Following Directions

Anyone who has met a strong willed child (or adult for that matter) knows it can be a challenge at times to get them to follow directions.  Especially when they have their mind set on one thing.
Well, Ethan is a strong willed child...I try very hard to not just give in (to make my life easier in the here and now) but to make sure he follows through with the things I ask him to do.
Here is what happened today.

Ethan:  I want some cherrios.
Jessica:  Okay, but you need to put this jello into the fridge so you can eat it later and bring me a bowl.
E:  Okay.
Takes bowl and goes to kitchen.  I hear door to fridge open, shuffling in fridge, E returning to me.
J (looks at bowl that has blue jello remnants in it):  Ethan, where is the jello?
E:  In the fridge!
J:  Where did you get this bowl?
E:  The kitchen.

 I did not fuss at Ethan, because he DID do what I asked (a miracle, he is so stubborn most times), just not the way I envisioned it.  After I cleaned up the jello, I did have him wipe at the fridge some and we talked about why food stays IN bowls unless we are putting them in the sink.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ethan Pierre

THREE!
Yes, many say it is worse then the terrible two's, but I think we will break that old saying.

Ethan was an adorable 9 lb addition to our family.  Since each baby seemed to come out a little bit bigger, we are calling it quits!

Ethan's first movie:  TWLIGHT, part 1.  He was less then a week old

Ethan was BORN an LSU Tigers fan!

First Birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday!

Ethan has been a pleasure to have as part of our family, even if some days are rougher then others.  :)

He has a temper unlike either of his brothers, and a nasty foot stomping habit, but when he is being cute, he is so adorable, all the frustrating moments where you want to go all 1950's country mama on him melt away.

I am so thankful that Ethan was able to come join our family and help us be complete.  WE LOVE YOU ETHAN!

Sleeping Beauty

Bart took the day off today.
We were supposed to go to Fremont Splash Station (man, we are so fancy, right?) for the day.  BUT...it rained last night.  And brought with it some glorious lower tempertures (can we say mid 70's, I'm guessing because we don't ever watch local t.v. to know for sure)...those lower temperatures were great for the fat old shirtless men (and the non-fat kind as well) who want to cut their yard every day.  Not so great for playing in unheated water with the Nebraska winds.
So, Bart's off day was wasted on sleeping instead.
And a trip to McDonald's...because while the boys were kind of sad about missing a fun day of water, they were devastated at the thought of not getting to get a crappy Pokemon toy and card  nutritious well balanced meal processed chicken bits and fries...so of course I was a kind and loving mother lazy and obliged, even let them get a free cookie in Hvyee (which, by the way, did you know they give you FULL SIZED cookies there?  Score!  Ghetto WalMart only gives tiny bite sized ones...so small you can't share with Mama.).
After all of this crazy excitement (Bart took them to get free balloons at Hyvee while I used their post office!  2/3 balloons now live on Hvyee's ceiling) of the morning, it was nap time.
Ethan wanted none of it and kicked and cried and threw a terrible two's fit.  I may or may not have laughed at him.
It got quiet around 2:15.  Bart says, "He's not asleep.  He's probably looking at books or being destructive quietly." 
I said, "He is EITHER plotting how to rip off the second bed railing OR he is asleep."
Well, when I went to check on him when nap time was over, I noticed a chubby little hand hanging out the gap in the door.
I grabbed the camera because what was laying on the other side of that door was too funny not to remember forever.
Mr. I'M.NOT.TIRED fell asleep as he was plotting his escape.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering #14...The end of an era

I started cloth diapering in July of 2009.  My friend was/is a wee bit obsessed with them and I thought I could at least give them a try.
Well, I won a few, bought a few, wound up with Miracle Diapers, and then had a friend give me some...I wound up with a decent stash that worked quite well.

