Big Boy Bed & A New Friend

I can't even believe how far behind I am on posting pictures and keeping up to date with my journaling. This picture was taken back in October, but Ethan actually got his big boy bed right when we moved into our apartment. Since the boys are sharing a room we kept with the jungle theme for Ethan's new "big boy" bed. He absolutely loves it and has done great with the transition. Up until Tanner came along, he hardly ever got out of bed... now since baby brother joined us he comes to visit Mom & Dad just about every night at least once. It's a good night when he stays in bed all night. All I can say is it's getting better because it was 3+ times, I can only hope that my perserverance of taking him back to bed immediately will pay off soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I'd love to sleep through the night soon!

A few months back, we were so excited to make some new friends. Well...kinda new...Chris and Clay were friends as kids so it was a reunion for them to get to hang out again. Clay and his family were in town for 6 weeks for an internship. I was excited that Clay's wife, Jessica and I hit it off great and best of all our kids loved each other. Madison and Ethan were inseparable and had the best time playing together and I'm sure their cute little 6 month old will play great with Tanner when they get older. We were so excited to find out that Clay got a permanent job with the company he interned with and they will be back in a few months for good.

And just to prepare you guys for your big move, I'll give you the local weather forcast. Rainy, Cloudy, Rainy, Cloudy...apparently we are having "unseasonably rainy weather" or so I've been told a few times. The "rainiest November ever." I never realized until now how addicted to the sun I was...

Just a Few of our Favorite Places

Since being here in Lynchburg, we've been exploring the city in search of fun! I'm happy to report that we've found so many great places!

Here are our Top 5 Favorites:

#5- The Duck Pond

Just about a mile away from our house there is a cute little pond with the most unique duck family I've ever seen. The white duck is Ethan's favorite , but I'm partial to that duck with the one crazy feather that sticks up on his head. I've seen birds with no fear before but NOTHING like these. The very first time we went to feed them with Brent before he left for China, as we were walking toward them, they were coming towards us. By the time the bread was gone, they were following us up the hill back towards our car. Not going to lie...we definitely quickened our step to get back to the car. Since then, we've become great friends, just friends that try to keep their distance.

#4- The Jump Park

Thank goodness for Nana's little photo shoot at the park with Ethan because I never remember to bring my camera along when we go to the park, yet it's one of Ethan's favorite things. When we lived in Gilbert, AZ we spent hours at the park every day so when we moved here we quickly went searching for all the parks in the city. We've found a few great ones and each time we go I'm amazed to watch how much E has grown as I watch him climb, slide, and play all by himself now. All the time that I spent at the park when he was younger, I looked forward to the day when the park would be a place he could run and explore on his own as he develops his own favorites.

#3- Kid's Cove

I am so grateful for Kid's Cove...so grateful! This amazing indoor playland is located inside Jerry Fallwell's big church (he was a huge tele-evangelist for the Baptist Church, his son has since taken over.) The best part about it, it's completely FREE! So on rainy or cold days (which we've seen very frequently lately) we pack a lunch and head to Kid's Cove where Ethan can get all this 2 year old energy out indoors. Love it!

#2- Amazement Square

Now I'm not going to lie, Amazement Square rivals for the #1 spot. This children's museum is exactly as it's name suggests, AMAZING! After just one visit there as soon as we came out here, we bought an annual pass. Ethan's absolute favorite part of the museum is the "golf balls," an area where kids get to experiment with gravity and energy as they roll balls down hills, through loops, around spirals, and the best...up and down a roller coaster. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that part because Chris and I are usually playing too!

#1- Grandma & Grandpa's House

At the end of the day, Grandma and Grandpa's house still triumphs. We have so much fun living just down the road from them. Ethan loves to read books, play games, shoot basketball, hit baseballs, watch Grandpa cook on "the Egg," eat yummy meals, and so much more! It's been great to see my kids get a chance to form a close relationship with their grandparents.

Nana to the Rescue

Right after Tanner was born, my mom flew out to help me with the boys! We had so much fun together. Ethan especially loved all the extra attention he got. On top of that, I had just finished unpacking our house before my sweet baby Tanner was born so there were still projects to be done. My mom loves a project so she spent a day cleaning, reorganizing, and working on projects for me. Luckily, with all the craziness of this move from Gilbert, to Chris's parent's house, to the apartment, then the baby being born, I'm happy to say that we've only had 1 missing item - our home phone! Literally have looked everywhere and can not find it. Who knows...maybe it will turn up one of these days.

I know that the transition from 1 to 2 is supposed to be a huge change, but honestly I have really enjoyed it. I know that was due to having the help and support of a great family. Not only did I have my mom here to help entertain Ethan and watch Tanner so I could take a nap, but I have Chris's parents right down the street who have always been available to help at a moment's notice.

I've always been a pretty independent person and for the last 9 years of my life, I've lived at least 45 minutes if not further from family and I didn't know what it was going to be like to live so close. It's been such a fun experience for us to be able to get to know our family members better and it's been especially great for our kids to have so much quality time with their grandparents and uncles.

