My 3 Musketeers

How could a girl be any luckier?
Baby Boy #3 due April 10!

October

The 5 things that made our month awesome:
1. Brian had his first full weekend off since starting residency in June, and it happened twice this month! I felt a little spoiled, but can't wait for it to happen on a more consistent basis.
2. A visit from family--Brian's brothers family came to visit, we love it and Ethan cried and cried when they left.

3. A visit from the Jacksons--one of our best friends from med school came for a visit from Indianapolis and we packed the week with fun--the zoo, John Deere Tractor Pavilion, a Halloween party, pumpkin patch, and a Hawkeye football game for Jen and Jared.

 
4. A visit from the VanTassells-- our other best friends from med school made a trip down from South Dakota.  Mark and Nicole worked hard most the weekend replacing the roof on their rental house, but the rest of us got to have fun hanging out, and their kids were wonderful!  We can't wait for them to move back this summer.

 5.  HALLOWEEN!  On all those spooky nights I felt so safe because I had Batman and Robin to protect me.  They ran around the house constantly saving the world from bad guys. 

 

Ethan at 4

 We now have a 4 year-old!  Ethan's birthday was pretty laid back.  Instead of an official party, we invited some of our friends we haven't seen much since we moved to come play and have cupcakes.  It was a blast and more fun than if I had gone to the trouble of planning games.  The kids ran around crazy and the moms had fun chatting.  In the afternoon, we went to the park then had dinner at McDonalds, and Brian got home just in time for us to have cake and open presents. 

Ethan at 4:

• He's SUCH a good boy: he always tries to follow rules and obey.  Typically he comes to tell me what "bad thing" Gavin is up to, and it only takes me counting to "3" to get Ethan to do something he doesn't want to (rarely we will get all the way to 3, where I either make him do it or he gets a time out).  
• He is the best brother ever.  Rarely do our boys fight, most the time he will try to solve their issues by giving Gavin something else to play with or sharing what he has, he is determined to be a good example.  It's no wonder Gavin is smitten with him!
• Ethan is getting more social and a little less shy, but always is kind to others.
• He loves his daddy and can't help but constantly tease Brian when he comes home.
• His imagination has recently expanded so much and it's hilarious the things he pretends.
• "Why" is still the most popular word that comes out of his mouth, I usually don't have an answer except "Just because, that's just how it is..." (I know, I'm not very creative.)

I feel so lucky every day to have my boys, they are adorable and I don't know what I would ever do without my best buddy Ethan!

Gavin!

"Gavin" to most, "Gavvy-wavvy" to me, and simply "Babe" to Ethan (a recent upgrade from the "Baby" Ethan's called him since birth), we LOVE having this little 2-year-old in our family!  Here's some of our favorite things about him:

• He talks like a little man, just recently moving from small phrases to near-complete sentences.  I'm always laughing when he's trying to put his ideas into words, I frequently hear "What doing, Mom?" "What you say Mommy?"  "What going on, what happening?" "Essan (Ethan) so sad" (any tantrum), "I see ______", "Dat bug is so cute, it's cutie, Mom!",  "okay, so, umm...." and "oops! I sorry mom (or ethan, wall, toy or whatever he stepped on) and at breakfast today-- "My waffle so handsome!".
• Gavin loves music.  I'll often hear him playing with toys, singing complete verses to "I am a Child of God", "I love to see the temple", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (or ABC's), "Jesus Came to John the Baptist" and "Old McDonald".  He can memorize most of a song by hearing it only once or twice, so I think he got the Cheney music genes!
• He loves to learn.  He's already learned pretty much everything necessary to learn in kindergarten, and those are just things he's picked up from us talking to Ethan about (and often catches on to things first).
• Ethan and Gavin are the BEST of friends.  I never knew siblings could get along so well at this age.  They rarely fight and mostly you can see Gavin trailing after Ethan's "babe, you wanna come play with me?" by responding "Yes, I pomming (coming) Essan!" Gavin has a laid back personality that complements a 4-year-old's orders perfectly.
• Gavin is almost always happy and content and loves to play with others or by himself, as long as he's well fed and rested.  We just moved him to a toddler bed, and he feels this is a license to talk and play for an hour or two before napping or at night, so this has left him a little more tired than usual lately.
• A month or two ago, Gavin when through a very needy phase where he wanted to be carried everywhere and constantly cried with his outstretched arms "I NEED MOMMY!"  Luckily, that phase is gone and independence has begun (this week he keeps pushing me away with a "No, I do it!")  He's always a daddy's boy and can't get enough of Brian when he get's home from work.

We LOVE Gavin and couldn't imagine life without him!

ps--yes his curls are adorable, but they've been quickly getting out of control, so I have since cut his hair.  It will all grow back!

Gavin's Birthday

Morning: Picnic lunch, tractor ride, apple turnovers, and apple picking at Wilson's Apple Orchard

Afternoon: Brian came home early, we opened presents and put up our NEW TRAMPOLINE! (courtesy of my parents for the boys birthdays, we found an amazing deal).

 

Evening:  Dinner, Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcakes, and bed!  (Another one of Gavin's presents--a toddler bed!  So far so good, he hasn't figured out he can get out of bed without permission, although he's close enough to his bookshelf to pull all 30 books into bed with him before falling asleep.... :) And he hasn't quite figured out the pillow/covers thing yet. ) We love our little 2-year-old!

3-Year-Old Soccer

At this age, community soccer leagues are quite entertaining. Not in the "way-to-score-a-goal!" kind of way, but in the "wow-I-can't-believe-we-paid-money-to-have-our-child-completely-ignore-his-soccer-game" kind of way. Regardless, I guess the small fee was worth it because Ethan had fun and I spent the whole game cracking up at my child and almost everyone else's in the league.

For 3-year-olds, there is pretty much a mob-mentality to the game--everyone just runs around in a herd after the one or two kids that actually kick the ball. Ethan was quite different though--not very competitive, he worked hard during the 15 minutes of practice, but then sat out or did his own thing during the half hour game that followed because the other kids wanted the ball. Enjoy the pictures!








Apparently, soccer's pretty exhausting (and it was HOT!)





My favorite time was when all the parents on our team started laughing because one of the kids was way out on the other side of the field working on head-stands, oblivious to anything else. I, of course, couldn't stop laughing but managed to pull out my camera, because, hey, it was Ethan! :)

A House to call Home

For the first time since we've been married, and after living in 13 apartments since I turned 18, (more for Brian), we FINALLY have a house to call our home!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our new home. We are so grateful to be able to live here and are so happy! Some of our favorite things about having a house:

• A garage! No more de-icing/de-snowing/warming up for 30 minutes everytime we leave the house in the winter.
• A fenced in yard: no more do my children only have a small front yard on a busy (and less-than-desirably-safe) street to play in.
• The neighbors and neighborhood: everyone is SOO nice, we love our neighbors, and don't miss the bus stop in front of our house, the train tracks down the street, or the sketchy neighbors.
• Color! Our walls are painted and we can do whatever we want with our decorating.
  

There are so many more reasons we love our home, but I'll stop there. But check out the beautiful view we have--