Hayden is 6!   I still can't believe it, even though we had a blast celebrating this past weekend.  As if his past 4 Halloween costume choices didn't give it away, Hayden LOVES superheros.  Naturally, he wanted a superhero birthday party.   Who are we to disappoint?!?! 

We cut out fleece capes and felt shapes for each boy to decorate his own superhero cape and mask.  Here's the superhero squad posing for their comic book cover:   Jackson, JJ, Patton, Hayden, Adam and Grant (can you tell we're military by the names?).    Even though we had activities planned, the boys really just wanted to run around as their secret identities. 

We traced & colored a life-size Hayden to use for "Pin the Symbol on the Superhero".  Luckily, there were no awkward placements on the underwear!  Brennan didn't seem to understand why he couldn't have a turn!

 Finally, the big surprise....
Each boy got his own can of Spiderman Webbing (aka dollar store silly string) to help them catch the burglars scattered all around the garage.  Not only did Patrick allow this cleaning disaster... it was his idea!!  It took some time for the boys to figure out how to work the silly string, but in no time we had colorful webbing ALL OVER the garage.



Each burglar was successfully captured and the superhero squad congratulated on a job well-done.


Until next year, Super Friends!

Vancouver or bust

Our time here in the Pacific Northwest is dwindling as we are slated to PCS(move)  late spring or summer.  That being said, we figured we'd always regret not visiting Vancouver in the chance we never made it back to the wrong west coast.  What did we learn from the short visit to Canada?

Vancouver's Steam Clock.
Apparently, it's a big deal

• Don't joke with Hayden about border patrol agents thinking we kidnapped him.  He was a little nervous about "looking suspicious".
• Canada has a superbowl.... except the trophy looks like the Stanley Cup, nobody advertises for it, and the city hosts a parade that shuts down every street in the metro area.  
• Never put the 2 boys in a hotel room together unless you want one of them to wake the other at 6am... suprisingly, Brennan was the not offender.  
• And lastly, don't go to Vancouver.  But if you must, skip everything else and head straight for the aquarium. 

All kidding aside, we're glad we made the trip.  

At least, we're glad we went to the aquarium.

How to Teach A Kid To Take A Picture...

... we don't know, but if you find out be sure to tell us!

The rainy season (September - May) is back!   Must be time for fall soccer!
The toughest competition Hayden's team endured so far is the Youth Mexican Fifa World Cup Team... no, seriously.
Okay, so maybe not exactly accurate.  But those kids did all have the same dad.... named Pele.

Hayden's having a blast, especially in defense.
He's also having a blast goofing off with his friends.
Now we just need to teach him to pose for a picture before school picture day.

Raise Your Voice

Babies learn new things every day... it's part of their deal.
As you can tell, Brennan has recently learned to use his voice to get things.
   Or maybe he's just trying to get attention?
      Or maybe he's just being loud for the sake of being loud.

Either way, Patrick and I have had a glimpse into our future with Thing 1 and Thing 2, and we're a little worried....

First Day of School!

Yes, that's right.  Brennan isn't the only one working his way through a list of "First"s.

First day of kindergarten.
First time riding a school bus.
First time he didn't ham it up for the camera....

In fact, Hayden's exact words were, "Moooommm, I just want to get on my school bus!"

Poor kid.  He doesn't even realize this is just the beginning of embarrassing parents.

A Different Kind of Birthday Cake

The Fultons recently made the journey to the Pacific Northwest for a summer visit.  In addition to lots of backyard lacrosse games and a beautiful trip to Victoria, BC (that's Canada, for you east coasters), we had the opportunity to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday!


It's not exactly a secret that I got my sweet tooth from my father, so instead of a boring birthday cake this year we decided to try something a little more interesting.....

Frozen Chocolate-Dipped Key Lime Pie Popsicles!

Even Brennan wanted in on the fun :)

Wrestlemania Jr.

Barely 6 months old, and already wants to wrestle.  

Mommy might as well give up now....

