Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...Right??

Let me appologize for my lack of blog posts lately.  Moving to a new house will keep you busy!  I have had a lot of people ask about new house pictures and I have a few of Ethan's room and also some of him just playing.  I'm still working on getting the house the way I want it.  I know this will take time, and I'm not very patient!  So, I'll get more pictures up here soon.  Anyway, here are the few that I have...Enjoy!

Orange walls!  We have painted nothing...which is nice!

Very proud of his new big boy bed

The pictures that will be hung up soon.  He loves to sit and study them,

Close-up.  I have always loved Norman Rockwell.  (Oh and I have bought the 4th frame twice now...it's been broken both times.  Hoping 3rd time's the charm!)

 This is what I found one day last week after Ethan ran off to wash his hands.  I didn't hear anything for a while so I decided to investigate.  Like mother (aunt & Pop) like son!  He had about 3 feet of floss out, but was very proud that he had flossed all by himself!

I love this kid!

 And building tents in the living room one morning.  Notice the skeleton PJ's, they glow in the dark and he thinks that is awesome!

We've Moved!

As mentioned earlier, we closed on our new house on Friday.  Since then, we have been busy busy moving, cleaning, moving more and trying to unpack.  We had a lot of great help and I can't thank everyone involved enough.  Thank- you, thank-you!  We are very excited to be in our new house, but didn't leave the old one without some sentiment.  It was hard to leave our first home as a family.  Jared and I put in a lot of work at that house and was hard to say goodbye.  (I might be a tad more emotional than usual due to hormones...but maybe not too).  I didn't take a lot of moving pictures, but I'll share what I have.  And when things are more in order, I will post a little photo tour of our new place.

Pizza all around for the moving crew!

Last family picture at 1700 Brentwood Dr.

Ethan and Braden wanted to play in the back yard, there was just nothing to play with.

Abby, Dustin and Alex relaxing a bit after moving/unpacking all day

Ethan had a great time with Grandma Karen and Grandpa

One more from the weekend...

Ethan sleeping in his new big boy bed, in his new room.  He has done so well with the whole transition!  Let's hope for the same after baby sister's arrival! :)

35 Weeks

Friday marked 35 weeks!  It's pretty crazy to think that we only have 5 weeks until baby girl is due.  And we have a lot of work to do before she arrives!  Not only was Friday 35 weeks for baby girl but we also closed on our old house and 1 hour later, closed on our new house.  More to come on closing/moving.  In the mean time, here we are at 35 weeks.

Almost there...

A New Friend

Ethan made a new friend this afternoon.  I spotted a frog on the table on the deck.  I actually thought it was a rock at first.  Anyway, Ethan thought it was pretty cool.  He wouldn't touch it, but wanted to say 'HI'!

HI!

Tot Trot 2011

This morning was an annual race here in Decatur.  They have a 50 yard Tot Trot race for 5 and under, so we signed Ethan up.  He wasn't too sure about it at first, but did great with Daddy running right by his side.  He even got a (big) T-shirt and a trophy.  Enjoy a few pictures from the rainy morning.

Ready for the race!

Braden was there too!  (They wouldn't stand next to each other for a picture)

Running with Daddy

Ethan and Braden with their trophies

Packing it Up!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts this past week...there really hasn't been much 'blog-worthy' to report.  We've been packing and packing getting ready for the move, which is 2 weeks from today!  It's a lot of work and we're a little sad to be leaving our neighbors and our first home, but we're also excited about this new chapter beginning for us.  Here are a few packing pictures from today. Oh, and notice that Ethan got a haircut yesterday. Good-bye shaggy hair!

Packing himself away...he thought this was hilarious, by the way!

Now decided that he wanted to pack some toys with him.

Our garage at it's current state, and filling fast.

'Labor' Day Weekend

Labor day weekend has been full of labor for us!  Saturday morning we got up and went to Salem.  Our primary reason to go was to pick up some things we have stored at my parents that we are wanting to move to our new house.  We ended up helping my dad refinish a table for our new kitchen!  I'm glad we were able to help him out, because it was a lot of work!  Here's our inspiration...