Today, as I noticed a dark red mark on Ethan's panty line and observed him screaming and crying and pulling at his panty line area, I realized...Ethan has outgrown his diapers!
He only has maybe 4 that still fit his 40 lb puffy behind.  And 4 is not enough for me...the lazy cloth diaper mother.
So, I realized, with a start, that the end of cloth diapering was near for me.  VERY near.  Sure, I could trade them or sell them and buy the next size up, but we are at the very early stages of potty training, I plan to go all out starting in August (after summer travel is over) and buying new diapers for basically two months seems silly, especially since I "pride" myself in having spent so little to cloth diaper (I'd say less then $60 total, including soaps).
It's been a struggle at times to cloth diaper.  My husband has not been on board at all with cloth diapering.  He will say, "Does Ethan have on a REAL diaper or one of "those" things?" before I leave for a girls night out.  (Most of the time I leave him in cloth ;) ).  I'm not sure where these feelings of his come from...it's saved him literally hundreds of dollars, but oh, well, I've let it be a non-issue so as to win bigger battles on other fronts ;).
Also, I am a lazy laundress, so I've had to battle that and make sure to keep them washed in a timely manner.
I've never soley cloth diapered, using disposable on the weekends and when we went on trips.  Also, if an outfit fit better on big butt Ethan, it was a sposie that day as well.
But, now that the end is here, and that I just twenty minutes ago took off the last cloth diaper I will ever remove from my baby, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia.
My little baby is growing up!

Before you know it, I will be posting part two to the end of an era: DIAPERS AT ALL!  Let's hear it for post summer traveling potty training!  Though...I am considering buying some cloth diaper based training pants that have a bit more absorbancy then regular underwear.  We will see.

So, for those of you who followed along in my adventures in cloth diapering, I bid you farewell...and want to let you know all cloth diapers will be for sale for $10 or less at the garage sale I am co-hosting this weekend in Omaha if you are interested ;)

The Cake War Gremlin

There is a war raging in my house.
A war that I am fighting off more and more often...
A CAKE WAR

Each time I bake a cake, I live in fear as it sits on the counter, innocent and naive, unaware of what could be coming its way.  This beautiful, 10 inch round, chocolate cake, baked in Fat Daddio pans with a lid to make it perfectly flat and perfectly round...could suffer a hideous demise.


What could be so bad, you might ask...
I'll tell you what.
A gremlin attack.  Not the cute fuzzy one who started all the problems, but the mean gang leader one (Spike) who causes all the ruckus attack.

 
Sure, he might look all cute and fuzzy (he needs a hair cut, but at this length, he gets to have gel and styles and mohawks and OHMYGOODNESS...that must be why he is like Spike...it is the common denominator...a MOHAWK!)  Give him one tastes of cake, and he goes nuts, searching high and low until he gets more.

 

So...I have resort to gorilla warfare.

















Meaning, I have to creatively hide the cooling cakes on my counter tops.
Like this:

All you see (and Ethan at toddler level, even toddler level on a chair, I've checked) is a counter that is a bit too messy.  While that is generally true in my house anyways, this time it is not. This time, I started with a perfectly cleaned cabinet.
And hid this:

This cake survived the battle, but until it leaves my front door, it has not won the war.  (Though thankfully nothing has ever happened to a cake after it is decorated)

His older brother, let's call him FistFullOfClawMarksThatLookSuspiciouslyLikeEthan'sGremlinPrints chocolate 10 inch #1, was not so lucky.

Let us all have a moment of silence for FistFullOfClawMarksThatLookSuspiciouslyLikeEthan'sGremlinPrints chocolate 10 inch #1.

Thank you.

Now, let me get back to turning the younger, more vibrant and smelly cake, into a beautiful part of someone's big day...while Spike Ethan is asleep and can do no harm.

Happy Birthday Ethan

Ethan turned TWO! Can you believe it? I hardly can.  But then again, I am not a huge fan of the baby/toddler phase, so I don't mind as time flies by.
We ate at Lazlo's for his supper that night and it was so good!  He enjoyed an adult dessert (all birthday kids get one!) and then we headed home to open presents!
He was SUPPOSED to have a circus themed birthday party the next day, complete with  a "Big Top" cake that I made and a photo booth...but Jackson decided vomiting all night was much more fun then a party with friends.  So, he will wait until a little Christmas party I am hosting and we will call that his birthday.
Bummer, though...I made matching initial tees in the Big Top font for all his friends!  :(

Happy Birthday Little E!  We love you and are so glad you joined our family as the littlest (even though you've always been the biggest) Remington of all.

