Ethan had his preschool holiday performance this week and it was just about the cutest thing! He had been practicing with his class and at home for weeks and was so proud. The whole concert lasted about 3 minutes but our little Ethan was so excited (and a bit nervous) to sing and we couldn't have been prouder!

Holiday Activities

Three weeks since my last post and there is so much to share. We've been busy getting into the holiday spirit over the past few weeks, putting up lights on the house, decorating the tree, dusting off the menorah, going to holiday festivals and finishing up holiday shopping! Whew, are the holidays over yet? Ethan is full into the Holiday spirit this year and is very excited for Hanukkah and Christmas. He seems to have a love/scared relationship with Santa, he wants to see him but when given the chance does not want to go anywhere near him. It is so funny, the kid will walk on water to get away from Santa if he thinks he is coming too close. .We've tried to explain to him that Santa is the one who gives him presents but doesn't work.
Eli has started using the bumbo and although is not totally sitting up, does a pretty good job. He loves it and just sits there with his eyes glued to Ethan. Eli is just getting over a fairly serious skin infection that he was placed on antibiotics for and finally it is all cleared up. Unfortunately, being on the penicillin wreaked havoc on any sleep progress that he had made so after 10 days of newborn-like sleeping we are getting back on track now that he is finished the penicillin.

Best Buddies
A few weekends ago, Ladera had a winter festival at one of the local parks where they brought in drum roll....real snow for all the CA kids. Ethan enjoyed it and ran around like a crazy man. They also had a little hill for the kids to sled down. After some convincing, Ethan finally agreed to go down and loved it. It just makes me laugh to see all the kids loving the snow and knowing that they think it is this magical thing, just wait until they have to shovel it for hours!

The funny part is that after Ethan frolicked in the snow he went over the the park to ride the swings. Only in California!

This was the first year that Ethan was able to get involved and decorate the tree. It was so much fun and such a nice family activity. It made me think about all the years down the road that Ethan and Eli will be decorating the tree and the holiday traditions that we are creating for a lifetime!

We also had our 2nd annual Red Rail holiday party. It was a blast but definitely crazier than last year's party as there are FOUR new babies to the group this year and next year there will be 2 more! We had a nice time eating pizza and watching the kids exchange gifts.

Last weekend, Bryan and I took the kids to the Irvine Park Railroad Christmas event. The entire national park is decorated with lights and you ride on a train through the park to go to the North Pole to visit Santa. Again, Ethan wanted nothing to do with Santa once we got there but it was all for the experience right? I have to say that after living in Southern California for just under 2 years, my blood has totally thinned as I was freezing on the train. Given it was 50 degrees and there was a cold wind but back on the east coast, a 50 degree night in December would be considered balmy!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Meme and Poppa Don as well as Uncle Ben, Aunt Karen and cousins Oliver and Mason next week. They arrive on Tuesday night and no doubt it will be a crazy fun-filled week with all the cousins. It will be the first time in a long time that the Phillips/Stern family has all been together so it is truly a special time and makes it even more special to be able to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas together!

A Thanksgiving to remember

For the second year in a row, Bryan's parents came out to celebrate Thanksgiving. Being that we are so far away from family, it was so special to have them here. Brett is a fantastic cook and made an unbelievable feast. Ethan was glued to the kitchen and wanted to watch all the preparations. In addition to Grandma and Poppa being here, we also had our good friends and neighbors, the Dunning and Corris families share in the holiday fun. Ethan was so happy to have his friends Mason and Rowan to play with and the boys were FULL of energy. Eli had his eyes set on Sarah who is a few months older than he and it was adorable to watch the two babies together.

It was a Thanksgiving to remember and such a nice evening where I was reminded of how wonderful my family and friends are and that I have so much to be thankful for.

