I was wasting time on Pinterest when I realized I haven't updated for a while, so here's some of the fun we've been up to:

We've, let's be honest here, Sam, has been fixing some things around the house and Ethan has been so eager to help.  Here they are sanding off 60 years of layers of paint so a door will close.

Ethan hates loud noises so he loves to wear these.  He even asks to wear them when I vacuum.

We had gorgeous weather for a while.  It was 70 degrees and sunny, so of course we played outside.

Elizabeth loves to chew on things.  Unfortunately I didn't get this made before she made her mark on the crib (it has marks from Ethan as well).  I saw some things similar to this in Pinterest, but they were more complex than I wanted, so I just bought some fleece, cut and tied.  It has worked great.  I just wish I would have done it earlier.

Finally, we have also had some real Utah-November weather.

Ethan didn't want to go back inside and was pretty disappointed when the snow melted.  Elizabeth also had a great time, until she got a snowball in the face.

Halloween

Several weeks ago Ethan spotted some pumpkins at the grocery store and begged to get some.  So one week for FHE we went and picked out pumpkins and got pumpkin pie shakes, the next week we decorated them.  I was not about to use knives with a 3 year old, so we used markers instead.

Ethan had been asking us to go trick-or-treating ever since we put out our Halloween decorations.  He was so excited when he found out it was finally time to go.  Ethan was a police officer (so perfect because he tries to do everything Sam does, I call him my "little Sam") and Elizabeth was a princess.  We had lots of fun trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and finally decided to call it quits when Ethan complained his pumpkin was too heavy.

PS.  Elizabeth has been crawling for several weeks now and pulls herself up to stand on everything.  She loves pulling the books off the shelves.  She also has 4 teeth and chews on everything.

Adventures in Potty Training: Part 2

I loathe potty training!  I know, I know, they are just learning and you shouldn't get upset.  Well, I'm upset.  Things had been going pretty well with Ethan's potty training, except for the fact that he won't poop in the toilet, which for the most part I can overlook that because he generally waits to go in a diaper.  But for some reason he has had about 5 accidents in the last week.  Ok, I get that there can be mistakes here and there, but can we at least keep them at home?

The last couple days have been cold and rainy so we haven't been outside.  As a result, Ethan has been ornery and whiny and driving me crazy.  So, tonight after dinner I took Ethan and Elizabeth to McDonald's so Ethan could play and, hopefully, get out some energy.  I didn't want to have to take Ethan to the bathroom while we were at McDonald's because it is really awkward holding Elizabeth (who is too active any more to sit in a car seat) while helping Ethan go and not freak out at the hand dryers, so I had him go to the bathroom before we left the house.  We get to McDonald's, I get me a drink and Ethan some fries, and we head into the play area.  Not five minutes later I hear Ethan from up on the toys say "I peed."  Sure enough, he peed.  His pants were soaked, his shirt was wet, his socks were wet, his shoes were wet.  I hurry and grab him and tell an employee.  I rush him to the bathroom to change him into some spare clothes but all I have are shorts and underwear.  I make him take off his shirt and put his jacket on and change into the dry shorts and underwear.  Meanwhile I also have to deal with Elizabeth.  There is no way I was about to put her on a McDonald's bathroom floor, so I try and strap her in on the baby changing table.  She wiggles her way out of the strap in about 2 seconds so I'm trying to keep her from falling while helping Ethan with his clothes.  Elizabeth takes advantage of my divided attention by eating one of the paper changing table covers.  Great.  After Ethan is changed I grab Elizabeth in one arm, the wet clothes in the other, and steer Ethan out of the bathroom and out of McDonald's.

The worst part of the whole thing, I had to leave my Diet Coke there on the table with only one sip gone because I couldn't carry everything.  And oh yes, the two men laughing.

He's 3

Ethan is now 3 years old! Holy cow, I can't believe he is that old already. I've been looking back through pictures and I can't believe how much he has grown, he no longer is a baby or toddler, but a little boy. Being Ethan's mom is the best, it is fun, exciting, definately trying, and hilarious. I know I'm his mom, but seriously, I've never seen a better kid.

Ethan got lots of fun stuff for his birthday, he is certainly spoiled by both sets of grandparents.  However, the thing I was most excited about was Sam's and my gift to him (you know besides for life).  Ethan has been obsessed with basketball hoops for quite some time and we promised him he could get one for his birthday.  He was so excited and he loves it!  That is the only thing he did all day, he didn't even want to take a bath (which is really saying something because he loves baths).  This afternoon I asked him if he was hungry.  He said "No, I'm just hungry for shooting basketballs."

I love this boy!

September

Wow, September just flew by, most of it anyways.  Here are a few (a lot) of pictures to let you know what we did.

It was so warm, but thankfully not hot, that we spent a lot of time outside.



Ethan loves to help Daddy, and he is oh so helpful.



Cheese!  There is an old camera at Grandma and Grandpa Wolf's house that Ethan loves to play with.  It doesn't have film in it but the flash works.  Ethan loves taking pictures and his finger usually covers the flash that it isn't too bad.  However, I don't think everyone enjoys this as much as he does because the camera is often hidden when we show up.

Our new bed, the camera finally cooperated.  The beautiful quilt was made by my mother-in-law and her sister, it was given to us when we got married.

This smiley cutie can scoot army-style all over the place and is very fast when chasing Ethan.

 

Elizabeth loves food and it is so nice to have a good eater. She gets angry if you are eating something and don't share.

 

 

Poor Ethan got sick partway through the month with Croup. It was so sad. Thankfully he is all better and Elizabeth was spared. After he got better we spent lots of time outside enjoying Popsicles.

