Ryan's 3rd Spider Man Birthday

We celebrated Ryan's 3rd birthday spider-man style and what 3 year old boy would not think that is super cool? Michele opted to do a small family only gathering for dinner and everything turned out great (except for the heat, but I was not the one grillin'!). It is SO nice to be near family for the events like this.

Ryan happily opens his gifts and tells us how old he is!

Ethan loves to go over to his cousin's house and play with all of their toys.

Amelia takes a moment to pose with her aunt, however she is still waiting to see that baby bump!

Our First Party!!

Our Realtor, DeeDee who was the BEST threw us a housewarming party in July. We had about 25+ folks ranging from family and family friends, to Jon's high school friends, to neigbors, to friends of Melissa's from GE. The party was a success - but Jonathan wants to know why people always crowd into the kitchen. B/c that is where the FOOD (and beverage) is silly!

Mel's Birthday Dinner

Jonathan took me out for Italian for my birthday...we went to Lydia's in downtown and it was SO good...

The Baby Belly Begins ~ 4 months

This is my first (and only) picture of the belly in a swimsuit with #2. About a week or so short of 4 months...

The next one is about 4.5 months....looks much better with a shirt covering it up!!

San Diego Fun

Our summer vacation was spent in San Diego with my family at near the beach. My parents and Court, Eric and the kids rented cottages a few blocks from the beach so we headed out and joined in the fun. I forgot how nice the weather is there - perfect almost every day but the last....

We had fun in our fenced in yard, taking walks, playing at the beach, going to the zoo, and learning things from the big boy cousins.

Ethan quickly learned that spillable dog water exists in San Diego as well.

One afternoon, Poppa took the boys on a grass boogie board ride through the ride. Mason and Ethan rode on it together and Poppa would tug hard and off they would go shrieking with laughter. It was SO funny to watch....

It was Poppa's birthday, so of course we needed to celebrate. Look at these 3 great kids - do you think there is a cupcake awaiting them?

Ethan loved the beach, he walked right into the ocean but especially loved getting as sandy as posssible and pointing out all the "gucks" (trucks) as we were close to the lifeguard station.

We also went to the zoo, Ethan liked the shared ice cream cone best.

One night, Jono's cousin, Grant who lives in Newport drove down - he played yard games and stayed for dinner.

It really was a nice and relaxing vacation!!!

4th of July - BBQ and Baseball

On 4th of July we had all the local Benjamins over for an old fashioned BBQ, with some baseball thrown in for American tradition. Jonathan played pitcher, and from the pictures it looks like Poppy played catcher (with a martini in one hand). It was one of those perfect summer days/evenings and the kids would have played all night if we let them. We also had a ice cream cake to celebrate Poppy's b-day and all the kids enjoyed trying to blow out the candles. Brenden, Michele and their kids went to the fireworks - we however stayed in and watched what we could see in the distance. Maybe in about 3 years when our kids are old enough...sigh......

Lake of the Ozarks w/ the Morrisons - June 2008

The last weekend in July, we packed up and headed to the Lake of the Ozarks to stay with our friends, Eric and Stacey (well, actually Eric's parents). Eric is a good friend of Jonathan's from high school, and over the past 6 months or so Stacey and I have become good friends as well. They have two girls, Ella (6) and Olivia (almost 2) so we brought Ethan along.

Unfortunately, Saturday was not that nice, but we did get a tour of the lake in the Morrison's boat. Jonathan could not believe how much it has changed since he used to party there in high school and in college. We saw beautiful houses and what used to be the old party cove. Ethan loved the boat ride and smiled and giggled with each bump we hit and just wanted to go faster.

On Saturday night, we headed out to a nice restaurant to dinner where we had a great view of the lake. We all went to breakfast and headed home on Sunday morning. We all enjoyed the fresh air and relaxing weekend. Thank you, Morrisons!

Chicago Summer Trip - June 2008

Ethan and I took a weekend and went to visit Mimi & Poppa and my girlfriends in the Chicago suburbs. Usually, I might take the chance to go downtown and shop - but instead the girls decided to come to me (or us, including Kristin Hahn). On Thursday night, Ethan and I stayed in with Mimi and Poppa.

On Friday, we went for a walk, to the store, a little shopping, a nap and then at night Kristen, Kristin and I went to dinner near where Kristin lives. We had originally planned for a sleepover, but given that Kristen had a 9 mile run that next morning and Kristin was not feeling great - we changed plans. The one surprise was another one of our old BFF's from HS, Michalene stopped by with her kids - I have not seen her since the 10 year reunion. The four of us took a picture, ah just like the good ole days!! My parents took Ethan out to dinner to a favorite little Mexican place - they said Ethan must have said hello and waved to the whole restaurant.

On Saturday, Colleen drove down from Milwaukee and was able to meet Ethan for the first time. We then met the Krist(i/e)ns for lunch in Oakbrook. Later in the day, Dad, Kristin and I took Ethan to Cosley Animal Farm where Ethan got a close up look at farm animals but since he had just learned the word "duck", I think he was particularly interested in them. We took the long way home to see my high school, how the town is changing, and of course a drive by my childhood home (see below).

On Saturday night, my Mom had some friends over and Mr. Queen made his famous soft shell crabs. My parents have great friends, and it was nice to be able to catch up with so many folks while I was home. I already can't wait for my trip back!!

Who does Ethan look like?

When he was a baby, we heard Jonathan, then up until a few months ago it was me, now it is Jonathan again. But, we both agree he looks a little like Jonathan's dad baby pictures as well as Courtney's twins (who favor the Fetchenhier side). What do you think?

Daisy's Turf - Invaded

As you may have seen in past blogs, Ethan likes Daisy's crate. One morning, he happened in there and I heard that big belly laugh emerging. Apparently, Daisy was actually in her crate when Ethan crawled in. I am certain he enjoyed it more than her...

Fire Station Birthday Party

Ethan and I attended a Fire Station Birthday party back in late May. He watched intrigued during the fireman's speech and dressing in gear. I thought he would love being able to explore the fire truck and ambulance, but no he just wanted to run around outside!

Bump Watch

For those of you who do not know and if I was a Hollywood star I would definately be under bump watch. Yes, we are expecting #2 late Dec/early Jan - so about 4 months along now. I can already feel an occasional faint kick from him/her and now that I am past the sickness of the first 13 weeks all is going well. Our kids will be 21 months apart....which is just crazy, but we are very excited about BabyB2!

Teaser Image

Yes, I have not updated this in many weeks (months), but I have camera/computer problems. Thankfully, with my new birthday present (home PC) those should be solved whenever my husband figures out how to get it working. We just got back from a family vacation in San Diego and I stole a picture from my sister's blog of Mason and tough guy Ethan. Yes, that little tough guy has replaced that sweet small baby!

Johnson County - Tops List of America's Best to Raise a Family

http://www.forbes.com/realestate/2008/06/27/schools-places-family-forbeslife-cz_zg_0630realestate.html

This is exactly what we packed up and moved out of Boston for, the place to raise a family! We were pleased to see that good ole Johnson County, KS ranks 3rd in the nation as best places to raise a family.

Father's Day - 2008

Ahh, the 2nd Father's Day - a more active child and another year of experience on (his) our hands. We celebrated with the Dad's grilling filets at Jonathan's parents house. We had a fun evening that included feeding the children early, putting the wee little one to sleep (Ethan) and Amelia and Ryan watched a movie while we enjoyed a leisurly dinner around 8:00 pm. All the Dads then had "man time" that included port and cigars on the patio.