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?