The Biznards

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Scoop

Its been a while since I've blogged, here's a little update:

(Grandma Lynette, Ethan, Grandma Judy)

Grandma Judy came to visit us for about 10 days and she just left this morning. We're sad to see her go! I've been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law and we had a great time. Here's what we did: We took a little roadtrip to Chad's cousins wedding, ate out a lot, got spoiled by her, she cleaned my toaster and my stove, did my dishes, put up with Ethan's coughing fits as they shared a room at night, she watched The Bachelor without too much complaint :), watched movies, ate out some more, she and my mom had a 7 hour ladies day out, we went bowling where she bowled 105 (she claims she hasn't been bowling for years. We don't really believe her, Chad and I didn't even break 100), not to mention all our great conversations. It was a blast. Thanks for the great time Judy!!

Tidos back! Tido just got home today from a 10 day vacation and he's got a few extra pounds to show for it. I don't know what they fed the guy but he is fat! And good news - you might be looking at a potential father.

You've got to be kidding me! I can't believe they put these two through to the top 36. That makes me angry. As I was watching, in my anger, I vowed I wouldn't watch the show anymore. Chad called me on it and I quickly relented. Ok, so I'll watch it this season, but I'm not happy about it.

They took this guys spot. He should have been on the show. Jamar got gypped!

Give me sun or a tanning bed cause I'm so tired of these cold, gray skies that never seem to end!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Pseudo-baby

Tido has become my pseudo-baby until I get a real baby. He fulfills my need (kinda) to cradle something small. And he lets me! Yeah, I'm crazy. At least I'm not carrying around a doll in public that looks like a real baby. Did anyone else see that Dateline?? Weird.

People sometimes ask us how the adoption process is going and all we can really tell them is nothing is happening. We're still waiting, and for that reason we're trying to be more proactive about getting the word out. Oftentimes an adoption happens through word of mouth.

We're signed up with LDS Family Services and you can check out our profile at itsaboutlove.org . Feel free to send any pregnant ladies our way!! (Unless of course they're happily married and want to keep their baby).

I also want to thank all of you who are rooting for us and have supported us through this whole process. Thank you for being true friends!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Many Faces Of Our 6 Year Old

Today is Ethan's birthday! It seems that every year he gets just a little bit sillier (and tired of me always taking pictures of him).

This year we opted for a no friend party. Yay! I don't know why, but those parties always stress me out. Instead, Chad took him out for donuts (one of his favorite treats), then I took him out to MickyDs, we then went to see Bedtimes Stories at the theater, he got his choice of dinner - meatballs, and his choice of dessert - Reeses peanut butter dessert, and of course presents. It doesn't get much better than that when you're six. The rest of the night was spent putting together legos and Chad and Ethan wrestling - currently his two favorite activities.

Happy Birthday Ethan! You are our joy!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Christmas and New Year Recap

We had such an enjoyable Christmas! It was the first time we've had Christmas at our own house and it was really fun. We got together with most of my family on Christmas Eve where we had an awesome turkey/ham dinner. We then had the kids dress up and do the nativity from Luke 2. Ethan was a shepard this year, and he even had a pool cue as his staff. We then had a little talent show where the kids performed piano and dance solos, and Ethan did some magic tricks. Courtney uploaded a funny video clip of the talent show on youtube if you want to go check it out here.

When we got home on Christmas Eve, Ethan got to open one gift and he was super excited. When he opened the present and saw that it was just pajamas he went from super excited to super disappointed and was sure he could talk us into letting him open another gift, which of course didn't happen.

On Christmas morning Ethan slept until 7:20 - not so bad! We opened presents and ate Rhodes Orange Rolls (so good!). One of my favorite parts of the day was just hanging out and playing
with Ethan and all his new toys.

This is a video clip of Ethan showing his excitement on Christmas morning. WARNING: My voice and laugh are sooooo annoying and for that reason I hesitate to post it (if only I could edit myself out), but if you can get passed it, I think you'll enjoy it. This "performance" was totally spontaneous. He's really into opera singing these days.

In the afternoon we went sledding with the rest of the family. Soooo fun! And Ethan was a champ - he went down any run.

After sledding, we met up with the rest of the family who didn't sled and ate leftovers, talked to Elder Chase on the phone, and played games til midnight. As I said, it was just an ENJOYABLE Christmas!

For New Years Eve we went to a ward party where there was dinner, face painting, movies, and dancing. It was really fun. At around 10pm we headed to Spence and Mel's and played Pictionary - a new family favorite. At midnight, we stopped for a second to exchange 'Happy New Years!' and kisses and then quickly resumed our game.

