Summer 2014 Roundup

Since we are officially well into the fall season I realized I never got around to some fun summer activities we did this summer.  So here's a quick run down with lots of pictures so I have them documented for my family 'scrapbook'.

We ate breakfast outside.

We fed the ducks...the girls loved seeing the little baby ducks.

Who knew that plastic cups could entertain toddlers for so long.  In the middle of summer when it was just too hot to go outside, these kept the girls entertained for an entire day and then some for weeks afterwards.  I put them up so I can get them out this winter.

Jaron wanted to join in on some summer fun around the house.

We pet grasshoppers...yes...they actually touched them...eew, I'm so not a fan of jumpy things. But I did my best to not interfere with their discovery.

We spent a lot of time in our back yard and Jaron is loving the slide and swing as well.  Jaron LOVES being outdoors and gets so mad when the girls go outside and I don't let him go out as well. His love for water has never diminished and would spend all day at the water table if I would let him.

We have lots of 'drawings' on our sidewalks.

Our passes expired at the aquarium part way through the summer but before that we went almost weekly to run around.  Favorite parts were running down the ramps and the penguins.  Although I think Aria asked to see dolphins every time we went.  Still to this day when we pass the aquarium on the freeway Aria without fail says 'Hi Ocean'

We drove down to the newly renovated Monte L Bean museum twice with family.  The girls loved looking at the big animals and probably the tiny slide might have been their favorite part.

And we took our annual trip to the zoo after school was back in session.  It was so fun and we loved seeing the new African exhibit and even got to watch the Lion being fed.

But the all time favorite activity of the summer might be petting the horses across the street from us. All 3 of my kids of NO fear of the horses.  Jaron squeals when he sees them, the girls walk right up and pet them and the only melt down we get is when the horses are too far away and don't walk over when the girls want to pet them.

Sad to see summer come to an end but we are loving the cooler weather as well.

Happy 3rd birthday Siena and Aria

Before I forget, since it's been well over a month, I need to document the girls 3rd birthday.  This year was so fun.  They started talking about their birthday about 3 months before.  I had to tell them they had to wait for Jaron's birthday, then my birthday and then it was their birthday.  They started listing all the things they wanted for their birthday and it was just watching the anticipation.

Becoming 3 in their minds meant they are now officially 'big girls'  Don't worry, I've used that A LOT to convince them to do something, eat something, etc.

I made them blueberry muffins that morning for breakfast which they just thought was a cupcake anyways.  Then they were so excited to see their presents all wrapped in each of their favorite colors Aria (red) Siena (pink)  And it just so happened they were getting 3 presents on the day they turned 3. They didn't realize there was a 4th present I didn't wrap.  We got them new bicycles with training wheels.

We took them to a flat parking lot and let them ride around.  It's taken them a little while to learn to start, stop, keep peddling, etc. but they finally have the hang of it.  And since we've had such nice weather since their birthday we take a loop around the neighborhood almost every night after dinner.

We met my mom and Jennifer for lunch that day since it was also Jennifer's birthday and they got Doc McStuffins stuff from Jennifer which they love.  The Sunday before we also had their family birthday party and my parents gave them Anna and Elsa dolls from Frozen which they are also obsessed with.

That night we took their scooters and went to Classic Skate and had pizza.  It was just our little family and it was a fun way to celebrate.  They loved riding their scooters around and did better then I thought they would.

For about 2 weeks after, almost every morning when I would go into their room they would say 'Mom, I had a good birthday.'  Then it turned into 'Mom, it's my birthday, I'm 4!'  Yeah nice try.  They have a long ways to wait until they turn 4 but it's safe to say they take their birthday as one of the best holidays yet, they must take after me, cuz this isn't a trait they get from their dad!

Dear Siena

Dear Siena -

Oh my crazy 3 year old Siena.  You make our home crazy, fun and full of life every day.  You love to make us laugh and if you know we're laughing you will do it over and over again.  Sometimes you start laughing at yourself and I'm not even sure why.

You love to talk.  You talk and talk and talk all day long.  Sometimes repeating things 5 and 6 times even after I've answered your question.  You do not like to use quiet voices and when I ask you to use a quiet voice you say the next sentence quietly and then you're back to full volume.

You love to learn.  You ask lots of questions on what things are and have quite the little curious mind.  While Aria loves to color you would rather stack blocks, make something or do a page in a workbook.

'What game should be play mom?' is often a question you ask when you want something new to do. You love games and just about anything you do is a game to you.

We are still working on being accident free on the potty and I'm not sure if you just get distracted and don't think about it of if you really have some issues we need to work on.  It might be a little combination and we're working on it and you love to get stickers and beans in your bean jar for keeping your panties dry.  We'll get there I promise.

