New Years 2013

We had a fun New Year's Eve over at my parents house.  We had a yummy Mexican/Cafe Rio dinner and just hung out.  About 8 o'clock we decided we needed it to be the 'new year' so we gathered all the kids together and my parents had a ton of hats, streamers, horns, etc.  I think we celebrated New Years about 8:04pm.  Perfect right?  It was total chaos for those few minutes but all the kids had so much fun that I had to document the cute pictures.  Christy, Emmy is cracking me up in the last 2 pictures...

After we got home and put the kids to bed Shane and I celebrated the New Year about 9:45.  I think this picture sums up our New years and year in general.  Some sparkling cider right by the the nose suctioner, bottle and kids toys.  I was in bed before midnight but actually was awake at midnight to say happy new year and then closed my eyes and fell back to sleep.

Here's hoping 2014 treats us all well!

Jaron - 5 Months

I have to hurry and do this post before Jaron turns 6 months.  Sheesh I'm behind.

Yes Jaron turned 5 months a few days after Christmas.

The biggest change this month is that he moved to a 4 hour schedule.  I LOVE the 4 hour schedule.  I was so anxious to do it that I probably did it a couple weeks earlier then I should have but I don't even care. He did great the first few days then it was a bit rough but now it is great again.  So he takes a really good long morning nap, then usually a pretty good nap in the afternoon (I wish this was a little bit better but we're adjusting wake times so hopefully it gets better.)  And then he takes a 45 min nap around dinner time.  The best part is all 3 kids are down for a nap at the same time on this schedule.  YAY!

He goes to bed at the same time as the girls now, 8pm and wakes up about 7:15am although I do have to say his needing his binky at night has gotten worse this month.  He wakes up around 5:30am for a binky then again at 6:30.  Some mornings it's more then that but it's still better then the girls were at this stage where they wanted it up to 7 times a night, all throughout the night.

We also moved him up to 7 ounces for each bottle...a lot compared to my girls who were still drinking 5 and 6 ounces.

Jaron has rolled from his back to tummy but no one has ever witnessed him do it.  I left him in the room by himself and came back in to him on his tummy.  At first I thought Siena had come into the room and done it but she wasn't paying any attention to him.  Then Shane did the same thing with no one even nearby and looked over and Jaron was on his tummy.  But we're still waiting to watch him do it.  Those are really the only times he's done it.

Jaron has started to sit up already.  In fact I took this picture on his 5 month birthday.  At 5 months he will only sit up for 10-20 seconds at a time but is doing pretty good.

Jaron is Mr. Social.  I don't know if it's because my girls had each other or what, but I don't remember them being like this at this stage...if we all leave the room, even just to the kitchen or where ever, Jaron gets so bugged that we have left him and will let us know pretty fast.  Even if he's in his exersaucer or has toys to play with.  So he has to join us for lunch, dinner, snacks, etc.  I think it's cute that he loves all the interaction and it's good because there is always a lot going on over at our house.

Christmas 2013

I'm going to try not to make my Christmas post too long, but we really did have a great Christmas.  The girls don't get the anticipation of Christmas yet, which is actually really nice, although it will be fun when they do as well.  But we did a lot of little traditions that I hope to do every year.  We watched 'Small One', looked at Christmas lights, made cookies for Santa, etc.  It was fun to see the girls experience things for the first time and start to realize what is going on.  

In fact I think one of their favorite parts of Christmas this year was our Christmas tree.  Every morning when we would get downstairs we would turn just the tree lights on and pretty soon that is what they would ask for each morning before we even got downstairs.  The day the tree got put away I could see Siena looking over at the bare spot and so I asked her where the Christmas tree was and she said 'Where is it?  I find it!'  It was cute.

Christmas Eve day we met up with Shane's mom and sister for lunch.  That night we went over to my parents and had a big turkey dinner, acted out the nativity and of course opened our PJ presents.  That was nice cuz then we got them all ready for bed before leaving my parents house.

Christmas morning was fun.  When I told the girls that Santa had come Aria looked a little afraid (she's kind of traumatized I think) but when I told her he just left the presents and isn't actually here she was fine with that.  Santa gave them cash registers, coloring books, Mickey slippers, lots of Minnie and Mickey stuff. Jaron got some new toys and some new clothes.  After feeding Jaron and making breakfast we opened up our presents...all but one.  The girls played with their toys and then after Jaron went down for his morning nap we had them open up their last present and we gave the girls each a small android tablet.  I debated getting them this but we have strict rules about when, where, and how long they can play with it and it's only loaded with educational games for now.  They love it and often ask for their tablet. So we spent the rest of the morning hanging out and just relaxing.

That afternoon we went back to my parents where we opened more presents for us and for the kids.  Then later that night we made our annual stop at Shane's brothers house to say hello to his family for a while.  It's always fun that we can see both sides of the family during Christmas. 

Merry Christmas 2013

Just posting this to keep track of our Christmas cards over the years.

Christmas lights and sickness

The first 2 weeks of December were not the best time at our house.  We had 2 weeks of sickness and it was not fun.  Aria came down with a fever the week after Thanksgiving.  Then just when I thought Siena wasn't going to get it (it had been a week since Aria first started with her fever) Siena got it.  Both lasted 4 days a piece.  Luckily they were just high fevers, no ear infection, cold, runny noses, etc.  Aria kept throwing her motrin up though which was a nightmare.  And note to self, Tylenol does nothing for the fevers, don't force it down them if it's not going to work.  Stick with Motrin.

Funny story, well funny now a month later.  One day I just gotten both girls down for a nap.  Aria was so tired cuz she hadn't been sleeping cuz of her fever.  15 minutes into her nap she wakes up coughing and I can tell she is throwing up.  So I run in there before she cries too loud and wakes Siena up.  Get her up and I realize she needs a bath.  By now she hasn't stopped crying and has woken Siena up. So I figure I might as well put them both in the bath.  So they're happily playing in the bath when all of the sudden Aria says poop and I look down and she has pooped in the tub...ugh!!  So I transferred them to my tub to wash and then I got to wash and sanitize the bathtub, toys, crib, sheets, blankets from poop and throw up, yeah it was quite a fun couple hours.

Anyways, after we were all feeling better we had to get out of the house and do something Christmasy...I was not feeling the Christmas spirit.  Although I think everyone gets sick around Christmas so maybe I should feel all Christmasy when we're sick.  We had barely even listened to Christmas music.  So we decided to go look at the lights down at temple square.  We went on a crazy busy Saturday night of the tabernacle choir concert but it ended up working out really well.  We ate dinner at the food court and then walked around.  We didn't last very long because it was cold and the girls just liked it ok.  And we had Jaron with us and I didn't want to keep him out in the cold.  But overall it was a fun night and I was glad we made it down there.

Visiting Santa

We made our annual visit to Santa this year.  This year the girls actually know who Santa is.  We had been talking about Santa and that he brings presents if you're good.  We practiced saying what they wanted Santa to bring them and then we were off to visit him.  All month long if you said, is Santa going to come bring you presents they would say 'Mickey, Minnie' every time.  That is what they wanted Santa to bring them, something with Mickey and Minnie on it of course.  I hope Santa can deliver!

As you can see, one little girl did NOT want to sit on Santa's lap, no surprise there.  But I figure 2 of my 3 children not crying was pretty good.  Next year I'm sure Jaron will be crying, but the question is, will Aria still be crying?

Jaron - 4 Months

Jaron just keeps on growing.  I can't believe I already have a 4 month old.  This time last year I was just finding out I was pregnant and now look at him.

We've had a good month with Jaron.  His biggest change this month is that we finally cut his hair.  He had a really bad comb over but I didn't want to cut it until we had family pictures taken so it looked like he had hair.  I knew when we cut it, it would be lighter underneath so I didn't want him to look bald for pictures. Here is a before and after shot.  He looks older and his face looks more round a full to me.

