Payton's new friends - Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming

So anyone that knows my daughter, knows how much she LOVES the Wonder Pets. My child is obessed with them. Anyway ... a couple of months ago I pre-ordered the Wonder Pets stuffed animals and they arrived today. The Wonder Pets were on the TV when I gave them to her this evening and I think I really confused her. She just kept looking at the TV and then the stuffed animals and then the TV and so forth ... she was trying to figure out how they were in both places.

Anyway ... only a couple of seconds passed and she decided they were her new best friends .... she sat with them, kissed them, hugged them ..... it was so cute. And yes of course I took pictures ..... hehehehe.

I am so proud!!!!!

I am such a proud mama. Today Payton learned how to sit on a whoopie cushion... it was so funny. I would put it on the ground and she would say Ready, Set, Go ... and then sit on it!!! Its such a proud day in the Sham household ... hehehehe

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vacation - 2008

Last week Nick and I went on a cruise with my parents. It was the first "real" vacation we have had since Payton was born. We dropped Payton off in FL at grandmas and grandpas and we left for the cruise out of Cape Canaveral. So off we go ... one week of sleeping in, drinking beer, and no responsibility ... can you ask for anything better. This is just want the Doctor ordered!!!!!!

Our week started off in the Bahamas. We took a tour of the city and then did some shopping. Let me tell you ... this is fake purse capital of the world. I have never seen so many fake purses in my life.

Here we are at the Queens staircase in the Bahamas ... it was so beautiful!!!!!!

I have no idea what this was supposed to be ... but I had to do it!!!!!

From the Bahamas ... we had a day at sea. We spent the day hanging out in the hot tub, drinking beer and playing stupid cruise games. Here I am with my trophy after we won the TV theme show songs trivia.

Heres everyone in the hot tub!!!!

Our next stop on the trip was St. Thomas. There we did a helmet dive. My mother is scared of the water and doesn't know how to swim so it was awesome to see her go under the water. As for the actual dive .... scuba diving is so much better. We had a great time though. Here is a picture of a nurse shark and another one of Nick and my dad doing what they do best ... drinking Beer!!!!

Next we were off to St. Maarten ... This was our favorite island of the trip. When we first got there a storm was passing through the area ... look at the wonderful rainbow that we saw outside on our balcony.

Once we got off the ship, we first took a tour of the city and then shopped the markets. After shopping for a couple of hours we went back the ship to drop off our goodies and then back to the island for happy hour before setting sail for back home. This island is one of the cleanest and prettiest islands we have seen in a long time ... we loved it!!!! Here are some pics. from happy hour!!!!!

Me and my dad

Me, Nick and my dad

Then we had 2 days at sea heading back to FL. By this time Nick and I really started to miss Payton so much and we were ready to get home to our baby. Here are some pictures of me going down the waterslide on the ship and of Nick and I at dinner... he was wearing our waiters costume from a sing a long!!!!

Once we were back in FL we took a tour of The Kennedy Space Center. It amazing how big the shuttle actually is ... man ... its huge!!!! Here is Nick and I just being silly!!!!!

At last we were reunited with Payton. We were so excited to see her and we missed her SO much!!!! I can't wait till she is old enough for us to take her on a Disney Cruise!!!! Here she is on the plane coming home wearing mommys sunglasses.

Thats our trip in a nutshell ... I have some many more pics ... if you want to see them let me know and I will send you the link.

Valentines Day Party

Today we had our Texas Tots Valentines Day party ... We always have so much fun when we can get lots of the little ones together and play. For this party ... I was in charge of a balloon heart arch, balloon drops and goodie bags for the kiddos. So ... last night Nick and I blew up 200 balloons to make the drop and heart. We had to do this after Payton was in bed as she thinks balloons are the coolest thing next to McDonalds. First off, let me tell you, the balloon arch ... didn't turn out like it was supposed to ... I actually think it looked nothing like a heart at all. Nick and I called it the balloon blob. Oh well ... at least we tried.



