A Big Day...

I picked Ethan up from daycare and you know what was hanging from his coat hook? A birthday party invitation for his classmate Savanna. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He wanted to go go go... I tried to explain that it wasn't until the 11th, but it was a no go.
"No go home mommy, go vanna's berfday party."
"It's not time for her party yet- not for 11 more days."
"NO ELEVEN MORE DAYS. WE GO NOW MOMMY."
"We can't go now, they aren't ready yet."
"NO MOMMY. I wanna go vanna's party now. No wait, NOW!"
And the tantrums continued. We got home and I pulled down the calendar and tried to explain. Didn't work. Then we used the words "11 more sleeps" and I think, just maybe, he got it! Or maybe tomorrow he'll wake up and the tears will start again. So many tears when you are 2 going on 3.
And so it begins. Ethan's budding social life takes a big step. I think, in fact, it is now more exciting than mine. Maybe I'll meet some nice moms at the party? I do have to go with him, right? And I do have to go pick out a present. What do little girls this age love? She's a cute girl. OK, I lie. She screams when her mom puts her in the car and she reminds me a lot of a character from Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing. But, she invited Ethan to her party and for that- I love her!

PS - Lucas had an absolutely fabulous day - but has already woken up MANY, MANY times tonight.... Manipulation? Teething? Nightmares? How does one know?

Gorgeous Day!

After work (which, for me, was a fabulous day of getting organized and getting ready before kids return tomorrow) I picked up the boys and we decided it was a day to visit the park.... I cannot wait until every day is so nice and sunny, though I know I'll be eating my words when it's stinkin' hot out there :)

Lucas and I had a little chat about life while Ethan played. He's a good listener!

Brian joined us when he got off of work. He took Lucas down the slide for the very first time.

Which, of course, made Ethan jealous, so he took his own ride on daddy's lap.

We had a very healthy dinner. I took an old favorite, Swedish Meatballs and Rice, and healthed it up a bit - lowfat milk, ground turkey, brown rice... Not a big hit... The boys just glared at me... though Ethan did end up eating all his "chicken nuggets" (the turkey meatballs) so he could have a biscuit after dinner. Where do you find the balance between healthy and yummy to a 2 year old? And when does he learn that it's not okay to announce to us, "I DON"T LIKE IT." Makes my heart warm....

Imagination....

Ethan and I leave the room at dinner, so Ethan can use the potty, leaving Lucas alone. Ethan starts screaming (LOUDLY) as soon as we leave, until we get back.
"Ethan, why do you think Lucas was crying?"
"He saw my tiger."
"Your tiger? You have a tiger? Where is your tiger?"
"My tiger, my friend. My tiger at the airport. He come to see me."
"You have a tiger at the airport? Where did he come from?"
"He came from the green."
"From the green? Who is he going to see next? Is he going to see Upa?"
"No, Upa have another one tiger. Upa tiger his friend another one."
"And Lucas saw your tiger, was he scared?"
"Yeah, he ROOOOOAAAARRR!"
And that was the end of the conversation... Ethan stuffs his face with spaghetti.

Pictures from our Last Weekend of Spring Break

See, we did color! And colored... and colored...

Ethan discovered that Lucas adores him and ate it up! He read to him, sang songs, tickled, and played. It was so much fun to see. I HATE his babytalk voice though. His pitch goes up three octaves and he slurs all his words together. I'm assuming he's imitating me.... great....

Lucas was fussy, but Diego saved the day... not quite the way he usually does....

Kenya (our dog) was nice enough to share her ball. She just kept bringing the ball back to him, then getting mad that he wouldn't throw it. Rewind and repeat....

After some meds, he practiced his rolling over. He only did it once on his own, but we'll take it.

He's 7 months old and so photogenic!! I'm getting better with the camera too...

They took a bath together and absolutely refused to get out. They had fun splashing and chewing and giggling and squealing. It was a good "brothers" weekend.

Tomorrow is back to work. I'm excited in a way- which is great! But, I'll miss the boys, I'm sure. 2 more months and the summer starts! Exciting!

A month?

I am too exhausted to upload pictures (not that I took any great ones today). Ethan and I just returned from a marathon shopping trip. It was my goal to get the majority of the food we'd need for a month. Just all the boxed and frozen stuff- including Lucas' formula. We spent exactly half of April's budget (yes, I know it's not even April yet) but I counted meals and we have at least 30 meals- so I may have overshot a bit.. Ethan helped me out a lot- announcing to the store at the checkout line "You have too much mommy... too many foods..." As if the people behind me weren't glaring enough about the amount of food I put up there, then I pulled out the 20 coupons I printed from coupons.com (fabulous!). We made it out in one piece and came home and Ethan so fervently put everything away. Then I "re" put it away. I mean, the noodles really can't stay in the fridge, right?
Lucas is a total fusser. He is just miserable- only up for about an hour at a time before he has to go back down because he is so tired. He did eat a lot more today- though not normal- so maybe we're on the upswing? It's hard to see him in pain and not be able to do anything about it - poor guy!
And by the way... Ethan and I colored today- we colored and colored and colored. We kept the TV off all day and had a great time doing everything else. A good lesson for mommy....

The Best Parenting Advice?

Missy, from http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/ is asking....

What's the best parenting advice you've been given?

"Ethan, what makes a mommy a good mommy?"
"Einsteins!" (we are currently downloading an episode from Itunes he fell in love with at my parents).
"What else? What do you like mommy to do?"
"Color me." (he leaves out the word with... he doesn't actually mean color him, although he'd probably love it...)
"What else?"
"Cut yours hairs. Snap, snap, snap."
"You want to cut my hair?"
"Yep, snap, snap, snap......" and off he went in search of scissors... note to self, hide all real scissors...

As to the best advice I've gotten (besides from the two year old)... It's the same advice I got as a teacher- You can't be perfect. You can do your best, work really hard, make the world a better place, but you CAN'T be perfect. And you can't get down on yourself when you're not. Learn to laugh at yourself and you'll be a much happier mommy. Like when you realize you just drove to a baseball game an hour from home with no bottle, no formula, no brain, apparently. You can lose your mind, or you can laugh. I choose laughing!

I try to teach my students this every year too. Don't take yourself so seriously. You're going to screw up, you're going to fall down. Laugh it off and keep moving....

Our trip...

We played and played. Upa and Lucas had a good time dancing and snuggling.

Tuesday, my Aunt Chris came over with Nana to play. Lucas absolutely loved Aunt Chris. He giggled and bounced and giggled - fun!

Then we headed over to some good friends of mine- the Groulikes. I babysat for them for years and years. The oldest, Jill was four when I first started, Brent was 2, and Laurie was just born. Spencer was born a while later and now they are so big and grown up! It was fun to catch up with Janet and to see Scott, Laurie and Spencer too. I'm pretty lucky to have them! Ethan loved it there- played with lots of cars, trains, and watched cartoons. He was in little boy heaven! He and Janet even built houses out of lincoln logs.

After that, we headed to Bainbridge to pick up my dad. Problem was, Lucas threw up all over the car on the way. So it was a brief visit to Upa's school, so we could go home and mop Lucas up (and dissassemble the car seat, all covered in nasty.) But, he seemed to do fine after that- so we pressed on.

Wednesday... We started the day at the Silverdale Mall kiddie playground. Lucas loved watching all the kids and Ethan loved exploring and making new friends.
Mommy loved making Ethan run down the mall corridors, trying to get out some of the crazy energy that boy has pent up. We went over to Uma's school and Lucas giggled and smiled and entertained all the kiddos. Ethan threw a gigantic fit when we couldn't find Mickey's clubhouse on line. The 6th graders loved that- they could really identify. I finally found it and mom's kiddos wrote their rough drafts with Mickey singing in the background. Then Ethan got invited over to the science class to watch a movie about cows pooping and collecting methane gas.

