Jaron turns 2

Jaron turned 2!  Some days I can't believe he's 2 but most days I can't believe he's not 3.  He acts and wants to be 3 like his sisters so bad.  He amazes me with things he does, words/sentences he says and some days I can reason with him better then I can his sisters.  But that's for another post.  This is about Jaron's big day.

We celebrated over a few days, just the way I like it.  It started Sunday with a family part at my sister Michelle's house.  We celebrated Jaron, Lilly, and my mom's birthdays.  We had a great dinner and then we had yummy cake and cupcakes.  And Jaron received some fun presents from everyone.  The girls were 'helpful' in helping Jaron open his presents.  He loved being the center of attention.  He got this Paw Patrol ball tent from my parents that all the kids love playing with.

The night before his birthday we went to Jungle Jims for his little birthday celebration.  He loves all the rides there, the bounce houses and everything about that place.  We all had a fun time watching the kids go on all the rides.

On his actual birthday we kept it low key.  We opened up some family gifts in the morning.  He got a wiggle bike, batman pj's and a fun Thomas the Train toy.  That night we had Margene and Grandma Glover over for dinner with some more cupcakes and a fun low key night at home.

Dear Jaron

Dear Jaron -  I never want to forget all the cute things my little 2 year boy is doing right now.  You are at such a fun age.  I think I've said this before and I might say this every year about you but you LOVE to act like you're the same age as your sisters.  You think (and usually can) do just about anything your sisters do.  Lucky for you that the last few months your sisters have actually started to include you in some of their playing.  You love it and hate to be left out.  You love to jump.  You jump on the trampoline as often as you can and jump so high.  You're even starting to do some 'tricks'.  You can jump off of 5 stairs as well, although I usually only let you jump from 4...it scares me!

Your favorite phrases are 'I do it' and 'Tank to Mommy'  You're saying a lot of 3 word sentences and your vocabulary amazes me.  You have no problems communicating your needs and it does make our day a lot nicer when we understand what you want.  You've just started undressing yourselves out of your PJs in the morning and started eating cold cereal instead of pancakes for breakfast.  You're actually a great drinker from a regular cup and I don't think it will be long before we do away with sippy cups at mealtimes.

You are my little sweetheart.  When I sit down to change your diaper and you run away from me, all I have to do is get you to look at me and hold open my arms for a hug and you cannot resist it, you come running every time, even though you know I'll give you a big hug and kiss and then lay you down and change your diaper.

You have loved going to nursery.  You have great nursery leaders that just got released and have never put up a fight going.  You walk right in and are so happy while you're there. 

You're a pretty good eater and will eat most of what we eat.  You love fruit.  You are addicted to candy/treats of any kind.  You know if I sneak into the cupboard what I'm doing and often yell treat at me. 

At the doctor you were 34 1/2 inches and 27.7 lbs...both in the 50%.  You are about to get your first incisor tooth.  You got your last immunization for a while and when you got poked you let out a little whimper and then immediately stopped, you're so brave.

You still have zero fear of the water.  You will jump into any pool and are pretty certain someone will catch you.  Lucky you for you I keep a very close eye on you.  Just last week you got knocked off your feet in the shallow end and I was 5 steps away, that did scare you a little, which might have been good for you!

You do have your moments of 'I'm 2 and I'll show you'.  You will throw yourself on the ground like a typical 2 year old and will yell and scream very loudly when you don't get your way but overall I can't complain, your 2 year old little self is more sweet then sour these days.

Maybe my all time favorite thing about you right now is that any time you're hurt, going to bed, waking up, or just randomly throughout the day, if I pick you up, your head lays down on my left shoulder and we get a good snuggle in.  I hope you never grow out of that...ever!

I'm looking forward to the girls starting pre-school in a week.  You and I get 4 hours of one on one time every week...I can't wait!  I love you my sweet buddy.  Thanks for being the sweetest little 2 year old boy around.

Love,
Mom

Draper Days 2015

We had such a fun Draper Days this year.  We did some things that I've been wanting to do with the kids for a few years but never did until now this year.

I took the girls and went to the Draper Rodeo one night.  It was such a fun night.  We had a cooler then normal week so it was nice to go and not be in the sweltering heat.  Shane stayed home with Jaron since it didn't start until his bedtime.  The girls kept telling me that they were going to the Radio, it was so funny.  When we got there the girls squeeled as we got out of the car and they heard and saw all the horses.  They kept picking out their favorite color horse and seriously they were acting like they were at Disneyland they were so excited.  The rodeo was fun but by far their favorite event was the barrel racing.  Aria sat mesmerized the whole time and would cheer and clap for each horse as they raced to the finish line after clearing the barrels.  As we left and drove home, both girls kept thanking me for taking them to the radio and what a fun night it was.

