Birthday Bonanza

Ethan's birthday party is tomorrow so I am running around frantic to get things done. Don't ask me why the heck I'm on blogger right now, but I think I just need a moment to just blog. Please bear with me. Anyway...I finished decorating Ethan's cakes today. The first one is a cupcake "pull away" cake. All the cupcakes are frosted to look like a big cake. Now Ethan can have his own little cupcake to utterly destroy at his party. The second cake is just a pumpkin I made out of 2 bundt pans. What's with me and making crazy cakes with bundt pans?! First the snake, now a pumpkin. What's next? Along with getting this party stuff going, I'm having to go buy all my major appliances for the house tonight since Whirlpool's big rebate is ending on Saturday and the stuff that I want is on sale until Sunday. Well, I hope things go well. I'll post birthday pictures later.

GOOD NEWS!!!

So after all the stress and pain in the butt of looking at floorplans and houses, we finally have some great news! We've offered on a house....and they ACCEPTED!!! We're so excited about it! So as long as everything goes well with the inspection and the appraisal, we'll have our house! It's two years old and in a really great neighborhood with a pool, walking trails, and lots of kids. We're going to have to paint the whole inside and get new carpet, but that's just the fun stuff. If everything goes as planned we'll close sometime in the middle of November, but by the time I'm done with our "improvements", we'll be in by December. Yeah!!!

Poor Elmo...

I ran out of the living room to grab my cell phone and came back to this disaster. All I could see was one of Elmo's eyes on the ground and red ball fuzz coming out of Ethan's mouth. The funny thing is that Ethan loved throwing this ball around the house, but this time he wanted to use it more as a chew toy. I think he's getting in his 3rd pair of teeth so that could be the reason or he's really got it out for Elmo.

Sweats Day

This morning has been the first really chilly morning that we've had here in Texas so it's a perfect day for a new pair of sweats. Ethan got these from his Aunty Suzie at his baby shower and this is the first time he's been able to wear them. They fit perfectly! He is so cute! Sorry, can a mother gush?!

I Don't Know Why I Think This Is Funny

Be sure you can hear the music.




Happy Halloween

Pinata Update

Alright, many of you know about the pinata from H***! So I finished placing all the little individual pieces of tissue paper on the whole thing. That took FOREVER! Then yesterday I filled it full of toys and goodies and added his leaves and stem. I'll post pictures later once he's complete, plus, I don't want to unveil him too early. Now I just have to work on the trap door strings and he'll be complete. Needless to say I will NEVER make a pinata like this one ever again, at least not with the way I did the tissue paper. Too tedious, too much work.

Pumpkin Patch Part 2

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch Part 1

This Saturday we met up with Molly and Matt and some of her family and friends along with Papa John and Grandma at the Pumpkin Patch. Ethan had a great time walking through the rows of pumpkins and patting all his favorites. He especially loved taking a ride in the wagon while holding his "Great Pumpkin". The pumpkin patch was a great experience. They had hayrides, those bouncy things for the kids, wagons to lug around your pumpkins (and kids), and it was all free! The weather was perfect and it was great to be with family. Ethan had so much fun that he took a 2 hour nap after!

More of Ethan's Love...the Vacuum

So this video is of Ethan riding on his Grandma's vacuum. He was having way too much fun!

My New Trick

I learned how to fold a t-shirt correctly by the Japenese today. Here's the video to show you how. Now you know what I've been doing today.

New Vacuum

So I got a brand new vacuum yesterday! Linens-n-things had an awesome deal going on this week so go on by if you need a new vacuum. I had a 20% off coupon plus they were giving $100 gift cards by mail if you purchased a vacuum over $200. So I went on over to "LNT" yesterday and used my birthday/wedding gift cards (sad I've been married 3 years and still have gift cards) and got me a Hoover. I was planning on getting a Dyson, but consumer reports didn't give them a very good rating and why pay extra for a poorly rated vacuum. Plus, I wanted a vacuum that was easy for Mr. Ethan to manuever since that is his favorite thing in the world. Ethan and I took our little vacuums out for a test drive and people thought we were crazy. So I got a great vacuum and a $100 gift card to replace the gift cards I spent. Happy day.

