Happy Halloween

Just a quick update to say Happy Halloween! We have two precious sea creatures ❤️🎃

Ethan is FOUR

I can not believe this tiny little guy is now four years old! 

We had a great time celebrating him over his birthday weekend!  He woke up to a donut cake, balloons and his very own playground in the backyard (which Daddy & Peepaw slaved over from dusk till dawn the day before.)

"Say What?!?  I'm how many?"

Video: Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Video:  The grand reveal!  He was only moderately excited about the new playscape.  Ha!

Then in the afternoon we celebrated with friends and family at the house with a Mickey Mouse birthday party!  I think he had a great time even though in the days and weeks before, he kept telling me he wanted to change his mind and have a different kind of party (a boat party, dragon party and Paw Patrol party.)  He enjoyed playing with his cousins and friends in the monstrosity of a bounce house we were "upgraded" to and was all smiles when everyone gathered to sing him Happy Birthday.

Ethan & Olivia (friends since 4 months old)

Emily & Aunt Lynette

Ginormous Mickey Mouse Clubhouse obstacle bounce house!

Emily & cousin Dominik <3

Our very first pinata ever... miraculously the very LAST string opened it!  

What are the odds?!?

The dash for candy

This is why Ethan doesn't get many eggs at the Easter Egg hunts... He has to examine and tells us about each item he finds!  Meanwhile, his friends are grabbing up all the candy.  LOL! :)

Friends! Minus 1 or 2 that weren't up for a picture.

Cookies, cupcakes and cake... oh my!

This smile is one of pure joy!  Happy Birthday sweet boy!

He got lots of new presents including a garbage truck he's been asking for, dinosaurs, puzzles, coloring books, transformers, legos...  Now I need to get with the program and find homes for all these new treasures so we can all stop tripping over them!  Thank you all so much for the generous gifts... we are working on the Thank You notes (slowly)!  I think he has played with these new toys every single day since he got them!

On Sunday, we played in the bounce house some more and then finished opening gifts before heading over to Gattiland for some pizza and games.  Ever since then when he's pretending to go somewhere he almost always he's going to Gattiland :)  He played all sorts of arcade games and racked up six hundred some odd tickets!!!  Can you just try to imagine "spending" that many tickets with a 4 year old?!?  It took no less than 15 minutes.  He wanted a fish tattoo (5 tickets), a tootsie roll (5 tickets), a toy dinosaur (10 tickets)... Only 590 tickets to go!  Ha!  Meanwhile, the line was growing behind us.  I told the girl working the counter that she must have a lot of patience to do that job!

Video: Arcade fun! :)

After a super fun weekend, we had the not so fun job of taking both of the kids to the pediatrician for well checks and shots on the 6th.  Ethan got his eye sight and hearing checked and both are perfect.  Although the hearing test took a few tries because he kept getting distracted and forgetting to tap my hand when he heard the beep :)  He weighs 36.2 lbs (53%) and is 38.5 inches tall (14%).  The doctor also tested his reflexes and he found it hysterical that his leg jumped with the doc tapped his knee.  He had to get 4 shots but it was not near as bad as I thought it would be.  He cried for a bit and then was distracted by the prospect of ice cream and gummy worms.  The most painful part was probably protecting those dang band-aids from his pants/undies in the following days.

 Riding the "horse" at the doctor's office

 Yummy treats to make those mean ole shots stop hurting!

6 Months & Counting...

Better late than never, right?  We have been so busy and our little princess is growing so fast.  We can not believe she is already 6 (and a half) months old!

Such a HAPPY girl <3

 
At her 6 month check-up this week, she of course got another good report from the doctor.  She weighs 15 lbs. 1 oz (23%) and is 26 inches long (42%).  The reflux seems to be under control, and her development is right on track.  Sadly, she had to get 4 shots this time but she did well with them.  She even gave Dr. Travis lots of giggles, which surprised us because no matter what we do to try and make her laugh she just gives us a big grin but no giggles :)

She is sitting up now, eating solids, rolling over, and very talkative.  Her favorite foods are sweet potatoes, butternut squash and bananas, and her least favorite food is green beans.

 First meal.. two spoons: one for me, one for you

 Unsure about the oatmeal

 Yummm... butternut squash is much better!

Video of our little bird gobbling up some squash

She is finally sleeping better at night also, despite a short interruption because of her first little cold.  That cold was so heartbreaking because she was so congested she could barely eat, sleep or suck her paci.  A friend of Troy's had recommended this little gem (Snot Sucker) which I previously thought was disgusting, but after using it as a last ditch effort to get relief for Miss Emily I've changed my tu.  Is it strange? Yes. But it is also ingenious and SO much more effective than those suction bulbs they give you at the hospital.  Anyway, this last month she also started rolling over on to her tummy to sleep which has probably contributed to the better nights.

This girl is seriously just such a joy!  And she is so patient and so tolerant, and she adores her big brother even when he is a tad overzealous :)  I sure do hope these two grow up to be the best of friends.

LOL!  This is a picture of tolerance right here!

 Ethan loves to lay next to Emily on the floor and tells me "Mom, take our picture!"  If I don't have my phone on me, he tells me to pretend.  Then he wants me to show him the pretend picture I took on my pretend phone! :)

"Look, Mom!  We made a 'T'!"

I'll close with this sweet baby talk video.  I could listen to this baby chatter all.day.long!  What a fun age this is!!

Summer Lovin'

As summer is coming to an end, here is a picture recap of all the fun we've had!

 Ethan spent lots of time riding his bike around the block at Gabby & Peepaw's house (he does wear a helmet!)

 We had several play dates with our friend/neighbor, Bennett

 Enjoyed lots of lazy days at home with these two cuties!

 Ethan enjoyed lots of tree climbing this summer!  He liked to enjoy his drinks/snacks up in the tree like monkeys :)

 We had a few play dates with Olivia.  These two pick up right where they leave off even if it has been months since they were together.  Sweet friends! <3

 Grandma & Grandpa Matus, Aunt Darlene and Dominik & Anthony came for a fun day trip

 At Inner Space Cavern with Dominik & Anthony

 He has so much fun playing with his cousins!  Rolling down the "hills" at Hat Creek Burger

 80s day at school!  We had lots of themed days including PJ day and splash day!  Look at that hair :)

 Ms. Rhonda (his hairdresser) asked if he wanted a warm towel and massage since he got his first "big boy" haircut and he said SURE!  Ha!

Summer cut!  He looked so BIG!  (He's now overdue for another cut and he wants it spikey like this again)

 Emily spent a lot of her summer snoozing in her car seat while we went here and there and everywhere with Ethan

 We enjoyed Food Truck Fridays at the pool in our neighborhood almost every weekend

 Ethan learned to swim!  Kind of :)

(Visit website to see video!)

 Such a happy girl!  Emily loves to be outside too!

 We spent lots of time digging in the sandbox and sometimes we had trouble keeping the sand inside the box

 

We always have fun when we meet up with the Callas' for wings!  These two love to play together too!

 We spent lots of time at Gabby & Peepaw's and Ethan was a good office assistant to Gabby!

 More play dates with our friend Bennett!

 And last but not least, Ethan and Daddy had lots of fun catching lizards