{CiRcUs}

Today we went down to Salt Lake to see the circus. I can't ever remember going to the circus when I was a kid, so I was really excited about it. We bought tickets over a month ago when we heard they were coming to Salt Lake. I knew Ayden would love the show too. We had the greatest seats...we were in the 5th row back on the floor. We were so close that it felt like we could almost reach out and touch the animals going by. In fact, we were so close that I realized where the term "circus freaks" comes from....some of those clowns were pretty scary looking up close!!

Anyway, I think Ayden was a little overwhelmed...he was so excited to be there, but there was so much going on that he just didn't know what to look at. He did really good the first hour and then got a little antsy and couldn't sit still anymore. He would lose interest when the clowns were doing their acts, but as soon as any animals entered the show, he got excited again. His favorites were the elephants, the tigers and the motorcycles!!

I was surprised, but Zoe was also entertained by all the commotion...at least for the first 30 minutes and then she was over it! And we forgot her pacifier in the car, so she wasn't too happy about that. Finally, 2 hours into it...both kids were tired and grumpy and pretty much "over" the whole circus thing! So we decided to leave! Of course, as soon as we got outside, Ayden said he wanted to go back to the circus. But then he fell asleep the second we drove out of the parking lot. We definitely had a fun day...and I'm glad that we can "check the box" that we have been to the circus. It was fun, but don't think we'll be going back for a few years!

{a DaY aT tHe PaRk}

Yesterday we went to the park and it was Zoe's first time "participating" in all the action. Usually she just sits in her stroller and watches Ayden play, but we decided to let her join in on the fun! She was in heaven in the swings. She thought it was so funny and couldn't stop laughing...it was kind of a crying laugh even though there were not tears, but she was having a blast despite being a little scared!!

Lately, Ayden has been wanting to hold and carry Zoe around. We're trying to teach him that we don't carry her around BY HER NECK!!! So when I put Zoe on the slide, he got so excited and wanted to hold her on the way down. As you can see from the look on Zoe's face, she was a little concerned with why she was being choked while going straight down on this big red thing for the first time!!! After a couple times, she started enjoying it!

{MOMMY'S little HELPER}

Tonight when I was cooking dinner, Zoe started to cry while sitting on the couch in the family room. I asked Ayden to go give her a toy. A few minutes later, I looked over and found Zoe with a PILE of toys on her lap!! Ayden had given her EVERY toy in her toy basket. It obviously worked!! She stopped crying...I'm just not sure if she was entertained or overwhelmed by all the toys in front of her! It's so nice to have a little helper...now if he could just learn how to feed her and change her diaper, he would really earn the title "helper"!!

{cUtE}

We have been so lucky with having great photographers take our pictures!! And I am addicted to having our families pictures taken!! When my friend across the street told me that her cousin was getting into photography and wanted some people to "practice" on, I couldn't pass that up!! So we ended up having Zoe and Ayden's pictures done last month and I am so happy with how they turned out!! We went to a great location in Provo...like a little castle...so neat for pictures! She did a great job and so many of them are my favorites!! Anyway, she does great work and here is her website if you want to check out more! For now, here are some of the pics we got...I tried to pic my favorites, but had a hard time just picking a few!!

Sweet Little Zoe....

Handsome Little Ayden.....

You cannot tell me that these two do not look alike.....

{5 months old}

Zoe is 5 months old today! I really can't believe how fast these past 5 months have gone and that she is almost 6 months!! I love this stage...she is really starting to become such a social little girl! I love that she smiles or squeels when she hears my voice or sees my face when I come in to get her up from bed! And when Jeremiah comes in the door from work, she smiles and gets all excited to see him too! She is getting on a good routine and is taking 2 long naps a day (one in the morning & one in the afternoon) and a little catnap at dinnertime! She has reverted back to waking up once in the night...usually around 4 or 5 am and I give in and give her a bottle! I just assume it is a growth spurt or she is teething! I don't mind though because overall she is a very easy baby! People are always commenting how mellow and even tempered she is! She is so content with her surroundings! She is also so entertained by Ayden...we are always telling him to jump up and down in front of her because she laughs hysterically! It is so cute!

