christmas vacation part 2

So the stomach bug continued to make it's way through the rest of the family that week - my dad, step mom, brother, aunt uncle, cousins, Ella and then Uncle Russell too. It was one serious bug, but luckily was pretty quick.

It was too cold to go outside for most of the week (single digits or below zero) but we were able to get outside a couple of afternoons when the temp finally reached 20 degrees.

Pete built a beautiful (and huge) rink on the lake and was absolutely thrilled to be able to take Ethan skating for the first time!

We had a pretty relaxing rest of the week.

And then it was back in the car, this time for a full 13 hours back to St. Louis! Yippee! After the long, long, long car ride we were so happy to be back home. We had a couple packages waiting for us from Grandma Sheila and Grandpa Dean and so we enjoyed some more presents before bedtime.

Do we look tired? Because we so were!

A Christmas vacation we will most definitely remember!

christmas vacation part 1

To summarize our Christmas vacation: the stomach flu, lots of driving, stomach flu, great time with the fam, some more stomach flu, and lots of driving. To get the full story, read on.

I woke up the day we were supposed to leave for Minnesota with a stomach bug, and we soon discovered Ethan had woken up with the same bug. So had my sister over at Team Schmaltz headquarters. After waiting a few hours to see how bad this bug was we took off on our 10 hour drive to Minneapolis, heading through post-blizzard roads in Iowa that had seen a blizzard the day before. We probably saw over 70 cars and 5 semis in the ditch on our way north. So, going slow and steady, and thankfully without any more stomach episodes, we made it up north.

We woke up Saturday feeling much better and so decided to still go to our family Christmas gathering on my mom's side. Per usual, we had a great time and had a blast getting to see everyone.

Isn't she totally glam in her coat?

 For most of the day these were the three amigos - Alyssa and Grace hanging out with Ethan. He was running them all over the house and had such a blast with his older cousins.

 This year our family decided to have an adult gift card exchange and to make it fun we had a gift card envelope decorating contest. Here are the distinguished judges before their secret judging - Jack, Josh, Alyssa and Grace. And yes, they are holding one of the envelope submissions. :)

If Ethan looks loopy here it's because he seriously was. He had gone to bed at 10pm the night before, woke up at 6am and absolutely refused to nap. By the time we got around to opening presents he had been up for like 14 hours or something.

 Lainie holding sweet Eloise.

 And Eloise got to help open some of her presents too.

Finally time to unveil the judges' results. One of our envelopes that Ethan helped to create - "Slides" (an ethan weseloh original) won.... Most Humorous. Hip hip... Hooray?

All in all a great night! 

The next morning we got back in the car and drove 3 hours north to my dad's house. Just in time for Pete to come down with the stomach bug (count is up to 4 people sick now). Down for the count for a day or so, he was back on his feet and ready for Christmas.

Getting ready to head out to the Christmas Eve service at church.

Opening presents on Christmas morning. 

Now prepare yourselves for some serious cuteness. Sweet cousins Eloise and Ella. I mean, seriously.

More presents!

Merry Christmas!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Okay, well it was. Here is what we were up to back in December, getting ready for Christmas.

We tried to take some creative pictures for our Christmas cards and Christmas calendar.

Pete and I went to The Journey's staff Christmas party. The elders wives and staff ladies started off the dance party with a little "gangnum style."

We spent some time making special Christmas crafts for the grandparents

And worked on special envelopes for our Christmas Eve "family gift card envelope contest."

We decorated cookies with friends.

Ethan and I put together a gingerbread house. Let's just say his version of "decorating" was to slide a piece of candy through the frosting and then eat it. I guess that makes sense. 

We had a super fun Christmas party with our mom's group. 

Our group started with these three (below - the three cuties in the middle) - Jake, Violet and Ethan when they were just babies. In two years we've grown to a group with at least 13 regular kiddos - including 5 babies born in the last year! Our Wednesday play dates are our favorite times of the week!

And Pete and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary! He surprised me with some beautiful roses and we had dinner and then went to see Wicked! As the theatre is not Pete's thing at all, I felt especially loved and didn't even get  upset when he took a snooze a couple times throughout the show. :)

ethan. version 2.5

How my exuberant Ethan came to be 2 1/2 I have no idea. But, he's here and what I like to call in the "full angst" of TWO! His zest and energy and delightful heart are still such a blessing to us and watching him continue to grow up is just simply awesome. 

A few of my favorite things right now:

*How he carries a load of 5 blankies (yes, 5), Larry, Franklin, sometimes Doggie and phone or dinosaur from his room when he gets up in the morning or from a nap - usually all at once.

*How he calls oranges "Ooojes."

*How he describes so many things as "Cute!" "Eloise cute!" "Mommy's boots cute!" "Ethan cute!"

*How he asks me to sing "Grace" (Amazing Grace) and then "Ethan" (a short song about how much we love him) to him at bed time and likes to snuggle up in my lap while I sing.

*How he's learning so much - he can count to 10, knows all his shapes and colors and so many different songs. His memory is super sharp and he seems to remember everything!

*How he is starting to draw pictures of things - at Christmas this included several pictures of "Larry and Bob in the elevator," "snow" and "slides."

*How he gives us all kisses with the sweet smacking sound.

*How he runs into Eloise's room in the morning shouting "Mornin' Eloiiiiiise!"

*How he still likes to find special places to put things - magnets in the freezer, cars in the bathroom. Finding his treasures stashed in special spots around the house is so precious!

*How he is really growing in his listening skills. A work in progress of course, but he is clearly maturing in his reasoning and understanding of what we are asking of him. 

*How he asks me to give "kisses" when he gets an owie. 

*How, when we ask him what he learned about at church, he shouts "JESUSSS!!" "YEAAHHHH!" and claps his hands while shouting. 

And then, a few of the more challenging things:

*His fairly epic tantrums that he will have from time to time, that involve screaming and pinching.

*When he asks to go potty but then just stands over the toilet (refusing to sit) for 30 minutes, then freaks out when I tell him we'll try again later. We haven't officially started potty training, but hopefully will get started soon. 

*When he can't seem to decide what he wants. "Ethan, your time out is over, you can come out of your room now." "NO! Stay in time out!" "Okay, mommy is going to leave then." "NO! Mommy!!! (as I leave). "Ethan, I just said your time out is over, so come with mommy and we can go play." "NO! Stay in time out!"  And on and on it goes. This type of arguing happens pretty much every day about something. 

And yet even with the challenges that being two brings, I wouldn't trade any single second of the time I get to spend taking care of Ethan (and his sweet sister). He is an absolute joy. Ethan Matthew Weseloh - you are so seriously loved! Thank you for being such a delight to us and everyone else that is blessed to know you!