Spooktacular Birthday

Today Ethan turned 7 months. We celebrated by getting dressed up in our costumes!

Surprisingly, Ethan did not mind wearing the pumpkin top. He love riding in the wagon (it was his first time)! As you will see below, he was fascinated by the candy wrappers.

Did I mention that our little pumpkin is crawling? He started crawling about 2 weeks ago. This is about 2 months earlier then Benjamin did. I guess that Ethan is trying to keep up with his big brother!

And, here's our little chicken! Benjamin has only had candy a few times in his life and tonight, he had some M & Ms and a sucker.

Both boys went to bed later then usual -- we hope this means that they will sleep in tomorrow -- maybe until 7 am!

Thanks Grandmother for helping to pass out candy!

Happy Fall Y'all

This weekend we attended a Pumpkin Festival at a neighborhood nearby. The boys had a great time and loved seeing all the pumpkins. Benjamin got to decorate a cookies (that was sampled by both Benjamin and Ethan).

Today was the costume contest in our neighborhood. I thought for sure that Benjamin would win his age group. He flapped his chicken wings like a pro. He did not win though! He was excited to see all the other kids in costumes. Thanks Papaw for your help!

Benjamin picked up a bone from our front yard and would not leave it at home -- it became his chicken bone!

We hope that Benjamin will still love his costume on Friday so that we can take him trick or treating!

Busy Weekend....

On Saturday, our neighborhood had the annual Fall Festival. I took the boys up for some lunch and fun. Benjamin got his first taste of cotton candy. I think that had some impact on his not napping in the afternoon. The boy were looking at horses when I took this picture. Ethan was fascinated. Benjamin was excited to hear them "neigh."

Today we went down to Uncle Evan's condo. Papaw went too! Then, it was off to the family day at Woodruff Arts Center. It is within walking distance of Evan's place. Evan was nice enough to make up a great lunch before we went.

Benjamin loved playing with the wooden blocks at the High Museum's Children's Room.

Uncle Evan and Ethan watching Benjamin build his masterpiece!

We also got to spend time at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's instrument petting zoo. Benjamin got to "play" a very small violin and strummed a few chords on a Harp. I know that he was not sure what to think but smiled each time he heard music come from the instruments.

After we got home, napped and ate dinner, Ethan was having fun on the floor. Today I saw him sniper forward. His big brother did this for a month or so before the real crawling began.

Here are the boys on the way home from the Family Day at Woodruff Arts Center. The excitement was tiring!

Sleepy Time....

I absolutely love pictures of babies sleeping. Here are our babies sound asleep the other night.

Yep, that is the punkin that Benjamin got last weekend at the pumpkin patch. He sleeps with it! And, yep again -- true to Benjamin, that is a book in his crib. He likes to look at a book as he goes to sleep.

And, then there is Ethan. He is now crying for only about 2 minutes before going to sleep. Some nights he doesn't cry at all. He is not the pacifier lover like Benjamin is. Who know, maybe we will wean both of them from the pacifier at the same time!

Since both boys are already asleep, I am off to bed myself!

Birthday Wishes and Birthday Suits

Happy 40th Birthday Brian!

The boys and I made a sign for dada's birthday. They had more fun tearing is apart then making it! The boys wanted to send Brian a Birthday wish in their birthday suits. I told them this is as close as we'd get to their birthday suits.

Benjamin was busy reading a book while Ethan destroyed the sign.

In case you were wondering why we are sending Brian a birthday wish....Brian's present from me was a weekend of golf and gambling at Beau Rivage. We can't wait for him to get home but know that he is having a great time!

We love you!

Hayride, pumpkins, and goats

As soon as the garage sale was over, we had to be at a birthday party. It was at a tree farm/pumpkin patch. Right now, Benjamin is obsessed with "punkins" and ghosts.

At the party, we all got to go on a hayride. Ethan loved it but Benjamin was not so sure about it until we saw cows and goats.

Then we went on a "punkin" hunt. This was the perfect one that Benjamin found. The whole way home he held it and kept saying "punkin" over and over.

Brian took Benjamin to feed the goats. (I couldn't look! Actually, I was feeding Ethan.) Brian said that once Benjamin warmed up to them, he fed them bread from his hands.

Benjamin deep in thought.

Hmmm... Since I love punkins so much -- do ya think they will notice this one missing???

Ethan's girl friend was also at the party. She is 5 weeks older then Ethan and conveniently lives next door to us. At this stage, they mostly ignore each other!

Whew! What a marathon day it was! We were so glad that the boys were able to experience a pumpkin patch.

Garage Sale

Today was our neighborhood fall garage sale. This is the first time Brian and I participated. We had so much stuff to sell. It seems like it took forever to gather everything and price it and the day flew by! It was nice to make a little spending money! (I did, however, miss shopping at the other garage sales.

Brian and Ethan doing crowd control.

Grandmother came to help us out. It was nice to have another person to entertain the boys -- they were both really great during the garage sale.

After the garage sale, we went to a birthday party for a friend of Benjamin's.

Rainy Wednesday.....

It has been raining all day today. We are not complaining -- we need the rain. So the boys and I are spending the day making a mess in the house! Really we are playing but it sure makes a mess. Here are a few shots from the day indoors.

Side note: we did leave the house today to make a special delivery to Uncle Evan. Benjamin and I made some Pumpkin Cookies -- Uncle Evan's favorite!

Tomorrow is Brian's big meeting with Lowe's. We know that he will wow them. Good luck dada!

Hope everyone is staying dry today!

Haircut and Confessions

So the time had come for Benjamin to get a haircut. He hates having his haircut. It really is a miserable experience for both him and me. I took him today to a place that specializes in children's haircuts. The last time we were there, he did ok. Today was a different story. He cried from the moment that we walked in the door. He did not stop until we got home! Here is the end result. Yes, I know it is rather short -- this extends the time between haircuts!

Ok, here's the confession. I'm a bad mommy. I rock my baby to sleep. I rocked Benjamin until I was so big (I was pregnant with Ethan) it was uncomfortable for both of us. At about 9 months, we started letting Benjamin cry himself to sleep.

So, along comes Ethan. And, of course I rock him. Ethan is ready to start going to sleep on his own -- or so I say! We have an extra challenge with Ethan. He has a tendency to throw up his bottles. I began letting him cry himself to sleep about 5 days ago. He is not too happy about this and has thrown up several times (he throws up the whole bottle) in his crib and on the floor.

There was a break tonight. He whined for only a few minutes and then this.......

He is sleeping sideways in his crib. But, you see his is not screaming! We are on our way now! Lately, bedtime with Ethan was taking almost an hour. Tonight, silence after a mere 10 minutes. What to do with all my free time?!?