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.

A Big Whooping Pain in the Butt

We've got sick kids in the Freshour house. Belle tested positive for Whooping Cough. We've had a rough couple weeks for sure. We all got sick with a nasty stomach virus, well except Ethan. Then Belle went straight into a little cough. We thought she was on the tail end of that and got out of the house for a couple days. Then it got a whole lot worse. Belle is now coughing so hard that she'll choke and even so hard that she'll vomit at times. This goes on for a good part of the day and all night. Her chest has got to be killing her.

Now Ethan has a runny nose and a pretty crackily cough. This can the beginning stages of whooping cough, because you think it's just a cold. I'm hoping and praying that it's just that, a cold. I can't imagine Ethan coughing like Belle and not ending up in the hospital. What are the chances that both my kids are in that 20% that get whooping cough and have had the vaccine.

If you want to hear Belle's nasty cough, here you go. This isn't even the worse of it.




But here is also a cute video. Ethan has been so lovey lately. Atleast to his immediate family.

Sleepwalking

We had a sleepwalking incident with Belle last night. We had a good laugh, but I hope that it doesn't happen again. Belle woke up coughing and crying like she has many nights this week. For some reason we could not get her to wake up enough to calm down. We eventually just went back to bed.

We then heard her get up and walk out of her room. Nic went and found her at the top of the stairs with her pants down and sitting up against the wall. He asked her what she was doing, to which she replied "I'm going potty". And she was. She had sleepwalked into the hallway, thought she was in the bathroom and peed all over the floor.

Pretty funny, but I really don't want to clean the carpets more than once.

In other news, Ethan has become quite the brute. He's had his sister in tears many times. He's been hitting just about any kid he comes across. While its really annoying, everything I read seems to lead me to believe it's normal. I really hope this is a short phase. But in the mean time, we're doing time outs with Ethan. And as far as I can tell, they are doing no good.

He's been bad enough at MOPS that the MOPPETS coordinator had to have a talk with me. Great, I've got one of THOSE kids. I'm the mother of a biter. =)

January fun

One day I decided to take two minutes for myself and do my hair. This is what I came back too.


And since Belle thought it was a photo opp.


We got our first real snow of the new year. Belle has loved playing in it, Ethan not so much. At first I thought I was a mean mommy for not bundling him up and letting him go outside. Then I did once and Ethan wasn't too thrilled with the idea.

Mean mommy making him watch from the inside.







We've been seeing a lot of this


Belle and Ethan played so good together one evening. Ethan kept bringing her toys and then sitting down in her lap. She actually played with him and let him sit in her lap for once. =)

New Years Eve/ Freshour Christmas

I've been way behind on blogging lately. Maybe I've spent too much time on Facebook.

We had a late Christmas with the Freshours this year. We headed over there the day before New Years Eve. The kids woke up New Years Eve and had Christmas with Mamaw and Papaw. Ethan's favorite thing may have just been the foam ball he got. It's so easily to amuse them at this age. Belle's favorite was her Leapster. She's been spending a lot of time on that, and hopefully learning something. =)




Belle had a blast playing with her cousins Savannah and AJ. It's so nice being around kids that she can play with. Keeps her out of my hair and burns off all that energy. She's been begging me to play with someone ever since Christmas. I think she wants someone to play with all her new toys with her. Unfortunately playing with mommy often involves playing with Ethan as well and that won't fly when it comes to ponyville. I keep meaning to call and see if her friend Audrey can come over.



Ethan is waiting for Waren to start walking so that they can go get in trouble together. Ethan is such a little peanut. Waren is 9 mos I think and is the same size as Ethan, maybe a hair shorter. Poor Waren has been subject to Ethan's beatings already and I'm afraid Ethan will be in for a rude awakening when this kid can walk.

Christmas Recap

We just finished up a great Christmas day. I think the kids had fun with all their new stuff and we enjoyed hanging out with mom and dad and not getting out of our pjs.

We headed over to Ohio New Years eve. We got to see Grandma this year which was great (and I'm REALLY kicking myself for not getting any pictures with grandma). Belle recognized her right away and pretty much stuck with her when ever she saw her.

Christmas Eve morning we headed over to Sara's for a quick exchange of gifts between the cousins. The kids had fun playing in Sara's new basement and it made me wish we had a place to banish the kids to and leave all the toys. Ah well.


These next two pictures are hilarious. Ethan for whatever reason decided he was a boob man and kept wanting to bury his head in Sara's boobs. Oh man, I think we were all crying we were laughing so hard. Guess he found those ample pregnancy boobs too hard to resist. =)




Look at the boys. It's hard to believe they've grown up so much. They look like little boys now. **sniff**


Check out last years Christmas. What a difference a year makes.



Christmas Eve afternoon we headed over to Ginghamsburg for the Christmas Eve service. I took Belle this time. Figured she needed to start learning how to sit through a service and be quiet. She did pretty well I think for a 3 yr old. I gave her a sucker to keep her mouth otherwise occupied, but I think that started to backfire once the sugar started kicking in. She also got to hang out with her favorite second cousin Cheyanne at our annual family Christmas get together.

Belle was even able to say Cheyanne this year instead of "Shiny"


We headed home after the party to get ready for Christmas at our house. Chris gave Belle some cookies for the ride home. Once Belle ate those she said she was still hungry and we told her that she couldn't have any thing else. Ethan was in his seat eating gold fish crackers out of a bowl. Not sure how Belle conned Ethan but I looked back and Ethan was passing handfuls of crackers to his sister and Belle was just shoving them in. Once Ethan ran out of crackers Belle kept asking him for more and he'd search and search in his bowl for some more. Finally he held up his bowl for her to see that they were in fact gone. It was cute to see Ethan helping his sister out.

Luckily the kids haven't started getting up at the butt crack of dawn like my sister and I did for Christmas. Belle slept in til 8. She got up and when she came downstairs she found what she'd been waiting months and months for, her Pillow Pet. Thats the first and only thing she ever really said she wanted. Ethan was much more interested in the paper.




Not soon after presents Mimi and Poppy came over with their slew of presents. Ethan got a basketball hoop which he loves. They both got all kinds of things. I think Belle likes her Princess barbies and her card game set. She really liked playing go fish and old maid.

Poppy thought Ethan needed his first deer call. Ethan loved it.


One new tradition in the house was making a cake for Jesus. Belle sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and blew out the candles.


Its so crazy to look back at last years Christmas post. We had feeding struggles with Ethan and potty training with Belle. We've come so far. =)