Why we love Peyton

Peyton always does something that just make us smile so big everyday and makes us love her even more than we thought we could.

Some of my favorite things so far:

*When Brandon and I are giving each other a hug, Peyton always has to join us for a big family hug. It makes my heart melt when she puts her arms around both of us and leans in for a tight love squeeze.

*I U! Peyton has a hard time saying love right now, but when we say "I Love You" she says back to us "I You" Brandon and I LOVE it and now we always say it back and forth to each other. When Brandon is on the road with the team and Peyton is getting ready for bed we send him a text that says "Night Night...I love you" and he will text back "I U".

*Baby Sister...We are always talking to Peyton about being a Big Sister and now when we talk about the baby we call her baby sister and when we ask Peyton where the baby is, she has to pull my shirt up and point to my belly saying "baby sister".

Peyton finally found out last weekend that she could climb in the kitchen cabinets to play. She was loving it and would close the door saying "Bye Bye" and then quickly open the door and yell "Hi!"

Super Bowl Party! Peyton hanging out with some of the guys during the game.

We are having a healthy baby....GIRL!

Brandon and I went yesterday afternoon to take a look at our growing baby and to find out what we will be expecting this coming summer. Well if you have not heard we are having another healthy baby girl! Peyton is going to be a great big sister and I can't wait to see the two of them together. We are struggling a little bit with names and as of right now we don't have anything picked out. Good thing we have some time to think and to tell you the truth we need it. I knew that if we had another girl that we would have a hard time....and it is true!

Talking with Peyton more last night about being a big sister and it was very cute to have her point to Mommy's belly and say baby sister. So here are many pictures of Peyton's baby sister.

If you wanted to know how we can tell that it is a baby girl...there are three lines. Right away Brandon and I saw this and knew.

20 Weeks...Half Way There!

How your baby's growing:Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Tomorrow is the BIG Day! Hopefully we will be able to find out if we are going to be expecting a little boy or girl this summer.

Peyton Allison

What has Peyton been up to:

*She still loves to dance and now she sings along with her favorite songs.
*Makes silly faces. There is one face that she makes were she rolls her eyes and shakes her head. It makes us laugh so hard every time she does it.
*While we are driving Peyton gets very excited when a she spots a "birdie" and lets us all know.
*Peyton is a huge K-State fan and is such a good sports fan at games. We get all kinds of complements on how well behaved she is during the games. She loves to say the "KSU...Wildcats" cheer and will do the Wabash Cannonball along with the student section. Anytime she sees a Wildcat she makes sure to point it out to us. Since Brandon and I work for K-State we are always wearing K-State gear and anytime we are holding her she always points out "Wildcat" and the "Nike" sign.
*With all of the snow that we have had in the last month and now that it is melting I have needed to wash my car several times. Peyton FREAKS out every time I take the car through the car wash. I try to talk to her and tell her that the car needs a bath just like her, but she doesn't care. Poor girl just looks terrified.
*She sort of understands that she is going to be a big sister, but at the same time has no idea just what that means. We talk about it and she will point to my belly when I ask her where is the baby. Still her world is going to be flipped upside down.


I always think the stage that she is in is the best and how can it get better, but every time she does something new and I can tell that her development is really changing I think this is the best age. Peyton is such a happy and easy child. I feel very blessed every single day that I get to be her Momma.

Christmas Update!

Well it is never too late to get the Christmas update posted...is it? I have been very frustrated with blogger the last couple of days because I have been trying to upload some of the pictures that we have from our Iowa Christmas and it is not letting me. So once I get a CD from Debbie I will post the pictures. Debbie got a new camera so I didn't take any with my camera because her pictures turned out so much better.

So here is what I do have...

Peyton taking a good nap on our drive up to Iowa for Christmas

Wrigley was joining Peyton for a good nap too!

Well that was all of the pictures that I took...told you I didn't take any.

On the drive back home we stopped in Topeka to see our good friends the Kelly's while they were in town to see their family. We never get to have enough time with them, but it was great that we were able to spend a little bit of time together.

Another one of our friends and one of my co-workers got married on New Year's Day so on New Year's Eve we spent a little time with them during the Rehearsal Dinner.
Peyton was very excited because they had Willie the Wildcat join the party.

Yoder Family on New Year's Eve

Brandon was an usher for the wedding and Peyton really liked Daddy's flower.

Mr. and Mrs. Lackey!

Peyton was having a great time at the wedding.

Time to dance! Peyton was very sad when it was time to get off the dance floor:(

After the new year the Reiff side of the family drove out to Manhattan to celebrate Christmas. It was so nice to have them all come out our way and also that way Brandon would be able to join us after practice was done.

Grandma and Grandpa Reiff got Peyton her own little table and she loves it.

What girl that lives in Manhattan doesn't have purple shoes!?!

Peyton loves her cabbage patch kids and this one has matching red hair.

We also celebrated Jon and Jeremy's Birthday's while we were all together. I think that Jon got this game "Hungry Hippos" and all the kids loved it.

All of the Reiff grandkids together in their matching outfits. Even without the smiles they were all very cute.

This table has been great at night while I am trying to get dinner fixed.

18 Weeks...

Head to rump, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, although he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

How I am doing:

*I started to feel the baby move last week.

*My gall bladder has not been hurting me too much and that has been nice. I hope that continues.

*My energy level has started to come back, but there are days that I am very tired when I get home from work and want to do nothing at all.

*No belly pictures yet, but I will get some posted soon.

The Baby:

*Went to the doctor on Wednesday and heard the heartbeat again. The heartbeat was a good 156-162bpm.

*Very active and I feel him/her move more everyday.

The count down is on...We will find out what we are having on January 27th at 3:30pm. If everything goes well then we will be able to tell you all and really start planning for this babies arrival. We have been doing a lot of talking, but wanted to wait until we knew boy or girl before we started buying anything.

Boy or Girl?

I am still not really feeling either way. Some days I really think boy and then another day it is all girl. We will know soon enough!

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Thanks - Kelly