"I Wanna Snack"

Today Ethan came up to me and got my attention and started walking over to the pantry. As he was walking over there he said to me, "I wanna snack" as clear as day. I'm not even kidding and he said it over and over. I wish I got it on camera. All I have is what he wanted for his snack, popcorn! He loves popcorn! He is a Terry for sure!

Free Day at the Mall

I had such a fun day at the mall today! I had a bunch of coupons for different stores so I took them all with me and went shopping. Ethan was such a good boy and let me browse all the things I wanted. He does really well at Bath and Body since he loves to smell everything and see all the bright colors there. So at Bath and Body they always give out coupons for something free with any purchase or $10 purchase, it just depends. Well, I had one of those coupons, plus, they had a free spring tote with any purchase, plus, I had my free gift card that I got a few months back. So I walked out of there with a candle, a new bag, and a body butter and it all cost me...nothing! Yeah! Express also had a $15 dollars off any purchase and I got a shirt there for $1. Gotta love it! Then I had a coupon for a free pair of underwear from Victoria Secret, no purchase necessary. You always have to have a good pair of workout undies so again...free! I walked out of the mall with $60 worth of stuff and all it cost me was a trip to the store. Makes me so happy! I love coupons!

Progression and Sickness

We're checking things off the list right and left around here. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with all these boxes, thank goodness. My first official night at the house was on Monday night and it was so weird to walk around my own house. It's so different than living on our own in a 700 sq foot apartment and also very different than living at my parents. Ethan is transitioning quite well too. His naps are right on track and he has been in a pretty good mood these past few days. My mom came up and helped me unpack boxes all day Tuesday and helped me get my kitchen all organized. What a relief! I feel like the kitchen is the center of my home and once that thing is organized then the rest falls into place. We also had our study painted by one of the guys Ry works with and he did such an awesome job! I'll post pictures when we're done with the floors.
Anyway... Later that night both Ryan and I ended up getting super super sick. It was terrible! We got that nasty stomach bug that's been going around and we were both up all night. I waited and waited until it was a decent time to call my mom and see if she would take Ethan until we felt better. My mom is such a star! She drove back up to our house, packed Ethan's bags, and took him the whole day and night! Ryan and I spent the whole day aching, sleeping, throwing up, and watching movies. Thank goodnes we didn't have to do all that and take care of Ethan. I went by yesterday and picked him up since I was feeling tons better. It seemed like he never even missed me. It's a good thing though since he feels so comfortable at Nana's. So far Ethan hasn't been sick yet so I'm hoping that we're out of the woods soon. We'll just watch him and see.
So now we're back at it, trying to get things organized and out of boxes. I'm missing my dishes and that's the only thing that I'm looking for right now. I can't find them anywhere! I had some old nasty ones from college that I threw away because I wanted to actually open and use the ones that I had registerd for when I got married (4 years ago!) so I figured I wouldn't move the old ones and just threw them out. Well, now I can't find my wedding dishes anywhere! I am so bummed about it. They were super nice and I loved them, I never even got to use them! We've gone through every box and no luck. Wahhhh! I hope I will find them somewhere!

Before and After

Here are the before and after shots of the bathroom and Ethan's room. I know pictures never do it justice, but here's just the changes in wall colors. I'll take more pictures once I have all my accessories put up in the bathroom and Ethan's room all put together. My parents have had a lot of experience with painting since they've painted pretty much every house we've ever had and helped other people too. They were a huge help on Saturday! I had never painted on my own before so I got some lessons on taping, using primer, trimming, color choosing. It's been quite eventful. We primed the bathroom Friday night and tried to cover up as much rust as possible. The people that painted it did a pretty sloppy job since there was rust all over the trim and around the cupboards. Not cool. Saturday we got everything situated and painted the ceiling in the bathroom and then rotated to the master. The master wall had some marks on it that were pretty bad so my mom found out the builder's paint colors and got it to match exactly. What a super slueth. We got the wall all done and then rotated to start Ethan's room. After the first coat, my parents started the bathroom. Anyway...we got everything painted after 2 coats and then some detail painting on the trim. My color ideas for the bathroom is cream, taupe, chocolate brown and accents of green. I have cream on the walls, taupe with the shower curtain and big towels, chocolate brown in the rug and accents, and green with candles and hand towels. I just set it all up yesterday and it looks awesome! I just have to get Ryan to hang my towel bars and then we're set. For Ethan's room, I took his comforter and matched the blue in the border and went a little lighter. I got his crib all set up and the color honestly is perfect! I'm so excited about it. I'll have more pictures later.

