'Tis the Season

Ethan is so excited about Christmas this year! He makes us read "The Polar Express" several times a day and is constantly talking about Baby Jesus and also Santa.

We have a children's nativity set that he has loved playing with. Just look who showed up for Jesus birth! You will notice Buzz, Woody, and a wide variety of vehicles.

Ethan got to go to "Santa's house," he was thrilled and couldn't wait to tell Santa that he wanted "Thomas Train Tracks" and candy for Christmas. He was really disappointed when he didn't get the train tracks right on the spot.

We are having so much fun with Ethan understanding so much! We can't wait until actual Christmas day because he is going to be SO excited!

Jency and Joe Visit!

Jency and Joe came to Vegas for the NFR (rodeo.) We had so much fun with them. We did a lot of great things. We went to the Chocolate Factory to see the lights, made some fun food, watched "The Help", explored the Cowboy Christmas fair, and went to Joe's Crab Shack! Ethan wouldn't let Jency and Joe out of his sight. He was so sad when they left. We can't wait until their next visit!

Grateful

After getting back from Thanksgiving Sunday night we unpacked a little and went to bed. But I didn't stay asleep very long. I woke up very sick and was sick all through the night. In the morning Eric got up to go to school and found me in a lot of pain. We were a little worried about the baby, so we headed to the hospital. I was surprised when the nurse told me that she was going to get a surgeon to consult. I was even more surprised when the surgeon told me he was 90% I had appendicitis! He said that the only way to check was a CT scan and that can be a risk when you are pregnant. He told me that surgery was also a risk, but the biggest risk of all was to let the appendix rupture before surgery, which could lead to a lot of harm to the baby. Eric and I talked and decided to go a head with the surgery. They wanted to do it as soon as possible so that there was less chance of a rupture. So before I knew it I was in the operating room!

I had received a blessing from Eric before we went to the hospital that told me to trust in the doctors and staff  I would see. I feel so grateful to have had such wonderful people taking care of me. It turns out that my appendix was close to rupturing so I am so glad that timing happened as it did. For the surgery I went completely under which was a new experience for me. When I woke up after the surgery I was very chipper and I remember the doctor commenting, "Wow, no one is this happy right after surgery!" For some reason I had a ton of energy and couldn't stop talking. I think I asked them about a billion times, "Is the baby ok?" "Are you going to check on the baby?" After what seemed like forever someone finally came to monitor the baby. I was having a few contractions so they gave me a pill and I went back to my room. The contractions didn't stop so they gave me a shot and then a little while later another shot and finally they stopped. I got some drugs that pretty much knocked me out and then left the hospital the next morning.

At home I had a nice little set up on the couch for about a week. They told me that the recovery might be tough because the baby would put a lot of pressure on my stomach as it healed. The drugs made me pretty loopy and I was in a lot of pain. The timing of this event was awful with Eric just beginning finals, and me being rendered un-useful for a few days. But we had such amazing support shown to us by our ward and friends. I felt so loved. I think that part of this trial was so that I would learn how to accept help from others. I was so worried that other people would think I was needy or a whimp. I had so many people offering to bring us dinner or watch Ethan and I felt so loved. I am a part of a freezer dinner group and since I didn't get to participate this time they all still made me a meal and we now have a freezer full of frozen meals too. It was amazing to be a on the receiving end of such service. It made me want to be more helpful and giving of my time.

This little trial was kind of hard on Ethan. He was going to a different friends house everyday and when he was around me I wasn't giving him his usual attention. He was really mad at me for a couple of days. He wanted Eric to do everything for him, and wouldn't give me hugs. It made me so sad, and made the pain even worse because I was just so mad that I couldn't do the normal things that I usually do for him. He has since forgiven me and is very concerned about the "owies" on my tummy.

This trial was also hard on Eric. He is always so good to me and wanted to help me in every way that he could, yet he needed to be studying. Law school finals weeks are awful. In the past it has been like being single. But somehow he managed to get his studying in and be there for me all week long. I felt angry as a I watched him come home, give Ethan a bath, clean the house, make lunches for the next day, do the dishes, do the laundry, get to bed late, and then wake up pretty much in the middle of the night to do more studying. I wanted so bad to feel normal and help him. But if anyone can handle a trial it is my love. He is amazing. I will never know how I got so lucky. I know that this trial is small compared to what so many others go through, but I feel grateful that I got to feel loved by so many through this experience. And, I am so grateful for modern medicine and doctors who know what they are doing so that the little person inside of me can keep on growing and developing with no problems. What a great lesson in gratitude.  I am so blessed!

