Ephraim Doctor

Shortly after his birthday Ephraim got to go to the Doctor's for his two-year well visit. Unfortunately this also means that he is getting old enough to realize that we are in the Doctor's office, and he is not necessarily happy about that fact. From the minute we got into the exam room he was a little bit nervous.

Having Jacob with us actually helped. When the nurse came in to take measurements we showed Ephraim that it didn't hurt by having Jacob do it too. Pretty soon Ephraim was a bit more relaxed. It also helps that Doctor Arnold is awesome.

So here are Ephraim's stats:

length: 33 1/2 inches (30th percentile)
weight: 26.5 lbs (30th percentile)
head circ: 49 1/2 cm (75th percentile)

So he is not really tall and on the skinny side. That's just fine by me! Doctor Arnold said he is well proportioned and growing beautifully.

Here is something else that has been growing beautifully lately:

I love it when my yard starts to show some color!

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So did we have a big celebration for St. Patrick's day at the Devereaux house? Not really. I did remember to dress the boys in green clothes... not that anyone was going to pinch them for not wearing green!

We did have corned beef for dinner on Sunday, but that is about the extent of our celebration of all things Irish. Though it was a pretty regular day, we did have a little fun in the evening. It was warm enough that the boys got to play outside. At one point I looked over and this is what I saw:

Jacob and Ephraim were trying to give each other rides in the wheelbarrow.

They didn't have any trouble getting into the wheelbarrow. The problems started when they attempted to get it rolling!

Neither of them is strong enough to pick up the wheelbarrow while the other one is in it! but it was pretty funny to watch them try and repeatedly dump each other out!

Bike Boys (March 15)

It was a bit of a crummy day, due to misunderstandings and mishaps. First Joe took his bike to work, but didn't get to go on a ride during his lunch hour. Then he kept trying to call me to see if we could go on a ride after work, but I didn't have my phone on. Needless to say, he was frustrated.

Then we had family night and went on a walk while the boys rode their bikes. We had such a good time together that it made the evening much better.

Here is Jacob on his tricycle:

Ephraim likes our little ride on toys that he can scoot around on. He's not quite big enough to pedal Jacob's trike or the other one we have.

I forgot to take my camera with us on our walk, so I went and got it as soon as we got home. The boys were having fun in the driveway as the sun was setting.

These last pictures are just extra. I couldn't decide which ones to leave out because the boys are so cute. Here goes Jacob. He is pretty fast on his trike!

Here is Ephraim. I think he is attempting to "pop a wheelie". What a cute boy!

New Race Track

Saturday evening we opened up the big box that came for Ephraim's birthday from Grandpa and Grandma Heiner. Jacob and Ephraim were both excited to see their new race track.

We played with it a litte on Saturday night and then again on Sunday morning. I think Jacob thought the box was almost as much fun as the cars. Silly boy!

The track it pretty cool. It can be set up a few different ways, and the cars have remotes that tell them to go or stop.

Ephraim and Jacob can both work the remotes and think it is fun to watch the cars go around and around the track, avoiding the obstacles and the sides of the track.

It is definitely a good thing that the track came with two cars, because otherwise they would fight over who's turn it is to use the cars.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun present. The boys love it! I know it will be a fun addition to their trains, trucks and cars!

Rainy Saturday and the Car Parade

Saturday was a yucky, rainy day. So the boys were stuck inside, but they did find ways to amuse themselves. I found Jacob and Ephraim playing in the living room. Jacob was lining up cars so Ephraim could take their picture withe camera on his phone.

How cute is that?! They were seriously cracking me up!

Then we decided to get out all their cars and see if they filled up the coffee table.

There weren't enough cars to fill up the coffee table, but the boys sure do have a lot of cars!

Crappy Day

So I have to tell you about the day after Ephraim's birthday. It started out innocently enough. We were having fun playing around in the morning, helping Grandma Heiner get ready to go home.

I had gotten the boys ready and was just getting out of the shower when Ephraim came to the bathroom telling me, "Potty! Potty!"

