1st Day of Preschool

Ethan was so excited the 1st day of school! When we got there, he didn't want me to leave. I told him I had to leave in two minutes, then I told him I had to leave in one minute, then when it was time to leave, I told him I was leaving and he said, okay. I walked out of the room and he was playing with some puzzles. He immediately found a Thomas train within the first five minutes of being there, (out of three rooms, he has Thomas radar). I heard him ask the teacher, "Where is my Mom?" when I was walking out. It took everything in me not to turn around, but I didn't, I just left as the teachers recommended parents to do.

When I picked him up, they told me he was a little weepy a few times, wanting to know where I was, but then he was fine. He spent a lot of time in the "quiet" room playing with puzzles, trains and books.

Long Overdue!

I can't believe it has been almost six months since I have updated this blog....I need to get back in gear! So much has happened over the past few months...lets see what is new and exciting with Team Rass....

• I have a new job that I love, however adjusting to a new schedule, new industry, longer commute, etc. has definitely taken a while to get into a groove.


• Ethan is officially potty trained and started preschool.
  
• Hannah is now a talking, walking toddler who is into EVERYTHING!
  

There is so much that has happened over the past few months that definitely warrant pictures, stories and updates, so I will try to "back-fill" some of the key ones!! Like our day out with Thomas the Train; trip to Frankenmuth, apple picking with Papa, Ethan's 3rd birthday, Hannah's first haircut, the list could go on and on.

I promise to be more diligent at posting, so if nothing else, Ethan and Hannah will have something to look back at and laugh!

"He Has Risen...

and I got Thomas underwear," were the first words Ethan uttered when we were greeted at church yesterday morning by our two pastors, wishing our family a Happy Easter. Thankfully, both pastors have children and understand this is a "big deal." We definitely got some smiles for that comment. I guess it could be worse, like Eric telling Ethan on the way to church to say, "When is breakfast?" Obviously, we are in the potty training mode, so Thomas underwear is the big thing at the Rass house these days!!!

Ethan's Twist on Easter and We have an Almost Walker....

I am behind in posting "Princess Party" pictures, but in the meantime, couldn't let these two items pass me by. First and foremost, we potentially have a walker on our hands! Brave little Hannie is taking 7-8 steps at a time now, so I would anticipate she will be walking (knowing her, running) in a manner of days! She is so proud of herself and enjoys walking to who ever will coax her along. Stay tuned....

As for sweet Ethan, Lisa just called to tell me that he was telling her that the Eastern Bunny is going to bring him a specific Thomas station toy that he wants. Hmmm, can you tell he is definitely our child...with the whole Eastern connection!! Priceless!!!

Happy Birthday Princess Hannah

I can't believe how fast this past year flew by, or that my beautiful baby girl is a year old. Her presence has made our family complete! She has brought so much joy, laughter and love to our home and our family. Happy Birthday Hannie!!!

Another Peanut Butter Post...

A few weeks ago for breakfast I asked Ethan if he would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? He said yes. I put it on a plate and gave it to him, he looked at it for a long time and said he needed a "poon" to eat it. I told him it was a sandwich and he didn't need a spoon, he could just pick it up and eat it. He said, "I don't know how." I told him he had sandwiches before and he did know how. He looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Mama, you don't eat peanut butter and jello with your hands, you need a spoon!"

Ethan's Lunch with Eric

Last weekend, Ethan and Eric spent the afternoon together and Hannah and I spent the afternoon together. Hannah and I went shopping with Gaga and Eric took Ethan to a baseball card show and then to grab a bite to eat. Ethan came home with a new matchbox card from the show and an orange balloon, which happened to be the hot commodity at the Rass house! He was so excited with his balloon and to tell me that he went to "Hookers" for lunch. Which ironically enough was "Hooters".....that's my boy!!!!

Crabby German

One morning a few weeks ago, we were in the midst of our morning routine when Hannah got extremely crabby, as she wasn't getting her way. Ethan turned to me and said, "Mama, Hannah is a crabby German!" We have no idea where he got this from or how he put crabby and German together, but we both thought it was pretty funny. So now when someone is crabby at the rass house, they aren't just crabby, they are a "Crabby German!"

Merry Christmas...1 1/2 months late!!

I can't believe how far behind I am in updating this blog! We made it through the holidays with so much fun and excitement. I tried to document the 25 days of Christmas, taking pictures or writing down things each day to scrapbook....good intentions, indeed. However, it is mid-February and all of my photos, scraps of paper, etc are sitting in a file...some day!! Just to recap...we had a wonderful holiday with family and friends! We adopted a child again this year from Opearation Good Cheer, something that Eric and I have done for the past four years now, so I am hoping we can continue this tradition with Ethan and Hannah. We introduced Ethan to the advent calendar and all of the traditional Christmas classics, Ruldolf, Frosty and Chalie Brown's Christmas. We made three treks to the mall to see Santa Claus, finally being able to see him on our third visit! Two other exciting things happened during the 25 days....Hannah slept all night for the first time...EVER and our new nanny Lisa started. She has been an absolute blessing and we are so lucky to have found her and have the kids bond with her the way that they have. All in all, we had a great 25 days of Christmas...however the following week, weren't so great with all of us having the flu in some form or another. Not the best way to end 2009, but we survived!!