Easton and Blair's Room

Here's a few pictures of what I have been up to this last week.

The monkey hooks have mini chalkboards hanging from them that spell out BLAIR (its kind of hard to see).

A closer look at the monkey hooks (all the frames that have colored paper in them will be replaced once Blair decides to join our family).

Easton's side of the room.

I covered the wooden letters with scrapbook paper but again it is hard to see in the picture. I'm planning on doing Blair's hand and foot prints above her name like I did here with Easton.

Closer look at Easton's bed spread.

Wall hangings that came with bedroom set.

I painted all the green and brown frames and decorated the other frames with the same scrapbook papers I used for Easton's name. I also put the animals on the frames.

Closer look at the frames. The frame in the middle will have a picture of the two of them and the rest will have pics of Blair in them.

Shoe orgainizer behind the door. Easton loves this and won't stop playing with his shoes. He lines them all up next to his door (probably because we line up some of our shoes by the front door). Luckily he can only reach his shoes. The shoe organizer also came with toy hammack and a laundry basket.

Building Museum and Circus

On Wednesday I went with a few friends downtown DC to the building museum (building zone for kids). It wasn’t exactly as I thought it would be, but I think we all still had a really great time. Easton of course enjoyed it (which is all that matters) and started crying when it was time to leave. Easton had fun with puzzles, throwing balls, lining up chairs, building towers and of course destroying them, and playing with all the dump trucks. He was a busy little boy and it was definitely hard for me to keep up to take any descent pictures.

On Friday Nathan took us out to eat at a nice Italian restaurant. They serve almost everything family style so basically everyone has to agree on what you want or you pay a lot and bring home a lot. Luckily, they had fettuccini as a side dish because if anyone knows me I pretty much have to have fettuccini when I go to an Italian restaurant (I know I’m boring). We got that along with a small chicken dish (similar to chicken cordon bleu). It was really good. On the way home from the restaurant I was looking out my window and saw a huge tent that looked as though it could possibly be a circus tent. I was so excited and had to know what it was so I made Nathan drive around to find the tent. We eventually made it over to the fair grounds and it was in fact a circus tent. I have always wanted to go to the circus and I made it pretty clear to Nathan that I really wanted to go. We went home to check on line to see what times the shows were at and of course how much it would cost. During all this exciting research and showing Easton videos of the circus, Nathan fell asleep. I decided we could wait until the next day to purchase tickets.

On Saturday Nathan thought that it would be a good idea to purchase the tickets on line to make sure that we had tickets for the show. What do you know; when we got online to buy the tickets they were all sold out. I was so sad and devastated. I seriously thought I was going to cry. I wanted to go so bad. Luckily Nathan had a great idea to go to the fairgrounds and see if they might still have tickets there. They did which was good news for me but for some reason the tickets were more expensive there than they were on line. Some nice people waiting in line with Nathan actually had some extra $5 off coupons and gave Nathan two of them. Apparently they don’t sell general admission (cheapest) tickets until an hour before the show so Nathan bought the most expensive tickets (VIP). I’m guessing Nathan wanted to make sure that we for sure had tickets so that I wasn’t disappointed again if the show sold out before we got tickets. I know my Handsome loves me! We were in the third row. It was awesome. We had a great time despite the fact that it was really hot and we were all sweating (great picture I’m sure). Easton was having the time of his life. He was super excited and clapping almost the entire time. I swear he didn’t blink the entire time we were there. He loved all the animals and of course had to point to all of them out and tell us exactly what they were. This morning Nathan informed me that Easton was following his elephant (Horton) around the house by the tail and that he was also putting Horton on top of a box and making Nathan pet him. I wish I would have seen it. It is so funny and cute the things kids remember and copy.

The elephants were my favorite.

The bottom lady is hanging from the top lady's hair (ouch and crazy).

Tight rope walkers (7 men pyramid).

