Ethan's Two-Year-Old Checkup

I took Ethan for his 2-year-old checkup today. He weighs 26 lbs, 10 oz and is 33 ¼ inches tall. I guess the CDC has recently updated the growth charts and now Ethan is in the 15th percentile in height instead of the 10th! That's a pretty big deal when you come from a family of shorties! He's also in the 50th percentile for weight now, so I guess that's why the pediatrician didn't seem too concerned that he lost a little weight. We talked about his terrible eating habits and the doctor said it all seems typical for his age. After the exam, Ethan was sitting on the doctor's lap and reached for me and said "I want Mama." The doctor seemed very impressed by that and commented that he wasn't supposed to do that yet (sentences, I guess). I am always a proud mommy when the pediatricians say things like that. I know I'm not perfect as a mom, but I guess I am doing something right!

It's been a while since I've taken pictures of Ethan with his lion and zebra stuffed animals, so I thought I'd better do it on his birthday. I'm not sure how much longer we will have the yellow chair (sniff, sniff). So far, he still likes to be rocked before bed and hasn't started climbing out of his crib, so we will keep it...for now.

Ethan's Birthday

We had a great time celebrating Ethan's birthday yesterday. It's hard to believe the little man is already 2! Despite the cold weather, all the kids wanted to play outside! I think they had a good time! One tip about this slide show: do not click the play button! It will take you off this web page. If you want to restart the slideshow, click on the black area around the outside of the slideshow.

Ballet & Tumbling

Kaitlin has been going to a Ballet & Tumbling class through the local parks & rec. Wednesday was her last class and parents were able to come and watch. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so these pictures/videos were taken on my phone and are not great quality. It was quite entertaining and Kaitlin made some very funny expressions while she danced!







Here are a couple of videos. One is of Kaitlin doing somersaults and the other is her doing frog jumps. They were running out of time, so the girls got to choose if they wanted to do bunny hops or frog jumps. Kaitlin does excellent frog jumps!

Kaitlin's 4-year Checkup

Well, it's a month and a half late, but I thought I needed to post about Kaitlin's checkup this year. She measured 39 inches tall and weighed 32 pounds. I was so excited that she finally hit 30 pounds! The doctor said she looked great and had no concerns. Kaitlin had to get a couple of shots and took them like a champ. Of course, the nurse and I had to team up to get her out from under my chair, but she did great once we got a hold of her! She didn't even cry! Later that afternoon, Kaitlin decided to celebrate her health by cutting her hair!! She was so proud of herself! (By the way, she does not have a head injury in this picture. Kaitlin feels it necessary to put a band-aid on every minor bump or scratch. It does add some drama though!)



Although she's never had a visible reaction to peanuts/peanut butter, Kaitlin has always had a strong aversion to anything with peanuts in it and we wondered if she might be allergic to them. Keven and I wanted to know for sure so I discussed it with the pediatrician and she agreed that it would be a good idea to get her tested. I took her to the allergist a couple weeks after her checkup and discovered that our suspicions were correct. So, we are now an epi-pen carrying family. I don't think her allergy is severe, but it is definitely stressful. We have to think about things differently. I think we are also fortunate that she doesn't like anything with peanuts so we don't really have to worry about her eating it.

I usually just do Kaitlin's pictures at the same time we do Ethan's, but this year our photographer/friend, Heather, was having a mini-session for girls called Tutus & Tiaras right around Kaitlin's birthday so I decided to get some special 4-year-old pictures taken. Kaitlin had a ton of fun at her special photo shoot (no Ethan, no family pics, just all about Kaitlin) and Heather got some amazing pictures of her! I had such a hard time decided which pictures to get because they were all so good! This is just one of the beautiful pictures:

Halloween

We had a great time Trick-or-Treating with the kids this year! We had some friends over for pizza and went with a group which is always fun. We also had a sweet college student come over and hand out candy so that Keven and I were both able to go trick-or-treating.

Kaitlin was very excited and was asking all day if today is the day to go trick-or-treating. She dressed up like a princess and I have to say, she was the most beautiful princess I've ever seen!! She is in a Cinderella dress, but she has never seen the movie Cinderella. MomMom and PopPop took her into the princess shop at Disney World to get a dress and that is the one she chose! I guess we need to rent the movie soon so she knows the story of Cinderella! She had a really fun time trick-or-treating with her friend Bryce. They would hold hands walking between houses and race to the doors. It was really cute!

We decided to dress Ethan like a monkey for Halloween and he loved it! He wore his costume to Trunk or Treat at our church on Sunday and had a great time! Tonight, when I said "let's go get your monkey costume on" he ran into his room and started signing "hat." It was very cute! I got Kaitlin's dress on her and told her to stand in front of the china cabinet for pictures. When I was done, I put Ethan's hat on him and he ran over to the china cabinet (without being told to) for his pictures. He also enjoyed trick-or-treating. At the first, he wanted to go inside every house! After a few houses, he got the hang of it and was excited to go up to every door.

