8 crazy nights/Happy Hanukkah

 Hanukkah was so fun with Payton this year. He was actually old enough to participate and understand what was going on...for the most part. On the first night Payton had been to a birthday party for his little friend Owen. They had been talking about Hanukkah at the party as well. When we got home we lit the first candle and Payton tried to blow it out and said "Happy Birthday!" When we gave him his present he said "It's my Birthday!" We tried to explain it to him then he said "Oh, It's my Hanukkah!" Close enough. Each night he would say "I want my Hanukkah now". As you'll see in the pictures he really enjoyed himself and had fun learning the prayer as we lit the candles each night.

We finally did it! Payton's FIRST haircut

Payton got his first haircut ever today! We have only trimmed his bangs twice since he has been born. As you can imagine this was quite an emotional event for his mommy. My baby has grown up so much in the last couple of months. His pacifier is now only reserved for nap time, he has been completely potty trained, he is scheduled to start Montessori school next month and now he has

a big boy haircut. I was his stylist (I cried at the first cut) and Jamie was the photographer. Payton did great but he was a little wiggly so it got cut a little shorter than planned. We saved his little curls in envelopes and logged the event into his baby book. My little boy is not looking so much like a baby anymore!

This has got to be the most handsome little boy I have ever seen!!!

Our Little Pumpkin/Fall Fun

                Holidays are getting more and more fun as Payton gets old enough to truly appreciate the festivities! I love that we are developing our own family traditions that we can repeat with our little pumpkin each year. We went to the same pumpkin patch that we went to last year so he could pick out his own pumpkin to decorate and mommy could get her own to carve as well. Payton flashed his winning smile and even scored a bonus gourd for free! He had so much fun helping his daddy cut open the pumpkin, drawing and painting his own and watching mommy carve hers.  On Halloween he dressed as a "construction guy" wearing his uncle Chachi's old overalls, a bunch of tools and a hard hat. He will get out his tools and in a really deep voice say "I'm workin hard! For money!" We went to a trunk or treat at our church first and then hit another carnival. On the drive between the 2 I had given him a piece of candy and a glow stick. After a few minutes he said "this tastes yucky". I knew he had already eaten his candy... I turned around to find my little guy with a glow mustache! He had bitten into the glow stick!

Potty Training Boot Camp

Payton's journey to big boy pants began on October 22, 2009. He was 2 years and 1 month old. We had all the supplies, a clear calender and no excuses. I have potty trained many children in my years as a nanny but this was an adventure!

 I really wanted this to be a crash course, never look back experience. When I said "no more diapers" I meant it. I didn't want this to drag out for months. I read this book and used it for reference. (I would highly recommend it!) We stocked up on Payton's favorite drinks and treats for rewards and began our day.

We started by giving baby "Georgie" drinks and teaching her how to go to the potty, pull down her pants and clean up after herself when she was done.

All we did was talk potty and practice potty all day long. 

Here Payton is practicing pulling down his own pants and sitting on the potty. When ever he had wet pants he was required to practice rushing to the potty, pulling down his pants, sitting down, stand up, pull his pants up and repeat 9 times. Then he had to clean up his mess, change his pants and put the dirty stuff in the hamper. This teaches them the steps, muscle memory and habit. It also teaches them that it is a heck of a lot faster just to pee in the potty in the first place!

When he is done on the potty he is expected to take his potty bowl, dump it in the toilet and return it to his potty chair.

He of course was praised profusely through out the process and received rewards when he had dry pants and stickers for his chart when he pee peed in his potty.

 We started on Thursday morning and by Saturday afternoon he had completely mastered using the potty and has had ZERO accidents since then! He is so proud of himself and of his big boy undies and wants to "tell everybody"!

Payton's official 2 year old portrait...and flashback

While I was the photographer for his 2 year old portrait I was merely the baby wrangler/model for the remaining pictures. They were photographed by The Lynsey Stone D.F.W. Birth Photographer. Who happens to be one of my best friends and the mom of Payton's best girlfriend Naiya. http://www.dfwbirthphotographer.com/

ENJOY!!

age 2

age 1

8 months

4 months

a few minutes old

day 2 of labor

"come this way----> Thanks  Dad<3"

     37 1/2 weeks pregnant

Payton is 2!!

