The Adventure Continues for my Toothless Wonder!

My little Ethan, who is two going on three, lost his two front teeth last night! I can't believe it either. His brother rammed into him. Jaden was riding a scooter and Ethan was standing on his little tykes car. His head went forward and his 2 front teeth came out. I wasn't home at the time it happened, but Daddy did retrieve the teeth.

So now my little Ethan has a giant hole in the front of his mouth. And I must admit this has been a hard thing for me to deal with. Now granted I know it could've been so much worse...stitches, broken bones, etc. But still, as a mom I want my child to be perfect, and to look perfect! And now it's just not looking picture perfect anymore.

However, as I dealing with all of this, I read a story to  my son today, called "Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and His Big Adventure". Sir Charlie deals with monsters by feeding them his sandwiches, and by taming the fire-breathing dragon by giving him a long, cold drink. (It was a very cute book, indeed.) But, as I'm reading this book, I came to the realization that my life is an adventure. And no adventure turns out perfect, otherwise it is just boring. But it is usually filled bumps in the road. I just have to use what I'm given from God and deal with the things as they come. That's part of enjoying the adventure. And then as I stop along the adventure and look back, I can marvel at how I got through it.

And so I'm writing this down to help me process this, to remind myself that it's ok that my son doesn't look the perfect part that I wanted him too. Yes, we will get it fixed, and go with it. (Ethan has his first dentist visit today.) But along the adventure, I have to keep looking toward the goal, and not lose sight of what is most important, or else the adventure isn't fun anymore.

I'll try to post a picture of my little Toothless Wonder soon. As for Ethan, he hasn't been too shaken by all this. He's still enjoying life to the fullest. Hopefully I can continue to follow his example and do the same.

Where did I Go?

Hello Blogger World!
Yes, It has been a while since my last post. Something like 5 months. Geez. Well, I must say I haven't been sitting around doing nothing. There's been a lot going on. So let's recap...

1. I am STILL adjusting to being a mom of three boys. I don't think I'll ever totally adjust. There is just so much for me to get done, and so many needs to meet. I am still adjusting to the idea that I will NEVER accomplish all that I want to. So I just have to get each item on my to-do list as it comes, or as mandatory. But, I will say that there is never a dull moment in our house. Like today I sat on the couch while nursing my 10 month old Colton, and 2 year old Ethan climbs up to sit beside me, looking at me funny, just smiling and wanting attention. And then my 5 year old Jaden has to get into the act. Yes it's fun, and it's those moments that I sit back and say wow, look at the amazing gifts God has given me. Yes, I feel extremely blessed.

2. I started my own business, selling Scentsy Wickless Candles. I love the products, and the extra cash that has helped us with our financial goals. Scentsy is amazing! If you haven't tried them, you really must try it. And Scentsy has been so much fun for me, to meet new people and set goals to work toward them. It's been great to get out of my comfort zone and do something to take break from mom role every now and then . I'm loving my new part-time job! But who wouldn't love a job that pays you do parties and host girls night out.

3. Jaden, is doing well in Kindergarten. He LOVES it. He is such a social butterfly and so smart! We have done some fun field trips. Some of them include touring the Aquarium in Galveston, and then attending the play, "The Grinch Stole Christmas." He also got to go to Panera Bread and tour the bakery facilities there. He even got to ice his own cinnamon role by dipping his hand in a bucket of icing. That was a blast for him and his friends. Jaden is also doing very well learning to read. I have been teaching him at home in addition to what he is learning at school. Jaden enjoys reading with Mommy and loves learning, most days.

2. Ethan is growing into a smiling happy boy. And a passionate little boy. When I say "passionate" I mean that he wants to do things his way, on his terms. He is very adomant on some things. I just have to smile some days when I see how determined he is. The 2s and 3s are going to be a fun stage. But he really does keep us laughing. He is just so stinking cute!

3. Colton is my sweet precious baby! He is so much fun and his smile melts my heart. He is such an easy going baby. And it's great to see his big brothers interact with him. Colton is trying so hard to crawl, but hasn't mastered it just yet. But he has been rolling around to get into things. So we have to watch what is lying around, such as legos or hot wheels.

4. My husband is enjoying his job, staying busy riding his bike, hanging out with college students. and fixing computers. He loves wrestling with his boys! I think that is his biggest work out, especially when he hangs out with all three of them to give me a needed break.

However, the most important thing has been my relationship with God. As a mom of three, I have tried to simplify my life. But I learned that spending time with God is not a thing that I can leave out. So because of that I have to make spending time with God a priority, because I was designed to spend time with my creator. God fills me up in my soul the way noone else can. I tried to fill it with other stuff, and it left me more empty. I need time with God to be normal, and to be the mom, wife and friend I want to be. Most afternoons, we have quiet time as I have taught my sons that we have to be quiet to have fun for the rest of the day. Quiet time is good time.

So there is my recap to catch up. So now I need to move onto other stuff so I can get to bed sometime tonight. Who knows when my next post might be? I hope to post some pics in the near future. I've got some good ones.

Later, alligator!

Jaden's First Soccer Game!

This fall, my Jaden started playing on his first little league team, playing soccer. There are 12 kids on his team, ages 4-5 years. And his Daddy is one of the coaches. Jaden has played in 3 games so far and is getting better at soccer with each week. He is loving it, and his Dad is helping him get better as well. Take a look at some pictures from his first soccer game, below.

 Coach Erick giving instructions

 Go Jaden!!

Jaden looking cool in his soccer uniform with his water bottle.

