Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Okay, so the cake was a bit of a disaster...poor Ethan, his birthday had to fall on one of the busiest days ever. What, with Matthew having his surgery and me packing like there's no tomorrow...his cake didn't get baked until after 7pm. Well, by that time, the kitchen was a little warm and the cake was still a little warm, but I frosted it anyways (it was either that or celebrate his birthday a day late...it was getting to be bedtime), so as you can see, the frosting is sliding off the cake. Luckily, Ethan was still excited about his Wiggles cake and didn't mind that it wasn't "perfect" and that's all that really matters anyways, right?

Ethan seemed to enjoy his birthday, if going around the house singing "Happy Birthday" to himself all day is any indication! Given his obsession with the Wiggles, we got him "Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie"...the parents' favorite. We also downloaded a CD's worth of songs from iTunes...a mixture of Wiggles, Backyardigans and Arthur. Again, James and I picked our favorites. Yes, we admit it (at least I do), we enjoy those songs as much as the kids...if not more! He'll also be getting Matthew's trike, once Matthew gets a bike for his birthday (shhh! It's a secret!)

Yay!! I did it!

Odds and Ends

So, yesterday, I got the long anticipated Fuzzi Bunz (cloth diapers) in the mail. Due to all the storms in the midwest, the factory that makes them had to shut down, and thus the delay. I've only been using them for a little while, but I LOVE them. I haven't had any problems with leaking so far, not even overnight, and Ethan really loves them. The first time I put one on him, he said "ooh, so soft!!" I'll have to keep you updated about them once I've had more time to really try them out, but right now I wonder why I didn't make the switch sooner. I've even changed some messy diapers, and really, it's no worse than changing a messy disposable diaper. I'm very happy with my purchase!
Matthew had a follow-up visit with an audiologist today, and no surprise here, he has to get tubes in his ears. First, they'll make a small incision in his ear drum and suck as much fluid out as they can, and then they'll put in the tubes and drain away the rest of it. The good news is that he can still go swimming (as long as the water is chlorinated), but no more dunking his head in the bath water which happens to be filled with germs. Apparently it's not a very long procedure, but he will have to breathe in some gas to knock him out for it. How exciting, huh? It hasn't been scheduled yet, but we're shooting for the next couple of weeks (as if we didn't have enough going on already!).
The specialist told me that he had a 70-year old man come in earlier today, complaining that he could barely hear, and it turns out that his hearing and Matthew's hearing tested the same. The only difference is that Matthew doesn't know any different. Not only is his hearing affected, but his ears are severely pressurized...he has that feeling that his ears need to pop ALL THE TIME. Poor kid. It will probably be a refreshing change for him once all the gunk is gone and he can finally hear, and be comfortable.
I'll let you all know how it goes!

Happy Birthday To Me!

That's right, I turned the big two-six yesterday...closer to thirty than to twenty. I started off my day by going to the DMV to get my license renewed. Good thing I thought to check the date on that! I was initially excited to be getting a new picture for it...the one that I've had for the last five years isn't exactly flattering. But, my excitement soon turned to disappointment. While I was sitting in front of the lovely blue screen, waiting for the lady to click the picture, I could see Ethan charge me from the corner of my eye. I managed to keep a smile pasted on my face, but my eyes took on a strange deer-in-the-headlights kind of look (Hoagieville eyes, to those of you that know what that is). My new picture makes my old one look like a glamour shot...here's to five more years of hating that stupid picture!
The rest of the day proceeded like any other normal day, except I think I did more sitting around than normal...hey, it was my birthday, after all.
When James came home from work, I was FINALLY allowed to open my present from him. Those of you that know me well, know that it's nearly impossible for me to wait to open presents...in fact, I've adopted April 4 (James' birthday) as my own because I simply can't stand to wait until June when James gets to open presents in April. Seriously, I make James get my present in April, and then I don't have anything to open on my real birthday. Juvenile? Yep!
Well, this year, James put his foot down and made me wait (I know!). Then he did something amazing: he went to the mall, by himself, and shopped for church clothes for me...I hear he even talked to the salespeople (wow!). And, he did an AWESOME job. I love, love, love what he picked out for me. The only problem was that the top he picked to go with the skirt ended up being too long, so we'll have to exchange it for something else (which is sad because the shirt is super cute). He even bought me shoes to complete the ensemble. Am I lucky or what?
Then, he made me my favorite cake (rainbow chip), and while blowing out my candles I wished for, yep, you guessed it, to sell the house. About 30 minutes later, we got a phone call, and someone made an offer on our house! And, we accepted it...YAY!!!!!!!!!! I have to admit that I've had little faith in the birthday wish ever since my seventh birthday when I wished for popples to fall from the sky, and shockingly, it didn't happen. Wow, way to restore my belief in the birthday wish!! Actually, I'm sure it was an answer to fasting and prayer, and it happening on my birthday was just a great way to end the day.
We're set to close on July 9, but move out on June 14. The last weekend in June we'll be on vacation, and the first week in July I'm having my wisdom teeth out. That means that we'll have to really scramble to get everything done, but what a HUGE relief. Now all we have to do is find a new place to live, get our student loans all figured out, find new insurance...the list goes on and on, but we are so happy and excited to be over this hurdle!! Thanks everyone for your support and help and putting up with all my complaining. I promise to grow up someday...maybe next year!

Yay, presents!

I'm pretty excited

The almost perfect purple shirt...darn!!

I love the pretty skirt

And I wish for...the house to sell!