Annie came to town

This post makes me a little sad. Annie came to town in January over the three day weekend. This was her last visit home for quite a while seeing as she is moving to England in March. We are excited that she is going to be with her hubby and this now gives us a reason to go to England, but sad because she is moving so far away. Thank goodness for technology because we will be able to have Skype dates and be able to see one another while we talk! Thank you for spending time with us! We love you and miss you!
Annie doing the pirate eye with Mal. She likes to use two eyes I guess!
Mal trying to take a picture with Annie's phone.

A few randoms

These are just a few newer pictures that I wanted to share! Ethen is getting so big and is now starting to use a bouncer. Mallory is crazy as ever, pretty darn near potty trained and learning to dress herself. Hence, the swimsuit!
Notice her fingers? I think we have a rockstar on our hands!

He was this on one swing...
And this on the next! Too cute!

Ethen goes swimming!

When Mallory was just three months old, we took her swimming. Now, she is a fearless fish in the water! Since we did it with one kid, we had to do it with the other and at three months, we took Ethen swimming! We got into the water and at first he made a little face, but then he got a smile on his face and seemed to love it as well. He has been going about once a week now and each time it seems to be a little more enjoyable. I can't wait until he learns to splash around! Until then, he will just enjoying floating around.

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! Here are just a few random pictures from Christmas.
Not sure what he is thinking here! Maybe has a #2 going on?
Just opened some cashews from Papa! T

Santa Claus

This year was the first year that Mallory wasn't terrified of Santa. Actually, she was very excited to meet him and ready to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She was all ready to tell him what Ethen wanted as well, if he would have asked. She thought that when she sat on his lap and told him what she wanted, that he was going to give it to her right then and there. She learned that it comes a little later, on Christmas, when she is sleeping. She asked Santa for a ladybug pillow pet and informed us that Ethen wanted a puppy pillow pet. I guess they both must have been very good (we know Ethen was!) because they both got their pillow pets! Now, we just have to see how Ethen does these next couple of years. This year was a cake walk!
I love how uncomfortable she looks in this last picture! I think she wasn't a fan of his beard on her face!

Halloween

When I was first pregnant with Mallory, I found the cutest hotdog costume at Old Navy. I knew that I wanted it, but couldn't buy it because no one else knew. Well, it just so happened that we had told our families shortly after Halloween, so I raced to the store and bought one for the next year. Mallory got to wear it and I dressed up as mustard. So this year I was trying to figure out what Mallory should be. I knew that EJ would be born before Halloween, so he would be the hotdog. As I'm wondering around Old Navy (once again) in search of a costume, I came across a cute monkey. Mallory didn't like it. Then I saw a giraffe. She liked it. I wasn't ready to buy right then, so I browsed a little more. Later, when I was talking to my mom about costumes, it donned on me that one of the costumes I saw was a cheeseburger. PERFECT!! EJ would be a hotdog, Mallory would be a cheeseburger and once again I would be mustard. I tried very had to convince Brent to dress up as a pickle or ketchup, but no luck. We decided he was lame and if you ask Mallory to this day what he is, she replies "lame." We took the kids to the mall for some trick or treating and lets just say, we were a hit. If only we had gotten there earlier and entered a contest because I know we would have won! So, here we are!

Here they are with their GiGi.
We decided to put EJ in a pumpkin because we did it with Mallory. Mallory was bigger and okay with it for a few shots, but EJ wanted nothing to do with it. Probably because he was naked and cold and super tiny!

The Newest Addition

So far this year, I have been a horrible family blogger! Time just seems to get by me and with all the weddings we had this summer and the business blogging I was doing, this one just kind of got neglected. And speaking of time, this blog is coming a little late, but better late than never. I want to introduce you to EJ. Born six days early on 10-10-10, he is our bouncing baby boy, perfect in every way!
The night before Mallory was born, my friend Krista and her boyfriend came over and we enjoyed an evening together, dancing around the living room, trying to get the baby to come out. Sure enough, the next day Mallory arrived. Since then, Krista has moved to Kalispell, so we don't get to see one another much. It just so happened that she was coming to town the 9th of October, so our plan was to reenact the weekend and try to get a baby out. From the beginning of this pregnancy, we had talked about how cool it would be to have our baby on 10-10-10. I wanted Mallory to be born on 06-07-08, but she decided to come one day late, so I just figured that was my luck and there was no way I would get what I wanted this time. Well, once I decided that it wasn't going to happen, it happened! Krista came to town, we danced, enjoyed each others company, had a wonderful evening and sure enough, I went into labor! On top of all of this, my doctor had left town on the 8th as well as my dad. Two people I would have liked to have had in town when I delivered were both gone. Never fails, once they leave, the action starts!
We arrived at the hospital about 9 in the morning, only to find out that I was only at about 2cm. I figured this baby would come quickly since it was the second, but boy was I wrong. After progressing to a 5, I got stuck for about 2 hours until the doctor broke my water. Once this happened, I managed to get to a 7 pretty quickly while relaxing in the jacuzzi tub. From there, it really wasn't too long before I finally reached a 9, unfortunately, I would stay there for another two hours. During this time, I could sense the worry in the room and although the doctor did express her concern, I could see it on her face. I didn't think this baby was ever coming out. They tried numerous positions, had me up and down out of bed, but nothing. He just wouldn't lower his head and get me to a 10. Finally the doctor told the nurses to put me back in the tub. She said that I seemed to do well in there, so we should give it another try. As I was walking to the tub, I had a very big contraction. Brent got me into the tub and I wasn't in there more than five minutes and knew it was time. Of course, everyone had stepped out of the room, so Brent is frantically yelling and pulling on the help cord trying to get someone to come in because I was going to start pushing! I was whisked out of the tub and sure enough it was go time. If only they would have had me stand up earlier! It was only a matter of minutes and we were introduced to our baby boy. Ethen John Michael was born at 8:13pm weighing 7lbs 14oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches. All ten fingers, ten toes and boy parts intact! We are so very blessed with this little bundle. He is awesome! His big sister loves him to pieces and was so excited when we called. All she kept doing was jumping up and down saying "the baby is here!" My mom brought her up that night so she could meet him. He definitely does not lack in the kisses and attention area. Sometimes he gets a little too much! :)
EJ is 2 months old today and growing every day! He is a chunk and loves to eat. He doesn't seem to complain too much, really only when he is hungry. Here are a few pictures of him, but if you would like to see more, hop on over to our other blog and check them out. www.amestoyphoto.com/blog