Ethan is terribly two

It's hard to believe that our baby is TWO years old! When he was born it was such a wonderful blessing...then shortly after that the challenges began. Ethan has been quite a challenging child and very much of a mommy's boy. However, since I know this is our last baby I enjoy it to an extent. I didn't rush him to walk or talk like I feel I did with James. I want him to be my baby and he will be forever.

We moved to Leavenworth, Kansas shortly before Ethan's 2nd birthday so we knew it would be just us celebrating. But in the same respect I wanted him to have the fun and memories of his birthday.   Several days following up to his birthday we talked about how he would be two and he was very adimint about a "choo choo" cake.  The morning of his birthday, James and I took him to Play, Bounce, Jump here in KS. Ethan and James bounced untile they were bounced out! Later that night we had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, the kid loves salsa!! Of course the evening was finished by enjoying a slice of "choo choo" cake. Ethan got several new, fun toys. His favorite that night was the Dancing Mickey Mouse. To hear his sweet laughter was music to my ears.

Ethan is communication so much better now. He talks alot and I often have to interpret for him to others. He gets so frustrated when you tell him "no" and will have a meltdown wherever we are. He also loves to yell and i mean YELL 'no' if things don't go his way.  His newest thing is to cross his stubby little arms and say "no fwair". He is gonna be my little spitfire for sure. He thinks he is bigger than he is and tries his best to keep up with his big brother.

Ethan loves anything you can dip. That is my trick lately, whatever I fix him I put a dab of ranch or ketchup for him to dip his food into so that he will eat. He is such a picky eater that anything he eats is a victory. Of course he is only picky for me :)....anywhere else they talk about how well he eats :). That's my baby! He loves fruit and cheese. I always catch him in the fridge getting some type of cheese out :).

On the other hand Ethan is such a sweet boy. I love to hold him and read books. He loves to read and itneract with the stories. His favorite right now is a book my mom bought about Alabama Football. He will yell "Woll Tide" after each page on cue. It is so sweet. I love when he first wakes up and grabs his Mickey Mouse to love on and says 'good morning'. I love that he says he's sorry and hugs his brother when he knows he did something wrong. I love that he is independent but still needs mommy to kiss his boo boos.  I love that he still likes to be held as we walk at times. I love to see the bond between my two boys and to hear them giggle and enjoy life together.

Ethan is following in the footsteps of James when it comes to sports. He loves to hit the tball, kick the soccer ball and jump into the pool. Ethan is James biggest fan and yells for him at each soccer practice and game.

My baby is growing up so fast. I do feel guilt at times b/c the time I had with James just isn't there for Ethan since my time has to be divided. However, Ethan is adjusting and progressing just fine for his age. I am so thankful God chose me to be his mommy and that he is a healthy (active) toddler boy. I love his little personality and hope that he continues to bring smiles to himself and to others. My hope for him is to know and trust God and Jesus and to live his life in accordance to Their plan. I honestly believe if this happens this will allow everything else to fall into place.

Final Splash

Before moving from Alabama I was determined to have James one final hoorah with his friends. So amongst the chaos of moving and being homeless I decided to book the Muscle Shoals splash pad and le the kids have some wet fun. Of course I chose the hottest day which was great for the kids but the adults were sweating like nobody's business! Several of James school and church friends came. It was such a fun time, I think we were there about 3 hours total! We took a break to hydrate and feed the kids and then they went back to playing. James enjoyed this time with his friends. We have met some wonderful people through Kings Kids and Highland Baptist Church. Saying goodbye is so difficult especially when your child has to say goodbye. James is so strong though and told me he will miss his friends but he will meet new ones in Kansas. Gotta love his strong, sweet spirit. James battled at first because he would come to me with a sad look and say he didn't want to move. I pray he finds some friends in KS to fill the time while we are there!

Leavenworth or Bust!!

Well it's that time again, moving time. This will make our 4th move in almost 9 years, compliments of the good old US Army :). For me this will be my hardest move probably just because we are leaving home, aka Alabama, AGAIN .But on the flip side I have got to spend a little over two years back in Bama! I have enjoyed family time, spending lazy days with  my best friends and finally found a church we adored. Ethan was born in Alabama and James actually got to attend a MMO program for 2 years in a row! He is 4 and has been to 3 different ones. Picking up and moving to the unfamiliar is hard. I often ask why I married a military man because I don't like change at all, I am a very structured, scheduled person :). All I can say is God had a plan for me :).

After drying my eyes from goodbyes I hit the road running! So we left out on Saturday July 16 to drive to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, home of the largest military prison :). Since Shawn decided to do a full DITY move (where we move our selves entirely) we had to drive seperate vehicles since he had the boat to pull. So I drew the lucky straw to drive the boys..lol. So we loaded up on movies and snacks and hit the road running. We made a few stops along the way so the boys could stretch but overall it was a pretty smooth ride. Ethan did remarkably well which was my biggest concern. Even now at almost 2 years of age he is the worst traveler. We timed it so that after we stopped for lunch he would take his nap which would put us stopping for the afternoon once he woke up. it worked out well. We drove about 5 1/2 hours and stopped for the night. We let the boys swim before supper and bedtime which helped wear them out.

We got up on Sunday morning to begint he final drive to our new, temporary home for the next year or so. We finally arrived that night and I was VERY pleased with the home and the neighborhood. It seems like a lot of ILE students live here and there is a playground 2 houses up from which is awesome!! The boys loved their rooms and James loved the fact that the house is a "stair house". The house has 2 levels but we use the downstairs for a playroom which is awesome. The living room, dining room, and bedrooms are all upstairs. It has a nice fenced in back yard and deck. Overall I love the house!

I attended my first PWOC meeting last Tuesday. This is a bible study for military spouses which is awesome, being back in the military population is so refreshing after being away for almost 2 years. I hope that I am able to build some great friendships out of this group. James and Ethan both clung to me when I dropped them at the childcare rooms but when I returned they both seemed to be fine. I hate leaving them when they are upset.

After unpacking some boxes I explored the town...Wal-Mart is 0.3 miles from our house! Lots of good shopping within 30 minute radius. I think I was more excited to hit the commissary!! I know that this is a huge adjustment for us. Moving definitely was as hard when we didn't have children especially children who comprehend moves and miss their friends and families. I pray daily that i can provide what the kids need to make the transition as easy as possible. James has been defiant and difficult lately but I hope once he begins a preschool program he will be ok.

This is Army life...many moves and changes still to come :) since we have 12 more years to go!

Take Me Out To the Ballgame....

We had one more load of goods that Shawn's sister was bringing the following weekend. So we decided that we would all go to the Kansas City Royals vs. Tampa Bay baseball game in Missouri. It was only about 40 minutes away and we got a great deal on tickets! After enjoying a wonderful dinner with them we headed to the ballpark. Our seats were way up in the stadium but it worked out well because there were a lot of empty seats and with 4 young boys we  needed room for them to roam. James paid attention rather well to the game and learned a lot which he gladly showed me while we played baseball outside the next day :). He called strikes, fouls etc. Even Ethan did good at the game. The temperature was 104 when we arrived so it was super hot. We stocked up on beverages, snocones and funnel cakes.

The game was so fun. Although I really didn't watch much of the game I loved the enthusiasm of the crowd. I loved when they played music and vamped up the crowd. Just watching my boys enjoy something new was worth it to me. I am sure we will have many more fun adventures while here in Kansas.

By the way...Kansas City won in overtime!!