Gratitude

Can I just say that I am so grateful right now? I love my little family so much. My girls make me so happy. Hallee makes me laugh constantly and I am so proud of how smart she is, and Madeline's smile is so contagious, it warms your heart immediately. And Kyle....He is such an amazing man, and I am so grateful for the person he has become, even in the 4 years I have known him. Yesterday he gave his sister a blessing, and when I walked into our bedroom where he was getting ready and saying a prayer, tears came to my eyes because I could feel the spirit so strong in the room. I love him so much and I am excited to experience the future with him. I also got news that my grandmother (my dad's mom) will most likely pass in the next 24 hours. And after she goes both of my dad's parents will be gone. For some reason that makes me feel closer to all of my family and makes me miss them more than usual. I really love my family so much. Even though I see them so little. What is life without family? Every day I realize more and more how important and incredible family is. And I really love mine.

I know it's late, but it's all I got

So....here are some highlights from Christmas....Kyle just uploaded them the other day...Better late than never? Enjoy.








Oh, by the way, Kyle has also been accepted to Univ. of Miami and Univ. of Santa Clara, and I think both have offered scholarships. Santa Clara is a possibility. Anyway, 2 more down, 20 more to go!

I just have to brag a little

So, I was thinking today about some recent fun things and blessings in the Payne home.
1. Hallee said her first prayer the other day. It was so fun and so rewarding to hear her say a prayer.
2. Hallee can count to ten. She says 1,2,3,4,5,6..9.10. Apparently 7 and 8 don't make the cut. But I am so proud of her!
3. I have actually lost almost 30 pounds in 10 weeks. I have to admit, that's pretty dang good. Don't worry, I still have at least 10 more to go. And it's all been done in a very healthy, still enjoy desserts, kind of way.
4. This one's big right now...Kyle has already been accepted to 2 law schools, one of which is considerable, at University of Richmond, and the Dean actually called to accept him, and the other offered a full-ride scholarship...but it's in Minnesota...let's just say I don't ever want to be THAT cold. It's at the Univ. of St. Thomas. Even if we don't go to either of these schools, which is likely we wont, since he applied to about 20 schools, it's nice to know we are accepted somewhere, and it's a huge relief. And instead of having rejection after rejection, we get to start the "hearing back" process with 2 acceptances. So nice! I knew Kyle wouldn't say anything, so I decided to brag for him. He is amazing!
5. Madeline is already cooing and laughing all the time. She has passed the "newborn" stage wayyy to fast!
Anyway, that's it. I am just overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness right now!

Can I get an AMEN?

I HATE THE DENTIST!!!!!!!!
Today, I went for a filling and to get one of my wisdom teeth removed. That tooth was as small as a small molar...really tiny, but the dentist said it needed to be removed. Anyway, I will spare all the details, but let's just say that I was extremely nervous, cried a little, then I got "the gas", went all loopy, couldn't move my body, so I couldn't say I was nauseous, then I started gagging, threw up about 5 times, and all of this was before they even pulled the wisdom tooth. So, now being fully aware, they pull out the tooth. Not a fun experience....then they gave me loretab to relieve the pain which made me dizzy, tired, and nauseous the rest of the day..not easy when having 2 kids who are dependent on you....STUPID dentist. I hate that we have to have work done on our teeth. Next time....just put me out completely, please!!!! Luckily I have some great friends who are willing to take Hallee for a few hours. Thanks again Rachal.

very scary day for mommy

So today we had to take Hallee to the emergency room, because while I was walking, breastfeeding, and trying to get hallee out of my bedroom all at the same time, I pulled her off the bed and heard a pop in her arm (I thought it was in her wrist). Bad mom? Felt like it....anyway, she was screaming in pain and wouldn't move her arm, so I called Kyle to come home....we took her to the emergency room and found out it was a lot less severe than we expected. She got "nursemaid's elbow." Basically there is a ligament that gets caught in a painful position on the radius around the elbow and the radius is dislocated. The doctor twisted her arm a certain way and it popped back in with no problems or pain, and within a minute she was using her arm again. He said it is extremely common and likely to happen again. So if this happens to your child, this is what you're supposed to do to put it back in.

Thank goodness it was as easy as that...It killed me to watch her in so much pain. Kinda makes me think of how God feels when we are in pain or suffering, much less when Christ suffered.

slacking

So, I know I haven't even posted our Christmas time fun and pictures and all that, but now that I have remodeled the blog, my next step is to write a big long post...but not yet. We have a house full of sickies trying to recover. When the mess is taken care of, I will blog away. We are doing ok though. Here is a cute photo from christmas to tide you over....

Yay for the Holidays

Well, I am finally posting again now that Madeline is a month old. Life has been a whirlwind since she came into the world. Just a few days after she was born, my entire family came into town from all over the country and the world. It was so great to see everyone again and spend time with them, even though I was slightly out of commission and had 1 very post-baby emotional day (slightly embarrassing). We were able to bless Madeline and Blade, my brother's baby, on the same evening, which was so wonderful to have all of my family and Kyle's family there to be a part of it. We also had a great Thanksgiving feast, played games, talked a lot, and just had lots of fun. Then thankfully my parents were able to stay another week to help with the house and the kids, giving me more time to sleep and Kyle and I some alone time. Then I had a week to myself and the kids while Kyle was working and going to school and finishing up the semester with a few ten page papers. Let's just say that week was eventful....Then his sister Lisa came into town for a week before we were all to head to Albuquerque for Christmas, so having her there was also blessing because, again, it gave me more time to sleep and clean and adjust to 2 kids. Finally we headed down through a Utah blizzard to New Mexico to spend the holidays here. I am still adjusting to having 2 children, but I love each of my girls so much and I am so grateful for them and for Kyle for helping so much and being such a great husband.


This is at the hospital. Hallee loves her little sister.

This is one of the newborn pics Kyle took of Madeline when she was about a week old.

This is when we were blessing Madeline and Blade. My parents, me, and my brother, Adam.

This is part of our holiday photo session...look for more in your Holiday cards in the mail!
I will post more later when the festivities have ended.