easter treats

thanks to bonnie i found this super cute easter treat idea. original recipe can be found at this blog, which i now follow because she has such fun and unique ideas! how i wish i had the time (and patience!!) to try them all. i ended up making 2 batches - one practice (chicks turned out too pale) and then the final batch which i was going to take to the easter egg hunt on saturday morning. here are the little guys! fun and springy! they did take forever though, so it will probably be a while before i attempt something like this again. but even lance agreed (and he is not a huge fan of white chocolate or yellow cake) that they were really, really good.

easter egg hunt

we had a practice easter egg hunt at our playgroup today. all of the kids are 4 and under, so it was really more of an easter egg pick up in the middle of a field. but lots of fun, nonetheless. there were tons of eggs and all the kids were really excited! ethan knew what to do this year, but was much more interested in opening up the eggs and seeing what was in there than gathering up a bunch. i think he managed to grab about 5 total. he seemed content to just keep opening them up hoping that something else would appear inside.

since it was beautiful weather, the kids got to play outside after the egg hunt. the woman who hosted had some great outdoor toys and ethan was in love with this front end loader toy. he kept putting things in the bucket and then dumping them. he had a blast and i could barely keep him off that thing.

like father, like son. wednesday was also the day that lance picked up his bobcat/skid-steer in oklahoma city. pictures will surely follow in the coming weeks. ethan loves all sorts of construction equipment, so i am excited to let him see the bobcat. i know he'll be eager to climb right up!

happy 8 months, miles!

another month has gone by...

breakfast with daddy

lance was gone for 4 days this last drill and every.single.one of them ethan asked me no less than 10 times each day "where daddy go?" he was so excited this morning to see lance at the table when i brought him down for breakfast.

a sunday nap

ethan was not having his nap today, but after 4 days straight of no nap he was in desperate need. i put him down like usual, but after about 1 hour he was already calling for me...he usually waits about 2 hours if he isn't sleeping. i went up to make sure he was okay and told him he needed to sleep and that i would come get him when naptime was over. ha! he wasn't a fan. i will give it to him after about another 45 minutes of him playing (very loudly!) there was sudden quiet and calm. i went up there and i found him, with blankie and lovie of course, right by the gate to his door. since it was pretty late, i let him sleep a little over an hour and then had to wake him. he had shifted his position and his little bottom was up in the air. i couldn't resist taking another picture of that. so sweet!

one of those milestones...

holding a bottle. this is one of those milestones that you never really think about when reading the books or all those random babycenter emails you get...it is just not up there with crawling, rolling over, smiling, walking, etc, etc. i don't even really remember when ethan started holding his bottle, but it seemed like it might have been a bit earlier than this. well, we've crossed over into bottle holding territory just recently and even though there are reasons why i am excited about this, it also makes me sad.

i am excited for the fact that i'll get back a few precious minutes in the afternoons when i am rushing around between babysitters. i am excited for being able to feed miles while i also get ethan's lunch or dinner ready. i am excited because miles is turning into a little person, not just my baby.

but i am sad because even though there are those times when i feel like it is a chore to sit down and feed miles, i know that it will be gone all too quickly. since i've already done this once, i know that i will miss it dearly when he doesn't need me there to be the one to give him food. you are so eager for them to grow up that you just look ahead to all of the new things they will be doing and forget about those sweet things that make them your baby.

i will miss it.

i love nursing him when he wakes up from his nap when he is snuggled up right beside me. i love how he takes a break and looks up at me and gets this huge smile and milk drips down his chin. i love how his hands reach up and grab my face. i love how he is so warm and molds his body up next to mine. and even though it makes me tired, i love nursing him or feeding him a bottle in the middle of the night when everything is quiet and it is just the two of us. i love seeing how excited he gets when i bring him a bottle - he just shakes with excitement at knowing what is coming. i love how he curls up in my lap while i give him the bottle and all is calm for a few moments.

even the fact that he is able to do this now doesn't mean i will just throw a bottle to him and hope for the best, but it does give me a few extra minutes when we are rushing around trying to get everyone out the door - and who doesn't need that?? i'll still cherish those other times though, because they do allow me to step back and take a break from rushing around and just enjoy my little guy before he gets too old and doesn't want to sit still with me anymore.

a boy and his trains

ethan loves to play with his thomas trains. he plays with them daily. his favorite piece of the trainset is the drawbridge. he is constantly pushing the trains up it and then letting them slide down the hill on the other side. sometimes the train makes it, other times there is a huge crash!