New Hats....very stylish :)

Letters to Santa and Christmas Tree

This year we sat down with the boys to write letters to santa. We mainly did a Q&A format where we asked them questions and formulated their answers into the letter. Here are their letters in a nutshell:

John's letter:

Dear Santa,
I really want tools. I've been a good boy (said quietly and a little unsure). Please bring me music because I like (prounonced "yike") to dance. I love ("yuv") Santa, Ethan, Mama, Daddy and Duke. Please bring me pink balloons - 2 of them. Check your list Santa Clause. For mommy and daddy, please bring trolls. For Ethan - a book, for Grandpa - candy canes, for Grandma - tables and chairs, for Nana - ice cream. Merry Christmas! - john drury


Ethan's letter:

Dear Santa,
I've been a good boy. I would like a horsey and tools. I really like (yike) you and will make you cookies and milk. I've only been a little bit naughty this year...I was mean to Rawle at preschool when he was naughty to John. For mommy, please bring a horsey or something. For everyone else, please bring a horse or something. I love you! - ethan drury

The boys were sooooo excited to decorate our Christmas tree this year. We made the journey down to Logan Hill Tree Farm in Chehalis (with our good friends Chaney and Logan) and picked out a beautiful 7 foot Noble...for only $25! The tree farm was a little "backwoods/deliverance style", but we had fun and it is a fun memory. Here is a picture of our tree all decorated! Merry Christmas to all!

Terrible 3's

I had to post this because Jason totally made me laugh the other day. We were driving home from the cabin and the boys had finally fallen asleep after an hour or so of loudness....Jason asked me "so, how long do you think the terrible 3's will last?". My reply - "about 6 more months until they turn 4" *giggle, giggle, snort, snort*. They are such a blessing, but the terrible 2's definitely turned into the terrible 3's. I wonder what the 4's have in store for us....only time will tell :).

Bubble Bath Fun

These pictures just crack me up (taken on my phone, so the quality isn't great). The boys' favorite new thing to do in the bathtub is float with just their faces sticking out of the bubbles...they think it's so fun and it cracks us up.

Home Haircut

This morning, our curious, into everything, son John, got up on the toilet and reached the shelf with Daddy's beard clippers. He then proceeded to give himself a reverse mohawk...


We had no choice but to shave the rest of his head. Our poor baby looks like Mr. Clean...it's gonna be a cold winter :(

Halloween 2009

We had a fabulous time this year on Halloween. Our good friends Chaney, Marin and Logan (our boys' brother from another mother) came over for a yummy dinner, complete with "dirt cake" dessert. We then dressed up the kids for trick-or-treating...John was Cat in the Hat, Ethan was Kung Fu Panda and Logan was Rocky. A fun evening was had by all...complete with sugar highs, lows and meltdowns. Overall though...it was a fabulous Halloween!

Our family...

Ethan (aka - Kung Fu Panda)

Logan (as Rocky), Ethan (Kung Fu Panda) and John (Cat in the Hat)...

John (Cat in the Hat)...

Brotherly love...John and Ethan...

Our Little Magician

Ethan, or "The Amazing Ethan", whichever you prefer, learned a magic trick. He always says "watch this...", then does his trick (sorry the video is sideways...couldn't figure out how to rotate it). Make sure you turn on your sound so you can hear his "watch this..." in his very magician-like voice :).

The Yucks

Well, it's been a bit of a rough couple of days in our household. Ethan came down with a terrible barky cough early Wednesday morning...sounded HORRIBLE. We took him to urgent care and it turns out he has croup. No treatment necessary except his inhaler (only needs it when he is sick). As of this morning, his cough isn't as dry and we think he's on the mend.

On that same day (Wednesday), Ethan fell asleep around 2:30, so I decided to give John a bath while daddy napped with Ethan. After 30 minutes of splashing around in the tub, he was ready to get out. Long story short, he stood up and went to step out of the tub, slipped and caught the under side of his chin on the edge of the tub. I was literally inches away ready to wrap him up in a towel and just couldn't catch him. Lots of bleeding and another trip to urgent care later, John ended up with 3 stitches. He was sooooo brave...didn't cry at all.

Now, they've both had stitches. We're hoping for an uneventful weekend :). Here's a picture of our brave boy, John, at the doctor's office getting his chin "fixed"...

Crapcorn

Dear John,

The correct pronunciation is "pop-corn".