We/dad still has to polyurethane ours, so I don't have a real after photo, but I will definitely post one when it's in the house! But here's where we are so far...with some work pictures in between.

A lot of sanding required!

It was hot in there :)

Watching Daddy and Pop work

Table top after 2 coats of stain...I love it!

Jared finishing the 4th and final coat of paint for the pedestal

My mom, working on the bumper pads after the actual padding came in! 

Ethan likes to watch and 'help'...

My good friend, Elizabeth, was in town with her 3 boys, one of which I haven't met!  Ethan and I stopped by her parents house to say hi, and meet sweet baby Jacob.  Ethan had a great time playing with the other kids while Elizabeth and I talked and I, of course, held the baby!

Baby Jacob

Sunday we headed out to Jared's parents for lunch and some outside fun.  Ethan loves to run around in the yard and 'help' out in their garden.  We had a great time and Ethan did too...just check out the pictures!

Playing a little football with Uncle Dustin and Daddy

Cantaloupe picking with Grandpa

Peppers with Grandma Karen

Very proud of his harvest

We left Sunday evening and Ethan stayed behind for a couple extra days with the grandparents.  I'm sure he is having a great time!  Jared and I, on the other hand, have been working like crazy today packing and organizing.  We've gotten a lot done and even had time for a dinner date last night (at the Firefly in Effingham- highly recommend!) and a movie tonight (The Help- also recommended!). 
Happy Labor Day!

Progress!!

I've been promising progress pictures on baby girl's bedding.  Well...there has finally been some progress!  Until yesterday this, was all the progress I had made...

I've had this for, oh probably, 3 months!

I made these a while ago also.  The bigger one was made before I even knew I was pregnant!  Little did I know, I was picking fabric for my baby girl's nursery.

Anyway, yesterday morning Ethan and I made a quick trip to my parent's house to put my mom to work!  She had agreed to help me out and I worked her hard (and right through naptime)!  We started with bumper pads, and we got a lot done in a day and a half!  I found the tutorial/photos here.  The instructions were fairly easy to follow, if you (or someone you are working with) has a decent knowledge of sewing and sewing terms.  We had to order the pads to go inside, so actual completion will be delayed a bit.  But this is what we have so far!  (There are 6 of these)

Bumper pad cover

We made our own piping and all!

I've got blankets to make and still need to figure out the bed skirt, but the bumper pads were the big project!  Thanks to my mom for all her hard work and expertise!  More photos to come, especially when it's all set up!

Daddy and Ethan

Lately, Jared and Ethan have been doing everything together when Jared gets home from work.  Playing ball or golf, blowing bubbles, mowing the lawn, etc...  Here are a few pictures from the last few evenings around our house.

Batting practice with bubbles

A little catch with Daddy

Now for some pitching/hitting

All smiles after playing with Daddy!

A Perfect Day!

We had a great day today!  The weather was perfect and the company was perfect.  This morning we headed to Lake Shelbyville where the Maxey family was camping for some swimming and beach fun.  Braden and Ethan had a blast and us adults had a great time too. 
Thanks Eric and Heather for letting us crash your camping weekend!

 

The boys thought it was hilarious to run as fast as they could on the beach and crash into the water! 

Ethan and Daddy having some lake time

Back at the campsite digging in the dirt

Naptime...he was out before we even left the campgrounds.

When we got home, we had visitors waiting on us!  Grandma Karen and Grandpa came up to play with Ethan and have dinner with us.  It was a great afternoon of playing golf and baseball in the backyard.  We took them to the new house but were only able to show them the yard and outside since the current owners weren't home.  Ethan got to explore his (soon to be) new backyard too.  Then it was back to the house for some dinner.
First was the preparation...

Ethan, Grandpa and Daddy shucking the corn

Then after dinner and a super busy/dirt filled day it was bath time.  Grandma Karen took on that task as well as bedtime prep.

PJ's and a neck squeeze

I'm pretty sure we will all sleep well tonight!  We're so thankful for great friends and family to spend our day with.  Thanks for coming.