Rexburg Rindy News

WE'VE MOVED!!

2010-08-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

Virutally and in reality! We moved to Des Moines, Iowa so I figured we should move on here as well, RexburgRindys sounded funny for a family in Iowa with Alaska plates. Yes we get comments on it all the time. So here's our new blog, as I will no longer be updating this one:

IowaInspired.blogspot.com

be patient with the new blog, it will get cuter/more interesting as time goes on.

Thanks for moving with us!

The CRUISE!!

2010-07-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

I finally got pictures of our Alaskan Cruise posted! There were too many to put them individually on here, so check out our slide show in Picasa!

The Boss

2010-06-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

Chase has learned that whenever someone looks at him and asks a question, he nods his head and the result is usually good. Except when I ask him to change his diaper, then he runs away yelling, "No no no!"

This morning's example:

After repeatedly asking to watch KungFu Panda and me telling him no and him asking, "Why not?", I firmly reminded Ethan that I am the boss and I said no. "No, you're not the boss anymore!" he tells me. Alright, then who is the boss? "Chase." Ok, then ask Chase. "Chase, do you want to watch KungFu Panda?" Chase nods. "He said yes!!!"

I'm not sure I like this new skill...

The Last Month

2010-05-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty busy these last few weeks, and it's not going to slow down for a while! We are moving to Des Moines in July, we fly to Utah on the 23rd and stay there for a week before driving cross-country to Iowa. We also have to be out of the house we are renting by June 15th, so we'll be relying on the hospitality of Eric's parents for the month before we move (thanks guys!).

But here's whats been up this last month... WARNING- LOTS OF PICTURES:

Eric's little brother Matt graduated High School! We were excited we got to be here for it, congrats Matt!

Chase is cheesier than ever, everytime you hold up a camera he makes this face and says, "Cheeee!" I seriously could not get him to make a normal face.
He was on the run after stealing Ethan's toothbrush and backpack...he wants whatever his brother has.
More cheesy-ness.
Ethan singing "Following the Leader" and following Chase around the house.

Eric went on a fishing charter with his dad and brothers. He had a blast! I don't know if it was good or bad-- good because he's been dying to go and really enjoyed himself but bad because now this is what he really wants to do every weekend!! :)

I had some dental work done (I know I look terrible-- but I didn't feel terrible yet I was still numb :) but Eric thought this was hilarious because I seriously felt like I was smiling a big, normal smile. Nope! Luckily it was only on one side...

My little Hat Lover.

Just today...

2010-05-10T23:21:00.001-07:00

Just today, a normal day of the week, a lot of things have happened that I know I will want to remember. So excuse me for using my blog as a journal for a few minutes, but this is the only way I'll know where I wrote it down.

Just today, Chase is WALKING!! It's actually been a process over the last 2 weeks, but today he is walking and able to stop himself, turn, and continue walking in the opposite direction without falling. Yesterday was the first day he could stand up from the middle of the room and didn't have to pull himself up on furniture. Today he learned how to blow a kiss (slobbers on his hand then flings it in the air and says MA!) but he also learned to climb out of his crib. When he woke up from his nap Ethan walked in and Chase really wanted his sippy cup, and diving to get it he fell. After lots of snuggles and a sippy of his own he was back to his normal wild self. His new words are go, cheese, mouse (for Mickey Mouse), and he can sign "eat."

Just today Ethan started to pretend more than normal. All before bed he kept insisting that his name was Chase, and he showed me how well he could walk, and climbed up in Chase's crib and pretended to sleep. Not only that he wanted me to call Chase Ethan. Today Ethan found my high heels and walked around in them constantly, no matter how much noise they made in the kitchen or how many times Chase tried to take them from him. I'm sure Eric would have died if he saw it, but I thought he was pretty hilarious! Today Ethan and I started trying to memorize a scripture-- this kid has amazing memorizing skills when it comes to songs, so I figured why not apply it to something useful? We worked on Moses 1:39 and although I think it will take a while before he can say the whole thing by himself, he can fill in most of the words when I pause. I am going to try to work on a different scripture with him every week, and this will help me too!

