Ethan's Blessing

This handsome little boy is 2 months old already!
With family in town for James' graduation we were also able to have them participate in blessing Ethan. James blessed Ethan (and yes, he did remember his real name blessing him Ethan Bradly Finlay and not 'Ephim's Noisy' or 'Scrunt'). Also in the circle were both of Ethan's Grandpas (Brad Finlay and Roger Christensen), Uncles Ian and Evan, and good friend Chris Christensen.

Ethan's grandmas smothering him with kisses while they were here.

James and Ethan just happened to be wearing the same color of green. We didn't plan it that way, but they looked really good together.

Ethan's 2-month-old stats:
Height--24 1/4 inches (90%)
Weight--14 lbs (90%)
HC--40.2 cm (50%)

Dr. Finlay

James made it through 4 years of busy and intense studying and is now officially a Veterinarian.

The hooding ceremony. James was interested to learn that you don't actually have to wear the hood on your head.

We had a large group that came to show their support. All of James' family, both sets of grandparents, Aunt Helen, and Megan's parents. Thank you to everyone that made the trip!

Congratulations to James for all the hard work that he has done to fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a veterinarian. Now we are looking forward to further adventures as a family as we move to Southern California for the residency and PhD program for specializing in Lab Animal Medicine.

Look Who's TWO!

Brielle turned 2 on Monday. She wasn't quite sure what a birthday meant, but seemed to know she should be excited for it. For her birthday we had a play day doing whatever she wanted to do. That consisted of chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, going to the Library, going to McDonalds for lunch and taking it to the park for a picnic, sidewalk chalk, frisbee, playing in the sand, going for a stroller ride and going to the park again. It was a fun, full day and she was exhausted and ready for bed by the end.

We celebrated with Cake, Ice Cream and Presents on Sunday so that James could be home. James actually made the cake (from scratch!) and frosted it.

Ellie has LOVED the I SPY books for the past 8-9 months. She started with the board books, but quickly memorized where everything was, so we get the "grade-school" I SPY books from the library each week. I keep trying other books, but she wants to have James 'read' (as in ask her to find things) from and I SPY Book every night before bed.

I put a candy on the cake and a matching one on the tin-foil around the cake. We showed her what to look for and then she would find it on the cake. That actually lasted longer than I thought it would before she discovered that she could EAT it!

She was slightly cleaner with more table manners than last year's birthday. It was good though that we didn't have a lot of people over though, because apparently 1 cake is not enough for more than 3 people.

2-year-old stats:
Height--36 inches (94%)
Weight--26 lbs 2.5 oz (45%)
HC--47 cm (40%)

Animals...What Animals?

Most people go to the zoo to see the animals. Brielle just thought she'd inform you that if you get too caught up in seeing the animals, you might miss some of these other "must see" attractions such as:


Automatic soap dispensers. Brielle hates for her hands to be dirty, so this was definitely a favorite.

Sticks

Flowers

Rocks

Leaves

Who knew there was so much to see at the Zoo?

On Saturday James took her to the Small Animal Day at MSU while Ethan and I went to our Stake Women's Conference. This time she did actually pay attention to some of the animals there.

well, she kind of paid attention. Here she is dancing in circles while 'watching' the horse plow demonstrations.

Digging through the pools of grain for buried treasures.

Hanging out with the Cows.

Our commercialized side of Easter

Visiting the Easter Bunny. He just happened to be at the Christmas Store when we were up in Frankenmuth with Shelly visiting. I wasn't expecting him to be there, but it was a fun surprise.


I don't know where she came up with the idea that the Easter Bunny eats Easter eggs, but I guess it makes as much sense as a bunny coming to hide eggs. It made me laugh the way she said it, and I was glad I captured it on video.


This one is kind of long, but it was fun because she was so excited about everything. Amazingly enough the Easter Bunny just "happened" to bring James' favorite candy. Brielle hasn't even noticed that we've been helping her eat her treats.


Chocolate first thing in the morning. What could be better than that?

Here is a picture of the treats we were making. (I forgot to take a picture of ours, so this is just one I got from online.) I remember doing these growing up and loved them. Thanks Mom!

Fire Station

I was able to take Brielle on a tour of our local Fire Station. She was VERY excited to see the fire trucks.

She might have to grow a few feet taller if she wants to work there, the firetrucks are tall and hard to climb into.

She thought it was very exciting to be able to get in and pretend to drive.

I had a hard time convincing her it was time to go home.

Ethan came along, but slept through the whole experience. I guess we'll have to take him when he is older.

1-Month-Old

It is amazing how with a new baby the time just seems to fly. (except when they are crying in the middle of the night, 10 minutes can seem like an eternity!)

So, the 1-month-old stats are:
Height- 22 1/4 inches (75%)
Weight- 10lbs 15oz (80%)
Head- 38.2 cm (50%)

When the doctor came in she did a double take and clarified that this was his 1 month appointment and not 2 month. He was holding his head up with alert eyes looking right at her. He is a strong little boy.

Clearly he was not impressed with my taking pictures of him.


With a toddler "helping" at home, there are some naughty moments, but there are also some good sweet moments as well.

Here she is giving him a kiss. :)


Brielle use to actually fit in this carseat. Time is flying by!