Some Updates...Finally!!!

I know it has been FOREVER since I updated my blog. Believe me, I've wanted to. The past couple of months have been pretty insane and have hit us with some wonderful things but also some major challenges. I'll get into it in another blog, but for now, let me try to catch up a little.

This is my new favorite picture of Ethan. My sisters-in-law (Natalie & Kimberly) took some family pictures of us over the Thanksgiving break and they caught this great one of Ethan. He's not camera shy to say the least. He found a tree stump, ran over to it, and started posing for the camera. What a guy!
In October we went with some friends (Heather & Cesar Dominguez and Melanie & Tad Teeples) into the city to see Phantom of the Opera. This was my 2nd time seeing it but it had been many, many years so I didn't remember much. Needless to say, it was fabulous. We loved it!
This is a picture of Ethan showcasing his very first tatoo. He got this little rub on from the doctors office and was proud to have it show off his muscles. Who knew it took about a month for those things to come off completely?
One of our biggest accomplishments in October was potty training. Our little guy figured it out and now he's a pro. After earning two sticker charts worth of stickers, this is the big toy he picked out from Toys R Us. I feel pretty lucky that he went for a $12.99 toy and not a Power Wheels Jeep or something!
For Halloween, Ethan was both the Hulk and Spiderman. At first he told me that he wanted to be Spiderman so that's the costume I got him. But, a week or so later, he decided that he really wanted to be the Hulk. So, Blake's family hooked him up. Here he is with his friend Dallin trick-or-treating at the Ledgewood mall.
This was our Halloween play group in October. As you can see, Ethan is now Spiderman (and, once again, not camera shy!).

Ethan and I went to a local farm and picked out a great pumpkin. Although we had attempted to carve pumkins with Ethan in the past, this is the first year where he really got into it (as you can see!)
Ethan was timid at first about digging the guts out but it didn't take long before he was yelling at us for taking out the stuff. He wanted to do it!
Proudly showing off his finished product (after some serious help from daddy with the cutting).

Weekend in New England

Okay, I know it's taken forever for me to finally post a blog. Life has been crazy these past several weeks which I'll go into some other time. For now, I'll try to catch up on a fun road trip we took a few weeks ago.

For the longest time I've wanted to visit Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. It's one of the highest points on the east coasts and claims a view out to the Atlantic Ocean. So, I talked Blake into renting a townhouse for the weekend and we made the 7 hour drive. The fun part was that almost all of my siblings were able to join us. We got a place large enough to sleep everyone so we were joined by Nat and her girls, Scott & Natalie (with Lincoln) and Tim & Kimberly (with Rylan). It was a full house to say the least. But it was fun to all be together. I wish we could have had one more day there. Below are some of the things we did on our trip...

A foliage train ride through the hills of northern NH. Riding the "choo" train.

Lexie, Sammie, Ethan and Rylan enjoying the view from the train. They LOVED it!

A view of the foliage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This picture doesn't do it justice.

This is me half way up Mt. Washington. It looks like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff but, believe me, there were plenty of rocks still behind me. I had to make my brother, Scott, drive about half way up because I was freaking out about the height and the drop. I have a major phobia of heights! (By the way, I'm holding a sign that says, "This car climbed Mt. Washington").
Blake and Ethan enjoy all the Santa's villages set up at the Yankee Candle Flagship store in MA.

Ethan tries on silly hats at the Yankee Candle Store.

A cute picture of Ethan in front of the Yankee Candle Flagship store. What a fun place to visit!

Firsts

It's been a while since I had a blog entry so I thought I'd take a minute to document some firsts that we've had recently.

- Ethan is sleeping in a big boy toddler bed. I was so nervous about the transition but it went so smoothly. The first night I tucked him in and waited for him to immediately jump out of bed. I was shocked that after 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes...there was no movement - no noise! Amazing! The next morning at about 6:30 a.m. Blake and I woke up to Ethan standing next to our bed saying, "Time to get up! I took a big night night!" I can't tell you how it FREAKED us out to see him standing there in our room. This is a whole new world that we're getting used to. Good job Ethan!