Quick Update

Nathan seems to be enjoying surgery minus the long hours. On Friday he had to work 26 hours. He worked his normal hours at Walter Reed but then had to go over to another hospital for the rest of his shift. There he got two knife wounds, a head injury from a bar fight, and a car accident. Nathan helped put staples in the guys head that got into a bar fight. Nathan did get a little break on Friday when he got to go and hear Elder Nelson speak to the medical students and their families.

I had my 32 week doctor’s appointment on Friday. Everything is going well. My doctor said that if I went late like I did with Easton, he wouldn’t let me go longer than a week. So we should have our baby girl sometime on or before June 13th. Right now it feels like it is going by way too fast probably because I’m not completely ready for this little girl to make her appearance. I’m still waiting for the car seat to get here. It has been on back order since I ordered it on March 1st. They say that it should be in stock by this Saturday so hopefully it will get here on time. Saturday I went to women’s conference at our stake center. I was really glad that I went but I felt a little bad because Nathan had to watch Easton with only two hours of sleep that day.

Nathan and I took Easton to the really cool park that I finally found. It was really neat but really busy. I didn’t even bother to take pictures because it was too crazy. I will have to take Easton back when it isn’t a weekend. Hopefully then it won’t be too busy. We also grabbed some ice cream on the way back home. Note to self: don’t tell toddler about ice cream until you get to the ice cream place. Easton was having a melt down in the back seat, whining “I ceam, I ceam, I ceam” over and over again. To make matters worse I swear we hit every red light imaginable. Easton definitely needs to learn some patience. He sure did enjoy his ice cream though. I think it is crazy how kids learn some of the things they do. Today I found Easton drinking from his cereal bowl the left over milk. Where did he learn this? I don’t do it (I admit I did it every once in a while as a kid) and if Nathan does do this, Easton and him hardly if ever eat breakfast together. I honestly can’t remember the last time they had breakfast together. So where did he learn this?

I don't have any pictures or videos from this week but I remembered that I never posted the pictures/videos from our Easter dinner with friends. I like how Easton finds an egg, opens it up, grabs the candy, and leaves the egg behind.

32 weeks, Easter stuff, and other random things

32 weeks down. 8 more to go! Happy Easter everyone! We just got back from having Easter dinner with some friends/ward members. We had a great time.

Easton and I went to our wards playgroup Easter party on Friday. I decided to make and bring Easter egg sugar cookies. I thought it would be fun for Easton to help me make them but this is about as much helping as he did. I guess I do have to give him credit for frosting about half a cookie and putting sprinkles on it but he ended up eating two cookies. He is a sneaky one.

Easton didn’t seem to have as much fun with this Easter egg hunt as he did at Nathan’s school but he did enjoy the candy that came inside. Like I said before, he is a sneaky one. He kept unwrapping the candy and sticking it in his mouth. Before I knew it he had eaten almost all the candy. He did save a little to share with Daddy though. When we got home from the party it was time for Easton’s nap. He was playing in his room for a little bit with the bouncer but eventually things got quiet. I went into his room to check on him and I found him asleep in the bouncer. We might have a harder time giving this toy to Blair then we thought.

When Easton got up from his nap I thought it would be fun for him to go outside and ride his bike since it was a nice day and the sun was actually shinning. We weren’t out there for more than a minute when a bee buzzed right by Easton and he freaked out. He started crying, screaming, and shaking. He eventually ran to me to pick him up. Apparently I can save him from the bees. Easton has been terrified of bees ever since he saw some kids at the park in Florida freak out about the bees there. Before then he would just ignore them or point to them and say “buzz”. It looks like we won’t be going outside much this spring unless Easton can overcome his fear of bees.

Easton woke up this morning (Easter) to a chocolate bunny and an Easter egg hunt in our living room/dining room. He was super excited. He just thought it was the greatest thing when he spotted an Easter egg. I tried to video him but it is hard to see his excited facial expressions.

