Ethan turns 9 months old!

I think time with the second child seems to fly by even faster than the first. I really can't believe that he is already 9 months old. June is just right around the corner and he will be one! Ethan has been such a joy to have. He and Aidan are complete opposites. It's unreal how different they are. Ethan is quite the eater as you may have seen on an earlier post. He loves to be held. He is most happy when someone is holding him (although now he is a mommas boy) :). He is now crawling everywhere which helps him not want to be held all the time because now he can move around. He has two little teeth on the bottom but thinks he can eat anything. He can now hold his own bottle which is SOOO nice! He really is such a happy baby and loves it when Aidan plays with him. He just laughs and laughs! It's really so cute! Ethan saw the doctor yesterday and here are his stats:

Weight: 21.5 lbs.--65%
Height: 29 in.--66%
Head Cir.: 18 in.--62%

He is all very proportional! :) He is a little chunk though compared to Aidan who only weighs 25lbs. My arm seriously dies after trying to hold him for too long. But we love him and are so grateful for his constant smiles!

Pinocchio on DVD!!!

Pinocchio came out on Tuesday and I was so excited! I LOVE the classic Disney movies. I found out about a year ago that pretty much they are for my own benefit because Aidan won't watch them. I have put in The Jungle Book, Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood and some others and he won't watch them. However I did discover not too long ago...whenever 101 Dalmations came out...that he really likes that movie. So I really wasn't expecting anything with Pinocchio but to my surprise Aidan LOVES it. It has become his new favorite movie. Today was the first day I actually sat down to watch it with him. I haven't seen that movie in so long. While I was sitting there I realized what a BIZARRE movie it is but Aidan really does love it. It's really funny! So it was a success with this movie!

Happy 26th Birthday to ME!!!

WOW! I am 26! I can't believe it. Honestly I don't feel mature enough to be 26 nor do I feel old enough to have two kids. I swear my siblings better get a move on the marriage thing! Haha! They know I am just giving them a hard time. I had a great birthday. My birthday was actually on Sunday but we started our celebration on Saturday. Saturday morning Ben got up and started checking things off my to-do list for him which was GREAT! Also he watched the boys for me so that I could go to the newly remodeled Nordstroms at Fashion Place. I bought myself a new pair of jeans and a new top! I LOVE Nordstoms especially this one now...it is SOOOOO nice! After I was done shopping I went home to get Ben and the boys to head down to Provo. Jill, Eric, Zach, Andre', Roxanne, and Holly all met us at Los Hermanos where we had dinner. Then we all headed over to the Marriot center for BYU's last home basketball game. That was by far the worst game of the season but at least we came out on top (barely)! We got to sit in Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's seats which are in the second row! We had a blast and the boys were really good. There were these couple of teenage girls sitting behind us with their mom and dad and they just loved Ethan and played with him the entire time! Ethan totally loved the attention! He is pretty cute if I do say so myself :)! On Sunday after church Ben took care of the boys while I got to take a little nap. Then later that afternoon we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner. All of my family came over and it really was the best birthday ever. I was given something that day that no one could understand the magnitude of what it meant unless they had been there to live through it. I know I am not making any sense but I want to thank my father in heaven for what happened on Sunday and know that that is what we as a family have been praying for for a very very very long time! I am so excited for this new beginning and can't wait to have the family together, ALL together, sometime this summer! Lots of tears were shed but it really was a miracle!

Brian Head!

