Sunday, June 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Alexander Charles!

Alexander Charles Hurford
June 24, 2009, 5:51 PM
8 lbs, 20 inches

Welcome Home Alex! Ethan and the girls were happy to welcome Alex home on Friday. Everyone is doing great with the newest addition to the Hurford home.

Since many have commented on the fact that Patrick and I look much less exhausted in this set of birth pictures than the last I thought I would let everyone know that, WE ARE!!! This labor and delivery was so, and I can't emphasize that enough, much different than with Ethan. Everything was smooth and relatively easy- if that is possible with having a baby. As opposed for pushing for over three and a half hours, Alex shot out with one contraction and three pushes. I was eating lobster within an hour after delivery. Alex is a great eater and as the pediatrician put it, "seems to have read the textbook" on eating and being a healthy baby. We couldn't be happier.

Ethan loves his baby brother. He reminds us all, "He's so cute!" He loves to hug and kiss him and share his toys. We have to watch him though because he tries to pile the toys on Alex. From before he was born he was anxious to meet him. Even at the hospital he could hardly contain himself to wait to go to the nursery to get him. He immediately started looking under the bed and in the cupboards asking where he was. The only hint of jealousy we have seen is that Ethan still wants Mommy at bedtime and wants to sit on my lap sometimes while I am feeding Alex. Daddy has been a great distraction though. Ethan and Daddy have really buddied up in the last few days and are doing all sorts of fun things like bike rides, throwing rocks and seeing the boats, and are currently out buying a new movie. You can only watch "Cars" and Lightning McQueen so many times.

Thank you to everyone for your congratulatory messages. We are very excited to introduce Alex to all of you in the near future.













Friday, June 19, 2009

Happy 5th Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that five years have already flown by. Patrick and I can hardly believe the time that has passed. It has been a busy and eventful five years and we are happy to report that we can't imagine our lives any other way. We are so blessed to have each other, two (well almost) beautiful little boys, and the love and support of all our family and friends. The only downside to the reflection of the last few years has been that either camera quality has gone down or we are starting to look old!

Happy Birthday Patrick

Happy Birthday Patrick! (June 12) We quietly celebrated this year as a family. Ethan had a ton of fun baking a cake for Daddy, decorating, and celebrating. He has learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" and serenaded Patrick as soon as he returned from work. I wish I had it on video, it was priceless! Patrick picked a birthday meal of bbq chicken on the grill and green beans with homemade carrot cake, of course! The boys had fun with their birthday crowns and Patrick shared the spotlight with Ethan to blow out candles together on their cake. We can't wait for another birthday or should I say "Birth Day" very soon.




Birthday Crowns



Celebrate!




Blowing out candles, for the 47th time :)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Ready for #2

We are all ready for #2. I think Ethan is the most anxious one in this bunch. He understands that his baby brother is in Mommy's belly but is having a hard time with the concept of the wait and understanding that the baby is coming soon. When I leave he asks if I will bring the baby home. When he hears the train he sometimes asks if the baby is on it. Sometimes he asks if he can ride the train to the city to get the baby and every morning he asks if the baby is home yet.

Yesterday we made a countdown train to help him understand when the baby will be here. We remove a ring every morning, before feeding Bo who is doing very well, and I think he understands that when the rings are gone the baby will be here. The only thing that needs to happen now is #2 needs to arrive on or before the due date or my plan is foiled. I think this is working for Ethan because he was able to explain the "Baby Brother Train" to Daddy and Eileen (our sitter). I just think there are too many darn rings left :)



And for all those who are curious... with the recent Jaba the Hut comments and Big Momma references, here is a pic of the ginormous belly. It's worth a good laugh.



37.5 weeks

I blame Disney...

On Monday the gardeners were here to do their weekly duties and as usual, Ethan was keeping track of their progress. When it was time for the blowers to clean up there was a change to the normal routine. Mr. Mike, the owner, usually runs the blower but Monday one of his young Hispanic workers was on blower duty. Ethan immediately started asking, "Who's that?" I told him it was one of Mr. Mike's workers. He then asked, "What's he doing?" He knew what he was doing but I answered. He once again asked, "Who's that?" Again, I gave my standard answer. He took a moment then turned to me and said, "NO Momma, that's Manny!"

For those of you who don't know, Handy Manny is a cartoon on Disney where Manny is a young Hispanic handyman who fixes anything for anyone. Talk about teaching young children racial stereotyping! Ethan would certainly be dismissed from a Supreme Court nomination for this one. I blame Disney!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Our new addition- don't get too excited

Welcome to our nuthouse Bo! I really don't know what he is more excited about, his new flag or his new fish. Ethan got his first fish today. I was very skeptical that the fish he picked would make it home. Of course he picked the sickliest looking fish the store had. I tried to convince him to get a different one but the protest to keep Bo was overwhelming. Let's put it this way, after examining the container up close the cashier, unprompted, felt the need to share that if anything happened in 14 days I could bring him back so I should keep the receipt. But, after a healthy lunch of McDonalds (wink, wink), Ethan dumped Bo into his new home. To my surprise the fish perked right up and actually even looks 100% better.

After waking from his nap the first thing we had to do was "wake up" Bo and watch him. Then we were off to wave our flag. Friday fun!

UPDATE: The fish's name has changed again. First it was Kitty Cat Milk (same name he claims will be his baby brother's), then "X", he had settled on Bo for most of the day but now his name is just Mr. Fish.




Thursday, June 4, 2009

Ethan Updates- for the last two months...

I hope you can all sense that I am hiding my head in shame. I would like to blame work or baby preperation or anything other excuse I could come up with but I have no good one.

