Family Portraits

Happy Birthday, July!

Just wanted to wish a happy birthday to July in my blog today. Hope it's a good one!

Well, we made it to the swimming pool yesterday. We didn't get to stay for too long because Easton got shivery like he does. Oh well. Having no body fat will do that to you when you get wet. The thing is, he never wants to leave or get out, I have to make him. He had a blast while he was there, though. He was in the kiddie pool the whole time and was very adventurous, much to Auntie Jesh's dismay. He would fall underwater a lot but didn't care...we'd get him right back out and he'd be smiling the whole time, even if he was choking on water. That boy drank more than his share of pool water yesterday. Eew. I don't want him to be afraid of the water so I try to be calm and let him explore and not overreact when he goes under. I want him to enjoy it and he SO does. The pool only got to 1 1/2 feet deep but he'd lose his balance easily, probably because he tries to take such gigantic steps. It was so funny, each step he took it was like he was trying to lift his foot out of the water. Then he'd fall. Or intentionally sit down even if it was too deep. He's crazy. I wish we had our own neighborhood pool up here.

Here's Easton and Auntie Lauren in the pool:

And here's E exploring the bidet-esque fountains in the kiddie pool:

And here he is dreaming of the day when he's older and fatter and can stay longer and go in the big pool:

After the pool we headed to hang out at my mom's house, having snacks and such. We didn't leave until 7...poor Jason didn't get much time with us at all yesterday. It was pretty much time to start Easton's bedtime routine once we got home. This is Easton on the way home, he broke his sunglasses by pulling off an "arm" right after I took this picture. Good thing they were only, like, $1.99 at Old Navy.

Last night at about 4:30 a.m. we woke to one heck of a thunderstorm. Our room was lit up with lightening and then the crash of the thunder soon followed. It was crazy and very unexpected. I was awake until about 5 when it moved on. I kept fearing Easton would wake up from it but he didn't. He's been a good nighttime sleeper still, staying asleep until after 8 every morning and then waking up happy calling for me. I love it. He is feeling extra snuggly today which I'm also enjoying. He's rarely like that so I have to take full advantage when he is. After his "lunch" of three and a half grapes and an eighth of a piece of string cheese, he's napping.

We don't really have plans this afternoon although my sister Jessica is spending the night tonight. I have no idea when she's coming or how she's getting here. She is very spontaneous and I am not. I guess I will have to try to be more spontaneous regarding today as I have no other choice. :)

I guess that's all for today from my end. To quote today's episode of Backyardigans, "Pip pip Cheerio!"

Birthday Re-Cap

So, yesterday was my 28th birthday...happy birthday to me, right? It started off with a special surprise from Jason: while I was showering he snuck back into the house with doughnuts for me and Easton's breakfast. Yum! I was so happy to see that since I was kinda bummed about having to "work" (Baby John) that day. Oh well.

The day passed with Easton only napping for half an hour again but once Jason got home (early--YAY!) things got better. My mom and sisters came up to E-sit while Jason and I went to my very favorite restaurant: The Melting Pot. Mmmmmm. Love that place. It was delicious as usual.

Before we left for dinner, though, I got to open some presents. Fun! My mom gave me this book:

which I'm excited to get into. Plus, she's arranging a pre-paid interior decorator consult to help me with our bedroom decor now that all the furniture is done. Yay! One sister gave me a massage gift certificate (aaahhh!) and the other gave me these:

I love them because they're purple and because they'll come in handy the next time she stays over and I make pancakes. What fun! Easton loves them too.

After dinner I got to open some more presents. Gimme gimme gimme :) I was thrilled to find a new DVD player for the bedroom!

Yippee skippy! What a lovely mother-in-law I have (thank you!). I also dug into a couple of new shirts from Jason which I'll model in a month or two and then...a NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!!! Woo hoo!

So far I love it. I'm really excited to see what it can do. Plus, it came with photography lessons and I could sure use those. I'll have to get back into my digi-scrapping again.

The night before last J brought me home an ice cream cake (my favorite) to kick off my "birthday week".

