Not-So-Mini-Van

Alas, it was time. We outgrew our fun little 4 wheel drive, 5 person Ford Escape, grew up and traded it in for a minivan. We still "fit" in the Escape- Hailey's carseat base was strapped in the middle of Ethan's booster seat and Chase's mondo seat, but I had to heave the poor girl in between the seats and Ethan couldn't get his belt on and off because the base was in the way. So I guess it was time to upgrade-- we found this baby on Craigslist and sold ours after it was listed on craigslist for less than a day. Worked out great! I'm gonna miss my little SUV and I feel like I'm driving no less than a boat, but I'll freely admit that I love our van! It's red, it's got leather seats (you read that right!)-- makes for much easier cleanup with kiddos- and it's got DVD players. No joke. We had been shopping around for one since Christmas, we knew we wanted a Town and Country because they have the stow and go seating, and we finally found a steal online. Horray for roomy vans and my kids being able to get themselves in and out!

Good bye Escape

Hello minivan! Aka The swagger wagon (have you seen that YouTube video? )

Now we just need some help naming the new van, something that goes with the red color... The only thing that comes to my mind is Maureen cause its a name that sounds like maroon. Any ideas?

HI AGAIN, WORLD!!!

Surprise! We are alive!! No, really...

I really thought I was ok giving up blogging. After months (or years...) of guilt about not posting, I decided once and for all to give it up. But I couldn't, so here I am. These are the years I want to remember, we are in Med school, away from family, and my kids are young and hilarious and I want to document the things they do and say. So I have a goal to post once a week, even if it's just a cute picture of my little Hailey or a random quote from Chase or Ethan. Right now they are playing in the playroom, jumping off a chair yelling Boom-Shaka-Laka! Who wouldn't want to remember that?? I will slowly post pictures of the last year and a half of absence but if I felt like I had to catch up all at once it would never happen. So here's my favorite moment from yesterday:

Back story--I got an iPhone for my birthday and I love it because I can speak into it and Siri talks back, so I can send texts and messages just by talking. When I'm done, Siri gives me a confirmation that my message has been sent. Ethan's been begging every day for 2 weeks not to go to preschool even though he loves it when he gets there. I take it as confirmation he's having too much fun at home to want to leave :) So after Ethan got on the bus for preschool yesterday, I spoke Eric a text telling him Ethan was still having a hard time, and after I got done it beeped, and Chase- who had been staring at me while I spoke- said "Ok, I will send your message." I about died laughing, he said it exactly the same as Siri usually does. What a funny kid.

Right now Eric is on his way to San Antonio for a Podiatry conference until Saturday so feel free to call or stop by (if you are in Iowa) because I will be in some need of adult conversation after 4 days of kiddos. Can you believe I have 3?? I still can't.

Just a quick update, things are going really well here, Ethan is 4 and can't wait to turn 5, Chase is a tall 2 year old--everyone assumes he's at least 3, and Hailey is a smiling and cute 3.5 month old who was born 11/11/11 at 11:22 am, weighing 8 lbs 14 oz and was 21.5 inches. She is an active girl, and I can't set her down on her back without her rolling over to her tummy! Eric is in the last few months of his second year of podiatry school, and he takes his first set of boards this summer! After that he has 2 years of clinical rotations and then we are off to residency :) I am just busy with kids, loving having a girl and trying to work off the baby weight and balance life in general. We still love Iowa, its so family friendly and we just moved (in October) to a new apartment with tons of room and a (gasp!) 2 car garage! And its cheaper than where we were before! We are so blessed.

Here's us:

Playing outside in a little snow...with beach toys :)

Happy girl!

Ethan strung a whole cup full of multi-grain cheerios onto a string :)

I dyed my hair dark!
Entertaining Hailey

Eric and his little girl :)

Blackmail for Later

I was going through pictures of my dorky kids and realized I have some really good material for blackmail later on in life. They have been particularly funny lately and I have had the good fortune to catch it on camera! They're young enough that they won't care if I post these...right?

Classic bath pictures!

Chase in a swim diaper-- these were actually in Alaska before we left.

Look at Ethan's ribs- you can count them! I promise this kid eats!

Haha a neighbor gave us this swim outfit for Ethan because it was too small for his little boy. Lets just say neither Eric or I wanted to been seen with Ethan at the pool with it so I threw it in the trash. Chase dug it out and insisted on wearing it 2 days in a row...until I disposed of it properly.
(We actually did try it out one time, but it kept flipping Ethan over on his back and his head would go underwater. We'll stick with water wings.)

