Monterey Bay Aquarium

After arriving in Aptos at 11pm the night before (thursday) we were all running on about 6 hours of sleep (kids included) so I knew that there was a chance of Cole melting down early afternoon. We arrived at the aquarium at 10 am just shortly after opening. We had bought our tickets on line hoping to avoid any lines that would have forced us to stand still with a toddler. Great way to get in real quick!
Our first stop (after the bathrooms) was the Otter feeding. We attempted to get a view of them playing before breakfast but it was so crowded we decided to move on through.

Our next stop was at the GIANT tank with the kelp forest. Cole was pretty amused by it. He would get right up to the glass and stare at all the fishies.

After a walk through the kelp forest and then on to the "bird viewing" and bat ray petting station we stepped out side and right into the middle of a "magic show" which had the most enthusatic actors I have ever seen. I am thinking they must act that way so they can survive their boring job. We all decided that was the last job on earth we would ever want to have.

The waves kind of put Cole in a trance.

With all our wandering we all started getting hungry so we decided to break for lunch.

All I can say is that I will never spend money at that restaurant again. The burger was probably the worst burger I have ever ordered. Major bummer!

We walked back to the aquarium along the water which was just beautiful.

Once we got back it was time for my all time favorite aquarium section...The JELLYFISH!!!

Isn't Mike and Cole's jellyfish silhouette so cute.





Then it was time for some little kid activities. Cole attempted to be a whale.

He played nicely with other kids!

But of course when it was time to leave he did what he does best...

So while we all ventured to the Seahorse exhibit, Cole played on the slide.

The newest addition to the aquarium is The Secret Lives of Seahorses.

It was pretty amazing. I had no idea that they took on their surroundings to blend in.

After we finished up at the aquarium we headed down HWY 1 to Carmel. Mike had not been there before and we thought it would be fun to walk down to the beach. Cole decided to finally fall asleep and stayed that way until we got to the beach.

This is just an example of why I love these little coastal towns.


What my life is like. Nursing all the time, everywhere.
Cole was wondering around finding glass and other non child friendly objects.
Siena was belly laughing over the ocean breeze hitting her bum.

Beau couldn't catch a break with the sun and tried everything to block it out.
Just some beautiful agriculture on our way back. Mike is super bummed that we missed the 10 for $1 artichokes .
Later that night Mike and I got to go out to dinner with out the kids! Megan and Beau watched them for us! What a treat! We even "celebrated our anniversary" early! haha! Megan made the reservations and told them it was our anniversary so we could get free truffles. You can see them on the plate with the candle. I kind of think they didn't believe us because we got told many times (like 6) "happy anniversary". The restaurant was Shadowbrook in Capitola and it was so good. I had the filet minon with bacon wrapped prawn because everything is better with bacon and Mike had the prime rib which was so bloody red it made me want to puke. I am sure the chefs were cringing when they had to cook my filet medium well.

So while we enjoyed a meal in peace Cole and Siena had a blast playing with clay, dancing with glow sticks in the dark and running around.
Siena fell asleep like a good little baby does to the sound of "mini sirloin burgers" being sung to her.

6 months

Half a year old. How did that happen? I am not ready for Siena to be 6 months old. 6 months means I have to start feeding her solids and solids mean stinky poop. No more sweet baby poop. Is that weird that I am mourning the loss of baby poop? Most mom's will understand what I mean as weird as it may be. But on the plus side I think Siena is going to be an amazing eater. Cole was the worst eater. I never understood why, but man you have to be careful around Siena. She watches you like a hawk, following every bite into your mouth. She even tries to grab at your food.

At 6 months Siena is attempting to sit up for longer than 5 seconds. She isn't too interested in tummy time and rolls quickly to her back. Lately she has been refusing to be put down by crying very loudly when I try. She will tolerate the jumperoo for brief periods of time. She is mesmerized with her brother. She stares at him all the time. Especially in the car. If she isn't sleeping she is staring at Cole. It's like he can do no wrong. She forgives him instantly for hitting her or throwing a book or toys at her. She cracks up laughing every time he is bouncing around. Poor little girl is in for it when she is older.

(the hats were Cole's idea)

I love that all her baby hair has fallen out except for the very bottom on the back of her head and of course her sweet mohawk on top. It's gotta be at least 3 inches tall! Her new hair is coming in a light brown. Her eyes are just as gorgeous as ever and were described as being platinum in color. What a perfect way to describe them! She is weighing in at 14 pounds and 4 oz and we will get her exact height at Monday's doctor appointment.

She is always reaching for my face and touching it. She gives us the biggest smiles when she sees us and she waves her arms up and down with excitement. She is still in love with her feet and chews on her feet a lot. When she is not nursing or smiling at us, she is making raspberries. This newly discovered trick is a lot of fun for her.

She has no teeth yet and none even making an attempt at coming in. Cole didn't get his first tooth until 10 1/2 months so I am sure she will probably follow the same path. She is still in her 3-6 month clothes and has plenty of room to grow in them. She even fits in to some of her newborn (0-3 month) clothes. Just a chunky little peanut!

We are home!

We are back after a super fun weekend at the coast. Once I am fully recovered (I am still working on a cold that has lasted a week) I can get to posting pictures. I managed to get one picture edited and it is of Megan, one half of the dynamic duo we spent the weekend with. Go here to see a pic from our VERY cold and windy beach session. Until tomorrow when I have more energy.

Cole has a new favorite activity

I suppose I should have seen this coming. He loves to push his toy car around on the deck so why not the stroller...

with his sister in it.

It's fun for everyone involved.

I think she actually likes it this time.

Swim lessons

Last monday, Cole and I started mommy and me swim lessons. The first day he mastered holding on to my neck for dear life and screaming "no mama!"

Day two was pretty much the same. By day three he was willingly blowing bubbles and actually kicking his feet.

Although he would NEVER let go of the red boat. It was a must every time we got to class.


Cole even learned to wait until I counted to 3 before jumping into the water.

His other favorite activities includes crawling on the steps.
And going down the slide, but only after the red boat went down first.

Death by poop

We lost 2 lego men the other day. They were murrdered with poop. I am happy to say that though, because it means that Cole didn't eat them first and poop them out. He was upset that he was rudely awaken from his snooze in the car and put into his room for a nap. He pitched a huge fit when I put him in his room. When I went to wake him up 3 hours later, I opened the door to find not Cole on the mattress but a poopy diaper. I frantically searched the room and I found him buck naked in Siena's crib. I woke him up and took him straight to the bath tub. I first wiped his bum and when I did there was no poop (sorry for the visual but it's important). So if he little butt was squeaky clean then what exactly went down with the poop???? After washing him off I went back to him room to investigate. I soon discovered that he had used an insert to a shoe, a pair of underpants, and his sisters clothes to wipe his butt. Nice, real nice. So after that discovery I searched for all the "missing" poop. Luckily it was all close by. But the strangest thing was discovering little lego men in the poop. Since I didn't see what had happened I can only assume he pushed them in there before going to sleep. YUCK! I think that bothers me the most out of the entire situation. But at least he knows how to wipe his butt! Pretty good for a 20 month old!

29 months

Cole is officially one month away from being 2 1/2 years old. He is holding steady at about 30 pounds and is about 37 1/2 inches tall. Most of the nights he sleeps through but he still is a super light sleeper at night and can wake up to the slightest sound.

He still is a pretty picky eater and from day to day we don't know what he will want to eat. So a lot of the time he goes to bed hungry because he just picks at his food. I figure if he was starving he would eat.

Wow has his language taken off in the past few weeks. He is even saying sentences. Last night when I got home from work he drags me onto the deck and then tells me "mama, big camel, onah (onyx) chase" We have still yet to figure out what this big camel is that the dog is chasing. Words that Cole saying on a regular basis are: money, key, towel, glasses, cashew, ham, hummus, cheese, water, onyx, chase, please, she she (Siena), Seenana (Siena), See-an-a (Siena), gone, no, mama or mom, dada or dad, grandpa, grandma, sure, yup, shoe (shoe or sock). He is also a regular parrot now pretty much repeating anything we ask him to, or not (cursing on accident, oops!).

Still no improvement in the potty training category but he is refusing to get into the bath tub at night unless he pee's on the potty first so we figure that is yet another step in the getting ready to potty train direction.

Raspberries anyone?

Another Rivercats game

Friday night we went to another Rivercats game. They are so much fun! And this time we had cousins and grandparents to keep Cole occupied.

Hey, at least in this photo we are all looking at the camera!
Drake, Juliet, Carter, and Henry.
Sean and David (the parents of the four above)
And I wondered where Cole got that smile from....
Cole was in heaven when Carter let him be in charge of the glove. We surprised Cole the next day with a glove and he was in love. I though it was cute too until he threw the baseball at the fireplace.
This kids dad referred to his wife and I as having a "breast feeding derby". This picture was taken right after the "7th inning baby change".
Cole just loves his cousins.


Siena was pretty much being passed around the entire time. (random fan asked to hold her)


And to finish the night off, Cole had sugar. A lot of sugar.