8 Months and Oh, So Cute!

This sweet little one is 8 months old today.  I can't believe we will be celebrating her birthday in just a few short months!  Time is flying.  She is such an incredibly happy baby and we are so thankful for her and her cheerful disposition.  Speaking of happiness, she FINALLY started giggling for us!

 She loves to play with her activity cube, look at/chew on books, swing outside, chew on toy keys, and play with her stuffed animal toys that sing and light up.  She just started trying to roll and kick to get to something that she sees and wants.  I'm sure that means its only a matter of time before she figures out how to crawl.  Anyone have ideas for baby-proofing a 4 year old? :)

 I caught this early morning snuggle as I was in the kitchen making coffee.  What a way to start the day!  Of course, as soon as he heard me snap a picture he scampered off.

 Smiley girl looking at a book

 Snug as a bug!  Swinging outside on a crisp fall day

She LOVES the jumperoo!  And her doggy, too.

Normally we are trying to protect Emily from the rambunctiousness that is her brother, but she just thinks he's funny.  Seeing their bond grow is one of the most heartwarming things.  8 months ago I was worried about how he would adjust to a sibling and I think its safe to say that he adjusted just fine.  Some days he even loves her!  Okay, most days.  Other days he tries to poke her in eye, but when asked why his answer goes something like this "because I like her."  Guess we still have some work to do on appropriate ways to show affection :/

Everyone in our house is getting some rest again for the most part after that evil time change.  This year was particularly rough for both of the kids, but it looks like we've finally adjusted (knock on wood.)  Emily has also been having some tummy troubles that have woke her up in the middle of the night for a week or more, but that seems to be resolving as well. 

 

There is just nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby 

Emily's firsts this month include:

•  laughing 

• a TOOTH (lower left)

•  holding her own bottle

•  a (not very good) attempt at a ponytail.  Mom needs help! :)

- eating meat (chicken... she liked it!)

(This video is of her eating squash, not chicken, but it's too sweet not to share!)

One more random picture from her 8th month of life...

 

With a super GIANT teddy at Costco.  Daddy said that better not be on her Christmas list! :)

School Pics

Finally we got some school pics that are good.  Not just good actually, they are priceless!  I had gotten to the point where I didn't even bother dressing Ethan up for his pictures at school because he was always either crying or looking like a deer in headlights.  Honestly, I was starting to wonder if the photographers were even good with kids. But this time... totally different story.  Such sweet smiles on these two, and I think Ethan loved having his sister come and get him from class so that they could have their picture taken.  My heart is full!  Well, it was before it melted anyways <3

Lucky #7

Well, it happened again... I'm half a month late with this post, but late seems to be the status quo with us so I'm just keeping with the trend.

I can not believe that our tiny baby girl is already 7 months old.  The other night she fell asleep in my arms and I just sat there and held her because already the days/nights of snuggling and rocking our sleeping baby are mostly a thing of the past.  And I miss it.  It all seems to be going so much faster this time and I often wish I could just make time stand still.  Anyways, enough with the sappy monologue... here is our sweet girl at 7 months!

 She is really obsessed with crinkling the stickers

And gnawing on anything she can get into her mouth!

She tries to put EVERYTHING in her mouth.  She particularly likes things she shouldn't have like ziplock bags and grocery sacks...  in general things that crinkle. And straws!  She will practically jump out of my arms to get to a straw.  Oh, and the days of being able to hold her and get things done are a thing of the past.  I tried to make Ethan a sandwich while holding her the other day and she was grabbing at the lunch meat as fast as I could put lay it on the bread. 

 Now that she's sitting really well, she likes to be upright all the time.  She will sit at the little activity cube and play for a good 20 minutes by herself.  She also loves to jump in her jumperoo and play in her activity center now. This month she sat in a highchair out at a restaurant for the first time and she also swung for the first time at the park.  Such a big girl :)

Video: Emily loves to swing!  Brother is not too sure about letting her swing in "his" swing, even though he has a new big boy playset

She's also doing really well at school now.  She's very happy there, and eating and sleeping well.  Each day they send pictures of what she is up to, and here are just a couple of my favorites from the last month.

 Emily paints for the first time

Such a fascinating giraffe!

And because who doesn't love pictures of this little angel, here are a few more just for fun!

 She is very interested in Molly and grabs a handful of fur if Molly gets too close

 Helping Mommy fold laundry after nap time

 "Camping" with brother in the back yard

 No camping trip is complete without graham crackers! She just got the wrapper, but loved it.

 Daddy and Emily at a birthday party

Sitting like a big girl in her own chair.

Video: Emily really LOVES bath time.  She had an outdoor bath a few weeks ago and loved splashing in the water

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!