Happy Birthday Grandpa Macnab, Lucas, & Avery!!!

What a weekend to celebrate! Yesterday we had fun going to 2 birthday parties! We started off the night helping Lucas celebrate his 2nd birthday and we ended the night celebrating Avery's 1st birthday. It was also my Dad's birthday but he's still in Italy so we haven't gotten the chance to help him celebrate. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I only have pictures that Catrina sent me from Avery's party. I've also thrown in some random pictures from the week.

Avery's 1st Birthday Party
Sienna chillin' with the birthday girl, Avery!
Brayden had so much fun playing with Avery's big brother, Wyatt (as always)! As soon as we got to the party, Brayden hopped on Wyatt's motorized train and pretty much stayed there until the battery died. Luckily Wyatt wasn't interested in riding on the train...he was more interested in trying to derail it!
Sienna hanging out with me! Since I'm usually the one taking pictures, I don't end up in many, if any pictures. Even though this isn't the best picture, I decided I should probably post it so I have some proof that I actually hang out with my kids!
Random Pictures
The other day I caught Sienna hanging out in Brayden's Elmo Chair! I'm not sure why, but I just think it is too darned cute when they start sitting in chairs all by themselves. I still remember how cute I thought Brayden was when he started sitting in this chair!
Brayden and Sienna actually enjoyed some quality time together at their new picnic table. It also came with an blue umbrella...it is too cute! I was really excited to see how much room they have while playing at the table.

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of Sienna in her new skirt from Grandma Boley...I just love those chubby little legs!

The Benefits of Being 1 Year Old!

4 reasons why I am so excited that Sienna is 1 Year Old: 1) Sienna can face forward in the car now, leaving more room for my long legs 2) Sienna can drink whole milk...it is easier to make and cheaper than formula, 3) Sienna only really needs 1 nap a day, and finally 4) we can start the transition from bottles to sippy cups for (she drinks water out of a sippy cup but refuses to drink milk out of one...she actually drinks so much water that we have to cut her off!).

Today Sienna had her 12 month appt and she did great until it came time for the shots. The nurse made a comment that these shots hurt worse than the other shots and she wasn't kidding! Sienna screamed and screamed until we got to the car. Brayden didn't seem too bothered by the whole ordeal, thank goodness! The good news is that I got a good look inside her mouth while she was screaming and I could see parts of her 2 bottom molars! With these 2 new molars, she has a grand total of 10 teeth. Sienna was so exhausted on the way home that she passed out in the car. Here she is in her brand new Graco 3-in-1 carseat...facing forward!
Sienna's still a big girl! Here are her 12 month measurements:
Weight: 22 lbs 10.4 oz (75th %)
Height: 30 1/2" (90th %)
Head: 46 cm (75th %)

For comparison, here are her 9 month measurements:
Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (75th %)
Height: 29 1/2" (95th %)
Head: 44.6 cm (75th %)

Here are some random pictures from the week:
Brayden takes his job as a big brother very seriously...he likes to feed Sienna. In fact, I think he does a better job feeding her than he does himself! The funny part is that if Chris or I try to feed her, she purses her lips and tries to hide her mouth. But when Brayden feeds her, she opens right up! Hmmmm...maybe I should try experimenting with food she won't normally eat!!!

Brayden received a new shipment of Disney books this week (we belong to the Wonderful World of Disney club) and as soon as I gave him the books, he sat right down to read them. I always thinks he looks so cute reading books!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sienna LeeAnn!!!

Our baby girl is 1 year old! WOW! The 3 of us went to Gymboree this morning (the poor birthday girl was stuck in the Ergo Carrier) but Brayden and I sang Happy Birthday numerous times to Sienna during the 50 minute round-trip so hopefully she didn't feel too left out on her special day. We also sang her the ABC song which is Brayden's new favorite song. While the kids were napping (both kids took amazing naps today!!!), I was able to decorate Sienna's special birthday cake. Grandma Boley came over for dinner, cake & presents. Unfortunately, Grandpa Boley has a cold and had to stay home and my parents are in Italy for 3 weeks!!! It was a very small and quiet birthday celebration...just the kind I like! Of course, her real party is at the end of the month. :) Happy Birthday, Boo Boo! We love you!!!

