to see us but sad to see them leave. We will be in AZ in October though for Peyton's 1st bithday so they won't have to wait very long. Hopefully we can see our CO family soon because we miss them too.

My mom told me that they were driving around and Audrey said,"my Daddy goes to work every morning." My mom asked her what Mommy's job is and Audrey replied,"she goes jogging." At least I have something to put on my resume right?

Paul had a really good birthday weekend. Can you believe he is 25?! I told him he's practically over the hill now.

Time just won't slow down

She obviously did not want to wear it as much as Audrey!










Is it really already September??? Seriously, it feels like Peyton was just born yesterday and Audrey is still 2 1/2. However, Audrey is an independent, sassy 3 year old and Peyton is practically walking and almost 1.

It has been one of those days where I feel emotionally overwhelmed because I feel so blessed. Let me toot my own horn for just a second...I have an amazing husband who I fall in love with more everyday and two beautiful, healthy, fun-loving girls that brighten every single day. I'm done.

Audrey...oh my funny, stubborn, lovely child. She is so much fun but she is so like me sometimes its scary. I have come to terms with the fact that I'm the most stubborn person I know and unfortunately I passed that trait to her. Sometimes I feel like she is already a teenager though! Yesterday I asked her to put her books on her bookshelf and you know what she did? She said FINE and slammed her door. That does not fly in this house though. She was in some deep trouble for that one. But, she is not always difficult...She has the most amazing, interesting imagination I have ever watched. She loves to fly in her airplane with Daddy. This consists of sitting on the floor next to eachother and Paul making airplanes noises while they crash and roll. She loves having ice cream parties with me (instead of tea parties). Maybe this is her way of telling us she doesn't get enough ice cream?? It is a rare commodity in our house. Dress up is another favorite of hers. She will put on her leggings with one of my shirts and all her play jewelery and then outrageous mismatching socks with her disney high heels. I will be sure to get some pictures. She is also a big music lover. When I am studying in the evenings and Paul is watching the girls I can hear them rocking out in the living room and dancing around. I'm thinking some ballet, tap and jazz are going to be something we get Audrey into very soon. One very good thing that Audrey got from me is her love of books. If she had it her way we would read every book she owns everynight. I finally had to limit her to 3 before bed.

Peyton is just a giggling, demanding, mama's girl. She LOVES to hide around the corner and play peak-a-boo. When I tickle her she has the funniest laugh. She laughs so hard it sounds like a screaming animal but she clearly thinks its the greatest thing ever. When she is not following Audrey's every move she is constantly in need of personal attention. She has the I-want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it-and-now syndrome which she is quickly learning doesn't happen as much as she'd like. If I am in the middle of making her bottle she is yelling because its obviously not fast enough for her liking. Audrey is a complete Daddy's girl and I was always jealous saying I hope the next one is a Mama's child. Well Peyton certainly is. She would be content just playing with me and being attached to me all day. When she gets hurt or falls down she will not be quieted down until I hold her in my arms and sing Baby Beluga. I will be the first to admit, my voice could make people cringe but Peyton loves when I sing to her. She loves to hold hands and walk when we go to pick up Audrey. I think she feels like a big girl walking around Audrey's school. Overall, Peyton is happy doing whatever.

Paul is up for his annual check today at work. I have no doubt in my mind he will pass with flying colors. He knows what he's doing and he's good at it. He's still happy at IFTA but we are definitely looking to the future and what he wants to do next. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Paul is officially a Gold Seal Flight Instructor. It pretty much means he has an amazing pass rate for his students (meaning he's an awesome instructor) and it looks great on the resume.

Classes are going really well for me. Statistics is much harder than I was anticipating. I thought it was supposed to be easy??? No. But I love my Cultural Anthropology class. Its fascinating learning about different cultures and customs. History is still my love though and I still plan and majoring in it.

I'm Free!!!

