ZOO FIELD TRIP

Friday was the girls second field trip in 1st grade.  They went to the zoo and this time I got to tag along.  What a perfect day to go!  The weather was so nice.  I decided to volunteer instead of chaperon because I didn't want to have to worry about finding a sitter for Reece.  I wasn't sure how Reece was going to do and I may have needed to leave before the girls did.  Every time I worry how she will do, she does great!  She could not have been better!

I met the girls at their school and followed the buses to the zoo (along with 20 other parents in their cars).  Once we arrived I actually got lucky and found Adisyn and her group right away.  We ate lunch together by the elephants.  I explored with Adisyn's group for a while and then decided to search for Ava.  I wasn't sure if I was ever going to find her and had no way to contact anyone she was with.  I decided to head to the orangutans because they're my favorite and spotted some kids wearing red shirts.  As I'm looking around I hear Mom and look over to see Ava running towards me.  I was so glad she found me and I didn't aimlessly walk around the zoo for hours.  We tagged along in her group until the end of the trip and it was time to head back on the buses.

It was so fun and cute to see them all in their element with their friends.  Isn't she just the cutest?!  Next field trip I told them I would get someone to care for Reece and ride on the bus with them.  Such a fun day!

WEEKEND HAPPENINGS

This weekend was a blog-worthy one.  Swimming, freezing, basketball, and lots of canning.
The girls and I pass the pool everyday after school and every day they ask to go.  So, this weekend we finally gave in.  They were so excited and swimming came back to them no problem.  They froze of course but would often go in the "hot tub" to warm up.  They call if the hot tub because its less than 2 ft deep so, its much warmer.  We got word soon there will be a heater installed, yah!

Reece got a taste of the pool.  It was way too cold for her to have nothing but her feet in.  She hated it and I don't really blame her.  It will be interesting to see how she does when she can actually get in.

 So, Shawn played with Ava and Adisyn and I hung out poolside with Reece.  She was entertained for over an hour with this cup.  One of the many perks of this age.

 Once we headed back home the girls were ready for dinner and then passed out hard for the night.

Shawn introduced the girls to bouncing a basketball (or in other words annoy our neighbors).  They love it so we took them to the basketball courts in our neighborhood.  They didn't even get close to the rim (to be honest some shots I didn't either) but I knew they wouldn't stop bugging me about going unless we went.

We did enjoy the walk, doing something different, and Reece enjoyed her nap.

They spent most the of their time dribbling the ball and riding their bike around the court.


Then the rest of the day we watched the game and made lots of jam and pickled peppers.  It's not difficult making them but definitely time consuming.  The good news though is we have 10 cans between all of them to enjoy for many months to come.

Love these memories with my crew!  Happy weekends!

CELEBRATING 6 YEARS

Anyone that's married, especially when kids are involved, know that marriage takes work!  So, we love celebrating every year of how much we love each other and what we put into our marriage every day (okay, most days).  We realized (for the millionth time) that we haven't made us a priority lately.  We were originally just gonna go to dinner or lunch on Sunday.  Shawn convinced me, very easily might I add, that a night alone would be better.  He is usually my voice of reason!

We started our weekend at Queen Creek Olive Mill.

There we met family to enjoy a nice dinner and live music.  The wind put a damper on being outside but the band was inside and the kids were getting tons of ice cream and going to the bathroom every 5 minutes, so it worked out okay.  Shawn and I tried almost every sample.

Reece was a major grump but uncle DJ was the only person that could calm her (other than us) he insisted we deserved a break.

The next day we met family at Kiwanis Park, it's been forever since I've been.  We will definitely have to go back as there is soooo much fun to be had!

After some fun we left the park alone and turned the kids over to my Mom and family visiting from Oklahoma.  Having a night away was perfection.  We had so much fun bowling and it was something different from our usual date night.  We went back to Flip Side where we enjoyed three games, enough to make us sore-yes we're out of shape, a pitcher of blue moon, and their awesome french fries.

Next, it was our usual Downtown Gilbert.  It's quickly becoming a happening place to be and we always have fun.  We ate at Zinburger because we didn't have enough french fries and ordered our fave, green chili cheese fries.  Our healthy eating went way out the door this past weekend.  #yolo.
We sat at the bar and talked all night long.  Afterwards to headed to Postino's for a board and then ended the night out with an uber ride home.

