Thanksgiving 2010

Ethan insists on showing me his interpretation of a pilgrim. So funny!

Here is Ethan's stoic Indian impression.

Being a silly Indian to make brother laugh!

The feather that Ethan decorated for his class turkey. He's thankful for a lot!

The pine cone turkeys Ethan and Noah made. The white is Ethan's he made in class. The red is Noah's he made at a playdate with our mom's group friends.

This Thanksgiving was a mixed bag! I started out the day pretty bummed because I was away from my family. Then my mom called and I found out my brother is visiting my parents in Oklahoma and apparently, he told my mom that he has decided to go to Colorado to look for a place to live and work right after he leaves there. Last I heard from him, he was definitely moving here because he wanted to be near us. I'm not upset that he's not moving here because where he lives should certainly be best for him. But, not even bothering to tell me his change of plans was upsetting to say the least. Par for the course when it comes to my family, that's for sure.

So, I was in a sad mood heading over to my hubby's parents house. But, once I got there, my mood brightened considerably. The boys had a wonderful time playing with their cousins while the food was prepared. Bob's parents and I enjoyed a few glasses of wine and I was my father-in-law's turkey carving assistant this year...ha ha ha. After a very yummy Thanksgiving dinner, we hung out and chatted while the kids went outside to play badmitton then down to the canal to do a little fishing. By the time I got home, I was in a very happy mood. We all had a great time!

I'm a Big Boy Now!

We got hardcore about the potty training as soon as Noah turned 3 last week. He's had interest here and there all during his twos. But, it was time to get serious! So, we told him no more diapers except for sleeping and hoped for the best! I was initially going have him be naked from the bottom down (like I did with Ethan) but Noah absolutely HATES that so I decided to let him wear underwear. Since we started last week, he's been doing a phenomenal job! Actually much better than I anticipated because Noah is just so stubborn! The few accidents so far have really been our fault because we haven't asked him to go before we headed somewhere, ate or something like that. It takes practice (again) to for us too! I know there will be some setbacks here and there but that's normal. So far, Noah has been a potty pro! Bye, bye diapers!!

Here Comes the Ugly

Well, I said my blog was about the good, bad and the ugly! The ugly is Noah's temper! He started out as a hitter now and then at 6 mos when Ethan would snag his baby toys. Nowadays, when we're around other kids, when he gets upset, he just lashes out and hits! I am religiously putting him in time out and making him understand why he is being punished. He tells me he understands and, at 3, I know he does. He has mostly been better recently about controlling it. But, other times, usually at playdates, he just doesn't think, he reacts! I am doing everything in my power to get him to realize the consequences of his actions. I understand it will take time to stop this behavior completely. But, in the meantime it's just so frustrating and embarrassing. Except for alienating him from other kids, I don't know what else to do. He certainly doesn't learn hitting from anyone in this house! I hope and pray that this comes to permanent end SOON! :( In the meantime, I dream of a day when I can actually have an entire, coherent conversation with an adult friend without having to intervene in another scuffle or cryfest! A mommy can dream, can't she?!

Toy Story 3

Ethan and Noah are ecstatic that Toy Story 3 is out on DVD! We went to see it in the theater and I don't think they moved a muscle the entire movie. That is a miracle! I remember as we were watching it, I hear sniffling coming from Noah, who was about 2 1/2 at the time. I look over and there are tears streaming down his face! I said "What's wrong, baby? Why are you sad?" He said "It breaks my heart that Big Baby is sad." Oh my gosh, it touched mt heart so much that such a little boy could be so empathetic to Big Baby and care for his happiness. It really showed me that my dear little boy has a sweet and tender heart. THAT was a priceless moment I never want to forget. Even now when he watches the DVD, when he sees Big Baby sad or Lotso picking on him, he gets so sad!

Noah's 3rd Birthday Party with Family!

Cousin Samantha and Noah waiting blow out the candles!

Ethan steals one of Noah's gifts right away from the Super Hero costume trunk.

Ethan says, "Help me, Aunt Colleen!"

Toy Story 3 Yahtzee from Aunt Robin!

I made Noah a Super Hero and friends cake :)

We started off the morning taking Ethan over to his grandparents so we could spend the morning with Noah. We like to carve out time on each of their birthdays for some special time alone with mommy and daddy. Since Noah LOVES donuts, we took him to Dunkin Donuts for a chocolate donut with sprinkles. Daddy had a donut too while Mommy enjoyed her pumpkin spice latte (made even more enjoyable with the nice cold weather!).

