With Love, from Iraq!

So, I must say that I have the best husband ever!!  Even from Iraq, he managed to send me flowers!  I do have to admit that I have the most thoughtful, wonderful husband and I am such a lucky girl!  Now, if he could just hurry home that would be even more wonderful!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow Day!!

Does he look ready for playing in the snow or what?? So last week, it finally snowed!! It was the first significant snow of the season here in St. Louis and probably the last. We got about 6 inches. My dad was so nice to take Ethan out in the snow. I didn't buy him any snow clothes, because I just don't see the point in buying him boots and pants to go in the snow once or twice and where we are moving to in Japan it hardly snows, so it is not like he could use them next year. Anyways, we had to get creative and so my dad ended up putting a couple of pairs of his socks over Ethan's shoes and pants. Notice, the socks don't match--that adds to the appeal of the outfit! I have to admit, however, my dad's creativity worked great. Here are a couple of pictures of Ethan modeling his snow outfit and having fun in the snow. He didn't last too long out there, because he wouldn't keep his gloves on, but he did have a fun time.

So, I feel so bad, because the majority of my posts and pictures have to do with Ethan. I have really been making a conscious effort to take more pictures of Kailey and talk about her more. So, here is a Kailey update. First off, she is just the best baby ever. She is always so happy and smiling and talking and so good to just sit for hours while I try and get things done. She is also so big-at her 6 month checkup last month she was almost 19 lbs. and is in the 90+ percentile for weight. Ethan only weighs 25 lbs and is in the 20 percentile for his weight. It is so sad, but Kailey and Ethan wear the same size diaper. He is just so skinny and she is so chubby. If she keeps growing how she is, I think she and Ethan will weigh the same soon. I took him in for his 2 year check-up and he has only gained 1 lb and grown 1 inch in the last 6 months--poor guy! Anyways, back to Kailey, she is very good at sitting up now and is good at scooting backwards on her belly--I think we still have a while until she starts crawling. She is such a good eater, obviously and like I said, just the easiest, happiest, best baby ever!!

Birthday boy!!

So, Ethan turned two last week and we had a lot of fun celebrating. Saturday, as part of his birthday celebration, we went and saw "Elmo's Green Thumb"-a Sesame street production--it actually was pretty good and Ethan and even Kailey loved it. My only question is, who are those people that dress up as Sesame street characters or other characters and sing and dance around as a career? Anyways, then we came home and had a delicious dinner of lasagna with dirt cake for dessert. We aren't huge fans of regular cake, so we always end up making something different. Ethan scored big time for his birthday--he is one spoiled boy. My parents got him this cute little handyman outfit with tools that actually work. He is always trying to help my dad, so now he has his own tools to help. He also got a little car set--here is a picture of him helping me put it together. He also got an elmo doll and a cute new outfit, plus a couple of other things. Here isone more picture of him. Overall, he had a great birthday!!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Ethan, I can't believe that you are two years old now!! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and so glad that you are a part of our family and never knew they could love one little person so much. There are so many things we love about you and I am so sorry daddy isn't here to see how much you are growing and becoming like him. Just a few of the things we love about you are:

1. I love your little face and your expressions--you are just the cutest little boy ever!
2. You are such a great helper--you love to vacuum, sweep, help me cook, you are so good at cleaning up your toys, washing dishes, etc. The list goes on and on--you just love to clean and I really hope this lasts!!
3. You are such a good big brother to Kailey and such a good example to her. You love to make her laugh, you are always concerned about her when she is crying and you try to help her, you just love her so much.
4. You are such an affectionate little boy and are always giving hugs and kisses and I love it so much and so does everyone else.
5. You are a budding artist--you love to draw and paint and I love seeing each new creation you have made for me.
6. You are full of energy (a lot of times you wear me out), however, you love to do new things and are not one of those kids that just likes to sit and watch t.v. and play, you want to be doing something all the time.
7. You are so excitable--when there is something you like or you want to do, you just get so excited. It makes it so much fun to take you new places and do new things, because I can always tell how much fun you are having.
8. You constantly surprise me with new things you are learning. I can't tell you how many times you I am shocked to hear you say a color, shape, number, etc. I didn't think you knew. For example, I am trying to learn a little Japanese and was learning cat and dog in Japanese and you were playing in the room, next thing I know, you are walking around saying, "neko (japanese for cat)-meow, meow. You are so smart and are constantly learning new things.
9. I love how you talk nonstop (most of the time). For just turning two, you have a large vocabulary and are always expanding it. You are pretty much always talking and you say some of the funniest things.
10. I love your little laugh--when you laugh it makes me want to laugh. You are such a happy boy and make everyone happy around you.

Ethan, we look forward to many more fun birthdays and adventures--don't grow up too fast-mommy is having so much fun with you and wants to enjoy every minute she can.

Happy Birthday Ethan!! We love you so much!
Love, Daddy, Mommy and Kailey

Laundry Helpers!

The other day I was doing laundry and put Kailey in the laundry basket and was pushing it down the hallway. Ethan saw me doing it and wanted a turn and started pushing Kailey all over the bedroom. She thought it was hilarious. After a few minutes of pushing her, he got tired and decided he wanted to be in the basket with Kailey, soI put him in there. They just had so much fun. Kailey is getting to that stage where she can interact and play with you more now. It is so funny for me to watch she and Ethan together, because they just love each other so much and love to play together (now they don't play together all the time, but when they do, they have so much fun!) Kailey also loves to watch Ethan and he is always making her laugh. I am just so glad that I have two kids that love each other so much and have so much fun together and I hope that they always stay good friends. Also, I know that I am biased, but lately I am just amazed at how cute my kids are, not just in looks, but also in personality. I am just the luckiest mom ever!!

