Happy Halloween!

Here is our little Pumpkin!!! We will see if she will keep her costume on tonight to great all the little trick or treaters! We went to Las Vegas over the weekend and were able to visit a lot of old friends!!! We finally met Ginny, Tom's new wife and attended their wedding and we were able to meet Linnea Jurvelin! What a cutie! Also we spent time with our good friends from out East! We do miss you Bryan and Ronni! It was a busy, but fun weekend. We couldn't wait to get home to see Payton! She ran my mom and dad ragged! You just can't take your eyes off her!

This morning Payton went for her first flu shot. She was SO good. Not one tear! I was very impressed. A shot with no crying... what a good girl. Last night when Brian and I got home I realized that Payton really looks like Brian. We were only gone for 4 days and it seemed that she was totally different:) She seemed happy to see us though!

back to normal

Payton is doing much better! She even got a "Great Day" award in daycare today for being so good! She loves that place! It seems she doesn't want to come home when I go to pick her up! She still has a few days left of her antibiotic, but she is definetly better.

My parents are coming tomorrow and Brian and I leave to Las Vegas on Thursday. We have a wedding, new baby to see, have fun with NE friends... It will be so nice to see old friends, which is really what this trip is all about! I fear that Payton's little feet won't even touch the ground with Grammy and Grampy visiting, but she will love it!

Another "week" of work in... I am feeling A LOT better this week than last. Probably has something to do with the nurse I was with this week. I think it is going to be fun. I actually was sad that I was leaving work when I passed an ambulance with its lights on racing towards the hospital!

Well, to those of you we will see in a few days Jurvelins, Laitinens and Caveners, CAN'T WAIT!!

Up all night...

Wednesday night was an old reminder of the first month of Payton's life. She was up all night long SCREAMING! Brian and I tried to take turns with her (we both had to work in the morning) , but when we realized that this wasn't the "normal" crying of Payton we knew that one of us wasn't going to be going to work. Turns out is was me... I am still orienting to by new job thankfully and my boss was very clear that it wasn't a big deal if something came up and I couldn't come in (she actually used Payton being sick as an example). So I was up until about 2am with her. We couldn't put her down at all. She did finally sleep a few hours.

I called her doctor in the morning and we had an appointment in the afternoon. We pretty much suspected that it was an ear infection in the right ear. She was tugging on it pretty good yesterday and she did develop a cold a few days ago. She hates that runny nose! She does have an ear infection in both sides. The doctor actually said that the left side was worse than the right. So we are doing baby motrin and amoxicillin. Good thing she takes medication well. Last night she slept well, but woke up about an hour and half earlier than normal. I am sure those ears were hurting!

Tonight Brian and I are going to a huge bonfire/party that one of his co-workers does every year. Jeannine (we love you!) is coming over to watch little Payton. Hopefully Payton will be back to normal by tonight. She is doing much better this morning than yesterday, but she is still a little whiny! She will probably be getting a lot of TLC tonight from the babysitter!

Oh, we bought Payton her first halloween costume. She is going to be the cutest jack-o-lantern on the block!

Black and Blue...

Well, Payton had another boo boo last night! We were all in her room and she was crawling over to Brian (who was sitting on her glider at the time) and she bumped her mouth on the wood frame. Of course she was screaming and then we saw blood! The poor little thing had really bumped herself good. Her upper gums right above her two front teeth were bleeding pretty good. After a night cold washcloth and some ice to suck on (we use a baby safe feeder for that!) she was as good as new. Then this morning when she woke up I noticed her upper lip is a little swollen and her gums are totally bruised! It looks painful, but she seems to be doing great. Just another injury to add to the long list I am sure she will have!! This is the first time she has actually bled. Poor baby!

Donuts!

Donuts three days in a row this week!...and a vendor brought in ice cream bars yesterday!
Elastic-waist pants here I come!!!

New Schedules...

Well, everyone here in our household have been so screwed up lately! We were able to go to WI for our nephew's baptism this past weekend and it was SO nice to see everyone again. Jacob is getting so big:) We had a nice weekend, other that little Payton had to sleep with Brian and I on Friday night... She would NOT stop screaming in the Pack-n-Play!

Yesterday was my first day of "work" (orientation yesterday and today). Payton was in daycare for about 4 hours yesterday and all day today! She loves playing with those babies and she never cries they tell me. The problem... She isn't napping or eating well either! Everyone tells me that this is totally normal, but my little pumpkin is tired! I am happy that she likes it though. That is a huge relief while I have to be at work more these first couple of months.

After the first couple of days of orientation I can tell already that my new hospital is going to be a great place to work! Their philosophies and policies seem to be great. EVERYONE there tells me what a great place it is to work. I start in the emergency room on Thursday so we will see how it all goes. I am excited to get started! I will keep you posted!

Payton is 11 Months Today!

Here are a couple of photos of Payton we took over the weekend! Hard to believe she is almost 1!! She is more fun every day!

Back to work...

Well, I finally have a new job. I will be working at a local community hospital in the Emergency Department! I know that I always said that I didn't ever really want to work there, but the opportunity came when there was no other jobs that really fit as well. So I am going to give it a shot! 16 hours a week and I pretty much could choose what days I wanted which was very nice! So Payton will begin daycare next week. Over the next couple of months I will just be doing orientation to the department so Payton will probably be in 3 days a week until I finish and can be on my own! I feel like a brand new nurse again:) Then Payton will be in one day each week. And my other shift each week will be in the afternoon on the weekend.

This morning I took Payton to the daycare and we played in their infant room for about an hour and I can tell that she is going to love it! So much more excitement than being home with mama! She is going to do great! I just need to get it together! I know it will be tough to leave her!

Some scary news over the weekend from my sister Nicole. Her 3 year old, Elizabeth, ended up in the hospital with pneumonia! Happy to say that she is being discharged today and she is doing much better! A couple of long nights for Nicole and Jason though. They are exhausted! We are headed there this weekend for Jacob's baptism. I told Elizabeth on the phone that we would be there in a few days to see her and she yelled back to Nicole "Auntie Tina and Brian are coming to see me in three days!". So precious...