Tom, Lindsey, Liam, and Ethan

These pictures are in a random order, but that’s alright.  I’m mostly posting them so that the family can see them anyway!

 

I’ll be honest, the first night in the tent  was a little difficult.  We forgot that Liam sleeps with a night light and he woke up in a  pitch black tent and it totally freaked him out. Once we solved the problem everything was perfect.  And we discovered that our boys LOVE camping.  They got to play in the dirt and throw rocks all day.  They were filthy by the time we got home, but I didn’t mind because they had so much fun getting dirty.  I love Liam’s “zorro” mask!

My brother-in-law Arek, and his little girl Julie, Ethan, and Thomas, just sitting around the fire, probably waiting for food!

Todd, Jenny and their cutie, Lily, just chilling by the lake.

Liam, throwing rocks in the lake, and proclaiming that he is the best swimmer, notice that only his pants are wet…

Ethan and Thomas, after Ethan woke up from his nap, Ethan didn’t get to go swimming.

This is Liam and his Grandpa Higgs. Liam would “climb the mountain” aka big rock and jump off. Good thing grandpa was there to catch him, because I think he would have jumped off anyway.

Jenny, Tammy, and Julie at the beach.

Liam climbing “the mountain”…his face is cleaner!

This is Ethan playing “uh-oh” with the things left on the trailer bed. He thought it was so fun! He also really enjoyed the left over marshmallows from the marshmallow guns…dirt and sugar never tasted so good!

We had a really fun trip, and were sad to leave.  Thomas’ parents put a lot of time and effort into making it a trip everyone would enjoy, and they succeeded.  We can’t wait to go again!

Most of you know that Liam and Ethan have the same birthday.  So I feel like I need to tell you about both of them separately, but together.

LIAM 

This kid marches to his own drummer.  He doesn’t stop.  He loves to run, jump and climb.  He is starting to say the cutes things, and it is so much fun to have conversations with him.  He turned into a three year old on his birthday.  He wants to do what he wants to do, and he wants to do it his way, he is definitely testing his boundaries.  It is exhausting.  I think the question I get the most about him is, “Does he ever stop?” the answer is no.

When we were in Utah this last time, my mom filled up a swimming pool in the backyard.  Liam refused to get in with clothes on.  I don’t know what his deal was, but he was happy in his pool.  He kept telling us, “ I’m the best swimmer”. He would be standing up, stomping and letting us know that it was swimming.

At my family 24th of July party the kids played water kickball. (Bases are swimming pools, and you slip and slide into home) They loved it.  And it was so much fun to watch all the Littles learning how to play a game.  Liam loved that he got to run, he eventually stopped taking his turn and just ran around everyone. He was so happy.  The first thing he does when Tom comes home from work is request that they run.  Ethan is starting to get in on this game too.

There aren’t a lot of 3 year old boys here in Carlsbad.  I am so glad that my cousins little boy was at the party.  He and Liam are totally on the same page.  They are a month apart and are both super active.  It was great to have a little buddy for him to play with, even for just one evening!

I have window markers.  When the boys are getting super anxious or crazy I’ll pull them out, and we color on our front storm door, it completely glass.  On this particular occasion we finished coloring and went outside to play in puddles.  Liam hung back to lick the window clean.  It was really funny to watch from the outside.  His nose was smashed up to the window so he could get all that colorful goodness.  I stopped him before too long.

Again, with the licking.

Liam loves to get reactions.  I think he is going to tease Ethan to death when they get older.  He doesn’t particularly care If your reaction is happy, sad, or mad, he just wants to know what you’ll do.  I pretty sure this applies to animals too, because he loved making my parents dog react.  He didn’t care if Corky ran, swatted or barked, he thought any reaction was hysterical.

Liam won’t look at the camera anymore, it made taking family pictures a little tricky…notice the spot under his eye? I’ll tell you about it later.

We love this little man.  He keeps us on our toes, and makes life so much fun.  I am loving getting to know him.

 

ETHAN

Ethan is an open book.  He has a look that lets you know exactly what he is thinking.  He is such a happy little boy, and is in a hurry to be just like big brother.  Ethan adores Liam, but he doesn’t let Liam boss him around, they are going to have some major fights when they get older…ahh!  Ethan is my climber.  He started walking really well mid-June and has been climbing ever since, he gets frustrated when he can’t figure out how to get up to something.  He is a very content baby, except when it comes to food.  If someone is eating he wants to eat too.  And don’t even think about giving Liam something without giving Ethan some too, he won’t stand for it, and I don’t know if it is cause he is hungry or jealous, it’s probably both.  Ethan is just getting into books.  He won’t sit through a whole one yet, but he’ll pick one, back up to sit on your lap, turn a page and then be off to find a new book.  He is a jabber mouth.  He already says lots of words, ie, mom, dad, juice, ball, book, hi, bye, throw, uh oh, wow, whoa, shoe.  He is a little monkey.  If Liam lays on the floor so does Ethan.  If Liam jumps on the bed, so does Ethan.  It is going to be hard when Liam can do things that Ethan isn’t old enough for, because Ethan is going to think he is old enough.  Ethan is the most independent 1 year old I’ve ever met.  He is a handful, but is happy with everything he does.  Love this little guy.

Rocks.  Every boys heaven.

He started walking, here’s his first fat lip.

His favorite perch. Makes me crazy.

Mr. Independent needs to feed himself, I don’t think he got anything in his mouth.

Just along for the ride, this is a  few days before he let us know he could walk.

So big. I love my Mr. Blue eyes.

BROTHERS

I decided I wanted to get a new family picture (considering Ethan isn’t in our current one) so in honor of this occasion, our boys decided to decorate their faces.  Liam went down a slide two days before, and wacked his head on a piece of lawn furniture.  And not to be outdone Ethan decided to walk of the curb like a big person, can you say face plant?  I asked my dad to take them. The first try didn’t go so well, so we rescheduled a time. You remember the picture of Liam’s eye?  Well the day of the retry Ethan decided to throw a wooden block at Liam’s face!  Aren’t they helpful!

They are a lot of fun! And I would probably live a boring productive life without them.  I’m so glad they keep me runnin!

We have been really busy this summer.  We’ve had trips, girl’s camp, scout camp, birthdays, more trips.  It’s been really nice to be home.  We still have lots going on, but it seems less chaotic when we aren’t trying to go places too.  I’m probably going to do a few posts, but I don’t know how the order is going to go so this could be the last thing you are reading.   Tom had a continuing education course in Chicago, in June.  Instead of staying and cooking here in Carlsbad in the 105+ degree weather we headed home for the week, (FYI in June 26 days were over 100- we were literally burning up down here, especially considering all the wild fires, it’s still really hot)  I did everything I could think of.  We went to the zoo, wheeler farm, the dinosaur museum, shopping, I know we did more, but my mind is blank right now.  I ran the boys ragged. We got home and all got colds and basically lived inside for a week.  Then we went to Sea World, San Antonio with my cousin and his cute family. It was so much fun.  If you ask Liam about it he’ll tell you about feeding the dolphins, looking at the sharks, and especially about the swimming penguins. No pictures, we brought the camera, but it didn’t make it out of the suitcase.  I also managed to lose my wedding ring on that trip- still kind of makes my stomach turn.   The first part of summer was a blast. The trip home was a great way to start the summer.

Uncle Jared made a fire in the backyard so that he and Liam could roast marshmallows. Liam really like the roasting stick, and the mallows, he didn’t really care whether or not there was a fire.

 

The zoo, Liam loved looking for dinosaurs, Ethan didn’t mind the stroller, but wasn’t to interested in anything. I’m so glad my cousins came and brought friends for Liam.

Wheeler Farm

Because of how dry it has been I’ve been trying to be conservative with water.  So I have been filling up our watering can and making puddles, the boys love them.  Liam loves making “feet prints”

 

If it isn’t obvious in these pictures wait for the next ones…my boys LOVE to be outside!

Some of the pictures are too big. If you click on them you'll see it all, like Liam is in this picture, but is cut off for some reason. It is the same way with the last picture, Liam's head is there, just click on the picture!

My boys are growing so fast, I can’t keep up with them.  Liam is talking so much. He has the most creative ways of stating protest. Some of my favorites are, “Ah nuts!” He says it in almost a growl with his voice as low as he can make it. It makes me giggle every time.  The others are, “No Way!”, “I can’t believe this!”, “Oh great!” (that one is also growled), “Wait. Stop.” and “Oh my, oh me, oh my!”  He isn’t all ‘no’ though. He does say thanks for everything. When we’re working on puzzles or whatever else he often tells me, “Great job, Mom”.  He even calms me when he thinks I’m worried.  The three of us were playing in his room and the boys were taking turns going through the tunnel. I was eventually informed that it was my turn.  So I followed Ethan through who decided to stop at the exit.  Liam, not wanting me to be nervous, found my head through the tunnel, patted it, and said, “Don’t worry mom, I’m gonna get ya out!”  He is my little helper at the grocery store and will play peek-a-boo with Ethan the whole time, it’s wonderful to have a little entertainer with me.  He likes to play without Ethan too, he’ll play with himself in the mirror, it is so funny.

