Random Picture Happenings

I wanted to post some random pictures I've taken over the last little while that I thought were pretty cute/funny/interesting.

Sometimes Siena only crawls in a straight line, if Aria is in the path, she goes up and over Aria.  Aria doesn't really like it but I think it's hysterical.  She keeps looking at me like "help"...which I do, but not until after I take a picture.

I finally put Aria's hair in a little pony tail.  Obviously I need a lot of practice to make it look cute but I was surprised how high it stuck up.

Yes Siena...and Aria both still love my phone.

Aria's favorite toy though is actually the changing mat.  She'll play with this for a long time without getting bored.

Aria...and Siena love Jennifer's cat Sox.  Aria tried for a long time to get ahold of her tail and finally did it!

A couple week ago Siena woke up crying about 10:15pm right as we were getting ready for bed.  Not sure what woke her up but I'm pretty sure she thought she had just taken a nap and was ready to get up and play.  Which she did for 2 1/2 hours!  She was so tired  but would not go to sleep.  In the middle of this play time, my sister Christy called me and told me to take a picture of her.  Which I did, smiling away. However, within about 2 mins it went from smiling to crying for no reason at all.  Talk about a 180.

We haven't found a gate long enough (for what I'm willing to pay) to fit our play area we've set up for them.  So when Siena started crawling before getting that strong, we set chairs across the doorway to block her way.  It worked for a while but as you can see she wanted out.

We gave both girls fresh pineapple and a pickle to suck/chew on.  I was so excited to see the funny faces they were going to pull only to be disappointed that they loved them both and didn't make one funny face.  They both protested loudly when it was gone and I took it away.

Family Adventures

We started a little tradition that I keep meaning to blog about but haven't yet.  Since it's been warmer the last few months, we've been trying to get out more and go places with the girls.  So each Saturday after their afternoon nap, we have 'Family Adventure' time.  We try to go someplace fun.  So I thought I would start blogging about a few of the places we've been to keep them documented.

I do admit however, some of our 'family adventures' involve just running errands, it depends on the week.  Not as fun but they're just as happy to be out and about and don't really know the difference yet.

Wheeler Farm
So I've been to the Wheeler Farm barn for many events before, but I have actually never walked around Wheeler Farm.  So we took a stroll around and looked at the many animals there.  It was pretty fun and the biggest hit I think were the chickens mostly because they moved a lot, were eye level to them and came right up to the fence.

Silver Lake - Brighton
Last time I was at Silver Lake, I was HUGELY pregnant...see post here.  So it was fun to take the girls back for their first look at Silver Lake.

We took a stroll around the lake.  It was perfect weather and fun to get out of the city for a couple hours.  After we walked around the lake we sat at a picnic table and ate lunch and fed the girls some graham crackers and watermelon.

Concert in the Park
We went to a Peter Breinholt concert in the park.  It was their first concert and I think they're a Peter fan already.  It was fun to hang out on the grass and although we stayed way passed their bedtime they were happy and good the whole time.

Other family adventures have included, the park to swing, the mall and Jennifer's house so we could have a 'family adventure' without the girls.  More family adventure posts coming soon.

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day this year.  It started with Shane sleeping in and then being served cinnamon pull apart bread for breakfast in bed.  We had to kick the girls out of bed cuz they kept trying to grab our food as we ate it. We went to church and then over to my parents for dinner where we had yummy tri tip steak and chocolate cake for dessert.  Over all it was a casual fun day to celebrate all the Father's that do so much for their families.

I wanted to post a few pictures with Shane and his girls.  Shane is such a good dad.  I was thinking back to when they were born and we were in the hospital.  Siena stayed with us in our room and Shane became a professional at changing diapers and swaddling Siena.  I remember the first night I went to sleep and Shane was trying to get some work done and I remember waking up one time and Shane was sitting there holding Siena in one arm and typing with the other hand.  Even though she was sound asleep and he could've put her down just fine, I loved watching him hold his little girl.  Then Aria was in the NICU and we would try to go down there for each of her feedings every 3 hours.  I would go up until the 10:00pm feeding and then try to get some sleep.  But Shane most nights would go back for the 1:00am feeding.  I think he loved the quiet time at night and spending some one on one time with his other little girl.