Walking

Happy Birthday!

It's my birthday today! Happy Birthday to me!

Velma Lucille Terry

My Grandma Terry passed away on Wednesday at the age of 88. Her funeral was on Monday and I was unable to go out to Idaho so this is my way of doing a little tribute of my own. She was born in 1918 on a farm in Southeastern Idaho. She went through Nursing school and served on many different nursing boards and worked in various medical clinics in the area. She raised a family of 6 kids (my dad is the youngest) and served in many areas of the church.
This is a great time to reflect on what effect she's had on my life. I feel a special tie with my Grandma especially with our love of Nursing (I'm a 3rd generation nurse!). Although some of the responsiblities of a nurse are different from back then, the same feeling of service and care are the same.
I have so many memories of my Grandma that I've been thinking about lately. She always had a beautiful garden and the best raspberries ever! I loved it when she'd have a container full on the table and let us have at it. Her organ was my favorite play toy when I was over there. It was totally 60's, but it had the best cha cha beat. She loved watching the Price is Right with us and thought that people that over bid someone by a dollar were dirty players. She always gave me Vitamin C tablets cause I thought they were good. She was a great journal writer and she introduced me to the world of journaling. I remember going to her house when I was in 5th grade and reading some of her journal entries and it made a big impression on me. I haven't stopped writing since and I probably have about 10 journals full of my bumbling thoughts.
I have a lot more memories of her, but I'll stick those in my journal and save space for some pictures. All of these pictures are from Nursing school.
It's weird to think she's gone now, but to know that she's with my Grandpa, her son, and her family, makes me feel happy that she is reunited with her loved ones and starting her time with her eternal family.

Taking Some Time Off

So I will be taking some time off of blogging for the week. We're staying at Ry's parent's rental house while they're away at conference. They just moved in so cable and internet are not available at the moment. So hopefully while I'm taking time off I can come up with some good material for when I get back. See you in a week!

Cleaning Days

Ethan has found a new toy that he loves more than any toy he's ever owned...the vacuum. Every time we open the pantry he's pushing the vacuum around. Monday is cleaning day around here and every Monday you can find Ethan chasing my mom or me as we're vacuuming the floors. When I was a youngster I was scared to death of the vacuum way until I was at least 6! My mom had to warn me that she was vacuuming and I would run up to my room or jump up on the couch so I wouldn't get sucked up. Ethan isn't scared at all, he loves it! In the video you can even hear him trying to make vacuum cleaner noises. It's hilarious!

Back By Popular Request

I had a lot of people say that they loved the video clip of Ethan laughing in his high chair from back in April or May so here's a more recent laughing clip. This video was just after we had family home evening tonight and boy was he happy. Once you get him going, he will laugh so hard and so loud. He also just got out of the tub so that's why his hair looks all curly. I swear it is getting so thick! It's time for another hair cut. Anyway...I hope you enjoy the laughs.

Boot Scootin' Boogie

We had our first visitor come to see us in Texas. Actually, he was here for the Chiropractic Olympics, but he did come hang out with us. Friday night some of "the fam" and our friend Mike went out to Traildust. It's a real Texan steakhouse with a dance floor and live country band. Ethan loved the music and dancing with his mom and Grandma. I just wished Emily and Alivia were there to enjoy the festivities, maybe next time. I'll have more pictures to post once Suz e-mails them to me. These pictures are of Grandma and Ethan kickin' up their heels on the dance floor and then Ethan with his Uncle Matt and Cousin Tyler enjoying the music.

Pinata Part II

So I painted the pinata and now I'm putting tissue paper on it. This stupid thing is taking me FOREVER! At least it looks somewhat cool. I finished the invitations and now I'm looking for my cake ideas. We ordered his car seat online from Graco last week so that should be coming for him soon. I'm excited for him to actually be able to face forward now. Hallelujah! So that's about all on the party front.

It's Pinata Time!

