orning, I nurse Aubrey in my bedroom. Usually, I turn on cartoons for the other two to keep them occupied, but in an effort to reduce the amount of TV they watch, that time has been cut out. (By the way, if you call me in the morning and hear the Backyardigans on in the background, remind me of my resolve!) So, they don't have much to hold their attention and keep them in my room with me. I try to sing songs and tell stories, but after a few minutes, they usually find something else to do. 
So, I rush in to find Princess Bayleesan on the kitchen table, with all of the breakfast dishes that have not been cleared yet. She's sitting Indian style in the middle of the table shaking the (luckily childproof) bottle of Tony's antibiotics. I say in a somewhat shocked tone, "Baylee! What do you think you're doing?!" This in turn, shocks her, and causes her to kick over my cup of coffee that was only half finished. Coffee goes everywhere and in a panic, she scrambles to get off of the table, hoping I didn't notice. 
mess cleaned up and sit them both down to talk. First, Baylee admits that she shouldn't have been on the table, and apologizes. Then, on to Jaden. I say, "Jaden, what are you supposed to do if you see Baylee doing something that she might get hurt doing?" He says, in his most dramatic Knight voice, "I say, Bayleesan! Halt! At Once!" Then bursts into his version of his current favorite song, "We're Knights! That's Right!" 
I know no one believes me, but until today, Aubrey was exclusively breastfed. He was starting to wake up in the middle of the night again, so we decided to start him on solids today. (breaking my six month rule) He didn't eat too much, most of it ended up on his bib. He didn't love or hate it, just smiled as usual and made a couple of funny faces. Hopefully he'll sleep better tonight! Amma got the boys these matching shirts for Valentines day, so I had to take some pictures. Baylee wanted to get in there too, with her new shirt. :) 
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Well, Tony is home and doing much better. For those who didn't know, he had surgery two weeks ago to correct chronic sinusitis. It was a fairly easy surgery, as far as surgery goes. Actually, it was technically two surgeries. They put him out to remove all of the packing from his nose a week after the original surgery. He has mostly been laying around watching movies, or sleeping. 
The kids have enjoyed having him home, even though he isn't allowed to pick them up yet. Baylee just points at him and says "owie. nose." in a very serious tone, over and over and over. It's hilarious.
He feels so much better already, and we are looking forward to a couple of weeks from now when he'll be completely healed, and able to drive again! The house has been in chaos for a few weeks, but is slowly returning to normal. Here is Aubrey hanging out with him, and another shot of Aubrey that I just thought was cute :) FYI-that nike hat fit Jaden at this age! Miss Baylee modeling her new cherry outfit.
It's been a fun, eventful week. At least for the kiddos. :) The end of last week, and over the weekend Tony was stuck in LA because of the snow. We didn't do too much, and tried to catch up on Sunday from the hectic week. Monday and Tuesday we had friends over to play. The kids love to have their friends over! 
Jaden and Luke had tons of fun on Monday. They just love each other so much. Aubrey and Caleb had fun yelling back and forth for from their seats at each other. Reese and Baylee enjoyed putting on all of the slippers they could find. 
I think Baylee liked to have a girl over to play for a change! Although, poor Matthew wasn't sure about all of the girlie things they wanted to do. Wednesday night we headed out to Costco for groceries and got Aubrey some new jammies. He just keeps growing out of clothes faster than we can buy them! 
Here he is with Tony, modeling his 12 month old size. This picture of Baylee just cracked me up.
Unlike her brothers, she appreciates a good nap. She adores her sheep pillow her Aunt Julie gave her! Often, I have to wake her up from her naps because she will just sleep all afternoon and not want to go to bed. This is one of those times. She still wouldn't wake up after I snapped a few pics so I sent Jaden in. He always gets the job done! 
We had a wonderful Christmas! The kids had so much fun... almost as much as mom and dad! Jaden got a bike, and Baylee a tricycle. Aubrey got a little playgym, but at this age, it's mostly a gift for mom! Every year gets more and more fun. 
We got to tell the kids the story of Jesus' birth and hear them re-tell it in their funny little way. We got to hear them say happy birthday to Jesus. We got to spend time with our families, and even have one of our famous theology debates with uncle Jerry. It was a wonderful Christmas. We are truly blessed!
We went to Ama and Ampa's last night and made a gingerbread house! Ashley came too, but unfortunately Steven had to work. The kids had a great time. Of course, Baylee just ate all of the candy. Jaden ate his fair share as well, but understood the concept a little more and did use some of it for decorating. If it wasn't for Ashley, it would have been a very pitiful little house! She did most of the work. I did contribute a cute little door and window after mom complained that it looked nothing like the picture on the box. (yes, it was a kit) In the end, it turned out pretty cute and we had a fun night hanging out together.
The kids loved all of the animals. They were very excited about the monkeys and Giraffes! 
They also found a fish tank that was very interesting. The hit of the day had to be the train though. Ama and Ampa took the kids on this cute little train ride around the zoo. They loved it! 
After the zoo, we headed over to Reno. The drive to Reno was so beautiful. It was a perfect day, and it was a fun mountain road complete with a winding river and thick forest all around. Tony and I had a great conversation about God's wonderful sense of humor when creating certain animals, while Aubrey peacefully slept. I'm pretty sure my parents were listening to "Little Einsteins" all the way there, as they took Jaden and Baylee in their car. :) 
I think the kids liked it even better than the zoo because they got to get so close. Along the back wall was a huge mountain with all kinds of different animals. Through the mountain a little stream ran into a pond that had some trout in it. The man who was feeding them there gave Jaden a handful of food to throw in. He loved that! There was an aquarium with all kinds of fresh water fish, and of course, many different animals hanging on the walls and from the ceilings. 
My Dad and Tony even took the kids into the little "shooting range" they had for kids, and they had a great time shooting at stuff. We spent four or five hours there before the kids were finished. They actually did very well for not napping. 
They loved it! It was probably the most fun they had on the trip. Jaden got to go on a dragon roller coaster with Ampa and had a blast! We thought it might scare him, but he loved it. 
My parents took Jaden and Baylee on a fun car ride, and Tony and I took them on the train. It was a very nice break in our drive home. It was very refreshing for us to get away for a few days, and much easier than we anticipated. 
