Bailey's Christmas Tap

18 Month Old Jaemus

Jaemus Lee is 18 months with a new hair cut! Brandon took the clippers to the boy for a solid haircut. We have been keeping it long and stylish but it was too much upkeep. His hair grows ridiculously fast and is always in his eyes, and the thickness of it always make his head sweat. He is all animal.

Before

After

Cha-chi or Chach-man, as he is often called by Bailey, and now us, is full of personality and joy. He is easily entertained and quick to laugh and smile. The whole 'listening to your parents' thing is ignored by him with these sneaky little smiles, quick running, and laughing squeals. Seriously, really difficult to scold or punish such a sweet boy. He understand really well and is able to communicate pretty clearly, so we know this is all an act. I am often saying in a stern tone, "Jaemus Lee, please get down from there, " or "please don't touch that." And then comes the sneaky little ways of his and it melts my heart. I have to keep from laughing to follow through. He is good about cleaning up toys, putting his sippy cups in the sink, and throwing trash away- but sometimes not just trash. =)

He continues to be a squirrelly sleeper. On a normal night he rises early about 6:15a and on a more difficult night he will wake up in the middle of the night and then still rise at 6am! He just gave me a week of this. The best he slept was when we were having our driveway re-done and they began jack-hammering super early and he would sleep until like 7:30am!! I need a jack-hammer noise machine.

He has a nice bedtime routine though. He loves bedtime and is often the one taking me to his room and begins pushing the rocking chair. He snuggles with me while taking a bottle on the rocking chair then points to his crib. I place him down and he goes "mmm..mmm" as I crab his taggie blankie, and dog that plays "rock-a-bye baby" with glowing cheeks. Then he points to his airplane mobile and I push it so it turns for him. He falls asleep making little talking noises and playing his doggie toy over and over next to his face. Sweet boy.

Jaemus' personal preferences are clear. He loves Barney, guitars, balloons, balls, trash trucks, fire trucks, cats and dogs, meat, climbing everything, and wrestling me. He calls a guitar "aduur." He has a toy one that he carries around the house and the second Brandon gets home he is desperately yelling "aduur" and pointing to Brandon's guitar until he plays it. He plays the piano and drums often, but his guitar is nearly always by his side.

This is his new camera smile. A nice big scrunched-up face.

I get at least an hour of Jaemus time a day in the mornings. Bailey being a night owl and a late morning waker, and Jaemus my early to bed, early to rise guy. He is my alarm clock and our mornings consist of pj's, stories, coffee, and a shared banana. We read the same books currently every morning. He enjoys, "Puppy's Count", "10 Little Lady Bugs", "Spot" books, and recently, "Frosty the Snowman" has been added in. Yes, we read about 5-6 books every morning. I have come to love my early mornings with Jaemus. On weekends we often take early walks since Brandon is home. We snuggle up, I put him in the jogger, and we enjoy the early morning smells, crisp air, the birds, and talk about all we see. And sometimes come back with a starbucks.

18 months is one of my favorite kid ages, and I think, begins the real fun. Babies are great, but something about toddlers is pure joy for me. Bailey at 3 1/2 and Jaemus at 18 mos. bring me days full of smiles, cuddles, laughter, and manageable hang-ups. I love all the family affection and watching Bailey and Jaemus play and love each other is the best sight for Brandon and I. We often say that we recognize right now is the time of our lives.

Bailey still prefers the choke-hold

Oil Man of the Year

My dad was honored this year as 'Oil Man of the Year.' The oil companies recognized my dad for all his years of hard work and his outstanding reputation. He is known for being a good friend, honest business man and his knowledge about oil production and building pumps. We are so proud of you dad and we love you so much!

Here was the bio they read about him:

"Mike was born 1-30-1956 in Bakersfield, Ca. He moved to Westminster at around age 3. Directly after graduating from Westminster High School in 1974, Mike went to work for US Steel- Oil Well Division in Long Beach; working in the pump shop, where he learned from the ground up. He then worked for Page Oil Tool as a salesman for a couple of years.

