Since Monica doesn't have comments turned on...

The way that Mia and I found was best to get Ethan sleeping through the night was just to set up a bedtime routine. Having a consistent bathtime, storytime, and bedtime made a big difference in getting him to sleep through the night.

I'm writing this as I sit in front of an open window in our living room. Today has been so cool thanks to some passing rain. Which surprisingly hasn't made teh whole city humid, just pleasant.

Our house is actually cool and getting some fresh air into our house is quite refreshing too.

Ethan has been going through a good time lately. He's so active, talking so much, learning new words. In fact, he's recently learned the concept of "my" and now instead of asking for "cup" he asks for "my cup". It's not gotten too far beyond cup, there are some other words he attachs my to, but not everything yet.

Today, he was so happy just being home with us. Normally he wants to go outside, which we couldn't because of the rain, but Ethan didn't seem to mind today. Sunday's can sometimes be hard, the 13 hour days including 3 hours of church can be very exhausting.

Also, as I write this, Ethan is in his room talking to himself. He's been having a tough time going to sleep at night. Not trouble really, he just doesn't want to leave us. So he sits up talking for a while, then cries for a while, then falls asleep. We've thought about keeping him up later, but we don't want to set that precedent. He still needs lots of sleep, and we want to keep an early bedtime for his health and our sanity.

I must be the most proud father in the world. I was getting ready to give Ethan a bath on Friday and put him on the potty, like I've been doing the last few days. Except that this time he actually went! I clapped and cheered him on so that he would know that this was a good thing.

He was very proud of himself too. And then he reached back and flushed the toliet. Which is another thing that he likes to do.
((I know Mia already wrote about this tonight, but I got to be here for a first with him. I was so excited))

Also, his vocabulary has been growing so fast. He is really repeating alot of what we say now days. I guess we'll have to clean up our language 0_0

I received a call from Mia today while I was at work. She told me that some friends of ours from church had just lost their son. He was only a few months older than Ethan, he would have been two in October.
While getting ready to go out to the beach yesterday, he had run out into the parking lot and was hit by a truck.

I tried not to think about this during work but since the drive home I've had a hard time thinking about anything else. We live on such a precarious line between life and death. Especially thinking about such young children. I have a difficult time coming to grips with the loss of so much exuberance for life. Little boys, especially Ethan and this little boy too, have so much energy. They laugh about everything and want to explore the world. Having a son of my own, I feel a personal sense of loss because I know the parents. I can't imagine what they must be feeling.

Fortunately, with the gospel in our lives I do know that they have the comfort of looking forward to re-uniting with their son after this life. The missed chances to be with him now are not missed chances for eternity. I hope that this knowledge will give them enough comfort to help them through this tough time.

Ok, Ok, I know that it's been a loooooooong while since I posted. Really not much excuse for it, I've just been bad about loading up this site.

So, what's been happening to us in August? Well, Mia and I have been married for 6 years. So we are offically out of the "dangerzone" for marriages that fail in the first 5 or so years. We are going strong so I'm not worried at all about hitting 10 years and then it's all just smooth sailing :)

Ethan is also growing up every day. His current vocabulary consists of:
Fire Truck (for anything that moves)
Bike (Ok, he does differentiate this one)
See ya pee (and then he flushes the toliet)
buckle (for the buckles on his high chair and car seat that he then plays with, but wont' climb into either on his own)

And he's learned that jumping is fun. Off of everything. Espeically if someone is holding his hand.

Just thought I'd do a quick update here.

It's Hot! Yes, with a capital 'H' and an exclaimation point. That's how I feel about the weather.

And Humid. You can judge my level of dislike for the humidity using the same cues as above. It's not been too humid lately, but we've been getting lots of rainstorms (with thunder and lightening) that keep the air wet.

However, all this miserable weather has a good side. When we take Ethan out to a spray park, or just to a playground, he gets really, really tired afterwards. We can put him down for a good nap, or a good night's sleep at the end of the day.

And, it still beats the winters! (note the punctuation)

Dislikes: Yeast
Likes: Icepacks

This is my first blog post on my laptop.

What? Yup, that's right, I now have a laptop. Finally.

It's great, I can now do my editing for WFM (World Forge) while still getting to be with Mia in the living room. Normally we spend our evenings apart (mostly because the office is still being cleaned and there's just not a space for a second person to sit down right now) while Mia watches TV and I do my editing or other work on the computer.

We also set up a wireless network (and secured it) so I can do this post from the living room. Sweet.

Ethan must have grown while we were on ourtrip. He does so many more things now that he couldn't (or didn't) do before we left. I really think that he's understanding more of the world around him rather than just what's right in his hands. THat's pretty amazing to see that change.

Ok, I have a legitimate reason for not posting for two weeks this time. I was on vacation.

Now, I know that Blogger has a web-based interface, but did I mention that I was on vacation?
I'll submit the write up later. However, because it was so incredibly good, I'm posting the recipe for my dad's jell-o cake here. I might have to make some for myself (maybe I'll share with Mia)

Lots of people have asked about the recipe for the Jello cake with cream cheese frosting, so I've decided to send it out to everyone.

I like to make this with Strawberry flavors, but you can use any jello/fruit you like. I've made it with Orange Jello and a few table spoons of Orange Juice concentrate before and that was really good too. Anyway, use what ever flavor of jello and fresh fruit (or fruit juice) you want, but for this recipe I will use strawberry jello and frozen and fresh strawberries.

First make a plain old yellow cake mix. Nothing fancy, but as usual in cooking, the end product only turns out as good as the ingredients you use. Bake it in a 9x13 pan and let it cool and leave it in the pan. After it is cool, take a large fork, a wooden salad fork is good, and poke holes at a slant all the way through the cake all over the top about every inch or so.

Next, follow the directions on the standard size box of Jello to make the jello except instead of adding the second cup of cold water, you add only 1/2 cup cold water. Pour the liquid jello on the cake to have it seep down the holes you poked in the top. Be careful not to dump it on too fast or it will all run down the side of the cake. Cover it with Saran Wrap and put it in the refrigerator until cold and the jello is set.

When you are ready to make the frosting, leave an 8 ounce box of frozen strawberries (I think the square box is 8 ounces, if not, buy the small, square box) out to get to room temperature. I use frozen strawberries because when they thaw they are already "crushed," but if you want to use fresh, just smash 8 ounces of Strawberries yourself. Also, leave out an 8 ounce box of cream cheese to get to room temperature.

Now, in a mixer mix the cream cheese and strawberries until smooth, then add powdered sugar until you like the taste. Depending on how sour your fruit is you might use one whole box of powdered sugar. When that is done it shouldn't be too runny. The more fruit and sugar you add the runnier it will be, so be careful and don't start out with too much of either. (I know, because I have done this) Next take a regular size tub of thawed Cool Whip and gently fold that into the cream cheese mixture until thoroughly blended. It should be a rather thick frosting and able to pile up on your cake. Take the cake out of the fridge, remove the Saran Wrap, pile on the frosting as thick as you like. Top with fresh strawberry halves (if you want). Eat immediately, or keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

I am writing this from memory so I hope I haven't forgotten anything. If you try it and it doesn't seem to work or have any questions, let me know.