Ethan loves his cousins

Ethan is just like Mike, a very social kid! So there's no wonder that he loves it when his cousins come into town, or a neighbor comes over to play. When we were at our family reunion this summer, he got pretty cozy with Meg. Thanks Kristen for taking this picture and downloading it on Mom and Dad's computer so I could steal it.

Mike's new job

After a few comments and questions about Mike's second job, I decided to let you all know that he has gone back to delivering pizza for Papa John's.

Mmm pizza and even better, mmmm cheap, GOOD pizza! Now we can get pizza that's better than Little Caesars for just a dollar or two more!

Quote of the day

All our Dreams can come true !!
if we have the Courage to pursue them.
(Walt Disney)

What are your dreams?

Disclaimer

I have been getting comments on me ironing that I just have to say that Mike has to have a nice, ironed shirt for work. I've tried taking them out of the dryer as soon as it turns off, but even after hanging for a few hours, or days, they are not up to snuff. Mike is also so picky about having his shirts ironed. And yes, he could do it, but he really can't. It takes him 15 minutes to iron one shirt. It's painful to watch. And he has taken a second job, so he really doesn't do much more than shower, eat breakfast (sometimes), and sleep here. Except for Sunday and we don't do much on Sundays anyway. Well, Mike and Ethan nap, I have meetings galore! I'll gladly iron for any of you, for a price!

Off to the temple

Yesterday Ethan found Mike's temple bag, grabbed it and said, "I'm off to the temple." He is so excited to get to go to the temple someday. When we go, he always tells me he wants to go too. I explain to him that he has to wait 9 more years. We are looking forward to the Corner Canyon Temple open house so he can go inside the temple. I just know he'll love it.

And he's off!

Napoleon Dynamite

I was ironing today and needed something to watch to make the time go by faster and Napoleopn Dynamite was on. When I first saw the movie 4 years ago, I didn't know whether to laugh or not. Now, I just laugh because it's so funny.

You know you can go to the Bean Museum at BYU and get a Liger shirt with Napoleon's drawing on it?

My favorite show is back

And guess what? I have to be to young women's and we don't have a DVR or a VCR that records!

Mmm, cookies

Mike has been working late a lot lately and I have to find things to do at night time, Mike and Ethan's normal play time. Thursday night we made MnM cookies. They are so yummy! I think we have 4 left! Ethan was so excited to make cookies. We both wore our aprons, thanks Lizzy and Emily for the cool apron. Ethan is a good helper lately. He not only clears his place after a meal, but he wipes the table off too. Yesterday when I was dusting, he dusted the piano bench. When we made cookies, Ethan put the whole bag of MnM's in the cookie dough all by himself and didn't even spill. (A major thing seeing that he spills everything, it's a Herrington thing!)

Doesn't he look excited to be making cookies?

Birthday celebration

Mike and I had to be greeters at the adult session of stake conference on Saturday night so we didn't have cake and ice cream on Ethan's birthday. We waited until the next night when we were at my parents' house. This is Ethan's t-rex cake I made. Mike and Ethan helped decorate it.

Ethan was not patient enough for cake, he really wanted to dig into the presents.
Ever since my oldest cousin turned 3, my grandma made all her grandchildren who turned 3 a nap quilt for their birthday. I got a really great one that I still love and can only use when I am at my mom's house because it is tattered and embarrasses Mike to have in our house. My mom has carried on this tradition with her grandchildren. When Meg turned 3 six months ago, Mom asked Ethan what color blanket he wanted, he said green. This is the result--
I love it and so does Ethan. Thanks Mom!

Somehow we were able to get Ethan to the cake to blow out his candles. He never did even eat any cake at all. It's really good, I may go have some for breakfast.

Ethan's birthday

Ethan woke up on Saturday to a living room full of balloons and a Happy Birthday sign that he was diappointed to see down Tuesday afternoon.

Ethan wanted doughnuts for breakfast and since we weren't going to have cake Saturday, we caved and let him dig in.
Mike insisted that Ethan get a "sweet big wheel" just like he had when he was younger. Ethan's legs are a little short. Hopefully he grows before he gets too frustrated and gives up on the big wheel.
Mike's mom and sister quilted this really cool quilt to put on Ethan's bed. What else, but dinosaurs on it!
Mike and I had a meeting Saturday night and our babysitter put Ethan to bed. She said when it was time for bed, she told Ethan but he wanted to wait up to see us come home. She told him he needed to go to bed and he said, "With my new dinosaur blaket!" And went to bed excited.

Happy Birthday!

Ethan was due August 31, but I knew I'd go past my due date. I had an appointment to see my doctor Tuesday, September 6 at like 11 and I got a call from his office asking me to come in early. My doctor told me to go home, stay by the phone because the hospital would call me when there was a room available for me to go and be induced. (The hospital was very full that day and they finally called me about 4.) Mike and I headed to the hospital, were admitted, and put in a room. After a few hours, my water broke and then everything went down hill from there. With every contraction, Ethan's heart rate went down. I tried different positions for half an hour and then my doctor, who had been next to me the whole time, told a nurse to get an OR ready and call the anesthesiologist, I was heading for a C-section! Ahh! I freaked out because Ethan was in trouble and I really didn't want a C-section. But at 8:42 pm Ethan was born and entered the world screaming! He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Here is Mike with newborn Ethan.

