Still cracking me up

The other night Ethan told me that he had to go potty and he wanted to do it all by himself. I told him to let me know if he had trouble with his pants. A couple minutes later he yells "mom, can you help me? My tummy is too big!" Yep, he couldn't see the button because his tummy is too big:)

Ethan has fun pretending to be a baby and when we play I call him baby Ethan. He calls me baby mommy, and Steve baby daddy. Cracks me up so much each time I hear it!

Also, he pronounces anything that ends in "ink" (sink, stink) as "ank" (sank, stank). Cracks me up each time he says "it's stanky in here".

The weather had been pretty cold the last couple of days so Ethan is continuing to practice his letters every chance he gets. He will write for a bit then say "yep. I'm learning." He sure is.

big boy room decor

Ethan was so excited to help decorate his new room. When we put up the stickers on the walls, he was in total heaven. Then I told him we needed to make some bigger pictures to put on the walls and when I ordered the book online he asked me daily if the mail lady was going to bring him his train pictures to put on the walls in his new big boy room. When the book finally did come, he loved putting together the pictures with me. The project didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but don't tell him that. He loves it and even helped me hammer in the nails to hang the canvas on. If I ever do it again, I'm totally using spray adhesive to glue it onto the canvas, but it will last as long as he'll be wanting it on his walls and that's all that matters. By the time he's old enough to notice how bad it looks, he'll be wanting new stuff on his walls anyway!

decor

Ombre glass decor.

I started saving glass bottles (Sbux frappuccinos and Izzy's) and made my own living room decor with a small sample from Walmart and left-over white paint we already had. I like the way they look!

Yep, this is the way our living room looks pretty much all the time. Toys scattered and drawers wide open. I don't fight it anymore. Hopefully the bottles just don't become play things as well :)

Letters and snowmen

Something clicked for Ethan yesterday and he started writing a few letters. I wish that I could say that it was because of me working with him, but no matter how many times I showed him how to make an E he had no interest in trying. Then all of the sudden I came downstairs yesterday and he says "mom, I made an E!" And sure enough he had done it all by himself, as well as a T and an H. Something clicked and he's obsessed with writing letters now. With some help he can also do A, M, X, and N. So close to writing his own name! 

Ephesians 6:1 in practice

As any normal 2 year old, Ethan provides me lots of opportunities to talk about obedience. The other day he wanted to go paint while his lunch was in the oven, so I reminded him that we only had about 15 min to go downstairs and paint, and then we needed to come upstairs again and get lunch. His attention span for painting is about that anyway, so I didn't think we'd have a problem.

He was finished with painting when I heard the oven timer go off so I told him it was time to go eat, and he immediately started telling me that he still wanted to play downstairs. We went back and forth a few times and just when I was going to stop the conversation and tell him it was time to go upstairs he stopped arguing and thought for a second. Then he said, "Ephesians 6:1, Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Ok, mom. I will obey you. Let's go upstairs." And he started up the stairs.

Wow, they really do understand more than we adults sometimes give them credit for. I know it hasn't fully sunk in what obedience means and why it pleases God when we obey, but he's getting what he's able to at this point. And I know that he will keep providing me plenty of opportunity to talk about it :)

affirmation

A few quotes from Ethan as we were searching through his Where's Waldo book yesterday:
 - Great job finding Waldo, mom.
 - You're good at finding things.
 - I'm proud of you for looking so hard.
 - High five.

He's got the affirmation thing down!

DIY

In an effort to eat healthier, save money, and use stuff we already have around the house rather than buy new products, I've been increasing the number of things we make ourselves. Here are some of my favorites.

1. Baby wipes. Easy, quick, and uses things we already buy. Plus, you can control exactly what's in them (so nice for sensitive skin). About 1/10 the cost per wipe than most brands.

2. Chocolate syrup. Not as sweet as the stuff I'd been buying but good flavor and basic ingredients. Not sure if it saves money, but I feel much better about the natural ingredients.

3. Laundry soap. Simple ingredients that you can control what's in it (again, nice for sensitive skin). And sooo much cheaper. It's actually really easy too. Should have done this a long time ago.

4. Artwork and decorations. I love saving money by making my own. More to come on this later.

5. Taco seasoning. Easy to make, you know what's in it, and Steve's allergic to something in the store bought stuff anyway so no bad reactions. All around win for our family.

6. Popcorn! Yummy! Just popcorn, butter and salt. So simple and delicious. A little more time-consuming on the stove, but so cheap and worth it. At least Ethan thinks so :)

What do you make yourself that is worth the time in health or cost savings??

big boy room

So Ethan's new room is coming along. He's finally well enough for a few days in a row, so he is sleeping well at night again. Which means I have the energy to tackle decorating :)

Done so far: linens (Steve's old sheets from college, and I bought a new comforter), Thomas throw pillows, book case, stained and put up curtain hardware, put up the curtains and shade, lamp, moved all the clothes into closet and dresser, and today we put up the Thomas wall decals around the room.

Still to do: buy a new night stand, artwork project.

I was getting so discouraged about finding a couple of things to hang on the wall that didn't cost a fortune. Then I got the idea to take pages from a book and mod podge them onto a canvas. Then I can make large wall art for hopefully much lower cost and they will look exactly like I want them to! I am having a little trouble finding the right books for the look I want. I really love Freight Train by Donald Crews. I am having trouble tracking it down in hardback not a board book. There are a few other books that would work, so as soon as I get the final product I'll post pics of his finished room!

Here's a sneak peek:

Amazing memory

I've said it before, but Ethan really does have an amazing memory. Yesterday while I was fixing dinner I looked for onions but we were out so I made the comment that I'd have to pick some up at the store. This morning we ran to the store for a craft for his new room and I was listing things off that we needed. Ethan perks up "and onions too". I thanked him and bought onions.

We are working on memorizing the Lord's Prayer and the doxology now too. Never thought I'd have that to say about a two year old.