Our visit to VA...

We spent the weekend visiting Lisa, Mark, & Harrison...the time always goes by soo fast. The celebration was of Harrison's Baptism. Jimmy & I are proud to be Harrison's Godparents! Ethan loves to have someone around that is closer to his own size...we are looking forward to many more visits together!

Piano Man...

Ethan loves music...Grandmom spoiled him with his first piano...for some reason he usually likes to play it with his feet...he really is part monkey!

Mommy's little helper...

Ethan tried to help with switching the laundry today...however, there were a few pieces he wanted to "hang dry" so that they would not shrink ;-)

"Ferberizing..."

Many of you parents out there may be familiar with this technique of getting your little one to sleep...I am however not sold... I do admit that this summer we got completely off schedule with sleep habits...with traveling, vacationing, and having a house built next to ours the sleeping environments have not been ideal for night nor day time naps...so with "back to school" here we are trying desperately to get our schedule back! Ethan was sleeping for a solid 7 hours at 5 months now we are back to 3-4 hour intervals and then ending up co-sleeping because FERBERIZING is NOT working! After 1 1/2 to 2 hours of constant crying I usually give in as my heart is in shreds as well as Ethan has lost his little voice...this afternoon I was quite relieved to hear the crying cease at 1hour 15 minutes...then I checked to see what really happened and he must have face planted while sitting due to shear sleep deprivation...so I had no choice but to straighten him out only to be back at square one with the crying! Yikes...hopefully once these teeth are all in sleeping will come more naturally...I'm not sure how much more sleepless days & nights I can take!

9 Month Stats...

It is that time again...Ethan had his 9 month follow up...he continues to grow like a weed...his height is 29 1/2 inches (75th-90th percentile), weight 20lbs. 12oz. (50th percentile)! So this is the reason he is getting hard to cart around! His personality is budding each day...he can always put a smile on my face & heart! He continues to explore the house...whether with permission or not...he is getting into everything...he has no fear...this is not a good thing! This girl has her work cut out for her...Ethan is all boy!

A quick recap of Ethan's abilities at this stage...he can crawl with no hesitation, on level surfaces, over people & obstacles and up stairs; he is independently cruising from surface to surface; can walk short distances with only one hand support and longer distances with two hand support. Ethan can play patty-cake, peek-a-boo, and say "mama", "dada", and "baba"--bottle; he also can wave on occasions and loves to give people wet razz berries...he is great at giving out hugs too & reaching for "up"! Ethan would prefer to feed himself and mommy is doing her best to give up the control; he does now have 5 chompers to use and a 6th about to surface!

Daddy is one of Ethan's best role models...and let me tell you...monkey see, monkey do...Ethan now crawls under his exersaucer after seeing daddy do it the other night...fortunately for Ethan daddy was able to get out of it after he got stuck in it!

Peek-a-boo...

Ethan's new find is "hiding" under the kitchen table...

Happy Birthday...

We celebrated Gram's 92nd b-day & Ethan is officially 9 months old!

Fins...

Jimmy is having tons of fun with creating little Ethan sharks during bathtime...

"To Do" list...check...

Jimmy & Grandpop were busy with one of the many projects on our "to do" list that is ever growing...the mud room now has beautiful crown molding...this was the "practice" room, one room down 12 to go!

Happy Feet...

Ethan is cruising and it is time to protect those precious little piggies outdoors... I of course am notorious for buying discount/fashion shoes and then complaining about how sore my feet are (hey they were a bargain though!!)...From a professional stand point I am always on top of people about the importance of proper footwear; for running shoes I have no problem justifying good shoes for myself; it is those trendy shoes that I fall in love with that have NO support & are a good deal! ...so I am practicing what I preach and have purchased Ethan his first real big boy shoes...good sneakers! Grandpa Charlie would even approve as it DOES meet the shoe price requirement of $30 or less (thank goodness for outlets!)...growing up this was a HUGE issue as I am sure Auntie Tiff & Gramzie Ladybug are getting a chuckle!! Ethan's true test of a good shoe is how it tastes...stay tuned for more photos...I need to remember to snap a shot before I dive to get the shoe away from him!

Happily Ever After...

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this past weekend! (In June we hit the 12 year mark of being together!!) Boy does the time fly by! We are happy to share our holiday anniversary weekend with Anthony & Tricia! Their wedding was beautiful and a good time to catch up with high school friends...unfortunately I was not good at taking photos!! As always it was nice to share time with my bestfriend & amazing husband...we spent our actual anniversary working on the house and enjoying our hobbies of shopping (me) and golfing (jimmy)...we plan on having dinner at The Desmond where we had our reception...when we get a free minute ;-)