Mike, along with his partners Jim Hurd and Tom Cacek , opened Black Gold Pump & Supply on April 1, 1982. Mike had previously worked with Jim Hurd at US Steel, where Jim worked as a salesman. Mike had worked with Tom at Page Oil Tool, where Tom worked as a machinist.

Chevron had approached Jim and Mike with the idea of opening a pump shop and guaranteed all of Chevron’s business if they did."

How Jaemus Bowls

Tanaka Farms

We went to Tanaka Farms on Saturday and did their "Cook Out" tour with Rough-Fit. It was as Bailey said, "a blast!"

We brought out nephew Tank which was really fun. We enjoyed spending the morning with him. He and Bailey have a lot of fun together.

It was definitely our kind of thing. We did a walking tour of the vegetables that are currently in season and filled our own individual bags with kale, tomatoes, egg plant, onion, chard, basal, carrots, etc. None of their food is sprayed so you can taste the fruits and veggies right off the plant. The kids were popping tomatoes in their mouths and taking bites of kale. So fun to see what they will eat when they are picking it themselves.

After our bags were filled we went to a picnic area to wash our goods. We then proceeded to sort our veggies and have them cut. Then we wrapped our veggies in foil with oil and garlic salt and added tofu. Then they were cooked on big BBQs they had set up. The assortment of veggies after being cooked were delicious! We were also starving, so they tasted even better. Bailey, Tank, and Jaemus were all happily eating tofu and egg plant that I am sure was a first for them.

On the way home Jaemus crashed. Always a sign of a fun day.

We brought home a tone of leftovers and it was too much to eat all in a weekend. So, I took the cooked veggies and pureed all of them together. I froze it in little containers to use in smoothies for the kids. I made one for them by adding a banana, a peach, some frozen pineapple, blueberries and yogurt. It was super tasty. I love sneaking vegetables in my families meals.

Playing the Recorder

Struttin' His Stuff.

This past week Jaemus has been deemed an official "walker." He transitioned for a while between crawling and walking but he now prefers his feet and gets around pretty quickly.

He has been having a blast exploring new terrain and laughs when he experiencing crunchy leaves under his feet or a little up or down hill. In this video he gets stuck in some soft, tall grass and laughs his way out of it.

Jaemus is such a joy to spend the day with.

Jaemus is One!

Our little guy was 1 year old on the 11th. He was born during a busy busy month! I remember last year he was born, it was 2 days after our wedding anniversary and I was in a wedding 2 weeks later. Well, this year it was even busier. We survived 2 stomach flues (separate weeks), a sinus infection, a wedding anniversary sadly celebrated sick on the couch, Jaemus' party, and a week vacation in Rock Creek Lake. I can't believe June is over tomorrow! I feel like I just woke up from what I thought was a long nap but actually was 3 weeks.

Jaemus is becoming a little boy. He loves to rough house by hitting everything around him with his toys, wresting us, biting 'playfully', and eating dog food and rocks. He is always carrying around a toy in his hand. His number one choice is a plastic bubble pipe, or you may see him strutting around with an orange shovel or toy golf club. Yes, dangerous I know. =)

His laughter is infectious. He has the cutest belly laugh that he does often. He laughs at himself playing the recorder or spraying the water on his toothbrush. He often laughs at the discovered noises of hitting different items and of course his number one comic is Bailey. Brandon often entertains with his music skills on the guitar and piano which makes Jaemus really hyper and excited.

He took his first steps a few days after his birthday. Everyday he is taking more steps but crawls for speed. He has a funny quirk of walking on his knees. He started doing this a while ago and it's hilarious. He has gotten pretty quick on those knees. Jaemus is saying more words and communicating pretty good. His first word was "up" and since then he says "momma", "dadda", "hot", and "ball". He says "all done" and "water" in sign language. He continues to be very vocal and makes lots of noises and grunts which somehow I can interpret.

Bailey and Jaemus are the cutest of friends and it is so sweet to watch their love for one another grow. They always want the other around and play really well together.