Ephraim has been interested in using the potty, but has never actually done anything while sitting there. He just makes a "ppssssss!" noise while smiling at me. Cute, but somewhat frustrating. So I didn't really thing his request was very urgent.

But as I started to get dressed, Ephraim started to try to pull his clothes off, all while saying, "potty!". So I decided to humor him and took off his pants and diaper and set him on the potty. Within 20 seconds, Jacob came in the bathroom saying, "Mommy, I need to go potty NOW!".

So what's a mom to do? I figured Ephraim didn't really need to go, so I took him off the potty and put Jacob on the potty.  You can see where this is headed, right? Actually it is worse than you think!

While I was helping Jacob with the TP, Ephraim wandered back in the bathroom. It was then that I noticed he had a little something on his tush. I immediately cried, "Oh no, Ephraim is starting to go potty!" So I took Jacob off the potty and put Ephraim on.

No big deal, right? Jacob was done anyway... or so I thought! He starts in with "I still need to go some more!" At this point I am in a panic. So I call for my mom to come take Jacob downstairs (he won't go down by himself) so he can finish going potty and I can take care of Ephraim.

I thought the disaster was averted. WRONG!
I just about lost it when I looked down the hallway...

What neither my mom or I knew was that Ephraim had already pooped in the hallway. That wouldn't be SO bad, but then my mom inadvertently stepped on it with her shoe when she came to get Jacob.... and tracked the mess down the hallway, through my kitchen and down the stairs.

I will admit it... I freaked out. There may have been some yelling, screaming and general hysteria. It wasn't my mom's fault, it wasn't really Ephraim's fault.... and I like to think that I was doing the best I could.

We got the mess cleaned up and then went out for lunch to give everyone a break. I was disappointed that Ephraim probably WOULD have used the potty, but instead everything got all messed up.

So mom and I cleaned up the house and then decided that we should all go out to eat lunch since we were having such a crappy day (or at least I was... I don't know if the boys were quite as traumatized.)

Spending some time away from the house was helpful. We all relaxed a bit before we had to say goodbye to grandma.

I was afraid Ephraim would not want to get back on the potty, but later in the day (before his bath and with his face covered in cake and chocolate ice cream) he did ask to go potty again.

So I guess that's progress, even if all he did was tell me "ppsssssssss!" and smile.

Happy Happy Birthday!

My little Ephraim... I can't believe that you are already two years old!

I look at you now and see a little boy now, instead of a baby! It is amazing all the things that you can do!

You are a boy who loves music. We often hear you singing throughout the day, songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle little Star" or "The Wheels on the Bus" or "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" or "Book of Mormon Stories". It is so adorable! You love going to our Music Makers class, and I often hear you singing songs from class.

You are a boy who is not afraid of anything. Whenever you fall down or get hurt, you just shrug it off and get up and keep on going! You are a boy who follows his big brother everywhere and tries to do just what Jacob does. It is so fun to watch you play with Jacob, as you run around the house together giggling.

Jacob has always been fond of Teddy, but I think you prefer your blankies, which you call bimis. One of my favorite parts of going to work is when you come up to me to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before I go. You give the best little kisses!

You love to play with cars and trucks. You love to dig in the sandbox with Jacob. I think you also enjoy dumping sand on his head or your own... but you know enough not to do it when mommy is looking! You love to run and skip and jump. You love to go down the slide and then run back up so you can go down again.

You are such a happy boy and have the best smile.  We love having you in our home!

We had a fun birthday celebration this year. In the morning we spent time with Grandma Heiner while Jacob was at playgroup. Then we all had lunch together and then it was naptime.

After Ephraim's nap in the afternoon, we headed to the Living Planet aquarium. We met up with the Smiths there, and the kids all had fun looking at the fishes.

Then we went out to a yummy dinner before heading home. The cake, ice cream, and birthday presents were waiting for us! We started with the presents, and Ephraim was really excited about unwrapping them this year.

As you can see from the picture below, Ephraim's two favorite presents were his Buzz Lightyear phone and his Woody doll. Ephraim loves to pull the string on Woody and has even been heard to say, "Yee-haw, Cowboy!".

He was excited to get all his fun presents. He loved the coloring book, crayons, movie, clothes, and was especially excited to get his own magnet book.