Since then he has fed, changed, taken care of, held, and played with his girls non-stop.  He really is the primary care taker in our house most days since I am at work.  He does this without complaining and I think he actually enjoys it.  He's always helping them to move to the next milestone in their development and reports their progress to me often.  I love that he is so involved in their lives and he tells me often and you can see just how much he loves them.  In fact, just this morning he asked me 'are we just those parents or are our kids really this cute?'

One other story about this next picture.  While we were in St. George with my whole family in April, you'll remember both girls got sick.  Well Siena felt the worst and one afternoon hadn't taken a very good nap, was cranky and just miserable.  Shane picked her up and found a quiet spot in the house (only 1 room wasn't being used, the office), closed the door and sat there for over an hour holding her, and letting her just look out the window.  I think she just needed a little time away from it all.  I thought it was so cute that I had to snap this picture of them.  It was taken through a glass door in the dark so it didn't turn out great but still you get the idea.

And a final note about my dad.  The day before Father's day I went to a funeral for a friend whose dad had died.  It made me reflect on how grateful I am for my dad, his example, friendship and all he does to make sure his kids and grandkids are all taken care of.  He doesn't think twice about driving over to drop something off, help us with our cars, or whatever it is.  He is constantly helping us all out.  I'm grateful he lives so close so my girls can see him and my mom often.  He loves to make them laugh and always stops what he is doing when we come over to play with them and all his grandkids. I love watching him interact with my girls.

9 months

The girls were 9 months last week, another month has flown by.  I had 2 work trips out of town this month that sped up the month that much more.  The girls had their 9 month check up and everything was great.  Here is some information about them.

Both girls are taking really good naps now. It's nice to get through that stage of them waking up after 30 minutes. They are both in LOVE with my phone and when they see it they can think of nothing else until I let them hold it, even if I try to put it out of sight. Then if I give it to them they object loudly when I take it back from them. I'm trying to be better about leaving it in the other room so they just never see it. Both girls went on hunger strike this month. All of the sudden they decided to drastically reduce the amount of formula they drink. I thought of everything from sick, to teething to feeding them too much solids. After talking to the doctor this month they are just fine and she said not to stress about it. They've been doing a little better this week so we'll see how things continue.


Aria
Weight - 17lbs 11oz. (35%)
Height - 28.5 inches (80%)
Head - 80%!  Whoa...that's a big head for such a little girl.  How did she get such a big head when she had the tiniest little head when she was born.

Aria is babbling a ton.  She starting saying ya ya ya ya and then it's turned into ba ba ba ba now.  It's so cute to listen to.  Aria is rolling all over the place and has finally started sleeping on her side and occassionally her stomach although I think she still sleeps on her back for most the night.  Aria is also scooting in circles but is not making much forward progress in her scooting yet.  She's getting there though.  I can't remember if I mentioned this last time but she sucks on her bottom lip constantly.  Thus her smiles with her mouth closed.

Siena
Weight - 19lbs 3oz. (50%)
Height - 29.5 inches, completely off the charts
Head - 55%

Siena started crawling on all 4's 2 weeks after Mother's day. And she has never looked back. She crawls all over and most often finds herself crawling towards her dad's office for a visit.  She loves exploring with her new freedom and she even lifts herself up to her knees. She hasn't quite figured out how to pull herself up to a standing position. Siena constantly makes the funniest sounds, not really babbling like Aria but will breathe in and out really loud or do these little screams that are so funny.

We love these 2 girls so much I sometimes still have to pinch myself I feel so lucky.

First Sleepover

When I first thought of taking Shane out of town, I called Jennifer and ran the idea past her.  Without hesitation, and without even checking her calendar, she said she would love to watch the girls over night.  In fact she called me back and told me we should stay 2 nights because she wanted to take the girls to church to show them off.  I told her she could take them to church anytime she wants to.  She totally took me up on that offer and took them that Sunday.  Single mom of 4 kids and she volunteers to take 2 more!

I told Shane our plans a few days before by giving him a letter from the girls.

Dear Dad:
Guess what? We get to have our first sleepover this weekend.  We're having a sleep over at Aunt Jennifer's house.  Mom has planned a little one night get away for just you and her on Friday night.  Although it would be fun to be in Park City, we are so excited to have our first sleep over.  Aunt Jennifer is so excited and has been talking to us about it for weeks.  Aren't we good at keeping secrets?

Make sure you get all your work done by Friday morning so you and mom can have a fun, relaxing night away from us.  We hope you get to sleep in really late.  We promise to be good for Jennifer.  We will miss you but know you will have fun spending time with just mom.

