Brady's Graduation

Okay, okay, okay. I know I suck at this blogging thing, so please -- please -- spare me the, "It's about time/I was beginning to wonder if you were still alive/Oh, I forgot I was a grandparent ... " etc. etc. etc. mumbo jumbo crap.

Now that we've got that cleared up ... I'm not going to go back over the last several months or anything like that. It'd take way too long and then I'd probably just give up on blogging ... again ... So here we go! The brief contents of this update will include: Funny Things Peyton Does, ChooChoo Extravaganza, and Brady's Graduation.

Funny Things Peyton Does: 

• Every time Peyton (or someone near him) audibly farts, Peyton will point at the culprit and announce that they've pooped. So don't try and play it off like it wasn't you. He knows. And he'll make sure EVERYONE else does, too. 
• Peyton is learning his anatomy, and much to my sister's dismay, he refers to his little-man-parts as his "wee wee." Whenever he gets a new diaper on, he says, "Bye bye, wee wee!" and bids it farewell with a little hand wave. 
• Whenever Peyton is ready to split the scene, he abruptly turns to the host/talker/person keeping us from leaving and says, "Bye bye" over and over and over again until we really have no choice but to leave. He also cordially bids adieu to:
• Jesus when we're at church. Any picture of the Savior in the hall on our way out gets a nice, "Bye bye, Jesus!"
• Toothbrushes. He likes to sit on his toothbrush when he's done brushing and say, "Bye bye, toothbrush!" (Perhaps the more disturbing thing is his fascination with sitting on his toothbrush).
• Cell phones. Same thing with the toothbrush. He sits on it and says bye bye. Why? Not the slightest idea. 
• After months of trying to teach Peyton basic sign language, I gave up. A month later, Peyton turns to me and says "more" while signing it. He would start signing as soon as he can talk. He would. 

ChooChoo Extravaganza: 

Peyton is fascinated by choochoos, so Dan and I took him ON the choochoo to go SEE the world's (or something like that) biggest indoor model choo choo! Super fun! 

Brady's Graduation:

Brayton graduated! I know you're thinking, "Not possible." But he did. Legally. Pictures to prove it! 

Proof that Brady graduated. Aw, so grown up! 

Dan, Peyton and I with Grandma and Grandpa Young

Big sista Tonya! Peyton spent 16 hours sitting next to her in the car and still wouldn't play nice. Booger! 

Oh, and here are a few random pictures. Just for kicks: 

My favorite picture to-date. 

Peyton has this thing where he likes to take off his shirt. This incident was in the privacy of our home, but yes, it does happen in public. Semi-often. 

We went to the local Minor League game to see the AirHogs. Coincidentally, they were playing the Kansas City T-Bones -- the only other team who's game I've ever been to (if you don't count the one BYU game I watched freshman year). 

How cute is that? And how crappy are my photography skills? 

Peyton loved clapping and cheering when everyone else in the stands did. And everyone around him thought it was hilarious. 

Pathetic.

I played Wii Tennis for about 40 minutes this morning as part of my "workout."

My arm is already super sore.

Pathetic?

Yes.

Pregnancy - the cause of unfulfilled resolutions (specifically blogging)

I've failed horribly at one of my resolutions -- blogging weekly.

I have a good excuse.

When all I feel is nauseated, constipated, tired, hungry, not hungry, moody, sore, headache-y and nauseated, it's hard to write about anything else.

Oh, and it's also hard to keep things like, "Hey, I'm pregnant!" a secret.

Yep. Ya'll read that right.

I'm pregnant.

And frankly, since all I've done for the past 8 weeks is try to muster the strength to entertain Peyton, then try to muster enough strength (and will-power) to be productive during his naps (let's be honest. That happens like, once a week), and then try to muster the strength to ask Daniel to cook dinner (just kidding. I'm trying really hard to cook, but Dan has been an amazing help) ... You get the point. There hasn't been much to write about that wouldn't scream the news to anyone reading.

So, Baby Condie #2 is 12 weeks on his/her way to meeting the world. We are super duper excited! I'm due September 17th. I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight (which is good, since last time I dropped 7 lbs below) and starting to feel much better.

Now here's a few pictures of my big-boy baby:

The boy loves Borscht.

Peyton is very good at reminding us to pray ... even if he remembers once his mouth is full. 

