Party in My Crib 1:45AM!!!

I couldn't believe it when Ryan and I were awoken at 1:45AM to laughing and playing. I turned over to Ryan and said, "do you hear what I hear?", we both started laughing and he said, "yep". I got up and went into Ethan's room to find Hollie jumping in his crib and him standing and laughing. I couldn't believe my eyes!!! Ofcourse, I started to laugh and I picked Hollie up and said, Girlie what are you doing in Ethan's crib, it is sleepy time, not play time? Her response was, Ethan awake mommy. I said, yes he is and it's now time for both of you to go back to bed.
I never knew that the saying "party in my crib 3am" really came true, but I guess it did here. These kids crack me up and I love every bit of it.

2 Years

November 18, 2006 Hollie's adoption was finalized and we became an eternal family, it was one of the best days of my life. After going through all that we have been through with infertility and trying to adopt, having our first child's adoption finalized and having her sealed to us was such a blessing. We were fortunate enough to have her adoption finalized on "Adoption Day". It was on a Saturday down at the Juvenile court in Phoenix. It was a big celebration and there were numerous adoptions finalized that day. It was great to be able to see how adoption has touched the lives of so many others just in our state of Arizona. Adoption is a blessing to so many and I am grateful that I was able to experience and have it be a part of my life.

This day will always hold a special place in my heart because it's the day that Hollie was officially, legally ours.

I cannot believe that was 2 years ago, it feels like it was just yesterday. To celebrate we went to the mall and did a little bit of shopping. It was fun watching Hollie pick out a couple shirts all by herself, then later that evening we went out and got some ice cream. It was a great day and we told Hollie many times that today was her "special day" and how grateful we are that she came to our family.

I couldn't help but take a few pictures of our beautiful princess on her special day.

A Beautiful Girl

Janene picked Hollie out this matching outfit and we think it's just adorable? She has the dress, shirt, jacket and the shoes. What more could a 2 year old ask for than to have a complete matching outfit? I never thought I would ever get her to wear the jacket, but she picked it all out and wanted to wear it. I was so excited and thought that she just looked so cute and so grow up. I had to show her off.

Hollie has always been a girl who has had quite the wardrobe. When she was first born her closet was filled from the left to the right and her dresser was PACKED with clothes. She never got a chance to even wear some of them because she grew way to fast. She had matching shoes to most her outfits and had 2 baskets full of shoes. She even had a basket full of matching hats to outfits. You name it she had it! Ofcourse, as a first time mom I loved every bit of it. She still to this day has more shoes that I do. She has more jackets then anyone I know and they are all pink! We joke around that Hollie may have to have a whole room to herself just for her clothes and shoes. I have to say, this shopping isn't all me. Yes, I do do my fair share, but she has grandparents that just LOVE to dress her up and buy way cute clothes.. Who doesn't? Shopping for girls is SOOOO much fun and there are SOOOO many adorable clothes. Hollie LOVES all her clothes and LOVES to pick out her outfits. I have little say in what she wears now unless I want to put up a fight. I am learning to pick my battles, lol. Thank goodness she has cute clothes to wear because then I don't worry so much, unless she tries to put something together that doesn't match, but then again, Oh Well. I am learning to LOVE it and I always express to her how pretty she looks no matter what she is wearing.

I thought it would be fun to show some pictures of Hollie's closet when she was just a MONTH old!!! I have never bought so many baby hangers in my entire life. My mother-in-law and I just laughed as we were trying (key word) to put all this stuff in drawers and fit it in her closet. We had it all organized by months, it was crazy!!

A juice container???

After buying toys, toys, teethers and more toys all I really needed to do was spend $2.50 on a juice container. This container brought hours of entertainment and lots of joy. Who would have ever known that a large juice container, or water bottle would create lots of entertainment? Not me. I even found that if I put something beans or rice in it that it created even more entertainment, but LOTS of noise. I guess it's always the simple things in life that make us happy.

My growing Boy

Goodness, gracious where is the time going? I cannot believe that Ethan is now 8 1/2 months old. He is doing so good and is just the cutest boy ever!! He is VERY busy and has already taught us lots of things that his big sister Hollie never taught us. I have to say there is definetly a difference between boys and girls. I never really thought how they both could be so different, but they are.
Ethan has the cutest little personality. He LOVES to smile and has become quite the flirt. He is definetly a momma's boy and I enjoy every moment. He is one handsome little boy and Hollie and I have lots of fun boy shopping. He is very photogenic and loves his picture to be taken, therefore; I take advantage of those moments. I love him lots and he is my busy, cute, adorable, fun, busy boy.

Gotta Love those CHEEKS!!!!!

