Sneaky

Today I was trying to keep Ethan entertained in the car and since I had my wallet in my hand I decided to let him look at it. He managed to unbotton the front, lift the flap, open the pocket and pull out my five-dollar bill which he then kept and threw down the wallet! Hmmm. It seems that this is either starting way to young or it is just an omen of my future life...

Little Troublemaker

     I love my little troublemaker! The truth of the matter is that he really isn't a trouble maker, unless of course I am not paying attention to him...which I suppose when he is this young his getting into trouble is really my fault.
     I was on the phone in the living room earlier this week and I could hear Ethan in the bedroom pulling diapers and the diaper wipes out of his drawer (one of his favorite past times). Then he got quiet but I could still hear a little crinkling of the diaper wipes, but I didn't think anything of it. After a few minutes I walked into check on him and this is what I found:

 

 

     When he saw me he immediately started to crawl towards me but I made him sit back down so I could run and get the camera to take some pictures! Hahaha, I am so glad that the mess doesn't bother me. It just makes me so happy to see that he is exploring, learning and figuring things out. Plus, you have to admit-this is just SO cute!

     This morning, Sunday, Trent and I got up with Ethan at about 6:30 AM but we were still really tired. I came out and laid on the couch to watch Ethan and Trent brought out his pillow and laid on the floor. Ethan played around us and on us until finally I got up to make him some breakfast. Even though he was hungry he wouldn't pay attention to me and the food because he wanted to look at Dad. I gave the bowl of food to Trent and I went back to bed. I guess Trent fell asleep on the couch for about 10 minutes after Ethan got done eating because about 15 minutes after I laid down Trent calls to me saying: "Quick Cait, grab the camera." Here is what I saw:

     Look familiar? I wonder if he plans out the things he will do while we are not looking. At any rate, we never go a day without laughing with our wonderful little boy. He is the light of our lives. I mean honestly, look at these pictures, how could he not be?!

Pool=Summer!

I had the realization today, again, that I am a mom. I took Ethan to the pool today with my friends Lauren and her boy Aidan and Marie and her girl Naomi. On my way over to meet them it occurred to me that this was the first of probably THOUSANDS of trips to the pool that I will make with my children over the next 15 years. Having to get Ethan all ready and put sunscreen on him made me realize that I am moving on to be a mother of older children, not just babies and that is crazy. Exciting though. My mother's mom took them to the beach nearly everyday during the summer, my mom took us to the pool almost everyday (sometimes twice a day!) and I can't imagine doing anything different. Maybe I am still a kid at heart but I LOVE the pool. Nothing makes summer more enjoyable that going to the pool and now that I have Ethan I have a good excuse to go play in the water. Maybe that's what made me have that realization of motherhood today. Ha, funny that I associate motherhood with pool trips, but it makes sense to me!

On the Lazy River:

 

 

In the kiddie pool:

 

LOVING the fountain

 He walked into the pool holding my hand but then he didn't want to hold still-he just wanted to go on his stomach! Yay!! I have a little fish!

 

 Ethan and Aidan are twinners! Lauren and I have the same great taste and just happened to buy them the same outfit.

This past week

This past week was crazy. Ethan got a terrible diaper rash somehow (like I changed him at 4:00 and he wasn't red at all and then I changed him at 6:30 and it was red and swollen and has since become open sores...it is terrible). Lately, while he has been teething and now with this bad diaper rash, he has been super clingy to me. It makes me feel loved but it is ever so exhausting. I am used to him being so independent but when he doesn't feel well he wants me to carry him every where I go and I can't get anything done. It was really sweet though because this past Tuesday was the first time that Ethan has ever called me "Mama". I know he knew that I was Mama because Trent will say "go to Mama" and Ethan will look at me, but on Tuesday he was really upset and two different times he called out to me saying "Mama". He would call "Mamamamama" until he saw me and then crawl over to me to be picked up. It was seriously so adorable, it just melted my heart! Anyway, Trent and I had to go to Albuquerque to visit a company on Thursday and Friday and I was really worried about leaving him behind while we were gone because I didn't want him to cry because I wasn't there. We left him with Trent's aunt though, who I trust completely, and he did so well. Our visit was awesome and it was so good to know that Ethan was in good hands and doing so well. It was my first time being away from him for more than a few hours and I had withdrawals at first but knowing he was doing good I decided to take advantage of the nice break I had. I even went to the hotel for a little bit while Trent was out with a field supervisor and I went to the pool and read a book. When I got back to see him though I was so happy. Of course, he was more excited to see Daddy and didn't seem to care at all that I was there. Figures. Oh well. I am glad that he shows his love for me every once in a while.
Here are some pics.

Trent and Ethan working on something with the tool box.

My beautiful boy.

27 years old, 27 miles

On May 27 I turned 27 years old so I decided to run 27 miles. I couldn't go alone though, seeing as how I am a triplet, so I had to bring Nathan and Natalie with me! Natalie and I have been training for the last five months or so and Nathan, who wasn't going to run but ride his bike with us, took a few laps around his block the week before. We went really strong for the first 14 miles or so but then tragedy struck. Natalie had gotten in an ATV accident a few weeks before and she had been have some troubles with her knee. At about 14 miles her knee was really killing her. We went to 19 miles but she just couldn't go anymore but we didn't want to just give up in the middle! Especially as we had made T-shirts for the run. We decided that we would just make it a biathlon so we went home, Nat and I got our bikes, and we rode the last 8 miles. Natalie ended up riding using just her one good leg most of the time and it was really funny. Even though we didn't finish the whole thing in the way we had planned it felt really good to do as much as we did. And, to be honest, it just feels really good to be DONE. The time it takes to train for a marathon is so insane (especially because I am such a slow runner), so it is a relief to not have to put that much time into it any more. It was a fun experience and a good goal though. I will post some pics of our adventure soon!

