{skinny jeans OR capris.....HMMMM???}

Tonight we went out to get ice cream for family night. Jeremiah took Ayden in his room to put his pants and shoes on. Ayden coming running into our room saying, "Mommy...I'm ready!!" Then Jeremiah came right behind him and said, "Why are these jeans so small on him??" I looked at Ayden and almost started rolling on the floor laughing!! He was wearing Zoe's jeans!!! The pictures don't even make it look as funny as it really looked in person!! It was hilarious!! He had no idea what we were laughing about, so he just kept running around being silly thinking that's what was so funny!!

And then I told him that he had Zoe's jeans on and he got REALLY concerned!! He had to check it out for himself and when he realized they were hers, he wanted them off IMMEDIATELY!!





Ahhhh....my cute little skinny jeans boy!!!

{tWiNkLe TwInKlE}

Lately, Ayden has been really interested in singing songs. He always asks me to sing this song or that song! In his own little quiet moments when he is playing with his toys or we are driving in the car, I love to hear him sing (butcher) the songs that I try to teach him!! =) It is too cute! Today when we were driving home from church, Ayden just busted out singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Jeremiah and I kind of looked at each other out of the corner of our eyes and listened as he sang the ENTIRE song WORD FOR WORD! It was the first time that he has sung a song all by himself and not missed a word! It was so fun! Tonight at dinner, he started singing it again...over and over and over...through our entire dinner! I got the camera after we ate and I knew he wasn't going to do it for the camera! But we finally got this video...after so much bribery and threats! I think I may have even told him that he was going to be in big trouble if he didn't sing the song for me! What a meanie!!! =) Well, the thing that finally worked was a package of Starburst and Jeremiah threatening to eat them! Then he sang!! And he was so happy at the very end because....he was finally able to get his treat!! Oh and lately Ayden is going through this stage where he talks in this really annoying, high pitch, screechy voice. We have to keep reminding him to talk in his big boy voice! But for some reason when he sings, he still likes to use a deep voice!! Silly kid!

{SLEEP (or lack thereof) UPDATE}

So last week we started to let Zoe cry through the night since the doctor told me I should not be giving her bottles anymore at night! We have been doing it for almost a week now. The first night, she cried for a long time and I went in there twice to try to console her...gave her a binky and rubbed her back for a minute! She was fine while I was in there, but then got worse when I left, so I realized quickly that me going in there was only making things worse! The next night or two I think she cried for almost an hour...I'm not sure exactly how long because we can't hear her without the monitor since her room is 2 rooms away from ours and I had to turn the monitor all the way down because I couldn't stand to hear her crying! So sad! But...she is doing great now and hasn't woken up for 4 nights straight! I hope I am not speaking too soon!!

So that is going good and if someone could just tell me what to do about a 2 year old waking up EVERY night, life would be all good here and we would be well rested!! Ayden used to be the world's BEST sleeper EVER!! That is until we took the binky away when he turned 2. Then he was an ok sleeper and when we moved here, he became an AWFUL sleeper!! He wakes up in the night almost EVERY single night!! Sometimes, he just comes into our room and waits for us to take him back to bed and he goes back to sleep. But other times, he does the opposite!! One night about 2 weeks ago, we decided to try the Super Nanny method of putting him back in bed and not talking to him and doing it as many times as it takes! Well, the first night we did this, we put him back in bed 39....yep, THIRTY NINE times!! And Jeremiah and I did count and we also did a tag team...each of us taking a turn every 10 times!! Ugh!! It was a nightmare!! It hadn't been really bad since then...until last night when it took 27 times!! And 2 nights ago, he was awake from 3 am to 4:45 am!! Oh my!! Why is he doing this?!!? Please help if you have any experience with a 2 year old waking up!! The only thing I can think is that he wakes up because he has to go potty....we just can't figure out how to get him to go BACK TO SLEEP!!!

The poor kid is so tired (and I know how he feels since I am up when he is)!! It is not a rare occassion to see him falling asleep at the dinner table at 6 pm. I was finally able to get it on video a couple nights ago...he sleeps and still manages to eat his dinner! It's quite funny!! The sound on this video is kind of annoying....the football game was on really loud in the background and Zoe was screaming because she was ready for her dinner...so feel free to mute it!! =)

{our BUSY weekend}

We had another beach day...I can't believe that we are going to the beach so much in the winter!!! Ayden is getting more and more comfortable there and spent a lot of time walking around in the water and running from the waves. When his shorts got a little bit wet, he had to strip down to his undies!! Go ahead...call us white trash...Ayden was running around the beach in his undies! He also built a sand castle with Grammy and knocked down the sand castle that the family next to us built...OOPS...we will have to work on our beach manners!

Zoe loves the freedom she has at the beach. She is at the age where she doesn't like to be held because she is too busy and just wants to be crawling around everywhere! As soon as I put her in the sand, she took off towards the water...crawling about 50 feet before I went and got her! She loved it!! But she kind of has a love-hate relationship with the beach. She loves to eat the sand, but hates the aftermath of having sand in her mouth!! She is crazy...she is totally the "put everything in your mouth" baby and that would include sand!

