Dear Ethan,

Today, you are three years old, which seems slightly surreal to me. The last three years are a complete blur, but one filled with an infinite amount of happiness. The idea of trying to sum up my feelings for you is daunting at best. Your daddy and I love you more than we will ever be able to express in this silly blog. But, in fact, this blog was started for one person: you! I wanted a place to record the most mundane details of our daily lives so that I would have a record of our time together. I'm so grateful to have spent the last three years with you, getting to know all of your tiny quirks and intricicies. From your major first year milestones; to your adventures with friends; to your developing language; and now to your toilet training (hooray for your first poop on the potty today - what a great "present" to us!), what an absolute joy it has been to be your mother. To quote one of my favorite books we used to read: "I love you like I love blueberry pancakes."

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Love,
Mommy

And now, for some more pictures from our trip to the lake, some professional pics of the kids (annamariesphotography.com), and Ethan's party today.

My Auntie Nancy made this dress for Eleanor and gave it to her at her Chistening. I just had to get her picture in it. I LOVE it so much and hope Eleanor has a little girl one day who can wear it.

Here is Ethan digging with his best bud. This is their favorite pasttime. I did not plant my tomatoes there this year specifically so that they could have a designated digging spot.

Will and I were joking tonight that one day we'll be looking at this picture at one of their weddings when they are each others' best men.

We had a terrible storm on Wednesday night, complete with tornados near. I captured this after the rain stopped.

We had a construction themed party. Will and I had a fun time planning out what the table would look like. We used caution tape, pylons, hard hats and some of his construction vehicles as part of the decor. Cute, huh?

Awesome cake my mom made with "gravel" and construction trucks.

Happy Birthday, Bobo! We love you!

Summertime!

It's summer, which means a few things:

1. Will's home!

2. I have more time to cook.

3. Our roadtrips to the lake have started.

This is Will's very strange set-up for Ethan's pool. He attached a tarp to a ladder and also has two umbrellas set up. All this to avoid a sunblock battle, I think.

I've started sitting Eleanor in her booster seat. I need to prop her up using a blanket or two, but it works.

Cousin Amy came for the day and we cooked a gourmet meal together!

Grilled pork tenderloin with grilled nectarines and a pancetta viniagrette served over herb greens alongside zucchini. Yum!

And for dessert? Panna cotta with a strawberry sauce and fresh berries.

At the lake - she's so happy to be here after 7 hours of travel time!

And, now, she's really ready in her bathing suit. He he. She was so cute with her butterball body squeezed into this adorable suit.

Hooray for staycations.