Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan

Happy Birthday to the littlest member of our family! Ethan, though you may be littlest in size (not buy much -- you are only 3 pounds lighter then your brother right now), you make up for it in personality. This year we have enjoyed seeing you become the little boy that you are -- full of laughs and energy and you always have a hug or high five to give out! There is not much you are scared of and you are a great problem-solver (much to our dismay, at 18 months, you figured out how to open the baby-proof locks on cabinets). You can count to 10 and know your colors. This year you moved from an in-home daycare to "the new school" and now have lots of friends to play with. You are learning Spanish and can count to 5 and know your body parts in Spanish. We are working on colors in Spanish now! You are great at sharing with your brother and are a wonderful helper to mommy and daddy. You love to load the washer and help unload the dishwasher.

On one hand you are so eager to grow up like big brother (you have already gone pee pee in the potty several times and love drinking out of a big cup); on the other hand, you still like to be sung to at night and sit in the rocking chair with mommy. You are getting ready to move to a big boy bed very soon! Your vocabulary has grown so much in the last few months and everyone continues to comment on your bright blue eyes and big smile. We are so thankful to have such a loving, caring and giving son. We love you Ethan!

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We are celebrating Ethan's birthday on Easter with the family -- more celebration pictures to follow.

I wear my Sunglasses at Night

and in the rain..... It has rained for 2 days straight now -- the boys thought that by wearing sunglasses, the sun would come out. It did not work!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm.....

We went to a birthday party on Sunday -- and got our first taste of Spring (it was sunny and 67 degrees). The party was a petting zoo brought to you -- it was in the next door neighbor's back yard! The boys had so much fun at the party. They spent a good 30 minutes before the party watching the people unload the animals and set up.

There was lots of discussion before the party about who would ride the horsey -- both Benjamin and Ethan said they wanted to. When it cam down to it, only Ethan got on the horse. He had huge smile on his face to whole ride!

Yep, that is a goat. The boys were trying to feed the goat crackers. We had to tell Ethan SEVERAL times not to eat the crackers himself!

Farmer Ethan wanted to pet everything -- this was the cow.

Ethan, eating a cupcake, preparing for the messiness that will happen on his birthday!

Benjamin licking the icing off of his.

The Spring weather quickly left us as the wind blew in 37 degrees with a windchill in the lower 20s. I sure hope that Spring is really just around the corner!

Benjamin just had his three year check up -- he is healthy and growing like crazy. The doctor told me that "he is not underweight, just over tall!" Benjamin is taller then 89% of the boys his age. And, weighs more then 50% of the boys his age. He had to get one shot, which resulted in "boo boo leg" and much "mommy carry, me" all day yesterday and this morning. (Thanks Uncle Evan for you help at the doctor's office!)

SNOW DAY!

Last Friday and Saturday were snow days at our house. We got about 5 inches of snow and the boys loved it. This was the first time the boys really got to play in the snow. We built a snow man and threw snow balls. Ethan came up with the idea to slide down the snow-covered slide in the backyard. We also got to ride down the neighbor's hill on a sled!

Though the boys loved the snow, they loved the 67 degree weather yesterday much better!

Benjamin's Party Pictures

We celebrated Benjamin's birthday at our house. Gebee, Papaw and Uncle Evan came over and Benjamin was so excited, he was beside himself. He could not stop smiling and telling everyone that it was his birthday. He even sang "Happy Birthday!"

His present at the party was to spell his name for everyone -- and to think, we were worried about how a little boy would be able to spell such a long name! No problems here!

Us checking out the birthday presents.

On his actual birthday, Brian took cupcakes to "the new school." Ethan, Gebee, Uncle Evan and Papaw were also on hand for the school celebration. Benjamin got to be the line leader in his class that afternoon!

Before cupcakes:

What great looking boys -- don't you think???

Happy 3rd Birthday Benjamin

Benjamin, wow -- we can not believe that you are already three! It seems like just a few short days ago that we brought you home from the hospital and had to pretend we knew what we were doing! This has been an amazing year for you and we have really enjoyed watching you grow and learn. You listen to everything around you and pick up new words all the time -- in fact, at 28 months (much to mommy's chagrin) you said "oh sh**" after you heard mommy say it. You are always asking questions and want to know the reason behind things and then have the ability to recall most anything. We have also loved watching you grow as a big brother -- someone that Ethan looks up to. You have truly become a playmate to Ethan, but are very quick to tell him what to do (yes, we know that is part of being big brother)! At 2 1/2 years old, you were eager to be potty trained and made the task very easy. At about the same time, you moved from an in-home daycare to "the new school." You have impressed us with the things you learn at the new school and we love to talk about your day. It is music to our ears to hear you say words and phrases in Spanish (you know about 30 words and phrases and can count to 10 in Spanish)....and, speak of music, you look for any reason to dance! Your love for books has only gotten stronger -- you know all the words to your favorite books (we have even "caught" you reading to Ethan!). You also amazed us with your ability to spell you name and say your complete address. We have watched you grow from a shy, pensive 2 year old into a outgoing, boisterous, "I can do it myself," three year old. You attempt to dress yourself, but get frustrated with the socks not being correct. And, just before your third birthday, you learned to tell time on the hour. This has been a fun and exciting year and we look forward to the adventures of the coming years.

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Happy Birthday Benjamin! We love you very much!

A little something to warm your heart on a cold day

Here is the boys on Christmas morning trying out their new digger that Papaw got them. Great team work don't you think?