Memories, memories...

There are many awesome things I remember about my childhood and a lot of them are from Dearborn Street in the winter time. Maybe it's because it's winter now and I have a snow-baby son to relive those moments with. I remember a winter where we got so much snow we had our own ski hill in the back yard!  My Dad (the snow-baby that he was and still is) built our back deck so that part of the railing could be removed. When we got enough snow, somehow he piled up enough snow so we had our ow little hill for skiing and sledding! I remember strapping on my tiny skis (I believe they were plastic), flailing down MY OWN mountain, and using the back yard fence as my break. I would stay out there all day. Another winter I remember specifically was one where we got so much snow we had our own little igloo village on our yard! My Dad worked at a paper mill where he was able to take the snow plow trucks. He would come home with one and plow as much snow as he could on the side of the driveway. That winter there was snow piled up as high as the garage roof! With all the snow we started digging, well maybe it was my Dad and Mom who started digging, (and I'm sure there was a valiant effort made by all us kids to help) and before we knew it we had our own igloo with roof access and a couple tunnels that sprouted off of it. Aside from eating and going to the bathroom we had no reason to go back in the house! I could have lived out there, I had my Barbie Dolls and friends and that's all a young girl needs! Then there were the days up at Pleasant Mountain (now Shawnee Peak). I could write blog after blog about all the memories I have from spending every winter weekend and school break up there. I will spare you and save that for another time. This blog is named "because of Peyton" so I better stick to that!

Where I was going with the trip down memory lane is now I am able to create all those same (but different) memories for Peyton. And let me tell you...it has been nothing but a total blast! Getting him on skis for the first time made me melt! It was probably my proudest "mommy moment" yet.  To see his excitement and deer in a headlight face while taking him down the mountain is amazing.

Sunday Brandon and I took Peyton outside after his nap. The kid needed to burn some energy and what better way than to bundle him up, get him out in the fresh air, and let him do his thing...well with the help of mommy and daddy we made it a little more exciting. What kid do you know has a Dad that will take him out on a dirt bike in the middle of winter? That's right...Peyton's Dad! The afternoon started with Brandon and Peyton going for a joyride on Brandon's dirt bike! Let me backtrack for a minute...I don't want everyone to think Brandon just throws our kid on a dirt bike for good giggle, it was all Peyton's idea! When we were in the garage getting bundled up Brandon asked Peyton if he wanted to ride his bike. Peyton's answer was, "ride daddy big bike!" As in Brandon's dirt bike.

After letting their faces thaw some Peyton decided he wanted to get the sleds out! YEA! We have about a foot and a half of snow in the area where we normally go sledding so mommy and daddy packed it all down and made a nice little track! Off we went...wwwhhheeeeeeeeeee! After a few runs on the sled mommy decided to show daddy who was boss of the winter outdoors. I grabbed a shovel and started carving out some steps in the huge pile of snow Brandon had plowed. That was fun for about eight seconds then Peyton started to destroy them. I then had an even better idea...the pile of snow was big enough to build a tunnel! So in Pepere Doucette fashion I started digging. I think for a second Brandon's mouth dropped then he looked at me and said in a confusing voice, "Peyton, what is mommy doing?" Digging a tunnel...duhh! After digging for a little while I finally got through the other side and with Brandon's help the hole got bigger, to the size where we could crawl through! I don't think Peyton knew what to do at first, but after seeing daddy crawl through he got the idea. He came through to the other side and sat right down on the little seat I made him! Even Lucy (our doggy) loved it and was running through! After a while the sun was going down and it started to get cold so I said to him, "Ok P, let's go in and get some dinner!" He looked at me like I  had a giant booger coming out my nose and said, "NO". I asked him if he wanted to eat dinner and sleep there and he responded with "YES!" After a few minutes of trying to convince my snow-baby that it was time to go inside I whipped out the bribe, "Let's go inside and we can get some hot chocolate!" Yup...that worked in a nanosecond. So we went inside and our night continued.

Watching Peyton sit on the couch, drinking his hot chocolate, I thought to myself...these are the moments we live for.

The Things We Do To Get Our Kid To Do Something...

Oh the things parents will do or say to get their kids to do something they want them to do.  There are things in the form of a bribe, whether it be candy, toys, or what Peyton likes to call, a "happy". A "happy" is anything that is not good for you that can be used as a bribe or a reward. A happy is an M&M, a cookie, a candy cane, Gerber veggie puffs, and even his multivitamin (because it is like a fruit snack).  There are things that parents will say, like we can't do this or that if you don't do this or that (also could be a bribe I guess). Those are the common uncreative things. Brandon and I have had to get a little more creative...and our son is only 2! We may be in trouble!

