Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Aiden's 4th

Aiden Monkey turned 4 on Tuesday, the 17th. He had preschool that day so Monday evening I whipped up some cupcakes for him to bring along. He's into superheroes so we got these stickers off Amazon and made cupcake picks out of them. I think they turned out pretty cute!


We were in kind of a rush to get to preschool, but I had to quickly get a shot of Aiden. He was struggling to hold all of those cupcakes! And it was super sunny ;)


The birthday sign was out for him at preschool :)


After preschool he got to go off with Janie and Grandma and Grandpa Knuckles to McDonald's for lunch, one of his favorite things to do with them.

That evening we had my parents and Tanis over (Kent had a Church obligation) to watch him open gifts and for cupcakes (we had extra from preschool).






That Saturday we rented a bounce house for Aiden's birthday party. We had ordered an Avengers bounce house, but they got to us and realized someone hadn't turned in the Avengers banner so they upgraded us to the bounce house combo with a slide for free! It ended up being great! They set it up a few hours before the party (it pretty much took up our whole backyard) and Aiden got right to jumping! Janie was skeptical at first.





She got the hang of it :)


Aiden had specifically wanted an Iron Man party, but we couldn't really find just Iron Man, so we did Avengers/general superhero decor. Thank goodness for Party City and Target! I kept things really simple this year! I also specifically planned for the party to start at 1 with the hopes that the kids would have eaten lunch already. So I didn't have to worry about feeding them, but we did have some snacks available and cake, of course.

I found these Jello cup ideas on Pinterest. Some had blue/red Jello (Captain America) and others yellow/red Jello (Iron Man).



Captain America shield cake. Thank you Pinterest.


Gift table.


I was pretty stinking happy that this year Aiden was old enough to invite his friends and JUST his friends, no parents. I mean if they had wanted to stay we would have let them, of course, but I was happy they all just dropped off their kids. In previous years it honestly kind of stressed me out having to "entertain" the children as well as the parents. We didn't even have our parents come until the end of the party!

I had Aiden come up with the invite list - his best buddy, Lucas, and then some friends from preschool and Sunbeams at Church. We invited 10 kids and only had 4 make it, so small turn out. But I understand, Saturdays are crazy, plus it was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Aiden didn't even notice though. The first guest, Maelee, the only girl, came and they immediately ran out to jump and Aiden was as happy as can be the rest of the party :)

Trent was awesome to jump and play with all of the kids :)








Each kid got a superhero mask :)





The party was a success! Easy (bounce house, store bought decorations), no lunch, and no parents..haha. Aiden is still talking about his party and the bounce house. I bet we end up doing many more bounce house parties in the future ;)

We were all kind of pooped after the party. Not Janie though. She climbed on the table and started playing with the Jello. Cheez-its in the Jello (they were Avengers Cheez-its ;)). 

We went to Aiden's 4 year appointment as well, so hopefully I'll get that post up next.

Friday, November 20, 2015

18 months

Oh my bloggity blog.

So Janie turned 18 months on October 28th. I do realize she is now basically 19 months. Anyway, we went in for her appt. that day and she weighed in at 22 pounds 4 ounces (54th percentile) and measured 33 inches long (86th percentile). We were a little too early (by like a week) for her next Hepatitis shot so she got away with NO shots!!

I only post when I have new stats to report, so the last time I posted about Janie was at 15 months. SO I'll share some things she's been up to in the last 3 months, but mostly I'll just dump a BUNCH of pictures!
  • Janie loves to drink water on her own (not in a sippy cup). She always ends up really wet..haha.
  • For a while Janie would discover any pen that got left out and draw all over her legs. It's been a little while since she's done it so hopefully that was just a phase.
  • She still loves to read. This day we had dropped off Aiden at preschool and came home so I could finish getting ready. Janie wandered off and I later found her in Aiden's room reading a book! I had to sneak up and get a picture ;)
  • She has been wearing my shoes around tons lately :) Somehow I don't have a picture.
  • She absolutely loves when we chase her. She makes this padding noise with her feet when she runs so I try to make the same noise when I chase her :) She also loves to hide and have us find her.
  • She loves to help me unload the dishwasher. This is great when the dishes are clean, but of course she doesn't actually know when that is, so she unloads them whether they're clean or dirty. Meaning I load the dishes a few different times during the day :/
  • She loves when we sing. Here's a video of her doing some of the motions for Twinkle, Twinkle :) I wasn't paying attention and it goes dark for a second.
  • When Janie wants something we're eating she'll come over to us and lean in and make this little biting/gulping noise. It is so funny! I'll have to try to get it on video :)
  • She has started to throw things in the trash. I'm hoping this means she'll be little Miss Tidy. This is great and all when it's a napkin or something, but not so great when we find things like our dish towel in there..haha. I'm starting to worry she's throwing away important things before we have a chance to notice :/
  • Janie is going to nursery now! This is fabulous b/c I got called into the Primary presidency back in August so I couldn't bring her with me and Trent is the Ward Clerk so it was tricky for him to have her. It worked out that our parents meet in the ward right after us so my mom would grab her during our 3rd hour, so 2nd hour was kind of the issue. Anyway, we're glad Janie can now just go to nursery! She's actually only been twice (of 3 weeks) b/c one of the weeks was Stake Conference. This last Sunday she was a little more hesitant b/c I think she now understood that she wouldn't see us for a little while, but the nursery leader picked her up and she was just fine :)
Now for the dump. Lots of pictures from the last few months.