Yesterday Easton came and sat in my lap holding his favorite teddy bear “baby” and was rocking it back and forth in his arms. I commented to him how nice he was being to his baby and then asked him if he was going to be just as nice to his baby sister. He looked at me and then threw his bear on the floor. I hope he is not planning on doing that to his sister.

Nathan just finished up his first two weeks of surgery (ENT) and will start anesthesiology tomorrow for two weeks. Two weeks of surgery down only ten more to go. So far it hasn’t been too horrible but I’m sure it is just the beginning. General surgery will probably be the hardest. On Friday Nathan went in to the hospital at 5:30am to play dodge ball with his co-workers. I think he had a really good time even though he came home later that day sore all over. His team won every game except one.

I’m so excited. I finally got my cookbook in the mail the other day. It is called the sneaky chef. I’m looking for ways to hide veggies and other good stuff in some of the foods that Easton eats. He eats some veggies (if they are raw) and does pretty good with fruits but I know he doesn’t get nearly as much as he should. Yesterday I did my first experiment with brownies. I know this is going to sound disgusting but they ended up tasting pretty good. Basically you puree the healthy ingredients and put them in the recipe. This recipe called for spinach, blueberries, wheat germ, and wheat flour (we didn’t have any wheat flour so I just stuck with the regular white). This recipe has about ¼ of the amount of sugar I generally put in my regular brownies and about half the butter I generally use. These brownies are much healthier and Easton ate his piece all up. I have to admit that they don’t taste as good as my usual brownies but they do still taste pretty good. I’m excited to see what else I can sneakily make.

Baseball, Cherry Blossoms, and other happenings

Easton loves his daddy. He will follow Nathan around like his little shadow. It is really cute to watch him copy and mimic things that Nathan does. Easton especially loves it when daddy comes home. He will run right up to Nathan with a huge smile on his face and give him the biggest hug ever. Easton of course loves it when he gets to spend time and play with daddy. Here are two videos of Easton and Nathan playing baseball together.

Easton playing catch with Daddy.

Easton hitting the ball after catching it.

I have started to bring out all of Easton’s old baby stuff (swing, bouncer, toys, etc) hoping that he could get used to all the “new” things before Blair get here. I’m crossing my fingers that he will get all the playing out of his system and get bored of all these things before she gets here. So far it has been almost a week and he loves his bouncer chair. He could sit in it for hours rocking and playing with the toys that make music. Who would have thought that he would have more fun with it at this age then he did when he was littler? I guess it is a good thing that he doesn’t weigh very much so I don’t have to worry about him breaking it. He can be a little rough with the swing at times but also very cute. He will bring his stuffed bear “baby” and put it in the swing with his favorite blanket and push him back and forth. I hope he will be just as cute with his sister.

I got called to do jury duty on Monday. Luckily I didn’t get picked because it would have been a four day trial! Easton got to go over to his friends Savannah’s house. I was glad that I didn’t get picked because I would have missed my little Easton. I was only away from him for half a day and already missed him and was so happy to go and pick him up. Unfortunately the feelings weren’t mutual. The second he saw me come through the door he started crying and didn’t want to leave. That makes you feel great as a parent. At least I know he had fun.

Easton in the tulip garden downtown DC. He had to smell all the flowers.

Easton and I went downtown DC with some friends to enjoy the cherry blossoms. The trees weren’t as nice looking as they were when I went two years ago. I think we went too late this year. It is absolutely gorgeous if you time it just right. Apparently it is tradition for me to go and see the cherry blossoms when I’m huge and pregnant.

Some of my new favorite things that Easton says are:

“mmmmm…good!” He says this almost anytime he eats something (especially if he really likes it).

“Ummmm….okay!” This is definitely my favorite. I can’t tell you how nice it is to hear him say this after a few months of mean NOs!

“dane q” as he hands you something. Translation: Thank you. I’m not exactly sure why he says thank you when he gives you something. It’s a little backwards. Maybe he is reminding us to say thank you because we tend to remind him to say thank you when someone gives something to him.

Can't touch this Easter Party!

