Hide and Seek

One of Ethan's favorite games to play is Hide and Seek. It's taken quite a while for him to understand the concept of hiding. He no longer stands in the middle of the living room with a blanket over his head calling for me. Now he will actually hide- with lights on of course- but he generally gives away his location by talking.

His counting is getting better but the peeking is not. He actually counts to 10 now, instead of 3. It's hard to hide with only 3 seconds.

Ten seconds allows me enough time to get out of his sight and to hide.

We were playing yesterday at Papa Charles house. He has a great house for Hide and Seek.

It was my turn to hide so I ran to Papa Charles room and hid in the closet. I could hear Ethan coming along with Papa Charles. They searched for quite a while. I heard him lift the toilet lid to see if I was there. "Her not in there!" he said.

I also heard him says, "Maybe she went in the tv?"

They finally found me after I called and whistled for him. I guess we still need to work on our seeking.

Did you ever have an imaginary friend?

As of late, Ethan has an imaginary "friend" named Sparky. I say "friend" because I am pretty sure it's not a friend but an imaginary and scary dog.

Several weeks ago my sister was watching Ethan at my mom's house. I noticed a sheet draped over the table. When I asked Lacey why the sheet was there she said, "We were hiding from Sparky!"

"Who is Sparky?

Apparently Sparky the dog lives at my mom and dad's and he likes to bite your toes. Therefore, hiding under the dining room table covered by a sheet and sitting with your feet underneath you is the only protection from him.

I'm not quite sure where he comes up with this stuff but I love watching his imagination run wild.

The 11th Commandment

The other day we were shopping at Wal-Mart perusing through the children's department. Brian found a pair of Batman pajamas WITH a cape! Since we are all about Batman these days, Brian decided the pajamas were a must have. Fortunately, Ethan liked them too.

We continued our shopping and walked passed something Ethan couldn't live without.

(I would tell you what it was but I just don't remember because I knew he could live without it and refused to buy it.)

Insert whining child here.

I. Hate. Whining.

(I'm not sure how to stop it otherwise I would already have done it. So any pointers? I'm all ears.)

Back to my story.

In Wal-Mart. Mom wouldn't buy toy. Whining begins.

I quickly stopped the cart and looked at him in the eyes and threatened, "If you do not stop whining, Mommy will put back your Batman pajamas."

He paused.

"THEN I'M GONNA CRY!!!!"

He threatened me right back just as loud as he could. Age 2. Lucky for him I was in a good mood and found it funny.

Lord, help me make it to three. And will you do something about all the whining? Will you make all 3 year olds NOT WHINE? Better yet, let's make it the 11th commandment. Amen.

Cluck, Cluck!

I think it's safe to say I had the cutest chicken on the block!

Lauren's thoughts on...

...Ethan
Ethan had his 2 year check-up today. Shots are, for me, the hardest thing about visiting the doctor. I know that for some shots are a walk in the park compared to what their child has been through. NOT. ME. The hardest thing about today was he knew it was coming. The nurse walked in and he said, “No.” I laid him on the table and in the most pitiful voice he said, “No Mama! Hold you, hold you!” It broke my heart. But in 5 seconds he forgot that it hurt and was more concerned with the band-aids on his leg.

...the Starbucks drive-thru
It’s 6:45am. I specifically picked a Starbucks with a drive-thru to avoid having to get out of my car and go inside. Because that would take- you know...a whole extra 3 minutes. I pulled around and there were two cars in front of me. Sitting. Waiting. For what? I mean, does she really not know what to order? Here is a hint people. If you are not a regular of Starbucks, I suggest ordering inside. There is a much bigger selection than is shown on the drive-thru menu and I don’t like waiting for you to make up your mind. This is merely a suggestion.

...Grey’s Anatomy
If you have not watched last night’s episode you may not want to read this. I love that Meredith took her mom to work. In a ziploc. And spilled her. I liked McSteamy in this episode. His face when that boy said, “Daddy?” Loved it. Then helping a boy with no ears. Callie and Cristina laughing during surgery. I was rollin’. "SydneyTalksAlot" following around McDreamy. That woman would drive me crazy. Ummm...did he saw off his leg? Seriously? I also think Meredith found the perfect place for her mom to rest. Oh Goodness.

...The Office
I MISSED IT! Have no fear. I’ll watch it online. The World Series in underway and took a spot on the DVR.

...Chipotle
If you have never been to a Chipotle restaurant you are MISSING. OUT. It opened today and I. AM. THRILLED.

...Politics
Yeah, right! Do ya’ll know me? Like I have anything to say about politics. I leave that to my sister.

Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy this weather!

Chicken Pictures

I am almost finished with Ethan's chicken costume. I just have to finish the feet and add the yellow belly. He likes to wear it...just not for long. We still haven't decided what exactly we'll be doing for Halloween. I'd like to take him around to a few houses or maybe the carnival at our old church. Hmm.... These are the tough decisions parents have to make I guess.

Here are a few photos:

These are the supplies.

I painted the "feet"...still haven't worked out how to get them on the shoes....

My little chicken. He's actually much more excited than the face portrays. Seriously. And, he's missing his orange leggings. Yes. Leggings. Halloween often means wearing something you normally wouldn't.

This was before I attached the red "comb". Ethan desperately wanted the comb to stay on. I CHICKEN! I also think I'm going to take out some of the stuffing. That's one big chicken.

