Traveling home from the pet store after purchasing one small white and orange goldfish (to replace a recently deceased - may he rest in peace - betta fish), our family was trying to decide upon a name for the new little guy.  This was the ensuing conversation.

Lucas:

I know, Bluey Blue. (The name of our recently deceased - may he rest in peace - betta fish)

Dad:

But he doesn’t have any blue on him.

Ethan:

Then let’s call him Bluey Orange.

Dad:

But he doesn’t have any blue on him.

Ethan:

I don’t know what to name him.

Dad:

What other animal has white and orange on it?

Ethan:

I know, a cow!!

Dad:

Do cows have orange on them?

Ethan:

No.

Dad:

Then, what kind of animal has white and orange on it?

Ethan:

I know, a cow!!

Dad:

I don’t think a cow has orange on it do you?

Ethan:

No.  But it has white.

Lucas:

A cow has black and white.

Dad:

You are right Lucas.  Does a tiger have white and orange on it?

Ethan & Lucas:

Yeah!!

We decided to name the fish Tiggy, after Mom suggested Tigger which was modified slightly to differentiate it from the popular Disney character Tigger.  Car ride conversations can be very entertaining.

Categories: Ethan, Family, Lucas
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Just some sweet pics of the Vile kids over the holidays…. enjoy!

Alayna’s First Snow… we love those cheeks and can’t stop kissing them!!!

No such thing as a perfect picture these days so this will have to do… Alayna was sliding on the wood floor and Lucas was not cooperating (go figure). I love it though!

So big… at 4 months

Christmas Day

Ethan’s always smiling… Lucas could care less and Alayna doesn’t know what’s going on.

This kid’s smile is wide open… too cute!

And she always loves to stand!

Ethan and his new glasses… he is doing great with them and Doc says all is going well!

Categories: Alayna Grace, Ethan, Family, General, Lucas
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The other day this conversation was overheard in the Vile household. Let me set the context first. Ethan is the bathroom doing his business (that was the best way to put it), Lucas is in the family room, and Alayna is in her highchair crying. (Where Mom and Dad are remains to be seen).

Alayna: WAAAHHH, WAAHHHH!!!!!!

Ethan (from the toilet): Alayna, I’ll be right there. Just a minute.

Alayna: WAAHHH, WAAHHH, WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Ethan (still on toilet): Lucas, do something silly, she likes that!

Alayna: WAAHHH, WAAHHHHH, WAHHHH!!!!

Lucas (bouncing up and down while making silly faces): Bleh, Mmmhh, Brg, Pooty, Rrgy…

Alayna: WAAHHH, WAHHH!!!!!!

Lucas: It’s not working!! She’s still crying.

Ethan (you know where): Okay, just a minute, I’ll be right there!

Needless to say it’s both loud and hilarious here sometimes!

Categories: Alayna Grace, Ethan, Family, Lucas
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Recently we’ve noticed that Ethan squints one eye while focusing, as well as his left eye has been turning in. It’s been happening for a few months… at first we thought he was goofing around cuz he would do it and laugh saying he could see double. Probably in the past 2-3 weeks it’s gotten worse, his teacher at school mentioned something about it and we realized he was doing it without trying or thinking about it. Therefore we decided it was serious and needed to get it checked out. We found an Ophthalmologist and he had an appointment yesterday. Bottom line, he needs glasses. Kevin is much better at explaining things so in his words, here is Ethan’s diagnosis:

I spoke with the doctor today over the phone to answer a few of my questions. He was very pleasant and talked at length about Ethan’s condition. He seems like a very good doctor, very friendly, very knowledgeable and able to communicate it so we can understand.

It sounds like Ethan is extremely farsighted (and he has astigmatism as well). His prescription was OD: +4.00, OS: +4.25 +1.00×90. And this wasn’t the full prescription either. The full was more like OD: +4.75, OS: 5 (or something along those lines)! The doctor explained that this extreme farsightedness has caused what is called accommodative esotropia. What happens is that because of the farsightedness the eye has to work hard to focus, called “accommodation.” A side effect of this is that the eye will begin to cross (not in all cases, but in Ethan’s). This crossing of the eye has led to mild amblyopia - a condition where essentially the brain stops listening to the messages received from that eye. When the eye is crossing, it is no longer developing as it should. Eventually that could lead to loss of sight in that eye. The doctor said that both of Ethan’s eyes have this problem (both are crossing), with the left being worse than the right.

