Beat up by Pinkeye!

Poor Ethan woke up this morning and his eye looked awful!

I called the doctor's office first thing to get him in.

He has pinkeye! I don't think it really hurts him, but it sure does look horrible!

Hopefully it won't get much worse! I guess that means that we are going to be housebound this week too.

We are supposed to get some bad weather here starting tonight at 4:00am with an accumulation of an inch of freezing rain.

Hopefully we don't have a repeat of LAST YEAR... But if we do, we have our generator ready!

Happy Friday

Thought I would posts some cute pics from this past week. We have all been sick. Today was the first day we actually got out of the house and did something. Yay!

Here is Bella is her new play area. Grandma and Papa got her some new dress up clothes for Christmas, so they needed a place to live along with Bella's coats. Too bad they don't magically put themselves back on the hooks every night.

This is Ethan at lunch today eating his blueberries. Just check out tooth #2. I wonder if his teeth are going to be as crooked as Bella's are? Isn't he just the cutest!??!

San Antonio

I figured I better get this post up, so I can stick to my New Years Resolutions...

We ventured down to San Antonio last Wednesday for an Air Force conference. The kids and I tagged along to visit my friend Dawn again and of course SHOP!

The first night we had a nice time down on the riverwalk, but I didn't take my camera... so no pics.

We spent Friday evening with Ben's old college roommate and partner in crime Cale Marthens, his wife Katie and their adorable daughter Lilly. These two, haven't seen each other since Cale was in our wedding almost five years ago. But it was very much like it was yesterday, as Ben and Cale reminisced about old times, laughed about the present and were up to no good with the future (both Cale and Ben say they are going to retire from the military and become ski lift operators). I would say they are like two peas in a pod. It was so much fun hanging out with you guys... too bad we didn't live closer. Remember, we can always meet up in Hawaii anytime you would like!

I stayed with Dawn and her kiddos for two night. We picked up right where we left off and it was so nice seeing her again. It was too short, but we packed our 48 hours with some good chats, great food and laughs. Thanks so much for having us Dawn. Look forward to next visit sometime down the road.

Pic disclaimer: for some reason Dawn and I always seem to only have our picture taken in the morning with no makeup and in our pjs. Oh the life of being a mom.

On our way home we stopped in a quaint little town called Fredricksburg, TX. It is literally a town right out of Germany. We ate lunch at a german cafe... Isabella had the equivalent of German cheese toasty. I could have walked around for hours... there were so many cute stores.

Yay.. finally a nice family picture!

A Good Day Off

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day to all my fellow Americans.

Ben has today off, so we have spent the day relaxing and hanging out around home... and a few other fun things too. The kids let us sleep in until 9:15 am (Ethan did get up to eat at 6:30 for a bottle, but went right back to bed). Usually sleeping in goes out the window after kids come into the picture. But I have to say I think our kids take after me in the sleep department- They need their sleep. I love it, because so do I!

Here is how we spent a little bit of our day.

A walk to the park:

Bella strolling on her trike:

A trip to Sonic for half price drinks:

And Ethy enjoying his lunch:

Almost a YEAR old!

Only one month to go and we will be celebrating another 1st birthday! CRAZY!

Ethan turned 11 months on the 12th of this month. I am starting to think he really is an easy baby. He is very predictable and for the most part is very content.

Here are some things are almost 1 year old is doing:

• Loves his Daddy. When Ben comes home from work, he gets all excited and with fuss until Ben picks his up. Or if Ben puts Ethan down and leaves the room, we hear from this little guy.
• He still only has one tooth (you can see it in a few of the photos)
• He is interacting way more (he loves peekaboo and what I call the 'give and take' game)
• He is still only sitting, but just in the last week he has become a lot less content with just sitting. i can tell he wants to move. He just doesn't quiet have the strength and coordination to do it.
• To go along with the former, he is getting a lot more squirmy. He is a pro at reaching something just out of his reach, but reaching and rolling.
• He is a great eater. Ethan loves his food! Sometimes he even eats more then Bella (although a mouse eats more then her at times)
• He goes to bed at 7:00 on the dot. Sleeps all night and usually gets up between 7-8. If he gets up earlier then 7, he will go back to sleep, after a morning bottle.
• He loves to skype. If someone is blocking his view of the computer, he will lean until it is in view (super cute).
• Fits in 12-18 month clothing
• He has started to wave. I have to get this on video, because it is so cute. He sticks his arm/hand way in the air and then turns his little hand out. Love it. And he is so proud of himself too.

What a little cutie. Here are some photos of Ethan with his shrinking bear! It was hard to get a clear photo of him, because he kept rocking the chair back and forth.

Ethy 10 Months Old

Here is our sweet little guy at 10 Months old. Do I dare say that I didn't take his 9 month shrinking bear photo???? I meant to take it before we left to go to Billings for Thanksgiving and I forgot and by the time we came back I only got my act together to take his 10 month picture on time. Ooops. This poor little guy is sure to have second child syndrome. I hear it only gets worse the more kids you have. Yikes!

Here are some things our little man is doing at 10 months old:

• Ethan is perfectly content just sitting there hanging out, I tell you... I sure don't mind a stationary baby!
• He's clapping
• Started drinking from a sippy cup
• in 6-12 month clothing
• size 3 diapers
• He eats, chicken, carrots, sweet potatoes, loves yogurt, squash, pears, apple sauce, banana and turkey, he also has oatmeal every morning for breakfast (with pears),
• He loves to pick a toy up in one hand and the throw it down and pick it up with the other hand
• He has ONE tooth, his bottom right front tooth (but that's it)
• He weighs 18.6 lbs
• He loves watching his sister play and he gets all excited if she dances and jumps around
• He still doesn't like to be left alone in a room
• He loves to reach for things (and usually falls over in the process)

I can't believe that Ethan's 1 year birthday is coming up so fast. It's crazy. He has been such a delightful little boy. His temperament is very different then Bella's was when she was almost one. He is definitely more demanding. Knows what he wants and wants to have it now. It will be so interesting to see if he mellows out a little, as Bella is a little SPITFIRE on steroids these days. But we love her too! I actually have a feeling Ethan is going to have Ben's temperament when he gets older.

Anyway, here is our cute little 10 month old:

New Years Resolutions!!!

Here is a list of my New Years Resolutions for this fine and fabulous year of 2011. Some resolutions are serious, some are just for fun and other are totally vain.

• To blog ONCE a week... or at least post photos (this will also help me take more photos of our adorable kiddos)
• To wish people 'Happy Birthday' on their actual birthdays
• To be conscience of hanging up my keys and purse when I come in the door
• To pack lighter on trips
• To not buy ANYTHING from Gymboree until after the summer (only applies after Gymbuck redemption Jan 13-23)
• To stick to our budget
• To memorize scripture verses each month
• To be as patient with my husband, as I am my children
• To try and feed my children healthier meals
• To start and finish INSANITY (60 days) Before and after photos to come
• To love more deeply, show grace more easily and be thankful more often
• To RSVP (on time and actually read what's on the invitation)
• To get my abs back
• To be more intentional about my faith as a Christian. Live in truth and be myself

Christmas!

We went home to Calgary for Christmas this year. It was a whirlwind 12 days... We spent Christmas Eve with my Mom's Family and as usual it was super festive and fun, especially our rendition of Memba-lasagna (a hungarian song that we sing every year, except my mom, aunt and grandma are the only ones who actually know the words to the song... the rest of us sing words that sound like the hungarian counterparts and then we all kiss each other, twice, once on each cheek and say Merry Christmas)! We had special guests this year. Mr Ethan and his new cousin Rocky are new additions to the family, along with Rocky's Mama, Meredith. I know my parents LOVED having Meredith and Rocky there (who live in Kelowna at the moment), so they could have ALL their grandchildren present. Thanks Meredith for spending the time with our family.

Christmas morning was spent with our immediate family. It began with the picture on the stairs in our pjs. We have a whole photo album full of these pictures through the years. Having little kids around, sure does make it extra fun. Bella was VERY into opening up all the presents, even the one that weren't hers (even at other peoples houses... that weren't hers either).

We headed up to the cabin on the 26th for a few days. Ben and I hit the slopes snowboarding up at Panorama for an afternoon, while the kids and Grandma and Papa relaxed down at base camp.

We didn't have enough time (once again) to see everyone I would have liked. We would have needed another week to accomplish that, but we did manage to fit in a few quick visits during the week.

Claire and Bella sure have come along way.

Here they are in , Dec 2008 & August 2009 & July 2010.

Aren't these two so cute (and so completely opposite)!

They could not be more different... but oh let me tell you, they are very similar in personality! Thank goodness we don't live in Calgary at the moment, or these two would be Trouble (just like Bella's mama and Claire's auntie Sarah)

WE had dinner at Katherine and John's. Katherine and John are expecting baby #2 in about a month. We are super excited to hear if baby will be a boy or a girl!

Thanks for having us over... We miss you.

On our way up to the cabin we stopped in Canmore to visit my good friend Kate, her husband Dean and their new precious baby Anna (along with the rest of Kate's family). Kate and I go all the way back to our high school days at Shawnigan. It was so fun catching up and seeing Kate as a Momma. It fits her well and Anna is adorable!