What is my 5 year old up to....

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old! Where does the time go? He was so cute when he woke up on his birthday. He got excited and said, "Am I five today?" Now when if he does something that he used to not be able to do he'll say, "It's because I'm five."


When it comes to eating, he is definitely a picky eater like his mommy! He still doesn't eat meat...except for bologna and hot dogs...if that even counts. In recent months he tried meatloaf and smothered steak and claimed he liked them but never ate them again. He loves any and all pasta...especially "red ghetti" and "cheesy ghetti". He eats chicken nuggets but won't eat a piece of fried chicken. I don't think he realizes it's the same thing. For his birthday he wanted to go to Christina's which is Mexican. He doesn't eat Mexican food. He just wanted chips and hot sauce and mac and cheese...Caleb ate a whole taco. It reminds me of when I was little and would go to El Chico's with my parents and I would always get the three little hamburgers on the kid menu. Certain textures make him gag...just like me. There is no hope for him and I won't push it. At least he loves most fruit and salad.



He really loves school and all of his friends. He still won't talk about what goes on at school though. I remember when he first started when he was 3 and I would ask him what he learned at school. He would always say "nothing" or "I don't know". I still get the same answer. I'm excited and sad for him to start kindergarten in the fall. He will go all day every day and have a whole new set of friends. At least he will still have Will and Tyler. He is a little social butterfly so he will have friends in no time. I'm just not sure he will love going to school every day. Some mornings he doesn't want to go because it cuts into his play time.


He is into all things super hero. I never thought I'd know so much about X-Men, Super Hero Squad, and all the comic heros. The playroom is covered with "guys". That's what he calls them. When we go somewhere he always asks if he can take some guys with him. He also loves matchbox cars. Nana is keeping them in business. He easily has over 50.

He is a total ham for the camera. It's getting hard to get a normal smiling picture of him because he wants to pose or be silly. I have several shots below of him modeling...on his own free will. He was dressed up for church and I was just trying to get a nice picture of him. Here's his photo shoot (from two differents days).

He loves his brother...most of the time. He has got the role of annoying older brother down to an art. He can just find one word that annoys Caleb and he'll say it over and over just to make him scream. One of the favorites: "Wawa head". Every time he says that to Caleb he screams and says "No wawa!" Weird, I know. But they really are best buddies and I love to see them play happily together and give each other hugs because they want to, not because they are being forced to.

He is into all sports. I think baseball is his favorite right now but we play them all. He likes to play football and soccer in the backyard. He's always on Daddy's team. They play against me and Caleb. Unfair disadvantage? I think so! :-)

We found a new thing he loves to do...the leaf blower! He will use that thing for hours. He will get one spot perfect then move to another spot and blow the leaves back the where he just was without realizing it. That's why he can do it for hours. :-)

He loves to dress up. It's usually Spiderman or Wolverine. He will sneak into his Spiderman costume then sneak around a corner and jump out at me and give me a heart attack! This particular picture was from a birthday party.

He is obsessed with driving the car. Watch out if you're in my neighborhood and you see me with my hazards on. That usually means Ethan is in the driver's seat. Almost everyday when we drive home from school he asks if he can drive once we get to our neighborhood. I used to let him do it a lot more but now Caleb sees that Bubba gets to get out of his carseat and screams. So now he only gets to if Caleb is asleep.

And of course, a blog about Ethan wouldn't be complete without a dance video!

Happy New Year!

For New Year's we went to the Joyce's house with some other friends from church. Lucky for us they only live two streets over. We had TONS of food, the kids played, cooked smores outside in the freezing cold, and rang in the new year together...well, an hour early for the kiddos. Mondo's mom came to our house around 9pm so we could drop off Caleb. There was no way he would even make it to 11pm. Ethan made it until about 11:30pm before he started losing it. Poor baby was so tired. Mondo and I took him home and tucked him in then went back to the Joyce's to officially ring in the new year together. What a great way to ring in the new year with great food and great friends!

That's Preslee Parrish. I love the look on her face. She's saying, "Uh, can you stop taking the picture and get this big kid off of me!"

Ethan and Tyler roasting marshmallows for smores. Ethan is very particular about it. He likes to eat smores but only if the marshmallow isn't brown...at all. Kind of hard to get it hot enough to melt and squish and not get it brown!

Caleb enjoyed a smore. I remember him wearing that jacket at New Year's last year and he could hardly walk in it because it was so huge! :-(

This was their "give me a regular smile" pose.

This was them being silly.

When is this dude gonna retire? He was just plain sad to watch.

Ethan's First Sleepover

Traci and I had been talking for a long time about having a sleep over for the boys. We didn't know what age was the right age to try. We finally decided...what the heck...what's the worst than can happen? Having to pick them up in the middle of the night? We decided that Colton would be the guinea pig and stay the night at our house.





Traci, Mondo, and I took the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel then Mondo and I took Colton back to our house. They played, had dinner, showered, then laid on the couch and watched a movie. Ethan passed out after about 20 minutes. I took him to his bed then sat on the couch with Colton for a while and watched some more of the movie. Then I put him in bed with Ethan and gave him a hug and his little voice cracked and he said, "I think you need to call my mom and tell her to come get me." Darn! I thought I was home free until that moment. I really think he would've been fine if Ethan hadn't fallen asleep on the couch and they could've gone to bed at the same time. Anywho, I called Traci and she talked to him for a while then I talked to him a bit more and he decided he would stay. I watched a little more of the movie with him then took him to bed...and he went right to sleep! I didn't hear a peep out of them all night. I was really shocked at how well it went.

Next it will be Ethan's turn to stay the night at Colton's...we'll see how that goes. Maybe Mondo, Caleb and I will get a hotel room in N. Richland Hills that night. :-)

Having McDonald's for dinner. Can't go wrong there! (Take a close look at Ethan's arm...see the bruise? It's STILL THERE from when he broke it!)

Popsicles for dessert. Yes, we made them sit in the kitchen to eat them. I didn't want red, white, and blue carpet!

All squeaky clean after a shower. I didn't know they had matching pj's. Of course Ethan HAD to wear his when he saw Colton's. Love this picture!

Enjoying some eggs, pancakes, bananas, and OJ after a successful slumber party!

Happy 5th Birthday Ethan!

To my sweet Ethan,

Today is your birthday and I just wanted to tell you how special you are to me. You are what made me a mommy. You're my first born. I wanted you more than words can say. When you came home from the hospital I had no idea what I was doing but we figured it out together. You have taught me how to be selfless and to love more than I thought possible. You can make me laugh like no one else. My heart melts just looking at you. You are growing so fast that I can hardly keep up and I can't believe that you are 5 years old today. It seems like just the other day you were kicking inside me and now here you are about to go to kindergarden! I love you so much and am so proud to be your mommy. You're going to do great things with your life and you already touch so many people. I am excited to see what you will grow up to become. Happy birthday buddy!

Love,

Mommy

Prairie Lights

We went to Prairie Lights for the first time this year with Mondo's brother and his family and Mondo's mother. I didn't know what to expect. I really thought it was just driving through a neighborhood looking at house lights. Boy was I wrong! It was actually a great display of lights in Lynn Creek Park that you drive through. The boys loved it! Especially since they got to get out of their car seats and look out the window. The first half was about 30 minutes, then there was a place to park and go in and eat, ride a carousal, and see a light show. The rest of the drive was about 10 minutes. We had a great time and will definitely go back next year!

There were so many displays it was hard to choose just a few to post. This was one we drove under.

I loved this one. I think we'll do this next year for our house. "Hernandez" in bright lights. What do you think? :-)

Another one to drive through.

We stopped to eat and hot dog and saw a light show. Again, the only pictures I have of me and my kids are when I'm taking them!

Ethan enjoying some hot chocolate. He "drank" all of it with a spoon one sip at a time. Silly kid.

This is his display of how hot the hot chocolate was. You can actually see the steam coming off the cup!

This was one of my favorite parts. Behind the place you eat at there is a walk through light display. It was really cold but the kids enjoyed being able to get close to the lights.

The whole gang.

Being silly.

He was coming up with his own poses. He liked this dragon light.

Ethan and MoMo.

Caleb saying, "Can we go yet? It's freakin' cold out here!" Ok, maybe he really didn't say that but I'm sure he was thinking it!

What a good Daddy to ride the carousal with them so Mommy didn't puke. This one went really fast too! I was a little scared that they were going to fall off. There were no seat belts! But they loved it of course.

This was the final drive through before exiting the park. I can't wait to go back next year!

Ethan's Christmas Program

Ethan had a Christmas program at his school before they got out for the holidays. They had been practicing songs for weeks at school and he never said a word about it! He did a great job and looked so darn cute on the stage. He is getting too big!!

Walking in to the auditorium from class.

Lining up with his classmates. That's Will in the blue shirt and Caroline in the stripes. I love that they are always next to each other in programs. :-)

Caleb looked overjoyed to be watching his big brother. He actually did really good considering the program was an hour long and Ethan didn't perform until the very end. It helped to have Nana, Papa, and snacks to keep him occupied!

Posing for the camera.

This was at the very end. All the kids were there for the finale. My two neices Madilyn and Morgan were also in the program.

Singing "Shout Out Emanuel".

Singing "Silent Night".