Love,
Mommy

More Funny Sayings

This afternoon on the way home from preschool, John was acting up in the back seat. I said to him "John Adam...be nice". A few minutes later, he said to "Mommy Adam...where are we going?".

Tonight Daddy and I were snuggling with the boys and I was giving Ethan big hugs and I said to him "you're my baby boy". He looked at me adoringly and said "you're my baby mama".

Sometimes they totally crack us up. Such goofballs!

Our 8th Anniversary!

This year (September 15th), Jason and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. It's not all been "wedded bliss", but throughout all the good, bad, happy, sad, births, deaths, jobs, moves, ups and downs....love remains. Jason...I thank you for 10 wonderful years together and 8 years of marriage...I thank you for giving me two beautiful children...I thank you for taking care of me when I'm sick...I thank you for putting up with my Twilight obsession...I thank you for being my partner in parenting and discipline and life...I thank you for being a playful, loving father...I thank you for reminding me about the important things in life and not to sweat the small stuff...I thank you for loving me unconditionally...I thank you for doing laundry without being asked.

I love you...always have, always will.

Trip to the Dentist

The boys had their first "official" trip to the children's dentist this week for a cleaning, checkup and x-rays. Jason and I were both able to be there, which we think helped them feel a little more comfortable having mommy and daddy nearby.

The report is a mixed bag. On a positive note, the dentist said their brushing is great...no plaque on any exposed parts of their teeth. John had no cavities and has "perfect" teeth. Poor Ethan, on the other hand, has molars that are very close together...it is impossible to reach in between those teeth with a toothbrush. Consequently, Ethan had 3 cavities (p.s. I feel like the worst mother in the world). I have NEVER had a cavity and we've always tried really hard to brush their teeth well, so we feel so bad that he has cavities that have to be filled. We've been informed that Ethan's teeth will require daily flossing from now on since they are so close together and he has an appt in about 2 weeks to get fillings.

They were SOOOOO brave...no crying, clinging to our legs or anything of the sort. Here are some pictures of our big, brave boys:

John wasn't so sure about getting the x-rays and wearing the protective apron:

Ethan was happy as a clam (obviously):

Kids Say the Darndest Things

The boys have been saying the funniest things lately.

First of all, they are obsessed with their new cousin baby Will. They ask about him all the time and are wanting Mommy and Daddy to swaddle them (I think there's a little jealousy about a new baby in the family). It's so funny when a 3 year old brings you his blanket and says "Mommy, swaddle me". It cracks us up.

Tonight at dinner, Ethan asked for more milk, so I got it for him. He then said "thank you precious Mommy". Jason and I burst out laughing...Jason calls me "precious" when he's teasing me.

Today the boys also got their first pet...a goldfish that they've named Otto. We have a book called Fish Out of Water where the main character is a goldfish named Otto. John and Ethan have been mesmerized watching Otto swim around his bowl and "hide" in his pirate house. After dinner, I was doing the dishes and John dumped the rest of his milk into Otto's bowl. Otto had a near death experience, but we were able to quickly change out the water and he seems to be doing fine. When we asked John why he did it, he said "Otto needs strong bones and muscles", which is what we always tell them to get them to drink all their milk. It was so cute!

Here they are with Otto (which they also call their "wishie"):

Willem Edwin Drury

Yesterday (August 31) we gained a nephew...Willem Edwin Drury (Brad & Mary). He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 19 1/4 inches at birth. He is absolutely precious and we are so thrilled he his here and healthy. Congrats to the happy family :)!

Best Friends

Last night, we were all chatting at dinnertime about preschool, the new friends they've made, their teachers, etc. I asked Ethan who is best friend is and he said Rawle (another little boy at school). When we asked John who his best friend is he looked sad and said Ethan (pronounced Ee-tan). I think his little feelings were hurt that Ethan didn't say he was his best friend. We hope they grow up to be close :)...it's looking good so far. Gosh we love these boys!

New Home & Bedtime Routine

As some of you may (or may not) know, we recently moved into our new home in Puyallup. Our new house has a nice fully fenced backyard with a "big toy" complete with slide, swings and monkey bars. It's a nicely sized rambler (one level) in a great location near South Hill Mall. I think we'll be very happy here in this house.

