So with a new baby comes new family traditions. Here are some pictures we took with our friends this year when we visited a pumpkin patch. Ethan was so excited by all of the pumpkins that he just couldn't decide which one he wanted to make the perfect jack-o-lantern. I was too busy watching my "little pumpkin" and thinking how much fun the holidays are going to be with someone that gets so excited about the little things.

Uncle Adam Comes Home In...

Finally I am returning to blog again. Seems the last month and a half have been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and do any playing on the computer. I have been feeling guilty about it and have talked to several people that have asked when I am going to post something new, so I have finally taken the time to add a few things. One very exciting thing that is coming up soon is that my brother is coming home for Christmas!! He is in CA at Loma Linda in dental school, and hasn't been home since last Christmas. With Ethan being born almost 5 weeks early it worked out that Adam got to see him before he left, but he was all hooked-up to monitors, and wasn't able to be held yet, so Adam has never seen him in person since he came home, and has never held him. Even though he is no longer a cuddly little newborn, he has matured and grown and is trying to learn to walk by the time Uncle Adam comes home so they can play together and enjoy the time when they get to really meet for the first time.

Can't wait till you come home Uncle Adam. I love you already and can't wait to see you and get to know you. --Ethan

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Bits and pieces

These are some video clips I found and like but didn't include them in several past blogs so I thought I would devote a blog just to them. Enjoy!

I hope sand doesn't do anything to your insides.



This is Ethan's choice of transportation lately.



I was eating a peach and then looked up and this is what I found.(A peach snatcher)



I don't think it will be long till Ethan is walking.



I give birth to him, I feed him day AND night, I bath him, I dress him, I change him and this is the thanks I get...

A Labor Day Tradition

There is debate over the number of years that my family has been going on the houseboats at Dale Hollow Lake, but we all agree it has been twenty something years. We look forward to seeing friends we haven't seen all year, and enjoy a great weekend of relaxing, eating great food, swimming, skiing, going on boat rides, and did I mention eating great food (seems we do alot of that). Since Labor Day is a bit special to Matthew and I (i.e. we had our first kiss on houseboats (then Matthew was sent home after dad found us oops!!!), and then we got engaged 6 years later on houseboats.)it seemed only fitting Ethan should get his first exposure to the lake up on Dale Hollow. We were a bit nervous about how Ethan would do spending the weekend with 18 people and sleeping in a cubicle with Matthew and me, but we were pleasantly surprised at how well he did and were happy to have him sleep through the night and take good naps. Ethan even choose Labor Day to get up on his hands and knees and start rocking back and forth, he even crawled a little by the end of the weekend.
After 3 days back at work Matthew was off to the Boundary Waters for a guys trip (he hasn't worked more than 3 days in a row since July, boy is it going to be a shocker when he gets back next week.) Ethan and I are surviving here and missing Matthew but hope he is having fun and being safe.

Ethan August

This is suppose to be in the text but I am having problems with format so please excuse order.

Life Lately

Whew!! Well we have had a very busy August, and it's not over yet, but I thought I should do a little blogging so that I am able to keep up and won't have to go on and on to tell what we have been up too.

The good news is that Matthew was able to come home from the hospital on our anniversary, so we didn't have to spend it at Centennial. The bad news is that he was still feeling so bad and unable to eat more than about a cup of food at a time, so the gourmet dinner out I had envisioned, turned out to be a salad with fat free dressing and rice, at home. (yippee) I shouldn't complain though, I was just happy to have him home and not have to make 2 trips a day down to the hospital just to spend some time with him. I am glad to report that Matthew is doing much better now and besides the 4 scars on his belly you wouldn't know he had surgery.

Freedom at last!!

After just three days back at work we took off for Panama City Beach with my parents for the week. We were worried what the weather held for us with Tropical Storm Fay threatening to ruin the week, but we were very lucky and had great weather all but one day, and clear calm water all week. We were pleasantly surprised with the facelift PCB has recieved in the last few years. It has gone from spring break central to family friendly town, which seems to suit us pretty well now.

Finally we have found a use for the pacifier!!!

I have talked to lots of people in the last 71/2 months and have been told numerous times that life as we knew it was over, but I guess I didn't fully realize how true this was until we went on vacation. Gone are the days of lesiure that go with the entire vacation experience. We spent the 8 hour car ride on the way to FL praying Ethan would make it just one more hour before screaming for the rest of the trip. To our surprise he did really well and only had one meltdown that lasted all of 2 minutes. However, while in PCB Ethan decided he had enough of the carseat and treated us to endless inconsolable screaming everytime we opened the car door until we were out of the car at our destination. Needless to say, as the week ended we were convinced to go until we couldn't go anymore on the trip home, and made it from PCB to Cool Springs before Matthew had to make a pitstop (I think that might be a record). As for the rest of the vacation, we learned that sleeping past 7:30 a.m. doesn't just apply to home, and the long afternoon naps we so looked forward to in the past are only a dream now. Eating out late in the evening and then playing a round of mini golf also proved to be something to envy, and we might as well forget the idea that we would be getting a tan, because Ethan hasn't developed the appreciation of laying on the beach for hour upon hour just reading a good book and catching some rays. I guess the key to enjoying vacations now is convincing yourself that the beach really is prettier early in the morning than at 12 noon, napping would only make you miss part of your vacation time, eating late really isn't healthy, and mini golf is just as fun at 5 as it is at 9. Also who needs a tan with all the skin cancer out there now a days. If you think of it like that, having a baby really just improves the vacation, not to mention it gave us more time to tune in to the Olympics (I think I have seen enough gymnastics to be in the running for judging next time around).

