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.