La Pequena Princesa

Hey everyone! I just wanted to post a few pics of Addie. She is now 2 weeks old and she is amazing. We love her so much. She had her first check up today and she is doing great. They poked her foot and she just whimpered a little bit and then was done. She is in about the 90th percentile for height and weight (did I say pequena princesa?) and the nurse could not get over how cute she was. Her favorite things to do are eat, sleep, poop, pass gas, and make funny noises. There has only been one person who has called her a boy... I restrained myself from punching that lady in the face.

I tried to post a video, but blogspot couldn't handle it. I will try to keep up on the pics.

Little Addie has arrived!

Here is Adalyn Anne Payne. She is such an angel. We instantly fell in love with her. Krystal did really well throughout all of labor and delivery. I also did a good job of only telling a few jokes during the whole process. Addie was born on April 22nd at 5:55 pm. She was 8 pounds 2 ounces (the reason she had to be delivered by c-section) and 21 1/2 inches long. She loves to sleep during the day and stay up all night. We are so happy to have her with us. We hope to teach her and learn from her as she continues to grow.

La Casa

The Backyard

The bowling-alley sized garage

The new paint job

The new fridge and paint job

Here are a few pictures of our new lil' house. We are happy that it meets all of our needs and that it is in a very good location. Mom spent all day Friday (in very cold temperatures until the gas guy arrived) and Saturday prepping and painting for us. I was with her on Friday, after I left work, and all day Saturday. It was fun to learn from her and spend some time together. The house is looking great and should be done just in time for Adalyn Ann(e) Payne... that's right we settled on Adalyn. We wanted to make sure that all the girlies: Ellie, Natalee, Addie all had the same ending. We are hopy that Ryan and Sara will follow suit by going with Ruby.

Krystal is in the last stages of pregnancy and is retaining a lot of water. If she is on her feet for just a few minutes, they start to swell. I have only called her "Frodo Foot" a couple of times. She keeps plugging along, but if they continue to swell badly this week, she will have to be put on bedrest until the baby comes (in less than 3 weeks).

I promised more posts and this is a good start. I better finish this one so that I can get some sleep. I will get some shots of Krystal before and after having the baby.

I got to kiss her first!

Well, here is Krystal's belly. It has grown quite a bit since the last post. I was kissing the baby the other day and it was leaving the "pucker" marks, so we decided to take a picture. The mark above the lips is my nose... like any good Payne, I couldn't keep my schnauz out of the way.

We have been preparing like mad for the arrival of Baby Payne (ETA, April 19th). Half of the big room is now full of her stuff. We are very grateful to the many family members and friends that have given us such great gifts. She seems to have a pretty funny personality already. She kicks almost whenever someone puts their hands on Krystal's belly... so we know she will be an entertainer, and she responds well to my recorder playing - which shows her love for "fine" music. Momma is doing well. Her feet are swollen everyday, but she keeps plugging along. We are thinking of naming the little one either Adalyn (Addie) Anne Payne or Gracie Lyn Payne. If you have any preferences feel free to comment.

We are closing on our house in Clinton tomorrow. To fit in, we bought a gun rack, some overall's, and a chicken. We are hoping that the neighbors will embrace us even more as we try to fit in to the Clinton culture. The house is great. It fits all of our needs perfectly and we can afford it. We are happy to now be the youngest Paynes, but own the newest house (2002), although the smokey smell may add a few years to it.

I just started my new job at ThomasARTS. I am very happy there and I really like the people that I work with. This has been a great opportunity for me to learn more about the advertising world. Right now I am working on the United Health Care account. It is our biggest account (they make over 90 billion a year) so I am making sure that I don't screw things up.

Krystal is ready for the baby to come, but she is still working. She has been great during this pregnancy. She is optimistic and I can already see how much she loves her little girl. She is happy that I am finally the sugar daddy, and not just dependent on her income now. We are excited for all of the changes that are happening in our lives... even though we are doing 4 things on the "top twenty most stressful things in life" list.

Since we purchased a new camera, many more blogs should be on their way... but I seem to have said that before, so who knows.

Let it Snow...Two Weekends in a Row!

For the past two weekends we,
here in Utah, have been hit with
some major snow. Although it has
given us the "White Christmas" feel,
it has also created some extra work
for the men in the house. The first weekend Devin was the only one
in the house who wasn't disabled
in some way... (Dad's back is acting
up again, Mom was sick, and I am
great with child.) It took him two hours
to clean up the mess that nature made!

Luckily, this weekend, Dad was back in action and together it took less time to clear the snow. It is very beautiful though and we have quite the "Winter Wonderland!"

Happy Winter Everyone!!

2nd Birthday

To all the Paynes out there,

Today, the 12th, would be Solomon's second birthday. Most of you know that last year we invited everyone to serve others from the 12th to the 30th. Well we very much enjoyed the experience last year and we are going to make it tradition. It doesn't have to be large, because the small things, like Solomon, bring smiles and tears of joy to others too.

So think of others during this thanksgiving time, serve others, and be grateful! If you wish you may visit http://babysolomon.blogspot.com and post an anonymous comment, we enjoy seeing all the good being done!

We love you and are grateful for your love and support shown to us.
Love,
Gavin, Becky, and Eleanor

Darth Hannah MonPregnant Vader

Here are a few pics that I thought you'd like. Sara has been verbally abusing me for quite some time, so I decided to finally blog. You can see Krystal's lil' belly and if you look close enough you can see mine too. Things have been going great in our neck of the basement. We found out that we will be having a baby girl (as I predicted). We are very excited, but a little worried about the stiff competition (Natalee and Ellie). The hemorrhage has grown a little bit, but it has not harmed the baby.

I am a tad jealous about Gavin's Wii. I have made many attempts to get the folks to buy one , but all have been stymied. I am still looking for a place to utilize my talents and make moderate gains in the process to support my wife and unborn child. If you have any friends that want a man like me for around $40,000, I am willing. We went condo/house hunting today. We found a couple of places that we like, but we are still on the search. I have been in the basements of 66.67% of my siblings and I am fond of both of them. Gavin and Becky's is a little more workshopy, but it will d0. Let us know if any openings come about. Adios Hermanos!