Ryan has been anxious (to say the least) for Ethan to do a "real" crawl. He has mastered the scooting crawl, but Ryan wanted to see him doing the hands-and-knees crawl. He called me this morning at work to let me know that Ethan was "really" crawling!! He even managed to capture it on video - awesome Daddy!!
Ethan went to Mammaw and Papaw's today and had fun hanging out. He was pulling himself standing up on everything and showing off his new skills to Papaw! He had the last two cubes of corn and some leftover corn cake today and ate it all up.
I had a good day today at work so I was able to catch up on the blog a bit and found a Mei-Tai carrier that I really like and think I'm going to order!!
Ryan cooked dinner for us on my way home from work. We had chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and corn, so Ethan had his first taste of chicken tonight mixed up with some plain mashed potatoes and did awesome! We are going to start introducing meats into his diet, so this was step one :)
We also want to wish Lexi a Happy 9th Birthday today!!
Ethan woke up bright and early around 7am this morning. He usually goes back to sleep when he has an early morning nursing session, but he wanted to stay up today. After Ryan left for school, we played in the family room, but every time I would get up and walk in the kitchen or anywhere even partly out of his view, he would get upset. He kept crawling over to me and hanging on me, and finally fell asleep on my lap. We cuddled for a bit (I don't get to cuddle with him too much anymore!) while he was dozing, but he was stirring a bit so I took him upstairs to lay him down. Of course, he woke up when I laid him down and I couldn't get him back to sleep. I managed to get a shower while he played in the exersaucer, but he was being extra clingy with me. I needed to get out of the house to keep my mind busy, so we went to Kohl's to make a return, and he fell asleep right after we got in the car.
We met Mammaw at Arby's for lunch, and Ethan sat up in the highchair and tried corn for the first time. He ate very well! I pureed/chopped corn up so it was kind of like a chunky creamed corn consistency, and he did great with it! He showed off drinking through the straw too. He kept looking at the cars in the drive through and waving at them. It was too funny! He is waving with his entire arm :) We have been practicing waving "hi" and "bye-bye" and he just started doing this today!
It was a really nice day so we went over to Bridgewater Falls and parked and walked around. We checked out all the stores for a dark rattan trunk for the family room but no one had anything. It was nice to be outside and spend time together though! Ethan had fun reading about Curious George :)
When we got home, I made mexican for dinner so we could use the taco salad shells we had left. We stuck with Ethan's corn theme for today and he tried corn cake! He loved it!
After dinner Ethan got a bath in the sink and we tried the bedtime bath I picked up at Target. It's a lavender scent and it must have worked because he went to sleep really well tonight!!
Memphis Michael Koroschetz came into the world today... to put it mildly, I am very down in spirit that I wasn't able to be there, but I'm very glad to hear that Mom and baby are doing well and hope that we get to hear from them soon.
I have been so wiped out the past few days, so we stayed home this morning to catch up on some sleep. After we got up, we went to IHOP for breakfast. One of the girls on the nest posted that they had Nutella crepes... I absolutely LOVE Nutella! Giada has cursed me by talking about it so much on Everyday Italian. It is an amazing chocolate hazelnut spread. If you have never tried it before... you should! The crepes were awesome, they had Nutella and bananas on the inside, and strawberries on top. Ryan had a blueberry crepe. Of course, after we left I was looking at the newspaper and right on top were IHOP coupons. Go figure!
Ethan and I dropped Ryan off at home and headed to Sharon Woods to meet up with a group of mommies and babies that I met on the Cincinnati Nest board. Everyone brought a dish and we had a picnic, hung out and chatted, and watched the babies interact! I had met a few ladies before, but there were about 20 of us there, plus our kids, so it was so awesome to hang out and put faces to names in person! We had an amazing time. Ethan loved seeing and playing with all the other kids his age! One of the other moms, Amanda, also brought some of her baby carriers for us to try. I really, really like the Mei Tai carriers, so I am going to look into getting one with my birthday money since I haven't been able to find a trunk for the family room.
Ethan and I went over to Grandma's for her jewelry party, then we went to pick up Ryan and went to Dewey's for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Abrams, Brad, Lindsay, and Shawn to celebrate Brad's birthday. Ethan slept most of the time. After he woke up, he sat up and talked with Grandma and Grandpa, and ate some carrots for dinner.
We had an awesome day today :) After Ethan woke up from his nap this morning, we headed down to Rookwood to go to the natural baby event. We had lunch at Boston Market first and then headed over to Whole Foods. We got to talk with another mom regarding her home birth and experience, and hear about legislature that they are trying to get passed to allow Certified Practical Midwives to be able to do home deliveries in Ohio. Very interesting! She had a home VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) water birth for her second child and had an awesome experience. We found out that one of our midwives had been there, but had left early so we didn't get to see her. We walked around and did some taste testing, and got a few recipes for homemade baby food (they had yummy acorn squash, but it had brown sugar in it, and we're not sure if Ethan can have sweetener yet). Ethan tried out the Earth's Best banana/apple/raspberry baby food and he loved it! I had to go back to get another sample because he wanted more :)
We headed up to Lebanon to walk around at AppleFest. There was a lot more to it than I thought it would be, and a lot more people there! There were lots of crafty/primitives booths with cute fall and Christmas decorations. We went into the Fella Bella shop and they actually had the Ergo carriers this time, so we tried one on. I didn't care for it as much as I thought it would - I don't really think it's worth the $100+ price tag! So, the journey continues to find a comfy baby carrier. We had our first apple cider of the season and got a couple small pieces of fudge. Yum!
After we left AppleFest, we went over to Dad and Anne's for dinner to celebrate Brad, Dad, and my birthdays! We had an awesome dinner with chicken and noodles, veggies, and beer bread. Ethan had carrots for dinner, and even tried some of the bread and really liked it! He had an awesome time playing with Shawn. It is so fun to watch them play together and Shawn does a great job sharing with Ethan! Ethan pulled himself standing to the couch and even took a few little steps when he was playing with Shawn and Uncle Brad! Grandpa worked so hard getting the dishes done, and then we had delicious pumpkin torte for dessert! Thank you so much Dad and Anne for the awesome dinner and birthday gift! We got Ethan changed into his jammies before we left, and he conked out as soon as we got him in the car. He didn't even make a peep when we got home and put him in bed!
I haven't had a full weekend off since Labor Day, so I am very excited for this weekend :) I worked and Ryan had class yesterday, and Ethan hung out at Mammaw's. She cooked us all dinner so that was nice to get off and not have to cook dinner! We hung out for a bit and then headed home, got Ethan ready for bed, and sat down to watch the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy!! I was so tired, I fell asleep halfway through it. That is pretty bad!
Same routine today! Ryan and I met up after work/class for a mini-date and walked around the mall and split a Cinnabon. We picked up some cute soft-soled tennis shoes for Ethan at Children's Place, they were only around $4, so a very good deal! We didn't have any tennis shoes yet for fall/winter so that worked out great. They are having an extra 30% off their sale items!
We went to pick up Ethan at Mammaw's, and then went to check out a few thrift stores. For some reason I have been wanting to see what they have! We checked out Papaw's favorite store, the Valley Thrift, and found a few very nice pieces of clothing for Ethan (Lands End corduroy overalls, a few Children's Place Pieces, and a cute romper from Gymboree) for less than $10! Kids clothing costs SO much regular price, I think we will be doing second hand for most of his things. It just makes more sense. We also went to Goodwill at our old Thriftway stomping grounds. It was very odd to walk in there and see our meeting place transformed. It was pretty junky and the items didn't seem as nice there, which surprised me. We told Ethan all about the place where Mommy and Daddy met!
We picked up Richard's on the way home, ate and put Ethan to bed, and finished up Grey's Anatomy. I'm a little disappointed in the episode as a season opener, but there were some interesting twists and turns so we will see how the season pans out!
Ethan woke up right before 8am and was standing up when I went to get him. This was my first time finding him standing in the crib in the morning! It was cute, he was just standing up in the corner and smiled at me when I walked in :) We just hung out at home today. Both times we put Ethan down for his nap, he would be okay for a few minutes and then stand up and start crying. He'll also drop his binkie on the floor sometimes too, which is a problem!
Ryan pureed the carrots I made yesterday, and Ethan likes the smooth consistency much better. It's thick like mashed potatoes, but smooth and creamy. Before, we made the purees like a runny yogurt consistency. He did great with the carrots, and we also used his new straw sippy cup and he drank from it very well! It seems so much easier for him... the Avent sippy cups we have, he has to tilt the cup way up to get a drink, and this way he can hold the cup in front of him and sip from the straw. It says the age group for this cup is 2+, I'm not sure why?? He is doing great with it. It also has a leak proof valve on the straw, so when you tip it upside down it does not leak!
We went to the post office and drove to Barn and Bunk, but they were closed. We were going to pick up a mini bale of hay for the porch, and that is the only place we have found them the past 2 years, so we'll go back this weekend. I'm excited to get the house decorated for fall! Since we didn't get to decorate the house yet, I decorated the blog!
We stopped by Kroger on the way back to get Ethan some more puffs, the Gerber kind were on sale 3/5 which is better than we have seen them before! We bought another container of sweet potato, and also a cherry and apple cinnamon. We ran into Brian and talked to him for a few (good luck with your cheeseball!) and then left to go get some dinner. The funny thing was, we were getting ready to pull out and Heather's mom, Marisa, pulled in the spot in front of us!
We went to Chipotle for dinner and they were PACKED! There was a huge line. Ethan sat up in the highchair and tried out the apple cinnamon puffs, which he loved! He also kept trying to eat the highchair and the table, so we ran over to TJ Maxx and picked up a highchair/cart cover and we will try it out :) We also stopped at Coldstone for ice cream and they had PUMPKIN!! I was happy the other day with the Nutter Butter, but there is nothing in the world better than their pumpkin ice cream. Seriously. You have to try it if you love pumpkin pie... they have a "creation" that they call Pumpkin Pie in the Sky... pumpkin ice cream, cinnamon, caramel, graham cracker crust, and whipped cream. It is like heaven!
When all the pumpkin things come out, I know it is fall. Love it!
So, there are actually 5 teeth now! Ethan got his 4th tooth yesterday (top right front tooth), but today #5 has appeared at the bottom! So now there is a row of 4 teeth on the bottom. It is so funny to see him smile!
Ethan is regularly standing up in his crib now. Ryan found him standing there this morning again! We haven't had any middle-of-the-night cries yet... I've heard of some other kiddos standing in the middle of the night and then freaking out because they can't figure out how to get back down. So, we'll see how that goes! This standing up has presented a bit of a problem at naptimes, because he'll stand and cry when we put him down, and it takes some comforting/backrubbing at times to get him settled. He did take a 2 1/2 hour nap today though!
We found out that the power steering assembly was the issue with the 6, so that got fixed and Grandpa took Ryan and Ethan to pick up the car today. I went to meet them after work and we ran some errands in Tri-County and went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. Mom and Jim had told us about their perfect dinner idea there, so we went and tried it - split a salad and split a create-your-own pasta... it really is the perfect meal for two people!! And so much more reasonable! Thank you so much for the idea - we will definitely be going there more often to do this! We both had water and our bill was only around $13. We would have spent more than that going to Chick-Fil-A! Ethan munched on some bread and really liked it, and he also tried drinking from a straw for the first time. He took to it right away! He got a bit wet, but he drinks from a straw great!
We stopped at Target on the way home and got Ethan a sippy cup that has a straw and also some more outlet covers and cabinet locks so we can get all the outlets/cabinets babyproofed. We got him ready for bed and discovered a poopy diaper - his 3rd for the day, lol! This never happens anymore!
Ethan also started turning the pages in his book tonight. Ryan was reading Goodnight Moon and Ethan is usually grabbing for the book or looking at the pictures, but he would actually turn to the next page!
Ethan woke up this morning right after I left for work - Ryan said he was standing up in the corner of his crib looking at the monitor and crying at it. Ryan rocked him back to sleep for a bit while he got ready, and then they met Grandpa so they could drop off the 6 at Mazda to get serviced (it's making a funny noise).
Ryan called me at work, he found Ethan's top right tooth coming in! This is his 4th tooth! No wonder he was so fussy yesterday! He seems much better this morning, and had a whole bowl of oatmeal and bananas for breakfast. He said there is a white sliver poking through. I can't wait to see it!
Mammaw came and picked Ethan up since Ryan didn't have a car, and hung out with her and Papaw for awhile. She tried to feed him some of the carrots I made yesterday, but he was not having it. I made them kind of a chunky/shredded consistency after they had been steamed, and she said he would spit them out after each bite. Hmmm. Maybe we'll try again? After lunch, they went to the Butler's when Keegan got home from school. She brought him home and gave him a bath and got him all lotioned up.
