Pics from yesterday

New blog header!

Ethan got the suitcase/backpack I ordered for him from Amazon...it's an early birthday present from us...he's been practicing packing for our Labor Day trip to Louisville. Can you guess what item he has packed? (Clue: There are MANY of this item in his backpack...and a certain basket is empty!)


Dylan has two teeth...it's so fun to see his toothy grin. Once they break the surface, they come up so fast. It's fun to check them out each morning.


Owen...oh, Owen. How did you get so beautiful? Owen is sitting up like a champ, and has been pushing his butt up in the air and getting his knees up underneath him while laying on his tummy...it won't be long before he's army-crawling/crawling like big D.

A few Ethanisms

Just a quick note...

Dylan is just getting his first tooth...teeth, that is. He's got 2 just about to break through on the bottom. Poor dude. Although he doesn't seem to mind. He's been drooling for months, but Owen's been the cranky one during the night...I would have expected him first. Maybe it's Dylan drive for REAL food that prompted this!

So, there's all sorts of Ethanisms all the time now. Too many to write down. We write them down when we remember, but I may just give up pretty soon here...

A few nights ago we were having dinner and two of our neighbors walked by....neighbors who we didn't know. They were walking by and Ethan asked, "Who are those people walking?"...I said, "Those are our neighbors"...he asked their names and I said I didn't know. So, he said, "We should name them 'Sayso' and 'Gogo'" Well, that just about made me pee my pants. It sounds remarkably like things that Mommy says.

One morning, Ethan was laying in bed with us while we fed the babies. Andy took Dylan and Owen downstairs and it was just me and E....he said, "Now I'm going to go downstairs and say 'Woo hoo!'" Then he proceeded to tell Gramma when she came over, Liz when she came over, and several other people over the phone. When he gets a laugh after saying something he knows he's got a winner and sticks with it!

I was telling Ethan about something (can't remember what) and then told him to go tell Gramma what he learned. He ran across the room and said, "Gramma, I've landed"

Liz asked Ethan if he had to go to the potty and he said no. She asked, "Are you sure?" and he replied, "No, I am not sure about that"...we are asking him if he's sure about a lot of things, and he typically replies that he is NOT sure, so I'm not sure that he knows what that word is all about!

Gramma took the boys to her house one day and thought she'd try getting Ethan to nap there. After an unsuccessful attempt at sleeping in his bed there, Gramma asked, "Ethan, could you take a nap on the couch?" and Ethan said, "I wish I could, but I can't" What sass.

One of Ethan's newest words is "interested"...Recently he left a message on our neighbor's voice mail (after Daddy dialed) asking his babysitter if she would be interested in babysitting him tomorrow night. Another time, he stated, "Gramma Leslie, Owen and Dylan are very interested by the music in this movie" (it was Fantasia)...he is such a hoot.

Ethan can get dressed mostly on his own, but sometimes has a little trouble with the pants. After putting on clean shorts in the bathroom, he said to Gramma, "We've got issues"...she looked down and he had both lefts in one pantleg and couldn't move.

So, that's what I've got for now...all this talking, these words, these SENTENCES...he's just so wonderful at communicating (most of the time...he's still 2!)...but the one that gets me the most is the little grin and hug he gives me while saying, "Ooooooh, Mommy" That's all I need.

8-months!

Mommy would like to know when Ethan became such a BOY!

Out of desperation, when they were refusing a nap they desperately needed today, Mommy broke out the Baby Einstein...they were amazed. Owen multi-tasked...

Dylan had his mouth shut for a moment...as in, his lips were actually touching each other (see pictures below and you will see how rare this is)

Dylan and Owen...cutie pies.

I was trying to take a picture of Ethan and Owen and O lunged at me and I caught him...this picture shows how beautiful his eyes are!

Dylan and Owen...caught in a moment.

I can't caption this picture...too busy tearing up...
Brothers...Owen, Dylan and Ethan

D rolled himself right under the couch!

Dylan tackling his penguin friend.

Owen in the Bumbo while talking with his hands in his mouth...so talented.

Ready to go...finally! Ethie and Daddy were up North and the little dudes and I decided to go for a walk to the lake, around, and back...took me about an hour to get ready to go...

Dylan cruising around in his walker...hand-towels hanging on the stove handle are quickly captured for eating.

OK. I totally have more pictures of Dylan...but he just does funny shit....I can only take so many pictures of my beautiful Owen, just being beautiful...because he is.

*****

I'm such a bad blogger these days...but such an occasion needs to be marked by a blog update...