Hayden's Preschool Graduation

Hello everybody! This is Hayden.

Dear family, I hope you all enjoy my graduation and I hope you enjoy this video. I graduated from Mini Skool. Next year I am going to kindergarten. The school is named Chloe Clark. The most funnest thing I'm going to do is ride the school bus! I hope you enjoy the video from me graduating from Mini Skool. Love Hayden.

Say What?!

Brennan recently discovered that the more noise he makes, the more attention he gets.

As you can probably guess, he learned that from big brother...

Is it Spring, yet?!?!

So we are at the end of the winter season here in the Pacific Northwestand that means it rains every day with the occasional splash of sunshine to keep our hopes up. We are trying to not get boggeddown by Brennan's need for constant holding, feeding and napping, so we have made a few trips out of the house on the weekend. Hayden and I went skiing again the other week. Unfortunately I was too busy coaxing him down the hill to take any pictures, but I did get one shot of him on the chair lift.

Yesterday we went to the Boeing Museum. Katy and Hayden have gone several times, but it was my first trip. Pretty cool WWII and WWI displays. We were able to walk t

hrough Air Force One, which was LBJs, Kennedy's and Nixon's. Much smaller than the modern era Air Force Ones, but neat to see a little bit of history.

Brennan is doing well. We have figured out his routine so the frustration with guessing what mood he is going to be in has passed. Hayden tries to help whenever he can, but concepts such as not being too loud or moving too fast are lost on an excited 5 year old.

Here are some photos from the museum and 2.5 month old Brennan!

Two months later...

Well, sleep deprivation hasn't prevented us from keeping up with the basic necessities (eating, sleeping, bathing and the like). In fact, we've all but forgotten about those blissful nights without a single disruption to a good night's sleep; okay, so maybe we haven't forgotten completely and hold out hope they'll return... soon.

At his 2 month check-up, Brennan weighed in just shy of 12 pounds and

was described as perfect by the doctor (nothing we didn't already know). He's as curious as ever, especially about big brother, Hayden, and has recently learned to crack a smile. Although Mommy and Daddy are obvious favorites, no one can catch his attention like Hayden.

Watch the video below to see for yourself!

Coming Events:

• Patrick is prosecuting his first solo jury trial this week in the Tacoma Federal Court. Ever the practical one, he's been rehearsing his opening and closing statements while rocking Brennan to sleep in a dark, quiet room.

• Hayden is off with Daddy for his second ski trip and couldn't be more excited! Look for more pictures of the little ski bunny on the next blog post.

• Katy and Brennan are venturing into the world of yoga... Mommy and Me yoga, to be exact. Here's hoping we're not surrounded by too many of the Pacific NW species of tree-huggers.

Hair by Hayden... by appointment only

As many of you have heard, we welcomed Brennan Carl into our family on Monday, January 31, 2011. At 39 weeks, he came in at 8 lbs, 5 oz (just shy of Hayden's weight) and 21 inches long! After a couple days in the army hospital, we all came home to Oma and Opa Fulton, Bubba and Kiki Regan (who were serendipitously stranded in CA thanks to the snow), Auntie Ali, and big brother Hayden!

Although he looks like Hayden did as a newborn (Hayden vs Brennan, on the right), they already have different personalities. While Hayden is independent, Brennan is certainly a high maintenance baby and can't stand it if he's not being held. Not a problem since we love holding our youngest son... unless of course it's 3am and we're trying to sleep ;)

Hayden has been loving the big brother experience so far. There was one late-night feeding where Hayden burst into our room to sleepily glare and request we keep the baby quiet, but otherwise he's been exceptional! He's very excited to start playing games with Brennan and begin teaching him everything he knows. For whatever reason, Hayden has taken to wetting and combing his hair into crazy styles and apparently couldn't wait to pass this hobby on to Brennan...

Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes and kind words these past couple of weeks! We'll be sure to keep everyone updated, but hope to introduce Brennan to everyone sometime soon.