We walked over to the pier and Grammy got Ayden a HOT DOG ON A STICK. Ayden was amazed at watching the crabs swimming in the tanks and also watching all the people fishing off the pier. Zoe enoyed a little nap!!

On Friday, we met my friend from college, Cyndie and her little girl Mackenzie at the Santa Ana Zoo. I have never been to the Santa Ana Zoo in the 20 years I lived in OC, but it was a fun little place for kids that are young. I wouldn't really call it a zoo though...Ayden was disappointed that there were no giraffes, bears or elephants. We had a lot of fun though and Ayden had a blast with his new little buddy.

On Saturday, we went down to San Diego to watch Cooper and Carter's basketball games. Ayden had a blast seeing them play and sitting on the bench with Cooper's team. He was in heaven and it made me excited for the next few year when we can start going to our own kids sporting events! After the games, we went to Point Loma and saw such pretty views of the beach and downtown San Diego. We also went to the tide pools and the kids had fun playing in the water and searching for little critters!!

{Zoe's 9 month stats...}

Today was Zoe's 9 month check up! I've been dreading this day because I'm SO sad to not have our doctor in Utah...I LOVED our pediatrician there! I might try to figure out a way that I can commute back there for my kids yearly check ups!!

Zoe had a good report...she is doing everything developmentally that she should be right now (clapping, waving, grabbing things, switching hands, saying mama and dada, crawling). The doctor was a little surprised that she had no interest in pulling herself up yet, but he said sometimes that's just how the girls are...they stand up, fall once and never want to do it again!! He also commented what a stubborn little girl she was when she threw a tantrum and almost hit him in the face when he was trying to look in her ears. I thought we had our hands ful with Ayden's little stubborn self, but I think Zoe might give him a run for his money!

We definitely have a growing girl...she weighs 19 lb 8 oz (75th percent) and is 29 in long (90th percent)! At her 6 month check up, she was only in the 50th % for weight and the 75th % for height! Every time we go in, she gets higher and higher on the charts...at this rate, she will be off the charts at her next appointment! The doctor commented on what a tall girl she was...hopefully she'll stay that way!! I still can't believe that this is the same baby that was in the 3rd and 10th percentile when she was 2 weeks old!!

It's a good thing that Zoe got a good report because her Mommy got in BIG trouble! The doctor scolded me for giving Zoe a bottle when she goes to bed and also for giving her one when she wakes up once in the night! He said she is definitely capable of sleeping all night (which I knew) and that she should not have a bottle in her sleep because of tooth decay! Yeah...I knew all this and I knew that we should have been letting her cry through the night by now!! But living with Jeremiah's parents these past couple months has made that a little difficult since her bedroom is right next to his parents bedroom! I'm sure they would not be happy about hearing Zoe cry all night long! Coincidentally, they went out of town today, so we have 4 nights to get Zoe sleeping through the night!! We will see how tonight goes...I'm sure she will think I hate her when I don't get up to give her a bottle! So sad, but it has to be done! And we will have to work on not giving her a bottle to go to bed after we master sleeping through the night!! Ugh...it will be an interesting week I am sure!! Wish us luck...and pass on any tips if you are the master of getting your baby to sleep through the night!!

{bEaCh}

The beach....one of the things that I missed most about living in Utah!! Especially since we had kids...I always thought it would be so fun to take the kids to the beach and let them play in the sand, explore and swim in the ocean!! So far since we've been here, we have already enjoyed some days at the beach...despite it being winter (if there really is such a thing in Cali)!! And we are really enjoying my parents living in Redondo Beach!! When we go down there, we just walk right outside and we are on the beach!! It is the BEST!! I love that we don't have to worry about finding parking and we can go for an hour at a time and not have to stay all day! I know for sure we will be taking advantage of this in a couple months when it really gets warm!!

We went to the beach on Friday and today because it has been so nice here lately! Friday was a little cooler...Zoe was wearing a light jacket, but didn't really need it! But today had to be the best day since we moved in October! It was a gorgeous day...more than 80 degrees....at the BEACH!!! That hardly ever happens!! And especially doesn't happen on January 12th very often! So we went and soaked it all in!! It was great to get out and let the kids enjoy the sun...I even worried a little bit that they were going to get sunburned!!

Ayden loves the beach and loves to explore! Today he got a little distracted though when he saw a couple other little boys playing with some sand toys and Ayden kept saying that he wanted to build a sand castle!! So we will have to get that for next time! Luckily today he found a little shovel in the sand that he could use! Despite Zoe's first trip to the beach a few months ago when she HATED even the touch of sand on her skin, she is now in LOVE!! She crawls around and then lays on her tummy so she can feel all the sand and then puts her face in the sand and tries to eat it!! Silly girl!! It's a mess to try to get all that sand out of her mouth!

Here are a couple pics of the kids enjoying themselves...it's so nice to have Grammy there to play with the kids so I can just sit back and take pics!! =)

"Mom!!! Look what I found!!!!"

Zoe testing out the water with Grammy!

Zoe showing off her sandy face!!

{BIG GIRL...}

2 days old.............................................6 weeks old

4 months old.............................................6 months old

9 MONTHS OLD!!!!!

ALMOST TIME FOR A NEW CAR SEAT!!!