Eagle Days and Cabela's-a dream come true!

This weekend my friend Aimee came to visit me. I kind of felt bad for her, because of all weekends, this was probably the worst. Ethan had been sick for most of the week and was just barely getting over it when she came to visit. Any parent knows, when your child is sick, you lose sleep, they lose sleep and it can make for a very crabby child and tired parent. Hence, this was the case. Ethan was not on his best behavior, due to lack of sleep and being sick, so he made for a great form of birth control--I don't think Aimee will be having kids anytime soon!! Anyways, we had a great weekend, despite a crabby, sick child. I have to mention that Kailey was perfect as usual--she really is the best baby ever!! Friday night we went out with one of our other friends to this great Spanish restaurant for tapas--the food was SOOOOOO good. I had never had authentic Spanish food and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Saturday we went to an event called "Eagle Days." During the winter here, you can see a lot of eagles down by the Mississippi. There is a bridge here in St. Louis called the 'Chain of Rocks' bridge that is only open to foot traffic and in the middle of the bridge, they had a large tent with displays about the eagles. They also had a bunch of tents set up and some re-enactors on the grass before the bridge. Anyways, walking out to the tent was so cold and we were all pretty miserable, so needless to say we didn't stay too long. We did see a couple of eagles out in the trees by the river. Well, on our way home we decided to stop and let Aimee experience an outdoorsman's mecca--CABELA's!!!! Cabelas is like Bass Pro Shop and has everything you can think of for the outdoors. It is really fun, because inside they have a bunch of aquariums, they have tons of animals that are stuffed, a museum, etc. My dad and brothers could spend hours in there. We had a lot of fun walking around.

Well, the weekend flew by and it was so much fun to have Aimee in town. Aimee, we would love to have you come back and visit and I swear that Ethan really is a good kid and doesn't usually cry that much!! Thanks for a fun weekend and I am sure you are glad to be back in New York and away from crying children!!

New Photos from Kuwait & South Carolina

I was able to add some photos from my attempt back on December 20th. Scroll down to see them.
-Eric

Merry Christmas!!!

Well, we had a great Christmas this year--sorry Eric couldn't be here, but we tons of fun with my family. The kids got into the mood by posing with Santa and dressed up in Santa hats!! Ethan loves going into my Dad's room and looking through his drawers, closet, etc. and then he wants to put on "papa's" hat, glasses, etc. Sometimes, my dad helps him be a little more creative in his outfits!!

This year we were so excited to have my older Brandon and his wife, Ashleycome to visit. Brooke also came home from college and it is always so great to have her around. The only sibling missing was Lance and his family, but we saw them at Christmas. B and Ashley haven't been home for Christmas in like 4 years, so it was just so nice to have them. We had a lot of fun playing and hanging out. One night we had an ethnic night and made Indian and Thai food, which was so delicious--I ate so much, that I felt like I was pregnant again!! Afterwards we watched a bollywood movie--can I just say that it was some of the most cheesiest and worst acting I have ever seen--it was so bad, it was funny!

I forgot how much fun Christmas is with little kids. Ethan just got so into Christmas this year, he would get so excited everytime he saw "Claus" or a snowman, etc. It was really fun opening presents with him and he hit the jackpot this year. Eric and I went shopping for Ethan's birthday and Christmas before he left, so we have had his presents for a couple of months. I have been so excited for him to open them and have something new to play with. He also got some great toys and clothes from his grandparents, so he really lucked out. Every toy he opened, he would get so excited and would want to play with it. I felt like the best mom, because he loved his toys!! So far he still loves them and I hope that lasts!! It is so hard to buy toys for kids, maybe it is just Ethan, but he loses interest so quickly in toys. His favorite things to play with are the vacuum, whatever I am using, the swiffer, etc. Poor Kailey, I didn't buy her anything for Christmas--I felt kind of guilty. I had bought her a bunch of new clothes after we moved here. I did go to toys 'r' us to buy her a toy, but then I thought, she doesn't know that she is supposed to get presents and we have so many toys and I hate to buy a new toy just for the sake of buying one, so needless to say, she didn't get anything. Hopefully, she will never read this post and hold it over me that I didn't buy her anything for Christmas. Luckily for her, she has nice grandparents and great-grandparents that bought her new clothes and a few toys. The favorite presents to open are the ones that my dad gets at the dollar store. You would think that he would just buy junk, but there is a lot of thought that goes into these presents. For example, this year, he got my grandma a bucket of 250 plastic bugs. He told her when she goes out to eat, she can take one and put it on her food and get a free meal! Ashley got a plastic table, so when she is traveling she always has someplace to put her laptop, eat dinner on, etc. What a thoughtful guy!! I got betty boop lip gloss--what thought went into that??? I guess I have chapped lips?!?! Anyways, thank you to everyone who made this Christmas wonderful--we really are so blessed.

My Domestic Ethan!!

So, this picture is the epitome of Ethan! Ethan's favorite thing to do in the whole wide world is to vacuum and his second favorite thing is to cook, you can't see to well, but he is wearing his apron while he is vacuuming. Whenever my mom or I try to vacuum, Ethan is right there trying to help us. He will come up to you and say, "Etah's turn, Etah's turn, please." I took this picture as documented proof of him vacuuming, so when he is a teenager and tries to tell me that he hates to vacuum, I can show him this picture and tell him that he loves to vacuum. I am such a lucky mom to have such a helpful little boy that loves to clean and cook. Sorry Eric, Ethan has been spending too much time with the girls--you will have to do man stuff with him when you get back!