Busy Days

It's been a few days since I've posted, we've been a little busy around here so here are the pictures to prove it. After we painted on Saturday, Ryan installed the cabinet locks to begin the child proofing process. Ethan wanted to help so here are a few pictures of him being Mr. Fix It. Monday was my super duper cleaning day. I was at the house from 9-8 cleaning like crazy. Grandma Kenny came and helped me out a ton by installing all my fresh, clean shelf paper all over my kitchen and bathrooms. What a saint! It was great to have someone there to keep me company too. Also, Lowes came and installed my new washer and dryer, way exciting. I got just about everything done so Tuesday I stayed home with Ethan since he needed some Mama time. Going up to work on the house is somewhat of an all day affair since it's about a 45 minute drive so if you're going to go, you might as well get a ton done so you don't have to keep wasting gas all the time. Anyway...Tuesday my mom and I took Ethan to the mall since he needed new shoes, desperately. Dillards had their shoes 75% off so I ended up with 3 pairs of stride right shoes for less than $30! What a steal! I'm lucky since Ethan's feet are so wide and all the wide shoes are left over on the sale racks. hahaha. Wednesday it was 82 degrees outside so we enjoyed the sun and tried out Ethan's Christmas golf clubs. He LOVED them. He's not a big fan of the grass so we have to play it on the deck or on the driveway, but we're working on his form and putting...j/k. Thursday I took two trips to the grocery store so I could stock up my pantry. My carts were over flowing every time I went and I didn't even get stuff for the fridge/freezer! It took forever, but the pantry is stocked, the house is cleaned, and the moving truck is ready to be picked up so now we just have to move in. We also decided to rip up the carpet in the study and put hardwood in there so that will be done on Wednesday and it will be painted this Saturday. Oh the fun!

Virtual Tour

We closed on our house on Friday so we are now officially homeowners. I had butterflies in my stomach all week and now I'm glad that all the papers are signed the check went through. We started our "projects" yesterday. We painted the rust colored bathroom and Ethan's room. I'll post some before and afters later. Monday is super duper cleaning day. The people that owned the house before took great care of the house and she cleaned it pretty well, but I want to do all the nitty gritty stuff before our boxes come. It will be a grueling day filled with washing all the blinds, scrubbing floors and tubs, washing windows, wiping out cupboards, and putting in shelf paper. Tuesday I'm going to stock the fridge and the pantry and finish cleaning and then see where I'm at. We're moving our things out of storage on Saturday and we'll try to move the stuff from my parents house throughout the next week. I'm going to wash all my sheets, towels, dishes, silverware, etc since it sat in storage for a little under 6 months so who knows the kind of dust and grime that will be on it. So here's a virtual tour of our new home. It's way exciting and I love our house!

Just a Few Things Going On

I can't find my camera charger anywhere!!! My battery is totally dead and I use my camera all the time so I don't know what I'm going to do! I've looked everywhere. The last time I charged it was right before Christmas so I know I have it here somewhere. Sorry, no pictures or videos for awhile unless I use my parents camera. We have our final walk through on Thursday and we close on our house on Friday, super exciting! That's why I'm so bummed about my camera since I want to take a ton of pictures. Oh well, maybe I'll find my charger when we start packing up or something. I'm a little nervous about all the stuff that's going to take place this week. I mean, buying your first home is kind of a big deal, right? I just wish I wouldn't worry about it, but I can't help it. I feel like I have those butterflies you have right before your first day of school, but it's exponentially worse. I guess it's just fear of the unknown and fear of the responsibility. On to better news...I've lost 10 pounds!!! Go me!!! I wish I didn't have to have 10 pounds to lose, but that's what happens with having a baby. I haven't gone on any diet or anything, just portion control and healthier choices. I'm also working out like crazy. Whenever Ethan is napping (if that ever happens these days) you'll find me doing some sort of work out. Only 4 lbs to go and all my baby weight is gone for good! Bring out my skinny jeans! Yeah!

Mornings with Papa

Whenever my dad leaves a little later for work, Ethan loves to spend a little time with his Papa. He'll sit on his lap and read the paper and even sneak a little of his cereal. Sometimes Papa only has time for a quick cuddle, but Ethan loves it! He also loves talking to Papa on the phone or anyone that will talk to him. He will seriously carry on a full conversation of gibberish, carry the phone like a big person, and even uses his hands when he talks. It's hilarious! He also laughs during the conversation. So call Ethan up some time and get an earful!

So Much For Fun Money

Well, I had to use all my baby-sitting money for new tires for my car today. I hate using money for stuff like that! I know it's necessary and all that, but it certainly isn't very fun. Boo!

Back from Kid Sitting

So, I just got home tonight from my sitter job. It's good to be back to just being a mother of one. It's really hard to baby-sit sometimes, especially kids you don't know at all in the beginning and that fact that you're not their parent and you have no idea what their particular boundries might be. I definately have my limits, boundries, and rules, but when kids cross those lines you almost have to step back and try to be the parent that their used to having. Kind of hard. Ethan learned a couple of new words from their 3 year old like her name, "no", and "mine"...now he runs through the house screaming "no no no mine mine mine!!!" all day long. Great thing to learn. Why couldn't he pick up using the big boy potty or something like that?! Well, I've got some hard earned cash to spend/save. Yipee!

