March of Dimes Bands

I just want to remind everyone that I am still selling the March of Dimes Glitter Bands. I will only be selling them for 8 more days. If you haven't already ordered yours you can do so by clicking the Buy Now button in the side bar. It's for a good cause all profit goes to the March of Dimes. Hurry up and get them ordered before the end of the month!

Halloween is coming up!

Ok so there is only 23 more days until Halloween! Can you guess what Ethan is going to be this year? Well if you guessed Curious George then you go it right! We bought his costume last week at Target. It's a generic monkey costume but hey he doesn't know the difference & it was better than having to order it off the internet. Ethan LOVES Curious George so we decided to dress him as George.  This is the first year that he will be going Trick or Treating. We're just going to take him to a couple of houses on our street then he can help pass out candy. We are also going to be taking him Trick or Treating to his grandparents houses early in the afternoon so they can see his costume. He is going to look so cute!

Don't forget that Nov is Premature Awareness month. Nov 17 is Fight for Preemies day & I will be doing a special blog as part of the Bloggers Unite. To help raise awareness & raise money for the March of Dimes I am selling March of Dimes Glitter Bands for $5. If you are interested in a band please click on the button in the side bar right at the top to purchase a band. I will be selling them all month until the 29th then I will order them & will have them ready for you in 2-5 days. All profit from the sale of the bands will go to the March of Dimes.

Also just a note the March for Babies walk this year will be held on May 1. I will be gearing up for that after Prematurity Awareness month. So keep that date in mind! Last year our team raised $400+ dollars for the March of Dimes & I am hoping to surpass that amount this year. I will be asking the company who did our shirts last year to sponsor our team. They did such a good job last year I want them to do our shirts this year as well. I've got some ideas as to what I want on the shirts but I'm keeping my lips zipped, for now you'll just have to wait in suspense.

Prematurity Awareness Day

Nov 17 is Prematurity Awareness Day & to help raise awareness & raise money for the March of Dimes I am selling March of Dimes glitter bands . They are going to be $5 a band. All profit from the band sales will go to the March of Dimes. If anyone is interested in purchasing a band you can simply send the money to my paypal account there is a button in the side bar where you can order the bands from. I will be selling these bands until the 29th of this month & will order them on the 30th of this month. I will have them in 2-5 days after ordering them. Each year I take part in the Bloggers Unite. On Nov 17 I will be posting a special post dedicated to prematurity births so come back on that day to read it! Thank you in advance to those who purchase the bracelets for helping me raise money for the March of Dimes!

Another Oh Ethan Moment

I have been told that I have the "Parenthood"child. I have never seen the movie but I guess I need to.

Ethan has had a few "Oh Ethan" moments this week. First a few nights ago Matt wanted some Swiss Cake Rolls so he shared with Ethan. He opened a pack gave one to Ethan & kept one for himself. Ethan had taken a bite out of his SCR & all of a sudden he grabs the one out of Matt's hand & stuffs it in his mouth is one motion. So then Matt asks Ethan if he can have a bite of his. Ethan strongly tells Matt no then hides his SCR behind his back & tells Matt "All gone." Then he proceeded to eat the rest of his snack. I couldn't stop laughing it was so cute. Then yesterday (he was on a roll yesterday) Matt & Ethan ran up to the store for some chips & dip (football food). When they get back Ethan got the cheese dip out of the fridge then steals the bag of chips & brings them to me (he loves the cheese dip). I told him "Thank you, can you take the dip back to Dada so we can heat it up. We need to have the cheese melted a bit to eat it." Ethan kept insisting I take the chips & dip. I did manage to get him to take the dip back to Matt but his feelings were hurt b/c he thought I didn't want what he brought me. So he took the chips & dip back to Matt telling him "MomMom No." Matt tried to explain to him that the cheese was in the fridge & it needs to be heated a little so that it melts & makes a nice dip. Of course Ethan was a happy camper after we got the cheese heated up b/c he pigged out on it. After the Buckeye game we ran to Target to pick out a new decoration to add to our collection (it's a annual ritual for Halloween & Christmas) & we also bought Ethan's costume (He's going to be Curious George). Then we visited with Uncle Bubba (Ethan's name for my brother Brian), and finally we went to Grammy Marcia's for dinner. So, after dinner Marcia, Matt & I were sitting at the table talking & Ethan brought us this doll house he found in the toy box. The house was a foldable 2 floor house with a kitchen & living area on the lower level & bedroom & bathroom on the upper level. Ethan was fascinated with the bathroom. There was a potty in it for the dolls that had a lid the lifted up & down. He told us "potty" then stands up & pulls his pants down b/c he was going to use the dollhouse potty. When Matt asked him if he had to potty he pulled his pants up & then a few seconds later pulled his pants down again to use the potty. So he was taken to the real potty. He was a bit upset that we wouldn't let him use the dollhouse potty. It was adorable. One of those moment's where you wish you had a video camera going. Then this morning he was hanging with his Dada watching George. Ethan has this thing with picking his nose. We chose not to fight this battle & just ignore it. So the next thing Matt knows Ethan wipes a booger in his hand & tells him "Booger". Not what Matt expected him to do.  This is a slap hand to the forehead, shake head "Oh Ethan" moment.

