Ethan is 10 Months Old

My little peanut turned 10 months old this past week! 

WOW...It is hard for me to believe...

Yikes…This means I need to start planning his first birthday bash!

I thought this day would never come!

"Slow down life!"

Words to describe Ethan at 10 months include:  

Clever, quick, pleasant, hilarious, fun!

He is simply a fascinating little creature to me!

Ethan loves to crawl…

I must note that he is really fast on all fours...really fast! 

He is standing up all the time now…

He can walk if I hold his hands…

Nate has caught him letting go of furniture

and standing on his own a couple of times…

I have yet to see this!

Ethan is getting good at knowing his limits…which is so nice to see…

This has resulted in less falling and face planting!

Ethan has mastered the stairs…well going up anyhow…

I am trying to teach him how to go down…

but he isn’t being the finest student.

We will continue to work on this!

We now rely on baby gates in our home…

Props to the person who invented baby gates.

Oh but the gate has taken the paint off my wall...

Small sacrifice for safety of course!

Scary story…

Last week I didn’t realize the baby gate was down

and Ethan climbed the stairs by himself with no one watching.

The little stinker didn’t make noise until he reached the top…

When I heard my baby from upstairs my heart obviously dropped

as my mommy reflexes kicked in…

I was up the stairs and to him in a second flat!

When I got to him he had the proudest smile on…

Even though my heart was racing I was proud of him too!

More proud that he was in one piece that’s for sure…

Without a doubt Ethan’s favorite activity right now is...

Climbing Stairs!

Anytime he sees that the gate is down

he eagerly races  to the stairs and starts climbing…

If I would let him play on the stairs all day I am sure he would…

Recently we have regularly been playing a game...

 The game begins by Ethan climbing the stairs…

Once at the top, Ethan crawls back and forth in the upstairs hallway

as Nathan or I hide in the staircase to pop out at Ethan as he passes by…

It is obvious that Ethan anticipates us popping out

 because he slows his crawl to a dead halt

 just before he approaches the stairs…

Then he stretches his head to see us

with a big nervous grin on his face…

Once we pop out of the staircase,

he bolt away while happily shrieking and laughing.

We have played this game over and over…and over.!

Truthfully I thoroughly enjoy this  game also because

I get to hear Ethan's pure sweet entertaining laugh.

I can never get enough of hearing Ethan laugh!

It is hilarious and very entertaining!

Over the past couple of weeks I have introduced

Ethan to a lot of new foods including...

 Yogurt, egg yokes, beef stew, cheese, BBQ and Arrowroot cookies…

Feeding is so much easier now because Ethan is
able to eat solid food as long as I break it up into small
bite size pieces...Ethan loves to feed himself...It is great!

Even though he is still toothless he is doing really good

at chewing his food…He must have some mean gums!

Ethan is now a pro at taking naps and he sleeps well at night…
this makes life easier for mommy.

Ethan sleeps in his crib now.
I started the transition to the crib about a month ago since
I was nervous about him rolling or crawling off my bed at night.

The transition to his crib was easy and painless...

I do miss co sleeping with him but I think

we are both getting better sleeps now so I am OK with it...
and safety first, right?

Everyday I am amazed at how quickly Ethan is growing...
sometimes it makes me sad,
but most of the time it brings me so much joy!
Hmmmm...I wonder what month 11 will bring!!!!
Will Ethan be walking I wonder!

Ethan Loves Bath Time

One of my most beloved times with Ethan is bath time.

There is something so satisfying about washing and scrubbing

the snippets of the day off of my little man  

and exposing his perfect, sparkly pure skin.

Nothing warms my heart more or satisfies my senses

better then the smell of a fresh, clean baby…

The perfect word to describe this feeling is...

Delicious!

Ethan just loves his baths…

He loves the water, he loves to splash,

he loves to push anything and everything possible

that may be located on the side of the tub to the ground…

Then he loves to lean over the tub and try to retrieve these items…

He loves to reach and touch the faucets…

He is amazed when I turn the water on. 

Let me tell you bath time to Ethan is a cool adventure.

I love bath time because it is so dear to see my little guy having fun,

 but I have to admit that I slightly enjoy post bath time even better.

Ever since Ethan was born I try to do a

baby massage if time permits after his baths.

I use  lavender scented Aveeno or Johnson's baby lotions

(right now I am using the pink bottle of Johnson's lotion...so yummy).

After the baby massage it is cuddly pajama (aka pi- jay- jay) time,

just nicely out of the dryer is a bonus!

