Ethan's Baptism Weekend

This is the picture that hangs in the center of Ethan's nursery.  It was given to me by some of my dearest girlfriends before Ethan was born.  It says, "God loves Ethan," and the Scripture on it reads, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord." (Psalm 127:3)  I see it every single day, and it is a wonderful reminder that Ethan - and all of my boys - are a precious gift from God.

Before the baptism, I was trying to explain to Ryan and Kaeden what it was all about, and what came out was, "Baptism is when we celebrate God's promise that He will always be with us."  I think that's good enough for a 5 & 2-year-old, but it is also about a promise that we make as parents - to love Ethan and to teach him about God's love so that he too will grow to love the Lord and seek to glorify him.  The psalm that follows the verse on that print reads, "Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways.  You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you." (Psalm 128:1-2).  As his mother, that is certainly something that I hope for with great expectations. 

We were so thankful to have my whole family in town for Ethan's baptism.  I was admittedly a little nervous about having 6 children ages 5 & under in the house for the weekend, but everything worked out beautifully.  My grandmother and aunt came from Illinois as well, and it meant so much to me to have them here as well.  I wish I got to see them more, but we cherish the visits that we have. 

Thankfully, Saturday was a beautiful day, so we were able to spend most of the morning outside.  Gwen is still not so sure about all of us, but Ryan was quick to reach out to her and try to make her feel more at ease.  He really is so sweet with little girls!

Gwen and Ryan, swinging together

Kaeden's usually happy doing his own thing

There was plenty of running around, chasing bubbles, and just exploring.  I don't get many chances to photograph Gwen, so I took advantage of our time with her as much as possible!

I love this one of Atticus as well!

Our first attempt at a cousins photo.  Ethan wasn't really feeling it.

It was also Courtney's 5 month birthday, so I had to get some pictures of her as well.  She was the perfect little model!

There was plenty of time to just hang out and visit... both inside, and on the front porch.

Ethan and Aunt Debbie

The older boys with Papa & Great Grandma

Kaeden "making cookies" with Aunt Mar

Gwen's not so sure about all of this - checking out baby Courtney

Papa & Nana with the babies

Bonding with Great Grandma...

... and Aunt Mar!

Snack on the porch

Attempt #2 at a cousins picture... still a challenge!

Ryan adores his cousins!

Sweet Gwen

Sunday was baptism day.  After church, we came home to celebrate and enjoy some more time together before everybody had to leave.

Blessed little boy

Gwen sharing with Ethan...

... and wearing his teether as a bracelet :)

Courtney and Nana

Ryan reading with Uncle Dain

Ethan & Papa

Gwen visiting with Great Grandma

Ethan was even excited by his present!

Best friends, whether they like it or not!

Kisses or an attack?

Reassuring him that she doesn't mind with some hand holding

Before everybody left, we had to get some group photos.  It's even harder to convince babies to look at the camera when there's no person there to get their attention.  Oh well.  I'm so thankful for all of these people and for their presence last weekend. 

Papa, Nana, and all of their grandkids!

A day at the farm

June has been a busy month, so I'm going to try to get caught up.  Here we go...

Earlier this month, we had a chance to go up to B & Grandaddy's farm for the day.  It was a Tuesday, so it was just me & the boys, and we had a blast.  

Anytime you mention "the farm", all Kaeden can talk about is riding in the "boda" (kubota).  B & Grandaddy have lots of great trails that go through their property, and the boys love to go for rides and explore.

We had some fun play time inside.  It's neat to see the boys exploring some of the toys that their daddy played with when he was little.  

Ryan especially enjoyed this musical instrument kit

 

 

 

 

B & her boys

We got to do some swimming at a friend's pool, which was another highlight, but I was too busy keeping boys above water to take any pictures :) 

And... here is where you see where Ryan got his love of gardening.  These boys love to go picking in B's enormous garden!

 

Loving some snap peas :)

I'm so thankful for summer vacation, beautiful weather, and wonderful family!

6 months

Dear Ethan,

Happy half birthday!  It's already hard to remember life without you, but I still say that your baby months are going by way too quickly.

It's been another big month for you... always learning, always changing, and always making us smile.

 

First, Ryan finished preschool!  I know that doesn't seem to apply much to you, but it does because it means you no longer have to spend so much time in the car, and you actually get to sleep in your crib during the day!  Woo hoo!  This makes both of us quite happy :)

 We have been making the most of our summer vacation so far, spending lots of time just hanging out together as a family.  You are almost always surrounded by one or more loving brothers... sometimes a little too loving!  I tell them to get off of you/give you some space/play calmly with you dozens of times a day.  They've even started fighting sometimes over who gets to play with you.  I imagine once you get a little bigger and start to cause problems for them, they may not be quite so friendly, but it sure is nice for you to have 2 best friends who cannot wait to see and hug you every morning. 

One of my new favorite photos EVER.  You two have the sweetest relationship.

 

 

In case you hadn't guessed, Ryan still insists that I photograph you two whenever he's holding you :)

You had a rough start to your 6th month when, after being sick with colds for weeks, you started gagging on your own mucous and stopped breathing for a few seconds before throwing up.  It freaked Mommy out enough to take you to after-hours at your pediatrician's office, where they measured your oxygen saturation, and it was a bit low.  So, you had your first breathing treatment with a few more to follow in the coming days.  You handled it all amazingly well, and thankfully, you've been healthy ever since. (Knock on wood!)  I don't know why you must scare Mommy like this, but if we could cut it out with the breathing issues, I'd appreciate it!

 

You are a little roly poly.  You frequently roll clear across the great room, and you can scoot yourself around well enough to get to just about whatever you want.  It's not always super efficient or speedy, but it seems to be working for you.  You love to play on your stomach... so much so that you don't have a lot of patience for learning to sit up and I was starting to get worried that you would just skip that step altogether.  Thankfully, in the last week, you've shown some interest/ability in sitting up on your own... but after a minute or two, you'd still rather topple over and grab whatever toy you're eying.  

 

 More free time has also allowed us to have more play dates, and it's fun to see you starting to show an interest in your "friends".  

Here you are with Zachary, only 4 days younger than you:

 

 and, of course, with your cousin, Courtney.  

I love the way you're thoroughly checking each other out in this one

Despite being home more, we still haven't really figured out a routine.  Your eating is fairly consistent - you nurse every 3 hours, starting when you wake up around 6:30, with your final feeding around 6:30-7 in the evening.  For a while, you would still sometimes fall back asleep after your first feeding and sleep for a while longer in the morning, but now you're pretty predictably awake and then ready for a nap something like 2 hours later.  Some days you only take 2 naps... some days you take 3.  Sometimes you fall asleep in the car or while you're nursing and think that it's a full nap, so you refuse to take one in your crib.  We're still figuring it out, but that's okay with me.  You went through a brief phase this month of screaming every time we even entered your room because you knew I'd be putting you down (yes, you've already begun separation anxiety), but after a few days of more extended crying at naptimes, you seem to have gotten over that. 

Passed out after nursing.  I can't say I mind the sleepy snuggles.

You've started babbling in the last week or so, and I am loving it.  You spend a lot of your day now saying "Da da da da..."  Your daddy appreciates that that is your favorite sound :-)  I love that we are back to having little nonsensical conversations.

You are a very laid-back baby, which has and probably will serve you well as the 3rd boy.  This photo of you just lounging in your daddy's lap makes me smile every time.  Apparently there is something genetic about crossing feet, because that was Ryan & Kaeden's favorite way to recline as well.

 Instead of chewing on your hands, you've now discovered that you can chew on your toes.  If there isn't a toy in reach, you always have a foot!

 

 Toes for dinner doesn't sound too appealing to me, though, so we gave you your first taste of baby food yesterday, and you loved it.  There was definitely an, "about time!" feeling to the whole thing.  You didn't even flinch, and kept grabbing at the spoon for more. 

You are such a precious addition to our family, and you bring so much joy to each of our lives every day.  The past 6 months have probably been the busiest of my life, and yet they have been some of the best.