Because I Can't Get Enough

And therefore, neither can you.

Madalyn Isabelle Leigh

Love at First Sight

and then life begins again

Welcome to the world baby girl Leigh!!

At 9:59 pm (Eastern time) on December 28, 2009, my sister in law Christine and her husband Jamie welcomed their daughter. All 8 pounds, 10 ounces, 21 inches long!! Congratulations guys and welcome to the world of parenthood, where every scratch and bruise breaks your heart and every accomplishment (no matter how small) makes you beam with pride. Where you can be so frustrated by an hour of no stop fussiness and crying but within a second of seeing that smile you forget what you were mad about. Where Christmas and birthdays and every other holiday take on a new meaning, and you forget what you used to do on your days off before the baby was born.

So now the countdown begins...we leave for Florida Feb. 7 and it is going to be a long six weeks.

And Life Goes On

Ethan got over his illness, which I think was actually Roseola and not the stomach flu. His fever ended and then he had a rash for a few days and all of his other symptoms seemed to mirror roseola, thankfully it's no more serious than the stomach flu so we weren't too worried.

The exhaustion, irritability and lack of appetite lasted through the rash phase as well as the fever and I ended up taking 3 days off to hang out with him at home.

Then we got into Christmas mode. We talked about it and sang about it in the days leading up to the 25th. This is a book he got last year with magnetic nativity people

and we tried to find things to do to pass the time. It's much easier when the weather is warm and we can play outside all day.

He found that if he stands on the toilet he can reach over, grab the sink and pull himself up. Problem is, he can't get down so he'll yell "Mommy stuck!" I'll put him down and then he'll do it all over again

Just splashing in the sink

He very much likes to test his boundaries this week, it's usually small things but the defiance and rebellion is definitely there. Wish us luck through this new stage of parenthood.

Merry Christmas

What an experience to celebrate Christmas with a 2 year old. The first Christmas we were blessed to have Ethan with us, as he wasn't due for another 2 weeks. Last year, he was a little more participatory but still quite dazed by the experience and unsure of what was expected of him. This year, Christmas #3 FLEW by!! It was a whirlwind of Cars jammies, wrapping paper, tissue and toys. We are so blessed to have families that enjoy giving as much as they do and got all we could've asked for with a little extra on the side.

Santa brought Ethan a shiny new tricycle that he loves even though he doesn't really know how to operate it yet. I give him till Spring and he'll be a pro, if it even takes him that long.
He also got some new sunglasses and some candy
Thomas tractors to go with his train set that he got for his birthday

An authentic, autographed, Mickey Mouse het!!
and much, much, much more. He was great at sharing but even better at helping us unwrap our gifts

Santa also stopped at Grandma and Papa's house and brought him a drum set (for Ethan or Daddy, the jury's still out) Auntie and Grandma got pictures of his reaction




After lots of unwrapping presents we did some napping and laying low
and walking on our white Christmas

till guests arrived for dinner, which was absolutely delicious! Ethan ate a lot more than he did at Thanksgiving although jello and rolls were still his favorite. Today Ethan has been playing with all his new toys, singing Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town and asking when we can open more presents. Thank you to everyone that made our third Christmas together extra special.

Richard Spellman

July 31, 1924 - December 21, 2009

We know you are rejoicing in heaven

Stomach Flu

This morning about 2:30am Ethan woke up with a high temp again and got sick a few times. He woke up about every 15 minutes just miserable and wouldn't take any Tylenol. I took him to the doctor this morning and he was diagnosed with the stomach flu. Keep him on Tylenol, clear liquids and bland food, which is exactly what we were doing. Well, at least it set my mind at ease.

Birthdays, Basketball, Sickness, and Drums, all in a Week

Sorry to be a little MIA lately...
We've had a second birthday party to plan and execute

"Say cheese Auntie"

It was great, I'll post more pics if and when I ever get them

We had a day of nice weather to take advantage of

"If I could just jump a little higher"

Then our little Santa Claus
Got sick
His temp reached 102 off and on for about 36 hours, along with some vomiting, no appetite, very lethargic, irritable and mostly just wanting Mommy.
He's doing better today, but still tired and out of it.