We went to the Utah State Fair.  It was kind of crazy.  Ethan hated the noise, but he loved the animals and the little kid farm (I was terrible at taking pictures).  It was fun, but I think next year if we want to go to a fair we will just head up to Preston to enjoy something much smaller and cheaper.

Of course we spent a lot of time together just playing and being goofy.

One afternoon Elizabeth was playing with toys on the bottom of the bookshelf.  Pretty soon I heard some weird shuffling noise.  She had pushed a toy through and was going after it.

Harry Potter here got some glasses in a Wendy's kids meal.  He loves wearing them and they make me laugh.

Ethan made this lovely little mess while I was running on the treadmill.  He had been watching a movie but it ended before I was done.  When I got off, this is where I found him.  He told me he was "Doing like Eugene does rocks."  Ethan loves the movie Tangled and there is a scene where Eugene and Rapunzel are trapped and Eugene has to pull down rocks to rescue them.  I laughed, but since then I've had to intervene many Eugene-rock moments.

First time in a swing at the park, she loved it!

Sleep

Good news and bad news:

Lately it feels like I am tired all the time.  When Elizabeth was born she had her days and nights mixed up.  She slept great during the day and was awake most of the night.  After a couple of weeks when she finally turned things around, she would only sleep for more than a half an hour if someone held her.  It was so exhausting!  Finally around 2 months she started sleeping through the night, or only waking up once.  It was great!  I got lots of sleep and actually felt well rested most days.  Then she learned how to roll over.

She first learned to roll from her back to her stomach.  She would roll onto her stomach during the night, get stuck, get angry, and throw up.  Back to waking up 3 times a night.  Finally, she learned how to roll both ways; consequently she never stops moving.  Still waking up 3 times a night.

I was so excited to start Elizabeth on solid foods once she turned 6 months old because I thought, hoped, that the solid food would keep her fuller longer so that we could go back to decent sleep.  Nope.  She is still waking up 3 times a night.  Occasionally she only wakes up twice and occasionally she wakes up every 2 1/2 hours.

I am so tired!  I've tried to let her cry it out, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.  Now even getting her to sleep is a pain.  She used to go down pretty easy, but now it takes her 45 minutes to go to sleep, even when she is tired.  I have to let her cry pretty hard for about 10 minutes and then go back in and nurse her.  She is so exhausted at that point that she usually falls asleep.

Ethan has always been a great sleeper, even as a baby.  However, lately he has been getting up 1 or 2 times a night and climbing into bed with us.  Sometimes we take him back to bed right away and other times I am so tired that I just let him stay there so I can get some sleep.  Sometimes he sleeps, other times he just lays there until finally he asks to go back to his bed.

Ethan has also gotten to the point where he is basically done with naps.  Sad, sad day for me.  If he takes a nap he won't go to sleep until 10:30, but if he doesn't take a nap we usually have an emotional breakdown in the afternoon.  So instead of putting him down for a nap, he goes in his room for "Quiet Time."  He has to stay in his room (play, read books) by himself for an hour.  So far, this has worked pretty well.  I miss the 2-3 hour break the nap gave, but this at least gives me a little break and sometimes he is asleep when I go check on him at the end of the hour.


Now for some good news: Sam and I finally got a new bed!  Our bed frame was pretty old (I think it has belonged to my family for as long as I have) and it broke a couple of years ago when we were moving it.  We propped the broken corner up on wood blocks, but it still felt like you were sleeping on a slide.  Finally last week, after years and years of idea dropping (nagging) we bought a new bed.  I love it!  Not only does it look nice, it is way more supportive and it doesn't squeak whenever someone rolls over.  I will post pictures as soon as my computer and camera decide to get along.

I may not be getting any more sleep, but at least the sleep I get is a bit more comfortable.

August

Oh, what do you do in the summer-time, when all the world is green (or brown if you live in Utah)?  Play inside!

Normally I love to play outside and soak up the sun, but it has just been too hot and there's not much I can do while taking care of Elizabeth, plus looking at Pinterest makes me feel guilty that I never do anything fun or pre-school-ish with Ethan, so we have put our indoor time to good, at least better, use.  What have we done?

Homemade play-dough out of baking soda and corn starch.  Ethan doesn't really like to "play" with it, he prefers to roll it out and cut out shapes.

 

You got me, we also watch TV.  Ethan's favorite shows on Netflix are Yo Gabba Gabba, Blues Clues, The Cat in the Hat, and anything Thomas.  He also loves Tangled, Shark Tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Lorax.  This boy has crazy energy, but he loves to watch TV.  Sometimes when I'm going crazy or I want to run on the treadmill, I'll put something on for him to watch so I can have a little break.  I would feel guilty about this, but it's probably the only reason why I have any sanity left.

We also find all sorts of things to play with.  Sam pulled out his baseball glove and heard me call it a "mitt," he immediately ran to his room so that he could wear his mittens like Daddy.

We hit bubbles with the baseball bat.  No good pictures of the action, too hard to blow bubbles and take a non fuzzy picture at the same time.

We are still working on the bicycle.  He has a hard time with the peddling so Sam or I have to push his feet, it gets exhausting so we don't do this as often as we should.

Painting!

Finger Painting!

Moon Sand (flour and baby oil).

You may be wondering where Elizabeth is during all the fun.  Usually we do these type of activities during one of her naps.

And occasionally we play with our bazillions of toys.

Also during the month of August, Elizabeth turned 6 months old.  It's hard to believe that she is already that old.  She is almost crawling and is very good at rolling, pivoting, and scooting herself around to get where she wants.