September flew by...

September was busy and hectic and just flew right by! The Head Start grant I had been working for since returning from my maternity leave was coming to an end so I was a little stressed out about not having a job...luckily I was fortunate enough to find another position within the University at the end of August. It has actually turned out to be really great, but it caused us to have some new schedules and routines to get used to and much less time for me to get all of my fun personal things done...like blogging! I had to say goodbye to some great colleagues and my wonderful boss, but they sure did make me feel appreciated!

Shane got his first ear infection shortly after starting my new position. He was fine all day, but started saying his ear was hurting that evening and then it quickly turned into all out pain during the night. It was an awful feeling hearing him cry and being unable to do anything to make it better. Luckily we got in to the doctor right away the next morning and he responded quickly to the antibiotics. I feel very fortunate that it took almost 3 years for this to happen as most of our friends have had trouble with ear infections since birth!

Just before Shane got the ear infection, he and I escaped to the beach for a little fun in the sun...and wind! We had a great time building sandcastles and chasing seagulls. The pouty face is because his friend the seagull wouldn't let him give him a hug!

September also marked an even that Shane had been waiting for all year...the "scary store" opened up in preparation for Halloween! Last year we took Shane to the Spirit Halloween store at least once a week, if not more, to see all the "scary stuff." He had been waiting and waiting for the scary store to be opened again...so of course we went the very first day and got him his Iron Man costume. He just loves skeletons and spiders and dressing up and all the scary things that go along with Halloween. He wanted to try lots of masks...but only the skeleton ones!

The next week I was told that Iron Man was spotted at Target one day while I was at work. Then Ryan sent me this picture of Shane in his costume and his Spiderman slippers. Yes, he took him out in public like this and it wasn't even October yet! lol

Shane is REALLY obsessed with Iron Man now. I heard him whispering in his room one night, "Shhh, Iron Man you are supposed to be sleeping!" I was cracking up! Iron Man also enjoys a good soak in the hot tub every now and then.

In preparation of Shane's 3rd birthday, Grandma Linda ordered Shane an awesome new swing set! So one drizzly day Ryan and I managed to get it all put together in Grandma's backyard. Shane was pretty excited to have his own playground!!

We were long overdue for a playdate with Shannon and Samuel, so we met up with them to see Petty Theft, a Tom Petty Tribute band, that was playing outdoors at the Northgate Mall. It turned out to be a beautiful night and Shane and Samuel got to have ice cream and dance the night away! These boys are too cute!

We ended the month with Cash's 4th birthday party and Shane's first visit to Pump It Up! I was concerned how it would work out since it was a Sunday night party and Shane has never really liked the jumpy houses since he is so little and gets knocked around so easily...but he had a BLAST playing with the boys and going down the huge slide over, and over, and over!

August Birthdays

Shane's friend Lennon (aka Lemon) turned 3 this month! She had a birthday at her house and the kids got to decorate their own mini cupcakes. They loved it! Shane was very proud of his blue frosting, super sprinkled creation!

Birthday Girl with her cupcakes

Lennon in the cute butterfly hat I made for her!

Too cute playing in the play house together

At first Shane avoided the cute girls in the pool

Lennon attacking Shane, but he loves it!

We also celebrated Ryan's 35th birthday this month! His Mom and Step-Dad treated us to sushi at Hana. This was Shane's first sushi experience. He didn't try any of the rolls, but he did seem to really like the red wine teriyaki salmon. YUMMY!

Aunt Tammy and Shane

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!

Fun in the Sun

We went to the Santa Rosa Air Show, but Shane wasn't very interested in the airplanes...and the cool jet was so loud that it hurt his ears. He did have a blast playing with his buddy Zane though! So these ended up being the only few pictures I took while at the air show...but they sure are cute ones!

I also managed to escape to the river with Shane one day. We went to our favorite spot and he made a new little tiny friend: Mr. Froggy!

Here he is so excited that he almost squished his new friend!

Here is a close-up of Mr. Froggy

Shane loved him and played with him for a long time

"There is a frog on my head!"

Fair Days

We got to go to the fair TWICE this year and both times for FREE! Well tickets and parking were free...I'm not even going to mention how much was spent on all the other fun stuff inside! I was excited for Shane this year since he is a little bit bigger and would be able to go on some of the rides. But of course before any of the rides we had to find ICE CREAM!!

It turned out that Shane was still just a little too small to ride some of the rides alone, but we are smooth talkers and Shane is just so darn cute most people can't resist him :) Here he is with Daddy on his all time favorite...SUPER SLIDE! I just love this smile!

It cost $5 PER PERSON to go on the ferris wheel...so I sat this one out. Unfortunately Shane was a little scared of how high it went and kept asking for Mommy so maybe next time I won't be so cheap ;)

Shane and Ryan also went through fun house maze with all the clear plexiglass, but I couldn't get any good pictures from the outside. The first time Shane smacked head on into the clear window I started to panic, but he just laughed and did it over and over again. It was pretty darn funny!

Last, but not least was the Beach Fun House! Shane was just under the height limit and we didn't even have enough tickets for both him and Ryan...but we worked our magic and he loved it!

The second day we went to the fair I promised him cake with SUGAR so funnel cakes were our first stop. You will see his little Iron Man figures in most of these pictures because in between these two trips to the fair my big boy finally became completely potty trained and got his Iron Man rewards!

Here we ran into our friends Rick and Stacey and their two boys Zane and Ozzy. We don't see them very often, but Shane and Zane soon became good buddies! Here we all are in the Hall of Flowers.

Aren't these boys adorable? Shane was really excited to have some friends to play with.

Shane finally found a friend who loves to dance as much as he does! It didn't even matter that it was country music ;)

We walked around the Grace Pavillion and checked out all of the cool vendors. I bought Shane a birthday gift and some yummy donuts. Then we saw the photo guy where Ryan got these cute motorcycle pictures taken last year. We didn't want the same one, so the alternative was the Mexican Bandito!! You can't tell me this doesn't crack you up!

Here we are getting ready to ride the pony!

He was just a little excited!

Doesn't he look like a real cowboy?!?

Then the boys went on a couple of rides together...

Shane's first fast roller coaster type ride!

Watch as he goes from excited...

...to not so sure about this...

...to terrified and wanting it to stop!

Just then it started going in reverse...

Shane did go into the Glass House and Beach Fun House again after this...but no more fast rides!