Photo of Covenant College on Lookout Mountain 
Just got back from our trip to ATL. I had a great time at the conference in Atlanta and am very glad that I went. I met up with George and Ethan on Sunday afternoon. Apparently, Ethan threw up in the car on the way to the airport, in the airplane, and in his sleep Saturday night. So George had quite an initiation to traveling by himself. Ethan had a great time with our friends kids and adjusted well to sleeping in a new environment. We drove up to Chatt. for the night on Wednesday and Ethan actually slept in the hotels portacrib without much complaint. By Thursday afternoon however he had had enough of traveling and was expressing himself quite plainly. He had enjoyed our trip to the aquarium Wednesday morning and petted the stingrays, sharks, and sturgeons. He loved running up and down the halls in the aquarium with our friends kids. Thursday morning we went up to Covenant and he threw multiple temper tantrums, several in the campus bookstore and a few more in the alumni offices. We gave up and left and headed back to ATL (not without first stopping at Mr. T’s for pizza of course). He didn’t get a nap on Saturday, the day we headed back home and was quite a mess. He seems quite happy to be home though he keeps talking about our friends we visited.
I’m going to our demonimations women’s conference in ATL this weekend and Ethan will be with daddy. Not sure how it will all go since George is flying with Ethan to ATL on Saturday to hang out with friends where I will then meet him the following day. I’m afraid that by Sunday, Ethan will be back in diapers. When he’s gone with George to run errands, he often isn’t taken to the bathroom while they are out so Ethan comes home soaked through his shorts. Each time we fly, we are always curious about how Ethan will do as he gets older. He’s not going to be crazy about being tied down to his chair for a couple of hours in the airplane. We used to put him in his stroller when we were in the airport but he won’t go in a stroller anymore so I don’t know how George is going to get him through security lines.
It’s taken me a couple of days to post this because my internet connection has been working intermittently. Tuesday Ethan learned how to climb out of his crib during nap time. He did not want to nap because he wasn’t very tired. I was in the office doing my bookeeping work for one of the company’s we do bookeeping for and I heard the sound of feet running on tile. I was not expecting that. I saw my life as I now know it flash before my eyes. My life will never be the same-he’ll never take a nap again, he’ll come to my room at all hours of the night…I spent an hour trying to keep him in his bed and then gave up. I decided that I would do my normal thing that I do while he naps even if he was up. I walked on the treadmill and Ethan stayed and watched for a while, then he wandered off. I hear him in the kitchen and it sounded like he was getting into the cabinets. When I finished walking I went into the kitchen to find that he had taken a sippy cup filled it with water from the refridgerator door, and dumped it on the floor, about a hundred times. The entire kitchen floor was covered with about a 1/4 inch of water. Talk about suprised-I didn’t know he knew how to do that! God was gracious to me and Ethan went right to sleep that night and didn’t attempt to get out of his crib and though I was half awake all night expecting it—no nocturnal visits.
It’s been crazy since I was sick. Ethan’s been working on his two year molars and has not been in the best of moods. Add that to toilet learning…I have learned the past few weeks just how much of a sinner I really am. I mean I knew I was but God usually reveals my sins to me one at a time or only shows their depth a bit at a time but recently, He has shown numerous sins to me all at one time. Rather like the proverbial 2×4 to the head. I have learned so much about just how deeply sinful I am recently, it has been quite profound. Poor Ethan has been the witness of this revelation as has George for that matter. Perhaps one day I’ll list them all but for now, you’ll just have to believe me. Update on pottying: he’s gone poop a couple of times in the potty but not consistently yet. He does great when running around the house naked and will go to the potty by himself but once he’s wearing any stitch of clothing if left to himself he pees all overhimself but will go when I take him. He also does well when I take him into public restrooms. I bring his little potty seat and put it on the public toilet and he has no trouble going and will sometimes even tell me while we are out that he has to go. He will need pullups for quite some time while we’re out in public. Went to Build a Bear this weekend. He was a little freaked out. I think he thought we were replacing his beloved “Dee.”
