School!

Ethan is going to start school in a couple weeks!! I'm so excited for the program that we found. I think it will be perfect for him! They just started a program called Kids Morning Out at the preschool that he will be attending after he turns three. The new program is for kids as young as 30 months. It is two mornings a week for just an hour and a half and there is only 6 kids in the class. It should really help him get ready for preschool, especially with the "parental separation." I know there are going to be tears. Ethan doesn't like to be left anywhere, so I am really hoping this will help him. He seems excited to start school and his teacher is so nice! He is actually missing the first week because we are going to visit family next week. We didn't get signed up for the program until last week, and we already had our trip planned. I feel badly he's missing his first two days, but I'm sure he'll be fine. We went school shopping the other day. He looks so cute and so big with his backpack!

Big Decision

This was a big week for Ben. Not only did he finish his boards, he also signed a contract for his first real job! He will be starting next July with Kirksville Anesthesia Associates! I've always thought of this place as temporary, so it was hard for me to wrap my mind around staying, but I really think this is a good decision for our family. Ben and I always planned to go back closer to where we are from, but when this job opportunity came up, it was hard to say no. He loves everything about his job here. He loves all of the people he works with and he loves the opportunity he has to teach here. That's something that would be very hard, if not impossible, to find back in Kansas. Anyway, to all of you back home who thought, or were hoping we would be moving back--we are sorry to disappoint. But, I am so very proud of Ben. We are excited to start his career and make a home here.

Walkin' and Talkin'

Wyatt has been taking steps and trying to walk for awhile now. In the past week or so, he's gotten really pretty good at the whole walking thing. He still hasn't figured out how to stand up on his own, so when he falls down he's done for, but otherwise he wants to be up and going all the time now! Here's Wyatt walking down our driveway.

He also said his first word this weekend.

Done

Ben drove to Tulsa this weekend to take his anesthesia boards. We are all so proud of him and so very happy they are over!!
My parents came to keep the boys and I company while Ben was away. Thanks for coming to visit us; we had a great time!

Two happy boys to have their Daddy home!

My loves

Ethan has been so great lately. I think--I hope--that he has mostly grown out of the terrible two's. He's so much fun and saying such funny things. He listens and watches us so closely. He learns things quickly and doesn't forget a thing. I am always telling him not to open packages while we are shopping at the store. The other day he saw me opening the eggs to check them and he promptly reminded me of my own rule! He is always saying things that just make me laugh. He told Ben the other day that he got "plenty" of mail. Ethan is definitely my clean son. He knows where things go and if he finds a toy that's in the wrong place, he puts it where it goes. He wants his hands washed if he gets anything on them. We are working with him on letters and numbers and he's doing great. He can recognize all his uppercase letters, about half of the lower case ones, and his numbers 1-20. He's also into bird watching. It's an odd skill for a 2 year old, but he can recognize robins, blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, black birds, and doves. He told me the other day while we were looking out the window, "I know my birds, Mom!" He really does. Crazy boy! We just finished doing parent-child swim lessons and he is doing so much better in the water. We didn't get to go swimming much at all last summer and he just wasn't very comfortable in the water. He has improved a lot in the past couple months. Ethan loves helping with anything--sweeping, cooking, cleaning, anything. He gets so proud of himself when you tell him how helpful he is being. It's super cute. He also wants to know where we are and what we are doing at all times. If he can't see me he calls out, "Mommy, where are you mommy?" He is always asking, "Where am I going?" My favorite thing that Ethan has started is telling us that he loves us. He often says, "I love you so much!" I never get tired of hearing that!


Wyatt is at such a cute age. We just want to squeeze him all the time. He's so fun, but Wyatt is definitely NOT my clean son. He seriously gets into everything! He hasn't started walking yet, but he crawls so fast and if you don't watch him he's playing in the toilet or crawling around in my shower. He will pull all of our books off the shelf and every toy out of it's box in no time. He's a little destroyer. I don't know how many times a day I pick up puzzle pieces or put the trucks away. Honestly, I don't think my sons could be more opposite in this trait. He also climbs on everything. He gets on top of tables, chairs, stools, whatever he can and then tries to stand up. Crazy kid is going to fall one of these days. He loves his stuffed giraffe. He sucks on it's tail all the time, so it's little butt is all brown....so gross! He loves it though, and it will make him happy when nothing else will. He is also starting to get quite the little attitude. He will now scream and kick his feet if you take something away from him or he doesn't get to do what he wants. Little turd! Good thing he's so cute!

Study Break

Ben needed some time to study for his boards, so the boys and I packed up and headed back to visit family for a few days. We had a busy, but super fun couple of days. We went to Hays one morning to visit my friend, Becca, who just had a baby. Baby Elizabeth was so sweet! We also got to eat lunch with Grammy and Grampa while we were in town. We went shopping in Salina one day. Then, we got to visit some of my extended family at an anniversary party for my aunt and uncle. In between all of that we made time for swimming, playing at the park, and just having a good time together. Thanks for everything MeMa and PaPa! I think Ben got in some good study time while we were gone. We are all going to be glad when these boards are over!