I love this age because I see so much personality coming out and I love watching Jaemus learn and experience so many new things. I also still have my baby. He is sweet, cuddly, and a momma's boy. His love for me melts my heart. He is the one who will turn my hair gray with his rambunctiousness that keeps me worried, his lack of responding to "no", and his still unpredictability of just how early he will wake me up. However, his smile and joy of being on my hip softens me and gives me more energy. I can't believe how much I can love these two kids.

Yes, there are better family pictures but this is to show how most of them turn out. We take about 10 and get maybe 1 when we are all looking at the camera. I enjoy the strand of randomness that can happen in 30 seconds. So, just to show some reality I guess.

Beautiful Day

"Spring is when flowers are a bloomin'" Says Bailey.

11 11

Jaemus had his "golden" month of being 11 months old on the 11th. hah

Jaemus' new smile. This is when he is so excited he just can't handle it. This last month has been the month of personality. He has really opened up and we are just loving his excitement and his developing way of communicating.

He began standing and even ambitiously attempted taking a step before crumbling to the ground. He says "Mama" and "Dada", "uh-oh" and "up." He wiggles on command plays peekaboo and claps his hands.

He decided he no longer needs a pacifier- that was a nice surprise. He started getting angry when we offered them and threw them out of his crib. Glad he took the initiative to ween himself.

It has been a really enjoyable month watching him surprise himself with new skills and we all love cheering him on. Jaemus is busy, busy, busy, as he is anxious to get around and explore everywhere.

Jaemus has also started pointing at items he is curious about. He points and makes this funny questioning noise like "oihh?" and cocks his head a little. He really loves pointing out airplanes and looking at you in amazement.

I can't believe he is going to be 1 next month! I think I baby him...he has been growing too fast and I am trying to treasure having a baby but he is beginning to feel like a kid in my arms.

3 Year Olds

After putting Jaemus down for his nap, I walked into the living room and found this. Creative? Innovative? Artistic? Or just 3 years old perhaps?

Recent conversations with Bailey.

Jenni just planted a strawberry garden and Bailey's favorite thing to do lately is go to Auntie's to pick and eat her ripe strawberries. However, there has been something eating her strawberries lately.

"Bailey, what do you think is eating my strawberries?"- Auntie

Bailey responds, "hmm...I don't know, we have to figure this out! Maybe it's an elephant or something?"

"An elephant! Oh wow that would be crazy." - Auntie

"Or maybe a Rhino? Or a monkey? Monkeys are sneaky!" - Bailey

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Bailey and Brandon are driving home together at night and see a lot of people at a park with candles in a bag making a big circle. There are tents and a lot of activity.

Brandon says, "Hey, I wonder what's going on over there?"

Bailey answers, " Maybe there is a tornado? Or maybe they are all looking at a goose?"

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Never a boring day!

Jaemus is 10 Months!

This has been the month of "firsts" for Jaemus. Even this morning, he had his first taste of dog food. Noticed some crumbs on his mouth; I didn't give him any food. Come to find two big chunks of Frani's food in his mouth. He wasn't even grossed out and was actually mad that I removed them.

The dog food was better than when I found him chocking on one of Bailey's hair rubber bands. She has those teeny tiny ones and he managed to find one on the ground. He was crawling around coughing a bit and then started gagging. I picked him up, opened his mouth, and grabbed the pink rubber band out of the back of his throat. Lovely.

Jaemus started crawling. He waited until he was strong enough to keep off his belly; he hates being on his stomach. One day, he just took off on all fours after a balloon we had gotten from the store that day. We cheered him on for his first escapade. He is now keeping us busy with his speedy moves and stealthy little hands.

He also grew two more teeth, had his third hair cut, started waving, had his first trip in the wagon, had his first ride in the bike, and went in the pool for the first time at swim lesson. It has been a really fun month with Jaemus. He has been full of joy experiencing these new activities and thus far is a good sport. It always helps to have Bailey with him because if Bailey is happy and having fun so is he.

Jaemus, luckily for me, has been sleeping much better! We are looking forward to having lots of rest to enjoy the spring and be outside. He has also been super cuddly and sweet. He gives me the best welcomes when I have been away from him and he often will crawl up to me just for some hugs and kisses. He has this thing about biting my shoulders though which really hurts. I think it is out of aggressive excitement and I am the only special one to receive these "love bites." But I seriously have bit marks on me.

Is it getting easier? Sleep definitely makes everything easier. However, as he grows it's not necessarily easier just a different type of busy. The two of them are really fun and I love the funny things that happen in my day. For example Bailey getting him to crawl after her so she can lead him into the hall, shut all the doors, and "make a fire" with him. I will then hear them both laughing at who knows what. I love watching them play more. But it definitely still feels draining at the end of the day but in a rewarding way.

Midnight Hour

Midnight Hour played last tonight at the Spectrum featuring Brandon Bridgman on gimbe and tambourine. Check them out on facebook!

Bailey's 3rd Birthday

Birthday: March 15, 2008

Bailey's Profile at age 3:

Favorite Color- Purple

Favorite Outfit- her pink and green stripped dress

Favorite Song- Coldplay, the Scientist. Each instrument comes in one at a time and she counts down and names which instrument comes in. (She did not learn this from me!)

Favorite Show- Go Diego Go!

Favorite Movie- Snow White

Favorite book- Children's Bible Stories and Fergus (which she will "read" to you due to her impressive memorization skills)

Favorite animal- baby animals

Favorite Bug- Lady Bug

Favorite Musical Artist- Jana Alayra

Bio:

These days Bailey likes to do everything herself and questions how things work. She is insistent in learning how to do things and can be difficult when it's things like using scissors or lighting a match which she is not ready for. We are very proud of her for her independence and confidence in her abilities. We admire her positive persistent attitude that we hope to guide in a positive direction. I have been amazed to watch her walk into a class of children and interact with kids and instructors, sharing, using manors, and making conversation. I have to hold myself back because sometimes I forget she can communicate her needs, make friends, and play without me. It's a proud yet sad feeling for me. Our little girl is her own person. And that is why age 3 is as old as I want her to be. haha...I love this age and having been feeling some sadness at her getting any older right now. I realized this is my last year before she is in pre-school. Ahh..this killed me! Where has the time gone! She even asks when she can go to school! So proud of who she is and who she is becoming.

Bailey loves the outdoors and adventure. She is really into Diego which supports her love for animals, outdoors, and adventure! She often is Diego saving baby animals, or hunting for bugs outside. She memorizes facts about animals and bugs and loves to teach you about them. She is very animated and talkative. Bailey also enjoys the Disney princess movies and has some of the dresses that she wears around and likes to re-enact when the princesses run away from the witch or the Prince and she hides away until we come save her. She likes being the damsel in distress- adventure. But she'll never neglect the "and they got married!" She makes couples out of everything. Everyone is a princess or prince and she often asks, "are they going to get married mama?" Recently she has been interested in Brandon and I's story about how we got married and how we had her after. Brandon enjoys to tell her how "right after we got married, you were in mommy's belly." Really annunciating on the "right after" or more like next day part.

Bailey continues to bless us with love and joy. She challenges Brandon and I to be better people and parent's and reminds us of self-sacrificing love and forgiveness. It melts our hearts that when we apologize to her for over-reacting or being frustrated, she says, "that's ok Mommy, I forgive you," and gives me a hug and kiss. She teaches us patience and humility. The Lord is perfect in his design of children for they are constant reminders of how God loves us and how we are children in his eyes. Bailey is very loving and nurturing, especially to Jaemus. She is such a great sister and I am so proud of seeing there love for each other.

Happy 3rd Birthday Luvies!

Jaemus is 9 Months Old!

9 months is such a milestone age of babble words, crawling, teeth, laughter, personality...

I keep wondering where by baby went! Especially since Easton was been born I feel like Jaemus was never and infant. It went by so fast and it has been so much busier. My baby is nearly a toddler! Well, at least in size and by hair cuts; he just had his second hair cut.

Jaemus is getting around but not by crawling. He scoots on his bottom or lunges forward to his belly to get where he wants to go. Just the other day he learned to push himself from his stomach to his bottom. So great! This kids hates being on his stomach (hence the bottom scooting) and so now that he has the control to get back to a comfortable position he fusses much less. He is about to crawl any second! He rocks on his hands and knees and crawls backwards.

