Happy Birthday Eric!

Sometimes when I think about writing a blog, I think I can only write when I can "top" what happened last week, but since we probably won't have that exciting of a week for a while, I might as well post what is happening since this is as much for our family history as it is to let everyone know what we're up to. In any case, we did have a pretty fun weekend. We went with our friends the Forbushes to Quintana Beach. I didn't take very many pictures, but we did something we haven't done in a while... relaxed. We usually get up on Saturday morning, play at the beach in the morning and then go home about noon, but since I had a photo shoot in the evening, we had to stay there during the afternoon. We watched a movie in the tent on the laptop, took naps, read books and just relaxed. There was nothing for the kids to get into and Ethan could explore to his heart's content.

The weather was beautiful.

When we were ready to go home, Elia was a huge help. She dragged and carried every article from where our tent was to the road so we could load it in the car faster. I thought it was very creative that she put everything in a line. Can you find Ethan in the upper half? You can see how much help he was :)So, sometimes I think I am going crazy when I can't find things and it is no secret that I'm not the most organized person, but it doesn't help that we have a boy who likes to secretly stash things in this little cupboard in the wall. It is there to give access to the bathroom pipes, but when Eric was looking for his flip flops on Friday and we couldn't find them, I happened to look in there and found his flip flops... along with 5 videos, Elia's favorite belt (that she'd been looking for), a tube of glow bracelets, and some of Eric's boy scout materials (that he'd also been looking for). I'm not the only person to blame when things go missing! :)

Eric's already enjoyed his present (see last post) and we already had cake, but tomorrow's the official day... Happy Birthday Honey! The big 30!

U2 Baby!!!!

Well, I can finally talk about my surprise for Eric's 30th birthday! It was so hard for me to keep the surprise, but the excitement at the end was totally worth it! On Wendesday I dropped the kids off at our friends', the Forbushes, house and I gave Eric these (U2 360 Tour tickets):
He was totally surprised and totally psyched. U2 is one of his favorite groups, if not his favorite group and the concert was awesome!.... A little loud, but awesome. This was the stage...

And here's a picture.... It is so hard of course to get pictures in the concert because it is so dark, but of course the screen is huge and has a great picture. We actually had pretty decent seats and since I bought them off craig's list and negotiated with the seller, I got them for about half price of what they retailed for. I was pretty proud of myself and after all of the agony about whether this is what I should spend our birthday money on or not, I'm really glad we did. We didn't get home until 1 and were totally exhausted the rest of the week, but it was worth it. Thanks so much Craig and Lynette! They watched all three kids and Lynette put them to bed at our house and stayed up until 1 a.m. when we got back. Plus, they live across the street from the stadium so we parked for free at their place and walked over.Here's a little video...

On Thursday, Eric got called about being involved in a dragon boat race. I had signed him up when I heard about it because it seemed interesting, but it didn't seem like anything would happen, but then one team needed an extra rower. Eric had a great time (though was completely exhausted after and couldn't bend over at all today because his back was so sore). Here's his team during the race (I put a little green circle around his head).... Here they are after...

His team won the rookie cup!... He didn't get to keep the trophy, but I thought it was cool enough to warrant a photo...They also had great entertainment including a lion dance, martial arts performances, asian drum performances, etc. It was a blast.

The race this year was to raise awareness for breast cancer. They had pink firetrucks that were towing this pink ribbon. We gave a cheer to Gram when we took this picture... Today, we held an "October Birthdays" party. It started off as just and idea to invite a few friends over for cake to celebrate our birthdays, but then I got to talking with another girl in the ward whose husband has a birthday in October. We expanded it and decided to meet at a park because the weather has been so nice. We ended up having right around 40 people!. A few people brought extra treats to share and we had plenty. Here is the cake Kellie and I made. We put chocolate shavings and chocolate stars on top of cream cheese frosting. Everyone enjoyed it so much that they want to do it again in November. So, Happy Birthday to us!

Fun week, but very exhausting.

Yes Day!

