Ethan Updates- for the last two months...

I hope you can all sense that I am hiding my head in shame. I would like to blame work or baby preperation or anything other excuse I could come up with but I have no good one.

Everything at our house is busy, crazy, fun, exciting, and great as we are awaiting the arrival of #2 and watching Ethan grow up far too quickly. Ethan is such a big boy now! As of the end of March he is potty trained! YEAH!!!!! He has done such an awesome job whether at home, in the car, at the doctor's office, the zoo, you name it! His vocabulary amazes us on a daily basis and his personality is hysterical. He is too smart for his own good and definitely keeps us on our toes!

A few stories to share:

- Ethan is great at sharing but also at telling others how to. If I have something he wants but it is either something he can not have or something that he is too anxious to wait for he will say very sternly, "Share Momma/ Daddy!"

- His favorite sayings, "Look at THAT!" or "What was T-H-A-T!"

-After painting his Easter artwork on the front door he scratched some of the paint during a tantrum. The next morning when showing Daddy his work he said, "Look Dadda, I ruined it!"

-One night at dinner he made Patrick feel awful. He told Patrick, "I go to bed when Dadda come home from work."

-One Sunday morning we were getting ready for Church and told Ethan we were going to go pray to Jesus, he said, "NO!, My Jesus!"

- I officially have a back seat driver. (Thank God I know better than to curse anymore with a little parrot around) If a car in front of us stops or is slow he will yell, "Come on man!", "Come on Dude", "GO!" or a number of other things. My favorite was one day in the McDonald's drive through we were waiting in line. From the back seat Ethan yells, "Come on people! Momma, honk the horn!"

- He is starting to tell knock knock jokes. His favorites: Knock, Knock, Who's there? Nobody! and Knock, Knock, Who's there?, Ethan, Ethan who? Ethan Hurford

-Ethan now prays every night by himself saying "God Bless______, God Bless______,......" He is very good about blessing EVERYTHING from Momma, Daddy, himself, Emma, Bella, Trains, Trucks, Thomas (the train), animals, kids you name it. One night I suggested baby brother, his response, "NO!, God Bless Gordon (another train)!" Since then he blesses baby brother every night though.

- Ethan is very sweet about the idea of baby brother. He kisses my belly and tries to squeeze it to hug the baby, he will tell you how he will share his toys with the baby and teach him to play baseball, and likes to feel the baby move. The two things we have to get over is that he is convinced that the baby is in my belly but will arrive on a train and when asked where everyone in the family sits at dinner insists that the baby will sit in the cupboard- doors closed.

- Ethan got a rocket (like the big kids) to play with outside. Don't worry it is soft foam that doesn't hurt even in the event of a direct hit- thanks Patrick for testing that. Daddy liked it so much that the two of them would argue outside with Ethan telling Daddy, "It's my turn now!" To end the arguments I bought a second rocket for Patrick, as a joke, for his birthday. Ethan and I hid it in the closet to save it. I quickly learned Ethan can't keep a secret. When Ethan saw Patrick he immediately started telling him about his "Rocket Birthday". I told Patrick I had no idea what he was talking about but Ethan quickly went to the office saying "Yes Momma, it's in the closet! Remember?" There went that surprise! But the boys are happy now not to share.

I wish I could think of more right now but my baby brain is failing me. We are having so much fun with the little man. He is just growing up too quickly. It is so weird to have a complete conversation with him but we are so proud of his development. There is so much joy in witnessing his thought process and the way he focuses and contemplates his decisions, listening to his ideas and observing the way he pretends with the greatest little imagination I have seen. It don't know how it gets any better!

Number two is doing great. They estimate him to be "long and lean" and think he will weigh less than Ethan did. We shall see. He is an active little guy though and feels strong. We are full term now so any day we will hopefully announce the birth of the newest Hurford.

The dogs are good. Miss Bella had to go on Prozac (it was very difficult for me to pay money for that junk after selling Zoloft for so many years) for her anxiety. She has always had her issues but lately has gotten worse with her hemmorhagic gastritis. Any change in routine or environment has an effect on her. I think she is really sensing the upcoming events due to all the baby stuff returning in the house and the changes in my schedule. Knowing that we will also have a number of visitors and the obvious fact that the next few months will be crazy the vet felt this was our best option. We shall see. Emma is still a happy lab as long as dinner is on time.

Otherwise, I think we are up to date. I will really try to keep up from now on especially with the new baby!