 If you were a fly on the wall in our house today, and knew nothing about Peyton, Brandon, or me, you would know that our son was 2 years old. He was testing our patients in every way and form that he could. And now trying to get him to do something/anything we ask is a small struggle. I say small because I know all you parents reading this, that have more than one child and/or children that are grown or older than Peyton are laughing at me right now, thinking...GIRL, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE IN FOR in the years to come!

For the most part Peyton is an AWESOME kid! He doesn't throw temper-tantrums (yet), he doesn't know how to talk back (yet) except for saying NO (which I think he says just because he can, not because he fully knows what he is saying no to), he is like Rain Man on a schedule and he thrives on it, he is generally a very good eater, his attention span is longer than 5 minutes, he doesn't play with his poop, he is still somewhat easily redirected, and he likes to keep his clothes on. The small struggles I am talking about are when we ask him to do something.

Mom, "Peyton did you poop?"
Peyton, "Nnnoooo."
Mom, "Are you sure...you stink!"
Peyton, "Yyyeesssss."
Mom, "Well I can smell it, lets go change your diaper!"

And the battle and chase begins! We only live in a 650 square foot place and I have to chase my kid around the entire house to capture him to change his diaper! Once I get him and put him on the changing table he instantly tries to turn over onto his tummy, which may make it easier to wipe his butt but not to get a diaper back on, so the  creative distractions begins and the toys come out for distraction. Sometimes just the toys do the trick but other times it takes a little more. I sometimes throw a blanket over him and pretend the upper half of his body isn't there. I say, "where did Peyton go?" over and over. I think he gets confused for a few seconds, thinking to himself "where did I go?" but that may be just long enough to get that diaper changed. Obviously after I take the blanket off of him and scream, "THERE HE IS!" and we all laugh. Other times Brandon and I have to tag team (if we are both home) I really love it when Peyton laying on the changing table and styles Brandon's hair and makes him look, as Peyton would say, "handsome!" Then there are times where the Tickle Monster needs to come out because Peyton is throwing a fit because he doesn't want his diaper changed. Just hearing his precious laugh is music to my ears.

Brushing his teeth at bedtime is also fun. We sit him on the counter (don't judge...he has never fallen off) and the brushing begins. The first 8 seconds may be easy but the novelty for Peyton has worn off and he wants to be doing something else...something fun. One trick I have is to give him a toothbrush and pretend to brush my teeth at the same time. 50% of the time just this works the other 50% my creative side needs to come out. So I pretend to gag when he has the toothbrush in my mouth. He starts laughing and his mouth is wide open for me to see and brush all his teeth! Totally gross but it works. I also let him pluck my eyebrows or any other facial hair he doesn't think I need. Lip gloss is another distraction (again, don't judge) he likes to put it all over my face! Normally I don't take the cap off but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.

Eating. I did say that Peyton is, for the most part, a good eater. He does have his moments. We don't stress, we get creative. I mentioned "happys" at the beginning...Peyton sometimes thinks that steamed veggies (mainly chopped carrots) are "happys". If it's something he has never eaten before, its a "happy", and when he really doesn't want to eat anything we tell him it's all "happys". He is a pretty smart kid so sometimes he doesn't fall for it. But if it works once then it was a golden moment. The best is seeing Brandon and his Golden Glob performances telling Peyton how good the food is while he is eating some of it...trying to get Peyton to eat it. (Can you attach videos to blogs because I may have to do that!)

In the end if we are out of creative ideas or just plain tired the bribes do rear their ugly head. Nobody said we were perfect parents!

Happy Day...or waaaassss it...

This afternoon I was on the phone with my mom telling her about all the "episodes" Peyton and I had today. (And by episodes I mean all the crazy *#%@ that happens throughout the day...that generally comes with having a toddler.) She says to me, "You need to write a blog! That (the story I had just told her) is really funny! And maybe you will have less anxiety about things if you write them down!"  So I thought to myself...YES! I can write a blog! So here is my first try. I can't make any promises that I will write them weekly or even monthly but I am sure going to make an effort! Who knows it may make me feel better during the awesome anxiety bouts that I tend to have. If anything I hope it gives everyone a good laugh every once in a while!