We of course did our annual horse ride at Draper Days.  This was Jaron's first time riding a horse and he loved it.  They all did as you can see from their smiles!

 

We also went to the Draper parade for the first time.  Each year I think I'm going to take them and it's so hot, seems like such a pain to park, find a place to sit, etc.  But this year we did and I'm so glad we did.  Jennifer put chairs our for us the night before and it was a great spot.  Cousin Abbey was in the parade and was so cute.  It was still cooler then normal for July so we weren't dying of heat and the kids had soo much fun picking up candy.  I'm pretty sure they had more candy from this parade then they did from Halloween last year!

Then of course Draper nights never disappoints.  We had a fun night listening to Collin Raye and then of course watching the fireworks.  My kids love fireworks and I'm glad they aren't scared of the loud sounds they make.

Aria gets glasses

About 2 weeks ago, I was showing Aria a picture on my phone and as I watched her look at my phone, all of the sudden her left eye went totally crossed eye in towards her nose.  Her right eye stayed straight.  I had never noticed it but as I kept looking at her that day and the next few, I knew we needed to head to the eye doctor.

As I asked her about it, she easily admitted that sometimes my eyes go all funny as she took her hands and shook them in front of her eyes.  Then the day after we went to the doctor she asked when she was getting her glasses because 'I can't eat my cupcake without my eyes going all funny.'  I felt bad that she realized it but never thought to say something until I brought it up.

I feel so blessed that when I called, someone had just called in a cancellation for the very next day.  Otherwise their next appointment was 5 weeks away!  We went in and they dilated her eyes and sure enough, Aria is now wearing glasses.  She is far-sighted, meaning she can't see things close up, which is why her eye went all funny when looking at my phone, eating her lunch, etc.  Her prescription just for my reference is right eye +3.5 and left eye +4.0

We went and picked out a pair at Walmart but because of her prescription it was going to take almost 2 weeks.  I didn't want to wait that long to get her seeing better so the next day we headed over to the mall to a store that could do them same day.  So she now has a purple pair and a Hello Kitty Pink/Purple pair.  We just picked up the pink pair tonight and those are the ones she was most excited about so I'm guessing she'll wear those most of the time.

She has been so good about wearing them so far.  Every once in a while she asks to take them off and 'take a little break' which I let her but pretty much she wears them all day and doesn't fidget around with them much.  I'm happy it's been a pretty easy transition for her and I think it helps that she realizes she can see better with them on.  The first few days she kept asking how long she had to wear them until her eyes could see better.  I think she thought she would wear them for a few days and then wouldn't have to wear them and her eyes would be 'fixed.'  Now that I've explained it a little better things are smooth.

I have to admit I feel a little sad about the whole thing.  I know in the grand scheme of things, this is such a small thing and I'm so grateful it's nothing more then just glasses.  But I feel sad that she pretty much hasn't been able to see very clear her whole life.  And by seeing how thick her glasses are, they are pretty bad.  I'm trying not to feel guilty about it but I can't believe we hadn't figured this out until now.  I also feel bad she has to always wear glasses.  I miss seeing her little innocent face and beautiful blue eyes without glasses.  I also feel sad that now the way everyone will tell Siena and Aria apart is Aria will be known as the one with glasses.  Which I guess is fine and makes it a lot easier for everyone that has a hard time telling them apart (which is a lot of people) but I just feel a little sad about the whole thing.  Anyways, there's my thoughts and emotions.  As a mom I just want to protect her from everything but that isn't the purpose of this life and isn't realistic.  But like I said, it's really not that big of a deal and she's healthy and great and happy and for that I'm grateful.

And look how cute she looks in her glasses!

4th of July 2015

4th of July was fun this year.  We started with our annual neighborhood breakfast and kids bike parade. This was the first year we participated in the bike parade.  The girls rode their bikes and we pushed Jaron in the stroller.  The night before we decorated their bikes and they would've decorated them for 4 hours if I had let them.  They took it so serious and loved how beautiful all the decorations were.  We had red white and blue colors, flowers, necklaces and even their favorite animals all on their bikes.  It was fun to have them participate and they had a great time riding around waving to everyone.

Every year Shane asks me to comb the girls hair in this star style braids but I never have.  So this year I decided to do it.  It took about 40 minutes total to get it done but it turned out so cute and I was happy that it stayed in all day.  Although it took about 10 minutes each to get all the rubber bands out that night late after fireworks with a few tears of 'it hurts!'  Still worth it.

For lunch we went over to my parents for lunch and had fun playing with everyone and then that night, about half my family all went to Sandy again for fireworks.  We always have a fun time.  Jaron particularly loved the fireworks and kept naming all the colors of each firework.

We try to teach the girls about each holiday and why we celebrate it.  This year they got pretty stuck on the flag and to this day when we see an American Flag they yell 'Mom I see a 4th of July flag!;