Dylan and Owen were 8 months old this past Saturday!!! August 8th...8 months from December 8th...the one year mark feels so close. Could it be that we've made it this far, relatively unscathed? Could it be that we only have 4 more months of formula? What will we do with that $300+/month? (Though that's not every month...we've had generous help along the way!!!)

8 months...can't decide whether that sounds like a short amount of time, or a long amount of time...whatever it is, I can't imagine our lives without these dudes...so glad they are part of our family now and I can't picture it without them!

At 8 months old, Dylan and Owen are doing all sorts of fun things...here's the rundown...hope I don't forget anything....

Drool....there is drool everywhere....everywhere. Yet no teeth. I feel around in their mouths (with clean hands) and I don't feel a thing...rock hard gums, but no pointies...where are you teeth? Let's just do this, already.

They are on the move. Well, D is on the move, at least. Owen is our little introspective guy and is perfectly content to lay on his back, maybe do a roll or two, but he likes to lay...kick his feet up, pull his feet into his mouth and suck his toe, and clap his feet together. As long as he has his feet, he's good. Though I am pretty sure that Owen is just learning by watching, and one day, he will pull himself up using a piece of furniture or something, and then just walk away.

D is seriously all over the place. Can't leave him for a minute (see above picture with his lower-half under the couch)...he will roll, fast, across the room, push up on his arms and scoot around dragging his legs, or get up on his hands and knees and kind of push/crawl backwards to get where he needs to be...which is typically wherever Ethan's toys are. Doesn't matter how many times I take away E's matchbox cars from him (I just don't want him putting those in his mouth, and inevitably, that's where all the toys he plays with go) and replace with a "baby" toy or even one of Ethan's blocks, he wants to be around those cars. And suddenly, I'm picturing the sound of 3 boys making "vroom" racecar noises...

Owen likes to sit in the Bumbo (but....bad mommy moment today, I went to grab a glass of water while he was in the Bumbo in the living room and returned just in time to see him squirm his way out and plop onto the floor face-first....he was not happy...and I felt really bad!)...and he likes to sit up on his own between my legs or propped up on something, but would just much rather lay than sit, if it's totally on his own. Whatevs...so would I. Dylan is sitting pretty well right now, but he has baby-ADD and will get distracted very easily and topple over...he doesn't really seem to mind...he can get right back up into a sit (at least he did, 3 times this weekend)!

Owen is "talking" a lot...baby babble....ga ga ga ga....no "mama"s or "dada"s yet, but he studies our faces as we talk to him (well, any time, really...even when we are just sitting together in silence)...again, learning by watching. It's pretty cute. Dylan doesn't do as much of that babble stuff, but he does yell at the top of his lungs...not a cry...just a victory yell or something.....Ahhhhhhhhh! Ye....ahhhhhhhh! My ears. My ears.

Still sleeping through the night....5:30/6 to 6:30...angels. We had a bit of trouble with afternoon naps this weekend...but typically they are taking a short morning nap about 2 - 2.5 hrs after getting up, and a longer afternoon nap...but some days there are 3 shorter naps...it all depends. I find them in the cutest/funniest positions while they are sleeping. They each have their own thing. Each of their cribs have the mesh crib bumper...thank goodness...because these kids are all over the place and we'd definitely have more incidences of leg-through-crib if we didn't have this...both of them did this on Saturday afternoon and freaked out! They each have 2 blankets...Dylan likes one over his face...I don't put it there, but every time I place the first blanket on him, he pulls it up over his face and then I put another one over his body...maybe it isn't dark enough in the room or something?! Anyways, whenever I check on him, he always has it pulled up on his face. When I check on Owen, he's usually rolled over to his tummy and has his arms straight out to the sides. This does not look comfortable, but unless he's really close to the crib rails, I don't move him. I do, however, always find him up against the crib rails in the morning. I don't care where they move to...as long as they sleep well (and us too!), they can do their own thing!

We're still making our own baby food...I'm not really sure about the benefits of doing this...it's kind of a pain in the ass. We're not buying all organic food, so probably not any healthier than the jarred stuff we bought for Ethan, but it's got to be cheaper. We can make quite a load of applesauce meals out of one bag of apples. We've tried a lot of different foods...carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, brocolli, sweet peas, pears, apples, bananas, papaya....I'm sure I'm forgetting some...but they are good with most items. Sometimes have to mix in a little formula or water or rice/oatmeal/mixed grain cereal to get around texture issues, but they are good eaters. We're also doing Puffs, and teething bars.

What else? Lots else, I'm sure...they melt me....they are so cute. Dylan's open-mouthed smile makes me laugh every time I see it (which is often!)...and the way Owen smiles will his whole body makes me want to cry it's so sweet. So in love.