Lucas wasn't eating, so I thought the ear infection was back, so I took him in. No infections and he had such a good time playing with the paper on the bed. He was laughing and made me look like an idiot saying he was grumpy. So I figured the grumpiness was due to teething (note- you probably put together the throwing up and grumpiness, but sadly, I did not...)

We came back and I took Ethan out to look for new shoes. I told him we were going on a date and he said, "I love you Mommy." and gave me a big hug. *sigh*

We played all night and Uma was so sad that we were leaving the next day, but the boys were so nutty, that we all were ready for bed. I woke up at 3:30 to the sound of Lucas getting sick - all over himself and the bed. So I undressed him and wrapped him in a blanket thinking we'd go back to sleep... not so much. He was sick all over the place, from both ends. Ugh!! I woke up my parents and they helped me. The airplane flights (yes, I somehow picked a flight with a stop in Spokanne - stupid) went fine, though Ethan decided he had to use the bathroom, so I just strapped Lucas into the seat, like a big boy, while I wrangled Ethan. We don't both fit in the bathroom, so I'm hanging out in the aisle and everyone near is hearing Ethan yell "Pee-pees coming Mommy!" They enjoyed it thoroughly. We are such good entertainment in public.

The boys were thrilled to see their daddy and so was I. I locked myself in the bathroom, taking a bath and catching up on Desperate Housewives for three hours. I may be a prune now, but I'm regaining sanity. The boys are in bed and all is well (the throwing up and other stuff stopped, though he's still not eating much). And if there's a cry tonight- I don't have to answer it!!!!

The End (to my novel....)

Intermission...

We are having a fabulous time... I, however, am so tired that I don't think I can write our adventures justice, so I'm going to wait until we get home tomorrow. I have learned something very important this week- I NEED BRIAN. There's a reason he's the one who gets up at night. I think I've taken him for granted. So here..

I love you Brian- thanks for being such an amazing Daddy and husband. I miss you. I'm so grateful that you're there. You better be there!

4 little monkeys...

I just love his eyes. Both boys have such gorgeous eyes. The day started early- at 5:30 to be exact. I yelled at Ethan to "come here" thinking he'd climb into bed with me and sleep a little longer but he ran upstairs to see everybody else (getting ready for school). Getting up that early means fussy, fussy, cranky, cranky. But we survived, running to McD's for some coffee and play time on their play structure.

We came home, ate, napped, and made a fort. Ethan loved building it and then even got to call his favortie characters from Bob the Builder (who was actually Brian on the phone using different voices.) It was hilarious. Lucas just shrieked and giggled along with us as we sang songs and made up stories. I even got to be Lofty for a while. I was sure he'd make me Muck, but I was in luck! Lucas was a big fan!

Then tonight, we got together with Jess and another friend who lives here, Missy- with her adorable little girl, Jillian. Jillian followed Ethan everywhere and just giggled at everything he did. It was really funny. He wasn't too sure, but once he figured out how to make her laugh, he was in love- not that he wanted to share with her, but you know.... It was really great to catch up and watch the little monkeys interact.

So we came home way after bedtime, but Ethan still insisted on having a dance party. So, we all danced around the living room to the music of Dancing With the Stars. It's good to see him so.... assertive...(is that just another word for bossy?) So much fun!

Let's Roll...

What fabulous fun we are having. We miss Daddy so much, but are keeping very busy. We went to church this morning at my old haunting ground. It was great to see so many people that I haven't seen in years, but still recognize and love me. That is a family! Ethan wasn't too impressed by meeting so many people. At one point he layed himself flat on the floor behind me and would only speak in grunts- real impressive!

We got lots of cuddle time with Upa and Uma today! Ethan helped in the garden- even planted Uma herself! Lucas snuggled and giggled and shrieked. We all played hard.

After naps (and mommy's extended trip to do a little fun reading at Starbuck's) Nana came over and Ethan dyed Easter eggs - too fun! He loved mixing the colors, but was not too happy about his dyed hands. He told me he couldn't eat pizza because "my hands too dirty."