Watching Kids

A family friend recommended us to a friend the other day to watch their kids while they're away. This family has recently moved to the area and doesn't have any family near by and are in need of some "sitters" to watch their 3 kids (ages 9, 6, and 3)while they go on a retreat for work. So I'm leaving today and I'll be back Wednesday night. It should be fun and another learning experience to keep in the motherhood vault. So wish me luck and hopefully I will survive. At least it will be nice to have some extra spending cash for the house when I'm done. C-ya!

15 Month Check Up

Ethan had his 15 month well check yesterday. The doctor checked on his lungs and said that he sounds a lot better, but he could be a little under the weather for up to 2 more weeks! It just takes a long time to clear it all out I guess. So here are his well check stats...he's now 23 lbs 4 oz (25-50%), 31 1/2 inches (50-75%), and his head is 19 in (75-90%). He's had a huge growth spurt in regards to his height because last time he was only in the 10% area! Everything else has gone along the same curve. He's a lightweight with a big head. Haha, j/k. The doctor was impressed with the development of his motor and language skills. She was watching him being his usual curious and talkative self and said that his skills are more at the 18 month age. That always makes a mom feel better that you're kid is developing normally or even ahead of schedule. Ethan can say quite a few words: Mama, Dada, Papa, Nanny, Kitty, hello, oh cool, all done, backpack, yucky, yummy, uh oh, ah huh (yes), uh uh (no), and cheese. He also does a lot of sounds: pig, dog, cat, bear/lion, car/truck, and he mocks my frustrated grunt. He knows some of his body parts like his head, shoulders, knees, toes, ears, and feet. He can eat with a fork and a spoon, not like a civlized person, but he tries. And as you all know he can open doors and runs everywhere. He can also color pictures, dump stuff out and put it back in, he points to things, dances in circles, jumps, plays with legos, climbs up onto furniture etc. He's doing really good. We do have some things to work on. I've been wanting to stop relying on the binky so we're going to get rid of the binky once we move into our house and get settled. The pediatrician said that it would be the best time since it could be quite stressful for him. Everything else is right on track. He eats well, no more bottle, and drinks whole milk. The pediatrician said he also looked well enough to get his vaccines so we went ahead and got those done as well. It was not fun for him at all, but he's always a trooper. So things are great with Mr. Ethan!

"Hands On" Kind of Kid

So this 2 minute clip is just a glimpse of what every hour of every day is like for me. I think if I were to rate Ethan on a active scale of 1-10, I would give him an 8 on a regular day, but today was one of those days where he was 11! He had his hands on or in everything! I guess you could say he is feeling much better and then some. Keep in mind, this clip is only 2 minutes...2 minutes. Now imagine just replaying this clip over and over and over all day long and that's a basic day for me. He never sits, he never rests (except for 1-2 hour nap/day), and he's never still. If the house is quiet and he's not in sight...big problem. He loves to talk (notice how he repeats "yucky" over and over in the video), run, open doors, throw things down the stairs, climb on chairs, dump things out, talk on the phone, and push any button he can get his fingers on. I wish I could just let him play quietly on his own and not hover over him all the time, but it's just not an option right now. If I let him out of my sight for just a few seconds, he's gone doing something. I just repeat to myself, someday...someday.



For those of you with younger children, you're day is coming and for those of you that have already passed this stage...you can laugh and be glad it's not you. Oh, and isn't it so cute that he knows "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!" We've been singing that song a lot since he's learning his body parts and he picked up the motions while he was sitting with us in Primary. He can do the whole thing, but I couldn't get him to do it on tape. Maybe later.

Good Blog Secret

So for those of you that sit and scroll through blog after blog to find those that are updated, scroll no more. A while ago Hilary introduced me to Bloglines, but I've never mentioned it on my blog before. It's a great website that lets you get notifiers when someone's blog has been updated. Just follow directions on the website, pick the blogs you'd like to subscribe to and then let them do all the work. It saves a lot of time and you're always current. Plus subscribing to new blogs is really easy. Unfortunately with the easiness I've become a bum about commenting so to all of you that have blogs, I am so sorry for my lack of comments, but know that I read your blog faithfully. I'll try harder, I promise. So go on to bloglines today! Let me know how you like it.

