I'm an Aunt...Again!

This post is about a week overdue, but better late than never I suppose.  My sister, Sarah and her husband, Patrick had a baby boy, William Patrick, last Friday (Jan. 21) morning.  They live out in Port Angeles, WA so we haven't met our new nephew yet, but I'm hoping to get the chance soon.  From what I hear, Will's big sister, Lily (18 mo) is very excited about her new baby brother and can't stop kissing him.  Here are a few pictures of sweet baby Will.

Stats: Born 1-21-11 @ 12:21am
8 lbs 1 oz, 21 1/4 in long

Sarah and Will doing great!

Big sister Lily loving on Will

20 Months?!?

Our Baby Ethan is 20 months old today!!  Where did the time go?!?  I know every parent wonders this.  I know this because almost daily I have someone telling me they can't believe they have a teenager or a college student and that it seems like just yesterday they were changing diapers.  It is so easy to wish for the next milestone to get here, (ie: crawling, walking, potty trained, etc...) but I am really trying to just enjoy now.

So, I thought I would take some time to journal what Ethan is doing and in to these days...at 20 months!

• Talking!  He is saying everything.  He's like a little parrot...so watch what you say around him.  I tried to write down everything he says and I just couldn't do it.  Some of his favorites are: Blueberries (Bla-lees),  Colors: Red, Lellow, Geeeen, Pu-pur, Blue (he can usually point to the correct color and say it), Dude, Putter, Cheese, Juice, Milk (Meee-il), Remote (Mote)
• Music/Dancing.

 

He has some mad dancin' skills!!

• Golfing.  I think he pretty much likes anything and everything about golf.  He will literally drop what he is doing if golf is on TV and stand or sit there and watch it.  He brings Golf Digest magazines to us saying 'ball ball' over and over until we sit down and look through it with him.  And he, of course, has his own indoor and outdoor set of golf clubs and balls.  He knows the putter by name (see above).  His father is so very proud!



"Ball"

• Bathtime.  (If you haven't guessed that by the amount of bathtime pictures we have.)  We used to spell out B-A-T-H so he wouldn't get excited before it was time...that worked for a little while.  He has now figured out how to spell bath and runs to the bathtub when we spell it.



Loving his new water toy

• Counting...sort of.  I'm his mother, so I can consider 'One, two, four, eight' counting.  Sometimes he throws a five and a six in there, but we rarely get a three or a seven.
• Books.  We have about a gazillion books and Ethan loves them.  We look at and read most of them everyday.

This picture is old, but he still loves this book!

I could probably go on and on, but you get the idea.  This kid amazes everyday with something new.  He has melted my heart with a couple of new things in the past month or two.  He has started kissing our cheeks before we lay him down for bed.  He makes the sound and everything!  I thought I was going to cry the first time.  I love it!  And the other day he said bless you after I sneezed!  It was more like 'betch you', but I knew what he meant.
So, for those of you who actually read all that...thanks.  Now you know a little more about our sweet little Ethan.

And now...it's naptime!!

We Love this kid!!

Sick Day??

I took Ethan to the doctor yesterday because he is so congested and started coughing.  Nothing major, just an upper respiratory infection.  The doctor did recommend I stay home with him today and he would probably be fine to return to daycare by Thursday.  He slept great last night and is not acting a bit sick today, except for the constant nose wiping and occasional cough. 

Yesterday...looking slightly pitiful.

 

2 seconds later...jumping on the couch

And this morning, a little Wii fit action

Really into catching those 'pish' (fish)

Snacktime!

I'm really glad he isn't on his death bed...I do have some drugs if he gets there though.  So, instead of work, I get to spend another awesome day with my baby!

Giddy-Up!

Typical Ethan/Daddy play around here...

Faster, faster!!

Shaving with Pop

Ethan and I made a quick trip to Salem Friday and Saturday.  Ethan is always taken with his Pop and wanted to do everything with him.  Saturday morning I caught them shaving together.  (Out of respect for my dad, I did not include the picture of the 2 of them)

Getting a close cut

Visitors

This past weekend, Grandma Karen, Uncle Dustin and Amanda (Dustin's gal) came up for a visit.  They came Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  We all had a great time and Ethan especially loved his time with Uncle Dustin (and saying Dustin over and over).  Dustin had to sleep on the areobed in the living room and Sunday afternoon Ethan thought the bed looked like a good time.  He enjoyed jumping on it, jumping off it, and being popped up when Dustin pushed down on his side.  I didn't get my camera to document, but it was fun to watch. 

Catching some playoff football action

They were up in our region to watch Jared's cousin, Darcy, compete in the Miss Illinois County Fair pageant after she won Miss Marion County this past summer.  We weren't able to go due to the late hour, but I saw pictures and she looked beautiful.  Congrats Darcy! 

Miss Marion County Fair Queen, Darcy!

This and That...

I haven't been the greatest at posting pictures lately...sorry.  Here are some that I've missed over the past several days.

My cute Cardinal fan!! (He loves hats, as you will see)

Night time dog walk...Max wasn't too thrilled

His love for hats again, the diaper hat!

1 more hat...Baby hat!  The one he wore right after he was born. 
A little small, but he looks so proud!

Fun With Aunt Abby!!

Abby (my sister) came up last night to spend the night and day with us, just hanging out.  We had a great day.  She brought her new, fancy-shmancy camera so we took a lot of pictures!  It was a fun day full of playing!!  Ethan loves his Aunt Abby and keeps saying her name over and over.  Enjoy some pictures from our day with Abby!

Playing in the tunnel!

Jumping lessons...he did get both feet in the air at once a few times!

Chilling in the tent with pillows made by Abby

This was a fun game...see how far Abby will let me stick my hand in her mouth.

Too far, too far!!

Animal drawing on the computer

Dragging all the pots, pans and bowls out, to sit in

Thanks for coming Abby!! We had a great day!

Happy 2011!!

Today was a great day here at the Collier house...and we didn't even leave!  I love lazy days with my boys.  I think I was in my PJ's until noon!  Other than just hanging out and playing we got the Christmas tree and other decorations down and put away, even the outdoor ones.  Here are a few pictures from the first day of 2011 at our house...

A favorite for both of them...PGA tour here we come??

Hanging out in his tent

Stocking cap and no shirt...

...pretty styling!

   

Forgotten Photos...

I guess I was so wrapped up in getting the Christmas posts up that I forgot about Ethan and Jared's sledding advendures.  I was looking through my pictures today and remembered I needed to share these.  Before we headed home after Christmas, we took the sled over to my Uncle Mike's house for a couple runs down the hill with Ethan.  He seemed to really enjoy it and wasn't too happy when we quit to go inside.  It was daylight this time...so I got some pictures.

Trying it out on a small decline first...

Weeeeeee!



Our attempt at a family photo

 Happy New Year!!

Christmas Day!

I have about a ba-gillion pictures from Christmas!  I feel like all we did was EAT!!  We had a great time visiting and hanging out with family.  Check out some Christmas 2010 pictures!

Discovering his stocking

I found snacks!!

Hanging out in his new tent with Rex

Not too sure why he wandered upstairs...but it's a cute picture : )



Building a tower with Pop

 After breakfast/snack in Salem, we headed out to Jared's parents for Christmas with them. 

Beautiful country road snow...on Christmas day!!!!

Opening presents with Grandma

Grandpa helping with the tools

Golfing on the stairs

After opening presents and trying to get Ethan to take a nap we bundled up for some playing in the snow.  It was getting dark so my pictures of the boys sledding didn't turn out.  So, I'll just leave you with a quick description of how it went...Daddy and Ethan went sledding and ended up in the ditch.  They were both smiling and laughing the whole way, but after that we decided to bring the snow playing into the garage.

Showing us his snowball

We hope you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. 

Christmas Eve 2010

We headed to Salem last Wednesday night for the long Christmas weekend.  Thursday, we just sat around and hung out with family.  It was nice to have a 'free' day.  Friday, Christmas Eve, we had lunch with the Woolbright side of the family at Jared's grandmas house.  Ethan did really well for no nap, other than a few car rides here and there.  We had a nice time visiting and watching Ethan run all over Great-Grandma Woolbright's house.  Here are a few pictures from our afternoon.

Ethan, Grandma and Aunt Pam

Really wanting to touch the Christmas tree

After a great afternoon we got ready for church and the Christmas Eve service.  I have always gone to a Christmas Eve service and I love going.  There is no child care during the service so I was a little afraid how Ethan would do and he was great.  I think he really liked all the singing!  After church we had dinner at my parents house and then went to spend a little time at Jared's Grandma Collier's house.  We didn't stay long due to bedtime.  After visiting for a while, we went back to my parent's house to hang stockings, hear the Christmas story and head to bed. 

Trying it on to see if it fits...

Stockings hung by the chimney with care

Hearing Pop read about the birth of Jesus Christ

Sisters!

I'm a little upset at myself for not taking a family picture with Jared and Ethan, but oh well.  Next year I'll be sure to get one.  Christmas post coming soon...