Random Ramblings....

With Memorial Day come and gone I think it's only appropriate to express my feelings for that weekend. I am so thankful for everyone that has fought for my freedom, First to obtain that freedom and then to maintain it! Without all those men and women this country would be unrecognizable. The rights we have been given because of these wonderful, courageous and brave individuals is amazing. I hope and pray that those same rights will still be available to my children when they become my age and older!

Memorial Day is also a time for me to Celebrate my marriage to the most wonderful husband in the world. Chris is my corresponding part that makes me complete! I often think of the times before Chris (aka-BC) and realize how everything before him lead me to him. All those crazy stories that will never be told, guided me directly to the one person that could love me and care for me the most! Chris knows when I need my time and he knows when I need my hugs and he knows when I need to hear the words "It will be okay, Hilary." He just knows, and it amazes me still to this day that someone can read my needs like a book! Since I met Chris my life has fallen into the path I always wanted, I'm a happy wife and a bragging mother! Chris makes me that better person I always knew I could be. He is a positive influence in my life and the lives of my children. Every night Chris leans over and gives me a goodnight kiss, no matter how tired he is! I always hear, "Love you babe!" numerous times throughout the day. There is not a time we part that he doesn't express his love for me, I always know he loves me by his actions and by his words. The 28th marks our 4 year Anniversary...4 of the best years of my life, no doubt! All thanks to my wonderful husband. I love you Chris! Now on to Ethan... This little boy makes me smile, his newest thing is the constant use of the word "sure." "Did you have fun at the lake today Ethan?" I ask, His reply, "Yeah, sure." "Do you want more juice?" "Um, sure" It cracks me up every time he says it. The boy knows when to use it too. He has never used it out of context, whenever he says "sure" it makes him seem so laid back, like he doesn't really care! Ethan has been to the lake two times and loved it. This weekend we went on Uncle Matt's boat and had a good time. Ethan loved throwing rocks in the lake. He would try to find the biggest ones and throw them. I sware this kid is doomed to get a hernia one of these days! Considering his health history it seems almost inevitable! Potty training is going okay, some days are way better than others, but mostly they are good. He pretty much has the peeing thing down, but refuses to go number two in the potty! No amount of bribing has worked for this yet, so if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears! Ethan continues to love and adore both of his Grandpas. He is Grandpa Blackburn's little garden helper and loves to read stories with Grandpa Nelson! He is still hot and cold with Katelee, but mostly leaves her alone unless she is getting more attention than him! He continues to surprise me with how much he really does pay attention without us knowing! The other day he told Grandma that he was going to be baptized, he even knows that he must be 8 to do that! He can tell you that Moroni is on top of the temple and that Grandpa works there! I'm so proud to be this aspiring little spirits mother, and so grateful he chose me as his mother!
Now on to this little lady. She is really becoming a little human being and I love it. I really love when kids get to be this age. Katelee is a very opinionated child already. When she wants something she wants it right now, and if she doesn't want something, there is no way you will change her mind. We have had a struggle with her eating habits from pretty much day three. (can't really count day one or two, they don't eat much then) If she doesn't want a bottle she won't eat it. No matter how you try to trick her into getting the bottle in her mouth it doesn't work. She is a ninja with her arms and makes it impossible to get past her! When she is done eating the same ninja instincts kick in and she is finished! I guess this little girl just knows when she is full, can't fault her for that! (wish I had her same judgement skills) When we leave her with someone she is a good girl for them, until we come home. As soon as she sees me or Chris she starts whining until we take her! If she sees her food and you haven't started feeding her, she throws a grunting fit until she gets it. If she hears you scraping the bowl and she isn't full yet, she starts fussing! It's amazing! I really need to get this stuff on video so I can show her what a drama queen she already was at 8 months old! Katelee finally got her second tooth. Its the bottom right middle! Yesterday she wasn't feeling well. She was pretty warm, but what really gave it aways was her cuddling with us. We took advantage of it, and although she wasn't feeling well, I still loved cuddling with my little lady! She has been sleeping through the night ever since we made her cry it out again! (this time I'm sticking to my guns) She is a happy baby most of the time and just loves and adores her older brother. Anything he does is funny to her, which sometimes only makes him act worse! I hope they keep that bond they have now! I am grateful for this little girls smile that seems endless and thankful too, for her choosing me as her mother!

Our Big Boy!