A visit from Grandma and Poppa

This past week we were lucky enough to have a visit from Bryan's parents, Grandma and Poppa Brett. Ethan was so excited and we had been counting down the days for weeks. It was also a special because it was also the first time that they had met Eli, who quickly won over their hearts. We had a busy week and took Ethan to Knott's Berry Farm which Ethan absolutely loved. At first he was really tentative and just wanted to take everything in, but after a little while we could barely keep up with him running around the amusement park!

We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Poppa Brett and the week flew by. Ethan was so sad to see them go as were we as it was nice to have two extra set of hands to help out!

Ethan and Eli

My good friend Cristy took some fantastic pictures of my precious boys the other week and I had to share. She is really talented and got some great shots of them, which is no easy feat when Ethan could barely sit still and Eli was not sure whether or smile or cry!

These two pictures clearly show how much the boys look alike, it is crazy!

Thanks Cristy for spending the morning with us and taking the time to shoot my boys, I will treasure these pictures.

In other Phillips news, Eli had has 2 month appointment last week and he weighed 12 lbs 6 z and was 24 inches long. He gained over 5 lbs and grew 4 inches in a little over 2 months. Believe it or not, he is still smaller than Ethan was at that age, guess my boys like to eat! He continues to be a happy, easy going baby. He starting to sleep longer stretches at night and will go about 6 or 7 hours before eating, which is fabulous after what felt like an eternity of frequent overnight feedings. He is becoming much more alert and interactive, always smiling and trying to talk to us. He is very outgoing and reminds me so much of Ethan as a baby. He looks so much like Ethan that even his doctor, who never saw Ethan as an infant, commented on how much he looked like his older brother, except he has blond hair and blue eyes.

Ethan is doing great, always keeping us on our toes and challenging us as any three year old loves to do. My favorite thing he does lately is out of the blue, he'll turn to me and say "Mommy, I love you sooooo much". It is one of those melt your heart moments and washes away all those other moments when I am ready to pull my hair out. Ethan and Eli sure keep us busy but sometimes I have to pinch myself that I truly have two happy and healthy boys and am so thankful for that.

4th Picture in 4th Album

I was blogger tagged by my friend Rebecca to post the 4th picture in my 4th album. I only started taking a gazillion pictures once Ethan was born so there was no doubt that it would be an Ethan picture and going back through my first few albums was a trip down memory lane. Here is the picture I came up with, Ethan, at about 5 1/2 months, in his beloved jumperoo.

He absolutely loved that thing and would squeal and jump for hours, never getting tired. We should have known then what we were in for as to this day he is a crazy man who appears to have endless energy.
Okay, Ruth, Breck, Nicole...I'm tagging you!

Halloween

This year Halloween was a blast and like other recent events, Ethan's greater understanding of the holiday made it so much more exciting for him and for us. This year, Ethan dressed up as none other than his current favorite star, Curious George. The morning started off with a fun parade at his pre-school. Ethan was a little shell-shocked when he walked out of the classroom into the back playground to see a crowd of about 100+ eager parents watching. He started to panic at first calling for me, but once he spotted me in the crowd he seemed a bit more at ease and followed the class.

After school we came home to get ready for the big event. Ethan couldn't wait to get into his costume and thankfully the heat subsided a bit or else he would have roasted in his costume.

Eli also got into the action dressing up as a baby, I know it was a stretch but he was a dead ringer! He came along trick-or-treating in the bjorn and slept through the whole thing. It won't be long before he will be tagging along with the big kids running from house to house. The adults could barely keep up with the kids they were so excited.

Curious George meets Scooby Doo

The Red Rail boys minus Nolan and Rowan who joined up with the crew a little later

When we got home Ethan was so eager to examine his candy and ohhed and ahhed over each piece, even though he had no idea what kind of candy it was. All he cared about was that he got candy and to him life was good. Poor Eli looks so sad in this picture, almost as if he knows what he is missing out on.

Birthday Fun

Last weekend we had Ethan's 3rd birthday party at the local JW Tumbles gym and everyone had a blast. Ethan invited his closest friends, aka The Red Rail Gang, and was in heaven. Since he has been going to JW Tumbles weekly for gym classes for over a year he feels very comfortable there and was so excited to share what he calls "my gym" with his good buddies.

