Halloween

This was the first year that Ethan participated in trick-or-treating for Halloween, and he loved it! Last year he stayed home with us and helped hand out candy to kids in our neighborhood. He got to trick-or-treat with his buddy Sam, and they both did such a great job of saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" at each house. We all enjoyed some pizza at Brad and Chris's house before we took the boys out around their neighborhood. I was surprised that both Ethan and Sam walked nearly the entire way and were going strong for about an hour and a half! They collected quite a bit of candy loot. The only candy that Ethan had eaten prior to tonight was a little bit of candy corn, so he was excited to try a Reese cup, a Dum Dum sucker, and a Nestle Crunch bar. Unfortunately when we returned to their house, Brad and Chris discovered that we were locked out (and our house/van keys were inside their house too!) It was a beautiful evening (unusually warm for this time of year), and the boys played on the driveway with Sam's toys and sidewalk chalk (we could get into the garage, just not the house) while we waited for a locksmith to arrive. It was difficult for Chris to find a locksmith who would actually come out on Halloween night, but one did show up and was able to open their front door (unfortunately for a hefty price). It was a really fun and a bit adventurous evening!

Daddy and Ethan getting ready to trick-or-treat

The very first house that Ethan went to

Chris, Brad, and Sam as we got started trick-or-treating

It was such a nice evening, most of Brad and Chris's neighbors were outside on their driveways or front stoops handing out the candy


Our little monkey having fun

The local fire department drove their truck around the neighborhood (a highlight for Ethan and Sam!) They stopped the truck for the boys, and a firefighter gave them some candy.

Drawing with chalk on the driveway while we watched for the locksmith

Video of Ethan trick-or-treating

Ethan's (Belated) 2-Year Photo Session

Yay! I (finally) was able to get Ethan in for his 2-year photo session on October 27th. We decided to try JCPenney's studios this time since several friends had good experiences there. Ethan was fairly cooperative but still wanted to be up and moving a lot of the time, so the photographer had to be very quick at snapping shots before he ran off to check out various things in the studio (other props, lighting, backdrops, etc.) I think that overall the photographer did a really nice job, and (of course), I was suckered into spending more than I had anticipated on the photos. Don't worry, I didn't actually order all of the poses that I posted in this blog entry as that would have cost a small fortune! For an extra $5 fee you could have the photos available online to download (in low resolution format) and to share with family and friends, so I selected that option as well. If you would like to see all of the photos from the session, please leave a comment or let me know, and I would be happy to email you the website link and access code so that you can take a look at them.

Mom's Group Halloween Dinner and Hayride

Tonight we had a great time with the families of the ladies who are in the mom's group that I participate in at our church. A huge thanks to Chris and Heather for hosting our gigantic group! We had a yummy dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and lots of desserts (we let Ethan splurge and eat 5 pumpkin spice cookies- thankfully they were little ones!) and then went on a hayride and hung out at a bonfire at a nearby park. The kids dressed in costume for the hayride; They looked so cute! They all received lots of compliments on their costumes from the other people riding on the hay wagons.

Ethan's costume this year was a monkey

Ethan and his buddy, Sam, in their costumes

It made me laugh to see Ethan in his poofy monkey costume in his carseat as we drove between the party and the hayride. We had to do some serious adjustments of the carseat straps so that he could fit!

Walking with Daddy to the hayride

Twin monkeys! Ethan's buddy, Elise, was also a monkey this year! :)


After the bonfire, waiting with Daddy for the hayride back to the parking lot

Flashback to August 24th-Visit to a Living History Museum

Unfortunately I was very ill with what I think was food poisoning during most of Grandma Q's visit in August, so I was not able to take part in all of the activities I would have liked to. Dan, Gail, and Ethan visited a local living history museum and had a great time exploring the buildings, petting zoo, children's discovery area, etc. and talking with the employees who posed as people living from eras past.

Grandma Q. and Ethan

Dan and Ethan

Ethan milking a fake cow in the children's discovery center. Apparently he sprayed "milk" (water) all over himself!