Peyton and his best friend Tyler in their matching monkey PJs. 

Such a cheeseball whenever the cameras come out! 

I'm riding a horse. Backwards.

I laugh every time I see this picture. And every time Peyton does it again. 

For those of you that don't know, Dan really really really likes basketball. Naturally, we would try to indoctrinate our son with the same love. Grandma and Grandpa Condie got him a basketball hoop for his birthday, and I think he's starting to get the hang of it ...

We're gonna party like it's your birfday!

Before I delve into the past, I'll start with an event from today. 

Peyton and I went for a long walk today. Despite the concrete-jungle-like surroundings and the fact that we were on our usual roadside route, I felt a bit pioneer-ish. Why? Well, first allow me to set the scene. Our usual route follows two major roads near our complex. It's a nice, winding sidewalk shaded by tall oak trees running alongside the street. On the other side of the sidewalk, there are a few open fields next to the American Airlines Center. After exorbitant amounts of rain (such as what we received earlier this week), the fields turn to marshes and parts of the sidewalk turn into lakes/rivers/ponds (depends on how much you like to exaggerate). So now you can picture it. As Peyton and I approached a humongous lake of a pond spanning a generous portion of the sidewalk, I thought to myself ... 

Can't go through it ...

Can't go under it ... 

Can't go above it ... 

Guess we better go around it! 

Unfortunately, on the right the water went clear to the street and on the left, there was a miniature gorge. I opted for the gorge. Just before heaving our double jogger across the gorge and through the stream, I spotted a coyote in the field. What draws these coyotes to the open, empty field surrounded by corporate offices? Who knows. As I pushed our double-wide, eyeing the coyote as he eyed me, I reminisced on youth treks of yore (the jogger felt oddly like a handcart, but with better handling and less weight). 

That story really had no point, but I really wanted to share it. 

Now for the good stuff -- Peyton's birthday! 

Everyone knows I don't celebrate birthDAYs, I'm all about the birthWEEKS! Birthdays should never be celebrated for less than a week. That's a fact. So, to kick off Peyton's birthweek, we went to the Dallas Zoo! Peyton loved feeding the goats in the children's petting zoo. He chased them around and yelled "goat!" The goats were justifiably scared out of their minds. 

\

Let's flash forward to Peyton's birthDAY. We kicked off the morning with some cinnamon Cheerios (because Peyton REFUSES to eat plain ones), milk, and Peyton's favorite fruit: bananas.

Isn't he such a goofball? I love this kid. 

Then we headed out to our dog-crap infested grassy area to take some birthday pictures. Seriously, people should not be allowed to (1) live on their own, (2) own pets, property or vehicles, (3) eat anything but dog feces if they are too lazy to pick up after their stupid (but not as stupid as them) dog. And I WON'T step down from this soap box. These people LIVE in this complex! How can they care so little about their surroundings? If I knew the perpetrator, I would shovel every last bit of fecal matter and dump it on their carpet. Dis.gust.ing. It's seriously a minefield out there.

When the poop became too overwhelming and we realized there were no safe places on the grass, we headed out to the basketball and tennis courts. Thankfully, people don't let their pets poop there.

After a VERY sad morning at the doctors (50% in everything except for head circumference. Again. He likes to hover around 95% there. Anyone seen So I Married an Axe Murderer? "Look at the size of his head! It's like an orange on a tooth pick!"). Kiddo did great when the pricked his finger for the iron test. Didn't cry or wince! The three shots he had to get ... not so much. I will say, my son can KICK! Hard. To make up for the fact that I scheduled his well-baby appointment on his birthday (I know, bad mom), I took him to the park to play!

I sneaked Mr. P an Oreo while I frosted his cake. He loved it, of course.

Opening presents. Thanks Emily for being photographer! Sorry that since you did that, you're not in any of the pictures. =(

For some reason, Peyton really loves Brian. So much so, that he didn't want to sit with me while he opened presents (frankly, he wasn't all that interested in presents, period), he wanted to sit with Brian. 

Because of Peyton's obvious lack of present-opening interest, we had the other kiddos open his presents.

Peyton LOVED his cake. See for yourself!

"I'm one-year-old!"

Gonna put my hands up ... it's a party in the USA! 

Please, please! No more photos! 

I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed ...

