1 down, 1 to go..

FINALLY - Dave took his test this past weekend!! After many months of diligent studying, he was finally able to download all the information in his head onto the test form. :) It will take up to 3 months for us to get results, but Dave feels pretty confident that he did enough to pass, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed. He's very excited to get back to some normalcy with working out and getting back in touch with his friends. (Hopefully no one has taken offense to his silence for the last 6 months). Ethan and I are very proud of him and happy to get more quality time with him now. We spent all Sunday together playing at the house, outside with our new sidewalk chalk and then went to dinner in the evening. Now, Dave just has to decide whether he's going ot keep going and take the PE test this October or wait until next April and enjoy the summer months. I guess there are pros and cons to both scenarios, but we'll support whatever decision he makes.

I actually ran in my 3rd 5K on Sunday. I know, I'm crazy with 2 weeks in a row, but I'm trying to knock these out before it gets scorching hot out. I was very thankful that there was no rain during the actual race. It managed to pour down about 5 minutes before we started and I was a bit nervous, but literally no rain during the race. I beat my time by another 15 seconds and managed to again, get 1st in my age group (got 8th for females and 33rd/143 overall). Guess I can't complain too much considering I don't train for these runs..I usually just run casually during the week with some friends at work during lunch.

No pictures from this weekend really. Saturday Ethan and I were busy since Dave was gone all day. We went grocery shopping, to the bank and to swim class in the morning, and then went to visit Grandpa Rochford Saturday evening to help him celebrate getting his 6th degree black belt. Luckily, Dave was done with his test and was able to meet up with us in the evening for dinner.

Happy Birthday to Dave this coming weekend...he's looking forward to getting out and socializing with some friends! :)

18 Month JCP Pics

As promised, a few of the better ones...

18 Month Stats

Ethan has his 18 month appt. last week Wednesday. He came away with only 2 shots this time, thankfully! He measured 33 inches tall (70%) and 25 lbs, 8 oz (50%). Overall, he was great at the appointment and only cried when the shots came. The doctor was impressed when I told her the large vocabulary he had, and also informed me that his top canine teeth were close to the gum line.

I was hoping to have his pictures up by now, but I just called JCPenney and they forgot to add the internet feature, so hopefully in a few days.

This weekend was another busy one for Ethan and I. Saturday morning I got up and ran another 5K in Aurora. I actually got 1st in my age group, 7th place for women and 27th (of 131) overall in the race. I beat my time by a minute and forty seconds, so I was pretty excited. I guess my competitive side comes out a bit. After my race, I went home and took Ethan to swim class. He is getting better every week and I love it. We do the "itsy bitsy spider" and the kids hold on to the wall and move their hands as we sing. Usually I help him move his hands but he did it all by himself this time. After swim class we ran home for a quick lunch and then Ethan and I headed to Champaign for the night. We had dinner and stayed with Dave's grandparents Saturday night and then we met my brother and family at his church on Sunday morning for service, followed by lunch. Ethan and I were back at home by 3 on Sunday to unwind before the week. Although Ethan doesn't see his great grandparents much, I was so impressed that when it was bedtime, I walked around the bedroom with him for about 5 minutes and then left and he didn't let out a peep. I think it says a lot, that he was comfortable in the new environment to not need me. We were bummed that Dave couldn't be with us, but we knew that he needed this last weekend to study before his test (this Saturday).

I can't remember if I've mentioned, but Ethan can say his name now. It sounds like "Enan", but I'm sure the "th" sound will come. Also, it really surprised me this weekend when he was playing with a bunch of coasters at Dave's grandparents. He kept taking them out and putting them back in and twice when there was just one left on the floor to put back, he said "one more". I didn't even say anything to that effect and he realized there was one more to put away?!!!

Friday evening blowing bubbles with Mom and Dad

Watching the birdies at the bird feeder with great-Grandpa

Eating some yummy grapes before bedtime.

Finishing breakfast on great-Grandma's lap (so Mommy could actually eat her breakfast)

Banana Boy

Other random pics from this past weekend...

As promised, Ethan sporting his newborn hospital cap.

Mr. I can hold my own Banana - please don't help me anymore..

It's not too big of a bite, mommy!!