Eventful Weekend

So this weekend was full of just stuff going on. First off, Ethan was starting to sound, look, act sick so I asked Ryan to pick up some medicine on the way home from work. Right before I got off the phone with him, he asked me if I needed him to get anything so I told him just pick me up something fun (totally just joking). Well, he handed me the bag when he got home and it had a 30 GB IPOD in it!!! Oh my gosh!!! Now you have to understand...the only person in the world that doesn't like to spend money as much as I do is my husband, so this is huge! This is the most he's spent on a gift for me since my wedding ring. I'm not even kidding. I've wanted an IPOD for a really long time and I've put away some money from birthdays and Christmas to possibly buy one, but I just couldn't. I guess I just didn't want to get one and then have them come out with something new next week or something. Plus, they're kind of expensive and with us buying our house and everything I've wanted to save my special money for doing stuff to the house. Well, I'm thrilled to be a new owner of an IPOD! You have to understand how lame I am. I've been working out with my old discman. Yeah, the one that I've had since high school! I swear the thing is so old and I even dropped it off the eliptical the other day and it broke in half, but luckily Ryan fixed it. The thing will never die. So now I can go out and get one of those armband things and be cool when I work out.

Another big event this weekend was Ethan getting sick. Ethan has had some sniffles here and there and maybe a few bad diapers, but never sick like this. He's been a very healthy kid so far. He started getting some chest congestion and his nose was a little stuffy, but later in the night it got worse. He slept probably 3 hours max on Friday night. He did not feel good at all. I listened to his lungs with my stethoscope and he sounded really crackly and a little wheezy and with all the bad stuff going around like RSV and pneumonia, I wasn't going to chance it. We took him in to urgent care on Saturday and waited 2 hours! It took forever! The doctor said his throat and ears looked great, but he has bronciolitis and he just needs some liquid albuterol. He also wrote me a prescription of amoxocillin in case all his stuffiness turned yellow or green. He seems to be doing better and his night last night was much better than Friday. Thank goodness and his naps have been tons better too. He hadn't taken a nap at all since Thursday when that stupid Fex Ex guy came. Anyway...Ethan seems to be doing a little bit better, he has his 15 month well check on Thursday so our doctor can see how things are going.

And our last major event...I got to go to my first Dallas Mavericks game!!! Ryan's dad gave him the company tickets for the evening so we had awesome seats! I'll post pictures later. I got to see my man, Dirky the Turkey (that's my nickname for him)! It was so much fun. My parents watched my little sick Ethan for us and we got to go out for a night on the town. We went out before for a little BBQ and then hit the game after. The last time I was at an NBA game was at the Detroit Pistons with my dad back in the 10th grade. We had a great time to just have a fun date and not have to worry about Ethan at all. It was really nice to get out and do something after being at the urgent care all day long. So yeah for an eventful weekend!

I Hate Fed Ex

So today we were going about our typical routine...Ethan was going down for a nap at 11:00 am as always. I held him for awhile, gave him his favorite blankey told him night night and he was off to dream land while I was off to a workout with Denise Austen. Well, at 11:20 the door bell rang...the fed ex man. Sure enough not 5 seconds after it rang, screams came from Ethan's room. Nap time was over, I was starting to get nice and sweaty, I hadn't even begun to think about showering yet, and my heart sank. So I got him up and we had lunch and played a little bit outside. After I took him back upstairs and I held him until he fell asleep and the minute I laid him in the crib...wide awake. So I got him up, took him to the park and let him get all his energy out. After about 45 minutes he almost fell asleep on the swings so I took him home, got him a snack and took him off to bed. Now it's 2:30, he's still screaming in his crib, hasn't slept more than 20 minutes and I'm about to go crazy. Thank you Fed Ex for ruining my day as well as my son's!!!

Finally!

So this picture has nothing to do about my post, but I figured the picture was so cute that I had to post it! Anyway...A lot has happened in regards to our house hunting in the past 4 1/2 months that we've been down here. I know that seems like a long time to be looking for a house, but we definately have our reasons. So this is what happened. We got here at the end of August and started to get our bearings of where things were things located, how far out did we want to live from work/family, what was the going price for a home, etc etc. So at first we started looking at new construction in an area that would be 25-30 minutes from work and about 15-20 minutes from family. Well, the particular neighborhood we wanted was closing out their first phase and the lots they had left over were terrible. They weren't going to open up the next phase until the end of September so we decided we would wait. So we were looking continuously at new construction in other areas, other builders, other neighborhoods. Every Saturday we would drag Ethan out and go through model home after model home getting the whole schepiel about what they had to offer. Anyway...the end of September came and the lots opened up and they ended up raising their prices way above our budget and we hated the customer service from their rep so we decided to walk. Later that week we were staying at Ry's parents house while they were out of town and I saw a billboard for a neighborhood up the road. So we took a look in the neighborhood and really liked it a lot. The new homes going up were way too expensive but the preowned homes were a little more in our price range. I went home later and took a look on the internet and found one that I really liked, we met our realtor up there and took a look. The home ended up being a preforeclosure. For those of you who don't know what that is, it basically means that the bank was about to take the house away from the owners and they were giving them a chance to sell it before it went into foreclosure and the bank took it away. The realtor ran some comps and we decided that we liked the house, it needed some work, but we were willing to put in some sweat equity. So we put in our offer and then just sat and waited. Mind you this is the 2nd week in October now. Our realtor put in calls to the bank periodically and finally they responded and said that they looked through the offer and everything looked great. Well, usually when that happens that means they accept the offer so our realtor took the listing off the MLS and told us we had our house. I went out and bought my washer and dryer and fridge, started looking at carpet samples, paint samples, took our earnest money to the realtor, and we were so excited and I even posted a blog all about it. We didn't hear anything else from the bank for awhile but then come to find out...the guy really meant, "the offer looks like all the details are in order, I will be sending it in to the board within the next few weeks and it's up to them if they say yes." Banks are not very easy to work with and it basically depends on how someone is feeling that day. Many times the way things go aren't very logical, but they do things with certain protocols and don't really care if you love the house. Anyway...two weeks later...we got a no. I was devestated. We started from the drawing board all over again. So now it's Thanksgiving time and we're still looking and we decide to put an offer in on a 2 year old, never lived in home that was foreclosed because two investors went in on it and one didn't make the payments. The house was beautiful and it had everything I wanted. We put an offer in on that one, but learned not to expect much and kept looking elsewhere. Eventually they came back with a no as well (fyi, they just reduced their price...again...stupid bank...we gave them a great offer). Anyway...we finally found a home and are working with real people this time and they accepted our offer, our inspection went through, and things are looking good. I have had so many ups and downs with this whole housing thing that I can't even begin to think it's ours until our names are signed at closing. Our closing date is Feb. 15th so wish us luck! The home is beautiful, I'll post pictures of it once we get in. Sorry for the long post, but I've been through the ringer with this house stuff and I want people to realize that we've been working really hard to find a home and it hasn't been easy. I think sometimes people think we're just living with my parents for fun or something or that we're just not looking hard enough or we're too picky. I get some of the strangest comments sometimes about it. So yes, we have found our house and hopefully on Feburary 15th we will be first time homeowners! Yeah us!

Snow Day!!!

I can't believe it snowed! My mom came back from an emergency preparedness seminar at church last night and the "ham radio specialist" said that they should be careful tomorrow because of possible snow and sleet. I thought it was crazy , but when I woke up this morning there was snow on the ground. I haven't seen snow since our Christmas in Ohio last year so I had to take Ethan out in it! He's a kid after my own heart since his first thing to do was eat the snow! Back when I was little I grew up in Ohio and Pennsylvania and we'd get huge blizzards up there and I would spend the day running around sledding and eating snow all day long. It was the best! My favorite thing to do was make kool-aid and pour it over a big cup of snow and have my own snow cone. So enjoy our pictures of our little snow outing today, disregard the "no make up morning" I was having.

This Week's Activities

This week Ryan and I have been watching his younger cousins while Uncle Joe and Aunt Steph are is Switzerland/Paris. We're watching 3 (ages 13, 11, 9...not exact ages)of their 5 kids (2 are out at BYU). It's been interesting to catch a glimpse of what life is like in the older years of having kids. It's not at all about diapers, Little Einsteins, and trips to the park. Instead it's driving the "mother bus" to all sorts of activities, packing lunches, doing homework, and making sure piano gets practiced. There are times when having Ethan is about all I can handle and there are some really hard things that go on at times, but it's good to get a dose of what life will be like later on and realize how good I have it right now. I do have to say though, having Ethan around with 3 other kids is a ton easier since they are pure entertainment for him. At least motherhood progresses in stages and each kid comes one at a time (in some cases). Basically all I'm trying to say is...this has been a big wake up call to enjoy just having one at the moment and remember the fact that things aren't as hard as I think they are. I guess each stage is life is difficult because things are new. Like going from being single to being married...definte transition period. Going from being married to having a baby...taking care of 2 is trying...and then you add all sorts of life stuff and more kids and the difficulty levels are exponential. So enjoy the time of life you're in!

Complimenting Good Customer Service Truly Pays Off...Literally

So way back when Ethan was only 3 or 4 months old and we were still in the Bay Area, I took him to the mall since it was rainy season and we really needed to get out. I went up to the Great Mall for a stroll and to stop by Bath and Body Works for some much needed mommy pampering. Of course the minute we strolled into the store, Ethan had a meltdown and I hadn't even made it to the lotion section! I was greeted by one of the store employees and she did the typical greeting and asked if I was looking for something in particular. Anyway...maybe I looked desperate of frazzled, but she got down and started playing with Ethan and got him laughing. After that she took me over to their little sink with all the testers and gave me the best hand massage and let me try out all these fun products. She'd smile at Ethan and entertain him while I looked around the store. I don't even think I bought much that day, but that girl gave me the best day! So I was so moved by this experience that I had been wanting to write a letter or call their customer service department to let them know. Well, everytime I called they were closed since they're on Eastern time and I was on Pacific. I never got around to it until the other day. My mom and I went after Christmas for their Semi-annual sale and they had their customer service number on the receipt so I decided to give them a call. The Customer Service lady was very excited that things went well and took down all my info. Well, yesterday I got an envelope in the mail from them and in it was a letter thanking me for taking the time to let them know of my experience and they included a $20 gift card for me to use in their store! How cool is that! I was so giddy about it that I was acting like a little kid! So this is just to show that when you have a good experience somewhere, you should always let them know. I also think it's good to let people know of bad experiences so people can correct any issues. As Dr. Phil says, "you can't change what you don't acknowledge." But I do think it's always nice to politely inform and be tactful when doing so, not rude and obnoxious (that never sits well with people). Anyway...go out there today and thank someone for giving good service.

