Random Happenings

I would consider us a pretty random family. You can find some pretty interesting situation, conversations and actions take place in our life. Below are just a few of those random things!Hot Chocolate parties with Daddy. Of course Ethan wanted to do this as well, so he went and got his helmet. I think this helps him feel more manly....
Katelee enjoyed feeding us and making sure our cups were full!

The other weekend was Aviation Nation. I'm not really sure how long this has been going on but we decided we would actually try it out this year. I heard the parking was all good and it was free. I guess those are the major things that keep me from doing most things... Kinda sad, looking at it in writing, but anyways. We heading out to the race track around 9 or 9:30am... Well after waiting in line for over an hour we were finally on a bus to the base....

Here is a picture of the kids and Mommy in front of a huge Cargo plane. Katelee was super clingy for some reason and refused to let us let go of her....

And here are the kids with their daddy in front of some large plane...

I think this could have possibly been Ethan's favorite part. Does that face not say "I'm enjoying this way too much!"

The kids each got to get inside of a little training plane and I think they enjoyed that....

Cute little smile from our little lady!

We didn't stay too long but it was fun! When we asked Ethan what his favorite part was he said "riding the bus!" So basically we could have just ridden the bus and he would have been more than happy... Guess next year we will just go on Hollywood and watch the planes from there!

Ethan finally earned his bicycle by staying in his bed for a few nights. He LOVES ridding his bike and Katelee loves wearing his elbow guards and knee pads! She tries to put them on by herself and will wear them around the house, playing with her babies, cars or whatever!

Nice forced smile!

Look at this crazy kids face! He loves his bike, he feels so big on his bike and he is really good on his bike! Of course there are training wheels but he does a good job of turning and getting where he wants to go! He would ride his bike for hours on end if we let him and he especially loves riding when his dad gets his bike out and rides with him! He is able to make it up the little hill by our house all by himself and loves to come flying down it and nearly run in to a million things... But like I said he is pretty good at navigating on that thing already!

On Friday's Ethan goes to his Grandma Nelson's for the day and Katelee has gotten to spend some days with her Daddy all to herself. A few times they have come by my work to have lunch with me. I love having them at work, makes my day so great! Katelee loves to sit at my desk and draw on whatever she can... I love looking through my stuff after they leave to see what all she was able to get to. Makes me smile when I run into a piece of paper later in the day with her chicken scratch on it!

Makes my chair seem so big when she sits in it!

Have we ever told you that Katelee is quite interesting? Well she is. This is what we found her doing the other day.....

She put her brother's old helmet on, sat in the toy box and was playing the DS.

Oh and did I mention the helmet was on sideways??? Such a funny girl!

And there are some of the random things we have done so far this month! Can't wait to see what else comes up.... Never really a dull moment in the Nelson household!

October-Ethan's 4th Birthday

On October 21st Ethan turned four, in case you didn't hear me I said FOUR!!! I do not know where the last four years have gone, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't really been four!!! Anyways, on Ethan's birthday we had him open presents when he got up. Chris had the day off so he got to sleep in... He has been very excited for this birthday and was so excited to open his presents. When he came into our room that morning he came and gave me a big hug and said "It's my birthday today!" What a cutie!
This is him showing us that he really is four!

He got to open his presents and of course Katelee was there to help him out!

This boy loves the show Phineas and Ferb! I can't complain it has some pretty funny parts for adults and I don't find it completely horrible! Ethan is big into sleeping with some stuff animals so when we saw a kid in my Sister-in-laws ward with a Ferb stuff animal we knew we had to find it. We were able to find Phineas, Ferb and Agent P so he was really excited for that!

We had Ethan's party the Saturday after his b-day and of course he wanted a Phineas and Ferb cake. I searched everywhere I could to find a cake mold for them but was unsuccessful. I asked Ethan a million times what kind of cake he wanted, hoping he would change his mind, but each time it was Phineas and Ferb. So the night before I decided to give it a try.

I will not lie and say it's my best cake, but I don't think it was too bad!

We had some family and friends over for his party and he loved every minute of it. That night when he prayed he asked if he could have another birthday tomorrow! Too funny!

Here is Ethan blowing out his candle. Maddy was determined to blow them out so I strategically placed my hand over her mouth!

Ethan loved opening his gifts and wanted to play with them all right away. I still cannot believe that we have had four b-day parties for this guy, but every day I look at Ethan and think how big he is getting! This kid can be so sweet and crazy at the same time. He feels bad when he sees he has hurt you and he will quickly apologize, and then do the same thing a few minutes later! He is a great big brother, always throwing a fit when we threaten to leave Katelee somewhere because she is being so grouchy. No one can be mean to his sister, except him! He loves to read books and has his favorites at the library. He loves to give long kisses, and although I pray he gets out of this stage, I'm ok with him doing it to just me! The other day Katelee had lifted up my shirt and was talking to the baby and Ethan says, "Mom you getting Fa..., I mean, you um, you is, um you are getting, um you is, you are tall!!!" And then he walked away. I looked up at Chris and he was silently laughing, what a sweet kid. He knows I'm getting fat yet he knew it would hurt my feelings so instead he tells me I'm getting tall! Such a sweet funny moment!

Four years ago I became a mother, a job I could never have imagined would be so hard, so fun and so rewarding! How I love Ethan with all my heart, how I'm thankful his is the eldest! He tries so hard to be good, most of the time. I know he will be his sister's protector, making sure they are taken care of! He has taught Katelee so much, some of it not that great, but most of it cute! We love you Ethan and are so proud and grateful to be your parents!

September-Katelee's Birthday Party

Ok, I know it's November and I'm just getting Katelee's Birthday party up... Such is life. I am still in awe that my little girl is already 2 years old! It seriously doesn't seem like it has been two years since we brought her home! But I guess she has gotten a lot bigger than a few of the pictures below!Katelee the week she came home from the hospital! Notice from an early age she had a scowl on her face! We should have known then that she would be like she is now...Another picture from her first week home... Such a sweet little girl!Here is Katelee at her first birthday! Notice not much hair... As her mother I loved it, it meant I didn't have to do it all the time!

And here is Katelee a little before her birthday party started. She had her tiara on and a barbie. She may be the best Tom Boy I know. She loves to wrestle yet loves her dollies too! Luckily I haven't caught her wrestling her dollies yet, although I'm sure it will come.

Katelee LOVES Elmo and so when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, of course she said Elmo. I made this same cake for Ethan's 2nd party so I felt like I was robbing her a little, but it was a whole lot easier to do than some princess one!

I just had to add this picture. I love that little smile she has when she is being nice!

Katelee did pretty good on her cake...

She did have to be changed afterwards, but that is what Birthday cakes are for, right?

Oh how we love having this little girl in our house. She is a very special girl and no matter how much I complain about her little (or large) attitude I don't think we would want her any other way. I see her as the girl that intimidates the boys and isn't afraid to speak her mind. I pray she will be a good example to her soon to be little sister! I hope she shows her how to be tough and cute all at the same time! I hope Katelee can continue to stand her ground and not back down when she has a belief in something! I have so many hopes for my little lady.... I know she will continue to make her mommy and daddy proud and fill our home with her crazy love for always!!! We love you Katelee!!!

Sunday... Lovely Sunday!!!

Sunday's are always a fun event at our house! We go to church at the oh so wonderful time of 1:00pm. This means that we have 7 long hours after the kids get up before we head out the door to church. A lot can happen in 7 long hours and boy it sure seems like it on most Sundays. Our schedule this year has gone a little something like this...

Kids get up bright and early between 6 or 7am. When they do sleep till 7 we count ourselves very lucky! Chris and I have a little system where one of us gets to sleep in on Saturday and the other on Sunday! It has been a life saver for both of us, that way we aren't so grouchy... Kids eat breakfast and then play around till 9ish. Then it's time for baths and for the other parent to get up and get going. I must say if I'm the one sleeping in I dread hearing the sound of the kids' bath running! Then it takes a good 30 minutes to get the kids bathed and dressed. Most Sunday's there is plenty of fighting and stubbornness getting this kids dressed! But we always seem to make it through. After the kids are dressed we head downstairs to let the one parent finish getting ready. The kids can play, watch baby zoo animals or whine and cry... Whatever they feel like on that particular Sunday! Most the time they look a little like this.....

If you saw my kids during this time you would only know we were going to church because of their dress... Usually their hair is still a mess because I'm not going to do it until after naps and closer to church or they would be going to church with jacked up hair as well! I don't mind when they put hats, helmets or baskets on their head because I know we can fix that later. It's when we come to lunch that I get a little stressed. (Usually by this time the other parent if finished and the other one gets their turn to clean up and get ready!) I feed my kids lunch around 10ish so that we can get them down for a nap before church. I know, many of you are thinking "are you crazy?" But I would rather them have an early nap than no nap at all.... This time for church is rough but this is how we combat it! So the kids eat their lunch of usually hot dogs and some cut up veggies and fruit. I try to get away with no ketchup or mustard just so I don't worry too much about their clothes. Sometime I get away with it, most the time I don't! But we make it work! After Lunch it is off to naps. Katelee is first. She usually goes down pretty good and then it's Ethan's turn. He gets to watch a little church show while laying on our bed. He doesn't nap as long at Katelee and it gives us parents time to finish up on ourselves and then one or both of us lays down with Ethan and we nap too. Most the time our naps are longer than Ethan's! Go Figure!!! We usually wake the kids up around 12:30 to get them "officially" ready for church. This 15 minutes seems to fly by as we get every one's hair done and bags checked and rechecked! This time is also used to fight with Katelee about not wearing her boots to church and actually getting every one's shoes on! After all that we usually end up with kids that look like this!....
Oh how I wish I had a picture of how they looked after church. It's almost like all the prep work before church has never happened at all... But at least when we get to church we look nice....

Not Just Katelee.... I guess

I guess this stripping down at night thing isn't just for Katelee! Ethan decided to join in on the fun the other night! Looks like he just wanted to sleep on his PJs like a pillow! Such a cutie doing it though!

Our Big Girl...

This post is a bit overdue, but better late than never.

About two months ago Katelee decided that she could climb out of her crib, onto the drawers and Ethan would help her down from there. We were surprised a few mornings to have Katelee come walking into our room.... It was then that we decided it was probably time to bite the bullet and move Katelee into a big girl bed. Ethan only climbed out of his crib once... I was downstairs and heard a big thud, ran upstairs to find him crying on the floor.. He never did it again! But if anyone knows Katelee you know she is a determined little girl and doesn't stop doing things just because they are scary! When we moved Ethan into a big boy bed it was great the first few nights. The first night he laid awake IN bed for over three hours, just so excited to be in a new bed... After the newness wore off he started getting out of bed ALL the time and it became a task to get him to stay in bed each night. At bedtime I dreaded putting him down because the next hour or so would be spend fighting with him about staying in his room and bed. We locked him in, gated him in and came oh so close to tying him into bed. (I was never able to find a safe way to do this, so I never felt quite comfy enough with it! :)) Because Katelee is so much more stubborn than Ethan I really dreaded a big girl bed... But one Saturday Chris moved the top bunk down for Katelee. We figured the top bunk was best because it has railing that would keep her from falling out when she tossed and turned like ALL kids do! We never expected her to stay in her bed, it was a shorter railing and thus easier to climb over... But we were prepared for the trouble we just knew was going to come our way!

To our great surprise and astonishment the first night we put Katelee in her new bed she didn't escape and to our even greater astonishment she still to this day has not gotten out of bed. In the mornings Ethan will climb into her bed and read books and mess around. He will then climb out of her bed, but she wont. She stays in there, some mornings crying, until we come and get her out of bed! She has adjusted so well I kind of regret not doing it earlier!

Amazing how you think you know a child so well and then they prove you wrong!!!

As a sidenote to these pictures. Katelee started out with a sleeper on and when we came into her room before we went to bed it was off! She may not get out of bed but the girl sure knows how to mess around while in bed. Please see picture below for another example of this....