Introducing

Introducing...Ahren's belly button! His umbilical cord stump fell off last night to reveal a perfect little innie (Sienna has a cute outie).





Sienna wanted to help feed him this afternoon, so we got the boppy ready and gave her the bottle. She did very well!

Ducks

The weather warmed up today, but it was still beautiful. We bought some bread and headed over to the park to feed the ducks. Sienna thought it was really fun!

Throwing bread:







Here ducky, ducky, ducky:



Look, it's right there:



Standing with daddy:



After we were done with the ducks (they actually decided they were done with us) we headed to the playground.

Ahren slept the whole time:



Where to play...



Sienna wanted me to take her picture, but she wouldn't look at me:



Sienna decided that even though Ahren was sleeping he needed a stick wand:

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake was at the water park today and Sienna was very excited to get to meet her!! I am glad to report that Sienna may be over her fear of mascots/people dressed in character costumes. There was also a clown making balloon animals/flowers/wands and a face painter - this made up for the water temperature being next to freezing!

Showing off her face paint and flower:



She kept smelling the flower:



Running to meet Strawberry:



Hugs (kinda):



*Mommy also helped Sienna sing the theme song to the teenage girl in the suit and her helper

Lighting Candles

Sienna was asked to light the candles at church today. She was very excited!! She was very careful walking down the aisle, but she was a little too short to see the candle wick and almost lit the table on fire trying to get in down in there. Aunt Mary was kind enough to step in and help her since mommy was holding Ahren (who was asleep) and mommy was blocking daddy in the pew.

4th of July

We decided to go downtown again this year (even after the debacle that was last year). Ahren slept the whole time (I was prepared to have to go back to the truck and wait with him until the show was over) and Sienna saw some of her cousins and decided that they were more interesting than the fireworks. When I asked her if the fireworks were cool she touched my face and told me they were "really cool!" I guess it was a good night then!

Asleep:



Dancing:









Playing hide-and-seek between daddy's legs:



Watching the fireworks on daddy's shoulders:

Ahren

Just a few new pics of gettng ready in the morning.

After the trauma:





Ready to start the day (and yes, I am as cute as a button):

A day at the park

The weather here has been beautiful and Sienna had been going a bit stir crazy (last week it was over 95 every day with a heat index over 100 so Ahren had to stay inside) so we took a family trip to the park. Ahren just hung out in the stroller and slept, but Sienna was all over the place!!

Sleeping:



Rocking:





Swinging:







Sienna even climbed the rock wall all by herself (I climbed up after her, but she did it by herself):





Climbing:





Sienna was pushing a girl on the merry-go-round (I was pretty impressed):





Posing:





Checking the ducks out:

Playing with chalk

Sienna has discovered chalk. She likes to 'write' with it. This typically involves one of us writing as many names as she can think of while she makes lines about five feet away.

Choosing a color:



Rattling off names to daddy:





Debating what to draw next:



Writing with her wand over the names daddy wrote:

Ahren's first doctors visit

Ahren went to the doctor for the first time on June 29. Sienna was happy to see Dr. Wallace when she was not the one being examined! The nurse took Ahren's temperature rectally and he did NOT like that. Neither did mommy...well, Sienna didn't like it either because she was unable to comfort Ahren while he was screaming. He weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz and Dr. Wallace told us he is doing very well. We go back at one month.

In the waiting room:



On the exam table:





Sienna being silly (she requested I take these pictures):







Trying to comfort him (he was actually asleep due the intense stress his little body had just sustained):

Mama, take my picture!

The words I have longed to hear...Sienna has now started to request having her picture taken. She does this when she is acting silly (or is holding Ahren). She decided she wanted her picture taken with a necklace on her head:

First bath

Ahren does NOT like baths!! He screams the entire time, but as soon as he is in his towel the cries stop.

Unhappy:





Much better:

Big sister Sienna

Sienna is the best big sister baby Ahren could ask for! She wants to help care for him as much as possible and she always wants to kiss him. She hates to hear him cry and will try anything she can think of to try to soothe him!