Another Month Finished

I finished the month of March while my mom was in surgery back in December and also completed April (I just haven't taken a picture of it yet). Right now I'm working on May but I haven't gotten too far on it since there's been so much going on with the holidays and housing hunting (yes, we're still looking and yes, I'm still bitter about that first house not going through). So hopefully I can get it done before May rolls around. Thankfully I've got awhile.

Christmas Catch Up

So I haven't taken the chance to write about our Christmas holidays. This was my first Christmas without travelling in 5 years and my first Christmas not in Ohio since 1998! Crazy! The majority of the holiday we spent with Ryan's family since this is their first Christmas being back from Australia and we had the whole family together. Ry's sister and her family came down from Utah and stayed the week and the rest of us were in the area. Here are some pictures from the activity that Ry and I headed up for some of the kids. Ryan had the awesome idea to do gingerbread houses so we did them out of graham crackers and had a hey day. Here's the spread. Christmas Eve we went to Uncle Joe and Aunt Steph's house for the Nativty recreation by the kids and then a little musical program. So much fun! It's so fun to be adopted into the Elmer clan and enjoy all the festivities and family. That night we stayed over at my in laws and had Christmas morning with the kids. Ethan got a junior set of golf clubs from us and once we saw how good he was with them, we decided that it would have to be an "outdoor toy." Grandma gave him is first basketball hoop that starts out small (3 feet) and can go all the way up to 6 or 7 feet. He loves it already and he can bearly make a basket. Nana K got him the Little People garage and a set of Mega Blocks that he plays with like a maniac. He is so funny these days. Uncle Aaron got him this awesome Texas Longhorns warm up suit with a Texas t-shirt that he looks like such a stud in. Anyway...we had a wonderful time with everyone and Ethan loved playing with his cousins. They are so sweet to him and I love to watch them look out for him and take care of him. It's so cute! It's also so nice to have my parents in the area too so I could spend time with them on Christmas Eve and then I came down to my parents later on Christmas mornign so I could be around for my brother's phonecall from the mission. He's doing so good and has already been out 7 months! Wow! Time flies! So Christmas turned out better than I thought and everyone was so generous to us with gifts and time so I want to tell all of them thank you and we love you!

My Celebrity Look Alikes

My sister-in-law, Molly, had the coolest post up so I wanted to give it a try too. I don't really see any similarities with some of these people, but here they are. Give it a try and post it on your blogs, I really want to see who everyone else looks like!

Rough Day

So I am having a really tough day today. Ethan's naps have been hit and miss lately due to his teeth/stage/who really knows why. So when he doesn't get a nap he's really grouchy, I don't get anything done, and then I'm grouchy since my to do list piles up and I don't have any time to just think. I put him down for his nap today and finished up my cleaning that I have to do when he's asleep (mopping and cleaning bathrooms) and he sat in their and whined and cried the whole time. I let him stay in there while I showered and got ready and when I was done it sounded like he was asleep. Not even 20 minutes later, he was up screaming. So I got him some lunch and then took him to Wal Mart to get some grocery shopping done. This was my mom's first time out to go grocery shopping so I at least had her with me. Well, he just screamed the whole time. I don't mean scream crying, he screams like loud screams. I packed toys, books, treats for him, I tried letting him hold things, I tried picking out a toy and letting him play with it while I shopped, I let him talk to people, I tried letting him put stuff in the basket, I tried letting him open something and eating it. All of this stuff would distract him for 2 seconds and then he was off screaming again. I got so many nasty looks. I was so ready to just leave my cart, take him out to the car, and just leave. It was awful and it's been like this for awhile and I just can't take it anymore. So I got everything done and we got home and we played for awhile and he started acting like he was tired so I got him some milk and held him while he drank his cup of milk. He layed down and everything was quite for 20 minutes and then he woke up screaming bloody murder. He is screaming as we speak and I'm at my wits end. Plus, it's one thing to just let them cry in their crib when you're living at your own house, but we're still with my parents and I can't just let him cry with other people living in the house, especially those trying to sleep and recover from surgery. Sometimes I just want to scream as loud as he does. AHHHHHHH!!!! Today is one of those days that you just feel like such a failure at motherhood. Any tips on stopping the screaming? HELP ME!!!

