Supporting Our Troops . . .

. . . in our own special way. Due the military history in my family, I felt it necessary to in someway show recognition for the sacrifice our military men and women make for us everyday. There are so many ways- yellow ribbons, magnetic car ribbons, sending messages to our troops through various websites. But none of these really expressed my appreciation quite right. I thought and I thought and I thought. And finally I came up with the perfect way of showing our families appreciation. We gave our Christmas tree a flat top. Now every time we walk through our den and see the beautifully adorned tree with it's missing point our minds are immediately taken to our soldiers, their families, and of course their iconic hairstyle.

That sounded pretty good didn't it. I even began to believe it for a minute. Phil and I are secretly hoping that the first part of this post will sweep the nation and that we will have started the greatest holiday trend ever.

Actually, I hosted a Christmas party for my Bible Study here last week. I ran to Lowe's to get a tree and had to purchase the last tree there (and the last tree that was going to be there- on Dec. the 4th!). The truth of the matter is that this poor tree had, I'm sure, been on the bottom of the pile in the truck getting here and the top was ruthlessly broken out as it bumped along our MS highways. However, it was 24 hours and counting until my party and this lovely member of the fir family had the meager price tag of $18, so it came home with me to celebrate the holidays with us.

I had hoped to have a picture of Wilson with Santa to add to the post, but he couldn't be less interested. Every time I ask if he wants to go see Santa I get the ultimate 2 year old response- no, no, no, NOOOOOO. He then will add that he would like to go see the car. This would be the Subaru Outback that is being displayed a few yards up from Santa at Northpark. If you get a picture of Wilson with a station wagon in a Christmas card this year, you'll know that I finally gave in.

Hope everyone is having a very blessed season and that the joy of Christ's birth is surrounding all of your busy days. Merry Christmas!

Okay, Now They're Just Mocking ME!

Those of you who have been with us since we brought the first of our sweet dogs home four years ago this week will also remember the beautiful bungalow inspired dog house we labored over for them. For those of you who weren't in our lives yet let's just say, front porch and working shutters. Tate showed us how much he appreciated it by teething on the columns of the porch before we even got the roof on and the structured moved to it's permanent place in the yard!


I have now been shown equal thanks for my latest undertaking- the jeep bed. All I can say is thank goodness Pat Pat surprised us with the rug for Wilson's room, or the poor child would have nowhere to sleep!!

This is where he now sleeps. I've already gone in and made the dogs come out and put him back in his bed once tonight (this photo is from nap time today). We found him like this this morning and assumed he'd fallen out, but apparently he just prefers to sleep on the rug. At least Tate's finally got a place to lay his head!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Following is a video of Wilson helping Phil open his birthday presents. Wilson has definitely gotten the concept of presents. He cried all day whenever he say a gift for Daddy and I wouldn't let him open it!

(PS- this one's for you, Pat Pat- I have captured the new "accent" on audio- "what's thiuuus?")
(PPS- sorry the video's a bit squashy. Yours truly can't quite grasp the idea that you can't video in "portrait". I've learned how to rotate the video when I make this goof, but it just makes the subject matter look as though it's gained about 50lbs. Coincidence that I'm never in the videos? I think not!!)



Watch the Video

A few more pics of the new room

I thought I'd post of few more pictures of Wilson's new room. He is so proud of it and wants everyone who comes over to see it. I was hoping to also include pictures of our recently updated kitchen, but lord help us, I just can't seem to get it straightened up enough for a photo op. I'm hosting a Christmas party the first week of Dec., so maybe that will give me the motivation to get this place cleaned up. And, after all, everything looks better in the glow of Christmas lights. (right?!)

Good Night From the Ethridges

I just went in to check on Wilson before going to bed- we are on night two of the "big boy" bed & room. Pictured below is what I found. If only I'd known how many lives I'd touch by creating the Jeep bed. I'll post more pics of the new room in the morning. Nighty-night!

One More For the Road

Okay, one more post before I go to bed. This picture just popped up on my Google Desktop. It is one of our favorites of the dogs (taken on our old digital camera- sorry if it turns out a little "pixelly"). It was taken the day we brought Tate home. Look how proud Jack is! Shortly after this, Tate hopped on Jack's blanket and Jack was pulling him around the house, it was too cute! It's hard to believe that that cute, little, innocent, white fluff ball turned into Tate- boy, oh boy, if we'd only know then!!

The Greatest Movie

We just finished the best movie. And, no, I'm not talking about Cars (although I have seen it three times today plus all the bonus features and I still think it's pretty darn cute). Phil and I just finished Little Manhattan. It is the cutest- I highly recommend it. It's a very happy little story told by a fifth grader in New York. It's on HBO on Demand right now, if you have that. If you don't, put it in your queue or rent it. I promise it'll put a smile on your face!

Countdown

ONLY ONE MORE DAY!!!

Costume Party

Tonight our friends John & Kendy had a costume party at their house. It was lots of fun and everyone had great costumes. Below are a few pictures of all the cute little goblins and their mammas & daddies (click on them to enlarge!)

Going around the island from left to right: A true Super Woman Ginny (she has a two year old and twins!) Jonathan (also known as Nathan's dad is dressed as Kevin- not pictured is his wife (due any day now) as Britney), John, Eliza Kate, & Kendy (the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe- the wardrobe had to be removed so John could do some Daddy duty), and Ashley & baby Bradley- arrrrr- what great pirate costumes!

The Twins- Ford, a duck & Virginia, a bunny

The twin's brother, Ben and their dad, Matt

John & Eliza Kate- you can see the Wardrobe to the left

Phil- dressed as our host John (an orthopedic resident)- helping Wilson pull Nathan in the wagon

What a cute pair of frogs- Nathan and Wilson taking a wagon ride

Ashley & Bradley

A WEE Little Frog

Click To Play

Given the constant emmotional roller coaster that we live on in toddler hood, who knows if Wilson will actually put his costume back on ON HALLOWEEN. But last night it was quite chilly and he really wanted to play on the front porch, so I thought, what better use of a fuzzy, stuffed, frog suit. Above is a video of him demonstrating his froggy skills and below are just some cute photos. Enjoy!

From our Costume Playgroup Friday morning

Mamma, I see the moon

And, of course, no frog suit is complete with out cars. I should start a "Where's Waldo" type game with that yellow bug- he's in most of our pictures!

Pooper Scooper

A little video of our newest pastime. . .

Click To Play

Snack Time

Wilson shared his snack this morning with his firemen. (Look closely at the table in front of the firemen).

Mystery Smell Challenge

And the Mystery Smell of the day is . . . .

MOLDY MINI GOURD THAT HAD ROLLED UNDER THE CHAIR IN THE CORNER A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO

Today's game has bee brought to you by the letters W, E, & E, the number 2, and the curious toddler nearest you!

Train Table Video

Click To Play

I've re-posted the train video. Sorry for those of you who may have tried it earlier and it took FOREVER- I forgot to compress it first. I'm still getting the whole video on the blog thing down. I'll also add a transcript below of what the little man is saying, for those of you not fluent in Wilsonease.

Ambulance on the street
Helicopter, helicopter on the street
Other side of trains
Something about the train’s together
Other one
Let’s go cars
Airplane, airplane fit?

WOW!!

Does the ticker at the top REALLY say that my baby is two years old!? I would say it's hard to believe if we hadn't ushered in the first full day of being two by him spraying furniture polish in his eyes while I "turned my head for one second"! Even so, it really is hard to believe how fast he's growing up. I've heard that every age will be your favorite age, and so far that is true. I saw a friend's mom last night and as we were catching up I mentioned that Wilson had turned two yesterday. She said two is such a fun age. I replied, "from your mouth to God's ears!" She said, "I was lying. Three is really fun, two is crazy." Then she reminded me that she did it three times- all with boys. YIKES! But so far, this is truly our favorite time with him. It is so much fun to watch his personality and intellect develop. People say he looks like me & I say he definitely has his dad's personality quirkiness. It's amazing how he has developed some of the same minor personality traits as his dad's- He goes into a trance if you begin to lightly scratch his face, he can't stand to have dirt or water on him if it wasn't his idea, he knows exactly how he wants his things & won't stand for them to be in any other order, and don't even think about pushing back meal time!! He's very shy until he warms up to you, and then it can be hard to get him to quit putting on a show for you. (Sorry for putting your eccentricities into print, dear, but let's face it, most of the people reading this already know about them- and love you anyway!) He's beginning to understand jokes and has come up with a few of his own, which has been a real treat for his mom & dad. He adores all his aunts, uncles, and grandparents (mostly because they all have vehicles and a few of them even have trucks!). He is of course still enamored with all things that roll and he loves to be outside. We all had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating Wilson's second year of life and Phil & my second anniversary on this roller coaster called parenthood. Below are some pictures and as I type I'm uploading a video (not sure if it will load before or after this post).

A few of the guests we were honored to have- Aunt Lauren, Big Daddy, Papa, & Nanny

Nathan (the Birthday boy's best guy pal), Mamma, & Wilson going down the slide

Big Daddy Pushing Wilson in the swing

My two favorite men

A new family tradition- a piece of Birthday "Punkin" Pie

A park full of play equipment and where do the little boys end up? In the ditch!

YUM! Birthday cake!

Wilson & Nathan

Eliza Kate & Baby Taylor enjoying the swings

Wilson, Mamma, Cousin Baby Adam, & Aunt Ashley

Look How Big I've Gotten

This is a picture taken this time last year when we got home from shopping for 1st birthday party supplies. Wilson is holding a package of Baby Einstein plates. For those of you who don't remember- he actually took a nap with that pack of plates that day!

What a busy Month

It's been a while since my last post- we've been quite busy around here and we're not even half way through the month. We haven't even had the birthday party for YOU KNOW WHO (check the ticker at the top of the page if you're not sure who I'm talking about!!)

We began the month with a trip to Memphis. Daddy was in a wedding and Mama and Wilson got to catch up with Aunt Suzanne. We all had a blast. The highlight would have to be that unknowingly my aunt had left a toy VW Bug in our room. It was something that she had put in there for the foreign exchange student they had last year who's favorite car was the new bug. As soon as Wilson laid eyes on it- "BIG CAR!!" It did not leave his sight (not even in his sleep) the whole weekend. He was so attached that my uncle actually thought we had brought it and when I tried to return it before we left, he said, no, I really don't think that's ours anymore! The next highlight would have to be that Wilson got to see what peanuts look like before the get put into a jar. For several weeks now he's been eating them morning, noon, & night as his only sorce of protein. My aunt had a large bowl of roasted peanuts on her coffee table. As soon as I cracked one open and showed Wilson what was inside, he set up camp (with big car) at the coffee table. I think my family was quite surprised at how car obsessed he is. Several times they asked does he do anything else? To which I had to admit- no. He got to meet their bunny that roams freely in their backyard. The next time you see Wilson, ask him what a rabbit says. You'll never belive what the answer is, and it is absolutely true! He also got to help us chase a chipmunk out of my aunt & uncle's room that the cat had drug in. She prefers to bring her catches in live, unlike most felines. After that, we left for the fabulous Memphis zoo and see the "panna bears" & the "pola bears". That night as I was saying our prayers I thanked God for all the animals He had created and for the zoo where we got to see pandas, and polar bears, and elephants. I began to move on to a new topic of thanksgiving when Wilson raised his head and said "monkeys?" so I said, "thank you, God, for the monkeys." I finshed the prayer and as I was leaving his room he said, "rhinos?" so I had to add a ps to the prayer- "thank you, God, for the rhinos". Here are some photos of the trip.

I think the pose says it all- we are going to be the future owners of a muscle car.

He referred to my cousin's firebird as "racecar"

Mama & Wilson in front of the girl panda

Daddy & Wilson looking at the monkeys

The Polar Bear Exhibit

Wilson, my aunt Suzanne, & Daisy

Wilson introducing Big Car & Daisy- no one else can get this close to the rabbit!

Wilson shows off his talent of delicately balancing a ball on his index finger.
Truly amazing!

Time has been filled since then with several other discoveries. He has learned that if he can't get my attention by calling for "mama" he can resort to screaming "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie" from his room. He's figured out that there are other genres of music besides the "wiggle song" which he used to ask for everytime the car cranked. Now he asks for "A-lan Jack-son". We watch "Piggy" (Babe) now instead of Big Car (any of the 4 Herby movies). He says "Go Raiders" in honor of his uncle whenever he sees a football player or football game (high school, college or NFL). With all the Halloween festivities around in his world, he's picked up on all kinds of new phrases. "Spooky man" and "I not scared" or "I not scared a you spooky man" "trick or treat". I have more acorns inside my house than the two trees in the front yard can possibly produce. He's making some real progress with potty training. I actually left the house for a brief errand the other day with him in big boy pants. It was the scariest trip to ACE Hardware I've ever been on. He loves the hardware store because they have cats. So after we found what I needed, we went on a search for the cats to pet them. When he was done with that he promptly asked where the fish were. I had to explain that it was a hardware store- not a pet store. He's also making lots of progress in swimming, actually moving through the water a little.

Today, my mom and I took him to the Fair. Here are some pics from that adventure:

Petting a baby cow

Feeding a goat at the petting zoo

Riding the "Big Truck" ride with Granna

The Dump Truck Ride- what fun!