Nona's Here!

We were so excited to have Nona (Jay's mom) here to visit from California. Ethan just loved having her here. Auntie C and RJ also came from Philly. We took them to our annual Pumpkin Festival and Ethan had a blast on the slides. We can't wait to see Nona and the rest of the Andersons for Christmas!

Our two cuties!

These two are just so adorable! Ethan continues to be such a sweet big brother and Avery is a very good baby. I just love watching them interact. Avery doesn't quite know what to make of Ethan, but I have a feeling in a few short months she is going to love all the attention he gives her (as long as mom is refereeing a bit!)

Pumpkin Time!

Here are Ethan, Avery and Jay carving the annual pumpkin!

Big Brother and Little Sister

This was the shirt Ethan wore to make the big announcement that we were having baby #2 - I can't believe how fast time flies! Now she is here and we are enjoying her so much!

Arrrrggghhhhh!

You may recall this pirate costume from the previous 2 years. I originally purchased this costume when Ethan was 1, but we decided to go with the skunk costume, so I got this one in a larger size to save for the next year. Well, last year Ethan refused to wear the pirate costume, so I got him a football outfit. The pirate costume still fit this year, so I did some major prep work convincing him that pirates are the coolest and got him to want to be a pirate this year. We had a last minute regression when I made a comment that dad would probably dress up in his yearly "baseball player" costume - Ethan decided he wanted to be a baseball player like dad! So I convinced Jay to be a pirate, which made Ethan decide to wear his pirate costume also! From here on out, Ethan is picking his costume! But we had a great time at the Ward Halloween party and then on Halloween Jay and a friend of ours took Ethan Trey (the cowboy) trick or treating in our neighborhood. They had a great time!

Ethan's 3 Year Photo Shoot!

I can't believe my little boy is 3! How can time fly by so quickly! I may be a (little) biased, but I just think he is the most handsome little man in the world! And I LOVE these pictures because Jill just captured his personality and got his genuine smile - something hard to do because Ethan is not really into having his picture taken! 

Avery's First Photo Session

Here are some of the pictures from our photo shoot of Avery. We also had Ethan's 3 year pictures done. The photographer is Jill (click on her name to see her website) and she does amazing work! I love the pictures and she was so great at getting Ethan to smile! All previous photo sessions we have done with him have been pretty stressful, but as you can tell from the pictures, he had a blast. I love all of the pictures and am having a hard time even picking out my faves to frame!

First Real Bath

Here are some pictures from Avery's first real bath.  Her umbilical cord fell off (so sad -she's already growing up too fast!) so we were able to do a real bath.  She is so cute!

Nana is here!

I am not sure who is more excited that nana is here - me or Ethan.  Ethan loves my mom and drags her all over the house asking her to play trains, cars etc with him.  The other night he wanted to play hide and go seek with her.  I had to get out the video camera because it was so funny.  He wanted her to hide, but he wanted to tell her where to hide.  So he would take her by the hand and put her in whatever hiding space he had picked out.  The best was when he pushed her into our (small) closet.  I was dying.  And each time he would hide her, then walk away, cover his eyes and say "1, 2 ,3 4, 10 Ready or not here I come.  Hmmmm where is that nana?" and then find her.  He is so funny.  My mom of course is loving it, and loving holding Avery.  As for me, I don't know how I am going to handle 2 little ones without help!  We may not leave the house for the next year. 

Pumpkin Festival

Fall is here and that can only mean one thing - fall pumpkin festival time!  There are so many fun fall festivals here and I am always so excited for fall because of them.  Although I am soooo sad to see summer leave!  I love summer time.  Anyway, this past weekend we went to a pumpkin festival in Leesburg and it was pretty fun, but I think Cox Farms is still better, so we will probably go there next time.  Here are some pictures of Ethan enjoying the slides and "bouncy bounce"!  I was surprised that they had this rope swing - it seemed a little dangerous, but Ethan loved it and luckily held on tight!  

So cute!

Avery is just adorable and we are so happy to have her!  

The first days home...

The first days home have been really nice and pretty peaceful really.  Ethan loves his baby sister and this night he wanted her to sleep with him.  I had to explain to him that it probably wasn't the best idea, but I let her lay with him in bed while I read him his bedtime stories.  

Avery and Ethan's Bath!

So here are some pics from Avery's first bath (spongebath at least) at home.  Ethan was so funny.  He decided he had to get in on this, so he took a bath in the sink also.  A big mess, but really funny.  

A Few Thoughts

In our first few days home with Avery I have just been thinking alot about how fast time goes by with kids.  It seems like just yesterday we were bringing Ethan home from the hospital.  And here he is 3 years old!  Every day as I watch him and then look at Avery I am so overcome by how much they change in such a short period of time.  Each day Ethan says new things or comes up with new stories and I just can't believe how great he is!  Maybe I am just emotional or hormonal after having a baby, but I have been so sentimental and I just want so much to enjoy every moment I have with each of them and never take it for granted, because before I know it Ethan won't want to climb up in my lap anymore or give me the little hugs and kisses that he comes to me with for no reason at all.  I am just so blessed to have such a wonderful family and I just hope that I can enjoy the little moments that make life so meaningful.  

Big Brother

Ethan is such a great big brother.  He just loves his little sister and is very sweet with her.  Here are a few pics of them together and one with dad also.  I love the one where he is hugging her and she is making a face like "Ahhh!  What is happening!"  That will probably be the story of her life!