Utah, Here we Come!

On Thursday I arrived in Utah to visit with my sister and spend time with Eric's parents. I was going to only come for the long weekend, but when we figured out that Eric would be leaving for Atlanta the day I got back, we used an extra frequent flyer ticket and got a seat on the plane for Elia. The kids were pretty great on the plane. I told Ethan that he had to go to sleep even though it was 10:00 in the morning and he doesn't sleep until 12:30 or 1:00. When I didn't give him any toys he was convinced that taking a nap on the flight was probably the best option. Nancy picked me up at the airport and took the kids to Logan while I spent the weekend with my sister:

We had a great time staying with her friends in St. George and "hanging out" with the girls. We all drove back to Salt Lake City on Sunday where we met Nancy. We spent Monday morning at the Children's Science Museum and then Nancy and the kids and I went to spend the afternoon with Eric's sister's family. I think we wore Elia out, plus I wasn't sure if I had any pictures that showed how she sucks her fingers so, while we can't see the end of finger sucking in sight, I thought I would document it:

I had to share some pictures of Ethan in our sink tub, so I thought I would share some pictures. He doesn't exactly fit, but he sure thought it was fun.

The kids have been having a great time in the snow. It has been snowing ALL DAY today and the kids came outside while we shoveled the driveway (something I definitely don't miss). Elia loved jumping from one snow mound to the next... ...while Ethan went around eating handfuls of snow and licking the snow off his coat.

Of course, what is snow without snowmen. Elia and I made an "Elia" snowwoman and a new baby snowperson. We haven't gotten around to an "Ethan" snowman yet, but it has been ordered. After Elia put the head on I told her when I came back to put her arm around the snowgirl so I could take her pictures. I thought it was as cute from the back as the front:

P.S. For all of you out there who don't have a webcam to video chat with your family, now is the time to buy one. K-mart has a special (that started Sunday) on the Clique Hue webcam. $14! It is so cheap. My sister now has one and I bought one for Eric to take on work trips. Go get one if you don't have one and you can keep in touch with your family so much better!

Pre V-day

Well, Valentine's Day is coming! We're getting ready. Elia made all her Valentine gifts (bracelets designed after a Family Fun Magazine idea:
Elia and Ethan got a surprise package from Grandma for Valentine's Day. They loved the surprises. I still remember how she used to send me letters with little trinkets and toys when I went to camp. She would start sending the letters before I even left so I would have them the first day I was there. This was Elia's pride and joy from the package: a huge marshmallow sucker (which I am happy to say she shared):Ethan got some new sweat pants which are so cute on him. They will be great for cold weather. I'm not sure what kind of face he's pulling here, but what a character he is:
Speaking of Valentine's Day and cold weather, I'm going to leave Eric all by himself for a week around Valentine's Day. Isn't that nice? I'm going to visit my sister and Eric's mom and dad in Utah while he goes to Atlanta for work. Hey, they say distance makes the heart grow fonder anyway, so we'll be working on our heart fondness long distance.
In other news, I am super excited because I will be writing a story for the Sugar Land Magazine. I contacted them about freelance writing and they sounded interested, but said they already had all the stories covered for the spring edition, so they wouldn't need me until summer. Two days later they contacted me again and said they had one story I could do for this edition which comes out the first of April. I loved writing for the Vernal newspaper and I'm pretty excited about doing some writing again.
I'm concluding with a fun video of Ethan's talking. I think he takes after his sister because he really never stops. This week the dialogue was very interesting:
Ethan: "I go roundebuh"
Eric: "Round de buh?"
Ethan: "Round de buh" with a head nod?
Eric: "Round the bush?"
Ethan: "Oh... I come!"
Most of the time we can make more sense of what he is saying. Elia serves as a great translator as well.
Ethan is very focused these days on Santa. Everytime candy is mentioned he usually mentions Santa (because that's who brings candy of course)! :

Tramp Hair

Nothing much new around here... We're enjoying the beautiful weather (it's been high 60's or 70's much of the time) by spending lots of time outside. On Saturday, Eric spent some time on the trampoline with the kids. This was the result: I went to my first prenatal visit on Wednesday... It was very... anti-climactic.... not that seeing the baby was unexciting, but the doctor informed me that I was exactly 12 weeks, 4 days (one day off of what my blog counter had), and that yep, there was a baby in there. I was secretly hoping for some big surprise like: "Oh, there's two in there!" or, "You're actually 15 weeks." But, no surprises for now... I guess that's why we're waiting until the baby is born to find out the gender. I guess I shouldn't hope for too many suprises -- we just want a healthy baby. Elia is requesting a little more. She has emphatically said that it needs to be a girl. "We already have a baby brother," she says. "I've been saving all my clothes for my baby sister." I try to explain that only God knows and maybe our family needs another boy, but she's not buying it. Only time will tell.
So, like I said, when you post every week (like I do) ;) There isn't much to tell all the time, so TTFN. Have a great week!
P.S.
Here is our newest indulgence: Molten Chocolate Brownies! You may not even want to try them because they are beyond-word delicious.

Eric wasn't sure about sharing the secret goodness, but being Sunday and all, we thought we would be nice. http://busycooks.about.com/od/cakerecipes/r/moltenchococake.htm