Beach Time and other stuff

Note: pics are in order from newest to oldest.
Snuggle with my Dave!

Afternoon at Main Beach in Laguna with Mike's parent's and sisters. We need to remember to bring our gorilla tripod so we get a decent picture of all of us.

I could look at this forever.

E and Grandpa Dave

All boy!

We had a few trips to Disneyland. Here's E at Goofy's house.

Fun afternoon at Montage Beach with the Wheelers. It was beautiful! Ethan and Mike explored the tide pools and poking crabs. We took the free summer trolley to town in Laguna and got gelatto. We loved it so much we've gone back 3 more times in the past two weeks. Ethan loves the Blue Bus!

Here's Ethan pre-hair cut.

Mike and I celebrated 8 years of marriage with a great day with the fam and Emy in Laguna Beach (we love it there) and then Mike and I went out that night just the two of us.

Caleb is so ready to laugh. Those gums are no longer completely empty. A few days after he turned 7 months his first lower tooth finally made an appearance.

Ethan calls this the blue park. He's getting so much more adventurous on the playground.

Ethan's favorite swing down at Main Beach in Laguna

Happy boy!

Ethan has decided that Sam is very fun to play with. He likes to climb all over him and his favorite game is feeding Sam one Cheerio at a time. Sam has been so patient and there seems be be nothing Ethan can do to get a growl out of him. I think it has something to do with the bribes Ethan gives him.

We got a bike trailer! We've had a great time taking it over to Aliso Woods. It feels so good to ride again.

Ethan is teaching his little brother how to bounce!

I try not to leave my laptop open during the day because Ethan constantly gravitates to it and pushes all the buttons. I was in the other room feeding Caleb and I realized I left my laptop open on the counter because it had an oatmeal cookie recipe I was going to bake next. I figured it wasn't a big deal and I would just have to close some extra programs or maybe turn it back on. Instead I found he was interested in something else this time...

What the boys have been up to:

Caleb-

~Getting going on solid foods. It was a slow start but as we get into more interesting foods he's enjoying it more. I'm doing Super Baby Food and I it has been super helpful.

~I can't wait for the 2nd tooth to come through because teething isn't so fun.

~He continues to adore his brother even when Ethan plays a little rough with him.

~He's babbling "Da Da" much to Mike's delight. We encourage Ethan to teach him words and Caleb couldn't enjoy the attention from his big brother more.

~As long as this guy isn't tired he is very happy and willing to entertain himself with toys. Non-baby toys would be his favorite (especially electronics).

Ethan-

~I love it when he uses the wrong word for something. For example, today we met a guy named Greg and Ethan called him Grape. He talked about him over and over. "Let's follow Grape." "Grape went that way." etc.

~He is starting to enjoy sand. I think we might have some sand castles in our future this summer.

~He saw Toy Story 3 last weekend and he loved it! With the help of a few snacks he made it through the whole thing and asks to see it every day.

~His imagination is starting to blossom and I hear him talking for his cars. They don't say much more than "hi" to each other but its a start.

~Saying Ethan loves the Blue Bus is an understatement. He talks about it all the time. As new passengers get on at each stop he says "Welcome Aboard!" He talks to the other cars through the open windows when we are waiting at lights. And he is THRILLED every time they ring the bell (which is quite often).

~Every night the past week Ethan has been getting up after Mike puts him to bed and wants to snuggle with me. Even though I'm looking forward to all the things I get to do after they go to bed I really love that snuggle time. I know that before long he's not going to be interested in that any more.

These Days

He melts my heart!

The acrobat

6 months! Sitting tall, no teeth yet but working on them. 17lb 14 oz, 27 in

Disneyland with the Schwab cousins!

Small World with cousin Conner

My sister's wedding! It was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, I have very few pictures because Mike and I were a little busy keeping track of the boys :)

BBQ with our college buddies. Here's all the guys with their boys. Jones has Caleb

Ethan LOVES to play baseball with Jones and he tries to get him to play the entire night.

Dinner in Laguna Beach with Grandpa

Big boy!

Ethan trying out the old toys

Mother's Day: Ethan and Mike making me lunch. It was a great day even though I was under the weather.