I got home from work about 8:30 and Ethan is always super ready to eat when I get home. He had taken a long nap this evening after his bath, so he hadn't had a bottle since around 3:30. When I sat down to nurse him, he kept trying to eat and pull off after sucking for just a second, so that new tooth must have really been hurting him. He hasn't really had any bad teething problems yet. We tried orajel but he still wouldn't eat, so we gave him some ibuprofen. He cuddled and played with us for about a half hour, and then he finally was able to eat. We watched a little of Dancing with the Stars, put him to bed, and then finished the show. There are some crazy celebrities on this year! And we were excited to see that Lacey Schwimmer from So You Think You Can Dance is one of the pro dancers this year! And Julianne is back! Mammaw was very excited when she saw Julianne back on the show :)
I came home last night from work to find a happy baby and a wonderful husband hard at work in the kitchen! We had our favorite flat iron steak with teriyaki glaze, garlic smashed red potatoes, and corn from Mammaw's kitchen. It was yummy! Ryan did lots of things outside around the house and even washed the 6. Looks like Saturdays are his day to conquer the household :)
Ethan woke up at 7:30 this morning and didn't want to go back to sleep, so he played for a bit in his crib and then Ryan got him and we played for a bit before getting ready for church. I even got a present for my birthday redo today - a pink Ped Egg :) - and very cute, sweet cards from Ryan and Ethan. Since last Sunday was so crazy, I get free reign on our plans today :) We were actually all ready and made it to church on time! Ethan had fallen asleep so we sat in the nursery for a bit until he woke up. His naps are always thrown off on Sundays because he doesn't really sleep during church, and it's right at his nap time. He was a little wiggle worm during church, he ate puffs, played with toys, drank water, and smiled at everyone around us.
We went to Costco after church (per usual!) and walked around for a bit. We went to Carter's to pick up a few things for Ethan, we needed to get some long sleeved undershirts for fall and they were on sale half off plus I had a coupon :) Then we went to Johnny Carino's for lunch for a free birthday appetizer and yummy tortellini.
After we got home, we tried to put Ethan down for several naps and he wasn't having it... a crying fest both times, and he would not settle down so he just stayed up. He pulled himself standing and broke the mobile in his crib, and the next time was standing up trying to get the baby monitor... so now they're both moved. We do have an extra mobile because the company we ordered from shipped us two, but I guess it won't be useful with him anymore! He's moving himself from a crawl to a sitting position regularly now. It is so fun to watch him swing around and sit up!! And he's amazed by the door stopper in the office! He kept playing with it, pushing the door closed and open, and crawling back from the door stopper to the door. We were cracking up :) During that process, he also reached above the door stopper towards the plug, so plug covers will be broken open today. Ethan and I were hanging out downstairs and he was being fussy, so Ryan came to the rescue. I was in the middle of making him some carrots when he conked out on Daddy's chest, so we'll save those for tomorrow :) He woke back up around 10:30 and we got his nighttime diaper and jammies on and nursed. He is so aware of where his food comes from! He was all finished nursing, but then kept doing chest dives for a few more drinks and then looking up and smiling at me and Ryan. It is hilarious!
I'm not quite sure what to do with Ethan's next stage of foods. Since he's doing great with the banana, I don't think we need to make more purees, or at least we can move past the Stage 1 foods. We'll have to check out the next step in our First Foods cookbook. I did just find out that there is a baby event at Whole Foods at Rookwood next Saturday, so I am very excited to go to it and get some ideas!! They are having make your own baby food demos, baby food taste testing, info on cloth diapering, giveaways, etc. It looks like someone from the La Leche League will also be there, so I want to get some information about attending meetings. Lebanon is also having their Apple Fest from 10-7 next Saturday, so I would like to go there too! And I think we are headed to Dad and Anne's for dinner that night to celebrate Dad, Brad, and my birthdays. Should be a fun day!
Ethan and I hung out this morning at home while Ryan went to school. I love days like this when we don't have anything in particular that we have to do, and we can just hang out at home. I got his mesh feeder out and he had almost an entire banana in it. He went to town on it and kept wanting more! He made a huge mess all over his hands and face, but he did really well and I could tell he thoroughly enjoyed it!! After breakfast, he took a 2 hour nap! After he woke up, I got him dressed and he played on the floor with his toys while I finished getting ready. Mammaw came over and we hung out for a little bit. She was sitting on the steps and Ethan crawled right over to her and he pulled himself standing on the first step. Looks like we will need to invest in a gate sooner than we thought! He is crawling all over downstairs, and he kept heading straight toward the fireplace tools. I took them to the dining room so we could move them to the basement, and when I came back less than a minute later, he was reaching to pull over the candles, so those are gone too. Baby safety is way more important than decor!! I think we'll spend Sunday afternoon doing more babyproofing. He is loving to crawl through any tight spaces he can fit himself into, and I want to get all the plugs downstairs covered with our new plug covers since the old ones stink! We went to Red Robin for lunch and Ethan ate some potato, and flirted with all the waitresses. He is seriously cheesing it up!
Ryan worked outside mowing the lawn and trimming the creek and around the yard, and I made breakfast for dinner. Ethan sat up in his highchair while I was cooking, and we worked on some more banana. I tried giving him some small cut up pieces, but they were pretty difficult for him to pickup since they got mushy in his fingers. So I just cut it up into pieces and fed him with a spoon, and he did great! He ate a whole banana again. This was really his first experience with a solid food other than puffs! He did great!
We went to Once Upon a Child to return the monkey costumes since they're too small - I'm on the watch for a 6-12 months monkey costume! We went on a good day - they had 12 and 18 months clothing Buy 3, Get 1 Free, plus I had a $5 off $25 coupon, so we got Ethan some 12 months clothing since we didn't have hardly anything for fall. We got some very nice, cute things!
We stopped at Coldstone on the way home for my free birthday ice cream (seriously... you must sign up for birthday emails!) and discovered a pleasant surprise! My favorite ice cream used to be their peanut butter ice cream (other than the seasonal pumpkin) and they got rid of it. I was so mad! Well, I walked in and they have Nutter Butter ice cream now! It tasted pretty similar, so I was very happy to get my fix :)
Ryan would also like to give a shoutout to Governor Strickland and President Bush for the unemployment extension :) This will give him some time to finish his networking certification over the next few weeks and then dive into the job search!
Ethan hung out with Mammaw and Papaw today and had lots of fun. Mammaw made some sweet potatoes for him and he's doing really good eating them with a thicker consistency. After Ryan finished at school, he picked Ethan up and they headed to Brad and Lindsay's. Brian came over too and they worked on getting some of the trees and limbs cut down that were damaged during the storm. We heard Uncle Brad's neighbor is being a huge pest about one of the trees and even came over in the middle of the storm griping about the tree - and got knocked over by the wind in the process! So hopefully his neighbor will be happier now :) Ethan had lots of fun hanging out with Aunt Lindsay and Shawn while the boys were outside. He even stood up with Uncle Brad and took a step forward! I stopped by after work and Ethan proceeded to start the "I want Mommy" whine when he saw me. Lindsay cooked yummy shredded beef sandwiches. Thanks so much for dinner! I changed Ethan into his ghost jammies before we headed home, and he fell asleep right after he nursed and slept all night!
It is very odd to drive around town and see gas stations open now but most have no gas. There are white/yellow bags over the pumps. I wonder how long it is going to take to get everything restored to normal? Thank goodness we actually got gas while there was still some available.
Ethan and I went to Mammaw's this afternoon to have another go 'round at sewing. Mammaw and Papaw went to get new thread, so we thought things would go smoothly! But, the thread is still breaking. It is so frustrating! Sheila even came over to help and it broke on her too, so I know it's not just me ;) We managed to get some done, but it was closing in on dinnertime so I needed to head home. We'll try again another day. We're going to break open the newer machine they got from Patty!
Ethan and I stopped by Kroger to pick up a few things for dinner. Ryan had gone to the Liberty-Fairfield Kroger and they were still closed, and Walmart was charging $4+ for a pound of ground beef, so we got some yummy ground turkey instead. We found these taco salad shells at Kroger the other day. They're in the refrigerated section with the tortillas:
We decided to have taco salad for dinner tonight and invited Mom, Jim, Brad, Lindsay, and Shawn over to join us since we got our power back and theirs is still out. The shells were so easy to make and I think dinner turned out pretty tasty! Very highly recommended - we will definitely buy them again.
I was completely a mess yesterday because I thought I was going to lose Ethan's milk. Mammaw and Papaw came over Monday while I was at work and picked up the milk and put it in their freezer - thank you so much! What a huge relief!! Both Ryan and I were low on gas and couldn't find a gas station open to fill up on Sunday night... I had enough to get me to work, but wasn't sure what I was going to do to get back home. I was trying to make phone calls to see where a gas station was open. Luckily, the hospital got power back around noon, and some of the businesses on Montgomery Road were restored too, including Shell and BP! So I was able to get gas there. Ryan managed to get gas at the BP on High Street in Hamilton, after waiting in a huge line, of course, but at least we both got full tanks. A very fun way to spend $140!!
Last night when I got home from work, Ryan and I packed up everything in the freezer and refrigerator to take to Mom and Jim's because their power came back on and we were trying to save what we could. Mammaw had also cooked dinner for the family, and it was also Papaw's 71st birthday. Happy Birthday! This year is a birthday that neither one of us will forget! After dinner, we put Ethan to sleep at Mammaw's and came home to pick up a few things to stay at their house.
This morning, we found out that Mom and Jim lost power again!! We're still not sure what is going on and they are still out of power. Fortunately Pete has a generator so they were able to store some of their things in his freezer. We went over there to pack up our food and were going to take it to Dad and Anne's since their power came back on last night, and decided to run by our house before heading out there. Coming closer to our house, we noticed the stoplights were on, and Walmart and some of the other stores looked open. We pulled onto our street and Ryan looked at me and pressed the garage door opener... and it opened!! Yay!! Our power came back on!! Everything was working except for the refrigerator in the garage, so Ryan just had to check the breakers and the ground fault plug to fix it. We got everything put back away, and saved most of the things. We threw out Ethan's baby food since it had thawed mostly out, so we will get to experiment with some new foods! It is time to move him to thicker things anyways. We managed to not have much damage, other than one shingle being blown off, our deck umbrella had a piece broken (but I think we can still use it), and the box on our deck we use to keep wood in got busted up and thrown around our neighbors yards. We feel very fortunate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those still without power and to those who have sustained injuries and/or damage.
We went to dinner tonight with Mom and Jim at Macaroni Grill. Thank you for treating! We had an awesome dinner, and a devine piece of chocolate cake for my birthday. We really need to go to Macaroni Grill more, it was so good!! Ethan had fun sitting up in the highchair, ripping paper off the table, and devouring sweet potato puffs. We stopped at Target afterwards and picked up some more puffs, we are going to try the banana puffs now!
I'm writing this morning from work... it is very odd! The hospital actually lost power too and is running on emergency generators. Only essential departments are functioning, and everything that's electrical will only work if plugged into the red emergency outlets. Most of the lights are off, no one can have catscans or xrays, all the surgeries have been cancelled, and I've heard that they may not admit any additional patients. It is extra fun trying to use the restroom in the dark :)
Yesterday after church, we went to meet everyone for lunch. We were pulling into Bridgewater Falls and Ethan was in his carseat babbling to himself and he actually said "Dada"! Ryan and I both looked at eachother like "did he really say that?" We definitely both heard it though! So awesome! It was very windy when we went inside. We were at the restaurant probably 10 minutes and the lights flickered and the power went off. Ryan went home to get Ethan some solids for lunch so he could heat it up in the microwave. Well, it turned out that all the power was out at Bridgewater Falls and the surrounding area, including our house and all the stop lights. So it took him forever to get back to the restaurant, and he did not open the freezer so we could keep everything cold. We had no idea what was coming! We figured the power would come back on, but it stayed off the whole time we were there. We were actually very lucky because their cooktops are gas so we were actually able to eat lunch! The food was very yummy, the service not so much, but everyone was quite out of sorts because of the electricity being out.