I love December and I'll miss it, not only because I love Christmas and what it represents, but also because I became addicted to goodie plates and to all the Christmas cards that come in the mail. Thanks everyone!

Happy 2009 everybody!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Michaels To The Rescue!

What do you do as you're running out the door to take your kindergartner to his last day of class before Christmas break? You remember you didn't get his teacher anything for Christmas. Shoot. Ahh, yes, luckily you've got a gift card to Michaels that's been sitting on your dresser since May that was supposed to go to his preschool teacher at the end of the school year. Awesome. You quickly write who its to and who its from and then you dismiss the "amount" since you can't remember how much is on it. As you're grabbing last minute stuff before walking out the door you see a plate of goodies that were supposed to go to Chad's work but he forgot. Nice! Tape the gift card to the top of the goodies and you've got the perfect teacher's gift. And now your kid's on her good list. Score! Now I'm just crossing my fingers the gift card still works!

Yesterday we made a snowman! Chad and Ethan were the master snowman makers and I was the master snowman making documenter.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Our Latest Christmastime Project

As we're preparing to make the gingerbread house, Ethan exclaims, "My dreams have come true!!"

Me: "Why?"

Ethan: "Because I get to make a gingerbread house!"

And with that kind of enthusiasm how can we not make that our new yearly tradition?? This year was made with a kit, maybe one year I'll actually try making it from scratch.

Thanksgiving in Cali. For Thanksgiving this year we spent it with Chad's family in Cali. It was so much fun to be with his family in the (pretty) warm California sun. The highlight for me, besides the Thanksgiving dinner of course, was doing some midnight shopping at the outlets. Unfortunately I only took 3 pics of the whole trip.

Ethan and two of his cousins on a carriage ride.

Ethan and his cousins at the park.

AND the best $100 dollar investment we've ever made - the portable DVD player.

For a long time Ethan begged us for a new suit for church. Here he is looking all dapper.

Calling All Mattress Owners!

You know you need a new mattress when:

Your back aches everytime you get out of bed in the morning. (Check)
Your shoulder aches from lying on your side. (Check)
You find yourself falling to the middle of the bed. (Check)
You spend much of the night tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. (Check)
You need at least 2 pillows at all times - one for your head and the other as a body pillow. (Check)
When you're both reading in bed you have elbow fights because there isn't enough room for both elbows. (Check)
You've got 2 different foam pads on the mattress just to make it more comfortable. (Check)

We obviously need a new bed and we're hoping you can help. If you love your bed PLEASE tell us what kind it is and why you like it. THANKS!!

Ethan & Gavin Quotes Worth Repeating:

The best is when Gavin tells me, "You're my best mom!" And when he comes out from his nap and says, "Mom, I still love you." (I love the "still" part - I'm just glad his feelings didn't change during his nap).

This morning Gavin saw the medicine cups on the counter and said he needed medicine. Since he's not sick, I said, "You don't need medicine, you're not sick." He goes all whiny, "but I am sick! I'm sick of cereal." (January 6, 2015)

Today I shared half of my cookie with Gavin, he very politely replied when I handed it to him, "Thanks mom! Good job sharing!" (Sept 20, 2014)

This was told to me by my neighbor while Gavin was at her house playing with her daughter, Emma.
Emma tells Gavin, "I have a bum."
Gavin: "I think I have a bum too."
All the while looking behind them trying to get a peak at their own bums. I love conversations between three year olds! (Sept, 2014)

I was talking to Ethan about my on t.v. interview the next day. He was a little nervous I'd embarass him and goes, "Mom, I really don't want you to make a fool of this family!" (July 11,2013)

On Friday we took Ethan and 5 of his friends somewhere for his birthday. We borrowed my brother's car since its big and it could fit all of us. When we all got in the car the boys were saying how the owner of the car must be rich because the car was so big. They were informed that the car belonged to Ethan's uncle. They were still in awe of how rich he must be when Ethan exclaimed, "He's a redhead, of course he's rich!" Hmm...if only I were a redhead. (January 14, 2011)

Ethan gave Tito a little kiss on the head. After he kissed him he was wiping Tito's head off and said, "I'm wiping the wetness off, but the love's still there." So profound. (October 10, 2010)

My sis-in-law Mel and I took our kids to a pool to swim pretty far from our house. They'd been in the car probably for about 30-45 min. I hear Ethan in the backseat ask his fellow cousins, "Are you guys having fun? I'm having fun just talking!" (October 7, 2010)

One morning as Ethan was requesting some breakfast, he said, "Hey, you're kind of like my servant!" He was quite pleased with that discovery. (May, 2010)

At dinner Ethan says to Chad, "Dad, how do you eat in like two seconds?!"