Peyton's first spaghetti dinner! Peyton figured out the whole slurping-up-spaghetti-thing pretty quick! He made quite the mess and loved every minute of it. Yummy!

Picture update!

***Just a reminder before we begin: I'm deactivating my facebook and privatizing the blog come SATURDAY night. If you want to be added to the blog list and have NOT given me your email address, message/comment/facebook it to me! 

Peyton got a toothbrush from the dentist for his 9-month checkup. He LOVES brushing his teeth and watching us brush ours! Future dentist, maybe? He is a Young.   

We took family pictures at the Arboretum with the Tomaka family. It was beautiful AND a lot of fun! 

Peyton playing in the grassy field at the Arboretum. 

Family picture on the bench. Peyton is such a ham!

After church one Sunday. I think Peyton's face here is priceless. 

Grandma and Grandpa Condie and Uncle Seddi came to visit the weekend before Thanksgiving! 

Note to self: don't play airplane with Peyton after he's just consumed large quantities of food. You might get puked on. Nasty. 

After Peyton's bath time during Thanksgiving break. Peyton LOVES his bath time! 

Clockwise: Peyton, Unkie Collin ('s butt), Munkie Brady, Aunt Clare and Daniel
Thanksgiving break. I forgot to take pictures of all the awesome food we made. I suck.

For some reason, Peyton likes to lounge at the table like this. Though I wouldn't really call it "lounging," since he's folded in half. Frankly, it doesn't look comfortable at all! Nevertheless, he sat like this for his entire breakfast. 

Gross, right? Wanna know what's grosser? This was pulled out of Peyton's mouth. Still grosser: we couldn't find the legs.
I don't know how this creature made it into our apartment and into Peyton's mouth ... and let's be honest, I don't want to know any more of the story than what I've written here. 

Such a happy boy! 

Rat tail? I loved Peyton's long, curly hair. Dan kept asking me to cut it, but I refused. When it stopped curling at the back and started to look "girly," I finally caved. Now he looks like such a big boy!

Peyton with Great Grandpa Santa! 

At Great Grandpa Santa's apartment complex. 

Daniel's sugar cookie "masterpiece."

Peyton LOVES dogs. He even says "dog" more than he does "mama." He had so much fun with Shadow in Kansas! 

Grandma Nene opening presents. 

Daniel striking a Christmas pose. 

This is Brady's "man pose" since now he can "smell like a man. man." 

Daniel got me beautiful pearl earrings! I love pearls! 

Clare got lots of boots and tights for Christmas. 

Collin got every sort of toy gun you can imagine. 

Brady got a gag gift -- a clown. He's terribly afraid of clowns. 

Peyton liked to run off with the wrapping paper more than the gifts ... But by the time we got to El Paso, he had the hang of it. More or less. 

Family photo op on Christmas morning.

Peyton had his first candy bar while we were in Kansas. Milky Way. He went NUTS!

Grandpa's usual occupation. 

Mmm. Here's a doozy of a story. So we land in El Paso at 11:40 p.m. on the 26th. No bags come out the baggage claim. Neither does our car seat. So we go to find help from United. Huh. No United reps ANYWHERE. For two hours. That's right, we sat there with no way of getting our kiddo home and none of our checked baggage for TWO HOURS before a United rep showed up. Guess what they told us? Go buy a car seat and we'll reimburse you. At 1:30 a.m. So Dan's dad heads out to Walmart and picks one up. Good thing we got it, too, because some idiot left a giant pile of branches in THE MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY. Oh, and United? No refund for our checked baggage. Nope, just a voucher for the WORST AIRLINE IN THE WORLD. I seriously hate United SO. MUCH. And the voucher wasn't even very much. 

After holding Peyton for nearly 5 hours straight (including the layover, flight and United debacle), I had to lay the poor baby down on the airport floor. 

This one's for Ross -- Peyton's wearing his Blink 182 onesie! 

Playing outside in El Paso.

Such a cutie pie. 

The cupboard Peyton ended up pinching his fingers in. I have no idea why he was so obsessed with this cupboard! He is also holding his favorite toy. It plays classical music and he walks around with it everywhere, all day. 

Love his little bath robe. 

Heading out for a walk! 

Playing in the grass on a nice, sunny, warm winter's day! 

Handsome little man. 

Well, there's our last few months in pictures!