3rd Birthday Party- the best yet!

in case you missed it, Ethan's birthday party last year was  a disaster. well, at least for him. He spent the entire time in his room while the friends I thought were so important to invite had fun outside. I decided this year to actually ask him what he wanted. No expectations... no Pinterest... no Facebook comparison... no preschool expectations of "you have to invite your whole class.... Jsust what he wanted. And what he wanted was a 3 little pigs cake and his 2 best friends to just come and play. EASY!!!!! I love it. 

So my amazing husband went to town on the cake. He decided to do the 3 hourse... straw on top, the sticks, then bricks. Ethan LOVED it... and I think it turned out amazing!! He even bought a little wolf to put on the tray.

Yes.. each house had it's own door. And the candles were the chimneys. 

Our street is being renovated, so we moved the party to my parents house- what a blessing to have them in town. SO LAID BACK. Hot dogs and cheetos, juice boxes and cake. DONE! 

And the perk of having the party at Moke and Diesels house is getting to use their bubbles. Nothing better than grandparents who share. =) 

Even time for some dress up. 

As you can see this little boy LOVES his girls. His two best friends could not be more precious, sweet, or generous. They all love holding hands, talking about Frozen and asking where the only one is if someone is missing. Too precious for this mommy. 

Diesel is the best to play with!! 

Now, I accept Tyler to be one who invites his whole class... but I kinda hope Ethan always just wants 2 people. 

Spring a ling a ling time

I must say, I loved Spring Break a lot better when I was a teenager. No school- playing with friends- no bedtime. I can even imagine what it will be like when the boys are teenagers and they sleep all day- WONDROUS!! However, Spring break with two toddlers is HELL! 

All 3 of us are creatures of habit. I am lucky to have married a man who can go off schedule- but I can not. I need routine, boys need routine. And so I dread summers and spring break. YIKES! By Wednesday morning we were all cranky. Amongst the craziness I loved capturing the every day sweet memories though. 

 Like waffles (and pink eye). 

Like watching all the big trucks "break our street"... yep it was lovely having to park on another street and walk home with the boys down the alley. 

Like the playroom looking like a tornado hit it. 

Like brushing our teeth several times a day for fun. And apparently checking out our muscles. 

Like doing EVERYTHING our brother does. 

Like birthday parties. 

Like hanging out with Mr Todd. 

Even though I am certainly ready for tomorrow when our routine kicks back in, I do love every second I get with these two. Even on mornings when I am losing my temper,losing my patience, hurting my feet on legos, yelling "dont spit on your brother" for the 384848534356 time, singing the Frozen songs AGAIN... I wouldn't trade this chaos for anything. I prayed for this. And boy am I thankful this chaotic life is my life. 

"Let's Give It To Mae"

May I introduce Mae. Ethan's sweet cousin and our tool to get rid of Ethan's paci. 

I knew that it was time for Ethan to be done with the paci. Let's face it, he should have been done a year ago. But honestly, I am just not that mom that cares that much. Until one day I looked back in the rearview and he looked like a giant in that carseat with a big paci hanging out of his mouth. SILLY! 

So, Bryan and I decided that Spring Break would be it. He is NO WHERE CLOSE to potty training so, I wanted to tackle at least one obstacle. We told him that paci's were for babies, and he is almost 3 so he is almost a big boy. I asked him to think of babies he knows and he said "Mae!" Perfect. I said, "well lets call Lala and see if Mae could use a paci." As I called my sister, I just prayed not only that she would answer, but that she would be sitting at home just waiting for us to come over. 

Luckily they were home, and were up for being part of this. We loaded in the car and went to Mae's to give her the paci. He was frustrated that his 6 week old cousin wasn't shoving the nasty paci into her mouth. He kept saying" Here Mae.. here is the paci.. I am a big boy now." As much as I am glad that that nasty thing is gone, I did shed a few tears watching up give it to her. It's just another reminder that a stage is ending for him. Time is flying WAY faster than I would like. So I cling to each day and love every phase.. the good the bad and the insane. 

The follow up was much easier than I thought. He went right now to nap without it. At night he asked for it for bed, and I reminded him that we gave it to Mae. "Well," he said "then let's go to her house and go get it from her." After I reminded him that he doesn't need it anymore, he went right to bed. And it's been a perfect dream over since. 

Now... potty training... that's a different story. 

Iphone Purge

So many sweet memories I won't ever want to forget. 

Ethan with his new friend (and cousin) Mae. I have a feeling these two will be sweet friends. 

Helping Mae decide what toy she likes (by placing them all on her body).

What a sweet blessing these two are... amazing teachers for Ethan and amazing friends to me.

This crazy kid takes the hairgel out of my bathroom and asks for "mohaaaaawk!" So here he is in all his glory. 

The perk of working down the hall from my boys is that I get to sneak over for all the holiday parties. 

Ethan's best friend in the whole world is sweet Elliott. Nobody makes him happier. 

During community group, when I told him he had to stay inside, I turned around and saw this.