It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

I love this time of the year. So many great things happen in just a little over a month. The first was of course Payton's birthday. But then it is Halley's birthday in the beginning of December, and then preparations for Christmas begin. I LOVE decorating for Christmas. I love the lights on the tree, the lights on the house, and the smell of wonderful Yankee candles that burn in my house in festive scents. It makes me SO happy.

I was able to convince Halley to put up the tree and the lights on the house this year BEFORE Thanksgiving. I was very proud of myself with this great accomplishment! He is always very intent on having everything up after Thanksgiving, but I gave him a few great reasons why it should go up early, and it worked!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Chicago this year. We had a great meal at my sister's apartment with my mom, her cousin, and a friend. Payton enjoyed eating her first Thanksgiving meal, and just like her dad, she LOVED the crescent rolls. We spent "Black Friday" with my dad and enjoyed a great meal, and watched some football. All in all, it was a good trip.

I was very excited to bring back to Des Moines a few of my childhood toys. We brought back a rocking chair and a cradle that my sister and I played with as kids. I love having these items in my house - it is so fun to pass onto Payton!

Payton LOVES the rocking chair. She can spend thirty minutes just climbing up, rocking, then climbing down, and repeating this over and over again. She also finds it fun to rock her teddy or baby doll in the chair and see how long they stay up! Here is a picture of Payton enjoying a snack in her rocking chair, which is a daily activity!

Here is another picture of Payton loving the rocking chair. I think this was taken on Halley's birthday because I remember putting her in her "I Love My Daddy" shirt :)

We were goofing off with the cradle and decided to see if Payton fit inside...she was just too big, but it sure was a cute picture!

Payton has also been walking everywhere at home! She will always start off walking, and if she happens to fall, she will usually finish it out with a crawl. But when we are in public, she almost refuses to walk anywhere - it is so funny.

Payton also loves to read to herself. We were able to capture a bit of it here - enjoy her rendition of "The Little Red Hen"!