Where To Start?

Where do I begin, when it has been nearly a month since I have blogged. Since the last time I posted a blog, I have been extremely busy. It all started with dress rehearsals for the Singing Christmas Tree. We had four performances over three days; December 12, 13, and twice on the 14th. It went fairly well. Each performance had its own quirks and technical difficulties, but it was well received as always. I do enjoy singing in the Tree, but it sure takes a lot out of me during performance week. It was also the first time that Nick took care of all three boys at the same time for any length of time. He did fine, but he admitted to not being able to do it all the time.

Right after that busy weekend, we started the next week off with Nick's surgery on Tuesday, December 16th. The surgery itself only lasted 45-60 minutes, but the recovery has taken much longer. The first couple days were the worst, of course. He kept up with his pain meds which helped him, but made him very sleepy. I was thankful that we have a gate to block the top of the stairs. The hardest part was trying to keep the boys from climbing all over Daddy. I would have to bring them upstairs and lift each one on to the bed one at a time so they could give him a hug. Nick was unable to lift anything over 15 pounds (which of course includes all three boys) for the first forty-eight hours, and then whatever he was comfortable with after that. So for the first few days, I would have to lift each kid up and down from his lap anytime they wanted to sit with him. He is still a bit tender, but at least the boys are able to climb over him more. Nick, especially was afraid to sit on Daddy's lap because he didn't want to hurt him. Anytime Daddy would ask Nick to give him a love, Nick would shake his head no and say, 'owie'. It was very sweet in a sad sort of way. We had to keep assuring him that he wouldn't hurt Daddy and that giving him a love would make him feel better faster.

On December 18th, Ethan turned four months old! No, I hadn't forgotten, and I even got his four month picture; I just haven't posted the comparison pictures until now. Sorry for the delay. Here you will find a very chunky Bubba at four months old. He was such a mellow baby; but even he didn't sleep as well as Ethan does now!
Nick had his four month picture in front of the Christmas tree. By the time he turned four months, he was having more moments where he was a happy baby than before, so it was a nice reprieve.

And here is our little Ethan-man, happy as a lark, still with chubby chubby cheeks. He is an incredibly precious baby. He is very sweet and loving (like Bubba) and he adores his big brothers. If they are in his line of sight, he can't keep his eyes off of them, smiling and laughing all the while. Ethan has been sleeping through the night since the middle of October (less than two months old) and will sleep an average of nine hours a night! I never knew it could be so good!

Ethan had his four month check-up on Monday December 22nd. He weighed 17 pounds putting him in the 85th percentile. That was less than Joey was at four months, and the same as my nephew Jesse was at 12 months! Ethan continues to grow tall; he was 27 inches, still in the 97th percentile for height. We put him in an outfit that Nanny and Papa Buddy got Nick for his first Christmas that was sized for 6-12 months, and it was already short in the arms and legs! Ethan fits very well in the the 6-9 month size for height, it makes me wonder why I try to keep him in smaller clothes for longer than I should. By the time he wears all of the new sized clothes once, he may already out grow them!

Then, of course, came Christmas. We had a very nice Christmas, another white Christmas (surprise!), but again I missed being closer to family. We made a delicious ham dinner with glazed carrots and scalloped potatoes. Then with the left over ham, we made a ham and potato soup.

I have more pictures to share and will go into more detail about the kids later, but I wanted to get a few thoughts down. I was asleep earlier, but Nick woke me up when he came to bed, so now I am wide awake. But since it is after one in the morning, and I know my two older boys will be getting up before I am ready, I should get back to bed and try to sleep some more.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We look forward to seeing you in the coming year.

Mommy Milestone

I have passed a "mommy milestone" today. The choir sang in church today, so I had to put Ethan in the nursery for the first time. I survived; I'm not sure how, but I did. What is really sad is that Ethan never needed me. I kept a close eye on the light display, waiting to see my number pop up calling me to the nursery. I think I kept one hand on my stuff just in case I had to run. But I was never called. In fact, when I went to get the boys when church was over, Ethan was asleep, snug in some one's caring arms. Oh what a sad day!

Maybe I am being a little melodramatic. In fact, I should be (and am) celebrating this occasion, as little as it may seem. As parents, everything we do is to teach our kids to be independent of us, at the same time as being dependent on God. Today in the nursery, Ethan took one tiny step on that road. And I am learning, albeit reluctantly, to let go of my kids.

Seven Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today, Nick helped me pick out my first Christmas tree for my first apartment. It was a Thursday night, two days after our first date. Nick's car was in the shop getting a new transmission, so he had a rental; a tiny Pontiac Sunfire. Although the car was a cute, sporty car, it wasn't exactly a "tree shopping" car.

