Stayin' Cool

 

Today when Ethan asked for a popsicle, I told him yes, but that he'd have to eat it out on the front porch because it would be messy. He happily agreed to my terms and took his popsicle out to the porch swing. A few minutes later I grabbed my camera thinking I'd get a cute picture of a sticky Ethan. I was surprised to see he had already finished off his treat, with just one little drip on his shirt, and was relaxing in the swing. I was excited to have him sitting still long enough to take a couple cute pictures of my little man.

Redlands Library Days

 

Our city library has a children's summer reading program. If a child reads four books per week, then they get a coupon for a free ice cream. I signed up both Ethan and Jacob. So every week we go to the library, check out four books, sit outside the library on the grass, and I read stories to them. I'm not sure how much they are listening, as you can tell from the pictures, but they enjoy this outing. We then go return our books and pick up our ice cream coupon and go out for ice cream. It's nice to have something fun like this to do during the hot summer days!

4th of July Fireworks

Here's a video clip of the aforementioned Independence Day fireworks at the University of Redlands. Ethan absolutely loved the show and asks to see this clip over and over again.

Independence Day

This was the first year we took Ethan to a fireworks show. In years past we always decided that he was too young and would be scared from the loud explosions. He ended up loving the fireworks show and has asked me everyday since the 4th if we can see the fireworks again. My dad, sister, and bro-in-law came with us, while Josh graciously stayed home with Jacob. It was a great celebration at the University of Redlands. I haven't been to a firework show for years and this show exceeded my expectations.
Ethan drank so much of my dad's and Spencer's drinks that I had to take him potty twice within one hour. He was so thirsty! Not to mention he loves sugary cola drinks.

Ethan in Primary

Primary Teacher: "Jesus can help us to feel better."

Ethan: "Jesus doesn't make me feel better, mommy does! She puts medicine on my owie and then puts a bandage on it."

Picking Fruit With Grandpa Dan

Best Buds

We wanted to capture Ethan and Jacob playing together, but Josh and I just noticed that it looks like Ethan is measuring Jacob's head in one picture and ready to drill through his head in the next! Jacob is playing the willing participant. We got a good chuckle out of those two shots.

Jacob Practicing Walking



Ethan's DCA Trip with Grandma & Grandpa Long

Ethan wanted to meet Mickey Mouse, but was hiding behind his hat and glasses.

Mickey Mouse decided to take matters into his own giant hands. Ethan is normally very particular about how he wears his hat by wearing it really low on his face. He won't let anyone adjust it; however, when Mickey adjusted it, he didn't protest even the tiniest bit.

Ethan loves Mickey Mouse!

Father's Day

We had a fun day at Josh's parents' house to celebrate and honor our fathers and husbands. Judy made steaks and I made garlic mashed potatoes. A manly man meal for the men in our lives. I'm so grateful for my husband, for my father, and for my father-in-law. I feel blessed to have these wonderful and honorable men in my life.


It's me, Josh, making a rare appearance posting something on our family blog! Normally I'm busy working on my LOST blog, my computer security blog, or one of my podcasts (or, you know, working at my real job), but I thought this Father's Day gift from Ethan was really cute and had to post it myself!

Teeth and Stairs

So I guess now that Jacob is one year old, he decided to get his first tooth. I took him in for his immunizations on Monday and the doctor said his gums looked tender and when I mentioned that he frequently tugs on his ears, she said he is definitely teething. The very next day I could see his first little tooth cutting through on the bottom!

That same day I was vacuuming the house and left the boys downstairs while I vacuumed upstairs. When I came down to put the vacuum away, Jacob was on the third stair and started to sit down. Luckily Josh caught him before he had a tumble down the stairs. Stair gate time! I need to get in the habit of putting it up. Today I was watching both boys downstairs and didn't have the gate up because I figured Jacob just likes to stay near me and wouldn't attempt the stairs. Plus, the downstairs isn't very big so I figured I could keep my eye on him wherever he is. Well, Ethan had me distracted with something for maybe 30 seconds or so, and when I looked up to find Jacob, he was half way up the stairs! I have never jumped up so fast to dash to the rescue. He started sitting down right before I got to him and fell back one step before I caught him. You better believe the gate went up immediately. I completely underestimated my little munchkin. If I had even taken one second longer to get to him, he would've had a nasty fall. My heart was racing and my hands shaking after rescuing him just thinking of what could've happened to him. Now I know the gate needs to go up every time he's downstairs. Whew!