Creative Fun

Since moving here to Lynchburg plus adding a baby brother, Ethan and I have had to find ways to have some creative fun in our little home. Ethan is such a good sport and he's always up for whatever crazy fun I come up with. He loves to laugh, dance, play games I make up, and most of all talk about anything and everything! He had so many great little friends when we lived in Gilbert and I think we were both spoiled with the close proximity we had to friends, family and fun parks. We almost never had to do anything by ourselves.

Since being here, everyone already loves his sweet personality but as always it just take some time to find our niche in a new place with new friends. So until then, Ethan just loves Mom to entertain him 24/7. We're working on learning to play solo for at least a few minutes each day...

We like to call this breakfast, Eggy Letters. It's a family favorite (Egg in a Hole) with a twist (letter cookie cutters) and there you have it...Eggy Letters.

Breakfast with a Smile! What a great way to start the day!
Can you tell what Ethan's new favorite outfit is?

Ethan was so cute taking his animals in his "house" to play. He insisted on having me draw shapes on the door. He loves to identify shapes and letters. I'm absolutely amazed as he points them out where ever we go.

And when all else fails...he resorts to playing with Tanner and his baby toys. This play mat was always Ethan's favorite and it has quickly become a favorite for Tanner as well.

Lazy Sundays

Aren't you grateful for a Day of Rest? Since Tanner has come to join our family, I have realized that there are more reasons than germs for a Mom to stay home with her new baby for several weeks.

3 hours of peace and quiet which for me translates to a nap, a picked up house that actually lasts a few hours, catching up on a good book, a chance to plan out my week, organize my pictures, and best of all...an uninterrupted shower!

Today is my last Lazy Sunday morning alone at home with Tanner, but since it's Stake Conference and our stake center here is located about an hour away, I've got a nice 5 hour or so window of time.

Next week, Tanner and I will venture back out to church and best of all, he will be blessed next Sunday as well. I'm looking forward to getting Tanner all dressed up handsome for the occasion.

My boys love their lazy Sunday's as well...here's what it looked like last week:

Going Private...Again!

I was recently reminded by my wonderful husband that I was supposed to make this blog private, oh...about a year ago. :) Obviously, it slipped my mind so I'm going to try again! This time it's got to happen so I'll be starting the process in a couple days so if you want an invite leave me a comment and I'll be happen to include you in our life's journeys.

Tanner Allan is Here!

Tanner Allan Malone was born on Saturday, August 22 at 1:42 AM. He was 7 lbs 8 oz (despite a guess from the doctor that he'd only be 6 lbs. I guess I hide my babies well in my belly!) and was 20 3/4 inches long. He came 3 days early (just like Ethan...all about consistency.)

He is such a good baby and has been so much fun already! Ethan absolutely adores him and can't get enough, EVER!

Mom & Tanner right after he arrived (sorry for the blur)

First Bath - he did NOT love that!

Warm and Cozy - I just love little swaddled baby burritos. I think it's so cute!

Ethan was so excited to meet "Baby Tanner." I could hear him coming down the hall with Chris the next morning after he was born telling everyone that he came in contact with that he was going to see "his new baby Tanner."

What do you think? Do you see the resemblance? Just like Ethan or not at all?

Ethan loves giving kisses!!!

Funny semi-related story: Grandma and Grandpa took Ethan to church with them while I was still in the hospital on Sunday. They came straight home and called us to tell us that while Ethan was in nursery he went up to his teacher and asked her if he could kiss Zia (a little 18 month old girl in his class.) She said ok thinking that he'd give her a little kiss on the cheek and it would be cute. Well he walked straight over to her and kissed her right on the lips. Seriously? Where did that come from. :) haha! Everyone got a good laugh and I think Ethan is going to be known as the ladies man around nursery now!

Grandpa, Ethan, and Tanner

Tanner all ready to go home!

Most recent picture taken this morning after breakfast (4 days old)

A Visit to the Country

Whew...3 NEW POSTS in one day!
Make sure you scroll down and enjoy them all because Tuesday is Moving Day so it may be a while before my next update due to unpacking.
This weekend we took a ride out to the Country to visit Chris's grandparents. They live a couple hours away so it was a treat to go out for a visit. They greeted us with a delicious lunch of BBQ chicken and we had a great time catching up!

Great Grandad Wilson took us down to the garden to pick some veggies to take home.

The best part was shaking the trees to get some yummy apples and pears!

They had a great time filling the buckets with "the good ones"

Now for those of you who have been waiting...

Preggo picture at almost 38 weeks. Seriously...if that's not big...

As of Thursday, I'm at a 2 and 70% effaced, so maybe moving and unpacking this week will get baby here. We'll see...if not I'm ok for another 2 weeks...I don't know about you guys but I feel that babies are much easier to care for in than out. :)