He knew we'd be too full after the Melting Pot plus he wanted our babysitters to be able to eat some too so we dug into it on "Kristin Eve" (the day before my b-day). On Sunday my mom took us all out to a fancy brunch to celebrate my birthday too. It seems to be a tradition now. We've been at least the last 2 birthdays too. Anyway...here's a couple of pictures:


I like the scrunchy face Easton is making.

Oh, and yesterday as E appropriately wore his "I do my own stunts" shirt he stood (repeatedly) on the arm of the couch and jumped to land on the cushions. One time he over shot and got a little abrasion from the fabric on his forehead. This was on top of a previously existing bruise from either a.) the time he dove head first from the back of the couch to the floor, b.) the time he hit his head on the doorjamb after brushing his teeth, or c.) when he bonked into the coffee table leg while being a goofball. Who knows? Anyway, his forehead is lovely now. It's a wonder he doesn't have brain damage.

Well, we're supposed to go swimming with my mom and sissies at her neighborhood pool after nap time but it's starting to look a little cloudy. Don't want E to shiver but we'll see...

Pedicures All Around

That is all of our lovely toes from this morning. My mom treated all of us to pedicures which were delish and then Starbucks which was also delish. Then just for fun we headed over for free Migun massages. Fancy, eh? I headed home after that but they're all coming over later for a fiesta...not really...we're just having some Mexican appetizers: J's famous chicken quesadillas, pico de gallo, guac, and my mom's seven layer dip. Yummy.

So far (at 3 o'clock) I haven't even seen Easton today. :( He was still asleep when I left the house (at 9:30!!!) and he was down for his nap when I got home. I miss him but I'm glad he's getting his rest. I guess he's making up for the 40 minute "nap" yesterday. J did say he was in a good mood today. Whew. And that he missed me and was asking for me. Awwwww...J showed him some pictures of Mama to help him not miss me as much.

Funny story for today: Easton was sitting on the floor signing "cracker" so J went to get him some and then E would shake his head "no" but sign it again. Finally E got Jason to understand what he was talking about: he had put crackers through the slits in the floor vent! He could look in the register and see 3 crackers sitting there. Crazy boy.

I changed my book today...I've actually never read Slaughterhouse-Five. So now I am. I finished my re-read of Harry Potter. It was still good and I forget all the little details. I love my Harry Pottifer (that's what J calls it). I'm also changing the "Same Time Last Year" picture, but there's no good video this time. Sorry. Anyway, I guess that's all for today, catch you another time!

What a Day...

Ugh, what a day this is turing out to be. Easton slept until 9--woo hoo, right?!?! However, he woke up on the wrong side of the crib again today. Cranky a lot of the morning and I ended up putting him down for his nap after being up just 3 hours instead of 4. He went to sleep just fine but woke up 5 minutes later crying hard. He put himself back to sleep fairly quickly after that but then woke up after a mere 40 minute nap. I've tried getting him back down but he wasn't having any of it. He just wanted to read books in his room. So we did. Then we went downstairs and he turned into a handful and a half. So, I'm trying the nap thing again. Who knows...

Anyway, thought I should post something today so there ya go. Oh and for fun, here's a movie from the other day.

My sister comes into town today and even though she's staying at my mom's I think we'll be busy with her over the next week. Pedicure party tomorrow to kick it all off! Yay!

About Last Night...

Wow, did we have a wacky evening or what?!? Here's the scoop: last night after dinner Jason was heading out to the backyard to empty the baby pool before it killed all the grass underneath. Easton was still in his high chair from dinner and saw J heading out. The look on his face was heartbreaking as he realized Daddy was going to have fun outside and "forgot" E. But then, Easton called out, "Da da! DAAAAA DAAAA!!" and the desperation in his voice was enough for me to swoop in and remove him from the chair to bring him outside too. I mean, the poor child just crumpled when he thought he couldn't go out too. It was so sad. So, we're all outside watching J empty the pool and put away the Mt. Tiki Soki sprinkler. Then we head back inside. Well, we tried to head back inside. The stupid security bar fell into place with the door shut and we were locked out of our own house!!!! We had no phone or wallet or a hidden key anywhere. J contemplated breaking a window but that would take time and money to fix. All our windows were locked with security bars in place. EEEEEK! Before long we decided to simply suck it up and head to a neighbors house to use the phone to call a locksmith. I mean, replacing a window would probably cost just as much if not more than a locksmith. We had little choice left. So, we headed over to our poor unsuspecting neighbors in the middle of grilling their own dinner. We had not "officially" met them anyway so what a lovely excuse to stand there on the phone while she graciously let us interrupt their evening. What a pain! Jason had to spend forever on the phone to find someone. Then we headed back to sit on our lawn for half an hour while we waited for the lock smith.

