Goodbye 2009 ... Hello 2010

Has a year gone by already ... really? As I sit here at work, by myself, in the silence, for a half day thank goodness, I'm thinking about what last year held for us. As I think back, I come up with all these thoughts and I feel so blessed:

During these tough times of a recession we are blessed to still have a job.

Despite an occasionally ear infection or stomach bug, we are all alive and healthy.

God has led us to a new church. We finally feel like we are home.

We have amazing family and friends who love us for exactly who we are - good, bad and ugly.

I'm not going to make any New Year's resolutions that I know I can't keep. The older I get the more I realize there is no purpose for these resolutions when you know they don't last long. No Amanda, you will never have a body like Heidi Klum so stop dreaming. Instead, we are making personal goals for bettering ourselves - both inside and out.

I'll strive to trust in God for what is best for myself and my family. I'll keep thinking positive thoughts and know that God has a plan for myself and my family.

As the clock ticks towards midnight tonight, I'll be snuggled up to my sweetie pie (probably already sleeping soundly) with a glass of champagne in hand and I'll be thanking God for all the wonderful and amazing things He has done for us this year. Here's to a wonderful 2010 with even better memories than 2009 held! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given

I sit here on Christmas Eve and can't help but feel a swell of emotion. My son, who will be two years old tomorrow, is nestled all snug in his bed while visions of choo-choos dance in his head. Two years ago at this exact moment he did not physically exist in our lives, and yet here he is about to turn two years old. This time two years ago I was in the midst of serious labor pains and just waiting it out for the moment we were ready to meet our son. Now I know what Mary and Joseph felt like. Can you imagine waiting to finally meet the Saviour of the world ... and he's your son? Nothing can be more amazing than that. What an amazing day that was for her, and for us. Literally the best Christmas gift I could ever ask for. People ask me what I am getting for Christmas this year and I honestly don't want a single thing - OK, well maybe a laptop. I just think, "How can any gift honestly compare to what I received two years ago?". I hope everyone has something in their life that makes them smile and know life is so worthwhile. I know I am looking forward to seeing my child's' face light up when he sees a train sitting underneath the Christmas tree. It's our gift back to him for making our life so rich and colorful these past two years. Happy Birthday Jesus and Happy Birthday to our sweet Ethan. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

A Big Boy Birthday Party

Try saying that three times really fast! He has grown up so fast before our very eyes and I can hardly believe that he will be two in three days! This past weekend we had a small birthday party with just family for Mr. E turning the BIG 0-2. We had a blast and I know he went to bed dreaming of trucks and trains. That's pretty much all he received - toys with wheels!

Uncle Tim and E

I thought this was so cute - he's just SO tempted to grab a sausage ball! Pawpaw and E

Our gingerbread house we made, and Chris finished before E could destroy it!Our winter wonderland theme

The adorable cake from Harry PeterThe Thomas Tent that he went NUTS for! I've never heard him scream so loud.

... and here's the reaction! Priceless, and definitely scrapbook worthy.

E sitting in the rocking chair that I had when I was his age. Sniff - so sweet.

Taking a peek at his presents soon to be opened!

And the opening of presents begins ...

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candle - of course mama had to help.

Me and my sis

Aunt Liv and E

Uncle Frankie and Ashley gave him a card with the Hamster Dance and he kept opening it and dancing along. It was hilarious, and probably his most favorite gift!

... and he's officially pooped.

Say Cheese!

We headed out to the Anne Springs Close Greenway a few weekends ago with Jamie from Oasis Photography for Ethan's 2 year old pictures. She has completed them and they are gorgeous! She is so talented so if anyone is looking for candid style photos, she's your gal! Here are some of our favorites, and I have a lot of them:

Ethan is 23 Months Old

Our little man isn't so little anymore. He will be two years old in less than a month and I for one am flabbergasted. Here's a few things going on in his world:

• He can count to 10 - Ok I know you're thinking WHAT IS SHE SMOKING? He can count to three and then four to ten. It's rare that he goes all the way, but he's getting there! Smart cookie
• He's just talking up a storm and starting to put three to five words together in a sentence.
• He loves dancing and "singing" to Hokey Pokey and Hot Dog from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I think we listened to H.P. seven times in a row the other morning.
• We've given up on the potty training ... for now. We just realized with the holidays around it's just going to be too busy to focus 100%. We'll pick it back up when things settle down in the winter. He was doing well though!
• He has been very healthy lately but over Thanksgiving, he had been really fussy and hard to please. We were trying our hardest to keep him happy. We even changed plans on Saturday to take him to Fundaygo's (an indoor playground) and Chuck E Cheeses for lunch. It became Ethan Day! That made him happy to an extent but didn't last long. On top of all that he had a runny nose, hacking cough and then a temperature of 103.3 on Saturday night. Chris took him to the doctor this afternoon and he has AN EAR INFECTION , again. I've made an appointment for him on Monday and we're going to go ahead and get tubes in. Bless his heart. Please keep him, and us, in your prayers.