Usually by this time Ethan is very cuddly because

he is worn out from our busy day…

This is the most precious time for me because I get to…

Cuddle and sniff my baby for a bit then feed and sniff my baby some more.

I absolutely yearn for this time together.

Babies after bath time are so delicious!

During bath time yesterday

Aunty Shayna came over just as Ethan was getting in the bath!

Just out of the bath and ready for a massage

LOOKING BACK AT BATH TIME



First bath...about 12 hours after delivery




About 2 weeks old...Ethan likes to turn the fountain on in the tub!



One month old

 

 

Ethan having a bubble bath at Pops & Grandma Bolands



Today I Remember The Sacrifice Of Our Savior



http://lds.org/pages/his-sacred-name-an-easter-declaration?lang=eng

Easter Fun With Our Friends

Today Suzzette hosted a play date at her house in St Thomas.  

Everything Easter was the theme of the day!
Suzzette's house was decorated all fancy for Easter...

Ethan's favorite was the bunny window sticker (see picture below)...

I really liked the Easter Tree!

I don't have any Easter decorations yet...maybe I will pick some up,

I also need to get Ethan an Easter basket...hmmm he's too young for chocolate...

but maybe I can fill it with a couple toys!

It is always so tender to watch the babies play and interact with each other.

We enjoyed chatting, eating and decorating Easter Eggs!

Some of the Mommies brought bunny ears and plastic eggs...
the babies loved them!
Truthfully I think the Mommies loved the bunny ears more
because it allowed for some cool Easter photos!

I have decided to make it a family tradition to decorate Easter Eggs...
Such a fun activity for kids!

Some pictures below of our fun day!

Devyn & Ethan
(Ethan loves Devyn's hair...he kept going for it...
I couldn't take my eye off him...Poor Devyn)

Levi with some cute bunny ears!

The Easter Bunny came for a visit...What a cute window sticker!

Ethan thought the bunny was pretty special!

The Easter Tree!

Ethan's first experience with a Nuby Nibbler
He LOVED it!

Ethan is eating a strawberry...this invention is genius!
Off to the store I go to get one!

Having fun with our friends

Levi & Mommy

Ethan shut it down for a bit before we decorated Easter Eggs

A quick picture with his egg post decorating...
Good thing this egg is hard boiled...
because Ethan was not very gentle





Our finished egg...Ethan was frustrated that he couldn't hold it himself
It was still a little wet!

The cell phone distracts him every time
Why do babies love cell phones so much?

Ethan's first Easter Egg

"Wasting Time"

This morning I was tired…

Ethan woke up a couple times last night and

I was still tired from staying up way past my
bedtime this past weekend.

So when Ethan was ready to start the day…

I was defiantly not.

I figured I could sneak a couple more minutes of peace

by bringing my baby to bed to feed him…

It was a nice little snooze time but way too short…

Now that Ethan is older when he is ready for the morning
there is no stopping him…

He is a mover and a shaker so between his loud cute voice
and busy little body, I lose to him every time.

Secretly as I arose from bed I was already anxiously awaiting

Ethan's nap time so I could continue my little slumber.

We retreated downstairs after changing a poop filled diaper 

to eat and play and let daddy sleep (he works nights).

 Just my luck between being exhausted and feeling a
cold coming on, Ethan was "Mr Needy" all morning…

He refused to eat more then a couple bites of his breakfast,

and when I was holding him he wanted down

and when I put him down he complained that he wanted up. 

 On top of that it rained last night and the ground was muddy

so letting the dogs out for a pee turned into a big chore... 

Yup wiping there paws clean upon entry back into the house.

Did I mention I am tired today…

Later I tried to hang a blind up in my kitchen

while Ethan crawled around on the floor.

Truthfully I find tasks like this very tedious and frustrating
at the best of times, but the anticipation of a new window
treatment made me persevere.

Oh did I mention I was really tired...

 and it didn’t help that I had a 9 month old
competing for my attention…

Why does it seem like when I just need a few minutes
to get something done, Ethan becomes painfully needy
and I feel painfully guilty.

So after what seemed like forever I got the brackets 
screwed into the wall  and I was ready to attach the
bamboo blind…This is when it became quite obvious
that my measurements were a little off…

Yup holes to patch up and all that work for nothing.

Luckily by this time it was close to nap time so 
Ethan and I quickly retreated to the bedroom before I lost it.

I brought Ethan into my bed to feed him asleep

and I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke to a sleeping baby and husband,
I just laid there thinking for a bit about everything
I need to do today…

Soon Ethan then Nathan woke up. 

We ended up staying in bed for some time...it was nice...

