The Kansas Two......plus two !!

Remember that 11 in '11 list??

2012-01-02T19:18:00.003-06:00

Goodbye 2011 - Hello 2012.

In honor of the new year, let's look back at my 2011 list.

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11 in '11.

These are 11 things I want to try to accompish during 2011. I figure if I put it here, it will hold me a little more accountable. So here goes!

1. I want to lose 40 lbs this year - and I'm hoping to be halfway there by our 5th wedding anniversary. I think 40 is a very reasonable goal. it is roughly 3.5 lbs a month. I can do it!! - Giant Fail

2. I would like to restore some order/organization to our closets --- mine/Charlie's, Ethan's & Hannah's, linen closet, cleaning closet, all of them! - Not too bad. I have been much better about cleaning out the closets regularly! I need to keep this up!

3. Reduce, reduce, reduce!! We have too much stuff. While I'm organizing (see #2) I would like to get rid of stuff we dont need or use. Craigslist and E-bay -- here I come!! - Not too bad on this one either.

4. Recycle more. Our city provides a large recycle bin and picks up every other Friday. I would like to see us fill it up every other week. - we're working on it. I do forget more than I should...but we are better about it than we used to be. Work in Progress!!

5. Another personal goal - I would like to be able to pump for Hannah until at least 9 months. It's not easy to exclusively pump for your infant while also taking care of your toddler.....er, I guess he's almost a preschooler now - ACK! But I've made it 3.5 months so far. I'm (sortof) in a routine at home and work, and I would really like to do this as long as possible! - I made it to 6 months and I couldn't be prouder of myself!! I had enough in the freezer when I quit pumping, she got usually 1 - sometimes 2 bottles of breastmilk until she was a little over 10.5 months!! I didn't make it to 9 months, but I'm not at all disappointed in myself. I think I did great!

6. Spend more quality time with my kids. Sometimes I feel like I rush through things because I feel like I have too much to do. I need to slow down and enjoy the small things in my life - because let's face it, they wont be small for long! By this time next year, Ethan will be 3.5 years old and in preschool. Hannah will be walking and talking and not taking bottles. So when I have to yawn my way through the day because one of them had me up too early - I hope I can just pour myself another cup of coffee and take it in stride. - Ethan is totally into board games and is fun to play with. Hannah just loves to do whatever. I am really enjoying my kiddos!!

7. Spend more quality time with my husband. I cannot believe we will celebrate our 5th anniversary this year. I mean, we've been together much longer than that - but we've been married almost 5 years. Sometimes it seems like our wedding was a million years ago and sometimes it seems like it was just a few weeks ago. That's crazy. And so this year, on our 5th anniversary year, I would like to turn off my laptop more frequently and just curl up on the couch with my best friend after our kids have gone to bed. - We had a wonderful trip to Vegas and work hard to spend time together. It helps that our kids are in a great evening routine and on a "typical" night....both are asleep by 8:30!!

8. I'm going to read 12 books this year! I wanted to say that I would read 20, but I thought I would set my goal a little more reasonable for this year. I got a Kindle for my birthday so reading is a little easier since I dont have to tote around a "real" book....and I dont have to worry about the library people coming after me when I keep it too long. - Uh...yeah. not so much! I think I read 4. Unless you count "Llama Llama" books, or "Green Eggs and Ham".....then I totally made my goal!!

9. I will keep up better with the blog. I dont see many comments, but I know my family really enjoys reading the blog and keeping up with us and the kids. So, I'm going to try really hard to keep it up a little better - my goal is once a week! Let's see how I do! :) More pictures and videos of the kids - coming soon to a blog near you! Haha - Oh lordy - GIANT fail!!!

10. I would like to accomplish two house projects. We eventually want to be able to sell this house and move to something just slightly bigger. In order to do that, we have some projects that need to get done. I would like to accomplish 2 things on that list during 2011. - We did it!!! We got a new roof and a new deck. We got some trees in our backyard cut down because they were hanging over our roof/gutters. And we put up a very nice swingset for the kids!!

11. I would like to find a new church community where I am comfortable. I have missed church as an active part of my life. I hope I can make an honest effort to find a new place by the time Advent comes around again -- maybe even by Easter! :) - Nope. I didn't make it. **BUT** I did attend Christmas Eve service and realized how much I miss church. I'm actively searching and will be attending service somewhere in the next week or two.

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I'm working on my 12 in '12 list. Stay tuned!!

Stationery card

2011-11-28T19:21:00.001-06:00

Picture This Christmas Card

Turn your favorite pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Lots of Pictures

2011-04-23T21:38:00.002-06:00

Yup, I disappeared again. Sorry!

How about a bunch of pictures?! Will you forgive me then?

We've started working on potty training. I wish I could say it was going well. But he does like to sit on the potty and get a sticker...Haha

We've had just a few really nice spring-weather days. It's been nice to get outside. Ethan loves the park. He looks so grown up!

Ethan LOVES his race tracks!!

Maw-Maw sent Ethan some Easter window clings. He's been really enjoying them!!

Notice the poor bunny's ears are detached from his head! haha

One month ago, Hannah turned 6m old

She is growing such a personality! (and some crazy hair!!)

Hannah enjoyed her first time at the park! She likes to swing!

She has mastered pulling up to a standing position

And she's pretty good at scooting backwards. She is also alarmingly close to crawling forward!!

She often gets stuck UNDER things!

Today, Hannah turned 7 months old

We went to visit the Easter Bunny (sorry, these are pictures of pictures)

Ethan made a foam Easter egg with foam stickers!

Hannah chewed on the stroller - and smiled!

The Easter Bunny came to our house!!

MawMaw and PawPaw sent baskets too!

Happy Easter!

Trying to be crafty!!

2011-03-20T13:08:00.004-06:00

I did not get the full-blown crafty gene that my Mom has....but every once in a while, I surprise myself with what I can do!

Ethan will be starting pre-school in August (I know, I know. I don't want to talk about it!!!). Anyway, he will need a blanket for rest time. I decided I would make him a blanket now so that he could start using it for naps at daycare. Then when it comes time to transition to preschool, the blanket will be something familiar and hopefully make it easier on him.

A quick google search turned up 9 million ways to make a no-sew fleece blanket. I followed these directions and was pleasantly surprised how easy it really was!!! And what's really nice is - it's OK if your cutting isn't perfect!

Lay out the fleece on your floor

Cut the corners

I used a scrap off the fleece to "measure" my cuts for my knot strips

Make these cuts on all 4 sides

Tie every other fringe into a double knot. Then flip it over and tie the remaining strips into a double knot.

TaaDaa!! Total cost for NCAA fleece and red fleece = $22!! It could be done for much less $$ if you don't want licensed material.

Ethan's is KU on one side and red on the other

I think he approves!!

Beautiful Spring Day!!

2011-03-15T18:09:00.002-06:00

Despite yesterday's 2" of snow that fell on my back deck - today was absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! Leave it to Kansas to drop 2" of snow on Monday and then be almost 60* on Tuesday! Whatever, I'll take it!

We got outside with the kids for some much needed fresh air!! Ethan and I had fun blowing and chasing bubbles. He pushed Hannah up and down the cul-de-sac at least 5 times. Then Daddy came home and kicked the soccer ball with Ethan while Mommy finished dinner.

"Push Hannah, this way!!"

Please Spring............stay for a while!!!!

Happy 5 (and a half!) Months!!

2011-03-14T12:52:00.003-06:00

I know, I know. I made that resolution to blog more and I totally failed during February. In my defense, everyone in this house was sick for the entire month. Seriously. It has been about 6 weeks since we have all been healthy at the same time. I had strep for the first time in quite a few years, and that was on top of my ear infection and my sinus infection. Hannah had bronchitis, and Ethan had such a horrible respiratory virus - we actually thought he may have had pneumonia......one chest xray and some bloodwork later - no pneumonia. Phew! And poor Charlie, he got some variation of all of the above. Seriously, good riddance to February! Hopefully March will start bringing some warmer weather - though, this morning's snow was nto a good start to Spring Break - and then the germs can make a mass exit!

So, while I've been gone - Hannah turned 5 months old, is wearing 6 - 9 month clothes, started sitting up, started eating oatmeal cereal and sweet potatoes (and her toes!), and grew a tooth!! Yeah, she's growing up WAY too fast!

She is such a laid back baby. She only really fusses when she needs something and she's always full of smiles after a long day! It's like we can't ever remember a time when she wasn't part of our family!

Sweet Potato Face!! Can you see the tooth?!

Are you ready to eat, Hannah?

What do you mean it's all gone?!?!?

Sn-OMG!-storm 2011

2011-02-01T07:42:00.009-06:00

We are under a blizzard warning. According to the news, this is only the 2nd time in Kansas City history. The first time was Christmas 2009. We missed that one since we left early to get to Maryland.

We are currently forecasted to get around 14" of snow today. That will fall somewhere in the Top 3 snowfall totals for a single day in the KC metro area. I've decided if we are going to get all this snow, I should document it!

So....assuming my children allow me to.....I will take pictures about every hour. I'll try to take the same angle of both the front and back yards.

Here it comes!!

Tuesday, Feb. 1st
7:00am

8:00am

9:00am

I missed 9am. Hannah woke up and demanded to have a bottle. She's a bossy little thing! I also made blueberry muffins with my favorite little boy!

10:00am

snow is picking up and really starting to stick. It's very very windy. the small accumulation we have is already starting to drift. you can see it on my back porch.

11:00am

the traffic on 127th is slowing WAY down. there are stretches of 10+ minutes where I dont see a car at all. you can't tell where my driveway ends and where the road begins. that will all change when charlie gets outside with his dad's snow blower! he's on his way home from work. in the backyard, you can just barely see the bottom of Ethan's t-ball stand

12 Noon

Charlie got home from work at 11:30 and his tire tracks are barely visible in this noon picture. He said the roads are not good at all. Best estimates are that we have about 4". the steps in front of our house have just about disappeared. T-ball base is also just about gone! The drift on our porch continues to grow.

1:00pm

Tire tracks are completely gone. So is the t-ball base. Charlie is headed out to make the first attack of the driveway. More pics when he is done. It is COLD COLD COLD out there!! The traffic light/intersection in the last picture is about 1/8 mile from my back deck. Visibility is B-A-D!!

1:30 - attacking the driveway

3:00

you can't even tell he touched the driveway!! we are in the middle of the heaviest part of the storm right now. the snowflakes that are falling are ENORMOUS and they are definitely accumulating quickly. local weather blog says about 2"/hour. we have about another 3 hours at this rate - i'm sure you can do the math! it's hard to tell with the huge drifts - but i'm going to guess we have about 7+ inches right now!

3:45pm

Intersection is gone!

How can she possibly be 4 months old??!!??

2011-01-26T21:32:00.003-06:00

I realize I have been a huge slacker in posting Hannah's monthly pictures. I've been taking them - but then they just sortof sit in my camera. Sigh....poor second child!! Maybe if she and her brother would take it a little easier on me, I might not fall asleep on the couch at 8:30 every night!!

Anyway, here ya go! Here's a catch up and WOW is she growing!!

1 month - October 23, 2010

2 months - November 23, 2010

3 months - December 23, 2010

4 months - January 24, 2011

She loves her big brother

and her exersaucer!!

and she is even starting to get a little bit ticklish!!

Why I Love My Pediatrician's Office

2011-01-19T20:28:00.001-06:00

(alternate title - The Commute From Hell)

Let me tell you why I LOVE my pediatrician's office. Seriously, they saved me today - in more ways than one!

This is the story of how Pediatric Partners and this bottle were my angels!

Wednesday (19th) our area was hit with a pissed off snowstorm! It started as tiny little flurries around 1:30. The kids started to notice those flurries around 2pm when they got bigger and started sticking. By 3pm dismissal, there was at least an inch on the ground and it was VERY slick.

We knew it was coming, not a surprise. The weatherpeople had been talking about it for days. I packed up all my things during my plan time (2 - 3) and had already told my daycare lady I would be there ASAP after school to get the kids. I was in my car and driving at 3:30.

My 10 minute drive to daycare took about 25 minutes. She had the kids 99% ready to go - bless her soul!! I used her restroom (uh, so glad I stopped to pee....you'll understand soon!!) and loaded up the kiddos. Hannah had just eaten about an hour before and Ethan had a full cup of water and a baggie of ritz crackers. I called my girlfriend and my husband to tell them I was leaving daycare and would be going down Quivira instead of taking the highway. I had seen I-35 at an absolute standstill on my way to daycare and figured Quivira was a main-enough road to be a good alternative. Plus, in my head, if you get hit on a major highway - you'll probably get hit at 60 - 70mph. If you get hit on Quivira, it'll be more like 35mph. I'm not a fan of winter driving, so the slower speed of Quivira eased my nerves a LOT.

Off we go! Left daycare's driveway at 4:06. Daycare to home - 13 miles - 25 minutes on a "normal" traffic day.

Quivira was a good choice. It was quite messy already, but we were moving about 20 - 25mph and we were MOVING which was key! I made it from daycare (55th) to the mall (95th) in about 20 minutes. I thought i was doing great. From the time I pased the mall at 95th until I got to Overland Park Regional Hospital (106th) was 45 minutes. It should have taken less than 5 minutes. Hannah went into meltdown - she was starving. Ethan had eaten all of his crackers and had been pinned in his carseat way too long. He was miserable. My girlfriend called to check on me because I should have been home. I just started crying. "Hannah is starving and she's screaming. Ethan is crying too. I'm stuck on Quivira and I'm not going anywhere."

You know, when you're not the one sitting in the middle of a mess - you often have a little clearer perspective on things! LOL. I am certainly grateful that she had that clear mind. She asked where I was sitting and reminded me that our doctor's office was right there in the hospital building. She told me to call and ask for help. So I did. I got over into the right lane (no small feat!) and called our pediatrician. I held it together pretty good, telling them I was stuck on Quivira, right outside of the hospital and moving VERY VERY slow. I had my 2 kids with me and (I started crying) my baby was starving.

Dr. Blum was the one who answered the phone. He very calmly told me to pull into the circle drive in front of their office and they would help me. As I pulled in front of the medical building, there was already a nurse waiting downstairs at the door. Ashley was my 2nd angel yesterday!! She came running over and said "Are you the Mom who just called?", "Yes" I cried. She climbed into my passenger seat and said, "I'm going to sit right here in the warm car with your kids. You go inside to the office and get what you need and I'll be right here."

Thank goodness I had some milk with me. Hannah can't nurse, has never been able to. She lost a lot of weight (way more then normal or safe) after she was born and we switched her to bottle-feedings. But I still pump milk exclusively for her. My pump bag was in the back of the car. I grabbed one of the bottles of milk and headed up to the office. Dr. Blum and 2 other nurses were waiting right there for me. I tried to stay composed as I explained that I had a bottle of milk for her, but no nipple. It was only the bottle that fits on my pump with a cap on top. They had a disposable nipple that fit right one there. Dr. Blum put it on the bottle and stood at the small office sink running hot water on her bottle to warm it up. The other 2 nurses (whose names I cannot recall right now) went and found some milk-free crackers for Ethan and brought me some tissues. I just put my head on the counter and cried. I felt like such a HORRIBLE Mom. I know better now, but man - when it's your job to feed your baby and she's screaming/crying in your car because she's so hungry - you feel horrible.

I got back downstairs to my car a few minutes later and Ashley was already holding Hannah, bouncing and talking to calm her down. She told me to sit there and feed Hannah and she would be back in a few minutes to check on me. So that's what we did. We sat in the parking circle at the doctor's office and Hannah had a bottle, Ethan had a bag of crackers.

Ashley came back in about 15 minutes. Hannah had just finished her bottle. She got her all buckled back in her seat for me and gave me a hug. I called Charlie to tell him I was headed out again and we were off........again!

It was almost 5:45 and the snow had REALLY picked up. I heard later on the news that it was falling at about 1.5 - 2" per hour. I believe it. The accident that had caused the traffic nightmare was clear and the cars were moving again. It took us about 30 minutes to get from the hospital to our house. Not bad at all. It was VERY slow going but surprisingly, everyone was very well behaved - in the car and on the streets!

We left daycare at 4:06. We pulled into our garageat 6:20. 13 miles, 2 hours and 15 minutes. Not a stellar day - but we are all safe and warm and fed. And we are hanging out in our jammies/slippers today since it's a snow day.

I say that's a happy ending to a crappy drive. And if I had it to do all over, I can't say I would have done anything differently. Despite being stuck on Quivira because of an accident, I still think it was the best choice for us. It's a slower pace than the major highway but still well travelled enough to be OK in the snow. I was less nervous as a driver, and that's MUCH safer than an anxious driver!!

Plus, there are plenty of places to stop along the way if I should need to (like yesterday!!) If I had been stuck on the highway because of an accident, I would have been in BIG TROUBLE. I do have a few small nipples that fit on my pump bottles. I have put 1 in my purse so that I always have it with me for emergencies. I'm probably guaranteed to never need it now that I have it. That's how it works, right?

Another huge thanks to our pediatrician's office, Dr. Blum, Ashley, and the other few nurses that were still there. You were our snow angels!!

One Year Later!!

2011-01-17T17:08:00.002-06:00

What a difference a year makes!!

MLK Day 2010

MLK Day 2011

Some cute videos

2011-01-16T13:16:00.002-06:00

I'm falling behind on my goal of blogging once a week! So I'll share two videos of Hannah that we took over the past few weeks.

She's growing so fast!!

This video was done at Mom/Dad's house over Christmas break. Hannah was so excited to see the baby in the mirror. She was just a few days over 3months old.

Hannah has discovered (AND LOVES!) the toy that hangs above her changing area. Of course, she was babbling up a storm before I turned on the camera. But she does give a few giggles and a big smile for the video.....you know - in between chomping on her fingers!

Hannah is 3.5 months old

11 in '11

2011-01-02T08:45:00.003-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow - it's been a month since I last updated. Sorry :( December gets so crazy busy with the holidays and travel (oh do I have stories to tell!). Add to that, I started back to work just 2 weeks before Christmas - yeah, it's a miracle we all survived December. But we did and we had a wonderful Christmas. I promise to write up a re-cap with pictures very soon.

Right now - I want to write out this list.

11 in '11.

These are 11 things I want to try to accompish during 2011. I figure if I put it here, it will hold me a little more accountable. So here goes!

1. I want to lose 40 lbs this year - and I'm hoping to be halfway there by our 5th wedding anniversary. I think 40 is a very reasonable goal. it is roughly 3.5 lbs a month. I can do it!!

2. I would like to restore some order/organization to our closets --- mine/Charlie's, Ethan's & Hannah's, linen closet, cleaning closet, all of them!

3. Reduce, reduce, reduce!! We have too much stuff. While I'm organizing (see #2) I would like to get rid of stuff we dont need or use. Craigslist and E-bay -- here I come!!

4. Recycle more. Our city provides a large recycle bin and picks up every other Friday. I would like to see us fill it up every other week.

5. Another personal goal - I would like to be able to pump for Hannah until at least 9 months. It's not easy to exclusively pump for your infant while also taking care of your toddler.....er, I guess he's almost a preschooler now - ACK! But I've made it 3.5 months so far. I'm (sortof) in a routine at home and work, and I would really like to do this as long as possible!

6. Spend more quality time with my kids. Sometimes I feel like I rush through things because I feel like I have too much to do. I need to slow down and enjoy the small things in my life - because let's face it, they wont be small for long! By this time next year, Ethan will be 3.5 years old and in preschool. Hannah will be walking and talking and not taking bottles. So when I have to yawn my way through the day because one of them had me up too early - I hope I can just pour myself another cup of coffee and take it in stride.

7. Spend more quality time with my husband. I cannot believe we will celebrate our 5th anniversary this year. I mean, we've been together much longer than that - but we've been married almost 5 years. Sometimes it seems like our wedding was a million years ago and sometimes it seems like it was just a few weeks ago. That's crazy. And so this year, on our 5th anniversary year, I would like to turn off my laptop more frequently and just curl up on the couch with my best friend after our kids have gone to bed.

8. I'm going to read 12 books this year! I wanted to say that I would read 20, but I thought I would set my goal a little more reasonable for this year. I got a Kindle for my birthday so reading is a little easier since I dont have to tote around a "real" book....and I dont have to worry about the library people coming after me when I keep it too long.

9. I will keep up better with the blog. I dont see many comments, but I know my family really enjoys reading the blog and keeping up with us and the kids. So, I'm going to try really hard to keep it up a little better - my goal is once a week! Let's see how I do! :) More pictures and videos of the kids - coming soon to a blog near you! Haha

10. I would like to accomplish two house projects. We eventually want to be able to sell this house and move to something just slightly bigger. In order to do that, we have some projects that need to get done. I would like to accomplish 2 things on that list during 2011.

11. I would like to find a new church community where I am comfortable. I have missed church as an active part of my life. I hope I can make an honest effort to find a new place by the time Advent comes around again -- maybe even by Easter! :)

So, there you have it! My 11 goals for 2011. Wish me luck!

Happy New Year to you and yours - and good luck with any goals you might set for yourself and your family!

Holly (not so) Jolly!!!

2010-12-02T14:20:00.004-06:00

Remember how I was saying it is not easy to get pictures of a toddler and an infant?? Yeah......I wasn't kidding!

Two weeks ago we went to Portrait Innovations to get some Christmas pictures of our kids. We did get a few really cute pictures - you wont see those until after we mail out our Christmas card!! - but we also got some really funny outtakes. Ethan was **NOT** amused by the idea of getting his picture taken. Lucky for us, Hannah isn't mobile yet!!

Everything started out good. Both kids seemed to be in a good mood before we left the house!

and then it went south!!

but I promise we did actually get some good ones! and I promise to share those soon!

Happy December......let the countdown to Santa begin :)

So much to be thankful for...

2010-11-25T12:30:00.004-06:00

During the month of November, I posted once a day on facebook - something I was thankful for. I decided to collect those thoughts here and share them on Thanksgiving.

I really do have so much to be thankful for!

Thankful Day 1: I am thankful for my husband. He really is my very best friend and my rock of sanity. He loves me no matter what. He works hard to provide for our family and is the most AMAZING Daddy. I love him more and more every day and I'm so thankful he is in my life. :o)

Thankful Day 2: Today, I am thankful for my amazing son. He changed our life in the best way the very minute we even knew he existed....and has not stopped since. He's funny and energetic, loving and silly. He loves to kick a soccer ball, dance, and give hugs. I'm the luckiest Mommy in the world. :o)

Thankful Day 3: I am so thankful for my daughter. I knew it was love when I heard her first cry and saw her Daddy tell me "It's a girl." and I became a girl Mommy. I love her to pieces! Her beautiful dark hair, her cute little nose, her fuzzy pink clothes, everything. I can't wait to watch her grow up and I hope we have the same relationship as adults that I now have with my Mom.

Thankful Day 4&5: I am thankful for my parents and my grandmother. My Mom and Dad have been by my side through EVERYTHING and always believed in me. They have helped to make me what I am today! My Grandma is the sweetest, wisest person I know. I am honored to carry her name and proud that I was able to pass it on to my own daughter.

Thankful Day 6: I am thankful for my sister. When she was 12 and I was 6, and we had to share a room, we were the best of enemies.....but now she is my best friend!! I can call her and tell her anything. We can talk for hours and not really say anything at all. I'm so lucky to have her as my sister and my friend. I love you sis!!

Thankful Day 7: I am thankful for my home. It's not a sprawling mansion - but it is our home. We have a warm place to put our children to bed, a wonderful yard to watch them play, everything you could ask for!

Thankful Day 8: I'm thankful for my husband's family. They welcomed me 8 years ago, when I had no local family of my own. They love our kids and would do anything for us.

Thankful Day 9: I am thankful for my extended family - cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. I have a very large family - and for all the craziness that comes with it - I do love it! There is always someone there to love you for who you are!

Thankful Day 10: Today I am thankful for my friends! I am very lucky to have a great group of friends here. it was awesome to be pregnant with almost all of you and I can't wait to see our kids grow up together :o) You guys rock!

Thankful Day 11: I am thankful for our veterans. My father and my husband have both served, as well as many family members and friends. For your service to our country, I say thank you!

Thankful Day 12: I'm thankful for my education. I worked very hard to be where I am professionally.

Thankful Day 13: I am thankful for my job. I love teaching. I love making a difference. and I'm pretty darn good at it too

Thankful Day 14: I am thankful for fall leaves, and gorgeous weather, and toddler giggles!!

Thankful Day 15: I'm thankful for my crockpot!! No seriously, my house smells so good! I hope this dinner tastes as good as it smells!!

Thankful Day 16: I am thankful for great coworkers! It makes all the difference in the world as I start to get things ready for going back to work. Good lunch, good visit at my school!!

Thankful Day 17: I am thankful for my daycare provider, Carrie Carlin . She is so good to Ethan and he loves her too! Of course I would love to spend my days playing with my kids, but I have to work. I have no worries about leaving him while I'm at work and I know Hannah will love her just as much as Ethan does. Thanks for taking such good care of our precious ones Carrie!

Thankful Day 18: I'm thankful for email and blogging! I can keep in touch with my family and friends back in Maryland so easily - and they can watch my kids grow up!

Thankful Day 19: Today, I am insanely thankful for the Starbucks drive-thru! When you have 2 screaming cranky kids and just need to get out of the house - but you wouldn't dare take them inside of ANY store - the drive thru is the perfect solution!! And a peppermint mocha helps brightens Mommy's mood too!! :o)

Thankful Day 20: I'm thankful for my car!! I know it's a luxury that not everyone has - and I seriously love my car!! It gets me and my family around safely and it gets me out of the house when I think I might go stir-crazy. :)

Thankful Day 21: I am thankful for childrens' Tylenol!!! Bubble gum flavored to be specific :) Ethan has a head cold and is a cranky mess. Thanks to Childrens' bubble-gum Tylenol, we are all getting some needed sleep and hopefully this cold will exit BEFORE it ends up requiring a dr visit!

Thankful Day 22: I'm thankful for milkshakes!! Tonight, peppermint chocolate chip from chick-fil-a. but I dont discriminate. I wont turn down a milkshake :o)

Thankful Day 23: I am so very thankful for modern medicine. Two years ago, modern medicine brought us our son after a very very long failed induction. and 2 months ago today.....we got our daughter!

Thankful Day 24: I am thankful for Ethan's doctors/specialists. We have a lot of people who work very hard for our little man! His pedi, his ENT, and his SLP come immediately to mind. We are blessed that they are here to guide us and help him!

Day 25:
Today....I'm just Thankful! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Siblings???

2010-11-19T19:22:00.003-06:00

Do you think they look alike?

Ethan....................Hannah

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It's that time of year again...

2010-11-17T06:56:00.003-06:00

You know, that time when everyone gets a haircut and you shop for cute clothes..........it's Christmas card time! Christmas cards mean Christmas pictures - both an exciting time and a time of great fear!!! I mean, come'on, I have a 2 year old!! He might be in a good mood, he might be in a rotten mood. He might smile and be adorable. He might have a meltdown and scream his head off. You just never know!! and I have an infant - who might be sweet and angelic and practicing that new gummy smile she just learned how to make. OR - she could be hungry and miserable and practice exercising her lungs....which I promise you are in full working order! Haha

But after the pictures are done - then I get to have fun and create a Christmas card!! The past few years I have used Shutterfly to make my Christmas cards and I have never been disappointed. It is so easy to just drop-in the pictures you want to add, type in your greeting, and pick a background. No frustrating hours trying to adjust photos or backgrounds. Did I mention I have 2 kids?!?! I dont have time for that!!

This was last year's card.

This year I get to add in another adorable little face!! I can't wait!! and there are so many different choices.

There is the Christmas Card Collection. Full of red and green!!

Something like this, gives me lots of options for adding photos....

but I really like the design of this one......

and this one.........

Or, I could chose from The Holiday Collection where there are gorgeous blues and silvers!

This one is kindof fun!

and I like this one too.....

Then I also have to decide if I want to make some other fun gifts, like a desk calendar or a wall art canvas.

So many choices!! Which one will I pick?!?! I'm not sure yet. I guess it depends on how those pictures turn out! Will I have two screaming kids or two smiling angels? Keep an eye on your mailbox to find out! :o)

Want to try making your own Shutterfly cards this year? Follow this link if you are a blogger and you could get 50 free cards!

Happy picture taking and card making! :o)

Chateau de Muth!!

2010-11-07T21:16:00.002-06:00

While I was in the hospital, Ethan stayed with my good friend Natalie. She has a daughter 6 weeks older than Ethan and they are great playmates.

Natalie and David (her husband) took great care of Ethan!! He had so much fun that we are pretty sure he went through withdrawl after he got home and it was only Daddy to play with. It was like a 3 day vacation at an all-inclusive resort!

There were snacks and crafts at Paige's table!

Painting!

Jumping on the trampoline!

Fun times at the sand/water table!

Bathtime fun with cool toys!

and..........

Bedtime stories with Paige and her Daddy!

Thanks Muth family for taking such good care of our little man! It made those few days so much easier knowing that Ethan was happy!

Then and Now

2010-10-19T15:40:00.002-06:00

Here's a little "Then and Now" fun for your Tuesday!

39 weeks pregnant (2 days before Hannah was born)

3 weeks after Hannah......same shirt!

and 3 years of fall photos!!

2008

2009

2010

Hannah's Story!!

2010-10-09T18:43:00.003-06:00

I know it's been 2 weeks....but cut me a break! I've been kinda busy :o) But I do want to get Hannah's birth story written down before I start forgetting any of the little details, so here goes!

Wednesday Sept 22nd

Ethan was staying at my girlfriend's house while we were in the hospital. We decided it was best to drop him off Wednesday night since we had to be at the hospital SO early on Thursday. So we went to Natalie's house around 530ish, had dinner with her and watch Ethan and Paige run around and wear each other out! He went to bed much easier than I expected and we were heading home by 830. I sat on the couch, ate some ice cream, watched Survivor on DVR and shed a few hormonal tears that I was a) about to meet this new little baby and b) was home without my first baby for the first time ever. The house was too quiet! After Survivor, I took a shower with my special surgical soap (stinky stuff!) and attempted to sleep. I crawled in bed around 10ish but I remember looking at my clock around midnight and thinking I would never fall asleep. I did fall asleep, until about 130 when I had to get up and pee. and then up again at 345 to shower and get ready to go have a baby. It was the longest, short night ever.

Thursday Sept 23rd - BABY DAY!!!

We had to be at the hospital by 515/530. We went right away back to the pre-op area and I changed into my hospital gown. I had a TON of nurses! There was a nurse for me, and a nursing student to follow her. There was also a nurse for our baby, and a nursing student following her! They hooked me up to the monitor for baby's heartbeat and another to watch for contractions. I had all my vitals checked and -- SHOCKER -- my blood pressure was a little high! It took 3 nurses, 3 different tries to get my IV in. That was not comfortable at all! About an hour into our 2 hour wait, I had to turn over and lay on my left side because my blood pressure was too high. I know that drill all too well. I ended up staying on my left until we went back to the OR. I'm pretty sure Charlie was on his 5th cup of coffee at this point.

About an hour before surgery, my anesthesiologist came in to see me. Actually, he was a resident - so he had another doctor following him also. Seriously, everyone had a double! He was so nice and really helped put me at ease by explaining everything. More on him later.

Around 715, my OB arrived. Looked over my chart, laughed at me about my blood pressure, and asked if we were ready to have a baby! YES YES YES!! We reminded her that we didn't know baby's gender and she promised to let Charlie announce.

They handed Charlie his bunny suit and reminded him to leave his clothes on underneath. We all got a good laugh out of that - and yes, I guess that has been an issue before. LOL

My nurse walked me back to the OR and told me that Charlie would be allowed to join as soon as my spinal was in place. I remember being alone in the OR with Ethan's delivery too and it really is an uncomfortable feeling. I started to get upset that he wasn't there but my nurses and anesthesiologist were fantastic. He explained everything he was doing as it was happening at that really made me feel better. After my spinal was in, they helped me lay down and started hooking up all my other wires. My doctor came in and started to prep all of her stuff and I started to panic again, asking for Charlie. Just as they finished putting up the curtain, he came in and sat down by my head. I was instantly calm.

My c-section took a little longer the second time because of scar tissue from Ethan's delivery. But it wasn't too bad, especially since I wasn't so horribly sick this time. I was able to keep my eyes open and talk Charlie, which kept me calmer. When my doctor told us we were getting close, Charlie noted that "American Woman" was on the radio in the OR. We decided it would be funny if we had a girl, delivered to the song "American Woman". As my OB was about to deliver our second child, we heard her say "Wow, look at that hair". Just then, before she was even delivered - we heard her first cry! I swear, I could just feel the excitement travel all the way up my body and my heart swelled 9 times! She asked "Daddy" if he was ready and he said yes.

I remember seeing the shadow of a baby being lifted up behind the blue curtain and turning to look at Charlie. His jaw dropped, his eyes got big and he was really quiet for what seemed like an eternity. I couldn't see baby so I was depending on him to tell me what we had......and he said "It's a girl". I cried. I never dreamed I would be a girl Mommy until that moment, and right at that moment, it seemed like it was always meant to be. They lifted her up higher so I could see her. I reached up, touched her cheek and said "Happy Birthday Hannah" and then cried some more.

Charlie followed her over to get cleaned, weighed, and checked out. Again, I was so glad to not be so sick this time so I could watch too. The nursery nurses commented again on her dark hair and chubby cheeks! They got all of her measurements and weighed her, and then wrapped her up. She and Charlie came back over to my for a minute so I could meet my little Hannah. My anesthesiologist, who had been absolutely amazing, took our camera and took a few pictures for us. It was just amazing.

Charlie and Hannah left to go to the nursery. Hannah needed to be checked over and get her first bath, and I needed to be put back together again. I'm glad Charlie was gone because this is when I did start to get sick. I remember my face getting really cold and clammy all of a sudden. I said to my nurse and the anesthesiologist "I dont think I feel very good" and then it hit me. Before the poor guy could even turn around and get some medicine for my IV, I was just miserable. Luckily, it only lasted about 2 minutes until the meds kicked in. But that was for sure - a very long 2 minutes!

After I was done, the doctors and nurses lifted me to a real bed and wheeled me back to our recovery room. I got there before Charlie and Hannah. The nursery nurse came in and told me that Hannah was doing great. I was particularly worried about her blood sugars since Ethan struggled so much with his. They told me she was right at a 50, which is the lowest number they want them to be at - but still OK. They said she would be back in just a minute and they wanted her to try and nurse right away to help with her blood sugars.

After Charlie and Hannah got back, we started to make phone calls and send texts. As he called his Mom - I called mine. I really enjoyed being able to tell her that she had another granddaughter!! We were released from recovery at around 11am and wheeled to our Mother & Baby room. Ethan was waiting for us just as we got there. It was SO good to see him. He brought along a gift for his new baby sister - a small pink teddy - but was not at all interested in visiting with her, or me, in the hospital room. He was way more interested in his peanut butter sandwich and all the buttons/drawers in the room!

We had lots of visitors over the next few days and enjoyed every minute of it. We didn't have that time with Ethan since he was admitted to the NICU the day after he was born.

By Thursday night I was sitting up and dangling my feet over the side of the bed. Friday morning they removed my spinal and started me on oral pain meds, and by lunchtime I was up and walking. I knew that getting up and moving was going to be key to me feeling better. It wasn't comfortable, but I did it.

We were discharged on Sunday, Sept 26th. It was a very chilly, windy fall day. We actually turned on the heat in the car to keep our tiniest little family member warm. Ethan was very happy to have us home and I was so glad to be home.

I still cant believe we have children! CHILDREN! As in, two of them! And I still cant believe we have a daughter - even though she is all dressed in pink and laying right next to me as I type this out!

Welcome to our family, Hannah Elizabeth!!

I have..........

2010-09-10T19:13:00.003-06:00

37 weeks, 3 days

I have swollen ankles.

I have pregnancy-induced carpel tunnel in my hands. I have no feeling in my fingers when I wake up every morning and it hurts all day long.

I have horrible pain in my lower back from standing and teaching all day.

I have heartburn.

I have 5 foods that actually sound appealing to me, all day - every day.

I have my own personal shelf, right under my boobs.

I have 26 extra pounds on my body.

BUT.............

I have this amazing kid! and in 13 days, I get to have another one!

Remember When He Fit???

2010-09-04T17:57:00.003-06:00

We set up the Pack'n'Play with the bassinet in our room. Ethan decided he needed to investigate.

Do you remember a time when he was small enough to fit?!?!

August 2008

September 2010

Still time to play!!

Wanna Play?!?!

2010-08-30T18:10:00.002-06:00

It's almsot September 1st. That means in 3 weeks and 3 days (or less - ack!), we will meet our newest little family member. We will find out if Ethan has a baby sister or a baby brother.

What do you think?????

Who is joining our family?

Hannah Elizabeth??

or

Zachary Jerome??

sidenote: Charlie and I purposely chose different genders! He has had a few dreams about a girl. I have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE what this baby will be!!

Click below -- have fun!

5 weeks.....35 days......

2010-08-19T18:56:00.003-06:00

Baby #2 will be joining us in just 5 short weeks. That's only 35 days for those of you who couldn't do that quick math! ACK! That's coming really really fast!!

so here's an update, since I haven't done one since 29w and I'm not just a little past 34w. These stats are from my last appt on August 10th.

Blood Pressure: 130/80...creeping up a little bit but the heat index has been 100+ for almost a month. I have increased my water to a goal of 3L per day. that's about 90 oz!!! Yeah, I pee a lot
Weight: +5, +21 total
Movement: TONS!! this baby is busy!
Heartrate: 145 -- tends to hover right around this number at all appts.
Next Appt: next Thursday - Aug 26th, and then weekly after that

We have our hospital appointment this Saturday (21st). Nothing exciting really. Just filling out all paperwork and copying of insurance cards, so we dont have to do it when we arrive. No need to tour the labor & delivery, since we have seen all possible parts already (birthing rooms, mommy&me rooms, NICU, nursery, OR, ....)

and for your amusement.....my ENORMOUS belly. Yes, my back does hurt from carrying all my weight directly in front of me. Yes, my feet are swelling like marshmallows in a microwave. Yes, it sucks to get through an entire day of teaching 6/7 year-olds. YES, I'm sure there is only one baby in there! YES, I'm very very D~O~N~E being pregnant. but NO, we are not ready to have this baby. Still too early. Baby needs to cook a little bit longer and we need to finish up the nursery!

A Picture Parade!

2010-07-31T16:09:00.002-06:00

(and a video too!)

I have lots of pictures to share, and not a lot of words. So...here ya go!

Happy Anniversary to us! For our 4th anniversary, we got ourselves a new coffee maker :o)

My good friend Audrey (Kentiga Photography) took Ethan's 2-yr photos. They turned out great!!

Ethan got a new set of bath crayons and some fun shaving foam for his birthday!

We set up the baby swing to get Ethan used to the idea of having it in the living room. We borrowed a "creepy baby" from Ethan's friend Paige!

So far, he is only interested in squeezing baby's head. Yeah, we'll work on that!

He likes to wear Daddy's shoes

It has been so so hot here lately - heat index up/above 100 - 115. So it was nice to get back outside and play!

Bubble fun in the backyard!

He got a new t-ball set for his birthday! It was our first chance to get outside and try it out. Not bad for his first try!

Party Party! Yo Gabba Gabba style!

2010-07-17T20:42:00.003-06:00

Today was Ethan's birthday party. He had a GREAT time playing with his friends and none of them let the 108* heat index ruin their fun!!

Some highlights......

Goody bags

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Fun times at the sand/water table

Picnic lunch outside

soccer INSIDE the bouncy house!

"Happy Birthday" -- the funniest song EVER!

mmmm....cake!

Brobee on a coloring book!

ripping paper is fun!

If you would like to see all of the pictures - CLICK HERE

29w appt

2010-07-13T11:58:00.003-06:00

Blood Pressure: good, forgot to ask the number
Weight: +4 more this appt, +16 total
Movement: TONS!! this baby is busy!
Heartrate: 145 -- although, I'm surprised it wasn't higher after the glucose sugar drink!
Next Appt: July 27th, every 2 weeks now. That means we are getting really close! ACK!!

In other news..........BABY HAS A BIRTHDAY!! After everything checked out fine, Dr. K says "Ok, let's look at this calendar. When are we going to have this baby?" I nearly had a panic attack. I mean, obviously I know I'm having a baby and I realize I'm getting pretty close. But to actually set the date, that was more than I was expecting! I think it actually hit me - RIGHT THEN - that I'm having another baby in 10 weeks. That's not very long!!

So, unless something changes between now and then - this baby will be officially joining our family on Thursday, September 23rd at 7:30am.

and for your amusement -- my gigantic round belly. I swear I'm as big now as I was when I had Ethan. I even asked Dr. K if that was true. She looked back and told me no. In fact, pound-for-pound I'm just about the exact same size. Gained pretty much the same amount so far and on track to finish out just like I did with Ethan. Crazy!!

Happy Birthday Ethan Thomas!!

2010-07-11T20:38:00.003-06:00

It's amazing how fast time can fly......and how it seems to last forever - all at the same time.

Just two short years ago - we welcomed our son into the world. Except it seems like he has ALWAYS been a part of our lives. It can't possibly be only two years.

Happy Birthday to my little bubb....who doesn't even look like a baby anymore, he's turning into a little boy, right in front of my teary eyes.

2008

2009

2010

Second Baby Syndrome....

2010-07-01T12:02:00.002-06:00

.....sigh.....

Poot Baby#2. Already a victim of "second baby syndrome". It just occurred to me today, at 27w2d, that I had not made a video of this baby's heartbeat. I had Ethan's heartbeat on YouTube at 16 weeks. Yeah, that's 11 weeks and 2 days late for anyone keeping track. In my defense (or just an excuse, you decide!) this baby had an anterior placenta, that only just moved it's way up about 3 or so weeks ago. So there you have it! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I'm officially in my last trimester, and since this baby will be a planned c-section I'm likely about 12 weeks away from having a second child. That little tidbit of information scares the bujeebers out me! Charlie and I were making a list of any items we might need for the new baby - we really don't need too much since we still have all of Ethan's baby gear and it was all gender neutral. Crib, crib mattress, and dresser/changing table are purchased...although still in the garage! We know we need new nipples for our baby bottles, definitely some new binkies, maybe a few crib sheets and burp clothes....but really, that's it. And then it hits me -- oh yeah, I should probably also invest in some newborn sized diapers!! Poor kid. Ethan's size 5s would eat him/her alive!!

I swear, I'm going to blink and this baby is going to be here. And all of a sudden, I'm going to remember a million things that baby's need - that I have forgotten to purchase. Good thing we live really close to a 24-hr WalMart :o)

Here are a few new pics, and baby's heartbeat. I never get tired of listening to it! :o) It really is the best sound ever!

27w2d

Heartbeat = approx. 145/minute

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T08:14:00.002-06:00

To the man I love - thank you for being an amazing father to our children!

25 week appt

2010-06-15T18:31:00.003-06:00

Blood Pressure: 120/70
Weight: +4 this appt, +12 total
Movement: TONS!! this baby is busy!
Heartrate: 171 during the aerobics dance at the ultrasound, 145 on OB's doppler
Next Appt: July 13th with glucose diabetes test/bloodwork

Baby waves hello!

Baby face

25w belly

and for fun.....
24w with Ethan (no pic at 25) -- hahaha! not even close to as big as I am right now!

this one is little closer.....28w with Ethan

World Cup 2030??

2010-06-13T07:42:00.003-06:00

My kid loves soccer. Seriously, LOVES soccer.

I found a soccer class through our local parks and recreation that is for 2.5 - 5 year olds. He won't be 2.5 until January. Guess we'll just keep practicing in the hallway until next summer......when Ethan can join the class called "Happy Feet"!!

You Are My Sunshine

2010-05-16T17:52:00.002-06:00

As part of Ethan's speech program, we work on adding hand motions/signs to songs that he knows. This week we have been working on "You Are My Sunshine".

He wasn't in the very best mood tonight - but he still did a really good job. He usually will put his fingers on his mouth for "you make me happy" and make rainy motions for "when skies are gray". He skipped those tonight. He also puts his hand on his wrist instead of his heart for "how much I love you". Doesn't matter! Melts my heart anyway!!

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-05T19:41:00.002-06:00

CHEEEEEEESE!!!

19 week + 1 day (and yes, that's a belly button you see)

Jammie Dancing!

2010-04-03T08:25:00.003-06:00

Ethan was in a dancing mood this morning. These are two of his favorite songs to dance to.

Razzle Dazzle (Yo Gabba Gabba)

and

Five Days Old (Laurie Berkner Band)

Yup!

2010-03-25T20:15:00.002-06:00

13w2d appt:

weight gain: +0
heartrate: about 160ish, too hard to count - baby kept running away from the doppler!
cravings: grapes and french fries! not together.

The ultrasound picture was from our 12w NT Scan, last week. Baby was kicking like crazy ang wiggling all around. Took them almost 45 mins to get all the measurements needed. It was fun to watch our little acrobat! h/b at NT Scan = 172.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2010-02-14T11:05:00.004-06:00

In honor of Valentine's Day.............14 things I love!!

1. My husband. Seriously. He is my best friend and (on most days) my rock of sanity!

2. Our son. Another obvious one, but again....we're just not sure how we ever lived and loved without him. It's like he's always been a part of our lives!

3. My enormous family! We are a crazy bunch, but I wouldn't trade any of them for the world. I miss being so close and love when I have the chance to visit.

OK...from here on out - these are in no particular order!!

4. Sunflowers. They are so pretty and always bring a smile to my face!

5. my Gnome!

6. Christmas!

7. fuzzy socks

8. Chinese food......ok....and Mexican food too!

9. amazing friends (you all know who you are!)

10. Target!!

11. ice cream with sprinkles

12. snow days ~ you know, the kind where I actually get to stay home and play with Ethan all day in my jammies!

13. reality television! (particularly Survivor and The Amazing Race!!)

14. Olympics! I'm enjoying watching the winter olympic games right now. It reminds me of 2 years ago, when the summer games were on. I was still home on maternity leave and Ethan was a super itty bitty. We enjoyed many hours of olympic games - in real time - at 2am!!

Baby it's cold outside!!

2010-01-16T20:44:00.004-06:00

We had a vicious cold snap here in wonderful Kansas from about Christmas to early January. We were under a blizzard warning for Christmas, and then got snow pretty much every few days for about 2 weeks. When it was all said and done we had about 20" of snow. But the worst part of it all were our temps. Snow is one thing - but the temperatures were crazy. There were a few days were our temp never got above ZERO and our wind chills were -20ish. Yes, that's a minus.

It was confirmed by the news that we were colder in Kansas than they were in Alaska. Now that's just wrong! And it was officially the coldest two weeks I have ever experienced IN.MY.LIFE. Let's hope the rest of the winter is a little nicer to us.

This is my kitchen window!

Dear Super Cooper,

2010-01-16T20:43:00.004-06:00

Thanks for letting me come over to play today! Thanks for sharing your highchair, your slide, your squeegy, and your cookies! We will definitely have to plan another play day soon!

Your Bud,
Big E

More Baby Signs

2010-01-16T20:32:00.005-06:00

Ethan's communication has exploded this past month. And while he isn't necessarily *saying* all of these words - he has learned a few new spoken words - he is definitely making it known what he wants!!

These video clips are from dinner tonight. The first one is a little long. You can see him trying to scoop up his mashed potatoes with his spoon. In the middle, you can hear him use the word "done". At the end, he signs "down please" and "help". We dont really know why he puts his head back and goes "ooooooo" when he says please, but he does.

And this really short one is "milk please"

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T21:16:00.005-06:00

What a whirlwind the holidays have been. I mean, really, aren't they always?!?!

Here's a quick December recap for you........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On December 14th, Ethan got his ear tubes. The procedure was so quick and soooo needed. His ears were really bad. The ENT told us that he was sure it had been causing him some hearing troubles. In the 3 weeks since his tubes have gone in, we have noticed a LOT more babbling and even some actual words that we can understand. It was a great decision. He has started cutting his 2-yr molars. We are super excited about the prospect of cutting teething WITHOUT having an ear infection. I have friends who say it is possible.......but up to now, I can't say I believe them! We'll see!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas decorations were light this year. I did not have the energy to chase Ethan away from every tiny nutcracker soldier or snowman on display. We put out our favorites and put a gate around our tree! It is our new normal.

I can help Mommy!

Hey! These aren't working!

Stand here so Daddy can take your picture

Yes, Ethan CAN be bribed by candy!!

This is REALLY good!!

What's so funny?!

I think this hat is too big!

What's under the tree?

Wow, look at this Christmas ball!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We visited Santa and mailed him a wish list of toys. We even had Sonic grilled cheese for dinner! What a fun night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We celebrated Christmas early with Charlie's family (on the 23rd) because of a last minute flight change out of Kansas City. Turns out, KC had a Christmas blizzard!! I'm sorry we missed the snow, but I'm not sorry that we got out of town before it all arrived. I'm afraid we wouldn't have made it to Maryland for a few days. And sitting at the airport with a toddler was not high on my list of things to try!

Unfortunately, we forgot our camera when we went to Liz and Terry's for gifts. So you'll have to wait on Uncle BoBo to send me his pictures!! I promise to update when I get them.

Oh Uncle BoBo....we are waiting on you!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's house was fun. Abby (my great-niece) is at such a fun age. She was so excited.

She helped her Daddy write a letter to Santa!

Signed with love and left with some cookies and milk!

Ethan was fascinated with Paw-Paw's cane!

Santa came!!!

Look at all these presents Mommy!!

What's in this bag?!?!

Ripping paper is fun!

Ethan tries the buttons on Abby's new giraffe

Abby got a new Dora table that Ethan absolutely LOVED!!

Let me do it Daddy!

Let's check the instructions first, Daddy

Ethan and Abby watching Yo Gabba Gabba on Ethan's new couch!

Aunt Nonnie helps Ethan build a puzzle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a gift to my Mom and Dad, we all pitched in and had family photos done. They turned out great!

Mom, Dad, and Grandma

Our little family!

My sister's family

My sister-in-law's family

Mom, Dad, and their grandkids (and great-granddaughter!)

Grandma, her great-grandkids, and great-great-granddaughter!!

The whole gang!!

And a blooper shot!! This was one of the group shots. Look carefully at Charlie and Ethan. As you can see, Ethan was just about D.O.N.E. with all the picture taking and had just moments before this shot - smacked Charlie right in the face!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We drove a long way to visit Heidi, Elise, Natalie, and Braden

And, as usual, Mommy forgot to take pictures while we were there!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tuesday night, we bundled up and went to Washington D.C. to see the National Christmas tree.

It was a gorgeous tree! Ethan and Abby really enjoyed all the lights!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So that should catch you up until now. Happy New Year to everyone. We are looking forward to a wonderful 2010!

It's fun to chase a ball....

2009-12-19T17:56:00.001-06:00

Guess who found the ball that was intended for his stocking??

(Sorry the video is so grainy....the battery was just about dead on the camera!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

2009-11-28T08:08:00.002-06:00

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! We hope you had a great time with our family. We had a very nice dinner at our house with Charlie's family.

And then Ethan helped Mommy check the Black Friday ads one last time!!

Ethan likes YELLOW!!

2009-11-08T20:05:00.002-06:00

Jon, Liz, and Abby got this ballpit for Ethan for his birthday. He was a little scared of it at first, but has grown to LOOOVE it!! Last night he was putting two balls at a time and watching them go down the track. He was giggling while he was doing it - so cute! So I grabbed the camera to record! Then we realized that he was always picking the yellow balls. Sorry for the shaking camera, we were laughing too!! He continued playing until Daddy got up. And of course he had to go follow Daddy!!

and another one - just because!! Our little caveman is learning to use a spoon! He was doing a great job until he decided to turn his plate upside down!!!

Boo at the Zoo

2009-10-24T21:04:00.005-06:00

It's a bird.........It's a plane.........It's the Halloween Chicken!!!!

We took Ethan to Boo at the Zoo! Lots of fun! For a kid who refused to nap, he was actually in a pretty good mood! We got lots of comments about what a cute chicken he was......but of course - we already knew that!!!

I know Mommy packed cookies in here somewhere!!!

It's a long walk to Africa!

the colors at the zoo are beautiful in the fall!

Mommy's favorites!!

Big Boy!!

What's down there Daddy??

The Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-24T20:37:00.006-06:00

2 weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch. They had a TON of stuff for kids to do - Ethan was not excited about any of it. Turns out - we took him to daycare the next day and he was throwing up with a fever just 20ish minutes after I dropped him off. Poor kiddo. He was probably sick the whole weekend and we had no idea! But he picked a pumpkin! We're going to carve it soon so we can be all festive for Halloween!

Our little pumpkin

Yeah, it was really really cold outside!

Hey you Mr. Pumpkin........Get out of my wagon!!

and just because - a comparison

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Pumpkin Patch 2009

New Toys!

2009-10-24T20:13:00.004-06:00

Did someone say new toys?!?!?

Ethan got a new basketball game!

"Hey Everybody!!! Guess what I can do now?!?!"

The garage floor

2009-10-24T20:10:00.003-06:00

Charlie worked very hard to refinish the garage floor.

Ethan approves!

Ethan's 1st baseball game!

2009-10-24T19:52:00.005-06:00

I know....I know......2+ months.

I won't even try to make a list of the excuses. Just trust me that I'm sitting on the couch and I'm writing a bunch of blog posts so there will be new ones all week!!

Let's back up to Labor Day Weekend! We took Ethan to his 1st Royals game. Yeah, it didn't last too long. The Royals lost and Ethan was not too excited about the butt-kicking they were getting!

Here's what you really want - pictures!!

The K!!

Daddy's Little Buddy

The chicken strips and french fries are taking too long. Ethan decided to eat his shoe instead

Eating fries with Daddy

From our seats

Slugger stole Ethan's stroller

Daddy, Ethan and Slugger

More?!?!?

2009-08-16T17:08:00.002-06:00

Tonight we had homemade pizza for dinner. Charlie and I made the crust for ours. But it was super dense so we made E's pizza with whole wheat english muffins. He LOVED it!! This kid can put away some pizza!!

Just yesterday we started working on the sign for "more". Up to that point we have been informed that he wanted another bite when he grunted, growled, or banged on his tray. I decided that was not going to work for me.

Tonight, he looked at Charlie and signed for more pizza. I nearly fell out of my chair! And then of course, jumped out of my chair and grabbed the camera!

1-yr Photos!

2009-08-07T19:05:00.002-06:00

We met my friend Audrey downtown to take some pictures a few weeks ago. We have all the pictures back and couldn't be happier! I just keep going back and looking at them again and again!!

You can see the entire album HERE

But here are some of our favorites!

Music and Goats!!

2009-07-31T21:15:00.002-06:00

This is my last week home with Ethan this summer. It has been great to spend this time with him. I have really enjoyed our days of playing and going to do fun stuff. But it has really made me realize that I am not (at least not yet!) cut out to be a stay-at-home Mom.

On Wednesday, we met up with Paige and her Mommy at Deanna Rose Farmstead This is the same farm we went to for Mother's Day. We had a great time and I think the kids enjoyed themselves. I'm pretty sure Paige enjoyed it much more than Ethan. But at least he had fun riding in his stroller!! And I got some fresh air and adult conversation!

We fed the goats!

Paige LOVED the goats!!

She pet the goats.....

tried to climb in WITH the goats......

blew kisses to the goats......

Ethan?!??! NOT a fan of the goats!!

We took the kids into the petting area! Paige was clapping and laughing. The big white one was trying to eat Natalie's shirt!

Ethan climbed up my neck like a spider monkey!!

Then we took some time out of the strollers to play at the barnyard playground. Ethan took this chance to try and escape!

He and Paige enjoyed the swings!

As we got ready to leave, we decided we should try and get a picture of the kids together! Let me tell you how difficult it is to take a picture of two toddlers....TOGETHER!

This is the best we could do!

And then it was Paige's turn to try to escape!

I think Ethan had a good time!

Two tired Mommas, two tired toddlers.....we probably should have tried to get this picture when we first arrived!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Free Friday Concert Series! Our city has free concerts every Friday in the summer. The park is less than a mile from our house. Two years ago we went to the Liverpool concert. They are great, and of course Charlie really enjoyed it!! Last year we didn't make it because it was only 2 weeks after Ethan was born. So we were super excited to take our little guy to this year's concert. We had fun!

Playing with toys while Daddy goes to get us dinner!

Peek-a-boo!!!

All fall down

The band is starting. We stayed pretty far back from the stage area to keep the music volume to a lower level and to stay out of the more crowded areas. It was a perfect spot!

Enjoying the music with Daddy

Look who stole Daddy's chair!! (sorry this one is dark)

Getting sleepy.....it's past bedtime

Hopefully I will have another post up this weekend. We are waiting for Ethan's 1-yr photos to be done! I know they turned out great!

Love to all!
Charlie, Beth, and Ethan

Happy 3 Years!

2009-07-28T07:48:00.001-06:00

Happy Anniversary to us!

One Year Update!!

2009-07-27T19:11:00.003-06:00

Ethan had his 1-yr well visit on Friday. He is growing like crazy!

Weight = 20lbs 14.5oz
Height = 29inches
Head = um.....just right?!?!? (i can't remember!)

Anyway, overall he is doing great. We are still working on some texture/eating issues but man is he making progress by leaps and bounds! Just tonight he ate dinner WITH US!! Meatloaf and sweet potato chunks! And he was seriously putting away some meatloaf!

His reflux medicine has been changed to one he only has to take 1x per day. We are still hoping he will outgrow it very soon. He is doing great on whole milk. He LOVES milk in his sippy cup and will fight you if you try to take it away!!

Some pictures.........

Ethan's new trick (taken with my phone in very little light - sorry)

Playing with Daddy at the doctor's office

Trying out his new swing

Playing with his new Cozy Coupe car!!

And just for fun ~ guess what I was doing three years ago today?!?!?!

First Hair Cut

2009-07-22T09:53:00.002-06:00

Thursday 17th we took Ethan for his first haircut. It wasn't a huge cut, but he was getting some seriously scraggly hairs that were driving his Daddy nuts!

So here you go!

I'm not letting this cell phone go! Don't even try it!

Hey, that tickles!!

Look at my new do!!

2515.8!!!!

2009-07-15T09:51:00.003-06:00

This is the number of miles that we put on the car over the past week! It was a long drive to/from Maryland but worth every minute! Ethan had a fantastic birthday party and we enjoyed visiting with my family. And now.....pictures!

Playing with Daddy's phone in the car

One of many car naps....

Chasing ants at a rest stop on I-64

Mommy has a bottle!!

Yum!!

It's lunchtime!!

Birthday cake

Ethan's cake

Cake is good!

Ethan likes his birthday card!

Lots of books for his birthday!!

Tissue paper is fun!!

This book makes fun noises!

Ethan shares a birthday with my cousin Chuck! Here they are sporting their birthday shirts!!

Chuck has a few *extra* ones!

We went to Sandy Point State Park while we were there! Ethan got his first visit to the Chesapeake Bay! Um...let's just say he is NOT a fan!!

Yay! I'm at the beach!

What is this stuff??

Wait!! I dont think I like this stuff at all!!

Michelle and Abby enjoy the bay water!

Mommy and Ethan check out the water

"Do NOT put me down in this sand lady!!"

I warned you!!

Daddy and Ethan check out the beach

A family photo - it was the best we could do!!

Much happier in his stroller eating snacks!

Beautiful view of the Bay Bridge!

I know there are a ton more photos out there of his party - I just don't have all of them uploaded yet! I'll edit this post and add more when I find them!!!

He Waddles!!!

2009-07-07T20:21:00.002-06:00

One year ago today was my due date. I was enormous and hot and sweaty and miserable! It took me at least 5 minutes to get up off of the couch or out of a chair and I waddled everywhere I went.

Today - my little baby started waddling too!!

And a few pictures..........just because!

Happy 4th of July!

Last weekend we were dog-sitting for some friends. Bear is such a sweet dog and Ethan just loved him!! When Bear went outside, Ethan would go to the door to watch!

Picture Teaser

2009-06-30T13:55:00.002-06:00

Well, we had to temporarily cancel our 1-yr pictures this past weekend. Charlie was out of town for work and got stuck there for longer than expected. No worries - we WILL still do the pictures...just dont have a date set yet.

However, I am working on a birthday project and Audrey was kind enough to swing by Sunday and take a few quick snaps of our little (almost!) birthday boy so I could finish it up. Man I can't believe how fast this year has gone!

While Daddy was gone - we spent lots of time playing inside because the weather was just horribly hot. Ethan has decided he loves mixing bowls and big spoons. He seriously spent 20 minutes just putting his blocks in the bowl, and taking them back out!!

He also found the drawer with our tupperware/gladware!!

BUSTED!!

Please Mommy can I throw these all around the kitchen?!?! Look how cute I am!!!

So that's all for now! We are getting ourselves ready for our big car trip to Maryland for Ethan's birthday. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures in the next few weeks!

Love,
Us

Man....it is H-O-T!!!!!

2009-06-23T18:59:00.002-06:00

So I guess Kansas City has been relocated to the surface of the sun! The temperatures here have been insane. It is in the 80s when Ethan and I get up around 6:15am and it just goes up from there. EEK! And the heat index has been hovering around 110*.

So we have been going swimming with Ethan's friend Paige. She LOVES the water, but he is just not so sure. The first few times he clung to my neck like a monkey (that's why there are no pictures!!). But slowly, he is getting used to the idea of being in the water.

Last week we tried out his new hippo pool! I personally think it is the coolest thing ever and I'm super jealous that my body won't fit comfortably in there! There is even a hook-up on the underpart that will spray up a water spout. Needless to say, we did not get a chance to try that out just yet!

The hippo pool!

Ethan all ready to try out the new hippo pool! Note that he is still happy!!

Ethan just 3 seconds after he got in the pool.

So.....the hippo pool sits empty in the garage. Maybe we will try again this weekend.

Today we went swimming with Paige. Ethan borrowed her floatie and actually enjoyed moving around in the water!!

Is that a smile?!?! In the pool?!?!?

Swimming makes him hungry! Goldfish are the perfect snack!

So that's what we have been up to. Ethan is getting his 1yr pictures done on Sunday by my friend, Kentiga! She did his pictures back around 3.5 months and we think she is super talented!! We can hardly believe that in just 2 weeks and a few days, our little guy is going to be a year old. Unreal!!

11 Months? How did that happen??

2009-06-11T18:53:00.003-06:00

I can't even believe he is 11 months old!

"What does this say?"

"I'm 11 months old!!"

"What did you say?? I'm having a birthday next month?!?!?!?"

Here are some of Ethan's favorites at 11 months old.

Scrambled eggs for breakfast

Standing up on his own and trying to walk

Crawling really fast and getting into everything

Stealing Daddy's remote control

Uh-oh, what happened??

Can you fix this, Mommy??

Crawling under the end table

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We also went to the lake last weekend. We had a wonderful, relaxing weekend and Ethan had his very first boat ride. He did great a great job wearing his life jacket and LOVED looking around!! The scenery was gorgeous. It was a much-needed weekend away!

Waiting on the dock for a boat trip!!

This hat is funny!!

What is this green stuff???

Time to put on the life jacket

Out on the lake!

Beautiful view from the lake

Where is Ethan?!?!?!?

This is fun!!

Charlie swinging into the water!

Full moon coming up over the lake

A gorgeous night

S'mores by the fire after the babies went to bed!!

Some video entertainment

2009-06-05T16:00:00.002-06:00

Ethan is learning to use his spoon!!

This is Ethan's new game!

Our dancing baby!

I thought I was going to get a video of our super-fast crawler.....instead I got "Ah-Choo!"

Gone Too Long!

2009-05-23T19:40:00.005-06:00

(my apologies for taking almost 1 month to update the blog!! It is the end of the school year. Blah! May always brings end-of-year testing, grade cards, and kids full of summer fever. This year it also brings a lot of packing because I am moving classrooms. Not grade levels, just classrooms. I am finally moving back to the primary hallway with the other 1st grade classes!! I'm excited about my new room - but LORDY I have a lot of crap in my room to pack-up! Anyway - this will be a long update so I can try to catch up and I promise not to wait another month!!)

Ethan's Baptism
On Sunday May 3rd, we were so blessed to have family and friends join us for Ethan's baptism. It was a wonderful day. Ethan was baptized in the same church we were married in almost 3 years ago - and by the same pastor. Definitely a nice memory!

Ethan plays with his MeMe during her visit!

The children's council at the church gives every child a banner when they are baptized. Here is Ethan's.

Trying to get his toes in the water

In a great mood through the entire thing!

Happy Birthday Paige!!
Today we went to my girlfriend's daughter's 1st birthday. Natalie did such a cute job with Paige's flower party and I swear she is the cutest little toddler ever! **ACK! She's a toddler!!**

What am I supposed to do with that?!?

OOOO! I have an idea!!

Yummy flower!

This is quite tasty!

McKenna stops playing for a quick bottle break! MUST.GET.EVERY.LAST.DROP!!!

Ethan and Paige go for a ride in Paige's new wheels!!!

Paige is so funny!!

Ethan is 10 months old!
On Monday May 11th, Ethan turned 10 months old. Where do all the days go?!? How is my baby already 10 months old?? Poor kiddo had a fever the night before and had to stay home from daycare. We went to walk-in just to rule out another ear infection (avoided #6 for now!!) and got weighed! Ethan broke 19 lbs!!! He is 19lbs 3.4oz!!! Yay! All those new eating skills are paying off! His newest favorite food ~ sweet potato fries!!

Our little one was not too happy to get his 10 month picture...this was the best we could do!

My First Mother's Day
I had a great day with my two favorite men!! Ethan made me a card - Daddy helped with the cutting! We spent the afternoon at Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead We got some really cute pictures, but the card is acting up and doesn't want to let us have them right now. Still working on that. Hopefully we will be able to recover at least a few of them. After our day at the farm, we met up with Charlie's parents for ice cream!! Yum!

My card!

New skills!!
Our little guy is getting so big....right before our eyes!

He is getting really good at standing on his own.

He is starting to cruise around the furniture in the living room.

And just today he decided to do THIS at Paige's party..........
And again a few hours later at home......................

Slow and Steady wins the race........

2009-04-26T20:19:00.002-06:00

We are working on this eating issue. We have successfully eaten a small frozen cube of pureed chicken/applesauce every night for dinner. It is chunkier than anything he has ever been able to eat before so it is definitely a step in the right direction.

We are also working on teaching him to pick up food and get it to his mouth. He shows NO INTEREST in this task at all. He will open his mouth like a bird and then scream at you if you don't shovel in food quick enough. So he obviously loves to eat. He just doesn't know how to do it himself.

UNTIL TONIGHT!!!!!!!!

After trying some mushed up pasta (which he HATED!), we gave him a Mum-Mum cracker. They are basically rice cakes for babies. They dissolve very quickly for less choking hazard. Perfect!

He loved it. Ate the entire thing! I use the word "ate" very loosely as I'm pretty sure that most of it ended up on his face, his tray, his hands, his hair........you get the picture. But huge success in that he picked it up by himself and put it in his mouth BY HIMSELF!!!

9 months + a few days........

2009-04-17T20:00:00.002-06:00

So....I've been slacking. Actually, I've been so tired it's been difficult to take the time to blog. When I have a spare few minutes - I try to catch some sleep!! But I'll get you all caught up!

We had Ethan's pictures taken at Portrait Innovations for his 9 months and Easter. We are very happy with how well they turned out and cannot believe how fast our little guy is growing!!

On Saturday, July 11th ~ Ethan was "officially" 9 months old. I swear, the pictures are REALLY getting hard to capture!

Ummmm....yeah. Ethan really likes the camera!

We had a nice Easter. It rained all day, but we're still about a year off from an Easter egg hunt so no worries! Ethan got a basket from the Easter Bunny and also from his Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw. The Bunny brought him the basket on the left with 2 new books, a stuffed bunny, and a crawling-rolly toy! Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw got him the bright blue one with a new sippy cup, a stuffed bunny, and some soft plush eggs that he loves to roll and chase across the carpet!

On Wednesday, we had our 9 month well-visit with his pedi. Poor kid has been sick since mid-January and we are getting a little concerned with his weight gain. He was weighed at his last sick check-up and had only gained a 1/2lb since his 6mo visit. That was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. At his 9mo visit, he had only gained 2 more oz. So he is now weighing in at 18lbs and 5.3oz. He is 27 1/4" long and his head is just right (can't remember the exact measurement!) So back to the weight gain (or lack thereof!) if you do the math - he has only gained about 3/4lb in 3 months. That's not very good.

Part of his weight gain problems can be blamed on the fact that he still can't eat solids. He loves the Gerber purees, but anything that has any sort of lump or texture just gags him terribly. :o( In the past few weeks - he has gagged/choked/barfed on:
* 1/2 cheerio
* teething cracker
* puree chicken/applesauce
* homemade mashed potatoes

and I'm sure there are more but that's off the top of my head! Pedi says just keep trying. Our bubba has had feeding issues since the day he was born. We shouldn't be surprised that he is still a little behind, but it is still frustrating.

The other part of his weight gain problems can be blamed on his getting sick so much. We have had ear infection after ear infection and add in a little RSV for good measure! Well, guess what!?! We have another ear infection. GRRRRR! We knew he had a cold but we were really hoping it wasn't an ear infection. No such luck. This makes #4. One more and we pretty much get a free pass to the ENT. Do not pass Go, and it will probably cost us well over $200! Good times.

So, we are heading back in 2 weeks to recheck the ears. Then going back again 4 weeks after that for a weight check. We REALLY need to see some weight gain and some improvements in his eating/gagging/etc. If you could just send our little guy some happy eating thoughts - that would be great!

Last bit of "great" news from our appointment - we will NOT be getting off formula at 12months. We will discuss the transition to milk AT his 12 month well-visit. So it will very likely be 13 - 14 months before we can finally let go of the golden formula. Ugh!

Don't worry - we are most definitely keeping track of this for future use. You know, when he wants to go to college, or get a car, or something! LOL

But it's not all bad news! He is doing great with all his other motor development and is scooting ALL OVER the living room. I dont think he will ever really crawl. He gets anywhere he wants to go on his tummy and he is getting pretty fast! This weekend, we will be installing baby gates.

And for your enjoyment (and a prize if you read all the way through this!!)........

Happy Spring......in Kansas!

2009-03-28T16:52:00.002-06:00

The weather here is insane! Two weeks ago, on St. Patrick's Day, it was 80 degrees. Ethan and I were outside in short sleeves. That weekend was the first day of spring and my flowers started popping out of the ground and blooming! It was so nice to see signs of warmer weather.

and then came THIS weekend.

Last night when we went to bed, they were saying we would get 8" - 10" of snow. Seriously?!?!? When we woke up, it was just barely wet outside from drizzle. No inches and inches of snow like we were told. Just when we thought we were getting out of this one, it started raining -- super cold freezing rain. And all that freezing rain started clinging to the tree branches and the deck outside. I would bet we probably got about 1/4" - 1/2" of ice accumulation. Then it started snowing. And it's still snowing. We're now hearing 2" - 4" but honestly, I'll believe what I see when all is said and done. I don't think any of those weather people have a CLUE what they are talking about!!

These pictures are from our back porch. I'll admit that I'm a big chicken and I refused to go out there. I took these through the glass on the door.

and my poor little flowers...........just shivering under that snow!

this one sortof shows how HUGE and CHUNKY the flakes are...

this is the big tree in our front yard. you can see how thick the ice is under the snow

this one is just pretty!!

the tree on the other side of our driveway

you can see how hard it is blowing in this one. one side of the little tree is covered, the other side is still green

and this is looking straight down our cul-de-sac. it really is gorgeous!

In other news! Thanks to the state of Kansas (and our CPA!!!!).......we have a new addition to our home

and just because....some pictures of my little bubba!!

crawling over to his ABC book

playing at the tabe with Daddy

Daddy gives Ethan funny moose-ears!

Uh OH!!!!!

2009-03-21T07:53:00.002-06:00

Look what I can do!!!

I can ride a giraffe!!

I can stand up at my Leap Frog Table!

and I can scoot myself across the carpet and get a remote control!! I think my Mommy and Daddy are in BIG trouble!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2009-03-18T09:00:00.002-06:00

I am on spring break and had big plans for us! I took Ethan to daycare Monday to get a haircut and run a few other quick errands. Then planned to have lots of fun for the rest of the days together. Well - until I got a phone call at 1pm that poor Ethan was running a fever and not feeling well. One quick trip to the pediatrician later, we have a double ear infection and a tooth breaking through on the top. Good times!

We still managed to enjoy our green clothing and a few minutes outside on a gorgeous day!

This head bobbles tickle!!

I can stand up with a little help!

Playing outside on a beautiful day!

Wow! Look at that big tree!

Toys!! I love toys!!

If I drop this toy off the side, Mommy will pick it up! What a fun game!

Sometimes toys are yummy! Especially when you are trying to cut a tooth!

OK Mommy - I think I'm done!

My happy leprechaun - first thing in the morning

Hi - my name is Ethan. I am addicted to my binkies. I sleep with one in my mouth and one in each hand!!

Grand Slam: A body fluids story!

2009-03-15T08:22:00.002-06:00

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up!

Ethan was 8 months old on Wednesday, March 11th. I had a particularly stressful day at work (only one more day at that point with the kids until Spring Break and they were all fired up!!) and I decided to leave a little early. So I got to daycare at about 4:20 instead of my normal 4:45. As I walked in, Carrie (our daycare provider) and another daycare Mom were laughing and saying I didn't want to come in. Carrie said, "We are on the 3rd dirty diaper of the afternoon and it is pretty stinky in here." <>

I go over to where Ethan is sitting on a little blanket and banging his toys together and pick him up. Instantly, my hand is wet and I can small him. Yup - my kid is #4 for the afternoon.....and it's a bad one! Carrie is still changing kid #3 so I grab the wipes and go to work.

This is one of those diaper blowouts where - if you were at home - you would just head straight for the bathtub. But I wasn't home, so 25 Huggies wipes later we are just about cleaned up! Dirty clothes are in a bag. Dirty diaper and wipes in another.

Score: Ethan - 1, Mommy - 0

I turn him over to wipe his back just one last time and he pees on my left leg. It was my own fault. I had him out of a diaper for too long. But jeez kid! Cut me a break! We all have a good laugh, even me!

Score: Ethan - 2, Mommy - 0

I get him all dressed and use another few wipes to clean off my leg. All is good. I pick him up and head over to the couch to get his jacket on him. AAAAAAH CHOOOOOO. Poor kid has a cold again and sneezes all over my shoulder. 2 wipes later, I am clean of the snot that has found its way onto my shoulder. We are all cracking up!!

Score: Ethan - 3, Mommy - 0

Finally, jacket is one and baby is all clean. Mommy is a whole other story! We say goodbye to Carrie, Ethan's daycare girlfriend and her Mom and get ready to head out the door. Burp! And there it goes - he spit up all the way down my right leg. We are all laughing so hard we are in tears!! Yes, even me! Because when you have had the body fluid "grand slam" on you in less than 10 minutes - what else are you going to do?! You call your husband on the way home and say, "Are you coming straight home? I really need a shower!"

Final score: Ethan - 4, Mommy - 0

So ~ Happy 8 months of motherhood to me! And here's what you really want.......

And guess who is trying really hard to get up on all fours - and sometimes even up on just his feet - and get moving?!?!?! Yeah - we are NOT READY for him to crawl - let alone walk!!!

We are ready for warmer weather!!

2009-03-07T09:15:00.002-06:00

So last weekend - it was snowing. On Thursday, it was about 72 degrees and we went for a walk to the park after work! I can't wait until he can really enjoy the park and it's playground!!

and another picture from this morning when we were playing on the floor! poor kid has another cold so his eyes are red from coughing/sneezing and his poor little nose is red from all the wiping.

and a video! this is our current favorite "game" in the morning before work/daycare.

First big snow!

2009-02-28T09:10:00.003-06:00

So, it isn't a huge snow. We only got about 3 or 4 inches total. But it hasn't been a big year for snow for us. We've had some miserable temperatures, but very little snow. Guess we got 2 years worth last year........when I was pregnant!

Anyway, we stuffed Ethan into his snowsuit and ran outside for a few fun pictures. I'm glad I only paid $3 for his snowsuit because it does not appear my child is a fan of the snow! Although, to be fair ~ he does seem to like his suit!

It is very pretty outside. And I'm really glad that it's a weekend.........

In other news - Ethan has started to play "Patty Cake" and clap his hands! He is also doing "Peek-a-boo". It is so darn cute. Amazing how something so simple just melts your heart! and I FINALLY caught them both on video this morning while we were playing!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-15T07:51:00.002-06:00

and look.......we are learning to play peek-a-boo!!

7 months.........(and one day!!)

2009-02-12T20:32:00.002-06:00

So I'm a day late - what else is new?!?!?

We had another follow-up yesterday with Ethan's doctor. His lungs sound very good and his cough/congestion are all "in his head". That is great news! We do have to watch him very close until probably mid-April (springtime) because the cold could travel back to his chest very quickly. That's how it all started this time and it almost happened overnight. So we will keep a watchful *ear* on his breathing but for now, we celebrate good news.

He has lost just over 1/2 a pound with this 3 weeks of sickness. His appetite isn't completely back yet. But he is eating enough to stay hydrated for sure. And let's face it.......my kid has a little bit of extra store :o)

That's all for now!

When I grow up.....

2009-02-09T19:55:00.001-06:00

I wanna be just like my Daddy!

I have a good excuse!

2009-02-07T17:28:00.003-06:00

I know, I know! It's been nearly a month since I updated. But I have a really good excuse.....actually I have quite a few! It's been a rough month in the "Kansas Three" household.

On MLK, Jr. Day, Ethan and I spent the morning at walk-in at our pedi's office. He had been up ALL NIGHT the night before just crying and crying. Yup! Ear infection in the right ear and pink eye. So we got on an antibiotic. Charlie stayed home with him on Tuesday. We sent him to daycare Wednesday but he didn't make it. Charlie was picking him up at 1:30 because he was just miserable. I made sub plans before I left work and stayed home with him on Thursday and Friday.

By Friday he was doing much better and we did some laundry! Ethan helped!

Friday was his 6-month well visit. He is growing like crazy! He weighed in at 17lbs and 10.2oz. He was 26 1/4" long. We "passed" all parts of the well-check except when Dr. M asked if he was sitting up on his own. He was still falling over to the side and flopping on his face when we tried to help him sit up. We promised to keep working on it.

Here are some pictures from January 11th - the official 1/2 birthday. It is getting harder and harder to take this pictures. He likes to crinkle paper!!

Literally 3 days after his well-check when we told his doctor he could not sit up on his own, we got down on the carpet to play with toys and he sat right up on his own - looked at us and laughed.........as if to say "Ha Ha! You got in trouble with the doctor and all along look at what I can do!!" He's getting more and more steady with his balance and really loves to sit up and play! It's fun!

pssst ~ look really close in that 2nd picture!!

Among our other milestones ~ and as a follow-up to my last blog post ~ we definitely have two teeth!! If you missed them in the previous picture, he's a better one!

He is eating all sorts of veggies and especially loves green beans!! So far the only fruits he has enjoyed are applesauce and peaches. We have to wait a little longer (around 8ish months) to do yogurt, puffs, teething biscuits, etc because most of them have some kind of milk protein in them. And that's why we are on the special formula - because up to this point he hasn't been able to tolerate the milk proteins. As soon as we get all better ~ we are going to start Stage 2 meats!

OK ~ back to the timeline of my excuses!

So he had his well visit on Friday 1/23. The following week seemed to go great. I know, I should have updated then. But that week, I was the one who started to feel cruddy and we were all trying to catch up on sleep from the week before.

He finished his antibiotic - which he had a horrible reaction to and ended up with a very very very bad diaper rash - on Wednesday 28th. On Saturday 30th, I noticed he was starting to get congested again and had started to cough. Great! By Sunday when I got home from church he sounded terrible. I was afraid of starting the week off with a sick baby so off we go to the After Hours Pediatrics place. Sure enough ~ ear infection again in that same ear, but no pink eye this time! Ugh! New antibiotic for 10 more days. Here we go again.

By Monday afternoon his diaper rash, which we had almost gotten under control, returned with a vengence. His poor little bum was actually bleeding it was so raw. A few tearful phone calls to the pedi later and we have a helluva expensive RX for diaper ointment. But it seems to be working so we'll go with it.

Tuesday 3rd I picked him up from daycare and his cough seemed to have gotten worse. I figured it was the whole "worse before you get better" thing and went on with life. Yeah, not so much! By 8:30 Tuesday night he was coughing so violently that he was spitting up and then choking on his own spit-up. It was very scary and so sad to watch. So off we go to the After Hours doctor again. They pinned him down on the table and suctioned out his nose/throat. That was the most horrible thing I have had to see in a long time. He screamed like I've never heard him scream before. Then they gave him 2 nebulizer breathing treatments. They tried to give him an oral steroid twice, but both times he promptly threw up all over the nurses, the table, the floor, everywhere! We got home after 11pm with instructions to see our doctor first thing in the morning.

Went to see Dr. M on Wednesday and sure enough - great news! - our poor little guy has bronchiolitis most probably caused by the virus RSV. We are sent home with more medication and told to continue the breathing treatments for 2 more days and come back on Friday. We are also told that he is doing well, but we are not out of the woods and could still end up in the hospital with this. Not what we wanted to hear.

I stayed home with him on Wednesday. Charlie stayed home on Thursday and Friday. He hates that nebulizer and mask more than anything in the world. How pitiful is this!?!?!?

Friday 6th was our follow-up to Wednesday's appt. My principal is very very nice and was willing to get my class covered for about an hour-and-a-half so I could go to the appt and make sure that Ethan was doing better.

He is doing better and it appears that we have avoided a hospital visit! Great news. We still have to do the breathing treatments about every 4ish hours over the weekend and then we can cut back to 3x a day on Monday. He has another recheck on Wednesday 11th. Hopefully he'll be doing even better by then and we can cut back again on the treatments. They are torture for everyone involved.

So that's it. That's what we have been up to for the past month! I promise to update this week. 7 month pictures coming on Wednesday.............maybe Thursday.........could be Friday............but definitely by the weekend (I hope!)

and if you made it all the way through that - here's a fun little video for you!!

WHAT IS IN YOUR MOUTH?!?!?!?!

2009-01-09T21:44:00.007-06:00

Words I am sure I will utter MANY MANY more times in my life! But for right now, it isn't anything icky or dangerous lurking in Ethan's mouth.

IT'S A TOOTH!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday (Jan 8th) his first tooth cut through his gums. It is the bottom left tooth, and the bottom right one is coming through any day now also. It is still so so tiny that it is really hard to show you. But you can definitely feel the sharp ridges on the top and if you get a big grin out of him, you can see it too!!

I tried to get a good picture yesterday, but he decided to eat the camera instead. YES ~ I said that he tried to eat my camera. He literally plopped his mouth right on my lens! Yummy!

So we tried again tonight after he fell asleep and you still can't really see it, but for some reason I feel compelled to put this picture in there!

Oh, but that's not all!!

Yesterday he also decided to (finally!!) roll from his back to his belly. Now, this is not something he has mastered. It took about 10 mins and a lot of coaxing with a toy but we made it!

And then he promptly screamed his head off because he was stuck on his belly!

In other news ~ Ethan is a HUGE fan of his new ducky bathtub. It makes bathtime a lot easier on me since I'm not trying to keep him corralled in that small little infant tub. And he has the freedom to splash....and splash.....and kick......and splash!

That's all for now. Sunday is Ethan's half-birthday. If YouTube will cooperate ~ I'll post a piano video with his 6 month picture!!!

Love to all

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-03T15:52:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful first Christmas with our little guy. We celebrated with Charlie's family on Christmas Eve and then left to visit my family on Christmas Day. Our trip to Maryland was great and Ethan is such a good little traveler!!

How about a picture story from Ethan's view!?!?!

I know I'm only 5 1/2 months old but I think I might be able to steal Uncle Kevin's beer!

I got a new piano from Aunt Nonnie!

and helped Alisa open her new KitchenAid mixer.

Daddy's new video game is nummy!!

Hanging out at the airport with Daddy - waiting for our flight to Baltimore!

I slept for most of the plane ride

but when I woke up I was such a good boy and played with my toys! I even got a compliment from the man sitting behind me!

We looked like a circus act in the airport! Can you even believe how much I require when traveling!?!?

Meeting some of Mommy's family for the first time!

Cousin Abby wasn't quite sure what to do with me! So she gave me a kiss!

Abby got a fun jumping zebra!

I needed a quick nap before Aunt Nonnie, Uncle Henry, Steven, and Sarah arrived. Uncle Henry picked out this outfit when I was first born - and now it fits! Notice I had to sleep on butterfly sheets!! Oh the nightmares.........

We went to see the National Christmas tree. I was all bundled for the stroller ride from our parking spot to the tree.

The tree was very pretty!

We took a family photo in front of the Kansas tree!

and in front of the big tree!

My cousins Sarah and Michelle loved all over me!!

Then we went to Pennsylvania to visit Mommy's friend Heidi and her kids. Mommy remembered to bring the camera but forgot to ANY pictures. :o( BAD BAD MOMMY!!

But I did get my very first Tonka truck from Heidi (and family!!) and I love it!!

I slept in Abby's crib and tried to escape every night! Daddy took these pictures in the dark so they are a little fuzzy!

I LOVED visiting everyone but I was very happy to be back home with my own toys, and in my own living room.

I tried to help Mommy with the blog, but she kept telling me NoNo!

This new piano is SUPER fun!!!! Thanks Aunt Nonnie, Uncle Henry, Steven, and Sarah!!!

Merry (almost!!) Christmas!!

2008-12-23T14:59:00.002-06:00

Not a good chance of me blogging tomorrow or Christmas day........so here I am today!

We are getting very excited about visiting family in Maryland ~ but nervous about the flight!! We hope our little guy is a good traveler!

I have not had a chance to share our new tree skirt! Charlie's Mom made it for us. The trim, stars, and snowmen are made out of pieces of my wedding dress.

This year for Christmas, Ethan is getting a new carseat. Here is Daddy trying to figure out the finer details........

Ethan and I were watching!

Ethan is not so sure about this new seat.........

or maybe it was just because he is a little fussy today. A few silly faces and some noises and this is what you get..........

Next step ~ install the seat in the car! Wish us luck!!

And finally, Ethan's new ornaments for this year. The first is a series of "sugar cookie" number ornaments! We can't wait to buy him a new one each year.

and this one is from Ethan's Great-Uncle Tom. He brought it to us in the hospital when Ethan was born!

So that's it. Merry Christmas. I'm sure there will be plenty of fun blogs and LOTS of pictures when we return from Maryland.

Love to everyone!
Charlie, Beth, and Ethan

A visit to Santa......and more!!

2008-12-13T21:23:00.002-06:00

Today we went to see Santa at the mall. Ethan was less than thrilled, but not really scared either. It's a funny picture, and one we can laugh at for years and years to come. That's what these Santa pictures are all about right?!?

We also wrapped him up in some Christmas lights today!! I had seen a bunch of these pictures on the internet and thought they were so stinkin' cute! I dont have a super fancy camera, but we had a great time watching him so amazed by the lights!!

Thursday, December 11th ~ Ethan was officially 5 months old. He is growing so fast!

He is sleeping in his crib now.........

and already trying to escape!

And we FINALLY caught him laughing on video!!!!! He has been laughing for weeks now, but everytime we get him laughing and then turn on the video camera - he turns and stares at the camera in awe! So we had to get sneaky!! He gets a bunch of good laughs in before he notices the Christmas lights off in another direction ~ and that's when I lost the battle!!

Our old friend........

2008-12-10T18:41:00.002-06:00

......reflux!

Poor Ethan has had a cold for almost a month. After a two day hunger strike (Sunday and Monday) I called the nurse line at our pedi's office and they said we needed to come in and get checked out. So I took the day off Tuesday - sidenote: I am starting to feel like the substitute in my own class - and off we go to visit Dr. M!

The good: the hunger strike has not caused my chunky baby any issues at all. He has gained 1.5lbs since his 4 month appt. He is now tipping the scales at 16lbs 3oz! No wonder my back hurts.

The better: his lungs sound great, everything (major) checks out just fine. he just has a nasty nasty upper respiratory virus that wont let go. Being in daycare doesn't help matters, but we are very lucky that he is at an in-home daycare with less kids than a center, and we have a very diligent provider (armed with Lysol!!) Being a first-grade teacher also doesn't help him. I very likely bring home tons of germs on my clothes that don't bother us one bit but end up on him. So we can prepare for a long winter full of colds, but so far so good with no infections.

The ugly: the return of the reflux :o( Poor kid. we had been very hopeful at his 4 month check-up that he had outgrown the reflux. But over the past month he has been doing a TON more spitting up and is just all around more fussy in the evenings than usual. We also learned that the reflux can cause congestion AND a cough...so there is a chance that what we thought was just a cold - could have been the reflux all along. So we are back on the meds again, at least through cold season. It isn't anywhere NEAR as bad as it was when he was a newborn, but it has to be horribly uncomfortable to have acid reflux when you are so tiny and you can't even curse about it.

And now..........a picture!

Hey look! There's a baby in there!

Santa Baby!

2008-12-07T21:19:00.002-06:00

We got Ethan's Christmas pictures done last week at Portrait Innovations. This is the same place we had his newborn pictures done. We are very happy with them.

Enjoy!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-29T20:19:00.004-06:00

We had a great 1st Thanksgiving with our little bubba! Ethan started out the morning just perfectly by showing us he can roll from his belly to his back! No more unwanted tummy time for him! He just flips himself over.

Don't blink or you will miss the first roll!! This was actually roll #8 or #9 and he had just about had it with us ~ so if you miss the first one - you have to wait all the way until the end to see it again!

Ethan's 1st Thanksgiving outfit!

We can't wait for next year when he can enjoy all the favorite foods too! Tonight, he tried (and loved!!) carrots.

Bring on the carrots!!

WHAT?!?!? It's almost Christmas?!?!?

Yay!! I can't wait!

Jibber Jabber

2008-11-24T06:44:00.001-06:00

This is seriously what he does ANYTIME he is not sleeping, or eating!! We are pretty sure he got the "talking gene" from Mommy!!

One Year Ago..........

2008-11-20T19:32:00.003-06:00

I meant to blog this yesterday (November 19th) but I was honestly just so tired that I decided to go to bed instead! So here is a "one year later" post that is just about 24 hours overdue!!

On November 19, 2007 ~ we had our 3rd appointment of my pregnancy. VERY VERY few people even knew that bubba existed as we had not even seen a heartbeat. With our previous loss, this was a big appointment for us. I was physically ill all day long at work! Then we got to the doctor's office and this is what we saw!!

Our little TicTac!! Ethan was measuring 6weeks6days and was 0.92cm in length!!! His heart was just flickering away at about 120. We were told it had just started beating a few days before that! Yeah, I cried my eyes out!

And here we are.......1 year later! Our baby is well over that 1cm size he was then - and he still just makes our heart melt! This picture was taken November 19, 2008!!

What a difference a year makes, huh?!?!

And because I love to share pictures of our little man.........

Oatmeal went over much better than rice!

a little bit of everything..........

2008-11-15T20:47:00.006-06:00

Some Stats

Our pedi appt was yesterday. Ethan has gained 7lbs and grown 6.5inches since birth!!

14lbs 13.6oz (44th %)
24.5in (30th %)
head - 16.3in (24th %)

Two months ago he was in 10 - 25% for everything so he is definitely growing!!!

We are off the reflux meds (!!!!)for a few weeks to see how that goes. We can also start rice cereal, 1Tbsp a day, to see how he does. If that goes well, veggies next month. This could also help with the refluxing. We are still on nutramigen. She says we'll "talk" at 6mos but be prepared to stay on for the duration!

Ethan's neck is doing much better. The exercises are working. We even got a few new ones to try now that he is getting stronger.

He is not rolling over yet and shows no interest at all. His pedi says no worries for 2 more months. He will roll when the mood strikes him!

He got two shots in each leg and rotovirus oral. Lucky for me.....this round of shots made him more tired than cranky, so he slept most of today. We hope that is not a bad sign for tonight!!

Some Silly Playtime

The amazing versatile binky!! If you get bored with one side, you can just flip it around and enjoy the other side!!

Well, you know how much he loves his jumperoo! The exersaucer is a different story. It is still growing on him. He tries to jump when you put him in it and then gets really angry when it won't light up the toys. So we are trying to help him discover the toys.....

And this is what you get after you have been playing really hard all day......

Some rice cereal

So our little bubba loves his highchair but we found out tonight that he is not so fond of cereal!!! I'm sure it's still just too new. We will wait a few days and try again!!

Here comes the spoon ~ he looks excited doesn't he?!!

Still looks pretty happy, right??!!

Wait....what the heck is this?!!?

Bite #1

OK, happy baby! Try again.....

Bite #2 ~ seriously, this stuff is horrible!!

We decided if we wanted any video of this wonderful experience...we better do it quickly as we were pretty sure he was about to give up on us! We had no idea how "done" he actually was. We had no idea what we were about to get on video!!

Poor kid!!!

For your enjoyment ~ Bite #3.....the final bite!

It is our job as parents to record - and laugh - at events like this! And just so you know we don't actually intend to torture our child ~ he was fine after the whole event. He even likes the spoon! That's a start right?!

That is all for now!

4 Months Old

2008-11-11T20:55:00.002-06:00

Can you believe it?!? Our little bubba is officially 4 months old. I'm sitting here typing and looking at the clock (8:55pm CST) and thinking "Wow, just 4 months ago I was in recovery with our brand new little bubba. And now, he's snoozing away in his 3-6 month pajamas!!" Time flies and creeps all at the same time ~ but mostly time flies!

He has his 4 month appointment on Friday so I'll have more stats on weight/height then! Neither of us are brave enough to step on the scale to see how much he weighs!! So right now, we're just guessing! We both think he'll be somewhere in the 14lb range. Any guesses??

Also, he has started holding little stuffed lovies when falling asleep. I still take them away when he is sound asleep because I fear they will somehow land on his face during the night - but OH MY GOSH soooo cute ....... he just melts our heart!!

Ok, here you go!

This morning before we left for Miss Carrie's house.........

and this one was just about an hour ago...........

He LOVES to jump!!

2008-11-08T12:50:00.002-06:00

It is a cold Kansas morning. Ethan and I had a "pajama morning" and just played in the living room for a while. Seriously, my kid LOVES to jump!! This went on for about 10 minutes. I took him out because I have some neurotic thought that it maust be bad for him in some way to stay in there longer. AFter taking him out, he fell asleep for the next 2 hours!!! Guess he wore himself out! He's awake and fed now and we are going to brave the mall for a little shopping! Wish us luck!!

p.s. ~ I'm sorry the video is sideways. I have NO IDEA how to turn it around on YouTube! If you know - please leave me a comment and help me!!! For now, you'll just have to turn your head sideways!!

Pictures and Pictures (and a video too!)

2008-11-04T21:16:00.002-06:00

Just a bunch of random pictures to share.

More pictures from my girlfriend's photography blog!! She is so talented. I absolutely LOVE all these pictures!! You can see the whole album of pictures at this link...........Kentiga Photo Albums and then click on Ethan!!

Ethan visits Mommy at school for the Halloween party!!

Getting stronger and stronger on his tummy!

WAIT!!!! Is that a tummy time.......SMILE?!?!?!?!

Baby toys are tasty!!

Trick-or-Treat!!

We have to move his jumperoo to a new place in the living room - because he has fallen in love with the TV!!!

Ethan is really starting to enjoy his bathtime!! Last night we put his tub in the bathtub because we had a late dinner and the kitchen was ready for a bath. He loved having the extra water in his tub and splashing around! Lots of bathtime giggles!

And the real reason you even read this blog entry.......

Louisburg Cider Mill

2008-10-27T19:40:00.003-06:00

Sunday we went to Louisburg Cider Mill. Neither of us had ever been, and it seemed like a nice way to spend a windy, fall, Kansas day!!!

We had a great time. Ethan got a pumpkin. We got a pumpkin and some cider donuts (yum!!). And of course I tortured my poor baby and took a million pictures of him!

For your enjoyment........

A family photo!!

Waiting in the stroller while Daddy pays for our pumpkin and buys some cider donuts!! Yum!

Our little "punkin"!!

More pictures of our Bubba!!

2008-10-21T16:40:00.002-06:00

On Sunday, we met up with my girlfriend Audrey at a local park. She is an amazing "hobby" photographer and we just happen to love getting pictures taken of our little man. Today, she posted a few on her blog!! We can't wait to see more!!

Thanks Audrey ~ they are just amazing!!!!

Click here for super cute photos!! ~~> Kentiga

Tag!

2008-10-15T17:16:00.003-06:00

I've been tagged by my girlfriend Kentiga

5 Joys
1. My husband
2. My bubba!!
3. My family and friends
4. ice cream with sprinkles!!
5. peanut butter

5 Fears
1. Spiders
2. snakes
3. tornadoes
4. walking by myself in the dark
5. losing someone I love

5 Obsessions
1. Reality TV - I won't cheat and list them individually!!
2. Um.....can I put my husband and bubba here too??!?!
3. Gnomes
4. weather
5. internet/email ~ specifically my beloved RBs!!!

5 Surprising Facts
1. I can wear kid-sized shoes and own a few pair b/c they are so darn cheap!!
2. I graduated #1 in my class in HS.
3. I will use the same towel for 2 or 3 days but I won't wear a pair of work pants more than once.
4. I own a sewing machine and have no freakin clue how to use it!!
5. I performed in a state choir concert at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC when I was in elementary school.

Hmmm….who should I tag?

Natty ~ minimuth
Kim ~ Thumper's Arrival
Nemmie (because I drool daily over her blog!!) ~ Cast Sugar

Wave of Light

2008-10-15T05:40:00.002-06:00

It is October 15th ~ Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Every year I am sad by the number of people I know (i real life and online) who have lost a pregnancy or an infant.

Tonight at 7pm - regardless of your time zone - light a candle for 1 hour and say a prayer for anyone who is missing an angel. We will be holding our little boy a bit tighter tonight and lighting our candle for our babies.

3 Months already?!?!

2008-10-12T13:08:00.003-06:00

I can hardly believe that Ethan is 3 months old. Time just continues to fly at our house. I am starting back to work tomorrow. Ethan started daycare a few days last week. Mostly so that Mommy could get used to dropping him off (without crying!!) and so both of us could get used to a morning routine including one extra little body! Believe it or not, we did really well! The first day was the hardest of course. He IS after all my baby and it was very hard to leave him. But after I got to work, the day went so quickly because I was so busy.

We dont have a 3 month appt so I dont have any height/weight stats. But I can tell you that he is growing like crazy!! He is already in size 2 diapers, wearing 3 - 6 months in clothes, and killing Mommy's back in the car seat!!! He can officially reach his feet flat on the ground in his jumperoo, and his feet come all the way to the bottom of his bouncy chair when he is sitting in it. He really is growing so fast!

And because I know this is the REAL reason you came here........some pictures!

He has decided it is much more fun to grab the gnome and try to eat him during the pictures! This is the best I could do!

And he is such a happy baby when he wakes up from a nap!

He is learning to use his hands really well and loves to grab onto things - like hair, and earrings, and skin, and sometimes even the bar on his swing!

He has found his hands and likes how they taste! Poor Ethan has not yet figured out that trying trying to shove both of them in his mouth at the same time will cause him to choke and gag!

It is starting to get chilly here in the mornings and evenings. Poor Ethan has to endure his Mommy and her crazy clothing skills! This was a recent trip to Panera to have coffee with a friend! Don't you like the Tigger slippers?!?!?

The sole reason for this picture is because I LOVE LOVE LOVE these jammies with the doggies on the feet!!

He is getting MUCH better at holding up his head and even tolerates tummy time for more than 3 minutes at a time! OK, it's only like 5 or 6 minutes....but it's better than 3!!

but even though he is getting better with his neck.....he is always looking for ways to get out of tummy time. This is Ethan's newest trick to get out of tummy time!!

And I leave you with a video. This was about 2 1/2 weeks ago when we first started putting him in the jumper. Now his feet actually reach the floor and he can really make it jump like crazy!!

He Giggles!!

2008-09-25T14:17:00.005-06:00

OK, so it isn't quite a full-on, from-the-belly laugh just yet. But it is definitely the best sound I've heard from him since his very first cry! In that spirit, a blog entry full of videos!!

This was our first attempt at catching the elusive giggle! We were on the floor playing and he was giggling. So I jumped up really quickly to grab the camera. What I got was not "quite" the giggle I heard just moments before...but cute nonetheless!

Then yesterday I was holding him in my lap and making bubble noises. The giggle came back!! Quick, grab the camera and catch it!!! Attempt two = FAILED!

Not ready to give up just yet....we try again! SUCCESS!!!!!! Note that the camera shakes everytime I laugh at him while he is laughing at me!

And since I'm adding videos ~ we have been working on his neck muscles. He will track with his eyes and will turn his head to his left.....but not to the right. He HATES tummy time and neck exercises but they are working! I like to call this one - follow the toy!

That's all for now!

All our love,
Charlie, Beth, & Ethan!

I love a good sale!!

2008-09-19T08:10:00.003-06:00

And that's exactly what I found!!

Last Wednesday and Thursday, I went shopping with a few girlfriends to some great sales. They are like huge baby/kid garage sales and WOW did I score some great stuff!!!

Plus, there is a girl on my local chat board who GAVE ME her jumperoo!! Her daughter didn't really like it and she said she just wanted it out of her basement! We can't wait until Ethan is big enough to try it out!! Thanks Kendra!!

On Wednesday we went to "Here We Grow Again"
On Thursday we went to "Just Between Friends"

If you google the names, you can find their websites. I tried to put a link in here.....but it wouldn't work!

Anyway ~ here is what I scored!! I spent $130 TOTAL on both days of shopping!!

Two sweatjacket hoodies for the fall

Two heavy wool-like coats for the winter

A KU raincoat jumper!

A snowsuit!

A frog halloween costume (for $1!!!!)

This exersaucer - retails at Babies R Us for $120 - my girlfriend found this for me for only $40!!

This LeapFrog learning table - retails at Target for $40 - got mine for $10!!

Two of these foam wedges - one for home and one for daycare. They go under the sheets of his crib/bassinet to help with his reflux. Cheapest I have found them so far is $12 each. I got both of these for $7!!

This learning puppy! He sings ABCs, does PattyCake, sings all kinds of other songs....so cute!

This kick piano! It plays music when he kicks or hits the keys! The little birdie at the top says "Peek-a-boo" and "Helloooo Baby" and moves it's little wings!

This super cute diaper bag that has hooks for the back of the stroller! $5 and it still had tags on it!

Plus ~ not pictured ~ I got 6 footed sleepers (size 3-6 months for when he outgrows his current ones), a halloween sleeper, and a KC Chiefs outfit!!

Here is a video of bubba enjoying his piano!

And what blog would be complete without my precious little boy?!?! Happily napping in his Pack'n'Play bassinet!

That is all for now!
Much love,
Charlie, Beth, and Ethan!!

2 Months Old!!

2008-09-16T16:31:00.002-06:00

So ~ officially he was two months old on September 11th. But we had our 2-month well visit today so I waited to blog until I had all the new details!

Ethan is 10lbs 13oz, 21 1/2 inches long, and has a 15 3/4 inch head!! He is in the 10% - 25% for all categories, but growing steadily and that's what matters!!

His formula will not change until at least 6 months of age. She said we could discuss it then depending on how well he is doing. But there is a real possibility that he could be doing so well that it just stays the same until 1 year! Yikes! We are submitting some paperwork to his insurance to see if we can get even a partial reimbursement for the cost since it is "medically necessary".

He is tracking objects very well, laughing and cooing like crazy! His muscles on the right side of his neck are still very tight. He doesn't like to turn his head to the right and always sleeps to his left. So we have a new set of exercises to do while we are playing during the day to loosen those up. And let me tell you ~ he hates them!!! So in addition to the dreaded tummy time - which we have to increase in frequency - we now have neck exercises to torment our baby!! It's our job as parents right??!?!?

He had to have 4 shots and an oral rotovirus vaccine today. Poor little bubba!! He just put his head on my shoulder and cried and cried and cried. He has that "pouty lower lip" thing all figured out!!! Of course I wanted to cry right along with him. But he is doing much better already. His little legs are sore. If you touch them wrong he whines at you. But he is laying on his boppy next to me and talking to the ceiling fan!! So at least the crying has stopped for now. And Daddy brought home a chocolate chip cookie for Mommy ~ so she is feeling better too!!

And that's it really. Growing like crazy and cute as can be ~ not that we are at all biased!!! Here are the series of pictures I took on the 11th - his official 2 month birthday. I broke out his little gnome and started snapping!! As always, he is challenging to photograph!!

Enjoy ~ all our love!
Charlie, Beth, and Ethan

Ummm....Mom.....I'm not sure I'm excited about getting my picture taken right now.

Seriously, I'm not in the mood

Uh....a little help please!!

I'll just hang out here, is that ok??

MMMM!! Gnome is good!!

*****insert here: 1 large spit up, 1 messy diaper, and 1 outfit change********

Can we take a nap before we try again?!? Please!

Now I'm in a better mood!

Wait! I have to spit up on these new clothes first!

Yeah for being 2 months old!!!

Success!!!

Hey Ethan, What Time Is It?!?!?!

2008-09-06T16:59:00.002-06:00

It's TUMMY TIME!!!!!

That's right. We've been trying to work on tummy time. Um....let's just say it lasts about 5 minutes max! No seriously, I took the pictures to prove it!! Elapsed time: 3 1/2 minutes!!

"WAIT!!! Did you say tummy time? But I dont think I like tummy time!!"

"Yes, I was right. I really dont like tummy time. Are we done yet?"

"Wait, is that a monkey down there?"

"Maybe I'll eat my bib while I'm on my tummy. Maybe Mommy will pick me up if I try to eat my bib!!"

"That's it!!! I've had it!!! I told you I didn't like tummy time!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what does Ethan like you ask?!

He likes to ride in his new stroller. We walked to the library and back.

He likes to try sitting up in his new seat!!

He thinks elephants are hilarious!!

And he likes to wear Daddy's glasses!!!

At 8 weeks, he is now REACHING for toys!!! It is so cute! Every once in a while, he will even connect with his fist!

That's all for now!

All our love,
Charlie, Beth, and Ethan

Almost 7 weeks.........

2008-08-30T16:38:00.004-06:00

Ethan is almost 7 weeks old! It has been both the longest and the shortest 7 weeks of our lives!

In eating news:

He is doing great on his golden formula! We don't have another (scheduled) appt with the pediatrician until mid-September for his two-month check up and shots. We are currently taking bets on whether we will make it four full weeks without a visit to Dr. M!! In his first 4 weeks of life, Ethan visited Dr. M at least 6 times......maybe more! What will she do without us?!?!

He loves to eat and his weight is showing it! In my most scientific of ways (I stepped on the scale and then stepped back on while holding him) I'm guessing he weighs around 10.5 pounds! No doubt he is gaining weight. He has outgrown all of his newborn clothes and newborn diapers!! When he has to give up his bottle to burp, he gets REALLY REALLY angry!! And when he wakes up from a long nap and realizes how hungry he is.......he is REALLY REALLY angry!!

In fun news:

Ethan loves his rainforest play mat. I know I told you that last time....but seriously, this kid adores those animals!! He smiles at them, and talks to them, and kicks to the music, and swings his arms like crazy. He is trying really hard to reach the toys except he hasn't quite mastered how to use his hands!!

He loves to smile at everything and is beginning to make noises that sound like laughs!! It is so reassuring to know that he can make noises other than "WAAAAAA WAAAA WAAAAA"

And sometimes he even sleeps!! We are starting to try and get him used to sleeping in his pack'n'play bassinet. It has to be elevated to help his reflux or he will spit up and get very uncomfortable. Right now he isn't very fond of sleeping in the bassinet and we honestly haven't even tried the crib!! But he does love to sit in his boppy and watch the ocean wonders in his crib while I fold his laundry!

And sometimes, when the planets are properly aligned and we say all the right magical words.....

In all honesty, about 4 or 5 nights a week ~ he will sleep about 6 hours at night! And we certainly can't complain about that!!

So that's what is new in our world for right now. Thanks for checking on us!

Ethan vs. ...................

2008-08-16T13:14:00.003-06:00

I know!! I know!!!! It's been forever since I put an update on the blog. This kid keeps me really busy!! But right now he is sleeping in my lap - hopefully I can type faster than he can nap!!! Lots to catch you up on, so get comfy!!

Ethan vs. The Photographer

We had professional pictures done of Ethan when he was only 2 weeks old. We didn't expect a miracle out of him, but really just wanted to capture that time. He'll never be that tiny again.....in fact, he's already growing like a weed! Ethan was not extremely excited about cooperating with the photographer. We were mean parents and tricked our baby with his pacifier! We would give it to him just long enough to calm him down and then yank it away! His photographer was very quick on the trigger, catching some super cute pictures.

Here are some of our favorites: (all photos were taken at Portrait Innovations)

Ethan vs. his formula

My child DOES love to eat! No question about that!! It's just that he has been struggling with finding the right formula for his little tummy. He started off in the hospital with nursing. When he went into the NICU, he needed a formula supplement to keep his blood sugars up ~ so he was on Similac. He didn't do well on that, so his pedi changed him to Enfamil Gentlease. That was supposed to be easier on his tummy.....nope! So we gave up all milk-based products and went to soy. He was doing OK on the soy, less spitting up - but he wasnt properly digesting it. We learned this one Saturday afternoon while at Sams Club doing some shopping. Ethan was happily riding in the cart in his carseat and I noticed a little bit of dribble on his chin. As I went to wipe it off, he threw up ~ pretty seriously. Then I noticed he was choking!! He was turning purple :o( We grabbed him up as quickly as we could and started patting on his back. I'm sure the whole event lasted seconds, but it felt like hours!! We talked to his pediatrician and she agreed that he should not be working this hard to digest. So another change........and we are now on Enfamil Nutramigen. It's a hypoallergenic formula, not made of milk or soy. For the price we pay ~ I'm quite sure it is made of powdered GOLD! We are very very lucky that our pediatrician's office is good to us and we often leave there with free samples of his formula. In 3 weeks, we've only had to purchase one can so far! He has also started on Axid for acid reflux. It really seems to help him not to be so uncomfortable when he eats and when he spits up.

And speaking of spitting up......that hasn't stopped. Just to be sure we were still paying attention to him, Ethan decided to start spitting up again! His pedi sent us to Children's Mercy to have a sonogram done to rule out any problems with the formation/function of his stomach, kidneys, etc. The FANTASTIC news is that everything came back great! No major issues for us to worry about. But that means we just have a spitty baby. His tummy is a little slower to mature than the rest of his body so he is doing lots of spitting up. He WILL grow out of it, we just have to be patient. There is an elective surgery that we could have done (who in the world ELECTS to have surgery for their baby?!?! NOT US!!) but his dr doesn't recommend it. She said we are better off investing in a good laundry detergent and stain remover!!

Ethan vs. the playmat!!

Ethan has started noticing lights and sounds and toys! It really is sooo cute!! Last week while Donna and Sarah were visiting, we put his rainforest playmat together and put him down on it to see what he would do! He just loved watching the lights and listening to the music.

I took a short video of him playing. Sorry it appears to be upside down. I was sitting behind him so that he didn't notice me and cry to be picked up! Watch about 15ish seconds into the video for a little tiny laugh!!

And this is a picture from today's playtime! He noticed himself in the little red mirror!! Also, you can see that he is wearing the same outfit as in the 2 week pictures above - only now it fits him so much better!

Not a playmat, but just as entertaining ~ Ethan LOOOOVES to laugh at the ceiling fan!! It is his favorite morning activity! After his early morning bottle, he likes to hang out on his boppy and laugh/coo at the ceiling fan!! Yup, I caught that moment too!

Ethan vs. Mommy's Camera!!

Monday, August 11th was the official "1 month old" mark!! I tried all day to get a good picture of him with his little baby gnome (Thanks Tara!!) only he was having a particularly fussy day. Finally right before we changed him into his jammies, I got one. I even got a tiny little grin!!

But I have to include this one also so you can see what I was up against all day long!!!

His one month statistics from his doctor's appt yesterday:
Weight ~ 9lbs 4.2oz
Lenght ~ 21 inches
Head ~ 14 3/4 inches

Ethan vs. the GIRLS!!!!

Already a ladies man! I met two of my girlfriends for coffee on Thursday. Natalie has a little girl - Paige - who is 3 months old. Kim also has a little girl - McKenna - who just turned 2 weeks old today. So Ethan got to have his picture taken with two beautiful girls, one older and one younger! Every boy's dream right??!?!? Yeah, they didn't seem to care to notice one another at this age. Maybe in a few years!

Natalie and Paige

Kim's baby McKenna ~ asleep in my arms!! Ethan was NEVER this tiny, not even at birth!!

All the babies! L. to R. ~ Paige, Ethan, and McKenna

Ethan vs. Mommy!!

And finally, a quick look into my daily life!! This is how I trick my son into thinking that I'm holding him during the day!! This is how I get the chance to eat, change over a load of laundry, wash bottles, you name it!! Thanks to my good friend Kate for making me these sling carriers! They have saved me. Although, I must admit, I'm just waiting for the day that I accidentally drip jelly on his head!

Happy 2 Years to Us!!

2008-07-28T07:54:00.002-06:00

Just a quick entry. Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary. What a difference two years can make. Our family has definitely changed from a family of 2 to a family of 3. We love our little guy with all our heart and couldn't dream of a better anniversary gift to each other!

....the rest of the story.............

2008-07-19T05:02:00.002-06:00

In the words of Paul Harvey ~ most of you know how the story ends, but did you get the details in the middle?!? Get comfy!

Thursday, July 10th

40weeks and 3days pregnant.......heading to the hospital!

My doctor called us early Thursday and said she wanted to get me in to the hospital before the re-scheduled 7pm. She wanted to do two rounds of Cervidil thinking that would help speed up my induction the next day. We were anxious to get anything started in the right direction, so we agreed. We got to the hospital around 1pm. We were officially admitted and in our labor room by 1:30. I had all my bloodwork and IV stuff done.....pretty standard stuff. The first round of Cervidil (to help me dilate and prepare for labor) began at 3pm. It would continue until 11pm. Not much to report really. It made me a little crampy but other than that ~ I felt normal.....anxious but normal. Charlie's Mom and brother brought us dinner at around 6pm. This was my last meal for a while!

At 11pm, my nurse came in and checked me. Still no progress so she started my second round of Cervidil. This dose was supposed to run from 11pm - 6am. She said at 6am, she would wake me up and I could take a shower/brush my teeth/etc before they started the Pitocin at 7am. She gave me two Ambien to try and sleep and we settled in for the night. Apparently my body does not like Ambien!! I don't remember much about the following event....but I'll tell you what I know. As Charlie was climbing into his cot for the night, I started crying. I have no idea why! I asked him to get me a tissue from the bathroom. When he stood up to walk to the bathroom, I started crying even more. He asked me what was wrong and I told him he had a lot of eyes and I couldn't tell which ones were his. Seriously...that's why I was crying! As he came closer to give me my tissues, his face became even more contorted and blurry. There were at least 3 sets of eyes/glasses/ears/etc and it seriously freaked me out. That's all I remember. I'm pretty sure I passed out after that.

My 6am shower was never to be! My water broke on it's own at 3:30am. My nurse came in and verified that it was in fact my water (at first I was pretty sure I had peed myself!) and got my IV ready for the Pitocin - this is the medicine that would begin my contractions. My Pitocin was started at 4am and by 5:45am I was VERY uncomfortable. The thing about having your labor induced is that you don't get that natural progression of contractions. You don't start off having them 10 or so minutes apart. Mine started almost right away at 5 minutes apart. Every hour they would crank up my meds and the contractions would come a little more frequently. At 6am (when I should have been showering) I was asking for my epidural.

The epidural scared me the most going into this whole process. I mean, a needle in the back.....how can that NOT scare you?!?? But it really wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had imagined. And even better yet, I had near immediate relief after it was done. I was able to get a little bit of sleep on/off after the epidural. I'm not sure if Charlie was able to sleep at all after I woke him up in a panic at 3:30.

Friday, July 11th

My labor was progressing pretty quickly after the epidural and everyone was pretty sure we would have a baby by mid-afternoon. I had to have my epidural re-dosed a few times during labor when my contractions became stronger and closer together.

At around 1pm I was at 8cm. All the nurses and even my doctor kept saying that this baby was coming very soon. Not so.......... I got stuck at 8cm for about 2 hours. I finally got to 9cm by 3pm and then got stuck again. In an effort to get our little one moving along, I had to flip from one side to the other about every 15-30 mins. That was an interesting feat I can promise you! Remember, I have absolutely no feeling below my belly button!! So between Charlie and my nurse, they just sortof grabbed me and flipped me like a pancake every so often. It wasn't comfortable but I was VERY ready to meet this little one and was willing to do whatever was needed to get him out!!

By about 5:30pm I had finally reached 10cm and we could start pushing. We did some practice pushes to see if baby would make his way down. Not much moving on his part, but a little each time so we kept at it. By 6:30 when he was not moving at all, they called in the doctor to check on me. One contraction and one push later and the doctor said "This baby is not moving. It is no longer safe for you or the baby to continue to labor. We need to just go in and get him out."

It is safe to say I was devastated. :o( I had worked so hard all day only to be told that I was going to end up with a c-section anyway. But after hearing the words "not safe for baby" there was no decision needed. Off we go to the OR to finally meet this little critter that had been kicking me in the ribs for months and months!

I wont lie. The c-section was very scary and very uncomfortable. I was numbed from my toes all the way up to my fingertips. Even my chin was a bit tingly. The lights in the OR, together with the meds, made me sick to my stomach so they ended up putting a cold, wet washcloth over my eyes. But every moment was worth it when they pulled out our baby and told Charlie and I we had a son!! Even with no feeling in any part of my body, there was an amazing feeling right then that words can't even describe. He was here, and he was healthy, and he was ours! Our son!!

Happy Birthday Ethan Thomas!! 7lbs, 13oz 18inches 7:57pm

Big feet!!

Safe and comfy in Daddy's arms!!

Meeting Mommy for the first time!

Charlie went off with Ethan while the doctors put me back together again. I remember hearing him talking to Ethan and I remember hearing Ethan crying. The nurses were really good about telling me what was happening with my baby since my eyes were still covered and closed. After they weighed him and stamped his big ol' baby feet, they wrapped him up and gave him to Charlie to bring to me! Poor little guy. He looked like he had been in a horrible bar fight. The doctor and nurses said that his little head was wedged sideways in my pelvic bone. He had a knot on the top of his head and his eye was really puffy and purple. His first black eye and he was only minutes old.

We got to our room around 11:30pm and needless to say were EXHAUSTED. Sleep was very interrupted all through the night as I had to be checked every 2 hours since I was considered a post-op patient and not just a maternity patient.

Saturday, July 12th

The day started off normal enough. Ethan has slept pretty good during the night. He was a good little eater every few hours and we were so excited to have him with us! A few friends came by to visit, and we just enjoyed our little guy.

Until about noonish.........Ethan quite eating all together and started spitting up mucus. We were told this was very normal for c-section babies because they don't have the trip through the birth canal to help them clean out their tummy. They took him to the nursery and emptied out his belly of a LOT of mucus. We were told this would help him feel better. By 3pm, when our next round of visitors arrived, Ethan still wasn't eating very good at all. The nurse was really good about helping me try and coax him into eating but he was not having any part of that food. She tested his blood sugar and it was only 27, very very low. She said she needed to take him to the well-baby nursery and try to get him to eat some formula and then retest his sugars until they came back up to a safer level - around 50ish. We were told he would be back in about 30 minutes.

An hour later, we still hadn't seen our baby. I was still completely numb from the waist down and stuck in bed. In a panic, I sent Charlie to find out what was going on. He later admitted to me that as he left the room he ran into our nurse and she told him what was happening. He did not tell me when he got back to the room. He only said that the nurse was coming in to update us. And then we got the news no parent wants. Ethan spit up all his formula and his sugars were still way too low. An IV had been started and he was admitted to the NICU. He wasn't in any danger at this point, but as soon as an IV is started on a baby they become NICU patients for monitoring. They promised to get me in a wheelchair very soon and down to see my baby.

Saturday, July 12th (pm) - Wednesday, July 16th

I'm lumping all of these days together because they all ended up being an absolute blur. We got to the NICU on Saturday night to visit Ethan. It was so very hard to look at him all hooked up to the tubes and in the warmer. He looked so helpless and it just broke my heart. But the good news is that the IV was working. His fluid levels were coming back up and his sugars were getting more stable. We were able to hold him and feed him.

Cuddle time in the NICU

We spent the next days going back and forth to the NICU every 3 hours for his feedings. He was put on formula to make sure that his blood sugar stayed in a safe range. Charlie went to visit him as much as possible and I was there as often as I could drag myself down the hallway. Walking was a serious challenge, but I had quite a bit of motivation! We were told that if everything continued to go well, he would probably be released with me on Monday. That didn't happen.

By Sunday night, his sugars were doing good but his body temperature wouldn't stay up on its own. He would not be released on Monday. Fortunately, my insurance would allow me to stay another night because of the c-section so we didn't have to leave Ethan at the hospital. We were hopeful that he would be ready to go home with us on Tuesday. He needed to be able to maintain his own temperature in an open-air crib for 24 hours.

Staying warm

Daddy read to Ethan almost every day

Monday went very well and we were almost sure he would be coming home. Then Monday afternoon, his body temp took another nose dive and we had to start the 24-hour time frame all over again. I had no choice but to be discharged on Tuesday. My insurance would not allow me to stay. Fortunately for us, the hospital has a program where as long as they have an available room, they will allow you to "board" at the hospital. Basically, I was no longer a patient but they would give us a room to sleep in so we didn't have to leave our baby at the hospital. We would have to wait until late in the evening to find out if this would be possible.

At around 10pm, I was officially discharged and they moved us to a room over on the labor side. Ethan had been doing well all day with his temps and at midnight he was allowed to come and stay in our room with us. His NICU nurse came by every 2 - 3 hours to check his temps and his vitals. If his temp fell below 98, he would have to go back to his isolette and we started all over again. But he did a great job!!! His temp was perfect all night long.

Daddy feeding Ethan in the hospital room

Ethan's pediatrician came by around 7:30 Wednesday morning to see him. She said he was doing fantastic and would be discharged that day! Finally we would be home, all together!! They took him off to the nursery for his circumcision and then to the NICU to be checked over one last time. We started getting things together and in the car to go home.

Ready to go home!!

Ethan was discharged at noon on Wednesday, July 16th and we got to come home! It has been a rough couple of days (and nights!!) as we all get used to each other and work on some kind of schedule. But we wouldn't trade the lack of sleep for anything in the world. We are so in love with our little guy!!

Napping with his new baby gnome!!!

A little grin while sleeping in his boppy pillow

a NON update..........

2008-07-10T06:19:00.003-06:00

Short and (not so) sweet..........We are home. ;o(

We got to the hospital at 8pm last night. After 30 mins of waiting, a nurse came to tell us that it was a very crazy night there and they didn't have a nurse for us yet. She sent us home to call her at 10pm. We came back home, killed a bunch of time and called at 10. We were told, "Nope. Sorry. We'll call you soon."

We got a call from the same nurse around 11. She said they still had nowhere for us and my doctor would call us in the morning. She tells us "Try to get a good night's sleep."......Yeah right!

Phone call came at 7am this morning. We go back and try again at 7pm tonight. :o(

So......no 7/10 baby for us. I'm beyond bummed. Only because I am just soooo ready and now this. I spend another day waiting and nervous and anxious and excited ~ all tied up in this one body......that I still have to share.

I'm pretty sure Charlie and I are just going to turn off all the phones and computers in the house and try to relax today. Don't be offended if you can't reach us.

Baby news tomorrow.........we hope!

The Kansas Two......plus two !!

Remember that 11 in '11 list??

Stationery card

Lots of Pictures

Trying to be crafty!!

Beautiful Spring Day!!

Happy 5 (and a half!) Months!!

Sn-OMG!-storm 2011

How can she possibly be 4 months old??!!??

Why I Love My Pediatrician's Office

One Year Later!!

Some cute videos

11 in '11

Holly (not so) Jolly!!!

So much to be thankful for...

Siblings???

It's that time of year again...

Chateau de Muth!!

Then and Now

Hannah's Story!!

I have..........

Remember When He Fit???

Wanna Play?!?!

5 weeks.....35 days......

A Picture Parade!

Party Party! Yo Gabba Gabba style!

29w appt

Happy Birthday Ethan Thomas!!

Second Baby Syndrome....

Happy Father's Day!

25 week appt

World Cup 2030??

You Are My Sunshine

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

Jammie Dancing!

Yup!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Baby it's cold outside!!

Dear Super Cooper,

More Baby Signs

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

It's fun to chase a ball....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Ethan likes YELLOW!!

Boo at the Zoo

The Pumpkin Patch!

New Toys!

The garage floor

Ethan's 1st baseball game!

More?!?!?

1-yr Photos!

Music and Goats!!

Happy 3 Years!

One Year Update!!

First Hair Cut

2515.8!!!!

He Waddles!!!

Picture Teaser

Man....it is H-O-T!!!!!

11 Months? How did that happen??

Some video entertainment

Gone Too Long!

Slow and Steady wins the race........

9 months + a few days........

Happy Spring......in Kansas!

Uh OH!!!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Grand Slam: A body fluids story!

We are ready for warmer weather!!

First *big* snow!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

7 months.........(and one day!!)

When I grow up.....

I have a good excuse!

WHAT IS IN YOUR MOUTH?!?!?!?!

Happy New Year!!

Merry (almost!!) Christmas!!

A visit to Santa......and more!!

Our old friend........

Santa Baby!

First big snow!