Easton and I went to the Easter party that is held every year at Nathan’s school. Easton was really into the egg hunt and collecting as many eggs as he possibly could (a big improvement from last year when he didn’t even want to touch the grass).

Easton and I made a fort in the living room using the box that his and Blair’s new bedroom set came in. I will show pictures of their room once I finish it (hopefully within the next couple of weeks).

Nathan is still receiving birthday gifts from family and just yesterday he got a package from his Dad and Sue. Easton absolutely loves the card they picked out for Nathan. Check out Easton’s dance moves.

Easton is trying to communicate more and more each day. These are some of the latest things he has said:

“A ow o boo!” translation: A cow goes moo! For some reason he has recently started saying boo instead of moo.

“Ow a way!” translation: “Out of the way!” He has a toy car that says that anytime you honk the horn. He says this a lot in the car these days.

Recently when Easton comes into the kitchen whining or crying I will ask him what he needs/wants. I’m trying to get him to tell me what he wants without me prompting him. It hasn’t been working out all that well.

Me: “Easton, what do you need?”

Easton: “ummm…mease” translation: ummm…please. I still have no idea what he wants but at least he’s polite right?

We have a bus stop just outside our apartment so we constantly have buses that drive by. Anytime Easton sees one while he is looking out the window he will do at least two if not three different hand signs and sounds from the song “The Wheels on the Bus.” His favorites are the wheels, horn, baby, and mommy.

April Fools!

For most people this is a day to play tricks on other people but for me it is a special day. Five years ago today is when my handsome husband proposed to me. Yes, I must admit I was a little worried that it was an April fool’s joke. You can’t blame me though because all of Nathan’s co-workers weeks before were coming up with different ideas of how to make it seem like Nathan was going to propose to me as a joke (i.e. They told Nathan to say that he had something really important to ask me and then get down on one knee and tie his shoe while asking me something else other than if I would marry him). A little funny but definitely mean.

At 3:30 in the morning on April 1, 2004 my roommate/best friend woke me up and in a kind of annoyed voice said, “Here’s a rose from Nathan.” Apparently Nathan dropped off a rose at our back door, called Shannah and asked her to put the rose in my hand so that it would be there when I woke up. Shannah tried, but I guess I wouldn’t let go of the covers for her to put it in my hand so she woke me up instead. I jumped out of bed and went to the back door to meet my prince charming but he wasn’t there. It took a while of Shannah repeating the story over and over again before I finally figured out that Nathan was at his apartment not outside mine. I was so confused.

Later that morning after my martial arts class I came back to my apartment to find Nathan standing there with two more roses. In the evening Nathan came over for our daily run with three more roses. Generally Nathan and I would run for 15 minutes up towards the temple and then run back. This time however Nathan said that if I ran all the way up to rock canyon that he would sing me a song. It was a goal of ours to make it all the way up to rock canyon so I figured that he really wanted to accomplish this goal and knew I needed some form of motivation. It is a really steep hill and it was really hard to make it up there (especially with all the wind blowing against me) but I did it! Nathan gave me a hug and then pulled out a tie from his pocket and blind folded me. He led me up to his car where he changed into nice clothes (thanks Nathan. You looked all nice and I was all in my sweaty workout clothes) and then came back with six more roses and a coat to keep me warm. Nathan then took me by the arm and led me up some stairs to some benches that overlooked the valley. After running into a couple of benches and slipping through the space between the table and seat of the bench we sat on, I finally got situated and then Nathan pulled out his guitar and started to sing, “You Are My Sunshine.” He then took off my blind fold and as he was about to get down on one knee I asked him, “This isn’t a joke is it?” I know I kind of ruined the moment but how was I supposed to know for sure? Nathan just ignored the question, got down on one knee, and proposed to me. I just remember how lucky and excited I was to marry the man of my dreams for time and all eternity. I of course said, “YES!” and Nathan put the ring on my finger. I love you Handsome! I hope the last five years have been as wonderful for you as it has for me. You are an amazing husband and father!