Playing with Stuffed Animals

Unlike her brother Maya loves stuffed animals. We have a basket of them that has been in the nursery since Ethan was born and they haven't been touched since. That is until Maya got ahold of them. She loves them she climbs in and out of the basket herself and holds the stuffed animals and gives them all kisses. I guess that is one of the differences between boys and girls.

Ethan Scott turns Four

Ethan woke up this morning asking if he was four! He also wanted to know when he was going to have a party, we had to remind him that he had it last week and that today he was going to have dinner at our house with Grandma Slick, Grandma Grossel, Erika and Mark. As soon as everyone got here he told him that he was four. He got a new bike from mom and dad and he got to try it out. He did pretty well for the first time. I think he was more excited for the sea animal discovery movies that mark got him, we have tried to watch them all already. He was also really excited about the shark shirt and whale shirt that he got, we had to put them on immediately. After we had pizza (Ethan's Choice)we had the special cupcakes that Erika dn Grandma Slick made, they were rainbow cupcakes, Ethan and Maya loved them!

Bikini Ready?

Maya is not afraid to show her bikini ready body (dad is not so happy!) I bought Maya a swim suit this weekend and tried it on her. She loved it, she walked around the house looking at herself and swinging her arms in the air. As you can see in this picture she even decided to do a little drawing.

Choo Choo Johnny's

We decided to try the new train restaurant that is much closer to our house than the one that we normally go to. It ended up being bigger with more trains. Ethan loved it and even though maya has been to one before this is the first time that she actually got to enjoy it. Grandma Slick and Grandma Grossel came to join us for the trip.

Ethan's 4th Birthday Party

Ethan had his fourth birthday party today! His party was at Bounce Town. Lucas, Maggie, and Brettman and Franky had a great time bouncing around, by the time the food was ready all of the kids were exhausted including Maya who didn't get her usual morning nap! Grandma and Grandpa Langel and James and Brea were able to make the long trip to Chicago. Ethan wanted a construction vehicle themed birthday, and he got the perfect cake for the party. It was a huge excavator (Ethan pointed out that it was actually a back hoe!) made out of pound cake on top of a chocolate cake, it tasted awesome! Ethan was so excited that it was finally his birthday, there have been a lot of parties he has gone to recently so he was glad that it was finally his turn! Happy Birthday E!

Dress Like Dad

Today at Ethan's school it was "dress up like your mom or dad." Ethan wasn't to keen on having to dress up but, when he got to pick out a tie from a friend he was really excited. He wore the tie all day and even slept with it on.

Maya's 1st birthday!

Maya Grace turned one years old this Saturday. It is amazing how fast time flies, especially with the second one. Maya was able to celebrate her birthday with some family and friends. Maya had fun playing with the boys but she was kind of attached to my hip and didn't stray to far. she enjoyed opening all of her wonderful gifts, Ethan had a great time helping her and he is counting the days until his birthday. She was able to try her first piece of cake (that I have given her I cant speak for any of her grandparents)she loved the frosting. I made vanilla cupcakes and piped flowers on the top. She just went to her one year check up and everything looks great, we feel so blessed to have such a happy and healthy beautiful little girl!

Merry Christmas

Over the Christmas Holidays we had a chance to spend the week in Iowa. We had a great time! We not only had a white christmas but there was over 15 inches. Ethan was able to go sledding and help shoveling outside almost everyday. Luckily everyone made it into town before the big storm hit. throughout the week we made homemade sugar cookies, (Ethan was the professional sprinkler) we went to movies and we were also able to spend time at both great grandparents houses. Ethan was so excited for Christmas he could hardly stand it, he kept asking if he was being good so that he would get presents. He put out cookies for Santa and sprinkled oats and glitter in the snow for the reindeer, Maya was only interested in the bows and wrapping paper. It was a very busy holiday but well worth it!

