Ethan's Birthday Party

Ethan had his 3rd birthday party at Gymboree this year. It was the first time to have a 'real' party. Previously it's just been a small gathering of family and friends, but decided to go big this time! I think everyone had a blast!

Most of the gang...I think we were just missing Phoebe in this photo.

About to get rolled over!

I love it. The paparazzi...

Parachute time!

Ethan got to sit in the middle since he was the birthday boy. He was less than thrilled. But I didn't think he would do it at all, so I was happy he sat there, even with a frown. He doesn't like to be the center of attention in big groups.

I think the parents AND kids had fun!

Cake time! Ethan had a Thomas the Train cake, but I forgot to take a picture. When we sang to Ethan, he said, "It's not my birthday!" (again, not loving the center of attention) He's very literal...his birthday was on Monday and we had the party on Saturday, so no, it wasn't his birthday. ;)

Present time!

A cool airplane from Ava...

Cool Hot Wheels car wash and Cars puzzle from Aiden. Ethan LOVES to play with the car wash in the shower and bathtub!

A motorized train, stickers, and a coloring book from our favorite Grubblets! Ethan LOVES the train and we've gotten great use from the coloring book at church.

An awesome Handy Manny tractor that you can take apart and put back together from Chase - so cool!

TRAINS from Peyton - yea!!!!!

Very handsome dress shirts from Allison and Brett - we've already worn them several times!

An awesome camping chair and HUGE 3 balloon from phoebe. Also a really cool gumball machine that Ethan is obsessed with!!!

A cool Cars coloring pad from Addyson and Audrie. Ethan's really been into coloring lately, so this is perfect!

An awesome John Deere truck and trailer from Grandma and Grandpa. Ethan loves the little cows that go inside!

THEN...the birthday boy on his ACTUAL birthday...

More train tracks and trains from Mommy and Daddy...

And a fun game to help Ethan with throwing and catching....

And a ginormous soccer ball!

Aunt Debbie was so sweet to send a package ALL the way from Indiana.

His very own towel! Aunt Debbie embroidered it on her new machine that she got for Christmas. Ethan loves having his own towel in his bathroom!

Playing with the presents...

Happy birthday to our precious little Valentine.

And THANK YOU to all our fabulous friends for celebrating with us. We love you all!

Ethan is THREE!!!!!!!

Holy cow, I can't believe Ethan will be three on Monday. He's like a real person now! (not a toddler...)

What Ethan's up to these days...
He's really into singing right now, his favorite songs being When We All Get to Heaven, YMCA, Deep and Wide, and several Christmas songs (still). He's recently started liking drawing a lot, and can actually draw stuff! He can draw faces (he loves to include ears and eyebrows), and likes to draw lots of lines. He enjoys drawing with markers, using a MagnaDoodle, on a whiteboard, and also his Etch-a-Sketch. He's become quite the Etch-a-Sketcher...I love watching his tiny little hands maneuver the knobs to make his creations - so cute!
Ethan's really into dancing right now. It absolutely cracks me up because he has NO moves, just like his sad parents. ;)
Ethan loves to be independent - putting on his own clothes, socks, shoes, and even buttoning his own pajamas (his newest feat).
He still loves all things boy - building with blocks, playing trains/cars, playing football with Daddy.
He is so stinkin' smart! (of course, being a teacher, you KNOW I'm going to make sure he's ready for school!) His newest talents are counting to 49, rhyming, and writing 1/2 his name (E and t are so easy, h-a-n, not so much!). Ethan cracks me up with rhyming. I'll ask him what rhymes with cat. He'll say "hat, bat, sat, fat, Sooey, Mater." I'll ask him what rhymes with dog, he'll say "frog, log, hog, Sooey, Mater." He knows they don't rhyme, but he also knows it's funny. (Sooey is his stuffed Razorback.)
He is Mr. Manners. We rarely have to remind him to say please or thank you, and he usually will say random things like 'Thank you for making me dinner, Mommy!" Awwwww...makes me happy!
He is still soooo sweet with Eli. He enjoys teaching him how to do new things and how to play with different toys.
Ethan is just overall an amazing kid. We were blessed to have an amazing year with him in his two's. No 'terrible twos' for us, thankfully! Sure, he had his moments here and there, but nothing like I worried about! I can't wait to see what happiness and laughter he brings us in the upcoming year.

Ethan will be having his first big birthday party tomorrow at Gymboree. Woopee! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them soon. And of course, Monday's the big day for my little Valentine! (I wonder how long until he hates that his birthday is on Valentine's???)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BOY!!!

My Boys

My most favorite boys in the whole wide world!!!!

The Foot Book

As you can tell, this is one of our favorite books, and we've read it a lot!!!

Eli's Moves

The kids have recently come to enjoy a blast from Lonnie's past....Jock Jams. They LOVE listening to it and having a dance party. Eli's learned to join in the fun, too...

When We All Get to Heaven

Okay, this one baffles me. Ethan has been singing this song NONSTOP the last few weeks. We have no idea how he learned the words. It's not exactly a song that we sing very often at home, and he's probably only heard it at church a few times. I thought maybe they sang it at school, but I asked and they don't. No way he's just picked it up from hearing it a few random times in the last two years at church???

Regardless, I love it! The last line cracks me up. It's supposed to say, "We'll sing and shout the victory." Ethan says, "We'll sing and shout the rictor, rictor, rictory!!!"

YMCA

I've been trying to upload videos all day, but this is the only one that's worked so far.

One of Ethan's current favorite songs...YMCA!

January Happenings

A few random pictures from the month...

This one is supposed to be at the end with Lonnie's birthday party, but I can't get it down there for some reason...

Our old office is now the new playroom. After we sold the desk and moved the couch to storage, it was left pretty empty, so a new playroom it shall be! We love it.

We've had several snow days this month, so we've been playing a LOT!

And we have to be creative...

This looks a little creepy, but both boys loved it!

Ready to play in the snow...

Making snow angels...

Making a cake for Daddy's birthday...

And decorating it...

My best sister ever! I don't see why people think we look so much alike...