Paige is 9 months old

In addition to moving Chelsie to college, Saturday marked Paige's 9 month B-day. We had her official check up today. She did great with her 1 shot and had her finger pricke like a pro!



She is 17lbs 9.5 oz. This is a little below where she should be based on the line she was on, but the doctor thinks it is just because she is so busy and crawling all over the place.



She was 27.5 in long. She says she is still petite, but you never know- she could have a growth spurt.



She is doing most of the things she should be and a little ahead of the game in other ways. She is a smart little girl.

Chelsie moves to Bethany

We moved Chelsie to college on Saturday. It was an emotional day for most of us. I am just now starting to not be such a wreck. I am not sure if I cried because I am jealous, because I am really going to miss her, or if it is because in 18 short years my little girl will be leaving me too. Maybe it was a combination. It just seems like yesterday that Chelsie was born, so I know the years with Paige are going to fly too. Chelsie is having fun so far. I know she is right where she should be. Here are some pictures.

Dad helping her hang things.
All three sisters sitting on her bed.
A different view.
Down at the amphitheater
Mom helping make her bed.

When Mommy is away.

This is what happens when Daddy's in charge!

She licks the glass while daddy is outside.
Licking glass again
Eating something on the floor.
And just being cute.

Our new truck

OK- My last blog for the day. Sorry- had a lot of catching up to do. Justin convinced me to buy a 4X4 truck. We had been talking about buying a new truck since prices were so good. The original plan was to find one around $15,000 and take out a new loan. Then we would sell his little truck and pay off our current loan, leaving just the new truck payment. However, our neighbor sold us his 1999 Chevrolet K1500 for $2500. There is around 120,000 miles on it and a small dent. But the price was right. We had enough money saved up to put down on our next car so we just bought it. We will keep the Nissan as his work truck and this will be our family truck. Now we can go north when it snows. We can go camping. And most importantly, Justin can tow his car (When we get the tow hitch) when he wants to go to a car show. We can actually fit our whole family in this truck so it is very exciting. See the pics below.

Chelsie's Farewell Party

My parents threw Chelsie a farewell party on Sunday before they all leave for college. They rented a bouncy house (Well an obstacle course and slide) and converted the garage into a movie theater. We all had a great time acting like kids. There were many tears, but lots of laughs and smiles too. I just can't believe she will be living at college starting SATURDAY!!!!!!!

Mikaila--Testing out the slide
We got Mom on, but she got stuck
Dad's friend Pete was visiting
Even Paige loved it.
The whole gang.

Welcome Maelee Violet

Our friends Danielle & Evan welcomed a sweet baby girl into this world on Friday 8/8/08. We are so excited for Paige to have a little girl friend. Evan has been Justin's best friend for a long time and was the best man in our wedding. Danielle has become a good friend of mine and we are just blessed to have them both in our lives. We can't wait to watch Maelee grow along side of Paige.

Joseph/Tyler visit

Two of our nephews came to visit about a week ago. We took them shopping for back to school clothes (Curtesy of Grandma Rose!) and just hung out. We enjoy spending time with them. We also took them to Sweet Tomatoes, SuperFranks, Fuddruckers and Vics. Surprisingly they slept through the baby screaming in the middle of the night but the fish tank kept them up. Anyways- A fun time was had by all. We hope they can come visit again.

No sleep craziness

So Paige had her 2nd tooth come through last week. After many days of crankiness and not sleeping well, it broke through. A couple of days later she started sleeping better. We had 5 nights of sleeping bliss. Not perfect, all though 1 night she slept from 8pm-6am straight, but most nights she only woke up 1 time and Justin was able to get her back to sleep within 10 minutes tops. But last night was miserable. She woke up at 11:30 and cried for an hour. Then woke up again at 4:30 and cried for more than an hour. At that time (in my sleep deprived state), I proceeded to climb into the crib with her (Yes I fit curled up). She was making her hungry sound so I fed her. After she was done eating, I held her for another minute, climbed out of the crib. I sat next to the crib for another minute holding her hand. Then I just said, I love you but you need to sleep and left the room. She cried for about a minute and fell back asleep. But she was tired from all of the crying (And lack of sleep).

Today she did not sleep well for my mom, and has been sticking out her tongue in a weird way. We are wondering if her top teeth are now coming, but it is so hard to tell. Being a mom can be really hard.

R.I.P. Duke

So, I am not sure if I wrote too much about Duke in my blog about vacation. But Duke is my Grandma's (My moms mom) boyfriend. I am not sure how long they have been together, but I know he has been around as long as I can remember. They were never married so he never really became my grandpa and we were not too close. In my earliest memories, I made him mail (I used to make mail boxes out of paper and then draw letters for people all the time) so I must have liked him then. And as I got older, I never really knew what to do around him, but I did not dislike him or anything. There were times where I wanted him to treat my grandma better. But I prayed for him often.

So anyways, during the months before our visit he had been getting sicker and sicker. After a lot of tests he was diagnosed with Lung & Liver cancer while we were visiting. He came to Hampton Beach with us since the doctor told him it would be good for him. A couple days later, the doctors realized that Chemo would not work and told my Grandma he would have days to live. The day we left Boston, Hospice set up shop. For almost two weeks he held in there. He was in the hospital for a couple of nights and then on Thursday night they transfered him to another facility where he died a few hours later.

As I mentioned above, we were never that close. But his death made me sad in a way that I did not expect. To think that next time we visit, he will not be there is weird. Sometimes he did weird things that were actually so thoughtfull (We went to see him the night before we left and since we were going on a plane- he had to give us some magazines. He comes out of the back of the house with a travel magazine for me and a Maxim magazine for Justin. Interesting, but thoughtfull in his own way). I am going to miss always wondering what he will say or do when we see him.

The hardest part for me is seeing my Grandma go through this loss. They were together for a long time. And Massachusetts is not a Common Law Marraige state, so she was not able to do much legally. She could not even have him cremated without one of his family members. And while the plus side is that she will not be responsible for any dept he has, she is loosing the person that may be able to help her with her own debt.

So anyways- I have included a couple of pictures from Hampton Beach. He came out of his room to watch the fireworks show. Since he had forgotten his sweatshirt- he borrowed Justin's oversized Southpole one!

My Mom, The baby and Chelsie with a weird expression with Duke.
Justin with Duke. He looked good in the sweatshirt.

Here are a few more pictures from Boston/Cleveland.

Our parents all pitched in to get Nana a chair for her 80th birthday, so the all of the grandchildren (less the two that did not make it) piled on and around it while we hid it so they could surprise her.
A quick pic with her other grandparents
Who is having more fun?
Finally! A bath in a sink. Taking a shower with Mommy was getting old.
I just love this pic.

Quick Update

On Monday, Paige & I had her first swimming lessons. She had a blast. There are 5 other kids (All boys) in her class. We can't wait to go back.

We have been trying to get her to sleep in her crib again after getting her off schedule on vacation. The first few nights went well. SHe even slept from 9-5 on Saturday. But the last two nights have been tough. She has woken up for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night. Since I am trying not to feed her and I would probably end up picking her up, Justin has been going in to comfort her and I am sure this is getting rough for him. I just hope if we keep being consistant, she will start sleeping through the night.

We visited my friend from High School Renee on Sunday. She is in town visiting her parents with her son Josh. Josh is 2. But he was napping the whole time Paige & I were there. At least she got to meet and play with Paige. I had a good time. I really enjoy catching up with old friends.

I will try to post pics from Boston this week, but I have not really felt like doing much on the computer. We will see.

Vacation

Sorry I have not posted in a while, but we have been on vacation. I have not had time to upload the pics yet (Will come soon- I hope), but thought I would summerize our trip. We left on Saturday Morning (7/12) around noon and headed to Cleveland. Paige did great on the airplane. She slept for 1/2 of the flight and I was able to watch the movie Penelope. We landed in Ohio around 8pm. When we went to get our car from Thrifty and they were out of cars so they offered us a SUV for the same price. We had to wait a little while to get it, but at least it was fun to drive (And was green). We checked into the hotel and then went to my sister's house. We had pizza and hung out with all my family until a little after 11pm. After spending the night in the hotel, we woke up and went to breakfast around 10:30 AM. Then we spent the rest of the day at my sister's house, swimming and then had a BBQ. It was great for Paige to meet that side of her family and everyone loved meeting her. My nephew, Brady was just adorable- all though quite talkative. We headed to Boston the next morning. A quick flight and then we went to get our car from Thrifty again. We would have had to wait a while again for the car we reserved, and while I tried to get the same kind of SUV, they did at least upgrade us to a Chrysler 300 which was a very nice fancy "Old Man" car. Justin was happy though, but I am not sure I will rent from Thrify again. They were nice enough, but the service was not very good and when you have a baby you do not want to be waiting a long time for your car. We spent the afternoon with my Aunt Trisha, Lyndsi & Max- Then both my grandma & grandpa/Doris came over for a BBQ. We had a great time. The next day we hung out- shopped in downtown Salem. My parents got in late that night and the next morning we all headed to Hampton Beach. We took Paige to the beach for the first time (Of course she was asleep at first) awake and she put her feet in the ocean. It was still pretty cold. They had a great heated pool. We watched a fireworks show that night, but Paige did not like it very much. Too loud. We were in Hampton Beach for another night and then headed to Cape Cod. We went to dinner that night with my Uncle Rick, Aunt Cheryl, Kevin and his girlfriend and my parents/sisters. Paige threw up on Justin and I had to run to Marshalls to get him new shorts/boxers since we were on our way to a concert. I bought him red sox boxers (which he was just so excited about-Not!). We went and watched the Hyannis Sound. It is a group of 12 college age boys who live together for the summer and perform. They were accapela and awesome. The next day was my nana's 80th birthday party. Almost all of the Pidgeon family was there. Even my cousin Chris and his wife Gail who are expecting their first child any day. It was beautiful. We spent the next day shopping and hanging out with my family. Monday we got to see my cousin Patrick and went for a lobster lunch. We also went to the beach. The water was much warmer and Paige didn't want to get up. On Tuesday, we headed back towards Boston. We stopped to shop at Delias where I bought a decent amount of clothes. Then we had dinner at my grandparents house. The next day we hung out and then celebrated Lyndsi & Chelsie's birthdays with a dinner at my aunts house. Thursday we went to the John Adams houses tour and then to Fanuel Hall in Boston. Friday we headed home. Paige did well on the flight again, but Justin did have to get up with her for a little while. Overall- we had a great time. Unfortunetely, my grandma's boyfriend Duke was diagnosed with Lung & Liver cancer. They are not giving him much time. I am glad we got to see him again before he dies, but it is hard to watch my grandma loose the man she has lived with as long as I can remember. Please keep her in your prayers. We are just adjusting to California again. She got used to sleeping with us so we need to break her of that habit again. She is crawling everywhere now and our house needs a lot of help. She also broke her first tooth! I will update with pictures soon.

Here are a few of my favorites. I will add more when I have a minute.

My Nephew Brady is 7 and wanted to hold Paige all night.
Paige as a Pirate
Loving eating at my Aunt Trishas House
Daddy & Paige with their bibs
She loves the ocean.

4th of July

So, as mentioned in the previous blog, we went to a ranch for 4th of July. We swam, we ate some good food, played tennis and watched fireworks up at the cross. The Matthews have a huge ranch in San Ramon. If you have ever seen the cross on the hill from the highway, that is their property. And there was a great view of the fireworks. I thought Paige would be sleeping, but she was wide awake. And since we were not too close, they did not scare her. It was cold up there and we tried to keep her warm, but her nose is a little stuffed up this morning.

