Bottle Feeding

We give Ethan one bottle a day so that if I ever decide to stop breastfeeding or if something were to happen and I couldn't breastfeed anymore, he'll be used to taking a bottle. Ethan usually gets this bottle for his last feeding before bed, so Olivia is usually asleep by then and hasn't really been around to see him eat from the bottle.

One evening, I let her stay up a little past her bedtime so she could see Paul before going to sleep. It was time for Ethan to have his bottle, so I asked Olivia if she wanted to feed Ethan his bottle. She quickly perked up and excitedly jumped on the couch and put the boppy pillow around her waist (which is what we do when she wants to hold him). I placed Ethan on the pillow in her lap and handed the bottle to her. She put it directly into his mouth, stared at him sucking the bottle, then looked up at me and said, "Mmmm!" It was so cute.I kept pulling the bottle out of Ethan's mouth every once in a while so I could check how much he ate and know when to burp him. When Olivia noticed me doing this, she started to pull the bottle out, look at it, put it back into Ethan's mouth for 2 seconds, pull the bottle out again, etc. She finally gave up feeding him when I told her she needed to keep the bottle in his mouth longer. She fed him an ounce and a half before she was "all done."

Listen for Olivia saying "Mmm!" at the end of the video.

I Love...

I LOVE waking up next to this guy:


I bet you thought I was talking about Paul. While I do love waking up next to him as well, he's not who I've been waking up to next to lately. Ethan is usually sleeping between us.

I LOVE the fact that for the last four nights, Ethan has been sleeping between 7 and 9 hours in his own bed. Amazing for a 6-week-old. By the time he wakes up to eat, it's around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. so I've just been keeping him in bed with us until Olivia prances into our room to get us up a little bit later. Here's hoping he keeps this up. If he does, we're going to move him out of our room and put him in the room with Olivia.

I LOVE seeing what crazy thing Olivia does next:


She walked out of her room today with her baby doll carrier on her head like it was something completely normal to do. Kids are so funny!

I LOVE my kids!

Easter Fun

We had lots of fun for Easter this year. One of our friends hosted an Easter party on Saturday for the little ones at a park and it was a lot of fun.

We ate some yummy food and decorated egg-shaped sugar cookies. I showed Liv how to ice the cookie and she did attempt to do it herself for a second, but then decided it was better to skip decorating and just eat the cookie and lick the icing.
We had an egg hunt. I pointed out the first egg to Olivia and showed her to put it in her bucket and she immediately caught on. She got so excited when she saw an egg to pick up and would point to it and say, "Oooo!" as she ran toward it. She was a master egg collector. I had to take some eggs out of her bucket and toss them back out so that some of the other kids could get some.
Then the kids had fun running around in the field and throwing the bouncy balls they got inside some of the Easter eggs.

And of course, Olivia enjoyed playing with the leaves and sticks.
Here's a picture of me and my little girl. She's using the same bucket I used when I was little for Easter egg hunts.
Unfortunately, Paul was working so he wasn't able to go to the party. Ethan was with us and hung out in his car seat the entire time. I'm so glad he's an easy baby so that I could enjoy the party with Olivia.
Thanks to Tarin and her mom for throwing such a great party!

Olivia got her first Easter basket on Sunday morning. (We didn't get her one last year since she wasn't even a year old yet.) She has been enjoying "hatching" the eggs open and eating the candy inside and loves blowing bubbles with her new bubble gun.

We had our friends April and Garreth and their daughter, Darcey, over for Easter dinner. We had a delicious meal and great conversation. We also enjoyed watching Olivia and Darcey running around giggling and playing with each other.

And most importantly, we reflected on our Savior and the resurrection. I am forever grateful to Him and all that He has done for me. I'm glad to have holidays like Easter and Christmas that bring lots of fun, family, and friends together to celebrate Jesus Christ.

Family Fun

While I was at the doctor with Ethan for his 1-month checkup, Paul took Olivia to the park.

After Ethan's appointment was finished, Paul and Olivia picked us up and we went to the mall to find Olivia some sandals. While we were there, Olivia rode the carousel for the first time and she loved it.

While shopping, we had to snap a quick picture of Liv in this adorable hat.

If she would keep a hat on, I think Paul would've made me get it for her. I had to drag Paul out the store so he wouldn't buy everything for the kids!

Ethan must think shopping is exhausting.

One Month Already

I can't believe an entire month has gone by since Ethan was born. He turned a month old on April 4th. On that day, we took him to the doctor for his well-check appointment and are happy to announce that he is a very healthy baby boy. Here are his stats:

Weight: 10lbs, 4oz (55%)
Height: 22.5 in (75%)
Head: 34 cm (50%)

Olivia and Ethan on Ethan's 1-month birthday. I love my cute kids!

Ethan still sleeps well and will sleep 5-6 hours at night before waking up to eat. He eats every 3 or 4 hours during the day (usually 4). Olivia loves her little brother a lot and is very intrigued by the little guy. Sometimes she'll suddenly stop playing, run over to where Ethan is, and stare in his face for a few seconds before running back to play.

I must admit I began to get nervous about having 2 kids as the time approached for Ethan's birth. However, after being a mother of 2 for a month now, I see that it's nothing I can't handle. That's not to say I haven't had a few days when both of them were screaming at the exact same time and I thought I was going to pull my hair out, then fall over and die though :)

Needless to say, we love our little boy and are so happy to have him in our family.

Ethan's Blessing

Ethan was blessed in church on Sunday, March 25, 2012 by Paul. It's always such a sweet experience to hear the blessings our Heavenly Father has in store for the little ones who enter the world. It was also wonderful to have lots of family around us throughout the weekend to help us celebrate the occasion. We also celebrated our niece, Emma's, birthday (it was the 23rd) and my brother, Bryan's, birthday (it was the 25th) that weekend.

My brother, Matt, and his family came into town on the Friday before, so we were able to spend time with them that evening and Saturday morning before anyone else came. Olivia and Nathan had fun playing on the porch.

Lucas enjoyed the porch as well.

Heather enjoyed being a baby hog and not having to feel guilty about it since no one else was there yet to see Ethan. (Those were her words.)

Nathan also enjoyed being a baby hog. He kept saying Ethan was his baby. Adorable!

Our little family

Bryan, Paul holding Ethan, Rich, and Matt (they were in the blessing circle)
All the family able to make it

Paul's side of the family (Rich missed being in this picture...oops)

My side of the family

Paul's mom with all her grandchildren

Brooke is such a little mommy.

Bryan's family stayed in our apartment with us and Olivia and Mallory had so much fun playing together. Olivia was already down for her nap when Mallory was being put down and she got very upset because she wanted to get in the bed to sleep with Olivia...so cute! I tried to get a cute picture of the two of them, but they weren't cooperating. Oh well.

We had lots of fun with everyone and are grateful for the support our family showed for Ethan.