Thursday, April 7, 2011

WOW- It's been a LONG TIME!!!

Time sure has FLOWN by over the last two years! I can't believe our last post was right after Peyton was born! Our sweet girl is just about to turn TWO and is just as amazing as ever!! Check Spelling WOW- where to start- so much has happened in the last two years that we are so very thankful for .....and I'm still having trouble believing it's been that long- So... rather than go backwards, let's move forward.... Peyton is absolutely hysterical- she's full of laughter and joy and loves playing outside and at the park!! We are very blessed and give thanks every day for such a healthy and precious baby girl!! We've been getting ready for her birthday Carnival in May and have so many fun ideas for her party!!! This week she's been singing "Happy Birthday to You..." with her finger shaking in the air- is absolutely precious! Brady's birthday is on Monday, so I'm really hoping to record it for him...he will just love it! In other news, our house is up on the market!!!! Brady spent the last year working a 2 week rotation in Shreveport (YES, it is amazing that he is done with his field assignment!) and we have been planning on putting it up for sale as soon as he was finished- after a few months of de-cluttering our house and touching up paint, we're finally ready to sell! Oh the memories that we've shared in our townhouse- our first baby, her first steps, and all the celebrations- it's going to be sad once we move, but we know there are so many more to be made in our new home...which, by the way, we have no idea where that will be!! The three of us took a stroll to the field near our house for some traditional bluebonnet photos- Peyton was hilarious- I would set her down and have to run backwards and quickly take the shots- she, of course, would jump up and start running towards me- it was cute, but luckily the second time Brady came with us and he was able to stand next to her while mommy snapped away! They came out GREAT and I couldn't be happier! LOVE LOVE LOVE the new camera!!! Photos will go up soon- we're mailing them out to our family, so we'd like to wait until they enjoy opening it themselves. Wish us luck on the sell of our house!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

SHE's HERE!

Our little girl is finally here.... Peyton Marie was born on May 22nd at 9:28PM. The delivery was very smooth and before we knew it, she was in our arms!
It was a normal day at work, I took the MetroRail down to the Med Center into my office at Texas Childrens Hospital. After a few hours at work, I was feeling a little different and thought I was having 10 min contractions for about 2 hours. The doctor's office closes at noon on Fridays and it was Memorial Day weekend, so I wanted to be sure to find out if anything was going on before their office left for the weekend. Our doctor said to go over to the hospital and check in with Labor/Delivery....seriously?!?! we may be having a baby today!!! I immediately called Brady and told him I had to go to the hospital, but to wait until we found out more info and how far apart my contractions really were before heading up there himself. A friend from work drove me over to our hospital and was totally surprised at how relaxed and calm I was...she was really hoping for the dramatic, crazy action that are portrayed on the movies...sorry, Diana :)
I checked into labor and delivery and they placed me in a room then hooked me up to a monitor to measure my contractions... the nurse then pointed out to me when I was actually having a contraction since I didn't really know what one felt like. She also pointed out that they were 5 min apart and to go ahead and call Brady because we'll be having a baby TODAY! It was so exciting to hear her say our girl was coming!! Brady stopped by our house to grab our bags (thankfully we packed the week before) then headed straight to the hospital. The rest of the day was pretty laid back, we watched movies and hung out in our room as the anticipation grew stronger. My mom and grandma, and Mr/Mrs Noto arrived around 2Pm and they all traded off coming to visit with us in our room. Other family members started arriving too and the waiting room was now full :) The timing was perfect, Jeffrey, Valerie and Paul, and Josh had already planned on coming to Houston for the weekend and were almost up to the hospital to meet their niece.
Before we knew it the nurse was telling us it was time to start and within an hour Peyton Marie was in our arms. It was so smooth; nothing like we had expected, and we are so thankful that our healthy and strong little angel arrived! She is beautiful and perfect in every way! Brady and I could not believe she was actually here in our arms! He then went out to the waiting room to announce that she had arrived...and her name!
The weekend was filled with our loving family and friends coming up to see her and share the excitement with us. Thank you to our family and Arist, Anna, Mr/Mrs. Campbell, Mr. Rando, Blake, Melanie, Paige, Lisa, Robert, Mr/Mrs. May, Mrs. Pope.
Here are some pictures from the hospital that we hope you enjoy:

