I know it's been a while but we have been fairly busy. Not with anything specific just alot of little stuff. One new item to note though is that Ethan put his forehead nearly through our front window and now we have to replace it. So if any of you drive by and see that we have duck tape on our window it is because Ethan cracked the small pane. We could just replace the one pane but the window is so old that we decided to just replace the whole thing. We are going to be doind that here in the next month as soon as there is a nice enough day that I don't have to worry about freezing with no window or having it rain or snow on us!

I hate that it snowed last night and now we have snow on the ground. I am so ready for Spring to be here that my teeth hurt. I am tired of wearing coats and I am ready for short, flip flops, and yard work.

Ethan is growing like a stinking weed and we can barely keep up with him. He is wearing 2T and 3T clothes and he is barely 14 months in a few weeks. I am severely worried that he will literally eat us out of house and home. Already today he had two scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, an eggo, and half a banana just for breakfast. He ate an entire easy mac with an entire hot dog cut up and mixed in and then he had a fruit bar and cheerios for a snack in between. He is not a large kid just very hungry ALL THE TIME! I think he eats more than Jacob and I do put together. He is cute though so we will deal with it and hope that is just a growth spurt that he is going through and our grocery bill will slow down to atleast $250 a month!!

I filled out all of the paperwork to get back into school and sent off my FAFSA for approval. I should hear back on them both fairly soon and am very anxious to start college again. i get my entire history major here at the extension in Brigham and then I get nearly my entire teaching degree here as well. The only thing I won't be able to get is my student teaching classes. Those I will have to get on campus in Logan but that is a long way off and Jacob is hoping to transfer to the Logan Post Office as soon as there is an opening anyway.

We are excited for the Front Runner Trax Train to start on April 26. If it starts early enough (5 am) then Jacob will be able to ride it to work. If that is the case then it will save us nearly $160 a month in gas and that would be so nice I can't even explain it!! I have that so much of our money revolves around the price of gas and that we have to be very careful about where we drive because our budget only allows for so much in fuel. One day we will have all the money in the world - right??

This week has been a fun one for Ethan and myself. He is finally over his many ailments that he has had just since the new year. Between RSV, tubes in his ears, and then tonsilitis we have had quite a busy new year. But yesterday was the first day in many that he has felt completely well (which also means that he has slept well) and he has been the happiest little boy. I have gotten more done these last few days during nap time than I have in the past month. I am almost all caught up on my scrapbooking and I am working getting the basement clean so that we can spend our summer down there.

As a result of feeling better he has been wearing himself out which is just great! This cute little picture is of him as he fell asleep on our bed after church one day. How cute is he! He was so tired from running around after church that he just dropped dead on our bed and was out like a light. And, of course, with that cute little bum in the air.

My mom bought him these sweet "Buster Brown" shoes for his birthday. They are supposed to help him walk correctly. Jacob affectionately calls them Ethan's "Temple Shoes". Despite how awful they look on him without pants on he loves to wear them. He will run into his bedroom and pull them out of his drawer and make us put them on him. I am not sure why he likes them so much more than of his other shoes but we can't go anywhere without them. He even wears them over his footsie pajamas right up untill we have to get him into bed.

Ethan is eating all adult food these days. As soon as he was old enought we started getting him to eat new foods. In this picture he is having noodles, tuna, and carrots. I know it sounds like a horrid combination of foods but loved it! Not to mention, we love it too. Not having to buy special food just for him is a life saver and a money saver. We don't buy any of that pre-packaged toddler food like they have on the commercials. First: they are way too expensive. I know they are only like 1 or 2 dollars but the way this kid eats he would eat two at every meal. Second: He doesn't like them. and Third: I kind of think that the food I make for him is a better quality.

One of the other new trends that I am liking these days is that he LOVES to feed himself! That means that I can actually eat too! I make him his food and put him in his highchair. Then I get to make me some food too and to be able to sit down and eat at the same time while Jacob isn't home is like a blessing from heaven. If there are any moms out there who understand then you know how precious that time is! It does make a larger mess but only on his face which I have always had to wash after he has been eating. The other things he has started doing is "eating like a big boy". We can longer cut up his banana and and he will eat the slices. We have to peel some of the banana and then hold it out for him while he takes a bite from it. Just like the big boys do. It is so cute to watch!

Today was one of those days where Ethan just wore me out. He was so incredibly busy that it is only nine o'clock and I am ready for bed. Too bad that I have way too much to do (including this blog) that I won't be getting to bed for quite some time. Young Women's in Excellence is this Sunday and since I was not at the planning meeting I got everything no one else wanted to do! So I get all of the hard tasks that take alot of time.

It was Mom and Craig's birthday on Sunday. It was fun - we all got together and had lasagna for dinner. Of course there was cake and ice cream and it was great to have us all together. I guess except Melissa she was still in Ephraim.

Kim, Sabrina, and Christopher were supposed to be coming this weekend but since Christopher won't get his pin and cast off untill the 17th i don't think they will be coming untill April or even May. Which totally sucks because we were all ready for them to come. Oh well.

Anyway, we are just getting ready for Spring and counting the days until we can go play outside!

Ok - so I accidently skipped last Sunday. Sorry!! This last week has been pertty busy. Jacob's first week with nights has been home has been really nice but at the same time hard to adjust to. Our schedules are different on everything right down to when we are used to eating dinner and going to bed. It is going to take some time to get both of us on the same time table.