Ethan is on a roll this week with his cute "Oh Ethan" moments. As he gets older I have the feeling that is something we will be saying a lot.

Random Ethan Chat #2

 So what do you think of the new look to Ethan's blog? I had to stay with Curious George of course but I wanted to give his blog a more grown up look since he is growing up so quickly.

Ethan has had a busy few days this week. Friday he went out with us to pick up some supplies to deflea the poor cats, then he helped us grocery shop. While we were at the pet store Friday we picked out a few cheap fish for his little tank in his play room. It's been standing empty for the last few months since all his fish died. So yesterday he helped us give the cats flea baths (the cats were oh so excited to be getting a bath) then he went out with us for a few hours since we set off bug bombs in the house. We went & got his & my hair cut then hung out at Papa Paul's then had to run back to the pet store to exchange his shark which died Friday night sometime between midnight & 3am. They wouldn't exchange the fish b/c we didn't give them a separate water sample (I had the water in a bag with the dead shark). So we ran home had dinner then back to the store where we got a new shark for him. Today he has been busy playing. He watched a little football with us then it was down for a nap at 2. He is still sleeping now (but he didn't quiet down until about a 45 mins ago LOL).

Cute story, Friday after breakfast I took Ethan to the basement so that I could get my work out going. I get done on the treadmill& told him that I was going to get a shower then we were going to clean his toys so we could run a few errands. So I get out of the shower about 15 mins later only to find that Ethan decided to feed the fish. He put 1/4 of the food container in the Beta tank (1.5 gal tank) & dumped the rest on the floor. So I had to essentially just empty the beta tank & stir up the food so the filter will pick it up. Then I cleaned the big tank b/c might as well get them both done right? When I was done with that I had to vacuum the floor since there was food all over (I did manage to salvage some of the food) then I had to mop the floor since I accidentally spilled nasty dirty water on it when I was cleaning the little tank. Plus it was a good way to get the food up off the tile. Oh what a mess it was. Ethan on the other hand was proud of himself. Apparently he thought he was helping take care of the fish. Needless to say I did not get our errands done by the time Matt got home.

Another cute Ethan story. Thurs Ethan made a big mess of his books in his room. I am trying to teach Ethan it's OK to make a mess but when it's time to clean up he needs to help. So I ask him to help me pick up his books & told him if he didn't help & I ended up doing it by myself that he was going to spend a little time alone in his room before breakfast. Needless to say Ethan did not help. SO I got the books picked up & told him he can come out when he is ready to help. I gave him 5 or 10 mins then asked him for an apology for not helping. He waited of course until I was ready to make him stay in his room a little longer to apologize. So we go down to the kitchen & I asked him to take his books that were in the dining room & please put them in the corner with his toy box while I make his breakfast. He picked up his books & put them on the dining room table. So I told him that they needed to go with his toy box & once he did that he can have his breakfast. So he took the books & tossed them over the gate. Again I said they have to go over by the toy box (I'm starting to feel like a broken record at this point). So he put his books on Matt's chair, and yet once more I reiterate where they need to go so he FINALLY put them in the corner with his toy box. As frustrating as that was it was also very cute b/c he thought he was going to get away with it.

Another cute thing that Ethan is into doing is when he grabs something that he is not supposed to have & we ask him to please give it to us. He will hide it behind his back & tell us "All gone" like we can't see it behind his back. I love how he thinks he is fooling us with that. When he wants ice cream he will ask us for "Creams" which is just adorable, and his newest word of the month is "Ipod" He now asks to watch George on Matt's Ipod Touch. He seems to like watching George on that little screen more than he does on the t.v.


Here are a few picture of Ethan & his new haricut (just for the record I did not approve of it that was his daddy's doing)

At the NICU reunion

Walking the bridge

C"mon dad!

Swinging

This is cool

Playing over at Grandpa Franks

There's an Ethan in there

Being pulled by Grandpa

It's like rowing a boat

 Ethan's haircut

Not to thrilled

Happy just to have a sucker

Fulton County Fair

Ethan had a great time at the Fulton County fair last week. He had so much fun looking at the animals & watching a firefighter demonstration. He was even able to play a few games. There is one game that he is absolutely obsessed with. Basically the kids just go to this tub where there are rubber ducks floating. They pick a duck & get a prize. Ethan wants to pick the ducks & walk away with the duck. He has no interest in the prize he just wants the ducks. He threw darts too & won a prize. Matt threw some darts at balloons to win a prize for Ethan. Ethan wanted to try so the vendor gave him 2 darts for $2. Ethan threw one & it hit the board, he threw the 2nd & hit the balloon. Only thing was it didn't hit with the tip of the dart it hit with the back. The guy was impressed & gave him a prize anyways.