I just love the look on his face :)

This story is for me so I don't forget some of the precious moments that are happening every day.

A few weeks ago Ethan and I had a particularly fun week where he and I seemed to be on the same page. I needed to do very little discipline and we both had a blast playing with each other. The last few days have been quite the opposite. Ethan has challenged me on everything and I've spent most of my time and all of my energy disciplining him. No fun. However, even on the tough days like today he can still melt my heart.

We went to a church BBQ tonight that our good friend Kit organized. We talked to Ethan in the car on the way there about who would be there and he was very excited. When he saw Kit he called his name and waved. Then throughout the night literally whenever he would see Kit (which was often) he would wave until he got a response. Once Kit would respond Ethan would be so proud of himself but would kinda play cool guy and saunter away with a smirk on his face. At the end of the evening Kit went up in front of the group to pray and Ethan even followed him up front trying to get his attention.

Oh, he did something else cute tonight that I don't want to forget. We sang some praise songs at the end with one guy and a guitar and microphone. Ethan was enjoying it and standing next to (who else) Kit when he came running over to me. He wanted me to take his sweatshirt off. It was getting quite chilly and he didn't feel particularly warm so I was about to say no when I understood why he wanted it off. You see, he was wearing his guitar shirt and he wanted to be able to "play it" like the guy up front. "Playing" his shirt guitar looks a little like he's scratching his stomach with both of his hands. I obliged of course and he ran back to play his guitar with all joy and intensity. :)

God, thank you for this amazing little boy and thank you for these sweet moments that make the tough days easier.

What we've been up to...

Sorry I've been so inconsistent! The pictures are in order from most recent to oldest.

What Caleb is up to:

He is a very happy baby and loves to watch his brother play. He's doing much better in the car and doesn't usually cry...unless the clock strikes 7:00ish pm and then he turns into a very unhappy baby. He is very consistent that he does not want to be traveling in the car when he should be home in bed. He goes through at least 5 bibs a day due to drool just like Ethan did and they have the same deep blue eyes. But it's amazing to me how different they are. He sounds so different than Ethan did and their heads are shaped different and he uses his hands more than Ethan did and well, babies don't do a whole lot so that's mostly what I've observed. I love him so much and I kiss those chubby cheeks all day long! What Ethan is up to:

He loves cameras and is taking lots of pictures with our old camera.

He loves golf and hits ping pong balls around the living room while watching the golf channel.

He loves pitching balls and says "show me the heat" and "toss me the rock" while throwing.

He tries to delay bedtime by saying "but wait, Mama" over and over but can't come up with a reason for me to wait.

He has been excited about his brother lately and can't wait until he wakes up from his naps. Unfortunately, this results in Ethan sneaking into Caleb's room and climbing into his bed while he's still asleep.

He loves the Cars movie and he also loves listening to Toy Story 2 in the car.

Caleb loves to stick is tongue out!

Ethan is a very serious golfer this week. I attribute it to playing Wii golf with Grandpa. Yesterday he came into the kitchen while I was washing dishes and wanted me to golf with him. When I told him I couldn't right then he said ok and left. I checked on them a few minutes later and I found that he had recruited Caleb to play.

Ethan and I planted a "garden" a couple of days ago. These little pots are in the dollar section at Target right now and it was a fun activity to do with him. I'm not confident that they will grow because Ethan keeps saying "do it again!" and then turns them upside down. :)Ethan and the ladies!

Ethan and Laekin on the Dana Point hike last weekend above Strands Beach. We've been loving this easy hike that is pretty short and just perfect for little kids. The views are stunning. Ethan was very excited to show Caleb how to use the train. We got a new camera and I was playing around with it. Are we having the most beautiful spring ever or what?

The hike at Dana Point at the peak of the flowers with Aunt Emy.

We were playing with all the hats and Ethan told me he was a cowboy so we got the pony out.

Ethan laughing with his Tita. :) Here is the first time we went to the new trail with the Wheelers in Dana Point during the Festival of the Whales. We didn't see any whales but it was crisp and so beautiful!

4 month pic didn't happen