27 months/ 2 years and 3 months

I wanted to take some time to pause and reflect. Our sweet boy is just over 2 years old now and I can't believe how much he has grown and changed. Why do I write a blog about my son at this age? So I can look back and remember. Remember, yes remember. Because I don't want to forget.

Ethan is social. He loves babies, and big kids too. He has no problem engaging in a conversation with a complete stranger. The first thing out of his mouth will probably be something about a truck. I think his main purpose in life is to share his passion of trucks with everyone he meets. :) He loves to talk. NEVER.STOPS. His vocabulary is amazing for a kid this age. He speaks in full sentences, heck, sometimes paragraphs. He is smart, sensitive, silly, energetic, caring, and full of love.

Things he likes...

Ethan LOVES trucks. I can't use the word "like" because it just isn't fitting. It might even borderline obsessed. Any and every kind of truck you can imagine. Garbage trucks, mail trucks, UPS trucks, FedEx trucks, car carries, mixers, tow trucks, FIRETRUCKS, dump trucks, tractor trailers...the list goes on and on. He also does love the occasional tractor and gator, too! When we ride in the car, the entire duration of the car ride is spent talking about all the trucks that we see. Honestly, until I had Ethan, I never knew how many trucks were in the world...or I just never paid attention.

 

 

 

 

Ethan also likes being outside. The park, the playground, the sand box, the dirt, walks, and pushing his dump truck. Ahhhh yes, the dump truck. We have had full blown fits over this thing. The child always wants to push his dump truck. It could be 20 degrees, 100 degrees, raining...it doesn't matter. If he sees it in the garage, he wants to push it. I have a love/hate relationship with this thing. The big green dump truck has been everywhere. The beach, the sandbox, dirt piles, rock piles, and every side walk that ever existed in our neighborhood.

 

 

He likes the water. This includes baths. I usually end up looking like a drowned rat after bath time. We just started swim lessons, which he loves. If you gave him a bucket of water, he would find a way to entertain himself for an hour. This summer we are going to take him out on my dad's boat. I can't wait to see how he reacts. One thing is for sure, this kid is not afraid of the water.

He likes nap time and bed time. Yes, it's true. I never have to beg and plead. This kid loves a good nap, and for that I am thankful. He still manages to sleep for a good 11-12 hours a night. Usually from about 7:30-7:45pm to around 7-7:15am. Once again, I am thankful. He loves his "T-bear" and his "blank-blank" or "blankie." He still sleeps with his white noise machine. He loves white noise. Our whole family sleeps better with white noise.

He likes going to the grocery store and "The Target". Almost every single morning without fail he asks me "mommy can we go to the grocery store?" I'm sure you can guess why he likes "The Target." Because they give out stickers, of course. Why does he like the grocery store? Because this is one of the only times he is allowed to use my iphone to watch truck videos. He usually watches garbage trucks or a video on tow trucks.

Ice cream and sweets...what kid doesn't like sweets?! Every Saturday or Sunday he will usually ask to go eat ice cream. Our favorite spot is the Fuquay Dairy Queen. We usually sit outside so that Ethan can...yes you guessed it. Watch the trucks go by. This has become a fun family tradition.

His favorite TV shows are Peppa Pig, Dora, and Paw Patrol.

He likes his water flavored with crystal light water flavor.

His favorite foods right now include- jelly sandwiches, cheese, fruit pouches, grapes, green beans, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, goldfish, biscuits, and chocolate chip muffins. And ice cream.

Things he doesn't like...

Going to restaurants.  This is very hit or miss, but mostly a miss. I swear the second we walk into a restaurant he flips on the crazy kid switch. If we go somewhere with him, we try to keep it to fast food, or somewhere we can eat outside. This leads me to my next item...

"Buggies" as he calls them. He is not a fan of bees and wasps. He will run and scream like a girl.

Sitting still. Yeah, I know what your thinking. NO two year old wants to sit still. But it's still something he doesn't like doing.

Meal time. Maybe I should say this is a work in progress instead of "things he doesn't like." A lot of times he doesn't want to sit still long enough (as mentioned above!) or he is too busy or involved in a project. He would rather graze all day long than eat 3 meals a day. We go through normal phases where he is very willing to try new foods and eat well, and times when he doesn't.  It's frustrating.

Being cooped up inside all day. I try really hard to plan fun things for us to do throughout the week.

Long car rides. Each year gets a little better. I am hoping that this year will be the best by far. We are taking a 3 hour car ride to the beach in a couple of weeks...so we shall see. The very first time I took him on a long car ride (6 weeks old) he screamed bloody murder the ENTIRE time. It was horrifying, and I needed a drink fast.

What he has taught me...