He has two more teeth coming in (top and bottom) which will make 7 total. I am hoping this has been the reason for his crazy sleep pattern the last month or so. 8 months was loss of my sanity. He was up two times a night and for the day by 6 am. I hit my wall of sleep deprivation and felt stuck in a cloud and was beginning to forget what sleep felt like. His sleep has been tough for longer than a month, but this month is when it really caught up to me. Lucky for him he has been super cuddly, happy, and playful which melts my heart to patience. Other wise, you may have seen him packed and ready on our lawn with a "For Free" sign pinned on him. The true love of a mother huh? haha

Like I said, his personality is really beginning to shine. He laughs really easy and is always smiling at whoever grabs his attention. He does great with strangers and enjoys being held and introduced around. Jaemus likes being out and about but in his heart, he is a home-body. I have seen him squeal with delight when we walk into the house and he gets to have his floor time in peace. He is great at eating of solids and loves feeding himself. His eyes grow wide over bananas, apples, and sweet potatoes. Puffs are an in the purse necessity as well.

Jaemus has also started dancing! Brandon plays guitar a lot for Bailey and she dances, runs around, or joins in with another instrument. So, Jaemus has now joined in too. As soon as music starts he begins to rock on his bottom to the music and smile, wave his hands and squeal. It is so cute and I love our family music time.

All in all, this little guy is perfect to us! I can say this with a well slept mind of 4 full nights of rest, but really, he brings us all so much joy and laughter. I treasure my alone time with him and rocking him to sleep and letting him sleep in my arms. He has a peaceful nature and loves our attention and affection.

Easton Michael Bair

My nephew Easton was born Saturday March 5th at 9:46 p.m. He weighed 7.13lbs and was 20 1/2 in. He is healthy, tiny, and so so sweet!

I was very honored to watch the birth of Easton and it was so exciting!! I was thrilled to be able to actually "watch" a birth. You don't exactly see the baby come out when birthing one. So, having had two babies come out of me, I was ready to appreciate watching a birth. Tawnia was such a champ and made it look so easy. God 's design of pregnancy and birth is pretty incredible and all the sacrifice and pain involved is such a great picture of how Christ has sacrificed for us and continues to show us grace.

First time in Dad's arms.

Easton with his big brother Caden. Easton is very lucky to have Caden to look up to.

Bailey adores how tiny Easton is and is excited to have another cousin.

One day old.

Valentine's Day

There may have been a lot of snot and coughing but there was still lots of love.

Bailey's finished Valentine for daddy. Such a good attitude when she is sick.

Brandon surprised us in the morning with baby pink roses for Bailey, red for me, and a potted plant from Jaemus. Brandon made us homemade cards as well. We also made Brandon homemade cards and a new framed picture for his office of the kids.

That night we got take-out Rutabegorz and played the Sigur Ros DVD and pretended to be apart of their marching band. Bailey was on the harmonica, Brandon on the penny whistel, and we all wore bucket hats. Jaemus and I mostly watched in entertainment at Brandon and Bailey and captured some quality video footage.

Such a fun family I have and a great husband that makes me feel very loved and cared for.

Thanks for a great Valentine's Day husband.

8 Months

First off, this month has flown by! I hardly remember him being 7 months and I keep reminding myself that he is now 8 months!

Poor baby is experiencing his first sickness. Bailey has had a wretched cold all week and now Jaemus has it. It has been a really long week of coughing, snot, fevers, sleepless nights, Diego, and Imagination Movers. Last night perhaps was the most memorable of nights and I hope to always remember it. Poor Bailey was really achy and could not sleep and at about midnight she was really losing it. So, we took her into the living room and she was coughing so hard she was gagging and snot was just pouring out of her nose. She was nauseous and so tired. Once we got her calm Jaemus woke up clearly feeling similar. He was coughing and crying. Brandon and I took turns as we cared for out babies. He made Bailey toast while I nursed Jaemus, then Brandon played guitar for Jaemus until he fell asleep and I snuggled on the couch with Bailey until she was tired enough to go to bed. By 2:30 am we were climbing back into bed praying they will sleep. We made it until 6am- then Jaemus was up again. =)

However tiring that was, it was also sweet and special in that needy sick way. I love that Jaemus will fall asleep to Brandon's singing and music; and that Bailey will still snuggle in my arms and tell me she loves me and thank me for making her toast. I love that Brandon and I will both get up without hesitation to nurture our kids, and that Brandon and I get to share these moments together.