We came home on Sunday afternoon. The time at the hospital flew by and we were now walking into our home with our newborn! We really enjoyed the next few days getting to know our sweet girl. We found ourselves just staring at her and all her new expressions as time flew by. Thankfully, Brady had the rest of the week off so we soaked up every minute together. Our family and friends continued to come over to our house to meet her.
We are truely blessed with such a wonderful daughter and thank our Lord every day for this incredible joy!! Thank you to all our friends and family who have kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We hope to have an easier site to post her photo's as she grows.
Love you all,
Brady, Angie, & Peyton

Sunday, February 22, 2009

It's coming along...

We've checked off so many items off our to do list this weekend!

Yesterday we spent a couple hours at BabiesRUs and ordered her crib, dresser/changer, and chair. It should be here in two weeks for us to start assembling...yay! We also made some additions and changes to our registry and it's almost complete. (Thank you to all the mom's at BabiesRUs that was asked random questions about their stroller, car seat, and any other products that have 20 different types/brands...your suggestions are very much appreciated)

Last May we painted the office (which is now the nursery) blue. Hopefully we'll be able to incorporate some girly colors without having to throw on any more paint. We're thinking the blue with pink and a pale lavender or yellow...

Everything else has been going well... Our next doctor appointment is March 3rd and will have some tests and get to hear her move around and heart beat.

We've also started looking and getting on waitlists for day cares. There are a few around us in the Heights, but we want to really meet the staff and tour the facilities before narrowing any down. One place has an awesome program; we made an 'appointment' for a tour that's schedule for March 10th. Yes, you read that right, just to take a tour and get program info you have to make an appointment and the next available one is in two weeks....whew!

Well outside the excitement of registering, deocorating, and finding daycares, we've also had a great time with friends and family these last few weeks:

Last weekend we headed out to New Braunfels with the Noto's, Campbell's x 2, and Rando's for fun filled weekend on the river. It was such a great get-away and had an amazing time! Pics will be up soon...
Tuesday we went to see the musical Legally Blonde..thanks to Brady's sweet Valentine's gift :) It was so good! If you haven't seen it, you should...we both really enjoyed it and had a great night!

Next on our agenda is the Houston Rodeo! YEE HAW! If you're in Houston or plan on coming to town this next month, give us a call so we can meet up and go. This weekend we'll be going to the BBQ Cookoff to start the festivities and run in the Rodeo Run Saturday morning. Angie and girlfriends- Brittany, Julia, Lauren, and Meghan are all on a Rodeo Committe and volunteer a few shifts throughout the Rodeo so we should be up at there quite often.

Photo's will be up soon...sorry it's taken so long :(

Hope everyone is doing well and having a great week! We look forward to hearing from you all and seeing you soon!

Love,

Angie & Brady

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

She's quite the kicker!

We had our monthly check up today and it went very well! She's growing right on schedule...23 weeks! We won't have another ultrasound for a while, but the nurse checked her heartbeat, 143 beats per second! It's so neat to listen to it! We also got to hear her move around. The nurse said she's very active! It may be due to the king cake that we had for breakfast before the appointment. She knows that New Orleans food when she tastes it!
Speaking of... we went to New Orleans this past weekend with Brady's parents, and Jeffrey and his girlfriend, Anna. Talk about a great weekend! We were able to see his Pops, Noto grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, cousins, friends....the whole bunch! Not to mention we ate some pretty amazing food too!
(Brady, Grandpa Joe, Grandma Helen, and Jeffrey outside Mandina's Restaurant on Canal St.)

(Pat O'briens in the Quarter with the Noto's)

The last two weeks have been really exciting... she's been kicking every morning around 5:30AM- 6AM (hopefully she'll stay on that schedule when she arrives) and continues randomly throughout the day. Brady was able to feel her kick for the first time last Saturday, January 24th. It was pretty amazing!
Each week we receive an update on that week's stage in pregnancy- this week she is the size of a large mango (last week she was a spaghetti squash) and weighs just over a pound!
Hope you all have a wonderful week and we look forward to seeing you all very very soon! Please continue to keep us all in your thoughts and prayers as God has given us such a blessing along with wonderful and healthy news!
Love,

Brady & Angie

Saturday, January 17, 2009

I GOT THE JOB!!!

