Daddy's little helper and a serious baby with a little spunk

Up close and personal~ Jenna 5 months old

What's this I found mom? Ohhh those belong to me!?

There is another half I didn't know about?

I just can't smile enough!

I love my life in the cute lane...

Ethan and Jenna kicking it in the jungle...

What is going on here? Scott is making Ethan lay the sod, well with a little help:)

Backyardigans

On one side you see the grass and the other the dirt, it's a before and after shot!

Ethan fluffing the bush - it has to be just right...

You can't really see it but so begins the fascination with a little worm....

Playing with the worm "snake"...

In Ethan's own words.. "Worm is broken, fix it mommy?"

He has each end of the poor thing in each hand.... if only mommy had enough superpowers to fix the broken worm.

Jenna - a serious avid reader of baby books.

Last Monday the week started off pretty good. I was on my A game and actually obliged Scott to another hair cut - it happens every now and then that I give in and do it rather than be lazy and tell him to go somewhere they are certain to cut it too short. I got the Scissors out and set up in front of the TV - this is a little insight into a bit of our marriage... Scott was watching a WWII show and I don't think I could have done a good job cutting his hair to a very fashion lacking show - it was very fortunate that my sister informed me that the new season of the Bachelorette was on... which I insisted we watch while I cut his hair - 25 guys stepping out of a limo was definitley going to give me a lot of haircuts to gain inspiration from right? Well not really - but Scott was nice enough to let me do that while asking I gouge his eyes out with the scissors. Let's just say sometimes out taste in TV clashes, but if you want it your way get the scissors out.

Scott left Tuesday and did not get back until Saturday morning. So of course after leaving the Boston oven heated up to 80+ degrees and I sucked up and prayed for no back injuries and hauled 2 AC units up tot he kids rooms - I can handle the heat but you know they are hot when they need several refills at night.

We did 2 days at the park and one of those days we spent 3 hours basking in the sun and playing hard. Ethan made a new girl friend too, they played together for at least an hour and after we left I asked him if he had fun playing with the little girl and his reply was...

"Uh huh, she's cute!"

I had to laugh, this boy is going to be a chick magnet, he himself is just adorable and I don't think the ladies are going to be able to resist.

After playing super hard that day - Ethan went to bed with such ease - which is nice when the bedtime routine falls all on me alone - He crawled in after saying his prayers and said he was going to "fix my tired"...

Thursday night I was desperate to get out and paid a babysitter to listen for my kids while I went and enjoyed a Stampin' Up craft night, which was so much fun! Nice to get out! By Friday I was pretty exhausted and had just about had it. But I managed to keep it together and attempt letting Ethan help make some cookies. He is so funny, he hates the noise the mixer makes and would run for the hills when it turned on! I hope he gets over some fears before Disney World in Sept. Changing Ethan's diaper has become a bit of a wrestling match at times and I was about to lose it when I finally got him up to pull his pants on, he gave me the biggest hug and a big kiss on the cheek and said "i love you mommy".... I melted. Kids can just make you nut one minute and then just be the best friend you have.

Saturday Scott finally arrived back from the SF Bay area and took Ethan to Swim class and then they worked on the backyard as seen above. It was a jam packed week of lots of things. Keeping busy makes time fly! Jenna is showing more and more personality everyday and is just so fun to watch and play with.

That is all I got as I am so tired but have to prepare some first aid info for Saturdays Emergency Preparedness fair!

Tee Tee for now - Ta ta for then!

The joys of feeding kids....

Jenna and a silly face, rice cereal makes you do funny things...

I finally decided that Jenna needed to start some solids - maybe motivated by the woes of feeding a 2.5 year old that is super picky he won't even touch mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and all the other food staples of the terrible twos... I think I am determined to succeed in Jenna's eating habits, in hope she can show her brother how it is done.... Who knows! But so far we have had some rice cereal and sweet potatoes, She was not too keen on the potatoes but we will keep pushing it, we get some cute faces and expressions, which make it fun and I tell Ethan to tell her "good job" so she will smile and think it is fun even if the texture and taste are foreign. It at least gives us a new thing to do together:)

This look translated = "Seriously mom, what is this stuff?!"

First batch of egg-free Chocolate Chip cookies - but where is Cookie #12?

