18 Months!

Ethan is 18 months today!  He weighs 20 pounds, 12 ounces (10%) and is 33 inches long (70%) - long and lean like his daddy!  Ethan wears size 3 diapers, size 4-5 shoe, 12 month tops and 9 month bottoms.  Bottoms are hard to find considering his weight and length...everything that fits in the waist is typically too short.  He drinks 2-3 whole milk sippy cups a day and rarely has juice.  You are getting more hair, but it's light and thin, so there isn't much styling we can do with it still.

These days, Ethan's favorite things to do inside are play with cars on racetracks, bother Hannah and ride his rocking horse.  Outside he enjoys climbing on walls (and falling off and nearly needing stitches) and running around trying to find dirt, rocks and bugs.  He's definitely all boy.  He loves balls and kicking and throwing them.  Currently you have a bruise on your forehead, a scratch on your nose and a scratch on your cheek appeared this afternoon. 

Ethan's eating habits are fair.  He usually chews on fruit and then spits it out. It's like he likes the flavor, but doesn't want to get full on fruit - ha! He loves hot dogs, chicken nuggets and grilled cheese.  Lately he's been calling everything a cheeto.  He likes yogurt, cereal bars, fig newtons, applesauce, pudding, goldfish, pretzels, oreos, pop tarts, donuts and raisins.  Those are our staples. 

Ethan seems to be getting a new tooth every week.  This has caused some glitches in  his sleep, but overall he's still a great sleeper.  Typically he sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 2-4 hours worth of naps a day.  He's starting to somewhat give up his morning nap, even though most days he still needs it.  He's absolutely, whole heartedly in LOVE with his pacifier and puppy lovey thing. We CAN NOT leave the house without these things or we are in for it. 

You play very well alone and I love peeking in on you playing by yourself.  You are constantly bringing me books to read you  and I love it! It's such a sweet time.  You also bring me toys all day long and I take them and your run off to get another.  I have a great toy collection by the end of the day. 

Your favorite word is no. I will ask you if you had a good nap and you will shake your head so big and say no.  It's actually really cute right now, but I know that will change soon!  Other common words you say: out, more, milk, puppy, ruff ruff, moo, tractor, outside, diaper, mater, paci, Hannah, mommy, daddy.  You can say all your cousins names, pawpaw, KK, Big B.  You probably have a vocabulary of about 50 words you same often, but you repeat ANYTHING! Out of those 50 words, other people can probably understand 5 of them - ha! 

Oh Ethan, what a joy you are. I can't believe we are half way to your second birthday. I know you are going to grow SO MUCH between now and then. You've definitely been the perfect fit to our little family and we are so thankful for you. You keep us laughing and smiling and you think you are so big!   You keep up well with the big kids, but you'll always be my baby! Love you, kid! 

A Princess Party and a Festival

This past weekend we went to London's 6th birthday party.  She had a la la loopsey theme and it was at a local hair salon and all the little girls got to get their hair, nails and makeup done....and a tatoo.  Hannah LOVED it!

After she had her hair and make up done I jumped forward about 15 years thinking about her getting dressed up for prom.  Hannah looked beautiful, but I'm definitely not ready for proms! She absolutely loved it and kept her hair fixed all weekend.  her hairdo was called the "flower hair" and she's asked me several times since the party to fix her hair in the "flower hair." 

Saturday morning we headed to the Syrup Festival about an hour away. It was great weather, but it was packed!! We still had a great time and the kids enjoyed it. 

Hannah loved the carousel.

Ethan especially loved his ice cream!

Ethan was konked out seconds after we left. I think he crashed from all the sugar.  He was also SO sticky we had to strip him down to his diaper. 

It's so fun making these memories with the kids, even if they are alot of work for mommy and daddy!

3 !/2

Hannah is 3 1/2 today!  It's crazy to think that we are already halfway to 4! Every year just creeps on me. Before I know it we are going to be sending her to college!

Hannah has such a sweet spirit. She's (typically) so kind and polite and uses good manners.  She's started saying "yes, ma'am" and "no sir" without prompting and she's also learning to chew her food with her mouth closed.  She always says thank you and you're welcome.  I'm really so proud of her.

In the past 6 months Hannah has grown up so much.  She talks different, plays different and even looks a little different.  Her hair has grown so much.  She's developed a huge opinion about what she wears each day and she always wants a dress.  With cooler weather I've forced pants on her, but it's not always easy.  Our conversations have turned into real conversations.  She's curious and asks "why" about everything.  Yes, we still talk about barbies and baby dolls most of the day, but we've also seen her really get what we mean when we talk about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. She says that Jesus lives in her heart and in heaven and that he created everything.  We have always tried our best to instill the love of Jesus in her and the fruits of our labor is starting to pay off.  She will often volunteer to pray at dinner when we have forgotten and she prays really sweet prayers at night for family and friends. She pretend plays all day and it's cute to hear her playing with all her dolls. She sounds just like me a lot of the time!

Her favorite things to do are crafts, coloring with markers, playing with little princesses, dressing up, reading books and playing outside.  She loves to ride her bike and swing.  She's still got a really good balance of girly and tom boy.

Hannah still isn't a vegetable eater.  She will eat raw carrots with ranch, but nothing else.  She loves pretty much all fruit, so we just try to give her as much as we can.  She got her mommy and daddy's genes and she LOVES chips.  Our family could go through an entire bag of chips in 2 minutes!

Hannah absolutely loves dancing and school.  She talks about these things all the time and gets so excited when it's a school or dancing day.  She is doing great in dancing and Aunt Jenn tells me that she's a great listener at school.  She recently told Aunt Jenn that she wanted to be a mommy when she grows up and that made my heart smile. I pray every day that Hannah can be blessed to be a mommy one day and that she will someday be able to stay at home with her babies like me. It's truly a blessing.

Hannah weighs just about 30 pounds and wears 3T clothes, mostly.  She can still fit in some 2T things, but I generally buy 3's so they will fit longer.  She wears a size 8 shoe. She loves to have her hair braided, but I'm not so good at that, so it's usually just in a pony tail!

Hannah Kate, I love you more today than the day you were born.  I never knew how great it was going to be to have a daughter. I love giggling with you, dressing up with you and being girly with you.  I love that you like having your nails painted and typically always want a bow in your hair.  You are so precious to me and I'm so proud of the little girl you are.  

Love you!

Mommy