As for Jaemus' last month, he was grown in his two front teeth! These ones have made him ravenous for chew toys. He has been like a puppy biting everything he is near. His high chair tray, my chin, Bailey, and his favorite is apples in his pacy bag.

More of his personality is coming out as we have discovered he is a very happy morning boy. He wakes up ready to play and laugh. He also always wants something in his hands. While he eats he holds an extra spoon, in his stroller or car seat usually Sophie the giraffe or his lady bug. Going to sleep he holds his taggie blanket that he snuggles his face in and flips the little tags.

He is taking 2 naps a day now and sleeping from 8 pm to about 6 am. Really liking his sleeping routine. He usually goes back to sleep after his 6 am feeding and this gets me up and going so I get about an hour and half to myself in the mornings! I usually can get about an hour or two in the afternoon too.

He is rolling around more and getting warmed up for crawling. Jaemus rolled from his back to his tummy and now has figured out how to get from his bottom to his tummy. He has become frustrated in his desire to follow Bailey around or get to toys- all good motivation to crawl. He is very vocal and conversational and this makes for fun yet noisy meal times and we are all trying to talk. Jaemus learned to do raspberries from Bailey and it is really funny to watch them because they just laugh at each other.

Bailey and Jaemus' relationship grows richer each month as they create their own ways of playing and interacting. Bailey loves rolling Jaemus around and nothing makes him light up more than Bailey. Jaemus and Bailey create a really fun atmosphere.

Bailey's classic choke hold.

Convenient yet hilarious

The Bouquet

I brought my bouquet home from the wedding I was in last Saturday and I had not foreseen what a big hit it would be for Bailey.

When she saw the bouquet she lit up and said, "is that for me? Can I hold it and get married!!?" Oh, my - I was not expecting that. I laughed in surprise at how much she has quickly caught on too. All those disney movies and a summer of weddings.

This entire week she has been carrying the flowers around. She has kept them in a vase next to her bed and she sings disney songs and carries it around all smiles. When the petals fall off she takes them outside and makes a little pile "for the bees." She does this often. Bailey picks flowers on our walks and throws the petals around for the bees so they can make honey. She also pulls grass and leaves and makes a pile for the birds to make their nests with. Bailey takes such good care of the animals.

This morning Bailey and I did a finger painting project. I knew today needed to be the last day of the bouquet so instead of throwing it out when she was in bed, we incorporated it into our finger painting.

We used the petals on our pictures and with the remained of the roses Bailey pulled off all the petal, placed them in a bucket of water and made soup. Then she placed them in a large pile for the bees.

One of my favorite times with Bailey. Watching her get covered in paint, making little hand prints in her paper, and watching her imagine grow with her prized bouquet. I sure love my little girl.

And because he is so cute in his new chair. Easiest boy to get a smile out of.

Love the Luskos

We had the joy of spending an evening with the Luskos this week. We hit up some of their favorite Orange County spots like Bear Flag Fish Co. and Pinkberry- yum yum.

Bailey had a blast with Olivia and Lenya.

Jaemus was infatuated with Daisy's flower in her hair and was reaching for it much of the night. Daisy is only 1 month younger than Jaemus. So, we went ahead and arranged their marriage too. Levi was the officiant for our wedding- it's kind of sweet in a weird way.

Always love seeing you guys! Can't wait to plan a trip to Montana one of these day.

Congrats Jenny and Ali!

One of my best friend's Jenny got married Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding held at the Nixon library with warm sunny whether, great staff, good food, and great people.

The only awkward thing was the old ladies waiting for the house tour gawking at us with their mouths hung open saying that we are "defiling Nixon," and "why don't we just go take pictures on his grave." Since when are weddings offensive?

