Two posts in two days…amazing! I just had to put a quick one up about some of the things Ethan has been doing lately that make me smile. It cracks me up that he can go weeks walking around the house passing the same things over and over, and then one day he’ll just notice something like it’s brand new. I have no idea how many times he’s seen this “hat” (I’m sure when Clay was wearing it building bonfire it wasn’t just a hat, but that’s okay), but a few days ago he thought it was the coolest thing in the world. He just walked around patting himself on the head saying “hat” over and over.

His newest thing is calling me Lisa when he’s really trying to get my attention. He’ll say “Mama” a couple of times, and if I don’t respond then he talks much louder and starts saying “Lisa!” Hilarious. Tonight we were are my parent’s house and he started calling my dad “Chris.” I guess I didn’t realize that 2 year olds were aware of the fact that parents and grandparents have other names. Another thing that made me smile today was that he ate a HUGE bowl of my mom’s vegetable beef stew. Granted, this stew is really good, but he ate the whole bowl with tomatoes, okra, beans, peas, corn, hominy, rutabagas, etc. I feel so blessed that he likes his vegetables.

And yesterday was probably one of Ethan’s best days ever. For the past couple of months he has been intrigued by buses. Every time we’re in the car he’s looking for them and pointing them out. And when we’re driving at night he says that it’s too dark to see the buses, but that we’ll see them when the sun wakes up. Well, yesterday a school bus broke down right in front of my parent’s house and he was thrilled! We took him out there and the bus driver let him climb up the steps and look out the windows. He was smiling from ear to ear. He stayed outside for about 30 minutes just touching the outside of the bus and saying, “broke bus.”

I’m so thankful for all of the little things that make Ethan the sweet little boy that he is. And I’m so glad he’s mine!

I LOVE Thanksgiving. What’s not to love? People around the country actually take a moment to stop and think about the things they’re thankful for. Most jobs let their employees off to be with their families. Families get together to just enjoy each other’s company. There are lots of good things to eat. And the best part is that (at least in our family) it lasts an entire weekend! We spent Thursday – Sunday with family and had a great time. Thursday my aunt, uncle, cousin and grandmother came in from Tyler, as well as my aunt from Austin. We ate and ate and ate, played some games, watched the Cowboys win, and ate some more. My mom is truly the hostess with the mostess, and since the weather was so nice, she decorated her back porch – complete with chafing dishes – and we were all able to eat together. Mom & Dad – thank you for making Thanksgiving day so special.

Friday morning we went back to my parent’s house for a great breakfast, and then Clay, Ethan and I took off for Royse City to spend some time with Clay’s mom and his brothers. The food was wonderful and we all had a great time just being together. I think the hit of the day, though, had to be Clay’s new toy – the Nintendo Wii. I was a little skeptical at first, but any game that helps a 5 year old beat a 30 year old in bowling (yes, Clay’s niece really did beat him at bowling…fair and square) is awesome! We were cracking up just watching each other play this thing! If you haven’t seen one, you should plan a trip to our house because it’s quite fun. Then, of course, we all sat in awe as we watched our Aggies beat t.u. – WHOOP! I will have to say that I felt a tiny bit sorry for the freshman quarterback who went in for an injured Colt McCoy in the last 20 seconds of the game and threw an interception, but it was still such a sweet victory. Go Ags!

Saturday was nice and relaxing, and we got to take Ethan to a high school football game that night. My cousin is in the Robert E. Lee (Tyler) band, and they had a playoff game at Texas Stadium Saturday evening. I forgot how much fun high school football can be! Unfortunately, Lee couldn’t really get it together until the last quarter and ended up losing 18-21, but we still had a great time there. Kelsi – thanks for the invite and you looked great out there on the field.

