www.oliverboys.blogspot.com

Am I just now noticing how big and cool Ethan is this weekend... maybe its all my hormones... but today has been a doozy.  And I quote:

" Mama, throw that ball betowards me, I'm gonna hit it so high in the sky!" 

Me:  Missy and Momo are coming to our house tomorrow

Him:  Are they bringing baby Elliot?

Shaun:  Told him something to do, so we could leave for dinner

Him:  "Whatever, whatever, I'll stay here"

"Let's talk about babies... Let's talk about the day you waited and waited for me to be born."

Last week as the only child...

An oldy, but goody... my Football Fairy at Christmas. Emily got the tiara, wings, and "pretty shoes" and Ethan was quick to get them all on. He is pretty. I caught him hanging out in the baby bathtub. I'm not going to try to analyze him psychologically. He vacsillates between wanting to tackle Elliot and take care of him. He brought a jersey in this morning that he's prepared to let him wear. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Big Brotherdom allows for certain perks... your first pet. Meet Fishy Mishy. PetSmart assured us that this was a hearty choice, and capable of withstanding some neglect. He could live for 7 years, you can feed him once a week, and you can change his water once a month. And, if we happen to kill him in the first two weeks, we can have a full refund.

Fishy Mishy is on the bathroom counter, and has already been serenaded by the harmonica version of the Tiger Fight Song. Welcome home.

My next post will be at http://www.oliverboys.blogspot.com/, and will tell the tale of our next arrival. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Can't believe its time.

:) EO

Look.  I'm prideless.  This is what 37 weeks on a short torso looks like.  Amazingly, as evidenced in 2006, it will snap back.  I don't know how... but I have to keep thinking that or I'll cry.
Ethan's new sports icons- The Arkansas Razorback Ice Hogs.  Little skinny white guys in abundant pads... a level of sport achievement he can most certainly obtain!  
Still working hard on independence training.  Your ball is squishy?  Do something about it.  

Since "Mama can't tackle until Elliot is out," Ethan has taken up new playmates.  He's spent the last month asking Zoe to get off his field, so she was confused when he suddenly wanted her on the field.  

I will not be posting any more football pictures. I'm tired of the same old same old. We do other things in this house! Not many, but others. Also, I'm setting up www.oliverboys.blogspot.com so Elliot won't have to have his life posted under his brother's moniker. I understand this implicitly as a second child myself. It doesn't have anything on it, but it will soon. Grumpy the chef wanted to use the knife all by himself. He was pretty disappointed in me.

We tried out the new skates. His legs looked even skinnier than they really are. He stood petrified for most of his first lesson, and reasoned that "these things are pretty slippery."

I'm going to use these to teach the life lesson that you have to fall down alot to learn something new. I'll see if he'll oblige me.

It's looking like Jan 26th could be the date on Elliot's arrival. We'll see. In the words of Shaun Oliver: "that's what makes babies so special, you never know when they're gonna show up."

Tootaloo, E

Merry Chrima! Some families go to church on Christmas Eve, some go caroling, some feed the hungry. The Olivers go to Fast Lanes and ride go-karts and earn tickets. I'm sure Mary and Joe would have stopped off at Fast Lanes if there was one near the manger.



We got home in time to make cookies for Santa. Talk about a believer!

Shaun is big on Christmas display. He plans for a while, and make sure everything coordinates. I'm uberimpressed with the goal post, and so was Ethan. Nana and PawPaw showed up in time to share the magic. We put our believer to bed and hoped he would wait until daylight.

I was so excited I was up at 7, and OF COURSE, Ethan slept until 8. Why do I do this to myself?! I will not have another opportunity to sleep until 8 until 2015, and I didn't take advantage of it. Anyway, at 8:01, when I couldn't stand it anymore, Ethan rounded the corner to our room with excellent news "Santa Claus came!!!!"

He was a little miffed that his Saints uniform didn't have stripes on the pants, but Nana Elf rectified it as soon as she could.


We opened too many present, Rach and Matt joined us mid-afternoon to bring more excess to the holiday, and we introduced Mom and Dad to the Wii. Catching up the 50s crowd with current technology is fun in itself.

We finished our night with an amazing dinner prepared by Chez Bubba Shaun of Prime Rib, Lobster Mac and Cheese {[yeah, its like Tuna Casserole on Heroine (I only assume, of course)], and I wonder if parentheses and bracket laws extend from algebra to literature?} and green bean bacon bundles. It was AMAZING.

Full bellies, full hearts, full toy boxes... all filled up to the tip tip top.
Looking forward to 09 and all it will bring: new baby, new brother in law- and that just gets us to May.
:) E

Have you ever read the If You Give a Pig a Pancake series? I lived it. If you give Ethan a bag of trash to take out to the garage, he'll probably think it looks like Santa's toy bag. Then he'll go to his room and change into something red, and that will remind him of the Santa hat that is in the car, so he'll go to the car and get the santa hat, he'll ask you to make it fit better. While you're getting the velcro out of the closet, Ethan sees the fiberfill. That will make him think that he needs a Santa beard. So... chances are, if you give Ethan a bag of trash to take to the garage, it will never ever happen...

I'm also strangely facinated about how kids learn things. Ethan is finally focusing on his fine-motor needs.
Get the paper, draw a line on the paper, cut the line. Over and over and over.

And HOLD YOUR HORSES! I've figured out how to post video. It's taken me a while, but I've been recently inspired by my ability to configure a wireless router and wireless printer at the office (took me 10 days). I can do anything. Joey from India said it was "eempossible do helb me" after the third time I called him, so I had to dig into that old self-reliance. EAT IT JOEY!


For caring less about football, I am surrounded at all times, on all days, in every every way. I really am trying to diversify his interests.

A little preview of baby Elliot! He was facing my spine, and generally uncooperative with his arms over his face, but we caught one little smirk.
Ethan's worried that he's gonna be gray.