Preschool Celebration

Belle's preschool opted for a preschool celebration rather than a preschool program. They rented some inflatable slides and bouncers and let the kids have fun. Probably the best idea ever. Rather than make all the parents sit through a boring program, we got to wear our kids out before bed. =)

Belle had a blast. She met some of her friends and had a great time. Nic was the lucky one to chase Ethan around.





Belle and Kai going through the maze. This was the kid that mom loudly asked "is that a boy or a girl?" right in front of the BOY'S mother. ha ha.


Belle and her teacher Miss Trish


Belle and Sydney.


Belle and Adrienne. Adrienne isn't in Belle's class, but is in Belle's ballet class. Adrienne will be going to Pre K at FMCC next fall. Maybe they'll be in the same class.


Ethan even got to go down the slide a couple times.

All Boy!

Ethan is one active little boy. We've had many outfit changes because he's always in the mud.



He goes down the slide head first.



I usually just let him do it all. He's really coordinated for a 19 mos old and I've always been pretty confident when he's doing all this crazy stuff. I shouldn't be surprised that he ended up looking like this.



This evening he took a header off his trike. How you might ask? Well he usually hops on his bike at the top of the driveway and rides it like a maniac all the way down the drive and into the street (We're on a cul-de-sac). He's done this loads of times and never fell off, but tonight he hit the edge of the driveway and flipped over and ate concrete. Poor boy.

But then a couple hours later he was doing this. (Such short videos are not uploading well, stay tuned)



This boy is going to be the death of me.

While he's all boy, he sure can play dolls with the best of them.

He loves his sissy!

Ethan sure does love his sissy. The first word out of his mouth in the morning is "sissy?". He's been saying "sissy" so much that he's gotten pretty good at it. At first it sounded like "shishy"

Just now Ethan went to the kitchen and asked for a graham cracker and after I gave it to him, he kept standing there. He'd point to the box and say "sissy". Ah, so sweet, he wanted to make sure his sissy got a graham cracker too.

Thankfully Belle was nice and took the cracker and said thanks. Then when Ethan walked away brought it to me and said she didn't want it.

I'm glad those two are getting along, atleast for now.

Just postin

Belle got her ballet recital outfit yesterday. Its pretty cute. She's really excited to get up on stage and to wear makeup.



Maybe it's a boy thing or maybe it's an Ethan thing, but this kid LOVES dirt. Can't keep him out of the stuff. He's already ruined our one little garden and made us decide to not persue another one. We went through two outfits yesterday.

Little Daredevil

Ethan has really learned how to climb up the slide now. He's such a little daredevil.

Muffins with Mom

Yesterday I realized how different Belle and I are once again. I was a terribly shy kid and the teacher often had to be reminded I was even there. Um, not so with Belle. Yesterday we had a Mom day at Belle's preschool called Muffins with Mom. It was interesting.

When we walked in the kids were in circle time and Miss Trish was reading a book. Belle and her BFF Lexi Z. were in the back. Belle was doing a really good job of listening. Well until she saw me. Then she had to keep looking back and giving me big smiles. They sang their days of the week to the tune of the Adams Family and they did their months of the year to the Macarena. It was cute. Then they put their date on the calendar and moved the weather wheel.

Then it was times for the kids to take their moms to a different room. Miss Trish told the kids to find a partner and THEN find their mom. Belle of course just ran to me. I saw Lexi stand looking for Belle, but then she found a little boy to be her partner. I told Belle to go find a partner. Of course she went and snatched Lexi away from this poor boy.

We then headed to the room with the muffins and an activity. While all the other kids sat nicely and colored their flower pots, Belle was entertained for a minute and then just scribbled the rest so she could be done. She was constantly telling Lexi and her mom what to do and what color to use. Once it was time for muffins Belle picked a double choc muffin and choc milk. A recipe for disaster of course because that sugar soon kicked in and Belle couldn't stay in her seat. She was constantly going over to Lexi's mom and trying to strike up conversation.

Oh Belle, it's certainly entertaining with her. She still knows no stranger and is so social. And possibly a litte ADD. ha ha. I got a feeling she'll always be our little handful. It will be interesting to see how Ethan turns out. Maybe he'll give Mommy a break.

Interview with an almost 4 yr old

I did this little interview with Belle. She gave me mostly one word answers, but it was still funny.


~What is something mommy always says to you?

"Listen"

~ What makes mommy happy?

"I be kind. Laugh"

~ What makes mommy sad?

"Grumpy"

~ How does your mommy make you laugh?

"Tickle"

~ How old is your mommy?

"Young" (Thanks hun)

~ How tall is your mommy?

"That tall." (while holding her hand to my head)

~ What is your mommy really good at?

"Play games"

~ What does your mommy do for her job?

"Type"

~ What is your mommy's favorite food?

"Carrots" (Does she know me at all?)

~ What makes mommy proud of you?

"I clean my room"

~ What do you and your mommy do together?

"Cuddle"

~ How do you know your mommy loves you?

"So much"

Zoo trip

We made a trip to the zoo with Jamie and Olivia as well as some MOPS girls. We had a blast and the weather was perrrrfect.




We even made it through the dolphin show and Ethan pretty much sat for the whole thing. Miracle right there.


Poor Jamie basically had two kids the whole time. Belle wanted to hang out with her the whole time.


The kids have even gotten into mowing the lawn with Nic. Belle has come a long way when it comes to the sound of the mower. Ethan on the other hand has never had any sort of sound sensitivity.

Easter wrap up

We went to my side of the family for Easter a week early and celebrated my birthday as well. Belle got to see Cooper again and Brody and Ethan got to play some more. We had an Easter egg hunt in the basement and the kids had a blast.






Then on Easter weekend we went to the Freshours for Easter and Waren's first birthday. The kids had a blast being "country kids" and riding on the Mule and playing in dirt piles. It would be nice to be out in the country if we could afford it.









Waren and Ethan are 6 mos apart and they are pretty much the same size except for maybe an inch or two.


We had to head back to Indy for Easter sunday because we had to do the nursery. The kids looked super cute in their outfits.



With all this warm weather the kids have been outside a ton. Ethan LOVES his little foot powered bike. He can really move on that thing. It's got a big crack in both handles so I'm trying to figure out what to get him. Not sure he's ready for a trike but man does he want to GO.

Spring has sprung

We've been so glad for the warm weather over here. The kids are able to go out and play in the back yard and I'm able to have some peace and quiet in the house. It's been nice to just turn them loose and let them play outside. Belle even broke out her bike and rode in the cul-de-sac with her friend across the street.

In Belle news, she is still enjoying school. We just got her second report card and she's doing great. She loves going to school to see her friends. She's still practicing her ballet moves for the recital at the end of the year. She's learning all kinds of things like, where she lives and what her parent's names are. She's even memorized the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ethan is growing up more and more each day. He's always adding new words and has a pretty extensive list of animal sounds. He knows all his body parts and I'm still trying to get that on video. I'm pretty amazed at his ability to pretend play, but that has to do with Belle I'm sure. He loves playing dolls with his big sister. =)

Here are a couple videos of the kids. Belle is saying her ABC's although she messed it up for the video. I thought it was pretty cute though. The video of Ethan is him and his list of animal sounds. What cute kids I have.

The circus!!

Since our plans to go see Baby Cooper changed we decided to head to the circus. Belle has been saying she wanted to go see the clowns and acrobats every time she saw the commercial.

We didn't tell Belle where we were going til we were in the doors with tickets. On the way we told her we were going somewhere special. When we got on the interstate she said "we going to Mimi's or something?". Cracked us up. Once we got in the doors and Belle saw the clowns all her feelings about wanting to go to the circus changed. We had to drag her up the stairs. We had to assure her that she was at a safe distance from the clowns.

Ethan was just in amazement of the whole thing. His eyes were bright and he was just entranced. Well that soon faded and he was bored. He lasted probably 4 acts or so. At intermission Ethan and I had to go to the car. We watched a little bit of a movie and then walked around the fair grounds a little since it was so warm.

Belle warmed up to the circus and we ended up having to pull her out after it was all over. She did really well during the whole thing. I think 3 was the perfect age for the circus, 17 mos not so much.



Part of Ethan's problems was the M&Ms Nic fed him beforehand. =)



I look so old in this picture. Hard to believe I'll be 30 in a couple weeks.

Ethan's Ear tubes

I just realized that I missed a blog post. Ethan just got his tubes put in last thursday I believe. He did great. We had already been there and done that with Belle so we had no anxiety about the procedure.

Ethan and I had to get up at 5:30 so that we could be at the surgery center at 6:15. Ethan did great considering. They got us right in and he got in his gown, turned on Disney and tried to wait. Ethan isn't all that patient and spent most of the time trying to find buttons to push.

After the Dr and the Anesthesiologist came and talked to us a nurse came and took Ethan. That didn't go over well and I heard him scream all the way back. They did however let Ethan take his blanket and a stuffed animal back with him. It was so cute, they did Bucky's ears too. Its funny, but Ethan is more attached to his blanket after that experience. Go figure.

We came home about 8:30 and Ethan was his usual self. You'd never know he had surgery.











For some reason playing Mario Kart always makes Ethan feel better. And mommmy is becoming quite addicted.

Style and Grace

Yesterday was another watch day at Ballet. Its fun to see the girls and how they are learning their routine. God bless her heart, poor Belle has to work against the coordination genes her parents gave her. She does really well, but there is one move that has stumped her all year. The padashaw (sp?), you'll see it here.


