Ethan's Blessing

We blessed Ethan this weekend at church. What an incredible experience. Greg gave Ethan a wonderful blessing and the spirit was so strong. Ethan is a very special little boy! (But we already knew that) ;) Greg's brother Brandon and his wife Megan were able to make it down. My Grandma Sharlene also came. Thank you for making the trip to be here! We loved seeing you all again. We definitely missed those family members that weren't able to make it, but we fully understand their situations.

I wish I had some pictures to share but I feel like the entire world conspired against me that morning. Greg had meetings before church so I had to get all three kids ready for church by myself. No big deal. I do that every week. I had laid out all their outfits the night before, including Ethan's blessing outfit. Everything was going great until about 8:40 when I went to get Ethan dressed. His blessing outfit had magically disappeared (ie: Tawny was playing with it, carried it off and forgot where she put it.) I finally found it under the crib and we rushed off to the church. We made it just in time for Greg to grab Ethan and take him up to be blessed. I never found his shoes or hat, but at least he was wearing white. He was nearly blessed in a blue onesie. So no pictures were taken before. And his blessing outfit didn't even make it through sacrament before it had been spit up on and pooped on. So no pictures afterward either. You'll just have to take my word for it that he looked very handsome. Regardless of all the commotion, it was a wonderful day and are so excited to have Ethan in our family.

Conversation

*Brayden was talking to Tawny as she's pouting for not getting her way.

B: You know Tawny, you don't just get your way all the time. Like, just because you want a pet lion doesn't mean you can have one. It would be dangerous and he could eat your face off.

T: Well, I already have a pet lion. He's name is Freddie and he sleeps in my room with me. He has big mean pointy teeth, but he's nice to me. He's only scared of flies. He likes me cause I keep all the flies away.

B: That's silly. You can't really have a pet lion. They live in zoos. And lions aren't afraid of flies.

T: Well my lion is. And he's not a real lion. He's a pretend one.

B: That doesn't even count.

T: Yes it does.

*dissolves into an argument whether a pretend lion counts or not.*

I loved listening to this conversation for so many reason. Mainly because it perfectly shows both of their personalities. Brayden is super cautious, goes by the rules and has both feet firmly planted in reality. Tawny has an incredible imagination and assumes she is the exception to every rule. They couldn't be more different, yet I love them both more than I could say.

On an unrelated note, Tawny has turned into quite the little mommy. She loves Ethan and is so helpful with everything. She would hold him/play with him all day if he could tolerate it.

First Day of Dance

Tawny had her first day of dance class today. She was so excited. Grandma Terri was her teacher. She did great! Her ear-to-ear grin never left her face. Sorry for the poor picture quality. My camera is dying a slow and painful death.

Ethan: 3 weeks

Not much to say. Ethan's three weeks old and his personality is showing more and more. For the most part he is still a great baby. The only disclaimer is that he hates to be swaddled, but that is the only way he'll sleep. I'm looking forward to that being resolved so I can sleep more than 2 hours at a time. The kids desparately want to play with him, but both have colds so for now they can't touch him too much.

Time to Slow Things Down

In the last 3 weeks we have:

• Had a baby (and all the upheaval that comes with that)
• Tawny dislocated her knee
• Brayden started kindergarten
• Greg had his appendix removed
• we sold our car
• Brayden lost his first tooth
• Greg was called as Young Men's president

And those are just the big items. I think it's safe to say that we're ready for everything to slow down!

First Day of School

Brayden's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. Here's how the day went in Brayden's own words:

"I was first scared but then when I came home from school I was happy and I liked school. I loved when we ate lunch and my friend is going to sit by me today. In class I colored and glued beads on my name and then we had lots of recess. I made new friends. That's all."

I think that pretty much sums it up. He seemed like he had a really good day. He has a great teacher and I know the parents of the majority of the kids in his class. I think it will be a great year. I'm not sure he will learn much academically, but it's only kindergarten. The only concern I have is that they have full day kindergarten here. He's at school from 8:30 in the morning to 3:20 in the afternoon. It seems a bit long to me, but I think he'll do fine. A certain mommy really misses having him at home though!

Week in Review

This week has obviously been all about the new baby. I knew Brayden would handle the adjustment pretty well. He's the kind of kid that just rolls with the punches. Plus he was very excited about having a little brother. Tawny, on the other hand, I was a little more concerned about. She seemed excited about having a little brother, but was very insistent that she was still "mommy's little baby". You can imagine my relief when she became completely enamored with Ethan the second we brought him home. She loves helping me with anything and everything that has to do with Ethan. In the morning when I wake up I know exactly where I can find Brayden and Tawny: sitting by Ethan's crib, watching him sleep and waiting for him to wake up.

Yesterday at the store Tawny told a cashier that we have the "most beautiful baby in the whole world with the most beautiful eyes and the most beautiful little toes and the most beautiful belly button and...." I love seeing how much she really loves her little brother.

Minus the late night feedings and the mastitis that I currently have (which is seriously unpleasant by the way) this has been an incredibly peaceful and perfect week. Ethan is such a great baby (for now). He cries very little and is easily soothed when he does. It has been really great to slow down and just spend the week with my kids, just enjoying one another's company. Lots of play......even more sleep...

...and a lot of enjoying our little angel.