Raising the Raines Rascals: September So Far, In a Nutshell

You can see his teeth in this shot....aren't they cute?

So, here are the lake photos that I promised to post two weeks ago. Sorry it took me so long. I didn't get a good one of Ethan at the pool so I am posting one of him on the ride home instead.

He is such a silly boy! My little cutie pie.

I also mentioned in the last post that we were having Jennifer's shower that weekend....well we did and everything went great! As an added bonus Landen made a new friend....Miss Cecila Miller. Her mom was a co-host of the shower and Cecilia is about 2 and a half months younger than Landen. She is the cutest little girl ever and she and Landen enjoyed chatting with each other in baby language.

As you can tell, we all enjoyed watching the two of them interact...

Ethan was, as always, a very good baby during the shower. He and Grammy played and danced the entire time. She now calls him her little "Tater Bug" because his middle name is Tate.

The Sunday following the shower, after church, we celebrated Mom's birthday and Grandparent's day here at the house with the whole family and unfortunately I didn't take pictures but after a delecious dinner we enjoyed pineapple upside down cake (which is mom's favorite). And Ethan gave each grandparent a gift that he had chosen all by himself especially for them. This is the first year we have done that and he was so proud to show them what he had gotten them!

Last week, Ethan had school pictures at school and he practiced smiling the entire ride to school. He is so funny and makes me laugh more than anyone I know! We will see when the proof comes in whether his practice paid off or not. We went to the bookfair at his school and he picked out this super cool book about planets. When we read it I learned something new, Pluto is now too small to be cosidered a planet! He and Landen enjoyed looking at the book together.

Ethan is like a bottomless pit after school! I swear he eats anything he can get his hands on!!! One day last week he ate a 4 piece chicken nugget, 2 pieces of cheese, a strawberry popsicle, a pack of fruit chews, a Lunchable, an apple, and drank 2 glasses of chocolate milk....and this was all before dinner!!! He also says whatever is on his mind, which usually ends up embarassing me but this past Sunday he brought tears to my eyes. At our church, the entire congregation shakes hands at the end of the service (which my best friend Jennifer has told me that she finds odd) but anyway Ethan has been taking part in the handshake since before he could walk and it is by far his favorite part of the church service! Anyway, Bro. Chad Lambert was our pastor from the time Ethan was born until he was almost five years old and we all thought very highly of him. He left our church back last year and only comes to visit once in awhile. Well, this past Sunday he was there and as we were shaking hands Ethan looked him dead in the eye and said "I miss you". I had no idea this had taken place until after church when Chad came over and asked us if we had put Ethan up to telling him anything. I said no and asked what he had said and that is when he told me with tears in his eyes. Bro. Lambert said it shocked him that at Ethan's age he would say that. He said Ethan turned him to jello in an instant and I was so proud of him. It may not sound like that big of a deal but I think it is great that he knows and loves his church family and feels comfortable enough to tell them how he feels. Ethan never fails to suprise us in the most wonderful ways!

Landen is just so irresistable! His little chubby cheeks probably ache at the end of the day from where I kiss them throughout the day. He is laughing out loud more and babbling up a storm. Last week he wouldn't sit by himself even if I was in sight. He would just cry and cry which isn't like him but I think his teeth were hurting him badly! One day his gums even bled a little! Today he has been great. We played together on a blanket for a while and then he sat there and played by himself. Which gives me time to throw a load of laundry in or work on planning one of the many upcoming events. We also danced together today and he thinks that is the funniest thing! Landen is getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth but still can't crawl yet. He wakes up with a smile on his face and goes to sleep the same way...I am so blessed to have had two happy babies. He is now outgrowing his 12 month clothes completely! We have to buy 18-24 months for my 8 month old baby!!! Everytime I wash a load of his laundry I have to put away atleast two or three outfits because he has outgrown them. Landen goes to town in his walker now. He can get around all over the place in that thing! He has graduated from one to two containers of babyfood at a time, twice a day! He keeps it down fine and if I don't give it to him he is NOT happy. As you can guess it is hard to keep enough food and correctly sized clothes in the house right now for these quickly growing boys! But I wouldn't have it any other way and I thank God for them.

This past Saturday we spent the day at the Nashville zoo with Amanda and her kids. It was a beautiful day full of sunshine but man was it hot! We all enjoyed the zoo and made an entire day of it. Needless to say, we were exhausted once we got home. Can't wait to see what fun we can get into next weekend!