ETHAN POOPED!

This is so blogworthy and such a big deal that I just couldn't wait any longer! Ethan pooped in the toilet this morning!!! I can hardly believe it! He is FINALLY showing signs of readiness for going potty and this morning I was so proud of him! We were sitting at the island in the kitchen while Chris (yes Chris) was making blueberry muffins. Ethan turned to me and said "Poop Mommy. Poop Mommy!" So, I assumed he meant he pooped in his diaper so I took him out of his seat to change his diaper. I looked down there and there was nothing. I told him "Ethan there is no poop. Do you need to poop? Do you want to sit on the potty?" He said yes. First of all, I was already surprised because we occasionally sit him on the potty but it's not very consistent. I just wanted to wait until he was ready and not force him. I took him to the bathroom, pulled down his pants, took off his diaper and sat him on the toilet. He started doing the poopy face (we all know what that looks like) and was already reaching for the toilet paper. He already knew what to do, I guess from either watching us (yes we take him with us to potty) or at daycare. Two of the kids are already potty trained or are working on it. All of a sudden, he pooped, and it was a BIG turd! Ha! I called Chris in and we were doing the potty dance! We were praising him a lot and Ethan was clapping for himself and saying YEA!!! I am so excited and I hope this is the start of things to come! We will be making a potty purchase today! Wish us luck.

K!

I've been meaning to write about this very cute incident since Sunday night but I've been slammed at work (yea - the market may be turning around) so I haven't had a bit of time. Now I'm sitting down at the computer to relax for a bit. It's a short story so don't expect a lot ...

Sunday afternoon we headed up to Toys R Us for a bit of early Christmas shopping. Afterwards we were right across from the mall so we decided to go there for dinner. In conversation with Chris, I asked if he wanted to go to Barnes and Nobles, but I said the bookstore. That must have rung a bell in Ethan's head because as I was carrying him he literally took both of his cubby little hands and put them on both sides of my face, looked me in the eyes and said "Choo choo mama? K!". I just laughed! I thought it was hilarious because that is EXACTLY what I do to him when he won't listen to me. I slow him down by putting my hands on his face, look him in the eye and ask him a question with "OK" on the end. Wow how they learn fast!

Halloween 2009

Happy Belated Halloween all! We had a eventful Halloween and make the most of it since it was so HUMID outside! What kinda Halloween is that!?! Anyways, we went to a small fall festival, trick-or-treated for about umm 30 minutes, then topped off the evening with a late dinner at Chick-fil-a - all with our friends the Ledfords! I must say though - Ethan looked VERY cute in his monkey outfit. Like I said, we had to get a quick picture with the costume on and then we stripped him down. He was sweating and it was just too much! Maybe next year it'll be cooler!

E making monkey noises
Two peas in a pod - or in a monkey suit shall I say

Run monkey run!

Enjoying his Halloween candy at the end of the night

Ethan is 22 Months Old!

Here's some of the crazy stuff going on in Ethans' world:

• He is now jumping - like feet off the ground. He loves to jump when you tell him to jump!
• He definitely knows the colors red and blue.
• He loves to line all of his Tonka cars up in a line, like a train. He'll just talk and talk and talk while he's doing it.
• He is starting to really like coloring. He likes to lay down on his belly to color.
• He also LOVES stickers. My mom got him a Thomas the Tank Engine coloring book with stickers, and he's in heaven!

A Day at the Farm

Saturday afternoon we went to Patterson Farms right outside of Mooresville, NC with the Ledfords to pick pumpkins with the babies. It was quite a hike to get there but well worth the drive. Chris even wants to go back next year! It was such a cool place. They had so many activities for the kiddos like a corn kernel pit (think ball pit, but with corn kernels), a petting zoo, a playground, hayrides and of course a pumpkin patch. The punkins were already picked off the vine which was probably better for the babies since they're so young. The weather was a lot cooler than I expected and we were not prepared. Luckily we did have an extra jacket in the car for Ethan and Carrie had an extra hat, so he had four layers on! His poor hands were frozen solid. But like always, he made the best of it and had a blast! The one thing that Ethan really wanted to do that we didn't get to because it was so cold was ride the hayride. He loved watching it drive by since it was a HUGE John Deere tractor. Maybe next time we'll think to bring a blanket! Check out our pictures!

The Ledfords

Katy Rae

Carayray and KR

My sweet lil' punkin'

My absolute favorite!

I have NO idea why he is licking the stump!

The next GQ cover