HOWEVER...bedtime routine has become quite the challenge. The kids have become masters of all possible excuses / delay tactics at bedtime including: have to go potty, have to go poop, want a drink of water, need a hug, need a big hug, need another kiss, read another book, i'm hot, i'm cold, ethan's looking at me, john bit me, keep the door open, open the door more, it's too dark, it's too light, mommy...i love you VERY much, need more hugs from daddy, i sleep in your bed, i have a boogie, there's a bee (really it's a fly) in my room....need I go on?!?

Thank god they're so cute when they're sleeping :). I think it'll just take some time to work into a new routine at this new house. I've attached a few pictures of our new home...

Front view of our house and garage...

View of backyard, before we got it watered and looking green and decorated with our patio furniture (this is about half of the backyard...there's a whole other side on the right (not pictured))...

Fireplace in living room (finally starting to get the house decorated)...

Guest bedroom decorated in chocolate browns and blues...

Main bathroom painted and decorated...

Living room (before furniture & decorations) with double french doors leading out to the backyard (behind me taking the picture)...

Happy brothers riding their bikes in the backyard...

Heat Wave of 2009

This summer goes down in the record books...literally. This week we've had the hottest temperatures on record EVER, getting as high as 106 degrees!!

Thank goodness for our window a/c units. It's kept our bedroom and the boys' bedroom cool enough to rest at night.

John and Ethan have had a summer full of swimming lessons (they are now in the "Pollywogs" class) and are really getting good. They kick their feet, paddle their arms, jump in and "swim" under water. We'll have to post some pics and video of their lessons at the pool. Here are two videos of them in our little pool in the back yard having fun and enjoying the hot weather (we, on the other hand, wouldn't mind if it cooled down 20 degrees)...

It's also been a rough month for the Drury family. Three weeks ago, Jason's Godmother, Karen "Eve" Keever passed away; not quite two weeks ago, Jason's Grandma, Audrey Drury, passed away; today, Jason's Grandpa (paternal), James Sumpter, passed away. They will all be missed and will live on in our memories.

Busy, busy, busy

We have been very busy lately. Last weekend we went to the Leavenworth cabin for 4th of July. The boys had a great time playing with cousin Kendal and we all had fun swimming in the river.

Last weekend, we had a yard sale, celebrated Jason's 36th birthday, went to a movie (Ice Age) and went to Aunt Lindsey's dance performance in Seattle.

This week the boys have had a bit of a cough, so we took them to the pediatrician's office to get them checked out. No antibiotics needed, but we were surprised to learn that they've both gotten bigger...John's now 37 lbs and Ethan's 38 lbs (John's gained 4 lbs and Ethan's gained 2 lbs in the past 2 months...major growth spurt).

I'll post some recent swimming lessons pics and some pics from the 4th of July weekend tonight or tomorrow.

Our son (Ethan), the future deep sea diver...

Brotherly Love

Just a cute picture of the boys I thought I'd post (this was taken on the first night of swimming lessons). I love it when they're sweet to each other...

John, the boss (just like his mommy)

We've noticed lately that John has become the little boss around our house telling Ethan to help clean up, remining him to use his manners ("say please Ethan") and just generally trying to keep him out of trouble. Ethan is a go-getter with not much thought to being careful. We think that throughout their whole lives John will be keeping Ethan out of trouble and bossing around all the other kids at school (he is a mini-me (mommy)). Gotta love them!

The other night, Ethan said to me at bedtime "mommy, i no like (pronounced "yike") you, I love (pronounced "yuv") you. So sweet...made my soft little mommy heart melt.

Why do they have to grow up??? Whaaaaaaaaah, sniff, sniff.

Scary News Story...

Yikes...

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/47123577.html

Soooooo scary!

Age 3 Stats & Percentiles

The boys had their 3 year checkup at the pediatrician this morning and they are sure getting big :). Here are their stats:

John - 33 lbs (81%ile); 38 1/2 inches tall (87%ile)
Ethan - 36 lbs (87%ile); 39 inches tall (95%ile)

They didn't have to get any shots, which was great. Looks like they're going to be big, tall boys :)

New Helmets

The boys got new bikes with training wheels and bike helmets for their birthday. They LOVE their helmets and have been wearing them all over the house today...

Ethan...

John...

3rd Birthday Party!

Here are some random pictures from the boys' 3rd birthday party at our house on Monday, May 25th. Can't believe our babies are 3 already (sniff sniff)...

Nice Weekend

We had a nice weekend at home. The weather was great, we ate our meals on the patio outside and played in the sun. Here's a cute picture of Daddy and John napping together and a video of Ethan hamming it up with a rousing rendition of the ABC's...