Ethan has slipped into a deep depression now that Garrett went back home. He had so much fun.


Missy and Shaun WERE smiling... until the end. Our house got rolled in red and white... figures. Rachel's emailing me picures.

Gobble Gobble

Heeeey. Here are some pictures of our prep party from Wednesday night. Rachel and Matt came over while we waited for Missy and Gary to arrive.... Ethan thinks a can opener is magical.





Then everything changed and Garrett showed up. Garrett told Ethan that "he's a lucky kid, cause he's not even big and has lots of good toys." Ethan has been following Garrett around, trying to be big.


We are continually reminded of our blessings, and try to remember to be as thankful as we should be.

Love, E

I saw an interview with a terminally ill man who said that he was glad that he parented from a "let them paint on the walls" approach. That sounds great and all, and I'm sure he has supreme perspective; however, this is as close as I can get right now.


All is well. With the time change Ethan gets a glimpse of night time. He likes to go outside to look for the moon and sings Twinkle to the sky. Its the sweetest thing you'll ever see. Have a good weekend! E

The chickenman cometh

Happy Halloween! I bribed him with that sucker to put the chicken suit on. He ended up liking it after awhile.



And you may be a cute little chicken, but you still have to help your mama take out the trash. I don't think we're going to go trick or treating. We'll go next year. INSTEAD, I'm going to play with my new iRobot Scooba that is a floor vacuuming, mopping, and drying robot. REALLY! A mopping robot! I'll keep you updated on how he performs.

Bawck bawk! E

Here's Ethan's school class. Its so funny to me how a buncha not two year olds can "line up" and head off to the cafeteria and SIT in little chairs and wait for food. They all just sit there and wait. Its amazing.

Ethan's buddies (and whom we name all Little People figurines after... Olivia, Brecken, Hannah, Ally, Jaiden....


And the be all end all.... Alex Meyers "Adix Myders!" is not only Ethan's birthday buddy (her mother and I were fighting over epidurals that day...), but I caught them the other day in the lunch room lifting up their shirts and touching nekid bellies.

I hope they stay friends for a very long time. I'll post pure chicken pics next.

I have a brand new favorite picture of all time! I'm sure it will get trumped one of these days, but for now... this is as good as it gets. Click on it so it gets big... its even better then.



And we just think he hasn't grown... these are only 9 months apart... one at the end of January, one last night. Weird.

He got a flu shot today, hence the burger face and the balloon. He didn't see it coming. We moved on quickly and we're not talking about it.

Shaun will be home this weekend. YEEEAAAAHHH. If I haven't harped on it before, if anyone knows a single mother, GO. RIGHT. NOW. AND. HELP. HER!
My kitchen is so dirty, E

I don't have any pictures to post because my camera is JANK! but.. this is the stuff I'll forget someday if I don't write it down.
So we were in the kitchen, Ethan was fixing himself a salad (I always think he's saying "excited" and then I figure out that he's asking for salad...), and keep in mind that him fixing a salad means ripping up lettuce in a bowl for me to pour some ranch on, but anyway...

Me: Ooh! There's a fly!
Him: Get it mama!
Me: Get what?
Him: Fly Hammer get it mama!

THen he went and got the fly swatter. BRILLIANT!
Now I won't forget.
And... I did find this cute picture of 1.5 razorback fans at the tailgate last weekend. There were swarms of big kids playing football around. Ethan kept grabbing his football and walking straight into the swarm and just standing there... waiting for someone to throw it to him. He wanted so badly to be big.
Later, E

It's stay-at-home Friday, so we're trying out big-boy undies. I'm not sayin' this is the be all end all, we're just givin' it a try.
Ethan the copy-cat has come up with some new phrases... "hamburger ketchup only", "that'll do it", and "oh my! poo poo everywhere!" are my new favorites. He also thinks that anything in a silver can is "diiiiet coke!" This is our green light for clean language zone in our house, as somebody. is. listening!
Have a great weekend! :) E

Haircuts, Lollipops, and Pumpkin Painting

We finally took the boy to get his hair cut, and he was given a lollipop while sitting in the chair. He looked at me after 3-4 licks and said "Mama! I like leo-pops!" He asked for one for the road and enjoyed that one too.

Arguably matured from his new coiffer, we destroyed the driveway with paint. It's like the Easter Bunny came to give Halloween a kiss.

With love,
your dutiful blogger

Hey Everyone. First of all, a big shout out to all my new-found fans. I guess y'all aren't new, per se, but I just found out aboutcha. Apparently, people the world over are checking in on my beloved tow head... what an honor for me to tell you more and more about him.
Shaun and I went to Myrtle Beach this weekend to be a part of our friend Robyn's wedding. We had a great time; this mama got nails and hair and fed like a princess.. and got to see her Robs say her I dos. It was lovely.
Meanwhile, Ethan was hosting Nana and PawPaw for a party of his own. We really thought about taking him on the trip, but did count 9 occasions (mostly in airports and when we were out past 730) that we were ok with him not being there. That sounds coy... we were not ok with him not being there, but it wasn't in his best interest. He had lots to do here.
His favorites are still "hit ball", "bi-tickle", and wriggling in grass 'til he gets "itsy." He was glad to see us when we got home, and we're making the slow transition back into mother and father instead of partying wedding-goers.



Helpin' Paw-Paw put felt on the bottom of the kitchen chairs. The strangest things bother Nana...

Oooooh, Mama got cleaned up. Robyn's even cleaner!!!

see if you can translate Ethanese.... "tweeng batta batta tweeng!"


I have new-found enthusiasm as blogger now. Apparently, I am a glutton for praise. So, the nice things said this weekend will carry me for a while, but I'll need a new pick me up in a couple of weeks. Tootaloo! Mama

Chores chores chores. Ethan's list is starting to get bigger. Unload silverwear, feed the dog, put shoes in closet. He's perfect at all of those. He loves to vacuum... but only the garage. Weirdo. Papa came for a visit. Ethan hogged him for reading time. Ethan's new ride... he gets in there and says "whoooa woooooa whhhhooooooa!" I'm going to try to post another video. I hope it works.

I took this picture right after I told Ethan that we were going to try to take a nap at school without his paci. He was obviously worried, but took it like a man. He went to school, had a good day, and waited until he got home to turn on the big guns. He came in calmly, composed himself and said "mama, please paci, please" and walked away. There were no tears, no breakdown, just a plea for his favorite thing. And it worked, oh how it worked! We're back to naps and bedtime with paci. Oh well. I'll know what I'm up against next time. Shaun has taught Ethan how to hide... but only in two places. He hid in my shower for a good 5 minutes the other day while I was panicked... not outside, no doors open? i finally heard him tap dancing in the bathroom and ran in there to find him. He said "BOO mama!" and wanted to play again. Football season is in full bloom, Ethan has been trained to say "Gooooo Tigers!" at any SEC team icon. Ethan sees a Razorback and yells "Go TIgers!" He might get beat up here.. we'll watch him carefully. Nana and PawPaw have come on full storm, and he can, when prompted, call the Hogs. Nana calls this picture "Nature vs. Nurture" . Clever that Nana! This thing says I can post a video, so I'll post one. This is Baby Beluga...a Byrd family favorite. :) E