Teeth?!?

Sarah already has her 2 bottom teeth in. I didn't even notice her first one coming in and within a week the other tooth had popped through and now they're both visible! I swear J's took a month to get to a point where you could see them when he smiled.
She just turned 5 months and I realized the other day that she's quickly approaching an age that I love - 6 months and up. Usually by 6 months, babies are sitting up and playing with toys on their own. I'm looking forward to that. I wouldn't say Sarah's lazy...she's just laid-back. She'd rather put her hands in her mouth than reach for stuff (she does reach for things, her hands just end up in her mouth instead), and she's working on sitting up. She's only rolled onto her tummy a couple times...she just doesn't seem interested. But she is growing - I've moved her into 6-9 month clothing!

The videos!

Here are some fun videos from our trip.


Xylopohone @ the childrens Museum


Having a carrot



Running through the woods!


"off roading"


Sarah swinging.

The state, not the capital.

Last week we all headed up north to Washington (the state) for a much needed vacation away from the heat! It was a great trip!

The highlights: Sarah screaming almost the entire plane ride to Seattle, the Children's Museum of Seattle, Anita's Prime Card, Mac & Jacks, Shawn and I going out almost every night ALONE after the kids were in bed (thanks Anita!), getting to hang out with Jennifer and Caleb, Sarah's FIRST TOOTH popping through (sob!), Victor's Coffee, the incredible weather (even the two hot days that we had with no a/c), the 50 parks within walking distance, eating carrots, tomatoes and strawberries from the garden in the backyard, taking a ferryboat ride, meeting Great-Grandpa Ralph for the first time....and so many others that I couldn't possibly begin to list them all!

Sarah's first plane ride (before the screaming!)

Somehow we all fit into Anita's Acura TL. Amazing!

Drum Drum!

Anita, Ken & J
Anita, Sarah and Caleb

J is quite the little daredevil - he climbed up and down this without assistance!

Me and the Pea

Bubbie's turn with the Pea!

Mmmm! Homegrown carrot!

Shawn & Pea

The trip was fantastic. Amazing. Beautiful. Relaxing. We had so much fun! (for those of you interested I posted a ton more pics on Facebook)

Party time!

Dance party


Pool party
Shawn took J for swimming lessons recently. He is now completely unafraid of the water!



Sarah liked the pool but also liked sitting with Ari.


Trying to coax a nap out of the peanut (didn't work, although she puts up with being tired a lot better than J did at her age!)


J & "Baba"(Grandpa) playing with nesting dolls(I think that's what they're called)


Party w/ Archer


And with Bailey! (B loves Sarah but now that Caleb's arrived...I don't know!)


J & B are such good friends.


He's so sick of me taking pictures!


Sarah bear already digs Elmo.


J & Prince, who he loves. He'll often yell out "INCE! Are you????" ("Prince, where are you?"


Totally posed pictures - I needed some pics with the little ones.



J happily posed with Shawn - after needing to be bribed to pose with me! (that yellow in his mouth is an m&m)


Daddy and his girl.

Oh boy.

This has been happening WAY too much in this house lately.


In case you can't see his face well enough...(I hate that big fat tear on his cheek)



These pictures break my heart but I don't know what to say to a child that throws himself on the floor because I had the nerve to ask him to pick out a book to read. The day before it was because I asked him not to bring his snacks into the bathroom. Ahhhhhh!!!!

Catching up...finally

I'll just post the highlights of the last few weeks.

Sarah: is 4 months old. Had her checkup today...she's 16lbs 6.5oz (97th percentile) and is 26.5" long (off the charts!) So...despite all her digestive issues, she's still growing and growing, obviously. (She's currently 9lbs lighter than J and 7" shorter!)

These two are adorable.


Extreme...


CLOSEUP!!


Shawn and J


Shawn and Sarah (these 2 don't get a lot of time together...mainly because she wants me all the time it seems!)


One of my favorite pics of the two of them.


She's getting so big, so fast. Wow.

The Visitors

Recently Shawn's dad, Dan and his wife, Karen and her children, Alec and Krystal came to Phoenix to visit. Unfortunately, they came on what was the hottest weekend of the year. Fortunately, they stayed at the Arizona Grand, which has a little water park attached to it!

We had a great visit.

J eating a lemon while we were out to dinner.


Giving Grandpa some love!


Shawn and J running in the grass on the way back to the hotel.


Grandpa helping J climb a tree after he saw Alec do it.


Chillin in the lazy river: J, Shawn and Grandpa.


The Sunday they were here was Shawn's birthday so they got him cheesecake with 28 candles! Shawn said he hasn't blown out candles in forever.


J 'helping' (why, yes, he is awfully close to that giant ball of flames!)


Alec & J reading. J adored Alec - he wanted to do everything he was doing, and Alec, bless him, was more than willing to entertain J. I don't think many 14 yr old boys would be okay with hanging out with a toddler.


Grandma Karen & J reading.


I'm nowhere near caught up on blogging but hopefully my next post will catch us up to 'present' time. I don't know how I get so far behind - it's summer - we don't do much besides hide in the a/c!

The new things.

So we got a new memory card. It holds about 600 pictures (and that's on the highest quality setting - the lowest quality - about 10,000!) - so the motivation to empty it isn't the greatest.

In addition to the memory card, we've also gotten 2 new (used) cars (not pictured) - I got a 2006 Honda Odyssey (a minivan) - I love it. J can get into his seat all by himself and the back has a/c (our old Tucson didn't have a/c vents in the back). It's pretty awesome. Shawn got a 2006 Volkswagon Passat. And that car is so fun! He had been driving my 2002 Hyundai Accent, which was on it's last legs (it had about 105k miles on it!) He needed a new car and found a great deal on the Passat. In addition to the cars, we also got a new stroller - which really isn't blog-worthy except that it's a Phil & Teds which is probably the most amazing stroller on Earth.


We also got...fish...(the fish pictured is dead. we started with 4, lost 1, got 3 more, lost 4, then lost 1....so now we're down to 1) RIP fish.


Now for kiddo pics.
Best. Smile. Ever!! Now she's started laughing, too, so most of my time with her is spent trying to make her laugh. She really liked when I would sing "Pop Goes the Weasel" and she also likes fake sneezes, just like J did.


Family picture - looking forward to a day when at least one kid doesn't have his/her fingers in their mouth at all times.


Daddy & his babies.


J also got a new car - from Grandpa & Grandma Roland in California. He loves it, especially when Shawn pushes him in it. He likes to say..."new! car!" He's also talking a lot more - he tries to say most words but a lot of it is still 'j-speak.' At his 2 year appt he was 25.8lbs (25th %tile) and 34" (50th %tile) The ped wanted him to go to speech therapy but I decided to give it time and see how he develops - he seems to be going through a period of rapid learning right now and I don't want to put him in therapy if he's doing fine on his own.


J was nice enough to let Sarah take a ride in his car. She was clearly thrilled.


Sarah checking out the fish tank.


And again, her dimples and smile. I cannot take enough pictures of it!


This is such a weird picture of J. Probably because of the pink bib, but the first time I looked at it I thought it was Lily with short hair. Is it just me?


I have about a million other pics but this post is getting long. next time!