Sunday we all went to church together and had to say our goodbyes. It was so nice just being with family all weekend. Clay left yesterday afternoon for a conference and will be gone all week, so Ethan and I are a dynamic duo this week. Ethan woke up this morning patting Clay’s side of the bed asking for “dada” – it could be a long week. Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving. Now I need to get this fall stuff down and get my Christmas decorations out…

I hate that I haven’t posted anything since Halloween.  Every day/night I think about coming up here to post something, but it just never quite works out that way.  Things have been pretty busy around here the past week – so busy that I don’t think I’ve even taken any pictures this week.  Last Monday Clay hosted guys night at our house for our church group, so I decorated the house for his birthday and made a homemade chocolate cheesecake!  I’ve never made a homemade cheesecake before and it was really good (and really not that hard!).  Tuesday was Clay’s 30th birthday and we celebrated that evening with his mom and brother at Red Lobster.  Ethan was not feeling too well that night so we had to cut dinner a little short, but we still had a great time.  It’s so hard to believe that Clay is 30 – it just sounds different.  Wonderful coincidence that Guitar Hero II came out on his birthday, so we stayed up late Tuesday night playing that.

Wednesday my parents took him/us out for dinner at Macaroni Grill which was wonderful, and then we went to church.  Thursday I took Ethan to a marathon doctor’s appointment at his allergist’s office at Medical City for an asthma checkup and his flu shot.  Poor little guy hated every minute of that visit – except when he was playing in the waiting room before we went back.  I just love his allergist and she is changing up a couple of things for his preventive medicine, so we’re praying this keeps him well through the winter.  Then came the dreaded flu shot.  Since he’s allergic to eggs, we had to do the shot in stages to see if he would have any type of allergic reaction.  Praise God he didn’t react to it, but he DID react to that nurse coming in the room.  There is not enough play-do or enough aqua doodle mats in the entire world to keep a screaming toddler occupied through this.  And on top of this, the nurse asked me to go downstairs and have his bloodwork done so we can retest his egg allergy to see if the points have gone down any.  As you can imagine, that didn’t happen.  You should have seen me with my big belly carrying a 28 pound crying boy through the hospital with a bag, my purse and a handful of paperwork – it wasn’t pretty.  But, the good news is – he’s had the flu shot (well, round one … I didn’t have the heart to tell him that we have to go back in 3 weeks to get the second part).

Then Friday we left around 9 a.m. to drive to Austin for our good friend Andy’s wedding.  Clay was a groomsman, so we got there in time for the rehearsal and dinner.  Small world story – Andy and Clay have been friends since the 3rd grade, but Andy and I also grew up together in the church youth group.  Anyway, Ethan wanted nothing to do with sleep Friday night in the hotel and apparently was allergic to something in the air down there.  The wedding was outdoor at an old historical site in Austin Saturday afternoon, and we left after that to come home.  Sunday morning Clay taught his first class for our college/young marrieds class at church, we both sang at our teacher appreciation banquet that afternoon, and then we hosted the youth devo last night at our house.  I’m tired just writing it all.  But it was a great week, and it looks like this week will be just about as busy (as we speak Clay is at the church building with our preacher setting up the wireless network…his talents never cease to amaze me).

Oh, and the only other thing that keeps me a teeny bit anxious right now is that this baby is coming in less than 3 months (which I’m sure will feel more like 2 months with the holidays) and she still has a completely empty room.  And I know that she won’t know the difference, but I will.  Maybe I’ll have this super burst of energy here soon and get a ton of things done in one day!

We carried on a tradition from last Halloween by getting together with Jack to go trick-or-treating. Last year the boys had no clue what Halloween was or why they were dressed up, but they did enjoy just being together. But this year they had a clearer picture of what you were supposed to do. (Well, we actually walked Ethan around to our neighbors houses, and when we walked up to the first house and they answered the door, Ethan just walked right on in! We had to explain that you just stay on the porch and hold out your pumpkin.) Ethan kept walking from house to house saying, “This way – more candy.” They did both manage to say trick or treat at each door, and of course everyone thought they were so cute. One lady asked if they were twins which I thought was a little strange, but whatever. They both got tons of candy that they’ll never eat, but it makes for good snacks for us. Cara and Josie weren’t able to join us this year because they were making their return trip from Hawaii, but they were with us in spirit. In looking at pictures from last Halloween I couldn’t believe how much Jack and Ethan have grown in the past year. And next year we’ll have a little princess or cheerleader to add to the mix!