The first time I saw Ethan. Right off, I noticed that he has my triangle nostrils.
This was taken two days after Ethan was born. We were in the hospital for three days and I was ready to go home.
We love having you in our family, Ethan. From the day we came home from the hospital, I didn't remember what life was like without you. You are very special and we love you.

Happy 3rd birthday, little E!

Flashback Friday, Ethan style

What a smile Ethan has! He sure can cheer me up when I need it. Even when I am so mad at what he has done, he flases that smile at me and BAM, no more!

Here he is pushing his walking thing around. He sure loved it. (He's about 14 or 15 months here.)

One afternoon, after a nap, when he was about 6 months old I heard him talking to himself and laughing. I just had to grab the video camera and this is what I found. (Mike took the video and made it a still. I don't know how to put video on yet and I don't know where this video is. But Grandmas and Grandpas have this on video.)
Ethan loves to laugh even when he needs to be getting ready for bed. Here he is laughing at me while I am trying to get him ready for bed. This is about 4 or 5 months old.
This day we went out as a family shopping and to lunch. Ethan pooped all over his outfit and then when we got home, he needed a change too. He must have been one happy camper after those blow outs. (About 2 or 3 months.)
Anyone have any stories about Ethan and how he made you laugh?

Ducks, brownies, and of course, the temple

Last December my good friend took our family pictures and caught some very fun candid pictures of Ethan. We were south of BYU campus at the duck pond and Ethan just loves animals, so he ran after the ducks and this is what Angie caught--

Ever had a bad day? We have and this is what we do when those days come--
(that's right, we make brownies, but save a good chunk of the batter to eat.)

And of course living in Utah, we live within 5 minutes of the nearest temple. Ethan absolutely loves the temple. When I tell him that Mike and I are going to the temple and he is going to Grandma and Grandpa's, or Gavin and Lily's, or Benjamin's, he always says he wants to go to the temple with us. I remind him that in 9 years he'll be able to go to baptisms for the dead. However, after our last conversation about that, he corrected me and said it was "goodtized." (I guess he thought I was saying "badtized" instead of baptized.)

Biggest fan

From a year old, maybe younger, Ethan has been a Minnesota Twins fan. What a cute outfit he got for his first birthday from his Grandma Herrington.

Even younger than that, he was an Ellen DeGeneres. When Mike was going to school and home at 10 in the morning, he'd sit down to watch Ellen and Ethan was captivated with her (that was at one and two months old. Here he is at about 6 months old watching Ellen).
Another thing that Ethan is a BIG fan of is reading. He loves to read, whether I read to him or he plops down, pulls out a book and starts to recite the story from memory. He looks forward to going to the library a few times a month for new books and the more books I check out for him, the more I find that I like and I think we need. His latest favorite, "Oliver and the Monsters."

Winter activities

Last winter was filled with fun and fun pictures.

Ethan had a blast at Mike's work party at Boondocks. He especailly liked the whac-a-mole.

While in Minnesota for Christmas, Ethan played with Carpet, my in-laws' cat. He soon discovered that Carpet doesn't like having a 2 year old's face right in hers constantly. (She scratched Ethan.) So when Ethan found the bucket the toys were in, he dumped the toys out and put it on his head so he could get as clost to Carpet as he wanted to and not get hurt. It was so funny to see Carpet take a swipe at Ethan and hit the bucket on his head.
This was Ethan's first time to Minnesota and the first time in Minnesota's cold snow.
All bundled up and ready to take part in one of Dad's favorite Minnesotan activities, sledding!
This is my favorite picture of Mike and Ethan!

A few of Ethan's favorite things

Ethan loves to help Mike fix things around the house so when I found a tool bench at Kid to Kid for less than $10, I just had to get it. Ethan loves to hammer the nails and twish the screws with his screw drivers. He knows all his tools too. When Mike and my dad were working on the sprinkler system with their tools, Ethan would run into his room, grab his tools and be there next to them helping them out!

One of the best features of our house is our big backyard. Ethan's favorite thing to do on a nice, and sometimes a not so nice, day is to be outside.
Recently, Ethan has discovered Spiderman. When he sees anything Spiderman, he needs to have it. (I don't get it all, but sometimes I do have to give in.) His favorite hat to wear is his Spiderman hat.
I would have to say that Ethan's favorite thing ever would have to be dinosaurs and the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum. Here he is with one of his favorite dinos, spinosaurus. (I'm not sure if that's exactly what it is, but it looks like one!)
If you ask Ethan he'll tell you his favorite of all favorites is the T-rex who eats meat and is a carnivore. Some of the other dinos he likes and can name are Pachysepholosaurus, Parasorolophus, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Stegasarus, Pteradactyl, Pteradon, just to name a few!