Garden time.

It's not much, right now...but we're working on sprucing it up...

I've only had this little plaque for over a month now, but we just painted it this morning!

We also painted our bird-feeder, which I've also had for about a month...

We hung Ethie's sign on the fence on the side of the garden that is designated as all Ethan's...all flowers, per his request!

We hung his bird-feeder on the tree right by the garden...

Ethan and I were outside painting before 8 this morning. Yesterday, when it was raining in the morning, I figured it would be the perfect day to work on this project. But it turns out you should prime before you paint with acrylic paints. So Daddy primed a few times yesterday and our bird-feeder and sign were ready to go this morning. I put aside my need for things to be "neat and pretty" and let him paint on his own. Basically, all I did was wash out the brush between colors...and you know what?! it turned out pretty anyways. Of course, I did the stencils for "Ethan's Garden", but that was it! My little Artist!

Ethanisms and bullet points...boring

I can't keep up with the funnies...I might just give up. But I have lots of scraps of paper with Ethanisms so it's time to catch up and document...

"Is this monster cheese?" asking about Muenster cheese. I replied "yes" and gave him a piece and he started dancing..."I'm doing the cheese dance"

"Are you not tall?" to Liz one morning

One evening after Andy got home from work, I tried to escape to go take 2 minutes to myself and lay down and have some quiet. I went upstairs and laid on our bed...Ethan ran after me. "Will you come downstairs with me?" I said, "I'm going to lay here for a second and then I'll come downstairs." He said, "I don't want you to lay here by yourself, that would make me saaaaad"

Ethan's been taking bike rides with Liz in the bike trailer. He likes to go...if she pauses, he yells, "I WANT YOU TO KEEP PED-A-LIIIING!!"

Ethan realizes the healing power of a kiss....when he "bumps" he says "I need to you to kiss it"...and then all is good again.

And there's this one, which makes me laugh so hard I could cry...Gampa Pete and Ethie in the backyard and Grampa says something like "You can't catch me I'm too big" and Ethie says, "You can't catch me....I'm the gingerbread man!"

There are so many funny things that he's saying right now...typing it doesn't do it justice...I promised myself that I would never be one of those moms that tries to imitate her kids when telling someone about them...but it's hard not to!

Other things:

*I've been making baby food...so far, potatoes, broccoli, apples, carrots and bananas. Both the boys liked carrots, and they love the fruit...Dylan puked after eating the potatoes. I expect this to change. Ethan puked the first time I gave him cheese...I was horrified. Potatoes and cheese are two of my favorite foods...my kids must like them! So far I've just tested out small batches, trying to see what works and what doesn't for cooking and storing...once I get comfortable with it, I'm going to do big batch days and hopefully this will save me time in the long run. I racked up quite the bill at Costco the other weekend when I went with Ethan to get all this produce!

*Dylan and Owen have been getting up at ungodly hours. True, I used to feed babies at 3/4am, but now that they sleep through the night I'm not used to seeing 5am. It hurts. Andy suggested we consult the sacred book...one know the one. Dr W says to start trying to stretch out bedtimes a bit later, by 20 minutes at a time. I'm not sure how to accomplish this. Most nights they are ready to go down by 5:30/6...it's early, but they nap multiple times and are still tired enough to go to bed at this time. It's a catch 22, but I'm determined that we'll fix it at some point. Mommy drinks lots of coffee.

*The flowers in our garden are sprouting! Andy and I just planted the rest of our seeds a few days ago...all vegetables. We're probably a bit late, but neither one of us has tended our own garden before, so we've determined that it's ok if this year is just for practice. Andy primed the birdhouse for E's part of the garden, and also the sign we're going to hang on the fence by his flowers. I've got some acrylic paint and I'm just going to let him go wild. Originally I wanted it to be pretty, but that's no fun for him!

*The filter was not the issue with our vacuum. I deconstructed the whole thing and found a nasty clog...apparently you are not supposed to vacuum over magnets...oops! So it's fixed and fabulous now, but now we have a new cleaning person and she brings her own. We love her...she's great...I'm still wondering what happened to Mary, but our new lady does a great job...and she's picky like me!

*Ethan's potty training is going great. We got new toilet seats...the ones with the little insert that you can keep down, or lock up. Much better than having potty chairs everywhere...although we still have one in the living room for emergencies...and I think I'll get one for outside. I'm hoping we're almost done with pull-ups during the day, although Ethan promptly peed his Mater underwear when he tried them out last night. Gotta start sometime! We're so proud of him, and he likes to remind us of that, "I peed, and you and Daddy are so proud of me!"

You would cry too...

if you saw a giraffe...

All Ethanisms...

Gamma brought the boys to the zoo on Thursday and Grampa met up with them. There was some sort of deal going on where you could feed a giraffe so Ethan went up on Grampa's shoulders to feed the giraffe. He was not expecting to see the giraffe's black tongue and it made him cry. Later that night he was telling me about it...
"I cried at the Zoo when I saw the giraffe had a black tongue. You would cry too if you saw a giraffe."

Ethan and I were drawing a few nights ago and I suggested, "Why don't you draw Mommy"...and he said, "No, I will draw something else"

Last night it was raining and he declared, "There are big rain drops falling into my little pond"...it's what he calls his little pool.

"I will have the rest of my milk after I finish reading my email"...while reading an insert from the newspaper that Daddy gave him while he read the big newspaper at the table.

"My poop looks like a banana"...potty training is lots of fun. Ethan woke up dry this morning!! Now he wants to go on the big potty instead of his potty chair. We need to get one of those little seats so we don't have to hold him to keep him from falling in!

This is funniest if you know me well. I was writing something down the other day and Ethan came up to me and asked, "Are you going to make a list?"...I love to make lists...my son knows me so well.

"I will push you out of the house"...this is Ethan's new thing. He wants people to stand in the doorway with the door open and then he'll push you out. I'm not sure where that started, but he wants to do it every time now.

A few nights ago I needed some snuggle with Ethan after I finished working, and Andy had put him to bed, so I went in to lay on the floor (his self-chosen bed) with him for a bit. He asked me to stay there until "wake-time", but I told him I could only stay for a few minutes. He replied, "You will sleep here with me for a second under my blankie and then you will go downstairs"...these sentences...he continues to impress me!

"Um, um"....Now he says, "Um, um" a lot..."Um, um, Mommy...."...."Um, um, Daddy"...it's pretty funny.

"I want you. I want you, Mommy. I want you and you want me"...Sometimes "want" is replaced by "love", sometimes "need"...I just think this whole sequence is so funny.

Ethanism per Grampa Pete:
Upon getting nearly all of his little cars, tractors, and "motorcycles" into the shed, Ethan tried to close the door. He couldn't. I asked, What's wrong? He said, "I can't close this door because I have too many vehicles in there."
At least he's self-aware. He does in fact have too many vehicles.

"Owen sounds like a dying kitty"...just this morning he said this to me...Owen is "singing" a lot...he's really trying out his voice. He does NOT sound like a dying kitty, nor has Ethan ever heard a dying kitty, so I think Daddy fed him this comment.

Here's the background. A few nights ago our electricity went out right after Ethan went to bed. His fan turned off so I went in and opened the windows and explained to him why we couldn't turn his fan back on. Completely randomly...we were watching "Word Girl"...he said,
"The 'tricity went out. The power went out. The fresh air came in. The 'tricity came back in. The power came back in. My fan turned back on!" What a memory. "'tricity" means "electricity" for those who are not familiar with toddler speak.

Lots of other things going on and tons of new pictures to post...next time.

Stuff...and LOTS of pictures.

Ethan and Daddy at Canterbury on Belmont Stakes day

Ethan on the shed ramp on his"motorcycle"

I can't get over how beautiful Owen is...look at those eyes

Dylan's smile...Oh. My. God.

Solids...Give me that Banana!!

Owen doesn't know what to think...day one of solids with flavor

Cat in the Hat's buddies...in their birth order

Big enough for new toys...these are only two of them!

Dylan, Linnea and Owen...cousins. (Look at Dylan's chins!)

Ethan posing like a model at the park...

"Can someone come and get the bread out of my nose?"...after eating some bread one day.

Ethan on pooping..."It smells like a stinky plant!"

