Remembering Hannah Rose and Mikayla Anne

Today is the one year anniversary that we lost our precious daughters, Hannah Rose and Mikayla Anne. It is amazing to me how fast a year flies and was surprised when I woke up with such an empty feeling. I thought that I had dealt with everything and was past the grief, but I guess as a parent, you will never really get over the loss of your children, even if the loss was during your pregnancy. Even though we never got to experience the joys of parenting Hannah and Mikayla, we miss the girls they would have become and the ways in which they would have added to our family. Once again, I will be looking to Ethan today to put a smile on my face with his silliness and innocence. Knowing that I am carrying another baby is of some comfort as this child would not have existed if the events of our life had not occurred. I guess it is bitter sweet in a way but all in life happens for a reason and we are so excited to meet our newest addition. We are continuing to pray for a healthy and uneventful pregnancy. So far so good and we are still awaiting the big gender confirmation, we'll keep you updated.

Multiple Milestones

Today is a special day for two reasons. Firstly it is our 5 year wedding anniversary. It is amazing to think of all that we have been through, the ups and downs of life in only 5 short years. It has been a fabulous 5 years and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and look forward to many more years to come. We spent the day as a family, went to the beach in the moning and then the pool in the afternoon as it was 95 degrees. Bryan and I are going to do a delayed weekend away (place to be determined) to celebrate when my mother comes out in June so she can stay with Ethan.
Also, today marks the 1 year anniversary of our move to California. The year flew by and although at times it felt like it was crawling by, I look back and can't believe everything that happened in just one short year. We have truly enjoyed being out here and feel very lucky to have found wonderful friends not only for Ethan but for us as well! Below are a few pictures from our day together.

Oh, and at my most recent ultrasound, the baby's legs were crossed so we'll be in suspense for the confirmation for another 2 weeks!

Updates....

I have been slacking off a bit on the posts, not on purpose but just one thing leads to another every time I sit down to post. Nothing too exciting going on in the Phillips household. We are knee-deep in potty training with Ethan and I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We had been giving him mini marshmallows whenever he went on the potty which seemed to be working until he realized that he could get M&Ms at school when he used the potty.Well, that changed everything so we too had to start giving him M&Ms at home. I was very reluctant at first but I have to say in the past 3 days that we have been doing it, he has seemed to grasp the concept so much more and will ask to use the bathroom all the time. We're down to using only 1 or 2 pull-ups all day! He is so funny, he is very clear that he need "privacy" when he goes to the bathroom and will walk in there all by himself, turn on the light, close the door and do his business. He is such a little man...where does the time go? We are crossing our fingers that he gets the hang of things in the next few weeks, he is so close.
Other than that, I am doing well with Baby #2, feeling good and trying to keep busy. I have another ultrasound on Tuesday which is always fun to see the baby and hopefully they will be able to give us a 100% on the gender. Right now they are 70% sure it is a boy but haven't had a *money shot* to see the goods.
What else....baseball season is underway and the Phillips family couldn't be happier. We are still die-hard Red Sox fans but since going to Fenway Park is out of the question, we have decided to get a share in season tickets to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (crazy name huh, they just changed it from the Anaheim Angels). We have 4 tickets to about 20 or so games this season and plan to take Ethan to a bunch. I used to go to Red Sox games all the time with my dad and I have such great memories of that and can't wait to start that tradition with Ethan.
I plan to get my act together soon and post some recent pics.

The Very First Easter Egg Hunt

This year Ethan (and Mommy) participated in our very first Easter Egg Hunt. While Bryan was out of town for the weekend, Ethan and I, together with about 5 of our neighbor families got together for an Easter Egg Hunt. Ethan was very excited and quickly grasped the concept. He walked around looking for eggs calling out "Easter eggs where are you?!" I could barely keep up with him as he raced around grabbing any egg in sight. It was a blast watching the kids though it was over in about 5 minutes. Ethan loved it so much he is already excited about next year. Here are some pictures of Ethan on his hunt and of the Red Rail Gang.

Massachusetts Part II

After spending a few wonderful days in Greenfield, MA with Grandma and Poppa Brett, we headed off to Boston where we met our newest nephew, Mason Lewis Stern and spent time with Meme, Poppa Don, Uncle Ben, Aunt Karen and cousins Oliver and Mason. We had a blast though were quite busy. We went to the Children's Museum, music class, a music show and played lots. Ethan was very excited about his new little cousin and wanted to hold and/or see him at all times. It was such a nice visit and hard to say goodbye to our families, though we were looking forward to leaving the New England weather and coming back to sunny, warm Southern California. The plane ride home was a bit longer and Ethan was a bit more restless and needed more entertaining which exhausted Mom and Dad. Fortunately he fell asleep for about 3 hours which gave us a nice break. Although we are home now and settling back into our routine, Ethan still talks about seeing his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He (and we) had a blast. Thank you everyone and look forward to seeing you all soon!

Massachusetts Trip Part I

We are back from an absolutely wonderful trip back to Massachusetts which was filled with seeing family, friends and many good times. Since we did so much in the short time that we were there, I am splitting up the week into two posts. The first, will be the time we spent with Bryan's family. We took the red eye flight and our little energizer bunny (his newly earned nickname) only slept 3 hours all night. He was so excited to be flying on a plane and was too interested in what everyone around us was doing, what the stewardesses were doing and had a question about everything imaginable. We thought since he barely slept on the plane he would surely sleep in the car during the 2 1/2 hour ride to Bryan's parents' house. No such luck. Again, the energizer bunny asked questions, sang and talked the entire ride while Bryan and I were bleary-eyed from lack of sleep. Let's just say this kid loves to know what is going on at all times and wants to be in the center of action. He literally napped only 4 of the 9 days we were there. We had a blast and loved every minute of it. Here are some of my favorite pictures and video from the first part of our trip. It is fairly photo heavy but I could not resist, there were so many great pictures. Ethan had such a blast playing with his cousins Emily and Colin, seeing Grammy and Poppa Brett and of course playing in the snow!! Stay tuned for Massachusetts Part II.

Heading back to New England (for a visit)

So we are leaving tonight to go back to Massachusetts for our first visit since we moved out to California. As luck would have it, Ethan has developed a double ear infection so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the antibiotics have had enough time to kick in and he is not too uncomfortable on the airplane as we are taking the red eye tonight. Should be interesting! We are very excited to see our family and friends as well as welcome the newest member of our family, another nephew. Aside from planning for our trip, we've been taking advantage of the fabulous early spring weather here in sunny California and Ethan is as goofy as ever. I am sure we'll have lots of fun stories to share when we return from our trip. Here are a few pictures of our little man. One of him being his goofball-self and the rest from his gym class which he absolutely loves.