Happy Halloween!!

So far such a great fall.  We've made it to a pumpkin farm, our annual family fall party, 'Boo at the Zoo' and soon to come trick-or-treat.   Such fun!  

We have so much fun spending time as a family.  Emarie already has such strong memories that come with her from year to year.  She was all ready for the bone hunt and the 'ghost train' at Dorothy and Jim's this year.  She was holding a quarter before we left and told Nana that she had her money all ready for the ghost train.  :)  We hadn't even mentioned it yet.    

The kids are animals this year, their costumes I mean.  Emarie, a giraffe and Preston, a monkey (very appropriate).  

Enjoy the 'jibjab'

Happy Birthday Emarie!

Our little girl turns four this Tuesday. Time flies. We asked her where she'd like to go out to eat for her birthday dinner and she said, 'the place that all the people sit and the man cooks', which we quickly translated into Genji, the local Japanese steak house. :) Sounds good to me.

She started preschool a couple of weeks ago. She loves it of course. Comes home every day with lots of things to teach me.

We had her birthday party today. It was a great time. Daddy got her a bounce house, and there were 8 little ones here playing, with a curious george theme. Lots of family here as well. Nana, 'Jones', Grandpa Jeff, Addy, Abby, Nate, Ryan, Grandma and Grandpa G, Jonathon and Christopher, Mimi and Grandpa Steve, Summer, Zane, Gee and Pa, Robyn, Delaney, Derrick and Drake, Glo Glo and Madi, the Ontko's, and our neighbors the Romagnoli's. She got so many wonderful gifts (even though the invitations said no gifts necessary :) ), as I type she is silent playing with her new polly pockets, and disney princess leapster game. Thank you everyone for coming!!

Here is the traditional birthday video that we made for her this year (we've made one for each year so far). It's my way of reflecting on the year, as I tear up through each part of the process of making it. It's so fun looking back, yet bittersweet that she's gotten so big already.

ENJOY! (It's like 10 minutes long)

VOTE FOR PRESTON!

I entered Preston's pic into some online cutest baby contest. I guess it's getting time for me to go back to work for me to have time for such things. ha! But, it's fun...

Click the link or cute and paste into your browser to vote.

http://gapc-vote.com/?p=1687886

What summer is all about...

Summer, family, friends, the outdoors, time on the boat, and for me complete house organization.

We've been busy with trips to the zoo, camping trips and a weekend at Aunt Cindy's lake house.

Preston is now on the move, he started the inch worm at exactly 7 months. He now has two teeth. He is just as pleasant and easy as ever. I love being home with him during these huge changes over these three months.

Here is a picture preview of what we've been up to, and then I'm off to the next drawer or closet to attack. :)

Fourth of July Parade in Gahanna.
We stayed home and watched the fireworks from our front porch this year.

I walked upstairs to check on her and found this...her 'class', she said 'Hi Momma, I'm just teachin em some tings' :)

Most of the second cousins at Aunt Cindy's lake house, they had a blast together!

I'm a blog slacker!

Kudos to all that update their blogs much more often than I. Thanks to all of you who have kept checking even though it remains easter! I'm not sure what my problem has been. One, I'm working on the kids scrapbooks which takes my blog time away. Nonetheless, I'm going to try harder...last summer I posted once a week...we'll see if I can keep up.

On to the updates:

Preston is 7 months old. He is such a sweetheart. Happy and content as long as he's fed. He loves putting things in his mouth, laughing at his sister, and wrestling on our bed.

Emarie is 3 1/2 going on 13 and has mastered riding her bike (with training wheels). She just had her first big dance recital after having dance class all year! It was quite a trip, she had 20some fans there to watch, and got flowers afterwards from her Grandma and Grandpa and her Nana.
Look back for camping and zoo photos!