Halloween

Yes, this is very late, I know. Hey, better late than never, right? Halloween was great! The best part about it was that my dad and Janene SUPRISED me and the kids (yes, ryan knew all about it and didn't say a word) and came for Halloween. They both have VERY busy schedules right now and they came out for a quick 24 hour trip to be with me and the kids! It was GREAT and SO much fun to have them here with us. The kids LOVED being with Papa and Janene and I know they both enjoyed the grandkids.

Thank goodness for Papa because we may not have ever carved our pumpkin. We had it planned to do it Thursday but the day just got away from us. Ryan and I could have carved it by ourselves, but what fun is that when you have little kids. So, papa took the place of dadda and carved the pumkin and he did a great job. Hollie didn't want much to do with it, but Ethan sat and watched papa the whole time. After papa was finished Hollie wanted to name it and our pumpkin received the name of Jack. Sorry, I just realized I don't have any pictures of finished Jack.

Halloween night was fun, but I sure did miss my husband. Ryan was at a high school football game that night.

We went over to the Skousen's for trick or treating because KC and Brookie were in town for a funeral(my brother and sister-in-law). It was fun being together with family and visiting.

Trick or treating was interesting. Our sweet little Snow White just didn't want much to do with it. We went to about 5 houses and called it quits. She didn't want her costume on, didn't want to wear the shoes or the adorable headband, but she was still cute. We atleast got the costume on and were grateful for that. I just love this picture of papa consoling his girl

Once we got back to the house she took off running and wouldn't stop. I followed behind and was just laughing, this girl is simply hilarious!! She ran for about 3 minutes turned around and that was it. Then she sat in the chair with uncle KC and enjoyed watching the trick or treaters. Ethan was great and just loved watching all the action going on. He is so busy and watching LOTS of kids was very entertaining for him. Overall, it was a great night and I continued to tell myself, there is always next year and the year after that and the year after that.........
And She's off!!

Trunk or Treat

Tonight was our ward trunk or treat and it was lots of fun. Leaving for the event was eventful in itself. Hollie has been so excited to wear her Snow White costume that when we went to put it on tonight she threw the biggest fit ever!!! No, really, she has been wanting to wear it and we have everything a Snow White Princess needs. I, being the mean mom I am, went and got the video camera because It was actually very etertaining and funny all at the same time. She then started yelling at me, "no pictures mommy, turn it off". All, I can say is, oh my goodness gracious what's a mother to do with a 2 year old princess? Following the fit, I took the dress off and said, you have two choices. One, being you can put the dress on and go have fun or we can stay home and go to bed? She was having a hard time deciding until daddy walked upstairs and said Hollie where is your princess dress? She got it, they put it on and I put Ethan in his costume. Hollie was throwing a small fit with Ryan until she saw Ethan in his and then it was fun. (if I only knew that sooner) We (very quickly) ran out the door because we had to happy kids. Once we got to the trunk or treat and found friends Hollie had a blast. I am so glad we ended up going because this was the only time Ryan would see the kids in their Halloween costumes and be able to trick or treat with them. Ryan is the team doctor for a high school here and has to attend all the football games on friday nights, so that's where he will be this Friday.
It turned into a fun evening and the kids looked adorable in their costumes.
Anyway, Happy Halloween to all of you and I hope you have lots of fun and get lots of candy!!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Boy, this week has been CRAZY!!! and we finally made it to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins. The kids, or I shall say, Hollie had so much fun picking out a pumpkin. She was a blast! She picked up a pumpkin and then wanted me to take her picture with it. Ofcourse, I did because she never asks me to take her picture and smile all at the same time. Last night she was a little Ham. She was so cute she even had people at the pumpkin patch saying how cute and adorable she was and boy that just made her want to be even cuter. Ryan and I were asking ourselves what has gotten into this girl in the last 24 hours, she is so stickin cute!! So, the proud parents, took advantage of this and took LOTS of cute pictures. When we got home she wanted us to take more so we did. I hope you enjoy the pictures of our "pincess".

Ethan decided while we were picking out our pumpkins that he was going to take a little snooze, but no worries, sister found the perfect pumpkin for him and made sure he was all taken care of. He woke up once we got home and was all smiles too. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do.

Oh, and don't you just LOVE Hollie's shoes, they match perfectly!!! Everything is about "pincess" and these shoes are the only one's that can replace the "pincess" flip flops. Goodness, gracious, I just can't get enough of this adorable girl!!!!

A day at the Arizona State Fair

Saturday was a fantastic family day!! We were up early and were out on a walk by 8am. It was our community garage sale and we decided to take a walk around and see what was out. I have to admit I have never been into this or I shall say have never taken the time to do the "garage sale" thing, but this time I decided to check it out. I have to admit I was so excited and found the kids some great toys and I even found Ethan a few, hardly worn, Gap clothes, I felt as though I scored my first time. It was a great experience and I just may do it again.