How to be patient.

How to see the humor in sometimes not- so- funny situations.

How to be strong.

To be creative.

How to be a kid again.

That there is more love to give, even when you think you've given all you can give.

There is more to life than looking pretty, or driving a nice car. Sometimes all you need is a dirty little boy, and a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt. That's really all you need.

Thank you Ethan Robert Boutwell for teaching more than I ever thought a little boy could teach me. Thank you for making me a stronger woman. I love you.

Big Boy Bed & Strawberry Picking

May madness continues. It has been a SUPER busy month so far. 

Last weekend, on Mother's Day, we decided to transition Ethan to a "big boy bed." What this really means is, we took down the full front rail of his crib, and put his half rail on so he could freely get in and out. Imagine if you will all the fun thoughts and concerns that were running through my head at this time. You know what they say...if it aint broke don't fix it. We had a good thing going. He never tried to climb out of his crib, not once. Unlike some kids, Ethan loves bed time and nap time. He will often tell me he wants to take a nap. Sometimes he will beg me to take a nap. Okay, so maybe I've done something right in this whole parenting thing. :)  We really felt like he was ready.

When Evan was putting together his new bed, Ethan was so excited. He kept squealing and laughing, saying "my big boy bed!" All throughout the evening before bed he would say "mommy I'm gonna go in my big boy bed", and run in his room jumping in and out of his bed. He was so happy. And I was dreading what the evening would hold. What a hellova night it would be if I was repeatedly putting him back to bed.

 

We are practicing getting used to the bed.

 

 

 

Again, more practice! I love how he sleeps. Always on his tummy, covered up, with his " T-bear", and sucks his fingers. So sweet. That is a sight I will never get tired of.

 

 

Much to my surprise, the first night went awesome. Never got out of his crib once, and was asleep in 10 minutes. I was right outside the door, of course. Just waiting for him to come out. But he never did! He stayed in bed the entire night and when he awoke the next morning, waited for me to come get him. With each passing day he becomes a bit more brave. Now in the mornings he comes out of his room and either goes to the play room, our comes into our room. Which is totally fine with me since he isn't waking up in the middle of the night and roaming the halls. Naps have been a bit shorter this week. I knew it would take time for the newness of the bed to wear off. Gradually each day naps have gotten a bit longer. And as I am writing this, he has been asleep for a little over 2 hours which is back to normal. Thank You Lord!

 

Thank You Ethan for making this transition a piece of cake! I'm so proud of my big boy!

 

Strawberry Picking...

 

In celebration of "MiMi's" birthday(Evan's mom), we went strawberry picking on Tuesday. AKA, the hottest day of the year. Hot or not, Ethan had a blast. We went with Jocelin (Ethan's aunt/Evan's sister) and his two cousins Lucas and Shane.

 

 

 

Bringing his own little bucket was a great idea. Bad idea- wearing sandals.

 

 

He totally got the concept of picking only the red ones. We told him "red like a fire truck" and it all clicked. :) He was a great picker.

 

 

 

After picking strawberries, all three boys fed the baby goats and chickens.

 

It was a fun filled morning with family. Ethan adores his cousins, and they love each other so much. We are blessed. Happy birthday Lynn!

 

 

 

Mother's Day

Okay, moms. You know how it is. Mother's Day rolls around and you're all like...it's okay, you don't have to do anything special for me. Don't kid yourself. You know in the back of your mind you're really like...I wonder if they have something special planned for me? :)

I don't have enough words to describe how special moms are, including my own. It wasn't until I became a mother myself did I really understand the importance of a mom.  Mom is a very small word for a pretty amazing person.

So here's to you, mom. Thank you for being an amazing role model, and my solid rock. Thank you for shaping me, and molding me into the woman I am today. But most of all, thank you for being a wonderful example of what a real mom is; so that I could one day be that same example to my own son.

 

 

 

 

My Mother's Day started out with breakfast in bed...

 

 

My favorite morning ritual. A toasted honey wheat English muffin with butter. Evan threw in a chocolate milk, since sometimes I crave that in the morning, too. Roses from our garden, and a gift card for a massage. YES please, that sounds wonderful!

 

The best part of my day was when Ethan came bouncing into our room (helping Evan with breakfast in bed) and was SO excited to see me. He jumped up on the bed and helped me eat my breakfast. :) He gibber jabbered the entire time, and I loved every minute of it. He said to me "happy mothers day mommy" un prompted. I could have melted!

 

Later after church, we enjoyed our lunch out on the screened in porch on our new furniture. It arrived Friday, and Evan stayed up until midnight putting it together. We love it. I guess it was well worth the two month back order wait.