Belle's BFF Audrey just joined the class. This was her second time. She did a great job of jumping right in. Of course though now we have the problem of the girls talking too much during class.





Their recital routine is coming along nicely.

Emerging artist

Belle's drawings are getting a lot better. Her stick people are no longer heads with arms and legs. She's now drawing bodies. In this picture she drew herself, Mimi and Mommy. Mimi is the one with the scary teeth. =) And as a way to get her to practice her name, I am making her write her name at the top of her drawings. She's getting better, but still struggles with her "e"s.



She's also been coloring a lot of rainbows. When she colors now she'll purposely stay in the lines and she's been incorporating more colors. I'm beginning to think that they are teaching about rainbows or color orders in school because she was very concerned about getting the colors in the right order. I think she did pretty good.

She then decided that this picture was for Ethan and asked how to write Ethan. I told her the letters and she wrote them. I only had to remind her how to write a couple of the letters.



She's really starting to get interested in reading. She's constantly asking me "whats ____ start with?" I'll make the sound of whatever letter it is and she usually answers me correctly.

I'm so glad she's actually interested in letters and reading, but it's also kind of funny. While she's growing leaps and bounds in that arena, she still can't really count past 10 and still struggles with recognizing numbers by sight. All in due time I suppose.


This is my blackmail picture of Ethan in Belle's old purple snowsuit. I think if Ethan could keep his balance in the snow better, he'd enjoy it a lot more.

They do love each other!

We caught Belle and Ethan holding hands on the way to Target last night. Then while we shopped they held hands the whole time. Which actually worked out great because Ethan is to the point where he wants to walk too, but won't hold our hands. He will however hold his sister's hand evidently.

ddaddy
mommy
isabella
daniel
audrey
grandma
mamaw

^^^^^ Belle decided that she wanted to type. So we worked on spelling the names she wanted to type. She's getting good at recognizing letters by their sound.

Three Year old revelations

Belle has said some things recently that has me realizing again that she's a little sponge.

• While changing Ethan's diaper and telling him that he's got "lots of poop". Belle yells out "Poop starts with P". Yes it does. =)

• One evening Belle looked outside and said "There is a human on that roof!". And there was. Our neighbor was taking down his Christmas lights.

• After cutting up an apple and leaving it on the counter for a little bit, it was starting to get a little brown. Belle walked by and said "mommy it's decaving", meaning it's decaying. Thanks Sid the Science kid.

She has been learning so much lately. She'll come home from preschool with some little piece of information I didn't know she had. She's getting better at writing her name, but still gets hung up on her "e"s.

That little girl has quite the personality as well. She's got us worried for the teenage years. I never knew so much drama could come out of such a little girl. She's got her mommy's strong will for sure. Which can be both a good and bad thing.

Its been fun watching her grow up.

Ethan has been full of changes this week. He's added a couple words this week. Apple and Cheese. Here is a video of him saying "cheese". Originally I had gotten the camcorder out to get Ethan sucking on his sucker. Any more if Belle has something, Ethan has to have one too.

Super Sunday

We had a good Super Bowl Sunday, even if the Colts didn't win.



Everyone wore their Colts gear to church and blended in nicely with the rest of the congregation. Afterwards we all came home and took naps. Except, Nic stayed up and folded clothes. Fun huh? =)

After we all got up we got bundled up for some sleddng. We didn't go too far, just down to the high school. Everyone had fun, even Ethan. He even went down on the sled a few times by himself.

My Little Lady

Belle had a birthday party today at Imagination Station. It was for a girl from her preschool. The party was darling, it was set up like a tea party and the store owner helped the girls with their manners.

Belle did pretty well, she seemed to have the most trouble sitting still when there was a lull in activity. The girls made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which Belle of course didn't eat. They also had grapes and punch, of which Belle only drank the punch. Julie, the owner, made several comments on how picky Belle was. Julie read the girls Pinkalicious and Belle interacted well during the story by answering the questions but also being quiet while the story was read. Of course when the time came to eat pink cupcakes Belle was suddenly not that picky.

The whole time Julie was teaching the girls manners which I thought was great. All the girls were doing very well. Then my girl lets out a big belch, I was pretty relieved when she said "excuse me". Of course later on in the party Belle leans to the side and farts and then announces "oops I farted". Ah, yes, there is there girl I know. I have got to work on her and her need to announce her flatulence.

The girls made a craft which was a Melissa & Doug mirror that had jewels and such to decorate. Belle did a good job while Mara opened her presents, but had to be right up front. She had to fight her way up front several time though.

I was surprised that as we were leaving Belle was given a present. Seemed odd. I thought the birthday kid got the presents. I was trying to tell Belle that this party was for Mara and that all the presents were hers. I didn't expect to come out with a load of presents myself. It was really generous though and I think that was nice.