Watching Videos

The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE to watch home videos of themselves!!  So as we prepare for another baby in our house we've been watching lots of videos...including Ella meeting Easton for the first time in the hospital and several of them when Easton was a baby.  They love it and I think it has helped prepare them a little. Ella is excited to go back to the same hospital again to meet this baby.

Happy Happy Birthday Easton Boy!!!!!

Dear Easton,

As I write this letter, it's April 22 and we are anxiously waiting for your little brother or sister to arrive.  More than anything I have been thinking about whether or not I will be in the hospital on your birthday which I have prayed the whole time that it would not be the case.  However, as it gets closer, I know it will okay either way!  You are such a laid back, understanding little guy that I don't think you would mind. :)  At this point, since we are so close to your birthday and you already share your very special day with your Daddy, it would be pretty cool if you shared with a sibling too!  We'll find out very soon!!

Of course I've been reminiscing a ton about how you came into the world and how even though I was obviously in labor I didn't believe it because it happened all too perfectly.  We'll never forget how you surprised us on your Daddy's 30th birthday.  You were such a perfect little boy when we met you and you still are.


That was THREE years ago Easton!!!  You are now such a big boy.  Somedays I look at you and you still fit so perfectly in my arms that I feel like you are still my baby and other days I look at you and can't believe how big you are and how fast you are catching up to Ella!  I've been soaking you in the last few weeks as I know that when we have a newborn in the house, you will suddenly seem so much bigger.



You go back and forth between wanting to still be a baby and then somedays you are insistent that you are NOT a baby.  Just this morning, your pull-up was wet and I asked you why you went potty in your pull up?  Your response..."Because I still suck my thumb when I go night night and so I'm still a baby."  When I told you that you are no longer a baby, you replied, "why only babies go potty in their diaper?"



You have an amazing personality and are so great at letting things slip off your shoulders...you get that from your Daddy.  You are so carefree and have so much fun.  I love the way you sing so loud and dance and shake your booty.  It's the cutest, funniest thing ever.  I love how much you love music and just want to dance anytime you hear it.  I love all the questions you ask about everything and how you always follow up your question with another "why?" at the end.

You are and have always been so extremely affectionate.  You pucker up those big, beautiful lips of yours and give the BEST kisses!  When you give me big hugs you say "I love you so much!"  When I tell you that you're my baby boy, you respond, "you're my girl."  Ahh...gets me every time!  You love to say prayers at night and have just started saying them all on your own.  Every night recently you pray for Mimi and Papa's bus and that you got to ride on it.  It obviously made a big impact on you last time we were there! :)

This past year with you as a 2-year old has been amazing.  I can honestly say that you hardly ever throw tantrums!  I think I can count on only one had how many bad tantrums you have had and most of them were somewhat recently, which had me worried we may be entering the terrible 3s, however I attribute a lot of it to the fact that you were missing your Daddy during tax season.  I'm confident that we are going to have great year ahead in your 3s as well!



Easton we love you SOOOO much!  My favorite song to sing to you is so simple and yet sums it up so perfectly..."I love you so much, I love you so much, I can't even tell you how much I love you.  You're special to me, you're special to me."

Thanks baby for all the incredible JOY you bring to me and to our family!

Love,
Mommy

Easton's Countdown to THREE (#5 - #1)

#5...Music, Singing and Dancing

Easton is very animated and LOVES to sing and dance.  He loves music of any kind and has been enamored when we are around live music.  His signature move is "shaking his booty" like in the photos below and you'll often find him at home singing at the top of his lungs!  He brings home all kinds of new songs that he learns at school in his Spanish class or just ones that he makes up with no words!

#4...Thumb and Blankies

At almost three years old, Easton is still VERY attached to his blankies (bear and froggy) and sucking his thumb.  He was  getting better about sucking his thumb only at nap and night time but has regressed a bit recently.  Any time he is bored, sad, or just about anytime, we wants his blankies in hand!

#3...Watching TV

He is most definitely my little TV watcher.  I think it got worse during tax season, simply because I LET him watch more TV and I always notice an increase in how much he asks for it after he is allowed the privilege for a while.  It's already slowing down and that is good.  His favorites include Peter Rabbit, Dora "Fi Forer" (the explorer), and he loves the movie Hotel Transylvania which he calls either "the monster movie" or "the dinosaur movie" even though there are NO dinosaurs in the movie!

