Ethan & Mommy. . . our day of fun!

Sunday Ethan and I enjoyed some mommy & son quality time together! And boy oh boy did we have fun!!! We went with some friends to check out this great new place that opened up about 20 minutes from here called Rough & Tumble. It's an awesome place!! They have so many fun things for the kids to enjoy including bounce houses, a big chalk wall & a huge climbing tunnel maze thing ( I have no clue what the technical name for it is). Which mommy had to climb to threw the whole tunnel maze thing w/ him! WOW! What a workout!! It only cost $8.oo for Ethan to get in & Mommy's get in for free!! We were there for about 2 & 1/2 hours! $8.00 Well Spent!!!

{ The tunnel @ the top of the tunnel maze! Like 20+ feet in the air! He got brave!}

{ He refused to go down slides last year! Today, no fear!! }

{ He tried real hard to climb the rock wall }

{ Ethan & his buddy Alex jumping around in the inflatable play yard }

While we were there I was very excited to see a LP mom & her two LP kids come in. Not being a very forward person, I wasnt sure if I should approach them or not. When Ethan saw her he came over to me & whispered " mommy, look, a little-big lady". I guess that was his way of saying an older little person. I asked him if he wanted to go over & say hi to her but he said "no thank you!" so I didnt push it! But a few minutes later he happened to be playing in the same section as her daughter (who is probably about 12-14 yrs. old) & I hear her say "look how cute he is mom". He got all shy & hid his face in my leg, so this was my opportunity to introduce ourselves. After talking with her for a few minutes I found out she lives about 45 minutes from us & that we have a common acquaintance. Before leaving we exchanged business cards so hopefully we will keep in touch! =)

After leaving the Rough & Tumble we went for a late lunch @ Friendly's. Ethan loves Friendly's!! Especially because he thinks it's fun to sing the song from their commercials! We had such a great day together! It's nice getting to spend quality time just the two of us every once in a while. He exhausted me so much that I took a two hour nap when we got home!!

Such a fun day!

Elmo makes music {& my kids dance!}

A few weeks ago we took the boys to see Seseame Street Live~Elmo makes Music!. For over a month before we went everytime the commercial for the event came on Ethan would say "Mommy, I wanna see that BIIIIIIG -HUUUGE Elmo again !" Last year we took him to see Super Grover & he had a blast! And eventhough he was only 2 & 1/2 he remembers going!










They both had a ton of fun! They both danced & clapped. And Collin bounced & bounced & bounced! I swear this kid is filled w/ jumping beans! I am real glad we went, cause I really enjoyed seeing how much fun they had!



Daddy & Ethan bought Collin a stuffed Big Bird doll. {He loves to chew on his beak!} Last year Ethan got a Elmo doll, which he loved until we got home & he threw him on the floor & never really touched him again! {He's never been a stuffed animal kid- all trucks, trains, & tools!} But Fred had to get it for them because he remebers going to see Sesame St. with his dad when he was little & he still has his Grover doll his dad got him.












Poor Grover is looking a little rough these days! He's like 30 years old!

Hours of fun!

I'm not sure who posted this great idea on their blog a few weeks ago, but I would like to say THANK YOU!!!

Sunday afternoon I accidentaly spilled some of the Collin's baby formula powder on the kitchen floor when I was trying to quickly mix up his bottle. I wasn't able to clean it up right then. So while I was giving Collin his bottle Ethan was playing with his construction trucks.Then I noticed he kept bringing them from the living room into the kitchen & then going back into the living room & getting more. So I went into the kitchen to see what he was doing. I found him playing with his trucks in the spilled formula. He was totally in his glory! Then I remembered a few weeks ago someone had posted pictures of their son playing w/ a pile of flour & trucks. So since he was having so much fun, Collin went down for a nap & I had a bunch of things to get done, I gave him a pile of flour & let him go to town!

I think this kept him occupied for almost two hours! Even though I have major obsessive compulsive issues about keeping my house clean, I decided having to clean a little flour off of the floor was well worth it! He had a lot of fun! And I will definatly be doing it again!

Thanks again to who ever posted this idea, sorry I cant seem to remember exactly who it was! What a great idea!

Wow look at me. . . .

Wow look at me! Two postings in one day! Make sure to scroll down to read both!
#1- Valentines Day
#2- Saving up for some fun

Saving up for some fun

A few months ago I finally called and got Ethan his membership to the Little People of America. And we decided that we will be attending the LPA National Conference this July in Brooklyn. I soon became to realize that it isn't going to be a cheap trip. We will save some money since we live in New York and we can drive instead of flying. But between the hotel stay, registration fees, food, activities, etc. it's looking like it will be a bit pricey. I decided to help us save a little extra money toward the trip I made a savings jar for us to put our loose change in. Ethan calls it his adventure jar. He is very excited every night when we get home and empty our pockets of change.

Since starting it he wants to put any money he gets his hands on into the jar. Weather he is at home or he is at my parents house he claims any change he finds. Grammy has been giving him money for "helping clean", which when he home get he wants to put right into the jar. We've also had some friends see the jar and make contributions.

I am not sure if he yet understands what his "Adventure" is. But he knows we are going with his friends Seamus & Grace. And that we are going to meet lots of other friends. I have been trying to explain to him how is a little person, and we are going somewhere to meet other little people like him. I don't think he's really getting it! I guess maybe he's still a little too young to understand. Whenever he sees a little person on tv he'll sometimes say something like "look mommy, he's a lil guy", and I will say "yep, he's a little person like you & Seamus". He usually just goes on with what he's doing and doesn't seem to realize what I told him. Maybe by the time we get there he'll understand better.

I am very excited to go to the conference. I think it's going to be an amazing experience for Ethan & our family. I can't wait to meet so many of the great people I've become friends with thanks to this wonderful world of blogging and facebook!

Happy Valentines Day

This year Valentines Day wasn't your usual romantic event filled day. This year Fred & I were supposed to go out of town to a family friend's wedding, but i guess Collin decided he didn't want us to go. During the night early Saturday Collin was stricken with his first illness. The lovely stomach bug had decided to fly into our home. Just the day before I had been talking with someone and mentioned that somehow Collin had escaped being sick so far this winter. I totally jinxed myself! So we ended up not to go to the wedding and instead we spent the whole Valentines weekend relaxing at home in jammies. By late Sunday night Collin's fever broke and his appetite was beginning to come back.

Even though he wasn't feeling like his usual self, Collin enjoyed opening his first Valentine's goody bag along with his big brother.

And it wouldn't be a normal Valentines Day with out the gift of flowers and jewelry, right? I received a bouquet of beautiful pink tulips along with an awesome necklace from my very talented husband. For all who don't know, Fred is the jeweler at his families jewelry store. He handmade this family circle pendant with all of our names on it.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day!

So. . . . . . .What do you say????

This is a posting I've been thinking of doing for a while but I guess I wasn't really sure how to. Countless times I have been faced with the questions of "what do I say?" & "how do you respond to that?" And by "that" I am referring to how to deal with other people's choice of using the "M" word in front of you? I've been faced with this many times already. I know we can't educate everyone! And I know this is a touchy subject for us LP parents. But everyone probably has a different way of dealing with it. Me, so far I haven't figured it out yet!



This past week I had a client of mine, who knows that Ethan is a dwarf, use the "M" word during our conversation. I know she didn't even think anything of it, just like it was any other word. I cringed when she said it. But I have a real issue with speaking up when things bother me. I didn't even know what to say or if I should say anything at all. So I opted to just let it go, and just blow it off like I've done other times. I know I probably should just speak up, but I just cant seem to get the words out. I also realize that people just don't know that it's wrong & a hurtful thing to say. I can tell you that I know before we had Ethan, I had no idea. I'll admit I used the word, but I didn't know it would hurt some one's feelings or offend someone.





I just have been thinking about how Ethan is getting older and people are really beginning to notice that he is different. I wanna be prepared for the day that someone says it in front of him. He has a personality larger than life & people are just drawn to him. I don't think he's going to have much trouble dealing with situations himself but I still get nervous as any parent would. I know people can be so mean, especially kids! Fred and I don't want him to take offense when someone uses the word or make fun of him but be able to realize that most people don't understand and don't know that it is wrong.





I guess I want to figure out how I should react myself so I can teach him how he should react. And I'm looking for some input from all of our blogging friends. I'd like to know how any of you have reacted if you've been faced with a situation like this? Or how you think you'd approach it. I am so grateful to have all of you out there to be able to discuss this with. I am so glad to have found such great people that can know exactly what you are going through and truly understand! I'd like to say thank you in advance for any input you share! It's greatly appreciated!

-Jennifer!

P.S.- Just had to add this!


The other day Ethan called me into the living room to show me the new trick he could do. Don't you love how flexible our kids are???