I know it's been forever since I've updated everyone, so I'll try to catch up on all of our good news. First, we closed on the house at the end of August. It was such a relief not to have to worry any more that the offer would fall through, as well as knowing that it's no longer empty and not having the vast majority of our paycheck go to the mortgage. We celebrated by going out for ice cream. I know, we're living large with our new found wealth. On the same day of the closing, Anthony logged onto a computer at work to find that he had received a promotion. Four days before. We thought he wouldn't be Airman First Class until the end of October, so it was a wonderful surprise. Anthony spent his lunch hour taking his uniform to have his second strip sewn on, and his uniform looks much better with the addition.
Ethan has been learning all sorts of new tricks. He is completely crawling, so nothing is off limits any more. He even throws himself off the landing at the bottom of our stairs, just like Will does. Even before he was up crawling on his knees, I would find him pulling himself up the stairs. I don't know where he's going, but he's in a hurry to get there. He also loves the washing machine just like Will.
Each morning he is standing up in his crib, and he spends a lot of the day using the furniture to make his way around the living room. It's almost scary how quickly he learns how to do things. He even knows that under Will's chair he can find the best food that's been dropped. I found him there one day after lunch with a piece of bacon from the leftover chowder Will had been eating. His other big news is that his first tooth came in at the beginning of September, a full four months before Will's first tooth had come in. Teeth 2, 3, and 4 all showed up within a few weeks, so now he has two bottom teeth and the two top canine teeth, but no middle teeth on top. He's also doing better with not spitting up, so those of you who invested in stocks for whatever company makes Resolve carpet cleaner might want to start selling them. We won't be buying quite as much any more, so I'm sure their profits will be falling.
Ethan had his first hair cut last week, and I couldn't believe the difference it made. Watch out girls!
Before
After
Will continues to do funny things each day. His friend Brayden taught him to dance, and it's pretty hilarious. He's in a mood where he doesn't like his picture taken, so I'll have to see if I can hide and catch him on video. He's learned how to say chocolate, and everything brown to him must be chocolate.
Will's also learning his colors and has orange and yellow down. We're working on the others. He finally learned to say "You're welcome," instead of just repeating "Thank you," and now he tries to get you to say thank you just so he can tell you you're welcome. His big phrase right now is, "I think so." That is the answer to every question. Sometimes he'll throw in, "I guess," accompanied by an eye roll. Who knows where he's getting this from.
Will had a great second birthday. One of his favorite parts was the candy his Aunt Heilit and Uncle Matt sent with his present. I could hardly get him interested in anything else. He is definitely a candy freak like his dad. If ever he even thinks you have candy, he's on you like a bloodhound.
His second favorite gift was his new tricycle.
As you can see, everywhere Will is, Ethan is usually with him.
For Will's cake, we made an ice cream cake shaped like a basketball, since ball's are his life. It turned out pretty well.
While my parents were here, we were able to take a trip to Fairbanks. One of the things we were most excited about was visiting North Pole, AK, where you can visit Santa Claus any day of the year. Except apparently between September and October, when Santa takes Fall Break. So here's Ethan in Santa's vacant chair.
We also didn't see the Northern Lights, which was disappointing, but we received our first snow fall of the year!
It hasn't started in Anchorage yet, and we're hoping it holds off for awhile. We're instead getting use to the lack of daylight. The sun doesn't rise until 8:30 a.m., and it's pitch black by 7:30 p.m. I have a feeling it's going to be a long, dark winter. To help combat the boredom, we purchased a Wii, and we're loving it. Anthony got the Wii Fit for my birthday, and I've been having lots of fun working out every day. I know, that doesn't sound like a sentence that could be true, but it really is fun. I like all the different games, plus I know that I'm doing exercises correctly--since it certainly lets you know if you're doing something wrong--as well as keeping track of how much I've worked out. It's the best!As for Anthony, he's finishing up his CDC's (career development courses), and then he'll be able to start working on college courses for his degree. He's still really considering becoming an officer, so it is going to be a lot of hard work to get there within the time frame allowed, but it will be worth it in the end. He also was able to go on his first hunting trip with a friend from the shop, but unfortunately the only animal he saw was a field mouse. I asked why he didn't shoot that and bring it home. He promised me a bear skin rug, and I at least could have made a doll size one with that. In other wildlife sightings, we saw 3 porcupines while my parents were visiting, and today I looked up at the window while I was doing dishes, and this is what I saw 50 feet away at the playground:
I took Will out to see it, and he started shouting, "Hi Moose!" Then it ran off, so he sadly called out, "Bye Moose." Every day it's something new.
A few weeks ago I received a notice for jury duty. For Indiana. It said they would pay the mileage to go back and forth each day, but I don't think they've calculated the distance from Anchorage. I'm pretty sure I can get out of it. I also have officially switched over to be an Alaskan resident. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it's done. Otherwise, I have lots of projects I'm working on, including Christmas stockings and doing some photo shoots of the boys. (Laura, I miss you! I need your expertise!)
On Labor Day, we were able to go on an amazing hike with the boys, called the Winner Creek Trail. The boys did really well, and our favorite part was at the end where you had to pull yourself across the gorge on a hand tram.
It was pretty neat, although it made me feel really dizzy. Lately, I've had vertigo, and I'm thinking of changing my name to Lucile 2. (If that doesn't make sense, you need to see Arrested Development.) Will did incredibly well, walking for almost 2 miles, but Ethan spent a lot of the trip sleeping.
That's about all that is going on in Alaska. Everyone's keeping busy, growing and learning new things. We love and miss you all!