Eventually the lock dude showed up and J and I have dubbed him "François". He was definitely from another land based on his accent. Anyway, making small talk Jason asked him, "How long does it take to get good at this job?" to which François hilariously answered, "It depends on where you grow up." Ha ha ha! That's me cackling madly. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but I did find him to be a hoot and a half. Especially when he opened up his fancy tool box and we see an old credit card and a bent hanger--tools of the trade, I guess, but a little disconcerting all the same. I would've been quite upset if he was able to get us in with his extra long hanger and a screwdriver. But, that didn't work and he had to use his fancy locksmith tools. Ninety bucks and fifteen minutes past bedtime later we were in. Phew.

This isn't the first time the danged security bar has fallen into place but the last time it happened J's friend was in the basement for band practice. J just had to wait for the pal to stop banging on the drums in order for him to hear J ringing the bell trying to get back in. My goodness!

Okay, so now that I've covered last night's drama, we can move on to today. Easton and I went out to breakfast and I had the most delicious ham and cheese (hold the egg EEW!) on a croissant (in honor of our new friend François--not). And coffee. E had water since he isn't a fan of coffee yet :) He had raisins of course and some bites of croissant. He was so good and I loved having breakfast with my boy. After breakfast we headed to Circle Time. He still doesn't love sitting still for the stories but he can't wait to get up when they dance and stuff. Today he even got a sticker. He doesn't like stickers. Oh well. At Circle Time there was a sign saying there will be no Circle Times for the month of August. What the hey?!?! We'll need to find another branch or something else to do. We love our Circle Time at the 'brary.

Oh yeah, and back to the weekend, here's a cute pic of Easton and Auntie Lauren and Daddy going down the stairs. Jason was trying to hold E's hand to go down the stairs and usually E holds the wall with his other hand but Sunday morning he reached for Auntie Lauren's hand instead. It was the sweetest thing and Lauren was thrilled. E just loves her. So, to get this picture I set the camera on timer and then threw it up in the air. Okay, that's a big fat lie. We simply have a half wall over the stairs...kind of a fun shot though.

And then here is a cute super smiley picture and fun movie montage from yesterday.

Au revoir! (that's François rubbing off again...tee hee!)

Catching Up

So that's a slide show from Saturday. It's been 100 degrees at least for several days now so we let Eastie play in the backyard water features. :) It was lots of fun. That afternoon my sister Lauren came to stay for the night and we took her to Dave & Buster's for a bit. What a fun day!

Not much new is happening, I had John here on both Friday and yesterday so I haven't gotten around to blogging till now. Sorry. I'll fill you in on some of the small stuff...let's see...

Easton can get up onto the couch by himself now without stepping on anything to climb up there. We like that he's growing but it's not the safest activity either. He likes to attempt somersaults up there! Yikes! Earlier today I made a visit to the restroom and left the TV remote on the couch where it used to be "safe". Well, during my bathroom trip I heard Easton turn the volume all the way up and I came back to him simply sprawled on his back like a true couch potato, remote in hand. Silly. During the morning he decided to climb up repeatedly and either jump off onto a throw pillow below or ride the arm of the couch like it was a horse and then climb down the other side to get back up again. He's crazy. Must be all the raisins he's eating. Yes, he's decided finally that he'll eat raisins only because Daddy was eating them in the family room one day. That's really the only place E will try new things. So, he's a big raisin-head lately. While I like that he's eating things other than crackers, I'm not in love with what it's doing for his digestion. The day before yesterday (TMI warning) he had poops in an impressive FIVE diapers. Yes, five. Yesterday it was down to a "mere" three. Whoa!!, right? Yowsa.