Sleeping in was much needed, even though we both thought we heard Reece crying and I even checked the monitor once.  Since we needed to head back to Downtown to get our car we took advantage of no kids and enjoyed a nice brunch at Snooze.  We've been wanting to check it out since it was built.  It was so good!  They have a nice patio and corn hole games.  There I also had the best bloody mary, EVER!  Probably because it was the perfect amount of spice and they infuse their vodka with jalapenos and habanero peppers.  We will go back soon!

We ended our anniversary weekend snuggled on the couch, netflix binge watching, and chinese take out.  It was one of the best weekend we've had in awhile.

Happy 6 years, babe!

SEVEN

The girls are SEVEN!  Where has the time gone?!

We had a simple celebration for them this year by having family over for cake and ice cream.  It was perfect.  Their birthday fell on a Saturday this year so to make them feel special I brought cookies to school for them to celebrate with their friends.  They LOVED it!

 I made their cakes this year, box cake, because that's what they prefer over store bought.

Signs of a good time

Birthday breakfast, donuts!  (when I woke up they were outside playing with their new toys and Adisyn had polished off the remains of the frosting, she loves her sweets)

Baby Reece needed a check up

We then took them to flip side, a first for all of us.  It was sooo much fun!  They had a lot of fun bowling up north so we knew they would love it.  The food was good and the beer too!

Reece was happy as can be and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.  

 After tons of fun at Flip side we went to McDonald's for dinner, their choice.

We made the day all about them, whatever they wanted to do and whatever they wanted to eat.  I'm thinking we need to do it more often.  It was such a great day! After donuts for breakfast, bowling, arcade games, playing with new toys, McDonald's for dinner, board games, and playing at the park they were exhausted!

One of the gifts we got for them was new backpacks, much needed and they love them!

Happy Birthday, my angels!

6 MONTHS

I'm sure I'll think this every month/year but I can't believe how big she is now and that she's already 6 months old!  

6 months measurements: 

Height: 26 inches- 50 percentile

Weight: 15 lbs. - 25 percentile

She is still a great eater.  When she wakes she usually has about 10 oz within an hour.  The rest of the day she eats about every 1-2 hrs, still about 5 oz.  I'm thinking she may need more at each feeding or start introducing more solids.  Speaking of solids, she did try banana for the first time.  It was a week before her 6 month mark so I felt she was ready.  I plan to make most of her food however will stock up on some store bought pouches for on the go or if I'm behind making.  We'll see how that goes in next months post.  I may decide to scrap that idea and just buy.  

Here's some pictures...

She wasn't the biggest fan.

Here's a video too... 

Towards 6 PM this girl is a grump!  Sometimes I can get her to stay up until 6:30 PM but she still wakes about the same time.  So depending on her mood bedtime for her is 6-7 PM. She has been sleeping through the night still.  There have been a few nights she would wake at 1 AM or 3 AM ready to eat, but majority of the time she sleeps a solid 10-13 hrs a night.  Nap time on the other hand has been more challenging.  Sometimes she takes good naps but most of the time there only 30 minute too-short-of-naps.  I do try to lay her down at the first signs of tiredness otherwise she gets really worked up and has a hard time falling asleep on her own.  Hopefully I can get her on a better schedule.

We've heard her giggle before but not like this...



So cute!  Ever since I've been trying to get her to giggle like that again.  With no success.

She has also started spitting a lot and baby talks all the time!  I should have labeled this video baby scream!

She LOVES to be held and hasn't been a fan of laying down.  So I bought her this excersaucer from craigslist.  She likes it!  When I'm making dinner she goes in the kitchen to watch also when we go outside she'll just chill in this.  It has been a life saver.  I've learned not to put her in it if she's hungry or tired, otherwise, que the meltdown!

This has been her newest favorite position.

She hasn't yet started to put her feet in her mouth, but probably soon.

She has been drooling all the time!  The Easter bunny brought her some teethers but I also invested in this baltic amber necklace.  I've heard a lot of good things about it so thought I'd try it.  It's supposed to help reduce inflammation and drooling.  At night I wrap it around her ankle.  Hopefully during teething, this will help her be more comfortable and sleep better.  I just got it a few days ago so more of an update on this next month.

Her sisters are still smitten with her as we all are!  But no one can grab her attention the way her sisters can!  She loves watching them play.

Let's see how she's grown!  Month 4, month 5, month 6.

Look at those chunky thighs!  LOVE!

Even sitting she still likes to curl her feet/legs up.

And to make this post even longer...

Here's a picture of all three girls at 6 months.  In this order: Ava, Adisyn, and Reece.