- My exciting news is that we got a new dining set. I honestly think that the only furniture we've ever purchased since we've been married (almost 7 years) is our couch set. Everything else was hand-me-downs or out of the trash because that's all we could afford while in school. So, Blake agreed to let me get a new dining set a few weeks ago and I LOVE it. Finally we can seat more than 6 people at our dining table. Yay!!

- A couple of weeks ago Ethan attended his first actual birthday party for his friend Dallin. They went to a place called Clown Around where there was an indoor playground, etc. He had a blast playing with all the kids!

New dining table and china cabinet.

New buffet table.
Ethan at Dallin's birthday party!

Another Good One

This morning, after Blake left for work, I noticed that he had left his Blackberry home on the table. So, I called him at work to see if he would need it today. When I got of the phone, Ethan said, "Daddy left his blueberry home?" This kid cracks me up!

From the Mouth of Babes

This morning I was fussing around in my sweats, cleaning our bathroom when Ethan found two of my hair clips that had pearls on them. After asking what they were, he said "Mommy wear them?" So, I put on in my pony tailed hair to satisfy him. But, that would not do. He then said, "Mommy wear the other one?" So, I put the other one on the other side of my hair. He looked at me with some satisfaction, smiled, and said, "You look like a princess Mommy!" Gosh, I love that little boy! He sure knows how to brighten my day. Who knew that he even knew the word princess?!

Beach Days!

One of our favorite things to do during the summer is hit the beach. We live about 1.5 hours from our favorite beach spots on the Jersey Shore so we make lots of weekend trips down. We're so sad to see the summer go. We've had so much fun. Below are some pictures that document some of our beach highlights!

Blake before doing his first triathlon at Long Branch beach. Unfortunately, due to the fog, they had to cancel the bike portion of the race. Blake was pretty bummed but it was still a great experience doing the run and swim.
Jen and Blake at the pavilion in Long Branch (I think this was around 6 a.m. - we had been up since 4 a.m. to drive down so we're a little sleepy to say the least!).
Blake running out of the water to start the running portion of the triathlon.
We spent a day out on TJ's boat (TJ is Nicole's fiance - Nicole is Blake's sister). TJ was nice enough to take us out on his boat at Point Pleasant for a fantastic day of fishing, tubing, etc. We had such a blast. Ethan kept telling TJ "drive faster, TJ!" so I guess he's taking things into his own hands in this picture!
Nicole and TJ bought Ethan is very own Diego fishing pole. He was so proud of the little plastic fish that kept reappearing at the end of his rod. What can I say, the kid has a gift!
This was one of the highlights of the day. We had a blast being pulled around on this floatie. Of course, everyone's ears are probably permanently damaged from my screaming. It was so much fun!
At the end of the day, we got cleaned up and boated over to a great restaurant in Point Pleasant (can't remember the name). It was the perfect end to a perfect day. Thanks Nic and TJ!
We spent a few Saturday's at the beach with some friends from church. On one of the trips, Blake rented a surf board and let Ethan have a try (on the sand). He's looking pretty cool!

Recent Ethan-isms

I had to take a minute to write down a few of the funny things Ethan has done lately. This is more for my benefit so that I will enjoy these memories in years to come.

• Yesterday I had to make a couple returns to Old Navy and TJ Maxx. To keep Ethan entertained while we were at Old Navy, I let him play with a little football he found by the register. After we finished looking around, we walked out the front doors and I realized about a minute later that he was still holding on to the mini football. So, we walked back in and returned the lifted item. We walked down the sidewalk to TJ Maxx to make my other return. While in the cart, Ethan found a toy sitting next to the register so I let him play with it while we walked around. After paying for a few items, we walked out to the car. Suddenly I realized that he was still holding on to the toy which he had conveniently held by his side (the side away from the cashier) and I hadn't noticed. So, once again we went back into the store to return the lifted item. Good grief!

• Lately, Ethan has been giving me grief about going to sleep. He has usually been really good about just laying down and going to sleep. But, now he's been screaming from the second I lay him down. So, this is what happened at nap time today: M: Good night Ethan. I love you.