Ethan is cutting 2 more teeth right now and no one can have a good time until they are out! They are both on the top on opposite sides. They are both in the back which means he usually ends up eating the Orajel but we still keep trying to put on there because if nothing else he likes the taste and that makes him happy for some time. This kid is all over the place!

He is eating all "adult" food which makes things so much easier. No more bringing baby food everywhere I go and not to mention he drinks regular milk now. NO MORE FORMULA!! Our grocery bill is so much cheaper these days without having to buy "Ethan Only" food. Here in this picture he is eating fettucini alfredo. He loved it and ate every bite.

Greandma Sparkles (Barker) bought him this new sweat suit which is absolutely cute when it is not pulled up to his arm pits. He looks baby in a barrel and I think his face and hair say old man enough for all of us.

We let Ethan watch Bob the Builder once a day and this is what happened last week when Papa joined him on our bed. How cute!

Normally when I put Ethan down for a nap I just put him in his crib and he will play with his puppy for a while and fall asleep. Well this time when I went in there to put a blanket on him this is what I found. That book in his hand is his favorite book in the world. It is a Noah's Ark book that has those flaps in it that he can lift up and see what is in the ark. We got it at D.I. for 25 cents. That was the best money I have ever spent. He fell asleep reading it and just couldn't let go.

We got our family pictures back this week. We had them taken for Ethan's 1st Birthday. (I'll have to post his birthday pics later - they are at my Mom's house). We also had some family pictures taken. It was alot of fun and Ethan did a great job posing for the camara. It was nice to get some really nice pictures of all three of us. I don't think we have ever had our picture professionally taken before. I got enough copies for everyone in the family but if anyone reading our blog didn't get one and wants one just let me know. The hardest part of the pictures was trying to keep Ethan's hands out of hair. I used about a gallon of hair spray to try and keep it in place but by the time the photo shoot was over his hair was all over the place again. Oh - little boys!

We gave him a cake and let him play but he just really didn't know what to think about it. I had to help him and even then he was very apprehensive about putting his hand in the cake!

What a cute little face!

What a busy week we have had! Tuesday Ethan had his pre-op appointment with Dr. Lish. Jacob took the day off which was nice. Thursday he got his tubes in and what a difference they made right away! Granted... hospital gowns for babies are alot cuter than they are for adults - it is still not a desirable place to be. Some of the nurses even remembered us from our stay a few weeks ago with RSV. The surgery went great and as soon as he came out of anesthia he was very angry. Thankfully, the nuses had a cute little radio flyer wagon that has seats in it. We spent about 30 mintues riding up and down the hallway just to keep of him screaming while the anesthia wore off.

This is a video of Ethan dancing to the Bob the Builder theme song. I know it is side ways but I don't know how to rotate it! Anyway, he loves Bob the Builder and every time he hears the music his little butt starts bouncing around. And yes, it does the dancing if his pants are off. How else would you see those cute little thigh rolls.

Jacob passed all of his trainging tests for the day shift and he will start on the 16th of February. We are both really excited and happy to be just a little bit normal. We still have a long way to go but we will take what we can get!

It has been snowing like crazy here and though I am really happy for the moisture I am also very excited to have it stop! I hate shoveling snow and because of Jacob's schedule and the huge amounts we have been receiving we both end up doing it. Jacob does it before he goes off to work and then I do it again before I go to bed. I hate snow.

I was not at all surprised but very happy when President Monson was named as our new Prophet. I have always loved to listen to him speak and feel that he really cares about the young people as well as the old. I have a hard time in Young Womens class sometimes trying to get them to relate to the talks by some of the older Apostles and Prophets because they feel disconnected. I am really hoping that with a Prophet that they have grown up with it will be easier to get them involved in the lessons and help them to relate to what we are trying to teach them.

I just have to say - I DO LOVE ANTI-BIOTICS. But my oh my, what a terror they rage on Ethan's rear. We called the doctor on Saturday (They are open on sat. htank goodness.) and they said we could give him 3/4 teaspoon Immodium AD to help with the explosive bum. Which i am also thankful for anti-diaretics. Just when you think you couldn't be thankful for anything more gross after counting your newborns diapers religiously thier first few weeks of birth - they give you something else for which to be thankful for.

I am desperatly trying this year to get my history work in order. I have over 200 pages of hand-written essays and notes on everything from American history and architecture to European, and Chinese political government. One day (hopefully at the end of this year) I would like to comile them into one "book" and then have it bound. I love history textbooks (weird I know), but this "book" that I am working on has my thoughts and ideas embedded in it. Which probably means that no one will ever be able to understand what I am saying in it! Oh well, it's just for own sense of accomplishment that I am having it bound. It is kind of like saying I am finally done. But then we all know that I will have to do a second edition so that I can continue to add to my collection of political thoughts and all the more essays which I am sure to write.

I am going to try an convince Jacob that we can afford to save up about 1,000$ this year and every year to come so that I can take a few night courses at the extension here in Brigham. Now that he has nights off I could take a class a few nights a week and try finish my basics here in Brigham. I would still like to get my teaching degree and a masters in American Political History as well as majors in American History (Particularly the Revolution period) and American Military History. I know it will take me some time to get these all done but I have the time it's just coming by the money. When my kids are all grown I would love to teach a few High School courses and possiblya few courses at a local college or extension.

Jacob starts his training tomorrow. I am hoping that he can pass it quickly and if he does he will start his new job next Monday! Ah, a day shift. One more little thing that I am thankful for.