Ethan's latest

"Ethanisms" as promised. This post has been a work-in-progress for awhile now, so all the mentions of "today", "last night" and other such time-stamps are all irrelevant...replace with "recently"!

*****

Target trip a few Sundays ago...

"Is the wind blowing the hair off your head?" while driving home with the windows down.

Picking out shaving cream for Daddy and going down the aisle by the women's shaving cream..."What's that?"..."Shaving cream for ladies"..."Are you a lady?" in front of a woman and her daughter...the woman said, "Oh he's so cute...don't you love the questions at this age?"...oh, you mean all the obvious ones that he already knows the answers to?....yes, I love those....because I like to mess with him...

"Is that my brother, Owen?"..."No, that's Sam"...."Noooooo....that's Owen!!!!!"......"Is that my brother, Dylan?"...."No, that's Max"....."Noooooo...that's Dylan"....."Is that my kitty, Ellie?"...."No, that's your giraffe, George"...."Nooooo!!!!!"...

In the cookie aisle...."Ethie, tell Mommy to get out of this aisle"....at the top of his lungs, within earshot of at least 3 people...."Mommy, get out of the cookie aisle!!!!!!"....and we did not buy any cookies!!!

Picking out yogurt, we parked our cart and took our time trying to find exactly the right yogurt that Ethan likes which is strawberry with absolutely no texture (Yoplait)....a man came over by us, and Ethan whispered loudly, "Mommy, there's a man next to me!"...I assured him it was a nice man...said man did not seem to hear, or perhaps didn't find it funny like I did.

When we were leaving the red store, we had many bags packed into the Focus. I stopped at a stop sign and Ethan said, "Oh no, I don't want the food to fall on the ground. I will keep the bags from the floor"...and held onto the sides of the bags the whole way home.

*****

Notes from Liz and Gramma Leslie...

To Liz while on a bikeride..."You're doing a great job on that bike, Liz"...at least he appreciates the effort!

While attempting to go potty, "I love you Liz, you're my favorite"...Ethan, we've caught you...you're 5-timing, at least....Anne, Mommy, the Grammas and Teresa, etc have all heard you say this, you ladies' man, you.

"Grampa's coming to my house, I really love him"....need a tissue, Pete?

"That must be a really good feeling"...don't know the context, but it makes me smile.

Ethan took one look at a picture of our friends' new dog on the computer and announced, "That puppy wants to lick me!" I think he misses Maddie...though he sees her often since she just lives down the street! We'll revisit the dog topic in a few years.

*****

Ethan's latest game is "dark garage"...when Andy or I lay down and put our knees up so our legs make a "V" and then drape a blanket over them...creating the "dark garage"...and then he can drive his cars from one end of the sectional couch to the garage and park the cars in there. This is a great game...we get to lay, and Ethan is entertained.

Ethan is very much about sequences these days...this will happen, and then this will happen...so on and so on. For example, at dinner tonight, "I will stop eating my sandwich and then I will take a sip of my milk and then I will set my cup down and then I will eat my sandwich again"..."and then...and then...." One of my recent favorites was about our planned trip to Louisville over Labor Day...."Mommy and I will fly in the airplane. The airplane door will open and then we will walk through the door and then we will fly to Louisville and then the door to Louisville will open and then we will walk into Louisville and then we will close the door to Louisville and then we will see Gramma Nana and Grampa Dode" I try to listen seriously, but I can't help but laugh...he laughs too.

*****

Some days after work, when it's just me and the boys, Ethan says/asks the funniest things and I just wish there were someone else around to witness it...it's definitely not as funny written. It just can't be captured here....

I pretend to "eat" the babies sometimes....like on their tummy, or their arms or something with "yum yum yum" sounds...Ethan is used to this...I'm not the only one who does it...but one day, he was horrified and exclaimed, "Don't eat Owen!! He's my BROTHER!!!" Then he promptly told me, "He was already in your tummy"...and then the lightbulb went on and he asked the question, "How'd he get in your tummy?"...and I replied, "You can ask your Daddy that"...

Ethan is doing pretty well with the potty-training. Mostly for #2...is that the way it typically goes? I think he just gets lazy or forgets if he isn't reminded to try often. But when #2 comes around, he knows it..."There's something coming out of my butt"...and "I feel like I need to poop" are my favorite announcements. It makes me giggle...although, I try to be very conscious about making him feel comfortable...he knows we are very proud of him for telling us when he has to go. And if the words don't get the point across, Swedish Fish do. He likes to remind us about the potty too....recently he told me, "Tell me when you feel you have to pee and we can go to the potty together." Hey, at least he's listening...this might be verbatim what I say to him!