We checked out a book from the library called, "Yes Day". As the name implies, the little boy's parents say, "yes" to his requests on this one day. The kids had the idea to have our own, "Yes Day". I thought... "This will be pretty harmless." So, yesterday we had our own "Yes Day". It started off with Elia requesting to not make her bed and to watch cartoons which she did for an hour or so. Then kids the requested smoothie shakes (fruit smoothies with sherbet). They had a lot of fun eating with whatever utensil they wanted to use...Then Elia wanted a freezer pop, but as she was looking in the freezer, she saw the icing that was left over from her cake, so instead she and Ethan had a serving (whatever that is) of icing. Ethan wanted to put chocolate syrup in his smoothie, so they both did that (only to decide that it wasn't that good). Elia then played on pbskids.org for about an hour and then requested more icing. Grumbling to myself I made myself say "yes" (the first time it was kind of a cool request, but the second (and then third) time I was feeling a little annoyed. We then asked Elia what she wanted to do and she wanted to watch more TV. I was annoyed at this too because I felt it was so boring! I was afraid she'd want to watch TV all day! In any case, she watched a little more while I cleaned up the kitchen and Eric mowed the lawn. She then thought about it and said she wanted a puppy! I really was shocked by this request because I didn't think there was anything she'd come up with that we really couldn't do. In any case, we aren't ready to get a dog, but we went over to the animal shelter and spent about an hour playing with this dog ("Highway") and several of the kittens they had there.
While Elia was in the car and we were getting Kara buckled to go to the shelter we looked around for Ethan and this is how we found him on the front porch...

He had requested a popsicle earlier but then changed his mind. I guess he had decided that this was a good time. Keep in mind that all of these treats were eaten before 11:00 a.m.
After playing with Highway and the kittens at the shelter...
...they had both requested not to have nap time, but we went home with the idea of having Ethan take a nap with Eric. When I got home though, I got a call from a friend reminding me of the volleyball tournament for our ward. I grabbed the kids a cucumber (hopeful I could get at least something nutritious in them) and we went to the tournament. We didn't win, but since we are part of the Sugar Land 1st ward, we thought it would be fun to put up number 1 fingers. We had a great time. I'm so glad Eric was so supportive and kept the kids from going crazy while I played.

We then went out for pizza and slurpees and then home for movie night. Elia asked if she could stay up "really late", so we stayed up until 9. They sure went to bed easily!

In retrospect, Eric thinks the day was great because we get too much in the habit of saying "no" to things and it was fun for them to indulge in their fantasies. I mean, does it really matter if they eat a smoothie with an ice cream scoop once in a while? I'm glad yes day isn't frequent, but it was fun.

In other news, we are loving the weather! It's been so cool that we've kept our windows open!

We took Elia and Kara to the doctor last week for their 5-year and 2-month check-ups. They are both 75% on height and 50% on weight.

We blessed Kara about a month ago, but I finally got to taking these pictures of Kara in her blessing dress. She is getting more and more personality.

She smiles a lot more now and has been sleeping 11 hours at night. I feel so spoiled. She also has just one dirty diaper a week, so I decided I'd try cloth diapers again (I lasted a day with Elia... she had about six or seven a DAY!). I still use disposables at night and when we go to church and stuff, but I use cloth during the day. It has been working out really well. In fact, last week I changed a cloth diaper and it was just a tiny bit dirty so I put on a disposable and 15 minutes later she had done her one poo for the week! Isn't that amazing!? So far it is working for us. I'm not cloth diaper crazy, and I'm not sure how long it will last when she starts having more dirty diapers, but I'm saving about six diapers a day.

That's about it for the Petty's. Here is one last picture of our imaginative boy... He just makes me laugh all of the time. I'm amazed at his sense of humor...

Me (to Ethan after he had tooted): "Who tooted?"

Ethan: "You"

Another time, Elia was putting her feet on Ethan's chair in the car and pushing on it. He was complaining and we told her to stop, but she wouldn't. We then started counting to three (something that we try not to do, but still do sometimes). She said, "Don't Count!" Ethan then said, "Count!" It was all Eric and I could do to keep our laughing silent as we sat in the front seat.

That's all folks! Look forward to a special post next week. For our birthdays (Eric's is the 26th and mine is the 13th) I'm taking him to a super sweet surprise! Have a great week!