Look how cute he is with his haircut.  His hair is light brown but in the sunlight looks almost blonde.  And look at all the hair we cut off!

Jaron rolled over last week and now when he's on his tummy he gets so bugged if he can't roll over (he does it about 50% of the time) because he knows he can and has before.

His naps have gotten better.  We have more good days then bad but he still wakes up at least once for almost every nap.  90% of the time just putting his binky back in will get him back to sleep for the rest of his nap but we still have some work to do.  Night times are about the same but he does tend to wake up more often in the early mornings then he used to.  Same thing though, if I put a binky in it will put him back to sleep.  If he wakes up again then I go feed him so I don't get up a million times putting his binky back in.  He is sleeping from 9pm-7am.

He is just a happy boy.  If he cries it is usually because he's tired or hungry.  Rarely does he cry for no reason.

We put him in his exersaucer this month and he likes that.  I think he likes to just look around more right now then he does play with his toys but that will come.

Jaron loves to smack his lips and he'll do it over and over again for about 10 minutes.  It's the funniest thing to listen to.  Oh and the other thing he does from time to time is moan when he's tired and trying to fall asleep.  Which is good fun in church...I have to take him out, get him to sleep and then I can go back in.

His sisters still adore him, they love to do tummy time with him and their latest thing is when I stand him up to practice putting pressure on his legs, they love to come up and measure how tall he is compared to them. They've finally grown out of the I want to feed him stage...yay...and just let me feed him and mostly leave me alone while I'm feeding him.

His 4 month check up isn't for another 1 1/2 weeks so I'll have to post about that later.

My 2 - 2 year olds

I was going to title this post, 2 things about my 2 - 2 year olds.  But then I thought of a lot more then 2 things so...just a little update my my 2 - 2 year olds.

Siena:

• Is obsessed with bottles.  I moved Jaron to the larger bottles so she 'inherited' all his little bottles.  We have bottles, lids and the slow nipples everywhere.  And she is constantly asking for more bottles.  She takes the lids off and on, puts her snacks in them, lines them up, carries them around.  The one thing she does not do is try to suck on them...yay.  Shane wants the bottle fairy to come one night and take them all away but I can't do it cuz it seriously entertains her right now for a very long time.
• Her 2 favorite sayings right now are 'one more time'  I must hear this 100 times a day at least.  Everything we do we have to do 'one more time'  Read a book, slide down the slide, run around, watch a video, etc.  I've tried to teach her 'last time' but it hasn't caught on with her yet...darn the darn.  The other saying is 2 of something.  If there is more than 1, there are 2 of whatever it is.  '2 bottles, 2 monkeys, 2 Mickey's, 2 pretzels'

Aria:

• Loves to jump.  She jumps all day long.  She'll just randomly be standing there and start jumping.  She loves to jump off of her stool, small chairs, fireplace hearth, etc.  She'll jump like a frog, like a bunny or just jump in circles.  She's pretty good at it too.
• She is in love again with her little bumbo chair.  She loved it as in infant and spent a lot of time in it since she liked it and Siena really didn't.  Well I just got it out for Jaron and she'll sit in it and play for about 10 minutes.  It's pretty funny.  Here's a picture now and then.

Together:

• They are obsessed with money.  It sounds really greedy.  They have no idea what money does, all they know is they LOVE to put money in their piggy banks.  Anytime they see money laying around the house they get so excited.  So we take a lot of trips upstairs to put money in their piggy banks.  Siena always has to have '2 monies'
• They have started changing things around on me.  When I get 2 shirts out for them to wear, Aria always chooses the one Iused to have Siena wearing and vice versa.  They've switched bibs as well, so Aria now wears the pink one and Siena the red one.  They've switched chairs (which were never assigned but they gravitated to one), and often when I put their sippy cups down they do a trade.  They think they're pretty funny about it and always look to see what reaction they're going to get.  Too bad for them they aren't identical or they would be pulling switcheroo's on people for sure.
• They try to see the moon every night.  As soon as it even starts getting dark, they start asking where the moon is.  Usually Aria is the one that asks about it.  They get quite upset if it isn't out before they go to bed.  And they get really excited if they happen to see it in the morning or sometimes when you can see it during the day.
• They are sooo busy.  We got them little stools because I was so sick of them pushing my kitchen chairs around everywhere.  They love their stools and can now get into a lot more that they couldn't before.  It's driving me a little bit crazy but it's pretty funny to see how excited and determined they are in reaching things they couldn't before.  
• They're getting so much better in church and we rarely if ever have to leave and take them out.  (quick knock on wood!) They still have their moments but overall it's gotten a lot easier...just in time for Jaron to give us a run for our money.

We love our 2 - 2 year olds.  They keep me on my toes 13 hours a day straight but also keep me laughing throughout the day.  I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip to the Pumpkin patch this year.  This year turned out a lot better then last time when the girls were throwing fits at having to sit in a hay filled wheel barrow.  We had a good time sitting on the tractors and going through the little corn maze.  Aria really took charge in the corn maze leading the way and choosing which way to go.  She was pretty determined to figure out where this thing was leading us to. Jaron was hating life.  I forget how little babies have a hard time breathing when it's windy or when you blow in their face. It was a little breezy that night and and I kept hearing him grunting and acting all bugged. Then I realized that the wind was bothering him and taking his breath away.  We were sad they couldn't find the keys to the truck pulling the hay ride wagon so we missed out on that but still had a good time.

Witchfest at Gardner Village

We made 2 trips to Witchfest at Gardner Village this year.  We went on a Saturday with just our family...big mistake to go on a Saturday...what were we thinking.  It took us over 30 minutes just to get out of the parking lot when we left.  So we didn't stay long but did walk around and look at a few witches.

Then the next week I met up with Whitney, Max and Owen to take the girls on a little pony ride.  It was fun because they walk them through part of Gardner Village.  At first neither the girls or Max wanted to get on.   But after I forced Siena on and told her she will ride and she will have fun....she did!  :) Then Aria had her turn and had a great time after seeing that Siena survived.  Max eventually got on as well and had a good time too but sadly we didn't get a picture of them all together on the horses.

 This was the best shot we got of all 3...

Halloween 2013

We had such a fun Halloween this year.  Even though the girls don't really know what's coming or anticipate things yet, they totally get what is going on.

We started our Halloween on Monday night by going through a practice run of trick or treating.  We got fruit snacks and Shane went into a bedroom.  We knocked on the door and practiced saying Trick or Treat and then Thank you, walked away and repeated.  I wish I had pictures of this because seriously it was so funny. Siena screamed laughed every time we would knock on the door and Shane would answer it.  They thought this was the funniest game ever invented.  So we felt pretty confident that they were going to enjoy Trick or Treating.

Wednesday we carved pumpkins...well I carved pumpkins.  And like last year, Siena tried to take a bite of the pumpkin.  I gave her an eye I had cut out and she totally licked it and took a small bite...yuck!

Halloween morning we invited Holland, Max and Owen to come over and play.  They all wore their costumes and had a fun morning.  We did a little pumpkin craft, watched a Halloween Micky Mouse club episode and had lunch.  It was so fun and it was fun watching them all play and interact with each other.

That night we got all ready for Trick or Treating.  We had planned to only go to 5 or 6 houses but in the end the girls were having so much fun that we ended going to about 15 or so.  In between houses they kept taking candy out of their bucket and handing it to me asking me to open it.  And of course they looked so cute that they were a hit at every house we went to.  Even Jaron was as cute as can be.  Afterwards we came home and passed out candy and the girls had a fun time handing out candy as well, in between eating some of theirs.  I re-passed out some of their candy just to get rid of it since I knew some of it they wouldn't eat.  Holidays with these girls sure are getting so much more fun.