The Kugler Family Adventures: Payton Turns 4!! And A "Hoppy" Easter 2014...

I can't believe our baby, first born, is already 4. She has been looking forward to turning 4 for quite some time, as most of her friends at school have already had their birthdays. Here are some fun facts about Payton at age 4:

-45 pounds (95th percentile), 44 inches tall (way off the charts)...her doctor estimates her to be at least 5'7'' to 5'8." Carowinds should be a lot more fun this summer!
-Wearing 5T and now size 6 clothing, and a size 12 shoe
-When she colors, she can mostly stay in the lines
-She can write most of the letters in the alphabet, and can write her name pretty well, and some numbers (when she concentrates)
-Very inquisitive. She and Griffin both always ask me how to spell words
-Is taking Spanish once a week at school and knows most of her colors and numbers, almost to 20! She can sing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish
-She can recognize many written words, spell some shorter words (dog, cat, mom, dad, car, etc) and all of her friend's names from school
-She's getting a little more coordinated (think puppy getting used to long legs), and is doing really well in soccer, tap, and ballet.
-She (and Griffin too, actually) knows her address...still working on phone numbers.
-She's very into giving hugs and kisses to friends and family
-Has a very bad attitude sometimes.
-Is still taking about an 1 1/2-2 hour nap each day
-Still sucks a finger when she's tired
-Starting to manipulate Mommy and Daddy a little, and asking for the other one when she's in trouble with one of us.
-Favorite movie (like every other little girl in American) is "Frozen"
-Loves going to school and loves her friends from school. I'll be sad when they get split up for kindergarten
-Loves eating sushi
-Uses the word "disgusting" a lot, and has a pretty advanced vocabulary.
-Gets herself dressed most days
-Still wears a pull-up to bed at night, and wakes up most mornings wet
-Loves to wakeboard, snowboard, and ride her Razor scooter...not really into riding her bike yet, but probably because we don't have a nice flat area for her to practice
-Always prays about Emma dog and asks God to let her come home :(
-Extremely independent, hard-headed, and opinionated (have NO idea where that comes from!)
-Rarely gets sick, but has frequent (bad) nose bleeds. Nothing of concern as of yet, and she can recognize when they are starting (so we mostly avoid staining her clothes and catch it when it starts)

4 Year Old Annual Well Visit With Dr. Nguyen....

Big girl gown!

Big Boy Muscles

2 Shots. Not Cool.

She says she wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up. Baby Girl, I hope you are! You'll be great!

Here are a couple of pictures I took to use on her birthday invitation...it was cold this particular morning, but she was a good sport!

Her birthday began at school, where we provided Krispy Kreme donuts for everyone. She got a birthday candle, a crown, and everyone sung to her. She felt like a princess, for sure!

The evening was spent with just the birthday girl, Brian, Griffin and me. She chose to eat sushi at Cowfish, where they sung "Happy Birthday" to her and she got a very large piece of cake. Then she arrived home to her room filled with balloons and presents.


Being 4 is rough!!

She slept all the way home. I asked her if she wanted to wait until the next day for presents, and while she was still groggy and waking up, she actually shook her head yes. Then I think it hit her...she woke right up and ran down to her room to this:

She has ridden her scooter almost every day! She can't wait to take it to the beach to ride with the Bradley girls!

Excited to receive her very own copy of "Frozen!"

Sweet Mother-Daughter Moment

The following Saturday we had Payton's birthday party at Ray's Splash Planet. Everyone said they had a wonderful time! It was a crazy fun place for the kids! Big thanks to Brian for getting the kids, and supplies, there for the party on time. I had just run the Racefest Half Marathon, and was scrambling to shower, pick up food, (try to walk, haha), and get there, which I managed to do almost on time. (Sidenote: I set another personal best time at my race, which was very surprising since I didn't properly train. I finished top 12 in my age bracket! For my records, I did it in 1:49:29...I cut about 5 minutes off of last year's personal best!) Here are many of the pictures I took at her party:

Payton's "sister" Chloe, and her twin, Sierra

The adorable Milani, or Little Phillip (she looks identical to her daddy!)

With Chloe

Daddy and Payton having a blast swimming around

Griffin loves Milani

Um, not quite sure what's going on here...looks like he's trying to eat her nose, ha!

"Baby" Roman

Granby and Grumps

Sweet Sunshiny Mattie

Me with Riley, my "first" born...and now she's almost 14 and taller than I am! She's a gorgeous young lady!

Morgan, Riley's younger sister

Griffin and a fearless Milani

Roman's first time down a slide, and was a little unsure he wanted to do it again!

Jake thinking about karate-chopping the fountains

Sam!

Fynn! Payton's second boyfriend (Lawton was her first)

Definition of Relaxing (that's a size 6 bathing suit, by the way!)

Branner

Sierra and Chloe

Lauren, Branner, and Sierra

Mattie, getting rained on

Fynn and Pav

Milani (who bumped her head but is tough as nails) and her pretty momma, Lachelle

I sneaked up on this moment...Griffin kept manipulating Brian's face. It was cracking him up, and he was laughing hysterically

The birthday cake Daddy made for Payton's swimming birthday party! He couldn't find figurines, so gummy bears did the job!

There was no shortage of cake! This is the one I ordered for her big day. Both were yummy and we got so many compliments.

My girls

Riley, Payton, and Cate

Candy buffet!

Griffin spending some quality time with Julie

♪ "Happy birthday to youuuuuu!" ♪♪

Getting a little help from her "sister," Payton and Chloe blow out her candles

Missing about 4 kids, but we managed to get most of them together all at once (with the bribe of birthday cake, of course!)

Happy birthday Princess Payton! I'm glad you felt like this was the best one yet :) You are growing up to be such a beautiful and (mostly) sweet young girl. Brian and I are lucky to get to be your parents! We love you, and we know we'll enjoy watching you grow up into a successful, wicked smart, gorgeous lady!

And, after a VERY RAINY Saturday, we had a beautiful and happy Easter. The kids cooperated quite nicely for a late morning photoshoot (with candy bribes, of course), then we had an Easter egg hunt with a few friends. After naps, we went on the lake since both kids have been begging me all week to get out there, and had a cookout with friends.