We just got back from a four day camping trip to Alum Creek. We got to go to the dog park, dog beach, boat rides, the real beach, the zoo, and of course roast marshmallows and all that fun stuff. Emarie was very excited and finally old enough for me to trust her a little bit. She had fun riding her bike around the circle we were camped on....loved riding on the boat as long as daddy went fast, and did a great job entertaining herself. Preston was a trooper...we brought an exersaucer, a clip on highchair, a blow up bath tub, and a playpen so he was good to go. He loved taking a bath in the blow up tub...and Emarie decided it was a good place for her to bathe as well. :)

Happy Easter from the 'Official Easter Bunny'

The hat says 'official Easter Bunny'

A few of this years Easter Pics...by mommy more at Flickr

Emarie 3 1/2 years old, Preston 4 1/2 months

We went to 'Dismy' World!!

Spring break 2009 was spent in Orlando! Yes, we took both kids, no we aren't crazy...we got to take Nana too... :)

Note to self and others, for future reference don't do Disney at spring break.....next time, maybe 5 years from now we'll go again in Nov, or Jan. :) But, we rode Dumbo, It's a small world and met the princesses and Emarie loved it.
All the poor girl wanted was a 'Minnie hat' and chocolate ice cream in a cone...not an unreasonable request for twelve hours in a theme park without a nap.

The shirt says...Don't Make Me Call My Nana :)

Ahh...a bottle under the fireworks

There are more pictures at Flickr... http://www.flickr.com/photos/gueth/sets/72157616637454390/

Shaving Cream Ice Skating!

The boys had a blast!

Her mother's daughter, wiping her hands every few minutes.

Preston is 3 months old... cooing, smiling, laughing, finding his hands, sleeping through the night and just rolled over.  Here he is...

Busy...

Awww.

We got to go to Bellefontaine last weekend, and Preston finally got to meet his Grandma Cloyd. She's been sick since he was born and is getting better.

We also went to play at the Discovery Center (mom's school).

What's new...we've been sick. Preston and Emarie were both down with a virus the past five days. Two visits to the dr later we're on the mend.
Braden has successfully demolished our master bath and we're attempting to agree on the plans for renovation. Let's hope for a quick one.
Preston had his first laugh today! Apparently it's funny to be able to push up on his legs to stand while I call him a big boy. He's soo cute.
Emarie has taken up computers. She's been playing a Sesame Street game on my lab top everyday. She's a pro at using the mouse, just like her daddy.

What a blur...

The past two months have been such a whirlwind. First, Preston.....ahh. Then, preparing for Christmas with a newborn, while trying to recover....ooooh. Next, Christmas itself.....crazy!
We started the Sunday before Christmas at 10am at my Dad's house. It was a great time, lovely brunch, and great to see them all. Emarie loves playing in the American Girl vault in their basement.
Then on to Grandma Jones' house for the Jones family Christmas. Everyone was there this year. So nice.
Home for Christmas Eve, Nana spent the night and we had Christmas Eve dinner at a Japanese Steak House (fa ra ra ra ra... :). Christmas morning began around 7:30, opening presents at our house. We then went to Braden's dad's for gifts over there. Home to wrap and pack up for the next few days. We went to Bellefontaine to my mom's to spend the night and the next day.

That night we took off for Vermilion/Amherst to see Braden's family. Gee and Pa watched the kids so we could go see my friend Katy and Erik. So good to see them! I miss her soo much! The next day we took the kids over to meet them. A great visit full of laughter as always. From there off to Braden's mom's house for the Veith family Christmas. 5/6 kids together, not a bad turn out. We drove back home that night...and proceeded to fill our entry way with gifts to unpack. It was a busy, fulfilling, holiday. But, man was I tired.

On the 29th we had an unofficial work Christmas party with 8 of us girls going to the melting pot for dinner, a great time. Nothing like sitting, talking and laughing with those girls, whom we have everything in common. Especially while dipping rice krispie treats in chocolate. :)

On the 30th we packed up for Cherry Valley Lodge and Coca Key water resort. We spend two nights there with Nana, Jones, Abby, Nate and Ryan. We had unoffical new year at 10 for the kids, who then proceeded to pass out in Nana's room while the four of us hit the bar to wait for the ball to drop, immediately preceeded by bedtime.

Smile!

Preston is two months old. He's smiling and cooing, making our hearts beat with joy each time he does. It's amazing how much he looks like his big sister.