Grasping Numbers

Mommy: I picked out five books to read to you tonight.

Etta: 7, 8, 9, 10!

Mommy: You want me to read 10 books?

Etta: Yes!!

Two Peas

in a pod. Or in pajamas.

Grey and Etta have a great time together. To the bitter end of the night. So sweet.

"Baby" steps

So I know that the transition to a "new" baby will be a little...different. We know quite a few people having babies right now so I am going to embrace the opportunity to introduce Etta to as many tiny babies as possible. Today we were going to go visit new baby Emlyn, a brand new (day old) baby of a friend from Jenifer.

Mommy: Etta, do you want to go to the hospital to see a baby?

Etta: NO see baby sister!!

Mommy: Not your baby sister, Gillian's baby sister.

Etta: Oh, Gillian's baby sister? Okay, go see baby.

At least it's not a thing against ALL babies I guess...

Baking Assistant

After letting Etta help me do some baking quite a while ago I decided I should probably start letting her help some more. She loves to put on her apron, like mommy, and get to work.

I need to be more patient, less up tight and make sure that whatever we are baking together will only be eaten by us.

At least until she stops dipping her fingers in the flour to take a taste.

But all the germs cook out, right?

Anyway...Sunday night we got duded up and made buttermilk biscuits for daddy for breakfasts for the week.

Getting pictures during actual production is nearly impossible at this point so we had to do some staged shots after...

Rolling...



Cutting...(she did actually cut out most of them. With the amount of force she was using one would think they were made out of cement.)



Finished product. And daddy says that they are yummy!

A Mean & Awful Mommy

OR A Very Wonderful Fun-Filled 90 Minutes.

Depends on who you talk to.

And when.

Last Saturday the weather was CRA-ZEE here in Lewiston. Not a bad early morning. Rain, rain and more pouring down rain throughout the middle of the day and then a beautiful, clear, almost warm evening. Luckily for us the Fire Department was having a Fire Safety Fun Day INSIDE at the fair grounds. We piled into the car and headed out.

Etta loves buses. Airplanes. Motorcycles. Boats. And thankfully - firetrucks. In the parking lot was the new Life Flight medi-copter. Did I mention it was raining? "Yep, there's a helicopter Etta!"

But when we got inside, low and behold, FIRETRUCKS!

Firetrucks that you could sit in! And steer! And push buttons! (Okay, we don't know if she was supposed to push buttons, but she did...)

Best. Mommy. Ever.

Big truck. Little Girl.



Ready to drive.



This one was her favorite. She could have "driven" it all day.



Even if she did have to share with daddy.



And then our playgroup friends showed up.

The boy type friends.

Grey and Porter.

"Look Etta! There is a huge jumpy tunnel/train blow up thingy! Doesn't that look fun!! See?! Grey is going in!! Look, here comes Grey!! Doesn't he look like he had fun?!?!? Don't YOU want to go through?"

"C'mon, really. It'll be okay. Mommy will come with you!"



LET. ME. OUT OF HERE.



Is this the only way out? Then let's get it over with.



The downfall of FORCING your child through something like that?

"Mommy. Mo' mommy. Up mommy. No walk, mommy up."

For the rest. of. the. time. Are you kidding me? It wasn't that bad. Seriously.

I did manage to pry her off long enough for a few hops in the actual jumpy castle...

This might be okay.



Um, all done.



Overall I would have to say that I preferred that whole experience to just staying at home.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Having a birthday and Mother's Day so close together may bother some people. But I LOVE it. Last Friday Etta and I celebrated the day by doing whatever we wanted. This included a bath together (probably TMI!), a trip to The Pond, and a lunch date with daddy. We got this fun family pic before we left McGhee. Had dinner with Steve and Cathy and finished the night hanging out with Matt and Christine. It was a *lovely* day. (And I didn't clean even ONE toilet all day!!)

22 Weeks

Over half way. Hard to believe. This pregnancy is going way faster than the last. Good in some ways and kind of sad in some ways. We are very excited to meet baby Mae but want to make sure that she is fully ready before she gets here!



You can compare to where I was (approximately) with Etta here

Note: The yoga pants I have on for this go around are much more forgiving than the last time. And a different, more forgiving top. Gotta cut a girl a little slack!

Happy Mother's Day to Me

For Mother's Day I asked for two things:

#1. An uninterrupted shower/getting ready to go. Check.

#2. Make dinner without any "assistance" from a certain husband, daughter or little dogs. Check.

Excellent day!

Stacking the rocks to play "Ka-Boom".



A certain daddy after being "forced" to be outside for about an hour and a half on a sunny beautiful afternoon. (Which, after having the weather that we've had for the last few weeks, I'd think HE would be thankful for!)



My Wheat Berry Salad waiting to be fully mixed and Lemon-Cumin chicken waiting to go on the grill. Both were SUPER tasty!


Find the recipes here.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's okay Montana Gram, you can crack a smile. We are all being silly today.

Wish that you were here but glad that we got to spend a week with you over birthdays and get to spend another week in less than three! Have a great day!

Love,
Your Girls

Instrument Puzzle

One of the puzzles that Etta got from Grandma Barb was an instrument shape puzzle. When you put the piece in it plays that instrument's version of "Old MacDonald". We also use it to quiz her on instrument identification. No rest for the weary!

Happy to play with the puzzle!



This piece goes "Right dere!"

My New Bike

Dear Aunt Molly and Uncle Jim,

Thank you SO SO SO SO SO much for my new bike. I. LOVE. IT. My mom says that once it warms up a bit (like to more than 55 degrees) we can take it outside. I can't wait!

Love,
Etta

Helping daddy put it together.



What about these parts here? They are the pedals.



Make sure the wheel spins.



Success!

Generations

At the closing of Etta's birthday dinner my mom wanted to get some family pics. Good times and great memories.

Great Grandpa Lynn and Great Grandma Barb Cannon



Baba Eddie and GRANDMA CINDY Lenington

Birthday Parties Part II

After a good nap after our playgroup party we had a small family dinner at the house. Great Grandma Barb and Great Grandpa Lynn were able to join us for bbq chicken, potato wedges and orange jello.

I told Etta that next year she could pick what she wanted for birthday dinner...

Opening presents



Flamingo towel from MT Grandma



Sound puzzles from Grandma Barb



Monkey water bottle holder from Nancy & Bruce



Sparkly pink ball from Allie and sporting new smiley Keen's from MT Grandma



And the outfit is from our friend Porter. Etta looks GREAT in orange!

Random Fast Food Friday Post

Last year my mom got me a Pampered Chef pizza stone for my birthday. I LOVE how it cooks pizzas in the oven. But Bob is still a die hard grilled pizza fan. Two weeks ago my pizza stone randomly broke. =( And since it has been so nice out I decided to go back to the grill. Boy, I had forgotten what we had been missing!!



If you have never grilled pizzas before you should give it a try. Yummy! If you need any pointers let me know.

Seaport River Run

Before the concert last Saturday we did the Seaport River Run as a family. And by that I mean Bob took off like a shot with Etta in the stroller, my mom and I stopped to use the porta-potties 10 feet past the start line (silly pregnancy bladder) and my dad plugged along at his usual pace. Good news is that we all made it to the end and enjoyed a picnic lunch while waiting for the jet boat.

Playing at the playground waiting for the run to start.



Riding back to the start on the jet boat. Enjoying a front seat ride with Baba Eddie



"Etta dwive!" The super nice captain let Etta sit in the driver's chair while we waited for everyone to get off the boat. Didn't take her long to find the throttle!

IWASH Family Concert

Last Saturday we went to the Idaho-Washington Symphony's Family Concert. Free performance for the kiddies (and whoever else would like to go). It was the world premiere of Dan Bukvich's "Children's Concert". (Isn't he creative?)

The audience was able to walk around the "stage" (aka the gym floor) and talk to the musicians while they were playing. Etta, who had been running around helter skelter before the concert started was suddenly shy when it was time to actually be active. Who'd a thought? But it was a good time.

Buttons?



A big bassoon



Some people even let her touch!



Bass



Play that violin!

Random Post

Almost every morning Bob gets Etta out of bed, puts her on the potty and then brings her in to the "big bed" so that we can snuggle for awhile. Sometimes it is because she gets up at 6:00, other times it is because we just like to snuggle. She really likes the big bed.

But what does she like better? "Little bed. Mo' little bed".

Little bed occurs when I take our pillows off of the bed and lay them on the floor so that I can make our bed. She says, "Blankie!" and I take a nice soft blanket and cover her up and give her "Kitty, duckie, soothie". She will spend upwards of 30 minutes playing "little bed" all by herself.