{hApPy 4tH BiRtHdAy aYdeN}

Yesterday was Ayden's birthday! Ayden ran into our bedroom early yesterday morning when he woke up and said "Guess what guys??? Today is my BIRTHDAY!!!!" He was SO SO SO excited!! I asked him to come over to me so I could look at him closer because he looked like he had gotten taller overnight! I looked at him intently and told him that I couldn't believe that he was 4 and that he looked so much older now!! He went and checked himself out in the mirror and was rubbing his face and talking to himself saying "I am 4 now....wow, my face looks older.....4 is so many....I am so old now"!! It was so funny!!

We made special blueberry muffins for his birthday and then went to church! He was excited to go to church and tell everyone that it was his birthday and to have all the Primary kids sing to him!! After church, we hurried home and found a cute "Happy Birthday" sign on our garage that Ayden's cute little friend Maddie made for him! Both of our families came over for dinner and dessert to celebrate! We had Ayden's favorite dinner.....spaghetti and meatballs!! And he got SO MANY great toys from his Grandma's, Grandpa's and cousins!! The theme this year seemed to be Toy Story 3 because he got a ton of TS3 toys and he hasn't stopped playing with them ever since he opened them! He slept with them last night and has been playing with them all day today!

This picture was taken the night before his birthday. It was almost 9 pm and Jeremiah was putting Ayden to bed when his cute little neighbor friend, Maddie, came over to bring Ayden a cake! Ayden LOVES Maddie, so he was SO SO excited!! :)

Only in a Toyota family....when you have a dad AND a father-in-law that BOTH work for Toyota would this many people be hovered around the computer watching the "Swagger Wagon" video on YouTube!! What a funyy site.....

Ayden was so patient waiting for everyone to FINALLY be ready to watch him open his presents!!

Grandpa Roger getting his new Razor Scooter all set up and ready for Ayden to go for a test drive through the house!! He loves it!

Cake time......his FAVORITE part!! Ayden helped me make this ice cream cake and couldn't wait to dig in!! Oh and he loves the birthday song and being the center of attention!!

Cousins......Carter, Zoe, Ayden, Crew & Cooper.....

Zoe's hair cracks me up in this picture! Everyone keeps telling me that her hair is looking longer and longer, but it doesn't seem like it to me!! It seems like she is destined to have short hair!! :( The more it grows, the shorter it seems to get....I know that doesn't make much sense, but I think that the more it grows, the curlier it gets and it SEEMS to be shorter!!!

Ayden was SO funny when someone told him to make a wish. He closed his eyes, folded his arms and said, "Thank you for letting Ayden come to my birthday party"!!! It was SO funny!! We all had a good laugh......that was a cross between a prayer and a wish and a "pat yourself on the back" by thanking HIMSELF for coming to HIS OWN birthday party!! I love having a funny four year old!! :)

This morning when Ayden woke up, he asked us if he was still 4 years old!! We told him yes and he said, "YAY"!!! He was so excited to not be 3 anymore!! Jeremiah told him that he was going to be 4 for 364 more days and then he got to be FIVE......Ayden got a BIG smile after that!! He can't wait to be 5 cuz he knows that's when he gets to go to Kindergarten!! Cute kid!!

{aLL aBoUt AyDeN....oUr BiG 4 yEaR oLd}

Ayden is such a character! He is the most fun person to be around! He has an amazing imagination that keeps us laughing every day! He is constantly telling us about his silly imaginary life in "Toy Utah" (not sure where he got this name from or why he calls it "Toy Utah"?!?!?!). He has a "Toy Utah" dad that does funny things like make peanut butter and tomato sandwiches! His Mommy and Sissy went to heaven (lovely) in this outer space world, so it's just he and his Dad! Silly kid! He also has big dreams for his future. There is an Ayres Hotel off the side of the freeway in Yorba Linda that we pass by a lot and every time we do, he says, "There is my restaurant"!! One day he told us that when he is bigger, that place is going to be his restaurant. He is going to name it "The Meat Place" and they are going to have all meat there and no girls are allowed in his restaurant....just boys! I told him that's a bummer because who is going to cook and do the dishes for his restaurant, but he has it all figured out....he said "don't worry Mom.....there is even going to be a robot that I make to clean dishes"!! Smart kid!

He is such a little lover! I love this about him....he is never too big to get kisses and give hugs to everyone that he loves! He is definitely a social little butterfly.....he LOVES to talk....to everyone that he sees.....and to anyone that will listen! We have had to have a lot of talks lately about "stranger danger" because he has been known to randomly strike up conversations with everyone around him!! And he is so animated and expressive when he talks that it is so cute and really makes you want to carry on a conversation with him!

