Climber!

Ethan just climbed up on the couch unassisted for the first time! We officially have a climber! This is opening up a whole new world for him now. Wow.

Memorial Day weekend festivities

Saturday we went to a Pre-Memorial Day Cookout/ Brooks' surprise birthday party. We had a lot of fun eating hamburgers & hotdogs and hanging out. Ethan and I loved the game Baggo which is a rendition of Corn hole. It was a lot of fun and I did get the hang of it. You throw bean bags into the plastic thing you see above. It reminded me of the old Bozo the clown show when they try to throw ping-pong balls into the buckets. But this is different, ha.
Sunday afternoon we went to the campus of UNC-G where Matt got his degree and met up with some of his old college friends. Ethan borrowed a water diaper from Rhyan which is Matt's old college roomates' daughter. (Real men wear pink- at least that is what we kept telling ourselves when we saw our son in a pink flowery diaper!) We took the babies and went wading in the fountain there on campus. It was fun and Ethan loved it!
Matt and his old roomate Danny & Rhyan who is 3 weeks younger than Ethan.
Today (Memorial Day) we went over to the Brueggeman's for a ice cream party and had some fun in the kiddie pools and sprinklers. Ethan is getting more and more brave with the water. He had a blast spashing! He even got face to face with the sprinkler(literally) and couldn't move. Hoping to get a good picture from my friend Jen, hint hint!
Ethan's favorite part was trying to walk up the slide and inevitably sliding back down because he was wet. He LOVED doing this over and over. We all had a good time and he was tuckered out! He's been so zapped that he slept in until 8:20 this morning when lately he hasn't been sleeping past 7:30! I'm hoping for another morning like that tomorrow!

Wednesday we are leaving for Lake Lure so I probably won't post until we get back. I need to give my fellow bloggerites a chance to read all my posts and keep up with us! Have a great week!

Highlights

At Ethan's 15 month appointment they mentioned that kids his age should start using utensils. I have never thought to give him a fork yet, so we tried and he did great!
This past Thursday really started summer off. We will be taking various trips to the pool & state lakes. Ethan had a blast with his friends this past Thursday, but the water was still a little too cold for his liking. I think he looks like a little old man in this picture, ha ha!
Snack time...working on his tan, you know?!
Matt's softball season is winding down to a close, we have tried to go to all the games, but some were at 8:45 at night! This past Thursday was a gorgeous day for a game. It would have been good if they pulled out a win, but there was no such luck. Ethan had a great time running on the field before the game started. He is going to take after his daddy with his love for sports...and baseball caps!

Today starts the memorial weekend festivities. We are going to a cook-out this afternoon at a good friend of mine's house. (She is my running partner) Sunday we are heading to Greensboro for a little college reunion for my hubby. He and some of his InterVarsity friends are meeting up at a park, so we will enjoy catching up with them. Then Monday is the 3rd annual ice cream churn off. Some friends of ours invite everyone over every Memorial day for some fun! We all bring homemade ice cream or toppings and play games and let the little ones run around in the sprinkler and pool. I am sure pictures will be coming soon from all these events.

This next week we are heading to Lake Lure for a few days with my parents. The first half of the week my brother's family is going to be there, but we are going down Wednesday. Looking forward to a great mini-vacation with the fam!

Enjoy your weekend!

No dairy allergy?!

Monday we had Ethan's 15 month appointment. He is growing well and is still above 75% in all areas...thankfully his growth is leveling out or he would be an amazon by age 3! He got some shots and did really well. He always screams when they go in, but quickly calms down. The interesting part of the visit was when the Dr. concluded that his excema flair is NOT an allergy. She brought out a text book and showed me the condition that he has. It was like someone took a picture of Ethan's leg and put it in there. SO, I guess he isn't allergic to dairy! Why we haven't discovered this sooner, I don't know. BUT, I am glad to hear it if this is really the case. This condition (I can't pronounce let alone spell it) cannot be treated and there is no real cause. The funny thing is, the way i've been treating him for this excema/allergy is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what this condition requires. For example, during bath, excema says do NOT rub his skin or scrub it and pat it dry... however, the new condition suggests using an exfoliating soap and even a loofa or pumice stone to scrub his skin. How weird. So we'll see. He also got a prescription cream to put on it. Hopefully this well help it subside.
Sidenote: he has started eating dairy again and so far there hasn't been a reaction...so thats good. I forgot how much he LOVED cheese. YAY, he even had a bit of vanilla icecream tonight after dinner. He kept signing more and please and couldn't get enough. I love my sweet boy!

lights, camera, action!

Hold on to your knickers, there are a lot of pictures! We've been busy bee's and we're not stopping until August, ha ha! I love being active and enjoying friends and family.

Durham Bulls baseball game with the church

I am so thankful Ethan loves wearing his hat!

sitting with Granddaddy
Trying cotton candy for the first time... he didn't seem too impressed
I got a chance to watch sweet Olivia for my friends Andrew & Sheila, she's a cutie

Ethan getting pointers from a girl?!
E also loves wearing his daddy's hat... he wears it all around the apartment

Playing at the park at Ty's birthday party
Going down the slide... he loves it!
The highlight of the birthday party...watching my brother-in-law try to do a flip on the bar!
watch out...he's a pro...or not
All the kiddos patiently awaiting the cupcakes! (Ty is next to the red head which is my nephew, Jackson)

Tagged by Lauren

Ok, so I noticed I was tagged twice, so I am going to kill 2 birds with one stone and do my other tag along with one I just posted. YAY! Double information all about ME!

