My little bird feeder

Paige and daddy love to feed the birds together. If only the squirrels and deer didn't eat it all, I will say we do end up with a few birds shortly after they fill the feeder. Paige loves watching all the animals eat the bird seed, recently I've been throwing all our "left overs" out the back door. I figure the animals will eat it, and I feel better about that then throwing it away. I'm sure I'll be kicking myself, we'll have raccoons begging at the back door soon...ha..ha..ha..

Paige has started to say "cold", she knows that the weather is changing. Less time outside is no fun, I need to make a pledge to get her outside for at least 20 minutes a day...unless it's below zero or really windy.  Easier said than done, I'm someone who would rather say bundled up inside and check out the cold weather from my window. Like I said, it's my goal.

Check out her little red nose.

16 Months Old!

 I know I say this every month, but I can't believe Paige is 16 months old! 

Some of her favorite things:

~Elmo

~babies

~baby bottles

~baby blankets

~Kenley's baby

~feeding her babies

~putting her waffle in the toaster at breakfast

~reading books

~cars

~looking out the back window for animals

~her little kitchen

~the fake food for her little kitchen

~folding clothes (she's a great helper)

~Oh, and did I mention ELMO!

She's been battling and an ear infection for a couple weeks. She was put on new meds for a double ear infection the other day, and had an upset tummy this evening. It makes me sad when she's not feeling well, somehow I feel responsible (silly, I know). I know that antibiotics have that side effect, and she did seem to be feeling better before bed. Her poor little bottom is so red. She's a trooper though, she played and didn't seem bothered by it...other than not eating much for dinner. 

I can't believe how much Paige changes from month to month, I am so proud to call her mine. She's such a loving a sweet little girl. It's fun to watch her "mother" her babies...covering them with blankets and giving out hugs and kisses after feeding them a bottle. It's amazing that such a tiny little girl can have so much love for her little baby dolls...she's going to be a great mommy some day!

The best part of my day is when she runs up to me out of the blue, wraps her arms around my neck and kisses my lips. My heart melts several times a day when she dishes out her hugs & kisses, what could be better? Being a mom is my full time job and the benefits are endless. I love you Paige!

Breakfast with Great Granny!

We woke up early this morning and headed out for a special breakfast! Pat and Linda were heading up north to bring Granny home after the Thanksgiving holiday, and they were sweet enough to meet us for breakfast so we could see Granny too. It's been a while since we've seen her, I think our last visit was August! She was so happy to see all of us, especially her great-grandchildren. Kenley flirted with Granny by looking over the top of her glasses and winking, Paige "chatted" with Granny a bit too. It felt good for all of us to share a meal together, we are so lucky that Paige has such a sweet Great Granny. She sent Paige $1 in a card for Thanksgiving, she does it for all of her great-grandchildren for every holiday! We are blessed, she's an amazing woman!

So much to be thankful for!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, time with family is always fun. The food was amazing, cooking a turkey in a bag is the way to go...it was so moist! We have so much to be thankful for this year, our health, our home, our loving family and friends and most of all Paige. She really is our true gift, we are so lucky!
Of course, I took some pictures (surprise...surprise). The kids had fun playing together, Paige copied everything Eliot did and I had extra time to snuggle with Kenley.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A year ago today our little sweetie looked like this!

Wow, how she has changed!  She has grown into such a sweet little toddler.  She has WAY more hair, a darling smile with a mouth full of teeth and is the queen of our castle.  Yes, she runs the show!  We are beyond thankful for Paige and our amazing families.  Paige is so loved by her grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins...she is very blessed.

Today our little turkey looks like this.

Today, Paige is thankful for Elmo (she's holding his hand and reading her book)!

Sick of being sick...

It feels like Paige has been sick for going on a month now. It's one of those days...dark, cold and dreary.  Paige has a runny nose and has been a little "out of sorts". She doesn't seem to have a temp, although I don't trust our ear thermometer anyway...it never seems to work!  Her teeth must be sore, she's been chewing on everything in sight and the drool is unreal. It makes me sad when she doesn't feel well, I wish I could make her feel better. I can't help but wonder if her ear infection from 2 1/2 weeks ago never fully went away? If she's not better by tomorrow I'll bring her in. The thought of that is pretty overwhelming, silly I know...but true. Paige doesn't like the dr. and usually starts crying and having a fit before we even sit down in the exam room. The exam rooms at the clinic are so small and hot, especially when Paige is throwing herself all over the place. Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow will be a better day.

So cute!

Paige has been playing with her babies like crazy today!  She lines them up on a blanket or on the bench by the front door.  Then she puts blankets on them, she'll bring them to me and ask me to wrap them up (or at least that's what I think she's asking) and then will smile and walk around proudly holding them.  I remember loving dolls when I was little, I'll have to ask my mom if I liked playing babies when I was as small as Paige.  One of Paige's teachers at ECFE told me yesterday that she's very good at sharing and is very empathetic to the other kids...pretty cute!  She's very loving to her dolls too, she "talks" in a high pitch voice and gives them lots of kisses.  I even found her feeding one of them with a little toy spoon today, she amazes me.
Look she smiled again when I took her picture!

More teeth!

I got Paige a little doodle pro the other day, she played with Eliot and Kenley's and seemed to like it. I thought it would be the perfect thing to distract her while getting food ready at meal times.  Today was the second day she used it, she was so happy to play with it on her little couch.  She even smiled when I pulled out the camera!
I noticed another bottom tooth is in, this might explain some of her mood swings over the last couple days.  She was up early (4:30) tossing, turning and fussing this morning.  I left her in her bed and she drifted in and out of sleep until about 6:15.  She was so tired this morning that I ended up putting her down for a little nap, it wasn't worth the crabby time until after lunch.  It'll be an interesting afternoon!
You wouldn't know she was teething by the looks of this picture :)!

Little Mommy

Paige has been really into her baby dolls, here's a little video :).

Drive...

Shelly and I came home a couple days before the guys, they stayed and hunted (both of them were successful and got a deer!). We were a little nervous about loading up 3 little ones in the car for a 4 hour drive, but it all turned out great.  Paige took a 2 hour nap, but Shelly wasn't as lucky...Kenley and Eliot only slept about 15 minutes each.  Thanks to Shelly for keeping all the little ones happy while I drove.

Up North - Deer Hunting

It's been a while since I've posted.  Ryan was traveling and Paige ended up getting sick which left little time for me to get on the computer.  She was diagnosed with pink eye and an ear infection, after only one day of meds I could tell she was feeling much better.
We loaded up the van and took the 4 hour drive to Bigfork on friday.  Paige was VERY upset that Ryan moved her car seat to the other side of the car (she was sitting behind the passenger seat instead of the driver seat).  She was so scared, who knew something so little could upset her so much?!
We were excited that Paige would have a couple days to play with her cousins. They had a ball and everyone got along very well!
Paige rode the 4-wheeler with daddy and Eliot was sweet to share it with her.  Paige was not happy when her turn was over, she cried and had a little fit. It was cold so we went inside and played with Kenley.  Thanks to Nana and Grandpa for a good weekend :)!.

Paige at the barn

I've been dreaming of taking Paige to a barn to take a few pictures, I love the rustic look of the background!  Thanks to Grandpa "O" for helping, I couldn't have done it without you!  The sun was a bit of a challenge, next time we'll have to go earlier or later.  Paige was a pretty good sport, she had shots yesterday and had been pretty fussy...I think this was a good distraction!  Here's our sweet girl!