From breastfeeding that is! Okay so the La Leche League would call me a bad mom for saying that but....WOOHOO!!! For those of you that know about our bottle struggle with Peyton you can understand that this is a miracle. I might as well share the whole story. (It's basically a novel)

As some of you know my mom was planning on coming last Wednesday for a visit. I was excited and stayed up a little late cleaning the house Tuesday night. Well I went to bed around 10:30, not unusually late, and woke up at 1:00am feeling incredibly sick. Paul did as well. We were both up all night throwing up and being horribly sick. Unfortunately, it didn't get better the next morning. So we are both trying, unsuccessfully I might add, to take care of the girls and run to the bathroom every 4 minutes. It was horrible. Paul was able to drink water but I wasn't because it came right back up. The poor girls were so good but they were starving because all they had so far that day were tons of cheerios. Finally my mom and Dean showed up around 3 pm and took them back to their hotel to take care of them. Unfortunately I became so dehydrated I had to go to the hospital. I was there for a good 6 hours before I was well enough to be released. The next morning we were feeling a little better but bad news, my milk was almost completely dry due to the dehydration. This was bad for Peyton as you know because she still refused the bottle and sippy cup. I tried all day to get my milk production back up to no avail. The next day I received a package that I had ordered a couple weeks prior and it was a different kind of bottle to try for her. Paul went out and bought a different kind of formula and we gave the new bottle a shot. IT WORKED!!!! I don't know if it was because she was so thirsty because I had no milk, if she liked this kind of bottle, or if the new formula tasted better but thank god she took her first bottle. So, the worst day I had in a long time turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my baby is finally off the boob for good.

Well Audrey is all about asserting her independence right now. Paul and I are about to go crazy. Some days she just wants to fight with us all day and I know I have to keep my foot down or she is going to walk all over us. We are trying to find the best techniques for dealing with her and so far none are working. I think I am going to try a book store and pick up some discipline books. Whoever said terrible twos were a horrible age obviously doesn't remember terrifying threes. On the other hand, when she wants to be nice, she is so funny. She was talking to someone while sitting on the potty the other day and I asked who and she said "God, and he's really old." I started cracking up. She has lots of conversations with God before bed and its adorable.

Peyton is still on the verge of crawling. But that doesn't mean she isn't mobile. She gets where she wants to go, just by rolling. You look over and she is just rolling over and over to get to something. I have to get it on video. Audrey is starting to actually play with Peyton and its so much fun to watch.

Paul is a busy man! His flights are really early right now so he is up at 4 am. Needless to say he is in bed by 8:30 every night. But his new students aren't terrible so that makes him happy. They also speak decent english which is a plus.

I finally made a friend in Tehachapi! I know I sound pathetic but if you met a lot of the people around here you would understand. I know I tend to be a little judgmental sometimes but some of the people around here are really "different". But anyway, I met my new friend Rachel at the park and we really hit it off. Now we kind of have a standing coffee date twice a week in the morning after we drop our oldest kids off at preschool. I think our husbands will get along pretty well when we get them together. Some other good news...our yard is finally going to be landscaped. Our landlord kind of kept putting us off because she was so busy but she is coming this weekend to finalize and give the go-ahead on the plans! We are beyond thrilled!

You can always check out our up-to-date pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/WallerFamPhotos

Well our big girl turned 3 yesterday! I cannot believe that three years ago Audrey was born. We had a pretty laid back day. After asking her what she wanted to do she replied, "I want to find rocks." (Jim and Aunt Mary I know that makes your proud!) So that's what we did during the morning up in the mountains. After nap time we made cupcakes and frosted them and had our little family party and opened a few presents. Her big present will be this Friday when we take her to Disneyland. I don't know who is more excited though, me or her? I love Disneyland.

Peyton is so close to crawling. She is up on all fours and rocking back and forth and scooting backwards. Any day now I am going to be chasing after her and Audrey. Oh boy won't that make life exciting!

Paul is getting ready to start with his new students. He says he is looking forward to it but he thinks after the first 3 missions he is going to be sick of it again haha. He is signing up to take the test to get his gold seal for flight instructing. I am so proud of him!

I am getting ready to start two more summer courses. Back to the books I go. It has been nice having a little break. We spent a week in Denver with Paul's family and it was amazing. It was so nice to be with family and do a lot of fun things. Plus, Paul and I got some time together child-free which can be really nice! (And help us retain a small portion of our sanity) Then, the day after we got back my Grandma and Grandpa Duthie came out to visit for 4 days. I missed them so much and it was great spending time together.

We are looking forward to Disneyland this Friday and then my mom and Dean come to visit a few days after that! I am loving all this family time! It can be really difficult living so far from family.

You can always see our up to date pictures by going to

http://picasaweb.google.com/WallerFamPhotos