5 Things under 5 dollars that I could not live without
1. Paper Towels
2. Soap
3. baby wipes
4. tooth brush
5. Q-tips

Five Favorite Movies
1. Emporer's New Groove
2. Elf
3. Gladiator
4. The Bourne movies
5. Ice Age

Five baby names I love
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Kate
4. Caleb
5. Austin

5 Songs I could listen to over and over again
1. In over my head- The Frey
2. Blessed be your name
3. Come thou fount
4. The National Anthem
5. Mommy loves you ( a song I made up for Ethan)

5 people who have influenced me in a positive way
1. Matt
2. my mom
3. my dad
4. Beth Moore
5. Brooks

5 Things that are always in my purse
1. my wallet
2. my keys
3. my cell phone
4.
5. that's it... i'm simple

5 moments that have changed my life forever
1. Working at CWR
2. The day I got married
3. The day I gave birth to Ethan
4. The day I gave my life to God
5. Moving to NC from FL

5 obsessions I have now
1. Starbucks' Mocha Frappuchino
2. Dairy Queen's parfait
3. Running
4. My family
5. Taking pictures

5 places I would like to go
1. Hawaii
2. China
3. New York city
4. Anywhere in the Carribean
5. Ireland

5 appliances or kitchen tools that I could not live without
1. refrigerator
2. stove
3. apple corer
4. sink
5. dishwasher

5 people I want to see their top five
1. my hubby
2. my cousin Erin
3. E
4. Courtney
5. Shannon

Tagged by E

So E tagged me after I graciously reminded her that she forgot to tag someone. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut ;) ha ha.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was in my sophomore year of high school and I was one of the first of all my friends to get my license and own a car. So I was probably driving us all around hitting up Starbucks or Brueggers.

5 Things on your to-do list today
1. Go on a walk with Ethan
2. Do my Beth Moore bible study
3. Pack Ethan's diaper bag for the Durham Bulls baseball game
4. Remember to lather up my son with sunscreen so he doesn't get burned at the baseball game
5. Go to bed at a decent hour

5 Things you would do if you were a billionaire
1. Pay off all debt ($30,000 in school loans, credit card)
2. Buy a house
3. Buy a car
4. Put some in savings for our kids college funds, etc.
5. GIVE A LOT AWAY!

Name 3 bad habits
1. biting my nails
2. letting our dishes pile up in the kitchen
3. stack the garbage in the trash can high up because I don't want to get out a new bag and take the old one out- it's like an art now to see how high I can get it before it falls over. Ha ha, just kidding I am getting a lot better about taking it out before it starts over flowing.

5 jobs I've had
1. YMCA counselor
2. Canoeing instructor (where I met Matt :))
3. Teacher
4. Game room attenant (Student Union at ASU)
5. Stay-at-home mom- my favorite

5 books I have recently read
1. Night Light
2. Dawn's Light
3. True Light
4. Last Light
(1.-4. were all a series I read recently- GREAT BOOKS by Terri Blackstock)
5. Shepherding a Child's Heart

I tag my husband because he just told me he wouldn't do it... little does he know I will bug him until he does, muah ha ha (that is my evil laugh)

Lost Croc

This past Monday Ethan and I ventured to Kohls because it was a buy 1 get 1 free sale. Well, I hit the jackpot, but thats not my story. (I got a shirt and a pair of jeans for $12.00 total!) The Kohls I went to is a 2 story Kohls and I shopped all around. I went to the women's section, the purses, up to the babies, back down to the women's and all around in between. Well, I got out to the car and noticed that Ethan was missing a Croc. So I threw the bag in the car and went back inside to find his shoe. I had 2 other sales ladies help me and we started scanning the store. We each broke up and went to a different section. Well, we couldn't find it. After all, I had been ALL over the store shopping. I started to get emotional about him losing his shoe and kept telling myself, keep it together, it is just a shoe. But it was like a conversation between the shoulder angels in a cartoon. One side of me was like, "it's just a shoe, who cares?!" While the other side was, "But your mom got him those and they are expensive." Meanwhile, we are searching all around. Finally I decided to accept defeat, and thank the women and leave. Then it hit, I started bawling.... about a dumb shoe! I felt like an emotional pregnant woman again. (No, I am not pregnant) But that is what I felt like. I was crying in front of the Kohls' lady and apologizing for crying over a shoe. I started to stroll away and from across the baby section I hear, "Oh, here it is!" And an employee was running and waving the shoe in the air. It was like I was in a movie. You know the kind where they found their lost dog and they are running towards each other in slow motion with their hair swaying back and forth with smiles across their faces... except in my movie it was a middle aged Kohls woman runing waving a shoe in the air with her keys swaying back and forth. HA! Anyhow, I thanked her and tried to compose myself before walking out... because I knew everyone that saw me would be like, "why is the lady crying in Kohls!" We got to the car, both shoes in hand and I called my husband and mom to tell them my story! WOW! What a lesson... do NOT go shopping with a child who has an easily removable shoe!