What else? Oh yeah, he's learned the benefits of having TiVo. We were watching America's Funniest Home Videos reruns with Lauren on Sunday and he laughed hysterically at the kitty cat montage, then looked for the remote and signed "more". So we watched it again and again. He's continuing with other funny moments on programs. Like a koala climbing up a tree this morning. Or Pablo tripping on Backyardigans. What fun! I live to hear him laugh like that though, so it's totally worth it.

Oh!! And Easton slept until 8 this morning and so did I! Yippee. I woke briefly with the darn neighbor dogs and also with Jason getting up, showering, then leaving, but I was somehow able to go back to sleep. I think I might have gotten too much sleep, though, because I'm feeling quite lazy today. Oh well. I have a feeling with all that sleep, E's nap might be a short one so I'd better run and get a shower while I can. See ya!

Welcome Auntie Jesh!

Okay, my sister (Jessica) is supposed to be getting internet at home today...finally! She has never seen this lovely blog of mine and I hope she'll check in and feel oh-so-welcome with my post title.

Easton took a short nap yesterday and was a little cranky as the day wore on. We tried an earlier bedtime to see if he'd sleep longer. So far at 7:30 he's still down. Woo hoo! I'd better hurry so I can shower before he wakes up.

Anyway, I had a cute story I wanted to share. Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart as planned. I unbuckled E's front-facing carseat from my seat up front and held his hand as he climbed down. Then he walked over to the door and waited for me to open it up and he held my hand as he climbed down. We held hands walking all the way into the store! It was too sweet. I'm normally not brave enough to try because he is known for doing his own thing or running off half the time, it's easier to carry him, but we tried walking and he headed right for the store holding onto my hand the whole time. I loved it! He rode around in the cart as we shopped (I'd give him an item and he'd check it out before dropping it into the back of the cart). When we were checking out he helped me by pitching items onto the little moving conveyor belt thingy. He couldn't reach that well so he'd have to toss things but they all made it up there. He was so proud. I gave him my credit card to hold just for something to do and he knew exactly what to do with it, he tried reaching up to the card reader to swipe it through! He couldn't reach it so I did it for him and gave it back. It was one of our best Wal-Mart experiences ever.

When we got home I took him outside to play and eat messy peanut butter crackers. He only took one bite of the crackers and refused any more. Oh well. He had fun playing but the grass is so long from our rainy weekend that he kept tripping. Oops.

Oh yeah, one more E anecdote before I hit the showers...yesterday we were playing in his room and I said, "Easton lets go downstairs" and he put both the balls he was playing with back on the shelf before we left!!! I didn't say anything to get him to do it, either. He often likes to pick up after himself. How did I get so lucky and how long will it last? I hope it's because we set a good example. Too cute. LOVE MY BOY!!

Forward Facing Fanatic

Hmmm, am I talking about Jason or Easton there? Well, they both seem happier about it now. We nearly had to abort the plan halfway through due to strap placement issues but we worked it all out and went for a graduation drive around the neighborhood. Easton just looked out the window at first, didn't seem like he thought anything was too special. But, he had fun nonetheless, check out this video.

Okay, so that's done. Yay! J is glad and hopefully Easton won't get so red and sweaty now that the A/C can reach him a bit better. And, hopefully he won't cry on the half an hour drive home from Boulder when the sun is in his eyes. :( It just looks harder to put him in the seat now. Oh well.

Dorky mama that I am, I keep track of everything E does and what he weighed at all his appointments and stuff. Well, on 7/12 of last year he weighed 14 pounds 1.5 ounces. He was doing great, on the charts then and everything--even for his actual age he was 10th percentile. Then he started crawling...and the weight gain slowed. So much so that when you do the math, he's only gained 5 pounds 5.5 ounces in the whole danged year! Sheesh.