A month in 517 words! (and yes I did a wordcount) :)

I've noticed that the longer I wait to write a post, the harder it gets to do it. I think that's true about a lot of things in life including housework, organizing paperwork, keeping the car clean, and cleaning out the fridge, just to name a few... which is probably why I get so behind in some of those things... Well, I've vowed to turn over a new leaf. Eric and I listened to church conference this past weekend and heard the story about they guy who said he decided he would never miss a day of scripture study and though some days he only read a little bit, he still got it done and hasn't missed a day. Here it is in writing... Eric and I have decided to commit to do that too. Maybe my persistence will carry over to some of those other things that are so easy to put off. So, here it goes....

First, a few of my favorite sayings:

1) Ethan: "What the heck. That's a bad word. We don't say that?" (After we've told him again and again of course that we don't want him saying that).
2) Elia wanted to sleep on the floor last night. Ethan was in his bunk, but then I heard giggling. I asked from the other room... "Elia, is Ethan in bed?"

"No, he's laying by me."

"Is that ok?"

Elia-"Yeah, is that OK with you?"

"...(smiling to myself)... Yes... as long as you guys go to sleep."

WOW! My opinions actually matter to her?!?! WOW!

(Footnote: of course they didn't go to sleep and they eventually got put back in their own beds).

Now, here is the month in pictures:
Church 50's sock hop. Eric helped serve and I made Kara's poodle skirt in about 10 minutes... with no pattern might I add. (I lucked out and had purchased Elia's outfit from a garage sale for $1 last month (Thanks Birdie!))

That same day I also watched PJ as his mom was in the hospital delivering their second. Ethan and PJ are about the same age... I know you wouldn't be able to tell that by their height. Most of the time they get along just great. For some reason, sticking out your tongue at the camera was what I got when I told them to smile...

Kara... poor girl. I have good intentions of taking more pictures, but I haven't taken very many recently. She is just starting to smile a ton when you talk to her... yeah! I love that! This was her at six weeks. She's two months today and changing so fast!

Pig on a stick...

The benefits of being small. Elia wanted to try it after, but we told her she couldn't :(

Last Saturday Eric did his first official bike race... a 70 miler in Lufkin, TX. I'm so proud of him... he took a picture! He said they rode well and it was quite a change because, yes, folks, there were actually hills! What a shock!

Meanwhile, I stayed with the kids. We went to the airport open house. It was more impressive than I thought it would be. They had Apache helicopters, A-10's, lots of old planes the kids could sit in, Learjets, news helicopters, and gliders. Oh, and take note of Elia's skirt. I made it!

In honor of Grandpa:

Ethan couldn't quite get the thumbs up idea. He kept putting his pointer finger out too, but the guy sure got a kick out of him.

Here is one last picture. It is Ethan pretending to take a picture. I find him so cute... even if he does get into all of my stuff. We need more practice putting things away!

OK, what's new for us?
-My mom left Friday morning, but before she left I got some fun pictures of her with the kids...



-My mom was a great help... Among other things, she made this outfit for Elia (I've started making another skirt for Elia with the same pattern), folded laundry, shredded a bag of chicken so I would have some in reserve for future meals, helped with the kids while I took breaks, watched the kids so Eric and I could play volleyball together, played Settler's of Catan games with us, had fun shopping for some new clothes for Elia for school, and took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. She also contributed to helping us break the cycle of locking the kids bedroom door at night. See, we locked the door when we first put them to bed because Ethan would be in and out like a yo-yo, but now we don't have to. She did it once while we were out at their bedtimes and now they stay in for us too. Sometimes you just need another person to shake things up. Thanks mom!
-I had a two-year-old photo session and the girl would not smile... and I mean she was straight faced almost the whole time! I tried everything!... including my monkey imitation that I only use when I'm desparate!,
-The magazine issue is almost done! Hooray! I'm excited to start over for the next issue... I know I haven't finished this one yet, but I'm excited to improve my process and be more organized for the next one.
-I had fun watching Ethan play in the rain. Notice the multi-functionality of his rainboots... he was making me a birthday cake.

I love watching Ethan at "work". He is so creative. I included a video demonstrating a typical scene in our house.