A little catching up

We've had a couple of bad storms in our area within the past week. Some places in our state even got tornado's. The other night we thought we were in one. We got woken up in the middle of the night to pounding hail hitting our windows. It was SO loud. It was also real windy and lighting thrashing all around. Well, in our sleepyness Matt and I quickly decided to grab Ethan and go into our bathroom. My heart was beating so hard as we sat and waited. It quickly passed and Matt grabbed his laptop to check the weather online. We knew we weren't in danger so we put Ethan back to bed and ventured out to take some pictures. We've never been in a storm like that and we both truly thought we were in a tornado. It was real scary there for a few minutes as we waited huddled in the bathroom. I can't imagine living in a state that has them frequently! I would have a storm cellar in the ground like in the Wizard of Oz. (The picture accidentally got posted sideways, but this is the hail in front of our neighbors door!)


Anyhow, the other day I mentioned I got some beautiful flowers for mother's day. So I snapped a few pictures of them. They are just so pretty and the roses smell so sweet.


Here are some adorable pictures of Ethan trying to fill his daddy's shoes. (They are big shoes to fill...literally and figuratively) He kept signing please to put them back on his feet. I love my boys!

Mother's Day Eve

Happy Mother's Day! For so many years this day has been about celebrating my mom. We would make her special cards and attempt to cook her meals growing up! I am sure she has crafts and special things boxed up that my brother and I have made her over the years. How can 1 day encompass thanking and celebrating ALL that your mom does?! Wow. I NEVER fully realized how special moms were until I became one. What an honor and a privilege to be used by God to birth a child and nurture and love them for the rest of your lives. I knew when I met and married my husband that I was experiencing a new kind of love i've never had before. But becoming a parent is such a different love. No matter if you birth a child or adopt, it is AMAZING how much love you can feel for children. There are times where I still just look at my son and tear up because I cannot believe how much I love him. So from now on, I look at mother's day in such a completely different way. Not only am I celebrating my mom, but my husband's mom and step-mom and now I get to reflect and embrace motherhood all on my own. I just thank God for this amazing gift. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!
p.s. Thank you to my husband who bought me some BEAUTIFUL flowers today!!

Park First

I took Ethan to the park yesterday and he was playing all around. He has become such a people person now. He will just walk up to other kids and adults and just flash a big smile like he's saying, "yeah, I know you think i'm cute!" He LOVES the slide and the swings are still fun. Well yesterday he discovered the sand play area... and I mean really discovered it. He picked up a hand full and stuck it in his mouth! He looked at me and stuck his tongue out like he tasted the most disgusting thing ever. I said, oh baby, do you want some juice! And he started running towards the jogger for some relief. HA! What a funny boy! Don't think he'll be doing that again any time soon.

Florida Trip Highlights

Ok, I can't figure out how to a do a slide show... so I MAJORLY had to condense what pictures to show you unless I sat at the computer for an hour trying to upload them! SO, here are just a few from our trip.

Donald Duck as a baby? We saw this little cutie as we were walking to Space Mountain at Disney.
Captain Jack Sparrow?
Us in front of Cinderella's castle.
We didn't pay to see one of these at the mini-golf course! We had just finished putting a hole and I looked over and saw someone watching us!
Golfing with my sweetie, we actually tied!
Tampa Bay Rays baseball game... if you know my husband then you won't be surprised when I say we were there 2 hours early to watch them practice for the game!!!
Petting the sting-rays at the baseball game.
Us at the game!
Us at St.Petersburg pier, we ate dinner with my brother's family as well as my Grandma & Uncle and his friend! We had fun!
Palm trees and cool breeze!

Help

Someone please tell me how to add a slideshow of pictures on here!!!

Home sweet home

We are back from Florida and we are exhausted. Isn't it so true that you need a vacation from vacation? I think the drive is what is most tiring. Today's drive home was miserable because we were missing our baby boy so much and couldn't wait to see him after being away for 8 days!!! We were counting every mile and minute. It was so fun to see him so excited to see us! We just scooped him up and cuddled and held him. While we LOVED being on vacation just the two of us, we were missing part of our family and were reminded of it a lot. Especially when we went to disney world and it was like a stroller derby!
Anyhow, good thing I came back tanner than I went. We enjoyed going to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game, visited with some family, went shopping, laid out at the pool, I read 3 books that my sister-in-law recommended, went to Disney, we went and saw a movie at a gorgeous movie theater that was so neat, we ate out as well as cooked in our villa. One of my favorite things was playing mini-golf with my hubby. I actually beat him at a game! Our resort had its own free course, but we did venture out to an awesome place (if you ever go to Orlando, i'll tell you where it is!). We actually saw a snake and tied our game at that course. We just had an amazing time.
Now I just finished unpacking and started some laundry. I'm going to figure out how to post a slide show of our pictures instead of trying to upload them individually. So i'm off... yay for being home!