Sandia Man Cave

We went on a hike to the Sandia Man Cave. It was a super short hike at .9 miles round trip so we decided to take a detour and hike up an unmarked trail (we couldn't justify the drive for such a short hike)! The cave itself was really big. We walked back into it at least 50 ft, but because we lacked a better flashlight (we only had Trent's iPhone) and two boys were scared (Ethan and Trent) we decided not to go any further. Maybe I will be able to find someone that would like to go exploring further and make another trip up there!

Three kids!

This last week we watched a 2 1/2 year old boy from Monday until Saturday, day and night. His parents were taking his older sister to college at BYU and they have two younger babies (a 1 yr old and a newborn!) and just couldn't take all three. I was so nervous. I wasn't sure if I could handle three little kids. I made up my mind that I would get nothing done around the house and that would be okay.

It ended up being a really fun week. The little boy was so sweet and did really well being away from his family for so long. We read a lot of books, went to the park, and tried not to go anywhere that required me to load them all into a car (which we did have to do once ;). Ethan absolutely LOVED having a constant playmate (he was really sad and almost cried when Logan, the little boy, or Big Logan as we called him, had to go home). It was really fun to watch how Ethan behaved during the week. Sometimes he was the best "big brother". He would say things like: "Let me show you where it is!" "Let me show you how to do it!" "Let me help you!" At other time though he was such a tease! (Which I hear is exactly the way Trent was to his younger siblings. Just so you know, he did NOT get this from me.) He would argue with Logan just to aggravate him.As an example Logan was playing with this little electronic book we have that talks and makes sounds. It makes a car sound and an airplane sound. Logan would hit the car sound button and would say,
     "Is that a car?"
     Ethan would respond, "No, that's an airplane."
     Logan, "No, it's a car!"
     Ethan, "No, it's an airplane!"
     Voices would escalate as they bantered back and forth, Logan getting more and more angry while Ethan just grinned from ear to ear as he yelled back! Sometimes I just wanted to swat him! Trent, of course, thought it was funny. Of course!

I already knew that we wanted to have more kids but this week just showed me why. I loved to hear the two older boys playing and talking to each other. I loved having another boy to love on and tuck in at night. I loved seeing Trent play with them all while I made dinner. It was a crazy, busy week (and not just because of the extra kid!), and Trent and I hardly got to talk at all, but it was wonderful. I am so glad we got to have the addition of another little one for the week!

Basketball

Ethan loves basketball (obviously) so I thought I would put some photos up and tell some of his recent basketball stories.

 Shooting hoops at the church.

Look at Ethan's form!

Ethan and Trent like to go shoot hoops at the church. Trent lifts Ethan up so he can make it and Ethan LOVES it. Ethan takes plenty of shots on his own though. And of course he never makes it because the hoop is too tall. He will shoot 50 shots, never make one, and still have a blast! I had a man from the ward say to me, "How did you teach Ethan to be so determined? He misses every time he shoots and yet he keeps trying and trying!" I have no idea how he got that way, but it really is something to watch!

Trent goes to play basketball every Wednesday night with the Elders Quorum. Before he goes he packs his backpack with his basketball shoes and when its warm he takes the motorcycle. This last week Ethan got on his bike (which is his "motorcycle") and he said, "I going to basketball Mom!" and rode off into the back yard. Then he came back in the house a little bit later, got his backpack (which he adorably calls a "packpack") and went off to "basketball" again. Then again he came inside, got his Nikes (he calls them his basketball shoes) put them in his backpack and again informed me he was going to basketball at the church and that he would be back. It is so cute to see how much he loves Trent and wants to be like him. I am so glad Trent has a son who loves basketball!

We shoot hoops at the hoop in our living room every day. Ethan tries to dribble and loves to play defense, shoot jump shots, "threes" (which are just farther away from the hoop), and lay-ups. We practice bounce passes and recently Trent has been teaching him "give and goes" where he has Ethan stand far from the hoop with the ball, then pass to Trent, run to the hoop, catch a pass back and shoot a lay-up. I know that Trent obviously has a huge influence on Ethan but Ethan seriously LOVES basketball. He talks about it all the time and often refers to himself as a "baller".

While we were in Utah for Carlee's wedding we were visiting at Annie and Anthony's house and they have a big painting of the Savior on a boat and He has his arm outstretched above his head calming the seas. I always like to point out different pictures of Jesus to Ethan so I asked, "Hey Ethan, who's that?" He looked up and quickly yet casually said, "That's Jesus. He's shootin' hoops." Then went back to what he was doing. Oh. My. Gosh. We all died. He didn't even think twice about it. Of course that's who it was. And what else would he be doing? Hahaha.