Anyway ... when Payton got up this morning ... she found some of the balloons that we had left over from last night. She was playing with them and they stuck to her head ... it was priceless.






So on to the party. Of course I was running extremely late ... and was so stressed out by the time I got there, but after I got my stuff set up... all was good. If you don't know what a party consisting of 30 tots is like ... take a look at this video!!! Its very hectic and crazy but so much fun!!!! If you don't have kids ... you may not want to watch ... it might scare you!!!! hehehe.

The balloon drop was a huge hit!!! Payton had so much fun running around playing with her friends that by her bedtime tonight ... she was asking to go to sleep!!!! gotta love that!!!

Here is also another slideshow of the party!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gpAG_cl5Ow

Anyway ... we have to get up at 3 am tomorrow to catch our flight for vacation. 7 nights on a ship in the middle of the ocean .... I can't wait!!!!!!! Good Night all!!!!!!!

Gymnastics!!!!!

Payton takes gymnastics on Wednesdays evenings ... some people thought she was too young for this ... but look at these pictures and videos. Does she look too young??? I can't believe how much of a dare devil she is ... she has absolutely no fear!!!


Here she is on the balance beam!!! Its about 2 feet off the ground and she can walk the whole thing without falling off!!!

She also loves the uneven bars!!!!!!!

Here are some videos of Payton on the uneven bars and jumping into the pit.

The former Olympic Gold medalist

and the future gold medalist!!!!!!

The Toilet Paper Kid!!!!!!

So tonight I was in the middle of starting a craft project and was standing at our butlers pantry ... Payton was playing with the toys in her toy box besides me (or so I thought). She was really quiet, so I peeked around the corner to see what she was playing with ... and this is what I found!!!!!

I couldnt' resist but to take pictures ... I guess we now have to leave the toilet paper locked up too!!!!

The Weekend .......

The weather this weekend was just PERFECT ... we couldn't of asked for better afternoons. We tried to spend as much time as we could outside this weekend just in case we do not get to see it again for a while.

On Saturday we decided to get out and get some fresh air and went to Traders Village. We walked around there for a couple of hours and then went over to my parents house. My brother, Larry and his family came by my parents house also and we ended up taking his 2 girls home with us to spend the night. We went home ordered pizza and enjoyed how out numbered Nick was ... 4 girls to 1 boy ... hehehe.

On Sunday, the guys put together Paytons Christmas present from Uncle Larry and Aunt Tammy. Its the first stage to her outside playground and she LOVED it. Here are some pictures of her trying to figure out exactly how to get to the top .... she hasn't figured it out yet .. I am sure it won't take her long though.

Uncle Larry finally just cheated and help her out ... Needless to say ... all the kids loved the new toy!!!! Now we just need to get the rest of her playground!!!!!!!!

After the kids played on the sky dome for awhile, we decided to take them to the park to burn off some more energy ... My child is so funny ... I swear she thinks she is like 6 sometimes. Check out what she was doing ..... I am just so glad that the guys stayed home ... Nick would of had a fit if he say her doing this.

Here are a couple other cute ones of Payton playing and sliding down the slides.

She was so funny on the swings because when Brittani was done pushing her ... she didn't want to get off. She was trying so hard to get the swing going all by herself ...

When we came back from the park, we had a family BBQ and let the kids play some more. I love days like this.

But ... now all I can think about is next week at this time, I will be cruising the ocean, sitting by the pool, drinking a margarita ... oh I can't wait!!!!!

Night Night!!!!!!

StrollerFit

So ... tonight a couple of us decided to try out stroller fit ... well there was supposed to be 5 of us but it ended up being only two of us. SLACKERS!!!!!! hehehe!!!!! Thanks Becky for joining me!!!! Anyway... I was a sight to see to say the least.

We were outside and it was cold ... I had to pee so bad, I was afraid to do any squats ... you just don't know. It also didn't help the pee factor that Becky kept making me laugh.

Payton actually didn't whine too much sitting in the stroller ... she hates the stroller so I was expecting a nightmare on my hands. But with enough toys and snacks, she made it through without too much drama!!! Oh the life of a toddler!!!!

So I would say with the exception of having to pee really bad ... it was good!!!! My fat butt really needs to find some kind of exercise that I can live with ... and this might actually work. If I decide to join ... it will make my schedule really really hectic but I just might be able to pull it off. We will see!!!!

Superbowl!!!!!!!!

I will have to say this ... I am not a fan of either team that played in the Superbowl, but man was that a great game. I was cheering on the NY Giants for 2 reasons ... I have a good friend that is a die hard fan and I really wanted someone to knock the Patriots off their perfect pedestal... it was so great to see them lose. hehehe ... perfect season, my butt!!!!!

Anyway ... We went of to a friends house for the Superbowl. Lots of our friends where there and Payton loved that fact that her friends were there as well. The kids had tons of fun destroying the house while we watched the game.

My dancing Queen!!!

Payton and Gybson dancing

My happy princess!!!!

Look at the mess they made!!!!

Payton getting spun around by Becky

Thanks Alicia and Billy for having us over!!!! We had a great time!!!

What a busy weekend!!!!

This weekend has actually been one of the busiest we have had in ages. Its so funny how your life changes after having children. No more going out on the weekends ... at least not much. I can't even remember the last time we went to dinner. Payton hates to sit at resturants so ... we never go. Our weekends usually consist of .... well not much. Pizza night is a friday tradition ... its mine and Paytons favorite food. On Saturdays ... we ususally just hang around the house and on Sundays we usually go to my parents house. But this weekend ... WOW ... we have more going on than we usually get have in a month or so.

So Saturday we had a playdate at our house with Texas Tots. This is our moms group and we LOVE it. We spend as much time with these people as we can. Payton and I and even Daddy ... have made so many wonderful friends through this group.

Then Saturday night we had a birthday party to attend. We had such a good time getting out of the house and hanging our with friends. I managed to have a couple too many ... and thanks everyone for pointing it out!!! Nick also managed to get himself pretty drunk ... luckily we were just down our street and walking distance from home :)

Today we have a Superbowl party to attend and I still have a couple hours of work that I need to do ...... plus some laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Where does all the time go???

Today is also Brittani's 15th birthday ... wow ... I can't belive she is 15. That means next year she will be able to get her drivers license and get a job ... to me, she is still a little girl :( .... I love that girl so much!!!!

Dang ... its already Feb.

Well ... I thought I would start this blog at the beginning of the year and well ... I have one baby post the first week of Jan. and nothing since. Hmmm ... must improve!!!! Oh well ... I guess we will just start in Feb. hehehe.

Work has been kicking my butt lately ... Year end is just not fun when you work in a Finance department of a fortune 500 company. I swear ... how many GL's can you draft. Of course with the new year ... one must also change all of the regions around so we will now have to do everything for December twice. Once for reporting in December with the old regions and then again to compare for January with the new regions ... GGGGRRRR!!!!. I have been working till about 8 a couple days a week and working on the weekends as well ... plus all of the other stuff that comes with being a wife and parent. January close is on Monday and well .. I don't have the December stuff restructed yet ... oh well ... it will happen.


Payton has just been amazing as always. She is starting to do so much on her own. Everyday she is saying more and more... man she is just too perfect. :) Last week she got her first haircut ... I am so sad at first but man it looks so much better, now only if we could get her bangs to grow.

She is so funny ... the other morning when she was eating breakfast ... she decided to arrange her sausage around the plate and then ate it. I am telling you ... she is just like her mommy ... a numbers person. Not really sure if its a good thing or a bad one :)

At gymnastics this week ... I finally remembered my camera to get a picture of Payton with Carly Patterson. I am going to print it out on a 8 X 10 and Carly said that she would sign it for her. How cool is that ... I thought it was cool enough that one of her gymnastic coaches was a Olympic Gold Medalist, but how awesome is it to have your picutre taken with her!!!! If Payton actually stays in gymnastics in the future, she will love that picture.

I guess that is all for now ... We are hosting a playdate later today ... so I have to get the house ready!!!!