Three Little Cuties in the Tub!!!!

     Ethan is growing by leaps and bounds, we all know that! Therefore, on Sunday night, we decided that since he is sitting up fairly well unassisted that we would introduce him to the big bath tub and give all three of the kiddos a bath together!! It worked out really well! The girls LOVED having their little buddy in the tub with them and Ethan LOVED all of the attention (with the exception of the cup of water that I poured over his head to rinse his hair) :( Overall, it was a great experience for everyone, even Micah and I as we were able to get all 3 of them clean at the SAME TIME!!! Baby bathtub, we LOVED you, but we have outgrown you for now, so you can resume your spot in the corner of the basement with the bouncy seat!!

All Together!

Look at that Happy Boy!

Let the Happy Moments Roll!!

Busch Gardens was HOT, MEMORABLE & FUN!!! Trip #3 of 2012

     We tackled our THIRD TRIP to Busch Gardens for the season!! And the best 3 word description would have to be HOT MEMORABLE FUN!!! Luckily for us, once again, Mimmi and Dooders decided to come along!! The temperature was scorching hot, around 99 degrees!! And boy, did we feel it!! Luckily we kept everyone hydrated and loaded up on sunscreen!! 

       We got to have lots of fun, we saw TONS of animals, rode lots of ride, mostly wet ones and fast ones, we had a GREAT picnic out by the van for lunch and we enjoyed some great entertainment, found out that one should NEVER try to locate a McDonalds near Busch Gardens with or without a GPS, had one "belly laughing experience" after another, got hotter than I am sure any of us (especially Dooders) thought we could,  took lots of pictures (although sadly, none were with Mimmi and Dooders, simply because we were never really all together except at the lunch time picnic, and we were all so hungry that we weren't really thinking about pictures), and made lots of memories that I am sure will last a life time!

        We have LOVED every minute of our trips to Busch Gardens this year, and we are looking forward to one last trip next month and bringing Micah's sister, Rachel, along for the fun!!  Our season passes have been worth EVERY PENNY!!!!  We love that place!!

Before we headed into the park for the morning!

"Come on, show me some love people!"

Haley resisting, but finally succumbing to a ride in the stroller! While Emily is still looking for some love in the background!

E-buddy is ready to Rock-n-Roll!

First Stop: The Hats!!

Recognize this girl? 

Then it was time to see the Horses!! And lucky for us, one was coming out for petting!! 

And there is Emily making friends!!

Cute!

Haley, however, was not so sure about the whole petting the horse thing!

But when it came time to ride, they were ready!!!

Sister Love!

Mommy Love!

Me and My Girls!

While our little man was snoozing away!

Daddy Love!

Haley got a turn with the camera! Not a bad picture, to have been taken by a 2 1/2 year old!

Then it was off to the bumper cars!!

They were super excited that they actually got their cars to turn around!

She's a SERIOUS driver!

Didn't take them long to go from cars to airplanes!

Flying High!

Emily, she takes her job as a pilot seriously!

The baby swings, which really should be for just LITTLE babies, they didn't move hardly at a snail's pace!

Oh, and did I mention that Emily and Haley were the only two on the ride!! And no one was even waiting in line when we left:)

All 3 kiddos tuckered out and ready for a stroller ride!

"Now, this is what I call relaxation!"

Micah and I just after getting DRENCHED on Roman Rapids and getting ready to ride the Battering Ram!

And last, but certainly not least, a nice romantic trip on the train!!

Clemijontri Park and Olive Garden

     One day when Micah was checking his email, he saw an article about the best parks in the U.S. and as he noticed most of them were pretty far away from us, he also noticed that one was in Fairfax, VA!!! He also noticed that it seemed to be a very colorful park, and it was specifically designed with the theme in mind that " every child can play". We both quickly decided that we should take the kids there SOME DAY.....