 

 

Finally, I enjoyed a good workout. If you know me well enough, you know that a good workout makes me quite happy. The gym is my happy place.

 

 

To be honest, I've always been a little unsure and self conscious of the "selfie". You probably won't see a lot of these, but I figured it was the only way to prove that I actually DID go to the gym since I wasn't going to ask some random stranger to take my picture in the locker room! :)  I will have to admit, the perfecting the "selfie" is a bit more difficult than I thought.

 

In honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to end in some photos of me and Ethan. Thank you little one for making me a mommy! I love you so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swim Lessons & Birthday Parties

This Saturday was a busy, fun filled day. We started off the day with Ethan's first swim lesson. He was very excited. Throughout breakfast and the entire car ride to the pool, Ethan kept talking about how excited he was to swim. I wasn't too nervous about how he would do. He loves the water. He couldn't wait to get in! Evan joined us, and was the official photographer. The pictures are dark because the learning/baby pool had very poor lighting.

 

Our first task of the lesson was to use a flower pot to pour the water over themselves and get used to the water. We didn't need much "getting used to" since the water was about 82 degrees. Perfect for me. :) Ethan was already splashing around and squealing with delight. He was ready to go.

 

 

Trying to learn to float on his back. 

 

 

Belly floating this time! Also pictured are our friends Sam, Josh, and Ethan's BFF Izzy.

 

 

We are trying to learn how to blow bubbles in the water.

 

 

This is the part I thought he would love. But not so much. We were supposed to be sliding or jumping off the ledge to mom. He really wanted nothing to do with it. Maybe next time! :)

 

 

Evan got one good shot of him "jumping" to me. But really I was doing it for him. :)

 

We will be doing swim lessons for the next 7 Saturdays at Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. I am excited to see the progress he will make by the end of the session.

 

 

Now onto our next adventure for the day...

 

We went to Izzy's 2nd birthday party. As mentioned above, this is Ethan's BFF. They even look like twins.

 

Don't believe me? Here is proof...

 

 

 

Ethan had a blast at Izzy's very fun outdoor party. Fully equipped with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and 3 pretty awesome texture tables. Water, sand, rice, and bird seed. She even had a craft table. Absolutely perfect for toddlers. I could actually relax and enjoy myself.

 

 

 

 

 

How adorable are these bucket lunches for the kids? Don't worry, the adults got some too.

 

 

Clearly, the goldfish are always a hit with the kids.

 

 

Don't worry Ethan will help with Izzy's cake!

 

We are so blessed to have these wonderful people in our lives!

 

Happy Birthday sweet Isabel Grace!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Projects Continued...

Evan and I love spring- the flowers, the planting, the colors, and everything that goes along with it. We have completed our spring planting (in pots) and are still working on a project or two in the back yard. The back yard will be our summer and fall project. Here is a look at what we've been up to.

 

Our newest addition to the front yard. This was a gift from Evan's dad and stepmom. All our fellow Mountaineers will appreciate this!

 

 

Front planters done.

 

 

 

So, I took this one to honor the husband. When it comes to yard work and landscaping the man is talented. He has worked so hard on the grass since we moved in last February. It looks awesome. We have something in our neighborhood called "Yard of the Month". He is determined to get it, and I know he will! Okay, and let's just be honest, he is just a little bit competitive.

 

 

My favorite part of our yard. These roses are so beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Remember my previous post on Evan's backyard project? Well, the Crape Myrtle tree is now in.

 

 

Now, onto project #2. When we moved in we were not happy with the way the flower beds in the back yard were landscaped.  So, part one of project #2. Evan is digging a trench for some bulbs we are planting. (Day lilies, Irises, and Daffodils)

 

 

We have a very good helper! :)

 

The flower bulbs came from Evan's grandparents home in Elizabeth City. His grandmother passed away a few years ago and her passion in life was gardening. These came from her garden. We can't think of a better way to carry on her love for the garden. Every time we look at the blooms we will think of her.

 

The bulbs are laid down and ready to be covered with soil.

 

 

The bed has a lot of work that needs to be done. We are going to remove the small bushes shown, and replace them with some type of flowering bush- either an azalea, or rose bush. Once everything has been planted, the bed will be mulched, and cut down in size.

 

 

This is a view of both beds in the backyard (the one to the right is the one we are working on right now). The one to the left is in better shape. We will also be planting the same bulbs in that flower bed as well. The small bushes will also be removed to match whatever we plant in the other bed. I also wanted this view to show (once again) Evan's awesome green grass!

 

I will keep everyone posted on the progress and final product of project #2. We can't wait for the finished product!

 

And, a huge shout out to the husband to who happily, willingly, and lovingly works so hard to help make this home and yard what it is!