9 Months.

Let out a good yell if your excited to be NINE MONTHS OLD!!!   :)

(Sorry you have to turn your head to the side to watch, just uploaded quickly from my cell)

Special Announcement from Sienna.

This just in...  Sienna has an announcement, click play.

I'll translate:

"On Monday my best friend was born.  Her name is Avery.  She is beautiful and we are going to have so much fun growing up together!"

On Monday morning at 3:30am I got a phone call from my sister Julie.  She was half chuckling and announced that she was about to give birth to her and Jacob's first baby.  She had been laboring for a while so I was ready for the call.  I was up, out of bed and in the car in a matter of minutes.

Julie & Jacob allowed me to be in the delivery room!  After a LONG labor, I got to capture Avery's first seconds, meeting her parents and watch my sister and her husband go from a cute couple to an adorable little family.

Mom was in the deliver room with us too.  

A very excited B-Bo and Washburn grandparents were outside anxiously waiting for Avery.

When Sienna first met little Avery she was so happy she cried tears of joy!

Okay, more like Avery started crying, so she started crying and then we all started giggling and the "first meeting" of the two little girls.

Once everyone calmed down we got a better picture. 

Grandpa Donn and Dad wanted to be in the picture too.  :)

Uncle Brett!

Brayden kept calling Avery "Baby Jantzen".

Yep, those are my kids testing out the weight limit on their baby swing...  

Still can hold both of them!  LOL! 

The key to waking up refreshed. By Sienna Marie.

Be in bed asleep by 6pm.

Sleep in until 9:45am.

(This is what she just did!)

Oh, and make sure to nap twice a day!

Sienna was not as easy of a sleeper as her big brother was in the early days.

We can finally say she is "sleeping like a baby" now!

She is wiped out and ready to fall asleep between 6:45pm and 7pm.

She normally sleeps in till 8am or 8:30am without waking during the night.

Naptime follows at 10am and 2pm, although those are flexible with a busy schedule that we keep.

Baby Sienna is one happy girl in the morning!!!

You know you live in Washington when...

Sunshine & 60 degrees = swimsuit season!

Brayden was outside by 8am.  

We were in swimsuits by 10:30am.

Looking forward to summer days!

Communicating Emotion. (Brayden @ 2 1/2)

One of the biggest surprise to me throughout "toddlerhood" was the developmental changes that take place on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis.  The latest developement was Brayden's ability to communicate emotions.  Two examples.

Last week we had a playdate almost every day.  Over and over, "teaching opportunities" presented themselves when it came to how Brayden should treat his friends, etc.  On Friday night another "opportunity" presented itself when he got too rough playing with another two year old friend, Cora.  I rushed him to a private room and told him, "Oh no Brayden!  Oh no!  Brayden made Cora cry.  Oh no!" and disciplined him.  He always seems to feel bad afterwards, but he is still working on self control in the moment before.  A couple hours later I took him to go to the bathroom.  He sat on the toilet, elbows on knees, hands cupping his face.  He looked at me with the sweetest face and said, "Mom... I'm sad."  I said, "what did you say?"  Brayden repeated, "Mom, I feel sad."  I asked why and he sighed, "Caylen (which is what he calls Cora) cried."  My heart just melted, but I held it together and reinforced what I have been telling him.  "Brayden is a nice boy and he needs to be nice to friends."  I told Cora's mom and she said Brayden had recently walked up to Cora and gave her a hug for no reason!  Deep down Brayden is such a sweet little boy.

Earlier today Brayden and I were singing the anthem to "Bob the Builder" (haven't watched it in months, but he still seems to sing it daily).  At the and of the song he hugged me and looked into my eyes and exclaimed, "Oh mom, I love that song!"

Might not seem like a big deal to most, but this new milestone is just adorable to a mommy.  :)

it's raining, it's pouring... but to stay inside is so boring!

It was REALLY wet yesterday, but that doesn't stop this little boy!

Sienna Marie

I love capturing Sienna's silliness and smiles.

I love capturing Brayden's adventures and action shots.  

{He played outside in a downpour of rain all afternoon so I have some more to upload}

Here are some of my baby Sienna.

One of the most wonderful days... Mothers Day!

A wonderful breakfast, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, yogurt and a latte.

The two reasons I get to celebrate this day came to join me for breakfast.

After church the guys prepared another wonderful meal.

Sienna was shy when we came in and wanted to snuggle her grandma.

The boys taking care of the kids for us.

Brayden LOVES the babies.

Love the pictures with my daughter, Mom & Granmda.  

Lots of smiling at babies.

And to end...  with one tired two year old who skipped his nap.

Sunshine.

A picture of my "little sunshine", sitting in the sunshine this morning.

Summer is just around the corner!

Practice Make Perfect!

We have been working on using a sippy cup, just trying a few times a week for the last week or two...

She's starting to get the hang of it!  Drank an ounce or two yesterday.

Little stinker still refuses the bottle, so we've moved on from that.

Practicing with a half juice, half water mix.