"I'm free!"

That's how Ethan says he's three.  The kid had quite the birthday weekend this year.  It started with his party on March 31 which we celebrated with all of his friends and ours.   We kept it simple this year and just rented out a park and pavilion.  It started at 10, so we had breakfast tacos and donuts for everyone to enjoy while the kids played on the playground. 

We went with a WordWorld theme this year since Ethan is pretty much obsessed with the show and watches it every morning while he eats breakfast.  I had fun locating supplies on craigslist since they don't make anything anymore (we even had some sent from Arizona), and I made a few other decorations.  Since Paula was still staying with us, I also recruited her help for the cupcakes.  We made all the fondant toppers in the shape of WordWorld characters, and I have to say they were my favorite part.

The park

The banner using the WordWorld font

The food

The favors

Decorations

The kids' table

The birthday boy

The cupcakes (unfortunately there was a slight humidity problem that screwed them up a little)

Blowing out the candles

He chose the dog cupcake (his favorite character)

With two of his favorite people, Nana and Paula

With Mommy and Daddy

His variation on the slide

Getting tickled by a buddy

After nap, looking at all the presents.

The next day, we had family over to do a little celebrating.  We cooked burgers and had more cupcakes and opened more presents.  It was a nice, low-key celebration that wasn't even really planned.

Birthday candles, take 2

Another dog cupcake

Finally, on his actual birthday, Ethan woke up to balloons everywhere.  I really wanted him to know it was his real birthday and to make a big deal about it (my mom always made it a big deal when I was a kid, and I loved it).

Playing with the balloons

I love this next picture because it's how he looks after he wakes up almost every morning.  Pant leg up, Gus tucked under his arm, walking down the hall. 

In the hall

Then we had pancakes for breakfast and headed out to the bounce house to meet some friends.  He bounced himself crazy all morning and then decided he wanted Amaya's for lunch, so we all headed there afterward.  Then, for dinner, we went to the cheesy fry place as Ethan calls it with Nana, Paula, and Don, which is another of his favorite eateries.  We ended the day at my mom's so we could open presents with her, my grandma, and Paula. 

Candles, take 3

And he had a blast opening presents.

So, that was the extended birthday weekend.  My baby is three.  He's so much fun, so sweet, and so smart, and he says the funniest things.  We love him to pieces for sure.

March

Another recap post, I'm slowly catching up.  Here's another picture dump to show you what we were up to in March.

We started our by celebrating a couple of birthdays, my grandma/E's G.G. (for great-grandma) and my aunt Paula's.  Ethan is very into birthdays, and he was especially excited about these because it meant his was next.

Grandma's 88th Birthday

We also enjoyed the warmer weather and re-discovered our backyard.  Ethan's really into playing "sky ball" with Daddy and burying his feet in his sandbox.  I also built a frame for our new raised bed garden and Ethan and I have taken up gardening.  He loves checking on it everyday.  He also loves picking things before their ripe, which is not so awesome.

Being silly in the backyard

Ethan mastered the potty.  He's a pretty awesome kid and got it right away, a few weeks before his birthday.  We're proud.

Potty time

We also added a new member to our family.  We've wanted to get Ethan a dog for awhile and we finally found one at the local shelter that we loved.  His name is Harvey, and while he is definitely trouble, he's been a great addition.

Picking up Harvey to bring him home

We also went to the Austin rodeo.  Well, not really the rodeo so much, but the fair.  We checked out the petting zoo, which kinda scared Ethan.  I don't really blame him, the goats were all up my skirt and the sheep was quite aggressive and kept trying to eat my shoe.  We did find a couple nice animals to feed, though, and then we got out of there as fast as we could.

Feeding the goat.  Or a deer, I can't remember.

At the carnival, we let Ethan ride a few rides.  I didn't think he'd be up for them because he's usually reluctant to try things like this, especially without me, but he had a blast.  He had his buddy, Dax, with him, so I'm sure that helped a lot.

Riding the carousel.

Train ride.

Driving the cars.

 

After getting our fill of rides and fair food, Cory and Ethan tried a few games.  Ethan really liked the one where you try and throw balls into the bowls.

Concentrating

What do you win when you make one in?  A fish.  Not a cute stuffed animal, a live goldfish that I get to take care of.  If you ask Ethan, he won the fish, but his father might disagree.

Carrying his prize

He's been named Fishy Fish, and thankfully he's still alive.

bluebonnets

March is one of my favorite times in Texas, and that is largely because of wildflower season.  I love them, especially now that I can take Ethan out and snap a ton of pictures of him in them.  He is not very cooperative, however.  He refuses to look at the camera most of the time, and real smiles are hard to come by.  I actually took him out to a field near our house twice this year to maximize my chances of getting a few good pictures.

The first trip out didn't provide much.  Here's a couple of sort of cute ones that I got.  The rest were just him running away from me or falling into the flowers.