After the presents, we lit the candles on the cake. Ephraim thought the cake was really fun, and was excited to see the train on the top.

He blowed out the candles with some coaching from Jacob.

Then he was all about playing with the Percy train on the top of the cake, while mommy got cake and ice cream ready for everyone.

I think Ephraim had a really fun birthday. He loved his presents and spending time with his friends and family. Later in the day I caught him with a chair scooted over to check out his birthday sign. I knew this would be a perfect photo to end the day.

Happy Birthday Ephraim! We love you tons and bunches!

Happy Birthday Ephraim!

My baby is a big boy now
I can't believe you're two!
Wasn't it only moments ago
I first set eyes on you?

Such a sweet and happy boy,
so calm and cheerful too!
You made it seem less challenging
to be a mom of two.

Your dimpled smile and big blue eyes< won me over from the start. And as you grew so did the place you hold forever in my heart.

The time has flown by quickly,
now there's so much you can do!
You run and jump and dance and play-
now you're singing and talking too!

You are not afraid of anything,
My daredevil boy!
I love the way you make each day
your own to enjoy.

Happy Birthday Ephraim!
May the next year bring you joy!
As you grow, I hope you know
You will always be my boy.

Birthday Prep that Takes the Cake

The day before Ephraim's birthday was a busy one for me. Since I was working in the library that evening, I knew I needed to get his birthday cake and everything else ready before dinner time.

I was a little nervous about making the cake because I planned to use fondant for the icing and had never done that before. I really like the way fondant cakes look, so I decided to go for it. I did my research and found good instructions and a video on YouTube that I decided to use.

First I baked the cake. For some reason my first cake turned out pretty flat, so I decided that it would just have to be a double layer cake. So I baked another cake and stacked it on top of the first one. Next I made the fondant. The online recipe I found told me how to do it using my KitchenAid, so it wasn't too bad. The only part I had a hard time with was mixing in the food coloring. I ended up with it all over my hands (and shirt!). I also learned that if you want darker colors, you need to use special food coloring. I should have known that from my experiences with regular frosting, but it didn't register in my brain. I added more green hoping the fondant would get darker, but it did not work.

By this point Grandma Heiner arrived at our house. The boys were really excited to see her. We made a quick trip to Wal*Mart to get a few items. While we were there we found chocolate rocks, which were just what I needed to finish the cake!

After we got home and had lunch, I put Ephraim down and started back in on the cake. I cut pieces off the cake so that it would be shaped like a number two. Then I rolled out the fondant and put it on. The only mistake I made was rolling the fondant too thin. It got a little too stretched out at certain spots, so I ended up putting two layers on the cake. I think it turned out pretty well though!

After I put on the green fondant, I started decorating. I made a train bed out of brown fondant, and railroad ties out of brown licorice. Then I used the grey fondant for the rails and added the chocolate rocks.

For the finishing touches I went and got some of the trees from our wooden railway set and put them all around it. Then I got out the Percy I bought for Ephraim's birthday and put him on top of the cake.

I was pretty proud of myself, and I think the cake turned out awesome!

Next time working with fondant won't be nearly as tricky, which will be nice. I already know what cake I will be doing next... it will be a Buzz Lightyear cake for Jacob. Don't worry, it won't be a cake shaped like Buzz... it will be a cake with a Buzz Lightyear on top of it.

In the Sun He Melted

Once there was a snowman, tall, tall, tall!

Then the sun came out and he was the only snow left in the entire neighborhood. The only reason he was still standing is because he froze ice-hard after the day that we built him. Jacob faithfully watched his snowman friend each day and had me put the eyes and nose back on.

He still seemed to be a happy-looking snowman, even though he was slowly getting smaller.

Our crocuses even came out to see what was going on with the snowman.

Then on Thursday (March 8) the snowman was leaning precariously forward. Once again Jacob had me go out with him to put the eyes and nose back on. Unfortunately when he touched the snowman the head fell right off!

At first Jacob was upset about the head falling off. But then he decided to make the best of it. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, we'll just make this snowball the head!".

So we did.