My "Perfect" Baby

I had heard tales of "perfect" babies, but I wasn't quite so sure they actually existed... until I had Tyce. Not to discredit Brek or any other babies. I love my little girl to death and am so glad she's the way she is. But it has been so nice having such a good little baby! Tyce is so calm and easy going. I was hoping for a fat, happy baby, and that's what I got! It has made having two kids a lot easier than I thought it would be.












We had his two month appointment on the 7th. He weighed 13 lb 12 oz and was 23 in long.

Silly Brek

Upon meeting Brek many people think that, and I quote..."she is such a somber child." She hardly speaks at all and sucks her thumb most of the time. Well, this is not the case. Once she is comfortable around you she is crazy! She is constantly going, going, going. And she loves to get into things she's not supposed to.

Here lately she hates wearing her diaper. She will take it off any chance she gets. Hence this video. I always catch her "looking like a fool with her pants on the ground." And if I don't catch her....well, you can imagine. I've had to wash her sheets quite a few times here recently. Now she wears "inescapable pajamas." Luckily, she hasn't quite figured out how to unbutton and unzip things (I don't teach her a lot of things for my benefit). So she wears lots of onesies to bed. Brek was really tired one day so I decided to put her down for her nap as quickly as possible. I figured she'd probably go right to sleep and the whole pajama thing wouldn't be a problem. Ha! Ten minutes later she's crying with no pants on and a wet bed.



Sleepy Brek


Oh wait! I didn't notice that at first.


One thing Brek loves to do is get diapers out of her cabinet and sleep with them. I'm really not too sure why. Maybe it makes the bed comfier.




I love my silly, crazy Brek!!!

The Many Faces of Brek Olivia

Whenever you ask Brek to smile for the picture she always ends up making a silly face. She can't just smile normal. Here are a few of her funny faces she likes to make...

Rate My Space

We recently remodeled our back room and are so proud of it. The before picture does not truly show how terrible the room looked originally. There was a big crack all the way around the room in between the wall and ceiling. The floor had stains everywhere and reeked of animal.







Brock worked really hard putting up molding and baseboards, painting the ceiling and walls, and putting in the floor. And did I mention tons of caulking? I didn't get to help out too much with the room because I was pregnant at the time. My contribution was the desk. I sanded and painted it black. I'm pretty sure it took me as long to finish that desk as it took Brock to finish the room!

We are really happy with the room and are excited to start/finish other projects around the house. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us with their time and resources.

A Texas Spring Break

Brock got a week off from school for spring break the 15th - 19th. It was so nice to have him home all day with us! Unfortunately for him, he spent lots of that time off working on the house. We did escape with my family to Copper Breaks for a couple of days though for some camping so I think that made up for it. Brek loved being outside all day long while we were camping, and I'm pretty sure she drove my family crazy with her crying to go back outside after her 2 seconds of being inside. Tyce was awesome. He hardly made a peep the whole camping trip. A big THANK YOU to my family for keeping Brek entertained and for letting us tag along.


This is a small smile from Tyce. He has been smiling like crazy here lately. We love it!


A friend came to help Brock with painting the house, and this is his son. Brek had lots of fun having a playmate for a few hours.


Playing at the park at Copper Breaks.



After having a few beautiful days of spring break, we were hit with snow for the weekend!


On the way to Nana and Papa's to play in the snow


Where did everyone go?


Prepared for the snow now!


The kids + Brock playing in the snow. :)


Daddy brought his snowball maker for the big fight. He enlisted Kacy and Hannah's help and then later turned on them... or so I was informed from the girls.


Brek loved the snow and did not want to come back inside.


This is her "Take me back outside" face.

Whoa, baby!

As anyone who has ever been around babies know, they can be quite "explosive" when taking care of business. Tyce was taking care of his business the other day and caught me off guard. I said, "Whoa!" Brek immediately followed my lead and said, "Whoa, baby!" It was hilarious, and she's been saying it all of the time since then.

Tyce is doing great. He eats and sleeps a lot and is growing like crazy. At his 2 week appointment he weighed 9lb 13oz and was 22 1/4 in long.

This morning I laid him down on the floor on his tummy and when I came back in he was on his back! So at a month old he rolled over??? I was shocked. Is that normal? I guess I need to be a little more careful where I put him now.


Home from the hospital getting ready for bed. Always lots of kisses from Brek.

When Brek wakes up in the morning or from her nap the first thing she says is "Hi, Ty." (She can't quite say Tyce yet.) Then she has to find Tyce.


About 2 weeks old


About 3 weeks old. You can kind of see his "Popeye" arms in these pictures. Brock is aspiring to look like this some day. :)




"Daddy's #1 Draft Pick"


About 1 month old.

If Tyce is ever on the floor Brek is right there. She is such a good big sister, but sometimes I have to watch out for her. She loves to grab his hands to make him do the "wheels on the bus" or try to pick him up. She's really good at putting his pacifier in his mouth when he's crying, but she likes to pull it out when he's calmly sucking on it. And even though she's a thumb sucker, I catch her sucking on his pacifier quite often.

Tyce Troy Payne

Tyce Troy Payne was born February 4, 2010 at 8:40 am. He was 8lb 7oz and 21.5in.

Early Thursday morning at about 2:00 am I started having pretty consistent contractions. I tried not to get too excited because this same thing had happened at least 2 other times. By 2:45 they were getting strong and close together. We called Mom and headed to the hospital at 3:15. By 5:00 I had my epidural and it was smooth sailing from there (p.s. those were the longest 2 hours of my life). At 8:40 Tyce was born.

As with Brek, it took us a while to figure out this little guy's name. We felt it was important for our son to have a family name, and we finally decided on Tyce Troy after his Great Great Grandfather John Troy Ball. Grandpa Troy came over from Arkansas to California years back in search of a better future for his family. It was there that they found the Gospel of Christ and were baptized. They have 3 daughters one of which is Brock's grandma Phyllis, Brock's mom's mother. With so many great men in both our families this wasn't an easy decision. Grandpa Troy has been a great example to Brock, and we think he can be someone our son can look up to and follow.

We were kind of worried how Brek would react to having a younger brother. She absolutely loves him! The first few times she saw him she just kept saying over and over, "Baby. Baby. Baby." She would give him kiss after kiss. Now that he's home she still loves him and smothers him. We have to kind of watch out for her because she is constantly kissing and hugging Tyce.


Family of Four


We love his cute, little dimple


Daddy and Tyce


Brek checking out her new brother


Tyce, Aunt Kacy, and Nana


Papa and Tyce