Slow week.

I was going to do a nice post yesterday about our zoo trip with friends, but we ended up not going. Andrea's son Sean has strep. I feel so sorry for the poor little guy. Get well soon Sean!

The boys and I spent yesterday morning cleaning, and we are doing more of the same today. I'm also working on getting our house more decorated. Yes, we have been living here for over a year and most of the walls were still blank. I think life is just easier since Ethan has turned 1. I finally feel like we can do more things out of the house. He is also starting to be more independent which allows me to actually clean while he is awake. It's amazing how much better I feel with a clean house!

Parent's weekend

First of all I completely realize that I am the worst blogger ever. I LOVE reading other blogs, but I am just not that passionate about my own. That being said I am going to start trying to update regularly again.

Stefan and I got the rare chance to go out of town with no kids. It's kind of a long story of how the trip came about. It was so wonderful! We definitely realize the importance of getting some time to build our relationship. It was Ethan's first night away from me, and he did great. He even slept all night for his nana. :)

We stayed one night in Branson, and spent most of our time at Branson Landing. The weather was absolutely perfect! I documented all the places we ate just so I could blog about it. We are not very exciting people. 

Our first stop was for breakfast at Ferguson's in St. Joe, AR. I have been going to this place as long as I can remember every time my family would make the Branson trek. I know Stefan thought I was crazy, but he quickly decided they has the best bacon he has ever ate. I had not been there in several years, and remembered as some big place. In reality it's a small restaurant with about 15 tables inside a country store. It's still fun to look at all the little treasures. 

Here was my breakfast. I did not do a good job of getting pics of Stefan's food.

The other notable place we ate was Lamberts. I just love the experience of eating there, and it is so worth the wait! I needed to bring a much bigger appetite!

 

 

 

Here is Stefan's chicken fried steak.

My grilled chicken. 

The rest of these are just random pics I wanted to add for sharing purposes. We had a great time, and I can't wait until our next trip!

Website Launch

We've been working hard to get things ready to sell, and our website is finally ready to launch.

www.4ourmonkeys.blogspot.com

The name 4 Our Monkeys comes from the fact that between the 3 of us moms who came up with idea, we have 4 little ones (or monkeys) we thought of this idea as a way to make extra money FOR them, so 4 Our Monkeys was born!  You can also check us out on facebook!

Be sure to check it out, and find some things you just can't live without. :) We are still working on adding things. I have so many ideas in my head, and it's just taking a little time get them all put together.

Crafting

I have been best friends with my sewing machine lately. So far I've made 2 dresses, a few aprons, an outfit for Ethan, some monogrammed baby gifts, and I've also been learning to smock. I've also been working on keeping the house cleaner, having dinner ready, being a better wife, and hanging out with my friends. All of these things don't leave much time leftover for internet time, but I am loving every minute of it!

Sorry it's been forever.

I have been pretty busy lately, which I am definitely not used to. It seems like we have been doing something just about everyday. I have even been taking pics so I can blog about our activities, but somehow the blog just gets left behind.

I have been trying to get back into sewing. I have made two dresses...pics to come later. I'm actually really pleased with them, and they weren't too difficult. My sister-in-law just sent me the pattern and fabric for a purse. I'm planning to take lots of pictures of the process to blog about. I'm also working on some other crafts with Andrea. We are planning to make birthday banners and appliques for birthday shirts.

Ethan is 10 months old today! I really can't believe it, and plan on writing a post about that soon. He still has no teeth, but I can tell they are coming soon. He had about two good weeks of sleeping through the night, then he went back to his old bad sleeping habits. I blame the teething, and am holding onto hope that he will start sleeping again when they come in.

I've been trying to read a couple of books whenever I have free time. That hasn't been often this week, but oh well. I am loving The Power of a Praying Wife. It really is eye opening, and I would recommend it to anyone. It's also set up with thirty chapters so it can be used as a short devotional with a different thing to pray for your husband each day.

Sorry, no pictures today. I promise to try and start working on all the blog posts I have been making plans for.

My baby is 9 months already!

Ethan, I can't believe you are 9 months old already. We went in for your check-up this morning. You showed the doctor just how happy you are. He thought you were great because you reached out for him. :) 

You weighed 20lbs, 11oz, which is the 55th percentile, and you were 28 inches long, which is the 43 percentile. You are growing and developing just perfectly. 

What are you up to these days?

You crawl all over the place!

You can pull up and cruise around furniture.

You love to play trains with big brother. 

You have started dancing to music, and shaking your head No.

You love to watch Veggietales Dave and the Giant Pickle.

You don't have teeth yet, but the doctor says they will be in any day now.

You love to try and play on the computer.

You now have permission to eat any and all table food.

Here is your first attempt at mac n cheese, and green beans.

You still love to be carried by mommy. I love it too!

You really love to take a bath and play in any water!

You look like such a big boy here!

And just for fun. Here is what I looked like carrying you this time last year.

Memorial Day!

We had a nice relaxing Memorial Day. I did absolutely no cleaning the whole day. It was nice, but I had to make up for it today. I have wanted to head over to JoAnns Fabric for awhile so Stefan agreed to watch Nathaniel, and Ethan and I headed out for a little shopping trip. Nathaniel woke up pretty early and it wasn't long before he fell asleep in the recliner. Stefan really lucked out on that one! I didn't really find what I wanted in JoAnns, but we did by some cups from BabiesRUs. My big project this week is getting Ethan to use a cup.

Ethan and I made it back home in time to have lunch, then we headed out for some pool time.

Ethan really loved the new pool.

He has the cutest face in this picture!

Nathaniel did not want to get in. I have no idea why because he loves water.

He did enjoy fishing in the pool. And yes, I got in with Ethan after these pictures. :)

I found out later about member's night at the zoo. I really wanted to let Nathaniel experience the free rides. We never made to the rides, but he did get one round on the carousel. He always wants to ride, but then he is kind of scared when they start moving. He had a great time playing in the sprinklers by Teton Trek.

The cats are his absolute favorite!

He was not thrilled to be on there. It did provide shelter from the short rain shower though. 

Here is where the real fun was. Yes, we use a leash because he is a runner, and we would not be able to handle him without it.

He had so much fun running through the water!

He wasn't scared of all the bigger kids at all. Unfortunately, he loved the water so much that he threw the biggest fit ever when we were leaving. It was so embarrassing! All we knew to do was keep heading to the car, and try to ignore all the stares.