too hot to handle

Ethan was so fussy last night when he woke up from his nap and since it's unusual for him to act that way, we were kinda confused. I got to thinking I was pretty hot, so maybe he was too warm. Sure enough, as soon as I unzipped the top half of his outfit, he was happy and giggly again. So I stripped him on down to his diaper and he was in the BEST mood now and so playful. I just thought it was too funny, and Brandon couldn't believe that a baby would be so mad just b/c he was hot! So Ethan had a blast playing in front of the Christmas tree with no clothes on.

Dying to talk

This is my first attempt at video on here....so forgive me if I fail miserably. Lately Ethan has been jabbering all day long, with the occasional holler. It always makes us laugh, so we thought we would try catching a few seconds of it.

What a difference a year makes

As we approach Christmas in a few days, I'm reflecting on Christmas last year. This week last year is when we found out we were expecting Ethan. On December 18, 2006 to be exact. We spent those first few weeks just hoping we made it long enough to "really" get excited and believe a baby was really on the way. We had so much fun telling friends and family the exciting news, and what a wonderful Christmas present we got. Now this year we are celebrating his first Christmas. At only 4 1/2 months old....he really only gets excited about the tree lights, but it still warms my heart and I know I have so many years of Christmas excitement to look forward to b/c the joy of this season is so much clearer through the eyes of a child.

Haywood Wedding Festivities

My dear friend Laura and her now husband Brent, had their beautiful wedding on Saturday here in LR and I was honored to be part of their special weekend. Here's a few pictures we were able to get.

Tummy Time

Ethan really does spend a lot of time on his belly during the day...either playing on the floor or taking his naps that way during the day. So I tried to catch some pictures of him, but every time the camera flashed, the smile fell off his face!

Daddy's Little Helper

Since it was warm outside, and I was trying to do some baking....Brandon and Ethan hung out while Brandon worked on some stuff. While he might not have helped too much yet....he's still great company!

Yummy....1st rice cereal

notice the hands are headed for the mouth!

This picture made me laugh, b/c notice the TV says "smooth" which is precisely NOT how this moment is going. :)

As shown in the last post, Ethan prefers his hands to every other object you offer him, therefore his right hand becomes my arch nemesis at feeding time. We attempted cereal for the first time on tuesday afternoon, as recommended by the doctor....and I can see this spoon thing is gonna take some getting used to. Brandon and I had a good laugh in the process!

Look mom....2 hands!

This is the face I got when I got to the line "Santa Claus is coming to town" while singing Christmas carols. I told him, "I know Ethan...it's hard to believe, but he is coming...and he spends 3.4 milliseconds at every home according to some Yahoo research article."


Ethan is ALWAYS trying to fit both hands in his mouth at the same time. He hasn't even mastered getting one in there, so like his mommy...he's attempting to accomplish the impossible and go for both. (just like me in over-shooting...no, I don't put both hands in my mouth!)

4 Months old today

Ethan is 4 months old today! At 4 months Ethan:
- sleeps through the night...at least 10 hours
-holds himself up and plays on his own in his exercauser
-knows VERY well who his mommy and daddy are, and smiles every time he sees them
-wakes up SO happy every morning and is so playful.
-takes his BEST naps on mommy or daddy's chest
-loves Christmas tree lights!
-halfway roll over from his back to his belly. Just that darn belly seems to get in his way before he can finish.

Update: at Ethan's 4 Month well-baby check up today:
He weighs 18 lbs, 11 oz...and measures 25 1/2 inches. So he remains in the 95% on weight and 75% on height. He's hit all his markers and looks like he is growing right on track. Dr. Skelley says we are ready to introduce rice cereal....so we'll see how that goes.

Out with friends

Friday night we ventured to Cabot to hang out with Laura and Brent while they enjoyed some downtime before their big weekend. They are getting married Saturday and about to have a LOT of activity. Thanks for the great food and fun...and we can't wait til next weekend!

Thursday night was Bunco with the girls (though we never play the game) and since Mary Carole was sporting my favorite outfit...I had to catch it on camera!

Playing around the house

So now that Ethan is sitting up better, he really enjoys his Bumbo seat AND he like playing in his exercauser. It's so fun to see him trying to figure out how he is making the noises and spinning the toys. He gets so intent on it..then he will look up and smile like "are you watching me? do you see what I can do?" He just gets more and more fun everyday!