Easter Weekend

Another whirlwind tour this weekend for Ethan and I. It started on Friday when I had the day off and decided to take Ethan to run errands while Dave...yes, STUDIED (if you can imagine it). I think we went to 5 different stores, which totalled 11 times in and out of the car. He was a trooper though. A thought came to me while we were shopping at WalMart . I went from the grocery section the pet aisle, and I had to pass by the toy section. No, Ethan didn't ask for anything, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before there is some toy that he just CAN'T live without! Heck, I ended up buying him a fancy new "Cars" theme plate and a Sesame Street place mat with colors on it and he didn't even beg for them. He also enjoyed watching the fish in the tanks over by the pet aisles.

After his nap on Friday, we had a playdate with one of my high school friend's and her daughter, Zoey ("Woey" and Ethan pronounced it) who is about 2 weeks older than Ethan. Overall, they played together well, with only minor spells of not wanting to share. :) How do you explain to 18 month old kids that they can share?? ha ha.
Putting on their bling..

Saturday morning started out at JCPenney getting his 18 month pictures. I had the brilliant idea (although my plan didn't completely work) of bringing Beaver - his latest favorite stuffed animal to help him smile. Well, Beaver was right there under his armpit the entire photo shoot! We struggled to get any smile out of him until the baseball came out and Ethan played a little catch with the photographer. Some pictures were even taken with him sitting on my lap while I leaned back as far as my body would allow, to NOT be in the picture with him. Overall, I was definitely able to pick a few different poses that showed my little boy's cute smile. Will post a few once I get the proofs online.

After pictures, we headed to swim class, which was definitely a better event this week. He enjoyed throwing the ball in front of him and swimming on his tummy to go get it. The one part of the class that I enjoyed was when we sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle' and we have them lay their head on our shoulder while floating on their back. He just lays there so quiet and calm and floats while I hold him...guess he trusts his Mommy and just enjoys the ride.

Our final trip on Saturday after his nap was to the Hughes side where Grandma made us dinner and we visited with everyone. When Grandma showed him the picture of family, he was able to identify almost everyone until he became disinterested. What surprised me the most was that he knew Uncle Adam and Uncle Breck (although they are both named "uncle" right now). On our trip back home, I figured the little stinker would fall asleep, but he babbled the whole way home and didn't get to sleep until almost 9:30p.m.!!

Sunday was more of the same with travel. We went to the Rochford side in the morning and to the Hickman side for the afternoon. We took him for a walk after dinner and Ethan enjoyed the walk so much he didn't want to get out of the stroller. Sorry, I'm a bad mommy and didn't get any actual dressed up Easter picture, but he did look cute. Overall, I think Ethan made out real well as far as Easter goes. He got some boxes of raisins, the Pinocchio movie, bubbles, a new toy car and tractor, new socks and some small candy items. We colored eggs with him on Friday evening, but voted against doing an egg hunt this year...we figured he'd understand a bit more about finding eggs once he gets a bit older.

Counting to 4....BUT

Ethan is now counting up to 4, but the catch is, he doesn't say 1. His queue when you say 1 is to start with 2 and goes up to 4. It's very cute to hear his intonation when he counts. He gets a little higher pitch towards the end of the number, as if to mimic how we say it clearly and slowly. Although he hasn't caught on that 1 is the first number, we're proud of his 2-4 counting. :)

We started swim class again this past Saturday. I figured it would go well since he loved it last summer. But, he was a bit scared at first and cried when we first got in the water. He warmed up a bit towards the end and I dunked him, but he mostly just clung to me. I'm sure in the coming weeks he'll be back to splashing.

Saturday we had the Rochford side over for dinner to celebrate Grandma Linda's birthday. Here are a few pics of the event. Ethan would only let me hold him for the pictures. :) He now comes up to me with his arms stretched up and says "hold you".

Grandpa pulling him around on his bike (note Sasha's leash is quite helpful)

The whole group (with a bit of our heads cut off - ha ha)Playing with Grandpa and Grandma Linda after dinner

Ethan's become more independent when going to bed these days, which is truly amazing to me considering this was the one thing that always stressed me out when he was an infant. One night he'd go to bed like an angel and the next he'd cry until we 'saved' him. But, he just LOVES his bed and all his soft stuffed animals and blankets. I basically rock him for 2 minutes and he's ready to get into bed and we hear him just babbling and screeching for about 5-10 minutes and then he's sound asleep. When we check on him before we go to bed, he's usually got 2 blankets and all 4 stuffed animals surrounding him (sometimes he's bear hugging his blanket).