Unfortunately, we had to do our shopping at a tree lot. Nick figured that, for a small apartment, I would get a small tree, and we should be able to stuff it in the back of the puny car. Little did he know!! Christmas trees are a weakness of mine. No matter how little room I have, I want the tallest, fullest tree possible. After selecting the perfect tree (as perfect as you can get from a tree lot), Nick had to run across the parking lot to the store to buy some rope to tie the tree to the top of the car. The tree was bigger than the Sunfire. Although it took up three quarters of my living room, it was just the tree I wanted.

Today, Nick went to get our Christmas tree. Once again (as in the previous years we've been in Alaska) he had to go to the tree lot at Home Depot. We have been lucky enough the last two years to get decent trees. This year, getting the best one he could, Nick came home with the saddest, skinniest tree we have ever gotten. I know that it is not the tree that makes Christmas, that the tree really has nothing to do with why we really celebrate Christmas. But it is something that has been a special part of my Christmases since I was a small child. Not only will I be thousands of miles from my extended family this year, I will also have to do my best to enjoy a puny tree. There is not even a good side to put in front. We'll just have to pick the least bad. I'm sure, once it's decorated, it will be more bearable; it will probably even be pretty.

I never thought that I would have to spend three Christmases here in Alaska. I naively thought that it would be easy for Nick to get a new position closer to home. There are some days that I fear I will die up here an old lady; that I will never get to be close to family again. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I had no family, to have nobody to miss. But I have a wonderful, loving family. And knowing what my boys are missing out on being close, and what my family is missing by not being able to watch my kids in these most precious years, breaks my heart everyday.

I want to go home.

Roly-Poly Tummy

Ethan is such a joy. He is a very happy baby. I feel bad that he spends so much time in his swing, but he always has a smile for me when I come to get him out. He is getting better at floor time...especially tummy-time. He is so strong. He will lift his head up so high it is almost touching his back. He has also started reaching out and grasping things. Yesterday, for the first time, I got his Pooh keys out and helped him get a hold of them. He was able to keep hold of them and bring them to his mouth to chew on them. He enjoys that very much. He has become a very drooly boy, too. Nick wondered if he was teething already; which is usually the first thought when a baby starts drooling. However, I reminded him that babies start drooling in preparation of eating solid foods; it is the first step in digestion.
While having tummy-time on the floor, Ethan will lift his head, arms, and legs, so that all that is touching the floor is his round little tummy. This, of course, makes him roll back and forth and turn in a circle. It is so funny to watch. I will put him on the floor, and within a few minutes, he has rotated 180 degrees!

They boys and I made a paper chain on Monday to start the Christmas count-down. Each morning we take a link off and Joey counts how many days are left until Christmas. Today there are twenty days left. Joey is getting better and counting to higher numbers. He still skips from fifteen to seventeen, and from nineteen to twenty-one. But he is getting better.

Ethan has his four-month check up scheduled for Monday the 22nd. I am excited to see how much he has grown. He has really filled out lately and is feeling quite solid.

Speaking of doctor's.....Nick will be going in for surgery on the 16th. He will be out of work for the rest of that week, and then he is on vacation for the week of Christmas, so he will have lots of time to recuperate. He will be on light duty for another week when he returns, but as most of his work is done at his desk anyway, it shouldn't be too bad. I think the hardest part of recovery will be keeping the boys from climbing all over him. They will have their Daddy home for so long but not be able to really play with him as they like to.

We will be getting our Christmas tree this weekend, so by Monday we should be all decorated. Maybe that will make me feel more Christmasy. I haven't even listened to much Christmas music. I used to listen to it nearly all year long. Now, I hardly listen to it for more than a couple weeks. I miss feeling like Christmas. It is amazing how much having family around is what makes me feel like Christmas. This will be my third Christmas away, and I have missed my family tremendously each year.

Christmas cards were sent out on Monday, but a handful of them came back needing even more postage than the extra postage we put on, so I will take them to the post office this weekend and get them sent out.

I better go hold Ethan...he sounds as if he needs a snuggle. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

More Snow

While Daddy is shoveling the walk, he makes a big pile right by our front porch that the kids can play in and slide down.

Here is Nick sitting in the pile. We couldn't quite get him to stand up straight in it, and as soon as the picture was taken, he wanted out.

Nick pretty much threw Joey in feet first so that he would sink down as far as possible. He is standing straight, and the snow is up to his chest!

I have always found snow covered trees to be beautiful. Since we have an abundance of both trees and snow around our house, I must say that it can be quite pretty looking out the window. However, too much of a good thing isn't that great, and by the time the snow melts five months from now, I will have seen my fill of it (for the third time.)

Ethan discovered himself in the mirror yesterday. It was the cutest thing to see him holding the mirror and staring at himself. I love that you can see his face in the mirror in this picture. He is so adorable.

Snow Play

Nick is the only one willing to take the boys out in the snow. It is much too cold for me. Unfortunately, that means the boys have to wait for the weekend to play out in the snow; it is already dark by the time Daddy gets home from work. This weekend it snowed a foot or more, so the boys had a blast.