Happy Birthday, Boys!!

2010-04-30T12:36:00.001-07:00

The boys had their birthdays this month, and boy did we celebrate! Chase turned 1 on the 17th and Ethan turned 3 on the 20th. I decided to let Ethan have a friends birthday/playdate in the afternoon, then we did a family birthday that night.

Most of my friends that have kids his age have girls, so he was a little outnumbered gender-wise. But he loved it. We had a Cars themed party, because Ethan is obsessed with Lightning McQueen. We played some games-- a bean bag toss (the kids mostly ran up to it to throw the bags in the holes) and a prize walk with music, and then we made candy cars out of gum packs and life savers, and decorated cupcakes. It was pretty fun, the kids seem to enjoy themselves! These were the only pictures I took of that morning, then my camera died.

That evening we had the family over for dinner and cake and ice cream. I made lasagna and Eric made the cake-- isn't it awesome??! I was so worried he wasn't going to have time to do it, he insisted on it being a 3D Lightening McQueen cake instead of a decorated sheet cake. We had baked the cakes the night before, but he didn't start decorating it until 2 pm and the party was at 6:30! But he did such an awesome job, Ethan loved it! Mom (Rindlisbacher) made a bear cake for Chase, and he kept growling at it. He loves bears. My dad took the pictures because I couldn't find my camera charger, so these are all from him.

(You can click on the collages to enlarge them)

The Cakes

The Guests and the Presents

These were some other pictures I got from my Dad's camera. I just downloaded Picasa and I love the collages you can make with it! I'm not very good at it yet, so I'm sure they'll improve as I practice more.
My babies are getting so big!! (At his 1 year appt Chase weighed in at 22.6 lbs, and Ethan weighs 27. Yea.) Chase is now in an upright, forward facing car seat and loves it. And he's starting to take some steps on his own, so it won't be long now until he'll be walking and unstoppable!

Breakthrough!

2010-04-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Ethan went potty three times this morning! It wasn't fun and he sat and held it for a long while but between morning and nap time at 2 he went three times and no accidents in his pull-ups! We are making progress!
Small, but it's progress!!!

Morning Entertainment

2010-04-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

I love waking up and finding a moose outside, because I know it'll keep the boys entertained for a long while. I told Chase it was a moose so he kept pointing and saying "moo!" Ethan kept it up with "One, two, three, four, five foots, lots and lots of foots! Chase, do you see him?!" It's pretty fun to watch, this is one reason we are going to miss Alaska.

On the other hand, you may have noticed the extra 6 inches of snow we got dumped on over the last 2 days. Where did spring go? This is one reason I am NOT going to miss Alaska :). Not that Des Moines holds a much better promise, weather-wise.

Progress Report

2010-04-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

So this is Ethan's progress as of Sunday night.

(Nothing fancy, but functional.)

Don't be fooled, he gets a sticker every time he sits on the potty, not every time he goes in the potty. Then every time he has sat 3 times he gets to watch a 20 minute episode of Dora the Explorer. It is seriously the best motivation you could give this kid, he loves that show.
I'd say this weekend was successful in 2 ways: 1- he went #2 in the potty twice and 2- he doesn't run the other way every time we mention going to sit on the potty. He happily goes and sits down everytime now, because he knows he'll get a sticker, but he just doesn't know what to do once he's there. We sit for 10-15 minutes, read stories, and talk about going potty, but I just don't think he gets it because he never went. The two times he went #2 we noticed he was about to go and ran him in there.
Over the weekend I kept him in diapers, so his misses weren't really accidents, but today we went and got him some "big boy underpants" and Resolve. Now we're in it for real. We had 2 accidents this afternoon-- again, he doesn't tell us when he has to go, just after the fact when he's wet. Help! Anyone have any suggestions?

As a side note, Chase was a pretty good sport this weekend. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff when he gets to ride Ethan's bike, and every time I get out the camera now he gets this cheesy grin on his face. He has added a few words to his vocabulary: Buh bye while waving, scoot (scoo), car, and he can sign all done while saying "da da" in the same tone I say "all done." He'll be 1 year old on Saturday!!

Wish me luck

2010-04-09T10:22:00.001-07:00

We started potty training today. I just woke up this morning and decided to do it. No more putting it off, no more excuses, we're doing it. Ethan helped me make a sticker chart, got lots of sippys with water and juice, gathered fruit snacks and jelly beans in a treat bin, and explained the process to my little man. No turning back now, this is it. Wish me luck.

Monster Man

2010-04-05T23:46:00.001-07:00

Chase has done some serious growing and expanding this month. And by expanding I mean the area he is able to reach and get into. I constantly refer to him as a monster man, he climbs up on and gets into everything!! The coffee table, the fireplace, Ethan's bed, you name it he's there. He's just figuring out how to climb DOWN off things safely, not head first. Here are a few examples caught on film:

Trying to copy Ethan

Not so happy when the bike struck back

Mohawk!

This is how he stood for a good 10 minutes, making me very nervous. I went and stood behind him after I took the picture :)

On the other hand, he is such a smart boy and figures things out so quickly. He will imitate almost anything we do, and he's just started picking up on some sign language, like "more". I know you're not going to believe me, I wouldn't believe me either, but yes, my 11 month old talks. He says Mama and Dada, No with a perfect circle to his lips at the "O", Coo coo when he sees the Cuckoo clock, and will repeat you clearly when you say Matt. He loves to follow Ethan around and amuses himself with the funniest things. Today he found a plastic egg and kept hiding it under the flap at the bottom of the couch, then reaching back in to find it. He probably repeated that 12 times before he stopped. Gotta love boys!

Easter Eggs

2010-04-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

Concentrating. Coloring eggs is serious business.

When I went to go get the crayons, Ethan decided more eggs needed to go into the coloring cups. Two of them went into the yellow together.

Sticker eggs

Egghead

We went to both sets of Grandparents houses for egg hunts and had a lot of fun, but forgot to take pictures.
Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Name Change?

2010-03-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

Summer is fast approaching-- and so is our move! We are headed to Des Moines in August for Med School, and we're excited! But our blog says we still live in Rexburg....
I realize this creates some confusion. So I'm wondering-- should I change the title of this blog? Or just start a new one with a new name?

If so, any ideas on a new name?
Iowa Indlisbachers?
Just kidding. But seriously, any ideas?

Fun with Graphics

2010-03-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

As a few opportunities to create logos have come my way, I've been delving back into my graphic design experience. I'll post some of those later. But the more I work with these design programs the more I realize I am limited in how I am able to use them. So these overlays by Vol. 25
caught my eye- I think they'd be fun to work with and learn new things in Photoshop! My friend Amanda posted about a giveaway for them and so I'm entering for the giveaway as well-- but I promise if I win I'll share! :)

Funny Boy

2010-03-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Ethan has been cracking me up lately with the things he says. Here are a few favorites from the last few days, I figured I should write them down so I'll remember them:

*After eating breakfast this morning and spilling milk all down his front, I took off Ethan's shirt and went to get him a new one. He ran away from me, so I asked him if he wanted a shirt on and he said, "No, I'm a naked boy!"

*Eric's parents have been out of town, and his Opa (Eric's dad) is pretty much his favorite person. They are coming back tonight, and I was telling this to Ethan, to which he replied, "I see Opa first, and Chase go see Grandma." Shows where his priorities are!

*The other day I was eating some tortilla chips and I asked Ethan if he wanted some. His response: "No, I'm good." Where does he come up with these things?

*Eric taught Ethan that when you ask him how old he is, instead of saying 2, he now says, "I'm almost 3!"

Gotta love it!

Help Wanted: Toilet Training

2010-03-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Potty Training. Oh boy. I need to crack down on getting Ethan potty trained, but I need some help. I've been reading Toilet Training in Less Than a Day and it's a technique I want to try--basically you take a day and remove all distractions (including siblings), put the potty in an easily accessible place in the house, show them how to use the potty properly by demonstrating with a doll and even have them check to see if they are wet/dry and reward the doll for dry diapers, and then just encourage and reward and stay positive while they try it themselves. Sounds good, but maybe a little too idealistic that it will work in one day. Right now Ethan adamantly says "NO!" every time I tell him it's time to go potty, and is freaked out by diapers that pull up and down. Any suggestions? Any other books that you've read that helped? Anyone want to come do it for me?

Double Digits

2010-02-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

Chase is now in the double digits (in months of course) and I don't know where my baby went! He's way more self-entertaining at this age than Ethan was, mainly due to the fact that he's crawling, but he also has an older brother to keep him occupied. He has such a little personality and is in a cling-to-mom phase, loves to eat and gets into EVERYTHING. He's such a happy guy with the cheesiest grin, and we're so lucky he's part of our family!

Happy 10 months, Chaser bug!

Knock 'em Down!

2010-02-15T00:06:00.001-08:00

Every time the ball hit the pins on his turn, Ethan would yell "Knock 'em down!"

They didn't have a ramp for Ethan to roll the ball down, so we had to help him push it. Let's just say next time we'll make sure to go to a place with a ramp.

Eric showing off his mad skills

My mom is out of town so we took pity on my dad and brought him along. He was a great help with the kids and I hope he had some fun too!

The music was a little too loud for Ethan's taste.

Aren't kids bowling shoes so tiny and cute? I forgot they come with Velcro :)

Yes, it's sad but true. Ethan, with bumpers but without a ramp, beat everyone but Eric. And even that was close. We'll blame it on the 2 little distractions we had with us (Chase was there too although didn't seem to show up in any pictures) :)

Taking A Chance

2010-02-14T23:39:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday night, still technically Valentines Day, so I thought I'd post this tonight. But at the same time I'm taking a chance that Eric won't check our blog until after tomorrow morning. We had a crazy weekend so we agreed that we'd celebrate Valentines on Monday. He works nights and is at work right now, so I set up his surprise tonight and he'll get it in the morning when he comes home.

I love you sweetie, Happy Valentines Day!

Ok I have to applaud my creativity here, we didn't have any toothpicks or skewers, so i used spaghetti noodles! I was pretty proud of myself...:)

Hope you all had a great Valentines Day!

Ethan has a follower

2010-02-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

Chase was going as fast as his little legs would carry him.

But he was no match for Ethan's bike.

Time with Ethan

2010-02-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight after I put Chase to bed and Eric left early for work, Ethan and I had a few rare minutes to hang out together, just the 2 of us, where I didn't felt like I had to be doing fifty other things. I love that little boy so much, he amazes me everyday with the things he comes up with and what he is able to do, I am still awestruck by how fast kids grow and learn. With Ethan's humble beginning and bleak outlook on his life and abilities, I am always silently thrilled when I find he has learned new phrases on his own, copied an action he wasn't able to copy before, or demand he do something by himself even when he knows he'll need some help. He struggles everyday to do what is normal for other kids his age, and works so hard to accomplish what he wants. He doesn't know he's any different, or that things are harder for him, so I try to treat him that way. He is occasionally stubborn, belligerent, and ornery, but he has the biggest heart and mostly wants to express his love for others and his enthusiasm for life.
Ethan's therapists help me understand and celebrate every triumph, every step toward him being able to live a normal life, and I'm so grateful for their expertise and guidance. They also put into perspective that Ethan is very high functioning, and to an outsider he may not seem to have any usual struggles. I know that this is because of a loving Heavenly Father who loves him and us very much. I know that Ethan will continue to grow and improve and impress everyone with everything he can do, and I need to not take the time we have together for granted. Tonight we just played Memory, but it's a memory I'll not forget soon and try to repeat as often as I can.

Us Lately

2010-02-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

Chase: crawling, sometimes with his left leg out like a pegleg, at his 9 month checkup last week he weighed 20 lb 5 oz (50th percentile) and was 30 inches long (90th percentile), laughs at everything Ethan does, makes a squinty-smiley-oh-so-cheesy-face when you do it at him (see picture below), loves food, is eating more real food, weaned to formula, sleeps 12 hours a night but only takes 2 naps a day, 45 minutes each, loves to carry around a Little People donkey (also in pictures), screams if you take it away at naps, wants to do everything Ethan does, loves his mommy.

