The Zoo!

A few weeks ago we took the girls to the zoo for the first time! It was so much fun!! When we first got there, both girls were asleep (and stayed asleep!) for a bit.  Ashlynn woke up once I took her out of the comfy stroller.

First up was the elephants. There were 2 new baby elephants, and Ashlynn was SO excited to see them. She kept say "Eh-phant!!"

Next up were the giraffes and ducks. Ashlynn was most excited about the ducks!

We made our way around to the birds, and Miss B finally woke up!

It is hard to tell in this picture, but Mark and Ashlynn went in the "bird cage". I was way to creeped out to join them   Bailey was sleeping, so I did not go in. Ashlynn held the bird food out and was not scared one bit.

We picked the perfect day to go. It was cool out, and the zoo was almost empty. We got to go at our own pace and really enjoy the day.

We went to see the tigers next. Ashlynn LOVED watching the tiger, until it came up to the glass. That definitely scared her!

After hitting up a few exhibits, we took Ashlynn to check out the "Texas" area. They had a lot of fun interactive exhibits for kiddos.

In the Texas section, there is a train that drives to the front of the zoo and back. We hopped on, much to A's delight. She has a love of all things "tain and pane" (Trains and planes) right now.  She kept smiling and saying "Choo-Choo"!

Our next stop was to check out the flamingos, on Daddy's shoulders of course.

And the rhinos….where I snapped one of my favorite pictures!

And lastly, the monkeys!

We were so glad that we took the girls to the zoo. Ashlynn was at a perfect age to understand and get excited about the animals, and we are hoping to make the zoo a regular stop from now on!

Happy 7 Months Bailey!

Our precious Bailey,

You are 7 months old! You are now officially closer to 1 than you are to being a newborn (although I guess that is true always!).  Mama is not ready for you to grow so quickly, but we love watching you develop!

We do not go back to the doctor until 9 months, so I do not know your exact stats.  I do know that you are one tall girl! You are currently wearing a variety of clothing sizes. Some 6 month shirts still fit, but most shirts are 6-9/9 months. You also have a few 12 month shirts.  Most pants are 9 month or 12 month, because your little legs are too long for anything smaller! You are still wearing size 3 diapers, and are in size 3 shoes now!

You have gotten on a pretty good schedule lately.  You wake each morning between 7-8:30.  You have a 6-7 oz. bottle every 3-4 hours (closer to 3 right now.) You are eating baby food for lunch and dinner. We tried breakfast, but you are getting over a stomach bug, so you are just not quite ready.  We have to stop you at 2.5 oz of baby food or else you get a bad tummy ache. You normally take 2 naps each day (1.5-2 hrs each) and go to sleep around 8:30.

You are currently eating:

Bananas, Apples, Mangos, Apricots, Prunes, Plums, Peaches, Strawberries, Pumpkin, Avacado, Butternut squash, peas and carrots. 

We are staying away from grains and sweet potatoes right now because they seem to upset your tummy.

You have become much more independent this month! You can hold your own bottle. You also love to sit up on your own and play.  Last week, you dove forward into the crawling position, but then got scared because you didn't know what to do! You are also trying SO hard to sit up on your own.  Your favorite activity is to play in your exersaucer. You get so excited and bounce up and down in the seat.

This past month, you celebrated your 1st Halloween! You were a sweet lady bug, but you did not like the headband or hat that came with your costume. 

You still have just 2 teeth (on the bottom). You are working on the top 2 now. You chew on anything that you can get your hands on!

We changed you into a bigger carseat, which means that you get to sit in high chairs at restaurants now.  You are doing great, and love being able to sit up.  You tried puffs at lunch and loved them! You even managed to feed yourself 1.

You are still our cuddle bug. When you are really sleep though, you just want to be laid down in your crib.  You have started to roll onto your stomach sometimes when you sleep.  You sleep with your paci, 1-2 loves and a blanket. This past week you have started sleeping through the night! YAY! You are such a go with the flow baby. You can sleep anywhere, and through all kinds of noise. You (and your sister) have both handled our move like champs.

Your sister still loves you as fiercely as ever.  The other day, she was riding in the cart at the store, and said "Bay-Bay?!" and pointed at the empty seat next to her. She is also wanting to share new experiences and things she loves with you.  

You have really started babbling too! You have the "ma", "d", "g" and "a" syllables down.  When you are really mad, you will go "mmm,mmm,mmm,mmm!" You still have a little temper, and have the funniest screams whenever you are frustrated.  

Sweet Bay-Bay, we love you so much! The next few months hold a lot of big changes for you as you grow.  We pray that the Lord will take hold of your precious life and be glorified through all that you do. 

Love always,

Mommy and Daddy

San Francisco 2013

Mark had a work trip to San Francisco at the beginning of October.  It worked out that I got to join him, and we got a much needed trip away!

Day 1:

Our 1st day was spent flying (Virgin Airlines was GREAT!), checking into our hotel inn place to sleep. The hotel was a little on the sketch side, but we were just glad to be getting to do something fun together! After we checked in, we explored a little around downtown.

That night, Mark had a work dinner. They got bussed out to Napa, where they had a yummy meal and wine tasting. I explored Union Square (while enjoying my 4th cup of coffee for the day!) I also ate at a yummy Greek/Italian restaurant, where I had the best hummus I have ever tasted. 

That night, I went and saw 2 movies (by myself!). That was a first for me, but it was actually really relaxing! One of the movies was in Spanish, with subtitles, but I did't know that going in. It turned out to be one of the better movies I had seen in a while.

Day 2:

On day 2, Mark had to work until late afternoon. I put my walking shoes on and walked from Union Square down to Coit Tower, over to the water and then back up to Union Square! I tried to hit up the spots that my map showed as "Photo Opportunities".

For lunch, I stopped in this adorable place…Parlor 1255.  I had THE.BEST.SALAD. of my entire life. 

After lunch, I walked down to the water.

And then I headed back to meet Mark in Union Square, via the trolley!

I met up with Mark for a little more of the amazing hummus I had the night before. I then got us lost :) No big surprise there. I thought I was taking us to see the Golden Gate Bridge. It turns out that Golden Gate Park is completely different! 

We rode the bus down past the park to Ocean Beach instead!

We walked back through the park, and actually really enjoyed it.  We started to get hungry, so we found a place in the cutest little neighborhood to eat dinner. We are all about eating where the locals would eat when we go on vacation. We had sushi, and to say Mark loved it would be an understatement! We topped off the night with gelato!

Day 3:

Mark did not have to work on Day 3! We had the entire day to spend together.  First up for the day was breakfast at Mama's.  We waited in line for over an hour for food. I am glad we went, but the food was not worth quite that long of a wait.

Our plan for the day was to see about going across to Sausalito, and to really just enjoy the gorgeous weather.  We decided to go look into renting a car for the day. After talking with the guy, we ended up with a Mustang Convertible, for a great price! 

We headed across the bridge, with 9 hours to do whatever we wanted!

We checked out the gorgeous views in Saulsalito (and snapped a pic of our pretty car :) )

After that, we decided to drive up the coast! It was beyond incredible. The views, the weather and the time to just catch up with each other were all so refreshing.

We tried to go to Muir Woods, but they were closed due to the government shutdown. The park ranger directed us to a different park, so we headed towards it.  We got a little sidetracked and never made it there. Instead, we stopped in Marin County at anther fantastic restaurant. where we split a sandwich and kale chips!

The waitress there directed us to a light house out on a peninsula.  We headed out to check it out. After a beautiful 30 minute drive along the peninsula, we discovered that the light house was also closed due to the shut down.

With a good amount of time left before we had to turn our car in, we decided to head over to Napa. What a great decision! We got to drive through all of the grape fields at sunset, and then have a wine tasting before heading back.

When we arrived back in San Francisco, we walked around Pier 29/Fisherman's Wharf and then ate some In and Out!

Day 4:

Our last day was spent flying home! Between an early flight and a time change, we spent most of our day traveling.