The Birthday Girl
The Birthday Cake
This was my first attempt at decorating a cake. Normally I'm a perfectionist but today I was just happy to get the whole cake done while the kids were napping. I was supposed to make a double batch of the frosting but decided that it wasn't worth the effort for the practice cake. Originally I was just going to make brownies for her birthday (just like I did for Brayden), but since I am a perfectionist, I couldn't wait to attempt my first cake for her real party. Hopefully the next cake will turn out even better...I certainly learned a lot from my mistakes today! Sienna was pretty excited to see the cake...
But she wasn't too sure what to think about it when she touched it...
Later we gave her a small piece of cake and a spoon...she seemed to think that was more manageable...

She even got the spoon into her mouth! I'm pretty sure she didn't eat much, if any cake. Of course, I wasn't all that unhappy about it since she is wild and crazy enough without all that sugar! ;)
The Birthday Presents

Of course Brayden thought that he should be able to open all of Sienna's presents...what are big brothers for, anyways??? We did let him "help" Sienna, though. In all reality, she wasn't that excited about opening them. (Brayden on the other hand was pretty good at opening his presents on his 1st birthday!)
Sienna got some clothes, a book and an electronic learning tablet from Grandma & Grandpa Boley. We gave her some pots and pans to go in her new kitchen. The electronic tablet with the stylus was by far the favorite gift...Brayden and Sienna were fighting over it as we were trying to get them ready for bed!
Brayden and Sienna putting the pot in the oven...I wonder what they are making us for dinner???

Random Post Sunday!

We had such a fun (& busy) weekend! Saturday morning we took the kids to Yuen Lui for Sienna's 12 month pictures. Unfortunately, Sienna won't sit still so we didn't get very good pictures. Hopefully her retakes next weekend will go better. Ha! Saturday afternoon we left the kids with Grandma & Grandpa Boley and headed to the Nike Employee Store (Thank You, Janet!!!) and then to dinner at Claim Jumper. This morning Grandma Boley took both kids to church...we were planning on going but Sienna is teething again and we haven't had a good night sleep in over a week! I decided to make use of the kid-free time to run errands while Chris put together Sienna's birthday present. After lunch we headed outside for some warm weather fun...yippee!

Kick Ball
Brayden loves to kick the ball back and forth with Chris...he's pretty darn good for only being 2 1/2 years old! As I mentioned in a previous post, Brayden also loves to throw the ball at fences and shrubs. ;)
When I was out running errands, I found what I thought would be a fun game to play with Brayden. It came with 2 nets and a ball. The package said it was for ages 4 and up but I figured it would be ok because Brayden is pretty good at throwing and playing catch. I couldn't have been more wrong! The silly nets were designed so poorly that even Chris and I had a hard time throwing the ball out of the net! Nonetheless, we all still had a lot of fun laughing at each other as we attempted to throw the ball.


Sienna's Birthday Present
We bought Sienna a new pink kitchen from Costco for her birthday. Chris put it together while we were all of of the house this morning. Unfortunately I wasn't home when the kids got home from church so I couldn't see their faces when they walked in the door, but Chris did a great job taking pictures. And, in case you were wondering, we did not leave the kitchen in the middle of the room! ;)

Brayden's New Sunglasses
When Grandma Boley was driving home from church, Brayden told Grandma "It's bright...I need sunglasses!". So, she dropped Sienna off at home and took Brayden to the store. He wore his new Lightning McQueen sunglasses both times we played outside and he even tried to wear them inside, too! Brayden's Naps
Brayden has pretty much given up his 1 afternoon nap. He still goes upstairs and plays in his crib for about 2 hours, but he rarely falls asleep. On Friday I put him down at the normal time (1:30pm) and around 3:15 he actually fell asleep...underneath all of his stuffed animals! Brayden is usually such a light sleeper that as soon as we open the door he wakes up. However, he was so tired that when I went in to wake him up he didn't stir, even after I turned off his sound machine and nightlight. I thought he looked so cute that I high tailed it downstairs to get the camera. I got about 3 shots before the flash woke him up.

