Cousins

Jayden and Sophie are finally starting to be able to interact with each other, which makes Jayden very happy. Sophie just loves to watch him and you can tell she thinks he's pretty cool. He tries to take such good care of her by smashing the pacifier in her mouth, force feeding her juice, piling toys all over her, and so on. It's really cute because I know he is really trying to be sweet, even if it isn't what she wants.


Ahhh... snuggles.


Not sure what they were doing here, but apparently it was fun.


It's hard to smile for the camera and get your cousin to turn around at the same time!

Shortly after this, he sat on her head. I guess he wanted to show her what it would have been like to have a big brother.

Color or B&W...

I can't ever decide. What do you think? This first one was my favorite shot, but Jayden ended up overexposed. I was so sad... I still like it though, but I think the B&W conversion turned out kinda funky.

I have more photos to share from our cookout last night, but Sophie is needing some attention. :o)

A Few Pics

Here are a few pictures from our little "play date" on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun and great weather!


Jayden trying to decide if the water was friend or foe. Soon after this he stuck his head in, screeched like a girl and ran away.


Sidewalk chalk was a big hit and a big mess (on the kids). My patio is still proudly displaying Rachel's art. :o)




Timothy was the first brave one. He also kept asking me where my chickens were. We told him that we ate them. I suppose we should have told him that they went to live on a farm somewhere...


Sophie's exersaucer was a huge hit.


Layla taking a break from eating everyone's food. Seriously. She cleaned out every plate.


Being the photographer means that you rarely get any photos of yourself with your own kids. So, April and I promised each other that we would try to take pictures of each other with our kids. Sorry, but this is the best I could do. Everytime I tried to take your picture you would look away!

Rachel, none of my pics of Adison turned out! I hope you got some good ones. She was so cute with the bubbles. She would chase them saying "bubbles. pop."

Sophie Goes to the Zoo

So, I didn’t get any pictures… April will have to post those, but I just had to document Sophie’s first trip to the zoo. Hopefully you will find humor in our “fun”.

We arrive at the zoo about 1:00. Apparently that is about the time everyone requires a nap… Sophie and Finn get strapped into the double stroller. Layla and Jayden get situated in the wagon with a bag of cookies to share. Then we try to cram all the baby paraphernalia into the baskets in the double stroller. You’d think we were moving to the zoo. Funny thing is, I don’t think we even used anything in the baskets! Okay, back to the story.

Jayden and Layla did great sharing their cookies. They seemed to enjoy riding together until Jayden tried to stand up and Layla yelled at him to sit. He didn’t comply. Hmmm… Finn stole Sophie’s blanket. She didn’t mind. Her toes were free and flapping in the wind.

We get to the petting zoo and Layla and Jayden get to pet a goat or sheep or something like that. One was eating something and I Layla leans down and asks it if it is “yummy”. After petting the stinky critters, Ashlee and April attempt to wash the excited toddlers’ hands. They got the soap on their hands and then took off. No worries… the hands finally got clean.

We decided to take a break at the park and let the kids run some. Bad idea… we couldn’t convince them to leave. Meanwhile, Finn shakes his head “no” and Sophie spits up. Oh, and April whacked herself in the forehead with her huge camera. Drew blood. I’m sorry, but I laughed.

Next stop, “poop-ville”. I get Sophie out for some snuggles and feel moisture. Thinking surely she didn’t wet through her diaper, I roll her over and see the lovely poop splatter all over the back of her pants. We were, of course, no where near a bath room. So a bench will have to do. I pull out the changing pad and strip her down. I have literally never seen so much poop! She needed to just have a bath, but wipes would have to do. Twenty wipes later and she is relatively clean. She gets a new onesie and is ready to go.

Meanwhile, Jayden and Layla find a nice juicy mud puddle. Oh, yeah… you can see where this is going. I here Ashlee cry out “Jayden” and look over and they are up to their knees in mud! Layla had her frog boots on, so she wasn’t too bad. Jayden, however, was not at all wearing all-terrain shoes. Flip flops just aren’t the best at keeping your feet clean. So, more wipes are brought out… man, we certainly weren’t very “Green” today. Sorry environment. Luckily there was a water fountain which turned into a make-shift bath for the muddy shoes. Hope no one was thirsty…

MEANWHILE, Layla decided to run away. April says “stop” which of course just makes her run faster. Frog boots were not made for running… hello sidewalk, meet Layla’s face. More blood. She’s okay now.