We love you!
Love, Siena and Aria

So the girls were so excited for their first sleepover, as you can see from this picture with Jennifer.  In fact her daughter Kali was so mad she had to go to her dad's Friday night and wanted to stay home to help watch the girls. 

I was so busy this week that I didn't have time, nor did I think Jennifer reallly needed it, but I didn't write down one instruction for her.  I just handed everything over, verbally kind of told her how much to feed them and that was it.  Of course they had a great time and Jennifer is always so good to them.

They went to a track meet to cheer on Cameron.  Jennifer's girls gave them 'horseback' lessons on Abbey's huge stuffed horse.  They played with their cat Sox and loved all the attention they got.

We of course called and checked up on them and everything went so smooth that I didn't have to worry at all and knew they were in good hands having a great time.  She always remembers to tell me every cute thing they do and funny things that happen. 

When I called to tell Jennifer we were on our way over to pick the girls up, she was so funny.  She said 'I was just packing their stuff up and I kind of am getting a lump in my throat.  I have just loved having them this weekend.'  How can you not love that when whoever is watching your girls says that?

A huge THANK YOU to Jennifer for not only watching the girls, but loving every minute, and taking such good care of the girls. I love you and the girls love you and LOVE being with you.

SleepMoon

When you get married...you go on a honeymoon.  When you're pregnant and want to go on one last trip before your baby is born...you go on a babymoon.  Well what do you call the first trip you go on without any kids?  I asked Shane that and he gave the following options.  Peacemoon, Heavenmoon and Sleepmoon.  So we went on a Sleepmoon this weekend.

After going on 2 business trips and a girls weekend and sleeping in total silence those nights, I knew Shane needed a little get away as well.  So I planned a surprise night away up in Park City.  Another post coming on what the girls did while we were away.

I took a 1/2 day off from work and after getting everyone packed up and ready we headed out.  Our first stop was right in town for a matinee movie.  We saw Avengers.  It was pretty good, and fun just to go to the movie in the middle of the day.

We then headed up to Park City, checked into our hotel at The Canyons resort.  Our hotel room was perfect.  Quiet and comfortable.  When I was looking for where to stay, all I wanted was a comfortable bed.  We scored on that.  Park City was pretty quiet in general and so we had a nice quiet hotel room.

We went to dinner at Baja Cantina, walked around Park City Main St.  Then we headed back to our hotel room, sat in the hot tub, tried out the Sauna and then watched a movie we rented.  Then we went to sleep and slept and slept and slept.  I woke up at 7am on the dot, thought of the girls probably waking up right then and rolled over and went back to sleep.  It was so relaxing.  And then even when I woke up I just laid in bed dosing.  When we finally got up and ready we shopped at the outlets (bought the girls a lot of really cheap clothes on sale...score!) and then we went to lunch and came home.

Overall it was a GREAT trip.  Only about 24 hours long but fun to spend some one on one time with Shane and one really nice nights sleep.  Don't get me wrong, the girls are sleeping great but they wake up at 7am every morning so really it was nice to just sleep in!

Memorial Day

 We had such a nice Memorial Day this week.  Most the weekend was rainy and cool, so we were happy to wake up to some sun on Monday.  I was mostly happy I didn't have to go to work.  We hung around most the morning.  In fact I think I took a long morning nap when the girls took their morning nap.  It felt soo good.

That afternoon we drove up American Fork canyon and decided to hike around Tibble Fork Lake.  This was the first time we've gone on a hike with the girls.  We were excited to finally use our backpacks for more than just around the house.  The girls loved it.  I carried Aria and I'm pretty sure she never stopped kicking her legs, running in place, the entire time.  So although they didn't hike, I'm sure they felt like they did.  It was really pretty up there and we had a great time.

After our hike, we went over to my parents for a bar b que.  It was fun to hang out and just relax.  We played games outside and just sat around.  I keep trying to get the girls to be ok sitting on the grass.  Siena did a little better this time, but as soon as Aria's feet hit the grass she burst into tears.  In fact it was kind of funny how fast she would start to cry as soon as her feet hit grass and then stop when we lifted her feet up.

We really wore the girls out as you can see from the picture of Aria.  Just before we were leaving to drive home we sat her down next to me and within about 1 minute she was out.  It didn't matter that there were over 10 people in the room all talking and laughing, she was done.