Santa's Breakfast

We had a very busy weekend. On Saturday Ethan got invited to Maggie's third birthday party at bouncetown. The kids had a blast and were exhausted after all of the bouncing, myself included. After Maggie opened her presents she gave each of the kids a gingerbread train which Ethan could not wait to make! After his nap Eric, Ethan and I made the train, I think Ethan might have eaten more candy then put on but he thought it was really neat! On Sunday we went to the annual Santa's breakfast at my dad's country club. When we asked Ethan if he was going to sit on Santa's lap he said no, maybe tomorrow. So we decided to see how it would go, after we had a wonderful breakfast/lunch we stood in line to see Santa. Ethan was really excited but, very nervous. I think that it helped that Maya was sitting on his lap. Finally, Ethan went to stand by him and told him that he wanted race cars, dinosaurs, and animals for christmas. He also added that Maya wanted clothes. Maya was awe struck by Santa claus as you can see from the pictures.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses

On Wednesday night Eric, Ethan and I met up with Erika and Papa at Cress Creek to make Gingerbread houses. Maya got to stay home with Grandma. First we had dinner which consisted of finger foods for the kids and fish for the adults, I preferred the kids menu! After dinner we started to decorate the houses. Ethan probably ate as much candy as he put on the house. When we were done he couldn't wait to go home and suprise Grandma with it!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was at our house. My family came over in the mid morning for appetizers and then we had the traditional dinner later on. Everything tasted great even the turkey wasn't too bad, except for having to make it. Following the dinner we had a couple rounds of Wii which Ethan loved. Maya had a wonderful first Thanksgiving.

Veteran's Day

On Veterans Day Ethan, Maya and I met Grandma and Papa in Downtown Naperville to see the flags, there were 2009 of them on the hill! After we saw the flag that Papa and Grandma bought we went to lunch.

Happy Halloween!

Ethan was so excited about Halloween this year. He had been wearing his costume since his school party. He even wore it out to dinner when we went on Friday night. On Halloween we carved the pumpkin, Ethan wasn't too much of a fan of getting dirty however Maya was all about trying to get into it, this is why there are no pictures of that event, it was way too crazy! When E woke up from his nap he got into his spider man costume and Maya got into her Bee costume, we bundled up and went throughout the neighborhood. Maya and I only lasted about twenty minutes and we went home to pass out candy with Grandma. Ethan was out about an hour before he came back in. He ate a ton of candy that night and woke up the next morning wanting to put back on his costume.

Ethan's Halloween Party

The thursday before halloween I got a chance to go to Ethan's school for his halloween party. It was so much fun to watch the kids. They had no idea what was going on. Ethan didn't even recognize his teacher! When they were playing the games they had no clue what to do. The whole time Ethan kept asking when he was going to get cookies and candy. Finally, after all of the games and crafts we sat down to eat. This was the beginning of Halloween weekend!

Apple Orchard

Over the weekend we went to the apple orchard to pick apples. Erika and my mom came with us. Even though there was a long wait for the tractor ride to the apple orchard Ethan had a great time picking apples. I think he ate about two of them as we were walking through the orchard, he kept telling us how juicy they were. The only way we could get himout of the orchard was by bribing him with the apple donuts. We all enjoyed the donuts, poor Maya was exhausted by the end of the trip.

Maya Loves Attempting to Walk

Maya has decided that she wants to walk even though she is only eight months old. She loves to stand and hang onto the couches. She has even started to let go and try to walk.

Crazy Hair Day

Today was crazy hair day for Ethan. He wanted to have his hair spiked and he got to pick out the colors for his hair! When he came home that night he was telling me the colors that he wanted for his hair the next day.

Ethan's First Day of Preschool

This was Ethan's first day of Preschool. I think mom was more nervous than Ethan actually was. He did great and he even took a picture with his teacher for me.

Labor Day Weekend

Joe and Maren came for a visit and we were able to go to a the Labor Day parade, and meet my family there. We also went miniature golfing and Joe and Maya made a great team, he held Maya the whole time and managed to beat the rest of us.

Maya's bath

Since the kids bathroom was getting painted and Maya needed a bath we had to use our bathroom sink. Ethan decided to give us a hand. I dont know who got more wet Maya or me and Ethan! Please excuse the clorox bottles in the background, no we do not wash our kids in bleach!!!!

Ethan helps daddy paint

We are painting the kids upstairs bathroom, Ethan wanted to help his dad and paint too. Eric set up a section where ethan could paint, so here is Ethan's master piece.

Maya's First Ride on the Swing!

This is Maya first ride on the swing in our backyard, as you can tell she loved it!!

Navy Pier

On one of the last days before I headed back to school I took Ethan to Navy Pier. My sister and my brother joined us. Maya stayed home with Grandma. It was the day before the air and water show so the planes were practicing pretty low in the sky right over us. We took the train down which was the cheapest part of the trip and I think the most fun for Ethan. We also took a boat taxi and went on every possible ride at Navy Pier. We had fun playing miniature golf going on the ferris wheel, however Erika wanted off that ride as soon as possible! We ended the day just as it was starting to too hot and too crowded.