Sigh… whose idea was it to go to the zoo.

Jayden imitates the giraffes. Then they create a new game where Layla spits her paci out and Jayden puts it back in her mouth. At least they were having fun.

We decide not to ride the train because eventually we would have to get off the train… that would not be a very popular idea. Layla waves at a stranger. Layla waves at no one. Layla falls again. More tears. Let’s go home!

Outside Fun

We played outside for a LONG time yesterday and had so much fun! The weather was beautiful!!! Anyway, I entertained myself taking pictures while Jayden ran all over the place trying to figure out where the "dog" was (their neighbors have a dog that he can see through their fence... apparently all back yards look the same to him).

Mr. Silly

I didn't ask him to do this... I think he just knows what to do when there is a camera out!

Looking for dirt and rocks

At this point he was saying "eeewwww" because "poop" isn't in his vocabulary yet!

I Like to Sweep...

So, one of Jayden's new favorite things to do is sweep. I think he must think my floors are dirty or something... hmmm. Anyway, he's always trying to haul around our "adult size" broom. I told Josh I was going to have to track down a munchkin size one for him. Instead, Josh just chopped off half of our "outside" broom. Now it's just the right size and so much fun (for Jayden... I hate to sweep).

Jayden and his new broom

Also, notice that he has no hair. They decided to buzz his head. Now if you call him "buzz head" or ask him where his hair is, he self-consciously rubs his head. It's quite fun.

Juice Wars

You know the saying "the juice is always sweeter in someone else's cup"? Well, Layla is a firm believer in this! Thankfully it didn't get too ugly...

The juice thief works her magic...

... it all ended well with a friendly drink.

I had to throw this pic in too. Jayden LOVES to drive anything with wheels. For some reason he decided that this GI Joe helicopter looked like a car you drive. The propellers are the steering wheel and it makes "vroom vroom" noises. It's pretty funny!

Monkey Hat

Jayden and I were having lots of fun wearing the lid to the blocks jar on our head. I told him it looked like a monkey hat and he laughed. Not that he knew what a monkey hat was, but it must have sounded funny for some reason. Anyway, I told him to put his "monkey hat" on and this was the pose I got! I'm so glad I had my camera out...

1st Birthday

My little jayden turned 1 on Friday! He couldn't quite get into opening presents. He was too distracted by the push toys his Daddy bought for him. So, his poor Mommy had to sit in front of everyone and open the presents for him. He did enjoy climbing up on top of all the boxes after they were opened though. He was quite the monkey.

This is all he wanted to do... notice the presents being unwrapped in the background. Ah well, it's his party!

Definitely not a fan of the "Happy Birthday" song. Either that or we sing worse than we think...

JR stuck Jayden's whole arm in the cake. He was quite confused and insisted that his Mommy feed him. He ate more cake than I have ever seen a kid eat! I just knew he would spew!

mmm... cake...

I Went To The Zoo Too!

they couldn't quite grasp the concept of actually looking at the animals. maybe next year...

jayden was a monkey too, but didn't keep his head in the hole. didn't look quite right when you could see more of his body than his head.

layla likes graham crackers. don't ask her how many she ate today. it was ALOT!

this was our "stalker" goose. he/she (not sure which) kept following the babies around. i think it had something to do with graham crackers...

wierdest sheep-thing i've ever seen!

More Pictures from Yesterday

tanner... hoping to see a fish

i was so upset that i didn't have them turn away from the sun!

Lamb Chops

Rolling Eyes

okay, isn't he too young to be rolling his eyes at me?

Mmmmm... Carrots

i have seriously never seen someone so exited about carrots! there was squeeling and arm flapping and carrots flying everywhere.

Lesson Learned

ok, so i know i still have alot to learn before i have kids. such as, don't buy them cute new toys when what they really want is to play with the box of wipes...

jayden playing...

notice the cute little wooden toys being ignored off to the side.

Pictures, Pictures and More Pictures

the quality on this pic stinks, but i couldn't get
him to sit still long enough to get a good pic in
this cute outfit. the shirt is ralph lauren and she
even had him in a cute little ribbon belt!


























































ok, i know that was alot of pics to post at once, but i couldn't decide which ones to use so i just used them all!