Labor Day & Picking Apples

On monday it was my 29th birthday! Ryan let me pick whatever activity I wanted to do and I chose another day trip with the kids to go apple-picking. There is a group of farms called "Apple Hill" east of Sacramento. Some of them do kid activities, some are u-pick, and there are different varieties of apples and other yummy things to buy. Lots to do there! I found probably the only farm who was selling Honeycrisp apples, which is something we LOVED to pick and eat in Ohio. These Honeycrisps were not at all like the Ohio kinds but it felt like the tradition needed to stay alive!

 The farm also had a small hay maze the kids enjoyed doing over and over.

 Oh and this little guy was there too! For having double ear infections he was a happy baby most the time!

 Apple cider donut = sugar lips

 We found these and OH MY they are amazing. We should've bought more.

 We grabbed lunch there as well, and then headed to another farm where we could pick our own apples. I don't know what variety they were... it was sort of confusing... and nobody was in the fields helping us figure out where to go... so we just did it for fun and called it good.

After we loaded up with tons of apples, we drove to the Sacramento Temple. It was closed of course but we had a wonderful time hanging out on the temple grounds. The kids were so happy, the day was beautiful, and I felt at peace there. A few days after this was our stake temple day which we REALLY wanted to go to. There were volunteers available to watch kids 3-12 years old at the nearby stake center, but they wouldn't take babies. I was feeling frustrated, when I shouldn't be feeling that way... It seemed to me like if they're trying to give members a chance to get to the Temple who wouldn't normally make it without that childcare option, it would be nursing moms who can't leave their babies for very long. It just wasn't going to work out for us to attend with the stake this year, and I have to remind myself that there will be a time and season for me when I can hop down there, spend 6 hours away from my kids, and it's not a huge deal. Right now is not that season, and the Lord understands. It'll come. But being able to spend some time on the grounds with my family was so special to me and a great way to spend some of my birthday!

We sang "I Love to See the Temple" together and it was so sweet.

Before heading back home that afternoon, I picked out a place for dinner: Trademark Pizza! We hadn't been to it before but knew of the type of place it was and had been wanting to try it. You get to choose your own pizza and they bake it right there in front of you in their big pizza oven. It was awesome! I LOVED my pesto chicken pizza and Ryan loved his meaty one he chose. We are definitely going to have to go back next time we're in Sacramento/Roseville!

My 29th birthday was really fun! I'm thankful to my husband who understood that all I really wanted was quality time with my family doing something new/different, and not letting myself stress about all the details. He was willing to plan a whole weekend away without me having to plan ANY of it (because he knows I love surprises!) although unfortunately it didn't work out. But the weekend was so much fun still and we had a great time together as a family.

Turtle Bay

Labor Day weekend this year was an awesome one for us. Ryan was off AND not on call! That's rare for holiday weekends these days. Since it was also my birthday on the holiday, Ryan planned a surprise 2-night get away for our family. However it wasn't meant to be because Boston ended up with a double ear infection on thursday. Ryan's plans were to take us up in elevation (Mt. Shasta) and he would have been miserable. So we cancelled those plans and decided to do some day trips instead. On saturday we headed to Redding to check out Turtle Bay. It's a discovery museum that honestly doesn't sound anything like its' name! But it was fun to see the exhibits, the animal show, the different gardens, and the largest sundial (bridge) in the world.

Ice cream and nursing break, while the kids watched balloons floating into the sky.

The view looking out over the Sacramento River was so gorgeous!

We loved exploring this mosaic fountain in the children's garden. So many neat, hidden images all around it!

Boston: 4 months old

Boston's 4 month stats and info:

weight - 19 lbs

height - 26 9/10"

-learned to giggle!!
-started rolling back to front!

-sits in his bumbo ok for a short amount of time but then tends to get angry.

-likes to grab ANYTHING he can, especially mom's dinner dishes or placemat while sitting on her lap... which means things end up on the floor a lot these days.

-anything within arm's reach ends up in his mouth

-is waking up to nurse once again each night between 3 and 5am, plus stirs at least twice before that needing his binky or to be wrapped up again

-still wants to nurse every 2 1/2-3 hours in the daytime

-wearing 9 month clothes still but those are getting quite tight at this point

-is beginning to outgrow his baby carseat already. 

Plus he is WAY too heavy to carry around in the carseat anyway, so I usually hook it straight into the stroller to push him around anywhere I go or just carry him around on my hip. I'm so glad he is strong enough this month to be on my hip! It's so much easier.

-has had a few colds, croup, a round of double ear infections, and second round of one ear infection after that... all of this in the last 7 or 8 weeks. :( 

-developed a nasty rash in the folds of his neck (because he's so chunky!) which turned yeasty. So we had to get a special cream for it.

-prefers mom over anyone, anytime.

photo by Logan

 -officially found his toes! And seems to grab his right more often than his left.

 -started sucking on his bottom lip.

 -got a new highchair!! He prefers to be sitting up where he can see what's going on rather than always on the floor or in his bouncer chair while mom is cooking or while we eat meals.

-loves to be held when he takes naps, but because he is so heavy I usually can't hold him for too long. He is good about napping in his bed or his swing though. This last month I've been experimenting to find just the right position he likes best for sleeping. Whether it's on his tummy, on his side, wrapped, unwrapped, on his back, with something soft by his cheek or not... He seems to love being unwrapped and laying on his side with his swaddle blanket loosely around him and by his face. Swaddling keeps him asleep longer, it seems, but he doesn't seem as comfortable falling asleep that way. We'll figure it out one of these days!

 He has the best eyelashes, and they just keep growing and thickening each week!

 The kids still fight over who will hold him first. He is so very loved by his siblings. He also has to put up with quite a beating at times. Not only do they kiss him ALL THE TIME (which gets him sick ALL THE TIME), but he has been smacked, kicked, had a remote fall on his head, had limbs smashed or briefly stepped on, been scratched, and probably more. We are constantly reminding Logan and Grace how to treat a baby. He may be husky but he's still just a young baby and doesn't yet play like they think he can.

 This month we tried out his new doorframe jumper. He really likes it! He's technically too *young* for it (he is supposed to be able to sit up on his own), but he is super large and able to touch the ground. So he is ok in it. He doesn't know how to bounce/jump yet but it also says babies over 26 lbs can't use it... so I'm worried he will outgrow it before he is developmentally ready for it!  haha

 My, my. Look at those rolls!

 Oh, how we love this sweet baby boy. We are so happy he's in our family. We celebrate daily (especially his siblings) all the new noises, movements, tricks and looks he gives. He could not be more loved!