Everything at our house is busy, crazy, fun, exciting, and great as we are awaiting the arrival of #2 and watching Ethan grow up far too quickly. Ethan is such a big boy now! As of the end of March he is potty trained! YEAH!!!!! He has done such an awesome job whether at home, in the car, at the doctor's office, the zoo, you name it! His vocabulary amazes us on a daily basis and his personality is hysterical. He is too smart for his own good and definitely keeps us on our toes!

A few stories to share:

- Ethan is great at sharing but also at telling others how to. If I have something he wants but it is either something he can not have or something that he is too anxious to wait for he will say very sternly, "Share Momma/ Daddy!"

- His favorite sayings, "Look at THAT!" or "What was T-H-A-T!"

-After painting his Easter artwork on the front door he scratched some of the paint during a tantrum. The next morning when showing Daddy his work he said, "Look Dadda, I ruined it!"

-One night at dinner he made Patrick feel awful. He told Patrick, "I go to bed when Dadda come home from work."

-One Sunday morning we were getting ready for Church and told Ethan we were going to go pray to Jesus, he said, "NO!, My Jesus!"

- I officially have a back seat driver. (Thank God I know better than to curse anymore with a little parrot around) If a car in front of us stops or is slow he will yell, "Come on man!", "Come on Dude", "GO!" or a number of other things. My favorite was one day in the McDonald's drive through we were waiting in line. From the back seat Ethan yells, "Come on people! Momma, honk the horn!"

- He is starting to tell knock knock jokes. His favorites: Knock, Knock, Who's there? Nobody! and Knock, Knock, Who's there?, Ethan, Ethan who? Ethan Hurford

-Ethan now prays every night by himself saying "God Bless______, God Bless______,......" He is very good about blessing EVERYTHING from Momma, Daddy, himself, Emma, Bella, Trains, Trucks, Thomas (the train), animals, kids you name it. One night I suggested baby brother, his response, "NO!, God Bless Gordon (another train)!" Since then he blesses baby brother every night though.

- Ethan is very sweet about the idea of baby brother. He kisses my belly and tries to squeeze it to hug the baby, he will tell you how he will share his toys with the baby and teach him to play baseball, and likes to feel the baby move. The two things we have to get over is that he is convinced that the baby is in my belly but will arrive on a train and when asked where everyone in the family sits at dinner insists that the baby will sit in the cupboard- doors closed.

- Ethan got a rocket (like the big kids) to play with outside. Don't worry it is soft foam that doesn't hurt even in the event of a direct hit- thanks Patrick for testing that. Daddy liked it so much that the two of them would argue outside with Ethan telling Daddy, "It's my turn now!" To end the arguments I bought a second rocket for Patrick, as a joke, for his birthday. Ethan and I hid it in the closet to save it. I quickly learned Ethan can't keep a secret. When Ethan saw Patrick he immediately started telling him about his "Rocket Birthday". I told Patrick I had no idea what he was talking about but Ethan quickly went to the office saying "Yes Momma, it's in the closet! Remember?" There went that surprise! But the boys are happy now not to share.

I wish I could think of more right now but my baby brain is failing me. We are having so much fun with the little man. He is just growing up too quickly. It is so weird to have a complete conversation with him but we are so proud of his development. There is so much joy in witnessing his thought process and the way he focuses and contemplates his decisions, listening to his ideas and observing the way he pretends with the greatest little imagination I have seen. It don't know how it gets any better!

Number two is doing great. They estimate him to be "long and lean" and think he will weigh less than Ethan did. We shall see. He is an active little guy though and feels strong. We are full term now so any day we will hopefully announce the birth of the newest Hurford.

The dogs are good. Miss Bella had to go on Prozac (it was very difficult for me to pay money for that junk after selling Zoloft for so many years) for her anxiety. She has always had her issues but lately has gotten worse with her hemmorhagic gastritis. Any change in routine or environment has an effect on her. I think she is really sensing the upcoming events due to all the baby stuff returning in the house and the changes in my schedule. Knowing that we will also have a number of visitors and the obvious fact that the next few months will be crazy the vet felt this was our best option. We shall see. Emma is still a happy lab as long as dinner is on time.

Otherwise, I think we are up to date. I will really try to keep up from now on especially with the new baby!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan



Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan!



The future baller



Happy boy with his Thomas cake



Oh- More Thomas stuff...



The great egg hunt


Ok- so I'm a little behind...

Ethan's 2nd Birthday was very low key this year but very successful. His birthday this year fell on Easter Sunday so we decided to give him a birthday weekend! We predominantly celebrated on Saturday but continued the party on Sunday. Saturday morning Ethan woke up to balloons everywhere, a birthday crown, and the beginning of his presents. His little face was so precious as he rounded the corner coming down the stairs and saw all his decorations. He was beaming from ear to ear!

We did not have a party but Grandma Lucy was here to celebrate for the week and Uncle Brian, Aunt Michele and Baby Oliver came over on Sunday to share Easter dinner, celebrate Ethan's birthday and witness the great Easter Egg Hunt! Ethan loved all of his gifts: his new basketball hoop, picnic table, Thomas the Train tracks, buildings and new cars, bubble mower, and everything else he was spoiled with.

Ethan had a lot of fun blowing out his candles this year. I think we sang "Happy Birthday" about 400 times in two days and the candle is reduced to a stump! He enjoyed his Thomas birthday cake though by digging in to an entire car all by himself! Yes, I made the cake and am happy I did. I will however mention that the cake could have probably fed 20 kids and took about an hour and a half to frost. Thank God he requires eggless cake or I may not put in the effort next year.

It was an exciting fun filled weekend devoted to doing whatever the little man wanted to do. If you ask him now how old he is he will tell you "Four!"- he thinks he is hilarious. He has quite the sense of humor and will happily tell you not only his "age" (he knows he is two), but also that he is a genius. Daddy taught him that.