Hello Illinois

We made it into Illinois about a month ago and have been settling into our new home. Aside from having to unpack our mounds of boxes, we've really enjoyed living here so far. In the last month, here are just a few things I noticed are differences from living in an apartment in Dallas, to living in a house in Beach Park, IL:

1) We are outside everyday. The weather right now is gorgeous, we feel like we live in CA (70s and 80s).
2) We talk to our neighbors alot. Many have kids and Payton loves to play with them... Our next door neighbor even has a toddler named Payton! (a girl)..
3) We actually don't live in "chicago", We live an hour north of downtown chicago in a suburb. Our suburb is only 7 minutes from Wisconsin, so we actually grocery shop in Wisconsin sometimes.
4) Our neighbors are concerned for us because we don't have a snowblower, even though it's just September.

Here's a clip of Payton helping daddy in the yard.



Here's Payton in his new ride.

Farewell Dallas

We are in our final few days in Dallas. These days are bittersweet for us. We've been so blessed by our friends and church family during our time here. A big THANK YOU to all who came out to dinner with us last night for some awesome tex- mex. We were so encouraged and will miss you all so much! Thanks so much to Sandy for planning it for us! Payton's bedtime is normally 6 ish these days, but he was able to stay up until past 9 last night! mostly because he was so entertained. Here are just a few photos/video of those who helped keep him awake! :) ...



With Uncle Paul and Auntie Betsy. Uncle Paul taught Payton how to splash water from his cup onto other people... (i wonder if we can unteach this to him?) :)

with Uncle Mike. His favorite coloring buddy.


With Sarah, Kelsey, and Madison, thanks girls for always making him laugh!!

It's 11:45pm, what are you doing?

This being our last week in Dallas, there is no need to ask mike or myself what we are doing during our evenings...Once Payton's in bed, it's our most efficient time to pack/clean/throw away all of our STUFF... you don't realize how much stuff you accumulate in 5 years, until you start really going through it and asking yourself, if I didn't know that I had this for the last few years, do I really want to send it 1000 miles to my new home?

We appreciate all the offers to help us pack, but I think we see the light at the end of the tunnel. :) (although it may not look like it in the pix below)...

Payton's First (Professional) Haircut

Payton came into the world with a relatively full head of hair and now it grows like a weed. We've cut it at home a few times and as you can see, he's not very pleased with the experience. Here's his first professional haircut.




(Video was taken with my phone so it's a bit grainy)

Payton "talking"

Recently, Payton has started talking a TON.... most of the time we can't understand what he's saying, but clearly, HE understands!

In Love with water

Payton just LOVES water, whether it's in a pool, in the tub or in a cup, he just cannot get enough....


on another note, it's hard to believe in 4 weeks, we will be moving away from the texas heat, and making our way towards the windy city...I wonder if Payton will love snow as much as he loves the water?

Popular with the ladies

It's hard to believe Payton is 18 months old. He still goes to the nursery at our church, as he's too young to be in the Toddler Class. Usually on sundays, near the end of church he gets some visitors. For the most part he loves playing with all his visitors, especially the girls. Here's a pic of him with some of the girls at our church...



And here's a really short video of him, trying to get attention? not sure what he is doing, but normally he is so happy to be around the girls...