Up, up and away!

Here is Ethan on the plane sitting in a big boy chair! We were lucky enough to have an extra seat next to us. He was surprisingly good, and even took a nap on my lap during the two hour flight. And we now know why. Catching a 6:50 am flight out of an airport one hour away from us, Ethan had to be awoken at 4:30. Youch. Maybe that's why he doesn't look so happy!

The Woes of Parenthood

We are about to hop on a plane for a family vacation when I decide that it is probably a good idea to make sure that Ethan is well. Two weeks ago he had an ear infection and sore throat, and I wanted to make sure it was all cleared up. After all, his sleeping hasn't been too good. Not only that, after taking all the antibiotics he was left with a yeast infection in his "lower parts". The poor kid has been itchy for a week now, so that was another reason to have the doctor take a look.

Well, the diaper rash was indeed a yeast infection, but it is all over his bottom! I just thought it was bad diaper rash, and the front part was the yeast infection (he has had this before) And the ointment we've been using hasn't been working, so now we're using a prescription. As I was driving home from the doctor I was filled with an overwhelming sense of love for my son. I love him so much, and I can't stand when he isn't well! And such an annoying ailment, too! And right before a trip, to boot.

We have the worst luck, I think, since every time we take a trip Ethan either has a cold, an ear infection or both. Now he's got one bad case of jock itch!!!!

Under Construction

With David done with summer teaching obligations for the next few weeks, we've started those long-awaited home improvement projects. The first one is removing that old, 90's wallpaper in the front entranceway and on the living room "accent wall". Our entranceway is so very tall, since we live in a split level. Here's David testing out his balancing act while ripping off the paper.

The other projects include new kitchen counter top, sink and faucet, possibly some new paint, too. We also would like to update our guest bathroom downstairs. The kitchen stuff has been ordered (it took me a month to decide on color, material, and who to buy from), and the sink and faucet purchased. Now we're just waiting in line to have it arrive then installed!

Ethan's First (Professional) Hair Cut!

It was high time to trim the boy's tresses! Though his hair isn't TOO long, it was very wispy and made him look a bit sloppy. So, we went off to this place called "Cookie Cutters", a hair place that specializes in cutting kids' hair. Each station had its own DVD player, and each seat looked like cool ride on toys like cars, planes and trucks. We brought Ethan's favorite video and sippy cup and let them work their magic.


Ethan behaved very well, though he wasn't too happy when she brought out the clippers. That buzzing tickled his neck! But despite all that he had a pretty good time watching his video and honking the horn in the little car he was sitting in.

Father's Day

The local zoo was having a Father's Day "deal" this past Sunday. All dads had free admission to the zoo. So off we went after lunch to enjoy the petting zoo, the large "kitties" (that's what we call our zoo's leopard, tiger and bobcat), bears, otters and rain forest lemurs. Here is Ethan having his first up close and personal encounter with a goat!

Hiking in Funk's Grove

Since David and I like the outdoors, we thought buying a back pack for Ethan might be a good investment. To test out our theory, we borrowed one from a friend of ours to see if we were really up to the task of hiking with 25 lbs on our back . It was really tough! I was particularly interested in trying it out myself. I had some bruises and red marks for a couple of days after! David says he didn't feel too bad. Maybe I'm just out of shape :)

While we don't think we'll be doing any long hiking trips anytime soon, we did manage to find a used back pack at a garage sale. So at least we're ready for anything!

Meet me in St. Louis

Today is our 3 year wedding anniversary! To celebrate we took an overnight trip to St. Louis--we just got back! We had just enough time to visit the zoo, the "Jewel box" and the St. Louis Science Center. What a fantastic time...

The zoo is enormous! We only spent three hours there yesterday afternoon, but it felt like an eternity on our feet! Though rain was predicted, we only felt a drop or two. There was blazing sun both days of our visit.

And at the Science Center we saw life-sized replicas of dinosaurs. They even moved! There was tons of stuff to see, but time was running out...we had to hurry home to make bedtime for all of us :) Ethan was zonked at the end of the trip!