Almost Two

Do you know what I love about almost being two years old?

Not picture taking time, that is for sure.  Gone are the days (for a bit) of just sitting Ethan somewhere and taking as many pictures as I'd like of him.

And not meal time...Ethan is suddenly trying to become a picky eater.

Not bath time is over time...he screams so much because he loves to take a "BAT BAT BAT"!!!

But, I sure do love the BIG OPEN MOUTHED sloppy kisses he runs up and gives me.

And I love the way he is FINALLY learning to use words and says "BYE BYE DADDY!" as we are driving on the road to Bart's work.  When he doesn't have a word (still most of the time) and really wants something, I actually think it is quite adorable to have him find me and gently tug my hand until I follow him, holding hands, so he can show me what he wants.  (Usually that tug leads to the kitchen where he points to the pantry and babbles and fusses...but I don't give in and give him snacks whenever he wants, though...)

I love how he is learning to love his brothers.  If they are outside, he is outside.  If they are playing video games, you better believe Ethan will have a controller in his hand, too.  I love the complete adoration and devotion he has for them right now.

Finally, I love the way he smiles when I come into his room after naptime to "rescue" him from his bed.  His smile says he's all mine, and I will take it.

So, the next time I am having a really bad day with this little dude, I have documentation of a few things I love.  I'll remember those things and the fits, tantrums, no listening, pooping in his diapers won't seem quite as bad, right?  (FYI:  of course he poops in his diaper, we aren't potty training, but man, those still seem as if he does them on purpose to punish me for some unknown crime.  I mean, if he'd wait just 1/2 an hour, DADDY could change them once in a while.  lol)

LegoLand

When Grandma Cupcake and Papa Jeff went to California at the beginning of August, they made a stop at Legoland to get the boys some souvenirs.  They LOVE their new books, guide of Legoland, and clothes. 
As a matter of fact, we were having ziti for dinner right after this picture was taken, so I had the boys remove their shirts to keep them stain free.  Ethan got so mad that I let him wear his hat...he has not taken it off since (and that was last Thursday).  He LOVES his hat.  He goes into his bed with it on and as soon as he sits up after a nap, he starts trying to put it back on.

It usually sits too low on his head, though, so he can't see where he is going...but we don't mind because that has brought a LOT of comedy into our days.

At least it is not way up high. like good ole Les Miles.

Guess what???  LSU FOOTBALL (and all college football) Season begins SATURDAY!!!  WHOOO HOOO!

I Made Those

I made those.  And I am darn proud.  Of both the boys AND their LEGO MAN TEE SHIRTS (of which I painstakingly made both).  I used my Make the Cut program, Cricut, freezer paper, and fabric paint.  I used what I'd learned from the zillion and one freezer paper stencil tutorials I've read and created these for Bren's birthday.  I just put a curved square w/ two rectangles and welded them in MTC, added the name just right and went to town.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering, Part 8...the big brother changes a diaper

I wish I'd had my camera handy (or my new FLIP video camera that is coming in the mail this week!) to capture this moment.

I was about to change Ethan's diaper when Brennan comes up.

"Mom, can I do it?"

Me, thinking about it...this could be messy, it could be cute. It is definietly a skill he needs to learn to be a good husband one day.

"Okay Brennan, sure."

I mean...seriously, who says NO to a free diaper change?

Brennan pulls off the snaps of the Blueberry, removes the diaper, wipes Ethan up (with guidance on where to wipe. Bren says, "But he's not dirty!"), and puts the dirty diaper in the wetbag.

Then, Brennan (with me holding Ethan's hinny in the air) gently puts the new diaper (this one a BumGenius with velcro) under his bum. Once he feels it is positioned just so (and just in the knick of time...Ethan was getting restless with his body raised in the air), he covers the front, pulls the velcro tabs and declares himself done.

Not bad for a six year old, I only discreetly tightened one side a tiny bit.

Brennan has grown up so much this past year. He's always been a good big brother but lately he is turning into a GREAT one. And one who likes cloth diapers, I might add.

Now, if only I could train Jackson to stuff clean diapers, I'd have it made!