He is so smart! I am sure every parent thinks thier kids are smart, so it is ok that I say that!! :) He sometimes comes up with some things where we just look at each other and say "where on earth did he get that from"!! He is very mechanical already (taking after Daddy) and likes to figure out what makes things work, why they have to work that way, who made them work like that, and how to make them work differently!

Here are a few of Ayden's favorites at the moment.....

Favorite cuddle object: STILL his lion, his green blankie, Mommy and Daddy
Favorite songs: My Favorite Things, "It's a Quarter After One" (Lady Antebellum), Going on a Bear Hunt, Here Comes Baby Dinosaur
Favorite TV Shows: Dinosaur King, Tom & Jerry, Phineas and Ferb, Diego, Arthur, Max & Ruby, Clifford
Favorite Movies: Toy Story 3, Shrek, Letter/Word/Math Factory
Favorite Toys: GEO Trax, Buzz Lightyear, Dinosaurs
Favorite Things To Do: ride bike, collect bugs, watch "shows", eat snacks, read books, go swimming
Favorite Animal: Dinosaurs
Favorite Food: anything that is a snack, spaghetti & meatballs, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, McDonald's, popsicles, juice
Favorite Sayings: "Boo-ya"
Favorite Things He's Learned: Recognizing all of his numbers, letters, shapes, and colors (green is his favorite), spelling his name, his birthday, his favorite songs, his phone number, how to say the best, sweetest prayers

Now, if we could JUST figure out how to make him be nice to his sister all the time, how to sleep in past 6 am most mornings, how to be a better listener.........and how to stop getting bigger so his Mommy and Daddy can enjoy this stage FOREVER, he just might be the MOST PERFECT BOY THERE IS!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy!! Can't believe that you are already a big 4 year old!! My wish is that you stay this sweet forever and ever!!!

{tRip tO tHe deNtiSt}

Today was dentist day for the kids!! It was Zoe's very 1st dentist appointment and only Ayden's 2nd appointment (since he went once when he was 1 1/2 yrs old). They did SO SO great and I was so proud of him!! Ayden did everything first and Zoe followed....I knew that she would be more willing to do things after seeing big brother be brave!! The did the works on them.....X-rays, a cleaning and the dentist checked out all of their teeth! Good thing they already knew the dentist since it is their little buddies, James and Jakey's, grandpa!! I think that made the kids more comfortable since they had seen him before and they really did a great job! We walked away with both kids getting an A+ and being cavity free! YAY....our committment to brush their teeth a lot has paid off! As we were leaving I said that I think the kids actually enjoyed themselves and had a good time there.....I am sure they will be begging me to take them back to the dentist! Ha!

{sHoE FeTisH}

It would be safe to say that Zoe has a shoe fetish!! To say that she loves shoes would be an understatement! She LOVES LOVES LOVES shoes!!! The first time we realized this was at Christmas when she got a pair of shoes from her Auntie Cara and she shrieked with excitement and was so happy about those shoes.....she rubbed them all over her face and carried them around FOREVER!! Often at night, when I go in to check on the kids before we go to bed, I can find Zoe like this.............

In bed, with a pair of shoes on!! If this isn't someone showing a love for shoes, I don't know what is!!!

The other day when we were out shopping, I gathered up a couple cute things I found for Zoe. I had a pair of pink flip flops, 2 pretty dresses, 2 cute two piece outfits......and a simple shirt that had 3 pairs of shoes on it! I showed everything to Zoe.....she ooo'd and aaa'd over everything (her next love after shoes is shopping) and as soon as she saw the shoe shirt, she almost freaked out and grabbed it saying she wanted it, she wanted it!!! I told her of all the things, she could pick ONE thing to keep......surprise surprise, she picked the shoe shirt!!

Also last week we were out shopping for shoes for Mommy and pretty much a shoe store is right up there with Disneyland for Zoe!! She loves to take all the shoes out of their boxes and try them on! I had to take a picture of her modeling these cute shoes.....and I love how she is strutting her stuff!!! Look at her bend that knee and stick out that hip!!! Can she get any cuter?!?!!? I think we might have a future model on our hands!!!