Here they are making snow angels. Nick does a very good job, but then needs help getting up. He is usually "helped" down by Daddy, too. Daddy is just a big kid when it comes to playing in the snow.

Here is Joey making his snow angel. He still loves to help Daddy shovel the walkway. He tends to leave his shovel out in the snow, and then it gets buried. It is like a treasure hunt to find it the next time he goes out. (Unfortunately it is usually Mommy who gets to look for this "treasure" as it is too cold for Joey.)

The boys are having a snowball fight. Don't feel too sorry for Nick, even though his sons are gaining up on him...he still has full advantage. He pegs them pretty good. Nick (the little one) pretty much just scoops a hand (not even a hand'ful') of snow and tosses it, with it landing at his feet. But at least he is making the motion of throwing a snowball at Daddy.

I decided Ethan couldn't be left out, even if he is too small to play in the snow. So I bundled him up in his snowsuit, which is still a bit too big (as it should be, since it is a 12mo size.) He actually filled it out better than I thought he would. I let Daddy hold him for his picture....

but then Daddy thought he should get a picture laying in the snow. He is so cute. Just yesterday, he started looking older to me all of a sudden. I need to call and make an appointment for his four month check up. I can't believe he will be four months soon.

Catching Up

It has taken me several days to recuperate from Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day. The food was delicious and the company was delightful. Chris, Tiffany, and their sons Tristan and Michael came over to share Thanksgiving with us. The boys played well with Joey and Nick even though they are a few years older. Tiffany is a lot of fun and I enjoyed her company.

Here is a picture of the boys anticipating the feast to come. You can see that Nick has already swiped a carrot off the veggie tray. I rarely get a picture of him with his eyes open anymore...he is always giving his squinty-eyed, cheese-ball grin that results in closed eyes when the flash flashes.
Nick is talking so much more; attempting most words that he hears us say. He will use two or three words together; "up mommom please" or "mine bite please". He is a long way from being understood by everybody, but I am getting pretty good at translating.
Ethan is also growing so fast. He is starting to reach out and grasp things. You can see from this picture that he has grabbed his burp cloth, but he still doesn't have enough control to keep it where he wants it to be. One flail of his arms and the cloth is covering his face! Unfortunately, the cloth doesn't cooperate and land back in his lap with the next flail...it stays firmly in place on his face.

With the temperatures as cold as they are, the boys are bundled up just to get out to the car. Ethan is usually tightly swaddled in a couple blankets. Not tight enough, though; he is still able to wiggle his arms around trying to get the blanket in his mouth. It took forever to get this picture; he kept covering up his face with the blanket. I just thought he looked cute being in a tight bundle with just a chubby little face showing under a hat.

Here is a picture of the boys getting ready to play out in the snow. Nick reminds me of the kid in "A Christmas Story" who can't move his arms or legs from being bundled up so much. They have a lot of fun when they got out in the snow with Daddy. It almost seems more trouble than its worth; it takes 30 minutes to get the boys dressed for outside, and they don't stay out much longer than that since it is so cold. Then it is another 15 minutes to get them stripped out of their snowy clothes making puddles of cold snow-water all over my floor.
Nick is trying to display some independence. He has done a very good job at putting his hat on by himself. He was so proud of himself!

Plans For Thanksgiving

Nick and I were planning on having a Thanksgiving with just our family, as we did last year. We thought we would get a small turkey and have less food to make. Then I decided to invite Chris and his family over.
Chris is the new technician Nick hired. He, his wife, and their two kids just moved from Olympia, Washington at the first of November. When he started at work, Nick asked him how they were settling in. Chris said that his wife commented on wondering what they had gotten themselves into. That so echoed my own feelings that I knew I would want them to be invited to Thanksgiving dinner. I know how hard it is to have your first holiday away.
I have half my Christmas cards done! They are all written, pictures are in them, and the envelopes are addressed and sealed. All I need is to put the stamps on them and then get another box of cards for the other half. I will try not to send them out until after the first of December...they can't be too early. I just get so excited to show off the pictures!
Now all I have to do is find time to finish Ethan's stocking. It is not something I can do with the boys around because of all the pieces. But that means until all three of them are asleep, which means that I can't get started on it until 10pm or so. Since it takes me an hour just to do one arm of a figure, I don't get much done at any one time. I would need to stay up till the early morning hours just to make any progress at all. I guess I should just keep pluggin' along.
I will be spending this week making sure the house is spotless, so I better get at it. Have a great week.

Three Months Have Come And Gone

November is half over already; and Ethan is three months old today! It doesn't seem possible that 2008 has less than a month and a half left. Joey was quite a chunk at three months. We called him Chubba-Bubba. I remember that he was a very happy baby and extremely mellow. Nothing seemed to phase him. He loved to cuddle and give loves.

Nick was happy at times, but he was also a bit colicky. He did not like to cuddle (although he is making up for it now). He has finally started talking and has a good vocabulary already. It is nice to be called by name. He calls me Mommom. He is learning up and down, and off and on. He is very good at saying please, and will say thank you a good portion of the time. He is a good phone conversationalist, as he says "hellolo" and "bye" with a few grunts in between. Ethan is such a mix of his two brothers. He is a very happy baby, loves to laugh and smile. He is not as mellow as Joey was, but not as unmellow as Nick was. He loves music like the others do. He loves worship time at church. He often falls asleep in contentment. Sometimes, during choir practice, he will 'sing' along. He has been sleeping through the night for a little over a month now!

We had pictures done on Saturday. We started with the Christmas picture with all three of the boys. It is impossible to get them all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. I have two of the biggest hams at home (and one that is growing into a ham), yet when we get in front of a professional and have to pay for the pictures, they will not smile. Joey will give a squinty-eyed fake smile. They managed to get one pose where all three of the boys are looking at the camera, and although none of them are smiling, it is a cute picture.
Ethan was very tired and sort of hungry when we finally got in to take pictures, so getting him to smile was a chore. We ended up with some very cute pictures, but the effort it took was exhausting. If I could catch his eye, I could get him to smile. The problem was that, since he was tired, he had a glazed, unfocused look. To catch his eye, I would have to get right up in his face....but then my head was between him and the camera. By the time I backed away so the photographer could snap the shot while he was smiling, his eyes glazed over again and he stopped smiling. By the time we were done, my cheeks were hurting like they haven't hurt since our wedding....smiling for fifteen hours straight. I am supposed to be able to pick pictures up on Friday, so I may even have Christmas cards done by Thanksgiving.
Nick was out of town overnight last Wednesday, and again last night. He had to make a "quick" drive up to Fairbanks yesterday, so we are looking forward to him coming home tonight.
Have a great week. Be thankful for all that we have, all that we are blessed with.

Our Hoss

I know that as a parent, I am supposed to be amazed at how quickly my kids grow. But Ethan seems to grow so fast that everybody else comments on how big he is. Everybody at church thinks he looks more like five months old. He is an inch or two taller than the other babies born in August, and 1/2 again as wide! (Maybe I exaggerate a little bit.)

I think that clothes can be deceiving. They disguise the true size of a baby. So I thought I would take some pictures of Ethan in just his diaper, not only because he is too cute for words, but to give you an idea of how tall he is.

You can't tell his size from this picture, but isn't he just adorable?And this picture is to show off his bald spot. I think it is so funny how babies rub a bald spot on the back of their heads. One of these days, hair will start growing back there again.
This may not be the most flattering picture of Ethan, but I think it does show how tall Ethan is. His feet are close to hanging off the end of his infant car seat. We may need to think about switching car seats in the next month or so.

It is amazing how quickly time is passing. Ethan will be three months old a week from today. We have an appointment at JC Penney's for pictures this Saturday. We will get Ethan's three months pictures as well as the Christmas photos done. We should be getting the pictures back by the first week in December, and then I will be able to send out Christmas cards. I should have all the Christmas cards ready by Thanksgiving and just waiting for the pictures.

Happy Veteran's Day. Thank you to all the men and women who have volunteered to serve our country; to protect our rights, our freedoms, and our very lives. We are the most blessed country.

I Suppose

I suppose I should offer a clarification for the sake of my husband's pride. I'm sure it goes without saying, but since I publicized his comment, I will publicize the clarification.

When Nick said "like me", he was referring to the 'old' part, and not the 'lady' part of his comment.

I love watching my boys together when they are enjoying each other. Right now, Joey is holding Ethan on the couch and Nick is jumping on the other end. Ethan is looking between the two of them and smiling and cooing at them both. Besides Joey freaking out over a little spit up, they are having fun together.

Old Lady

Last night, while lying in bed, I made a comment to Nick that I had 23 days left to be in my twenties. He said, "Then you will be an old lady, like me!"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Just Because

I snuck this picture of Nick while he was napping. I thought it too cute that he will still curl up like a baby in his sleep.
Thanks to Grandma Mary, the boys have new snow pants that fit them well this year. It has been absolutely freezing (mostly single digit temperatures overnight) but no more snow. Once the snow starts falling for real, the boys will have plenty of opportunities to wear their snow pants.

The following pictures are just because Ethan is so cute. This picture signifies the first day he wore denim overalls, a moment important enough to capture on film.

Ethan is such a happy boy at times. He loves to smile, and even offers a squeal of laughter. This is another very snuggly outfit I love to put him in for bed. He is so warm and toasty, and oh so soft to hold.

Ethan got all dressed up for church last week. He made quite an impression on all the ladies. I must say I enjoy my kids being among the favorites. One couple, Gil and Rosie, are expecting their first child, a son, in January. Rosie tells me all the time how she and Gil talk about Ethan all the time.

Today, we have started a concentrated effort on potty training Nick. He seems very willing to sit on the toilet and try, but so far he hasn't done anything yet. We have the timer set for every twenty minutes, and we take him every time he says 'potty'. he has stayed dry so far this morning, so I am sure one of these times he will go. He can't hold it forever. Even though the timer is set, we still ask every couple minutes. Sometime he will say he has to go, and run into the bathroom, but nothing will happen. He is, however, excited over the prospect, so I have high hopes. I think he likes the idea of being in 'big boy' pants, too. (In the course of typing thelast couple sentences, Nick has been to the bathroom twice; still with no results. But I'm sure you can see how much of my time has been spent in the bathroom this morning.)

I've got to go. There is too much to do that I have to do by myself. It's hard to imagine its the weekend.

Trick-Or-Treat Town

On Saturday, we took the boys to Trick-Or-Treat Town. We didn't go last year, but we did go the year before. We are not big on Halloween, however, both Nick and I have fond memories of the fun we had as kids for Halloween, and we want that for our kids. Trick-Or-Treat Town is a fun and safe place for the kids to be able to trick-or-treat without having to go out in the freezing and pitch black night. It is held in a big warehouse and there are about 50 booths sponsored by the companies around Anchorage. The kids travel through the warehouse collecting candy from each of the booths. Each kid is guaranteed at least fifty pieces of candy! That provides us with "good behavior" awards for a long time. The boys had a lot of fun dressing up. I was very proud of the way they both were well behaved. Even Nick said "ay oo" after getting candy. Yes, he is finally making an attempt at the phrase "thank you."


Ethan was dressed up as a horse. He is adorable, don't you think? He, too, was well behaved. In fact, he slept through the whole thing. Just as Nick did two years ago!

Joey was dressed as a knight and Nick as a scarecrow. You will have to excuse the scowl on Joey's face. He was upset that the helmet didn't fit as it was supposed to, and it frustrated him. After three or four pictures with the same expression, Nick felt there was no need to try to get a better picture. I must say, the Scarecrow is the cutest scarecrow I have ever seen!

After walking through the whole warehouse, we stopped for a snack. There were dancers from all the different dance classes in town. It was so cute to see some of the boys and girls Joey's age get up and perform.

This is a much happier knight. We took his helmet off because it kept falling off when he looked down in his pumpkin to see how much candy he was getting. You can tell that he had fun.
Look at all this candy they got! I tell you, we are having quite a time trying to make them understand that they don't get a piece of candy whenever they want. Every time they go in the kitchen and see their pumpkins on the fridge, they remember that they want a piece of candy.

I have such short bursts of opportunity to blog, and I have already taken more time than I should. The boys require a referee. Have a fantabulous week.

Big Boy

All three of our boys are growing so much. Joey is turning into this skinny little kid that you never thought would happen since he was such a chubby baby. When looking at pictures on the computer, even Joey will say, "There's Chubba Bubba." Now, his 3T size pants are starting to look like high-waters, but the waist still has to be cinched in. So we will have to get him the next size up for length, but cinch the waist in even more.

Friday was a day of appointments. First, I had a follow up appointment with the optometrist. He noticed at the first appt. that I had some retinal scarring on my left eye, but since I had to drive, we couldn't dilate my eyes for him to get a better look. So we set an appt just for that. I have never been told before that there was a scar on my retina, but the doctor took some pictures of my eye and I could see the damaged area. The doctor said that, at this point, it doesn't seem to be effecting my eyesight, but we want to keep watch over it so that it doesn't get worse. He said it would be really bad if it got fluid under it which would cause the retina to detach. The encyclopedia says this about the retina: "The retina is a thin layer of light-sensitive tissue on the back wall of the eye. The optical system of the eye focuses light on the retina much like light is focused on the film in a camera. The retina translates that focused image into neural impulses and sends them to the brain via the optic nerve. Occasionally, posterior vitreous detachment, injury or trauma to the eye or head may cause a small tear in the retina. The tear allows vitreous fluid to seep through it under the retina, and peel it away like a bubble in wallpaper."

I have the comparison pictures now for two months. This first picture is Bubba at two months, 7/5/04. He was already 16 pounds by this point. What a chunk.Nick was two months old on 10/12/06. He weighed 13 pounds and 10 ounces. Everybody thinks that Ethan looks like Nick. I think it is because they both have blue eyes. I think that Ethan is such a mix of the other two boys that it is hard to say who he looks more like.
Ethan had his two month check-up on Friday. Here are the stats: Ethan weighed in at 13 lbs 8.6 oz putting him in the 75th-90th percentile. His head circumference was 41 cm; 70th percentile. And this tall little dude is 25 inches, placing him in the 95th-97th percentile! He has grown 4 inches in two months. Ethan is two inches taller than Joey at two months and an inch and a half taller than Nick! He also weighs less tan both of them did.

Every week when we get home from church, Nick picks Ethan up and calls him "Pass-Around Pete." That's because he can smell all the different perfumes from the ladies who lay claim on Ethan.

