Happy Birthday Ethan!

Ethan had his birthday this week, and it is crazy to think that this little boy is already 2! He is really such a fun little boy. I don't think he totally knows what it means for it to be his birthday, but when I asked him if he was ready to open some presents, he said "huh" (his version of uh-huh), and went to head right over to the pile he had not even tried to bother. I had been wondering if he had even noticed they were there, apparently he had, and just left them completely alone. He really is a sweet boy. One fun thing about him is that before he goes to play downstairs he always comes for a kiss. At our house we almost always give our boys a kiss before we leave, or they leave, or they go to bed, so I guess Ethan feels like when he's going downstairs he's leaving, and he needs a kiss first. There have been times when he has come up to me and I won't realize why until he starts to make a kissing sound. It is actually pretty funny. I love this boy! He still isn't a very big talker, but he will put 2 or 3 words together sometimes. All in all he actually is probably pretty close to average on talking, so I'm not too worried. He also does like to point. Like if he wants me to sit in a certain spot, or put a toy in a certain spot. Its like he's saying "right here." He loves to have his brothers to play with him, and it has been a lot of fun to watch the close friendship forming between him and Jayden. Jayden has earned his trust, and Ethan will let Jayden fix toys and other things for him. He's still a little afriad Dylan is going to tease him, so he usually gets mad when Dylan tries to help - Dylan has a more teasing/playful personality that makes Ethan not quite trust him. Ethan is starting feel pretty big as he has figured out how to open doors, he has also taken it upon himself to sometimes feed Rex, he loves to help load laundry into the dryer, and a few other around the house things he has discovered he can do or help with. This the phase where kids love to help, and I'll have to take full advantage of it!

For birthdays I love to let the boys pick a theme and we'll get plates, cups, a table cloth, and balloons that go along with what they choose, and I make a cake to go along with it. I think it is just kind of fun. We were trying to decide what kind of party to do for Ethan, since he doesn't totally understand the concept, he hasn't really been commercialized in the sense that he doesn't really know who Elmo, Barney, or even Thomas the Tank is. He loves airplanes and trains, so we went with the Thomas theme, because that was what we could find. I went really simple on the cake since I really didn't feel that great, and Ethan really wouldn't care, but it all worked out great.

Ethan got loaded up on summer toys, with a few small sandbox toys, new sand for the sandbox, bubbles, and some big garden toys like a wheel barrow, shovel, and rake. He had so much fun driving around the wheelbarrow. Thanks Grandma - he loves it!

Ethan was funny to watch with the candles. We told him to blow them, but he wasn't quite sure suddenly what that meant anymore. He does know how to blow, but he just sat there looking at the candles, and bent over to look at them. Finally Grandma, and Dylan helped him out.

Happy Birthday Ethan, we love you!!

Overheard

Today while Jayden and his friend Zane were eating some lunch they had this conversation:

Zane: My dad is older than yours.
Jayden: My dad is older than yours.
Zane: How old is your dad?
Jayden: Like... 60!

I just had to laugh. Somehow I don't think that is something Devon would be proud of!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

I have been too sick to take much time for anything, but I didn't want to skip my Dylan. Dylan is 6 years old already! I can't believe it. He had such a fun time for his birthday. He wanted a jungle themed party, so we made a jungle cake, complete with palm trees made of pretzels and paper. He loves just about anything you give him, but he was wanting some new race cars and a race track. Devon and I found a fun track, and also so extra pieces you could buy to make ramps, and jumps and all sorts of fun things. Dylan, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, Ethan and Jayden all had fun making a few different tracks to try out.

Dylan is such a fun little boy, and we are glad he's part of our family. He is a great reader, he can read just about any of the kids books we have in the house, and it has been fun to hear him read from the Book of Mormon as we read together each morning. He loves friends, and his teacher has told me he has lots of friends at school, and that he is starting to talk a little too much in class. It's always nice to hear your kids are doing well - you never know how they'll do at school and with friends, but we have been working on the talking thing. Dylan is one who is very loving and loves to do things for people. On my birthday he got up early and made me a PB and jam sandwich so I could eat it for lunch later. He loves his brothers, and wants to help them so much. He is a little boy who loves fun! He loves to be silly, and loves to be tickled. He loves to get out and do something fun. He has been repeatedly telling me the last little while that he wishes kids just got to have fun all the time and didn't have to do any work. I keep telling him that work is important too, and that if everyone just played things wouldn't work. So we all just need to help. He is such an important part of our family, and I just couldn't imagine it without him. Happy Birthday Dylan!

Answer

Okay, so you pretty much all guessed it. Yep, we are going to have another name added to our chart, but just one name. We'll see if its a boy or a girl. I'm planning on a boy, but hoping for a girl. I'm due at the beginning of October and we're really excited. I am in survival mode right now. I really don't feel that great. My stomach always feels gross, but my biggest complaint is that I am sooo tired. I don't ever remember being this tired. My days right now consist of taking care of the boys in the morning: feeding, getting them ready, etc, then I get a couple priority things done before lunch - but seriously not much, then it is lunch time, and then as soon as I get Ethan down for a nap, I have been laying down, because I am so tired. I seriously feel like it is like 1 or 2 am pretty much the whole day. Once I get up, I try to figure out dinner, which stinks because I seriously can't decide on anything since nothing sounds good. After dinner, we put the kids to bed, and then I crash again. I really get hardly anything done, but at least it will hopefully get better in the next few weeks. And sorry Nancy, I am a slacker, but seriously that is the big kicker for me. A sorry excuse, but true. Come October, it will all be worth it, right?

What's wrong with this picture?

Draper Temple Openhouse

We went to the Draper Temple Openhouse on January 26th. I took a few pictures of the boys in front of the temple, but I lost those pictures with my camera, which is why I haven't blogged it until now. I figure I may as well blog it without the pictures, because it was such a good experience, and one I want to remember. The boys were really excited to go through, and I had been telling them about some of the rooms they would see. Jayden loved the baptismal font - if you asked him what he liked, that is his constant answer. Something about that really stood out to him. Dylan liked the sealing rooms, especially looking at the mirrors and seeing all the reflections, and I told him they represent all the past, and all the future. The boys also loved the murals on the walls in the endowment rooms - of course especially the animals. They were really good through the whole thing and I hope it is something they always remember. My favorite part was walking into the Celestial Room. I hadn't really thought about it much before hand, but as we walked into the room, I could not help but cry as I thought of how much I want my boys to always be with me, and how that may be the only time we are all in the Celestial Room of the temple together until they are all old enough to go to the temple- so almost 20 years! I don't know why, but that just really got me, and I could not help it. Sometimes I feel like such a cry baby, but, oh well! It was a great experience.