The poor kid was so tired...and SWEATY!!!
I'm pretty sure he's glaring at me for waking him up with the camera flash!
Brayden's Backpack
It has been almost 2 years since I bought Brayden his Elmo backpack. At the time he was crazy about Elmo and he was so excited when we brought it home from the store. You can see Brayden walking around with it at 11 months by clicking here. About a year ago, we were given a Bob the Builder hand-me-down backpack. Brayden has always liked putting stuff in his backpacks, but just recently he decided to wear it...just like he did with the Elmo backpack 2 years ago!

Happy Friday!

Wow, where did the week go? Now that we are finally healthy, we've had fun activities/playdates every day to keep us busy. We were so busy that I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few that I did manage to get.

Brayden's Idea of Sharing
Sienna was playing so nicely by herself so, of course, Brayden decided that he wanted to play, too. When he wants to play with something, that means that Sienna can no longer play with it. Brayden has mastered gently (ha!) wedging himself between Sienna and the toy. When I told him that Sienna was playing with it first and that he needed to share it with her (those exact words come out of my mouth more times than I can count each day), he was nice enough to allow her to touch the toy with one hand. Poor Sienna! I know it won't be too long before she's big enough to push back...you better watch out, Brayden!Brayden's Finger
When Brayden was 8 months old, he had a little accident with his finger. You can check out the full story by clicking here. I didn't go into any gruesome details, but I'll will tell you that after the accident he was missing a portion of his fingertip pad. I rarely think about his finger, but as I was cleaning him up after lunch yesterday, I happened to catch a good look at it. Other than being whiter than the rest of his fingertip, I really had no idea what it looked like almost 2 years later. I was actually a little surprised to see that the skin was a little bubbly and he didn't have a normal fingerprint. The doctor at the hospital had told us that kids could regrow the whole top portion of their fingertip so I just expected his fingertip pad would grow back with his original fingerprint! The picture doesn't really show it very well, but I still thought that it was interesting enough to share...
Friends
Catrina came over yesterday with her kids and before we knew it, all 4 kids were hanging out at the coffee table! This was the first time they had ever been in the same place at the same time.
A little while later, Wyatt was sitting at the table eating a banana and once again, all 4 kids were hovering together. (Avery started heading over to Catrina before I was able to snap the picture.) Of course, the rest of the time Brayden and Wyatt were chasing each other around the house while Sienna attempted to keep up with them...she always has to be in the middle of the excitement!

More Outdoor Fun!

We were blessed with more wonderful weather on Friday afternoon...too bad it didn't last. The kids & I have been going stir crazy inside so at least we had one nice afternoon to get outside. We are all feeling better so hopefully we'll get to do some fun stuff this upcoming week.

Daddy's Girl
Sienna was very excited to see Chris when he got home...she was full of smiles and giggles! The Whistle
Brayden loves playing with his whistle. Up until now he liked to try to blow it, but without much success. Since mastering the whistle this week, he has been banned from playing with it inside. Friday was the perfect opportunity to let him play with it outside...unfortunately the dogs in the neighborhood dislike the loud noise of the whistle just as much as I do! Chalk
Sienna had fun playing with chalk for the first time...she enjoyed taking the chalk out of the box and drawing on the sidewalk...AND her pants!
I'm pretty sure that the only reason Brayden actually draws with the chalk is so that he can use the broom to sweep it up. ;)
I couldn't resist sharing this picture...Brayden looks so grown up!
Catch
Brayden had fun playing "catch" with all of the shrubs & trees in our yard...unfortunately they don't throw back. Although, he didn't seem to mind. ;)
Walking
Sienna walked outside for the first time...unfortunately all she wanted to do was walk in the middle of the street!