I Swear I'm a Perfect Angel!!!

The first picture is a shot from Ry's company party on Friday. It was Ethan's first encounter with Santa and needless to say he didn't like him at all. The rest of the pictures are just a few times I was able to catch Ethan's "curious" moments on camera. I think all of our families will vouch for us that this kid is a little bit more curious than most kids and it is non stop. I always hear moms say, my kid is always on the go, but this is ridiculous.

Teething Terror

So Ethan is going through some bad teething time the past few days. The weird thing is, his top molars came through without me even knowing, but he's been having trouble with some new ones on the bottom front. He's been waking up 2 times a night, taking only one 1 hour nap (if that), and screaming his head off everywhere we go. He's having a tough time, I'm having a tough time, everyone at this house is having a tough time. I've given him all the teething remedies available, but it's just not working. Ethan's also just not one of those kids that wants to be cuddled so he tries to jump out of my arms every time I try to pick him up and hold him. So he just walks around the house screaming, whining, and crying. All I can say is...All I want for Christmas is Ethan's teeth to come through.

My Dad's Company Christmas Party

My dad had a big company party this weekend and since my mom was unable to go due to her surgery, I volunteered myself as his date. It was a dinner and Casino Night at the Bank of America Plaza Building in downtown Dallas (the building all lit up in green in the Dallas skyline). My parents bought me a cocktail dress and I got all fancied up for the first time in ages. It was so much fun! They had a big dinner buffet with a huge reindeer ice scuplture, a wonderful chocolate fountain, tons of gambling games (many that I didn't know how to play), and great prizes. Unfortunately I didn't win anything, but we did get our picture taken by the photographer as our consolation prize. Good enough for me. I don't think I'll ever have an opportunity to go to my dad's Christmas party again so I enjoyed the moment while it lasted. Thanks Dad!

Park Day!

Yesterday was a very fun day for both Ethan and me. In the morning we went to the grand opening of Central Market which is my new favorite grocery store! This place is a cook's fantasy! Oh my goodness! Central Market has anything and everything and the greastes part is that you can try almost everything. They had a huge 12,000 lb wheel of cheese that they were carving and you could get the cheese that they carved out. They were also giving out free cookbooks and a 65.00 chef's knife! My kind of place. They even have cooking classes going on throughout the month that I would love to try out! Anyway...Ethan and I spent about 2 hours there and that about did him in. After his nap I wanted to reward him for being such a good boy so I took him to the park. He had a hay day, he loves outside! He went on the swings, slides, tried to climb the rock wall, put mulch in his mouth, everything. We had such a good time and didn't come home until I had to make dinner.

All Is Well!

Everything went great with my mom's surgery. They were able to remove all the cysts/tumors and found that they were benign. Good news! She's now recovering and will be in the hospital until possibly Saturday since her surgery ended up being so late in the day. Only bad news is that the weather has been terrible here so I haven't had the chance to go see her today. Yesterday it was 79 degrees and now it is 28 with a wind chill of 19!!! We have rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow here and more on the way. I can't believe I was running around in capris and flip flops less than 24 hours ago!!! Crazy weather! At least I have the chance to prep some meals and stick them in the freezer and make some muffins for the guys for breakfast. It's definately cuddling weather, too bad Ethan is not a cuddler. He runs constantly! He was always wiggly as a baby, but now he's out of control! The kid never rests and never sits still. He does some of the funniest things sometimes and I have to go in the other room so I don't laugh in front of him since I don't want him to think it's funny. Yesterday I went to get him from his nap and he had stripped himself down, threw all his clothes out of the crib, took off his diaper and threw that across the floor, and I found him marching in his crib! The kid is barely 13 months! I am so worried of what is to come!

Family Emergency

So my mom went into the doctor (after some strong coaxing from yours truly) to get some problems checked out that she's been having. Well, the doctor found a fist sized tumor/cyst in her uterus and an ovary full of cysts. She had an emergency hysterectomy today at 2 and is now safely recovering at the hospital. She did really well and the tumor/cysts were all benign so now we just have to worry about recovery. She'll be down for quite a while no lifting, housework, etc for at least 6 weeks. I guess I know why the Lord hasn't helped our house go through. I'm a little worried about taking care of my mom, Ethan, the house, and my dad & Ry. I think PB&J will be on the menu for a few nights out of the week. Sorry guys! At least my mom will have a live in nurse available 24 hours a day and I can use my nursing skills that she helped pay for. haha! Say some prayers of us.

