Sharing

My kids are great at sharing their toys.....see!

Colin playing in Audrey's toy



Audrey playing in Colin's toy



Yeah Yeah....I know it won't last, but I can savor it now can't I?!

Sophie

Sophie was one of Colin's favorite toys for awhile. It is great at this age because it is so easy to hold onto and they enjoy chewing on her. She is currently one of Audrey's favorites.

Playing in the rain

Colin loves to play out on the deck and at any given time probably half of his toys are out on the deck. He has some toys that need to be brought in so they don't get wet if it rains. Some of these are his wagon that has wood on it, and some of his cars that have batteries. The other day it was raining really hard and Colin and Paul were outside watching the storm go through. Colin was running around in the rain. He decided that he better bring in his table and chairs out of the rain.

Back to Moab

We went back to Moab again this weekend. This time we took the dogs with us. Matt and Jen had invited us down for Matt's birthday party. We had been planning to go for weeks. Then my dad and Billy were both out of town and we didn't know what to do with the dogs. Matt and Jen said they didn't mind if we brought them down. So we decided on Friday that we were all piling in the car and heading to Moab that night. Paul had a long day of packing while I was at work. I got home and helped finish getting things around and we left the house at 7pm.

I'm going to interrupt with a little tidbit about our car. We contemplated getting the Captain's seats in this row but I wanted to go with the bench. We actually had a pretty tough time finding the options we wanted, with the bench. Because noone gets the bench I guess when they get more options. It wasn't something I really "wanted" but I felt like we needed it. First, we have used the extra seat a few times. Second, it makes it a lot easier to contain the dogs into the back. Third, THIS wouldn't be possible if we didn't have it. When we have taken road trips I have spent a lot of time in the back seat keeping two kids happy. I wouldn't have been able to do that with captain's chairs. So for this point in our life, I think we made the right decision by going with the bench.

Back to our trip....Here we are heading out(me in the back seat).



Audrey during the trip.


We figured 7pm would be a good time to leave because the kids would both sleep most of the ride down. It seemed like it worked until we arrived in Moab. Both of them woke up as we took them inside. Neither of them wanted to go back to sleep. We spent about an hour getting them back to sleep. We didn't get to bed until 1230ish, which is almost 4 hrs past my bedtime.

Both of them were up bright and early at 6am. No sleeping in for us! Paul got up with them and I got just a little bit more sleep. Jen made us a very yummy breakfast. Paul had enough food to probably feed 6 people. I went out for a run and then we all went for a hike. The dogs had so much fun being out hiking and playing in the water. We did Left Fork hike. It is along a creek so we knew the dogs and Colin would have fun.

Audrey in the Ergo


Pictures of us hiking










I either need to get a new hat or Paul needs to make sure it hasn't flipped up making me a pirate in pictures


Colin throwing rocks






Here is Colin hiking. As you can tell, we didn't go very fast.


Audrey in her carseat after the hike. She was a little warm



When we got back we all took very much needed naps. The dogs stayed outside the whole time we were down there except for sleeping at night. They were so good. They barely barked and did really well in their yard for the weekend. And for that, they will get to come again!

After naps we had dinner and showered up. Jen's babysitter got there to watch the kids. She watched Hannah, Colin, Audrey and two other kids ages 6 and 8. We were really nervous leaving the kids with her. First off, WE don't actually know her. Second, we have never left them with someone they didn't know. We were worried that after Friday night that Colin would give her a really hard time and not go to bed. They did pretty well though. She said that around 8 she asked Colin if he wanted to go to bed and he said "yep" and she took him in and he went right to sleep. I was glad it went so well, we'll have to start doing that more often.

While the kids were with the babysitter we headed out to Matt's birthday party. It was at Andrew and Autumn's house. We have heard so much about them but hadn't yet met them. They have a beautiful house. The party was a lot of fun. It was nice to hang out with adults and have a few drinks. They had it as a casino night and we played Craps for hours. I actually learned a decent amount about the game and didn't do too bad. Again, we were out WAY past our bedtime and didn't get to bed until after 2.

And again the next morning Audrey decided to get up at 6am, Colin slept in a little until 7. I got up a little after 7 and watched all the kids while Paul and Matt went and played some golf.

One of the great things about going to Matt and Jen's is they have tons of toys and baby things so we don't really have to bring much with us.

Here is Audrey in Hannah's Bumbo. We also used it as a booster seat for Colin


Colin and Hannah had fun playing together. They fought over toys some, but for the most part enjoyed playing together. It's not the best video but the best one we got.


It was definitely an exhausting trip....mainly because we didn't sleep either night, but we can't wait to go back.

Hiccups

This weekend when we were in the car, Colin got the hiccups. It was so cute.

I want you to just TRY to watch this video without laughing

Say Cheese

Colin loves "cheesing" for the camera. However, he's not very good at it. It takes quite a few attempts before we ever get a decent picture.

He always closes his eyes when the flash goes off



We opted to turn off the flash





No flash means blurry pics with a squirmy toddler





Finally! A decent shot.

Houdini

He's learned how to escape!! HAHA!

I knew that these ballisters were too far apart and it was only a matter of time before Colin figured it out also. This weekend he did. (pardon his totally not matching pjs)



Paul put up a board in the space and Colin wasn't too happy about it.

Pool Days

On Saturday we took Colin to the pool for a couple hours. He loved it. We couldn't get him out of the water.









Audrey had fun hanging out also. Here she is chillin in the shade.



We ended up putting her suit on and getting her feet wet a little.