'I'm just fine mom' is one of my favorite phrases you say when you trip or if I think you need something.  You are independent and can be quite stubborn at times as you learn the ways of life.

You also love to sing and when we're in the car and you see the temple you break out into "I love to see the temple" only to stop the car when we go around the corner and you no longer see the temple...only to break back into song as you see the temple again around the next corner.  It's pretty funny my cute girl.

You are obsessed with having choices.  You always ask what your choices are, and you can't just have 2 choices, you always ask for 3 choices...whether it's which bathroom to use, what to do, what to wear, or whether you want to help or go to timeout, you thrive when you hear me list out your choices.  Most the time you always pick the correct choice that you know will make me happy.

You have become more reserved and shy around others.  You decided to swap roles with Aria one day and where you used to be fine in situations that made Aria nervous, you now get nervous and always ask me to 'stay with me'

We transitioned you and Aria to big girls beds a couple months ago and it actually solved a few night sleep issues you were having.  You love your new bed and seem to sleep better.

And, yes my big girl, you are still teething.  We have 1 incisor left and 3 back molars.  You might be 10 before you lose your first tooth! :)

You love to go to the library and 'buy books' and are always sad when we take them back so other boys and girls can read them.

I love you my smiley crazy girl and can't wait to see you learn and grow this year.

Love,
Mom

Dear Aria

Dear Aria -

My little Aria.  Where to start to tell you all that I love about your 3 year old personality.  My favorite thing you do right now is sing.  You sing everything you can think of and many times during the day I find you off by yourself singing away.  You love for me to sing you songs but more often you love to sing yourself.  You even sang during the Primary program this week even though you were just in the audience.

You love horses.  The horses that live at the end of our street are your favorite horses.  You talk to them, tell them where we're going, tell them to have a good nap, dinner, lunch, etc. and would pet them 5 times a day if they and I would let you.

You love to color.  Often you will just climb up to the table and start coloring away.  You're getting better at holding the crayon the right way and even now attempt to actually color in the lines a little.

You do not like to play with Jaron and often take out your frustrations on him.  You don't want him in 'your playroom' and slam the door in his face more often then I can count.  He just wants to be like his big sisters and yet you just want to play without him.  One day I'm sure he'll be more fun.

You are perfect in going to the bathroom.  You never have accidents and are very good about stopping what you're doing for a bathroom break.

You favorite movies/shows are Little Einsteins, Winnie the Pooh Heffalump, Frozen, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake and Tarzan.

You love to run errands with mom and your favorite store is Costco so you and your sister can both sit in the front of the cart (only when Jaron stays home with Dad)

We're working on getting you out of the whining stage and using a big girl voice and that is one thing I won't miss when you grow out of that.

You love your dance class and in general have become not as dependent on mom and shy around others.  You actually will say hi to most people and don't seem as timid.

Most of all I love that you still love to cuddle with mom, hold her hand going down stairs and sitting on my lap whenever you can.

My favorite saying right now that you say is 'Oh my goodness'  I giggle every time I hear you say it.

I love you my little 3 year old Aria and can't wait to see all the things you'll learn this year.

Love,
Mom

Big Girl Beds

It was time, I knew it but both Shane and I were in total denial. The girls are almost 3 and except for once have never climbed out of their cribs.  I feel lucky.  So we decided to make the switch.  I found some cute bed sets and we got their mattresses and an actual bed with 2 little drawers underneath.

Shane spent all day getting it ready while I washed sheets, bedding, blankets and kept the kids mostly out of the room.  On top of assembling 2 beds, which took quite a while, Shane also had to dis-assemble 3 cribs and re-assemble one...I wanted to keep the nicer of the 3 cribs for Jaron, so Jaron got a newish crib too.  It was a long day but finally we got it all done.

I didn't let the girls see their beds until they were all made and they were sooo excited to walk in and see their big girl beds.

Overall it hasn't really been that bad of a transition.  They got up the very first night which was pretty funny cuz I could hear them in the hall saying 'shhh be quiet' like we wouldn't know they were up.  Aria fell out of the bed the first night but since then neither of them have fallen out.  It takes them a little longer to fall asleep and they wake up a little earlier but stay in bed so I just let them talk in there.  I did have to take a pack n play in their room the other night when they wouldn't fall asleep and they went hysterical at the thought that they couldn't sleep in their big girl beds.  They went right to sleep after that threat and have every night since then! :)

They look so cute and grown up in their big girl beds now and I think they like feeling like big girls as well.

Although I'll miss walking in to this greeting...

Jaron - 12 Months aka 1 Years Old

A year old!  Our little cutie is a year old.  Jaron continues to be a happy, smiley little boy.  Everyone comments on how smiley and happy he is.  I of course love that anyone can look at him and he usually gets a big old cheesy grin on his face.

I LOVE his 1 year old pictures.  And I have to brag and say I took them myself.  I'm not a photographer but I was so sick of paying for pictures when my children wouldn't smile for a stranger.  They smile for me better then anyone else so I decided to try it out on Jaron's one year pictures and although I'm not the best editor and have a decent camera but not some super fancy camera, I think they turned out great.

Despite it not being his best month because of hand foot mouth, he still managed to hit a few milestones.  He got his 2nd tooth, (first one on the top) and he was teething while being sick which probably just added to his misery and not wanting to sleep. He got his 2nd tooth on top the day after his birthday.

He is obsessed with waving.  All the time when he's eating lunch or breakfast I'll just look over at him and he'll start waving to me.  It's sooo cute and I can't help but wave to him a lot during the day just so he'll wave back.  He even waves to people at church as they walk by to leave the room.  Everyone always cracks up when he waves to them.

I got this box from out basement intending to build a blockade for the stairs and Jaron loves it..  He crawls into and will just sit there playing for a long time.  So now when his sisters won't let them in their play house, he just crawls into his box.  I tell the girls that the box is Jaron's play house.  Of course as soon as they see him playing in it, they also like to play in it with him.  So much for the blockade I was going to make, but...

Jaron learned to turn around and crawl back down the stairs.  Thank goodness because he is obsessed with the stairs.  He would spend all day on them if we let him.  We've finally just stopped blocking the stairs because he's pretty safe and he can get around any blockade we put up.  The only problem now is he thinks he's more stable then he is because he likes to stand up and hold onto the railing and put a foot up or down the next stair like he's just going to start standing and walking up and down the stairs.

2 days before his 1st birthday Jaron took his first steps.  It was only 3 steps but he did it a couple times and we were all there to witness it so it was fun.  He can also stand up on his own in the middle of a room without holding onto anything and he's so proud of himself.  In fact so proud that many times he stands up and claps for himself.  He obviously knows how excited we are for him with every thing he does.

His sisters call him Buddy.  You'll always here him say 'it's ok Buddy, no Buddy, or come on buddy'  It's cute to hear them talking to him more even if they still do scream at him a lot and slam doors in his face when they don't want him around.

Jaron had his 1 year appt. the week after his birthday...

Weight - 21 lbs 2 oz (50%)
Height - 31 inches (90%)
Head - 75%

He is healthy and right on schedule for his milestones.  At the end of the appt. his doctor said she can tell he's just a happy, healthy baby and don't we all wish for that.  I agree, I don't have any concerns or major issues with him right now and he is such a cute little boy that we love having in our family.

Jaron's Birthday Celebration

Jaron had a great first birthday.  The girls helped me make pancakes for him that morning. He loves pancakes, even without the syrup.  We then gave him his first present, a slide and little climb on toy.  He loves it.  Jaron is such a climber that I knew he would like it and sure enough he climbed right up it and plays with it all the time.  The girls of course think they have first rights to it but I keep reminding them it is not theirs and they need to let Jaron play on it.

We also gave him a small basketball hoop which I didn't think he would care about that much until he could walk more but I have him hold the ball and hold him up to the basket and he drops it in and just giggles his head off, he thinks it's the funniest thing.  When he's standing he'll even hold the ball up over his head to try and make a basket but hasn't been able to do it yet.  I'm sure he will as soon as he can walk with a little more stability.

That night we had a little party for Jaron with dinner, cake and presents.  I went with a monkey theme for his party and I think it turned out cute.  I found the idea for his cake on pinterest and I thought they turned out really cute.  I made everyone cupcakes and then Jaron got his own little 4 inch round cake.

Everyone was so nice and gave Jaron the cutest presents.  He is loving all his trucks, books, and toys (I love the clothes), and of course the girls are enjoying them all as well.

 

Jaron LOVED his cake.  I remember the girls at their party wouldn't touch their cake.  First went the marshmallow eyes and then Jaron just picked up a nilla wafer and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth.  I couldn't believe it fit in his mouth let alone he chewed it and swallowed it without choking.  Then he just kept eating and eating until almost the entire cake was gone.  Lots of pictures coming up, you can just skim, I couldn't narrow them down cuz I just think they're so cute.  Thanks Michelle for taking them all!

Thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed celebrating Jaron's first birthday with us!