Quiet Weekend

We had kind of a quiet weekend. Mike took Ethan and Mia back to Chamberlain on Thursday and Friday for a family friend's funeral. Riley and I stayed home because we had my sister's baby shower on Saturday. It's SO much different taking care of one baby instead of three! I couldn't believe the difference! I had a bunch of shopping planned, but my shopping partner (Riley) wasn't into it. I had to carry her everywhere I went because she wouldn't sit in the cart. Let me tell you, 20 pounds gets really heavy really fast! Needless to say, my shopping trips were cut really short.

My mom and little brother came up for the weekend, so it was nice seeing them. Ethan and Mia LOVE my brother, Nathan. He plays with them quite a bit and acts really goofy. They have a ball!

Ethan isn't acting like himself. I can tell that he doesn't feel very well. He has a 100.1 degree temp. I gave the poor thing some motrin and laid him down for a nap. I hope he feels better! All three kids have had their seasonal flu shot and one shot of the H1N1 vaccine. They need their second dose in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure how protected they are against H1N1 since they've only received the one dose. I really hope he's not coming down with H1N1! He doesn't have a cough but has a runny nose and of course the fever. Please pray that we don't get this! I've had to float to pediatrics and take care of a few kids with H1N1. They (and their parents) are absolutely miserable!

What a Day!

Riley slept like crap last night, so I slept like crap last night!

Then...

Ethan and Mia spilled cereal all over the living room. Well, not spilled because that would imply it was an accident. They purposely threw cereal all over the living room.

Then...

Ethan got into the garbage and pulled Riley's poopy diaper out. There was poop all over my kitchen floor that I had to clean up.

Then...

I gave Riley a bath and for some strange reason, the wash cloth went down the drain, and I can't get it out. Now I have a clogged tub.

Then...

Someone left a partially filled coffee cup on Ethan's dresser. Ethan stood on top of his dump truck and pulled the coffee cup down and spilled coffee all over their carpet.

And it isn't even noon yet! It's going to be a long day!

Gorilla Time

Here's a video of Mike scaring the crap out of our three kids! You've got to have a little fun with them, right? :)

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! We decided to have the kids be animals this year. Ethan was an elephant, Mia was a duck, and Riley was a pig. I was afraid that they wouldn't keep their costumes on, but they did extremely well! Mike has a gorilla costume that he wore. The kids are afraid of the mask part. He scared the crap out of all three of them!

We stopped by to see my sister, Sarah, nieces, Janai and Jude, and nephew, Noah. Janai was a geisha and Noah was superman for Halloween. It was fun to see the kids! Ethan and Mia really like hanging out with Janai and Noah.

We went to a Halloween party later that evening. There was a ton of food and candy there! Ethan and Mia had a lot of fun getting into all of their stuff. Their house isn't toddler-proof, so it was a little exhausting for us to have to chase them around! At one point, Ethan came out of the living room with a potted plant. Thank goodness he didn't dump it out! Mia had fun going through the kitchen cupboards and the recycling bin. We'll see if we get another invite back! :)

We took the kids trick-or-treating that evening. Ethan and Mia are still too young to realize what's going on. They had a blast being outside and chowing down on the candy though!

Jude and Riley.

Ethan, the elephant.

Janai, Jude, and Mia.

Ethan checking out his tusks.

Sitting still for once!

Sisterly love!

All of the cousins: Janai, Jude, Riley, Mia, Ethan, & Noah

It's hard trying to get a picture of all three of them!

Still trying to get that perfect picture.

Checking Mia out.

My cute duck. Mia hated her costume the most out of the three of them. She didn't like the head piece.

Ethan actually really liked his costume on. He got mad at me when I took the head piece off.

My duck and Charlie Brown (Uncle Mark.)

My piglet.

Getting Some Bloodwork Done

Mike is probably going to kill me for posting this, but I don't care! I chuckle every time he needs to get blood drawn because he gets dizzy and nauseous when he sees his own blood. When we lived in Phoenix, he actually passed out while getting blood drawn. He said he woke up, and 5 phlebotomists were standing over him!

He had a physical a few days ago and needed some lab work done. He said he could feel himself getting lightheaded. His color drained from his face, so the phlebotomist gave him some orange juice. He felt better after drinking the juice, but he was still very pale. She made him lay on the nasty clinic floor with his feet up on the chair. Mike said all these little kids were getting throat cultures and lab work done and that everyone just stared at him. He asked several times if he could get up and go (because of how embarrassed he was) but she wouldn't let him. He had to lay there for 15 minutes! Hahahahahaha

It was a good laugh for the day!