Oh yes, something I'll have to eventually get a picture of is Ethan's newest fashion trend. He enjoys wearing his hospital cap when he plays in his room. I had it in his little nightstand drawer and he found it..he now likes us to put it on him and he keeps it on the whole time we play. Of course, his head has grown quite a bit since then, but he looks adorable. Speaking of things from the hospital, I've finally gotten stuff out to try to scrapbook Ethan's birth and I found his little hospital bracelet - it's so precious and small!! (Sigh...) My little boy is growing up - he'll be 18 months Saturday! (look for updated JCP pics in the coming weeks)

Just a random dinner photo. I was getting my food ready one night and I turned around and this was Ethan's face! Didn't seem to phase him with his HUGE glob of ketchup on his face!

Just another shout out to Dave, who now has less than 3 weeks until his test!

Catch Up

Where to begin...I'm used to updating every week and I've been so busy that I haven't gotten to it. Not too much new around here really. Dave is still studying for his test (it's actually 4 weeks from yesterday - April 25th), and Ethan and I are excited to get a week or two with him before he starts to study for the next test.

I actually joined the BP Running Team and ran in my first race this weekend (and it was freezing). We have to run 6 official races of any distance from 5K to a marathon. Funny how I love to run, but I've never run in an officially timed race before Saturday and I was surprisingly nervous. Never the less, I surprised myself by averaging 8:30/mi. I got 6th out of 53 women in my age range (20-29) and 125th out of 400 total in the race. I think I'm running in 2 more races before the end of April, so I'll be halfway done. One of my high school girlfriends might have me talked into running the half marathon in Chicago in September - but we'll see...

Ethan is growing up and becoming more vocal every day it seems. I actually put a pair of 18 m pajamas on him the other night and his feet were ready to bust out of them and there's definitely not as much extra material in the length of the material anymore. He seems to be gaining vocabulary words or at least tries to mimic everything we say these days!! I read somewhere online that kids up to 18 months can sometimes only have 5 or so words in their vocabulary and I think he can say at least 50 and know what object/meaning the words have, so he's not just babbling. Lately I think he's sometimes getting frustrated more often because he doesn't know the words to tell us. This weekend he had a few meltdowns and I tried several actions to try to help him to no avail!! Oh well, just a phase I guess.

Here are a few pictures from when we went to Grandpa's house last weekend for breakfast and visiting and also some pictures of him dancing with his stuffed animals and riding his bike around the house.

This is a frustrated face because Mom is no longer pushing him around the house.

Dancing with his Beaver...his most recent favorite stuffed animal (he got from the great grandparents)!

Playing with Grandma Linda's pilates "thingy"...

Success - he was able to stand it up himself!

BIG hugs for Grandpa!

5 GREAT Years!!

Yesterday was Dave and my 5 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe we've already hit this milestone!! We're going out for sushi and a movie tonight and then we got tickets to go see Cirque Dreams at the Aurora theatre in May, which I'm totally excited for!!

St. Patty's Weekend

I have to admit, Ethan and I were very busy this weekend - so busy that I forgot to bring/charge the camera until Sunday when we got a few shots (will post later, didn't have time to download).

Friday I had lunch with Ethan at Lauren's house (I brought Potbelly's for Lauren and I to eat..mmm). It was a fun little treat to have lunch during the week with him. We then headed up to my mom's where we did some summer clothes shopping for Ethan at Kohl's. After our shopping we headed up to my Grandma's and had dinner in Wisconsin for a good 'ol fashioned fish fry with about a dozen of my family members. Ethan was a GREAT little boy considering he only had 2-30 minute naps in our entire 2.5 hour drive up to my Mom's/Grandma's and he stayed awake and cheerful until 8pm for the ride home!!

