Fun in the Sun

So Ethan, Taylor and I took a trip with my mom to Myrtle Beach last weekend and we had such a fun time. Ethan has been wanting to see the beach for months and he loved it! He would have played in the sand all day but he wanted nothing to do with the water. It was too cool to get in so it was nice not having to worry about him wanting to get in. The weather could have been better so we didn't spend too much time at the beach but we had a good time. We sure missed dad though, especially in the middle of the night when Taylor didn't want to go back to sleep :)

We spent some time in Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach and it was a fun time. It's an old rice plantation which was owned by some very rich people that turned it into beautiful gardens with statues. When I was young we lived in Myrtle Beach and I have tons of memories of time spent there so it was fun to show Ethan around. He loved it too.

Ethan got into the statues so I told him to stand on a rock and be a statue. This is what he came up with. Now everywhere we go he wants to find a place to be a statue. The other day he thought standing on boxes of diapers at Walmart was a good place to strike a pose.

Ethan also thought that each of the stands describing the statues were music stands so he would stop and conduct at each of them. Of course we were all instructed to sing while he waved his arms.

I was amazed to see this alligator and turtle hanging out together. You might not be able to tell but these little guys were not in a cage, they were just wild. So needless to say we took the picture and kept walking before mama alligator came looking for her baby.

And the rest of these are just some pictures of my angels. Would all the moms agree that this is too high to push a kid in a swing? But Ethan absolutely loves it!

The other day I walked into the living room and saw that Ethan had given Taylor a pretend piece of chicken and a breadstick because she was "hungry". She was so excited.

And here is a little video of Taylor. She doesn't do anything all that exciting but she is quite a talker these days. It won't be too long before she will be giving Ethan a run for his money.

Gone Fishin'

For the last couple of weeks Ethan has talked about wanting to go fishing. As with all the other ideas that Ethan gets in his head I don't know where the idea came from but finally today Abe got to take him fishing while Taylor and I went to a baby shower. He had such a great time playing and casting his fishing pole. He is such a cutie.

Abe said he kept chasing this poor goose and telling it to get in the water. Just like all the other people that Ethan bosses around, the goose didn't obey either.

The weather has been so nice lately that we have had lots of time outside. Ethan has recently decided that its fun to pee outside. It all started when we were on a walk and he had to go to the bathroom. It was several miles back to the start of the trail so Abe told him he could pee on a tree. Ethan thought that was the most fun ever. He wanted to "water" all the trees along the trail after that. Since then we have found him several times pulling down his pants and peeing against the same tree in the yard. This next picture was the other day on the front porch. Abe and I looked out and saw that he had taken off his clothes and crawled into the pot of water he had been playing in. Oh what he neighbors must think!

Taylor is getting so big. She will be 3 months next week and she is so much fun. She still has her little scowl sometimes but its easy to get a smile out of her too. She has been such a good, easy baby. We have been very lucky.

Today we were driving home and Abe mentioned that when we got home Ethan was going to have to get a bath. Ethan LOVES bath time so it was kind of strange that he started whining really loud and saying "Nooooo". After a minute he stopped suddenly and completely calmly said "Wait, Dad did you say bath? Oh I thought you said nap. Sorry dad." The whole way home he kept saying "Sorry dad." I love it when he apologizes for things. Unfortunately it is usually for things that he hasn't done wrong. For example if one of us kicks the leg of a chair then he will say "sorry mom, sorry mom". He can be a real sweetie. We just love that little boy.

We need gas

Sorry no pictures for this story but I have told it to several people and all of them thought that it was funny so I thought that it should be shared with everyone. First let me say that Ethan is fascinated by Meredith pumping her breast milk. So Meredith and the kids were out and Meredith says:we need to get gas,
Of course Ethan is thinking of the fact that when he has the toots we call it gas,
Ethan says "what mommy"
Meredith: we need to pump some gas. Ethan gets his thinking face on which is really cute
Ethan: "pump the gas out of my hiney".
Meredith busts up laughing as I am sure that most of you are
Meredith: what did you say
Ethan: nothing I said nothing.
I hope this story has brightened you day a little.