Potty training Ethan! He was so miserable for a little while I had to take a picture. What a mean mom.

Chase's see-food. Reminds me of countless pictures of a certain unnamed aunt---- KATIE!


These aren't so much embarrassing as dangerous-- I came in to the living room to find Ethan telling Chase to jump to him. "I'll catch you!" Scared me but they were pretty good at it.

White Coat

Eric had his official White Coat Ceremony last weekend! Basically they give the medical students their white coats, make some inspirational speeches, and have them sign the Honor Code. But it was fun and helped us be able to participate in Eric's school a little more, and the boys did really well! Congrats Eric you look like a real doctor! Now all you have to do is complete four more years of school.... :)

The boys being really good! I brought lots of snacks :)

Walking across the stage

Signing the Honor Code

So proud of him!Studly (almost) Doctor :)

These are all the guys in his carpool, all in our Branch and all 1st year DPMs. I think they have a little too much fun on the rides to and from school.

A Back Post (with pictures!)

I found a CD of pictures my dad burned for me just before we moved from Alaska, so I thought I'd share! The pictures are a few months old but still fun. I guess this is catching up from being such a blog slacker while we were moving around.
Pretty Alaska! Makes me miss it.

Visiting the new board walk at Potters Marsh

It was a VERY windy day!
My dad took this picture, we watched this mama bird bring back food for her baby and feed it! It was really neat, click on it to see a bigger picture.

A common occurance, Ethan stealing Grandmas iPhone to play games
I made a birthday cake for my mom and dad!
Kristen Moss if you are reading this, great minds.... :)
Their birthday is on 4th of July

I tried doing a red white and blue interior, but they made fun of it for being pink, yellow, and turquoise.

Love you guys!

Chase hit his head on the corner of their counter and got a huge goose egg. I swear it looked bigger in person.

Ethan's quirky quotes

Ethan has been cracking me up lately with some of the things he comes up with.

1. "No, I'm just fine."
Examples: Me: Ethan it's time to eat lunch, come climb up in your chair. Ethan: No, I'm just fine.
Me: Stop hitting Chase with your cars. Ethan: No, I'm just fine.

2. "He's ok."
Me: (to Chase) Please don't touch the DVD player. Ethan: Oh, he's ok.
After pushing Chase down, Ethan turns to me guiltily and says, He's ok.

3. Whenever I threaten to put him in timeout, he now asks me, Where? As if he is calculating the punishment and determining if it's worth continuing on in his delinquencies.

BUGS

Confession: I'm an Alaskan girl, so I've never really had to deal with large bugs before. Now it is a daily experience when I am cleaning house. It's really gross, but every time I clean the house I find SO MANY BUGS. Little potato bugs, tiny white ant looking things, and the most common are these large spiders that look like daddy long legs, but with smaller bodies. They have little spider webs in every corner, even the ones I know I cleaned out the day before. I am the biggest wimp when it comes to squishing them, so sometimes Eric comes home to find cups and bowls on the floor with "presents" underneath. I've found a new way to cope, I get out the bottle of bleach and just spray the suckers and then go back a few minutes later and clean it up, that way i don't have to actually squish them with a paper towel. But then yesterday I was making dinner and I found something even more disgusting. There was a trail of tiny, microscopic white little creatures making a long trail from the bottom of my pantry to under my refrigerator. I have no idea what they were after, there isn't any food down there or under the fridge for all I know, but they were all in a line on the linoleum marching back and forth. I took out their little colony with the Clorox, but still- I wonder how long it had been there, and how long it's taken me to notice it. They were so tiny, and the same color as the floor. Now everywhere I go I am paranoid I will find more, and I usually do.

Not to mention the cicadas. They are a different story altogether. Out of the 30 buildings in our complex, 5 or 6 of them have their back deck areas facing the highway. Ours happens to be one of them. And along the fence between us and the highway is a row of trees. In these trees, are cicadas. Hundreds of them, and they are very loud. Honestly, the first time I went out there I swore there had to be an electric wire buzzing somewhere back there, because there was no way bugs could produce that much sound. Between that and the noise of the highway, oh and did I mention more bugs? our backyard is pretty much useless.

Luckily, I haven't found any in our house yet. I'm not sure I'd survive that encounter.

Sorry, I just killed 3 daddy long leg wannabes and swept 2 potato bugs out of the house. I just needed to get that off my chest.