Christmas

Some pics of our escapades with Christopher during his visit and a montage of Christmas images. While he was here, he and I went riding on Pearl (and I am way too pregnant and out of shape for this) while Susan, Jim, Joyce, and Ethan watched.



Jim and Joyce brought Ethan a "Clifford the Big Red Dog" stuffed animal and hand made book which he adored. Christopher was nice enough to help him unwrap his first Xmas present.


We also went outdoors and played ball and went to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Jean and Russ came for Christmas this year...I can't remember the last time Jean and I got to spend a holiday together. We still felt the loss with our beloved Grandma missing but went ahead and tried to make it a very special holiday for the kids. Here is Uncle Russ playing with Ethan at Grandma's. Russ is a huge hit with both boys and we love having him come visit! The holidays passed in a blur with the house just brimming with activity and family. We had a beautiful tree that Ethan just adored and couldn't get enough of. And he would dance and play all the Christmas decorations and noticed when they got put up and when they would move. He was totally fascinated with it all.





And here are a few pics from Christmas Day.








And after all was said and done, Ethan got his "babas" and his "babies" and made Grandmother push him around for hours on his new tricycle in the house.

Christopher enters the teenage era

And I would never have believed it. He is still as sweet and wonderful as ever and we had a really great b-day party for him. We went out for lunch with the extended family and then Jeff took him to RushHour Karting for a class and some runs. The place is awesome fun for both of them (http://www.rushhourkarting.com) and they plan to go back later in the week with Jordan.

Thanksgiving

Jennifer had her first Thanksgiving dinner and hosted her first official holiday. Now, don't get too excited. My mom made the turkey (thank goodness) and was here to help me with everything. We had a nice time although it was sad without Grandma and didn't have Christopher here with us this year. But Aunt Susan came over and Ethan seemed to enjoy the day and was quite a few laughs putting his favorite bunny toy on his head and running around. Aunt Marie and Uncle Teo came over for dessert and coffee and we had such a nice full day.

Swim lessons (and a few other lessons too...)

We are doing Mommy and me swim classes at the Y with Tracey and Nina. It is so much fun and we are really enjoying jumping off the side of the pool the most and singing the "Wheels on the Bus". We do not, however, like the life jackets or floating on our backs in the least.

Ethan just adores Nina and here are a few pics of them at class and hanging out one afternoon.

Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year. We carved two exceptional pumpkins thanks to Jeff's artistic ability. We went to this really cute little pumpkin patch farm and Ethan helped us to pick out the best pumpkins we could find. They had all sorts of gourds and corn to play with and plenty of scary things too. Ethan wasn't phased. He had a great party at daycare and was Darth Vader but refused to wear the cool hat. He pretty much ate everything they could put in front of him (especially since he doesn't get much junk food at home).

Can I turn on the TV instead of going to school? 

Ethan's camera from Anne and fancy giraffe chair from Janis. Did I mention that he has 3 new molars coming in? Thus the reason his poor ear hurts. 

Ethan petting Herman 

Ethan and Daddy after the race 

NBC 17 taking footage during the race 

Ethan getting a card from Wool E Bull (the mascot from the Durham Bulls baseball team) 

Go ducks go 

Ethan riding the turtle 

One of the artist's displays in an old warehouse 

Ethan calling in for race results (or calling his bookie to put $10 on number 628 in the first race)