And She Finally Smiles

This is a picture of our serious girl's first real smile, that was not caused by gas. Abe was playing with her with the horse and she thought it was pretty funny. By the time I snapped the picture it looked a little less like a smile but still cute. And since then she has given us many more. Ethan loves to try to make her smile, usually by making this awful "silly" face that he makes. It never works, cause really its just scary looking, but he still tries.

And though it may not be a smile the pouty lip was still pretty cute. You know it won't be long until she can talk her dad into anything with that look.

And no post would be complete without some pictures of Ethan. These days he loves being a cowboy. He was originally wearing a tupperwear container on his head like a hat while he rode his "horse". But we have since upgraded to a hat of Abe's. And no we will not be adding any Wranglers or boots to the ensemble.

This is a picture of Ethan after he ate his first chocolate chip cookie. I found some chocolate chips that he can have and so I made him some cookies. He was a huge fan of the warm chocolate, which he managed to get everywhere.

Ethan loves to have his picture taken with Taylor. He is adorable with her. Today he was sitting on the toilet and Taylor was downstairs crying. He kept yelling "It's okay pretty girl". He is always very concerned when she cries.

And back by popular demand, I added a video of Ethan singing the beloved classic, well at least at our house, The Ballad of the Green Beret. I'm sure other kids bedtime songs have lines like "fearless men that jump and die" also. And Ethan likes to add in sound effects of guns. He is such a boy.

Taylor's Blessing

Our beautiful little girl was blessed on Sunday. She looked just adorable and was an angel during the blessing.

My dad came into town for the day and Abe's parents were able to visit us for a couple days also. Taylor was sufficiently spoiled for the week and was probably not set down for a more than a few minutes for the last week. She loved it!

Here is the back of Taylor's dress. I had such a fun time making it. It is too sad that they only wear these dresses for 3 hours.

I love this picture of Ethan. He is so sweet with her. He always tells her how cute she is. It's adorable!

We had a great time visiting with Abe's parents. Ethan has loved having his grandparents around. Though he REALLY wants to go and visit their house so he was a little disappointed that we weren't going to stay with them. Ethan loved the constant attention so it has been hard not having them around now. While they were here we went to some caverns near by. Ethan had a good time seeing the caves though that night he had his first nightmare. I think it was all the ghost sounds that the guide was making. It made for a long night. Even the next morning he remembered that he was eating ice and then grandpa was a ghost that was going to get him.

And here are just some more cute pictures of Taylor. She had her first ponytail the other day. She looked so cute. Ethan wasn't a big fan and took it out. I really hope she doesn't lose all her hair in the next couple of months.

She still has her adorable chubby cheeks. They are just so kissable. But she is still loves to scowl, just like her brother.

It's a Snow Day!

We finally got a decent snow storm and school was cancelled for Abe. I love this picture that Abe took of our backyard. We can almost pretend we are really in the mountains. Last year Ethan was not a fan of the snow (ie see last year's post of Ethan being drug around on a sled in Utah while lying down). Even this year he didn't express much interest in the snow other to complain about it being slippery and to whine when it touched his bare skin. But yesterday he had a change of heart. We got him bundled up yesterday afternoon while it was still snowing and he had such a good time. He was so upset when he had to come inside.

It turns out that eating the snow is Ethan's favorite thing to do. I'm sure Abe taught him that. I did just catch him also eating icicles from the car. How disgusting is that!

And of course, red-neck sledding at its finest was back this year. Ever time it snows we say we will get a sled and we don't. Maybe this year? But until then the snow shovel will just have to do.

Abe and Ethan made a great snowman but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it yesterday and during the night it blew over and just wasn't the same after that.

I think that Abe had to try and redeem himself after I made fun of the snowman with the little head. So here is the new and improved version. I still don't think that it was as good as the first.I hope child services doesn't get a look at these next pictures. It's one thing to make a 2-year old shovel the front porch.

But really Abe, the whole driveway seems a little much. He just loved helping his dad!

And this is how Taylor and I spent the snow day. Okay so maybe just Taylor got to sleep all day. I had to supervise the snow day activities from through the window. I just love how Taylor works so hard to break her little arms out of the blanket.