Down at the River

I know this post is a little late but I had to add this picture to the blog. We went to the river on Sunday to hang out while we waited for news of Deb's arrival. I love this picture of the three of us. Since Sarah has been here I have got to know her more every day. She has a soft heart and every time I talk to her I want to get to know her better. When I met her in Santa Maria I wished that we could be friends. I am glad to now have the chance to be so...

Happy BIrthday Deb!

It was awesome to have Deb, Matt, Becca, Josh, and Sarah over for a fantastic meal made by Chef Dave. Becca and Josh got Deb a beautiful cake, it tasted great too. Ethan learned to sign "happy birthday" just for Auntie but was too tired by the time the party started to even try and sign it for her. I love this shot Dave took of Deb blowing the candles out.

A Way to Win Ethan's Heart

Yesterday was a great day! Ethan got to see Uncle Matt and Auntie Deb! They are here on a visit from Israel! Ethan hasn't seen them since he was born so when I told them that we were going to see them he just looked at me like, "Who?" Then I said we were going to see Uncle Josh and Sarah. His eyes lit up and he said, "Sarah!" OK... didn't know that he could say "Sarah" but now I do. Very well by the way because he said it all the way to Aumsville.

The first thing that Deb wanted to do is go to Walmart to buy Ethan a toy. She said, "The best way to win my nephew's heart is by spoiling him. Right?" Well... it worked. She bought him a football. :) She is his hero now.

Deb is fluent in ASL and I think Ethan realized, "Hey this girl can understand me and I can understand her..." So they talked and talked to each other and I think Deb was in amazement at how he understands so much. She signed letters and colors and was surprised that Ethan understood her. It was great to see the both of them getting along.

Ethan was so exhausted from the day that he went to bed at 5:30pm and woke up at 7:30am. Yikes! But when he woke up, he saw his football, picked it up, and signed "Auntie."

The Solution

So... what is the solution to our problem stated in the previous post? Well... it would mean turning our office into Ethan's bedroom. He would be downstairs where it is cooler (a plus), closer to our room (double wammie), and now that Dave is on day shift I wouldn't be worried that Ethan will wake him up. The down fall is that I haven't been able to walk into the office for two years. Dave's desk takes up almost the whole space, papers unfiled are everywhere, and two book shelves overflowing took up the rest of the space.

Not wanting to even get started, but knowing I had to, I dove right in! Literally...I couldn't walk in. I packed up everything that wasn't being used, sorted for the garage sale, and filed until my fingers could file no more! When I saw the top of Dave's desk I knew it was too good to be true. When I could finally see the walls of the room I realized that there were parts unpainted. So, I found left over paint from Ethan's nursery and painted the room.

It was time... the desk had to go... somewhere. So I decided to put it in our room for now. It took me a minute for each centimeter. The desk is monstrous! It was empty too!

On our trip to IKEA I found a cute light fixture on clearance for $6 that matched his room. I loved the ideas I used for a puppet holder (IKEA's wine rack) and book rack (IKEA's pot lid rack) which I found around the house that we weren't using. I brought the book shelves home from school and put a few toys on them.

So, what does Ethan think of it all? Since his light fixture has hippos on it, he signs "hippo" and says "wooooow" while waving his arms. I think he approves.

I Wasn't Ready

So, what have we been doing the last three weeks that has kept us from contact with the real world? It started three Wednesdays ago. Dave left for church and I began the normal routine of putting Ethan down for the night. When I went upstairs to Ethan's room it was 100 degrees up there with the air conditioner! So, I got ready for plan B. We put him in the family room (the coolest room in the house) in his pack and play. He doesn't like it too much but falls asleep anyway and then we move him to his room when it cools down. I laid Ethan down and he began to cry. I hate that. So, I went into my room and closed the door. Thinking to myself, "I will give him fifteen minutes and then go back out to rock him..." The crying stopped. Good he has fallen asleep. Then, there was a knock at my bedroom door... Ethan was asking to be let in! He climbed out! I opened the door checked his body for damage - all good there - and then grabbed "the book." I thought this wasn't suppose to happen until 24 months! I found the section of exceptions (sometime at 18 months it happens sooner)! So what to do? I tried laying him down with me... yeah right! That never works with Ethan... by this time his room was getting cooler. But, if he can climb out of his pack and play he can climb out of his crib. So, I took the crib out of the room and laid his mattress on the floor. Can you imagine was he was thinking? "Mom's gone nuts..." There I was outside the door listening to him destroy his entire room.

Dave finally got home and we opened the door of Ethan's room together. It was so dark we couldn't find him in the destruction. But there he was, in his ball pit, sitting in the middle of the pool (with no balls because they were scattered around the room), looking in the mirrors, nodding off to sleep. Poor baby!

In the chaos, I missed the one thing Dave pointed out right away. "Hey, Jen. The crib is taller on one side. Couldn't you just turn it around so that the short side is up against the wall?"

Sometimes I wonder where my brain went?! Oh, yes, I remember. Ethan stole it from me when I was pregnant. I never got it back.

Alyssa's Birthday

It was Alyssa's sixth birthday party and Ethan had a blast! She had a pinata and even though he didn't get a swing at it he got to gather up candy! Here he is with his lollipop and he loved it! His face was so blue afterwards that he matched his shirt! Even though he couldn't have cake he didn't even notice because there was plenty of ice cream. His new favorite signs are of course, ice cream and candy. Good thing he crashed on the way home in the car...

J-A-M-B...

Can I just say that Ethan has been WOWing me every moment of every day? This last month has been filled with events that have filled me with laughter. I will post more about those later... but I had to share what has been happening with Ethan in the last two weeks.

