Lake Murray 2010

We went to the Lake last weekend with the family. Mikes family was there and then my dad came with us. We left Friday morning and Ethan slept most of the way there. Right before we got there he woke up and was in the best mood. He was cracking us up. Ethan was so cute I had to take a picture. Ethan loves going to the lake and was ready to be there.
When we got there we had to find the perfect spot. We had a great spot right on the water. It was perfect for everyone. As soon as we were set up we hit the boat. This was Ethan's first boat ride. He hated his life jacket at first. It was immediately a dislike. After a little time he got use to it.

I am not sure if it was the boat ride or the life jacket but as soon as we get on the boat he is out. Everytime he went right to sleep. He was so precious

Me with my daddy on the boat. I was so glad he was able to come with us. Unfortunately my mom could not come. We had a great time but missed her bunches.

Ethan and me in the water. It was so funny because he actually fell asleep while in the water. I think Ethan finds the water so relaxing.

Haidyn, Kim, Me and Ethan cooling off. It was so hot so we had to take breaks and cool off in the water.

Haidyn sharing her snack with Ethan. Ethan has cousins that love him so much.

Ethan spending some time with his Papa. Ethan was a big Papa's boy this weekend. He wanted him at all times. Ethan loves his Papa very much!

Haleigh reading to Ethan. His cousins are so wonderful with him They just loved and played with him all weekend. Ethan thinks he is their size and jsut goes right along with them. It is so adorable to watch. Ethan is so lucky to have cousins that love him so much.

Day Care Birthday Party

Since Ethan had to go to Day Care for a little while on his birthday I thought we would end his school day with a little party. I brought cup cakes and his teachers made Ethan feel very special. One of his teachers bought him a birthday ribbon to wear that day.

I brought Blue icing cup cakes so we stripped the kiddos down to save the mess. Ethan was very eager for his snack. Here is everyone getting ready for their cup cake.

It was so cute. It ended up being an all boy party. The 2 girls were still asleep. All the boys sat around the table and had a little party just for Ethan. It was so adorable.

Ethan getting his cupcake Ethan wanted nothing to do with his 2 birthday cakes but he was eager to get his cupcake. He immediately took a bite of the cupcake.

Ethan with his blue cupcake.

Ethan and all his little friends. The children were so cute. They all really enjoyed their cupcake. Some of them even said Happy Birthday.

Little Blue Monster!

Ethan was wanting to give me some of his cupcake. He is such a great sharer.

Since it was snack time they all had gold fish crackers as well. Ethan decided he preferred the goldfish crackers with icing on them.

Happy Birthday Ethan! Mommy and Daddy love you!

Birthday Day!

Aug 2nd, 2010: Ethan turned 1 today. When Ethan woke up I greeted him by singing Happy Birthday to him. He was full of smiles. Ethan and I sat down and ate pancakes together. I had to go to work for a little while so I got Ethan ready and took him to day care. He had a birthday party at day care. Pictures to come next.

Ethan and Mommy on his birthday.

When we all got home that afternoon we went out to swim. It was so nice to have the afternoon as a family. The 3 of us spent the rest of the day together.

Ethan playing before we went out to the pool. He loves to run around the house now.

That evening we went to Little Gym. Ethan was able to play and learn new skills. After gym we met Papa and uncle Brett to eat then to the park. Here is Ethan playing with everyone at the park.

Dada pushing Ethan on the swing. He really likes the swing.

Ethan swinging.

Crawling through the tubes. I think this was his favorite because he was able to move around freely.

Ethan playing with Dada and Uncle.

Ethan with his Papa!

Ethan really likes to pick up and throw the wood chips. We had to keep a close eye so he did not eat them.

Family picture. How blessed this little family is.

More playing at the park.

Ethan also was able to enjoy the slide.

Ethan and mommy sliding down the twisty slide.

After all the playing we came home. We had saved a few of our presents for Ethan for his actual birthday. Ethan had 2 presents from me and Mike. He was a little more into opening these presents.

Ethan was a little more excited to try and open these presents.

Ethan helping open his present. A race track for Ethan.

What is this mama??? Lets open and play with it.

Ethan playing with his new race track.

After the birthday party Ethan has so many new toys to play with. Ethan and me spent the day playing together. Here are a few pictures of us playing in his new Play Land.