Here it is!!!! So Ethan having an egg allergy has been a rough go, especially for mommy. I don't know if it is just laziness or a hope that Ethan would eventually grow out of it, but this week I finally caved, bought an egg replacer and made cookies that Ethan can eat. Sad, that I have let too much time - 2 years and 8 months to be exact, pass that Ethan has never had the taste of a home made cookie. He loved it! I can't get him to try healthy food, aka veggies, even though I make it look fun, but he will try and consume a cookie.... Although this evening, Ethan did eat about 3cm of a green bean, which was very encouraging, but it soon turned into a train that chugged the grooved edge of the table and eventually ended up on my plate. Progress is progress when it comes to food in this house. Let's just say that my least favorite thing to do as a parent is get kids to eat, it is a lot of work and barley touched meals give very little encouragement that we are getting it all in, but I will push forward. Here's to more baking and cooking without eggs, oats, nuts, peanuts and of course cat and dog;)

Ethan has discovered the joys of wearing a baseball cap and playing baseball indoors(weather is not letting us out much these days, so rules must be bent for sanity's sake), he enjoys a good pitch and loves it when you pitch it right to the bat which doesn't swing yet... or at least not until 2 seconds after the ball passes by. We are working on that.

This picture makes me realize how much Ethan is looking like a little boy and not so little anymore.

Such a handsome little dude.

Jenna in the swing:)

Swinging for the first time....

Testing...

Just making sure my email can post a sentence:)

Brittany:)

May days...

Ethan insisted Jenna eat dinner with everyone....

Looking through the rocks with Papa Holley

Getting some Papa love!

Our patriotic Shark Boy...

So this time the cars didn't come through under the door during quiet time....

Jenna just being content and cute:)

So May days are here, and we thought that only April brought showers but that is not the case. We have had some teaser days of spring time warm days but they have for the mean time been quite gray. Some of my Favorite Ethan moments have occurred these past 10 days...

Ethan was eating his hot cereal when some dribbled out onto the table, which he decided to make a mess with...

"Ethan, please don't make a mess."

"It's my choice."

"What?"

"It's my choice mom." So matter of fact, that I was left speechless and confused at what to say to that coming out of my 2.5 year old....

Another favorite moment - Ethan came into the living room wrapped in a tan blanket...

"I look like a Pretzel!"

A few other things Ethan has picked up on are phrases that are in the interest of knowing how we are doing... aka... "How's it goin'?", "Are you happy?", "How's work going mom?"....

He also has a new favorite game called "OK?" - So we have the futon mattress up in the living room since Scott's dad came for a visit.... Now Ethan and I wrestle around it, pretending to fall and pick each other up - usually it turns into a let's tackle mommy while I scream fest.... it is quite silly.

So as I mentioned last month, we got rid of the bink, and replaced it with a Toy Story Woody Doll, well Woody has been beheaded and I am beginning to wonder if Ethan Errs more on the Sid side of the fence rather than the Andy side. Woody took quite a beating when Ethan decided that to make his hat come off he wouldn't just take it off, he had to throw Woody across the room. I promised him we would get some super glue to try and mend him but not even gorilla glue super glue could fix poor, lifeless, beheaded Woody. We might have to lay him to rest....

Jenna on the other hand has become quite the little gal. Her favorite things are "playing with Ethan" Which en tales Ethan getting in her face and ripping his glasses off squealing in delight and then getting them dirty before I can confiscate the expensive "toy". She also loves when you sing "Old McDonald", "Wheels on the bus", and "Patty Cake". She also loves to grab my arm and eat it during diaper changes, with a little growl to boot. I decided today that we should try some Rice cereal and it went well, but it will take some getting used to. He we go again! She is lot's of fun to snuggle these days and I love the big silent smiles!

Scott has become a Gardening maniac. Our apartment had some serious weed overgrowth and a not so attractive back yard. He has, in even pouring rain, weeded, potted flowers and rolled up the fake Astroturf/green carpet in the backyard(yeah you read that right, low maintenance for you know who), and begun preparing it for sod. He is bound and determined that we have some grass to play soccer on with Ethan, as it is getting a little hard to play indoors without fearing some calamity with the decor.