This is part of the splash pad. This bucket fills with water and dumps over everyone under it.



Colin and Paul took a few hits from that bucket.

Random Pictures

The other day we were all just hanging out and Colin was really loving on his little sister. We had to get some pictures of it.

She's getting so big!



Audrey and her "sister"



Seeing how much taller Colin is



Giving his sister a hug



AWE!!!!

Audrey is 4 months old today(August 12th)

I had to include this picture too because I thought it was cute.



Here are her stats from her dr's visit.
Height: 24 inches (just over 50th %tile)
Weight: 12 lbs 6 oz (between 25-50th %tile)
Head: 16.4 inches (just under 75th %tile)

A lot has changed in this last month. Sleeping and bottles started being major issues. She slept through the night for the first time this month, 11 hours. But she hasn't done it since. After doing that, she decided that she was done with drinking from a bottle....she preferred nursing. So she stopped eating at daycare, would only eat 1-2 ounces from the bottles there. To make up for this she started nursing more at night and getting up 2-3 times every night. I was not handling this very well. I was EXHAUSTED!! I decided to kind of go on strike and make her take bottles. I stopped nursing her and only gave her bottles for 72hrs. She immediately started sleeping better at night, doing a 7-9hr stretch and only getting up once. She started drinking full(or fullish) bottles during the day. When the weekend came I nursed her again but only for the daytime feedings. I think we are done with nighttime nursing for good. We've now gone 1 1/2 wks of just bottles. She is going a 9 hr stretch at night and only getting up once. She is drinking 3-5oz out of 3 bottles at daycare. It is going so much better.

Other things that have changed in her sleeping is that she no longer requires the head of the crib to be elevated and she isn't swaddled anymore. We still use the swaddle, as a blanket, but her arms are not swaddled in it.

On the weekend she has a good routine. She goes to bed 730-8 and gets up for the day 12hrs later. She is up for about 2 hrs at a time. She takes two good naps during the day and an evening cat nap. She eats every 3-4hrs. During the week(3 days at daycare) it isn't quite as good. She has to get up at 630 for daycare so she isn't getting the 12 hrs at night. We are working on getting her bedtime earlier but I don't think I want it to be as early as 630, she'd be going to bed 10 minutes after Paul gets home.

She is quite the wiggle worm. She doesn't stay put. If you lay her down on the floor she is kicking all over and scoots herself around with all her kicks. She doesn't spend much time in tummy time because she rolls over almost immediately after you put her there. She rolls all the time. She kicks a ton in the bath too. It is hard to keep her positioned in the tub because she kicks so much, and she makes a huge mess.

She chews on her hands a lot. She puts everything in her mouth and loves sucking on blankets, burp cloths, or her dresses. If she has a dress on, it spends the whole day pulled up and in her mouth. She grabs at her toys when she's in her play mat or bouncer. She will grab at them and try to get them into her mouth.

She can now sit up in her "bumbo" like chair. She started in it a couple weeks ago but still needed a little head support if she was in it very long but now she sits in it great without the extra support.



She loves to stand up. If you are holding her she will want to be up on her feet. She smiles at us all the time. She coos some, but not a whole lot and is just starting to laugh.

She is wearing size 2 diapers now. She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes. She has grown out of a few things and has worn a few 3-6 months but it is mostly still 0-3.

She loves the swing. If we let her take a nap in it(which we only once in awhile) she will sleep 3+ hrs. She doesn't take a pacifier. The only time we use on is if she wakes up at night and it's too early to eat(like only been 5 hrs) I can use it to help her get back to sleep.

I figured it would be cute to include a video so we can see what her personality is at these different stages.

Six and One

Six years ago today, we got married.




One year ago today, we found out that Audrey was on her way.

It is definitely a special day, and a lot has changed in the last 6 years.
Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

Smart Kids

I have two pretty smart kids. Paul is always talking about how smart Colin is. Everyday he is learning something new and doing something else that amazes us. I do think it is typical toddler development but it always seems like more than you expect him to be able to do/remember/say yet. The other day Colin opened up a book and "read" the page. Obviously, we know he didn't read it but we were just as amazed that he knew what that page of the book said.

Here he is working on his puzzles. He has a bunch of puzzles and puts them all together with ease.



Audrey is pretty smart herself. It's so fun to watch her explore and do new things everyday.

Here is a picture of how she has learned to use her knees to help get the monkey and bird close enough so that she can grab them.

Playing "night night"???

As I posted before, Colin really likes to play "night night". He won't leave his crib without his 2 Elmos and 2 dogs and blanket. He brings them all out into the living room and spends a good part of the day playing "night night". I guess that on Sunday he was a little more tired. As he was playing "night night" he fell asleep on the couch.

Daddy Days

On Fridays Paul is home with both the kids. He works 4 ten hour days so he gets to stay home with them once a week. This Friday he was super dad. He got up with the kids and took them to the park. After that he went to Walmart, Costco, Babies R Us, the bank, and the post office. He did all this while toting around both of the kids. I'm impressed. I've barely run errands with both kids, let alone that many in one day.

Here is a video that Paul took last Friday. It gives us a little glimpse into what goes on here those days.

Wheeler Farm with Papa

Colin had another fun day with Papa on Thursday. They went to Wheeler Farm. This is where we went to have Colin's 1 year pictures taken. Colin had a lot of fun. He got to see all kinds of farm animals; cows, goats, pigs, etc. He even went on a pony ride. My dad said he didn't like it at first but then had fun once he warmed up to the idea.