We went home and Ryan got some things situated and brought inside so they wouldn't blow over. Ethan and I were playing on the floor in the family room and he was turning and flipping and crawling all over... he actually turned himself from a crawl position to a sitting position which we have never seen him do before!! He sat on the Laugh and Learn puppy so he didn't get to a full sitting position, but if the puppy had not been there he would have been sitting up by himself :)
I called Babies R Us and they said their power had flickered but was on, so we decided to go to Cincinnati Mills for a bit. The drive there was a bit surreal, with no lights on anywhere. We saw so many tree limbs on the ground, and actually a lot of trees uprooted. At the mall, most of the stores were dark and closed, so maybe some of the bigger stores had generators. It was pretty weird walking around! We discovered that only a portion of the stores right around the mall were open. We also drove to Tri-County. The mall and the stores across the street and down to Costco seemed to have power, but nothing else. There was one gas station with a huge line, and police were directing traffic to only let cars in one entrance. We went to West Chester and everything was out at Union Center, at Tylersville/Cox, and all the surrounding areas. Target in West Chester was running on a generator and had very few lights, so we did go in and get a few essentials and some diapers for Ethan since we can't wash his cloth diapers with no power! Coming home, we noticed that the Foxborough subdivision and the little strip mall with Caribou Coffee across the street in West Chester actually had power, which was very odd because everything else around it was black. Any of the few restaurants that were actually open were jam packed, so we headed home to eat PB&J.
We lit candles when we got home and Ethan loved it! He was mesmerized by all the flickering on the walls. I took him upstairs and sat him in his crib while I went to clean his diaper, and when I came back he had pulled himself standing up - for the very first time!! Very exciting yet scary at the same time! When he stands it seems like he could easily flip out, so we knew we needed to lower the bed. Not so easy with no lights!! So we emptied the pack and play and put it in our bedroom so he could sleep in our room, because we also did not have enough AAA batteries to fill two of the baby monitors. I am very freaked about losing all his bottles that I have stored in the freezer. We did not open the refrigerator or freezer at all, and if the power doesn't come back on, we'll move them to Mammaw and Papaw's today. They called late last night and said that theirs came back on, but Mom's has not.
Ryan keeps telling me the milk will be okay but I have worked so hard to make all his bottles! One of the other nurses I'm working with today is also breastfeeding so we have been able to share our concerns with eachother today! We also had to find a new space to pump... we've converted one of the empty patient rooms to a storage room for the refrigerators and to plug in computers and vital signs machines, so we're pulling the curtain closed with a do not disturb sign. None of the bathrooms or our pump room have emergency outlets!
Grandpa had called Duke Energy, and the recording said over 500,000 people were without electricity and it may not be on until Wednesday. I heard this morning on the radio that over 700,000 were without electricity and it may be a week before it is restored.
Today is Mommy's 27th birthday! It is also Madison's 3rd birthday! Happy Birthday!!
We are getting ready to go to church this morning and then we are meeting the Branton family at Fuji's House for lunch. Should be yummy! We are looking forward to it. I told Ethan this morning that all I want is for him to say "Dada" for my birthday! We have been working hard at it. Ethan and Daddy got me two of these pretty clips for my Pandora bracelet, a joint anniversary-birthday gift :)
Ryan and Ethan hung out at home today while I managed to have a very easy day at work! I came home to find a sparkling clean house and dinner cooked and ready! Ryan worked so hard at home to clean everything and made one of our favorite meals, Anne's London Broil. I played with Ethan for a few minutes, nursed him, and then he went to sleep very easily after his bedtime story. Then we enjoyed dinner and a glass of wine - he had even chilled one of our favorites, the Apple Peach wine from The Apple Barn!
Ethan is getting into everything and crawling everywhere... Ryan set up different barricades and obstacles around the living room to keep Ethan from getting where he shouldn't go. I told Ryan I had seen some gates that you could spread out around a room, and he thought something like that would work well! So, we might have to cage our little one in... we will see. He automatically seems to go for the things that he should not be getting into!!
Yesterday after we looked at costumes, we stopped at Walmart so I could pick up some fabric to make Ethan some cloth wipes. Cloth diapers + cloth wipes = Makes things easier. Who wants to hunt for a trash can to toss out disposable wipes when we can just use cloth ones? Plus there will be less chemicals on Ethan's tush. We started our cloth diapering adventure last month, after tons of research and reading recommendations online. We decided to purchase a one-sized cloth diaper, meaning that it adjusts to grow with the baby! Ethan was 7 months old already, but we are so happy that we made this decision to do something better for him. Plus, it is so much more economical for the environment and for us money wise! I have read so many recommendations for Cotton Babies Bum Genius cloth diapers, so we started out with 12 of their Bum Genius 3.0 one size diapers. Check them out!!
So, I thought making cloth wipes would be easy-peasy, right? I tried last week I guess to cut up a receiving blanket with pinking shears, thinking that would keep the fabric together, but the edges just frayed in the wash and got little strings all over everything. So, I bought some cheap, cute monkey flannel and we headed to Mammaw's to get some lessons in sewing :) My first time! I cut out square-ish size cloth and we were going to sew two pieces together. We had some issues with the machine and the thread kept breaking, but I learned how to use the machine and how to thread it and even change the thread color and change the bobbin color too. We would have been flying through had the silly thread not kept breaking, it was driving us all crazy! Thanks to Aunt Sheila, Mom, and Mammaw for all their help and for giving me lessons! We managed to get all the wipes sewn together and flipped inside out, but it was nearly 9pm and Ethan was whining and ready for bed, so we headed home and will finish closing the tops of the wipes with a (semi) decorative stitch next week when I'm free. I think I did pretty good for a first timer. Now we just need to change out the Branton thread supply... there were too many spools from the Piece Goods store, which has not been around for quite some time!!
Ethan was pretty grumpy yesterday at naptimes, too... he would not take a morning nap for me or Ryan, but fell asleep the minute we got in the car. He fell asleep before we even reached Bypass 4. Then at Mammaw's, he was being Mr. Crankypants again and would not go to sleep for me or Mammaw. He finally conked out nursing, but woke up the minute I laid him back down and I couldn't get him back to sleep. Magically, when Papaw came and got him, he fell asleep cuddling with him and let him put him in the swing and he slept about 50 minutes. He just had the magic touch yesterday! He did fall asleep on the way home and napped for awhile after we got back, and then nursed and went right to sleep. The night went fine, so he just wanted to be part of the action yesterday!
We also did find a new costume for Ethan for Halloween today... we went to Once Upon a Child this morning because they put out their Halloween costumes today. They had a monkey costume from Baby Gap that is absolutely perfect, plus we will be able to use it as a snowsuit! They only had a 3-6 month size, but we got it anyways and it fits Ethan now (plus it was only $6.50!) I'm going to keep my eye out at other stores and ebay for a 6-12 month size so we can hopefully use it through winter for his snowsuit. It is very cute!! The one we got does not have feet, so hopefully I can find one that does :) OUAC will take returns for 7 days so I have a week to find the next size!
Ethan woke up this morning around 6 and nursed, and sometime between me going into his room and heading back to bed, the power must have went out/surged because when I went back into our bedroom, the ceiling light was on (it works by remote and triggers on when the power flicks back on) and the clocks were flashing. I must not have even noticed the power go off in my sleep deprived delirium. We stayed up too late last night because I was bound and determined to watch The Business of Being Born. I had put it off far too long, and had Ethan's birth story on my mind. There was a screening at the Mariemont Theater during the end of my pregnancy but for some reason I was not able to attend, and wish I had gone then. Although we took our Bradley course and did other research, I would have loved to see this before giving birth. I highly recommend watching it. I don't think I could ever be a L&D nurse because I'm sure I would get so aggravated by the push to induce labor, pushing Pit, and deciding to section the babies when labor doesn't progress quickly enough in the doctor's opinion. I am extremely thankful that we chose a midwife practice for our pregnancy and that they had our best interest in mind. Although Ethan's birth didn't go as we planned and I had to receive medications that I did not want, I was able to deliver him vaginally, and for that I am very thankful. If we had gone to a traditional OB/GYN, we probably would have been required to have an induction when my BP was high at 40 weeks. Instead, I had a group of loving, caring women who allowed me to verbalize my desires for birth, gave me time to rest, and gave my body the time for Ethan to come. I am still very emotional about the sequence of events that occurred during labor, but an OB most likely would have shipped me off to the OR for a C-section when I came into L&D with a slightly elevated BP and they couldn't keep Ethan's heart rate on the monitor (although they had this 'problem' the entire time because I had anterior placenta!!), or when my labor stalled when I was 7cm dilated (most likely due to being on bedrest during labor). I think God knew that I would be devastated if I couldn't birth him vaginally after all the time, care, and consideration we had put into preparing for birth. I loved our Bradley classes. I loved knowing what was supposed to happen and how to prepare physically/emotionally/mentally and to have a wonderful, caring, supportive husband by my side to help me get through it. I am so looking forward to the day when we have another child (a long time from now!) so that hopefully we will be able to put all we learned into action and have an unmedicated birth, if my body will let me do so. So, back to the business at hand, or rather, The Business of Being Born.
A synopsis:
Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business.
Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies.
The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.
Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?
The trailer:
Birth in this country has changed SO much over the last century. Just think about all the differences we hear from our grandparents about how they gave birth, what their doctors recommended for their babies, how breastfeeding was looked down upon and formula feeding was promoted... women's bodies were created by God to give birth and to provide nutrition for their babies! There were not epidurals, cesarean sections, or formula until more recent years. We have put a lot of thought and time trying to educate ourselves to be good parents, but I'm sure I have spent way more time looking at strollers, carseats, bedding, etc. There is so much information available out there for us, as parents, and it is our responsibility to do what is best for our children!
The other mom in our Bradley class went to a traditional OB/GYN for her first birth, and had a bad birth experience. She wanted a more natural approach to giving birth with her second child. After all, giving birth IS a natural process, although it is not treated that way in the medical world! Partially through her pregnancy, she decided to switch to a midwife and decided to do a home birth. I really admired her for choosing to do so, but didn't think I could. After what we went through, I would 100% be interested in doing a home birth with our second child. Some people may look at me like I'm crazy, but I would love to look into a home birth, or deliver at a birthing center (although I don't know that there are any in our area) vs a hospital. I feel like everything I did not want to happen happened, and it was like a domino effect, exactly what I had been 'warned' about. I know, I know, the most important thing is that we have a healthy baby boy. But I still think that things could have been done differently. The medication altered my perception of what was going on, although I kept trying to fight all the interventions the whole way through :) SO... watching the documentary was really an eye opener for me, and long story short, I think it is an excellent source of information and provides a great perspective on birth and the business it has unfortunately become.
If you're interested in watching the documentary, you can sign up for a free 2 week Netflix subscription and it can be watched right on your computer!!
I also want to say thanks to Heather, another mom I know from back during my wedding planning days on The Knot, for sharing her thoughts on this issue on her blog which reminded me to watch this awesome documentary!
This was originally intended to be a post about what happened in our lives today... obviously I got off track, but feel so much better sharing about this! More to come on today later :)
Happy Thursday! Ryan and Ethan got up this morning and cuddled and played, and then Ethan went to Mammaw and Papaw's. She was watching Keegan while his mom and dad were out of town, so they went to his house this afternoon to get him off the school bus. I went to pick him up after work, and found him asleep snuggled up against Mammaw sitting out on the covered patio enjoying the nice breeze :) We sat and chatted while he napped. He was super talkative after he woke up! We went inside and he crawled around. I had his carseat on the floor, and he was mesmerized with it... twisting it, playing with the buckles, turning it sideways... it is so funny that most of the toys he has, he likes to lift the whole toy up, turn it upside down and every which way versus playing with the buttons so much. He's a little weightlifter :)
Ryan made his Italian chicken for dinner (yum!) and Ethan devoured some puffs and 3 cubes of avocado. He started blowing raspberries during his dinner so we had to do a little reprimanding, and he straightened up and ate it all. How do you try to correct a baby? I'm sure it's confusing to him that we think it's cute any other time he blows raspberries. I guess we're lucky since he's pretty good when eating most of the time.
Ryan borrowed Brad's Rock Band for 360 and we were trying the drums tonight... Ethan was in the jumperoo and he was seriously getting air as he jumped. He was super happy and cracking us up!! When Ryan was playing, I was laying on the floor playing with Ethan and he pulled himself up to a standing position. Go, buddy, go!
