He's two, really, already????

So it still baffles me how fast time has gone. I seriously cannot believe that Ethan turned two, it really feels like just yesterday when I went through this to bring our little guy into the world. For his birthday I took him to Scandia to ride the little kid rides, and he had WAY too much fun. His favorite was the giant slide and the airplanes. I can't wait to take him to Disneyland now, but Scandia was a nice cheap alternative. My sisters and I also went on the roller coaster and their new ride they have there, and now I feel very OLD because I almost peed my pants on those rides! Then we came home, unsuccessfully took naps, and had pizza and cars cupcakes. We also got to have Grandma Pam and Great Grandmother Smithson Skye with us while Ethan opened his gifts, how awesome is Skye?? Very sad that Jason had to be in Missouri, but we will just have to celebrate when we go visit him in a few weeks.

 

 

Overall we had a wonderful day celebrating Ethan.  I am so grateful for my little man in my life.  He definitely makes life interesting, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  He makes me laugh daily, and brings purpose to my otherwise dull life.  I thank Heavenly Father daily for my healthy, happy, energetic little boy!

10 Day Leave

So for Jason's 10 day leave after boot camp we decided to stay a day in San Diego, then head up to Vegas to meet more of Jason's family.  It was a wonderful vacation and such a needed time away.  While I did gain back most of the weight I had lost while Jason was in boot camp in these two weeks, it was still oh so worth it haha. You would think one would get sick of In-N-Out after a while, no not Jason.  I had to ask him to please not make us eat there for a while, and that's one thing I never thought I would say.  I think that maybe its time to not be on vacation anymore and make my New Year's resolutions start on February 1.  Sounds good to me! 

 

One night at dinner Ethan was obsessed with having his picture taken.  He was sitting at the table with this same grin on his face saying "cheese" "cheese."  His grandma probably has about 50 pictures of him with this same cute face because he couldn't get enough of being in front of the camera.  Too bad he isn't that way with me, anytime I get the camera out he runs. 

Jason's Graduation

So I am not sure why Jason thought it was a good idea to join the Marines, he isn't so sure of that either.  The first letter I got from him from boot camp he said "I don't know what the heck I was thinking coming here, but the quickest way out is to graduate."  While those three months were very rough, we both learned so much and grew closer to the Lord.  It put a lot of things into perspective and made us appreciate our family that much more.  Here are some pictures of our reunited family at MCRD San Diego for Jason's graduation.  These are some pictures that I know our posterity will love, not only for sentimental reasons, but mostly because of Jason's BCG's (birth control glasses) that they made him wear. I LOVE those things hehe!  Ethan was so happy to see Jason, once he got his turn he wouldn't let go of him, it was so sweet. Who knew I would be the wife of a Marine?  Never in a million years did I think I would be, but now that I am I couldn't be prouder.

 

 (Graduation was actually a two day event, one day was family day and the next was the actual graduation, which is why I am wearing two different outfits, in case anyone even noticed)

Ethan's 18 Month Pictures

Yeah I know, you all wish you had Addie as your sister in law. I mean Ethan is pretty dang cute on his own but Addie is able to capture his personality on camera, and the pictures she takes of him are priceless to me. Thank you Addie so much!

 

Halloween

For those of you who know me, which hopefully is everyone reading this blog, you know I am not one of those mom's who can salvage  scraps  from a costume worn for a seventh grade play to make my son's Halloween costume.  Soooo not my thing.  It impresses me to no end to see women who can do that, but if you are looking for fun crafty ideas, this is not the blog to go to :).  I picked up Ethan's cute little costume on clearnace at Sears for $5.99.  Now clearance shopping, that's my thing.  In fact any kind of shopping, clearance or not, is my thing.  I know shocker right?  Anyway, I think Ethan was pretty much the cutest little puppy dog ever, and while our evening was pretty uneventful and he wouldn't keep his little doggie ears on, it was a fun night that I will cherish as he gets older and wants to only be Spiderman or the Hulk or some nasty looking hobo that has come back from the dead.  And he shared his candy with me.  I wonder how many more years he will do that?  Anyway, here's my cute little puppy doggie baby boy. 

 

 

 

Summertime Fun

So I hope my future posterity will forgive me for my lack of journaling and scrap booking and baby book keeping skills.  My blog is about the best they will get, and well you can all see how well that has been going :).  I know there are tons of pictures out there that I could post to update my blog about Ethan's growth, cuteness, and everything that has been missed this last year. But the fact is I don't have the time to track down the pictures and post them all on here. So here are just a few fun ones from the summer.  Arizona is a hot place in the summer so we had lots of fun times in the pool Ethan's grandma got for him. We would walk down to the park every now and again but I could only stand to be there for a few minutes before we would start to boil.  That's why the pool was so great, you could stick your feet in, eat a popsicle, and life was great! 

Ethan Turned One....almost a year ago

So I still can't believe how fast my baby boy is growing! I don't know why as moms we think that our babies will be little forever. I think of my first day of college, how that seemed like just yesterday and yet it was back in 2002, 8 years ago. I know when Ethan turns 8 I am going to be like where the heck did time go, and I want it to pause just for a while so I can enjoy my little boy being little for just a while longer. I look back on these pictures and I feel like he turned from being a baby to a little boy overnight. I love watching him learn and grow and to see his fun personality come out stronger everyday, but oh how I miss him laying on my chest and rocking him to sleep. This must be why people have more than one kid. Yeah, I must not miss him being little that much yet! Enjoy the belated pictures! 


 

 

 

 

•  Ethan's Birthday activities included a day at the LA Zoo, two days to celebrate, two cakes, lots of mess all over mama's clothes, and an Easter egg hunt with his cousings.