Thanksgiving Highlights

Here are the highlights of our Thanksgiving this year (in no particular order):

1. Meeting our brand new nephew, Sammy! He is so adorable and I could've sat and held him all day long.

 2. The food! Everything was so good! It seriously makes me sick thinking about how much I ate!

 3. The Family! We weren't planning on leaving for Thanksgiving, and we didn't get to have Thanksgiving with family last year because of Eric's finals, but we decided to squeeze the trip in, and we're so glad we did because it was great seeing everyone and the trip made us even more excited for Christmas.

4. The activities! We were very busy between playing cards, a little black friday shopping, a few good movies, and our awesome trip to Preston for the Festival of Lights, but had a blast. We sure have A LOT to be thankful for!

Mom's Visit!

My mom got to come down to Las Vegas by herself and spend an entire weekend with us! We were so spoiled, especially Ethan. It was so much fun to have her all to ourselves. Eating great, shopping, sleeping in... We really partied all weekend. Ethan wouldn't leave my mom's side. He wanted to do everything with her, from sleeping with her to not letting anyone else take him potty. It was super cute.

Another fun thing we did while she was here was go to Bass Pro Shop because they already have Christmas stuff set up. Ethan was so excited to see Santa. He wasn't scared at all! He walked right up and told him that he wanted a Thomas Track for Christmas.  We were so sad when it was time for my mom to go. She ended up buying Ethan a plane ticket to go back home with her for a couple of days before we came for Thanksgiving. We weren't planning on leaving for Thanksgiving because of Eric's finals, but we made a quick trip and it was so fun!

Tippets Visit!

 We had a wonderful visit from the Tippets' family last week! David's sister lives in Vegas so they had a double excuse to come down and we are so glad they did! We had so much fun catching up. They are one of the things we miss most about moving from Logan.  We have so much fun together and we were so happy to see them!

Ethan adores "Baby Jack," as he calls him.  Just now he saw these pictures and said, "That's my friend Baby Jack. He is funny." 

We did lots of fun things while they were here. Including watching our favorite show "Chuck", going to the Air Show, and having a super fun date on Fremont Street.  We can't wait until next time!

And this is just funny...ha ha ha.

Happy Halloween!

Ethan was a shark this year for Halloween! Actually, he was a shark for the week leading up to Halloween since we had some kind of festivity pretty much every night. But on the actual night of Halloween, he was sharked out! So he was Scooby Doo, but don't tell him that. He thinks that he was a doggy named Cooper.( we have some friends that have a dog named Cooper) We dressed up Hawaiian to go with Ethan's shark and then on actual Halloween Chipolte was giving cheap food to people dressed as farmers or farm animals so we threw on some farm stuff.  Ethan loved trick or treating and trunk or treating! He totally had it down, and was running from door to door!

UNLV Football!

We went to the UNLV vs. Colorado football game this weekend. Ethan loved it. It is amazing how much he loves sports. He picked up a new word from the game too. HE keeps saying, "I'm going to do a fumble." I think he thinks it is a good thing.  The only thing that he didn't like about the game was the fireworks when they scored. I think it might be awhile before he gets over that fear! Oh, and this was like the one game of the season that UNLV actually won! We were pretty happy to witness that!

The Pimp-tin Patch

 There is this "pumpkin patch" near our house that has free admission, but then you pay for any rides or games. We took Ethan here for FHE a few weeks ago and he hasn't stopped talking about it since! Except he thinks that we went to the "pimp-tin patch." We didn't end up buying any pumpkins here because they were so pricey so after our fun we went across the street to Albertsons. Ethan chose the smallest one he could find. We carved them last night and Ethan even got to paint his!  He is very proud of it, and had to show it to his friends that came over today.

Birthday Fun!

I had one of the best birthdays I have ever had this year. I woke up to a clean and decorated house, with flowers, and my favorite key lime pie sitting all set up so cute by my love.  Ethan loved that it was my birthday and sang to me probably 50 times throughout the day. I asked him if he was excited for his birthday and he said," I already have a birthday."  He didn't mind sharing mine though. He was so cute.

Before I opened presents and had pie we went to a fall festival at our park. It was so great! Our community really goes all out for these events. The hay ride was my favorite. After the festival we went around to all of the places that give you free things for your birthday and got some great stuff! We were so full afterwards and we hardly spent anything! It was such a fun day. Eric re-arranged some school stuff so that we could hang out all day and he was so great to me. What a wonderful day!

NASCAR Trucks

We got some free tickets to a NASCAR truck race! Most of what I remember is that is was hot and loud, but we still had a good time.  NASCAR is like it's own little crazy world. I still can't believe what a big deal it is!

Las Vegas Rescue Mission

The Christian Society at the Law School put on a service project where you could go and prepare lunches and then take them to homeless people at a rescue mission. It was a great experience for us, and made us feel so blessed for what we have. There were so many people lined up outside of the mission with all of their belongings and most of them were so grateful for the help.

