I will praise You in this storm

Yesterday was quite a long day in our family. Lee's visitation and funeral service were yesterday afternoon. Haley and Brianna sang a beautiful song for their Daddy, it was very touching. They held up very well under the circumstances. There were so many people who came to pay their respects, and the preacher gave a very warm message about Lee. He was always there waving a hand hello, and would pat me on the back and say "Love you, Mir". The circumstances over the years have been trying on Mom, but she loved him. He blessed her life with two beautiful little girls. I am glad we were able to be there for the three of them. Ethan went along and did very well. He craned his head around to watch Haley and Brianna when they were singing. He loves his aunts :)

After the burial, we went up to the hospital to visit Aunt Sheila. She had four big tests yesterday to try to determine her diagnosis and we were still waiting for the results to come back. Dr. Richards, the oncologist we had requested, had come early in the morning to see her. We headed home when Mammaw and Papaw left so we could feed Ethan dinner after his long nap, and to let Sheila rest. We were getting things together at home and getting ready to put Ethan to bed when I got a phone call from Mammaw. Dr. Richards had come back to see her and give her the results from her CT scan and bone scan. Uncle Rod, Simeon, and their pastor were there when he gave her the news. She does have a tumor on her left kidney that has metastasized to her liver and her spine, and he does not think that it is operable. He is calling in a nephrologist and a radiation oncologist to get their opinions as well. We're not sure what treatment options are available at this time. We hurried up and put Ethan to bed and I went back to the hospital to be with my family. It is so hard being a nurse and feeling like people look to you for answers. It is so hard looking at your aunt that is like a sister to you and having her ask you if I think they can help her. It breaks my heart. The women in my family all flocked to her room to be there and support her and pray for her. There is nothing we can do but pray. It is all in God's hands. He knows everything, and He is a healer.

Today after I got off work, I went right to the hospital to visit. She did have her kidney biopsy and paracentesis today, so we will have a few days to wait for those results before they decide how to proceed. The nephrologist and radiation oncologist both saw her today and were pretty much in agreement with Dr. Richards. He will be out for the holiday, so his partner, Dr. Lang came back to see us this evening. He discussed some different treatment options, but we are in the wait and see stage right now until those test results come back.

I really felt to stay and be with her and my family. She was so alive and vibrant tonight. She was smiling and cracking jokes and it was so nice to see her enjoying herself. We haven't seen her look this well in a long time. We had a room full of family and friends sitting and reminiscing, laughing, smiling, and enjoying ourselves, lifting her spirit. It was a wonderful experience that I wouldn't have missed for anything. It is crazy how much we take for granted. I have a wonderful, amazing family that I am so proud to be a part of.

Both on the way to work, and on the way to the hospital, I heard this song. I have never had lyrics to a song reach out and touch me the way this song has affected me today. It touched my heart and I feel like God spoke to me. She can pull through this. She is a fighter. We give God all the glory and are putting our trust in Him during this trying time. If you are reading this, please keep my Aunt Sheila, my Uncle Rod, her son Simeon, and my family in your prayers.

Casting Crowns - Praise You In The Storm

I was sure by now
God, You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Bittersweet Day

We got a phone call this morning that Uncle Rod had taken Aunt Sheila to the hospital. She woke up short of breath and having chest pain and her back pain was very bad. They admitted her into Mercy Fairfield immediately. We got things together and went up to see her. Right now they are just working on pain management, and they found out on her chest xray that she does have pneumonia on top of everything else. They consulted Dr. Richards so he will be coming to see her. Please pray for her. We visited for awhile and headed to Dad and Anne's when she seemed to be settled.

Today was the Gabbard family Christmas. We had a wonderful time celebrating. Ethan sat up and ate ham with all the trimmings and absolutely loved every bite. Anne told me how to make twice baked potatoes, so we will have to add that to our rotation :) We had such a fun, relaxing afternoon with Dad and Anne, Grandma, and we finally got to see Brad, Lindsay, and Shawn! Shawn was really sick last week and had to be home on Christmas. Ethan had lots of fun opening his gifts and loved everything - he got a cute pair of shoes, a monkey hat, his first Miami U tee shirt, some very cool puzzles, and some fun cars. Grandma's gift is going to go towards a baby gate for the steps which we really, really need, so we appreciate it very much!! We also got to share the last 'installment' of our special gifts that we have been working on. So now that everyone has them, I can share here :) We created a digital scrapbook of Ethan's first year, with dvd's of favorite family videos and a slideshow set to special songs of photos as well. We were very excited to make them and to share them with the grandparents!!

We went back up to the hospital to see Sheila and to take Uncle Rod some dinner. She seems to be resting a bit better and they're increasing the frequency of her pain medicine to keep her more comfortable.

After we got home tonight, Ethan was going around and playing with some of his new things. He discovered the Playskool Stack 'n Nest Barrels that Mammaw and Papaw got him. Well, this is the simplest little toy, and Ethan is enthralled with them! He sat and played with them a good 15 minutes, and then I grabbed the video camera and he proceeded to play with them even longer. He LOVES them! There are a set of 4 barrels that snap together and pull apart. You can nest them inside eachother and can stack them to make a tower. Ethan has been loving placing items in cups. In the bath, he puts his little ducks and boats into a cup. He loves putting his binkie in your hand. So, he was loving taking his binkie out and putting it into the little barrel, and trying to close the other half of the barrel around it. It was so cute! Ryan and I were loving it!!

Ethan's due date

One year ago was my due date with Ethan and we were anxiously awaiting our little guy to come meet us! I went to my 40 week checkup with not much progress, but my bp was up (did I mention I was anxious?) so I was sent to the hospital to have some testing done. I was sitting in a hospital bed listening to our little guy on the monitor! It is crazy how much a year can change your life. Just today Ethan has started walking all over the place, he is so steady on his feet now! He was just walking in between us about 10 steps and walking from toy to toy. We were at my aunt's all day for our family Christmas and he was walking room to room without any assistance or stopping! He walked all the way from the living room, through the dining room, and into the hallway to get to me - even managing to make some turns without stumbling!! I am simply amazed by him each and every day. I can't wait to celebrate his first birthday in one week!!

Speaking of Ethan's first birthday, here is his birthday invitation that I created!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

Ethan was such a good boy and let Ryan and I work on finishing up a special project for Christmas. We cannot wait to share!! We have been working on several things and are very excited to give them out over the next few days :)

It is our Christmas Eve tradition to open stockings, so we continued the tradition with Ethan. He did so well opening his little stocking gifts and really seemed to enjoy them all! He got a set of little soft Tonka cars, a snowman embroidered with 2008, and two board books: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and
The Story of Christmas. He even managed to keep on his Santa hat part of the time :)
We went over to Aunt Sheila and Uncle Rod's this evening because Santa Claus was coming to visit! Ethan did a little better than our trip to Macy's, but it definitely wasn't a friendly visit for him. Ethan still had fun playing with Aunt Haley, Aunt Brianna, and his cousin Rylee :)

We changed Ethan into his new Christmas jammies and headed home. Ethan helped Daddy pick out cookies to set out for Santa, and also carrots for the reindeer. Ethan tried to gnaw on the carrots :) We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and then Ethan headed to bed!

Prayer request

We got some very bad news today. My little sisters, Haley and Brianna's dad, Lee, passed away this morning. We don't really know any information right now. Please keep the girls and my mom in your prayers.

Cookie swap #2

This morning we got up and ran a few errands, and dropped off the Edge to have the gas tank replaced. Then Ryan dropped Ethan and I off at Grandma's for brunch and a cookie swap! We had lots of fun and yummy food, and got to hang out with Grandma, Marla, and Mia. Ethan and Mia really love eachother! Mia really loves playing with her "Baby Ethan". Ethan was being super active and just wanted to walk all over the place! I made snickerdoodles and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, and Grandma and Marla made yummy treats as well, so we have lots to share for the holiday festivities!
We stopped at Meijer on the way home to pickup a few groceries and got a small spiral sliced ham to make for lunch on Christmas day (they are on sale for 1.79/lb!). Meijer was much easier to shop at than Kroger!!

Megan and David came in town over the weekend so we were planning to meet up with them today. We picked up Brian and we all went to meet Megan and David at Fuji's House for dinner. Ethan slept through the cooking show, but woke up and chatted it up with us, and enjoyed some fried rice, zucchini, and chicken. We walked over to the party store so Megan could pick up some things for Christmas, and we looked at decorations for Ethan's 1st birthday party!! Then we went to Coldstone for dessert... because it is never too cold for ice cream!! They still have pumpkin ice cream - my fave!! Ethan enjoyed a few bites too and loved it :)

Ethan's First Concert

Ethan and I went to the grocery store while Daddy stayed home to work on a special project. Boy, was the grocery store packed! Remind me not to go to the little Kroger on Rt 4 the week of Christmas - you can barely fit down the aisles with a cart! We picked up some things to make Christmas cookies and for our french toast casserole for Christmas morning :)

Tonight we went to Ethan's first concert! We heard about a Christmas concert at the Landmark church in Cincinnati and picked up our tickets last week. Newsong, Rush of Fools, and Chris Sly (from American Idol) put on a fabulous show. Grandma and Grandpa Abrams came over and we all drove together. We had a great time! Ethan was awesome, and he loved looking at all the lights, and he stood up and danced and shook his little tush and clapped :) He hammed it up to the people around us, and started waving! He was waving by opening and closing his fingers up and down - he has not done this before! It is so cute! So we just really enjoyed ourselves and the music. My favorite performance was the Little Drummer Boy - they had a bunch of different drums and drummers walking through the crowd. Very cool!

Not a Santa baby...

Last night I said we were going to have a very productive day today, stick around the house, bake cookies, and maybe go look at Christmas lights tonight. The day went a little differently, but we had a very fun day! I called the firestation to see about getting Ethan's convertible carseats installed, and we had an appointment to get them put in but they had to go really fight a fire! Guess that is more important, huh?! So, Ethan will stay in the pumpkin seat a few more days. It is really starting to be a tight fit with his coat on, so we will definitely have to get it done soon.

I found out that there was a "real Santa" (aka real-bearded-Santa) at Macy's downtown, and we also wanted to take Ethan to see the train display at the Duke Energy building, so we headed downtown this evening. We went to see the trains first, and Ethan loved them! They have a really big train display complete with villages, little people, and lots of snow. There is a clear partition that you look through to see all the trains, and Ethan kept reaching for the top and sticking his head over the top to see them all closer up! He really seemed to enjoy it. I'm looking forward to continuing this tradition for years to come!


Next up, we walked over to the mall and went to Macy's. This Santa sure looked like the real deal! He was very jolly and looked just like what you would imagine Santa to be. Well, Mr. Ethan did not want a thing to do with this jolly man in the red suit. He cried and cried when I put him on Santa's lap and just yelled at us to pick him back up. LOL! I was bound to get a good photo-op, so we even stood in line again and tried for round two... and he did the same exact thing. And here I thought our little boy wasn't going to be one of those kids that cry on Santa's lap. Boy, did he prove me wrong!

After all that, we needed some relaxation, so we went for our dinner reservations at Palomino - we usually go for Ryan's birthday every year. They had our favorite special, a parmesan crusted tilapia. This is the best fish ever... I really wish I could figure out how to make their crust! Ethan did not want much to do with the food other than some bread, and then he loved the vanilla creme brulee for dessert... so much for fish and veggies! He's not been so keen on solid foods for the past day or two and has wanted to nurse more.

Ethan's favorite Christmas commercial

Ethan stops dead in his tracks every time this comes on tv! He lights up and laughs and just absolutely loves it :)

Finally clapping!!!

We went out today to pickup the Edge from Ford (the gas gauge has not been working right, so they're going to replace it Monday) and we went to Cincinnati Mills to walk around and look for a present for Mia - Ethan has her for Christmas this year. They were playing Christmas music out in the mall, and all of a sudden Ethan started clapping his hands together! This is the one thing he has not been able to do yet, and we were starting to wonder if he was ever going to clap! Well, Ryan and I both got excited, started clapping ourselves and saying "Yay, Ethan!!" He would laugh and smile really big and then clap some more. It was so cute!!