{tHe mOsT pErFeCt dAy}

We had the absolutely most perfect family day on Saturday! It started first thing in the morning when Jeremiah left the house to ride his bike to the beach. We left a little bit later to meet him there. When we got there, Jeremiah and the kids played in the sand while I got to get my exercise in.....a 6 mile run along Newport Beach boardwalk!! I wish we lived ON the beach because I always feel like I could run forever on the boardwalk.....it's such a beautiful scene!! When I got back, we hung out some more and relaxed....it was such a beautiful, perfect beach day and the kids had a blast playing!! Ayden always meets new friends when we go to the beach, so he spent most of his time playing in the sand and building sand castles with new friends.....running back and forth into the water to fill up his bucket! Zoe was content just staying right by us.....but she was rolling and rolling....and rolling some more in the sand!! The girl loves sand.....she loves to just roll in the warm sand, sprinkle it all over her hair, eat it, whatever!! When we got home, she had sand in every nook and cranny of her little body!! :) After the beach, we went and had a late lunch at In N Out.....Mmmmm.......TASTY!!! We came home to shower and get all cleaned up to make it to our matinee movie of Toy Story 3......which I must add is the CUTEST movie EVER!!! Our whole family REALLY loved it.....even me and Jeremiah!! And what could top of this WONDERFUL family day and better than a trip to Rite Aid for some Thrifty Ice Cream!!! When we got home, it was bedtime for the kids....and they were exhausted after that fun and eventful day! Now that is what I would like to call a PERFECT family day.....can't wait until we get to do it again......maybe this Saturday, in fact!! :)

Ayden and one of his new friends that he made at the beach.......

Zoe....loving all that gritty sand in her teeth and hair.....

She literally just rolled and rolled and rolled around in the sand like this for at least an hour straight!! Silly girl.......

What boy goes to the beach and doesn't catch any sand crabs?!?!!? Not this one.......

Jeremiah took Ayden out on the jetty to search for crabs......which totally freaked me out by the way!! I almost had to close my eyes because they went out so far and I just kept imagining Ayden falling over and cracking his head on a rock!! Ayden had so much fun though and they came back with about 6 HUGE crabs......Ayden enjoyed showing them off to all his little friends!! And I was glad that they were safely back on the sand!!!

{JuSt sOmE rAndoMneSs}

Why are sleeping kids SO darn cute?!?!?! One night last week, Ayden REALLY REALLY wanted to sleep downstairs. So he made this whole mess of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals to keep him company on the couch! Luckily he woke up at 1 am and wanted to go back to bed in his own room because I was not sleeping very well knowing he was downstairs by the front door!!!

I always fall in love with my kids more and more when I see them sleeping......so precious!! :)

This was too cute not to capture on the camera.....Ayden and Zoe were watching a movie on the computer and were sharing the chair! Ayden had his arm around her and she was quite happy with that!! I love it when they are loving each other!! Too bad that is only 50% of the time....the other half of the time they are fighting like cats and dogs!!

Watching another movie.....I swear that we don't just watch movies all day!! :) But I can't say that the kids are not running around in their undies all day!! This is a common "look" in our house!!

{oUr LittLe gRaD}

I CANNOT believe that we have a 1st year preschool graduate in our house! Seriously, this year FLEW by and it seems like just yesterday that I was dropping Ayden off on his very first day of preschool back in September.....feeling emotional about my baby starting school! And here I am 9 months later....feeling emotional about my baby finishing his first year of preschool! This was a great school year.....Ayden had a blast in school, he made good friends, and he learned SO MUCH! June 10th was his last day of school and since Ayden has a summer birthday, we decided to take treats in on the last day to celebrate his birthday!

I had so much fun going on the last day and seeing Ayden in his element with all his buddies!! Here he is with his two best buddies at school.....Dylan and Jasmin....

I seriously LOVE this picture......when I got there all the kids were out on the playground at recess. Ms. Amanda called them all to line up and I told them that whoever smiled for the camera wold get a cupcake!! Can you believe that I got a picture with 13 smiling 3 year olds?!?!!? And little Zoe of course....can you find her?? She seriously fits right in I think!!

Ayden was the "line leader" on the last day of school and I got to get a picture of him and Ms. Amanda leading the kids back to class....

Ayden in front of the class while they sing the "Happy Birthday" song....

Ayden enjoying cupcakes with his favorite little girl friend, Jasmin.....

Zoe didn't enjoy her cupcake AT ALL.........yeah right!!!! LOL!! :)

Since they didn't get enough sugar at school with the cupcakes (haha), I decided to take the kids out to celebrate the last day of school at Berry Sweet!

Congrats Ayden on a GREAT first year!! We can't wait until the fall when Ayden will go to preschool every day!! :)

{oPeN hOuSe}

We had so much fun going to Ayden's Open House to see all the fun things that he had made and have him show us around! He is so proud of his work and loves to show off everything that he does!

This was an adorable piece of artwork.....it lists 3 of Ayden's wishes to be granted. They are:
1. I wish a dragon could sleep in my bed
2. I wish I could get a hug from a dinosaur
3. I wish I want to go to the playground

This is SO Ayden!! All of these things are things that he talks about all the time!!

And this picture was not taken at Open House, but was taken at the end of the year party! Zoe got to go and Ayden is always so protective of Zoe when she comes to his class. He always makes sure that she is never by himself and he always sits by her and makes sure that she is ok and everyone is being nice to her! So cute!! I hope he is always a protective big brother!!

Loving their ice cream sandwiches......