Last night J and I talked about it all again and I think I just have to come to terms with the fact that E will always be small. I have never liked it when people said, "One day he'll hit that growth spurt and just take off" because, well, have you seen my husband? He's not exactly a big guy and never was growing up. I was always average as a child (WAAAAAAY above average as a baby, though) and didn't get "tall" until 8th grade or so. Anyway, Jason turned out just fine, better than fine if you ask me ;) and so will Easton. People come in different sizes, I know, I think I was just thinking for awhile it was preemieness, but now I'm pretty convinced it's genetics. Things could change for him, of course, but I doubt it. Doesn't mean I'll ever stop hoping he'll grow, but I'm okay with it regardless. My kid doesn't have much of an appetite and there's nothing you can do for that. I refuse to force feed him even if it was possible. And he's picky...but most toddlers are. J and I still are. There's that pesky genetics again. :) Alright, I think I'm done...

Moving along...we didn't go to Circle Time today. E woke up at 7 calling out "Mama" and I can't refuse to get him up when he's being sweet like that. By "refusing" I mean, go take a shower first. So, I don't like the idea of going out unwashed so I'll shower now that he's napping and we'll head out later. Probably even to the library. And Wal-Mart.

Oh yeah, E started on some almond butter yesterday. It gave him the rigors at first but he kept asking for more and so he had some. Not a lot but it's a start. Then Jason had a peanut butter/strawberry breakfast bar type thing and E took one bite and refused to take any more. Hmph. I'm hoping he'll both tolerate and like these nut butters now that we've started them. I want him getting protein and the fat in them certainly can't hurt.

Well, off to cleanse myself but before I go check out E's crazy toe again...wow, genetics AGAIN. No doubt he's Jason's son. Phew! :)

Not Even Close

So, Easton was only 19 pounds 7 ounces today. And that's without having a poo yesterday or today (so a little more weight perhaps). Tee hee. Anyway, he's doing great otherwise. The doctor doesn't even worry about his weight. So, you have the weight which is still not on the charts AT ALL. But, he was 32 inches tall which the nurse plotted at 50th percentile, my online chart calculates it at 32nd percentile but the docs offices do ranges, like (25 or 50), so good enough. His head is on the charts too at 18.25 inches which is 10th percentile according to the nurse, and 12th percentile according to the online chart.

He didn't cry at all when he saw the doctor or nurse. At his 15 month he did because he remembered they're mean to him and poke him and stuff. She asked if he could say any words and if he knew any body parts. I said yes to both but then she'd ask, "Easton, where's your nose?" and he'd just stare at her. Or, "Easton, where's Mama?" and to that question he did this:

Crazy boy!

She said we could give him some tree nuts now, as in perhaps almond butter to get a little protein in him. We'll start there and then progress to peanut butter finally. We don't have family histories of allergies, we're just playing it safe with nuts. And, since he's such a picky bad eater and no longer nursing she thought we might do a multi-vitamin. Typically she doesn't recommend them for normal kiddos but E is strange. :)

Okay, so I just plugged in Easton's weight (at 19.5 pounds since he's only an ounce shy) into that online calculator and he wouldn't even be on the charts at that weight unless he was 12 months old!!!! At that point he'd be in the 6th percentile. Ugh!

However, we're going to turn the carseat around anyway. Yes, you heard right. I mentioned it to the doctor and she said, "Well, he's so close." and "It's not like they're gonna weigh him if you get pulled over." So there. Jason is very excited to turn it around tonight and wants to go on a "graduation drive". So, the doctor didn't exactly endorse it or give permission, she just didn't seem all that against it either. I mean, Easton is SOOOOO strong and has had the "required" forward facing head and neck control and strength abilities forever now. So, we're doing it. Eek!

After the appointment we went to get smoothies with J. Then we headed home and E is napping. Even though it was okay with Baby John's parents to bring him to the appointment, I did ask if we could reschedule for later this week. I just couldn't have my hands that full if I didn't need to, you know?

Okay, well we're done with the well-baby visits until age 2. Then I guess he's a "well-child". Fancy. He does need to go in October for his flu shot but he didn't even cry last time he got one of those. So unless he's sick, which I'm sure he will be at some point...kids just are...he won't go back for 6 months. Woo hoo!

18 Months Old Today!

Wow, he's been around for a year and a half already! We took a couple of pictures of him in the bath tonight to commemerate the occasion but he looks strange in them: really fat and his shoulders are all hunchy so we opted not to put one in the blog. Sorry.

We've got his 18 month well-baby visit on Tuesday. I think I'll be bringing Baby John with us if his parents approve. I'll certainly have my hands full. So, we're most anxious to see if he's hit 20 pounds yet. J has a feeling we'll be pleasantly surprised. I'm not so sure, but I'll just have to see. I do hope so. He's just still not much of an eater even after weaning. We also want to ask if he should be taking a vitamin now that he's not nursing anymore. I'll keep you posted on how it all goes.

So, at 18 months Easton is now both weaned from me and the paci. Yay! Well, not so much yay for the stopping nursing but it was time. Also, he got his last of the 4 incisors today. Isn't that what those pointy teeth are called? Anyway, I can feel the very sharp tip of it just poking through so hopefully when it's done cutting through the gum he'll stop some of his "morning moaning". It still wakes me up even if it doesn't require me to intervene. Oh well, it's not too bad. If it's not E, then it's the dang cat or the annoying neighbor dogs that wake me. Whine whine whine. You should have heard me bitching about it yesterday. I was ready to call the cops about noise ordinance laws 'round here. Grrrr.

In other news, Easton unzipped his p.j.'s today. He's been proficient with zippers for awhile, mostly on my purse next to him in the buggy at the grocery store, but he's also figured out that some of his jammies have zippers. At breakfast he unzipped and put some Cheerios inside. Then I tried getting him down for an early nap (since his tooth likely woke him early) but he just layed there unzipping his sleeper. Silly.

Well, this will have to be short today as I'm feeling lazy. It has been rainy the last few days and we haven't done a thing. So, there's not much to report anyway. Don't count on hearing from me tomorrow as I'll have both the boys again. Then I'll update either Tuesday or Wednesday about the appointment. See ya then!

The Day After

Well, thankfully we made it through the holiday unscathed. Most importantly, so did Easton. He did great staying up through the fireworks. He was tired but not cranky and miraculously he went right to sleep as soon as the fireworks were over despite the noise from our neighbors being illegal with their own pyrotechnics. Just as planned we had him all ready for bed in his sleep sack and all for the show, you should have seen how confused he was when we didn't put him straight to bed. He was great, though. He really liked the fireworks at first but got a little bored towards the end with his typical toddler attention span. He started waving and telling the fireworks "bye bye" and shaking his head "no". But he still made it through the not-so-grand finale. It was a jolly holiday! And, I made a long video montage of our long day. It's all in the order it happened. Click here if you've got some time to spare. Oh, and it'd be really dandy if you all paid close attention to the "exquisite detail" (NOT) of how I alternate between "stars" and "stripes" transitions between the videos and pictures for that extra-festive touch. Hee hee!

Even though he was up till 10 he still woke up around 8 or so. Thankfully he is nearing the 3 hour nap mark. I was able to take a nap as well which I am quite happy about.

This morning we braved Circle Time even though just beforehand Easton and I were both laying on pillows on the floor staring at the TV. Once he got up to play I decided we'd try to make Circle Time. So we did and there was hardly anyone there. Easton did pretty well and was brave enough to go pet the fake cat puppet the leader had. The toddlers all seemed to think it was real and Easton did his usual "pat pat pat" routine with the "kitty". The best part was hearing him laugh and then running around to the end of the line to get a second turn! Sneaky sneaky! Oh yeah, and speaking of cat induced giggles, you should have heard his belly laughs as Blitz gave himself a bath this morning. I don't know if E was just delirious from being so tired or if he'd never really watched Blitz groom himself before but he got a real kick out of Blitz and his tongue this morning. I was on the phone with J at the time so luckily he got to hear him. It was too cute. We just love our boy.

Anyway, after Circle Time we headed downstairs in the library where they were simultaneously doing a puppet show of "Riki Tiki Tavi". Easton didn't care much for his first puppet show but because they let us in late for it I wasn't about to disturb everyone again by leaving early. So, I just let him play quietly with my purse and cell phone and we bolted as soon as it was over. He liked the crazy voices but otherwise he didn't pay much attention to the show. Oh well.