I should have followed him around with a piece of paper all weekend...so many things made me laugh out loud. After each I made a mental note to write that down as soon as I had the opportunity, because for sure I would remember something that funny...but in one ear and out the other...he's a funny kid though, and I am enjoying him immensely!

Big news in Ethan's world...he is doing SO great on the potty. Gamma told me he went the whole day dry today...just two pull-ups were used, because one was just a tad damp. He is now going pee AND poo on the potty. This is fabulous, though somewhat inconvenient as we readjust to making sure we remind him to go potty every so often, before we go anywhere, before we go outside, etc, etc. I plan to order a portable potty chair from my favorite catalog/website, One Step Ahead.

Owen and Dylan are amazing me every day. Dylan is rolling all around; pushing himself up from his tummy with his arms fully extended; jumping like crazy in the jumparoo; walking himself around in a walker; sitting up like a pro in the bumbo and pretty darn well inside a boppy pillow too; and is seriously obsessed with grabbing his toes. Owen must have heard me at the pediatrician when I answered the development questions the nurse asked me.

N: "Are they rolling?"
H: "Dylan is a lot, Owen has once or twice"
N: "Are they putting weight on their legs if you support them?"
H: "Dylan is, Owen not so much"
N: "Are they pushing up while laying on their front?"
H: "Dylan pushes up all the way, Owen crosses his arms in front of him"
etc
etc
etc

It's not that I was trying to bash my littlest man, but before last Thursday's appt, he just wasn't doing that stuff very much. But, oh my goodness....over the weekend, he started rolling all the time, and darnit if it isn't just the funniest thing in the whole world to him. He's started grabbing his feet and reaching for things out of his reach, and he can pretty much do the crab walk to scoot around while on his back. "I'll show you, Mommy!"...he must be thinking! I'm so proud! He's also "singing" a ton, although most of the time it's like nails on a chalkboard, but his little screeches are so funny, and I know he is just testing out his voice so he can start telling me he loves me...ha ha!

Speaking of telling me he loves me, Ethan is such a lover. He grabs onto me and says, "I love you so much, Mommy"...awwww. Last night we had Gramma Leslie and Grampa Pete over for dinner and he was talking all about how he loves them and how they love him. This is a good thing for children to know :>

I've found a new cleaning person. Mary stood me up a few weeks ago and never returned my calls. I have no idea what happened to her...it's the weirdest thing...and totally doesn't seem like her style. So I got a recommendation from a friend and our new person is coming over on the 23rd. She seems really nice...and she charges the same rate and can accomodate the 3 hours every other week that we had before...just a bit later in the morning, which is fine for us too. It's been really hard to keep up with the house the past few weeks. I don't have any idea what I used to do when we didn't have someone come clean....oh yeah, our bathrooms probably went a month between cleanings! Yuck.

My toe is still gimpy. I wore shoes to work today and that was a bad idea. I think I pretty much went backwards in my recovery. This morning I was hoping to bike tonight and that did not happen. Sandals tomorrow for sure...I will just wrap up my gruesome wound so noone can see it.

In closing, I was proofing this, and came across something that must have been inserted into my blog when I took a break to go upstairs and take out my contacts...

"Andy is wicked sexy, but you already knew that, didn't you?" Um. Yes.

No title...my toe hurts

Couple tidbits, no rhyme or reason. I took a spill on the driveway as I was loading up the babies for their ped appt this morning (don't worry, I wasn't carrying anyone)...I was wearing flip-flops and tripped on a part of our driveway that isn't flush with the grass and now I'm missing part of the top of my big toe (just skin, but it's REALLY deep!)....anyways, my point is, now I'm feeling a little woozy, and can't think very clearly...need to write a few recent things down though.

6-month well-baby was today. Our Ped has twin boys himself, and they are a few months younger than ours...so we have a connection with him now. He's always been awesome, but I love him even more now. He gets it and praises us over and over on the job we're doing. Some days, you just need that. Anyways, D & O's percentiles were UNadjusted, meaning based on their birthdate, not due date. There was no reason to look at their preemie percentiles since they are so big. So, with that...the stats...