The second time, we took along one of Ethan's good friends, Dax, and it was much more productive.  The boys had a lot of fun chasing each other around and they were pretty good little models. 

Running out to play

Not quite a smile, but pretty darn cute

His version of posing I guess.

Finally some smiles

And more smiles

Just thinking...

Being silly

I added this one just because I like the zoomed out view of all the bluebonnets.

One of his buddy, Dax.

Exploring together.

So that was our bluebonnet adventure for the year.  Picture overload, I know, but I just couldn't decide. 

January

Behind again, what's new.

So, January.  I didn't take many pictures (plus, my computer crashed and I lost a bunch), but here's what we did.  We wrapped up the holiday season in Southlake with the Whitsetts.  Ethan had a blast playing with his cousins and seeing all his aunts and uncles.  We also celebrated Cory's birthday and New Year's Eve while we were there, which reminds me I had an adorable picture of E in his NYE hat, but I lost that too....very sad.

cousins playing in the leaves

Where's Ethan? (one of his favorite games)

Opening presents

Back home, admiring the tree one last time.

Then, a few weeks later we had the idea to meet some of our favorite friends at the San Antonio Zoo.  Ethan loved it when we went last August, so I thought it'd be great to go back when it was a little cooler.  We took off after dance class one Thursday, and E was great on the road.  When we got there, we took a stroll in Brackenridge Park and had a picnic while we waited for our friends.  We also had a nice time on the playground and enjoyed the lovely warm weather.

Playing

Afterward, we hit the zoo and stayed pretty much until closing time.  It was a lot nicer than last time since we knew what we wanted to see and could skip a lot of the other things.

Checking out the lions

Looking at some animals with his buddies.

Elephants

I'm thinking Ethan's a little spoiled with these zoo visits, because he was a little less interested in the animals this time.  He still had a lot of fun running around with his friends and climbing on rocks.  He also fed the fish again and had his own fill of snacks.

I'm so glad I finally started to catch up.  I have much more to share, so I hope to stay on track for once.

Christmas

Well, late again, but let's talk about Christmas.  We had the privilege of hosting this year, and I was super excited.  It's a lot of work, but definitely worth it to have a good old fashioned family Christmas. 

Quick back story that you can feel free to skip:  We used to host Christmas at my house growing up every year and I have such fond memories of all the traditions we used to have.  We moved out of that house when I went to college, and my mom and aunt moved to separate places (I grew up living with both of them).  We had been storing all of the family Christmas decorations at our house as well, so when we moved, we transferred them all to my grandparents house in Bastrop.  And then it caught on fire.  So this year, we pretty much had nothing.  All of our stockings, my aunts and uncles lost all of the ornaments that had been around since they were kids, and mom and I lost all the ornaments from my childhood as well.  Not to mention, our very special tree topper, a ton of various decorations, lights, dishes, etc. 

So my goal this year was to try my best to make it as close to how it used to be as possible.  With my aunt living with us right now, it made it even better since we used to do it together anyway, along with my mother of course.  We did all of our traditional recipes and activities, and I had a blast.  Hopefully everyone else did too.

Here it is by the numbers, just for fun:
51 presents purchased and wrapped (just ours, not from the whole family)
17 stockings restored/sewed to replace the ones we lost in the fire
2 Christmas trees
3 ornaments re-made for mom to replace a few that I made in elementary school for her
19 strands of lights on the house
99 items on the Christmas grocery list
14 people at Christmas dinner

My mom and aunt making popcorn balls.  Just how I remember it, them frantically scrambling to get them formed before the caramel cools while screaming "ouch, ouch, hot, hot, hot."  I may have done this recipe purely for the entertainment.

Everyone decorating the tree Christmas Eve

Ethan and Nana decorating the tree

Ethan had the honor of putting our new special Erin angel on the tree

Presents.  This wasn't even all of them yet.

All new ornaments, but still beautiful.

My aunt found the stockings from the siblings' childhood.  They were in bad shape, so we restored/replicated them as a surprise.

And also made 10 more new ones for the rest of the family

 Christmas morning was wonderful.  It was so great to see Ethan really get it for the first time.  He was so excited, he kept gasping as he opened presents and saying "what is it, what is it?!?" He loved his wire maze from Santa, which was actually the exact one he asked for, and he also got books, balls, trains, and a bike from Santa too.  The rest of us spoiled him rotten as well with a new train table, more books, clothes, an easel, a microphone, and a million other cool things.

Opening his stocking

His wire maze

Christmas morning chaos

Unfortunately, that was the extent of my picture taking, but the rest of the day was lovely as well.  We had a lot of snacks, played games, tinkered with our new gifts, and had a lovely ham dinner. 

Cory and I gave each other Kindles (we had no idea), and my mom spoiled me with my very first Le Creuset (in purple!), and I loved every other gift I received as well. 

It was a great Christmas.  Next year, we'll hopefully be back at my grandma's in her brand new house.