February Part 1

We are finding ourselves home more and more these days so my posts aren't so much about all of the crazy adventures we're having but rather how we are living the life of a family of 4!

Keeping Jacob entertained and happy while preparing and cleaning up from meals is a full time job in itself!

This was yet another of our snow days. Steve made it in to work but day care wussed out and closed. I'm getting pretty good at lean-to/tents of all kinds to mix it up a little bit around here.

This is how Steve ends every day. He and Jacob have a smilefest before bed. We really do just sit on the couch and try to get him to smile, coo and giggle for entertainment.

Grandma Suzanne sent up a sports quilt for the top bunk and it really completes the look of Ethans big boy room!

There's nothing much to say about this photo other than that we've had an absolutely absurd amount of snow this winter. There's almost 3 feet of snow out there.

The boys were all geared up for the Steelers/Packers Superbowl. I was surprised that Steve was able to smile for this picture since I busted out the camera just a Rothlisberger threw and interception. The story of Ethan's eye is another post...

Jacob is following in his brothers footsteps with a large head. I've had such a hard time with hats for this kid!

He no longer cries during his baths, but he is silent and uncertain about them. He gets very happy and chatty once he wrapped up in his towel though!

After struggling to gain 2 lbs in 2 months, Jacob gained 2.5 pounds in 3 weeks! He's just over 11 lbs in this picture and is gaining every day.

Here he is as my laundry folding buddy.

The Boys First Bath Together

This was a night when Steve was working late and I was feeling particularly adventurous and decided to give the boys a bath together. I invested some time in getting everything that each boy needed and planned my strategy.

Ethan was eagerly awaiting his bath partner.

The next thing I knew, it was over! They did really well. Ethan shared his toys and Jacob was mesmerized by his big brother.

One down!

I have to say, as well as he did sharing his precious bath time, Ethan was happy to have his tub back.

My clean boys!!

Assorted Pics from January

Ethan was ready to rock his 4 year check up. It was the first time he's been given a gown to wear and he was pretty hesitant about it but decided it was ok. He clocked in at 42 inches and 42 lbs. He passed his vision test and everything else they checked too. It's so funny to have the Dr talk to him about things instead of me. I was holding my breath over a couple of questions regarding his eating habits. He does like and eat fruits and vegetables so he was able to honestly answer about his favorites and also about how much milk he drinks. We need to cut back on the juice and processed foods (no more chocolate chip granola bars for breakfast...), but he's a very healthy little man.

From there we headed over to the Krangle's and he and Katie played very well for hours. Jacob test drove one of baby Owen's bouncy chairs and was ever so skeptical about these new toys dangling in his face.

Ethan rarely wants to hold Jacob anymore. Jacob is very aware of his big brother now and Ethan will play with him in his gym and turn on the music for him in his swing or papasan chair. He is a very good big brother.

We were finally able to have Christmas with Great Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Cliff, Louise and the boys on the 22nd. Unfortunately, Ethan and Steve weren't feeling well so just Jacob and I made the trip. It was the first meeting for these two and they got on famously.

J loved the light over the kitchen table.

This was the boys getting ready for the last of the playoff games. Ethan was in a mood and not willing to pose, but he too was in his Steelers gear. They did win this one against the Jets to get themselves into the Superbowl! And I'll leave it at that...

Another Snow Storm

This was the big one. The second snow storm of the season dropped over 2 feet of snow in Wilmington. We were all over the news as the big "winner" in the state with the highest amount of snowfall. I'm writing this over a month later and that snow is still on the ground...not cool.

This was a Wednesday so both Ethan and Steve had a snow day. It was fun being all snowed in together! All that snow was exciting at the time and we all went out to check out how much really fell. Steve wears his ski goggles when he uses the snowblower, so Ethan wanted to wear goggles too.



Ethan could barely walk there was so much snow! We marched around the house with me trampling the snow and him right behind me.



Steve had to shovel the wall at the end of the driveway to get it down to a height the snow blower could manage.



Somewhere in that snow bank is our mailbox.



Steve tried to dig it out.

But when he got to the post...it was gone!

He did find our mailbox in the snow bank, rested it on top of the post and that worked for a while. We've had more snow on top of this snow and he just shoved it into the snowbank. That worked for a while but today we finally had enough melting that it fell out and now I'm not sure what we'll do!

The day after the big storm, the boys and I had to get out there and play.

I loved dressing Jacob up in his handsome snowsuit...

...and throwing him in a snowbank for some pictures!

Since we don't have a hill for a backyard anymore, and because there's too much snow back there anyway, I pulled Ethan up and down the driveway for entertainment. He loved it and I felt like I was burning a few calories!

Ethan's 4th Birthday

January 8 was a Saturday this year so we were able to celebrate the big boy's birthday on his birthday. We invited 8 of his little friends over for a pizza party and they all had a blast! Ethan was so excited for his big day.



Grandma Jan came up on Friday to help me get ready for the party and thank goodness for that! The party was Lego themed and I got this idea of the internet. The lego nubs are frosted marshmellows! That was harder to do than I thought and we will never do that again. Although, they were quite tasty. I am also kicking myself for not upgrading our food coloring this year. I think Ethan was only mildly impressed with the cake because it looked so baby-ish. He didn't even eat any!

The Barnes Family was well represented as usual!

This is Austin and Tommy from Ethan's class at school (they're all Skunks).

Ethan and Charlie were undettered by the fact that the race track was not set up right. Ethan loves to play with it like this now and it's really annoying.

Katie getting a baby fix from little Jacob. Very soon I'll be getting my own baby fix from Baby Barnes!

I had been really worried about planning games for the kids to play and we didn't end up doing any. As Steve predicted, we didn't need games at all. The kids all entertained themselves the whole time and all were well behaved.

Caleb!

All the little munchkins (minus Henry who had swimming lessons) from Ethan moving clockwise we have Kyle, Katie, Charlie, Caleb, Austin, Tommy and Cole.

Cake time!

I love all the kids gathered around to see what the birthday boy got for presents.

After we recovered from the kids party, we had the Schuler's and Tremblay-Beattie's over for a yankee swap and a little more birthday.

Emma loving Ethan.

Look at these sweet babies already sharing their toys.

After such a busy weekend, Jacob was exhausted! He fell asleep while I was in the shower. He looks so darn cozy.