A Whirlwind Month

Where did April go? We have been so busy that I don't know if I'm coming or going. I haven't been good about keeping up with our blog so this will be a marathon post. I hope you are ready.



Though it feels like ages ago we had a nice, low-key Easter. Taylor and Ethan both really got into hunting for Easter eggs. Though Ethan seems pretty disappointed when he realized that not all the eggs had a treat inside.

That Sunday afternoon the kids and I drove to Richmond because I had a 3-day training for work there and my mom watched the kids while I went to work. Thankfully the kids are great for grandma and they had a nice time. We stayed through Friday in Richmond and went to the zoo there.

Late Thursday night Abe came into town and on Friday morning we drove up to Washington, DC for a stake temple trip. The temple trip was on Saturday but we went up a day early to see the sights since Abe didn't have to work on Friday. It had been amazingly hot all week but of course on Friday it got cold so we, and every other tourist in DC, decided to hit some museums. Ethan loved the Natural History Museum but the crowds were overwhelming! We didn't know it was the Cherry Blossum festival, spring break for a lot of kids, and just crowded. We had a nice time walking around but the kids were done pretty quickly.

On Saturday we went to the temple. The stake Primary had planned a huge Primary activity for the kids so they could learn about the temple and so parents could go and do sessions. Abe and I took turns watching Taylor and had a wonderful day. The Primary kids were in small groups and Ethan struggled a little being left in a group with no one he knew. But his wonderful group leader spent a lot of time with him and Ethan finally got into it. Of course at the end of the day I asked him what he had done, hoping or expecting some wonderful, insightful response, and all he had for me was a list of what I had packed him for his lunch. But over the last several weeks little thoughts and comments have come out that make me think maybe he did get something else out of it. The Primary Presidency told me that one Sunday he raised his hand and told them that he had heard the voice of God in the temple. I think he was referring to the overhead speaker in the visitor center but it was cute.

Saturday we drove back to Richmond, since we had left a car there, and then Sunday we drove back home in time to make it to afternoon church. The kids did not have any patience for church after sitting in the car for 4 hours in the morning so it made for a long afternoon also. I had to work a couple of days that next week and at the end of the week I left for a cruise with my mom and the kids. We drove down to Jacksonville, Florida for a 5 day cruise and it was quite an experience. Overall the kids were good in the car but it was just a long ride for everyone.

The trip was a lot of fun and we were very appreciative of my mom taking us but boy 2 kids are a lot of work in a small space with little sleep. Taylor didn't do well at night. She woke up constantly from all the loud sounds and the squeaky bed and who knows what else. She got so used to being up that she started acting like it was time to get up. I would feed her and she would jump out of my arms and start running around the room saying "night night" in this sassy way that let you know she was not going night night any time soon. We got to the point that we would just push her around the boat for hours to keep her from keeping everyone else awake. She loved it but it make mom and I exhausted. So if we all hadn't been sleep deprived it probably would have been even more fun.

Taylor's favorite spot on the boat was the planters filled with round stones. She would take them out, line them up and then put them back. She is pretty easy to entertain.

Taylor's favorite activity is following her brother and climbing stairs. And on the boat she had a lot of stairs. Unfortunately she doesn't understand why she can't take the stairs standing up like everyone else so you have to watch her closely. Taylor was such a hit on the boat. Anywhere we went she had people talking to her. She is such a social little girl and loves to watch people and wave to them all. At dinner one night the hostess came over and started playing with her and said "Oh I just love this little girl. Look at how many people are watching her. She is our favorite." It was not uncommon for 4 or 5 waiters to come to the table during the meal to play with her and Ethan. On the last day a man came up to me and was telling me about how at the beginning of the cruise Taylor had been waving to him in the dining room. He was so excited. It was funny. But she is a cutie!

Ethan had a great time at the waterpark. I was a big fan too since I could just sit in a chair and watch him play :)

Ethan had a blast though. Sometimes I think once you become a parent you stop thinking about what is fun for you and fun becomes finding things that your children love. If that is true then I had a lot of fun because Ethan was in heaven. I don't know what was his favorite because he will never pick just one thing but he always asked to play minature golf but it was hardest to pull him away from the pirate ship playground equipment they had at one of the island we stopped at. Carnival owns a private island in the Bahamas and they have built all sorts of things on this beautiful island. We played at the beach for a while until we discovered this park area and Ethan never wanted to go back to the beach. Taylor on the other hand is my beach girl. This was her first time ever going to the beach and she couldn't get enough. She had no fear of the water and got her first taste of sand. She may stick up her nose at the NC beaches we are used to after experiencing the Bahamas.