And for your enjoyment, one night only, the rookie rebel, Ethan

We just need an agent

2nd Birthday

New baby, 1 day old, we didn't even know his name yet

1 year old, curious and sweet

Now, 2 years old and loving every minute of it!

2 Year Doctor Visit

Today was Ethan's 2 year well baby/toddler/child check up with the doctor. It went pretty well. He got to be weighed and measured on the big kid scale that you stand on instead of the baby one that you lay in. He is 27 pounds, which is in the 55th percentile for boys his age, and is exactly 3 feet tall, which is in the 90th percentile. The doctor said even though he cried the whole time, he looks great and he is doing very well developmentally. We also got our H1N1 flu shots, which Ethan was not happy about but so far has had no reaction, he has to go back in a month for a booster. That's all for today.

Stir Crazy

It has been very, very cold here the past week and yesterday we hit a breaking point. We (Ethan and I) were going stir crazy!! We had to get out of the house. He was just pushing every button he could. So we bundled ourselves in snow suits and went outside.
It actually turned out really well, with the snow falling and not much wind, it wasn't too cold. And I put him to work


We got almost the whole driveway done, went to the park and then felt much better when we went back into our nice warm house.

Festival of Lights

First, I'd like to make an announcement, the moment that we have all been waiting for happened on Friday night, Daddy got barfed on! Now, I am not happy that Ethan puked, and puked, and puked again, but I did feel a small sense of joy that it wasn't on me and then another small amount that it was on Daddy. Now he'll stop bragging that he's never gotten vomited on. I know, it's not right.

Now on to what this post is supposed to be about. Last night we went to the Festival of Lights, in downtown Colorado Springs. Ethan LOVES Christmas lights, so even though it was probably below freezing, we bundled up and went to the parade.

We even got candy canes

Do you know what is at most parades? Cause we totally forgot and it was a wonderful surprise...
...a marching band!! Well, a lot of marching bands. This beat out all of the lights, Ethan just kept saying "More marching band" and then they would come!!
...and a tractor covered in lights

O Christmas Tree

Last Monday we went and got our Christmas tree from a good friends tree farm. We've gone there for the past 4 years to get all of our trees, Christmas and others, and this one is my favorite!! I already know I'm going to be sad when we have to take it down.

Ethan was a big help picking out the tree, he ran us through the whole lot of them so we would be sure not to miss any. Then he saw the lumberjacks (as I like to call them) lifting the trees for other customers and he made me put on his gloves so he could help
He didn't get in the way at all while Daddy was putting the tree up (we tried a different spot this year), and then he helped me put the ornaments down. Mostly he did this by taking down the ones he thought were in the wrong spots.

and it's gorgeous!! Much prettier at night.

After the tree was up we headed out to put the lights on the house, which also look great. Michael put up hooks so the job wouldn't take him as long as it usually does, yeah right, he just put that time into a different task. He was out until dark!
Now our house is ready for Santa, we've been watching Christmas movies and going on walks and drives to see more lights. I have to say the Christmas season with a 2 year old (Thursday) is probably the best Christmas that I can remember.

Just Life

Last Monday we helped Auntie move to her new apartment, which we like a lot more if our opinion matters. Ethan was a "huge" help, at least he wanted to be. He'd grab empty bags or help me with whatever I had, we'd lug it down the stairs and bring it to whoever was loading the car.
Once we got to her new place, which Ethan just kept saying "Auntie's place," he was kind enough to test out the tub
which passed inspection. By the time we made one trip it was time for us to leave for a nap, but not before a pizza break
He fell asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car and slept for 2 hours, one point for moving.
*Caution, nude photo to follow* (no it's not Michael)
Ethan loves bath time lately, lots of splashing and swimming and he discovered that he can lie on his back, which is awesome.
(Ha gotcha!)
Yesterday turned out to be an interesting day. When we were having fun we were really having fun, when we weren't, well, let's just leave it at that.

Burning off some energy at the park

He watched me hang some laundry, grabbed his pj pants and hung them up, I know he's cute

Papa got some new biking stuff as a gift and we think his skull cap looks better on Ethan

He actually went up and got his sunglasses so he could be a dude

We were watching a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert and Ethan was jamming, I didn't get the best dancing but it'll have to do. Yes, it's Metallica.