Yesterday we took the kids to Trick-Or-Treat Town. I will post pictures of them dressed up a little bit later. I am feeding Ethan right now, and it is very difficult to type with just one hand.

Through The Night

I can't believe I haven't blogged the most amazing thing. For the last couple of weeks, Ethan has been sleeping extremely well at night. I would say that, at the very least, he gets a full night sleep for a baby. He usually sleeps at least six or seven hours straight. There are times he even sleeps nine or ten!

I usually lay him down around 11:30pm, sometimes earlier. Most days, he doesn't wake up until 7:00 or 7:30am. I think it has something to do with Nick having to touch him to make sure he is okay...which of course, wakes him up. Nick has been that way with all of the boys; but just a few weeks ago, one of the ladies he works with lost her four month old granddaughter to SIDS. It hit really close to home for Nick, so he has needed more reassurance that Ethan is okay when he is sleeping.

When Ethan wakes up, he is such a happy boy. He coos and smiles (after eating, of course) for quite awhile before needing to go back to sleep. This morning he got up at about twenty to seven, which is a little earlier than what has become normal, and after eating, spent the next hour making Mommy smile with his happiness. At about 8:00am, he decided he had had enough and was ready for a nap. He is still upstairs sleeping in his bed, giving me a rare chance to eat breakfast while the big boys are eating.

I hope everyone has a productive, peaceful week. God bless.

One Sixth Of A Year

Yes. I know; hard to believe, but true. Ethan is 1/6th of a year old already. Translated, that means he is two months old. Normally I would have comparison pictures, but I don't have them ready yet. In fact, I am missing almost all of Nick's first year. They are (hopefully) safely stored on our old computer, so we just need something (Nick knows what he needs) to be able to get the pictures off our old computer to put on our new computer. I think I will die if we can't manage to get the pictures. I have no other copies, and since we are far away from family, there are no other pictures of him for that year.
Here is my Ethan-man, a very cute two month old. Everybody at church is amazed at how big he is. There were two other babies born a couple weeks before Ethan, but he is by far the biggest of the three. It will be interesting to see how big he has grown when he goes in for his two month check up on Friday.
I love this outfit. He is so warm and snuggly. Lately he has been spending more time awake and has lots of smiles for Mommy and his big brothers. Joey and Nick still dote on him and are anxious to help out. Joey will say, "I haven't held Ethan for years and years. Can I hold him?"
Look at that spectacular smile!!! He was full of smiles at church today. We spent time in the nursery so he could be down on the floor wiggling around. I think he would do very well in the nursery, but I would miss him too much. I am still not sure if I am ready to leave him in the nursery.

Well, I have got kids to take care of, so I better go. I will try to find some more time later to blog some more. I just wanted to get Ethan's two month pictures up for you to enjoy. I sure didn't want you to think I was slacking!

Always Growing

I must admit that I find each of my kids the most beautiful kids in the world. Sometimes it is hard to believe that they are as big as they are.

Joey still makes his way into our bed sometime in the middle of the night. Since there is not enough room to comfortably fit us all, we put him down at the foot of the bed. It amazes me to notice that his feet reach all the way to our hips. He started sleeping in our bed when he was two, and I can still remember how small he was. He is showing good reasoning skills and is learning to put letter sounds together to make words. He is also starting to recognize rhyming words. He is looking forward to going to school next year, and excited to get a backpack. My heart starts panicking when I think about him going to school. I don't know if I can handle the separation. But he is such a social child; he's always talking about his "friends". The sad thing is, he doesn't really have any friends. He plays well with the kids at church, but he only sees them for the time that we are at church...its not like he has anybody to come over for play dates. So I suppose I will have to be strong when it comes time to taking him to school.

Nick seems to get cuter every day. He's the one that keeps me laughing. There are times that Nick and I have to turn our heads away to laugh when we want him to believe we're serious. He still is not talking like he should. He has a few more words that he says, and he is always willing to make an attempt if Joey asks him to say something. But he is usually very clear about what he wants, and if you ask him the right question, he will let you know if you are right or wrong. He loves to sit on the potty like a big boy, but he hasn't yet gone while sitting there. Soon we are going to spend a weekend of intense concentration on the potty training thing and see how it takes. I would love to see him potty trained by the end of the year.

Ethan is already almost two months old! I always forget how fast the time flies for the first year. There is always some sort of milestone that you are looking for during the first year that makes the time go so fast. He has a doctor's appointment scheduled for a week from Friday, so I will know then how much he has grown. We have just moved him to the next size up in clothing. Although the 3-6 month size is still a little big, the 0-3 month size was getting too small. He enjoys spending time on the floor, as long as he is on his back. He will coo and smile while kicking his little legs and waving his little arms. He doesn't stop moving while he is awake. But he has done an excellent job sleeping this last week. Since last Monday night, he has only gotten up one time! He will go down sometime between 10:30pm and 11:30pm and he hasn't gotten up before 4:45am all week. Last night was the best. He was asleep in my arms by 11:30pm, but I didn't get to lay him down until midnight. He did not get up until 6:40am! He's such a good boy.

