First Month with Maggie

It's been busy since our 3rd little girl joined the family.  With the fact that I can't Photoshop one- handed and Maggie's high-maintenance personality... it's taking some extra time to catch up on our blog!  Here is a sampling of Maggie's first month.

Brand new

Look at all that hair!

1st photoshoot - 4 days old

With Grandma Payne, who was a huge help!

In the swing, weighed down with soup cans 

Loved by the sisters

learning to love the bath

In addition to looking cute, Maggie gained 2lbs, grew .5", and cried through most every night this month.  Good thing you are so adorable!

And Baby Makes Three

We are happy to announce the addition of our third little girl to the Payne family this weekend!  She's a doll; is adored by her sisters; and is healthy and perfect.  What more could we ask for?  Well... sleep will be on the list pretty soon, but besides that we're all feeling so blessed. 

Eleanor is Half-Way There

We celebrated Eleanor's 9th Birthday this week!  Gavin's been pointing out that this is half-time and we only have another 9 years with her at home.  I don't like it when he says that...The first nine have flown by.  We couldn't have been more blessed with an oldest child than our Eleanor.  I'd say some of her greatest talents are being helpful, empathetic, and super smart!

You can't help but have a good day when it starts with donuts and sprinkles!

 We're excited to see how many books Eleanor can read on her Kindle.  She's saved every single Friend magazine she's gotten since she turned 3.  Now, they can all be in her hand at once!

Bless her heart - she picked ice cream cones for her treat.  I can handle that this week!

Happy 9th Birthday Eleanor!  You're becoming a more beautiful young lady with each passing day. We love you!

Katie's Three!

For the past week Katie's been telling everyone she met that it's going to be her birthday soon.  She couldn't wait to be three!  For her, I think 3 means a whole new level of independence.  She's now potty-trained, can get dressed herself, do up her own carseat buckle (hallelujah!) and can't wait to be a big sister. 

The 3 words that best describe Katie might be precocious, enthusiastic and spunky. 

We had a playdate at the park with some of her little friends; 'cause the more people she could tell it was her birthday, the better! She wanted a purple birthday, so we kept it simple with a purple Barbie cake and balloons. Speaking of balloons, her talented aunt Jenny made this incredible balloon bike!  I wish my real bike looked that cool. 

What's better than a big sister and a cousin to help you figure out your new toys! 

Happy Birthday Katie!  You make the world a brighter place and constantly crack us up with your witty 3-year-old observations.  We love you! 

Knee Deep in the Water Somewhere

This is one of our new favorite songs and exactly what we couldn't wait to do in California. Lucky for us it was 80 degrees the day we headed to the beach, so we could actually get in the water and soak in the sun. That was heavenly.

We started the day doing some whale-watching at Point Vicente.  We saw a grey whale passing by that blew about 3 times.   

 Eleanor was really hoping to spot a dolphin.  She even wore her dolphin shirt for good luck, but the whale was the best we could do.

 It was great to watch the "professional" whale watchers who camp out there.  They were serious! Their board said over 500 grey whales passed by there this season!

We love the palm trees in California!  I guess they just seem so exotic to us mountain people.  I didn't do that much better at getting in pictures on this trip, but at least we got a couple family shots. 

From Point Vicente we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to Seal Beach.  We stopped to buy some fresh strawberries from a roadside stand - ah, heaven.  That and some In and Out made a great beach picnic. 

This was Katie's first time at a beach and she just lived it up.  What kid doesn't love a sandbox of that size?! Eleanor and Gavin stayed in the water together looking for shells and enjoying the waves.

 After Seal Beach we kept going down to Newport Beach.  There were so many surfers out!  It was cool to watch them. 

 These girls had so much fun at the beach that they literally couldn't decide if they wanted another day at Disneyland, or to go back to the beach again!  It was a blissful day and a fabulous trip. 

We ended up doing one more day at Disneyland and then flew home.  Short and sweet, and just what we needed! The girls are still talking about it all the time - and hopefully they will for the next 4 years!

Princesses on the Loose

Our second full day at Disneyland was a blast.  We started with the Character Breakfast at the Plaza Inn - I just love how beautiful that place is. 

I think the girls are in a perfect state of bliss here.  All you can eat breakfast (especially strawberries) and Minnie Mouse together!!

Gavin captured this awesome moment when Captain Hook came over.  Katie was terrified of him and buried her head the whole time he was there.  Hilarious. 

 Thanks to Grandma for new princess dresses for Christmas, the girls were dressed and ready to meet as many princesses as they could.  Eleanor loved Rapunzel with that amazing hair and Katie was very partial to her twin, Snow White. 

 We headed over to California Adventure and our favorite spot - Flik's Fun Fair.  I just love all the creative details they put in here! Amazing what you can do with an unlimited budget and creativity.

Mr. Incredible posed just for us!  I'm still trying to talk Gavin into being him for Halloween...

Eleanor got to dance with Phineas and Ferb and the Fireside Girls!  She had so much fun learning all the dances to the familiar songs from the show.

Escape to California

Our last Disney trip was four years ago over Leap Day.  We thought that would be a fun tradition to keep, but Leap Day is getting a bit too close to baby day for us, so we moved our trip up to January.  The girls were so excited - or "encited" as Katie kept saying. 

Even before we got to Disneyland, that first day was about the most exciting thing Katie's ever experienced.  She loved riding a bus to the airport, train at the airport, escalator, moving sidewalk and then flying in an airplane for the first time. 

I rode most everything, but the Tea Cups were past my limit.

Pluto was the first character the girls met this time.  Katie just squeezed him and didn't want to let go, it was so sweet.  Eleanor loved being in charge of the autograph book. 

Gavin was able to convince Eleanor to go on all the roller coasters with him - this was their first. 

Katie had a very clear sense of which characters were nice and which ones she didn't want anything to do with.  Tinkerbell was a huge hit, but she wouldn't even stand next to Vidia because she was a mean fairy. 

We really enjoyed the Soundsational Parade.  Thank heavens for the wheelchair we borrowed for a place to sit!

Katie never made it back to the hotel (right across the street) awake.  Both girls were too worn out to even eat dinner most every night!  This picture is about 8:00.