Ethan loves talking on the phone (which consists of "nuh nuh nuh nuh") , and he will try to pick up the phone and talk on it whenever he gets the chance. He's mistaken calculator's for phone's, and I'll find him wandering around talking to a calculator. My mom bought him a cute play phone for his first birthday, and I bought him another one for his second birthday, and he loves playing with them, but he somehow knows that they are just toys, and he will get more excited for the real thing when there is a real person on the other side. One night a couple weeks ago or so he kept trying to get the phone while I was on the computer, so I called my sister Rachelle and once she answered I handed the phone over to Ethan, and he was so excited. I've let him talk on the phone before, but this time he got so into it that I ran to get Ryan so he could see. Ryan ended up taking a video of him as he paced the floor carrying on his meaningful conversation with Rachelle, who in turn jabbered away back. We thought it was pretty funny. However, for some reason the video will not up-load onto my blog, so for those of you who have facebook, it's on there. Since that particular conversation with Rachelle Ethan has opened up in his speech and jabbers away almost constantly at times. It makes me happy to hear his voice more. At night when I put him to bed, sometimes I'll lay next to him and sing him Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or Once There Was a Snowman. I like to lay there and listen to him as he is falling asleep and jabbering away.

Lately I've noticed how much Ethan has grown, and is growing... It's always good to see your child progress, and you want them to, but it's still a little sad to see the baby phase go.

Play Group

Today was Ethan's first day at the CSI play group. Up until now Ethan has had a developmental therapist come out to our house to work with him (it went along with the speech therapy he was getting). Ethan isn't as delayed in development as he is in speech, never the less it helps to have people and programs available to work with him, esp. when we don't have to pay for it. From now on until he turns 3 he will go to a play group twice a week, instead of having the developmental therapist come to our home. (He will still have the speech therapist, Lisa, come to our home though). He loved playing with the toys, and with the other children. I stayed for the first part because he was clingy and it was his first day, but once he got focused on a toy I snuck out. Later when I came back I watched through the observatory window they have (the kind where you can see them but they can't see you) and Ethan was having so much fun. He is becoming quite a social little boy. He was racing a truck around the room (he loves pushing anything that will move as fast as he can) and another little boy was racing alongside him with another truck. Whenever the other little boy would pause Ethan would stop and wait for him to start racing again. It was very cute to watch him interact with the other children, although the other children didn't seem as interested in social play as he was. I even knew several of the moms who dropped their children off, and even one of the CSI students who helps out in the play group. I'm really excited for Ethan to go to this group, I think it will be very good for him to be in a pre-school like environment and react with other children, and get away from me for a little bit. And I decided that while Ethan is in his play group, I am going to start working out at the YMCA, so it will be good for both of us.

Painted walls in children's rooms

I've been mulling over the idea of hiring myself out to paint murals on children's room walls. I was an illustration major at BYU-I, and I'm confident that I could custom paint children's rooms to look really cute. I could do anything from park-like scenes to butterflies, cars, or african safari themes. The cost would be determined from cost of materials plus time, and would be determined in a free consult appointment, where we would go over design and colors. If anyone is interested please let me know.

5 Things

This was something fun I saw on Holly's blog and thought I would do, it's supposed to be a tag so I'll just say that if anyone wants to they can do it... :)

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I WAS 14??!
2. Was a freshman in High School
3. Going to seminary
4. Not dating
5. Not driving...not doing much really

5 things on my "to-do" list tomorrow

1. Get myself and Ethan ready for church
2. Get to church on time
3. Get Ethan down for a nap
4. Work on the quilt i've been making
5. maybe take a nap... :)

5 snacks/sweets I enjoy
1. Craisins
2. grapes
3. lemon bars
4. oreo's
5. rice crispy treats

5 things I would do if I were a millionare

1. pay off all of our medical, student loan debts
2. buy a home
3. put money away for our children's future
4. Help out my family
5. buy a whole new wardrobe

5 places I've lived
Just 5?
1. Wyoming
2. Coulee Dam WA
3. Auburn WA
4. Rexburg ID
5. Salt Lake City UT

Cute little boy

Ethan is being really cute today. This morning he followed me into my bedroom when I was changing out of my pj's and into some clothes. He proceeded to pick a shirt out of the laundry basket and came over (I was all ready dressed) and then wanted to help me put it on my leg. He's so cute, he makes me laugh! :)

When You're The Best of Friends

Just a thought I've been mulling over for some time now (as in years, really). I knew a girl in HS (we will call her Emily) who was generally kind, but not the smartest or the happiest. She was a grade younger than me, and she had several friends who were willing to be friends with her. However those girls had many weaknesses and they were not all that bright either. Emily was determined that she wanted to be friends with the "popular" girls. She didn't know anything about what it took to be popular, she didn't have the clothes, or the social skills, or the personality. However she was determined that this was the group of friends that she wanted to have. Sadly those girls had no intention of including her in their circle, but she was not deterred. The girls were just nice enough to Emily that she was able to keep up the illusion in her own head that she was actually one of their friends (even though, unbeknownst to her they would constantly belittle her). I would occasionally hint to her about her original friends, and would remind her that they were friendly and willing to be her friend, but to her they were not the quality of friends she was looking for. Those friends were not good enough for her, and she in turn was not good enough for the popular girls.

I've often heard it said that we should surround ourselves with uplifting, caring, smart friends. So, who is supposed to be friends to the depressed, less caring, not so smart people? Now, obvioulsy, it would be hard for anyone to be friends with someone who lacked any honorable qualities, however being that we are all from different backgounds, and we have had different life changing experiences, not everyone possesses all the notworthy qualities that we should have. We cannot hold to the idea that lacking perfection gives us the excuse to not try to change our faults, however, faults can be embedded deeply and take a lot of time and work to overcome. I hold to the belief that most generally it doesn't happen over night. You can have a change of heart and realize your weaknesses and choose to take an active role in overcoming them, but It probably will take time to change habits, and beliefs. There are some things that you honestly cannot change about yourself. So, I guess the question that my mulling has generated would be, how does one ignore others faults and be their friend, or how does one make friends with others if they themselves are aware of their own faults that annoy others? You can be working hard to overcome them, but they still show, like the smart alec lady who is constantly trying to hold her tongue, or the obnoxious girl who lacks social skills and always says the wrong thing at the wrong moment, much to her embarassment. I had a friend like that in college, and most people did not want to be her friend becuase of her faults, even though she was trying to overcome them. She was very friendly and outgoing, and continued to try to make friends, however that didn't change the fact that most people did not want to be her friend.

It must be so nice to be someone who has "invisible" weaknesses, the kind that are not readily noticeable to everyone they come in contact with. Ryan is a good example when it comes being a good friend, because in general he accepts people for who they are and likes them despite their faults. He has a wide variety of friends, and of those friends which I've come in contact with, all have thought and spoken very highly of him. It's one of the things that I admire about him.

Pictures: Ethan's birthday, and Halloween

Ethan doesn't like cake, but it was still fun to have one for him. We had to help him blow out the candle... :)

this is the first time that he intentionally smiled for a picture.
You can't really see the hat very well, but I thought it was pretty awesome...:)

our little monster... :). I was having difficulty getting him to hold still so I could take a picture.

Ryan had all ready changed out of his costume when I went to take the pictures, so you only get to see his bullet wound and hat.