And the biggest news of all - LUCAS FINALLY ROLLED OVER!!!! My mom "scaffolded" (an education word for helping/cheating) him until he figured it out. The video is the first time he actually did it. You'll have to excuse us screaming in the background- we were excited. Sad that Daddy wasn't here, but happy that Nana and Uma and Upa were. He rolled five or six times and then decided NO MORE OF THAT. But, I'm sure once he gets some sleep, he'll be all over it. How exciting! This place IS magical!

Going Higher~ Going Up~ Going Down~

Sometimes, things just work out so perfectly. This wonderful woman (turned out to be a teacher who is best friends with someone I teach with) sat next to Ethan on the plane and the two of them entertained each other for the entire flight. Ethan never stopped talking. He read his books to her and told her all about everything. He said the phrases going higher, going up, going down now, so many times that we all were reciting them by the end.
Liam slept and slept. Lucas jumped and jumped. Ethan talked and talked. We all survived and it wasn't so bad.

And then we got to see our Nana. Lucas just LOVED sitting in her lap and trying to jump off. The boy loves to jump. He won't roll still. But he oh so loves to jump. He and Ethan both loved visiting. Ethan was intrigued by the fish tank (keep in mind he took the photo...)


And then we went back to "The Park" (my parents' house) and played and giggled and then, finally at 6 pm, I put them to bed. It's always a guessing game as to when I should put them down. I mean, at home, they are in bed by 7 just about every night and sleep pretty darn well for the next 12 hours. So do I try and adjust them to the 1 hour time change? Do I try to keep them up late in hopes that they'll sleep in (though they never do)? Tonight, my own exhaustion made the decision for me- that and Lucas yawning. So Uma (my mom) took care of the bedtime stories and the boys went down pretty darn well. At 6 pm. Should I feel guilty?

I'm so excited to take the boys to my old church tomorrow. Hopefully Ethan will go to Sunday School and Lucas will be quiet. Yeah right... What am I thinking? He is NEVER quiet anymore. He shrieks and growls and screams and squawks. Did Ethan do this? I really don't remember it, but I suppose that doesn't mean anything - I don't remember a lot... Thus, the wonder of the blog!

Yippee!

It's Spring Break~! Yippee! I am too tired maybe to even think, so I'll just give you the pics from last night...

Ethan eating Shortcake...

My big boy!

Liam is always the good one...

And my little man laughing... Ethan loved laughing at the McConnel's dog, Ripley when he was a baby too... funny!

Ethan is so excited to go to the Airport... Fun! I can't wait to tell him tomorrow that it's finally time. Let's just pray it all goes well... I can only imagine. 3 babies (Liam and Jess will be there too).

Grilling Pizza...

Another fabulous dinner at the McConnels tonight. We grilled pizzas for dinner (a favorite) and then had strawberry shortcake for dessert. The boys were hilarious- except for at one point when all three were crying at the same time. That gets to you. Lucas fell asleep and I got to hold him for a very long time. I miss that so much! Then he woke up screaming- and wouldn't calm down until Brian held him- figures :)
We were all ready to go tonight and Ethan disappeared. We figured out he was going potty, so left him alone. Stupid. When Brian got in there, he had once again covered himself in the bath soap- gross! So, he got a bath and we were late. And he loved every second.
Tomorrow is my last day until Spring Break! Hallelujah! We had a great (well, not exactly stellar) Science Fair today and I'm ready!

Brian: Ethan, go tell Todd "You smell bad."
Ethan (pointing finger at Todd): I smell bad!

I kind of wish he wouldn't grow up.

Sun!!!

Who would have known the sun was out there?! We had a blast after school..... Lucas loved playing badminton. Ethan rocked out on the rake. (Didn't you know a rake could double as a guitar?)

It was just a great day all over. Well, my kids were kind of antsy, but I bet most of them will be gone tomorrow- I assigned a Science Project due tomorrow... They've known for three weeks- but do you think most of them had even started it yet?

Lucas' expression says it well... "Are you kidding me?!"

3/17/09

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

He really is a "McCutie!"

Tonight was Skate Night again, at the RollerDrome. Ethan had a blast at the limbo, made lots of friends, and was an absolute star in the "under Kindergarten" race - He won! Of course, the other kid was sobbing for his mommy and dropped out, but still, Ethan won!

And look - he can do it all by himself! He wouldn't let me hold his hand hardly at all and even did some skating with a few of my students. Too fun!

Both boys are feeling lots better and had a great day today. Brian and I even got a date - he brought me lunch during my prep so we could visit -while stapling papers :) .

The House of Plague...

Sick again- the boys that is... Ethan woke up with one eye completely gooed over. Yippee.... So Brian switched shifts with his boss and made an appointment with the boys' pediatrician. Lucas' eyes still looked pretty good, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to have him checked out anyway.
Good thing, because he (Lucas) has an ear infection. Of course, the mommy guilt takes over at this point, because how did I not pick up on it? I know, I know, if there's no fever and he's not that fussy, how are you to know, but still... the guilt is there. Ethan did NOT have pink eye, just his cold gunking up through his eye- totally disgusting!
Both boys loved their day with Daddy and were almost good as new by dinnertime. I'm praying for a good night sleep for ALL of us.
We (the little guys and me) fly to WA on Saturday. So tonight, when I put Ethan to bed, I told him that we would be going to see Uma and Upa in 5 sleeps.
"5 sleeps?"
"Yep, in 5 sleeps, we'll go in an airplane to see Uma and Upa."
"Ok, that'll be fun."
His new favorite words are "fun" and "cool". It makes me laugh because those are the two words I banish from my students' writing- so generic. Yet, I love it when Ethan says such big-boy phrases like that. Not nearly as much as I love it when he makes up words for things, but those are getting fewer and farther between. My little boy is growing up!

Sunday, Fun Fun Sunday!

First there was worship team practice before church... Lucas loves watching Ethan and Daddy play their guitars...
Ethan was nice enough to show Lucas up close...

And to explain how exactly to play...

And then Lucas stole it for himself while Ethan was at Sunday School...

Then off to lunch at the Coates'. Ethan and Payton are finally at the age where they disappear in the back and we only have to come when one of them starts crying and wants to tattle. There really were minimal fights this time :)

Ethan loved playing with all of Payton's toys...

Lucas and Addie played a bit, but mostly just ate and slept- so no pictures of them there... It was fun.. The only big problem was when we went to leave. Both boys had a major meltdown (way after normal nap time) and Ethan went so far as to kick all of Payton's cars out of line (a toddler's nightmare) as he left. Then they both crashed in the car so Brian and I got coffees and drove around and around to let them sleep. A fun day :)

Bravo!

Not sure if this video will work for everyone, but here's a try! Lucas has a new skill - clapping! His favorite time to clap is after he's dirtied his diaper - gross! But, he also just claps and claps for no apparent reason. Such a cutie!

Project of the Day...

So it's obviously not done. But, you get the point... Lots more floor space for the boys to take up... and lots more storage- love those cubicles (for $35!!) Now maybe Ethan will put away his toys when he's done? And he's so excited to eat off his little table (that's been covered in junk). So, good enough for now :)
I do realize if you've never been to my house, that this may seem silly and you may think, it's still pretty messy- well, just be glad you don't have to see the before!
I'm holding a very cranky Lucas... Pinkeye and who knows what else- he's a mess!
And thanks Jess for your help!

Here are the pictures from last night. Tonight's busy- we're rearranging the living room. I'm exhausted from it, but there is SO MUCH more room! Poor Brian will have to refigure his surround sound though. Poor guy. Another great day- except Lucas is not going down real well tonight. Some thing's bugging him. Maybe we overdid it with the prunes. Oops. He's asleep now though, so we're probably okay. And by the way- Ethan is a bit of a kleptomaniac. He and Lucas got to hang out at school with me today (after hours while I planned for next week) because Brian had to go in early. Right before we left, I found his stash. He had taken things out of a bunch of the desks. And now, I have no idea who is missing the Hello Kitty pencils or where those Spider man erasers came from. I'm guessing I'll find out real quick on Monday...