 

Ethan is getting so big, he’ll be eight months next week.  He has been crawling for a month and a half, he has perfected pulling up on things and is pretty good at the baby squat, he can pick things up without sitting down if it falls close to his feet.  He is going to be a climber, he’s mastered getting into the dishwasher, and is trying to figure out how Liam gets up on the coffee table so easily.  He’s got two teeth already!  He is the most content baby I’ve ever met, he’s usually too busy trying to figure things out to get upset.  However, he is fascinated by things he’s not allowed to have ie the remote, computer, shoes etc., and is starting to notice when we switch those things out for toys, that does make him mad.  He loves to play with Liam and thinks its really funny when Liam gets upset. He is obsessed with my cupboard, the bathroom, and eating. He claps and waves, and squeals. He and Liam are starting with the fighting already. Liam will take something away while screaming, "Ethan's getting the ____!" while Ethan yells because Liam is trying to take things away. It's gonna drive me crazy! They are fun, ACTIVE boys and keep us running. 

Can you see his teeth?

Liam is anti naps  these days.  The time change hasn’t helped any.  He fell asleep at 5:45pm.  I was banging pots and pans, talking to Ethan, slamming cupboards, singing. He did not move for an hour.  I love the pink and purple binks, it came in the package with an orange one. He looks comfy huh?

I realize that I still need to blog about Christmas, but I figure most people who read this were there, plus I'm still pretty excited about Disneyland.
We started off with breakfast with the characters. We got Liam the autograph book and a pen, he thought it was fabulous. He really got into it. He didn't mind Captain Hook too much because he wanted his signature, but once he got his book back he was all done with Hook.



There is a petting zoo in Disneyland now. It was a great distraction for the boys while we took turns going on Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Liam thought the Tarzan Tree House was the best. I think he went up at least five times every time we went past it. He walked up the stairs himself every time. Tom and I were taking turns and he was still going. He wanted water occasionally and then it was off to the races.

Ethan was a trooper. As long as he was fed and got held occasionally, he was happy. He watched everything and would go to sleep when he was tired. He is such a content kid it's amazing.

Liam's favorite ride is probably the worst ride in either park. It is the Heimlich Caterpillar Train. I think he liked it because it was predictable, and completely non-threatening. The caterpillar goes through a carrot, an apple, a slice of watermelon, a box of animal crackers and past some candy...it takes longer to load and unload the ride than it does to go on it. But he loved it. And it really was adorable to go with him. He would tell you what was coming, and when the caterpillar burped he would laugh and say, "He has the big hiccups!"

A trip to Disneyland isn't complete without meeting Mickey Mouse. Liam was awe struck, but he loved Donald Duck even more!

Liam's other favorite ride was the "sub-bamarine". The second most boring ride, also the longest. But again, he was so enthusiastic about all of the fish, that I would go on it again, and he would dance to the music as he walked off the ride, adorable. This was just after he went with MoMo and PoPo

Minnie wasn't as exciting as Mickey, but he did stop to tell her a long story, and he let her sign his book.

Liam liked the idea of a flying elephant ride, but not so much the ride itself. We went on it several times at his request, but he hid his head every time.

Ethan didn't love the merry go round, but he liked it more than Liam. Liam sat on the bench, but he went on it again and again.

Me, my mom, and Ethan waiting for the boys to get off the Caterpillar train.

This was my favorite part of the trip. Liam meeting Donald. He handed Donald his book and had it turned to a page with Goofy's signature. Donald said, "What is this?" Liam died. He thought that was hysterical. So Donald went with it and said, "What's so funny? and Liam laughed harder. It was so fun to watch. The Disney photographer was cracking up and so were the other people waiting to meet him. Talking like Donald still gets him to giggle.

We did it. It only took four days to do it, but we tired Liam out. He stayed asleep until we got him to his bed at the hotel.

Every morning when we would get up to get ready Liam would say, "Let's do it, Let's go to Mickey Mouse Castle" The morning we left he said that and we told him that we had to go home. So then he told Tom, " How 'bout Buzz Lightyear" (Probably the best ride in the park) and Tom told him again, "we have to go home" Then Liam asked "how 'bout the sub bamarine" he got the same answer. Then he said, "How 'bout the caterpillar and giant mickey" Tom told him one more time that we had to go home. Liam replied, "I sad" That about sums it up. We were all sad it was time to go, but that just means we'll have to go back.


I posted about Ethan's 6 month check up if you are interested scroll down little further.