Yesterday Ethan went with us to the church chicken BBQ to have dinner with Grampa Frank & "Mace." He was more interested in playing with a vending machine for the Youth Group then he was in eating. He still ate very well though. Today was a fairly busy day for him as well. This morning about 11 we went over to Grammy Marcia's to say one final goodbye to Uncle Jordan. Uncle Jordan left today for England. He's going to spend a year there studying pre-med. Ethan has been asking to see Jordan for the last few days so we thought we'd take him over so he could see him one more time b/c it's going to be a long time before he sees him again. We all have Skype on our computers so that we can occasionally see & talk to Uncle Jordan. Then after we left there we headed up to BW's for football. Ethan was dressed in the right team today (Steelers). We had lunch with Andy & Jimmy (a couple friends of ours) there as well. Ethan did very well he got bored a few times so we just walk him letting him "play" with the claw games. For the most part we entertained him by having him watch George on You Tube (both my phone & Matt's IPod gets the app). Once we got home Ethan was ready for a nap. Now he is down for the night & tomorrow is the beginning of the week.

Here are some pictures from the fair. Some of the pics are washed out a little b/c of the sun.

Firefighter Demonstration

Watching Demonstration with daddy

Ethan's fly ride

Let me out!!!

Gentle with the horse

Horse

Being warmed up

Sheep

Goat

Kissing a cow

Petting the cow

Duck

Goose

Pork Chops

Bacon

Looking at ponies

Ponies

Petting pig

Just hanging out

Matt shooting Bow & Arrow

Donkey with a sombrero

Not even out of the parking lot

Pulling onto our street

Random Chat #1

Ethan has been quite the busy boy the last few days.

Thursday was the 1st OSU game of the season. Ethan was all ready for it in his Buckeye colors. He walked up to the store with us just before the game to pick up gameday chips & dip. He watched a little of the game but by the end of the 1st quarter he was bored with it like the rest of us. 

Friday we went for a bike ride through the area & ended at the park. I must say it was not a good day to go biking. The wind was horrible & I ended up pedaling against the wind for 1.5 miles. My poor legs gave out on me. I felt like I was pedaling through thick mud!! So just 1/4 mile away from the end of the bike trail I gave up & turned around so I could have the wind at my back. That only lasted for half a mile then the damn wind switched direction & I ended up having to pedal into the wind yet again. So by the time we got to the park Mommy legs felt like jell-o & were numb. I ended up collasping on the park bench b/c I couldn't walk LOL!! Of course Ethan immediately wanted me to go push him on the swings. I had to ask him to just give me 5 mins & told him to go slide on the slides for a few. Surprisingly he did. He had a blast playing at the park but he kept asking me for the "baby". He was looking for his little friend Killian. We usually go to that particular park to meet up with Killian & his parents. I think Ethan would have had more fun if he had his little friend to chase around.

Saturday Ethan went shopping for Fall clothes. I've been holding of on going shopping for warmer clothes because then it's just admitting that Summer is over & Fall is almost here. Sadly though it was only in the mid 60's & after it being in the 80's & 90's all week that felt cold. Ethan only has 2 pairs of pants that fit him so we had to break down & get him some pants, sleepers, & long sleeved shirts. It's starting to get cooler in the evening & shorts just won't cut it much longer. After clothes shopping he went with us to Toys R Us to get a canopy for his wagon. Then it was off to Papa Paul's to go "Poosh" in the river. Ethan had a blast throwing his rocks in the water. It's his favorite thing to do when he goes over there. He hung out with Papa & Gramma for a while then we headed home to change his clothes, feed the cats, & grab a quick bite to eat. Then it was off to cousin Petey's for a little gathering. Ethan had a blast playing with a little girl there. He was chasing her all around & tickling her. She wore him out. I wish I had taken some pictures of it I had the camera with me but I was a bit busy having to get him out of things when his attention would get diverted from his fun with her to another kind of fun. He slept good last night that's for sure.

Tomorrow Ethan is going to the Fulton County Fair. He is going to have such a good time there. It was a great time last year. I will have pictures to post of the fair when we get home. I have pictures to post from the last few days that will be at the end of this post.

Ethan is doing pretty well with his potty training. He is still only about 80%. He lets us know when he has to potty & he is only have 1 or 2 accidents a day. Yesterday he told Matt that he had to potty & he was very urgent about it. Matt didn't get him to the potty on time & Ethan ended up pooping his pants. Then he got very upset about that. I give Ethan credit b/c he did let us know we just weren't fast enough. He is still wearing diapers at nap time & bedtime. He isn't to the point yet where he has control when he sleeps. He's done very well so far with learning to potty so we are proud of him.

That's all I have on the Ethan front for now. Don't forget to check out the pictures of him.

Hanging outside

Basketball With Dad

Ready for the game

Climbing the slide

Going down the slide

Doing my favorite thing, running

I'm gonna get you!

I really love to swing

Swinging

On the big boy swings

C'mon! Watch me!

There I go!

Climbing

Driving the Fire Truck

Watching George with Papa Paul

Getting ready to "Poosh"

Going to throw rocks

Grammy Nett givng me rocks

Tasting the rocks before I throw them

Picking my rocks out

Throwing my monster rock

GARBAGE!!

Collecting the Garbage