Arthur is here!

Arthur Conan Ellis is here!

He entered the world on Groundhogs' Day just as mommy reached 41 weeks.
Thanks for that, buddy! I did not want to be induced :)
And he wanted to stay face-up the entire time, but it was okay.  We got to the hospital at 11, and he was born at 3:30.  I really wanted an afternoon baby after having the others in the middle of the night, and it made a huge difference--we both got sleep the first night!

I told Fox that this baby wasn't coming until he had a name.  We decided on a name three days before he was born.

We chose Arthur Conan for a few reasons.

1.) His initials are A.C.E. which we loved.

2.) Fox can call him "Thor" for short if he must :)

3.) We love the meaning of his name. Arthur means "strong as a bear" and Conan means "little wolf". Love that!

4.) We always like a literary reference, and this one is an obvious one but incidental...Arthur Conan Doyle is the author of Sherlock Holmes.

 

Enjoying the Grandparents!

Quincy has been so great with Arthur! He has been super happy all week and loves to hold and kiss "baby Ars-ur".

It is amazing how quickly babies change in a week!  Here is Arthur at a week old!:

So far, Arthur is a very mellow baby and a great eater. The week has gone by so smoothly. We are so happy to have him in our family!

Quincy is 2!

 Quincy turned 2 today!

He didn't really get that it was his birthday, but he still had fun!

We celebrated yesterday, because it was a holiday and technically his real birthday (he

was born in Japan, so on his actual birth day there, he was also born the day before in the U.S. Awesome...or confusing?)

He wanted a pinata, and then he was totally terrified of it. This is him trying to get away from that thing--I think it was the Angry Bird face.

Quincy loves anything to do with sports balls, so he got a football cake!

I am laughing because he blew the candle out in the middle of the song by basically just whispering at it nonchalantly. It was so underwhelming that it was funny.

The birthday boy with his present, a "baby slide", and his favorite toys.  He sleeps with the football at night and will wander around looking for it if it is not in sight at all times.

We love our Quincy boy. Right now, he loves:

--What does the Fox say? song

--Coco's scooter (Coco's not happy about that one)

--Popsicles, vitamins, and anything sweet

--Also grapefruit

--The song Moon, Moon, Moon by Laurie Berkner

--Playing, puppies, giving hugs, going for walks, and taking naps

I can't believe he is already 2 and about to be a big brother! I'm so glad he is still such a snuggler :)

December, sort of

I was about to do a big long post about our December, but I would rather be in bed right now, honestly.  So, here are a few pictures of our cute kiddos!

Cash, 6 Coco, 5 and Quincy, almost 2

These guys love each other so much (well, Coco is still warming up to Quincy after 2 years but she is a big helper). 

I can't believe we will have another little baby in a few short weeks.  I am due on January 26th, but I feel like he will come the first week of February.  I am not in a rush!

We are still working on names and have just decided that we'll see when he gets here, which we have never done before. This will be interesting.

Also interesting will be how Quincy reacts to a baby.  He is pretty demanding right now. And still in diapers. So double fun!

Honestly, though, I am really excited!  It is always so fun to wonder and see who it will be that will join our family! 

Coco turns 5!

Last month, Coco turned 5!

She wanted a strawberry angel food cake and In 'N Out for her birthday.

She also really wanted a walking/blinking unicorn!

and a cat that meows!

For her birthday at school, she brought mini pink cupcakes.  She got to hold the birthday pig while it sang "My Girl" to her.  She was so excited!

And here is her birthday interview:

We sure love our helpful, imaginative, curious, quirky girl!

October!

 I just realized that I hadn't blogged about Halloween...here are some things that happened in October.

 

Cash and Cosette had their Historical Harvest day at school.  Every student had to pick a person from history and memorize and present a brief paragraph about that person's life on an outdoor stage.

Cash was Christopher Columbus. Cosette was Maria Montessori (first female doctor in Italy among many other things).

Fact: Both Columbus and Montessori had illegitimate children.  I didn't have them memorize that fact :) 

They did a great job!  It was so cute to see them get up and speak loudly about their people!

After school that day was the Fall Festival. At the face painting booth, Cosette requested a dolphin diving upside down.  She stood in line forever but thought it was worth it!

A few days later, we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat.  It was cold, so Quincy enjoyed his warm fox costume.

We got a lot of "What does the fox say?" questions directed towards Quincy. He thinks the fox roars.  I refuse to show him the Youtube video!

On Halloween night, we only went to a couple of neighbors to trick or treat...I don't like

trick or treating, and my kids forget about their candy anyways.  It's more fun for them to watch Harry Potter and have popcorn.

Cosette is a fairy riding a unicorn (not sure why she wouldn't take her tiger shirt off). Cash is Darth Vader.  He loves this costume. I caught a glimpse of Darth Vader taking a rest in the hammock in the backyard--too cute!

October also brought with it the start of my third trimester! 

 I can't believe I only have 10 weeks left.  Time has flown by!

I love being pregnant and have really easy pregnancies. I am a little bummed that we still don't have a name for this boy, but I kind of expected it--when we named Quincy, I knew I would be stumped on a good name for the next one, especially if it was a boy.  I feel like he should have a name ending in Y, too, but we can't find one we agree on.  I am really interested to see what this baby's name ends up being :)

So that was October!  And November is halfway over! I can't believe it!

Fox's Black Belt Ceremony

Fox has been training for months and finally earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do last week!

It has been hard work--there was a huge training packet that needed to be completed, which included physical requirements, such as doing 100 pushups at a time, and some other requirements, including a book report--Fox read the Art of War and Man's Search for Meaning.

Finally, after his training was completed, he had to take a 10 hour test.  The first test was 5 hours of physical exercise--pushups, squats, jumps, showing forms, and other maneuvers.  The second test was 5 hours of learning a brand new routine and then performing it perfectly.

His school had a huge ceremony last week and really honored those who progressed to black belt.

Fox and Master Nam, who likes to brag that his black belt tests are the hardest in the nation.

That's a big trophy--it is much taller than Cash!

I didn't get many good shots, but here is some video of Fox's board-breaking routine:

 Go Fox! He has managed subbing full-time, assistant teaching at the Tae Kwon Do studio part time, plus full-time grad school on top of training! We are very proud of him!

First Day of School!

This Monday was the first day of school!

Coco is in kindergarten this year! 

                                                                     

Cash is in 2nd grade!

He got to skip Kindergarten last year, since he went to school in Japan.

Settling in! 

We decided to put our kids in the Montessori Charter School this year--all day kindergarten for Coco and a combo 1/2 class for Cash, so he wouldn't be the youngest.

Cash's teacher left chocolates and a note by each chair, so she is a big hit already!

The note said, "It'll be sweet to be your teacher!" I like her :)

 

 

    We are all still adjusting---the kids have been tired this week! They won't have homework for the first 3 weeks.  I'm interested to see how they do with Montessori--it is very much independent learning! Mixed with Common Core. We'll see how this goes.

    I thought I would get a nice break while the kids are gone-and I do while Quincy naps--but once he is up, I feel like I am busier than ever! Terrible Twos in effect in this house!

 Do you see what I have to deal with? :)