It started when Josh, Becca, and Sarah took us to IKEA to look at thier annual sale. (By the way... totally cool to find way cheap prices slashed even more!) We were waiting at the elevator to go upstairs when Ethan pointed upward and signed "A." We looked up and yep, you guessed it, we were at the "A" elevator. If there weren't witnesses I wouldn't of believed it. Ever since then, all he wants to do is look at books and ask me what the letters are.

Last week, Ethan and I were coming inside from the backyard and he stopped at the door and wouldn't go in. I asked him what he was looking at and he pointed at the "Welcome" mat and signed "M" and said, "Mmmmm." Then he pointed to the "O' and signed the letter too.

We also have a blueberry bush outside and so I found all my blueberry books and have been reading them. That is until we found out that he is allergic to the blueberries. Boo. I love the book "Jamberry." Ethan loved the story. He sits with the book reading it with his new big boy voice while talking gibberish. One day he asked me to read it to him and when I was finished I closed the book and said, "OK, it's your turn to read it to me." He pointed to the title and signed J-A-M-B... got to the E and looked at his hand to try and curl it up to an "E" gave up and started at the beginning again, J-A-M-B...

He now knows A, B, D, G, J, M, N, O, and Z! Crazy! I know!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I couldn't help it... it looked like fun. Plus, Dave needed some guy alone time playing video games without verbal interruption. Which happens a lot since I don't get to talk to an adult for several days.

Get To Know Me Better:

How Many Hours of Sleep you get per night on average? I am one of those blessed parents that has a child that sleeps through the night. So, I get 7-8 hours of sleep. It is so not enough...

What is Your Favorite Color? I think it is blue... I am not sure. I'm an artist. I love them all!

Have You Ever Swam in the ocean? I don't "swim." I failed Tadpole Swimming Class four years in a row... and let's just say I wasn't a preschooler at the time.

Coke or Pepsi? I normally drink Pepsi. But really, if it has caffeine I'd drink it.

What was the highlight of today? It's still early but I would have to say it was when Dave called and said that his next bid for work he would be going to day shift with Sunday and Monday off! No more graveyard! Yeah!

If you had a million dollars to spend at one store and one store only, where would you spend it? Probably Lowe's only because I know how much work our house needs! Plus I could do a lot of damage in the garden department. Does Lowe's sell women's clothing?

What's the stupidest thing you've ever done in front of people/in public? I would have to say it was when I worked at Target and sat down on a box that was empty. I fell straight inside with my feet and arms straight in the air. They had to push the box and pull me out - I was stuck... Or was it when I was pregnant and "front-heavy" and fell ON TOP of a three year old - at the Christmas Program with 500 people watching.... Or was it during Parent Open House when I told parents that they needed to make sure they put shorts under their girls' dresses because we want to "teach your child at a young age puberty." When I meant to say "modesty."

Do you follow your head or your heart? I am not sure... now that I am older I think more about what to do next...

What helps when you're down and need cheering up? Working out in the garden. It always makes the day brighter.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis. It's my second time to try and get through it. It has been a VERY LONG time since I read a book that didn't have 25 pages or less.

FAVORITE BOARD GAME? I don't really have one. I really love playing Gin... If I ever had anyone to play with.

FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Gardening Magazines. Perennials is my favorite. I love of course Creating Keepsakes and Somerset Studios.

WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? When I found out that my best friend was dying and would be gone within 24 hours.

FIRST THING YOU THINK OF IN THE MORNING? Can I get away with five more minutes?

HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? It depends. If I am upstairs I am lucky to reach the phone before it goes to the machine.

Are you a morning or evening person? Morning person. But realized that I need a shower to become so.

What was the first thing you noticed about your husband? His sense of humor (we met on the phone) and then his eyes when he smiled and laughed. They glow.

How do you vent anger? I walk away and try to cool off.

What was your favorite toy as a child? Huggsie from Hugabunch. I know... totally corny. But I took him everywhere.

When was the last time you cried? Last night when I was watching a movie. Pathetic, I know.

What is on the bottom of your closet? Baskets of clothes that I'll never fit into again...

What did you do last night? Watched movies with my husband.

What is your favorite day of the week? Right now it is Tuesday and Wednesday. Those are the days that Dave has off! It just means we can spend a little more time together.

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE? My family.

DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? No. I am thinking ahead to the money I don't have to pay for a ticket.

WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing on my side. Now on Dave's side there's always clothes, sleeping mask, ear plugs every where, books, magazines, and sometimes the laptop that I trip over to turn on the side lamp that "has" to be on his side.

THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT? Mary Rice Hopkins so that I could own the "Chicken Lips" song for school.

WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? 5-6 am but I won't get out of bed until 7am when Ethan gets up. Yes, I know.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN ITEM? I would have to say our new Stainless Steel pots and pans. I have never owned pans that have matching lids or well... matched themselves. It is great to cook pasta in a pot that isn't the size of a drinking glass.

Water Play

Ethan has been waiting to play with this new water sprinkler. The sun has finally come out and we were able to open the box today! As you can see he had a blast!

The Great Outdoors

Every once and a while I have the pleasure of watching my ex-neighbor's dogs. She moved two blocks away and then up a hill to over look the canyon. It has been exciting every time Ethan and I go (three times a day). Yesterday I saw a buck. I could of reached out my car and touched it. Today, I saw three does right in front of the car. We also saw a family of quail. The best part of the drive is the lupine flowers on the side of the road. It is Kincaid's Lupine, an endangered species in the Willamette Valley- at least I think it is...(http://www.co.benton.or.us/parks/hcp/documents/Kincaidslupine.pdf) It is the host plant for the Fender's Blue Butterfly and endangered species as well. Totally awesome... It was so cool to see something that I have only heard about in person. I called the US Fish and Wildlife Services. I will let you know when I find out more...