October…summed up

Here’s a little bit of October from my cell phone.   Not much to it, but it was fun!

Palm Sunday

Wow! What a difference a year makes.  We celebrated Palm Sunday like we did last year, with family and an egg hunt.  Ryan had to travel to North Carolina for work so he missed the egg hunt again.  During the church service, Kendall, Emory and Sullivan were part of the group of children that helped to carry palm branches to the front of the church.  Kendall held Lindy’s hand and followed the rest of the crowd.  She wasn’t sure what to think but didn’t make a peep.  Way to go big girl!Sullivan helped Kendall with the egg hunting when the eggs were hidden extra good or in hard to reach places.  Thanks Sullivan!  Kendall had a blast finding eggs and was so proud of each and every egg in her basket. I think Sullivan counted twenty one eggs in Kendall’s basket. Look at that happy girl and her cousins. Love Ethan’s face.  Looks like he’s checking out Kendall’s sucker.    My face is a little hidden but I love this picture of my and my first born!

Happy St. Patricks Day

We met some friends at a local block party for the third year in a row. It is family friendly and there is always a crowd.  Ethan fell asleep on the way and stayed asleep until we got home.  Ahh, the life of a baby.  Kendall wasn’t too sure about the crowd and wanted to be held quite a bit. We found a place in the shade, since it was 82 degrees, and watched some of the festivities.  She warmed up to the crowd the longer we were there although we only stayed an hour.  Ryan wasn’t feeling good and Kendall was getting antsy.  We did enjoy it for the time we were there. Faces of a two year old who sees her face in the iPhone camera. Love it! It’s funny how in the reverse camera mode on the iPhone, you think you’re getting a good picture until you see the real thing.  Oh well, at least we tried. LOL! It was such a beautiful day so I decided to take Kendall and Ethan for some ice cream and to the park while Ryan rested.  Kendall has only really had ice cream at birthday parties so I wasn’t too sure how she would do with a scoop of her own.  I ordered her some strawberry and I pigged out on mint oreo and chocolate chip cookie dough on a waffle cone (it was delicious)!  Kendall did great, didn’t even make a mess, until she wanted mine.  There was a few bites left in her cup when she offered me her spoon and said, “here mommy, you have this one” and then reached for my cone and said, “I lick it?” How could I say no, she wanted to share.  I didn’t feel so guilty with my order after my 2 year old ate half of it.I helped Kendall with the drips from the cone but otherwise she ate every bit of what you see here. This girl will eat anything sweet.  She looks so big eating the cone.When we were done with ice cream, we headed to Middleton Park for more outside fun.  We spent most of our time on the swing but did make it down the slide a few times.  I love watching Kendall at the park.  She definitely has no fear! 

Elephants and tigers but no bears

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus came to town for four days and we decided to go on opening night.  The tickets were half price and I wasn’t sure how Kendall would do for two reasons, mostly because it was so close to bedtime but also she would have to be in a seated area for a lengthy amount of time.  She did great!  It was incredible and to say Kendall loved it is an understatement.  She had a blast and so did her momma and daddy!  There was only one time I thought we were going to have to leave.  There were horses performing and she wanted to go touch them.  We explained to her that we had to stay in our seats with our friends and she was okay with that.  Kendall, Stryker and Faith all were treated to a glow necklace by daddy.  Can you tell they were a hit? The lights flickered in different colors and patterns, it kept Kendall quite occupied!Can you tell they are into it? (Please forgive the red eye, I need to learn to edit). So much fun!Kendall did not hold still for many pictures at all. This is the best we could get of the three of us, with the iPhone, using self portrait, with Kendall shoving cotton candy in her mouth. And, the way home. Zonked! She was awake and smiling the entire show.  I think we will be going again next year, for sure!  Our seats were great, on the second level and too far away for good pictures but perfect for a bouncing two year old.  All of the kids could stand up if they wanted  which was just what we needed since it was a two hour show.  I know I cant wait until next year.

The next day

Grandma and Aunt Michelle came to visit first thing before Aunt Michelle had to head back to Columbia.  More pictures were taken and Ethan’s footprints were painted and put on a few ceramic pieces just like we did with Kendall’s.  I can’t wait to see the final products!  Thanks, Aunt Michelle for bringing all the stuff from Mad Platter.

LOVE. THIS. PICTURE! See his little bruise? Grandpa was able to come visit too and we had to say bye to Aunt Michelle. We always miss her! The Grant Family, waiting to add our baby girl to the picture!

Today’s the day

I was at work today, expecting to finish out the day and then have Friday off to finish up some last minute errands I wanted to do. Well, Ethan had a different plan for me.

It was 10:45 am and my water broke! It took me off guard being that I was induced with Kendall. I surely thought I was just meant to “hold on to” the baby until it was time or just be induced.  I was so excited but the only thing that was going through my mind was- I haven’t packed my bag, I haven’t finished up everything at work, I put dinner in the crockpot, I didn’t take one last pregnant belly photo, I didn’t say bye to Kendall at daycare and most importantly, I didn’t get to buy Kendall a gift from Ethan to open at the hospital. I was trying to think of something really special and was going to buy Kendall a gift on Friday, when I had the day off. My other plan for Friday was to get Kendall out of school early and spend a mommy/daughter day with her.  Ethan wasn’t too worried about all of the things I wanted or needed to do.

THANKFULLY, Kendall got to come to the hospital and hang out for a bit before her dinner time and before Ethan arrived.  I really enjoyed seeing her and even got emotional when she had to leave.  I kept thinking about how the next time I saw her she would be a big sister and that she had to come to a silly hospital to say “night night” and that I didn’t get my mommy/daughter date with her. She’s growing so fast and I love her so much!After a busy day of labor, IV’s and monitors, Ethan Caleb entered this world at 8:12 pm after a mere FOUR minutes of pushing, weighing eight pounds five ounces and was twenty inches long.  It was such a beautiful sight to lay eyes on my son.  How perfect, a girl and a boy! We couldn’t be happier! Thank you to my sister, who captured such a special day. Beware of picture overload! Ethan was welcomed by his Grandma, two aunts and an uncle. He was so unexpected, alot of our other family members had different plans and were going to be available on and after the date of induction.Daddy checking out his boy, before his bath.   He wasn’t a huge fan of the bath but enjoyed getting his hair washed.All clean. Our sweet addition. Labor and delivery went very smoothly although Ethan was pushed out so quickly, he did receive a small bruise to his left tear duct.  The bruise was smaller then a pea and hardly noticeable. They say he bumped my pelvic bone on the way out.  We are so very excited to bring our baby boy home to meet his big sister and start our family of four.