Payton is 2 years old!  I absolutely cannot believe it that my baby is growing up so fast. It doesn't help at all that he acts so old either. Most of his friends are older so he is trying to keep up with them...and doing a good job. He can hold his own in a room full of 5 year olds. I think my toddler has crossed the line over to "little boy" now. (tear) He keeps his dad and I in stitches with his hysterical sense of humor.  He loves to help us and will follow us and say "Good job Mama! Good job Dada!" He adds new things to his resume every day. (Including having mastered every type of lock and safety latch.) I wish there was some way to tell you everything or describe this little wonder to all of you!

On Payton's actual birthday we celebrated at home. His Dad brought him a Happy Meal home for lunch from McDonald's (with 2 toys inside!) and a Cookie Monster cupcake.

After lunch we set him on the counter and gave him his cupcake. We had lit 2 candles for him to blow out but he wouldn't do it until we had sung Happy Birthday to him. So cute! He had been practicing how this whole birthday thing was supposed to work so he would be ready when it was his turn.

He spent the afternoon looking out the front windows hoping to see the UPS truck pull up to our house bearing gifts. Lucky him, it actually showed up! When he saw it he yelled "presents!" and ran to the door. His birthday gifts from his Nanna and Aunt Jen had arrived.

His party was at Cabela's sporting goods store on the Sunday after his birthday. He loves Cabela's because that is where his papa works. This year we had a "digger" themed party. He is always on the lookout for construction equipment. The cake was super cute. It looked like dirt and mud made from icing and crushed cookies with the equipment on top. He thought is was "awesome".

We set him next to his cake and he waited patiently while everyone sang to him (just as he had rehearsed). It was so sweet because he just looked around at everyone that was singing to him. When the song was over, without any prompting, he leaned over and blew out his candles.

Then of course he dug into his cake!

Payton's birth story

Two years ago today (at this hour-10:00am) I went into labor with my little Payton. Of course my little stinker wasn't born until 2 days later. I thought I would share his birth story with you as we celebrate his 2 year birthday!

