Fall Activity - The Zoo

I've been wanting to take the girls back to the zoo for while now.  This last week I decided I better do it before it gets too cold.  We invited Brigitte and Holland to join us and we had a great time.  When I first pulled up there was only one other car in the parking lot.  I wasn't even sure they were open.  Needless to say we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves.  It was so fun.  The girls could just run around and you weren't worried they would get lost in the crowd.  All the animals were awake and walking around and it was fun to get right up to the windows and not have kids pushing you out of the way like the last time we were there.  I didn't get any good pictures of the Monkey's or 'Muh-hees' as the girls call them.  They're kind of obsessed with Muh-hees right now so they were pretty excited to see them in real life.

Here are all the pictures from our day.

 This picture of the 3 of them crack me up.  Holland is posing, Aria is about to laugh at her and
Siena is like whatever, can we go now?

Siena's first big goose egg

With the weather being so nice and mild this month, we've spent a lot of time outdoors.  I've been trying to get the girls used to going outside in the backyard and playing without me for a while.  Although I usually am standing right there inside watching them play because it's so fun.

The other day they were going stir crazy, as was I, so I told them to go outside and play while I got their lunch ready.  Shoes on, they were out the door.  Siena turned around to say good-bye and blow me kisses.  As she did, she was walking backwards, which I didn't really notice she was until it was too late...down the stairs she went.  Luckily she fell onto her side first and just rolled down them but it was so scary to watch and of course I couldn't catch her in time.

She had a huge goose egg.  You could see the cement indentions on her forehead.  It's been so bruised and just tonight I was looking at it and it's still yellow and bruised and it's been 10 days since it happened.  Poor little girl.  Luckily she doesn't mention it or really remember it so we're all good.

Jaron - 3 Months

Jaron turned 3 months this last week.  I am in love with this age.  I feel like a rockstar everytime I look at Jaron because he always gives me the biggest smile.  He really is such a happy baby but this age when all they do is smile when you look at them is so fun.

A few things about Jaron this month:
We got his first laugh right after he turned 2 months.  He's only done it a few other times but just tonight gave me a good big laugh.
He's started saying ah-goo cooing sounds and he loves to make this raspberry sound in the back of his throat.  It's pretty funny to hear and he does it a lot.
Jaron has discovered his hands this month.  He LOVES to suck on them.  He tries to get his whole fist into his mouth and many times a day gags himself when he sticks his fingers in too far.  He's been staring at his hands a lot just this last week.

He's now taking 5 oz bottles and one 6 oz right before bed.
He's sleeping from about 9-30/10ish to 6:30-7:30 most nights.  I have an occasional early morning feeding but it's maybe once a week.  I love what a good sleeper he is at night.
His naps have maybe gotten a touch better just this last week.  Instead of sleeping for only 30 mins.  He's now sleeping 45-60 minutes straight before I have to go in there and get him back to sleep.  My goal this month is to really concentrate on getting his naps longer and more consistent.  The good news is he goes right to sleep and doesn't have issues putting himself to sleep, just staying asleep.  I've tried putting him down earlier, later, etc. and nothing makes a difference.
He's been losing a lot of hair and I think the hair now coming in is going to be a lot lighter...we'll see.
The girls have tried feeding him fish crackers and their sippy cups of water this month.  They gave him tummy time when I was in the other room and he was on the couch..luckily he didn't fall off when they turned him over.  Baby Jaron is usually one of the first things out of their mouth when they wake up in the morning and for their naps...they obviously still love him a lot!

Fall Activity - Alpine Loop/Cascade Springs

We decided to go drive the Alpine Loop this year to see all the pretty fall leaves changing colors.  The Alpine loop is so gorgeous this time of year with their bright yellow leaves that literally look like they're glowing.  We enjoyed the drive while Jaron slept and the girls watched their 'show' on the DVD player in our van...yes Mickey Mouse club.  It was a win - win - win situation.

We took a little jaunt off the main road and headed down to Cascade Springs.  I had never been there before but it was so fun.  Just a short little walk around the springs and the perfect length and amount of time for 2 - 2 year olds to burn off some energy.

We ended our night with dinner from Barbacoa in Alpine...kids eat free, love that!

This is what happens when you try to get your girls to come stand by you for a picture, they run the opposite direction and leave you by yourself...

Fall Activity - Flying Kites

For our next Fall activity we decided to go to the park and fly some kites.  We are not professional kite flyers by any means, so most of the time you'll see the kite on the ground.  The girls were pretty excited to watch the kite and even more excited to chase after it and hold it while dad reeled in the string.  Pretty soon they just wanted to go on the swings...ok fine.

Fall Activity - Dinner Outside

With the weather cooling off we've been spending a lot of time outside, trying to get our fill of the outdoors before it turns freezing.  

The other night we had such nice weather we decided to eat outside.  We don't do this very often, 1 - cuz it's kind of a pain and 2 - our backyard faces west so it's so hot in our backyard in the evening.  The girls were pretty excited to eat outside and thought it was pretty fun to sit at their little table by themselves and eat dinner, although they didn't eat much cuz they were so distracted.  But it was a fun fall activity that we enjoyed.  Even Jaron joined us.

Do you check on your children before you go to bed?

So when the girls first started sleeping through the night it was about the time I went back to work.  They were 4 1/2 months old.  I would get home around 5:30 from work and they would go to bed about 8.  So before I went to bed I would sneak in and get a little peak at them.  It was just an excuse to see them one more time because I missed them so much and had gone from spending so much time with them to only a few hours a day.  It broke my heart to put them to bed every night when I had only been home a couple hours.

Well this has led to me still checking on them every single night. I sneak in, look at them, make sure they are covered up, etc. and then leave.  Every so often they look so cute I take a picture of them.  Shane shines a bright light from his phone and I take a picture.  They don't even flinch.

I could watch them sleep for a long time.  I love watching them sleep.  But the question is, is this normal?  Do you check on your children every night?  At some point I'm going to have to stop because I don't think when they are teenagers they are going to appreciate me sneaking into their rooms, shining a bright light in their face and especially not taking their picture.  But at what age do I need to stop?

Ok, this has just been on my mind lately, but just for your enjoyment here are a couple pictures I've taken of them lately.

Siena loves to sleep with blankets over her head, much to my dismay.  I always remove them, I can't justify walking out of the room with a blanket over her head.

Aria loves to hold on to her stuff...her doll, her books, etc.

And Jaron, well he likes to be swaddled, or so his mom tells him.