Stake Fair!

Our stake put on a wonderful fair! They had games, food, contests, everything! It was so fun. Ethan loved all of the games and got to turn in the tickets that he earned for a Percy train! He was pretty excited  about that! Everyone was very impressed with Ethan's throwing abilities, in some of the games. The kid is a natural!

Calico Basin

Eric got off early one day last week, so we made the most of things! We went for a hike, and then walked around the boardwalk. I was teaching about leaves in preschool, and I wanted to collect some colorful leaves, but it is too hot here and there weren't many to collect! It was still beautiful though!

 

 

It's A Boy!

We are so excited to welcome another boy to our house! Ethan affectionally refers to him as "baby brother." We were secretly hoping for another boy because we have all the clothes, and so that Ethan could have a buddy. We are getting so excited for March!

Conference Weekend!

What a wonderful conference weekend! I was reminded of so many things that I need to focus on. It is such a blessing to hear from modern prophets who know exactly what we need to know RIGHT now! 

 Before the Saturday sessions started we did a little garage sale action and found some awesome items for super cheap.

Our friend Becky, came to watch conference with us. We made some fun meals and did this super hard puzzle.  It was a wonderful weekend! Can't wait until April!

"Day-Day"

I can't even explain how much I love this kid, or how how much he makes me laugh! I took these pictures because Ethan was just being himself after waking up and I was having a sentimental moment and wanted to remember exactly how cute he was at that moment. He has been so funny lately. The latest laugh is his new friend "Day-Day." He just started talking about Day-Day one day and now it is constant. I think it is an imaginary friend. Eric and I love to ask about Day-Day, and Ethan always has the answers.  He usually tells us that Day-Day is driving Ethan's little train. Maybe I need to plan some play dates with real children?

Field Trips!

 

We have gone on two field trips lately for pre-school and Ethan got to come to both of them! A couple of weeks ago we went to the fire station and then today we went to the petting zoo! Ethan loves to be one of the big kids and thinks that he can do whatever they do.  Except for petting or even getting near the animals...he was scared beyond belief of the animals that weren't in cages(and scared of most of the animals that were in cages). I wonder who he could have gotten his fear of animals from...I have no idea.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!

Ethan has found a renewed love for the bathtub! He used to love it, then started hating it, but we are happy to report that he has fallen back in love with his bath! He likes to shoot hoops on his little bathtub hoop and pour water over his head until he is as wrinkled as a raisin!

Preschool!

My friend Linsi and I have started a preschool. We did it last year too but we only had four kids, plus my little Ethan and her little Caden.  Now we have 13, and we one of the moms takes our young boys with her during preschool. It is crazy, but so much fun! This was our first week and we learned about apples! Ethan was really sad that he didn't get to stay at preschool at first. But I told him that he gets to go to a special preschool with Caden and he has been fine! The mom has been great, taking them to the park and the library.  I'm so glad that it worked out because we are able to be a lot more focused on the teaching.

Linsi helped me organize all of my school stuff too! We have enjoyed being so organized it has made everything a lot easier! I am having so much fun teaching! It is perfect because it is what I enjoy doing, plus it is only a few hours a week, plus I make a little money!

Lovell Canyon

We decided to go camping this weekend for Labor Day and what a great decision that was!  We only went for one night and we went to a place right near our house called Lovell Canyon. It was wonderful to go just a few minutes and get out of the heat and enjoy the outdoors.  Sadly it has been a long time since we went camping. Ethan was so intrigued by everything. He wanted to help put up the tent.

And cook dinner.

And of course he spent plenty of time chillin' in his camp chair.

We had fun exploring! Check out my belly at only 13 weeks! It is a lot bigger than it was with Ethan at this point.

We went on a really fun hike! It took a lot of convincing to get Ethan to walk on his own. But once he got going he was such a champ! He went right up some huge hills!  After a while he randomly says really loud and kind of surprised, "This is fun!" And of course he had to carry his ball the entire time.

We enjoyed snacking at night and looking at the stars through our tent. Ethan was so excited to sleep in the tent. He was so hyper we thought he would never fall asleep. He finally did though and he slept SO well!  The first thing he said when he woke up was, "There aren't any stars now guys!"(repeated like ten times in an urgent and very excited voice)

Ethan has been doing great going potty! He only wears a diaper at night. But when we got in the tent I realized I forgot a diaper! He did great though, thank goodness. He really enjoyed peeing on the rocks. He thought it was very neat and exciting.  When we got home Eric was putting somethings away in our backyard. Our backyard is full of rocks.  Eric turns around and there is Ethan with his pants down peeing on the rocks!  I think I might have a new challenge on my hands...