A couple of weekends ago we went up to Brian Head and stayed at Ben's cabin. We invited our friends Rich and Amanda and Deven and Shelley. I got really sick right before we got there and Aidan still had his two ear infections and Ethan still had a really bad cold! So I pretty much tried to stay away from everyone because I felt like a leper! It's the worst when you are blowing your nose and coughing all the time. You just don't want to get anyone else sick. We got there Friday night and everyone stayed up and talked except for me who went upstairs with the boys and went to bed. I know...I was really lame that weekend but there was honestly nothing I could do. Everyone went skiing and snowboarding on Saturday. I think Ben called me every couple of hours because he felt bad that I was at home with the boys. I really didn't mind at all. Ben eventually came home and felt like he should take Aidan out there to watch everyone. Well when Aidan got there, I guess he wanted to ride the lift really bad. Ben found out the only way he could ride the lift was if he was wearing skiis. So Ben was able to get him some skiis for free and a day pass because he is under the age of 5. Aidan rode the lift and Ben tried to help Aidan ski down but Aidan wasn't liking the skiis. So Ben was left with no choice but to carry him while snowboarding down the mountain. Aidan LOVED it! I'm sorry to say I forgot to give the camera to Ben but luckily our friend Amanda had a camera and took some really cute pictures. I just need to get them from her. Everyone came home later that afternoon and just relaxed. Deven and Shelley made dinner that night which was great and then everyone played games. Once again I went upstairs with the boys and put us all to bed! I felt so bad that I was being so anti-social but I seriously felt like CRAP! Sunday morning we got up to Rich and Amanda preparing a wonderful brunch for us before we all started cleaning up and packing. Everyone did take a couple of snowmobile rides around the mountain before we left...except for me and Ethan of course. It was a really short weekend but I think everyone needed that little getaway! Everyone had a lot of fun and we hope to do it again soon but hopefully this time I will be around to participate more!

The Linder Family

So on February 16 I left to my aunt's and uncle's house to take care of their 5 kids while they went to New Zealand and Australia for a week and a half. I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous about the whole thing but it actually went really well! Marla was so kind to type out the schedule for each day which inlcuded getting up at 6:30am to get my cousin Rex out of bed for school. Honestly for those who know me best I am NOT a morning person! That was really hard for me especially when he wouldn't drag his butt out of bed. I can't really complain because when I was in high school I did the same thing to my parents that he did to me which was every time they came to check on me to make sure I was awake, I would say "I'm up I'm up!" and I would act like I was getting up and stretching and as soon as they closed the door I would lay down and pull the covers up over my head! It was the worst! So yes I would have to go in every 5-10 minutes to make sure he was up. I would say 99% of the time I would have to go in there and shake him and tell him to get out of bed! I now know what it is to be a mother! I was a TAXI DRIVER all week! Taking kids here and picking kids up there and taking kids somewhere else! Honestly thank goodness for carpooling to help you out! I didn't mind too much because I got to drive their Escalade which was really nice! We celebrated my cousin's 14th bday while they were gone and went to the park and played and Ben took Aidan to a BYU basketball game late one night! It went by fast and I told them that any time they go out of town to call me because we had a blast! It's always nice to have a little extra income too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lucky for us Valentine's was on a Saturday because Ben's job has now required them to work 11 hour days not including traveling time or lunch breaks! So if it had been on any other weekday then we probably wouldn't have been able to go out. My family came into town to visit some of my siblings that are living down in Provo because it was a 3 day weekend. Lucky for us again we also got babysitters! That was really nice too because this is the weekend that Aidan got really sick with vomitting and diarrhea. So it was nice that my family took care of him so Ben and I could go out. Ben and I bought tickets to see "He's Just Not That Into You" a few days in advance and had hoped to go to the Cheesecake Factory before for dinner. Well we thought that if we got there at 4pm, 3 hours before our movie was to start, we would be good. No. That was not the case. Ben got there before 4 and it was already a 2 1/2-3 hour wait so he ran over to the Olive Garden and put our names down. The wait was only an hour which was nice. All in all it was a great night and we enjoyed the movie. It was pretty funny! I think I enjoyed it more because my sister Roxanne had already seen it and warned me about a couple of parts, so I was prepared! This is the only picture we have from that day and for some reason Aidan was really upset! I have no idea why he was freaking out that morning!

Our month in Reno...