Our day started as usual today, Peyton woke up around 6:30, I tried to get him to fall back asleep with Brandon and me, and after laying still for about 5 minutes he started whispering "wake up". With not much response with whispering he starting talking...then came the yell, "WAKE UP!" Brandon pops up saying, "Why am I even making an effort? Peyton lets go!" I won't bore you with every detail of the morning so I'll jump right to the fun stuff.

I had today off so I decided it would be totally fun to take Peyton over to Buttermilk to go skiing. I got everything ready and organized so it would be easy once we got over there (Buttermilk Mountain is only 2 miles from our house) I got myself then Peyton dressed and with my spare time I got him PUMPED to go skiing! We drove over and were sadly told that we weren't able to park there for the rest of the week because of Winter X Games. SERIOUSLY?! I have lived here for almost 8 years and didn't know you couldn't park at Buttermilk the week of X Games! Duhh! So we drove home and asked Brandon to drop us off, and like the amazing husband/dad he is, he did.

We got there, unloaded our skis and Peyton and I were on our way! Or were we? Once we got over to the beginner chair, or should I say where the beginner chair is suppose to be, I noticed it wasn't there and in place were huge mounds of snow! DAMN X GAMES! Yes, again I should have known! There was no access to the beginner lifts while X Games were going on. A friendly ski instructor said I could go to the top of the mountain and there was a little beginner area set up with a rope tow and everything. I looked at Peyton and said, "Booboo, we are going big today!" We got on the chair safe and sound...until I pulled the bar down on Peyton's leg! Boy did he scream! And then he was scared. I thought to myself, I hope this day ends up better than it's starting! I calmed him down once we got about 3/4 of the way up. Once we were there he was totally fine! He also blew my mind with how he was skiing!

Now comes the best part of the day! We went down the little beginner trail they had set up, Peyton was screaming WEEEEEEEEEE the whole way down (which was about 20 yards). It was music to my ears. The rope tow that was set up was pretty cool. Nothing like the "make your arms fall off" rope tow at Kents Hill! There was a nice little wedge to hold on to while you got pulled up. The challenging thing was to do it with a little man between your legs (wow that sounds really bad...told you I hope to make you laugh). So I had Peyton between my legs holding him with one arm while using my other arm to hold onto the wedge as we get pulled up the longest 20 yards of my life! It was a great arm workout! The second time we went down I was going down backwards, facing Peyton and he was actually balancing and skiing to me! I wanted to cry, it was amazing! After the third time down we went and got some water and a snack bar...and then the meltdown started!

I have no stinking clue where it came from or why but Peyton was beyond not happy! So with him screaming bloody murder I put his skis back on and started carrying him down the mountain. Yea, that lasted about 45 seconds. I put him down and told him he needs to be a big boy and started skiing down with him between my legs...SCREAMING! To try to get him to cheer up I said, "lets go ski some powder!!!!" And we did...and he LOVED IT!! Again...amazing! Until I realized I WAS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! Not cool. I was on the west side of Buttermilk...where you cannot access the main side. You can only imagine what I was thinking. We get down to the lift and I say to the lifty...as he is taking my son from me..."can I get to the bottom from here?" He says, "no, do you know the mountain at all?" NO DIP-WEED if I knew the mountain I wouldn't be standing here freaking out because I want to be on the other side! Backtrack...he took Peyton because we aren't allowed to go through the silly pass scanners together so that fired me up a little more. Luckily on the way up Peyton was happy and laughing.

By the way this whole time Brandon is waiting for us at the bottom with rent-a-cops giving him the stink eye because they don't want him there. He was also on a time crunch to drive Ms. Daisy (his boss) to a lunch in town. Ok...where was I....we get to the top and I think, maybe we can download and take the chair down?" NOT! it was a 20 yard hike just to get to the chair. So I carry poor Peyton the entire way down the mountain, passing 2 ski patrollers who aren't the least bit concerned that I am carrying a child down a mountain...or why I was doing it. We get to the bottom safe and sound...minus my arms falling off.

My knight in shinning armour is waiting for us in the parking lot and we go home, eat lunch, and take a nap. We started the afternoon fresh and aside from not getting my child to the potty on time, having him pee all over the bathroom floor (yes it was my fault and not his because I dilly-dallied putting his little seat on the toilet) and not being able to feel my arms we had a great afternoon/night.