After our trip around the neighborhood we decided to head off to the Arizona State Fair. We were there by 10:30am and it was great! Hardly anyone was there yet, and the weather was beautiful and it was soooo enjoyable. Hollie had a blast and so did Ethan. Ethan even fell asleep for about 2 hours it was great!! Here are a few highlights of our trip.

Two cute kids ready to play

What's a fair without a Turkey Leg?? Yummy!!

A cute girl with cute Sheep

Feeding a camel. Hollie LOVED it!

Fun rides that made mom really dizzy!

And ofcourse the carousel!!

Ms. Beautitian Hollie

Hollie is one adorable girl. She has this pink bunny and has had it since the day she was born. Well, this bunny has become her doll. It's name is Bunny, very traditional I know. She carries it around everywhere. She pushes it in the stroller, straps it in Ethan's carseat and wants to take it byebye, pushes it in the swings, feeds it (it's always at the table with us when we eat, it takes naps in it's bed, you name bunny is there. Well, this last week bunny has been going to the beauty parlor (Hollie's bathroom) and get's it's "hair" done. Oh my, it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. It get's its hair done just like we do Hollie's. Hollie sits on top of the counter and we pull out ALL the hair stuff and we do her hair. Well, bunny has the same process. Hollie goes into Ethan's room and takes out the rocking chair pulls it into the bathroom (all by herself), uses it to get on top of the counter to do bunny's hair. This will entertain Hollie for hours. I don't know how much you can do with bunny's hair but Hollie seems to find lots. She sprays LOTS of water on it tries to but clips in it and brushes and brushes bunny's hair. It's so adorable and I just LOVE that she likes to do that. The other night Hollie went upstairs to get her jammies and she came down with hers and had bunny in a diaper (which Hollie no longer uses) and had it's jammies on too. Oh, I LOVE having a girl!!!! She is just the cutest thing ever!!!!!! Here are a few pictures of the bunny getting its hair done.

Growing to fast

Crawling, Standing, getting into things and climbing up stairs describe our 7 1/2 month old Ethan. Can you believe it!?! At the rate he is going he is going to be walking by Christmas!! Holy Cow, I don't know if I am ready for that. He is still my baby, he is not suppose to be doing these things because deep down inside I am not quite ready for my little boy to be mobile I want him to be a baby. Well, I guess I just have to accept it because that's just what happens, they grow up.He is definetly showing how busy of a little boy he is going to be, very different from my Hollie. Hollie never opened up cupboards or tried climbing on things, but Ethan is already starting that. Ryan asked the other day what projects I needed him to work on and I said, you need to put locks on EVERY single cupboard we have except for the one with the plastic tuperware. Other than that they all NEED them soon! He looked at me and with a big grin and said, "are you ready for this?" I said, NO way, I want my baby to still be a baby, but I guess that's not going to happen, so I have to be ready. We both laughed.We are glad to see that Ethan is growing and developing quickly....it is a good thing.

Ethan has discovered the stairs and LOVES them. I have sat by him and watched him go up them and I have to say, he does a fantastic job. It seems like climbing just comes natural to him. It didn't take him long but a few seconds to figure it out and he is up and climbing. He has even tried to climb up on the couch, but he just isn't tall enough for that quite yet, but I am sure he will figure it out soon enough. Today I put a gate up at the stairs and I wish I had the video camera running. He was SO mad at me. He put his head down on the bottom stair and just cried. He then layed on the floor and cried, it was like he was throwing a tempertantrum. (I wonder who he has learned that from, Ms. Hollie??) I have to admit I was laughing inside and smiling, I have never seen him do that before. So, I am now on a mission to find some sort of climbing gym or something that he can climb on that he won't get hurt on either. If anyone has any suggestions I would LOVE to hear them. I have tried putting pillows on the floor, but that just isn't enough for him. I will continue to experiment and see what we can come up with.

I know I have said this before but I can just see my Ethan swinging from the ligh above the kitchen table with a big smile on his face. I think I am going to have LOTS of laughs and many worries and maybe falls ahead of me for the next couple of years. Hold on tight it may be a wild a crazy road ahead!

Pictures of Ethan's Sealing and Blessing

Here are a few pictures of Ethan's Weekend. We had a friend of ours who is a photographer, Sara Ratcliff, (Sara Coral Photography)who came and took our pictures at the Temple on Saturday. I am so glad she was there and she did a FANTASTIC job. Thank you so much Sara.
Here are a few of the pictures that she took. I hope you enjoy.