Newport Beach, CA

Our second round of fun in the sun was across the United States in Newport Beach, CA. We spent about 4 days with Mike's family and had a great time. His sister, Lindsay and her husband Hunt have two kids so Peyton had a great time playing with her cousins. Peyton LOVES the water and could probably stay in the pool the entire time. We had a great time and are so thankful for our fun vacations this year!

Here are some pics:

Hilton Head, SC

Mike and I were able to spend some awesome time with both of our families this year for vacation. First, we headed off to Hilton Head, SC for some fun in the Sun! We had an incredible time as the weather was perfect and where we stayed was incredible. None of us had ever been to the Island and we all agreed it was a place we would frequent over and over again.

Here are some pictures of our fun time:

Easter with the Sanfords

We had a wonderful Easter this year! We were able to spend it with Mikes parents, Mike and Melinda. They drove down from Louisville, and went to Church with us, we went out to brunch, and spent a wonderful afternoon in our backyard since it was in the 80's. It was such a beautiful day!

We had so much fun dressing Peyton up in her Easter outfit. She got her first cold on Saturday so she wasn't feeling too well, but she was such a good girl and basically slept the day away! We are having so much fun with her and she is such a sweet baby. I hate when she is not feeling well, but she is getting better each day!

Here are some pictures of Easter in Kentucky:

Spring Ball.

Spring Ball started last week for WKU. Mike has been working hard and trying to get the offense going. He has been up at 5a and he has been pretty exhausted. Still he is so good and so engaged with Peyton. He is able to come home around 7p four nights out of the week so it hasn't been too bad. We have had far worse hours before! He is gone all day and night on Friday and all day Saturday, but he is able to have Sunday off which is awesome! We are able to go to Sunday School and Church....which is so important for us.

Peyton is growing up so much. I can't believe how much she is growing every day. She loves to sing to herself, roll over, and she is ABOUT to grab her feet. She follows me around the room and LOVES her dolly that Auntie Paula gave her. She is such a true joy to us and it seriously gets better every day. I love being a Mom! Yes, it has come with a lot of adjustments, but I love it.

We love living in Kentucky. We have made some great friends and love our church, love our neighborhood, and just love the slow pace way of life here. We feel so incredibly blessed to be living here!

Here are some recent pictures:

Grant Debbie and Grunkle Mark

Great Aunt Debbie and Great Uncle Mark came to visit us in Kentucky last week. We had such a great time hanging out and Peyton loved meeting some of her family members. They were also such a big help to me with doing odd jobs around the house. It was such a blessing to have them here...we had dinner made for us every night! We were spoiled. Peyton was also spoiled because Debbie and Mark got to feed her a ba-ba (bottle).

Valentines Day tribute to Mike

Visiting Papa in Louisville

Mike, Peyton and I took a trip to go see Coach Sanford (Papa) at his new digs as the Offensive Coordinator at University of Louisville. It is only about an hour and a half away so it was so nice to jump in the car and see Kentucky. Peyton had so much fun seeing her Papa and meeting all the coaches at Louisville. We had a great lunch out and were able to see their new house. It is beautiful! We are so fortunate to have family so close by. It was a great trip out and Peyton did great! We witnessed the most beautiful sunset on the way home.

Daddy is HOME!

Mike has been working really hard these days, but his boss gave him 4 days off to spend with family. I am so excited to have Mike home for a few days. He is so good with Peyton and she just loves her so much. Let me tell you, a group effort in parenting is so much easier. Obviously, I love being home with Peyton, but it nice to get help during the day. Not sure what we are going to do, but it will just be nice to have him home. Right now, he is in his pink Snuggie, cuddling with Peyton. It is going to be a great few days!

Baby Girl

Peyton is at a really fun stage right now. She just started smiling a ton and giggling. She finds herself in the mirror in her playgym or in her swing and she just starts smiling. She is totally her daddy'a daughter ;) She really is like Mike in so many ways. She looks like him and really does show signs of his easy going personality. She loves everything we put her in and loves everything we introduce. She loves her bath and loves tummy time. I think through all the stress we've been through with the move, God knew, and gave me an easy baby.

Here some recent pics of my little girl:

Mom and Dad come to visit

I have been super blessed to have my Mom here for two weeks. We have had so much fun with Peyton and also getting our adorable house in order. She has been such a big help to me and I seriously don't know what I would do without her.

My Dad also came for a few days to meet Peyton. We went into Nashville one day and seriously Peyton slept the entire time and then preceded to sleep through the night. I really have been blessed with a good eater and sleeper!

My sister comes tomorrow and I can't wait for her to meet Peyton!

A lot of new beginnings!

I have not posted in upteen years. I think I just got sidetracked with the birth of Peyton. For all of you who don't know, Peyton Jean was born on Dec 22, 2009 @ 12:01p in the afternoon. We barely missed having Baby Jesus and I am glad because I feared she would never talk to me again if she was born on Christmas day. I was a week late with Peyton which was really tough as I basically had to put my Dr in a corner and demand that she induce me. I tried everything to naturally induce. I walked basically 30 miles a day, I ate the hottest food imaginable and she still did not want to come out. Finally, the Dr agreed to induce me which looking back was the best thing, but my labor was really, really hard. I won't go into details, but it almost made me think that Peyton was either going to be an only child or have adopted sisters and brothers. I'm over it now, but I don't think I will ever forget.

With all that being said, I absolutely love being a Mother. I have been blessed with a good eater and good sleeper and with all the changes in my life, God really did have mercy on me in that category. I can't even imagine my life without her and I am just so thankful to God for my little miracle.

Did I also mention that two weeks after Pey was born, Mike took a job as the Pass Game Coordinator/QB Coach at Western Kentucky? It was an offer he couldn't refuse, but let's just say that him leaving to go out recruiting when Pey was itty bitty was really tough. I am thankful to my Mother in Law for being there when he couldn't be. When he came back, we moved to Kentucky. Yes, I moved with a three week year old to Kentucky. We kicked it old school and packed up the family wagon and drove over yonder. Again, Peyton was perfect the whole time, it was me who might have had a million little breakdowns. I knew that this move was best for our family and I really had to come to the realization that I married Mike and not football and home is wherever he is, but when faced with reality that moving is just a fact of life for me, is sometimes really hard (sorry, that was the biggest run-on sentence). I think I am going to blog about being a Coach's wife in my next little blog because it is a whole different ball game when you introduce kids into it. Thankfully, Peyton is only a month old and she has no idea.

We love our new home in Kentucky. I have a home! I have never lived in a home with Mike. Not to mention that it is brand new, never lived in and is super cheap. We have the best neighbors! They are all so Southern and I absolutely love living in the South, which I will totally blog about later.

5 move in 7 years. Not too shabby.