Now he's down for that long nap (Yay!) and I'm thinking we'll hit up Wal-Mart once he wakes. We'll have Baby John here tomorrow and Friday. Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

Well, of course I had to go with festive colors and such today. We're just taking it easy so far this 4th. Easton is wearing the same outfit he wore last year. Sad, eh? Here he is last year:

And here he is today:

But, speaking of how tiny my almost 18 month old is, I finally found him some teeny tiny jean shorts at Target yesterday. They're still a little big on his skinny waist, see:

However, how sad is it that his tag says, "NEWBORN"!!!! They are 3 month old sized:

At the same time, there is a lot of variation between brands and sizes. I mean, he wears 12 month old sized clothes some of the time as well. As long as it's plenty elastic-y. And, he needs the length as he's not all that short, he's not all that tall either, though. Moving on...

We plan to do a little barbequing tonight for just ourselves and then let Easton watch the fireworks with us. He woke up from all the noise last year and watched them. He really loved them so I'm hoping he'll like them again. I think we'll get him all ready for bed and then take him to sit out front in our lawn chairs where we have a perfect view. They start at 9:30 and so bedtime will hopefully follow right afterwards. We'll play it by ear a little. If he's just to sleepy then it's fine if he misses it. But, I have to mention that last night was another perfect night for E sleep. It was peep-free and paci-less again. Yay! Who knows what might happen if we keep him up extra late tonight? Oh well, it's a special occasion.

Jumping back to last night: J brought home some Olive Garden take-out for dinner. See:

Easton liked getting in the bag, then he'd get out and sign "more". J would ask, "More what?" and Easton would point at himself. Tee hee! "More me in the bag, duh Daddy!" Oh yeah, he's finally starting to call J "Dada" again. It was his second word and he used it correctly for quite awhile before stopping. He still doesn't do it all the time yet, but more and more. So, we're excited about that. And while I'm still "on" last night, here's a fun bath picture:

The picture right afterward is of E yakking in the tub after choking on too much water from the shower head. Oh well. He's a puker and that's all there is to it.

Did anyone watch the shuttle launch today? We all did, Easton's first.

Totally by coincidence J was wearing his red, white, and blue NASA shirt today. So, then I of course had to take a picture of that too:

The cool thing is that Discovery is the shuttle that launched today and that's the exact shuttle Jason was on for work a few years back. Neat-o, huh?

Okay, well while I'm on a picture sharing kick, here's one from car shopping the other day. It's a winner and I forgot to show it before:


Anyway, I guess that's all that's new on the Setzer-front today. The weather isn't too hot otherwise we wanted to take E swimming or in the backyard sprinkler at the least, but I s'pose today's not the day. After his nap I think we'll start thinking about some BBQ, perhaps a nice long walk, maybe some free 4th entertainment nearby where they do the fireworks and then our primo seats for the actual fireworks tonight. Enjoy the holiday! God bless America!

Morning with Max

Last night was Easton's first night (in awhile) completely without the pacifier. I thought I'd give it a whirl. It went really well. He pretty much went right to sleep and stayed asleep, I heard him fuss briefly at 6:45 or so and then he went back to sleep all on his own till sometime after 8! He just went down for his nap without it too. I'm excited. My goal was to have him off of it by 18 months and we're 6 days away from that. Wow, weaning and now no paci. He's growing up!

This morning we headed down to Max and Susannah's 'hood for breakfast at Le Peep's. We sat outside and the boys did a little coloring. Both of them ended up coloring on the table. Oops! Here is Easton's masterpiece:

It would come off if we rubbed it so we weren't too worried. After breakfast we went to a big park nearby with a walking trail that followed along Clear Creek. SO pretty, and today is nice and overcast so it was perfect. We walked a ways and then headed to the playground. Max wanted to run around but Easton played. He went on all the "big kid" equipment. There was this one tube slide that was so tall I'd help him in it and then I'd climb back down and the slide was so long that I'd beat E to the bottom! Susannah and I could hear him (but obviously couldn't see him) in the tube making his way down. He loved it. He wanted to go again and again but without having to climb up. Eventually that made him mad so he had to sit in his stroller since he was having a fit. It started to sprinkle then too so we were able to just call it a day.