I got my new glasses last Thursday. My old glasses were five years old....so the prescription was quite different. I am getting use to the new prescription, but for the first couple days it felt like I was walking through the ground because it looked like the ground level was up by my knees. I spent quite a bit of time high-stepping it because it looked like I needed to take a step up or I would trip. Of course, the mental image of what I must have looked like to other people kept me laughing at myself. Its times like those that I miss my mom and sisters. I know they would have been laughing at me, too.

Nick is very busy at work. He has been without a technician for almost a month, so he has had to do all the work in the warehouse as well as doing all the stops. He hasn't been home on time for awhile. He has to try to get his office work done as well, so he is stressed and overworked. He has hired somebody from the Olympia, Washington branch who is dumb enough to want to move to Alaska. But he won't be up here until November 10th. So he still has a month left of having to do all the work. In fact, he has to go to Homer on Wednesday, so he will be staying overnight in Kenai because the drive is too far for a single day. This will be my first night by myself since Ethan was born. Hopefully, he will continue to sleep as well as he has.

Nick and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday. It is hard to imagine it has been six years! The time has gone so fast. But I suppose it would seem to go fast when we've had three kids in six years. We didn't really do much on Sunday for our anniversary, but if we can find a babysitter, we plan on going out to dinner, maybe even a movie. It depends on who we get to babysit and whether or not we bring Ethan. We will probably go to the Outback because we were given a $50 gift card by a lady at Nick's work as a "Thank You" for the baby clothes and Pack 'N Play we gave to her daughter who has very little.

The boys have finished their breakfast so it is time to get them dressed and ready for the day. I hope everyone has an enjoyable week.

And So It Begins

It started snowing today. At first, it was more rain than snow, but then it turned into huge wet snowflakes. The ground was pretty wet, so I wasn't anticipating it sticking at all. But it actually did stick to the roofs and trees. Nick informed me that it is supposed to get well below freezing tonight, so it will be slick driving tomorrow. As pretty as it is to watch, I can't get excited over the snow anymore. It is even difficult to pretend to be excited for the kids' sake. They, of course, still think snow is a wonderful thing.

Ethan is starting to enjoy his floor time. He will spend quite a bit of time by himself, just looking around, occasionally cooing. And if I have my hands full with something else (which NEVER happens) and he gets tired of being by himself, he will usually cry himself to sleep. He is such a good baby.

Dinner is almost ready, and then I still have so many things to accomplish before the end of the day....so I will say farewell for now. Hope everybody has a wonderful week.

Getting Colder

It is amazing how, in a land that doesn't ever really get warm, you can still tell the definite difference when it turns cold! The high temperatures are in the mid-forties now, so even if it reaches the high temp, I'm still freezing. Winter has seeped into my soul which wasn't too hard since the shadow of winter never left this year.
The snow has started its trek down the mountains, the cars have frost on them in the morning, and although the sun has been out for the last week, there is no warmth radiating from it. Winter is definitely on my door step.
The boys are doing well. Ethan is getting so big. He fills his clothes very well. He still sleeps a lot, but the time that he does stay awake is usually pretty calm. He is following in the footsteps of his brothers; demanding to be fed the second he deems himself to be hungry! You would think that he never ate by how much he fusses when it is time to feed him. He is starting to coo a little....which is always a nice change from fussing. He is also following his brothers at church; being adored and exclaimed over by one and all!
Nick is my "monkey see, monkey do" boy. Anything he sees Joey do, he does. He even copies Joey's reaction to whatever. If Joey jumps in surprise, so does Nick. If Joey whines over an unpleasant answer from Mommy, so does Nick. If Joey jumps and spins around the house, so does Nick. Nick is such a sweet and loving boy. There is nothing better than a hug from Nick when he pats you on the back. He is so quick to give kisses if he thinks you need one for any reason. But on the other side of that is the ability to throw huge tantrums at the drop of a hat.
Joey continues to be my creative one. One thing he likes to do is pretend he is a waiter. He carries around a pen and pad of paper and will ask me what I want for lunch. He has a habit of changing my order for me. For example, when asked what I wanted for dessert, I told him I wanted Apple Crisp with extra carmel. He says, "How about some ice cream with carmel frosting." When he brings me the ice cream he asks if I want a candle. I said, "No thank you." He said, "I'll just give you a candle and you can blow it out." After taking my order, he brings the paper to the "chefs" in the kitchen, which are usually his grandpas.
You can see how big Ethan is getting, and how fully he is filling out his clothes! He likes the swing, which helps me out so that I can take care of the other kids.
Although we have no yard, when the leaves are covering the ground, we can almost pretend that there is a yard. The other day, although it was very cold in my opinion, I took the boys out to play in the leaves. They had a blast! They would make little piles and jump in them, or throw the leaves up in the air. After I finished feeding Ethan, I got the broom out and swept the leaves in a really big pile for them to jump around it. Here are some pictures to show how much fun they had.