Holding baby Ahren (she asks to do this at least 3-5 times per day):



Laying on daddy:



Whenever he needs changed Sienna will pull up a chair to the changing table to help. He always rolls to one side:



Sleeping:



Content:

Baby Ahren (day 3)

We don't have too many pictures from Wednesday as we were getting ready to come home, but here are a few:

Mommy & Ahren:







You can't really tell from this angle, but Ahren looks EXACTLY like my (Sarah) brother did when he was born. When my mother showed Sienna a picture of Dan when he was a baby Sienna said, "that's baby Ahren."



Getting ready to come home:

Baby Ahren (day 2)

Sienna came up to visit us at the hospital every day. On day two she was given her own diaper bag containing a diaper, a few baby bottles, some lotion and a baby. She tried to help us by putting pretend lotion on our hands and having us put it on Ahren and then by feeding him with her bottles (at least pretending to).

Helping daddy feed Ahren:



Getting ready to feed him:



He didn't really seem satisfied with this bottle:



That's MY baby Ahren:



Kisses:



Love:



Mommy & Ahren:



Daddy & Ahren:



Here's looking at you, kid:

Baby Ahren (day 1)

Sienna became a big sister at 3:54pm on Monday, June 22, 2009. She has the best attitude about 'her' baby and always wants to hold him and help take care of him! Mom and baby are doing well and came home on Wednesday. We have all been getting used to having a newborn in the house (a LOT different from the seven-month-old we brought home 2 1/2 years ago).

Mommy & Ahren right after he was checked and cleaned up:





Getting checked out:



Daddy & Ahren:



Big sister Sienna was the first one to get to hold Ahren (after mommy & daddy):



Helping daddy care for Ahren:







Content and asleep:



With Uncle Dan:



Uncle Dan & big sister Sienna:



He was given his first bath while Sienna was in the room and she did NOT like to hear her baby cry. She kept telling him, "It's OK, baby Ahren. Don't cry - I am your big sister!" over and over again (it didn't seem to help).

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Seth!!

Sienna loves you SO much and I just love to watch you play with her at her kitchen and her dollhouse (although the best is watching the two of you play My Little P*onies together)! We start another journey tomorrow and I know you will handle having two little ones with the same care you handle one. I love you and so does Sienna!!

Baseball

For daddy's birthday we went to our town's Prospect League team, the Sliders. This was Sienna's first baseball game (we'll all be going to a Cardinal's game in September). It was quite warm, but Sienna had a blast (she loved having popcorn and a funnel cake). Before the game started we bought her a mini baseball bat. She kept showing us how to swing it (we're in trouble at home)! The Sliders' mascot is Speedy the Turtle and Sienna liked him (from her seat). When he got close to her she could tent her little hands and stare at him with big eyes until he moved on. She did keep track of him and talked about him most of the night.

Posing with the bat:



Before daddy taught her how to hold her hands correctly:



Swing:



All done:



There is a fireworks show at every Friday night home game. After the fireworks last weekend, Sienna was pretty excited to get to watch some again. She sat very well and paid close attention to them.

Fireworks

We live near a park that hosts a carillon festival every year with fireworks that Friday. We got our lawn chairs and walked about 200 yards from our front door and staked out a good place to watch the show. Sienna was SO excited. She wanted to ham it up before the fireworks started and kept posing for pictures. During the whole show she kept telling us which ones were her favorites and saying, "WOW!"

Just posing:



Hanging out with Daddy:



Hanging out with Mommy:



Laughing:



The fireworks:

Playin' in the yard

Sienna loves to play outside on her 'playground.' She has several slides, a roller coaster, a sandbox, a house, a car and a workstation for her car.

On her slide:



On her roller coaster:



Playing in the sandbox:



Running around chasing puff balls:



I don't know what she thought she would scare out of there, but she tried for a good 10 minutes to flush SOMETHING out:



My favorite pictures are when she gets sick of me taking pictures and decides to give me attitude. Enjoy: