March Recap

Well, Spring is officially here! Or, at least it is accoding to the calendar. We're still getting lots of rainy days mixed in with the occasional hail storm and the even more occasional sunny day (though this past weekend was gorgeous, but technically that was April, and this is our March recap so it doesn't count!). I'm ready for it to be the other way around... lots of sunny days, but with the occasional rain, you know to keep Oregon green. :) The daffodils are in full bloom and I am wishing we had some in our yard. Daffodils and tulips are two of my absolute favorite flowers. They're very cheerful. I've been thinking I'm going to have to see if I can get a potted daffodil for our table and hope it lasts all season.

This was a jam-packed month! I was literally counting down the days to the 21st - my one and only Saturday on the calendar with nothing scheduled! It was heaven. But let's see... other highlights of the month... hmm...

* Hair: I, quite literally, got highlights (see, that was supposed to be a joke... highlights of our month, hair highlights. Oh, never mind!) on the first Saturday of the month! It was so nice to get my summer blonde highlights in and I was definitely due for a trim. Sorry, still haven't taken a picture.

* Gym: I'm still remaining consistent. Unfortunately, illness and a full schedule kept it pretty limited to about 3 times a week. Hopefully this month I can shoot for 4-5 times a week. I always feel so much better when I get at least those 4 days in. I have learned to love going in on Saturdays again, so long as the timing is right and I'm not rushed. I usually save "legs day" for Saturday so I can take my time at the Delta Gold's. I just like it there so much better and I love struggling to walk out of there without my knees locking because my legs are too sore to move. Then I know I've done my job and all those stupid squats were worth it!

* Doubt: Our date night, movie-of-the-month was 'Doubt' with Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Holy moly, those are some talented actors! It's not one that I would watch over and over, but definitely worth seeing. I'm trying to talk Sean into the new Julia Roberts movie 'Duplicity' to see next, but he's pretty set on the Nicolas Cage movie 'Knowing'. Has anyone seen either of those?

* Sara: One of my best friends from high school came over for dinner one night with her little boy. Unfortunately Ethan and Bennett had a bit of personality clash so we ended up having to create a little space between them. Gotta love 2 year-old boys... just don't even attempt to come between them and their cars! Even still, we had a yummy dinner (or at least I didn't hear any complaints) and it was just nice to see her and get a chance to visit in person instead of via facebook and blogs! She has got to be one of the prettiest 8-month prego women I have ever seen... I can't wait to meet her new little one!

* Best Bites: I am officially obsessed with this blog, http://www.ourbestbites.com/. I love the way Kate and Sara write. I love that they update their blog 3 times a week. I love how detailed their directions are. I love the step-by-step pictures and that they don't just show the finished product. And I love that the finished product always looks so yummy!! I made the Key Lime Tarts from March 18th when Sara came over for dinner and they were fantastic! They have so many recipes that I am already dying to try out.

* Sean: Started going to the chiropractor this month and is officially loving his almost-weekly visits to get popped, cracked and repositioned. We found out he has lost some of the natural curvature of his neck, but it is only at a stage one and can be reversed with proper care. Already Sean has changed his sleeping habits (pillows supporting his neck and shoulders instead of just all 3 piled high!) and has a special ice pack (that doesn't get completely solid) to ice his neck every night. He also got to go on a rafting trip down the river with the YM (of course, this was on my one free Saturday). Lots of fun, but very cold! The following week he was home for Spring Break - lucky duck! But I know it was nice for Ethan and him to have some father-son bonding time. It also gave Sean some time to write some more of his novel.

* Ethan: The countdown to the terrific twos is under way... just 3 more days! He is counting to 13 or so without prompting and is getting pretty accurate with his colors. He knows blue, green, red, orange, brown, white, yellow, purple and pink - one morning last week he asked for the "pink cereal" at my mom's (strawberry frosted mini wheats)! Most nights he sleeps with at least one, if not two, matchbox cars in his hands. By morning, they have usually fallen down the side of the crib and he is asking where his "green truck" or the "school bus" is. He still loves watching Handy Manny and Mickey's Clubhouse and we just recently added Thomas the Train (though I had to set this up to record on the DVR because it's only on Sunday mornings). Peter Pan and Cars are the movies to watch right now in Ethan-land. "Watch Cars!" he pleads with me. He's also taken a liking to "Mice and the Big Truck" What? You've never heard of this Disney classic?! Well, normally we would refer to it as 'Rescuers Down Under', but "Mice and the Big Truck" is the title Ethan has given it! So funny how their little minds work. I love it!

* Wicked: Sean and I got to go see the touring Broadway musical Wicked on the last Saturday of the month. This was our second time to see it up in Portland, and once again, it was AMAZING!! If you get the opportunity, you must see this show! It's kinda like the wicked witch's side of the story from the Wizard of Oz, but it also gives her background and explains things like why she is green, the flying monkeys, the cowardly lion, scarecrow and tinman and also the ruby slippers. We left for Portland early, made a pitstop in Woodburn and then dropped Ethan off at John and Stephanie's before we headed to the show. It was a good trade-off for us, Ethan got to play with his cousin Jackson while we went to the matinee. Thank you, thank you to John and Steph for watching him! Afterwards we all went to one of our fav Portland dinner spots: Sweet Tomatoes. Yum, yum.

* Biggest Loser: As you know, if you've been keeping up with our blog, we made a last-minute decision for me to complete the application/audition video for the next season of The Biggest Loser. I am happy to report that my application was received on time last Friday, so now we just wait. I'll let you know if I hear anything.... I also got some requests to see my audition video. Yeah right! Actually, it's almost 10 minutes long, so I'm pretty sure you'd be bored with it. However, here are two clips from the video. The first comes just after I introduce myself (name, age, height, weight, etc.) and the second is the end of the video. Tell me what you think!

And finally... some pictures!!

This is what I meant about Ethan sleeping with his cars. Notice that one is still in his hand??

My handsome little stud before church one morning.

I think this one is very "Newsies" with the sepia tone and his hat! Of course, would he look at the camera for me?! Nooo.

I love this little guy!!

Stalling before bed. He is already learning this fine art!

First experience painting with water. He is quite the ar-teest (artist)!

What we're looking forward to in April...

* My parents' 28th wedding anniversary is today. Happy Anniversary!! (I wanna know who these people are that said it wouldn't last!)

* Nana's birthday tomorrow... Maybe we can skype in the evening??

* Ethan's 2nd birthday on Thursday!

* Easter Sunday

* Ethan's birthday party and the fire station tour.

* Tory comes home this month!

* Lizzy's 13th birthday on the 30th.

* Hopefully Sean and I (and maybe Tory) will get to see Spamalot if not this month, then in May while it is at the Hult Center.