As for milestones Ethan has reached over the last few weeks... he is now dragging himself across the floor (not crawling mind you, but he gets where he needs), he was standing in his crib when I went in to get him up from his nap the other day (this is the first time he made it to his feet all by himself), we are borrowing a walker, and he thinks it is great fun to chase Max around the kitchen (Max on the other hand has a look of terror in his eyes that the screaming little wiggly thing can now chase him), Ethan knows what "No" means and gets very sensitive and starts crying when he is scolded (if he is holding something he will stop mid movement and drop it after giving you a "what me?" look), and he loves to walk while holding onto our fingers (still a bit wobbly but loves it none the less). I think he will be getting his top 2 teeth soon (the red puffy gums and constant drooling have started again). This weekend we will be going to Dale Hollow Lake for our annual housboat weekend, I am praying the unhappy baby we have been living with the past couple of days due to teething will not keep everyone up or we may be spending the weekend in the center of the lake by ourselves. Can't wait to see what Ethan thinks of the lake, hopefully he will enjoy it as much as he does the pool and ocean.

These are just some bath pics I thought were cute and included.

(Could be the next Michael Phelps!)

Enough Already!

So it has been quite a long time since I have written a post, and I would like to say it is because I am just lazy and am not making the time... but this time I think I have a pretty good excuse. Matthew has been in the hospital for a full week! Now before our little family of 2 became 3, that might not have been too much to handle, but juggling naps and 45 min trips to the hospital is all that my life is consumed with at this time. So here is the story for anyone that doesn't know what happened. He has been having gallbladder attacks for about 3 years now, and has simply ignored them and figured he could live with the pain. (smart right?) Anyway on Thursday (July 24) he had an attack at work and was sent home because he wasn't able to do anything through the pain, it didn't let up like it normally does after a few hours, and by Friday he was rather jaundiced.(you know there is something wrong when he is tanner than me). Now I know you're thinking "well finally he got some help", but no, what does he do? He goes to work Friday morning and then waits all weekend dealing with the pain and yellowness. Finally Monday morning he is convinced its time to get help so he asks a surgeon to order some labs and they do. Then he calls me and tells me "the good news is they know whats wrong with me, the bad news is they are admitting me to the hospital right now so maybe you could come down and see me later today." So I packed up a few things, and Ethan and I head to the hospital to see Matthew and wish him well as he goes in for an ERCP. Then Tuesday morning they took out his gallbladder. Now for most people that would be the end of the story and all would be good...but not for lucky Matthew. He got pancreatitis. So for most of the week he has been writhing in pain and used as a human pin cushion. He has had all kinds of IV fluids(including some strong pain meds-sorry anyone who recieved one of his "drunk" I miss you phone calls). To make things better he got a PICC line and has been recieving TPN through that. Anyway today was the official 1 week mark and things are looking a lot better. We went for a stroll through the hospital today (several floors mind you) and even found a terrace to go outside on. (Matthew got tears in his eyes just to be outside for the first time in 7 days, or maybe it was that he got to eat food today for the first time in 7 days, anyways...). We are hoping things continue to improve, but I think that it is safe to say we will be spending our 7 year anniversary (tomorrow) in room 4101 at Centennial hospital (probably the most expensive "hotel" we have stayed in yet!!! I have to say this week I've had to remind myself of the "for better or worse in sickness and in health" vow I took 7 years ago (just kidding honey I love you no matter what). Even though Matthew has made some nice friends on the 4th floor (all 80+ years old) this week, being in the hospital is a pretty lousy way to miss one friends' 30th birthday, another friends' 28th birthday, another friends' wedding and our anniversary. So for any of you out there that think the old gallbladder might not be doing so well, get it checked out early because I can tell you from watching Matthew it is not something you want to ignore!

On a lighter note, Ethan is now 7 months old (another milestone Matthew missed) and he is so fun to watch as he is learning about the world around him. Today he got up on his knees in his crib for the first time, and we played peek-a-boo with him finding me crouched down beside the bed. He also has figured out how to open the drawer of my desk and thinks that it is great fun to open it and chew on the edge (I haven't found anything he doesn't want to put in his mouth which has proved to be gross, when your spending a lot of time in a hospital everyday). He is amazing to me and I love waking up in the morning wondering what new thing he will do that day. Right before Matthew went into the hospital Ethan figured out that he could launch himself out of his highchair and now every meal has become a game of "mommy catch me". Ethan, Max, and I keep waiting for the day Matthew is able to come home, and ditch all of the IV's and Ted hose (not that they aren't very sexy) but we just want daddy to come home so we can all be together again soon!!! We love you Matthew!

I'll be brave for you daddy, I've been here before.

Pre-ERCP (little does he know what's ahead)

Happy family waiting and waiting and waiting!

Still smiling through the pain

This is the face you'll see when you finally come home daddy!