Happy 1st Birthday, Jacob!

Josh, Jacob, and Ethan in the parking lot after the movie

Ethan and Syvanah during their bug hunt

Birthday festivities and cake

To celebrate our little man's special day, we took Ethan and Jacob to see the new Pixar movie "Up" and Jacob did surprisingly well. I thought he'd be scared of the loud sounds, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He was getting really wiggly and tired by the end, but we made it through his first movie!

The following day we threw a family party. Josh's mom told me a while back that she was making a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed quilt for his birthday gift, and so I decided to go with a bug themed birthday party. To start off, Ethan and Syvanah enjoyed a bug hunt with their new bug cages. Aunt Mackenzy set out lots of fake bugs in the backyard for the kids to find. Before the game started, Syvanah tried picking one up and so Mackenzy told her not to or else they would bite her. Well, you probably guessed it, when the game started, she didn't want to pick up the bugs and when Shelby finally made her do it, she cried. She did however, quickly figure out that the bugs weren't real and stopped crying. We enjoyed a Mexican-style potluck dinner featuring Aunt Sue and Grandma Judy's delicious chicken enchiladas with green sauce and beef enchiladas with red sauce. Yum! Jacob's birthday cake was caterpillar shaped, formed out of green frosted cupcakes and a red frosted head to resemble the "Very Hungry Caterpillar." The guests all had the green cupcakes and Jacob got to eat the head, which was Josh's masterpiece. Originally, the head turned out pink, but Josh mixed a little powdered sugar with red food dye and painted the cake red. Then he dyed the red licorice black using a mixture of food dyes. Good job, honey! Grandma and Grandpa Taylor provided their famous homemade peach ice cream to go along with the cake. Later on, we played a game of pin the bee on the flower. That was pretty fun, except poor Ethan ran into the wall while he was blindfolded. He was a good sport about it though. Jacob received a lot of darling toys which he and Ethan have been thoroughly enjoying! Thanks to everyone who helped make this a birthday to remember!

Jacob had an awesome first birthday! We love him so much!

Cousins

My sister Shelby is visiting from Arizona, which means Ethan and Jacob get to play with their cousins Taylor and Syvanah. I wanted to share this cute picture of all four of them playing at our house.

Celebrating our Fifth Anniversary in Indio

(If you double click on the collage, you can view it larger.) Thanks to Mom and Dad Long, we had a fun family weekend getaway to Indio to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary! The weather was unusually pleasant for this time of year with highs in the 80s. (Josh and I went two years ago and endured weather of 120°!)

We checked into the Worldmark resort on Thursday afternoon and spent that evening having dinner and getting settled into our two-bedroom room, which Ethan enthusiastically called our new home!

On Friday we spent a lot of time playing at the one-foot deep kiddie pool. It was perfect for Ethan! He played in there for two hours straight! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera down to the pool so we don't have any pictures of that. Mom and Dad Long arrived Friday evening to help with the children so that Josh and I could enjoy an evening out. We dined at the Olive Garden in Palm Desert, and then we searched around for a movie theater that was playing "Star Trek." We were unsuccessful at that and so headed back to the resort.

Saturday we all went to the Living Desert park to look at the animals. When we got home we relaxed for a little while, then Josh and I headed down to the Lazy River at the resort. Strangely enough, it was a little too cold outside even though the water was heated, so we ended up in the jacuzzi. When our fingers started getting pruney, we headed back up to our room to order pizza and watch Wall-E with Dad, Jacob, and Ethan. Mom had come down with a fever that night and was resting.

Sunday morning, we got up and got ready for a 9:00 church meeting. After speeding over to the church, we discovered an empty parking lot. Apparently, we happened to be visiting Indio during their Stake Conference. Not knowing where to go from there, we headed back to the resort to start gathering our things. We checked out at noon and were sad to leave, but look forward to another trip to that beautiful resort in the future!