We hung out at home yesterday and worked on some things around the house. We were sitting in the office and Ethan discovered the door stopper and figured out how to play with it and make the spring go "boing!" I tried to close the door so he could have easy access to it, but he wanted no part of that... he got mad at me, but was happy after I pushed the door back against it. Go figure :)
I got my free birthday burger coupon for Red Robin, so we met Donald, Franni, and Ethan there for dinner. Ethan² had fun sitting up in high chairs next to eachother. I was trying for a photo op, and our little monkey snagged Ethan F.'s coloring sheet. We need to work on his sharing skills :) After we were finished, our waitress Rachel brought the boys balloons. (She also recognizes us every time we go to Red Robin and remembers Ethan! It is funny, every time we go there - which isn't too often - she comes up to us right away and says how big he is getting, etc. She's a really good waitress!) So anyways, this was Ethan's first experience with a balloon and he loved it! I tied it to the highchair, and he kept pulling the string so the balloon would come close him. It was very cute :)
I still am a bit germaphobic about these high chairs and carts... Franni said she had a cover that we can use. Yay!
Okay, so I am full of giggles tonight... I am 100% pro-breastfeeding, but this is a little much :) If you are drinking anything, you might want to swallow before looking at this picture... if I had been drinking something, I definitely would have spit it out! Ryan and I are cracking up.
So, you might notice there was no talk of the Bungles game from Sunday. Our day was full so we did not get to watch the game, but Ryan checked in to get updates. It sounds like we did not miss much. I just saw this posted on The Nest, and we got a kick out of it (unfortunately) :(
NEW TORNADO POLICY for Cincinnati and nearby areas:
In case of possible tornadoes sweeping through Cincinnati and nearby areas, we ask that all residents take shelter at the Paul Brown Stadium.
We are certain that a touchdown will not occur there.
Thank you for your cooperation, National Weather Bureau
We had a family day at home today. Ryan got Ethan up this morning and brought him to me in bed to nurse and cuddle. We did some updates on the blog (make sure to check out the updated posts from the weekend!), did some cleaning, and Ethan tried out two new foods! We broke out the Gerber Sweet Potato Puffs for the first time! I broke them in half and Ethan took to them like a pro - he's obviously learned lots from watching us eat! He hasn't mastered the pincer grasp yet, but he managed to pick them up with his fingers/handgrasp just fine and put them straight into his mouth and suck on them. It was very funny to watch! He also had zucchini for lunch for the first time. It was pretty runny when it defrosted so we mixed it with his Happy Bellies Oatmeal and he ate every bite! He kept opening his mouth really wide, which is something new. We have noticed that when we start getting his food ready and have the microwave running to defrost the cubes, Ethan's eyes are locked on the microwave and every little move we make until we start giving him a bite!
Donald, Franni, and Ethan came over tonight and Franni made us a fabulous dinner. Thank you!! We were sitting at the table and our Ethan was zoning out, and we noticed his eyes getting droopy... they would close and open, close and open, and finally he dozed off so Ryan took him upstairs for a nap. After he woke up, Ethan² had fun playing together, and they actually stole eachother's binkies :) I was nursing our Ethan, and Ethan F. swiped the binkie from the arm of the couch and then stuck it in his mouth, so we hid that one. Well then, they were playing on the floor and Ethan F. had his navy binkie in his mouth... well our little man reached right up and pulled it out! Franni and I were cracking up. Ethan showed off his new crawling skills and Franni informed us that there are actually 9 different types of crawling. We were reading a little about them here tonight after Ethan went to bed, it is funny to think about all the different things he has done that we wouldn't really classify as crawling! Our little man is definitely a belly crawler right now.
Ryan's been working on making a media server and file sharing between our computers, and he opened up some of our videos from the camcorder... it made me teary eyed! It is crazy to think how much Ethan has grown. I had a lot of trouble uploading pics and videos to the old site, so hopefully we will be able to share more - because we have a ton! Here's a video of our little guy the day we came home from the hospital... so little!
Ethan went to Mammaw's today while I had a 12 hour shift and Ryan went to class. He is a big splasher when he takes baths, so we have resorted to putting him in the blow up duckie tub at home vs the kitchen sink because he makes such a mess, but Mammaw loves giving him baths in the sink and says she doesn't mind getting wet :) So he had a really good bath and played in the sink and splashed all over for her! He took a great nap... we had to take out the insert in the pack and play because when he wakes up it's too high and he could get out, so this was his first nap since we lowered it and he did fine! He was playing in the exersaucer after he woke up and Mammaw said he looked up and said "Pop-pop!" several times! So, now we're trying to figure out if he's saying baba, pop-pop, or both since they are similar :)
Ryan picked up Ethan after class and they went home to play. Ethan has decided to do his crawl all over, and was trying to get into every little area that he really shouldn't be getting into. We have a very lovely display of a firescreen, tools, and candles in front of our fireplace that will obviously need to be retired to the basement for now... when I came home, there was a blockade of a carseat and ottoman in front it all, and a big stack of pillows in between the chair and armoire because Ethan managed to sneak through that little space and back by the wall where the subwoofer is. Boy, we are in for it now!
Welcome to our new family blog! We are going to be working on transitioning our old posts and photos to this site. Make sure to update our new site to your favorites!
http://www.thegabbardchronicles.blogspot.com
We'll be under construction for a few days getting the new site figured out. We have lots of updates to write about from over the weekend! Ethan had his first trip to the aquarium, decided to start crawling on Friday (he looks like an inchworm, or maybe even similar to Michael Phelps doing a breaststroke!), got to visit all of his grandparents for Grandparent's Day, and started saying "baba" on Sunday. Until we get the past few days updated, enjoy taking a peek at our new family pictures taken by the fabulous Patrick Banfield!
We got up this morning, packed up for our day, and headed to church. Morning service is prime time for Ethan's naps, but he's usually happy, stays awake, looks around and listens to the music and teaching. This morning, not so much. I took him to the Mother's Comfort room for most of the preaching, but he still wouldn't settle down... we tried rocking, crawling, playing... and he still kept fussing. Finally, he curled up with me on the couch and dozed off just as service was finishing. We hung out for a few minutes so I could make sure he was asleep and then headed out to find the rest of the family. He peeked his eyes open to see everyone and then went right back to sleep. We visited with Grandma and Grandpa for a few minutes and gave them their grandparents day card, and then headed over to Costco to pick up prints at the photolab (who's printers had been down - fun!) and ate a bite for lunch. We were literally out the door and the photo guy was calling our name because one of our orders had just printed. We went next door to Target to kill time and walk around while we were waiting for the rest of the order (which we ended up getting for free! The photo guy was super nice and said no charge since we had to come back!)