Ethan also has been enjoying his new chair. He will sit for short periods of time with a snack and watch a little TV. This is very limited but Ethan is okay with it because he wants to be on the move anyways.

1 Year Old!

A year ago this little miracle came into my life. The moment I became a mother my life changed. I never had felt a love like this. I was completely in love with Ethan before he was born but the moment he was placed in my arms I knew that my life was more than I could have ever dreamed or wanted. Ethan was every bit of what we wanted. Now that it has been a year I look back and see how much this little guy has impacted my life. Yes we can no longer stay out late, or leave at a drop of a hat but my life is more fulfilled and blessed. I love every moment I have with Ethan and I try to take advance of every opportunity I have with him.
I have been thinking a lot about the weekend Ethan was born. I say weekend because it was a progress. I left work Thursday afternoon with signs of early labor. My supervisor demanded I go home and not come back. Everyone feared that I would go into labor at work. I came home that afternoon and just relaxed. Friday we spent time around the house and just finishing up some last minute details. That evening I went to bed a little tired and thinking not much about anything. We had our induction scheduled for Monday (Aug 3rd) so I just figured I would have a relaxing weekend. Late that night I woke up leaking fluid. I was so excited but scared because I was not sure what was happening. We of course went to the hospital. I was hooked up to monitors and they monitored my contractions. I was having contractions but they were not steady. They wanted to run a test to see if my water had truly broken. We waited and waited for hours. The hospital did not have the test and it was suppose to be shipped over. After several hours they sent us home to labor because my contractions were not steady enough. This was a little disappointing (and I was embaressed thinking that I went in for no reason). We came home around 4am. Mike and I went to bed and planned on just relaxing all day Saturday. This is the day that was harder. I had contractions all day. During the early afternoon they were time able but they were no real strong and I was able to still move around. We laid around and watched movies. My parents, grandpa, and aunt came by to see me. That evening is when it all started to happen. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger. I wanted to stay home as long as possible so I would get in the bath, walk, and try different positions to stay as comfortable as possible. Finally at 5 am I told Mike I could no longer handle it. We went ahead and called the on-call doctor and she immediately told us to come in. My contractions were consistently at 5 to 6minutes and very strong. When we arrived we had the same nurse as we did Friday night. I was checked and was only 1cm. I thought I would end up being sent home. I got in the bath again and tried to labor some more. After about 2 hours I was checked and still a 1. The nurse told me we were having this baby today so she stretched me to a 3. After that I quickly began to progress. Our parents arrived around 7am. I received my epidural around 9am. At 11 am the On call doctor came in to break my water. At that time I learned my water had already broke so they now think it really did break Friday night and I had just been leaking due to Ethan being so low. After checking me she informed me that I was about ready to push. I was so surprised. At 11:30am I started pushing. It took me a few pushed to figure out what I was doing. The nursing staff was fantastic. They let me just push when I was ready. Finally after 10 to 15 pushed Ethan was born at 12:07pm weighing 7.12 lb and 20 1/4 in. That moment was the best moment of my life.

Now that Ethan is 1 he is doing so many things. He can walk, says Dada, Mama, dog, eats all table food, almost off the bottle (only taking his bed time bottle), and loves to play.

Ethan is on a very set routine. He wakes between 7-7:30 am. Eats breakfast. During the week he goes to day care. Ethan eats lunch around 11ish and takes a nap around 12-12:30. He will sleep for anywhere between 1-2 hours. He wakes up and takes a snack around 2pm. The rest of the evening is playing. He on occasions will take and evening nap around 5 pm but that is rare now. Depending on our evening plans he has dinner or a snack at 5pm. We play a little more and then have dinner or a snack at 7pm. We have bath at 8:30pm and then have our bottle (will be breaking this soon). Ethan is fast asleep by 9pm. There is no fighting putting him to bed now a day.

Ethan is full of smiles and laughs. He is truly a happy baby. He loves to play. Ethan loves the water. He enjoys anything that makes noise and sings. Ethan will play independently but he loves to have people to play with. Ethan is very attached to me (mommy) and also loves his dada. He will go sit with Mike and hold a xbox remote like a big boy. Mike and Ethan are little buddies and it is so cute to watch Ethan with his dada.

Look at me. I can walk!