Pie Making Day Part I

So I'm attempting to make pies for the big Thanksgiving feast. I made 2 homemade crusts last night, 1 turned out, 1 crumbled into a pile of blah. So today I made the filling for the pumpkin and pecan pies and baked them off. I think they turned out pretty good. I have no idea what they taste like, but they look okay. Tomorrow I will be making a chocolate pudding pie with a graham cracker crust and a apple pie from scratch. Wish me luck, I've never done this before and I'm trying to be a successful pie maker like my Great Grandma Munson. She was known all around town for her pies. Let's hope it's in the genes.

Almost 13 months

I have this LDS Baby Book that I started when Ethan was born and it records all kinds of tid bits of information about Ethan, his family, the world, big events, doctor visits, all sorts of info. I really loved the month-by-month entries that I could write in there about his physical changes, new experiences, his schedule, favorite things to do, new tricks. Well, from one year on the book only records things by birthdays or holidays and I still want to record what he's doing on a month to month basis. So now my blog will include my monthly entries on Ethan's progress. I figure I might as well do it on the blog since I haven't been doing so well on my blog these days. I'm just so bummed with all this housing chaos that I don't even want to blog. Bummer. Anyway...This month Ethan's hair has gotten so thick and long! The kid gets a hair cut every 4 weeks! It's not curly like I thought it would be, it's baby fine and super thick. I love it. He's started speaking in his own language lately. He'll carry on like he's talking in complete sentences, but he doesn't make any sense at all. He especially loves to nod his head "yes" when you ask him a question. One thing that he's started that I'm not to particularly happy about is screaming. He gets really frustrated at times and he screams so loud and so high, you just can't ignore it. I figure if I give him what he wants then he thinks he can scream and get his way, but I can't let him scream in public because it is so annoying. Anyone with tips, please send them my way. I think he's getting opinionated about things and just can't get across what he wants and it makes him really mad so he feels like he needs to scream. I don't know. He's very mobile and getting into everything more than ever. He just sling shots from one place to another and has his hands (or mouth) on everything. He has to empty everything from cupboards, drawers, or bookshelves and then those contents are taken and hidden in other cupboards, drawers, or bookshelves, and occasionally the trash can. We've had to hide all shoes from him since we could never find them when we needed them. I've been chasing after him non stop and whenever the room is quiet you know something is wrong. The only time we can breath is when he's sleeping and sometimes he doesn't take a nap. So here are some pictures from just today of some of the activities that he likes to do like chasing the cat, pulling out the heating pad from my mom's drawer, and riding on the vacuum. Happy 13 months!

Ethan's Gift

This is the cross stitch that I worked on while I was pregnant with Ethan. I took it to work with me every night so I could do some of it on my breaks or when things were slow (which was rare), it went with me to every Dr's appointment and I would do it whenever Ryan was watching a game and I was bored. I got most of it done before Ethan was born except for the lettering which my mom did for me when I brought him home from the hospital. I finally got it stretched and framed and wrapped it up for his birthday. So here's the final product in all it's glory. I'll hang it in his room as long as Ethan will let me and once he's "too old or too cool" for it, I'll hang it in his closet or somewhere that he can see it and know that I love him. Hehe!

My New Thing

Sorry for the lack in blog postings. I just haven't been in the mood to blog lately. That's right, the queen of blogging has not been in the mood to blog!!! Yeah, it's been that kind of week. Onto brighter things, here is something that I've picked up recently. Many of you know that I LOVE to cross-stitch (I know it's old school). I started a lot during nursing school on our lovely 1 hour car pool rides to Salt Lake, but then I just ended up getting car sick every time. I resurrected it again when I was working L&D to stay awake during slow times (which were rare) or during my breaks. I haven't had a whole lot of time or patience to do it since Ethan was born, but lately I've picked up on it again. I found some cute little patterns online to download for free and I work on them every night before bed for like 30 minutes. They're only 4X4 and really fun to do. The patterns I'm working on are for each month of the year. So far I've done November, January, and Feb. and I'm currently working on December. They're super cute and will be fun to have around my house for seasonal decorations.

1st Birthday!

I know it's a week late, but I've been taking a blog vacation. Anyway...here are some pictures from Ethan's actual birthday. We celebrated with a little cake and some fun games when Daddy got home.

Happy Halloween!!!

Here are some pictures of tonight's adventure. This was Ethan's first time to go out Trick-or-Treating so I was interested to see what he'd think of it all. We got him all dressed up and put him in his new wagon from his birthday and set out to conquer the neighborhood. He was a little timid at first, but after awhile he got into it! All the people thought he was so cute and would let him stick his hands right in and take whatever he could get. It was hilarious! We had so much fun taking him around. After awhile we took him back home to pass out candy and he loved that too. His favorite part was throwing candy everywhere. It was a great night!

Ethan's Party

Here are a few pictures from the party festivities. They include opening presents, pinanta, pin the face on the pumpkin, and cake of course! The weather was perfect and I think everyone had a great time. Ethan had so much fun playing with everyone and checking out all his new toys. Thanks everyone!!!