A Date Night!

While my mom was here, Patrick and I took advantage of her babysitting skills and headed out for a night together. We ate at a great Asian place here in town, Stir Fry Cafe, and then meandered around the neighboring Barnes and Noble, enjoying a piece of Dark Chocolate Cake from their sampling of "The Cheesecake Factory" desserts. It was nice to linger over our meal, sipping Shiraz (me) and a Blue Moon (Patrick). We had a nice time. I'm looking forward to doing it again!!! :-)

Could it be?

I can't believe Ethan is finally ready for the Jumperoo. He's 12 wks old today and he's just growing so much. Here is a video of his first experience in the Jumperoo.

(See Mallory's first experience here)

More of the Big Heavy

My mom took LOTS of video of Ethan and Mallory while she was here. You might have to tilt your head a bit to watch this video of Ethan, but it's worth a tiny crick in the next. ;-)

Another Spaghetti Video...

Grandma in town

My mom is in town this weekend and whenever she's here, the camera is out and loads of pictures are taken. I took her camera and loaded all the pictures on my computer (even ones since Christmas!!!) and decided to give you a look at some of our activities. These pictures were taken today.

Here is the little E-man (A.K.A. "The Big Heavy") in his Sunday best (Ralph Lauren Polo all the way). We pretty much POURED him into this 3-6mo outfit.



















Mallory and spaghetti. Yummy lunch!




















Here is Mallory with her most favorite animals (most all of them are dogs, by the way). She showing us Peppy in this picture. Also making an appearance is Blue, Lolly, Wiffer and Scruff)

Me and E

I have been wanting to take more pics lately that are more on the creative side than formal portriature, but I've put other things ahead of this. I think that once I'm behind a camera taking pictures and then looking at them, I enjoy seeing what is produced, though I am often critical of my work which, in turn, helps me get better. Here is my creative pic for today. I hope to do this daily which means I need to keep my "big" camera within arms reach, which is difficult to do with curious hands in the house. It can be a goal, though, right?

Though I may not post my works daily, I will try as often as I can. You are my accountability.

Pics from Today

Since I haven't posted any pics lately, here are a few from this morning that I took. Mallory has been a bit whiney lately but has sweet moments as well...seconds after whiney moments. Here are pictures taken within a minute of each other. Amazing how quickly she can turn from sour to sweet.



















Here is my chubby E. He's a sweetheart. We're still working on the sleep thing, but he's getting much better.

Little E?

We took Ethan to the Pediatrician today for his 8 week well visit and found out that he was a whopping 16.3 lbs (98th %) and 25.5 inches long (97th %), which is about the size of a 5-month old. The doc was impressed. :-) And I think we can cut out his 3am feeding!!! Now, if Ethan can just get on board with that...

Smilin' "E" and Jealous "M"

Family Pics from Christmas

Here are some pics of both sides of the family taken around the holidays. So, I'm a little late with getting them up, but better late than never!!!

Cayman, Cayman, Cayman!!!

That's what I say in my head every time one of our neighbors come to my front door with Cayman on a leash. Today was one of those days. We thought our 6ft fence would keep our Beagle contained, but no, it does not. She has found the "ups" to get over it and play with our neighbor's dogs. And, she's also jumped our neighbor's fence to get into their OTHER neighbor's yard (with a 3-ft gap between their two fences) and play with their dogs. She's only run away once by jumping the back of our fence, but is mainly interested in socializing with her furry friends. She keeps life interesting.

She has some crazy antics and I figured it was high time she had a post on our blog. While I was unloading groceries on Friday, Cayman decided she was going to "explore" our Explorer since the only place she usually sees in our vehicle is from inside of her crate through the little peep holes. Once inside the car, she did not want to come out. I even shut the doors, went inside the house and waited for her to bark to get out. Nope. She just wanted to chill inside the car. So, I took some pictures thinking that this event would be blog-worthy.

A milestone (for me, at least)...

The maternity clothes are all packed away. All of them! This is a huge accomplishment for me, since they were part of my wardrobe for 6 months after Mallory was born. It's only been 10 weeks and I'm just excited.

Patrick watched the kids for me on Friday night while I went to Stein Mart and racked up on some of there 75% off sales. I got 7 shirts and a pair of jeans for less than $50. Though I have a LARGE pre-pregnancy wardrobe that I still can't fit into (thanks to being a nursing mom), I needed some more shirts and one more pair of jeans to complete my post-pregnancy-but-not-yet-ready-for-pre-pregnancy-clothes wardrobe.

Yeah for me.

First Snow fall of the winter...

...was last week. I took Mallory outside and enjoyed watching her experience it. Though it was only a dusting, it was enough to make out nose and cheeks turn red.




















Here's a "self portrait"...

A few more...

I couldn't resist posting a few more...

PS: For Mallory's 2-month pictures, go here.

Ethan is 2 months!!!

Gosh, I wish I had hours to write about my son. He's such a fun little guy, that is when he's not crying. He cries a lot. But, we're still trying to figure out his needs so we can meet them so we're all happier. He's not picking up on the Babywise pricipals as well as Mallory did, so I'm trying to figure out his own system that will work. He's starting to smile and melt my heart with "goos" that he now vocalizes. I love cuddling him. He's getting to be SO BIG...he's pushing 16 lbs and is out of 3-month clothes...he's in 3-6 month and some 6-12 months!!! He's in sz 3 diapers (since 6-wks old) and is a big ol' blub o' love.
I took his pics today and had a REAL hard time just choosing a few. Here are some of my favs!!!

"The Gun Show"

Christmas Pics...

I would add captions, but Ethan is with me now and is crying his head off. I'll have to come back and add some, but for now, here are some pics from our Christmas.

Happy New Year!

Though we had a WONDERFUL holiday season, I'm ready to get life back into a normal swing. I figured I'd give a small recap of our holiday and then I'll make some separate posts with some recent pics...which I know some of you are anxious for!!!

1. We had both sets of grandparents for Christmas. Very Special. Very Fun.
2. We bought Mallory her first potty. Now, I've got to start the lessons.
3. We went to see the light display at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was VERY cool. Though we sat in line for an hour before we entered the gates, it was worth it. I think Mallory will enjoy it a whole lot more next year.
4. We went to Elberton (where my folks live) for a few days around the new year. It was our first trip with Ethan, who did VERY well. Cayman stayed in a kennel this year (recap of what happened last year can be found here and here). We had a lot of fun relaxing, playing games and watching the kids and their antics. I love going to my folks house. I can always relax there.
5. Patrick got to watch Star Wars episodes 4, 5, and 6 on the big screen in Elberton, where the community theatre was putting on a Star Wars film fest. He missed 1, 2 and 3 but got to see the important ones. I went and say Episode 5 with him (his favorite - Empire Strikes Back). It was very cool.
6. We visited with one of Patrick's cousins who happened to be passing through our neck of the woods. Erin, who he hasn't seen in over 10 years, was a delight!!! She and her husband were only here for an hour, but it was fun to catch up and visit with a long-lost family member.
7. All the Christmas decor came down on the 3rd and the house looks like normal now. I miss the eclectic look of Christmas, though it will be fun to spruce up my living room with some new accessories with some Christmas money. :-)
8. I have a New Years goal of getting back to my wedding weight by the end of next year. Thanks to having 2 babies, I'm a little off, but I think I can loose 25 lbs in 12 months. :-)

If I think of some other things, I'll let you know.