Poor Ethan got so tired from walking all the time that he asked to ride in the stroller and hold Taylor. Sometimes they are so sweet together.

I love this video of Ethan trying to play putt-putt. The course is on the top of the ship and it was so windy.

Spring Break

We spent some time in the Smokey Mountain National Park and it was just beautiful. It would have been nice to be there when all the leaves were out or in the fall but it was still pretty. I love this picture of Taylor and Abe. She loves her daddy.

Below are some wild turkeys that were hanging out throughout the park. Ethan had big plans for getting a bow and arrow and catching one. Where does he get that from? Definitely not my side of the family.

Ethan's favorite activity of the trip was the go-karts. He thought he was the coolest thing ever. I loved the look on his face when he would come around the corner. I never could quite catch the look as they sped by. He still talks about how fast he went.

That grin says it all!

While we waited for Ethan to finish with the go-karts Taylor found her favorite spot. How could you not buy ice cream from this cutie? Taylor loves to wave and say "hi" or "bye bye". It is just adorable and strangers love it. Sometimes as we are leaving stores she will do her little beauty pagent wave and say bye to everyone we pass. She is so friendly.

Kennedy, in the sunglasses, is Taylor's favorite toy. Taylor loves babies but she especially loves Kennedy. She always wants to check on her, hug her and see her. Poor Kennedy takes the "love" pretty well.

I think Ethan fights us on about 75% of all pictures we try to take. Sometimes we just give up.

We took a nice hike up to some waterfalls in the Smokey Mountain National Forest. It was a lovely walk but it would probably have been prettier when the trees have leaves. Ethan wasn't too happy with how cold it was near the waterfall. I think he was hoping for some swimming but it was really chilly. Abe got a real workout pushing both kids up the mountain.

On the last day of our trip we went to Dollywood amusement park. It was a cute park and they had tons of rides for the kids. We swaped kids with our friends so that we could all ride some of the rollercoasters. I was impressed with Ethan and Taylor for their bravery on the rides. Taylor had no problem on the teacups and even rode some rides with Ethan by themselves. They are just an adorable little couple sometimes. Abe took the camera with him while I had the kids on the ride so all the pictures I took were on my friend's camera so I haven't gotten them yet. If they turn out cute I'll post them later.

This is the last picture of the day. I think we all felt the same way. What a long day! It was fun though. I love seeing Ethan having such a good time. His enthusiasm is contagious. As always, the vacation was too short and we are once again back into the grind of having Abe out of town and life being busy. But Abe is enjoying this rotation and the doctor he is working with. I'm so proud of him! During a very busy day during this first week the doctor told Abe that he was really happy to have him helping him. I would guess that most medical students just add to the work that the doctors have so I thought it was a great compliment.

Parakeet Eyes

The other day I was impressed with Ethan for finding something that we had lost in the house. We had been discussing the letter E and eagles so I mentioned that eagles have good vision and so when a person is really good at seeing small things we say they have eagle eyes. Ethan thought it was kind of funnybut didn't say much about it.

Later this week he was sitting in his carseat and out of the blue he says to me, "Parakeets have creepy eyes. So if someone has creepy eyes then you call them parakeet eyes." That boy cracks me up. So if Ethan ever calls you "parakeet eyes" you will know it isn't a compliment.

Just so everyone can see how bad it was

Just in case anyone doubted that Ethan's hair twirling was a problem I took a picture of Ethan's bald spot. He has the big one and then he had started a smaller one above it. It is at least the size of a quarter.
Since the picture I posted of Ethan's haircut made it looked that Ethan was pretty pained about the whole thing I thought I would post another picture. Ethan does not like to cooperate for pictures. He likes to intentionally close his eyes and turn his head when I try to take them. I got smart and took the picture on 2 rather than on 3 so he didn't have a chance to ruin my picture. The haircut is growing on me. He looks like such a little man though.

I think Taylor is hoping to get her head shaved too. Every meal she ends up looking like this because after every bite she has to run her hands through her hair. That hair around her eye is actually plastered there with green beans. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she would actually leave a hairclip in her hair but that would be asking too much.

This is Ethan's first picture of anyone. And of course he took the easy route and drew Abe. I would say it is pretty accurate. I'm not sure if Abe is suppose to have a mustache or what but I love it.