Eli, Carson and Ashlyn, the next generation of Red Railers, loved watching all the big kids.

After playing some games for an hour it was Ethan's favorite part, pizza and cake. Ethan is currently is obsessed with Curious George so that was the theme to his party. I love this picture, he just looks so happy and clearly loved the attention of being the birthday boy.

The Red Rail Gang (minus Rowan who couldn't make it)

Ethan was lucky enough to have his Meme and Poppa Don in town from Boston to help him celebrate his special day.

It was a fun but exhausting afternoon and Ethan is already looking forward to his party next year!

Proud Mamma

I just couldn't resist...aren't they the cutest??

Fall fun

The leaves are turning colors, the air is getting crisp which means fall is here or so it should but alas, now that we are Californians, fall takes on a whole new meaning and we've been experiencing a heat wave with temperatures in the 90s! Regardless, the past few weekends, we've been enjoying doing some of the typical fall activities, namely apple and pumpkin picking.
We drove down to Jullian, CA with our neighbors, the Taylor family, to pick some apples. It was a beautiful, scenic 2 hour drive and thankfully Ethan and Eli did great in the car. Ethan loved the orchard and that he could pick apples right off the tree, take a few bites and then throw it on the ground. He and his buddy Dylan had a ball doing that for a while.

Even Lauren got in on the action, is she not the cutest ever!!
Afterwards we went into downtown Jullian which was flooded with people coming to experience the infamous homemade pies they have this time of year. We ate at a great BBQ restaurant and then went hunting for the best pies in town.

Dylan and Ethan post-pie eating, they both have that devious twinkle in their eyes.

Our next outing was to Irvine Regional Park where there was a big pumpkin patch for the kids to run around and choose pumpkins. There was also a train ride and mini John Deere tractors that were a big hit with the boys.

We even got a chance to take our first Phillips family photo with our two boys.
Hard to believe that Halloween is right around the corner. Ethan is really excited and seems to finally be at the age where he understands holidays so needless to say a holiday where you dress up and get candy is one that he is looking forward to!

Birthday Boy

Ethan is officially a three year old (where did the time go?!) and to celebrate we bought him a real big boy bike. He is in heaven and rides it constantly. Bryan brought it home in the back of the car and when he got home from work and gave it to Ethan, his eyes lit up. Ethan ran across the alleyway to Bryan screaming, "my new bike, thank you daddy!!". He is a little speed demon on the bike already and loves zooming around...our little crazy man!

Mini Photo Shoot

A few week ago I staged mini-photo shoot for Eli and here are some of my favorite shots. He was about 2 1/2 weeks in these pictures so he's grown and changed so much just since then. It sure is hard to take pictures of an infant who is constantly squirming, flailing and sporadically crying. My neighbor Cristy gave me some good tips and I think I got some decent shots. She is more of a pro when it comes to infant pictures and will hopefully take some of Eli and Ethan. Since these pictures, Eli has started smiling and holding his head up much more. He is getting more interactive and when sitting in his bouncy seat is constantly cooing and kicking his legs. Ethan loves dancing for him and trying to make him smile which Eli does all the time as he loves watching Ethan.


Yesterday was Bryan's birthday and we had a nice family celebration. Ethan was so excited to come to the grocery store to buy cake and ice cream as a surprise for Bryan. Of course, no 3 year old can keep a secret and the minute Bryan walked in the door Ethan ran over screaming that we bought him cake and ice cream. Ethan was excited to light the candles on the cake and belt out Happy Birthday. It was really cute and he seemed to understand celebrating someone ELSE's birthday, yet he knows that once Bryan's birthday comes, his is only a few short days away. Every morning he asks me if it is his birthday. On Friday, he is bringing in a treat for his class and I will be reading a "birthday book" to his class.