5 Months

Now that Zach is 5 months old, here is what he's been up to!

He's sort of sitting on his own! He has to be balanced and watched closely but we can prop him up for a few seconds! Same thing with standing too, he'll hold on to the edge of the couch and stand! Not before long, he will be all over the place. I am taking in every last second of his floppy baby stage, I will miss it!

About 2 weeks ago, we decided to start Zach on cereal to see if it helped with his crankiness. He was still eating about every 2 hours throughout the day and suddenly stopped sleeping through the night. So that was our deciding factor to try solids thinking he is just hungry and needs more food. The first time, he devoured it! He took to the spoon without any trouble and he wolfed the entire bowl. Although, two hours later he was hungry again and it hasn't changed his eating or sleeping habits a bit! He's just a growing boy!

Fast metabolism, I say! First Bites He is also rolling over now!

Once he finally flipped from his back to his tummy he was a pro.

I took Zach to his well-check appointment and he is 16 lbs 4 oz and is 28 inches long! He is in the 50th percentile for weight but the 97th for height! He is super long and based on that number and the size of his feet, we think he is going to be very tall. I talked to his doctor about his crankiness and how loud he screams. She says that since he is perfectly healthy and growing beautifully he is just a very demanding boy. The cranky part is just who he is. Since he stops crying the second we figure out what he wants, then he just wants what he wants and will cry until he gets it. We just have to figure out what it is he wants, thats the hard part. It was a relief to hear this! I feel like for months I have been stressing about what is wrong with him and what I should do to help him. Now I feel like I can relax and know my baby is ok, he just cries louder than most!

Haylee's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe it, how time flies! I feel like just yesterday she was my baby and now she is my middle child and has been here for 3 whole years already!! I tell her that she may be in the middle but she is still our baby girl!
She is still as happy and spunky as ever!

She was trying really hard to show me three fingers but she was having trouble with it.

We let the birthday girl choose what she wanted for dinner and this girl has taste, I tell ya! She picked The Cheesecake Factory! It's where I love to go and she loves anything with the word cake in it!

My Mom sends the kids a birthday box on their birthday. She was very excited to get a present in the mail!

Opening presents from us

I found her this pop up princess tent for $4! It was clearenced for 75% off, sweet deal and both girl LOVE it.

Her home made pink cake, per request.

Just some tid bits about Haylee that I want to share/remember...

*She now uses sentences. It is adorable. Or her new phrases like "Heeeeey" or "Right now!" or "Me!" or these 2 words she made up that pretty much mean anything: "Sisssa" and "Tao" (which I think Tao means OK in Haylee-land). As in "I put it over sissa. Toa?"

*She gets lost in her imaginary world. It's really cute to watch her play. Then she will catch me watching her and get all embaressed.

*She is still a huge cuddle bug. The second I sit down she is plastered to me. And she must pat me, usually on my chest, and I'm still not sure where she got this from.

*She just started to draw pictures of people and they are adorable. Plus she can write an H and an A...so just 3 more letters to learn and she can spell her name.

*She claims her favorite meal is Chicken Pot Pie yet she won't actually eat it. Even when she pretends to cook thats what she always makes.

*She hunts down any candy or sweets and will eat it without us knowing.

I took her to her well-check appointment and she is 38 inches tall and weighs 36 pounds. Which puts her in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. She is perfectly proportionable but she is very tall! She checked out perfectly and it was fun getting some one on one time with her. I love that little girl! Rylee can overpower her most of the time so it was nice talking to just her and hear what she had to say with out big sister telling her what to say and do! She's a doll, the doctor got a kick out of how cute she was. Haylee also exclaimed at the end of the appointment that she was sad she didn't get a shot. Everyone in the waiting room looked at her like she was crazy! I think she wanted to sport a band-aid and show to Rylee how brave she was. We stopped at the store afterwards and I let her pick out a piece of candy and without asking her to, she picked one out for Rylee too. I couldn't tell her enough how sweet she was, I am so glad she has a sharing heart (sometimes...=)

Valentine's Day

My 3 little loves

His first Valentines
I went all out this year and made every meal into the shape of hearts. The girls loved this! I made heart pancakes with strawberry milk for breakfast. Heart pb&j's, bananas cut out into hearts, heart shaped marshmellows, and strawberries for lunch.
Then they had heart shaped, make your own, homemade pizza's for dinner!
The girls made Valentine's for everyone

Zach with his Valentine's cards handmade by Rylee and Haylee.

And the Valentine from his Mommy and Daddy

We fed the kids, put them all to bed, and then Scott cooked me an amazing dinner! He went to a local butcher and picked up a heart shaped cut of steak. And then worked hard in the kitchen He made the steak oscar style with (homemade, slaved over this) hollandaise sauce and crab meat, king crab legs, grilled asparagus and baked potatoes! It was absolutely amazing and delicious!!
And for dessert we had chocolate fondue.

(Thank you Scott, you are wonderful. You are the best Valentine!!)

The Zoo

I had a coupon for buy 1 get 1 free adult to the Phoenix Zoo, so Scott took Friday off and we went! It turned out to be an even better deal, all of the kids got in free. Plus, it was a gorgeous day!

Zach slept most of the time in the stroller. Which was great, because the girls were whining most of the day! Who would have guessed Zach would be the angel (he didn't cry the whole day) and the girls were grumpy! I was the lucky one that got to ride the camel with Haylee. Rylee refused to go, saying she was scared. Once we started riding Rylee was very upset that she didn't go! Silly girl. Haylee liked it, I guess. She was pretty quiet the whole ride. She must have not been sure what to think. The monkeys in the monkey exhibit.

I took the opportunity to take some portraits of my kids.

Goodness, I love his fizzy blonde hair glistening in the sun!
Rylee and the tortoise...I am really not sure what Rylee's pose is for or about?

Zach woke up as we were ready to leave so we got him out of the stroller and took some pictures to document his first zoo visit.

Rylee and Haylee's Birthday Party

We had everyone over for a combined party for Rylee and Haylee's birthdays.

Here are the birthday girls with their cake!

Party People
We had a firepit going for s'mores but the only wood we had were chemical logs. Doesn't make for such a tasty treat...more toxic than anything.
So we came inside for presents!
Haylee recieved marshmellows in one of her presents and she immediately helped herself. Who cares about the toys, clothes and more presents to unwrap when you have food to eat! Thats just who our Haylee-bun is. She loves sweet treats!

The hit of the party was the giant red ball! Scott saw it at Costco and couldn't pass it up. While the girls were inside opening their presents, most of the guys were in the garage blowing the ball up. It was such a genious idea, everyone had a ball. Literally.

The ball gave everyone's hair serious static cling. It was great!

Myranda volunteered to be the "adult" to get in the ball. Didn't work so great... We broke out the Wii and played Just Dance

The competitive dancers

Look at that form, so in sync

Even my Mom and Denise danced. It was great!

The cousin twins. We dressed them the same to be cute but then we realized it was hard telling who was who! We would get confused about who was holding our baby! I admit, I had to do a double take a few times!

Thank everyone for coming. It was a lot of fun!