Tonight I was watching him as I was holding Logan in the kitchen. Ethan was standing under the basketball hoop holding the ball and talking to himself: "I gonna pass it to you" then he would throw the ball away from the hoop, run after it to catch it facing the hoop again (now about 15 ft from the hoop), say "I gonna shoot a hoop!" and then run back to the hoop and shoot the ball. It was so cute. I can't wait for him to have Logan as a playmate!

March

I love having two boys. I remember how complete and content I felt after having Ethan and I just feel even more that way now that Logan is here. He just makes everyone happier. Trent lights up when he comes home from work and Logan shows one of his new smiles. Ethan might be groggy and tired after his nap but as soon as he sees Logan he forgets it and gives a baby-voice: "Heeeyyy, Lo-looooo!" with a big grin on his face. When I don't have an infant to call my own I wonder if I truly like babies, but now that we have Logan I am remembering all the things I love about babies and I am just enjoying (most) every minute of it!

Some ladies in the ward threw us a baby shower and someone made this cute diaper cake for Logan! 

 Ethan always wants to hold Logan (and some times pretends he can nurse him). Ethan hated to be swaddled but Logan loves it. It always makes me laugh when my swaddled babies are nursing. Nothing but their little mouths are moving, which for some reason makes me laugh!

 Ethan has become more nurturing since Logan was born. He often makes his monkey be his "baby" and he carries him around and puts him down for naps when he is "tired". Here he cleverly made my ironing board into a bed for Monkey!

 Ethan LOVES cuddling with Logan in the morning, which is good because that is my favorite morning activity too! On this particular morning I laid Logan next to Ethan and Logan started flailing his arms around. Ethan accidentally caught Logan's hand in his and grinned at me as he said excitedly: "He's holding my hand!!" It seriously made his morning. And mine too!

  Yeah. He is beautiful.

Ethan helping Dad Rota-till our all dirt backyard. I can't wait to have grass!

 Chilling in the bouncer.

 Smiling at Daddy. Both our boys started out smiling only at Daddy. His voice, his face, his games with them. They love everything about him.

 Ethan is getting so good at riding his bike! He has great balance and can go seriously so fast!

 Probably my favorite picture ever. Logan loves Ethan. And Ethan loves to make him smile. They make a great team ;).

Carlee's Wedding

Trent's little sister got married in the end of February so we made the ten hour round-trip drive to Utah for her wedding. Logan was only 7 weeks old so even though the drive was rough it was nice for everyone to get to see him. It was so great to see family and get to attend Carlee and Brad's sealing. They are both very special people and we are so glad they found each other!

The two lovebirds.

 I made this sign for them. I think it turned out really cute.

 I love Ethan's expressions!

 They had a country themed wedding and Ethan loved the cowboy hat and saddle.

 Logan got passed around and loved on quite a bit!

Our first family picture with Logan. 

February

It was almost February when my mom left and I was alone again during the day. I thought it was going to be so hard. When my mom was here there had been several times when both boys had been crying or needed something and we could just divide and conquer. I cried thinking about how there was no way that I was going to be able to do everything and take care of them both! But as is often the case, I soon figured out that it wasn't so bad. Ethan was really patient and helpful while I tended to Logan and I made sure to devote most of the time Logan was asleep to playing with and giving Ethan a lot of one-on-one attention. Logan got taken care of and Ethan got enough attention and we were all happy. I am really grateful that Heavenly Father helped make the transition so easy.

Here are some pics of Ethan and I having fun while Logan was sleeping.

He wanted to be like Logan and use the baby tub. 

He did this for months until he realized that it really wasn't all that fun ;).

He wanted  to wear two long-sleeved shirts. I thought it looked kind of like the current fashion for mismatching prints. He was in style and didn't even know it!

 Playin' in the snow on one of the few mornings we had it! Ethan loved scraping off the car and walking around in it. He didn't like that it was so cold though! Whoops. He's an Albuquerque kid!

We had just a couple pairs of underwear in Ethan's drawer and he although he knew they were there I had never really talked to him about them. One evening he said out of nowhere, "I want to wear my underwear!" We had got him a potty seat last fall and practiced some but it had been clear that he wasn't ready. I was so excited that he said it that we went and bought underwear the next day! Unfortunately the only size they had was the 3T/4T which are obviously too big, but I wanted him to have some now that he was excited to use them. We ordered a smaller size and used these until the right ones got here. He is definitely NOT potty trained as he won't poop in the potty, but he doesn't have many pee accidents.

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He was super excited to get his underwear but he would NOT smile for the picture. I have no idea why ;).

Logan has been a great baby. He is content and calm most of the time and lets Ethan hold and manhandle him. Yep. He is a good brother already!

 And here is my sweet baby. So, so precious!

For Valentine's Day I made Trent ice cream cake. He had been asking me to try making it some time so I decided to do it as a special treat. It was amazing if I do say so myself, and Trent liked it even better than I did!