Dylan: 18lbs 15oz (75th...I'll say it again....UNADJUSTED); 26 1/2 inches (60th); head circumference (didn't get the stat, but same as Owen 75th...something like 17in)

Owen: 15lbs 11oz (20th...still maintaining that 3lb gap they've had for a few months now); 26 1/8 inches (45th); head circumference (75th)

They are doing great developmentally on everything, and they both charmed everyone with their giggles and smiles. We've been given the go-ahead for solids. I bought a few organic "Nature's Best" last night to have on hand because I haven't received my storage containers from One Step Ahead yet. I also ordered a cookbook. Dr Paul also took my email address so he could send me his recommendation for cookbooks recommended to him by a friend...he couldn't remember the name. I'm so excited to do this...I figure we can dedicate a day or two a month and just boil/bake/puree/blend and freeze. I ordered 3 dozen 2oz containers, and Dr Paul said his friend used freeze-safe plastic bags too.

I also was reminded that Ethan needs to go to the dentist before he's 3. Dr Paul gave us a recommendation for a pediatric dentistry practice in our area so we'll be scheduling that soon. And Ethan's due back at the opthomotrist in July too....SO many appts!! Just wait until they start sports/music/whatevs and we have to start shuttling them to those too! :>

We've been starting potty-training lately with Ethan. Actually, Gramma has been doing most of it since she is here...thanks, Gramma! Ethan has had a potty for awhile in our bathroom and we just bought another one to have in our living room. He also has some Cars pull-ups, and I recently bought him some underwear as an incentive too. The other day he had a playdate with his twin buddies and they are both now potty-trained. I don't know if that was the switch or what, but he's been peeing in the potty for a couple days now with very few accidents...even waking up dry from naps. He tends to be wet in the morning, and hasn't done the #2 in the potty yet, but definitely knows when that's happening. We've been using the treat method, although last night at Target I looked for a healthier alternative to Swedish Fish! Chocolate covered raisins are what I came up with. It works for me, and works for him!

Well, exploding vocabulary is mostly good, but when coupled with a unique imagination, or maybe just toddler creativity, is sometimes shocking and embarassing...behold the latest Ethanisms...

Grabbing his butt-cheek after bathtime..."I'm grabbing my back boobies"

Tooting with his diaper off..."I burped in my pants"

Liz: Stop digging in your butt (during a potty-training encounter)
Ethan: There's a wood chip in it!

Sitting on the potty...
Ethan: Can I have a Swedish Fish?
Liz: No because you didn't go to the bathroom yet
Ethan: I have a Swedish Fish and then I will poop. I will. I will.

It still surprises me how much he picks up from us when we don't think he's listening...He was in the bathroom with me the other day and said to himself...

"I just need to stand on my stool and wash my hands and then I will brush me teeth with water...that sounds like a good plan"...."That sounds like a good plan" is totally something that I say.

I would need to walk around constantly with a piece of paper and pen to document all the funnies this little dude comes up with.

Life is good. And funny.

Now off to medicate due to my toe injury.

June...woot!

There's no time for blogging...no time, no time.

But things have been happening at home and the list is getting longer (you know I always have a LIST of something...lists for the blog, lists of thank-you notes to write, lists of projects/to-do's around the house, lists of projects/to-do's at work, Target list, Gro list...I need 48 hours and a lot of caffeine andI could master it all!) and I need to catch up!

Having no time is my nemesis these days...I started "running" last Saturday. So far, I've run Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Sunday I was wicked hungover due to "date-date-gone-awry" (long story, but I had fun!), Wednesday I had softball and we desperately needed milk/bread so I had to go to Target afterwards, and last night I had a haircut (first since FEBRUARY!) and a phone date with my sister. But tonight Andy is going to help me find the time to get in a good bike ride around Normandale Lake. First, Bike 101 to learn how to change gears (it's been awhile since I've been on a bike) and then I'm off!! I decided to run/bike Bloomington's Iron Girl race in September. 2-mile run/20-mile bike/2-mile run. I can do it. But I'm out of shape and June is dedicated to being able to move my legs in a running or biking motion while still being able to walk reasonably well the next day, and not collapse from heart failure, before I start the 12-week race training program in July. I'm registered...I've got $95 and my pride invested in this thing. Ask me how my training's going sometime? Don't let me off the hook. I'm likely to make excuses and slack and I need all the help I can get!!