I have been keeping up with the kids and entertaining them and just making sure the basics are met. It is my job. I am learning to love it. Is has been a rough road getting here but I feel that since I have made better efforts to work on my spiritual side, I think the blessings of patience are starting to arrive. Maturing as a mom has been a journey that is not over yet but I feel I am in a good place today, we will see tomorrow.....

Getting into the conversation mode

So this week Ethan was very cute in a few ways, well he is always cute but he did/said some very cute things and I had better type it our before I forget! Mommy brain will do that, basically my short term memory is aging faster than the rest of me.

Scott came out for dinner(and by "out", I mean out of his home office). Ethan was at the table and the conversation when something like this...

Ethan, "How's it going dad?"

Scott, " Good, buddy! How are you?"

Ethan, "How's work dad?"

Scott laughing, "good!"

I realize that Ethan is asking his daddy the same questions I ask Scott when I see him for the first time after work... So cute!

Next was today... So at church Ethan went to nursery class and we got report that he tried to escape and successfully got out the door 3 times. So I decided to confront Ethan on the issue head on after we had gotten home during snack time....

Me, "Ethan, did you leave Nursery today? Did you run out of the room?"

Ethan, "Uh Huh, I get in trouble at church."

So hard not to smile while telling him it is not okay to leave the class....

I love that kid!

Scott and I went on a "first" date(since Jenna arrived) last night to the MOS Planetarium. Yes, we escaped the house for a few hours! Kid free! This is a sure benefit for knowing your downstairs neighbors well enough to leave the monitor with them and exchange babysitting that way... It was a lot of fun and very much needed. It is so easy to get caught up in the kids and the household stuff, that you forget to be silly and laugh like you did during the early dating years and newlywed moments. But we had fun teasing and smiling and playing around on the musical steps at the MOS. After going to the planetarium you come out wondering a lot about how small we are in the universe and how vast space is. There are so many wonderful things out there and it is beautiful! I need to dust off the telescope and take a peek here this summer. Life is precious and we should live every moment to it's fullest. We may be small and a speck in the universe but we are important and significant to our little planet and to those who matter most to us.

Until next time:)...............

Flowers and Snow, but not together....

As promised I took a quick zip out the front door to capture our street during spring time, before all the flowers forgo their home and land on the ground. I love Boston in the Spring. There is no description that would suffice how Spring makes me feel when it finally arrives after the cold winter. Life can come out of the ground so quickly! So here are 2 pictures that might help you understand how drastic the seasons are here:)

Funny things kids say...

Before the sleepies took over.....

After 3 days of no napping....

Jenna, "Ethan there is a bug on your fire truck from going too fast", Ethan "Cool!"

Deep in thought about whether this plastic ring is BPA free or not....

Mmmmm I like a good bird to munch on...

Just another day on the job...

Jenna wants to be heard dang it!

There is a sweet little thing about this gal:)

So this past week, Ethan says "that's pretty cool, huh?" a lot.... He uses the word cool like it is going out of style or something! Today while nursing Jenna during lunch... he says to me, pointing in my direction, where Jenna is eating "that's pretty cool food mom".....Uhhhh, what? I had to laugh. He also is very encouraging lately and as I finish vacuuming... "great job mom" I hear..... Lets just say his vocab gets more cute and interesting every day! He also said his own prayer before bed tonight, I was so proud. Most of it was whispered, but it was very cute all the same!

Jenna has taken to cooing and gahhhhing with stuff in her mouth and she squeals in delight. She has a favorite toy, a bird with very colorful wings. She is also just loving the attention Ethan dishes out on a regular basis. He loved to get on the floor next to her and play along side her. Quite cute!

Scott is doing well, be we can't say the same for the new Jetta that got rear ended on the freeway this past weekend... But he did pass both tests to sell securities, so that was a big relief! Scott and I are missionaries for our congregation and we are loving getting our plan together to help people learn how to share what we believe:)

Not much else is new around here, just enjoying some nicer weather, although, I am not sure if we have colds or if it is just allergies or both, but we are feeing a bit of something - Trees are blooming like nuts out here right now! it is beautiful... I will have to take a picture and put up a comparison of the winter to spring.... since it is soooooo drastic and that is the only thing I appreciate about Boston climate shifting with the seasons... In the mean time, here are cute pics of the kids... since the parent is always taking the pictures....