22 Months!

Two more months and I will have 2 year olds! Ethan and Mia are doing well. We've dodged the flu for now. They both received their regular flu shot and I'm hoping to get their H1N1 vaccine soon. I'm really praying that we don't get this! What a nightmare that would be.

Ethan is still a rough and tumbling boy. He loves to throw things now. He usually gets me right in the head with a ball or toy when I'm not paying attention. He's got a pretty good aim! I try not to get mad when I get clocked in the head because he's not doing it on purpose! His favorite toys are his tonka dump truck (he's had forever), a new claw toy (from the MOA), stuffed animals, and any type of ball.

He is starting to say a few more words. He can say "ra" for rock (which is his new obsession), "do" for don't, "bu" for butt. There are other words, but I can't think of anymore!

Ethan continues to figure new things out daily. I was in the living room and heard a pop can open. I go running to the kitchen, and sure enough, he had opened a sprite. I thought it was a fluke, but he opened up a diet coke can a few days ago. Uggg! He also figured out how to open my laptop. He climbs up on the chair and starts messing around with it. Mike got after him for getting on my laptop, and Ethan raises his eyebrows (looking as innocent as can be) and goes "huh?" We both busted out laughing. What's funny is not even ten minutes later, Mia climbs up to mess with my lap top and Ethan immediately looks at Mike to see if he's going to get after her. It's amazing how fast they learn these things. He also figured out that he can push his chair up to the door to the screened-in porch and lock/unlock and open the door.

Ethan and Mia are really starting to understand what we say. We were outside and Ethan started running away from me. I asked him, "where are you going" and he replied "ra". He wanted to play with the rocks. Mike asked Mia where her pants were and Ethan went into the living room, grabbed her pants, and brought them to Mike. If I'm going to lay them down for nap, I'll tell both of them to get their blankies, and both will come running with their blankies. It's so cute! I can't wait to use this to my advantage! :)

Mia is my feisty little girly girl. She loves playing with her babies but will brawl with her brother in the same five minutes. She doesn't let him push her around. In fact, it's usually Mia who is pushing him around! I don't think I'll have to worry about her not sticking up for herself. Mia likes to get after Ethan. If he does something to upset her, she points her little finger in his face and yells, "don't, don't, don't, don't." She is still scratching him but doesn't seem to do it as often. She definitely wears the pants!

One of Mia's favorite things to do is to steal the remote from me. She usually waits until I'm nursing Riley and will swoop in and take it before I can grab her. If I ask her to "give me the remote", she'll run and give it to me. It's really cute but irritating, especially when she turns it to an infomercial. Her favorite toys are her babies, a baby stroller, and any type of ball.

Mia continues to love/hate Riley. She kisses her constantly but she will hit or bite her every now and then. She went in for what I thought was a kiss and ended up biting Riley's forehead. Riley started screaming like mad, and Mia looks at her and goes "shhhh" while putting her finger up to her lips. I was trying to get after her without smiling. Sometimes it's hard!

Mia is talking a lot more. She repeats random words that I say. She says, "good girl", "bu" for butt, "here kitty". There are more, but they've slipped my mind!

Mia has started carrying her blankie and bunny around. She sees Ethan doing it and joins in.

Sisterly love.

Cute!

Enjoying the sun!

Enjoying one of the last days of summer.

Mia is my goofy one.

Still obsessed with the blankie and puppy. They have to come everywhere with us. He drags it outside with him. It's been in the mud, on the greasy lawn mower, and even was ripped on the barbed wire fence. He gets mad if I try to hold it for him.

I love this picture of Mia. Pure happiness.

Fell asleep on the couch. I can count on one finger how many times this has happened!

I thought this picture was cute. That's Mia's hand checking out his bellybutton.

Ethan LOVES being outside. I'm all ready dreading this winter!

Playing with Riley's toys and having a blast. They were giggling like crazy together!

Sitting on Mom's lap.

Playing with a new driving toy. Notice all the stuffed animals by him?

Mia Nursing her Baby

Here's a short video of Mia nursing her baby. She does it for a short second in the beginning. Why do they always stop doing stuff when you get the camera out?!?

You can hear Riley in the background. She was ticked that I put her down!