My birth story begins on September 16. All week long I had been telling the baby that he could not come on Sunday because we had a lot to do that day (to get ready for his arrival). Sure enough, Sunday morning I sat up in bed and my water broke. I called my midwife and, my friend and birth photographer to give them the heads up. We spent the morning running errands and waiting for my contractions to really kick in.
Around 8:00pm we headed to the birthing center. I was ready to have some extra support at that point and to be checked to see where we were at. I was at 3cm 0sta. and 85% eff. with contractions lasting 1 min and 3 min apart. I spent the next several hours in various positions, on the ball, in the bed, outside and finally in the birthing tub about 4:15am.
I spent the night in the tub. I remember watching the sun rise and thinking “I made it through the night.” I was checked again at 8:00am and was a 5-6 and 95% effaced. I had made some progress.
Contractions had spaced so I got up and went to walk with my husband.
They started back up so after a couple hours of walking I got back in the tub again. Less than an hour later they had spaced again so we decided to try some herbal remedies. By 2:00pm my contractions had completely stopped. We continued with the remedies and called a chiropractor to come because they would not establish.
At this point I had been in labor for over 24 hours. The break in contractions, although disheartening, was actually a nice break. I was able to rest, visit and eat. (I was craving Chicken Express;-)
The chiropractor arrived at 6:00 that evening and started giving me adjustments. They were bitter sweet. It was a welcome relief from the terrible back pain I had been in but those contractions started picking up again. My labor had re-established and we were on our way again. She stayed with me for at least 3 hours adjusting every 30 min or so.
Monday evening we were at the 36 hour mark and there was talk of transport. We declined transport as long as baby and I were doing well. Other than fatigue our vitals were great. Thankfully we had a midwife and support staff that would listen and not give up on us.
I had come this far and what was another few hours. Right? The rest of the evening/early morning was spent dealing with strong contractions in the tub and various other positions.
One of the sweetest moments I remember of this labor process was actually spent in the bathroom. I was having hard contractions and constant pressure. My midwife was sitting on the toilet (while my husband rested up) and I was on the birthing ball in front of her leaning on her during contractions. At one point she just started singing a song to me. “It is well with my soul” It was so soothing and encouraging as well as unexpected. I remember thinking “I only have to deal with this one contraction now. It will be over soon and I have people to help me through it.” Then the contraction would be over and I could check it off as completed, never to do that one again.
At 4:00am I was at a 9cm, 98% and +1. I was still 9cm 3 hours later. With some trial pushing, I only had a cervical lip. For the record, I hated the birth chair! For the next 5 hours I continued to push in every position there was. On my side, on my back, on hands and knees, on the ball and one leg up in a squat.
I had finally gotten to the point where I was giving it all I had with each contraction but the fatigue was working against me. “All I had” wasn’t going to get the job done. I was so exhausted at that point I knew I was not making any progress. The thought of transporting was more than I could bear after all that work.
My last resort was getting on the birth chair and allowing gravity to help me. My sweet husband, who initially planned to catch, sat behind me and held out a mirror so he could see. 22 minutes and an episiotomy with internal/external tearing later my little man (9 lbs 2 oz) was finally born. The whole process from water breaking
to birth was 50 hours and 40 minutes. I cried “we did it!” over and over.
What a sense of accomplishment and empowerment to make it through the whole process. Technically it wasn’t what we had planned…A water birth with my husband catching. But it was exactly what I wanted…A natural birth, on my time, surrounded by my support team.
(Payton James Murray Lehr ended up having to be transported because he was having trouble breathing after some time on oxygen. He completely recovered from “possible” pneumonia and was able to come home with us 3 weeks later.)

Instead of sharing pictures from the birth I decided to add some new ones.

Payton and our midwife Molly

Payton is sitting on a birth chair in the exact spot where he was born 2 years ago. It is such a cool thing to be able to go and visit where he was first brought into this world!

This was the actual birth chair I used when Payton was born. He was playing with it in the room where I labored at the birth center.

Payton's first trip to Miami!

Payton took his first trip to Miami, Florida to visit family and friends last week. It was also his first time on a plane and his first trip to the beach. He had so much fun and was really excited about the whole thing! He even had a couple of play dates while we were down there. Here is just a small sampling of over 200 photos that were taken while on our trip. If you would like to see some more please visit the facebook album in this link. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=306032&id=642450397&l=333045c4a2

He thought it was the coolest thing to watch the planes while we waited to board. He kept saying "take off!" As we were about to step onto the plane he looked at me and said "I'm nervous" with a smile on his face. When we got in the plane he said "hi ladies" and would say "excuse me" as we walked past each aisle. We timed the flight perfectly...right during nap time. He was asleep within 20 minutes of take off and slept for almost 2 hours. What a relief!

Payton and Mommy at the beach. It was rainy but we were still able to enjoy the sand and the view.

Payton and Daddy at the beach.

Quinn and his Mommy Ericka were able to join us for the day. The boys had so much fun playing together. Jamie and Ericka have been friends for over 20 years and she was in our wedding.

This is the convertible "P-Bob" bought for him to drive while we were down. He had the most fun with this thing and took it so seriously that he was driving. He told Aunt Jen "Get in. You can fit!"

Watching for boats with Nanna out on Nanny Sylvia's balcony. It over looks the inter coastal waterway.

There are 4 generations together in this photograph! Nanny Sylvia (who is 96), Nanna, Aunt Jenn, Daddy and Payton.

Payton calls Bob "P-Bob". The "P" stands for Papa. They are sitting with Jamie's cousin Scott and his wife Gayle. Payton thought she was hilarious. He would call her "bad girl!" (because she laughed at him when he said it the first time) and asked her to go to his "roomie". You know Payton likes you if you get an invite to his room.