Brookfield Zoo

This week is the last week before school starts so I decided to take Ethan to the zoo. Grandma and Grandpa Slick came with us along with Mark. Thank goodness they were there, I threw my back out that morning so I kind of hobbled along through the zoo. Ethan had a great time, the dinosaurs scared him to death and when we were on our way home he told us all of the animals that we had forgotten!

Will and Maya

One of my best friends, Kate had a baby a week and a half after Maya was born. She had a beautiful boy named Will. We have not been able to get the kids together too many times and the times we have seen each other I have forgotten my camera. Jim and Kate were able to come over for a BBQ and I was able to get some shots of the kids together. It was kind of crazy between Ethan talking nonstop and Maya and Will but, it was a lot of fun and great to finally get time to spend with the Pustays.

Swim Lessons

Every Saturday morning over the summer Ethan has been taking swim lessons. Needless to say he has not been very excited to go. He cried every saturday that we took him. He always got in the water but he would cry for about the first five minutes. My goal was to at least get him in the water. Here are a couple of pictures from his last day of swim lessons. You will notice he has a shirt on, that is because he refused to take it off, what a stinker! He thinks swim lessons are all over, just wait until he finds out he will be taking lessons at the YMCA in the winter!!!

Touch a Truck

On Friday Eric, Ethan, Maya and I headed to "touch a truck". We met chrissy, Dave, Lucas, amy, and Riley. As soon as Ethan saw all of the trucks he started screaming n the car, he was so excited! He got to go in every truck imaginable, even a helicopter. The horns on the trucks were a little loud for Maya but she got to sit in the helicopter with Ethan. The finale was actually watching the helicopter take off!

Mark and Maya

Uncle Mark came home for a couple of days and he was playing outside in my parents backyard with Maya. Maya loves to be outside and it has not been too hot out, she enjoyed spending some time with her godfather.

The Omaha Zoo

On our trip out to LeMars, Iowa to see Grandma and Papa Langel we stopped at the Omaha Zoo. Grandma, Papa, Tera, Joe and Maren met us there. We got to the zoo when it opened and we were there until about 4 in the afternoon. I think we saw everything you could possibly see. This includes a 3D movie which scared Ethan to death (he thought the fish were going to eat him), a sky tram (which equally scared mom to death), and a train ride around the zoo (Ethan's favorite). Maya enjoyed just being outside and watching all of the people. Although there were a few three year old challenges throughout the day I think everyone had a great time. both kids fell asleep within two minutes of getting in the car, that is the sign of great time!

Mortem Arboretum

One of the only hot summer days that we have had so far we headed out to the Mortem Arboretum with Grandma and Papa Slick and Erika. It was a little too hot for Maya but, Ethan had a blast. We all took turns climbing in the tree houses and Ethan got to explore the animal habitats.

Roll Over

I was able to get a shot of Maya in action rolling over. She doesn't like to lay on her back so...



Keep Going!



Yeah!

Maya's Batism

It was a beautiful day for Maya's baptism. We had a wonderful brunch before hand at Grandma and Papa Slick's house and then went on to the baptism. It was a really nice ceremony. The kids made it through the long ceremony and Ethan entertained the whole family. I am thankful there was so much family there to entertain him and be there for Maya's big day.

Hanging out with the Family

The rest of Eric's family came out for Maya's baptism this weekend and Ethan had a chance to play with all of his uncles and aunts.

The Chicago Children's Museum

Eric's Parents came a couple days early for Maya's baptism. We had planned on going to the Mortem Arboretum for the day but, the weather did not cooperate. Instead we packed up and went downtown Chicago. We ate lunch at the Grand Lux and the went to the children's museum. We were there for almost three hours Ethan had a blast with all of the different exhibits. He especially loved the water works area. Needless to say we were all exhausted when we got home.

The Rainforest Cafe

Since Maya has been born Ethan hasn't been getting as much mom and dad time as he was used to so, grandma and grandpa Slick came over to watch Maya while we took Ethan to The Rainforest Cafe. Ethan loved the fake crocodile and our table was right next to a huge fish tank, Ethan counted five different Dory's.

Playing T-Ball

It's Baseball season!! Ethan got out his baseball bat and glove and took a couple practice swings. He had a lot of fun and made some pretty good hits.