I was a little nervous letting Sienna walk around outside, but she actually did pretty good! Over the last week or two she has really perfected her walking skills. Now she can now turn directions as well as stop to pick something up.
Luckily she waited until Daddy was home to fall down. As Brayden likes to say..."whoops"! Sienna is such a trooper...she got right back up and continued on her way without a single tear!

The Rocket Launcher
We decided to go for a wagon ride while we were waiting for Chris to get home from work. Brayden always plays with his rocket launcher and Sienna usually just hangs out while in the wagon. When we got back home, Sienna was having so much fun playing with the rocket launcher that I just left her in the wagon....I see many, many fights over the rocket launcher this summer! (I decided to see what outdoor pictures looked like on my cell phone...good thing I didn't buy the phone for the picture quality!)

I've been tagged...TWICE! Thanks Cam & Jocelyn! ;)

Five things on my to-do list today:
1. Remember to take Sudafed every 4 hours
2. Drink lots and lots of tea and OJ
3. Play with Brayden & Sienna
4. Catch up on email
5. Run errands

Snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips
2. Almonds
3. Popcorn
4. Anything salty!

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a bigger house.
2. Take a vacation.
3. Pay off Chris' student loans.
4. Volunteer somewhere where I could help others.

Places I have lived:
1. Salem, OR - 8 years
2. Bend, OR - 12 years
3. Ashland, OR - 1 year
4. Corvallis, OR - 2 years
5. Hillsboro, OR - 4 1/4 years
6. Canby, OR - 3 3/4 years

Bad habits I have:
1. I snack too much while the kids are napping.
2. I don't exercise...but I think about doing it all of the time!
3. I stress too much over the little things in life.
4. I drink too many "Triple Grande White Chocolate Mochas" from Starbucks.
5. I buy the kids too many clothes!

Jobs I have had:
1. Mom
2. Marketing & Training Manager - Intel (Hillsboro, OR)
3. QA Engineer - Intel (Hillsboro, OR)
4. Software Tester - Orcom Solutions (Bend, OR)
5. Assistant Manager - Videoland (Corvallis, OR)
6. Assistant Manager - ACT III Theaters (Bend, OR)
7. And those don't even include the gazillion other jobs I had in high school!

I don't have many friends with blogs, so I'm not tagging anyone in particular. But, if you have a blog and you haven't done this already, copy and paste this on your own blog and answer the questions about yourself!

Random Post Wednesday!

Since we've been sick at home for about a week (again!), I've had nothing better to do than to take random pictures. Enjoy!

Windows
Sienna loves looking out our windows. Unfortunately, the only ones at her level are blocked by toys. Of course, that doesn't stop her...
She wedges herself in between the toys to get a closer look!
Monkey Business
Sienna's turned into quite the monkey! She climbs in baskets and up on tables and couches! Recently she climbed onto the chair so quickly that she went head first over the arm of the chair before I could grab her. She ended up wedged between the chair and the wall but she came through the ordeal without a single scratch!
I hate to admit this, but since we've all been sick, Brayden has been allowed to watch quite a bit of TV...mostly the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Before Sienna became a monkey, his favorite spot to watch TV was up on the couch, hiding behind his Cars sofa. There was no way Sienna could reach him here!
Now that Sienna can climb on anything and everything in sight, we've had to stop using the furniture to block her exits from the family room. Since the ottoman is back in front of the couch, Brayden's new favorite spot to watch TV is on his Cars sofa instead of behind it!
Choo Choo Trains
Brayden and I had fun putting together a big train track last week...he even let Sienna play with it for a little while (shocking)! Maybe he didn't realize she was actually playing with his trains...

A few minutes later he decided that he was not very happy about Sienna playing with his trains. It didn't even matter that she hadn't actually taken apart any of his tracks...the problem was that she was touching them!
Dog Pile on Daddy!
The other night the kids were having fun piling on top of Chris. I thought it was so cute that I couldn't resist taking their picture!