Flashback to August- Ethan's 2nd Birthday Party

This post is WAY overdue! Grandma Q emailed me the digital photos that she took during her visit in August over Ethan's 2nd birthday quite awhile back, and I am just now getting around to posting them here. She is the only one who captured a photo of Ethan lifting up his entire cake and taking a bite like it were a giant cupcake! She also got a photo of his cake while the candle was lit. Here are the cute pics that she shared with us:

Getting ready to blow the candle out

Why wait for Mom and Dad to cut a piece for me when I can pick up the whole thing?

YUM!

Reunion with my Best Friend from Church Camp (Yay for Facebook!) and Ethan's First Haunted House

Several friends had emailed me invitations to join Facebook in the past, but I was hesitant. I wasn't sure how legitimate of a networking tool it really was and had heard a lot of negative things about similar sites like MySpace. But, I did eventually register and have been amazed at all of the people who I have been able to reconnect with from middle school, high school, college, previous internships and jobs, etc. It really has been fun, and I am definitely glad that I registered. Once such fun reunion has been with a dear friend from church camp (which I attended in elementary/middle school) for 1 week 5 or 6 summers in a row. I met Jessica there, and we had so much in common, we became fast friends and were inseparable during camp. She was able to come visit me and my family for a few days a couple of summers before our week of camp, and I was also able to travel to her hometown and we went to see Phantom of the Opera together. We lost touch early in our college years, and I had always wondered what Jess was up to. Imagine my surprise when I received a friend request from her on Facebook, only to find out that she lives about 20 minutes away from me now (we used to live in different states many hours apart), got married one week after Dan and I did (same year), has a little boy whose birthday is 3 days before Ethan's (one day before Ethan's due date, and Ethan was born on Caleb's due date), and we have so many other things in common! Who knew that our lives would parallel each other so closely? We got to meet up in person this evening for the first time in probably 17 years. How cool is that?!? Caleb and Ethan got to play together for a bit and we took the boys to the "friendly" hours at a local museum's haunted house. The set-up that went into the haunted house was impressive, and I could see how it would be pretty scary (even for adults!) with the lights off. The kids got to walk through with the lights on, and each of the costumed employees we came across handed out treats for the kids: candy corn, stickers, a coloring book, train whistles (that the boys are blowing in one of the pics), etc. We're looking forward to more fun times with Jess and her family in the near future!

Ethan and Jessica

Caleb and Ethan blowing their train whistles (they are both big Thomas the Train fans)

Random Ethan Updates

• Recently Ethan has learned to say the name of his neighborhood, street, and also his house numbers.
  
• He knows what red and green lights mean and reminded me just today (when I was looking away momentarily at a stoplight) that it had turned green and that I needed to go!
• He has some graham cracker sticks that he enjoys snacking on, and today he lined them up on his tray and said he made a choo choo. He proceeded to lift each one and count them (1 through 6).
  
• He is very inquisitive, and in the last week or so has taken to asking us "What IS it?" (emphasis on "is"). He'll point to lots of different things and ask us what they are. He wants to learn new things and have various items identified for him constantly.
  
• On a sillier note, he also has started saying "cupcake dirt" frequently and then he giggles hysterically. Not quite sure what this inside joke (that he has with himself!) means, but it strikes him (and us) as pretty funny.
• He is enjoying watching Bob the Builder and, since there is a lot of construction of new neighborhoods going on nearby, he loves to point out dump trucks and "scoops" as we drive past them
  

The Birthday Boys

We spent the day today with my family celebrating my brother's and Dan's birthdays (which are 9 days apart). We enjoyed visiting and some yummy carry-out from Olive Garden. Ethan cracked me up at dinner when he grabbed a breadstick out of the bag and started eating it like it was a piece of corn on the cob! We finished up dinner with not just one, but 2 yummy cakes. Mike had requested an angel food cake, and Dan's favorite is chocolate with chocolate icing.

My brother Mike and his cake

Dan and his cake

Ethan's Craft Project During Mom's Group

This week during mom's group at church, Ethan made this really cute frog craft. He was so proud of himself for making it too! He wanted to hold it on the drive home and carry it around at home. He would point to it and say "Little froggie", "Ethan made froggie". It is now proudly displayed on our refrigerator. :)

Never Heard of this Until I Became a Parent...