1st Children's Event

Well...all who know me, know i LOVE Christmas. So I took Ethan to the Christmas Children's Event at the Junior League Building. I knew he wouldn't get much out of it, I just wanted his picture with Santa and thought he might be able to do some of the craft stuff. Well....Ethan wasn't real sure about Santa. I haven't gotten my pictures yet, but I don't think he smiled for any. I'm sure I entertained the other adults b/c I would RUN up to him and get him to smile and giggle, then run back out of the picture and every time I got back out, he had stopped smiling. So I got a good leg workout and he probably was never caught on camera smiling. Then, I made him do a handprint craft and he screamed when they painted his hand. So we decided it was time to leave, but on the way out we thought we would try to get a pic with the snowman...and you can see how that turned out.

Christmas Grandboys

My mom is thinking of using a picture this year of just her grandchildren, so Ethan and cousin Reagan had a little photo shoot thanksgiving weekend. You can see Reagan really loves his little cousin! And Ethan's sweater is too big for him.....he is not THAT big yet! Then Reagan wanted to "hold" Ethan, so uncle Courtney had to hop in and help. :)

Thanksgiving in Plumerville

We had Thanksgiving lunch out at the Grays' on Thanksgiving this year. Ethan got passed around as usual, and it was so great to see that entire side of the family...also we got to hang out with Brandon's brother Jared and his wife Brandi who we haven't seen in months. So it was a VERY happy holiday! We spent that evening with my family, but I got sick and hate to admit that I got no photos!!! AND, Chris (my middle brother) came home with his FIANCE' for the first time, so I'm doubly disappointed that I have no pics of them. It was great to see them though and we are so excited they are getting married!

Callie's Baby Shower

Callie had a new baby boy, Carson, on Nov. 19. We took her out to dinner at Cafe Prego and then surprised her with treats and gifts at Kelly and Terri's place. She was so cute pregnant and I'm sorry I'm just now posting these since she had Carson several weeks ago!

Uncle Jonathan

Ok....so I've really been a slacker at blogging since going back to work. I promise to try to do better after I get caught up tonight. Brandon's cousin Jonathan came to visit on his way back to Dallas a few weeks ago. Ethan was in a fussy mood...but he seemed to like Uncle Jonathan....we hope to see him at Christmas so Ethan can get to know him!!

3 Months Old

Ethan was 3 months old on Friday, November 9. He is just growing everyday and such a happy, fun baby. I had a hard week with going back to work, but luckily I get to work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The ladies at his daycare take good care of him, but I was definitely glad for Friday when he was all mine for the weekend. He was all smiles and giggles til I wanted to snap his picture, then he got the serious face.

At 3 months Ethan can:

-hold his head up on his own and look around
-inch forward when he's on tummy time, though he can't quite get coordinated enough to really move far.
-play with his toys on his exercauser
-drool ALL the time....he's working on some teeth we think, though he has no interest in teether toys yet
-sit up on his changing pad, though he leans forward and rests on his belly
-chatter and giggle some...though when he laughs, he gives himself the hiccups, and then he's mad

Big Cedar

Brandon and I had our first night without Ethan last Thursday, we went to Big Cedar with the help of a gift certificate from 2 Christmas's ago. It is one of my FAVORITE places to go..and since Ethan is sleeping through the night, my parents kept him and then we met them in Fayetteville for the game weekend.

Baby's First Halloween

I am BIG on holidays, so today Ethan wore his "Baby's 1st Halloween" shirt for the first and only time...and then tonight we went to my parents' house so they could see Ethan in his costume and so he could "trick or treat" in a neighborhood that actually does it, as opposed to the retirement community we live in. As you can see...he wasn't too crazy about the costume tonight, but we took pictures anyways, and he cheered up once we were walking through the neighborhood.

Everyone tells me Ethan looks just like his daddy, so when I saw this on Meredith's blog...I decided to try it. Maybe it's just the monkey costume, but the meter says he looks more like me...so I'll take it :)

Fall Festival

Tonight was our Fall Festival at church, and Ethan's first Halloween outing. Ethan didn't like the hat with his costume at first as you can see (it was too tight around his neck), so I made some adjustments and he was happy to wear it when we got there, until he got too hot. We caught all the emotions on camera!