I have no idea how much she weighs right now, but I know that she is plumping up! We had our last appointment with our caseworker today before we finalize the adoption next month and she asked how much Zoe weighed! We were caught off guard and had no idea!! I told her how funny that is because we knew all those stats for Ayden when he was a baby! I guess Zoe is already experiencing that poor 2nd child syndrome! I'm guessing she is around 15 lbs, but I do know that she is still mostly in 0-3 month clothes!! She is slowing starting to grow out of them and that makes me sad because I had SO MANY summery 0-3 month clothes for her! And I hardly have anything for the fall and winter for her!!

She is not a fan of eating anything other than her bottles right now! This is funny to me because when we are eating anything, she stares intently and opens her mouth like she wants a bite! But she will not eat rice cereal at all!! We have been trying for weeks now!! Then, we tried the rice cereal with bananas...still nothing!! Then we decided to skip rice cereal and go straight to vegetables! Her first one was carrots and by looking at the pictures of her eating them, you would think she was in pain! She was absolutely disgusted!! We have since tried Squash and still....nothing!! I'm sure one of these days when she is starving and sick of the formula, she will want some more substance in her diet! Until then, we will keep trying and enjoying the funny faces she makes when she eats them!!

In addition to being able to sit up for a few seconds on her own, one of her latest tricks is that she wants to roll over ALL THE TIME!! She likes to test her rolling skills the most at night when she is sleeping in her crib! Whenever I go in to check on her, this is usually how I find her...on her tummy!! It freaks me out!!

I'm looking forward to her turning 6 months! Next month will be a big month for us since we will get to finalize the adoption, go to the temple to have Zoe sealed to our family and have her blessed at church!

{a BIG day}

Today was Ayden's first day of school!! Well, not really...we just felt left out since everyone else is posting about kids being back to school and putting first day of school pictures!! It's not really school...it is just a playgroup that he is in with other 2 year olds in our neighborhood that started today, but I told him he was going to school and he was SO EXCITED!! He was wearing his backpack all morning waiting to go out the door! And then when I took him to drop him off at the house, he was sad he had to leave his backpack in the car! He said he had a great time playing with toys and they also made the cutest froggy craft ever!! There is something about little crafts that he makes or pictures that he colors that just melts my heart!! I love it! Here is his first day of school picture!!

In addition to Ayden's first day at his new playgroup, today was my first day back to work!! Well, sort of...if you call being able to work from your home only two days a week being back to work!! Today I started teaching preschool out of my house! I decided to do this a while ago...right before Zoe was born! There have been times in the past 5 months that the thought "what am I doing???" has crossed my mind! But after today...having all those cute little kids in my house that were so excited to be in school and so eager to learn...I am so glad that I decided to do this! I forgot what a rewarding job teaching is and it always used to bother me when kids I taught would call me "teacher", but there is just something so cute about these 3 and 4 year olds calling me "teacher"!! It was a long day and I have to admit that I am so exhausted, but it was a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to next Monday (after I have the weekend to recuperate) when we will have Day 2!! I'm sure if I had to leave the house today and really go back to work, I would not be as thrilled! And it is also a great feeling to know that my kids are either across the street at my friends house (where they will be once a week) or in the next room with a girl that will be coming into my house to babysit (the other day in the week)! For having to work, this is the greatest scenario there is! Here are some pictures of our "class"!! When my mom was here a couple weeks ago, she helped me out with all the decorating! It's funny that this room was my living room just a few weeks ago...I think it turned out pretty cute though!

{Where OH Where did our SHORT summer go???}

I know that it is September....and I know that summer is "officially" over...and I know that fall is supposed to be right around the corner, but we shouldn't need to be pulling out the winter clothes on September 1st!! What happened TODAY??? It was FREEZING cold and felt like winter! I feel like summer wasn't even here long enough to get sick of the hot weather! And with the bitter cold we felt today, I fear that we will skip fall and jump right into winter...just like we skipped spring this year and went straight to summer!! Argh....it's times like these where I would give anything to be living back in California! For now, let's just hope that today was a fluke and that we still have a few more months before we feel that bitter cold air again!!



I did enjoy getting out a pair of Zoe's winter jeans! She looked so stinking cute in them!! It was the first time that she has worn something in size 3-6 months...she is still wearing everything in 0-3 months which is so funny to me because she will be 5 months this week!! When Ayden was this age, he had been in all 6-12 month clothes for at least a whole month!