We started at Vivian Park, up Provo Canyon.

Our shirts say 27 May, 27 years, 27 miles.

Pre-run fun.

Start.

The moose we saw 2 minutes into our run!

Nat's knee is really hurting her.

First Finish Line (we had stopped for water up the road aways and decided to run down to this curve to finish as it was the nineteen mile mark).

Feeling sore but happy.

Hugs for Mama!

Second Finish.

Nathan suggested that next year on the 27 of May, when we turn 28, we should bike 29 miles. Nat thinks he's crazy!

Natalie biked with just one leg most of the 8 miles because of her knee. She rested her left leg on the shaft of the bike like this. As we were riding someone yelled out from their car asking Nat if she was a flamingo...she didn't get it.

Ethan has a first word!

Ethan is starting to be super vocal now. He squeals and growls and is always talking to himself. He is finally starting to copy sounds that I make and it is so fun. He knows who Daddy is now and says it when he comes home so I guess that must mean that is his first word (Trent is very happy about this). He copies me when I say diaper (dapa) and tonight when I went to read him a bedtime story he said "bu" for book!! All on his own! It was pretty exciting. It could have been a coincidence but I don't think so because he always says "dada" as his go to word, because, let's face it, he's a daddy's boy. In the morning Ethan looks for Trent and says "dadadada" and whenever I put his new baseball hat on him he says it too (I think he realizes he has a hat just like Daddy). It is so precious.
Ethan also LOVES to "read"...which is probably why he is saying book. He let's me read to him but he loves to go into his room and just talk to himself as he flips through the pages. It melts my heart. Here are some pictures of him reading to himself and of him in his new baseball hat.

To my mother

     Happy Mother's Day. This is my second mother's day, but, considering that Ethan was only six days old on the last one, I feel like I have a little more experience being a mother this time.
     Today was our ward's fast and testimony meeting this month and a lot of people got up and talk about  their mothers. So of course I started thinking about what a wonderful mother I have and about how grateful I am for her example. I have always been grateful for her. When I was a teenager I heard people say countless times, "you will only be really grateful for your mother when you leave the house/go on a mission/have your own kids, etc" (any of those times where you suddenly have more responsibilities, I suppose). I used to think, "whatever, I am so grateful for her now!" And I really was. I knew a lot of kids that weren't grateful to their parents, so I could understand why people would say that, but I didn't think that it applied to me. When I left home and then when I went on a mission I was grateful for my mom but I wouldn't say I became that much more grateful. Now that I am a mother I wouldn't say that I am more grateful either. I would, however, say that now I understand why I am so grateful. This I did not really know before. I was always grateful because I knew that my mother has done countless things for me and sacrificed so much for me. I always realized that my mother gave up time, energy, her last bite of her favorite food, etc., so that she could make her children happy. I saw all that, but I knew there were countless other things that she had done like stay up late helping on a school assignment or letting me crawl into bed with her when I had a nightmare. Some I had heard about, like how my mother had got up countless times in the night to take care of triplets or how trapped she felt sometimes while nursing. Being a mother for the first year of a baby's life though has shown me all the things that I didn't know she had done.
     This past year I have learned about all the little things mom's do that no one really talks about. I suppose people don't talk about them because they are not really sacrifices. They aren't hard and they aren't big. They are just things mom's do because they love their baby. For example, every night before I go to bed I go in and look at Ethan. I think how beautiful he is. I put his blanket back over him. The other day when I put his blanket back on him I thought, "Wow. I bet my mother used to do this."
     Some days Ethan and I go out to run errands. We inevitably come home a little late for lunch. I feel so hungry. I know Ethan is hungry though too, because he is getting fussy. I ignore my growling stomach though and get Ethan's food ready, feed him, clean him up, play with him, and put him down for a nap. Then I eat my lunch. Guess what? I bet my mother used to do that too.
     During this past school year I would rush to get Ethan from the sitter's after class. Inevitably I would have to go pee. Go figure. I would get Ethan home and get him all settled with a toy before rushing to the bathroom. I would run the chance of peeing my pants so that Ethan would be comfortable and happy. You know what? I bet my mother used to do that too.
     Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night. My first thoughts are about Ethan. I assume he is okay, but just to make sure, I get up and go into his bedroom to make sure he is still breathing. I am sure my mother used to do that too.
     I can't resist kissing Ethan. When I am holding him I kiss his little head so much that he always starts to pull away from me. I always tease that he is saying, "Please mom! You are embarrassing me!" I just can't help it though! I bet my mother used to do that too.
     There are a million other things that no one but mothers, and maybe their husbands, know that they do. Tiny little things they do just as their way of saying "I love you." As I do these little things for Ethan I imagine my mother doing them for me. Thanks Mom. Thanks for doing all those little things for me. Thanks for caring about me. Thanks for putting me first.  Everyday I hope that I can be more like you. You are my hero.