Playing With Fire

Andrew and I got ourselves a new toy. It's more of a "man toy"...because it involves fire.

This is the newest addition to our outdoor living space, aka "the deck". We tried it out for the first time a couple of nights ago and decided that it's pretty cool. We also decided that two logs was one too many! We had a bit of a roaring fire going. Neither of us is entirely sure that this is a fantastic idea on our new wooden deck...but we decided that since we were both out there, with plenty of water at hand, it would be okay. It may eventually end up on the patio area, but for now, it does make a nice cozy place to site and enjoy a nice evening.

School's Out!

Today was Emily's last day of Preschool! She has gone to the same school for the last two years and next year....we're off to Kindergarten.

Below: The official "last day of school" picture.

Below: The first day of this school year.

I know I'm biased...but she's pretty cute!

And here she is after school today. I'm not sure if she could be much more of a ham.

We will miss her preschool. It was small and family-oriented and they took great care of our Emily (which wasn't always easy!). Next year, Miss Em will start Kindergarten at a local Christian school. She's excited...for now. But change is always tough for her. It's going to take some adjusting for all of us, because we all do well with a set schedule, but I'm looking forward to a nice summer.

Ethan at 10 Months

Ethan:

Today you are 10 months old! Only two months until your very first birthday. The year is going by so fast and you are growing and changing every day.

You weigh, by my best guess, about 17 lbs. 8 oz. and are roughly almost 28 inches long. You're still hanging out around the 3rd percentile for weight, but I'm beginning to think that's just the way it's going to be, at least for a while.

This month, you've been keeping us all busy. You are a mover and a shaker! You crawl all over the place...and you crawl fast. You will bop up and down to the music if we say either, "Dance, baby, dance!" or "shake it, baby, shake it!" You also learned how to shake your head when we say "no-no". I will ask you if you want something or say "no-no" and you will get a big grin on your face and start shaking your head back and forth. It's quite funny.

You love to stand up, and you're quite good at pulling yourself up on just about anything. You like to stand at the sliding doors and look out into the backyard. Just today, you've also started bouncing up and down on your tip-toes, almost like you're trying hard to jump. It's pretty entertaining, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit. You roll, crawl, pull up, cruise and climb over things. In short, you're into everything. A new baby gate for the living room is being shipped as we speak; something we never needed for your big sister!

You have your two bottom middle teeth, your two top "vampire fangs" and you're working on your top two middle teeth. Teething makes you just a wee bit cranky, but we're getting through it. You drink three bottles a day and have three meals a day, plus snacks here and there. So far, I haven't found anything you refuse to eat. You still love cheerios and crackers, but really, anything is fair game. Your only rule: don't make you wait when you're hungry.

This month, you've had a few "first" experiences. You got to take your first ride on a swing at the playground, while waiting for Emily's class to finish up their field trip. You weren't 100% convinced that it was fun, but you thought it was okay.

You also got to take your first family trip to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day and we had a picnic lunch and then toured the zoo. You also got your first little touch of sunburn on your face...oops! We tried to keep you shaded, but you've got my fair skin. Thankfully, it wasn't bad and it didn't seem to bother you at all.

You are a busy little fellow who is growing and changing so fast. I can't wait to see what this next month brings! We love you!

Happenings

Happening here lately:

Today, after Emily got home from school and we had run a few errands, I took a moment to go to the bathroom. When I came out, Emily was yelling to me something to the effect of, "Mom, hurry...you've got to see this! Come on!"

Those words could be good....or could be bad. Thankfully, it wasn't anything too bad. Emily had noticed a caterpillar on the front step and had managed to capture it in a little play tea cup. She was quite proud of herself (even though she knew she wasn't supposed to go outside without asking first!). Her preschool class has been watching caterpillars turn into cocoons and soon butterflies, so Miss Em was very excited to announce that this caterpillar would soon be a butterfly too.

I informed her that we didn't have the right kind of food to feed it, and so if we kept it in the house (ewww!) it would die. It wouldn't have a chance to be a butterfly if it lived in our house, but if we let it go back outside, it could eat and explore and eventually become a butterfly. Emily was quite sad, but she agreed that she didn't want it to die. I asked her if she wanted to go take it outside, to which she replied, "I don't want to touch it!", so I offered to take it out for her. She said a sad goodbye to the caterpillar and then I took it back outside (in the cup of course, because ewww!) and let it go in the weeds, umm, I meant, flower garden. Then I continued on to get the trash can and recycling can and wheel them back behind the house.

When I got back inside, I heard sobbing coming from the bathroom. When Emily came out, she was crying and saying, "I just miss the caterpillar so much. I loved him! I named him Buggy Bug. I LOVED Buggy Bug. I'm so sad. I will miss him so much. I prayed that God will keep Buggy Bug safe." etc.....

There's a lot of drama in our house. Heaven help us when this kid is a teenager. I request your prayers now. We're going to need them.

And, because it relates to the caterpillar story, another Emily story:

A few weeks ago, Emily saw a commercial on the Disney channel for a kit that you can buy to grow your own butterflies. You get a butterfly house, 5 butterfly larvae (ewww!) and food. And, as is common with all info-mercials, if you bought right then, you could double your order and get 5 more for FREE! Free I tell you! This got Emily very excited...until she heard that you had to be 18 or older (to order). All she heard was the "18 or older" part. She thought she couldn't use the kit.

Fast forward a week or so, and guess what appears in her preschool classroom? Yep, the butterfly house and growing kit. And guess what Miss Emily, in all her 5.5 year old wisdom told the teacher? Oh yes, she informed her that you had to be 18 or older to do this and that she could have had 5 more butterflies for free....FREE!

Oh sweet Emily!

And then there's this little boy. We're lovingly referring to him as "Our Little Vampire" these days, because in addition to his two middle bottom teeth, he now has the two upper "fangs", but no upper middle teeth yet (though they're on the way in too.) Those little fangs have caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth, but they're finally in!

In other Ethan news, the kid has finally hit 17 lbs. He's had a few trips to the doctor recently because I was sure he had an ear infection (all the signs), but each time, it was just teething discomfort. The good part of the appointments, other than not needing any medication, was finding out how he is growing. The answer...still slowly. As of last week, he was 17 lbs. and 4 oz., but man...is he ever into absolutely EVERYTHING. He crawls fast. He babbles much. He stands all the time. He cruises. He dances. He laughs. He screams. He is one very, VERY busy little guy.

Life is good.

The Zoo

Last Friday, Andrew took the day off from work and the whole family headed out of town for a day trip to the zoo. It was an unbelieveably gorgeous and warm day (we should have worn shorts!) and so we packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the van and headed off.

As soon as lunch was eaten, we got our tickets and walked into to the zoo, where we immediately stopped off at that most exotic of locales (to young children, anyway)...the restrooms.

While waiting outside of the restrooms, Emily played (and posed) at the water fountain.

I took a lot of pictures that day, but I won't bore you with a ton of the animals. I did like my picture of the lion, though.



Emily, in front of the lion cage.

Emily had the opportunity (for a small fee, of course!) to feed the giraffes. It happened very quickly and I didn't get a picture of the actual feeding, but here she is next to the giraffe that she fed.

More posing!

Ethan rode along quite happily in his stroller. It was warm. Quite warm...and the poor kid was likely overdressed.

Oh well...he was a happy camper, with the wind foofing his hair.

Although the picture is a bit blurry, this was the organgatan at the zoo. He was way up in the tree.

Emily, posing yet again, in the "rain forest".

The zoo had a few rides. Emily LOVES the "horsey merry-go-round". She also got to ride the train, a boat ride and a sky ride (think ski-lift).

Ethan was fascinated with touching this tree. He probably would have gnawed on it if we let him.

We arrived at the sea lion exhibit just in time for their 3:00 feeding. This also coincided with Ethan's 3:00 feeding! The sea lions did all sorts of tricks, but I was far enough away with the stroller, that I didn't really get any great pictures. This was the best one of the bunch.

Emily, pretending to be a "joey".

At the end of the day, we went through the farm area that housed a petting zoo.

I think it's funny that the goat and Emily have the same expression in this picture.

Emily, petting the donkey.

We were treated to a bit of a show by Mr. Peacock.

While Ethan and I waited for Emily and Daddy to get off the train ride, we watched Mr. Peacock strut his stuff for a potential suitor.

Our own little Mr. Peacock...doing a bit of posing of his own. Sooooo Big!

It was a wonderful day for the whole family.

Ethan at 9 Months (And 3 days!)

Ethan:

You are 9 months old!

You weigh 16 lbs. 13 oz. You've finally gained a little weight. Still, you are only in the 3rd percentile for weight. You are 27.5 inches long (24th percentile) and you wear 6-9 month clothes, though they are still quite large on you. You still wear a 0-6 month size shoe, but I think you might finally be growing a little bit.

Usually, I take you picture in the crib with the big stuffed monkeys, but you've had a rough few days recently due to teething, so I'm using some pictures from happier moments this month! You make this scrunchy smiley face ALL the time, and I love it. It is so funny. The best part is that when you make this face, you usually also start breathing hard and fast through your nose. You sort of sound like a raging bull. It's good stuff!



This month you've been very busy. You've mastered crawling. You've mastered pulling up to standing. You're working on cruising. You've got two bottom teeth and at least four more coming in on top (and they are making you one CRANKY boy!) You've decided that the bottle really isn't your mortal enemy and you've switched over to formula this month. You're eating all kinds of table foods in addition to baby foods. You love fruit puffs, pieces of bagels, pears and crackers. Really though, you've not met any food that you didn't like.

You are always on the move. You crawl across the living room, from one end to the other, getting into everything you can find.

You like to play with all of Emily's interesting toys. Apparently, her hula hoop works pretty well as a teething ring.

Not only have you learned to crawl and pull up on things, but you can climb! We are definitely not ready for that! Emily was never quite this adventurous.

One second, you were crawling, the next you were sitting up on the couch...and then, before I could get to you.....

You fell over the back of the couch and did a face plant. (The picture is blurry because I was moving to try to catch you!)

You like to stand up whenever and wherever possible. Especially if it means you can get closer to your sister. She's pretty fascinating.

You two still form a mutual admiration society. Emily adores you and you think every single thing she does is hilarious. She can make you laugh when no one else can.

You are a fun little fellow and we couldn't love you more!

Poison Ivy...or Not?

Two years ago, while cleaning out the backyard flower bed (which was completely overgrown and covered in ivy and weeds at the time), I got my first case of poison ivy. I obviously didn't know what it really looked like, or I would have avoided it! I pretty much left everything alone last year, since I was quite pregnant, but this year I (sadly) have to go back to weeding. Boo...hiss.

So I once again cleaned out the back flower bed, wearing gloves (which I do anyhow because, ewww...bugs!) and using the hoe as much as possible. However, I am still leary because I don't know for sure what got me last time.

I found this plant growing in the decorative metal bucket planters attached to the retaining wall. I think it's poison ivy....what do you think?

The above plant is the "bigger picture" of the same plant above.

Then I found this in another flower bed we were attempting to weed this weekend. It's poison ivy too, isn't it?

And more, along the side of the house.

This is the only one I'm not sure about. Is this the beginning of poison ivy? Like a baby poison ivy plant? If so, there's a TON of it in that back flower bed, shooting right up. I'm amazed I'm not covered if it is.

And lastly, if indeed all these plants are poison ivy, how do I safely get rid of it all....for good?

The Finished Product

The contractor came back this morning and set to work on the railing. It was actually pretty quick work.

We now have two sets of four-foot wide steps, one set leading straight out into the yard, the other leading off to the side as before. The old steps were only three feet wide.

Ahhh...so pretty and clean and fresh. You can still smell the sawdust. Well, you can't, but I can!

It looks so much bigger to me. It's not, but with no built-in bench on the far end, it feels bigger and gives us a bit more flexibility in where we can put things. Besides, the bench wasn't comfy anyhow, so no one ever used it.

The only issue I have is the hand railing (or lack thereof). To me, it looks unfinished, like it needs a flat board on top along the way down the steps. The contractor said he would give us some time today to look at everything and then be back later this evening to discuss any concerns we might have and for final payment. I think I'm going to ask him if he can put a flat board (I'm sure that's not the technical term here) to top off the hand rail down the steps. I would think that will make it look a little more polished!

This is what I was talking about above. This is looking down the hand rail at the top of the steps. Don't you think it needs...something? And I think eventually I'll pick out four post caps for the ends of both sets of steps, but I think we can manage to install those ourselves!

All in all, I am VERY pleased to not have to worry about pool maintenance and safety and I'm very thankful to have more room for the kids to run and play. We're even thinking of putting up a swingset. Now all we need is grass....