As I was saying...

Owen fit the entire head of the seal on the exersaucer in his mouth...whoa.
What do you think of the hair-do? After bathtime, I just ran my fingers through it and let it dry and voila! Mohawk style.

I heart you, Owen.

Dylan is up on his hands and knees and rockin' out. Today, he reached his arm out and I thought we were going to witness the first crawl, but then splat...flat on the tummy. He's SO close.

D says, "That's ok, I'll keep trying. Big brother, Ethan, tells me I can do it!"
Also playing with some 'do's on Dylan. He's got some wave/curl in his hair and it's just a bit longer than Owen's. I can just run my fingers through and up, and it dries so cute up in the air like that. I may not have girls that I can do ponytails or pig-tails with, but eventually I will be able to use hair-gel on the boys and I'll have fun with that....ha ha!

Ethie loves Gamma's blueberry and strawberry pies (I did too!)...He ate a piece of each, with whip cream on the strawberry and ice cream on the blueberry...after he ate a good dinner, of course! Yummmmm! Strawberry leftovers in the fridge won't last long!

And people ask me how I do it...this is why...

Dylan - Reminding me so much of his big brother, Ethan, in looks at least, but he is such his own person. Always giving us that huge grin with his mouth wide open...he is SO happy (though high-maintenance too!)...D is on the move...rolling everywhere and is up on his hands and knees, rocking. I give him 2 weeks before he starts to crawl.

Owen - This little angel is baby-Mommy's doppelganger, though less feminine and with less curly hair! (according to Gramma Nana). Owen is less physical than Dylan, but is such a sweetheart. Sometimes I catch him just starting at me, and when we make eye contact, his face just beams into a smile. He's our "thinker" I think, busy taking it all in. I think he'll be first to talk.

My heart is about to burst, I'm in so much love right now. Ethan is off at Byerly's with Daddy, picking up some food for grilling tonight. Owen, Dylan and I were on our own for bedtime...nothing too different than the norm, but typically I don't get to dedicate myself to them because Ethan is here too, and he's high-energy at all times. We had fun. Dylan got up on all 4's and Owen stuck the entire head of the seal on the exersaucer in his mouth...both challenging feats!

D had his bedtime bottle first...he was so tired, but never wants to miss a minute so he was fighting off the yawns. He started singing to me while I carried him upstairs slowly. So sweet. I laid him down in bed without a peep from him. He pulled his blanket over his head, as usual, and that was that. Minutes ago, I checked on him as I laid Owen down...he had flipped over on his tummy, his blanket underneath him, so I laid another one on top...he stirred and open his eyes, smiled at me, and then went back to sleep. Oh my God.

Owen was singing his sleepy song too, so then I gave him his bottle. He fell fast asleep in my arms. I wasn't in any rush to lay this sweet sleeping baby down, so I went into Ethan's room and we sat and rocked...I admit, I drifted off a bit too...I remember doing this with Ethan in the evenings...and as the mom of an almost 3-year-old, I know these moments don't come as often when they turn into big boys...I knew Andy and Ethan would be home any minute...and Ethan always announces himself loudly, so eventually I decided to put Owen down in his crib. I tucked him in, laid another blanket on Dylan and just took a minute to look at both of my sleeping babies. I'm prone to crying easily, but wouldn't you?!

*****

I have pages and pages of "Ethanisms" that I need to blog about...I can't keep up with the funny, and downright intelligent, things that he says. Liz and Gamma Leslie are very good about documenting things throughout the day...and I catch a lot on the weekends/evenings. I don't have a lot of 2-year-olds to compare to, but I'm pretty sure his vocabulary is off the charts...especially for a child with no older siblings...seriously. His latest that makes me laugh is "Mommy, come here quickly!" The way he says "quickly" is like "quickIly"...pretty cute.


Shout out to Grampa Dode...Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Room Reveal

Lots of pics...I think I can dig up a few of the "before's"...a few weeks ago, Ethie went camping with Gramma Leslie and Grampa Pete....and Andy and I (mostly Andy) painted the kids' rooms and switched around their stuff (that's where I pullled my weight). We've done some additional things with Ethan's room since then...his ETHAN letters, "Cars" stickers, hooks, pictures, growth chart, things we've avoided putting up for awhile because we knew this move was evident...but it's done for the most part. Andy got a little "destruction-happy" one day and pulled off the trim to the window when it was still Dylan and Owen's room, thinking we'd replace the window soon, but we still have not bought a new window and the trim is still off....the window is cracked on the bottom, so this is definitely the first one to get replaced. We also need a light/lamp for his room...Lightnight McQueen's red aura from his bedside table is just not going to cut it...although it's great for mood-lighting when he entertains...