Ethan: talking talking talking more and more every day, cracks us up all the time (ex: at the store the other day he started saying what we say to him when he's in trouble, but to Eric: "Daddy, look at me! Look at me! 1, 2, 3. Time out!"), loves Thomas the Train and Lightning McQueen, jumps off EVERYTHING- the coffee table, the fireplace, chairs..., doesn't eat much but will eat almost an entire box of mac n cheese by himself, trying unsuccessfully to potty train, loves to play cars, likes it when his friends come over to play, terrorizes his brother, enjoys going to therapy- physical, occupational, and now speech too, always wants juice, always calls Chase "Chaser", copies everything we say, loves his daddy and his grandparents.

Jessica: having fun with calling in Activity Days (8-11 year old girls), works about 5 hours a week at a cooking school and learns a ton!, just started training for a half marathon, shuttles kids around, tries to cook and clean but usually only gets one of those done each day rather than both, enjoys reading and blogging, wants to go snowboarding before this winter is over, appreciates her amazing husband and loves her boys!

Eric: Works nights at the hospital, sleeps days, has weekends off (yea!), already planning fishing trips for this summer, does some tutoring on the side, getting excited for Med school, looking for housing in Des Moines, IA, does so much for his wife, is reading Ronald Regan's autobiography, teaches amazing Gospel Principles lessons each Sunday, teases Ethan incessantly, very politically active/opinionated, loves his family.

Mobile.

2010-01-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

My little Chase-man is now mobile! He's not completely crawling on hands and knees yet but he can definitely get where he wants to go. I wanted to get it on video to post but my computer isn't recognizing my video camera when I plug it in, so a series of pictures is the best I could do:

He loves these star shaped veggie puffs, he'll go anywhere for them!

The flash on the camera distracted him.

He's into everything! Gotta love it!

Christmas and Good News

2009-12-27T23:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you had a great holiday. We spent the holiday with Eric's family and it was a lot of fun- we enjoyed spending time together, relaxing, and eating a lot of good food! Here are some pictures we took--

Christmas Eve we ate a great meal and then played some games. Ethan went fishing...

and uncle Matt helped him catch prizes!

Chase wanted to open his Christmas eve present-- PJ's!

I LOVE this picture of Chase but it wouldn't let me flip it...
This was the first present he opened on Christmas morning and he was SO excited for it! He cried when Eric took it to get it out of the package and stared at him until he gave it back. He loved playing with it-- thanks Grandma and Grandpa Stastny!

Chase also like the way soft bear from Grandma and Opa Rindlisbacher, it was bigger than him!

Ethan wanted to play with Chase's toys- most of them were louder and had more lights than his :)

Christmas Pajamas! Gotta love Ethan's cheesy grin...

As for the good news: Eric applied and was accepted to the Podiatry program at Des Moines University in Iowa! He was even offered a partial tuition scholarship! He accepted the invitation a few days ago, so it's official we will be heading to Iowa next fall. School starts the first week in August, so we'll probably leave Alaska mid-July and pick up our stuff in Utah on the way there. It's a 4 year program and then about 2-3 years of residency, so wish us luck!

Behind the Beard

2009-12-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

At my parents Ward Christmas party, my dad got chosen to play the part of Santa. Have you ever seen my dad??? He is about the skinniest man alive and they chose him. Maybe cause he's so jolly, I don't know. So Ethan and I crashed their party for a bit so he could have a chance to sit on Santas lap. My mom was curious to see whether or not Ethan would recognize his voice.

He was really excited as we were waiting in line and kept asking to see Santa, but when it was his turn he turned timid and didn't want to sit on his lap. But the candy was too tempting to ignore. As he turned around to sit on his lap, my dad started talking and Ethan turned around, recognizing his voice. But then he saw the beard and got shy again.

The whole time he was on his lap he was leaning as far away as possible from him. But at least he sat there and didn't freak out like last year!

Merry Christmas, Santa!