All it took was peer pressure

Remember how Easton was Woody for Halloween?

And I couldn't get him to wear the cowboy boots that I bought two MONTHS in advance, despite bribery and other tactics?

Well, my sister and her family moved to town and it just so happens that little Alayna has the exact. same. boots. And she wears them.

So, Easton gave in.
Dang, if they aren't cute.

Thanks Alayna! I love that you are here--and not just because you make my son wear what I buy him. :)

Thanks and a phone update

cuz I know you are all dying to know what phone I decided to purchase.

First of all, let's back way up to the summer of 2008. Ronnie and I got new phones. The exact same phones.

Then a mere 5 days later, I dropped my phone and this happened. I was not a happy camper, but really, other than the ugliness, it functioned fine.

Then about a month ago Easton took a pen to the phone top and chipped out a bit of the glass. Not so very safe, I know. We stuck a piece of packing tape over the top and aside from me looking even more ghetto, all was well.

Fast forward another week or so and you will find Easton again chipping glass out of the top THROUGH the tape. So, I decided to take off the current tape job and redo it. When I pulled off the piece of tape, the entire phone just started disintegrating before my eyes.

Currently, my phone looks like this:

What a sad, sad, sad little electronic.

I checked online and found out I was eligible for an upgrade (I previously thought I had to hold out until March) and so the shopping began.

After all of your marvelous recommendations, I have decided to purchase the LG enV3. Really, it was the positive reviews and the state of my current phone that made me do it. Obviously, my life is not such where I can have nice things. At least not with a curious 2 year old and another on the way. I like my phones to last me close to the 2 years, so I need something a little sturdy.

It will be here tomorrow. Can't wait!

This is important

Does anyone have any of these phones?

What do you like or dislike about them?

LG enV3

LG enV Touch

Nokia Twist

Samsung Rogue

I need a new phone badly. Things to note. I don't do email, I don't do internet. I text some and get/make about 15-20 phone calls a day, so while my phone gets use, its not excessive.

Easton's 2nd Birthday Party

First, let's start with the decorations that I spent time on, like this "by-the-month" banner of Easton pictures.
Then I made this banner with fun bandanna fabric.

And a little closer look.

I also made cupcake and cake toppers (cake topper not pictured).

Now on to the birthday boy!

Easton loves blowing out candles. He prefers to do it more than one time, if possible.

Then, he dove right in. You may remember this cake from last year. And if you are anything like my husband, you are wondering how we are going to tell the different years apart when I use the same cake every year. I say, I spent $20 on that cake mold and we are using it until the kids are old enough to know to ask for something different.

Next, we opened presents. I'm not going to post all of these pictures (you'll thank me, I promise).

Steve and Tucker were a captive audience.

As were Grandma, Grandpa and Jord-man.

And Lindsey and Brinley.

And Rachel and TJ.

We needed another shot of Grandma, Grandpa, Jord-man and Sassy, for good measure.

By this time, he was really getting it down.

Brinley treated us to a few modeling poses.

TJ did just fine, being his cute self.

Then the kids got to dive into all of the new toys, they were in heaven.

We can't forget Alicia, Laura and Scott. They were there too.

Each of the kids got to take home a cowboy hat. I originally bought purple for the girls and blue for the boys, but Grandpa decided he needed a purple one. TJ also decided that purple was cooler, so the purple hats went fast!

The day after all of festivities, I took the tradition picture of all of the loot. I'd say our boy is set. In fact about half of this stuff has been confiscated by mommy for strategic pulling out.

Since Easton wore his new Toy Story shirt the very next day, I wanted him in the shot, so all gifts were really there.

And here he is scoping out what he wants to play with next.

He had a great day. Thank you everyone!

The actual birthday in pictures

We had Easton's big party the day after his birthday, so he opened up some presents from Grandma and Grandpa Cali on the actual day.

In typical 2 year old fashion he wanted to play with each present immediately after it was opened. Here is he enjoying some coloring in a Toy Story book.

And then he showed mom (his dirty face) and a piece of his "kiddie" i-pod like toy.

That particular toy took a lot of concentration.

Next, we sand Happy Birthday, blew out the candles more than once and then settled down for some cupcakes and ice cream.

Now, you can enjoy the video of Easton opening the very first present. (the rest of the videos--there are tons!) are on the actual video camera and are way harder to get on the computer. I'll try to get them on here very soon!

2 year stats and update

Easton went for his 2 year check up on Friday, December 11th.

He is 24 lbs. 12 oz (12th percentile) and 34 inches tall (50th percentile).

According to their developmental worksheet he is measuring at a 2 year, 10 month level, but again, I never know how much stock to put into those things. They did ask that I take him to a more comprehensive Developmental Screening that is available just so that I can be aware if there is anything we need to be working on. I'm not sure when I will do that, but hopefully soon.

Easton LOVES numbers. He can count to ten and recognizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8. 6 he calls 5 and 9 he calls 8, but still--it's pretty impressive. He loves to run up to anything with numbers and read them off to you. He especially loves to weigh himself in the bathroom and see the 24 and then tell you "Mama, I Two! We better hope he likes the number 3 by the time he weighs 30 pounds.

He still loves all Disney-Pixar movies and has a new obsession with Elmo in Grouchland which has led to me hiding the DVD so I don't go crazy. He is sleeping like a champ 11-12 hours a night and a 2-3 hour nap daily. He chooses 2-3 toys to take to bed with him and they change daily (last night was a tiny Elmo figurine and a Toy Story coloring book).

His memory is really improving, which in general is a pain for me! :) He remembers what happens at the doctor's office, public health, where the toy aisles are in the store, who gave him special presents, etc. Yesterday we went in for his second H1N1 shot and when we sat down in the chairs to wait, he turned to me and asked for Toy Story and Cars fruit snacks (the food I gave him while we waited for the first H1N1 shot over 4 weeks ago). Little stinker.

Easton is very generous with his kisses but hates all hugs (in general). He has started to make sure that he kisses you on both cheeks. Adorable, but I don't know where he got it. He's excited to have his cousin Alayna around more, although whenever I mention her to him he looks at me with sad eyes and says "baby crying!" He has a big adjustment coming when the baby who is crying is in our house!

He is such a sweet little boy (as long as his stomach is full--hunger brings out the worst in him) and we love him more and more everyday.

30 weeks

And here we are again with a belly update. I've decided to take these as I have appointments. It seems about right to me.

I continue to feel good. I have had to start sleeping with pillows around me (I've never invested in one of those "pregnancy" pillows--tell me, are they worth my money?). I still sleep great, and don't need to get up in the middle of the night yet (I know that will come in time). I also have had very minimal swelling (hallelujah!). I can wear any pair of shoes I choose still! I suppose the frigid temperatures here are helping some with that (don't worry, no complaining out of me).

Ronnie and I are trying really hard to transition ourselves to not referring to Easton as "baby" at all anymore, as he gets a little confused and runs over to point to my belly. We've always teased him with phrases like "Where's momma's baby?" when he is hiding, etc. It's been a surprisingly hard habit to break.

Baby is moving all of the time, and when he or she stretches it is crazy to feel how long the baby is! I've definitely noticed a difference in the last two weeks of how quickly I can get up or down, and my energy is slowing some, but I'm still really enjoying this pregnancy.

No updates on boy names. We will have 34 hours of driving in the car when we go down to California though, so plenty of time to talk that out. :)

Other belly shots: 28 weeks, 24 weeks, 20 weeks, 17 weeks.

He's Two!

{originally posted at Just KaLee}

Today marks two years.

Two years that I have been a mother.

And you know what? It's just as awesome as everyone always said it would be. Sure there are ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

In honor of my little Easton, here he is in every month of his life. {warning: lots of pictures}

Birth

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

1 year

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months

17 months

18 months

19 months

20 months

21 months

22 months

23 months

2 years

Congrats if you made it to the end! He has his doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so I'll be doing the "official" update after that.