I got stood up on Tuesday...by my cleaning lady. What the heck?! Is my house that bad?! She's been with us since I was pregnant with Dylan and Owen...probably since August. She comes every other Tuesday from 8-11am and is a whirlwind through our house. She's good, and not crazy expensive. She helps me keep a tiny hold on my sanity. I called her on Wednesday and left a message and have not heard back yet. So weird. If she's missed an appointment in the past she has always been really good about calling us. So not only am I confused, but I'm worried too! On that topic...the topic of cleaning...I realized that I am perfectly happy to just pay her the $75 to clean the upstairs bathroom...cripes...I hate bathrooms. Do you think she will come back if I offer her that gig? Don't worry...we are not living in filth...the house is now clean, but I spent time I didn't have doing it and that stinks...wah, wah, wah. On a bright note, I think I may have fixed our Dyson. A number of expletives have been shouted as I've tried time and time again to use the attachment in the past couple months only to end up pushing around crumbs...this is a several hundred dollar vaccuum we're talking about. Dyson boasts it's product on the simplicity of having no bags and that hepa-filter thing...did you know that since it doesn't have bags, there is actually a filter/sponge thing that you are supposed to wash out every 6 months! I can't remember exactly when we got ours, but it was before we were pregnant with our almost-3-year-old son!!! "Wash with cold water until water runs through clean"....um, my hands got really cold, and I had to put on dish gloves. Stay tuned...the filter/sponge is dry now, and I can't wait to try out the vaccumm tonight. Loser.

Ok, now on to something more fun...my kids!

We are talking up the whole potty thing with Ethan a lot. We now have another potty downstairs in the living room where we spend most of our time. So now he can run over to it whenever he needs to without us having to make sure the babies are safe and then run up the stairs to the bathroom with him. I think he just wants to decide on his own when to do it...we're not pressuring him at all, but he's 2 1/2!! He could do it if he wanted...I mean, Gramma Leslie found him out in the backyard with his pants down peeing in a cup the other day...that's control!

Has your kid ever made such a huge deal about eating a food that he's made himself gag? Seriously, what is the deal with cooked carrots?! I happen to love cooked carrots, and unless my kids have a food allergy that prevents them from eating them, they WILL eat them. Ethan is pretty good about eating things he doesn't typically "like" (or thinks he doesn't like) in exchange for a special treat. Every parenting book under the sun will tell you not to do this type of thing, but it works for us and "special treat" means banana, or milk, so whatevs. He was not particularly happy about the carrots the other night, but was trying to eat them and actually THREW UP! So, I don't know, I guess it worked for him because we stopped requesting he eat the carrots and he got his special treat anyways.

Ethan has a tan already. He wears sunscreen (sunscream), but he's just outside a lot. I'm not...I'm jelaous. I need to go to the booth...I'm not quite worried about wrinkles just yet. I call Ethie my little brownberry.

Last night after work I was sitting outside with him on the back patio and he said to me randomly..."I like the color of your toenails!"...cute.

Monday is the 6-month birthday for Dylan and Owen. I'm kinda emotional about it...in fact, I found myself getting kinda choked up about it when I was talking about it the other day to Gamma Leslie. I forget that they are 6 months old a lot...I mean, they are 6 months developmentally...they don't eat many solids (we're just cereal still...I need to make some food this weekend!), can't sit up (although Dylan is REALLY close), poop their pants...but they are SO big. Dylan wore a 12-18 month shortsleeved onesie yesterday. I just washed all the 12-month clothes because the 6-9 month sleepers are just not long enough and the onesies pull too much...basically anything that has a designated length just does not work on them. I figure all my boys will probably tower over me by age 11. I had some serious flashbacks when washing and folding the 12-month clothes...I remember Ethan in them so vividly, and it doesn't seem like that long ago!!

I've decided to discontinue posting pictures to Ethan's babysite. It's just too hard to keep up with all this social-networking crap. So, I post the monthly pics (just posted May) to Facebook, and I'll throw pictures on the blog also. If you want to see the pics on FB...just comment here or send me an email or something and I'll accept the friendship (I'm not sure I know all readers' names).