The Many Faces of Peyton

I clearly remember the days when Peyton would smile from ear to ear without much effort on our part. Sure, we had our tricks for capturing the perfect dimpled smile for her monthly portraits - Martin usually waved a pink monkey in the air, made silly faces, or played peek-a-boo. But getting Peyton to show off her adorable grin was rarely a challenge.

3 months old

6 months old

1 year old

Until now. Peyton has entered a new phase of hating picture taking. Once my darling little poser, she is now rather diva-esque in her demands. Anytime I whip out the iPhone she yells "NO PICTURES!" If I do succeed in snapping a shot, she immediately asks to view it.  

And then there is her smile. If complying, Peyton says "cheese" but makes an odd, bottom-teeth-in-front, eyes closed, scrunched nose expression.  It's not the cutest thing, I'll admit.  There have been many recent occasions I've found myself upset that we couldn't get a "normal" picture of her. But, I've come to appreciate the fact that this is how she is right now. This is her personality. This is my beautiful little girl working on her best angles. And I know someday soon she'll go back to smiling normally and showing off those dimples everyone loves. But for now, we have crazy face girl, and I love it.

Scrunchie McSchruncherson

Peyton's best Zoolander impression.

Tell me what you really think of all the picture taking.

Great smile...horrible eye contact.

She is trying really hard here...

Party on.

I hope her nose doesn't permanently get stuck in this position.

I think she's the most beautiful funny-faced girl on the planet.

Yee Haw! We are Officially "Arizonans" Now!

Greasewood Flat is one of Arizona's most quintessential locations. It's an outdoor burger joint featuring live country music, picnic tables and plenty of libations. Greasewood Flat is housed in a 120 year old bunkhouse and sits 2,000 feet above the valley, providing a slight reprieve to the hot summer temperatures.

The food is good, the ambiance is exactly what you'd picture for a true Arizona experience, and the crowd includes bikers, cowboys, tourists, and locals.  Our family and some good friends actually started a tradition of going to Greasewood Flat after any family wedding...tuxes and wedding gowns included.

We met up with Jimger and Scott on a random Saturday night...and it didn't disappoint.

Peyton spent the majority of the night dancing her booty off and running around in circles. Along with Scott, she quickly made friends with the other kids, and they provided all of the evening's entertainment.

Say Cheese!

Being the sneaky daughters that we are, Ginger and I arranged for a secret photo session with Peyton and Scott with our most favoritest photog Beth Obermeyer. We dressed the kiddos in Diamondbacks attire and planned to surprise our mother (aka Grandma) with the precious pics on Mother's Day.  Mission accomplished.

What Grandma wouldn't melt at the sight of this?

Yeah.  We're in trouble.

Freeze! Hands on knees!

Love.

Pat's Run 2012

Pre-race photo

I am not one of those people who runs because I love it. I run because it keeps me from getting fat. As added motivation, I signed Martin and myself up for Pat's Run. Although I dreaded the 4.2 mile race for the months leading up to it (I typically don't go more than 3 miles), I'm so glad we did it. It was such a well organized and motivational event.

Martin and I were split up into different start corrals since he is Speedy Gonzales, but I had a great time, an awesome run (finished faster than I expected), and felt really good about myself afterwards.

Peyton enjoyed a sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's the night before, and merely exclaimed "you're sweaty" when we picked her up after the race.

Sparky getting everyone motivated. 

Just across the finish line on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium.

Out of 30,000 participants, we bumped into old friends!

The Owl, the Key, the Fleur-de-lis...and these three.

Three college besties, plus their husbands, plus their combined 5 kids, and one overdue weekend together equals a great time. I was so happy Crystal - my great friend and insanely funny college cohort, spent the weekend in the 85260 with her amazing family. The third part of our trio, Jami, happens to live two streets down from me (coincidence??) Crystal, Jami, and I were suite mates in the Kappa house at ASU (along with Rebecca, who tried to make the trip from Dallas). It's crazy to think I've known these girls for 12 years now. They are the definition of life-long friends, and I was thrilled to finally get to spend some quality time with both of them.

Go Kappa.

Forever trying to get a good pic.

The best part was watching our kids all hang out. No question, the next generation of Kappas has been born...and this is their version of rowdy-doo.

All the kids, including Colin.

All the kids enjoying some play time.

KKG pledge class of 2031.

"Easter Bunny Hop On My House"

Easter was filled with all of the normal Eastery traditions - egg dyeing and hunting, talking about the Easter Bunny, pretty dresses and lots of candy. Peyton was excited and worried about the Bunny for several weeks. She said he was going to "hop on her house" and leave her candy. But you could see the anxiety creep over her when she began to process the idea that a giant talking rabbit was going to sneak into her house in the middle of the night. Daddy explained that he would personally escort the Bunny the entire time he was here and make sure nothing bad happened.

Getting ready for the Show Low easter egg hunt...er, easter egg pickup from the big empty field.

"Scott, you go left and block the big kids. I'll get the eggs and eat the candy."

"Sixteen eggs! This hunt is for amateurs."

"How many did you get?"

Best seat in the house.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay. No screaming. No crying. Maybe this creepy thing will bring me some candy."

Sparkles, sprinkles and stickers.  Best. Eggs. Ever.

Patiently waiting for the neighborhood egg hunt to begin.

It's no Sullivan Circle, but a nice showing of neighbors to celebrate.

"Peyton, you've got to give 110% if you want to get all the eggs."

Surely there is an egg up here somewhere!

"Okay, I'm hot."

Jameson trying to scam some candy away from PK.

"Let's head out Daddy. It's about 100 degrees out here and I could use a cold box of juice."

The Easter Bunny is also known as "sucker who can't resist the giant Costco teddy bear."

"A quick costume change and I'm ready for Easter dinner."

All hopped up on goofballs.

Hellmer Family Portrait

Pretty

"More toys from the Bunny!"

Easter is pretty hoppin!

Swimfan

We've taken PK to swim lessons since she was about 6 months old. In Virginia, classes consisted of splashing, kicking, and putting her face in the water. It's been an entirely different experience in Arizona - and for good reason. The drowning rate of children in AZ is startling, and at AquaSafe Swim School, kids of all ages and skill levels are taught survival skills. While swim class is fun, it's not about splashing or goofing off. This is serious business, and we were told Peyton's coach, Spencer, was one of the toughest. They focus on a small set of necessary skills - rolling over onto your back so you can breath, floating, finding the wall, and learning how to get out.

Peyton's slowly gotten used to Coach, and even though we've been going to AquaSafe since September, we really didn't get the sense anything was sinking in. Until this month. It was as if a light bulb went off in Peyton's head, and all of a sudden, she was the star of swim class. She floated on her own for at least a minute, rolled over by herself, rolled back again, and even started pushing off the wall, making small kicks and "swimming" toward us.

Undoubtedly, Peyton's favorite part of swim class (next to the lollipop and juice she gets aftewards) is jumping off the cow at the end. It may not be the most graceful entrance, but she sure does love doing it!