We had a very great week and received great news! I had an interview with Texas Children's Hospital for a Family Advocacy Coordinator position on Wednesday. They called back the next day with an offer!!! It was SO fast!

It's been a long journey searching for a new career since my company had closed in the Fall. I received constant support from family and friends and could not be more thankful! Brady has also been extremely encouraging every day of my continuous job search and I am so appreciative!

Texas Children's Hospital is such a wonderful organization and I can't wait to join their team! Thank you again for keeping me motivated throughout this process. Your prayers that a great job would come my way have been answered!

Hope you all have a nice weekend and we look forward to seeing you all soon!

Angie

Thursday, January 8, 2009

IT'S A...

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years...Happy 2009! This year is going to be so exciting!
Here are some pics from our Christmas and New Year's holiday:
New Years Eve! Happy 2009!
Angie, Memau, and Paupau
Angie, Memau, Paupau, Valerie, Joshua, Judy/Mom, Paul
Christmas in New Orleans- Jackson Square infront of the St. Louis Cathedral

Brady's Uncle Jimmy's restaurant...it is so delicious!

We went to visit the doctor on Monday, January 5th for another ultrasound and check up. Everything was wonderful! We both watched with such amazement at how little the bones and organs were and how fast they grow! We saw everything from the little toes up to the brain. The nurse made sure that we wanted to know if we were expecting a boy or girl...and within seconds we found out.... IT'S A GIRL! She had grown so much within the last month and now weighs 8 ounces and was exactly 19 weeks old.
The first few pictures were hard to take as she was positioned with both her legs and arms above her head...she's so flexible :) Luckily after moving around we were able to see her full body and watch her wave to us once again! We like to think she knows we're looking at her!
The appointment could not have been better and we are so thankful and blessed to have received so much good and positive news from the doctor! We will continue to pray for a strong and healthy little girl!

Pictures from our visit:
(We had some friends over to watch the Fiesta Bowl- Texas v. Ohio State and to announce what we were expecting. Angie filled cupcakes with either pink or blue icing...to find out, they all had to bite into the cupcake to see! At halftime, everyone ran to the kitchen to grab a cupcake and to find out the news! Needless to say our 'little cupcake" is going to have some great 'Aunts' and 'Uncles'!)

Monday, December 22, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

It's been a while since the last update, but things have been great!!
Last weekend we went to Dallas to visit Jeffrey and had a 'football' weekend. Jeff's friends, Braden and Christopher, came up to Dallas too and we all had a blast! We went to the NCAA Men's Soccer finals out in Frisco, TX on Friday and Sunday, then Jeffrey got us all Cowboys/Giants tickets (thanks, Jeffrey!). We also got to meet up with our friends out in Dallas- Cameron, Mason, and Caroline...it was so nice to see them too!

Out with Cameron, Mason, and Caroline in Dallas!

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants game with Braden & Christopher
Our great seats, thanks to Jeffrey!!

Jeffrey in action!

Brady then had to fly to Denver for a training course for the rest of the week. He experienced some single digit weather, but luckily it warmed up and he was back in Houston before he knew it!

This past Saturday our girlfriends had their annual Christmas party and requested the attire to be 'cocktail or tacky sweater attire'....well thanks to our friend, Julia's suggestion to shop at Value Village, we found some very festive outfits... to say the least!


YAY! It's Christmas Eve... We'll get see the Noto's on Christmas morning, Lemarie's on Christmas evening, and all of Angie's family on Friday night! Our little one will get to try out some very good food over the next few days and be able to hear our whole family! (Yes, he/she can hear now!) Thankfully all foods have been appealing, but have been constantly wanted...this one likes to eat! Last week Mexican was the favorite...especially Pappasito's fajitas!! He/She has really been growing and Angie's starting to show a little bump!
In less than two weeks we find out if it's going to be a boy or a girl and we couldn't be more excited! We are just as excited to share the upcoming news with you all too!

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009!! We look forward to seeing all of our family and friends very very soon!

Love,



Angie & Brady