Blog Overload

I should be doing the big stack of dishes that didn't get done last night because I went to the temple and left Jake to take care of two boys who were supposed to be sleeping but must have known their Daddy was in charge, so decided to give him a run for his money and cry at the same time...but instead I have been trying to catch up on the blog. So here is a blog overload! Read if you'd like, or just scan the pictures. Enjoy!

Mowing the Lawn

Christian got a lawn mower from Grammy and Papa for Easter and he absolutely loves it! He loves to mow the lawn outside; he loves to mow the lawn inside! And he takes it very seriously.
But what he doesn't love is Daddy's lawnmower...the real thing. He is actually quite afraid of it and refuses to be outside if Jake is mowing the lawn. He is very content to just sit at the window and watch safely behind the glass as Daddy mows the whole thing. As soon as the mower turns off, Christian declares, "All done!" and will promptly rejoin Jake outside. He has always had a fear for appliances with loud noises but has overcome some of them, while some we're still working on. Ones he will now tolerate include the blow dryer, the hand-mixer, and the Kitchenaid. We're still trying to convince him of the un-scariness of the vacuum, the blender, and now the lawn mower. Any suggestions?
P.S.

Dear Joey and Kimball,

I think we have the same lawn mower! I saw it on you Easter egg hunting video. Let's get together and mow lawns.

love, Christian

Bathtime!

Ethan LOVES his bath! The only time he cries during bathtime is when I take him out of the tub. I think he could stay in there forever! He has started kicking his legs and loves to kick and push off the side of the tub.


Christian also loves to take a bath with Ethan. He thinks it's pretty neat, can you tell?

Christian and Ethan

Christian is getting better and better at being a kind big brother to Ethan. :) He still has his moments and Ethan still gets scratched or konked every now and then, but I think Christian is slowly realizing that it's kind of fun to have Ethan around! Saturday morning Christian climbed in the chair next to Ethan and started playing peek-a-boo with him all on his own. These are moments that I love to just sit back and enjoy.

7 Weeks

This picture is for my mom. He just looked so cute in that color, I couldn't resist the picture. :)

Walks

Last week was so nice--the weather was gorgeous, no one was sick, and we went on walks three days of the the week with our friends. It was so nice to get out of the house, enjoy the nice weather, and the great company. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Monday we headed to the neighborhood lake, where we met up with our friends, since I was car-less that day. I had to do a little off-roading with the double stroller to cut through to the lake and avoid walking all the way around to the entrance, but no one fell out of the stroller, so it worked. :) We found a much easier path to come home on. However, it was uphill the whole way and I was definitely sore afterwards. Needless to say, it was quite the workout for my first time back after having Ethan.
Walking around the lake was fun, especially when we stopped on the many bridges to throw rocks. But the most fun of all, was playing on the giant hill where the dam was...

Those little legs trudged through that tall grass and it didn't seem to bother them one bit. I was sure they were going to be eaten alive by all those unfamiliar southern bugs that live in the grass, but we managed to come away, unscathed! A little boy in heaven

Two admiring boys and one little movie star
(our walks would never be complete without a peanut butter sandwich)

Wednesday we walked our usual path along the river, where we stopped at the ducks and geese to throw rocks and get out of the strollers. I didn't have my camera this day, but someone else did and took plenty of pictures! There was a group of elderly folks that were in a photography class and had stopped at the river to take some pictures. A couple of them came over and snapped some photos of our adorable children, but one woman was particularly interested in them and probably took fifty pictures of the kids. She asked permission first, and then spent most of her time with us, snapping candid photos of the kids and the babies, and a few of the moms. She even said she took a picture of our strollers all lined up. (We are sort of a novelty when we're all together.) Somehow she also convinced our three toddlers to sit on the curb, with the river in the background, and got some pictures of them. I was impressed...we can't even get them to ALL sit still at the same time to take a picture, as is evident in my photos. Now I just wish I could see her finished product. I hope her pictures turned out great!

Atlanta Temple
(This is an actual picture from my camera. The sky really was that blue!)

Friday we all met up at the temple and went on a walk from there. This day I imagine we were quite the sight! You see, when we go walking we have...

not ONE,
not TWO,
but THREE double strollers.

We walked along a very busy road, and even crossed that busy road at the light, and I imagine we were quite the sight. We even got a honk.

And not only were we three double strollers in a row, we also had one more friend and her dog in our line. We have been very lucky to have Oreo and her owner, Natalie join us on our walks. Christian really likes Oreo, unless Oreo is too close or Christian is all by himself, or no one is holding Oreo. Okay, so maybe he only really likes her from a distance, but he's getting used to her and will pet her if I'm helping him. He also likes to tell me how nice Oreo is. I guess it's working: if I tell him that enough, perhaps eventually he'll believe it and not be afraid. She really is a nice dog. We hope she keeps walking with us!
After we'd had our exercise and decided the moms were sweaty enough, we let the kids play on the hill of the temple and have their turn getting sweaty.
As you can see, it didn't take long before they were sweaty as well! Christian is the king of sweating...the poor kid definitely has his Daddy's sweaty genes. It's only April...yikes. I think it's getting time for that summer buzz!

Despite the fact that they look like they are trying to escape, the big grassy hill is like a dream for these little ones. (To read the full story of these Escape Artists, CLICK HERE.) It's also a great place to play "Ring Around the Rosy."


And while they were doing that, Ethan was doing this:
Ethan is very cooperative and usually does this for most of our walks. Keep up the good work, buddy! You've got lots of stroller time in your future.