Saturday we talked Daddy, Lauren and Gianna into coming to the Naperville St. Patty's Day parade. I ALMOST got a picture of Lauren and both kids, until the battery ran out - ugh! Anyway, Ethan caught on to the fact that the items being tossed towards us were candy...he handed me a tootsie roll, but it was way too hard to share with him - so he settled for a mini snickers bar. There were lots of 'doggies' in the parade, which was his favorite part!!

Sunday Ethan and I went and had brunch with some of my old high school girlfriend's at Cracker Barrell where he got rave reviews again for being so well behaved and happy the whole time. He ate half of an enormous blueberry muffin and then played with the straw in my water for the rest of the time. We also got outside to play for a while on Sunday afternoon - gosh I love this weather!! I can't wait to see Ethan running around the neighborhood with all the kids this summer!

That's it, I will post pictures this weekend when we take a few more.

Children's Museum

I took Ethan to the Naperville Children's Museum this weekend and we met a few of my co-workers and their kids. It ended up being a yucky, rainy day, so it was a nice place to get out without being in the elements. We met right when it opened, which was definitely a good idea because about an hour later it was crammed with people! So, we at least got to see a lot of the exhibits without crawling through many other people and their little ones. Ethan wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but I just let him walk around and look at his own pace.

We first went to the music room and he was good at pounding on the drum items. After testing out the sounds, he then took on his daddy's engineering skills and testing fitting the rubber mallet into the different holes of the musical instruments.

Next exciting exhibit was the HUGE pinball machine.

On to building with some pvc piping with friend Max (5 weeks younger than Ethan)

Then, the water table...most of the kids wore water-proof smocks, but Ethan was too sophisticated for those. :)

On our way out...

My tidy little boy

Not sure if Ethan is just going through a phase or if he's already got Mommy's crazy 'neat freak' gene. Everything he sees on the floor that is "ockie," (spelling?) he has to pick it up and either hand it to me or go and put it in the garbage himself. All Sasha's little tufts of hair get picked up by hand these days, and he also found some dried up leaves from a plant that fell on the floor and he picked each one up separately and brought them to me. He is, just in general, good at helping to pick things up though, so it's not just the yucky stuff. Even Lauren made a comment when I picked him up on Friday, that he just is sucha helper. I realize that one day he will probably put up quite a fight to help me pick up his toys, but I'll take it now, while I can get the help.

Some cute things he's been saying lately:

*When you put his sunglasses on him, he immediately says "dude" - very cute!

*I let Sasha out this morning and she knows she gets a biscuit afterwards. I made her sit and then I gave her the treat and he immediately said, "good girl", which is usually what I follow up with after she properly sits and gets her treat. This one seriously blew me out of the water when he beat me to the punch! The things that he is attuned to!!

Here's a cute picture of Ethan in his duck towel after a bath:

We also had Uncle Patrick spend the night Friday night after we went to dinner with my side. Ethan kept saying "uncle" around Patrick.

Little bit of dancing before bedtime.

Valentine's Weekend

This weekend we were all a bit under the weather, so we weren't too active. I had a barking cough, Dave had sinus issues and Ethan is pretty much now over what he had last weekend.

Ethan is very into giving kisses these days and even trys to pucker his lips now instead of coming at you with his big, wet open mouth! :) He also now knows where his butt and eyebrows are (very important anatomy parts..ha ha).

Ethan giving mommy nice smooches.

Saturday I took Ethan over to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hickman while Daddy stayed home and studied.

Working on a puzzle (he does pretty good at finding where the pieces go)

He now says "ugh, go?" when we say, "where did it go?". And, he tilts his little wrist like we do, to say it...it's absolutely adorable!

He got a new remote control car. He's a bit afraid of the car when it comes at him and I don't think he realizes that pushing the button on the remote actually is what is making the car move, but he looks awful cute holding the controls!

Lastly on Saturday, Grandma had found a real good deal on a big frog tent. Ethan wasn't so thrilled with going in by himself, but he was very thankful that the Grandparents took the time to patiently put the thing up, all for only about 10 minutes of play. I think cousin Rowan and Ethan need to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and have some fun during a sleep over. ha ha

Not so sure I should go in there, Grandma

I guess if Grandma is in there, it's okay
Here's a picture of Ethan showing off his 'kick'