Ethan Turns 1!

I cannot believe how fast the last year went by. I still remember last February 12th like it was yesterday... Dropping Bella off at Parents Night Out at the Church and going to the hospital to bring our little man into the world. The year has definitely been a whirlwind.

We have been so blessed to have Ethan in our lives. He has been the sweetest little boy, and super easy going. He has gotten quite smiley over the last little while, despite being sick. His smile (especially now that he has two teeth) melts my heart and reminds me of God's goodness in our lives. It has been to cold here to take some good outdoor photos of Ethan as a 1 year old. But now that he is feeling better and as the weather gets warmer... This little man will definitely be the star of his very own photo shoot.

We celebrated with my parents and went out to a hot spot here in Altus for dinner. By the time we came home, it was already after Ethan's bedtime, so I wasn't sure how he would last through his birthday celebration. Luckily my mom picked up noise makers, which Ethan thought were the best things ever... and they sure did make him smile. After a few pictures and an attempt to eat his birthday cake, he was done. I'm thinking about throwing him a little party... so hopefully he will actually get into cake and make a huge mess.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!

WE LOVE YOU!

Visitors

My parents were in town for Ethan's birthday. Gramma came for the week and Papa came on Thursday. Because the kids were sick, we really just laid low. I was very thankful to have my mom's help with the kids during the first few days when they were both sick. The week was fairly busy... so it was also nice to be able to leave the kids at home and take off, knowing they were both well taken care of.

Bella and Papa did manage to make it to the park a few times once the weather warmed up. That was definitely a highlight for both of them.

Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad and for making Ethan's birthday special.

House of Sick-ies!

Our sickness didn't stop with pinkeye... We ended up going to see the doctor 5 times in a week and a half. It was crazy. I felt bad and a little silly every time the doc would open the door and see us there... But then again it was legit!

• Ethan started off with pinkeye 2 weeks ago today. Drops that worked like a charm and clear it up right away!
• I took him in the next day because he was coughing and wheezing all night. He had croup. Got a dose of steriods to open his airway.
• We went again on Friday of that week, because they both had fevers and I didn't want to go all weekend without being seen, just in case. Nothing looked out of the norm.
• I took them both in again on Monday of last week, because they both had fevers on and off through the weekend and Bella had a nasty cough. Bella's left lung sounded a little raspy, so she had an x ray done to see if she had pneumonia. Luckily no pneumonia. Just something viral.
• Took Ethy back into the doctors on Wednesday of last week, because he still had a fever, and he was diagnosed with an ear infection. Poor little guy. He's been through a lot!

My theory is.... we are just going to get the sickness done and over with for the whole year. Now if they both could just get over their nasty coughs... I wouldn't mind sleeping through the night again!!!

Bella thought this pic was pretty cool.

I was glad my mom was here, so she could go into the x ray room, while I stayed with Ethy outside.

Poor little guy, getting cuddled my Grama!

Plan Failed!

For the last few weeks Bella has been going to be super late. Her bedtime is usually 8:00, but lately she has been going to be after 10:00. Even if we put her to bed on time, she ends up playing in her room for hours (or being a little stink and coming out of her room many many times). I have a feeling that it is because she might be getting to the age where she doesn't need an afternoon nap. But for two reason I have continued to put her down for a nap:

#1. Because I'm selfish! If she naps, then that is a guaranteed two hours of peace and quiet MOmmy time.

#2. Because she sleeps so well during her nap, that I hate to break her of it.

So today, I had a plan! I was going to skip Bella's nap during the day and make her stay up. Ethan had a good morning nap, and then we headed to Walmart for groceries and the afternoon sort of got away from me. When we came home, Ethan was hungry again... so by the time I tried to put him at 3:00, he refused to go to sleep. Bella was going strong, so I put on Dora to keep her occupied for a little while I cleaned up.

Now its almost 5:00 in the afternoon... and here is how my plan TOTALLY BACKFIRED on me:

I better not let them sleep too long... Or Mommy and Daddy movie night will go out the window!

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: