Family Fun!

We've been spoiled rotten having so much family in town over the last two weeks!! Aunt Laura, Uncle John, and cousins Aidan and Sydney came for a long visit to Bloomington. Ethan is absolutely smitten with his cousins. He lights up and smiles at Aidan and Sydney (and Jayden, too!) anytime they look at him.

We spent the rest of the week making trips out to Papaw and Ginka's so we could have more cousin play time. Aidan and Sydney loved playing with Ethan and they are SO good with him! Laura and John always joked with the rest of the siblings that by the time we finally had kids A & S would be old enough to babysit - well, they got their wish and the cousin BOOM happened! Now they have three cousins under the age of two with one more on the way in a couple months! As much fun as it is having Jayden, Ethan, Kaleb, and Baby Thoma all close in age, I love having Aidan and Sydney as the older cousins. They take such good care of our babes and you can tell they take their job seriously! It all comes full circle for me remembering the day Aidan was born and being in St. Louis when they brought Sydney home - and now here they are playing on the floor with MY baby!

Then it was time for Aunt Kristen and cousins Jayden and Kaleb to come visit! Ethan never takes his eyes off Jayden when he's around - he studies his every move and dreams about the day he's up and running around with him! The last couple days have been great - Ginka cooked us a huge Sunday dinner, we had a lazy afternoon yesterday while the boys napped, had a taco dinner with Grandpa Joe, and today Kristen and Jayden are enjoying time at the Wonderlab while I've got Ethan napping and baby Kaleb asleep on my chest! I'll be so sad when Kristen's maternity leave is over!! Thankfully, Aunt Arynn is due at the beginning of September so I see many more trips to Indianapolis in my future! =)

I can spot a button anywhere!

One of my bridesmaids, Wendi, is having her baby shower this weekend in Chicago and I'm so excited! It will be the first time in three years the six of us girls are back together again! This is a huge trip for me considering I'll be gone Friday-Sunday - definitely the longest I've ever been away from my little man! Eric's looking forward to it though and I know everyone will have a great weekend!

LOVE this picture!!

 

11 Months Old!

Hi Family and Friends!

I'm 11 months old today! I've been having such a great summer and want to tell you about some of my new tricks:

• Now that I've mastered waving, I wave to everything! I wave to my cat, I wave when I leave a room, and I even wave when mommy closes the garage door!
• I talk to my kitty, Max, all the time! Here's how it happens: Max meows and I respond with a long, drawn out screech (kinda like a meow)! It's our way of communicating. Mommy and daddy think it's absolutely hilarious!
• I like to get around these days by scooting backwards and turning 360's on my belly. When I'm sitting up playing with my toys, I also like to spin in a circle. I usually find a way to get what I want - just no crawling! Crawling's for babies.

• I like to say "mamamamama" and "dadadadada."
• My favorite foods right now are definitely watermelon and blueberries.
• I sleep from 7pm-8:30am with two long naps during the day.

• Daddy and I had our first 'father/son' overnight slumber party! Mommy was away and Daddy took such good care of me! We had so much fun playing - especially in my splash pool!
• I can follow simple instructions now! When mommy says "clap your hands," I clap my hands! When daddy says "Ethan say hi," I wave! I can also put toys in a bowl when asked and I can find a kitty when my parents show me several pictures by pointing to it.

 

Mommy is busy planning my first birthday party! I'm excited to have all my family together to celebrate my first year! We have had so many happy, fun memories - plus I hear I get to have something called a cupcake! I don't know what it is, but I'm sure I will enjoy it! Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer!

Love,
Ethan =)

Sweet (and hot!) Summertime!

 

trying to stay cool in the pool!

We've been a busy, busy family this past week! It started last weekend when the three of us headed up to Indianapolis on Saturday. David and Arynn were moving into their new house so Eric offered to help David move during the day. Jeffrey and Kristen needed a babysitter Saturday night so they could attend a retirement party for a co-worker so Eric came back in time to help me with the three boys. We had our hands full, but thankfully they were angels and everyone did great! It certainly helps that Ethan and Jayden have about a hour difference in their nighttime routines so while I was getting Ethan to bed Eric was with playing with Jayden - then we started his bedtime routine and put him down - and sweet baby Kaleb pretty much slept the whole time! =)

Ethan and I headed back up to Indianapolis on Tuesday for another slumber party - the main reason being I had a hair appointment scheduled in south Indy on Wednesday. I decided to make an overnight trip of it and also schedule a play date with two of my sorority sisters who I hadn't seen in a long time! Aunt Kristen outdid herself and bought all three boys matching pajama's!!! They did an awesome job sitting still long enough for us to snap some pictures (or 100 - only to get one or two good ones)! We keep saying this will be the first of MANY matching outfits for the boys (and we can't wait to add baby boy cousin #4 in September)!

Cousins and Best Friends (they just don't know it yet!)

 As mentioned, I had a hair appointment on Wednesday with a friend from Bloomington who actually did my hair for my wedding. Ethan's hair was soooo long and I couldn't wait for her to take some off - I literally thought she might snip some off the top and around the ears. But, she did awesome cutting the hair of an unsure, wiggly 10 1/2 month old! She put a booster seat in the chair, put the gown around his neck, and I almost died at the CUTENESS!! All you could see was his little head poking out!


Priceless.

He wasn't too sure about the scissors and the stranger cutting his hair at first, but he managed to get through the whole thing with no crying =) Just when you think he can't get much cuter, you cut his hair and realize OHHH my, now THAT is cute! He looks so much older and so, so handsome. Bless his heart, he missed his afternoon nap and we knew we were cutting it close before a meltdown so I was trying to get an "after" shot without a fight. The only way I could get him to sit back in the chair was to give him his paci...

We've got an envelope full of hair that we will put with the envelope of hair that we cut here at home. So while this was technically his second haircut, we will count this as his first "official" one!

After a couple busy days, we are so happy to be home so we can get back to the 'normal' routine. Ethan always needs a day or two to recoup and will take extra long naps to make up for the naps he missed! We have said on more than one occasion these are the times we're so grateful we moved back to Indiana (a year ago last week!) so we can make these special memories with our family!



 

 

 

Just Being Cute!

Pure joy!

How are in the world are we almost halfway through summer?? It's so crazy to think that a year ago next week Eric and I moved back to Indiana! Talk about one of the best decisions we've ever made! While we know we would've been fine raising Ethan in North Carolina, by no means would we have had the experience we've had the last ten months. We feel so lucky to be surrounded by Ethan's wonderful doctors and nurses that helped him so much in the beginning, his amazing family (both sides!) that he sees on a regular basis, and just a great community for him to grow up in. The fact that I'm starting to plan his first birthday is beyond me! I always say I still look at him like he's three months old!

Doesn't get much cuter than this!

 

I love my daddy!

This past weekend I headed up to Indy to help host my sister-in-law, Arynn's, baby shower! That meant Ethan got to spend the whole day Sunday with his daddy!! It was the first time Eric and Ethan had spent a long period of time together by themselves and the longest I had been away from the little man too! Of course everyone did great and this was good prep for when I'll be gone an entire weekend in August.

We think Ethan is definitely going through a little separation anxiety phase. At first we thought it was just from me, but he has really shown how upset he gets when Eric leaves as well. It could be as simple as Eric leaving the room to change clothes after he gets home from work and Ethan instantly cries! And he's so relieved when he comes back! =)

We've had a pretty quiet week so far and then plan on heading back up to Indianapolis on Saturday. David and Arynn are moving into their new house and Jeffrey and Kristen needed someone to watch the boys Saturday evening so we are going up for double duty! Eric will head up to Noblesville to help David move and then be back in time to help me watch Jayden and Kaleb during the evening. It will be fun to have all three cousins together!

I feel so big when I stand up!

My new favorite toy: bubble wrap!!

Ahh, the things we do to our kids/pets!

Good morning smiles!

Splish Splash - First Time in the Pool!

We had so much fun taking Ethan to the pool for the first time a couple weeks ago! We knew he would love the water and he sure did! We went to the Country Club where there were tons of little kiddos for Ethan to watch splash around.


We started out in the baby pool and let's just say Ethan was less than impressed! Haha! We sat him down in the water and he just sat there...didn't move, didn't splash, nothing! Maybe he was distracted by the other kids playing, but I think he was just bored! =)

Baby pools are for babies! This is boring!

I'm not impressed, Dad!

 The fun began when we took him to the big boy pool! He came to life when Daddy got in the water with him and started floating around. Ethan started doing little dolphin kicks - kicking his legs at the same time - it was sooo cute! Now, if ever stops raining here in Indiana then we'll be able to take him back!!