Soccer Star

Here's Ethan at soccer practice, his first game is this Thursday!

SpRiNg BrEaK...

The house seems too quiet. Ethan and Kamden are taking naps, they're all tuckered out after playing with cousins for the last four days while my sister stayed with us for Spring Break.
Kamden is only 4 months older than Isabelle and we found them upstairs on Ethan's bed reading books Monday night:

And playing in the toybox:

Before we got them back down to the kitchen for dinner:

Then we went swimming at the hot springs...



And Kamden would get out of the pool, run down to the deep end, and be ready to jump in. Thankfully he listened to us all screaming at him to wait for someone to get down there. Just before we were getting ready to go, Kamden decided to jump into the hot pool and not tell anyone. Thankfully Jeff heard the splash and got to him before he swallowed too much water!

We spent a fun day at the zoo, our first trip of the year, and the boys loved it. Kamden especially liked the "E-raffes"





Wednesday we went shopping then had dinner before Grandma and Grandpa made ice cream for everyone.
Now it's back to the daily grind and we're looking forward to the sunshine this weekend, hopefully it's here to stay!

Let Me Out!

Kamden really didn't want to go to bed tonight...

Ethan-isms...

Last week we passed a lot of sheep in a field and Ethan said it looked like there were 100 baby sheep out there. Then he asked if we could have that many babies...I asked him who would take care of them and he readily volunteered. Then I asked if he knew how long it would take to feed a hundred babies and he said he would do it by putting them one at a time in the high chair. I asked him where they would all sleep and he said some could sleep in his room...even with such a willing attitude, he still hasn't convinced me that 100 babies is a good idea.

While shopping, we passed a display of baby dresses. Ethan pointed to them and asked "Is that for a boy or a girl?" I told him they were for girls and he asked when he was going to get a sister...I told him "I just don't think that's going to happen."
"Well," he replied, "maybe next time you go to the doctor, you can tell her we want a sister."

Jeff took Ethan to the doctor and while they were waiting for him to bring Ethan's medicine (the ear infection from a few weeks ago is back and worse) a nurse came in to get a machine. She opened the door and said, "I'm going to steal this," and took the machine. Ethan looked at Jeff and said "She can't steal that, she didn't ask."

"My ear hurts, mom. It hurts clear down to my leg."

While watching The Lion King, Ethan was pretty taken with the monkey Raffiki's name...he even suggested that we name the baby 'Raffiki Stoker'.

I was wearing a silky-feeling shirt the other day and Kamden kept rubbing it. While I was folding laundry on the bed, Kamden stood up on the bed and he started rubbing the 'chest-area' of my shirt and asked "What's that?"
"My shirt," I was really hoping that's what he meant, he's still a bit young for the birds-and-bees talk...
"No, what's that?" he was poking now so I answered in the most innocent way I could come up with.
"That's my chest."
Ethan was also on the bed and had observed the entire conversation. His reply...
"I wish I had a chest."

Washing The Towels...

During his bath last night Kamden decided not only to wash himself, but every towel in the bathroom as well. I was thrilled, especially since I'd just washed them in the laundry...

Easter Ideas

Just wanted to share some cute ideas for Easter, it's only a few weeks away!
Mini Cheesecake Easter Baskets
Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Chick cupcakes

My favorite thing about Easter...

HaPpY SaiNt PaTriCkS DaY!

I haven't posted any pictures of my baby belly so here I am at 22 weeks and 1 day :) Only 18 weeks (hopefully less) to go!

"I'm The Baby"

Kamden found this knob that goes to a drawer in the playroom, stuck it in his mouth and said he was the baby. Then he followed me around as I made my bed, raised his arms up in the air and kept saying "Hold, hold." Then he went to bed on the floor...hopefully this isn't a sign of sibling rivalry I'll have to deal with once the baby's born.

F A M I L Y

What a busy week! On Thursday my older brother Eric got here from Iowa with his wife and their 3 boys. It had been over 2 years since they'd visited and since our whole family had been together. My sister and her family also got here that night from Oregon and we spent Friday getting ready for our younger brother's wedding. The rehearsal dinner was Friday evening and Jeff and Erin were married on Saturday...

Click here for more.
On Sunday the family came over for a barbeque/birthday party. March is the birthday month for my sister Shelly, niece Isabelle, brother Eric, and niece Kelsey so we celebrated with a family favorite, Strawberry Shortcake...

Monday was spent sorting through the aftermath of the wedding and reception. (Thanks so much to everyone who helped plan, decorate, and prepare for this!) We ate a yummy dutch oven dinner before going to relax in the hot springs...

On Tuesday Grandma and Grandpa took us out for a fun day at the Discovery Center. I hadn't been there since grade school and the kids loved it, they were occupied for HOURS! They even lasted longer than Grandma, who fell asleep on the couch in the corner! Kamden really loved the little store where you can push around a shopping cart, get a list and money, then fill your cart and checkout. I think he would've stayed in there all day.
That night my parents brought Dylan, Tanner, and Dominick over for a fun night of making pizzas, watching movies, and eating brownies and ice cream...

On Wednesday we spent most of the day playing with cousins at Grandma's house, had lunch, then went to the park before my brother and his family left for Iowa. Life has been so busy latley that the boys haven't been getting naps (neither have I and I miss it!) and this has NEVER happened before:



The boys were watching a movie after the park yesterday and BOTH FELL ASLEEP ON OUR BED! We've got some recouperating to do after a fun weekend...

HaPpY BiRtHdAy Isabelle!

In The Last Week...

~Ethan conquered an ear infection
~I tackled a sinus infection
~The boys and I all got over our colds (hooray!)
~My sister and family visited from Oregon
~My brother and family visisted from Iowa
~My youngest brother got married
~Decorated for the wedding and reception (with the help of family and friends)
~Delt with the aftermath of a wedding; clean up, washing tablecloths, sorting through everything and returning it to those who were so good to let us borrow it :)
~Still trying to pawn off leftover wedding cake
~Hit the halfway mark for our pregnancy!
~Decided to keep our house on the market for 3 more months and hope the market picks up
~Hosted a barbeque for my parents, 5 siblings, 9 nieces and nephews-it'd been over 2 years since we had all been together
~Went swimming at the hot springs with family-realized we need to do this more often
~Spent a fun day with cousins at the Discovery Center
~Had grandma, grandpa, and cousins over for pizza and movie night
~On top of all that we still managed everyday life-laundry, dishes, housework, etc. etc. etc.

I decided I'm not doing anything for the next 3 days!

Armpit Hair

My mom and I were driving on Saturday with Ethan in the backseat when he told me to look. I glanced over my shoulder to see him with one arm stuck straight in the air and the sleeve of his shirt pulled up to reveal his armpit. Here's our conversation:

Ethan: "Look, Mom, I have hair in my armpit." (He really doesn't have hair in his armpit but ever since he discovered his dad has hair in his armpit, Ethan's been wondering when he's going to get his own. Don't ask me why.)
Me: "Oh, wow, Ethan. That's pretty cool."
My mom: "What color is the hair?"
Ethan (in a somewhat sarcastic voice): "I don't know. The color of hair." (As if this should have been obvious.)

Then there were a few minutes of silence followed by...
Ethan: "When am I going to get to start wearing that stuff dad puts in his armpits?"
Me: "I guess we'll have to wait and see when your armpits start stinking."
Ethan didn't miss a beat and he made a loud sniffing noise...
Ethan: "Well, they already stink."

Guess it's time for some deoderant?

Baby Stoker

Here he is, in all his 19 1/2 week old glory:
Profile:

Feet:

And here he is with his feet up over his head: