Ethan Pictures

I haven't been the greatest this week at posting pictures of Ethan...so here are some from the past week.

Our little climber...

Back on the ground, safe and sound

Licking the bowl clean...after dumping it all over himself and the tray.

Singing to the bowl

Enjoying his new swing.  Thanks Linda for the bright and shiny one.

Busy Sunday!

Yesterday my parents came up for lunch and some gardening fun.  I had no idea what kind of project we were getting into.  I had only planned on planting a few ferns that my dad brought up from around their house.  Our front door garden needed some help, but I wasn't sure what to do.  After Jared and my dad discussed things, they decided we should dig up all the grass in the corner between our house and garage and make a rock garden.  No more that 2 minutes after this decision, Jared grabbed the shovel and began.  I was so impressed with how quickly he 'destroyed' the grass.  The project isn't done yet, but there will be final photos coming soon.  Here are a few pictures of the process and our Sunday.

Pop and Ethan Playing

Jared and the leaves (what he thought was his only project for the day)

Dad after he nicely planted the ferns

Mom doing her job well, keeping track of Max

She also made a trip to the store for us, thanks Mom!

I forgot to get a before 'destruction' shot, but there was grass where that mound of dirt is.

I'm directing the workers : )

Ethan likes to watch his daddy work hard

Leveling it all out

Ethan playing in the dirt

The final area after our work on Sunday

After the weed barrier and edging stones were set (on Monday).  We are planning on putting rock on the weed barrier with some perennials.  But we aren't sure what to plant yet...any suggestions would be appreciated.

Weekend in Pictures

We had a great weekend just hanging around the house.  The weather was great and we spent a good amount of time outside.  Here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. 

Bathtime Bubbles

Walking (with a little help)

Braden and Ethan

Cookout with the neighbors

Ethan just hanging out with Max, having a good time!

Shopping!

This morning, Ethan and I headed out shopping with our neighbors and friends, Heather and Braden.  We stopped at a garage sale and then we were off to Sams.  We had a great time and I think the boys did too : ).

The boys...I think they're a little overwhelmed.

Brusha Brusha Brusha

Already learning the proper oral hygiene techniques

Happy Easter!

We were in Salem for the Easter weekend and had a great time.  Ethan had fun playing with his cousins, Haley, Finley, Scout, Hazel, Callum and Caleb.  And as always enjoyed his time with the Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunt Abby, Uncle Dustin and other assorted family members : ).  Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Hazel, Amanda, Callum (in the Moby wrap), Libby, Haley, Kacey, Finley, Scout, Becky, Ethan

Getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt at the church!

Ethan 'Hunting' for eggs

Ethan and I with his loot

Ethan and the Girls on the bus

He Loves to Swing

Family Shot on Easter Sunday (it was a little bright out)

Ethan and Daddy 'walking'

He found his Easter basket

Surprise!

On Saturday, Jared's mom threw a surprise birthday party for his dad, Mark. There was a great turn out and Mark was very surprised! We had a nice dinner and cake and ice cream. Ethan did great too and there were plenty of people around to keep him happy.

Surprise!  Mark and Karen being welcomed to the party.

Grandpa (aka: Birthday Boy) and Ethan

Blowing out the candles!

10 Month Compilation Video!

I've been taking some random videos over the last several days to catch all that Ethan has been up to. He sure is a busy boy!

Enjoy!

P.S. Turn your sound on :)

10 Months Old!

Our baby boy is 10 months old today...double digits!  I can't believe it!  Just look at his adorable smile and his big blue eyes!  He is such a sweet boy and we can't get enough of him. 

Productive Saturday!

We had a very productive day today. After getting up and moving, we headed to Sears to look for a new grill. We pretty much knew what we were looking for after a few "pre" shopping trips, so it didn't take long. Jared did, however, have his work cut out for him when we got home. He got it all put together and then we headed to the store so we could fire it up tonight. Here are a few shots of Jared and his grill.

Almost done...

Ready to eat!

Here is Ethan watching his daddy work outside and wanting to join him.

Ethan also had a great dinner. I put some food on his tray for him to feed himself with so I could finish getting dinner ready and he had a wonderful time. He talked to the food, he smeared and smashed the food all over himself and the tray. It was difficult to look at him without laughing. He went straight to the bathtub after his messy dinner.

Messy, messy boy

...all cleaned up!

Lullaby Concert

On Wednesday evening we enjoyed a lovely concert put on by the Millikin University String Ensemble and our local Baby Talk.  It was packed with lots of kids and parents wearing PJ's.  Jared and I did not don our sleep wear, but Ethan wore his.  The string ensemble played several classical songs and taught us what each instrument was and what sound it made.  We also sang a few songs, enjoyed a reading of 'Goodnight Moon' and finished the night off with a cookie.  It was a great evening and Ethan was ready for bed when we got home. 

The Millikin Students playing their lullabies

Ethan listening very intently

A few pictures...

I just thought I'd share a few pictures from the last couple of days around the house.  Ethan is almost 10 months old and doing new things just about everyday.  It's so fun to see what he will do next.  He has become a quite effecient crawler.  And speaking of effecient crawling...Yesterday he started heading towards the dog bowls (which are very interesting to him), and then he stopped and looked at me and looked back at the bowls.  When I said "no no Ethan", he looked back at me, smiled and then made a b-line straight for the bowls, as fast as he could go.  I beat him to the bowls, but just barely.  Have a great weekend!

Standing at the window, watching everything

"Riding" his new toy

Teething on everything...see his 2 top teeth : )

Just checking things out...

Ethan has found Max's crate and thinks it's a toy.  I think he likes the noise it makes when the latches hit against the side.  It's not really an ideal 'play pen', but I thought it was sort of cute so I snapped a quick picture and then helped him out. 

Loving this Weather!

Today has been such a beautiful day! It is sunny and I'm pretty sure we hit 70 degrees! The first day of great weather is always fun. Ethan and I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and warmth with a couple of walks and a trip to the park.

Max enjoyed the nice weather too : )

Ethan's Dedication

Yesterday was Ethan's dedication service at church, where Jared and I promised to pray for Ethan daily and raise him in a Christian home. Our preacher, Wayne, introduced Ethan to the congergation and then prayed for him and us. Ethan did great. There was one moment where I thought he was going to grab Wayne's microphone and tear it off his face in the middle of the prayer, but he didn't : ). It was great having our parents there as well as Abby and Dustin. We are lucky to have our families close enough to share these times with. Abby was our photographer for the event...Thanks for taking the pictures.

Sunday in Mt. Zion

Today is Dustin's birthday (Jared's brother).   Both our families came up for church and lunch yesterday so we had a yummy ice cream cake for Dustin.  I didn't really take many pictures of our afternoon, but we did have a great time. 

Happy Birthday Dustin!

My dad and Ethan entertaining each other

9 Month Stats

We went for Ethan's 9 month well child visit this morning and he's a healthy boy!  There were no shots today, YAY!  From the looks of his growth charts and percentiles, his growth is slowing down a bit, but nothing to be concerned about.  The doctor said that it's not uncommon around 9 months to see a dip or a plateau in the growth chart since he is burning so many more calories now that he is mobile.  We also learned today that his menu can expand to include meat!  More on that in the coming weeks : ).  Here's our smiley, healthy boy!   

Sitting on the floor, waiting to see the doctor

Stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. 14 oz (45%)

Length: 27in. (20%)