We stopped at Uno's on the way home for dinner. We haven't been there in a long time, and it was so nice! Ethan fell asleep on the way there and slept all the way through dinner. They were playing good Christmas music, had a big pretty Christmas tree, and nice lighting... we just really enjoyed ourselves and the food! We had a cheese and tomato deep dish pizza and a yummy warm white chocolate macadamia nut cookie for dessert... now I know what kind of cookies I want to make for Monday!

Ryan had a phone interview today, and got a call while we were out that they would like him to take the position! He will be refreshing, troubleshooting, and setting up systems for the EPA in Cincinnati starting in January. It is a temporary position for now, but it pays very well, so we are very excited for this opportunity!!

Better bath time!

Ethan is finally starting to really enjoy bathtime in the big bathtub. Every time we have been putting him in the regular bathtub, he would freak out and start crying and try to climb out. I thought it was the blow up rubber ducky tub, but we took it out and he was doing it in the regular tub, too. So, tonight he did great... he talked, played with his tub toys and splashed all over the place! He has always loved the water and loved baths in the sink, so we couldn't figure out why he was so freaked out by the tub.

We noticed Ethan coughing today, and with his afternoon nap he was very fussy and kept putting his fingers in his mouth, so his teeth must be bothering him. He was also running a temp of 100.1 then 101.6, so we gave him some Tylenol and Orajel which seemed to help. We also tried a new trick that Grandpa Jim told us about - putting Vick's on his feet and then putting his socks on. Hopefully that will help with his cough, and hopefully it won't turn into anything else! I have read some horror stories about this stomach bug that is going around with a lot of the kids and mommies on The Nest, so we are trying to keep this house illness free :) I am freaked out about it to say the least!!

Donald and Franni surprised us and stopped by for a "drive by Christmas" - LOL :) They came in for a short visit and stopped by to see us before they headed out. They got Ethan this super cute little radio that has little cd's to put in and it plays instrumental music. Ethan took to it right away pressing the buttons and dancing! I think it is a hit :) Thanks, guys!!

Prayer request

My Aunt Sheila has been having a lot of problems with back pain, nausea, and vomiting, and her doctor has been trying to find out what is causing it. She had an MRI of her back, which showed a mass on her liver and her left kidney, and they have referred her to an oncologist. Her appointment is January 5. Please, please keep her in your prayers!!

My first cookie swap

Mammaw was sick over the weekend, so Ryan stayed home with Ethan today and they hung out at home. After I got off work, I headed down to NKY to meet up with some of the other mom's from The Nest for a Christmas Cookie Swap! I had a lot of fun hanging out with some of the girls I have gotten together with before, as well as putting some faces to names I hadn't met yet. Becky has put this together for the past few years, and it was so much fun! Everyone baked their own cookies and brought them on a platter, and then we went around and got several of each cookie and recipes. Very cool idea! We have lots of goodies to sample now. Since I headed there from work, I wasn't able to bring Ethan, so he will be looking forward to meeting up with the other kids soon!

Learning to share already!

Ethan hung out at home with Ryan today while I was at work. They woke up this morning and Ryan brought Ethan to bed with him. Ethan loves to crawl and move around on the bed and climb on the pillows. He is also doing a new trick, if you will. If you say "Ethan, give DaDa (or MaMa, Mammaw, Papaw, etc) your binkie", he will take it out of his mouth, open your hand, and put it in your hand. Or, sometimes he tries to put it in your mouth ;) I think it's so cool that he understands that concept already!

Ryan and Ethan went to meet Mammaw and Papaw at their church this evening for their Christmas dinner. Uncle Rod, Uncle Mike, and Haley were there too. Ethan had fun hanging out and he sampled some macaroni and cheese (we've discovered this is one of his favorites), green beans, mashed potatoes, and a bite of pumpkin roll, too. This child is his mother's son if he loves pumpkin roll... it is my favorite :) I stopped by when I got off work too. Mammaw was not feeling good at all, so we didn't stay long so they could stop over for me to check her bp and then they headed home so she could get some rest. Feel better soon!!

"All done!!"

The past day or two, we have been thinking that Ethan said "all done", but we are really sure now :) He is saying it a lot! It sounds like "ah-duh", and he is using it pretty much in the right context, too! When we got home tonight, he was sitting on the floor after I took him out of his carseat. He proceeded to take off (er, rip off) his hat, and said "ah-duh!". LOL! Too cute! His first phrase :)

Ethan had a sleepover at Mammaw and Papaw's last night, and while Ryan worked on editing the pics, I worked on creating his first birthday invitations and our Christmas cards. We went and got them both printed today, so watch your mailboxes! We got his birthday invites printed at Kinko's. Then I discovered that you can do custom printing at Costco, so I will be using them in the future!!

Ethan was so happy and lovey today. He is really loving to cuddle and he'll tuck his head in for a hug and give huge wet kisses!! He doesn't pass out kisses to many others but Mommy, but we try to get him to share. He comes right at my face with his mouth wide open!!

Ethan is also learning to share - if you ask him "give me your binkie, Ethan", he will put it in your hand :) Then he wants it back, and so the cycle continues back and forth. He is such a good boy!

Christmas photos are in

We had a fun day today. Even though it was rainy, we got out and enjoyed the day! Ryan went to school for a microlab and got to talk to a rep from Robert Half - they provide staffing for IT positions. They have his resume and are going to give him a call! We're excited and a bit nervous to get in the swing of things with us both working again.

We went to Kenwood to walk around and Ethan had his first Chick-Fil-A meal. He loved the nuggets and waffle fries. We will have to be sure not to make this habit :) It's fun being out in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. We even ran into one of the other mommies from The Nest and her little girl, Adah! She is a little younger than Ethan.

We went to pick up our photos from JC Penney! I like how they turned out, but think that some of them could be better. I think we will take Ethan to Portrait Innovations to try to get a better picture in his outfit. We have not been there yet, and they have a $10 special, so we will try to just get one good shot!

Here are the pics! BTW, Ryan had to do some major re-editing of the backgrounds, which is why they didn't get posted last night. Their backgrounds were very wrinkly and had spots. They look much better now! So, I think this is the last of our visits to the JCP portait studio. It's silly to pay to have them done and then just have to come home to scan and edit them all. Anyways, I am working on our Christmas cards and designing his birthday party invitations, so watch your mailboxes in the next week or so :)

Alana's Birthday and Festival of Lights

Today we went down to Johnny's Toys in NKY for Alana's 4th birthday party! Happy Birthday, Alana!! They have a very cool place there called Totter's Otterville. It is a huge indoor playland for kids. There is an outdoor area as well, but it was closed since it snowed! There are different sections for kids of all ages, puppet shows, water play areas, animals to look at, trains, etc. Ethan is still a little young for most of the things, but we still had a very good time! Ethan sat at the kiddie table and ate pizza and had some ice cream, too. Alana got lots of fun princess and Barbie presents!!

We ran a few errands after the party, and then met up with Tom, Sheila, and Mason at the Festival of Lights. It was so cold and snowing! There were a ton of people there and we had to stand in line for awhile. Next time, we will definitely buy tickets beforehand! We had the boys (and ourselves!) bundled up from head to toe. It was so pretty with all the lights and the snow in the trees! Most of the animals were sleeping, but the boys both loved the fish and the manatees. They also got to ride the carousel :) We had a really good time. Ethan was pooped when we were done, so we got him changed into his jammies before we left - he conked out as soon as we got him settled in the car!

Where did he learn to climb??

I'm at work and just talked to Ryan - he is home with Ethan and he went up one step. Ryan stood behind Ethan to see what he would do, and the little booger kept climbing and went all the way up. It's about 15 steps. I can't believe it!! I guess we definitely need to leave a gate up all the time now. Walking and climbing the stairs all in one week... where has our baby gone??

Happy 11 months, little man!

I can't believe that Ethan is 11 months old today. In just one month, he will be one year old! How fast this year has gone. It is time to start preparing for his first birthday party!! We are having it in the afternoon on his birthday, which fortunately falls on a Saturday! Other than that, we are not sure of the plans.

We bought Ethan some YoBaby Yogurt when we were grocery shopping the other day, so what better day to start a new treat than the monthly birthday? He had the mixed berry yogurt with fruit and cereal, and ate it all up! He usually has oatmeal with fruit in the morning, so I wasn't sure how he would take to it since it it cold, but he did very well!

Ryan and I worked on putting Christmas lights outside while Ethan had his naps today. After his first nap, we bundled him up and he supervised us for a bit sitting on the porch. Boy, what a pain are Christmas lights! We didn't put them out last year since I was due right around the holidays, so we hadn't dealt with them in two years. All of our landscaping has grown, so they need more lights than they did 2 years ago. Our little 35 light sets only go about halfway down the topiaries, lol. So, we need to pickup a few boxes of lights to finish up.

While we were outside, we met up with our neighbor, Josie. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy. She has been getting chemo treatments and has her last treatment on December 16th. They were able to remove the cancer and her lymph nodes were benign! Please say a prayer for her. She has been through so much and has such a wonderful, positive outlook on life. She is really an inspiration for so many!!

After Ethan woke up from his afternoon nap, we headed over to pickup Mammaw and then we went to get pictures taken at JC Penney. We got a cute family picture and Christmas pictures of Ethan done, and we also had his 'one year' pictures done so we will have them back by his birthday. We brought a cupcake with us and did a shoot of him eating a cupcake for his first birthday! It just dawned on me that we should have brought the camcorder with us. He was eyeing that thing the whole time Ryan peeled the wrapper away, and he really dug into it and crammed it to his mouth. He absolutely LOVED it!! We kept trying to get him to smile, but he was not interested in anything else but eating that cupcake.

The photoshoot went really well, but they were absolutely packed by the time we were done. By the time we had our shoot, picked pictures out, and finally got to check out, we were there almost 3 hours. Ethan did so good the whole time, but we were starving, and he was in sugar overload, so we stopped to have dinner at Cracker Barrel, dropped Mammaw off, and then headed home to get out tired little guy to bed. He fell asleep in the car, of course, and didn't even make a peep while I was getting him ready for bed and nursed him. I think he had a good 11 month birthday :)

Little Drummer

Ethan loves music... he seems to pickup on music sounds anywhere you go. Whenever he hears music, he will start doing his little dance, rocking his body back and forth and bouncing his head. Ethan loves watching Ryan play Rock Band, and watches him play and dances along with Daddy. Well, now he is into the drums - Ryan opened it up on his birthday, and the drums can raise or lower. On the low setting, they are right at Ethan's height! He can hold the drumsticks with both of his hands and hit the drum pads. It is so funny! There's a slot at the top to hold the drumsticks, and when we put it away, Ethan walked around to the top of it and popped the drumsticks out and wanted to play some more. He's so smart!

I hope he doesn't grow up to be a real drummer... I don't think a real drumset would be so fun to have in the house!! And aren't drummers the bad boys?!

Cyber Monday scores :)

I had a really crazy busy day at work today. I was supposed to get off at 3:30, but I didn't get out of there until 5:15!! It's really weird even leaving at that time and it being so dark out. I was ready to get home, but I had a pitstop to make first. I was able to find one of the FP piano's that Ryan and I were hunting for on Black Friday. I scored on on craigslist for only $5! And the best part was that they lived right off Cincinnati-Dayton Road, so it was right on my way home :) I think Ethan will really love this toy. I love that it has a little seat! The family who we bought it from had 3 little kids, and the little girl, who was about 5, was showing me how it worked and seemed pretty enthused about it still, so maybe it will last us for awhile :)
Ryan really scored... he got an extra hard drive for his 360 when they sent his replacement, and they retail for $150, so he was able to sell it and managed to get Guitar Hero World Tour and a Star Wars game on Amazon for $100 total, so really it is free since he sold the hard drive! I think those two things retail for $160! I also got my trunk for the family room to store Ethan's toys!! That crazy Britax deal on Target a few weeks ago caused a huge uproar, and Target ended up emailing $25 e-certificates to those who had their orders cancelled. So, I was able to get the trunk with 10% off, free shipping, and use my $25 e-certificate! We also got a different carseat for Mammaw's car, so that is taken care of, too. We are still holding off switching to the convertible seats, but we will probably have to do it in the next month I would say.

Happy 27th Birthday, Daddy!!

Today is Ryan's 27th birthday. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful husband and daddy in our lives, and are so happy to celebrate his birthday today!!

We got up this morning, ate breakfast, and headed to church after Ethan woke up. He slept in until almost 10 (he woke up around 7, nursed, and went back to sleep)! He was so good at church today. We went to First Watch for brunch with Grandma and Grandpa, and Ethan slept the entire time we were there! He woke up right when we were getting back in the car, and we went to Stride Rite to try on some shoes. Ryan and I found out on Friday they were having a B1G1 half off sale through the weekend. So, Ethan had his first shoe fitting, and he's a 3.5 (wide) right now. We wanted to get the shoes bigger since he doesn't need them right now. We got two pair of size 4.5 Stride Rite's for $45, which is a really good deal! The shoes we got were on sale, plus half off the second pair. Most of their shoes are $50 each (ouch!!) so we are very happy. And super exciting news!!! Ethan was testing out the shoes in the store, and he was standing up next to Ryan by a bench. He turned right around and took two steps all on his own to me! This is the first time he has ever, ever done this. It kind of took us by surprise, like "did he really just do that??" So today Ethan took his first solo steps!! We are so very happy and proud of our boy!!

We got these two shoes, but we will probably try to exchange one pair for a monkey shoe that we saw on their website! They did not have it at the Tri-County store.

Here are the monkey shoes. How cute are they??? I think Ethan needs them :)


We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Gabbard's house to hang out and visit for a bit. We tried to get Ethan to show off his steps, but he wasn't interested. He had lots of fun cruising around the family room and visiting, though!

We went home for a bit and Ethan was acting cranky, so I went to put him down for his nap. I ended up falling asleep with him in the rocker, and when I woke up, Ryan had fallen asleep on the couch! I guess we all needed some rest, especially with the yucky rainy weather outside. We got ready really fast and went and met Grandma and Grandpa A, Brad, Lindsay, and Shawn for dinner at Outback to celebrate Ryan and Aunt Lindsay's birthday, which is later this week. The food was so good tonight!! They have a 6oz Outback special (our favorite!!) now, which is perfect, and a really great price for a yummy steak dinner! We got Ethan a sweet potato, and it was HUGE... our little piggy ate about 3/4 of it, plus bread and some bites of Daddy's steak! We were so surprised he ate that much of the sweet potato. It is his favorite!!

After we got home, we sat down to try walking with Ethan. He walked between Ryan and I about 6 or 7 steps!! He would walk back and forth from each of us, turn around, and be ready to take off again. We are so proud of our little guy!! I can't believe he is walking on his own already!!!

Pizza and a playdate

After I got home from work today, we got ready and picked up some Papa John's pizza and headed over to Tom and Sheila's to hang out. Ethan had so much fun playing with Mason and checking out his toys!! Lots of ideas :) The boys did really good together, and Mason was so nice to share with Ethan. They had fun cruising around together and 'racing' with Mason's push toys! Ethan crashed as soon as we got in the car.

Black Friday

Usually I am up before the crack of dawn on Black Friday to go out and get some deals. I am one of 'those people' who love being out in the craziness! We are pretty much finished with our Christmas shopping, though. We were going to head out early to get a special gift for Haley and Brianna that we are contributing to, but we managed to take care of it yesterday, getting part of it at Kmart when we went there early yesterday morning, and we got the big gift online yesterday! So, no freezing cold waiting in line for us today :) Mammaw kept Ethan last night, so we slept in, had breakfast at home, and then headed out with hot chocolate and coffee in hand to see what we could find. I really wanted to get Ethan a Fisher Price Rock and Play Piano. Walmart had it for $15, which seemed like a good price. Well I have never been brave enough to venture to Walmart early on Black Friday, and apparently I don't want to! They were all sold out, and we went to 5 different stores in the area and couldn't find it, so no piano for Ethan. We did, however, find the wagon we were interested in at Walmart in Tri-County that was way cheaper than we had even found it online. We have been looking everywhere for deals on wagons, which never seem to really happen for the Radio Flyer wagons. So that was a very nice surprise! Granny and Grandpa are going to give it to Ethan for his birthday :) We are very excited to have it for the summer! We stopped at Red Robin for Ryan's free birthday burger for lucnh, and our favorite waitress Rachel was there when we walked in the door. It seems like she is there every time we go! She takes great care of us. She asked about Ethan, and we told her he was at grandma's while we ventured out! We were ready to see our little man when we were all finished, so we stopped to pick him up, and then headed home and had some very delicious leftovers for dinner! I think one of the best things about Thanksgiving is the leftovers :)

Cloth Diaper Info and Giveaway

I came across another blog with some good info on CD'ing (cloth diapering). We really love our Bum Genius diapers, buying a one-sized diaper has helped us to keep the same set while Ethan is growing... more friendly for the earth and for our wallet! We are loving cloth diapering and are exclusively using the Bum Genius line.

Here is a giveaway for a super cute one-size diaper called BumWear :)

Check it out: Cloth Diaper Info and Giveaway

First visit with Santa

We took Ethan to visit Santa Claus tonight for the first time tonight. He wasn't too keen on sitting on his lap, but we managed to snap a pic... it's funny that he had the same expression with the Easter bunny and the Great Pumpkin also, lol!

Our good friend Jason's Mamaw, Dolly, passed away on Sunday. We are going to her visitation this evening. Please keep the Hudson family in your thoughts and prayers.

Flu shot #2

Ethan didn't want to nap at home, so we went ahead and left this morning to run some errands, figuring he would fall asleep in the car... which he did as soon as we left! We went to Kohl's to return some things (got a better deal ordering online!), and found a really cute hat and mittens for Ethan. He does not like keeping a hat on and always rips them off. This hat is fleece and has a strap that velcro's under his chin... hopefully this will deter him from ripping it off. It is brown fleece and has a little monkey on it :)

Then we took Ethan to the pediatrician's office to get his second flu shot. Babies have to get two separate doses the first year that they get the flu shot. He did not even cry at all! He took the shot like a champ. We went ahead and did his measurements while we were there - he is 19 pounds, 6 ounces, and almost 28 inches long. It is always really hard to get his length, and it seems like you get a different reading every time. The last time we were there, Dr. Leanza ended up getting his length because what the nurse measured was way off. So anyways, we got almost 28 inches. We know he is getting longer, because his jeans are getting shorter on him!

We got out Ethan's winter coat today and it is really cute on him :) A little big, but it works. He was so cozy! We stopped at Costco to pick up a few things and we all had cheese pizza for lunch. Ethan fell asleep as soon as we left Costco and napped for awhile all bundled up in his carseat after we got home.

Wow...

So... today has been a crazy online day. Yesterday, Target.com had two Britax Marathon carseats on sale for $43 and $59 each... they are regularly nearly $300. We are getting ready to switch Ethan to a convertible seat soon and have been looking for a seat for Mammaw's, and this was a killer deal for a fantastic seat! There was such a flooding of orders, target.com cancelled the majority, if not all, of the orders today. This topic is all the rage on many mom message boards and bargain blogs today. Entertaining :)

I also just saw an ad that Motrin had created. When I first read about it, I thought "oh, it can't be that bad". But then I watched the Motrin ad, and it is very offending and done in such poor taste!!!



Motrin has removed the ad from their website, but it is still out in the media. I am very surprised that they even created this ad!

I got put on call this morning and got called in a bit later, so Ryan and I carpooled and he dropped me off at work and went to school. Ethan had so much fun at Mammaw's house. He was there for over 24 hours... the longest we've been away from him! I was so ready to see him when I got off work. I had a very easy day and got out on time, so Ryan came to pick me up and we headed to Mammaw's. Nana and the girls had come over to watch Ethan while Mammaw and Papaw went to a visitation, and Ethan started saying Nana today!! He also called Papaw "Mammy" today, lol. So, now he is saying "Mama, Dada, Baba, Mammy, Pop-pop, and Nana", along with other versions of those syllables :)

Dropping the morning nap?

Boy, was I pooped this morning! We stayed home so I could catch up on some rest, and Ethan seemed sleepy around 10:30 so we put him down for his nap. He, however, had different plans in mind, and did not go to sleep. We are wondering if he's just going to drop the morning nap... sometimes he takes one, and sometimes he does not. It's pretty normal for babies his age to drop it, so we will see. We cooked a late breakfast at home, and Ethan ate a biscuit. He had already had oatmeal and bananas earlier. He really loves feeding himself! We give him a spoon sometimes but he doesn't grasp that he can pick up food on it. He's very much a finger-food eater.

We were just hanging out at home and Mammaw, Papaw, and Haley stopped by after they had gone to church and lunch. We were playing music, and Ethan was doing his little dance (he kind of rocks/bounces) and just loving all the attention! Mammaw wanted to take Ethan to church this evening, so he ended up just going over to their house for a sleepover since he would be going there in the morning, anyways. Ryan and I had a nice evening, we went and walked around at the mall and went out to dinner. It was nice to have some quiet time together, but we missed our little guy! It is hard at bedtime when he's not there. I have to work 12 hours tomorrow, so I think this will be the longest I have been away from him! Sweet dreams, little guy.

Pizza lover

Third shift in a row today for me - may not sound like a lot, but it is very tiring! Ryan went to class and Ethan went to Grandma A's to visit and he got to see his cousins, Jack, Philip, and Mia also. He had lots of fun playing with everyone! He had eaten lunch already, and then they got pizza from Donato's. Grandma went to take a bite of her pizza, and Ethan opened up his mouth wide wanting some too, lol!

Speaking of pizza, I didn't get out of work until about 8:15, so I picked up a pizza on the way home. We wanted to try the new Fresh Mozzarella Meatball pizza from Donato's. I sat down to nurse Ethan and was trying to multi-task, nursing him and feeding myself at the same time. Mr. Sneaky turned right around and snagged a piece off the pizza! He loves food, that is for sure.

Playing peek-a-boo

For whatever reason, I volunteered to pickup a shift today because staffing was so short. I had an awful day yesterday, and today wasn't much better! Thank goodness it was "just an 8 hour shift" (which turned into 9.5 hours with no lunch of course!) I called a few times to check in on Ethan at Mammaw's... he was in the swing and was playing with a blanket. He kept pulling it up over his eyes, and proceeded to crack up laughing, then pull the blanket down, and then do it all over again. Mammaw said he was just sitting there doing it all on his own with no prompting. She and Papaw were cracking up!!

Mammaw made beef stew for dinner and had us over after we were finished at school/work. It was so yummy!! Ethan had some beef stew also and loved it! He kept wanting more. Ethan had fun playing with Haley and Brianna. Aunt Sheila came over and was eating a sandwich and had a drink with a straw. Well, Ethan cruised right on over to her and proceeded to steal her straw right out of her cup. Told you he was Mr. Sneaky :)

Ready to crash!

Oh my goodness... today was just awful! My patients were so overwhelming and one of the families was even more so. I am so glad today is over!! I got out of work so late, and then coming home they had a lane closed on 275 for construction. There was only one lane open!! I sat there forever!! By the time I got home, Ethan had passed out on Ryan's chest, sound asleep. We aroused him to get him changed for bed, and Ryan heated up leftover au jus sandwiches (yummy!) We put Ethan to bed, and then snuggled on the couch and watched Grey's Anatomy and CSI. How I managed to stay awake through both of them, I will never know ;)

Boys can wear Christmas clothes too.

We hung out at home today and then decided to get out for a little bit. We went to Toys R Us and Northgate Mall to walk around for a bit, just doing some window shopping and getting out of the house. I am such a weirdo (yes, I know Ryan!!) and am trying to find some cute "First Christmas" outfit or shirt or something for Ethan. EVERYTHING is for a newborn or a younger baby... just about everything is 9 months or less, and that is pushing it. What about the winter babies?? And we actually have a kid that is true-to-size instead of wearing a bigger than his age size. We also looked at Carter's the other day and I am just not impressed. Also, there are tons of little girl Christmas outfits and dresses everywhere. What about the boys?? There are not very many options. We already have a nice Christmas outfit for him, a cute red sweater with stripes on the chest and some black cords. I just would like to find a few cute little things to wear for other holiday occasions. I wish the baby clothing designers would think about the boys and the January babies who are experiencing their first Christmas!

We stopped at Applebee's for some half priced appetizers. We got a quesadilla and a veggie patch pizza. Ethan ate two slices of the veggie patch pizza and loved it! It tastes way better than I remember too. They must have changed something on it. It was delish!

Yummy! Chicken Marsala

Ryan was working on dinner when I got home from work tonight - he made one of the new Macaroni Grille meals, the Chicken Marsala. It was yummy! Ryan doesn't usually like Chicken Marsala but he even liked this. It even came with a packet of marsala wine. If you haven't tried these, you should! Quick and easy :)

Houston, we have a walker!

I was so tired today, so I took a nap while Ethan did too. He slept through the night last night, but was up at 7:30, and we were up until 2 hanging out and working on the blog, so I had a little lack of sleep :) Ryan made us some grilled cheese for lunch and Ethan ate half of a grilled cheese himself. It is very fun giving him table foods now! He is ready for the next bite as soon as he is finished.

We have a walking toy that we have been trying to get Ethan to walk with. He is supposed to stand behind it and push it to walk. Today, he actually started walking with it!! It has seemed like his legs have been stronger the past few days and not buckling as much when you try to get him to take steps, so I got the push toy out and he just took off!! He had a few crashes, but as soon as we turned the toy he took off walking again!! Check back for the video!

Today is Simeon's 19th birthday, so we went over to their house for a family dinner. Aunt Sheila made delicious chicken and dumplings (Mammaw's recipe) and they were fantastic! Ethan had his first taste of our family favorite, plus peas and mashed potatoes. So, now Mammaw can stop saying that Ethan gets his chicken and dumplings from me :)

Simeon's daughter, Rylee, is one of Ethan's favorite people. She was napping when we got there, and after she ate she was sitting on the floor in the family room. Ethan spotted her and made a beeline for her crawling completely across the family room floor and gave her a big kiss!! We were all cracking up. I so wish I could have caught it on video! They had a lot of fun playing together, and Ethan showed off his new walking skills with Rylee's push toy.

Mr. Sneaky

One week since the time change. I was so nervous before, because our routine was so working for us and my work schedule. Ethan goes down around 8:30ish at night and usually sleeps until 8 or so the next morning. Well, bedtime and wake times have managed to be okay, but he's been waking up in the early morning again, but now around 4 or 4:30, which stinks :( It's too early to stay up, but then by the time I doze back to sleep my alarm goes off. Alas, my baby boy needs me, and I would rather nurse him to comfort him back to sleep than for him to stay awake. Hopefully he will start sleeping all the way through the night again soon! I think I am more tired this week than him! I'm glad that the time change didn't throw him off too much though.

Ethan did sleep in this morning until around 9:30 or so. He's usually up much earlier so we didn't set the alarm. Since we got up so late, we got ready and tried to put Ethan down for his morning nap, which he has been protesting some days... according to what I've read, it's normal around this age to sometimes drop the morning nap, so we are seeing how things go. After we got ready, we went for a drive and Ethan conked out in the car. Then we went to IHOP for breakfast... Ryan was craving the coffee cake pancakes they've been advertising. Ethan was such a good boy and ate really well - he had some pancake, ham, apples, and hashbrowns. He is doing really great with table foods! We went walking around Voice of America for a bit and then came home and hung out together.

Ethan is getting sneaky now. He LOVES cruising around downstairs checking everything out. Well, he was playing in the family room by Ryan and I was over in the kitchen making a snack. His usual barricades were setup and he was happy and content. All of a sudden, I see him poking through the side of the couch in this little opening between the couch and the end table. Mr. Sneaky found his way through and crawled right over to me! LOL! Ryan and I were cracking up.

Fun day with Grandma

Grandma came over today to play with Ethan while Ryan went to school since Grandpa Jim was sick. Ethan was so excited when she came in, and he did not want anything to do with Daddy once she got there! They had lots of fun playing and he did good with his morning nap. After Daddy got home, Ethan did not want to take his afternoon nap, so they went for a drive and he fell asleep in the car. They went over to Grandma's for Ryan to get a haircut. I had a pretty good day at work, and came home to a tidy house and dinner finished and ready to eat! That was a very pleasant surprise :) We tried to eat dinner, but Ethan was being Mr. Crankypants and wanted to nurse and go to sleep, so we wrapped up dinner so he could get to bed. He dozed off after nursing, so we cuddled for a bit before laying him down to sleep. I really cherish the time at the end of the day with him!

Something a little funny... whenever I come home from work, Ethan freaks out when I go out of his sight. If I go to the bathroom, he has to go with me or he wails. He will sit on the floor next to me and loves to play with the door... he could seriously sit there and open and close the door, and chase after it, for a long time. We are always right there so he doesn't smash his fingers, but he absolutely loves playing with the doors. I was thinking maybe we should get him one of those Fisher Price Learning Kitchens since it has a refrigerator door, but our luck, he wouldn't like that door, and would just keep going for the real ones!

Started Christmas shopping!

We have been doing some window shopping to get ideas for Ethan for Christmas and his birthday. We happened to go to Kohl's today after I got back from my haircut, and they are having a really great sale! The toy department is on sale, plus an extra 15% off, plus they have a coupon out now. So, we got some really great deals on some things that we think he will really enjoy! Most of the toys we have seem more baby-ish, so we are trying to focus on some items that will be fun and educational for him to help him over the coming year! It is hard since Christmas and his birthday are so close, we are trying to think ahead of things that will be good for him for the whole year. We picked up some soft Tonka cars and a shape sorter. Ethan Felty had brought over some of his cars and our Ethan really seemed to enjoy them, so we think they will be a hit :)

We also ran a few other errands and picked up some other good sale items: some Mega blocks at Meijer, and we went to Berean and they had some very cool kids musical selections... or so we thought! They had several Sleepytime Worship Lullaby Renditions of some of our favorite artists... Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Jars of Clay... so we decided to pickup the MWS for a stocking stuffer for Ethan. You couldn't listen to it in the store, so we found them online to listen to music clips and they all sound SO bad! They are instrumental, but have a funky xylophone sound. Very odd... Ryan said it sounds like a midi file. So, we are going to take it back and get another Praise Baby CD - there is a Sleepytime Lullabies version and a new Christmas version as well, so we will get one of those instead. Ethan listens to this Praise Baby CD that Uncle Brad, Aunt Lindsay, and Shawn got him every night at bedtime!

I have been wanting to go to PF Chang's for dinner so we decided to splurge tonight and go. It was so yummy! We got lettuce wraps, chicken fried rice, and mongolian beef. Ethan had his first Chinese food! He did really well with rice, the crispy noodles that come with the chicken, and some beef. We even got comments from the wait staff about how good he was! I was holding him after we were finished and he grabbed the lemon that had come with my water and got a taste! He made some really funny pucker faces, but he kept going back for more, lol!!

Enjoy the little moments!

The plan today was for Ethan to head to Mammaw and Papaw's while Ryan went to school, but somehow we managed to have the extra keys in Ryan's coat, which was in the car I was driving. Oops! No more leaving coats with keys in the car!! Ryan and Ethan hung out at home, and then Mammaw came to get Ethan and Ryan got some schoolwork done. I only worked 7-3 today, so we both went to pickup our little man after I got home. He was snuggled up asleep on Mammaw's lap when we got there. I picked him up and got to rock and hold him for quite a bit! It is so nice being able to cuddle with him like that! He is a lovebug, but often likes to be on the go when he's awake, so we have to enjoy these little moments with him!!

Can't nobody hold me down, oh no, I've got to keep on movin'...

Days at home are so nice :) It seems like we are always out running around doing something or another, and the happiest days for me seem to be when the three of us can just stay home and relax! Ethan and I got up and played for a bit, he ate homemade applesauce and oatmeal for breakfast, and then we made some cinnamon rolls for me and Daddy. Ethan went down for his morning nap super easy and I woke Ryan up after he slept in with the tempting thoughts of warm cinnamon rolls and his favorite Fresh Market blend brewing downstairs :) We just spent the day hanging out together and cleaning the house. Ethan, however, does not like to be contained. We were working on cleaning the dining room and kitchen and had some barricades setup around the family room to block him in. No matter what toys we gave him, he stood at the base of the barricade and howled for us to come get him. He always wants to be part of the action!! After we finished cleaning, Ryan played some Rock Band on his new 360. I even went upstairs and brought Ethan some toys to play with from his closet, which he doesn't see much. You would think having his own guitar and maracas to play music with dad would be super entertaining for him? Oh, no... he wants to be at mom's feet in the kitchen 'supervising' my cooking skills and trying to get into everything! I love my little boy. He is much more entertained by doors, the refrigerator, and the dishwasher rack. Why do we buy him toys?

Ethan had his first taste of one of those Zwieback toasts today. Who in the world names these kid snacks? Anyways, he really enjoyed it! I thought he would make a huge mess, but really it was just smeared on his face. He went to town and loved it!

No, I have not updated the blog. I am a slacker. Soon, very soon. :)

For now, a quick peek at Ethan's photoshoot at JCP. Deliveries coming soon! If you would like a certain size/shot, let us know!

Happy 1st Halloween!

I picked up an 8 hour shift today, so Ryan and I went to pickup Ethan at Mammaw's after we got home. He was super happy when we got there!! Mammaw had made us dinner (thank you!!), so we ate and then got Ethan dressed up in his monkey costume. We went over to Rich and Marla's to meet up with them and Grandma and Grandpa A. Ethan trick or treated with Grandma for his favorite, Sweet Potato Puffs! We hung out outside and checked out all the little trick or treaters, and then Ethan hung out with his cousins, Jack, Philip, and Mia for a bit. They decided to go walk around at some more houses, so we packed up and headed to visit Grandma and Grandpa G.

Ethan was very excited to show off his monkey costume! He even got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Hinger for the very first time - yay!! Ethan cruised and crawled around everywhere. Grandma Anne's brother Tim and Karen came in from Rhode Island, so he got to meet them, plus Dan, Mike, and Kathy! We had a lot of fun hanging out with the Hinger clan. Ethan was up WAY past his bedtime! We got him changed into his jammies, but he wasn't quite ready to quit partying yet. He was cruising around the family room, and Grandma Anne was chasing after him and Ethan LOVED it! He would cruise or crawl a few steps, turn around and look at her and start laughing, and then take off some more. It was so funny! He has just started doing this!

After we got home, Ethan was in the hallway with Ryan and started crawling away from him just like he was with Grandma Anne. He would crawl away, turn around and look back, start laughing, and then take off again. So cute!!

I am so excited! My new mei tai baby carrier came in the mail today! I have been anxiously awaiting it, and I absolutely LOVE it!! The fabrics are gorgeous and it is very comfy to use. Ryan even seemed impressed :) He was feeling better this afternoon, so we got out of the house to run to Northgate to do some returns and get a price adjustment on Ethan's shoes from The Children's Place. (BTW, I am so not impressed with http://www.childrensplace.com. It took two weeks to receive a package from them, which is way longer than I have experienced ordering anything elsewhere!). So, we got to try out the mei tai and it is fabulous!! I am very happy with my purchase! I got it from Sweet Slings, and the owner custom creates the carriers just for you. She even threw in a cover for free... so now, I really have 4 prints that I can use! Very cool and highly recommended!

Share the love...

Or share the illness? First me, then Ethan, now Ryan. Everyone stay away from our house :) Ryan stayed home to rest today... he's having chills and a fever now. Mammaw came to pick up Ethan and he had fun playing at her house!
I came home from work tonight to find my two guys like this on the couch. Love it!

Fall Festival at TCA

Ethan has been feeling fine and has not had any more fevers. He even slept through the night last night! We went to church this morning and then had lunch at First Watch, and stopped at Carter's to pick up some mittens for Ethan (thanks for the tip, Mandi!) Then went home to rest for a bit before going back out tonight. Our church had their annual Fall Family Festival this evening. We took Haley, Brianna, and Ethan and had a great time! The girls had a lot of fun on the rides. We had some treats, took a hayride, and the girls got their hair painted and went trunk-or-treating. Ethan loved watching all of the people, of course. We also got to see Aunt Lindsay and Shawn in his costume! It was great fall weather, but it got chilly so Ethan's new mittens really came in handy. He did really good keeping them and his hat on! He usually yanks his hats off :) We were there until the end, and everyone was ready to crash by the time we got home!