Ethan's current room when it was Dylan and Owen's room....fire-hazard! Try carrying a load of laundry through this entryway...or a baby OR TWO!

Same point-of-view...Ethie's room. I decided to keep the same black-out curtain that my Mom made for this room (oringally for D & O) because #1 It's awesome and blocks ALL light and #2 we decided to move Ethan's plush green chair (another awesome gift from my parents when Ethie was born) into his new room and the curtain ties together the sage green and bright blue! I swear that Ethan probably sleeps an average of about an hour more per night with this curtain in his room...either he falls asleep earlier or sleeps later...either works for me.

ETHAN...or NAHTE...Ethan doesn't want to believe me that you read from left to right...dyslexia?...OK, might be jumping the gun. That red thing hanging from the wall is Ethan's growth chart and he's half way up that thing. He's TALL! Also on that wall are ALL the cars from the "Cars" wall stickers sheets because Ethan felt very strongly that all the cars should be together because they are friends. What a sweetheart.

View from by his bed, towards his closet, which at first I was too lazy to paint and now have decided it does NOT need to be painted blue. It's purple, like before, and guess what?! The awesome black-out curtains not only tie together the sage green and blue, but the purple is in there too. Thanks Mom, how did you know?!

And of course, on this wall, my blood, sweat and tears, quite literally...in my first sizable cross-stitch...Pooh and friends...E is for Ethan. I finished this thing like 2 days before returning to work during my maternity leave...I might remind you that he surprised me with being 8 weeks early! It matches perfectly.

Moving on to Dylan and Owen's room.
Oh. My. God. Apparently, the last picture I have of Ethan's old room is from Feb 08...this can't be right, can it? Look at him. He's so little! This was the evening of the day that Ethan climbed out of his crib and hit the floor during naptime...cribtent time! Ok then...scrolling down very quickly...can't it look at it...choking back tears...wasn't this like, yesterday?

So, the green on the wall looks darker in these pictures, I think...but it's the same. Probably looks darker because of the ghetto-fabulous curtains I have rockin' in this room right now. The same beautiful green curtain my Mom sewed for me, but they were pre-black-out-curtain brainstorm so I had to throw a lovely black sheet over each window. No, I don't have black sheets for any of our beds...these were old sheets from somewhere that were kept for future fort-making...really, I promise. Same set-up as above...Ethan's dresser/changing-table...add a crib...swap out a rocking chair...it's the same deal. On the wall is more Mommy blood-sweat-tears...serious cross-stitch #2...it was pretty much the only form of stress I had during my bed-rest...will I, or will I not, finish this cross-stitch before the babies were born?...the answer...everything but the names, weights/heights, and date...but by like 3 days...phew.

I had lots of stuff on these 6 shelves when it was Ethan's room...now, I'm taking the simplistic approach...

Ghetto-fabulous curtain #2...and the closet...packed with clothes/blankets/diaper/wipes/my paycheck...

TBD: Hanging of the baptism frames I made for D & O...they are leaning up against that table with the fan...on the left side...all that hard work, just to lay on the floor...So...do I make this into a "boy" room now, or wait until later, when I know their personalities?

In closing, some Ethanisms...because they are frequent, and funny!

Liz calling Ethan, Ethan-poop-poop-a-doop...Ethan says "No, I'm not that name, I'm just Ethan"...flashback to me calling Ethan a big boy and him saying, "No, I'm just boy"

A few mornings ago, Ethan rested his head on my hand and said, "I'm crushing your hand with my head"...and I said, "Yeah, your big melon head"...and he said, "I don't have a melon head, I have a hairy head"

Andy gave Ethie a haircut tonight...we've come a long way. He used to be freaked out by haircuts and it was a whole morning ordeal just to convince him to sit on my lap while Andy cut his hair. Tonight (and the last few times), he sits by himself...in his "little" chair...and tonight he actually cried when Andy was done! Whoa!


Ethan very rarely calls me Mommy anymore...I am now known as "Um, Um, Mommy"...he puts "Um, Um" before pretty much everything now...it's pretty cute...I try not to laugh.

Call me slow, but I just realized a few days ago, that the pictures of my kids that I have displayed in frames around the house don't even look like my kids anymore...Ethan does, sort of...but Dylan and Owen do not. look. like. that. So, today I've been trying to pick the cutest of pictures to order...and let me tell you, that's harder than you think. Which do I choose for the 5x7s that I keep on the top of the piano, which 5-10 do I pick for the 4x6 frames that I have in the living room. I have some uploaded to snapfish, but this will be a painful process. There could be worse things than having kids that are too cute.