Here are some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Party Time!

Kaitlin had a very fun Monsters Inc. Birthday party today. It took her a while to warm up to all the people, but she finally perked up after having some cake and seemed to have a good time. She opened all her presents and she handed out goodie bags. She even thanked everyone for coming when she gave them their bags.

Kaitlin's Birthday

Wow! Today Kaitlin turned 4 years old! I can hardly believe it has been that long since she was born. She has been anticipating her birthday for a couple of weeks and woke up a couple mornings last week asking "Am I 4 today?" We put a sticker on her birthday on her calendar and marked off all the days until her birthday. That definitely helped her understand.

Kaitlin has also been anticipating the arrival of family for her birthday party. She's been especially excited about having a sleepover at MomMom and PopPop's hotel. They were supposed to arrive on Thursday and Kaitlin started packing her bag on Monday. She did a pretty good job: pajamas, clean panties, books, Crocs, and a blanket. We had a little talk about how when her cousins Sarah and Robbie are here, she is going to want to stay at home and have a sleepover with them at our house. To that, Kaitlin responded that Sarah and Robbie could come to MomMom and PopPop's hotel too! She even added extra pajama pants for Sarah and one of Ethan's pajama tops for Robbie. What a hoot!

Kaitlin has had a little trouble understanding that her party was not going to be on her actual birthday. Apparently, in one of the shows she watches, they had a surprise party for someone because yesterday she told me that when she came home from her swim lesson today all her friends would be hiding in our house and would jump out and yell "Surprise!" I explained that we would celebrate her birthday as a family on Tuesday and her birthday party would be on Saturday. I'm not sure she was too happy with that answer, but she seemed got over it.

Overall, I think Kaitlin had a great day celebrating! She started the morning by opening up her new big girl bike! Then, we played at Frog Legs (an indoor inflatable place), had lunch at Moe's, played at home, went to swim lessons*, ate dinner at Provino's and then opened more presents! We decided to let Kaitlin open some family presents today since she will be getting more presents at her party on Saturday. Here are a few pictures.





*I have to brag on Kaitlin here. She has been going to swim lessons all summer and is finally swimming all by herself. Her teacher told me on Thursday that she had a breakthrough day so today I hid and watched. Kaitlin was swimming all by herself for about 10 feet at a time. I never get to see this because when I take her to the pool, she just wants to swim with her Puddle Jumper.

New Masthead

OK, I finally updated the masthead with current pictures of the kids and animals. Actually, it is the same picture of the cat, but he hasn't changed much (although, I think he may have lost some weight from running from the dog). Sadly, Harley was removed, but now there is a picture of Samson. This, plus a beautiful and loving wife, is my life. It is a nice image to reflect on this Father's Day. I am blessed.

Pickin' Berries

We decided to go pick some blueberries yesterday at a local farm. At first, I didn't really think we were going to pick much because Ethan kept wondering over to the greenhouse nearby, but I finally got him to stick near Kaitlin and me while we picked berries. He spent most of the time taking berries out of my bucket and either throwing them on the ground or trying to put them back on the bush. As you can imagine, he got a little frustrated when they wouldn't go back on! Kaitlin had a good time picking berries and hiding from me in the blueberry patch! We didn't really get a whole lot of berries, but it was a fun time!

One Week with Samson

Well, we have now had a yellow lab puppy for one week. And I haven't killed anyone. Yet. Last Saturday, Keven and I drove to Douglasville, GA to pick up our newest family member, Samson. We were pretty much smitten with him after about 5 minutes (yes, we). Those who know me, know that I was very much against getting a puppy (and I still am), but Keven talked me into it. I gave him some conditions that I never really thought he would agree to or keep, but he did. So we have a puppy. He is an adorable handful and I know that he is only going to become more difficult as he gets bigger. After one week, Samson is already losing his fluffy white fur and getting in the coarse, yellow fur of a lab. They do grow up fast!


A few things about Samson, the puppy:

• After spending the first 8 weeks of his life outside, Samson has had a taste of air conditioning and loves it. He does not like to go outside.
• Samson is not a big fan of his crate and he lets us know it!
• When he realizes I am trying to get him outside, Samson lays down. Then he runs away when I try to pick him up.
• Samson's newest hobby is tormenting Simba.
• He quickly discovered his two favorite sleeping spots: behind the toilet in the kids' bathroom and under my desk. Much to his dismay, he has been banned from the playroom and can no longer lay under my desk. I'm actually a little sad about that too. I kind of like having the little guy at my feet. :(
• From day 1, Samson knew that Ethan was not his biggest fan. Any chance he got he was next to Ethan, sniffing, licking, and knocking him down. Ethan doesn't seem as bothered by him now.