Roseola- ever heard of it? I wasn't very familiar with this virus before I had Ethan, and our poor little guy contracted it somewhere and was very sick for several days. The course of the illness is 3-5 days of extremely high fever (103-106 degrees) followed by several days of a rash when the fever breaks. Ethan was miserable during the fever stage and, even with frequent alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol, his fever continued to spike, and he woke up crying 4-5 times for 3 nights in a row. It is very unlike him to wake in the night, as he has always been a really solid sleeper. Fortunately he rebounded quickly when the fever broke and, although the rash looked pretty awful for 2 days, it was not itchy and didn't seem to bother him at all. We had to cancel several fun activities (including his belated 2 year photos) during his illness, but we at least have rescheduled his photo session for next week!

The Beginning of that Awful Response..."NO!"

We have been so blessed and fortunate that Ethan has had such an easy-going and agreeable temperament for a toddler. At least up until this point! In the last week or so Ethan has finally started to consistently use the word "No". Previously he would respond with "No" rarely, but appropriately: "Do you want any more crackers", "No". But here recently "No" has been the default answer to almost every question. After getting a response of "No" to about 6 questions in a row the other day. I started asking him: "Is your name Ethan?" "No." "Are you 2?" "No." "Can you say 'no'?" "No." Hopefully this is a short-lived phase. He is enjoying asserting his independence lately which isn't wholly a bad thing, but I'd love to hear a response other than "No" in the near future :)

Ultrasound News- And Baby Q is....

A BOY!!
I'm very glad to report that the ultrasound went well, and Baby Q is healthy. He weighs approximately 14 ounces, and it amazes me how you can see so many of his features clearly when he weighs less than a pound! He was quite immodest, and we could clearly see what gender he was from the very first view that the ultrasound tech brought up on the screen. I know that he and Ethan will have so much fun together! Here he is smiling (his profile looks a lot like Ethan's did at this stage).

With his mouth closed

We have a photo of Ethan's foot/toes from his ultrasound too, but Baby Q's is much clearer. Aren't those tiny toes adorable? ;)

In addition to being immodest, our little guy was kind of ornery during the ultrasound. Here he is sticking his tongue out at us!

Visit with my Mom's Family

We met my mom's aunt Mildred, cousin Julie, and her daughter Christy for lunch this afternoon. It had been several years since I'd seen them, so this was the first time that I had the opportunity to introduce them to Ethan. We had a lot of fun visiting and catching up, and Ethan did well hanging out in his high chair for awhile and then coloring and playing with straws. We hope to get to see them more often in the future!

Mildred, Julie, Christy, Mom, Me, and Ethan

Mom's Group 80's Night Party

The mom's group that I participate in at church organized a fun event this evening- an 80's party- complete with 80's appropriate attire. I was so impressed with the outfits that our small group came up with. I searched through my closet for something fun to wear, but couldn't find anything that screamed 80's and would also work as maternity wear ;) So, I made do with a side ponytail, scrunchie, big bangs, pegged (rolled) jeans, and Keds. The other ladies came up with: stretch pants complete with stirrups, crimped hair, big jewelry, jelly shoes, stone-washed/acid-washed denim, big shoulder pads, leg warmers, and Guess jeans. Kara even found her purse from the 4th grade still loaded with 80's items: a "super secret" book to write in, school photos, friendship pins, charm bracelets, etc. We had some yummy snacks and watched the movie "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". We also tried our hand at a little 80's trivia. It was a fun night!

Erin, Ann, and Heather

Kara, Ann, and Margo

The awesome friendship pin that Kara gave me! :)

Fun with "Big Elmo"

Ethan has been a big fan of Elmo for a very long time! (Probably ever since he noticed the Sesame Street characters on his Pampers). I bought a huge stuffed Elmo for Ethan quite awhile ago, and he absolutely loves to play with him. He calls him "Big Elmo" and carries him all around the house. He likes to show Elmo what's outside by holding him up in front of our window when the blinds are open. He'll say "See Big Elmo, See?" He also like to sit Elmo in a chair at his little activity table. He enjoys sharing his crayons and "coloring" with Big Elmo. I uploaded a video of him playing and sharing his crayons with Big Elmo. So cute!

Ethan giving Big Elmo a hug