       And our answer was SOME DAY because usually when we head to Northern Virginia it is already a jam packed day that includes visiting lots of family, a trip to the temple, maybe a family dinner and if we are lucky we can also squeeze in a visit to a few friends before heading back to Charlottesville at the end of the day! But to our excitement it turned out that we had a trip planned to NOVA a few weeks back to see the Murchisons (some of our really good friends), and Micah's family was all going to be tied up in one way or another and the temple was going to be closed for cleaning, so we jumped on the chance to visit the park!!

        It was a great day, although it was DEFINITELY more humid than we had anticipated, which made our park time a little shorter than we had anticipated, but it was still a really fun time and we were glad that we were able to bring the kids when they were at the right age to enjoy it!! 

       After the park, we hit Tysons Corner mall for a short visit! While I nursed Ethan, Micah took the girls into the American Girl store there, and if you know the store and you know our girls, you also know that they were in paradise!! Then we ended the day with the Murchisons, whom we LOVE!! We met them at the Olive Garden and that was an interesting TWO HOURS with 3 small kiddos, but luckily we went back to their house to visit a bit after dinner, before we headed back home! It was a nice, relaxing break for everyone!! 

Picnic on a tiny table at the park!

Like Father, Like Son

The most important thing about being the Biggest Sister is balance!

Haley, Showing off her "Big Girl" skills!

And, that she can balance too!

A Motorcycle that is just Emily's size!

Whoa! She really took some Big Girl risks today!

Determination is Key!!

And strength, of course!

Emily met a cute little friend!

Ethan cheesin' at the Olive Garden, in between 2 of his favorite people!!

There's Our Happy Boy!

Haley is checking out the Bill with Norma!

And sneaking some dessert too:)

Back at the Murchisons' House with our little Fireman and his Daddy!

DOUBLE CUTE!!

The Girls are Enjoying their new tea set from Norma, Eric and Wyatt!!

Six Months Has Come and Gone!!!!

     SIX MONTHS has come and gone and it is so hard to believe that it has been that long, plus about 9 days since we met this sweet little man for the very first time!  He has become quite the little man since his first day on earth on January 12th:) He is such a joyful little boy. He is so happy and excited (most of the time) , he is as cute as little boys come!! (Of course, I may be a little biased, but still!)

     And he is growing like a weed!! As a matter of fact we just came from his 6 month well child visit and here are is stats:

 Height:     26 1/2 Inches (25-50th percentile)

Weight:     18 Pounds 9.2 ounces (50-75th percentile)

 Head Circumference:     44 3/4 cm (90th percentile)

     Ethan has learned several BIG SKILLS this last month, and here is a re-cap:

* He Rolled Over for the VERY FIRST TIME this month!! Which we were all super excited about:)

* He has started to sit up unassisted!!  He is still a bit wobbly, but he is really getting the hang of it, and LOVES to be vertical instead of horizontal a lot more too:)

* He is also eating a lot more solid foods this month too! With the girls we definitely did a lot more baby foods, but with him our pediatrician said that the studies have changed their conclusions and now (with the exception of a handful of high allergy foods) the table opens up to them at 4 months, where it used to be 9 months! With that said, Ethan has been eating a lot more pureed fruits and veggies!! He LOVES Sweet Potato, Corn, Plums,  Applesauce, Banana and Peaches!!! ** There is a funny story about peach jam, that I will include once Dooders types it up and sends it my way!!**

     Overall, Ethan's 6th Month has been fun and exciting!! We all love him so much, even more than the day that we first laid eyes on him, if that is even possible!! He is such a joyful, sweet spirit and I am so grateful that I get the opportunity to be his Mommy!!!

Our 6 Month Old Little Boy!

This picture CRACKS ME UP, every time I see it:)

Sitting Up Like a Big Boy!

Our 3 of our Little Munchkins with their special animals!!

This is what happens when we get our 3 kiddos together for a picture!

Starting to Unwind!!

Unwound!

Me and My Boy!

Daddy and his 3 little Munchkins!

A Father-Son Moment

Oh, it's Family Picture Time with the Grays once again!

Take TWO!

And THREE!

And we are done, for another month!!!