We had a good time, but when we got home CLO-E was missing. We had left her in the back patio (The side gate was locked and we still don't know how she got out). She was in trouble which is why she was outside. When we went to Wal-Mart earlier (Shopping for our vacation next week!) she had gone into Paige's room and tore up her mini blinds. Since this is a rental- that stinks even more. Plus she had gotten into a couple of other things too. So Justin put her outside and decided she could stay there. We did not think about the fact that fireworks scare her and that was probably the driving factor in her escape. So I put the baby to bed, and looked close to the house while Justin drove around calling her name. After about an hour he came home and we decided to go to sleep. She is a dark dog so finding her at 11:30 PM was nearly impossible. We left the front door cracked so she could get in if she came home. As I was writing a text message to my friends asking them to pray she walked through the front door. That is so like our dog. She never goes far from home. Usually when she gets out she sits on the front lawn.

So it was a long night! But everyone is OK.

Isn't her outfit so cute.
My sisters and I hopped in the back of a truck for the ride uphill to the cross.
Our family at the cross
A better picture
Daddy & Paige watching the fireworks- Paige took a minute to smile pretty for a picture.

Paige's first swim

We went to the Matthews Ranch (Friends of the family) for 4th of July (More on that on the next post). They recently re-finished their pool . It was not too hot but the pool was warm (I actually wished I have brought my bathing suit). So we put Paige in her bathing suit and Justin took her in. She was a little scared at first, but then she had a great time- just splashing away.

Just a little over a week until she gets to go to the Atlantic Ocean. We will be at Hampton Beach for 2 nights so she should be able to finally see the beach.

A little unsure of this water.
Daddy! Where are we?
Ok this is a little fun!
Lets never leave

New Foods

Justin was eating watermelon. After being stared down by Paige he decided to let her have a try. She just sucked away and when he tried to take it away she would get mad. Now we will have something to use the food things my Aunt got us for the shower. You put in cut up pieces for fruits into this mesh bag and they can chew on it without worrying about choking.

Visiting with Justin's Family

Last Sunday we drove to Auburn to visit with Justin's family. His "Cousins" came in from Utah to visit his Grandma's Sister (We call her Minga). Daphne is now 7 (She was 3 at our wedding and so cute) and we got to meet Zachary for the first time. They were so cute. Paige had a great time and was very excited with all of the new people/toys. In addition to hanging out, the kids played in the sprinklers, we went for a couple of walks and had dinner at Maria's (A cute little mexican restaurant). Besides the fact that we hit some road work that caused a 45 minutes delay (Causing us to get home around 11pm) with a screaming baby, we had a great time.

Kids love playing "Horsie' with Justin
She wanted to hold Paige
Chris & Michelle

Paige is now big enough and sits up well enough to go in the kid swings. We took her to the park yesterday (And today). She loved it. I have attached a video below.

She has thrush again and the hives are really bad. The hives started coming when she ate bananas so we had to cut them out and can't introduce another item until the hives are gone. So for now she is stuck with carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans and cereal. She does not seem to like peas.

Bath fun.

Thought I would post this video. She loves being squirted in the face with things.

This is it. She walked accross the stage yesterday, shook Mr. Cordi's hand and received her High School Diploma. My little Chelsie in the box is done with High school. And she is on to see what else God has for her life at Bethany College (All right- she doesn't actually leave until August- but she is so busy this summer it feels as if she is leaving next week). Luckily the baby distracted me enough or I might have shed a few tears. I still can't believe the little girl that used to beat me up and I would lock out of my room- has grown up and is now my best friend. And sisters are the best friends because they are family. And family always loves you- No matter what. Here are some pictures.

The graduate- Walking to her seat
Three sisters
Many of Chelsie's friends (A group of people that always took me by surprise with the choices they made as friends. Instead of getting wasted together, they supported each other and always had some fun event planned.)
Best Friends