This is just me making my own pinata, that's right, I'm making a pinata. I'm starting to plan out Ethan's 1st birthday extravaganza. His birthday is November 1st and since it's so close to Halloween, I think I'm going to do a pumpkin theme. He's going to be a pumpkin for Halloween so I figure he can wear his outfit for his party and for trick-or-treating (double the use). I'm trying to make a lot of the stuff like invitations, pinata, the cake, decorations, games, etc. I've been using creativity that I never knew I had! Anyway... so the pinata is going to be a pull string pinata. Instead of having little children swinging a bat around, I'm making a trap door in the bottom and attatching a string to it. Then you add 20 more strings just like it to the bottom and each child gets a turn to pull a string and see what happens. Hopefully I can engineer this so it actually works and when someone pulls the right string...CANDY!!! We'll just have to see. Things are going well with the party planning so far. I've been able to find a lot of things on sale and you all know how I feel about getting a deal. So mark October 28th on your calendar for Ethan's Pumpkin Extravaganza!

Weaning

It's weaning time in the Elmer household. Say good bye to my "nursing buddies" and hello to formula in a cup! I wanted to breastfeed for the first year and just be able to switch to whole milk on his 1st birthday, but things just weren't working out since Ethan got 4 teeth. Need I say more?! (ouch) Anyway...It's been so weird how my hormones have changed now that I'm weaning him. You're emotional when you start breastfeeding, you're emotional when you stop. Can a woman ever win? Well, at least I got this far and it was a good experience. Breastfeeding is not the easiest thing to take on, but worth it. As for weaning, Ethan has been doing very well. He doesn't mind how he gets his food, as long as he gets it. Ethan's so good with change. I'm so lucky that I don't have to deal with a kid screaming and clawing on my shirt while I'm at church or at the grocery store. So here is the end of breastfeeding chapter for Ethan and I really feel a great sense of accomplishment. It will be nice to not worry about wearing "easy access" clothes and just have my body to myself again. Hooray!

Look Who's Walking!

That's my boy! He's been taking a step here or there on his own for the past two weeks, but starting on Monday, he's been taking 4 or more! He's even started letting go of things and walking. Sorry the videos are so dark, I've been using my digital camera for videos. My computer isn't reading anything from my firewire so I can't input video from my fancy video camera. It has been driving me nuts! It was working before we left California and now it's not! Plus, the Compaq guru told me that it's something with my configuration and that it would cost $60 to talk to a tech support person for 10-20 minutes! Crazy! Well, if any of you have any idea what I can do with this issue or know anyone that can help me, please let me know!

My Little Pumpkin

A girl from Kiddie Kandids stopped me in the mall today and asked me if she could take some pictures of Ethan for their studio. She told me it would be totally free and I could get a free 8x10 out of it. I was returning Ethan's Halloween costume at the time (it was too small) so I told her I would finish my errands and be back. I'm so glad I had his costume since it was so hilarious to have him get pictures done in his first Halloween costume. It was so cute! I had so much fun and they let me pick what pose I wanted for my 8x10. I didn't have to buy anything or pay for the sitting. I totally lucked out! I did give consent for them to use the pictures for promotional stuff at the studio, but I didn't mind. So if you want to check out the pics here's the address so check them out! So fun!

Nurses 1 - Deadbeat Robber 0

My dad found this ER nurse article today in our local paper. I found it to be quite interesting and I'm sure Barbie would love to read about how working in the ER can give you some pretty great skills. Now I'm not all about nurses going around and strangling people, but man, if I could defend myself like that...score nurses!