We picked up a pack of safety gadgets at Target with cabinet latches and new plug protectors since the ones we have really stink. Since Ethan's on the move now, we've got to get some babyproofing done! We also got Ethan a pair of soft sole shoes since they were on sale... they are like Robeez, but a more reasonable option at Target. They are brown and have a giraffe on them and are so cute! Still a bit big right now, but should be perfect for fall! I've read great reviews about them and Robeez. We also have a navy pair with monkeys that we picked up over the summer at Little Sprouts Boutique.
Ethan's cousin Alexus turned two on Friday, and Karenetta and Gary just got back from Tennessee today so we went to their house later this afternoon for her birthday party. Ethan had lots of fun hanging out with everyone, and especially loved the shiny happy birthday banner and kept wanting to grab it! We got to visit with Mammaw and Papaw and give them their pics and card also. Then we went to visit with Nana at her house too, and she really loved Ethan's new pictures!
We stopped Kmart to return a Twister game that Ryan had picked up... it was in Spanish! How random! We thought it might be just a coincidence, but I walked through the games when I walked in and there were actually quite a few different Spanish games, but they were all mixed in with the regular versions. Something about this is not quite right in my book, but that's a whole other story. I ended up with a major score because guys that are cashiers at Kmart just are pretty clueless... for just over $10, I got two gallons of milk (it did not ring up with a price, so the cashier looked at the man ringing up next to him and said "How much is milk? It can't be more than a $1.50 or something, you know, it's just milk!" and the 40-something guy next to him responded "Yeah, it's like $1.50 or $1.29, something like that", and he proceeded to ring up my milk for $1.49. So I went and got another one!), I got Ethan a jean jacket and pair of jeans for $2 each, a canister of Sweet Potato puffs for Ethan to try as a finger food, and a 10-pack of Avent VIA container lids that fit Ethan's bottles (they were randomly sitting on the shelf of bottles - I have never seen these lids even in a store - and of course, they didn't ring up with a price either... same cashier didn't even look up, mumbled to himself, and typed in $1.15). So that was quite a bargain :) We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa G's to give them their card and pictures too and Ethan had a fun scooting around and had lots of belly laughs! He also started saying "Baba" today! He was pooped by the time our day was over and went right to sleep when we got home.
I had a (grueling) 12 hour shift today, so Ryan and Ethan had boy bonding time today. I asked Ryan to give me an update on what went on today... "It's the same thing we do every day - conquer the world!"
In all seriousness, here's what went on today...
After a long morning nap and pears for breakfast, Ryan and Ethan went to Grandma Joy-Joy's to get a haircut. Obviously it was for Ryan, not Ethan, who is just now starting to finally get some hair filled in :) Ethan showed off his new crawling skills to Grandma and Grandpa, took a 2 hour nap, munched on some red potatoes, and shared his new pics. They left and made a pitstop at home to pickup a bottle and some yellow squash for dinner, and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa G's. Ethan had 2 cubes of yellow squash but definitely wanted more... he scarfed them down and was holding out his hands for more! He crawled for Grandma and Grandpa and had fun dancing with Grandpa, too. Ethan dozed off on Daddy's chest after they got home and were waiting for me... crazy busy day today with some heavy-duty rehab patients... way too physical!
I checked in on The Nest this morning and saw that some of the other moms were meeting up at the Newport Aquarium with their kids, so I decided to take Ethan for a playdate. Perfect day for the aquarium because it was gray and rainy all day! We got ready and dropped Ryan off at school, and then headed down to Newport. We met up with Melissa and Jackson, Catrina and Aleck, Sarah and Lucas, and Alison and Niko. All boys! Ethan had so much fun looking at all the fish, checking out the scuba diver, crawling around with the frogs and listening to frog noises, and hanging out with his friends. He had met Jackson and Aleck before when we went to storytime at the Blue Manatee. Lucas is the same age as Ethan and has so much hair! He has even had his first haircut already - Ethan is so jealous! It was less than the cost of 2 visits to buy a pass for a whole year, so I went ahead and got a pass for me, and Ethan is free until he is two. We'll get a pass for Ryan the next time that we go!
After we left the aquarium, we still had some time before we had to pickup Daddy, so Ethan and I went to Kenwood Mall to walk around. We scored at Baby Gap... a few months ago we saw long sleeve onesies with your zodiac sign and info on it, but they didn't have them out yet. Well, Mommy found just one in the clearance rack and it was Ethan's sign and size! It is chocolate brown and very cute. And it was less than $4! We also stopped in Gymboree to check out their monkey things, and found a monkey jacket - we could use it for a Halloween costume and also use it as a light everyday jacket. They had a pair of brown pants with a little monkey in the pocket, or we could wear it with khakis...
Or there is the monkey costume from Old Navy, which is super cute, but we would probably only wear it once. So one of these will most likely be Ethan's Halloween costume!
We went to pickup Daddy from school, picked up some of Ethan's pics from Costco, and stopped at Whole Foods to see if we could find Ethan some kind of organic "puffs" so we can start on finger foods. We didn't have much luck, but did find out that they have beer and wine tastings paired with different foods on Tuesdays and Fridays for only $5. We will probably be heading back soon to check it out! Ryan is very excited to check out the Oktoberfest night!
We went to Grandma Gabbard's to hang out, eat dinner, and share Ethan's pics with her. We were having a good time talking and all of a sudden, Ethan started to crawl across the floor! We were blown away... he had been doing a little army crawl, but he took off all the way across her living room going after a water bottle (his favorite!) He's not quite up on his hands and knees crawling, but he puts his arms in front of him, pulls forward, then pushes with his legs... I think he looks like he's doing a breaststroke... or like an inchworm! Watch out... we've got some babyproofing to do :)
Welcome to the world of the Gabbard family! Check in with us to see what new adventures we are getting into as best friends and parents. Ryan and I met at our high school job working at Thriftway (of all places!), and started dating August 21, 1999. We gave our vows to one another 4 years later on August 23, 2003 when we became husband and wife. Enjoying life together as a couple was so wonderful, but we couldn't have imagined how parenthood could make us feel. We welcomed our precious baby boy, Ethan Christopher, to the world January 3, 2008. Ryan is finishing up his program at Techskills and is a Remote Computer Technician for GE and full-time Daddy. Miranda is a Registered Nurse and full-time Mommy. Ethan is a wonderful, happy little boy, and (parent-induced) lover of monkeys. We are enjoying life together as a family!