Oh my....

So this morning when I left Ethan with his dad while I ran a few errands this is what Ethan looked like (well minus the chocolate, that was from the pie we made for Abe yesterday)

Then when I came home I found Abe and Ethan in the bathroom and this is what Ethan looked like. Needless to say I was a little shocked.

In Abe's defense I had been threatening to shave his head for the last week. Ethan has picked up an awful habit from Taylor of twirling the hair on the crown of his head. Taylor does it while she is nursing and he started doing it when he is tired but now does it all the time. But when Ethan does it he twists REALLY hard and it makes the hair on the crown of his head stand straight up. Well this week I realized that he has been doing it so hard that he now has a bald spot in the back of his head and it is getting bigger. None of my techniques for getting him to stop have worked so I told him we would shave his head when daddy got back. He protested all week that there was no way he would have his head shaved. When I saw him willingly shaven I asked Abe how he convinced him. All it took was a promise of one piece of pie. I now know that this kid would do anything for pie.

We had been having some gorgeous weather these last several days so it has been wonderful to get outside for the first time in ages. Thankfully the warm weather stuck around until Saturday so we could enjoy it with Abe. We had a picnic and did some fishing. Oh life is so much better when I can get outside when the kids. I love it!

Can you get more balance after you lose it?

Usually when we are riding anywhere I get bombarded with questions from Ethan. Often they are related to analyzing books or shows and he asks a million questions about why things happen. We have these books that are shortened versions of all sorts of Disney movies. Ethan has picked up on the fact that some pieces are missing and he wants me to fill in the pieces. The other day we were analyzing the book about Snow White. We went through all sorts of questions and then we got to the point where the Queen dies by losing her balance and falling off the cliff. So this is how the rest of the conversation went:

Ethan: So how did she lose her balance?
Me: She tripped.

Ethan: Did her balance fall out when she tripped?

(This is when I figured out that Ethan was a little confused.)

Me: No, balance can't fall out. It's just an expression. You know how Taylor doesn't walk very good. She doesn't have good balance.
Ethan: So is her balance smaller than mine?

Me: (having given up) Sure.

Ethan: So can I give her my big balance?

Me: Would you do that for her?

Ethan: Sure, but I can get another one right? Is you balance in your head or your body?

We will try to bring that topic up again some day. I love his inquisitive mind, even when it drives me absolutely crazy. He is always thinking about something. The video is of Taylor and her lack of balance.

The other day I was working very hard to clean the kids' room. They were playing and I had it looking great. I left the room for a few minutes to work on the office and this is the scene I returned to. Taylor had decided to unload everything in her dresser. Ethan had decided to join in the fun by adding every blanket and pillow he could find. They were both so proud of themselves.

So I have always been a fan of the photo editing where they take a B&W picture and add a little bit of color. I never knew how to do it though and we all know I'm cheap so I have never gone to a fancy photographer. So recently a friend mentioned using picnik.com to edit photos for free online. Probably everyone else has heard of this but I hadn't. So I have had fun editing some pics. If you haven't checked it out, you should.

Tattle Tail

Ethan definitely likes to try to get his sister in trouble. In general, it's usually Ethan that has done something to her when she does get mad at him so he is usually the one getting in trouble. Today I was cleaning up after dinner and this is the conversation:

Ethan: Taylor's hurting me.
Me: What is she doing?
Ethan: Stuff, mean stuff.
Me: Like what?
Ethan: Just mean stuff.
So I walk into the room to see Taylor at the book shelf getting a book and pulling it across the room. I give Ethan one of those "sure she was" looks and go back to the dishes. A few minutes later,
Ethan: She's still being mean.
Me: She is just looking at a book.
Ethan: But she got out the dinosaur book to scare me away. Look it has big teeth on it.

I think he is giving his sister a little too much credit. Of course a few minutes later he was told to pick up his blocks and I heard him trying to talk Taylor into picking them up for him. She is actually a much better cleaner-upper so it actually worked. Soon she will learn that he was just trying to "throw her under the bus" with mom.

Wish us luck as we start another two months with Abe being away during the week. He hasn't been gone 2 hours and we already miss him. Week 1 is always the worst. We have been spoiled having him around for the last 2 months and it has been wonderful! Work has been terribly busy and having Abe around has been such a blessing. The last week has been 12 hour days and I can't wait for Wednesday when I get to start a break from work. A nice trip to visit the grandparents is just around the corner, as long as we can survive until Wednesday.