Jaden Starts Kindergarten & Loses a Tooth!!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. But that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. My life has gotten crazy and so blogging has taken a back seat. So I will try to catch up on a few posts.

The Biggest News...

JADEN STARTS KINDERGARTEN!

I can't believe my first born son is a kindergartener now. He is so big and so smart! I am so proud to be his mom. It has been an adjustment for us as he goes to school every day now. Jaden had to adjust as well...new friends, new teacher, new school. But after a month he really seems to enjoy it.

 Jaden and Mommy on the first day of school

Jaden with his new Kindergarten Teachers

JADEN LOOSES A TOOTH!

And if Jaden started kindergarten wasn't enough proof that my boy is growing up, then he looses a tooth. His first missing tooth. So just in time, Memaw sent us a cool new pillow to put the tooth in for the tooth fairy. Jaden was so excited to put his tooth in it and have the tooth fairy come visit him. Jaden got a dollar for his new tooth! Take a look at my son with one less tooth.



Ethan the Explorer!

Well, here is an update about our sweet little Ethan. He is 2 and all 2. He is our little explorer...always into everything, trying to figure it out. He is a fun little boy...but such a handful at times! He likes it to be his way, or no way. But he is learning...

He is very much into trains! In fact the other day, while he was eating a snack, he stood up on his booster seat to see the TV when he saw that Thomas the Train had come on. He was shouting "tain, tain, tain!" I finally got him down and he ran over to the TV set and started pointing and getting all excited. (Normally he doesn't care at all what's on TV.)

Ethan loves to play with trains, especially the geotrax set we have set up in their room. He also loves books about trains. For a while, the only book he wanted to read was an Usborne book with flaps, called "Trains." But Ethan loves to sit in mommy's lap and read all kinds of books, but that Train book is definitely his favorite.

He also like to stack blocks, and play in the tent with big brother. And you can still catch Ethan playing in other people's shoes and dressing up in the many play hats that we have.

Ethan is still trying to learn how to say his words. He can sign some words, and is now saying a few...such as "pig", "tain" (for train), and "cow", as well as "ma" and "daee", for mommy and daddy. I'm hoping that when big brother starts school, he will start to speak more.

But in all that Ethan does, he really does bring many smiles to our faces. We are so thankful for our little Ethan!

Hope you enjoy the pix below!



Playing Dress-up...What a cute pirate!
Ready to go swimming!

"Want to play blocks with me?"

Such a great smile...makes me wonder what he's in to now?

Baby Colton--Three Months and Counting

Here is the summer update...

Colton is doing so well at the ripe old age of three months. He is sleeping well; however, he is a nightowl. He likes to stay up late and sleep into the morning. His brothers did that when they were babies as well. Colton is a happy baby and adores his brothers! He loves to get attention. He has started smiling and has discovered how to stick out his tongue. He is also kicking his feet and holding his head up while laying on his tummy. He's even rolled over a few times, from his tummy to his back. Yea for Colton!

Look at my tongue!

Holding my head up, looking around.

I'm so cute with my cool sun hat and sweet baby smile!

Hanging out in style!

Ethan's New Hair Cut

I don't usually sit down and write about about an experience from the day, mostly because it takes me a while in the midst of my busy day to get to the computer to blog about it. But I wanted to make sure to get this experience posted while it is fresh in my head.

Today, I took all three boys to the hair salon to get Ethan's hair cut. Ethan has had his hair cut many times before and it hasn't been the best of experiences. During our last hair cut, the lady began by covering Ethan's eyes and spraying his head with cold water. Of course this upset him, as he had no warning and couldn't see what was happening. So he cried through the whole ordeal. So before beginning this hair cut, I told the stylist about our previous bad experiences. She was very sympathetic, which helped out tremendously. I must say going into this, that I had never met this stylist. I was going on a recommendation from the receptionist at the salon.

So we sit Ethan in the chair and try to put the cape on him, which he refuses and begins to cry. I'm sure it brought back the bad memories of the last hair cut. So after a few unsuccessful attempts we decide that it would be best for me to hold Ethan in my lap, and then to take his shirt off, so to avoid the cape all together.

As the stylist begins to cut Ethan's hair, we try every distraction possible, because he is still not very happy about getting his hair cut. Big brother Jaden helped out when possible to distract him as well. She was able to cut the top of his head, and somehow we got the back as well. But he was very fussy and squirmy at this point, moving too much to try the front and the sides. So the stylist gets him a sucker. Ethan decided he liked the sucker. He got so into the sucker that he forgot about the lady cutting his hair. So the stylist was able to cut the front and some of the sides of his hair. Yea for the power of sugar!

So picture this... Ethan is sitting in my lap, half naked, his red hair all over me and him, sucking on the grape sucker. As he is sucking, purple drool begins to cover him and me. It was lovely! Actually it was very yucky. But the stylist was able to cut the rest of his hair, even the sides around the ears. I wish we could've gotten a little more off the sides, but we didn't want to press our luck. I also wish we could've gotten a picture of this mess as she was cutting. Many were commenting on how cute he was...I'm sitting there thinking what a huge mess my son is making. But at least he wasn't crying anymore through the hair cut. He's was too into the sucker.

So after that I was able to take him to the bathroom and clean him up. Praise God that Baby Colton was happy watching the sights of the salon from his car seat and then fell asleep.
I must say that this stylist was so great! I think she tried every trick in the book to distract Ethan and she was very patient. I'm sure I will be back.

So that's the story of Ethan's hair cut. It's funny how Ethan can turn any normal experience into a "hair-raising" adventure! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

The pictures below are the before and after shots.

BEFORE...

(Notice how long it is on the sides.)

AFTER...