Choir practice started last night. Unfortunately, I didn't make it. Nick didn't get home from work until about 9pm. Of course, he has to have a busy day on the day that I have something I want to do. Just my luck.

Well, the boys still haven't gotten their clothes on, so I better facilitate the completion of getting dressed. Hope all of you have a fantastic weekend.

Out Of The Mouths Of.....

Joey loves to "write" lists and letters. He is usually making a shopping list for himself. He always puts the same items on his list; nuts for his elephant, milk for his cat, oats for his horse, bones for his dog, and a treat for his pet Sparky Dinosaur. He doesn't actually have any pets....but he wants to be well prepared.

The other thing he has been writing lately, is letters. He likes to write a letter to Mommy or Daddy and fold it up and "send" it through the mail....you know, the instantaneous mail from his hand to ours. He also likes to read the letters to us, which is very helpful as I have a hard time translating them.

They are not very encouraging letters though. The other day he wrote and read a letter to me. It went like this: Dear Mommy, You want to say 'no' everyday, and 'shhh', and 'quiet', and 'go to sleep'. I'm glad that those are the only things he remembers me saying to him. I certainly wouldn't want him to remember 'I love you' or 'you are so precious to me' or 'I'm so blessed to be your Mommy.'

Then there was the time he was asking Daddy to get him a snack and he wanted some Nutter Butters. Daddy asks, "You want MY Nutter Butters?!?!" Joey says, "Oh no, no no. They're not YOUR Nutter Butters, they're MY Nutter Butters."

Squeakers/Monkey Man

We haven't yet figured out a nickname for Ethan that will stick. We call him Squeakers, because he is always squeaking. We call him Monkey Man because he has very long arms, and when he raises them over his head to stretch, he looks like a monkey; plus, he looks like a little old man sometimes. But these nicknames won't stay around....not like Bubba and Bug. I just hope that whatever nickname Nick comes up with (he is insistent on finding the nickname; that's his 'job') doesn't start with a 'B'. It's already confusing enough with the others!

Can you believe that it has already been a month since Ethan was born? Today he turns one month old. He is 1/12th of a year. Time flies so quickly. He really is a very good baby. He still sleeps more than he is awake, more than he probably should. Of course, with this cold, he needs more rest to be able to get better. Half the time, when he is awake, he is fussing. I hope that is because he doesn't feel well. Nick was a bit colicky, and it was difficult enough for me to deal with. I don't want to go through that again.

I was lucky enough to capture Ethan's very first smile on camera. I was taking pictures for his one month 'birthday' and one of this pictures happened to be with a smile! I can already tell it will be another beautiful smile.
It's that time again...time to show a comparison between all the boys. This one, of course, is Joey. It is almost hard to believe he is almost 4 1/2. This time next year he will be going to Kindergarten! I am most definitely not ready for that. He is such a loving child. He loves to give Ethan loves, and I love that about him. Unfortunately, he is usually squishing poor Ethan. Joey will lay half on top of Ethan to give him loves. As much as I want the boys to love each other and give hugs, I can't let them suffocate each other. I tried to demonstrate to Joey how it would feel to be squished with a hug. So I had him lay on the floor like Ethan and I gave him a hug, half laying on top of him. Of course, Joey quickly started complaining that it hurt, that I was too heavy. So I explained that Ethan feels the same way when he lays on top of him. Joey says, "But I don't have one of those sticking out that hurts." (He was pointing to my chest) Of course, Nick got a big kick out of that!
Nick. What a lover he has become. He is very sensitive and doesn't like to have anybody upset. If any one of us is yelling, crying, or frustrated, Nick is quick to give hugs and kisses to try to diffuse the situation and make everyone happy again. He is so precious. There are two distinct times when Nick will come and give me a kiss, usually on my leg. One time is when he has done something he shouldn't and he gives me a kiss in an attempt to not be disciplined. It is really too cute, and I'm usually smiling when I tell him 'no' which can't be too effective. The other time he gives me kisses is when someone else is upset with me (namely Joey). When Joey is throwing a fit (not that you can imagine that, I'm sure), Nick will come over and kiss my leg, as if to say, "It's okay, Mommy. You don't have to get mad and start yelling." He warms my heart.
My little Ethan. There is not much more I can say about him at this point. He is growing so quickly. It won't be long before he is showing more personality, when he can stay awake long enough to display any. He is so snuggley and cuddly. It is such a warm and wonderful feeling to hold him close, to kiss his head, to smell his fresh, clean baby scent.

It is time for me to get off the computer. Joey would like a turn. With all the interruptions I get while on the computer, it takes three times as long as it should to post a few comments.

Be blessed.....I am!