He is always cooking something, going to work or carrying something in a bag. He is famous for saying "look at me" whenever he talks to us because he's figured out that we are paying more attention to him when we have to look at him, he also loves saying, "Closeyoureyes!" and then a half a second later, "Openthem"... "I have a present!" He says the first two so quickly that you might think they were one word.

Once Eric did this to Ethan and Ethan did it back. He was kind enough to repeat it for the video camera!

I like these types of blogs that share a little more about everyday life because I know it is the cute little things that the kids do that I'm going to want to remember. Thanks for checking in!Hope everyone has a great week!

Momnesia!... Happy Birthday Elia!

As I'm going through the week things happens... the kids do something or I have a thought that I think would be great to share on the blog... then Sunday comes and I don't have anything fun that I can think of to write about! I really think at times I've lost my mind altogether. Eric thinks that talking about being crazy makes me that way, but I did a little research about whether being pregnant and having a baby makes you more forgetful or not and it seems that official studies confirm that "momnesia" (not an official name mind you) is really real! Yeah! I feel somewhat justified.

My favorite story (that I can remember) goes as follows...

Eric was out in the garage and came in the door. He said, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." I replied.

"You look like you've been doing something... You look guilty," he said.

"I haven't been doing anything," I said.

"What were you doing in the closet?" he asked.

"I wasn't in the closet."

"I heard the door close," he said.

"I promise! I wasn't in the closet. I was just standing here waiting for you to come in."

"I heard the door close," he insisted.

Once again I insisted I hadn't been in there, but then an image came into my mind of a box of food that we have as part of our food storage in the closet... Oh yeah, I remember that box. I was in the closet! ...

"Oh, I do remember opening the closet," I tell Eric... "Now what was I doing in there?"...

After a minute more of thought, I remember...

"Oh, yeah!" I tell him. "I put the mop away."

Keep in mind that I'd had the mop in my hand just three minutes previously! Incidences like these, which are very annoying, are frighteningly frequent around here. One expert I read gave me hope though and said that we (new or expecting moms) aren't getting dumber, but our brain is getting a workout... like a sleep-deprived medical resident. "You are learning a lot," she said. "Once your mommy brain gets readjusted, you get more efficient, and you become smarter and learn things faster, but it won't happen all at once."

Isn't that hopeful? I love the prospect of being more efficient and be able to learn things faster after the haze lifts... if only I can make it through my current state a while longer without totally putting my life in a mess. If anyone wants to read one of the articles I read you can find it at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-03-momnesia_N.htm.

Still, even if I have an excuse to be forgetful, I can't afford to be forgetful with the photography, magazine editing deadlines, preschool, playdates, and all of the other things I have and want to do. I have become addicted to my phone as a reminder and my day planner for planning (though I don't always remember to look at it). I put everything into the calendar on my phone and set an alarm including when I have to take my vitamins, when I have to go places, when I have photography work, when I need to do budgeting, etc. As I was writing this, I had the idea to put an alarm in my phone to check my day planner! Genius!

Anyway, enough about my deficient brain and this whirl of a week. A week ago Saturday, Eric and I went to the temple and Elia went to a birthday party. My mom came Sunday night (driving all the way from Yuma, AZ) to see the new baby and spend some time with us. It was such a blessing that she came when she did because Eric went out of town Monday morning through Wednesday night, we decided to sign Elia up for an official preschool and Sept. 1st was her first class, she had ballet on Friday morning and her birthday party on Saturday morning (more about these things later). My mom's timing couldn't have been better! Having my mom here for all of this transitioning (and party planning) has been super. She's always willing to stay with one or more of the kids while I go do something or even just take a break. I went to five stores one afternoon during the kids' naps to get supplies for the party and errands done. How nice that was to not have to pack the kids in and out of the car! I went to Sam's club and bought a berry shake and just enjoyed it all to myself! She leaves Friday and it will sure be hard.

Before my mom came Eric and I went to do some shopping with the kids. He had asked me a couple of days before if I was ever going to go shopping by myself (i.e. during the week while he was at work with the three kids). After we went shopping all together I think he understood why I wasn't jumping to go to the store by myself with the three kids!

