The Melting Pot

On Saturday I took Jon out to dinner. I set the time, location, reservation, and babysitter. Kudos to me! It was just Jon & I. This has only happened two other times in 4 years! My Mother was watching the boys. We had a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot. It has the yummiest cheese and desserts. Yes you do have to cook your own meat, but it is a dining experience that is a lot of fun and gives you plenty of time for conversation. Our goal is to go out once every 2 months or so just the two of us. We will see if that happens, but we sure had a great time. It was nice, quiet, and relaxing! Everything we needed.

Testing out his new set of Wheels

If you have ever been to our house, then you would know we have a very small backyard and we live on a very steep hill. This is not good at all for a little boy learning how to ride a bike. Ethan has been practicing however. We have taken Ethan to the park, which is just a hop, skip, and jump from our house to practice riding is new wheels. He is doing very well and wants to do it all on his own. However, he rides way too fast to do it on his own. He has no fear! I know that soon enough he will be riding his bike with confidence, and then I will be able to trust him enough to ride without Jon or I being right by his side. My little boy is growing up!

Our Easter Afternoon

Easter afternoon we spent with my parents, my brother, Christine, & Cordie (their dog). We spent the afternoon talking, watching the Masters on television, and enjoying the awesome barbecue for dinner. Ethan received many gifts from my parents for Easter. His basket was filled with Mario Bros. figurines, clothes, books, Despereaux and Bolt DVD, and the highlight a bike and helmet! I was so excited to see Ethan's face when he saw the bike. The bike was actually mine as a child. My parents cleaned it up and got new tires and training wheels for it. I loved that bike! Ethan quickly got his helmet on and rode the bike around in the backyard. He did really well. Reid also got many gifts from his grandparents. He received new bottles, diapers, clothes, swimsuit, hat, & books. The adults even received gift cards to their favorite store. Thanks Mom & Dad! Ethan also enjoyed the "attempt" of flying his kite, but that was unsuccessful in the end. The afternoon ended with an Easter egg hunt just for E (only filled with money and toys since my son hates candy). Uncle Potty hid the eggs and made it near impossible for Ethan to find them. For example, one was hidden in the exhaust pipe of my Mother's car. One egg even Scott had a difficult time finding at the end. It was funny to watch him searching and searching for the egg that he had hid. Easter was a great day. The boys had a day filled with memories!
Reid's first smile (that was caught on camera)!
His new bike (yes I know he should have the helmet on).
Playing Elefun
Watching Cordie swim in the pool before dinner

Easter Morning

Easter morning Reid of course woke up before Ethan. Ethan woke up with an earache, but that did not stop him from loving his gifts from the Easter bunny. The Easter Bunny brought Ethan a Frank Track from the movie Cars, a swimsuit, a beach towel, a kid pool, a buzz lightyear kite, bubbles, a Max and Ruby DVD, a jumbo Hershey's bar, a bag of gummie bears, and two golden eggs. One egg had $5 and the other had $1. Ethan favorite gift of the morning was his Frank toy. Reid received a swimsuit, a rattle, socks, a hat, burp clothes, a bumbo, and two golden eggs from the Easter bunny. Jon was excited about placing Reid in the bumbo (which he is not ready for until he is 3 months). Reid lasted a few minutes in the seat. Jon can't wait until he can actually use the thing. He thinks he will love it! We will soon find out.

Pre-Easter Celebration in San Diego

The Saturday before Easter, we went down to San Diego to spend some time with Jon's Dad and Grandmother. It was the first time they both met Reid. Reid also got to meet all of his cousins and his Aunt Janell, Uncle Darin, and Aunt Joanna. The kids had a fun time running around the house and playing together. Jon's Dad had some fun games for the kids to play as well. Pin the tail on the Easter Bunny was my favorite. Ethan actually wore a blindfold and was the closest to placing the tail in just the right spot. The kids also had a jelly bean hunt. Ethan found the jelly beans, but after trying one (for the first time) gave his away to his cousins. There was also an Easter egg hunt. Ethan enjoyed himself very much and Reid was a very good baby. He slept contently most of the day there or he laid around and watched everyone as they walked by. We had a great time in San Diego!

Bowling with Friends

The Thursday before Easter, Ethan, Reid, & I got together with some of my Myra Linn friends and their children for a fun day of bowling. It was my first time taking Ethan bowling. It is normally and Daddy thing to do with E. Reid did very well for the (little over) 2 hours we were there. He slept quit a bit of the time. He did get fussy for a short time, but fell back to sleep quickly after he ate. Ethan loved every minute of it. He loved choosing his ball, placing on the ramp, watching others bowl, eating his icee & popcorn, and just spending some fun time with other kids (this is something he has not gotten enough of lately). I enjoyed talking with my friends. I hadn't seen them in over 9 weeks and some even longer than that! We had a great morning. Hopefully we will all get together again soon!