Chad: "Cause I'm a pig."

Ethan: "Pigs don't eat THAT fast!" (March 4, 2010)

Ethan Quote Archives

My Mom was telling Ethan about how she remembers her 1st grade teacher. She paused for a moment to think of her teacher's name and Ethan took the opportunity to whisper in her ear and inform her, "She's probably dead." (January 26, 2010)

Ethan, analizing why the spider was crawling on his leg the other night. "I don't think that spider was TRYING to poison me." (December 18, 2009)

"My friend want to write Santa to tell him what he wants. I want to write Santa to thank him for all that he does." (December, 2009)

From the backseat Ethan says, "I have my pinky in my nose. I'm not picking it, it just kin of feels good!" I looked back and sure enough, his pinky was in his nose. And in all honesty, he's really not a nose picker so I know it wasn't just an excuse. (August 14, 2009)

Chad and I were talking about how my sister-in-law, Mel is going to be the president of Ethan's old preschool. Ethan must have missed the "preschool" part and he goes: "What!? Mel's going to be president? Its not going to be Barack Obama anymore?" (August 9, 2009)

While Ethan was coming home from school with my friend Cathy and her two boys, apparently her two year old was being really loud and Ethan says, "I always wanted a sibling, but I didn't know they could be so anooying!" (May, 2009)

While we were at the park with one of Ethan's friends and his mom, Ethan's friend realized he lost one of the toys that he brought. As he and his mom started frantically looking for it, Ethan quietly, yet knowingly says to me, "And that why I don't bring toys to the park." (March, 2009)

During church Ethan plugs his ears and says, "I don't want to listen anymore."
Me: "Why?"
Ethan: "Because I don't want my eardrums to run out of hearing." (3/15/2009)

Ethan and I were looking through a book about bodies and we were talking about kidneys and where they are located in the body.

Me: (Pointing to the small of his back) "So this is where your kidneys are."
Ethan: "So does that mean you have adultneys?"
Get it? Adult-neys? He's got kid-neys, so I should have adult-neys right? And he wasn't kidding. (1/20/2009)

Me: "Ethan, do you love Tido?"
Ethan: "Yeah, I love him...The only thing I don't like about him is that his butt is always in your face." (1/5/2009)

As we were talking about going to Costco and getting some lunch, Ethan exclaims, "I just love Costco food! Its just so good! We should get their recipe and their autograph!" (1/2/2009)

I'm a little more familiar with the area where we live than Chad is, so sometimes I have to tell him where to turn while driving. One day while I was telling him where to turn left and right, from the backseat Ethan says, "Mom, stop bossing dad around!" (a while ago, 2008)

Aunt Courtney asked Ethan what his favorite part of kindergarten is, he replied, "going home." (9/1/2008)

Ethan: Dad, when you got married did you have a wedding cake?
Chad: Yes I did.
Ethan: Why didn't you save any for me?...Well, its ok cause I guess you didn't really know about me then. (8/12/2008)

While putting Ethan to bed tonight he told me, "You're the sweetest parents I ever had." (6/11/2008)

The other day we were at the store and there was a shirt that Ethan wanted that we didn't buy for him. The next day while he was getting dressed he comes up to me and says, "Mom, I'll give you a choice, either you buy me that shirt or I won't wear any clothes tomorrow." (6/8/2008)

Today during testimony meeting Ethan says to Chad,
"Oh gosh, why does everyone have to say the church is true?"

Tonight as Ethan and I were sipping out hot cocoa, I asked him if it ever made him sad that he didn't have any brothers or sisters. He replied, "No, I have a good life."

While driving in the car I was telling Ethan how he was going to play with his good friend Hayden the next day. Ethan hesitates, "Well. . .I was going to do some research tomorrow." "Oh really, well what are you going to research?" "Oh, I was going to do some research on my mission." (3/13/08)

One Sunday during the Sacrament Ethan whispers to me:
"I can't think of Jesus, I can only think of Superheroes."

"I want to be a cow so I can poop in a field."

"When adults tickle kids they pee a little bit."

Ethan: I want a new mom.
Me: Well that makes me sad that you would say that. Why do you want a new mom?"
Ethan: Because you're so old.

Me: "Ethan, I'm so glad you're my son."
Ethan: "Don't talk about son, child, married, or pregnant. That makes me nervous."

As Ethan was looking at Courtney's parakeet and the bird was looking back at him with just one of his eyes, cause that's just how birds look, Ethan demanded, "Look at me with both eyes bird!"

Today while driving in the snow Ethan asked me if snow is white. I told him that it is and he said, "Oh good because I was worried that I be blind color (aka color blind)."