So about our new schedule...

We signed Elia up mainly because she sometimes has a hard time leaving me or Ethan. Since Mom was here and could stay with the kids, I went one day to observe the class and see what she was doing in class so I could talk to her about it. It's a Lutheran preschool and they have a little devotional each day. She volunteered to say the prayer which I thought was great. I think in just the week she's been going she feels more comfortable with things. She didn't have much of a hard time going to school that first day. I stayed a little bit at first, but when I said goodbye, she was fine with it. It was nice that I didn't have the other two kids with me which would have made it crazier.

Ballet was on Friday. We started out the day by delivering 10 meals to some housebound local seniors with the Meals on Wheels program. We deliver meals every first and third Friday and this was my second time doing it and the first time on my own. Again... nice to have my mom. She put in the addresses in the GPS as I was delivering the meals. Elia decided after the first house to toss her cookies and lost her breakfast all over the backseat (thank goodness for leather!). I took her carseat out and hosed it off at a water spicket at one of the apartments. She seemed to be doing fine, so we took her to ballet (which she loved). Ethan peed in his shorts on the way home, so then I had the van to clean up and Ethan's car seat cover to wash! What a morning! Eric texted me at 10 and asked me to call him when I could. I called him at 1 because that was the first chance I had!

Friday afternoon we did all the preparations for Elia's party. Then on Saturday we had 12 little girls over all dressed in dresses. We painted jewelry boxes, made necklaces, played kiss the frog prince...ate mini-sandwhiches cut with cookie cutters, played on the playset between activities...took pictures in front of the castle mural (the art creation by my mom, Eric and I that took about 45 minutes to create ...... and 5 minutes to destroy...opened presents and had cake...and ice cream. The cake I have to say was a joint effort between Eric and I. On Friday night I frosted the dress and he put the frosting on the doll's top. It looks pretty cool, but Eric and I think it looks like it didn't take as much time as it did. It seems like it would be pretty simple. This Belle doll is Elia's first Barbie-type doll.

Everyone had a great time and though our house was pretty much a disaster, we were exhausted, and we realized why people only let their kids have parties with friends every other year (something that was a new idea to us, but that lots of people here seem to do), we had a great time planning and hosting the party. Our little baby is five now!
To top off the week, we blessed Kara in church today. It was fun to bless her on Elia's birthday. It seems every time I have a baby I have a renewed sense of urgency in regards to teaching the kids and raising them so they will know they are children of God. One of the guys today mentioned in his testimony the phrase, "God is my friend." I loved that because I think if we realized how true that really is, our lives would be so much easier because we would realize the eternal perspective of everything. Going back to Elia praying at school, it's nice to know that she's comfortable enough talking to God that she would pray in a new situation.

So I have four more days to get my mom's help with stuff before she goes back home. I feel so great today... probably because Kara didn't wake up to eat last night. Let's hope that continues! Have a great week!

Officially Outnumbered

How time flies! It's been a whirlwind since Kara has been born... mostly because I've been trying to get projects done while I've still had help around... but alas, the help is gone (besides Eric who really has been wonderful). Ken and Nancy left early Saturday morning, but during the course of their stay they helped out a ton with the kids which gave me a break and allowed me to get some great organizing and catching up done. Ken did a lot of my "projects" including yard work (uncovering a 10'x20' piece of yard that was hidden under bushes), mowing the lawn, fixing our lawn mower (the pull string came untied and I'm certain it was probably working its way out during all the times we've moved previously, but which happened to come undone while he was using it), putting up a shelf and numerous pictures, cooking several delicious meals and helping me hang up my thermal curtain panels. Nancy was great with the kids and would take them swimming and to the playground while I got stuff done around the house. They also took the kids to the beach one day, which the kids really loved. So with tomorrow (my first day on my own and my first day officially outnumbered) right around the corner I feel like a kid getting ready to start school -- I'm excited to get back into a routine and try out this new phase of life, but am not sure how it will go. Fortunately, several ward members have volunteered to bring meals over this week, so that will really be nice in the transition.
I love Sunday afternoons. Eric, Kara and Ethan take naps and Elia and I get to do this:

Have a great week everyone!