Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Spring Cleaning!

I love how the warm weather brings energy and inspiration with it! It's amazing how the shining sun and dry ground can do that! Today I organized all our toys in the basement, vacuumed the ENTIRE house (3 floors!!), did 5 loads of laundry (including folding and organizing), cleaned all 3 bedrooms, had to hold a sick baby a lot of the time, had an hour nap, and played with Ethan!! Nevermind the regular cooking, cleaning the kitchen, washing bottles, etc... that comes with everyday life. And it feels great!

For the past 3 summers, I've either been in my first trimester of pregnancy (crappy), had a newborn, or been EXTREMELY pregnant and had a newborn. I was so bummed to move into our new house last summer and not have the energy to plant flowers or veggies. I've already planned how I'm going to landscape the front of our house, and have great plans for growing my own veggies and herbs (I don't have room for a garden, so I'll have to be creative). Just yesterday I trimmed the HUGE cedar trees that give us shade and privacy around our deck. It felt so great to get that done, as I'd wanted to do it last summer already.

The back of the house 2 summers ago - those trees were overtaking our deck,
so I had to trim them (this was before we moved in)

One of the things with having a husband who works A LOT, is that I have to do pretty much all the work around here (buit I don't mow the lawn, I hate it). I'm ok with that when I have normal energy levels, so the past few summers have been rough. But now I have a fresh, rejuvenated start! Here are some pics of the house, since I don't really have any other pics to post, lol!! This is it for this week cuz we're going to Edmonton for about 2 weeks tomorrow and I'm in the process of getting rganized and packing. I'm sure I'll have lots to write about there, until then, enjoy this beautiful spring!

I want to cut down the cedars,
plant colourful flowrs, and obviously paint the house!
(this was also before we moved in, 2 summers ago)



Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Spring Has Sprung!

I love the smell in the air, and the freedom the warmer weather brings me. Since it's been nice outside, we've gone for walks almost every day, twice a day, and I love it! I think Ethan and I were both feeling pretty cooped up after a long winter stuck in our house. And along with the weather comes new inspirations, new ideas, and renewed energy! So I have decided to blog once a week! I often think my life is boring and that there's no point in writing about it. But I've realized that I like reading about other people's boring lives, so people probably like reading about mine too :o)

Out for our first walk of the season

I‘ll start with Ethan. He recently turned two, and I wondered what kinds of changes I'd see in his personality since you always hear about 'the terrible twos.' Well I have noticed that he says 'no' a lot more....especially when I ask him to do something. The thing is, he just says it matter-of-factly, not defiantly, so I can't get mad at him. And even though he says no, he still does what I ask. So I do see him forming his own personality and becoming more of an individual and I'm ok with that, it's supposed to happen. Chris and I have worked very hard at being consistent and following through on our discipline, and Ethan listens very well, and knows we mean business!! He is also just such a sweetheart and so willing to please us, that it makes our lives a lot easier than some other parents of two year olds!

Ethan inspecting the dirt after falling in the mud
(notice the dirty pants too, I'm doing a lot more laundry these days)
As for what he's into these days, he LOVES playing outside, and will often play in the yard by himself for an hour or more at a time! I'm so glad we have a fenced yard (we bought locks for the gates, just for peace of mind). He also loves watching bigger kids play and wants to do what they do, it's very cute. Unfortunately we have some rowdy neighbour kids on one side that I'm not too happy with though because he loves watching them through the fence, and one day the little 4 year old poked his nose and made him cry! The little brat also started throwing things over the fence at him like rocks and pop cans with rocks!! I gave a good talking to that kid, that's for sure!!
I love watching Ethan grow up and learn new things, he is constantly shocking us with concepts and words he understands and I really need to start writing them down. A funny one I remember is this:
Ethan: mommy, where are those clouds going?
Me: I don't know Ethan, where are they going?
Ethan: Ummm...... McDonalds!
Bathtime fun!

Now for our little Anthony. He's pretty much along for the ride! Ethan is so busy and has lots he wants to do, so Anthony is often just there, perfectly content to watch from the sidelines. I don't know if he likes going for walks or playing outside as much as Ethan does, but he's never fussed, so I assume he does. It's pretty funny though, because we have a double stroller (a $10 yard sale special, but I really want a new one, it sucks), and Anthony is behind Ethan. Well after we've been walking for a while, and Anthony is bored with the scenery, he starts pulling at Ethan's hat, or hair, or collar, or ears, LOL!!! Ethan just shoos his hand away because he's too busy telling me about every single vehicle he sees (there's a red truck, and a white car, and another red truck! There's daddy's airplane, there's daddy's tractor). So I think the little brother being a bit of a bug is already beginning, and I love it!! (that's because I was a brat to my older sister, so I think it's funny)

The beginnings of crawling

Anthony started army crawling about a week before he turned 8 months, and now can crawl on all fours, but not very fast. He is also eating cheerios on his own (when he gets them in his mouth), but he still needs to work on mastering that skill. I love having two boys, and find managing them both to be second nature. It is a lot busier, but I wouldn't have it any other way :o)

Anthony LOVES the swings!
As for me and Chris, it's just the same old work and home. But it's good, and we're both excited about our future. As for now, we're planning on taking a road trip to Edmonton in a couple weeks. So all you Edmontonians, let's get together! That's all for this week!

You can see Anthony going in for the attack!!