I went out to Reno for a month because Ben was working in California for 4 weeks. I hate being home by myself for that long, so we thought it would be best if I went and spent that time in Reno with my family. It was great! We left on Jan. 11. However when we arrived I kind of brought the plague with me. Ethan had pink eye who eventually gave it to me and Aidan. All three of us had the flu. So for about the first week and a half we were all ill and in our rooms for the most part just moping around. Although I was really bummed we were sick I was also glad for the help I received from the family. The second week we were there my mom and dad kept the boys for a few days while I drove over to San Jose to see Ben because that's where he was working at the time. It's only about a 3 1/2-4 hour trip. It was so nice and relaxing! I got to go shopping there which I have to say, California has some of the best shopping that I have been too! I really wasn't able to see him much but we would go to dinner at nights which was nice with no little boys. We drove back to Reno on Friday after he finished work. Ben was able to spend the weekend with us and then flew out Sunday night to LA. I stayed until the 10th of February which allowed me to be home to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday. I know my mom wanted to go all out but my dad insisted she not and just make it low key. So we did and we had some good friends over for dinner and it was really nice! Thank you mom and dad for everything you did for me and the boys while we were there. You took such great care of us! Aidan also thanks you for letting him "help" you wash dishes! We love you so much!

Discovery Gateway!

I had always wanted to take Aidan here. I thought that he would really enjoy it. I was able to get my friend Jenn to go with us with her two girls. My only condition was is that I didn't want to take Ethan with me because I wouldn't be able to play with Aidan. My Aunt Marla was so kind to keep Ethan for me for about 3 hours which was so nice. Aidan really did love it and we spent just over 2 hours there!

Aidan's Birthday present!

Aidan got this trampoline from his Grandma Hutchens for his birthday and he loves it. It is so much better than jumping on his little toddler bed. I was worried he would break it before Ethan was able to use it as a crib!


Aidan on his trampoline! from jaclyn on Vimeo.

Ethan is a little PORKER!

Ethan loves food! The other day Ethan was literally screaming at me when Aidan and I were eating french toast! He wanted some so bad, so I caved and fed him some. No joke he closed his eyes while he chewed his food and then proceeded to scream at me for another bite! He looked like he was savoring every bite. He ate about half of my french toast when I just had to stop. He WILL NOT eat his Gerber food anymore. He HATES it! He spats it everywhere. So now I just have to feed him everything we eat and mind you he only has two itty bitty teeth on the bottom! What else am I supposed to do. It kind of worries me because baby's aren't supposed to have any dairy before a year old not to mention other things and I feel like I have no choice. I even tried salt and peppering his Gerber chicken dinner one time because that stuff is so bland and he didn't buy it for one second! He has gotten to the point where you just have to say "that's enough" otherwise he will eat and eat and eat! He is now in the same size diapers as Aidan and is only about 4 lbs lighter then him! Here are some pictures from January when he used to eat his Gerber food!

New Year's Eve

Every New Years Eve since Ben and I were married has always been very low key. I kind of like it like that. It's easier too when you have little ones. This year after the clock struck midnight, we sat in our living room and all participated in a little "OT" (outrageous toasts). A little tradition Ben and his friends started back in the day. You toast or anti-toast to things that happened during that year and you drink some sparkling apple cider to every toast. Eventually everyone has drank a whole bottle of Martinelli! It's not the best feeling in the world but lots of fun!

Aidan's 2nd and Carmen's 11th Birthday!

Aidan was born on his Aunt Carmen's 9th bday, the 27th of December. Since we were in Vegas for his birthday we waited until we got back to celebrate it. We all went out to dinner first and then came home to have cake and open up presents. As much as I kind of hate that his birthday is so close to Christmas it's always so nice to be able to spend it with family!

On another note...Aidan had his 2 year check up earlier in the month of December and here are his stats:
weight: 25 lbs.--21%
length: 34.5 in.--64%
head cir.: 19 in.--42%

Aidan is not really your typical two year old I would say. For the most part he is really good. :) I do have some of those temper tantrum days but he does listen most of the time and can be very helpful. He is really mild. I am really glad that I haven't had to deal with him hitting or biting yet which I hope never comes. He likes to shoot people with his hand though which is better than the above. He can be rough with Ethan but more obnoxious to him than anything. Aidan loves his movies which are pretty much almost all the Pixar movies! First it was Finding Nemo, then Monsters Inc., then it was Cars. Now its Wall-E and Ratatouille. He will watch those movies over and over. He absolutely loves them. I love the way he pronounces them too. His speech is coming along. He says two to three word sentences which is normal for his age. He's not much of an eater as you can see but he loves his "hoot naks" (fruit snacks), hot dogs and his apple juice! I try not to be too picky with what he eats because he himself is so picky. We love him and enjoy seeing him grow up and reach these milestones!