January = BIG month for a BIG girl

So, I'm behind in blogging again -- surprise, surprise!

January was a big month for Payton.  She transitioned to a big girl bed, got potty trained, and had an appointment with an ENT where we scheduled a surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids.

We had her appointment with the ENT on January 24 in Ames.  He definitely felt that her adenoids need to be removed as she snores and drools a lot.  He then recommended removing her tonsils as well.  He said that often times when you remove just the adenoids, you don't notice much of a relief in the symptoms because the tonsils are still there.  Plus, Chad and I have both had ours out, so it's likely that she will need them out in the future.  We opted to just remove them both and get it over all at once.  We didn't schedule the surgery until June 14- that way Chad and I will both be out of school.  I am nervous for the surgery, but anxious for her to be able to breathe better.

Pamphlet they gave us.  Pretty sure this is the same one they gave me when I got mine out at age 11.  :)

In the meantime, she is rocking the potty-training and in underwear all the time except for at night.  We also took her railing off her crib, so now she is in what we are calling her "big-girl bed."  The first night she did great, but the 2nd night she fell out (poor thing), so we went out to Walmart and bought a guard rail. 

This is why she needs a guard rail :)

Much better

We are so proud of our little girl and how great she is doing!

Not much new

Not much is new in the Pietig household.  We have the day off today for MLK Jr. Day and spent it cleaning--exciting, huh?

Over Christmas break, we tried the 3 day potty training method with Payton.  This method did not work for us, but it did give us a good start.  She had several accidents on the carpet, needlesss to say, we had to borrow a carpet cleaner from a friend on the last day of the method.  She has been in training pants at daycare, and Karla told me on Friday that she thinks Payton is ready to be in underwear!  :)

Also, over Christmas break Payton had her second-ever dentist appointment.  Her bottom 2 year molars are popping through, but her top ones haven't come in yet.  Overall, the appointment went very well and the dentist said her teeth look great!

The weather here has been unseasonably warm.  There was one day earlier this month that I think got up to 62 degrees!  You can't complain about that, especially on recess duty days!  :)  Last week after school I had to scrape my car for the first time this year.  I couldn't even find my scraper -- had to dig it out of the back of the trunk.  Also, we haven't had any snow days so far! Usually at this time, we've had two or three by now.  I would like to get some snow here so we can take Payton sledding.

Well, I was just stopping in the update the blog, but I guess I don't have much to report.  This month is pretty calm for us, with not much on the calendar.  Then February is birthday-season!  So many in our family with birthdays - it's just crazy.  We have our 2nd annual trip to Honey Creek resort planned, so we are pumped for that. 

Christmas 2011

So Christmas 2011 definitely did not turn out how I thought it would. Payton ended up getting sick the night before Christmas Eve. She had a 103 fever. I took her into Urgent Care on Christmas Eve morning, and they tested for RSV which was negative - thank goodness. I suspected an ear infection, but she didn't have that either. The dr. said it was viral, and gave her a steroid for the congestion. Meanwhile, Chad's family is arriving our house for a Christmas gathering. We got home in time to visit with everyone, but obviously Payton was not feeling the greatest. Chad ended up going to church services since he had to serve communion and I stayed home with a sick little girl. I have to admit, I was very sad about not being able to go to church services and I cried a little. This is the first year that I haven't gone, and it just didn't seem right. I just love the candlelight service. There is something so magical about singing "Silent Night" by candlelight. Also, my parents have a little gathering at their house every year after church services, and we missed out on that too. My mom always makes the best food. She made sure that she saved us a couple bacon-wrapped smokies and her pickle roll-ups. :) Something else that was different about this Christmas....it was the first Christmas that I didn't wake up at my parents' house on Christmas morning. That's right---30 years old and have spent every Christmas morning at my parents' house. We usually go to church with my parents and then stay the night at their house Christmas Eve and wake up there Christmas morning. It was so weird to not wake up at their house this year. But now that we have Payton, I think it's important that she wakes up at HER own house on Christmas morning.

Thankfully, Payton was feeling better on Christmas morning, but still not 100%. We opened presents here, got ready, and then headed to Baxter to open presents at my parents' house. Aaron and Jess were there too. After that, we traveled to Knoxville to celebrate with my grandparents' and have supper. My grandma had a fantastic meal (as always) and we had a nice time.

2nd Annual Sugar Cookie Making Day

Every year on the second weekend in December, Chad goes on a deer hunting trip with his college buddies down to southern Iowa.  I think he said this year is the 15th year they've been doing it.  He leaves on Friday after school and doesn't come back until Monday evening.  Ever since we've had Payton, my parents have come to stay that weekend to keep us company.  Last year Mom and I used our gift certificates to the spa and we had so much fun, we decided to make it an annual thing while Chad is on his hunting trip :)  We also made sugar cookies last year and decided to make that an annual tradition as well.    I remember not having very good luck with the dough last year as it was too sticky and very hard to work with. We thought it was because I didn't let it chill long enough. So this year I made sure to chill the dough overnight---didn't help. We had the same situation as last year. So, we cheated and went out and bought the Pillsbury dough. :) This was MUCH easier to work with. I am going to have to try to find a different recipe for next year. Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Golden Apple Award

This morning, my mom received the Golden Apple Award from WHO-TV 13 and Allied Insurance. The entire school was called for an assembly at 10:30, but no one knew what it was for. Chad, Payton, Aaron, Jess, Kaylee, my dad, and I had to sneak into the school so Mom didn't see us. She was so shocked when her name was called. She is definitely deserving of this award. She has been teaching for 35 years, and is retiring after this year. We are so proud of her! Congratulations, Mom! We love you!

Behind in Blogging

So, here it is almost Thanksgiving and I haven't even blogged about Halloween.  I have been working on a class this month, and just finished it, so I thought I would do a little blogging.

Payton had a fun Halloween.  She seemed to really enjoy it this year.  She didn't quite understand the concept yet, because after the people would give her the candy, she would try to give it back to them.  :) 

We had a lot of fun this fall.  We were able to make a trip to Appleberry Farm here in Marshalltown and also to Carroll's Pumpkin Farm in Grinnell. 

As I put away Payton's Halloween costume this year, I looked at her costumes from the past couple years.  The first year she wore a hand-me-down costume that was given to us by some friends.  That fall I was shopping at Old Navy and scored some $2 costumes.  I bought a 12 month butterfly for her to wear for her second Halloween and a 2T monkey for her to wear for her third Halloween.  I remember at the time thinking how long it would be until she would be able to wear them.  Well, it sure doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I bought them.  Time goes way too fast!

2009

2010

2011

Wordless Wednesday