What we did while waiting for Taylor

I had high hopes for our visit up to Santa Clarita. Mike had several days of work up there, we needed to get our taxes done with my dad, I planned to get my curtains hemmed with my mom's sewing machine and I was really hoping that Kim would have her baby while we were there. I never got the curtains hemmed but 3 out of 4 isn't bad!

We finally took our boys on the waterfall trail by my parent's house. I have many fond memories of hiking here and it's where Mike proposed. With all the rain we've had this winter, the creek was nice and full and the foliage was lush and green. It was a very hot day but once we were under the canopy of trees it was wonderfully cool.
Ethan was in heaven and would stop to throw rocks every 100 ft or so.

Mike taught him how to climb up the steep rocks and he was so proud of himself! (there's a bit of the waterfall in the background)
Caleb snuggling with Grandma.
Dad and his boys!
This might be the first time that I've ever stopped at the first waterfall but I had my reasons.
As we returned to the hot world again, Ethan suddenly lost all energy and Daddy got his workout.
My sister wasn't the only one having babies. Right across the street from my parents were these two mamas with their babies. We had a great time going on walks and talking to all the horses.
Uncle Bart = Robots. Well, at least in Ethan's mind. Kim's husband, Bart, is teaching an afterschool robotics class this spring and he brought them over to show Ethan. Ethan couldn't have been more delighted. However, from then on his desire to see Uncle Bart had a lot to do with robots. :)
Imagination play with Grandma. My mom was awesome about climbing in the pop up car with them and building houses with couch pillows and on and on. I'm especially thankful for this right now because it's so hard and uncomfortable for me to do those things right now. Let's just say she didn't get much done while we were there.
Of coarse we also play LOTS of Smario. Ethan loves everything green because it's like Luigi. Cracks me up. Great trip! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for letting us take over your house for a week, playing and loving our boys and also for waking up early every morning when Ethan went in your room!

I'm an aunt!

My sister had her baby on her due date April 18th at 5:15pm! Introducing Taylor Grace Webber 8 lb 10 oz.

Caleb thought she was interesting in a "what are you" kind of way.

For my dad

There is so much to update. We have moved, renovated our house and are starting to get settled. I have so many blog posts that I've written in my head: being semi-homeless for a month, Mike baching it in an RV next to the new house, the love and care showered on us by family and friends during this time, a kitchen sink is a MUST, I love where we live and it's starting to feel more like home and many more.

However, these will need to wait because I have promised my poor dad that I would add some new pictures.

Ethan is a Wii fanatic and Caleb insisted on holding a mote anytime anyone was playing. Ethan is better than I am at Wii golf but his favorite game is "Smario." You might also know it as Super Mario.
Daddy's Boy! Caleb ADORES his dad. When we were gone overnight recently and came home he wouldn't even come to me but insisted on Dad. Mike loves it! Here he is helping Mike install the garbage disposal.




Ethan recently finished a Mommy & Me class and it was wonderful! I highly recommend it. I'm also very thankful to the Grandmas who took care of Caleb every Monday so I could do the class with Ethan.
One of Caleb's favorite places to be is sitting on the front porch with Sam. That dog will allow him to do just about anything to him.

I love legos! I guess Ethan does too but I'm a huge fan of how Ethan uses his creativity to build and how long he can be occupied with them. They are wonderful! Ethan turned 3 this month and we are so proud of our big boy. Unfortunately we did not get any good pictures from his birthday. I need to do a better job next year...
My sister and I with our pregnant bellies. She's due mid April and I'm due mid July. Hopefully I find out this Thur what I'm having!!!

Rock

When Mike and I started dating Rocky was only 3. She didn't talk at all and couldn't walk yet. I had never been around disabled people much and Rocky has taught me quite a lot. It has been amazing to watch her grow and I can't believe she is 17 now. She has been a huge help this week while I pack by playing with Ethan.

Ethan and Rocky are playing so well right now. Ethan calls her Rock or Rockawido (trying to say Rockalito). They are best friends and wander around the house playing all sorts of things for hours. Rocky helps Ethan use his imagination to play. They put on hats and right now Ethan is Bob The Builder. I was asking if Rocky was Wendy, Bob’s trusty sidekick. Ethan replied, “I’m not a side cake. I’m Ethan.”

I wish I could freeze their friendship for a while. But I know that Ethan will keep growing up and Rocky will pretty much stay the same. Rocky is an interesting combination of a 3 year old and maybe and 8 year old. She likes a lot of the same things as Ethan but is able to think about other people in a way that older children do. It’s a great combination for Ethan’s 2 almost 3 age and imagination. She stretches him in play and he loves it. I’m so thankful that he’s growing up knowing and loving a handicapped person. I hope it helps shape how he sees others with handicaps.

Happy Halloween!

We enjoyed a Fall Fest Carnival that Compass put on. They went all out and that had something to do with my inability to get either of my kids to look in my direction for a picture. There were too many wonderful things to look at. The train and the big inflatable stick figures were the biggest attention grabbers. Ethan was supposed to be Yoda but wouldn't wear the green ears (when I first tried it on him I said, "Look you're Yoda!" He took one look in the mirror and said, "No, I'm not. I'm a bunny rabbit!") so he ended up being a Jedi Knight. You know Mike LOVED the light saber! Caleb was an adorable monkey with a round belly.

We went to Tanaka Farms with Ethan's Mommy & Me class and had a delightful morning. It was a bit crowded with everyone making up their rained-out field trips but we had a great time none the less.

Handsdown the boys favorite part was the tractor wagon ride. Ethan was giddy (see last picture) and Caleb cried when we had to get off. He as so happy sitting like a big boy all by himself! Not a chance that he was going to look at the camera.

Yay! The tractor ride!!!

The summer relived

Seeing how it is now fall (but the weather feels more like summer) it seemed the right time to continue my update...

We swam as often as we could at Mike's parent's house before they moved. Ethan particularly loves swimming with his dad and Mike can get him to do way more daring things than he'll do with anyone else.

Caleb and Evan are only 8 weeks apart and it's fun to watch them interact. Evan is already army crawling everywhere while Caleb is quite happy to be sitting on his bum, thank you very much!
Ethan and Emily are doing Humpty Dumpty and Emily does great big falls while Ethan's are a bit more conservative.
Can you hear him laughing?
So sweet!
Standing up on his Aunt Emy's board.
I love watching them together at bath time. Caleb has figured out how to take the drain plug out and do the little lever on the wall. He's very proud of himself and very determined.
One of our many family trolley trips to Main Beach in Laguna. When I think back over the summer as a whole the trolley and Laguna Beach are the big stand outs.
Day trip on the trolley to the park. The best!

Keeping the update going

Well, my dad did not approve of my short post. He said there weren't enough pictures. Picky, picky. I will resume where I left off...

We celebrated my sister's birthday a little belatedly with a busy, fun morning. The boys and I had breakfast at her place. Ethan helped point out any non-toddler proofed items.



After breakfast we headed over to Color Me Mine. Kim wanted to paint a pot and then have the boys put their handprints on it. A 2 year old in a store filled with breakable items is a little stressful on a mom but it was so cute to watch them make their mark.
Caleb really like the feel of the paint brush. I'll have to get a picture of the finished product from Kim.
My dad was VERY excited to take Ethan to a DODGER game. There were some logistical issues with getting there and it turned out that Mike had to meet them there. I was needlessly apprehensive about the 45 min car drive and my dad's ability to handle any meltdowns. I gave my dad a full arsenal of E's favorite snacks and even the ipad. He didn't need any of them. Apparently, Ethan didn't want to play with the ipad because that meant he would have to take off his baseball glove. He was just about as excited as Grandpa.

The entire way home Grandpa had him practice saying, "Go Dodgers!" and it actually stuck for a few weeks. He's been asking to go to another game ever since.
Sweet sleep.
We only made it to one concert in the park this summer and we had a blast! It was Beatles night and we road the boys down in the bike trailer. They had such a wonderful time and Ethan cried when we left.

I tried to get a picture of Caleb in his Angels Tori Hunter shirt before I couldn't fit it on him anymore.
Whenever Caleb wore his Angels then Ethan HAD to wear his too! (sorry Grandpa)
Does this look familiar to anyone? :)
Ok, that gets us to early Aug. More update later