Fun Stuff!

We have been having some fun around here lately. For starters, Wes has put in an entire sprinkler system at our house...and we live on about a half acre.  That's no job for the birds, people. It took major planning and skills to get this done and he did it with just a small amount of help from some friends and family. I'm a proud wife!  So with that, there have been lots of little holes and dirt around our yard...a great place for worms to snuggle.  So, Ethan had some fun playing with one of these worms. 

(Notice Wesley's hand)

He wasn't so sure about it because it was so squirmy, but he held it and was pretty interested in it.  Oh, boys...here we go!

Ethan loved playing in the dirt with daddy.

I'm telling you, there is no denying that this boy loves his daddy and already wants to be just like him.  No matter what Wes is doing, Ethan wants to be a part of it. It's so fun to watch and I think a future handy man is int he making.  Girls better call dibs now!!

Our friends Vance and Nicole had this tractor sitting in their back yard and nobody to ride it, so they loaned it to us for a little while.

Hannah and Ethan both love it and it so fun watching them drive around our yard together. I know Ethan is itching to be able to reach the pedal. 

Ethan has exploded with curiosity over the past month or two. I feel like I need to do an update on him each week with new words he's saying and things he's doing.  But for starters, he's really into textures and figuring out how things work.  I remember when Hannah was about his age she LOVED playing with ice and water.  So the other day I got out a bucket of ice and a bucket of water and Ethan had a great time putting the ice cubes into the water. 

He had such a good time and it was fun watching him get excited about scooping up an ice cube.  

We've been having lots of fun this summer and there's not much time to post about everything we have done, but we are enjoying ourselves and being about to be outside and explore!

What mommy's want

100 times a day I have a selfish desire that I think, if only, or what if, etc.  The top 10 things I would LOVE right now is:

• To eat a snack or meal without having to share it with two other mouths. Constantly. Everything.
• To be at my house alone for several hours. Not just kids napping, but to be completely alone to clean, sleep, focus, breathe.
• To have ONE DAY - JUST ONE with two happy babies. Ethan is in a state of constant fussiness and by 5:00 every day I'm totally mentally and physically drained.
• To have my 3 year old listen without bribery.
• To have millions in the bank so my husband wouldn't have to work and could be home more than 2 hours a night with us. 
• Time to shop regularly and not have to reach for my default outfit every time I open my closet.
• A nanny to come sit with my kids during nap time so I could go grocery shopping without kids.
• For an activity to last more than 5 minutes. I often drag out tables, plates, napkins, pic nic blankets, etc. so we can play restaurant and it lasts 45 seconds and then we are on to something else.
• A family photo where everyone is remotely looking at the camera. 
• For a house that cleans itself, dishes that wash themselves, laundry that folds itself, grass that mows itself, furniture that dusts itself, floors that vacuum themselves and kids that feed themselves.

Is this really too much to ask?

I say all of this so that one day I can look back and remember how difficult these days were, but how much I loved them.  I don't love every minute of being a stay at home mom. In fact, here lately, I've wished I had a job to go to so that I can escape fussiness, whining and messes. But I do look at my life as a blessing, and it's a good thing these kids are so cute or else I'd be at the crazy house!

Father's Day

We had a great, relaxing Father's Day weekend.  I hope Wes would say the same.  Saturday we had a birthday party to go to and after that we came  home for naps and ran some errands that evening.  Sunday we woke up, gave daddy presents and went to church.  After church we went to my sister's house to celebrate father's day and my nephew, Carter's 8th birthday. Yes - he's 8...CRAZY! After lunch we went home and daddy got a great nap.  Ethan didn't sleep well so mommy missed her Sunday nap, but I guess I can sacrifice that once a year - ha! Sunday evening we went to Clear Springs and had some very yummy seafood. It was a great time and we really enjoyed celebrating our great daddy!

(Super cheese from Hannah)

Last year fathers day...1 year makes such a difference. Ethan was only a month old. 

We are so blessed to have such a hard working, loving (and pretty good looking) daddy.  Wes is such a wonderful dad to these kids and I hope one day they can look back and really appreciate everything he does for our family.

I'm sure Wes feels pretty blessed to call these munchkins his own, too. 

Wes and I also both have wonderful dads that we both look up to very much.  We are thankful for the love and time they invested in us as kids.  We have learned so much from our great dads and our kids are lucky to have two amazing grandpas!

Hope all you dads (who don't read this blog) had a great father's day!

Wes has been in Seattle all week for work and Hannah, Ethan and I have had a super fun week without him, despite the fact we really miss him.  I miss his company and extra hands for help and I'm pretty sure the kiddos miss their wrestle time with daddy each night.

Monday morning we had some new friends come and play.  Gracie and Emma Claire's mommy just had her 3rd baby girl and her hands are FULL. I thought we could both win if we had these two cuties come play - Jessica got some "free" time with her newborn and Hannah loved having new friends come and play and she even ate her breakfast by the front door as she waited for her friends to get here.

After nap on Monday we headed to Ella's house to swim and play.  Ella got a new fun playset and the girls had a lot of fun playing on that....and sidewalk chalk is always a hit, too!

Tuesday Hannah had her first day of summer school. She had such a good time and an added bonus this summer is that Aunt Jenn works at her school.  She isn't her teacher, but rumor has it Hannah chatted with Aunt Jenn during recess instead of playing.  Ethan and I had some fun play time on Tuesday and ran some errands that are too difficult to run with two munchkins. 

After school on Tuesday I took Hannah and Ethan to get icecream.  Ethan actually slept through most of it, but he woke up just in time for a few (too many) bites of icecream.  That kid loves to eat - no matter what it is. 

Tuesday night Aunt Jenn and Uncle James took Hannah to eat pizza and she had a blast.  Ethan and I played at home and Ethan was asleep a good hour before Hannah got home, so it was nice to have some down time, which is rare these days, especially with Wes out of town. 

Wednesday was another fun day.   Hannah has been begging to go to Chuck E Cheese and so my friend Angela and I took our kiddos to play.  Hannah still doesn't even know that they serve pizza there, and I hope to keep it that way for a good while.  

After naps on Wednesday we headed to Aunt Christie's house to play and eat dinner.  It's always a treat to play with our cousins! 

On Thursday morning I took Hannah to to the movies and we met our cousins there.  Ethan stayed behind with Mrs. Ashley, but I'm pretty sure he didn't miss us.  His girlfriend Lauren was there and I'm pretty sure they had a fun time together.  Hannah loved seeing Charlotte's Web on the big screen and did really well during the whole movie. 

We sure are ready for daddy to be home, but we sure are having a fun time while he's gone!

Blast from the past

Hannah's hair is getting pretty long.  It's so pretty when I take the time to hair dry it and fix it. I love curling it in ringlets, but it doesn't always hold the curl.  I remembered sleeping in sponge rollers as a little girl, so on Friday we decided to try them out. I knew she wouldn't go for sleeping in them, so we just kept them in for a few hours. 

You can tell from her face that she wasn't super thrilled.

She was less thrilled after I took them out...

But after I showed her the finished product and told her she had princess hair, she was a little more excited about it.

It really turned out cute and stayed curly for a good while. We tried it again on Saturday and she was a little happier since she knew at the end she would have princess hair. I think we will add this to our list of ways to fix her hair for a little while. 

I also wanted to include some funny things Hannah says and does lately:

• When we are in the middle of playing I'll say:  "Hannah, go take a nap or go to bed." and she will immediately laugh and say: "JUST KIDDING!"
• Hannah is terrible about demanding things instead of using manners to politely ask. So lately when she says "Get me a drink, mommy." I'll say: "What's missing?" And she will respond: "manners, please get me a drink, mommy."
• She still calls Ethan "Efan"
• She has started playing 'this little piggy' and after each piggy she will look at me and say "what's next." And she calls roast beef "rosbee."
• She mixes up her "v" and "b" sound. example: " amvulance" or "bitamin" (for vitamin) 
• I'll ask her what she wants to drink and she will say: "milk. Well, actually I want sprite." It cracks me up when she says actually. 
• She always says her daddy and Ethan are handsome princes
• For VBS each morning she would ask if we were going to "bacation vible school church."

I love her little language!

A (not so) distant memory

On this day 1 year ago I was awaken at 4:00 a.m. by my sweet, 19 day old baby boy.  I went in his room and he was burning up.  After a call to the hospital, we were on our way to the emergency room.  I had no idea what was in store for us for the next few days.  Ethan was admitted to the hospital and test after test was run to try to figure out what was causing his high fevers.  I was terrified and I remember all the emotions of that day like it was yesterday.

I vividly remember when the doctor told me it was time for Wes and I to step out in the waiting room so that they could perform a spinal tap on my 7.5 pound baby.  I remember asking the doctor if we could pray before we left and he agreed, but then I literally couldn't get a word out and a sweet, precious nurse (who I still don't know) came out of nowhere and interceded for us.  She was a God send, literally and I could never repay her for praying the sweet, powerful prayer she prayed that morning. 

I will never forget the heart shattering news we received from the nurse when he told us that the doctor told him he needed to share with us that it was meningitis(which we later found out was a mis-diagnosis). My heart fell into a million pieces and I honestly thought that I was going to lose my baby. You see, when I was 3 months old I had bacterial meningitis and my mom kept a journal of her feelings during that time.  My mind literally replayed her words over and over from her entries, which basically said every day was touch and go , how I went into cardiac arrest and she thought she was going to lose me several times.  My mind couldn't stop thinking that we were in the final days with our precious boy.

Your heart can never, ever be prepared for something like this.  I could never repay the nurses that cared for my sweet guy and nursed him back to health. I seriously can't find the words of gratitude for our pediatrician who walked along side us the entire time and called personally with several updates about lab work.  Hearing the assurance in his voice sustained me through some pretty difficult times.  I could never thank all of our dear friends who called, texted and emailed. It seems each time I would hit a down moment I'd receive a special note or words of encouragement from a friend. And I will never, ever forget how the Lord comforted me, held me and protected Ethan during our stay at the hospital.  Without my faith, I would have never survived this.

In hindsight, I'm so grateful for the outcome we had.  There are so many families that have way more traumatic experiences than us, and some parents do have to say goodbye to their little ones on earth. I know our situation was nothing compared to what some parents go through with their kids' health. But I do know that Jesus sustained us, just like he sustains them. 

Thank you, Lord for giving me and letting me keep this precious, precious baby boy.  One year later and he's a happy, healthy, thriving one year old. 

Something finally clicked

Finally, after 12 months and 2 days, Ethan has been consistently sleeping through the night for the past 7 nights...(but who's counting?!) I seriously thought this day would never come. I was prepared  for another year of sleepless nights, but something clicked and he's got it - FINALLY!

He must have heard his pediatrician last week tell me that it was time to let him cry it out because I was forming bad habits for Ethan in the future. That must have not sounded like too much fun to him either because that night is when he slept all night and I haven't heard a peep from him since. Yahooooo!

Also at that appointment I talked to Dr. B about Ethan's coordination.   I felt like Ethan was coordinated  enoguh to clap, wave and point, but he just never did it. He would get really excited and hit his knees instead of clapping. I just wanted to make sure everything was OK so I ran it by our doctor.  The doctor said since everything seemed to be good with Ethan's speech, etc., he wasn't concerned at this point.  Well, wouldn't you know that this week he also started clapping and waving. ...and playing LOTS of peekaboo...

The Lord is so faithful to calm my worries at the perfect time.  So apparently Ethan's inability to clap and wave was keeping him up at night, and now that he's conquered both with flying colors, he's able to rest easy.  Sheesh, if I knew that was the case I would have worked much harder to get his coordination down sooner - ha! Or maybe it was his birthday cake that did it....?

Sleeping or not, clapping or not, this little guy melts my heart every day... but I sure am grateful to have a sleeping, healthy, happy baby!