This evening, Noah celebrated his 3rd birthday with a Superhero Squad party tonight with family! He was sooo excited about all of his gifts! He got a lightsaber, a trunk with superhero costumes (Iron Man, Spiderman and Wolverine!), a Toy Story 3 game,Toy Story 3 pajamas, a Handy Manny book and a giant stuffed monkey. He dressed up as Spiderman right away and ran around the house with his light saber. After opening presents, he blew out his Spiderman candle on the chocolate superhero cake mommy made him and then got crazy with his cousins! You could tell that, to him, it was the perfect birthday!

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Beck, Aunt Colleen, Uncle Ken, Sami, Alex, Aunt Robin, Uncle Kenny, Matt and Joey for coming over to make his birthday so special!

Pics and video to come soon!

Our group's in the paper!

Our Mom's Group, The Palm Coast Mamas, was in the Palm Coast Observer featuring our annual Halloween party! Shown are Ethan and Noah's grandparents showing off their trunk decorations for the trunk or treat, our friends, Christina, Brayden, Gina's 5 beautiful girls, and Hannah with her daddy. I am so happy everyone had so much fun!

Trick or Treat!

Flash and Superman!

Sweet little bat baby, Brooks.

Harrison was quite the discerning trick or treater! He knows what he wants and he won't leave
'til he finds it in that bowl of yummy goodness.

Christine and new baby Brooks!

Lexi is totally playing the part! She's so serious. I was a little spooked ;)

Mandie and her hubby, Jason, who jumped out and scared the kiddos. Tried to at least. They weren't sure what to think about that!

The look Harrison is giving Noah is hilarious! Like, "Dude, you're a little too excited about this."

Here Noah is trying to "light saber" the spider. Doesn't he know that Superman doesn't use a light saber? Crazy kid!

Our wonderful friends, Christine and Robert, had us over for trick or treating in their neighborhood on Halloween. We started off the evening with dinner and drinks while the boys played. Then, when it got close to being dark, we headed out! There were many people in their neighborhood giving out candy and a lot of houses all decked out for Halloween! Some of their neighbors really got into the spirit by dressing up and scaring the kiddos (& some adults, I'm sure!), including our friend, Mandie, and her family. The weather was perfect and the kids loved every minute of it. I did feel for Christine who walked all that way after just having a C-Section 2 weeks before! What a dedicated mommy! Baby Brooks looked really adorable in her baby bat costume. What a nice end to a 3 day Halloween weekend!

* Cute quotes of the night :

As we hit our first house Ethan tells me, very matter of factly, "If they don't give me a treat, I'm sure going to give them a trick!"

Ethan was busy playing with his glow stick and glow bracelet and informed us that he was "Too busy for candy" when it was time to get out of the wagon and ring the doorbell. What kid says that?! Apparently, mine!

I also think it's pretty darn cute and hilarious that Harrison calls his daddy "Robert". Especially when he wants something. "Robert! Give me some candy!" I love it!

Mom's Group Halloween Party @ Flagler Beach

Our Halloween festivities continued on Saturday at the Palm Coast Mamas Halloween party. The morning of the party is always extremely busy for me because I have to get up, head over to rope off our spot (since you can't reserve it) then drive back home to get everything ready and then drive all the way back. That's a pain in the neck drive since it takes about 20 min each way. Thank goodness for my hubby who made the homemade mac n'cheese for the potluck and got the boys ready to go. Ethan and Noah were psyched to be able to wear their costumes another day! The party turned out great thanks to wonderful, helpful friends (Martha, Christine, Mandie, Kayla, Rosie and Kathy who helped with clean-up!) What would I do without them? The boys had a blast at the party painting pumpkins, jumping in the bounce house, playing with their friends, eating lunch and doing a trick or treat for MORE candy :)

St. Mark's Halloween party!

On Friday, Ethan had his VPK Halloween Party and trunk or treat! Ethan and Noah excitedly got into their costumes and couldn't wait to get to school! We dropped Ethan off in class and hurried over to the parking lot to get the trunk decorated. Noah used the time it took me to decorate to go through the candy and try to open it all. I caved and gave him a sucker to keep him occupied so I could get it done. The class ended up coming out later than expected so I was able to get it all done in plenty of time. All the parents did such a great job decorating their trunks! The kids had a blast trick or treating and Ethan ended up without about twice as much candy as I handed out. Noah was thrilled that he got to follow along with Ethan's class and pretend he was one of the gang. He even got in the class photo :) Afterward, we headed back to the classroom for pizza and cupcakes...yum!