We will testing out our costume at school on Tuesday. They take them all to the gym class by class and take pictures. I feel certain Ethan will be the only chicken.

He's no longer my my baby, he's my 2 year old!

We had a great weekend. I took off work on Friday and we spent the day as a family celebrating Ethan's birthday. When I was growing up my mom always made us Orange Rolls for our birthdays and special ocassions. I decided that I wanted to continue that with Ethan. So this year and last we had Orange Rolls for breakfast (and scrambled eggs and bacon).








Then we went to the mall, wandered to the Disney Store and found a Buzz Lightyear doll. A Buzz Lightyear doll on clearance. On clearance for $2.39. It was a must have. If you only knew the obsession Ethan has with Toy Story right now you would understand the amazingness of a $2.39 Buzz Lightyear. I almost bought two.





Later, while Ethan napped, I worked on decorating his Pablo cake. I baked it the night before and put it in the freezer to frost easier.

Ethan wanted to help or just eat the frosting

It's by no means perfect but not bad for my first attempt at doing anything more to a cake the plain frosting. And I'm thinking of writing a letter to Wilton because the color of blue on the can is CLEARLY not the color that came out. Much to my dismay. Good thing Ethan doesn't care about shades of blue.

We also went to Pumpkin Town. Ethan loved the hay.

But not the pony ride.

We ate pizza at The Hideaway and went to my mom and dad's for cake, ice cream and presents.

Ethan received Buzz, Woody and Jessie dolls, books, puzzles, The Jungle Book (which I can't wait to watch...anything other than Toy Story), a tool bench, bike....the list just goes on. He was so thrilled with Woody and Buzz he didn't even eat his cake. He blew out the candle and ran to play. I offered cake. I offered ice cream. Mom offered both. Nope. He had what he wanted.

It was a great birthday.

I heart fall

Today is one of those days I am so thankful I have nothing going on tonight. WHEW!

Yesterday was a little crazy. I went to my parent's house yesterday after work to spend time with family still in town. My mom's parents and her aunt are here until Saturday and I have very little free time from now until then. Ethan was napping and woke up in a foul state. And not just a terrible twos foul state but an "I hate the world, why are you looking at me? Break down and cry" kind of state. In other words, he was a complete joy!

We decided to go to Kohl's and Target. Ethan didn't agree. He did okay in Target but Kohl's was a different story. He had a meltdown in the check-out.

While we were out he kept pulling at his ear and saying, "It hurt." So, instead of going to the game last night, I took Ethan to the urgent care center to have his ear checked. I figured the $10 extra dollars co-pay was worth it if I didn't have to wait until the next day to call his doctor. Of course when we arrived he was laughing and happy as a clam. They questioned why I brought him.

I told the doctor this is how he acts with an ear infection. Usually one day he is fine and the next he is whiny, fussy and pulling at his ear. Sure enough I was right. Another ear infection and in both ears.

Then I went to the pharmacy. Two hour wait. So I went to another pharmacy. They said 30 minute wait then an hour and 15 minutes later it was ready. AND my insurance card was expired. Or it was the old one. I don't really know. Regardless, because the card was expired I didn't get my prescription benefits and paid full price. UGH!

On the bright side it is only 71 today! WOOHOO!! I heart fall.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention. While at the urgent care center, Ethan choked on a cracker and threw up ALL OVER ME. It was quite lovely really. A special mother-son moment. I will be forever grateful. Not really. I smelled horribly and so did he. It was ICKY! Thank you Deb for reminding me :)

Our 3rd year...

Sadly, nothing too interesting pops out at me about our third year of marriage, 2003-2004. Is that normal?

• We bought a new car (mine)
• Two weeks later on a hot day we had a hail storm which did $3200 worth of damage to my new car
• Brian didn't speak to me that day...he eventually got over it
• We went to Las Vegas for our anniversary. Technically it was not for our anniversary but a family vacation and was paid for by Brian's mom and step-dad, but that made an even nicer anniversary trip. I found some photos:
  
  

I love In and Out






Elton John was AMAZING!





I did NOT ride this ride. My husband was obviously off his rocker to get on this thing. I planned what I'd do with all the money I would get when this ride killed him.




Not the best photo of all of us

The photo is dark and blurry, but what do you expect when the restaurant is revolving?

Ethan is feeling a little better today. No more throwing up. He still has a fever and the fussies.

My boy is growing up

Ethan has recently started talking up a storm. Most of it is undistingishable jibber jabber mixed in with an actual word, but he's talking nonetheless. I love to hear him talk. I came back from camp and he spoke so more clearly in just 4 days.

The other morning I was getting ready for work in my room. Ethan likes to try and climb up on our bed. For those of you who have never seen our bed, you need to know that it is a tall bed. If I stood next to it the top of the mattress would hit slightly higher than the top of my hip bone. So, while Ethan has never managed to make it onto the bed by himself it is a continual task to accomplish.

ANYWAY, I was getting ready and he was climbing. He said, "Mommy?" I turned and said, "What bubby?" And he tilted his head, smiled and said, "Bub you!". My heart melted. I said, "I love you, too." And it was truly our first audible and understandable conversation.

He is growing up so quickly. I can't believe he'll be 2 in a few short months. Someone said something the other day about just wait til he starts college. UM! HELLO? I'm not even ready for kindergarten. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.