Just Ethan

Today Ethan gave me a card for Mother's Day that says on the front under a funny picture: "Mom, I know sometimes I'm stubborn and demanding..." and on the inside it says, "Fortunately, I'm cute enough to make up for it!"

That pretty much sums it up! This little 2 year old brings more laughter and joy into our home than we could have ever thought possible.

Always wants to wrestle with Dada!

A few days ago I checked on him during his nap and he was fast asleep sitting straight up!

Loving to sing! A little Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes action:

He is so good now at his abc's and counting to 10. I tried to get both on video, unfortunately doing something for the camera is not on his list of fun things to do. Here he is trying to count to 10, but being a little distracted by his leopard's tail:

SEW Happy!

I have a list of projects I want to finish before this baby comes (2 WEEKS TO GO)! One of them was to finish sewing this bag for my friend Jessica. For her birthday last August I told her I wanted to make her a bag (I had the pattern, but wanted her to pick out the fabric). In Sept. we went shopping for the fabric, and I got it all cut out and ready to go. Then morning sickness hit!

9 months later I finally finished it! Thanks for the help with the pinning and pressing Margaret!

Happy late Brithday to my very patient friend!

Lilacs 2010

Last year on Mother's Day we went to Ewing Park to the lilac arboretum (35 acres, and 1,200 lilac trees)! It is beautiful when it is in bloom. I really wanted to go for Mother's Day again this year to keep up the tradition, but since April has been like summer here in Des Moines everything is blooming early, so we decided to go yesterday!

It was good that we did, because a lot of the blossoms were already gone. We got there right after a big rain storm and it was gorgeous and smelled so good!

We had a yummy picnic with our friends and strolled through the lilacs. Well, most people strolled...Ethan RAN! Clark kept up with him and I waddled along behind.

(This was my view the entire time, Ethan on the run and Clark in tow.)

(Once in a while I could get Ethan to stop and smell the purple flowers, and he would say, "mmmm, yummy!")

A family from church happened to be there the same time as us. Ethan spotted them from across the park, Dawn Larsen is his nursery leader, and their little girl Evelyn is in his nursery class. They were taking a family picture in a tree and Evelyn kept saying, "my friend is coming and he will sit by me," she saw Ethan from clear across the park and knew who he was. He was so excited to see Dawn and to jump up in the tree with his friend.

Then he fell in a muddy marsh.

(But being covered in mud didn't slow him down!)

(He loves Shannon and trying to make her laugh!)

(Ethan with his best buddy)

(Ethan last year at the lilacs! It is crazy how much he has grown! I also just realized he is wearing the same T-shirt this year that he wore last year, apparently we get a lot of use out of BYU shirts. It's also funny to me that both years he really needs a haircut too!)

Our Growing Family! I have a lot to be thankful for this Mother's Day!

An Update: Clark Rocks!

So apparently Clark read my post from this afternoon before he came home from school! He welcomed us home from grocery shopping with a Carmel Brownie Blizzard for me!

The baby and I really appreciate it. Clark is the best husband a girl could ever have!

I LOVE YOU!

Pregnancy

Clark and I both feel that pregnancy is truly a miracle. It is amazing all of the developing and growing that happens in a short time to bring a new life into the world. We are both really thankful for the healthy pregnancy that I have had.

That being said, I'm also grateful that pregnancy eventually comes to an end. After an ultrasound Monday we will know the date we will get to meet this little baby! It will probably be in the next 2-3 weeks. I can't believe how soon it will be here!

My friend Jessica told me about a new fuel call system that will be going into gas stations in Iowa to serve the disabled. Basically a person just has to push a button and a worker will come pump your gas for you. We laughed because pregnant women were included under the umbrella of "disabled." But the more pregnant I get the more disabled I feel!

One good thing about being very pregnant is that I have a lot more patience with Ethan. Not because I'm more patient necessarily, but simply because I don't have the energy to chase him, carry him up the stairs, fight him into his carseat, etc. So the last little while I just patiently herd him along, sometimes getting him into the car takes 15 mins...but eventually we make it, and I choose to be pain free rather than on time.

Last night at midnight I asked Clark to go get me a milkshake, he looked at me like I was nuts! I was just realizing I only have a few days left to play the pregnancy craving card...got to take advantage of it now! No, I didn't get my midnight milkshake...maybe tonight if I ask a little earlier?

Pretty much we are just excited to welcome this new little boy into our home!

His Own Patch of Dirt

A few weeks ago I babysat my friend's girls at their house. Ethan was overjoyed when he found a pile of dirt under their trampoline. He could have sat under there digging for hours. I felt bad that we didn't have any dirt for him to dig in at our house...

well tonight while we were playing outside Ethan found his dirt. A tiny little patch of dirt underneath our deck and behind our nasty spider bushes (as I call them). He was perfectly content to sit under there digging and eating dirt!

Could life be better than this?

I Am A Teacher

Since Ethan is sleeping and Clark is studying...I am blogging. Here goes with 5 posts in a row!

I LOVE teaching, it is something that I enjoy and that I am passionate about. I most enjoy teaching things that I feel strongly about, when I taught 5th grade I loved teaching my students America's history. I have loved all of my opportunities to teach at church - in the recent years I've had the chance to teach the women in Relief Society, Old Testament Gospel Doctrine class, and 14-15 year old young women - but I am especially loving right now teaching the primary kids age 3-11. I love watching kids get excited about learning, I love seeing the light bulb moment when you can just tell that it clicked in their brains, and I love hearing their insights and testimonies of Jesus.

This is just a fun little idea I wanted to share-

I made this puppet when I was going to BYU to teach a class of first graders the "short e sound," so his name is Ed.

Ed is always hungry and loves eating things off of paper plates. When I taught the "short e sound," I had several plates hanging on the chalkboard with different words some had the short e sound, and some didn't. One by one the kids got to come pick a plate to feed Ed. If it was correct Ed hungrily eats the plate, if incorrect he gags, chokes, spits it out, or just refuses to eat it. For some reason kids think this is HILARIOUS and so much fun!

I've adapted it for church lessons for the younger kids putting up plates of Christlike behavior, vs. not so great behavior, etc. You really could use it to review or emphasize any lesson.

It was so easy to make...basically I cut out 2 cardboard circles and hot glued them to paint sticks, I then attached an old pillow case to the base of the cardboard and the paint sticks. Then I just used felt, pom-pom balls, and fake fur to decorate the face. I got the original idea from a teacher that attached her puppet to a big trash bag and used it for picking up litter around the classroom.

Tonight we used Ed for our Family Night lesson, and Ethan LOVED it! As you can see on the video, he was a little nervous to feed him, but thought it was so much fun!