It was a chore keeping E awake in the car on the way home but I managed. He was SO very mad at me, though. I feel bad but I always get over it quickly. Tee hee! Now that he's down for his nap I'm hoping he's worn out from playing that he'll take a good one. Never know with that boy.

Anyway...I guess that's all from me! Catch you later!

Oh What a Night!

And I mean that in a great way! Easton went to bed at 8:30 p.m. as usual and I didn't hear even a peep from him till 8:30 this morning! Wah-hoo! I couldn't believe when I woke up at 8:00 and saw the time. I was so happy. Plus he woke up in a great mood calling out, "Mama!". Yippee skippy! Now that's what I'm talkin' about. :)

We've just been taking it easy this morning...having a little breakfast and I wrapped some wedding gifts to mail off. That meant I had two empty cardboard tubes which Easton and Jason played with. Here's just one picture:

They practiced hitting balls with them, drumming, making instruments...I tried to get E to swordfight with me but he wasn't feeling it, I guess. Oh well...violence is bad anyway.

We also squeezed in a couple of phone calls to some family this morning. Our weekend minutes are free so that's when we do most of our long conversations. After one call Easton had the phone and when we got it back we learned that he had programmed in someone named "Lappa" with a phone number of 000008. This is hilarious if you really think about it.

E is down for a nap now and J is supposedly mowing the lawn but he's been out there awhile and I don't hear anything. Hmmmm. He put some new songs on his MP3 player so maybe he's distracted with those? Who knows? We're hoping to go browse around a closed car dealership for next year's new car. Looking to get a head start, I guess. Other than that, we don't have much else planned. Laundry perhaps...hope your afternoon is more fun than ours!

Can You Believe It's July Already?

My oh my, time sure does fly! Wow! Easton got another tooth yesterday. Number 15 and I wouldn't be suprised if the 16th comes in the next day or two. It is soooo close.

Anyway, the playgroup was so much fun yesterday. I liked it because all the kids were under 3. Easton had a blast. He played in the pool getting in and out all by himself. He followed some of the "big" kids around the yard. He played with balls. He tried to go check out a huge ball in the dog run where they had 2 huge (but sweet) mastiffs and one barked at E and he came screaming and running back to me. He was just scared temporarily. I liked that he came to me though. Anyhoo, he wore himself out playing in the sun so he slept in the car on the way home and then the little stinker was all done for the day. A half hour nap and that's it!?!? We all know how much I hate when he doesn't get his beauty rest. He needs it...that's why. I had him do some "quiet time" for about an hour which he was fine with. It still irks me a bit. What can you do? Here's a picture of Easton and Zoe with Andrew behind the pool.

Here's all the kids again with the addition of Ciarnan.

Max was there for a bit but he wasn't swimming, then he fell off a chair and bonked his head and he had to go home. :( Zoe's baby sister Lily was there too but wasn't swimming either so I have no pictures of the non-waders. Oops. It was so hot yesterday that even my skinny mini didn't get too cold playing in the water. I was happy to see that.

Jason and I are going on a date this afternoon. We're going to see The Break Up first so we can pay just the matinee price (we're so cheap) and then we're hoping to have an early dinner. My mom is coming to watch The E. No Auntie Lauren this time so we'll see how it goes. Easton sees Lauren just a tiny bit more than Gramoo since Lauren stays with us from time to time. He's always liked Lauren a lot. I think E will still be down for his nap when Gramoo gets here so I'm a little worried about how he'll handle waking up and someone unexpected coming in to get him. He's freaked out when we've tried it in the past. If he does get worked up about it hopefully it won't last long. I'll have to give her some tips when she gets here.

Oh, and my "milk maker" is finally starting to get back to normal. It's not quite there yet, but it's better. I can sleep better and don't leak through my shirts anymore. With as little as he was nursing and as gradual as the weaning process was for us I was a little surprised it happened this way. I was so sure that he wasn't getting much from me anymore. Oh well.

Okay, so I'm off...Gramoo should be here before long. Happy Saturday!