Our Pre-Easter Celebration

The Sunday before Easter we invited the Garcia Family and the Ratnaweeras' to our house for a Pre-Easter celebration. The kids colored Easter eggs, made an egg craft, and hunted for Easter eggs. The adults chatted, ate, and watched the kids enjoy themselves. One of the highlights that I enjoyed was watching the kids hunt for Easter eggs. It is so funny how the eggs can be in plain sight, and they will run right passed it. Sirimal & Krista also had a surprise for the kids while they we hunting for eggs. They each had a basket with their name on it with some spring goodies to enjoy. It was a great afternoon spent with our friends. We may have to make it an annual event. The kids sure like to get together and the adults do too!

Here is a great picture of Stacey & Sirimal getting hit with an egg filled with confetti!

Ethan & Taylor coloring Easter eggs

Tornado Ethan

Ethan has an obsession with couch cushions. He loves to use them and move them to create whatever is on his mind. This masterpiece is called "house". It was destroyed 10 seconds later by tornado Mommy who magically placed the cushions back to the correct locations. Tornado Ethan was not very pleased.

8 weeks old

On April 2nd Reid turned 8 weeks old. He is such a sweet baby and very strong. He can lift up his head, neck, and chest with ease when placed on his tummy. He also can turn himself around 180 degrees from where he started. He also began cooing and talking today when you talk to him. He seems to have a lot to say. He also can grab things. For example, today while on his tummy he grabbed his pacifier and placed it into his mouth...crazy but true! He is getting so big so fast.

On a Sunday Afternoon...

On Sunday, March 29th Jon & I took Ethan & Reid to the park by our house. We decided to take Ethan's Lightning McQueen with us. He has had this car since his first birthday (thanks Poppa & Amma). He has only driven it in the backyard, which is not that exciting since we have one of the smallest backyards I've ever seen. Ethan was so excited to really drive Vroom-Vroom (that is what he still calls McQueen) around the park. He went full speed throughout the park. All the other kids looked on with their parents as this crazy kid went zooming past them. Ethan had so much fun. Jon followed him around the park, while I sat on the grass with Reid asleep in his carrier. It was a great Sunday afternoon.
After dinner that night, we took the boys out for some ice cream at Cold Stone. Now whenever we go out to get ice cream Ethan never will get ice cream. This evening was no different. Jon & I each got some combination of chocolate and Ethan requested his usual: a cup of Gummie Bears. Reid enjoyed the lights and the fresh air. What a great way to end the weekend!

Ethan with his Gummie Bears...inseparable.

Nap Time

Reid is a very sweet baby, but he does have some tummy issues. If you came over to see Reid during his naps, a lot of the time this is what you would see. Yes he is on his tummy. He hates sleeping on his back. At night, he sleeps reclined in his boppy, but not very contently, but during the day many of his naps are on the carpet, on a blanket, on his tummy. He could sleep like this for hours with all the sounds of the world around him (even the vacuum cleaner).

Chocolate & Gummie Bears & Ducks...Oh My!

About a week and a half ago I took Ethan & Reid to Dos Lagos. My intention was to go get some chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and go for a walk around the two lakes. When we got to the Chocolate Factory, Ethan being Ethan, did not want anything to do with chocolate. He saw the jar of gummie bears and that was it. He wanted only that. I got a chocolate brownie and Ethan got a bag of gummie bears. We began our walk around the two lakes when Ethan spotted the ducks & the ducks spotted Ethan. Ethan had the bag of gummie bears and the ducks I think thought it was a bag of bread. They begin walking up to Ethan & began begging for food. Ethan remembered the Curious George book: Curious George Feeds the Animals and told me that it was not good to feed the animals because it could make them sick. Such a smart boy. He refused to feed the ducks. The ducks still stayed around E for awhile. Ethan even named the ducks. The one in the picture was Goldilocks. The other ducks were named Bunnyhop, Firefighter, & Duck. Too cute! We had a great afternoon together.

Working on those Fine Motor Skills

I'm on a mission about working on Ethan's fine motor skills. I know that he is where he should be with them and all, but he is so smart in other areas that I cannot accept that he is average in this department. I know, I know! He doesn't like practicing writing his letters, words, or his name with pencil and paper. So since the weather is warming up, I thought what a wonderful time to get the chalk out and have him decorate the backyard with his name! He did not see it as work at all, and I'm happy to report that he likes to write...with chalk that is.

Easter Painting Project

About 2 weeks ago I took Ethan & Reid to Paint a Memory. Since it is almost Easter, I wanted Ethan to paint something to decorate the house with. I told him before we got there that he could paint a bunny rabbit, egg, or a little chick, or something in that realm of seasonal decor. Ethan seemed excited and declared before we got there that he would paint a bunny with an Easter egg. Great! When we got there, I walked over to the Easter section and found what he described. However, he did not want that one after all. He wanted instead a little bird house. I looked at him a little puzzled. Are you sure? I asked him. Yes! He was so excited. He painted it red, blue, green, and brown. It is decorating our fireplace mantel with pride. It might not be the most Easterish item to paint, but it was made with love, and that is all that matters.