E: Screams begin.
M: I walk out of his room and close the door. I stand outside to listen for what happens next. This is what I hear.
E: Mommy! Mommy! Open the door please, Mommy! Open the door please!
E: Mommy! I want another story! I want TWO stories!
E: Mommy, I'm cold! Mommy, I'm cold! (by the way, he's PLENTY warm)
E: Mommy, I'm going pee pee! Mommy, I've got shockadoodies (yes, this is the term Ethan gave to his doodies).
M: I go in because I don't want him to sleep in doodies. I check his diaper. It's clean. This only makes things worse because now he's reaching for me, begging for me. I offer to tuck him in but he refuses. So, I tell him goodnight and quietly leave the room.
E: Mommy! Mommy! I'm yelling at you, Mommy!
E: Mommy! I'm straddling the crib! (Yes, he actually said straddling).
E: Mommy! I'm gonna bonk my head!
M: I enter the room thinking he's climbing out of the crib only to find him laying comfortably on his bed as he screams.

After all this, he finally fell asleep. I figure he had come out of creative ways to get me in the room but I'm sure he'll come up with something new tomorrow!

• We have a holly bush by our driveway that produces annoying red berries in August that we somehow manage to step on and track through our cars and house. So, we've made an effort to avoid stepping on them and have talked to Ethan thoroughly about doing the same. Usually he's really good about it and helps me get the berries out of the way. Today, I got him out of his car seat and told him to start walking up the stairs while I got a few bags out of the car. When I turned back around, I found my sweet little boy jumping up and down on as many berries as he could find in the few seconds he had. What a stinker!

• Although he does have a very 2 year old side of him, he really is my little buddy. My favorite moments are when he says, "Wuv you Mommy" or when he says, "Snuggles Mommy" meaning he wants to snuggle. I sure love my little guy!
  

A Fun Week

I love the summer because there are so many fun things to do. Last week we spent our time visiting a local zoo, hanging out at the lake with Gemma, Nic and Cac and spending a day at the beach with a bunch of friends from our ward. We've been playing so hard, Ethan has been sleeping in until 7:45 a.m. for the first time in his life! It's fantastic!

Ethan watches the lions through the fence at Space Farm Zoo.

Ethan gets brave and feeds the deer some corn kernels.

A fun day at the lake with Nic, Gemma and Cathryn. Unfortunately, I realized (after taking a bunch of pictures) that Ethan had gotten his dirty little hands on the lens of my camera which explains the fuzziness. Bummer!
We spent the day at Point Pleasant Beach with a bunch of friends from church. Between playing in the water, building sand castles, looking at the little jelly fish, eating pizza and ice cream, Ethan had a blast. The poor little guy fell asleep in the stroller in the two minutes we spent walking to our car.

Ethan Performs!

I should have known there was a chance Ethan would get my "love for singing" genes. We only have a few cassette tapes from when we were kids and on every one, I'm bolting out some sort of song (so embarassing). I have to admit, I thought this was much more adorable. This is the first song he could sing all the way through. Can you guess what his favorite show is?

Bye, Bye, Baba!

Okay, as many of you know, Ethan has been very attached to his baba ever since he stopped nursing as a baby. It was okay for a while but now that he's almost 2 1/2, it was beginning to seem unnecessary. It was totally a comfort item to help him fall asleep or make him feel better when he got hurt. But recently it seemed like he really could give it up. So, on Monday I started explaining to him that in a couple of days, we were going to throw the baba's in the trash and let the garbage man take them away and we'd get him some new big boy sippies. Each time we talked about it, I was praying inside that I'd be tough enough to follow through with it.

He seemed almost anxious about it and on Wednesday, we did it. We gathered all the baba's, threw them in a trash bag and took them out to the curb for the garbage man to get. Then we went to Walmart and picked out some new big boy sippies (he went for Spider Man - he's starting to get into this super hero thing lately). The first day or two he cried for a few minutes in bed and then fell asleep. However, by yesterday's nap (Thursday), he just laid down and went to sleep and he's been doing it ever since. He's so proud that he is a big boy and has been telling everyone about his accomplishment. Yay!!!

On the other hand, we are trying to transition him to a toddler bed since he's been attempting to climb out of his crib. This isn't going so well. We tried it for a couple of nights last week but the second I left the room he was up crying for me. I'm really trying to avoid having to lay down with him until he falls asleep so if anyone has any advice, I'd LOVE to hear it!!

Ethan's big boy bed!

Catching Up

Well, it's taken me a while to sit down and blog. We've had a busy month between traveling, sickness, etc. Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. Also, there are a few "Ethanisms" I have to add for this week. These are some of the things we've heard him say lately:

- I placed Ethan in his crib for a time out after he hit my leg. As I began to leave the room, he screamed out, "Mommy! Get back here!"

- When we try to feed him a food that he's not crazy about, he will often say, "I can't want it!"

- A few weeks ago I was watching a tv show and not giving Ethan my undivided attention (heaven forbid!). He put his little hand on my chin, turned my face toward him and said, "Mommy, don't see that!"

- Lately we've begun to do the counting thing that every parent does when they want their child to do something (you know...."you better come here by the time I count to 3" sort of thing). So, today I was busy cleaning up the house putting laundry away and Ethan kept screaming for me to come here. Finally I heard him go, "Mommy... One! Two! Three! Four!" I cracked up!

- Yesterday Blake got up with Ethan in the morning and took care of him for an hour or so before I got up. After he left for work, I changed Ethan's diaper, and to my surprise, found a quarter stuck to his bum in the diaper! I turned him over for a closer look and saw that there were two round marks (one on each cheek) from where the quarter had been indented. I called Blake cracking up wondering how in the world he managed to get a quarter in his diaper. It's a mystery to us both! :)

- On a sweeter note (so you don't think I have a rotten child) he can say the most tender things. Yesterday we saw a butterfly flying by us and he said, "I hug that butterfly!" Every night we read books with little animals in it and he has to give them all kisses before he can go to bed.

- A few days ago Ethan and I were playing catch in the living room with a soft baseball. Suddenly he started talking about needing a baseball glove which surprised me. I didn't think he even knew what one was. Before I knew it, he walked around the corner to Daddy and said, "Daddy, buy Ethan a baseball glove please" in the sweetest little voice. We both looked at each other and started laughing. Blake asked me if I told him to say that and I swear I didn't. He's learning early how to turn on the charm to get what he wants!

What a great little guy we have!

This is a look of sheer joy! Gemma and Pepe got Ethan a ball pit and as you can see, he LOVES it. I'm not sure what was more fun for him - swimming in the balls or trying to hit Pepe with them. When we tried to get him to play by himself he said, "No! Hit Pepe!"
Recently, we drove down to Richmond, VA to visit my sister Natalie, her husband James and their girls Sammie and Lexie. We had a great time hanging out with them. This is a picture of Ethan at a great park near their home.

Nat, Jen, Sammie, Lexie and Ethan at the park.

While we were visiting, we went to a children's festival at an outdoor mall. They had dancing bears, face painting, ice cream, train rides, crafts, etc. We all had a great time - especially Ethan! In this picture, he's sporting a hat that he decorated and a turtle necklace that he filled with sand.
Ethan and Daddy throw pennies into the fountain. Notice the train painted on his cheek!Ethan enjoys a free ice cream cone. Although he tolerates the ice cream, he's really just trying to work his way to the cone!
Sammie and Ethan run through the sprinkler and then play in the sand box. Can we say mess?

Last week we had a play group at the church where all the kids could bring their bikes and ride around in the parking lot. Ethan broke out his tricycle and rode it for the first time. He did pretty well for his first ride on a big boy bike!

Happy 4th of July!

Ethan and Blake go for a ride on the lawnmower. Ethan is in HEAVEN!

A very nice fire figher lets Ethan try on his hat. So cool!

Ethan gets to drive the big red firetruck.
He kept trying to reach for the buttons to turn on the siren.

Ethan's first REAL fireworks show in Ridgewood. As you can see, he was completely fascinated with them and would occasionally burst out saying, "Woah! Big Fireworks!!"

Although it was raining on us, we still really enjoyed the show!

Ethan and cousin Rylan splash and play in Grammy's pool.

Check out this diaper bum...this is why I love Huggies diapers!!

I love our neighborhood. We see little deer almost every day.
This mommy and baby duo hang out by our house all the time. So cute!

While Tim & Kimberly were visiting, we took the boys to Giggles Play Station (an indoor playground of sorts) and then went to Rita's for Gelati's (my new favorite ice cream joint). Yum!

Ethan being silly!

I'm not even exactly sure what Pat was doing to make Ethan laugh so hard but it was infectious. We had a blast hanging out at Gemma and Pepe's house for the 4th!