Texas Adventures

So I've been up to quite a bit lately. I haven't been doing so hot with updating stuff on a regular basis and I'm sure some of you want to know what we've been doing since our big move. First of all my mom and I have been involved in some crazy experiences the past few weeks. Two weeks ago we went down to Fort Worth so I could get fingerprinted for my nursing license. As we were leaving the building to come home, we got stuck in the elevator! The lights went out, the elevator turned off, and Ethan was screaming! We had to use the light of my cell phone to try to find anything. Of course the elevator was old school and didn't have any help buttons or an alarm. Nobody even knew we were in there! I kept pressing buttons and eventually it turned back on and we got the heck out of there! A couple days later we were driving down the highway and saw 2 helicopters hovering. I was wondering if there was possibly an accident and it was life flight or it could have been some kind of helicopter flight school. So we drove underneath the helicopters and on to our destination. Later that night I saw a high speed chase that went on near Dallas on CNN. I checked out more on the internet and found out that the helicopters were recording the high speed chase! We were right ahead of the whole police pursuit and didn't have a clue! The guy was stopped for "mental health issues" and tried to run over a police officer. They shot him to get him to stop, but he just kept on going. He drove through all these cities, over spike strips, and past police barricades. He ended up crashing into a Budweiser truck at a gas station 2 streets down from where we were! So so weird! Crazy things usually happen in 3's so I'm wondering what crazy adventure we're getting ourselves into next time!

Snakes on a Birthday!

I don't know what the deal is with that stupid movie "Snakes on a Plane" and it has nothing to do with this post, but I thought it was a good title. Anyway, It's my mom's birthday today so my Dad wanted to make her a special cake. We asked her what kind of cake she would like for her "special day" and this is what she said..."I just want a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and have it decorated really cool." So we took what she said and made a beautiful creation. You have to understand. My mom HATES snakes! I think it stems from a horrible childhood exprience with a snake in a paper bag. So we thought up this great idea (with a little help from the internet) and created the "Birthday Snake" yesterday. We took two bundt cakes, cut them in half and connected them together in a snake pattern, used M&Ms for decoration, and fruit by the foot for the tongue. As you can see from the pictures, it was a big hit.

Feelin' Weird

I can't really describe how I feel right now. The only word I can get around it is...weird. I feel sad since I'm missing the companionship of my buddies back in Cali. I really miss the ability to just call someone up and go out for an afternoon. I think going out with friends is therapeutic for me. Call me strange, but it's true. I'm also stressed because of this whole house hunting situation. I want to find the best house for our needs, in the right price range, in the right area, close to ry's work, with good schools, and near family. Sad to say there isn't a house out there that we've found that fits the bill. I've been driving around the area looking at houses or floorplans every stickin' day and talking about it every night. I just want something to materialize and be done with it. Then again, once we buy a house...that's just the beginning. There's walls to be painted, stuff to install, addresses to change, appliances to buy, the whole shabang. This whole house thing is really getting to me. It's consuming my life right now but I'm tired of it consuming my life. It doesn't help that every person I meet has to ask me the "housing" questions and I have to give the same exact schpiel every single time. I'm tired of talking about it. I just want to crawl in a whole and be left alone. But on the other hand, if I were back in Cali I would want a girls days to happen. Plus, it's just one of those days that I feel frumpy. Have you ever had one of those days? I'm not going to go through a put down session on myself, but I feel like it. So yeah, I basically feel a combination of being sad, stressed, frumpy, and a litte mad. It's not good. All I can say in my head is BLAH! Boo to feeling weird!

A Pool Day with Dad

Ryan took Ethan out swimming after basketball on Saturday morning. My parent's pool is a salt water pool so whenever Ethan got any water in his mouth, he would stick out his tongue and try to get it off. Little did he know that he was just making it worse since his tiny hands were all wet too. As you can see from the pictures, he had his tongue out the whole time. That didn't stop the boys from having a great time! Ethan loves splashing in the water fall, chasing the vacuum, or floating in his floaty. It's a wonderful thing!

Dallas Cowboys!

My Dad got some sweet pre-season tickets to the Dallas Cowboys game tonight. None of us have ever been to a professional football game before (except Ryan)so it was a first for everyone. The stadium was half enclosed/half open and with the Texas heat, it was a sauna! Ethan spent the whole game with just a diaper on, eating ice cubes. Luckily there were some really nice ladies in back of us with a battery-operated fan that they let Ethan use. He's such a flirt! It was a really great game and of course the Cowboys played the San Francisco 49ers, our old home team. Too bad the Cowboys kicked their trash! Anyway...It was great to come home and take a nice cool shower after sweltering in a stadium. I can't imagine how the people felt in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina!

Ethan's First Haircut

Ethan's Nana K gave him his first hair cut the other day. He did so well! We did have to bribe him with a popsicle so he would sit still, but other than that, he didn't make a peep! I love his hair, it's blonde underneath and a strawberry blonde on top. It's so cute!

Blog Confusion

As you have noticed, I have put up links to some of my friends' blogs on my sidebar so others can look around at what other people are doing on their blogs. Some of my friends have also put up links to their friends' or family's blogs. Sometimes I like to take a little gander onto their links, but now I'm confused. I have no idea how they know these people. Sometimes I can put two and two together and figure it out that it's their sister-in-law's sister, a friend of a friend, co-worker, etc. There are so many blogs and so many attatchments! In order for you to understand who the people on my sidebar are...I've decided to let you in on how I know these folks. Now you can see how we're connected!
Hilary: Good friend from my ward in Cali, scrapbook/photographer extrodinare!
Barbie: my bridesmaid, fellow nursing school bud, best pal, originally from Texas
Liz: One of my friends from nursing school, originally from New Mexico, now in living in Maryland
Molly: My Texas sister-in-law
Carly: my Bella Vista buddy in Cali and fellow ward member(we lived in the same apartment complex)
Janelle: visiting teacher/gal pal originally from Cali
Michelle: good friend in Cali, fellow ward member, originally from Vegas
Angie: good friend in Cali, fellow ward member, both graduated from BYU nursing program a semester apart, she's from my parent's hometown
Emily: good friend in Cali, originally from Utah, she's the first one I met when we moved to Cali and the last one I said good-bye to (sniff sniff).
Michelle J: Michelle came to Cali during her husband's internship for the summer, our ward wishes they could have stayed, but they're back at school at BYU
Leslie: my aunt in Idaho
Liz Higham: good friend in Cali, we moved at the same time
Becky: good friend in Cali, originally from Utah, she makes the best tomato dip!
Carissa: one of my most wonderful friends from high school, she befriended me in 9th grade biology class when I was the awkward "new girl" and we've been friends ever since!

So that's the crew of blogs. Hopefully more of you will join in on the blog fun and get your own. Then I can add new and fun links to check out ever now and then. I love that I can see what my friends are up to and be able to drop a few comments here and there. Blog on!

Family Pictures

This is what family pictures is all about! I love the first picture...Corbyn is trying to make Tyler laugh, Calvin is trying to make Ethan laugh, and Kenzie is just lovin' her Papa. It just shows the fun of being a family and having our Grandma Cheryl and Papa John back from Australia!

Lake Chelan, Episode 3

This is Cousin Tyler at Ethan at Blueberry Hills
Cute little Matthew giving Ethan a love pinch
Corbyn loved feeding Ethan at every meal.
These are just a few fun pictures with Ethan's cousins at reunion.

Lake Chelan Episode 2

I was flipping through the Lake Chelan travel guide a few weeks before reunion and I saw an add for a fun place to go berry picking. I told Ryan, "No matter what, I have to go!" I checked it all out on the internet and you can too at Blueberry hills and I got all the directions, the whole thing. So just as Ryan promised, we went berry picking the first full day we were at reunion. It was great since just about everyone wanted to go too. They had blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries to pick and they were about $2/lb. My favorite was the raspberries since they're the best tasting and pretty easy to pick. Aaron, Dave, and Ryan tried to throw berries over the row at each other and catch them in their mouths and the kids sneaked a few while they were picking. So all in all I think we all had fun. When we got back Grammie made 3 Jumbleberry Pies for all of us to eat. A slice of that with a little vanilla ice cream...heaven!