5 Week Randomness

Here are some pictures of Ethan at 5 weeks and a little of what we were doing...Christian loves to read to Ethan. Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.
I was trying to get a good picture of the two of them, but this is the best I got. Getting good pictures of two-year olds is next to impossible. :)
Snuggled up to go out for some evening lawn mowing.
Just hours before this occurred I was thinking about how Ethan had never had a blow out since he'd been born...I guess I deserved this one. Ethan's even laughing at me. :) What a mess!
Christian got this painting book in his Easter basket and this is his first experience with real paint. He loved it!! And he got the hang of it very quickly. He never ceases to amaze me.

Easter and Visitors

We were lucky to have Jake's parents and younger brother, Connor here for Easter. Here are some highlights of the week and weekend:
Christian was a solo hunter this year for our egg hunt. Thanks to Uncle Connor and Daddy for being the bunny for the hunt! The Easter Bunny also managed to find Christian and bring him an Easter basket, but there are no pictures of that. :)
Playing Cootie Bugs with Papa
Hanging out with Grammy
Watching Toy Story with Uncle Connor
Chillin' with PapaUsing our double stroller for the first time
Walking around the lake
Going to ESPN Zone with the boysEating at Johnny Rockets with the boys

(Ethan is laying on his new quilt from Grammy! Isn't it adorable?)

And of course Ethan's blessing on Easter Sunday was a major highlight. It was wonderful to have family there to share that special day. Thank you for coming! And thank you for all the cooking, cleaning and company you gave us! We miss you!

Just Because

I love this cute face...
and this one, too.

An Easter Blessing

Easter Sunday was a special day for us this year as it was not only the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, but it was also Ethan's blessing day. It was an emotional day for me, as I was overcome by the gift we have been given because Christ died for us, He lives again, He loves us, and He knows how we feel. He has felt it. In general conference two weeks ago, Elder Holland said it perfectly. I will let him do the talking.



Because Christ lives, we too will all live again, and even better, we can all live again with our families. I'm so grateful for that because I don't want to live without my sweet little boys, or my sweet husband either. Families are forever.

More Blessing Pics

Ethan Karl Merkley
blessed by his Father, Jacob Lewis Merkley
who was joined in the circle by Jake's dad, Robert Merkley, home teachers, Brother Toone and Estes, and good friends, John Salmon, Willie Harrison, and Brian Dance.

Thank you all for coming and supporting us on such a special day. We love you all!

Papa, Grammy and Connor with Christian and Ethan

Daddy and Ethan

Mommy and Ethan

CHRISTIAN

Christian amazes me every day at the things he is capable of doing and how quickly he learns a new skill. He loves to do puzzles and take apart or put together anything that is made of parts. He has also become quite fond of playing games on the computer. Perhaps he has some of those engineering genes in him.
Twice in the same day Christian dumped out this big bag of permanent markers, but instead of doing what most two year old boys probably would have done when their mothers weren't looking, Christian sat on the rug meticulously disassembling any pen he could find in the bag and carefully putting it back together. I was thrilled that first, my walls weren't colored, and second, Christian had found something that kept him entertained for quite awhile! It still makes me laugh that, with all those permanent markers at his fingertips, all Christian wanted to do was take apart the pens.
Christian has also become quite computer savvy in the last month. Who knew that a two year old could learn to manipulate a mouse so quickly? It all started when he got an "I Spy" computer game in his Wendy's kids meal while I was in the hospital with Ethan. It turned out to be the best kids meal prize ever! He can use the mouse to find the pictures and click on them, which makes them move or dance or play music. It's great! Today we decided to look for more "I Spy" games online since he has mastered the CD games, being able to find all the objects without having us even tell him what to find. We found lots and spent a good part of our day exploring all the new possibilities. Christian's favorite was doing the puzzles, which I didn't think he'd be able to do at first. It required clicking on the puzzle piece, holding onto it, and dragging the piece to the correct spot on the puzzle. I thought that would be too hard, but it only took seconds before he had figured it out. Never underestimate this kid! :) (P.S. Does anyone else still have a dinosaur monitor like we do? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Ours is still going strong.)

Christian still has a hard time being soft with Ethan all the time, but I can tell that he loves him and I have enjoyed watching Christian interact with his brother. He likes to share toys with Ethan, SHOW Ethan his toys ("Look E-san!"), and read books to him. When Ethan cries Christian is there to console him, "It's o-tay E-san" and when he wakes up (any time of day), he's there to greet him, "good morning!"
When Christian opened his Easter package from Grandma, he wanted to share all the ducks with Ethan. As you can see, Ethan was thrilled, but not as much as Christian.
This is the reaction Christian gets from Ethan when Christian decides to give him a konk. Ethan doesn't appreciate it very much. (This particular time Ethan just didn't want to smile for the picture, no fault of Christian's.) I look forward to the day when Ethan can hold his own against Christian and I won't have to worry so much. :)

Ethan's One-Month Stats

(I'm in love with this picture...and the baby too)

I took Ethan to the doctor on Tuesday for his one-month well visit and here are the stats:

Weight: 10 lbs (43%)
Height: 23 inches (85%)
Head Circumference: 38.5 (46%)

It looks like he's tall and skinny. :) In the doctor's words, he scored 100% on his check-up, so you could say he's healthy and doing well!

On the other hand, I decided to get Christian checked out while we were there because he'd had a bad cold and fever over the weekend and still had a lingering cough and runny nose. It turned out he had a bad double ear infection! The poor kid! No wonder he was so ornery. So we got him on antibiotics right away and he's doing much better! His appetite is up and he's mostly back to his happy self. Thank heavens for medicine!