This evening we went to dinner in downtown Gilbert (way back in August) and then let the kids run around the splash pad. We didn't have Janie's suit with us, but she didn't mind. Every kid puts their face right over the water just to have it blast them in the face..ha.




We always sing some "fun" songs at the end of FHE and this night I pulled out the maracas ;)


When I'm working in the laundry room, Janie likes to climb in the laundry basket (clean).


This day I caught her in the dryer..ha.


I had to get this shot of Aiden sharing his lollipop with Janie :)



She will take any opportunity she can if she sees the laptop left open.


Sometimes she tries to climb out of her crib, but she always gets too nervous to actually do it. I know that will change here sooner than later.


I just thought she was looking cute here. Also I've started the little bun in her hair :)


I just think it's so funny that she holds so high on the swing!


You can see both of their little faces in there..haha.


A few pictures from September 11th. We went to Tempe Beach Park where they had nearly 3000 flags honoring those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Each flag had a card attached to it with a bio for each person. It was definitely a humbling experience.






Trent was putting our new grill together and Janie kept insisting on helping. She'd even get mad at Trent when he'd try to take the screwdriver back..haha.


When we go to the library Janie usually beelines for the computers. I was pleasantly surprised during this trip to the library when she actually sat with us and read books. And that little tongue ;)


The kids LOVE the doll house on display at the library. They're always changing it up and adding new characters.


We were out getting the mail when Trent got home from work. He let Janie ride the 50 extra feet home with him ;)


Grocery shopping has been kind of interesting with Janie lately. For some reason she doesn't like to sit in the cart. She either wants me to hold her (not fun trying to hold her and push the cart) or she'll walk along behind me and slow me down tons. This day she actually held on to the cart so that worked out.


This day I was not so lucky. Janie was throwing fits left and right and just wouldn't stay with us. Aiden was being so good in the cart. He would just sit there while I ran off to retrieve Janie in other aisles. I decided to just cut that trip short :/


I think part of the issue was that she was hungry. I let her have a granola bar on the way home, one with chocolate on the bottom so she got pretty messy. I don't usually let the kids eat in their car seats. The face she's giving me. It's almost like she knows what she just put me through..ha.


Janie can keep up with the boys and their superhero antics ;)



I love this picture of them in Aiden's capes. That little smirk on Janie's face..haha. 


She loves to run with the cape on and have it fly behind her :)


This day it was Aiden's turn to bring drinks to preschool. Janie couldn't wait to get her hands on a juice box (this was the first time I've bought juice boxes).


If you zoom into this pic you can see that Janie accessorized for the day :) She's still loving my jewelry!



We got to visit the fire station with Aiden and his preschool and we met at his preschool first. Janie loved checking out the backyard and made herself right at home. She sat in a little puddle of water while she was at it..haha.


Janie has been wearing Aiden's fireman hat lots (luckily he has 2). She usually has it on backwards and pulls it over her eyes. Such a goof!



Lounging out front. She's always missing a shoe..haha.


Tanis and Kent got a trampoline and Janie almost prefers to hang out underneath it..haha.


The kids lounged in our bed while I got ready one morning :)


Janie took over the drink when we went out to dinner ;)


Both checking out the Iron Mans at Target.


When we go to Walmart the kids always want to check out the fish at the back. Aiden dressed himself btw ;)


Love that little girly pose of hers :)


Janie and I were kind of matching this day (Trent's birthday) so we had to get a picture. It was a really windy day though!




This was the first time Janie got into my mascara. She's done it a few times since..ha.



This was at Aiden's preschool Halloween party.


It was by the park.


Some shots from Halloween. I love watching Aiden interact with Janie :)


Such a little muscle man here. Love it!


That morning my mom took the kids to get their free cupcake from Sweet Tooth Fairy :)


Snuggling in with Dad :) She didn't want me to take her to bed..haha.


Janie has recently discovered balls.


She's still making messes left and right. She pulled out almost all of the Clorox wipes :/


It has finally cooled down here. Some days Janie and I are still in our jammies when we drop off Aiden at preschool. And I couldn't resist her in her hoodie ;)


Tanis gives the kids some chocolate chips every time they leave her house. Here Trent caught her with her little hand in OUR chocolate chips..haha.


You can see the little pile she was making for herself ;)


And to close, always.

She's just so long!



She just fit in with all of her toys.



A while back she discovered one of Aiden's old pacis and she kind of loves it..ha.


Two different times in the last 3 months Janie's gotten up crazy early with Trent. Both times when Trent had to leave for work he'd try to put her back in her crib and she'd cry so he brought her to bed with me, but the poor girl would chase after him. When she realized he left she'd just cozy up in the living room and fall asleep. That's what these next 2 photos are.



Lately she's been sticking her feet/leg through the bars.






A paci in her mouth and one in each hand ;)


This evening Trent had a bad headache so he went to lay down around 7:30/8. Janie later climbed up and snuggled in and fell asleep with him :) She's kind of a Daddy's girl.


Her crossed ankles :)