Anyhow, Brandon, Jaemus and I had a fun day and really enjoyed dancing at the reception. Jaemus joined us because he doesn't let his food too far out of his sight. He isn't ready for me to depart for more than one feeding. He was perfect though. He enjoyed the museum tour twice; once with Brandon and then again with my parent's.

A memorable guestbook picture.

Two of my besties. I have known Jenny and LeeAnne since we were 13 years old and it is surreal that we are all married now. LeeAnne was married 7 months ago and it has been a fun year of weddings with the two of them. Jenny sadly moved to North Carolina with her new hubby and LeeAnne and I were both a bit sad at her wedding knowing we had to say good-bye to her for a while. We will miss you Jenny! oh...and you too Ali. =)

The Girls

The Boys

The Drums

Exciting day in the Bridgman household because Brandon finally has his drums set up!

Here is Bailey's first jamming session.

7 months

Jaemus was 7 months old on the 11th and he has reached some milestones. He is sitting up! He loves his new found freedom of sitting in the middle of a room and watching Bailey and us move about. He seems to feel more apart of the activity and is laughing more and interacting with us.

Jaemus also got his third tooth and this one came with some middle of the night discomfort but it has broken through. Along with the tooth he got his first hair cut. 6 months old will a full on mullet in his eyes- time for a good boy hair cut. Aunt Jenni cut his hair in her salon and he did great!

Meal time has become easier since Jaemus has become more involved. He loves being in his high chair and loves his food. He eats 3 meals a day and will eat as much as I give him. Bailey and Jaemus often give us lots of meal time entertainment as they make funny noises at each other and laugh.

The last month has been a great one with celebrating Jaemus' first Christmas, moving into his own room, and sleeping until 6 am!! Ok, mostly has been so great because I am getting so much more sleep now that we are all on our own rooms!

I am beginning to see the early signs of sibling conflict. Jaemus wants everything Bailey is playing with. It surprised me to see this happen so young. She has these two stuffed animals that she is inseparable with. Her baby (a bear) and her puppy that she calls Fletcher after Uncle Ryan and Aunt Brie's new puppy. Jaemus will do everything he can to get ahold of these and squeals with delight when she allows him to nuzzle them. Jaemus loves toys but he definitely enjoys Bailey's favorites the most.

I have been told that the second one gets a lot easier after the first 6 months. We can see the light! It has been fun but there definitely is more excitement for the second one to have more independence than your first born. We can do more things and I get more rest. I am ready for the crawling!

First hike- Jaemus was all smiles.

Way Behind

I went to do Jaemus's 7 month blog and realized I have not done any blogging in a month! Well, lets catch up first.

Holidays were wonderful, busy, and memorable. We really took advantage of the season and experienced a lot of holiday activities.

We went to the Riverside Mission which is decorated beautifully and rode in a Cinderella carriage pulled by a horse (Bailey loved that). We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory and enjoyed a crowded but lovely night with my parents and the kids.

We visited Santa Clause at Irvine Park. The train takes you through a path of Christmas lights and ends at Santa who sits up on a decorated stage. It was super fun.

We also walked around many local neighborhoods that are known for their extravagant Christmas decor.

Bailey and Jaemus loved bundling up and enjoying the Christmas festivities. Bailey learned practically every Christmas song, the story of Kris Kringle, and the story of Jesus' birth. I was so surprised at how quickly she memorized so much! The best however was what she told Santa she wanted for Christmas. Every time she was asked she either said a Christmas tree (which she picked out again this year) or Apple Cider. Easy to please!

New Years. The eve was spent with the kids at the Spectrum having some carsaul and train ride fun. Then we put the kids to bed and Brandon and I enjoyed our tradition of steamed crab legs and baked brie. We watched Inception which was a great choice because it kept us awake until midnight. It was a relaxing and fun weekend spent together as a family.

Mountain Boys

Bailey and Auntie

We have been working a lot on our house the past few weeks. We moved around all of our rooms and now everyone has their own room! Brandon and I are sleeping much sounder now at night without being woken by Jaemus' wiggly, noisy, sleeping.

Bailey got a big girl bed! She loves it and the new independence is great.