Visitors from Idaho!!

A few days after we came back from our visit to Idaho, we had visitors of our own from Idaho, my brother Alan, his wife Natasha and their 2 boys Alexander and Aiden.  This was their first "real" vacation as a family and we were soo excited that they came to see us.  Another great thing was that Aunt Amanda came along as well.  Benjamin was really excited!

They got in late on Friday night but we wasted no time and headed for the coast on Saturday morning.  The boys had never been to an aquarium before so we were really looking forward to taking them.  The kids had a blast!  And really, so did the adults.  It's always fun to see marine life :-)

After the aquarium, we ate a picnic lunch then headed down to the beach.  It was pretty warm that day but unfortunately it was also pretty windy so that was kind of annoying.  But Alexander and Aiden LOVED it.  They weren't afraid of the water at all and were completely covered in sand in 5 minutes flat, ha! 

After we (except for Peter who chased a kite all around after letting Benjamin fly it on his own.......you can imagine what happened?!?!) spent the afternoon on the beach, we headed down to the waterfront to shop around the cute little shops then ate at Mo's for some yummy fish & chips and chowder.  Benjamin loved the chowder, I think I may have got one bite of our whole bowl.  And Jonah loved Amanda's chicken strips!

We drove home, bathed the boys, and all slept good.

Sunday morning we went to church, then ate spaghetti for lunch and let the boys nap.  Afterward we headed to Costco then took everyone bowling.  Again, the boys had a great time!  We grabbed some Little Caesars to eat at home since it was super hot that day and we have air conditioning.  Then the boys had ice cream and played in the pool until bedtime.  Alexander cracked me up when I told him that frozen blueberries were blueberry ice creams....he ate and ate and ate thinking he was getting a super special treat.  Too funny!

Monday morning we headed to the zoo!  Again, my nephews had never been so we couldn't wait to get there.  It was a beautiful day and we lucked out because you could see all the animals really well.  We all had a great time!  We packed a small picnic lunch and when we left mid-afternoon, we headed to an early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory which was, of course, delicious!!

Unfortunately Alan, Natasha and the boys had to take off the next morning to get back to their jobs.  We wished they could have stayed longer, we really enjoyed getting to show them our neck of the woods.  Thanks for coming guys, can't wait until you come back again soon!!

6 Months!! - Jonah

My sweet little Jonah turned 6 months old on July 25th, almost a month ago....oops, I'm late again with his monthly post.  He had his well baby check-up on August 7th so it's been a few weeks, but here's what he's been up to....

Height:  27 inches

Weight:  15lbs 4 ounces

 (to compare with Ben, he was 27 inches too but 4lbs bigger at 19lbs 4 ounces, ha!)

 

Likes:  You LOVE your brother!  You light up when you see him, you giggle when he "eats" your tummy, and your favorite pastime is watching his every move.  You love your Floppy, watching any tv or computer that happens to be on, bathtime, propping your feet up on the stroller during walks, you love being tickled and have the greatest laugh.  You love to pick on Ben already, you always put your hand in your mouth, you love reaching things you shouldn't.  You like playing with toys, especially ones you can steal from your brother!

 

Dislikes:  Having to get your pajamas on when you're tired, having anything that's not perfectly pureed put in your mouth :-) 

Eating:  You nurse 5 times a day, at breakfast/lunch/dinner and also after afternoon nap and usually around 4-5am.  You also started solids about a week before you turned 6 months.  You're not a fan of green veggies but will eat it if they're mixed up with fruit.  Everything else you eat pretty well, but you still only really prefer pureed foods right now, the texture of "real food" is not something you love right now.

 

Sleeping:  You go to bed around 8-8:30pm and usually wake up around 8-9am, most times waking up around 4-5am to eat.  You also take a morning nap of about 30-40 minutes and I finally *cue the Hallelujah chorus* have you napping at the same time as Ben in the afternoon.  That nap is usually between 2-3 1/2 hours for you.  You only take a late evening catnap if for some reason your afternoon nap was cut way short.  You sleep with your Floppy, paci, and white noise machine.  Mommy sings "You are my Sunshine" before laying you down each time.  You've also actually slept completely through the night a few times, hooray for Mommy!

 

Personality:  You are still my laid back cuddlebug, you almost always have your feet propped up on whatever is around you.  You have the most adorable giggle when you are being tickled.  You are so observant and it cracks me up how you actually look like you are watching every part of a show when its on tv.  You are rarely fussy, love to be held and to be outdoors.  You love to give what we call "goofy grins" and seem to have an incredibly ornery side...we think you're going to looove picking on your brother, ha!

 

Highlights:  You've had a super busy summer.  You've been to San Diego via airplane, Idaho via car trip, visited the zoo, and the coast.  I don't think you've had your real first word yet but you "talk" all the time and seem to say maaaamaaa in the middle of the night when you're hungry.  You may be getting a tooth based on all your hand eating.  You roll to get wherever you want to go and you want crawl soooo badly.  We think you might crawl earlier than Ben did.   

 

Jonah Caleb, we cannot get enough of your goofy grins and your sweet, laid back demeanor.  We love your hugs and the way you squeel when you're tickled or see your brother.  We are so, so, so grateful that God lets us be your parents.  We love you to the moon and back!

 

Visit to Idaho

My parents hadn't seen Benjamin and Jonah for a couple months so when Peter told me he was going to have a crazy work schedule one week, we decided to head to Idaho so Nana and Grandfather could get their "fix", ha :-)  My poor, hard working hubby put in at least 80 hours of work, he has such a great work ethic!

I was slightly crazy for making the 8 hour drive home by myself with both boys but they did SO great.  Thank goodness for non-sticky snacks, lots of fun things to look at along the route, fun childrens music, and portable DVD players.  It was a flawless trip, both ways.  Well, I did have to pull over when Ben poked his eye and thought he was dying but overall, it was flawless!

We spent the week hanging out with my mom who is recovering fabulously from hip replacement surgery, going to thrift stores, garage sales, shopping, McDonalds, having a family BBQ, and playing with their insane amount of toys.  The boys loved it!

The proof is in the pictures!