#2...Soccer and Daddy

It's been fun to see Easton on a real soccer team over the past month.  He loves the sport, but it really has been completely different watching him play with a team.  He hasn't been as interested as I expected but each week gets better and better.  It's definitely something that he wants to do with his Daddy and is so much more engaged when his Daddy is right there with him!  He's also involved in soccer shots at school for his 4th season in a row and we are always told by his coach that he is one of the best even though he is the youngest.

#1...Being outside: Riding his bike, 4 wheeler, etc.

Easton LOVES to be outside.  Almost every day when we come home from school, he stays outside to play while I come in to start dinner.  On the weekends, he spends tons of time outside as well and just loves to ride his bike, ride his 4 wheeler, and play with any of the many things we have in the garage.  We recently added some shelving and got the "kids side" of the garage really organized so he can easily see and play with all of his things.

Easton's Countdown to THREE (#10 - #6)

In just a couple of short days, my "baby" will be THREE years old!!!  What a big boy he has become and continues to become.  We could NOT be more PROUD of the little person that he is.  He is so full of love and personality.

After I wrote out his "top ten" list, I looked back at last year and was surprised at how the lists are almost identical!  So that we never forget the highlights of our sweet soon to be three year old, here is his top TEN starting backwards....

#10...Friends

Easton has 2 friends from school that he talks about all the time: Mason & Kai.  His teacher calls them the three amigos!  Everyday when I ask him about school, he responds.  "I play with Kai."  They are together non stop at school and recently when we showed up at a birthday party not knowing who would be there, it was so cute to see their eyes light up when Easton and Kai saw each other!  The picture below is one that his teacher sent me during school one day.

His other "friends" would be the ones that he sleeps with every night.  He pulls every single one of his stuffed animals into his bed and pushes them in the corner.  He calls them his friends.  I tried to scatter then on shelves within his room and not put them ALL in his bed, but he kept getting them all down and putting them back in bed, so I just gave up and he enjoys sleeping with them all every night!  

#9...Animals

Easton has always been a sweet little animal lover.   Anywhere we go if we see a doggy, he runs over and wants to pet it.  At the soccer games, the park, everywhere.  He LOVES dogs.  Just the other day we were doing yardwork at home and found some baby bunny rabbits; Easton was in heaven!  And he used his sweet little baby voice to talk to it and called it "baby".  His affection for all things is such a sweet quality that I love about him.

#8...Books!  

I love to walk into Easton's room to find him sitting on his bead reading books.  He knows the words to so many of his favorites!  His current favorites include Little Black, Everywhere Babies, Gingerbread Cowboy, Together, and so many more.  I think he knows just about every single word of Little Black, as we read it every single night for over a month.  This book has sentimental meaning as well since it was one of Michael's favorites as a little boy.  

#7...Ella

Sweet siblings...these 2 can fight over the smallest silliest things or they can get along great, but regardless they love each other so much and are at the ages where they enjoy a lot of the same things and have tons of fun together!  I love to hear Easton's sweet voice..."Ella, come one, come on Ella!"

#6...T-ball

He has recently started playing T-ball at home with a little plastic set that he received at his 1st birthday.  All of a sudden he LOVES it and plays often when outside.  We decided for his bday to get him a more age appropriate set and I can't wait to see how he does!  He's got a great swing!

Weekend with Mimi

My mom came in town to help me get through the last weekend of tax season and it was SO WONDERFUL to have her here!  Michael and I even got a date night when he got home at a decent hour Saturday evening and I love that she was able to capture some pictures of us when I was over 38 weeks pregnant as well as some of me and the kids the following day at the park.  

We had a fun and still relaxing long weekend!  Thanks Mimi!  

Flowers for Ella

Daddy sent flowers to Ella's school and it was the sweetest thing that he could have ever done!  She had been sad a few days before when I threw away some flowers from Easter...she didn't understand why they had died and got really upset about it.  It completely made her day a few days later when she received her very own flowers at school!!  What a great surprise and she was so happy.  She kept saying how she has the best Daddy in the whole world and I agree!  Nothing could have made me or her happier.

Kinder Round Up

On April 10th, Ella got to attend Kinder round up and this almost 5-year old could not be more excited about being a Kindergartener!!  As of today she is completely registered and ready to go!