Where do I even begin????

So, as most of you know, we celebrate Valentine's day, our anniversary, and Kyle's birthday in one week. It is a BUSY week! And every day was so fun and the week ended with me loving Kyle more than ever before. He is soooooo wonderful to me! And if anyone doesn't already know this about me....I am a cheesy romantic, I thrive for it, I love it! Here it goes:

14th-In the morning Kyle gave me flowers, a card, and a gift certificate to Nordstrom to get new makeup. I had a little session with a Mac makeup artist and got some wonderful things! Then, his brother came over, and we went out for a 3-course meal at 3 different places, interrupted by a movie, "He's just not that into you" (wouldn't recommend it...). It was so fun and so nice to be alone together. We went to Pretzel time in the mall for the appetizer, then CPK, my favorite, for dinner, then Mimi's cafe for dessert after the movie. The night was perfect. Oh, and I got him a Nixon watch. It was kinda his big gift for the week.

18th-Anniversary-Kyle had to work in the morning and I had to run errands in the afternoon, but when I came home, he had me go on a scavenger hunt around the house, and on each clue at the bottom gave a reason why he loves me. The last clue led us to go out for dinner at the Melting Pot, which is where we went the night he proposed to me. So, that was so fun! Then the waitress gave me a card, and it was another clue and it said we have spent 3 Great years together...I didn't get it, so he had t o just show it to me....it was a 3G iPhone! I have been needing a new phone for a few months...THEN, he said to look at the notepad on the phone, so I did and it was another clue to look at the maps application, which is like mapquest, and it showed Puerto Penasco, Mexico!!!!! So, next weekend we are going to his sister's wedding in Abq, and from there we are going to stay at this place their friends have down in Mexico, right on the beach, AND his family is going to watch the girls! I am nervous to leave the girls, but also very excited! Isn't he amazing?!? Oh, and I got him some shoes.

20th-Kyle's Birthday-a lot less exciting, but still fun. Yesterday was also my old roomate and good friend Tiana's wedding. SO, we went up to SLC, dropped the girls off at his Aunt's house, then went to her sealing. It was so fun to see her get married and I am so happy for her. Then we went to lunch and shopped a little at The Gateway. We then went to his Aunts, put Hallee down for a nap, hung out for a little bit, then got ready again for the reception, but we went to dinner first at Outback, one of his favorites, and I surprised him with having some family and friends there to eat with us. Then off to the reception, which was really fun, because Celeste was there too, Tiana's sister, also my sister-in-law, and actually our old apartment of girls. We all lived together back in 2004-2005. It was so fun to see everyone and we had a lot of fun talking and catching up. By then it was around 10pm and we drove home, and then Kyle opened a couple little gifts from me and "the girls."

Crazy week, right? And of course, because we are both so bad at it, there are zero pictures to show for it. But, the memory is good enough for us. Ok, here is one pic of a sleepy girl.

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....