California's Been Good To Me

We packed up the moving truck on Thursday in about 2 hours thanks to Doug, Mike, Aaron, and my wonderful husband. Luckily they're remodeling our apartment so I didn't have to clean a thing so that was super nice. That night we had a final send off BBQ with all of our friends to wish us well. It was great to get some of the group together to say our good-byes (even if they were teary ones). Unfortunately everyone wasn't there due to certain circumstances (brand new baby, potty training, work, etc.). I have loved all my friends and I miss them so much already. It's fun to look at everyone there and remember all the special moments you had with each one. It's going to be hard not having a complex full of buddies to call up to go to the pool or receive an Evite to another Girl's Night Out. To all of you back in SC, enjoy it while you've got it and congrats to the Wycherly's on their new baby girl!

27 hours of driving later...

I made it to TEXAS! Let's just say I will never ever ever drive 1700 miles by myself with a kid in the back. It could have been a lot worse, but it was bad enough. The first day we left Cali around 8 am. Ethan slept off and on all day which was nice. We got caught in some really bad rain/hail storms in the mountains of AZ. I don't think I've ever been so scared in all my life! There were times when I couldn't even see anything and there were cars pulled off to the side of the road. I also saw a car get side swiped by a semi! Too much action for me. We called it a night at 11 pm in Gallup, New Mexico. I was ready to quit by 9, but these guys pushed me a little more. I think the grand total of Ethan's screaming was about 3 hours. We started the next day around 8 am. The moving truck overheated around 11 and Ryan had to be towed into Albuqurque. Come to find out the truck blew a gaskett and we had to be reloaded into another truck. When I think about it, I know some of our stuff probably broke and got ruined with the towing and removing :( I guess we'll just have to see. Aaron and I went on ahead and got to my parent's place around 10:30 Texas time. I will be happy to not set foot in a car for awhile. Ryan made it in around 4 am Texas time. So we made it here safely so thank you for everyone's prayers. I really don't think things would have turned out like they did had you not. Ethan was truly a champ given the circumstances. I would scream too if I had to be strapped down to an uncomfortable, back-facing car seat. Well, I'll post some moving pictures later. I'm going to try to unpack my car. I miss all my friends already. Thanks for all your phonecalls and messages during my trip. They helped me keep going. I love you guys!

Lake Chelan, Washington episode 1

I've called it a night in order to end my packing frenzy. I am so tired and Ethan is tired of me packing. I swear he sits in the floor and cries all day as I walk back and forth, go in and out of rooms, and he has no idea what to do. I feel so bad, but I have to get this stuff done. Anyway...Now that I have a little bit of time, I can start to share my trip to Lake Chelan (pronounced She-lan not She-lon, we found that out the hard way). So for those of you who don't know, the Elmers have a big family reunion bash every 2 years and each family takes a turn planning and carrying out a reunion. So Uncle Jeff and Aunt Peg planned a fun filled event in Washington. Unfortunately they were unable to come since they left to be mission presidents in Peru, we really missed them. So here's a map of Washington so you can see where we vacationed and a beautiful picture overlooking Lake Chelan in the evening. In the next few evenings I'll post some pictures and stories of some of the experiences we had. Enjoy!

Going Away Party at Michelle's

Here are some fun pictures from my little going away lunch that Michelle put on for me. She made a great chicken tortilla soup along with some guacamole (which Ethan loved). I swear my friends are so cute! As I was checking ouot the pictures, I realized...everyone in the pictures have had a baby within the past year or are currently pregnant. I guess it's easy to empathize with each other.

I'm Back!

Well, I have returned from the beloved Elmer Family Reunion aka "EFR" at Lake Chelan, Washington. Don't worry, there will be pictures to follow in a few days. I'm supposed to be packing up my house right now, but I needed a break. I hate coming home from a fun vacation and have to go through the burden of packing, moving, and driving. My house is complete chaos and there are 3 adults and a baby living in it for the next 3 days! Let's just say it's a little tight. Anyway...I had lots of fun at family reunion and we made it through the 17 hour drive without a problem (maybe a fun screaming moments from Ethan, but not too bad). Well, we leave Cali on Friday or Saturday so please pray for us to make it through the 25-28 hour drive to Texas!