The glasses are to correct the farsighted and astigmatism so that the eye doesn’t have to work as hard to focus and can relax. This should stop the eyes from crossing. The key is to get the eyes to stop crossing with the glasses so that his eyes can develop properly. They say that by the age of 9 the eye has fully developed, so hopefully he will no longer have the condition by then. Between now and then he will have a new prescription every year at least, and most likely more than that. They say that one prescription may work well, but then the eye will start to cross again and they have to adjust it. He’s supposed to wear the glasses all the time. The doctor said to get straps and have him wear them even when he goes swimming! He believes that his farsightedness will get better over time, but it is hard to say whether or not he will still need glasses beyond this. The astigmatism could go away or remain, he called it a “wildcard.” He said that as Ethan grows taller it changes something in the vision ( i don’t recall what he said exactly) and that will change the astigmatism - could go away or remain, who knows.

The doctor also said that if he is going to have the lazy eye problem, this particular condition is the best one to have. It has the highest percentage of successful treatments. So it sounds like he should be fine, but he also said that it will be a marathon. He wants to keep on top of Ethan’s progress (he wants to see him every 3 months!) - which sounds like he is a fairly serious case of the condition.

Please keep him in your prayers… he is excited to get his glasses but I’m sure we’ll have to fight him wearing them at some point. And pray for his condition to get better over the years.

Our sweet boy… who knew he’s had such bad vision probably all his life!

Categories: Ethan
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Ethan turned 4 last week. I think this was his first year that he realized what a birthday really is and was anticipating it as well as the presents that came along with his special day. His birthday fell in the middle of the week which worked out well for celebrating at school but not so well for a party, so we hosted his actual birthday party with family on Saturday.
We started the day with fun bug shaped pancakes for breakfast… Ethan chose a ladybug and snail. I found these great pancake molds at Williams-Sonoma that I just had to get!

He had such a special day at school… grandma was able to come and spend the day with him, he made a special make-believe cake on a felt board, everyone sang him “Happy Birthday”, his teacher gave him a present, he got to share a special toy with the rest of his class and he got to bring a yummy treat for snack time… he chose Grandma’s sugar cookies shaped like hearts with red icing…. YUM! He was pretty tired after a day focused totally on him!

On Saturday… party time, we had a full house with Grandmas and Grandpa’s and Uncle Joel. Another fun day with the family! Thanks everyone for coming out to celebrate our little Ethan!

Our Ethan… what a joy and blessing to be his parents! It’s so exciting to see him grow and change… to see his little personality develop. Ethan has such a sweet and sensitive heart. I love getting little moments with him when he just stops everything he’s doing, gives me a big hug and says “I love you Mom”. He loves to cuddle, He loves being read to and loves being with people (ie. his brother). Along with his many questions all day about anything and everything, He’s recently been asking lots of questions about God … deep, theological questions that Kevin gives a smirk and says … “Good question, people have been asking that question for ages” and then does his best to answer in a way a 4 year old might understand (praise God for a seminary student in the house). We love his inquisitiveness (most of the time) and pray God will use Ethan’s mind to glorify himself. We love you, Ethan, may God continue to shape and mold you into the man of God he wants you to be!

Categories: Ethan
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Here’s a snippet from a car ride conversation (or should I say debate?) last night:

Ethan: The moon is out. But where is the moon?
Lucas: Moon sleeping, o-tay?
Ethan: No it’s not sleeping! The moon is out.
Lucas: Eet-an, moon taking a nap, o-tay?

Our car ride conversations are always entertaining!

Categories: Ethan, Family, Lucas
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Today was Ethan’s first day of preschool. He’s been anticipating this day for quite some time… since the beginning of spring to be exact… for Rainbow Preschool is why he decided to get potty trained!

Rainbow is a co-op preschool where I will be working in the classroom once a month as well as serving on 2 different committees. I’m excited to be a part of his classroom and watch how he learns and grows throughout the year. Today was a shortened session (only 1 hour) to get the kids used to the school. Parents were allowed to stay with the kids. Needless to say, Ethan could have cared less if I was there. And he practically threw a fit when it was time to leave and come home! I don’t think he’ll have any problems saying good-bye on Monday when I don’t stay with him.

Here are some pictures from an overly excited mom sending her 1st born off to school.

A proud daddy

A proud mommy

Heading out the door

And outside our house ready to go

And then again outside the school

A little playtime at school

“Look Mom, it’s just my size!”

Categories: Ethan
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