Our One and Only

It's Kaika's birthday today and he's 7 years old (50 in human years).  Ethan woke up at midnight last night crying because we didn't have plan anything for him...and he was serious.  So today we got busy making a banner, giving lots of hugs & kisses and treats, too.  Note to self: stop informing Ethan about the next day's happenings because he's an over thinker and it causes him either no sleep or to be an early riser from all the excitement.  Anyway, Kaika is aging rapidly since he's going through this torturous toddler stage again - this time with Gavin.  We're working very hard on being gentle with our doggie and that he isn't a horse to ride on.  Other than that, he's still the old Kaika who gets crazy excited anytime anyone comes through the door.  9:30 pm comes along and he's whining to go outside so he could go to bed.  Speaking of whining...he's doing it right now as I type.  Oh, so glad Kaika didn't turn out to be some trucker's companion dog.  Now that would have been interesting...Happy Birthday Buddy!

Gavin Update IV

Another appointment at the ENT this morning.  Fluid in both ear but no infections.  They also did a test where they send a puff of air into his ears to see if his ear drums move.  They did not so I guess he's still underwater which could have affected his hearing and speech this whole time.  But they don't really know for sure.  Anyway, we're scheduled to put tubes in on June 5th. 

On Being a Mamma

If you know Ethan you know that he is not a big cuddler and is Mr. Independent from like Day 1.  He loves quality time, but it means more if it's with Brian.  So for him to all of a sudden be attached to me is really strange but nice at the same time.  I'll take all the randoms "I love you's" and hugs & kisses as much as he'll give them to me.  He even loves cuddling with me on the couch while we watch cartoon.  I love it!  To me those kinds of "rewards" are what make motherhood worth while. 

From preschool

 

Mother's Day weekend was nice because we got a lot of things done + everyone is happy, which is a rarity around here.  Yesterday when I went in to get Ethan, the first thing he said to me was "Happy Mother's Day" with a kiss.  How sweet is that!  After nap, we grabbed dinner and headed to the Great Falls for a family picnic and hike.  It was great despite the fact that it took forever to get into the park since everyone else had the exactly same idea.  What a beautiful afternoon to be outside with the family.

Body Art

This is what happened after watching Charlotte's Web:

"Twittering" on Blog

An unsuccessful morning out to the library.  Ethan wanted me to sit and read with him, but I couldn't.  Was too busy chasing Gavin around while he knocked down all the book.

Mamma Wisdom of the Week

Both Brian and I are pretty involved when it comes to disciplining our kids...sometimes probably too much.  Unfortunately, we react and feel the need to address EVERYTHING that they do which in turn drives ourselves bonkers.  Recently, Ethan has been reverting back to his baby ways mostly I'm sure from seeing Gavin.  Ethan would throw a "fake" tantrum just for every little thing and it drives me crazy.  We've gone through multiple talks of "use your words" and "you're not a baby anymore so that's not how you act" blah, blah, blah but nothing seemed to help.  So I started ignoring him, you know the whole don't fuel the fire thing which is really hard.  And of course that only escalate the crying even more and lasting even longer.  Oh goodie!  I have to talk myself through not reacting or even acknowledging it because I know it's a trap.  So I hold my tongue which surprisingly makes me calmer (some days).  Then there are other days when I forget and gave him the wrath of Kay (j/k) and I can see a sly smile on Ethan's face because he got exactly the reactions that he wanted.

Just tonight we were all hanging out and having fun when I mentioned that it was time for bed.  Oh boy, there came the biggest fake cries.  So I talked Brian through ignoring it and started going upstairs.  Up he came running, did his bedtime routines and then it was all laughs and smiles and into bed.  Whew, WWIII diverted.  #smallvictory

Ethan's Salvation Story

At church a few weeks ago, Ethan learned about the walls of Jericho when Debra approached Brian afterwards.  She wanted to let him know that while the other kids are happy to just sing the song, Ethan was picking things up more than everyone else:

Ethan: So what happened to all the people?
Ms. Debra:  Which people?
Ethan: The people inside the wall.
Ms. Debra:  Well...they died.
Ethan: Did they go to heaven or hell?
Ms. Debra:  Wow...that is a great question Ethan.

Debra also wanted to warn us about the next week's lesson, which is about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego because she knew there would be more questions coming from Ethan.  Even though they didn't die, she didn't want him to think that God is only about punishment, fire, or death.

Along with that, I'm excited to share that Ethan just recently accepted Jesus into his heart.  It was pretty exciting.  This is one of those things that neither one of us was sure he was ready.  But after asking more questions, it seemed that his four year old mind understood.  He said he wanted to be in heaven with Nana and Jesus when he dies.  And to me, that is child-like faith.  Who are we to say that isn't legitimate and prevent him from doing so.  We're praying that this would be a foundation that would start him on the right path towards Christ as he gets older.  On the way to school today, he told me that he wanted to tell his teachers about it and I encouraged him to do so =0)  I don't think neither one of them are Christians.

Family Update

Sorry I've been MIA from the blog world for a while.  Here are some of our happenings lately:

Brian's work outing at the Nat's game and this is his sweet view:

 front row just past third base

Ethan was invited to his preschool friend's birthday party at a Touch-A-Truck event.  Although he isn't really the typical boy who's into cars & trucks, he did enjoy it.  He got to see how the garbage truck works, climbed on the tow truck,

 rode on a motorcycle,

saw the inside of the police van,

honked the horn of the semi truck among other things.  The highlight of that morning was seeing a police helicopter circle above and then land in the parking lot.  We couldn't get on that one but were able to see it up close.  It was pretty cool!

Gavin got a cold from MOPS AGAIN although he seemed to be in good spirits.  I'm praying that it doesn't turn into an ear infection and that we start the whole process all over again.  He is super fast on his feet and is practically running. Two active boys...I wondered sometimes what God was thinking.

This was date night last week:

  

@ Thomas Jefferson Memorial

The only Memorial that we've never made it to.  Later that night we ended up at a unique Louisiana restaurant/bakery.  It was refreshing to have a night on the town together.

As for me, I've been busy trying to figure out summer activities (swim & ukulele lessons and VBS) for the kids since everything is winding down at the end of the month.  I'm also scrambling to find a preschool for Ethan to enroll in next year since we won't be going back to his old one.  But so far I'm not finding a good fit.