Isn't it funny how kids don't play with a toy until someone else has it, then they MUST have that toy right NOW! Ethan is constantly taking toys away from Katelee. Sometimes he will trade with her, which she doesn't usually mind, but most of the time he simply yanks it out of her hands. Katelee has been playing in the walker at Grandma's house, Ethan use to not care about that until one day his Cute Cousin who is 18 months old climbed into it! Then he couldn't get enough of it! He will fight with Matilynn when she gets in, he'll just hold on to the walker the whole time she's in it and whine! When Ethan would first get into the walker he would get in backwards so his back was facing the tray with all of the toys on it. Sunday he hoped in the walker at Grandma Nelson's house and was walking around, cracking us all up. Well today I'm sitting at work, not having the best of days and I get a text message from my mom. I open it up to see this picture of Ethan! A smile spread across my face faster than I could say "oh Ethan!" I knew this kid was tall, but this picture really makes him look like a giant! Isn't he just the cutest, funniest kid you've ever seen. My mom even took a picture from behind and he was actually kneeling on the floor. Needless to say my day has turned into a much better day because of this simple picture! Thank you mom for sending these little smile makers to me all the time! I am so thankful that I am able to provide for my family by having a good job that I love most of the time. I'm thankful for a husband that is becoming Educated so that he can better take care of his family, and I'm especially thankful for a mother that stays at home ALL day long with my two sweet, grouchy, cute, crazy, loving, cranky, smiling and crying kids! That is a blessing I truly take for granted and don't appreciated nearly enough! I do not know how she does it without going crazy, perhaps one day she can give me lessons! I hope this picture makes you smile like it did me!

Ethan's First Lake Trip!

Ethan has been having a lot of First lately. So this weekend he had his first Lake Trip. Now I told my brother and husband that Ethan could not go out on the lake until he was "3." Three was the magical number, I thought, when Ethan would actually have fun on the lake. However I learned this weekend that they can enjoy it at any age! So we were invited out by some friends from the ward that have a boy about two-three years older than Ethan, one around Ethan's age and another boy Katelee's age. We decided to have Aunt Anna watch Katelee since she already got a sunburn in the past month, and I didn't want that to happen again! We headed out to the lake around noon. Ethan had a blast from the start. He loved the ride out there because there were kids his age he could make tons of noise with! We got out there and he couldn't wait to get on the boat. When we took off on the boat I think Ethan didn't really know what to do! He sat quite still on Chris' lap for a while before he decided he could move around a bit!The water was a little cold, and Ethan didn't like that. So little Luke let Ethan borrow his wetsuit, which Ethan than said was too hot! I think this kid just really didn't want to get in that water! Finally Chris was able to get Ethan out in the water by putting him on the surf board! But don't think he got off of that thing!

Even when they got to a shallow part of the lake, Ethan was not budging from that surf board.

This is Ethan pretending to drive, later on he actually got to drive for a little bit and he is not only a crazy kid, but a crazy driver. Luckily someone was there to regulate how far we were able to turn! Ethan and his very white Mother!These pictures don't do justice to how much fun we all had! Chris and I were able to wake board and even get on the surf board! I'm really bad at wake boarding, however I still had fun! I'm glad I wake boarded first, because everyone that followed me was WAY better! We would like to go out again this summer, but I felt so bad having Katelee spend all day without us that I might not make it out again this Summer! Why is it that when you become a parents you feel guilty if you have fun without your kids?

Congrats Babe!

Well it is Official! Chris is now a College Graduate! (that reminds me I need to call the Car Insurance people and see if we can get a lower rate now!) He finished his classes/exams on the 7th of May. This semester was a lite load for him so I kinda forgot he was in school. I was spoiled and know I'm going to pay for it when PT school starts up this July! He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology! (That word isn't even in the Blog Spell Check!-It means the movement of muscles! (I've been corrected)) Chris' parents took us out to eat last Thursday to celebrate. They also have reason to celebrate as they just realized that ALL 4 of their children now are college graduates! Congrats to Them! The college Graduate studying the menu!
Ethan while he was actually behaving-Usually when we go to Olive Garden he is a wonderful child that always gets compliments. However this time our luck wore off, he was a little wild man! I guess he was just celebrating Dad's graduation in a different way!

Ethan with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson! (Yes, Katelee did go with us, she was just on the other side of the table!)

My redneck, boys! Oh how they make me so proud! I guess it's true, no matter how old or educated they get, boys never grow up, and I'm glad for that most of the time!

Ethan's First Baseball Game

The other day Aunt Anna called and invited us to the 51's game. Ethan had just gone to Fathers and Sons and did a really good job with staying up way past his bedtime so we decided to take him with us. The game started at 7 which is when we get him ready for bed. We picked up a babysitter for Katelee (the first one that wasn't family) and headed off to the game. Usually I pick up some cheap burgers from somewhere so we don't have to pay an arm and a leg for a hamburger, but this time I wanted Ethan to have the "full" experience. Ethan had a great time. He just stared at the field for a while almost like he was in awe. Here he is with Aunt Anna...

Ethan was just a little restless so he decided to make a few phone calls. I'm pretty sure this call was to his agent. He's already working out the stipulations to his contract! :)

I'm so glad we took Ethan to this game, he had so much fun. Plus it was some alone time with just Mom and Dad and no Katelee. When we first got in the car to go, he kept saying Baby, Baby as if we were forgetting her. It was really cute, he is just so use to her coming with us everywhere! It was almost like he was sad she didn't get to come with us. He really does have a heart, most of the time! After the game there were fireworks, we were a little worried that he wouldn't like these since thunder scares him (I don't know where he gets that from) but when they turned the lights off I put him on my lap and he loved it. He just stared and didn't move for like 5 minutes, which is practically a miracle! He now calls fireworks "stars!" We had a really good time and hope to do this a little bit more as he continues to grow older and more responsible. Oh and one more thing. Ethan was deathly afraid of the bathroom stalls. We tried a few times to get him to go potty and he just wouldn't. He would hold on to you like you were hanging him over a cliff. But he didn't have an accident, he held his pee the entire time! He really is getting to be such a big boy!

Ethan's First Fathers' and Sons' Outing

Two weekends ago Ethan and Chris went on their first Fathers' and Sons' outing. They were lucky enough to go with Uncle Matt. Uncle Enrique and Mohan. Mohan brought his Motor home, which Ethan calls "Mohan's Bus!" They left on Friday night, Grandpa Blackburn was suppose to go with them too in the Jeep, but he had to go up to Utah for a memorial service instead. I was a little worried that Ethan would be upset that the Jeep wasn't going, but the Bus took the Jeeps spot. The Camp out was up at Valley of Fire!

Ethan and his fake smile, ready to go!

I guess it was a little hot at first, look at those rosy cheeks!

In the captains chair...
Sitting with Uncle Matt, he loved being able to see our of the windshield!

Climbing on the rocks, he came home with quite a few bruises which sent me into nervous mode! But the bruises went away slowly, so I'm not too worried anymore!

Ethan and Chris with a nice background view! Ethan with Uncle Matt

Coming home...

About 10-15 minutes later, they were both exhausted! Ethan had a blast and so did Chris. He got to stay up so late, but he took a three hour nap the next day so he kinda caught up on his sleep! Katelee and I went to dinner with Aunt Anna and Aunt Anjali and had a great time!

Faith

This picture is from 10 years ago of a 21 week old fetus. He had to have surgery to help correct a birth defect. At 21 weeks after conception this little baby was able to grasp on to the surgeon's hand! To think that children are not "technically" alive until they are born is Ridiculous! Recently I have been given the opportunity to think about our Heavenly Father's Plan for us here on this Earth. Two of my cousins have lost their babies, One was Still Born and the other was only 12 hours old. I cannot imagine the pain that has been felt by these parents and their families. These instances have given me a chance to "check" my faith in our Heavenly Father and our Savior. I have a firm belief that our Heavenly Father is a loving Father who gives us challenges to make us stronger, not to show us who is in charge. He only gives us trials that we can handle. Weather we think we can or not, he knows we can! He has a plan for each one of us, weather we are a fetus or 100 years old. Each one of us has a purpose and a plan. For my cousins who have lost their children I cannot fathom the heartache and grief that is felt. I do not know anything that I could say to stop that pain, but I do know that those babies are very precious and special to God! Their life here on Earth was not wasted and probably was more important then mine. Their only mission was to receive a physical body and they did that. They did not have to live in this "hate" filled world or go through any trials of their own to become stronger, they were already strong enough! To be a parent of such a valiant spirit is amazing to me. What special people they must be to have been chosen by those precious angels to be their parents. Our Savior died for us so that we might all be saved. Families can be together FOREVER. Our lives do not end when we leave this Earth. We will see all those that have gone on before us again, and oh what the joy that will be. What a wonderful thing to know, how it comforts my soul to know that my little family is together forever no matter what happens here.