Which came first?

Life or Blogging?

I've been doing a lot more living lately. Is that the right word for it? Life has been more busy for me anyway. Work, Family, Hobbies, all the things that get in the way of telling you the stories you want to hear about how we are doing.

It's an odd paradox. Do I go on with the living or do I take the time to record it. I know that journaling is an important heritage for the future generations. I'm actually glad that I'll be able to give Ethan and Edward a glimpse of their lives when they were too little to remember. (Like now when they are still so cute.) But, sometimes I take for granted the fact that I will have memories of these times though no one else will (except Mia). The boys are too young and the parents are too far away (for the day-to-day experiences).

It's amazing how fleeting the days really are. How quickly the time passes, even when Ethan's bedtime feels like it's dragging on forever. I suppose the new year is making me feel more of my age.

But, not to leave you empty-handed after my waxing philosophical. Here are a few stories of what's been happening in our lives.

Earlier this week, Ethan decided he wanted to wear ties to church just like dad. However, he didn't really have any button down shirts or (good) ties. So, he and Mia went out shopping and got him a little white shirt and green truck tie. He looked very handsome today wearing it to primary.

Edward has started giving us little smiles. Or at least we are interpreting them as smiles, they might still just be gas but we like to think it's otherwise.

Ethan loves to play with his Buzz Lightyear action figure. He knows all of the phrases he says, he loves to say them while playing with him. But just playing with a superhero, as he calls him, isn't enough. Ethan also likes to pretend that he is a superhero and makes appropriate poses before dashing off to rescue someone.
Edit: I should mention that Buzz's full name (per Ethan) is: "Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue Space Ranger." And, he calls him by his full name every time he's talking about Buzz.

Edward also loves to lie on his playmat and wave his arms trying to hit the hanging toys. Sometimes he is successful.

Ethan is big into making forts out of the couch cushions on the blue couch. He likes them built a specific way. Sometimes he wants a door, sometimes he doesn't. But he always wants a roof. Then, he likes to bust out of them to surprise us.
Also, related to that, Ethan always hides in the ruins of a fort when I come home from work. It's fun to walk into the living room and ask "Where's Ethan?"

So, those are just some of the things going on in our lives. Please tell us what's going on in yours.

Imagination Running Wild

Ethan has a very active imagination. If you've ever known any 3-year olds, this might be familiar to you.

Today a couple of funny things have happened:

1. He was lying on the couch (something that I was doing this morning) and told me he wasn't taking a rest but was just thinking. When I asked what he was thinking about he said, "Forts and TV shows."

2. Ethan and I were building forts out of couch cushions this morning. It's one of Ethan's favorite things to do.

3. During nap time, Ethan was lying in bed and pulled the covers over his head so the Evil Emperor Zerg couldn't kill his head. Then he put his hands out to see if Zerg would kill his hands. Then he put his feet out to see if Zerg would kill his feet. He pulled his feet back in saying, "No, I need those to walk."

4. He was captivated while watching an episode of Vroom Riders. Is that out on DVD yet. ;)

What a fun, funny little boy.

Memories of sleep

I know that it's been a while and I apologize. Unfortunately, my schedule has been extremely erratic lately for a few factors.

1. Edward. He sometimes sleeps well at night and sometimes doesn't. It's kind of a craps shoot. Last night he was up at midnight until 2am. Then he woke up again at 4am :(

2. Laptop. The power cord on my laptop broke, right near where it connects to the computer. This has made getting online to update my blog (or anything) much more difficult. I can't sneak in a few minutes before bedtime and the office computer is slowly dying.

3. Sleep. I fell asleep at 8pm on Saturday. That's how tired I was. This is not an entirely uncommon occurrence for the last few weeks. Some days we'll stay up late anticipating a rough evening with Edward, some days we'll go to be early anticipating middle-of-the-night troubles. Sometimes we guess right and sometimes we don't.

So, those are my pathetic excuses. I'll be getting up and running again soon (should have a new power cord in tomorrow and only 2 more weeks till Edward should start sleeping better). We do have some cute stories, pictures, and videos of the kids to show, please be patient and I'll get them up.

I'm Alive...

barely

Welcome Baby Edward!

Ok, people have been asking about our new baby Edward. Here's the information:

Edward
Born: 5:39pm 12/19/07
Weight: 9lbs. 3oz.
Height: 22 3/4 inches
Circumcision: Done

And, here are some pictures.

First Snow

Here's a quick peek at my handywork over 2 rounds of snow shoveling. Ethan came out with me the first time and he loved it.

Likes: Social Webs, Social Engagement, Social Energy

Dislikes: Social Isolation

Non-linear Narrative

I was listening to the radio and heard a new song the other day. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the band so I can't link to it.

But, the song was completely linear narrative. It was like someone wrote a short story (I would say Flash Fiction but that's typically got abstract elements to it) and then picked up a guitar. In other words, I was not impressed by it.

The music should be the driving force in a song. The lyrics do not need to take me from point A to point B, the music does that. Lyrics can supplement the story-telling but shouldn't beat you over the head with it. Non-linear lyrics, and even nonsequitur lyrics, make for a more interesting song in my opinion.

I have the same feelings about poetry. When you try to force a narrative story into a poetic form, you typically end up with a piece that sounds stilted. The lyricism of poetry (like music) means that your words aren't the focus. The words are secondary to the flow and emotions you are trying to draw out of your reader.
Caveat: Random snippets of pseudo-profundity about how dark your life is does not count. ;)

-y

Ethan likes to add the -y sound to just about everything that he says these days. These are all used a nouns.

Some of his favorites are:
Blankie
Cuppy
Chippy
Milky
Chairy
Bally

Some of my favorites are:
Worky
Underpanty
Penisy

Happy Birthday!

Well, Ethan is officially 3 years old. He's also officially a 3-year old.

The boy is precocious, inquisitive, active, loving, moody, friendly, and growing every day. He's only three years old but it seems like he already knows everything about this little world.

Today was a good birthday. Ethan was old enough to realize what a birthday means, and he's been very excited about opening his presents. So, this morning we opened all the presents from mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa Jo, Grandma and Grandpa M, Grandma and Grandpa G. Yeah, that's a long list, just like there were a lot of presents. He loved opening and playing with all of them.

At church we told his teachers that it was his birthday, so they made sure to sing him a birthday song. Actually, they have been taking the nursery kids over to primary and they sang the birthday song to him there. He got to stand in front of the whole primary (he told me).

We held a small birthday party at our house after church. We invited Ethan's pre-school friends. One of them was sick so it was only 2 families. That was perfect for how crowded our house is getting. I had no idea how good of friends Ethan has become with his pre-school group but they all played together so well. They didn't take any of the normal time to get comfortable with each other. And they all ate dinner together at the same table, it was so cute.

After dinner, it started snowing. Ethan said that it was snowing because it was his birthday. He's so cute.

Unfortunately, after missing his nap because of church, and so much excitement during the day, bedtime was difficult. But, he's asleep now and tomorrow, he'll wake up as a 3-year old (still).