Gooooo, Allie!

This is our niece, Allie. Isn't she a doll? We are so proud of her - she is graduating this year from HS, where she is both on the basketball team and the cheer squad.

Okay. I realize I have been absent for a few weeks. It has been so crazy here. I have been sick with an URI (upper respiratory infection), the following week Ethan caught it, now Larry has it! Argh! I have been on mandatory 'additional work hours' and working on weekends.
Now, I have learned why this age/phase is called "terrible two's". Ethan has always been a patient and wonderful child (what am I saying - it's been like 2 yrs), but lately... O-M-G! Seriously! The tantrums. He'll come grab my hand crying and whining and yelling "Ma! Ma!", so I pick him up, but he doesn't want to be picked up, so I put him down, he doesn't want down. He ends up throwing himself on the floor and squirming and wriggling around crying out various things: "I hurt! I sad, Ma! I fell! Drink, drink! Cheese! Get outta here Kita! Daddy, help!" Nothing appeases him. He is still upset. I laugh - literally - very loud at him. I know that's not right, but it's seriously so funny. Yes, it makes him more mad. It usually results in me telling him to work it out and walk away - is that a bad thing?
Eventually he either works it out himself, or we put him in time out. After time out, he winds up saying "sorry, ma", disgusted, though and not sincere at all. By this time, he has been so hysterical that he can barely breathe.
I know, I know. This is my own fault. This child is so spoiled, and when he gets sick, I totally give him anything he wants. Now... how the crud do I fix it?

Blogthings...

You Are Puzzled Over

You are quirky, complicated, and brilliant. You tend to feel a bit misunderstood by everyone, and that troubles you. It's likely that you will have two or three children. You can conceive pretty easily. You are easily effected by the world around you. You are emotional and even a bit moody. You are very detail oriented and tidy. Some may even call you obsessive. You are quite conservative. You are neither a flirter or a flaunter.

What Does Your Belly Button Say About You?

Best Ever...

So, I said I love getting Christmas cards, and I totally do - these, though, are my fav this year!

This is my friend from HS, Lavinia's family - she and her husband have an awesome sense of humor, as you can tell:

This is another HS friend, Nancy - she too, awesome sense of humor:

And this... one of my first cousins - he is hilarious!

My Mom & Dad sent us a Christmas package with lots of goodies. Mom knows how much I love to tinker around in the kitchen so she always sends me cute cake pans. One year she sent me a bomb pan, another a heart spring-form pan, and last year a soccer ball shaped pan. This year Mom sent this cute snowflake pan. It turned out cute, but I think I dusted too much cause you can't see the embossing...er... better luck next time?

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I love Christmas because I love getting Christmas cards. It seems like these days everyone has jumped on the photo wagon... I am totally digging it and loving it. There are so many people we have reunited with and children are changing so fast, it's really fun to see the differences from year-to-year. Because we have a mischievous toddler and 2 cats leaving cards on the piano or ledge was not working. So, I started taping them to our laundry room door. Ethan loves it because he gets to look at them.

Merry Christmas, and thanks for the cards, y'all!

I totally Heart ABBA! Y'all know I LOVE disco, especially ABBA and anything to do with ABBA. Of course I got the Erasure ABBA-Esq, and Muriel's Wedding. Now, there's Mamma Mia! I saw the preview and have been dying to see it ever since. Larry surprised me with it a couple of Saturday's ago, and I literally screamed! I Have watched it 5 times since. Thanks, Lar-Bear! I heart you too!

Chug chugga!

We got this gift to Ethan, for Christmas. Those that know me know that I do not wait. Ethan saw the box as it came in and Larry had no idea it was coming so he didn't know to hide it. Right now Ethan is obsessed with trains. When I say obsessed, I mean like in a crazy maybe needs to be committed kind of way. He has to sleep with all three rubber trains, wakes up and wants ALL his trains (which isn't that many, but his babysitter, Becky gave him a train set for his birthday).

This train has tracks that can be added and it's battery charged. For those concerned, yes, there is a very loud and obnoxious whistle.

Every morning since we got it, it's about the train - living and breathing this train. He eats on it, sits watching TV on it, and lays on it. This is the best present he's ever received in his whole life!

So, I have finally given in to the pressure. I went to Target and threw some cheap things in a basket. This is the experimental year. I am just trying to see how everyone handles a tree. So, the tree is like, what, two feet tall, a sting of lights and a box of cheap glass ornaments... voila! It's sitting on the wine cabinet with the Christmas Village and already Kita is trying to eat the tree and the wires, and Ethan is trying to get the bulbs... sheesh! This is why! I have to admit, it is kind of fun and gets me in the Holiday spirit, but man, lights on the tree are a pain in the a.....!

Phases?

Lately, Ethan has been going through this "phase" - he is taking extra care of his 'guys' - he likes to hug them, make them hug each other, and baby talks them. He takes his stuffed frogs and tucks them in his bed and says "night night froggies", turns out the lights, and comes back downstairs. He does this several times, or rearranges them in the bed. Sometimes certain frogs don't even get to be tucked in the bed, they get thrown off to the side with Bear and Trini (his stuffed giraffe) or hid under the bed.

He also does this with this little polar bear set my Mom gave him when he was just a few months old. I think he loves the fact that there is a big bear and a little baby bear, and the penguin.

Ethan is just over 2 yrs old and he is saying and doing new things every day. Sometimes it's hard to believe he is only 2 yrs old and I think why are you still pooping in your pants!? I was scolding him the other day and I said "you're acting like a 2 year old". Wait a sec... yeah, smart!

He is counting to 14 by himself - why 14? I have no idea. He is singing and recognizes shapes. He loves the alphabet and animals - right now, every stuffed animal's name is Trini. The real Trini doesn't even like him, so I don't know why he calls everything Trini either. Today, we got home from the many errands and I finished putting everything away, I walked in the front room to see this ... why do they grow up so fast? Great! Now, I am crying! He tries to be like both of us, but he is such a Momma's boy right now, which I love because I know that will be over soon enough.

Surprise!

So, I took a 4-day weekend this weekend - boy, did I need it! Mostly to clean, which I did on Monday for 8 hours! Anyhoo. I was surprised to find a large box on my front porch Saturday. Now, y'all know that I do not and have not decorated for any holiday - especially Christmas! But since Ethan was born both Mom's have been sending me stuff to get into the "holiday spirit". It has actually been fun. No tree this year still, but working up to it. Seriously, we have two cats and a toddler. I got this box and look - isn't it cute? It's a starter Christmas village with a chocolate shop! It's so cute. I will definitely have fun building on this, although Larry reminds me of the limited space.

Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium

Despite the Bears game today, we battled the traffic, tail-gaters, and high priced parking (I forgot it was game day... duh!). Today we visited the Shedd Aquarium and had so much fun. Ethan loves fish and I thought he might get excited. He did. Flash is not allowed in the aquarium, so the pics are a little dull.