The  time consisted of talking, feeding Ethan again,
playing & watching Ethan,

laughing, and of course kissing Ethan a bunch…

We basically did nothing for a bit.

Truthfully I was hiding from all of the things I needed to get done.

At one point I felt guilty and said to Nate…

”You know it is getting late…we should probably get up eh?” 

I found myself thinking of all the “productive” things we could be
doing like attempting to hang that dang kitchen blind again,

cleaning and organizing our messy computer room,

getting a start on redoing our bathroom...

(we have only been talking about doing this since last summer),

dusting, cleaning out the fridge, vacuuming,

taking our stir crazy dogs for a walk,

crushing the hot peppers I dehydrated, scrubbing the bathtubs…

I could go on and on and on...

This is when Nathan said to me “isn’t this so nice…

you know it is OK to just do nothing once and a while…
Just enjoy it Hun.” 

This comment got me thinking…

Why is it that I often assume that “doing nothing” is a bad thing…

Could it be that...
The time I enjoy wasting is in fact
not wasted time at all. 

It’s not often that most of us just sit quietly,
and allow the world to pass us by.

Really when I think about it what is so important
that it can’t wait until later?

What email must be answered right this moment?

Do we really need to hang a blind today or make that phone call,

or get my run in, or clean the kitchen,
or put everything in it’s perfect spot.

Do we really need to have the television on
 or frequent the Internet daily?

Could it be that while we are so busy making our 
"perfect life"  that we are allowing it to pass us by. 

How can we enjoy the beauty in things

if we are constantly keeping our minds super-busy?

Are we missing out on the beautiful world around us 

if we are constantly thinking about the future...
what we need to do,

our anxieties about what might happen...
and the past...what we did wrong,

what someone else did to us, what we wish we said,
what should have happened?

My new goal is to take pleasure in the present
and savor every minute!

When was the last time you just sat, and enjoyed
doing “nothing”…why not try it today!

A Windy Walk in Springbank Park

Today I met some other Mommies at Springbank Park for a stroller walk.

The sun was out but it was very windy and quite cold...

I dressed Ethan up really warm...he looked so cute!

He couldn't really move but he was warm!

A couple of the moms had one of those plastic wind/rain covers...

Genius...Note to self....pick one up!

While on our walk we came across a raccoon that was really close to the trail...

I thought it was dead because it wasn't moving...

It was a nice size raccoon...Upon closer look I noticed it was breathing...

It then looked at me...but something was not right...
The racoons movements and behaviours were strange.

The animal would not run away...even with all the people and noise...
I kept watching and then it started to freak me out.

Upon closer look I noticed the racoon foaming at the mouth and showing teeth...
Needless to say we got the heck out of there.

I called the Health Unit...who called animal control

I think it had rabies....yikes! Not cool!

Poor raccoon...It made me sad!

  

Ethan is in there somewhere (lol)






Noah & Ethan

Devyn & Levi





I snapped a picture before I got freaked out!





Random Thoughts



What a good idea...you can gift cupcakes by putting them in
clear plastic cups and covering with clear wrap and fancy ribbon...
Genius! 




I love this look...very retro...
Love, Love this wallpaper!
It would look amazing as a accent wall in one of my bedrooms!





I saved this picture to my computer a little while ago...came across it today!
Reminds me of family road trips when I was younger.
I love the story it tells...a picture full of memories!
It makes me super excited for our road trip out East this summer!

 


I want to put window boxes on my front windows this year!
So beautiful!




Absolutly in love with porch swings..."sigh"one day!



Emma

Emma is our niece...

She is also our babysitter, photographer and friend. 

Yesterday Emma came over after school to babysit Ethan 

while Nathan and I went on a date.

Ethan adores Emma...and just loves it when she makes funny sounds...

(Emma can make some crazy sounding noises)...

She gets Ethan laughing pretty good...it is quite entertaining!

Nathan and I enjoyed dinner at Relish in Wortly Village 

(it was Nathan's first time there & he loved it!)

then we did dessert and conversation at Starbucks...

It is always nice to have a little time alone here and there...

 It makes it even better when we have trusted family members

to leave Ethan with...We are very lucky!

When Ethan is with Emma I feel calm & I know he is in good hands!

This makes going out that much more enjoyable.

Nate & I have been blessed with amazing family members

that love to be with Ethan and  help us out whenever there is a need...

We are very grateful to have such beautiful people in Ethan's life and in ours!

Below are some shots Emma took of Ethan in our backyard while we were out...

Alison ( Emma's mom) and Nathan's sister came over for a bit and

held Ethan while Emma got some amazing shots!

I can always count on Emma to get cool pictures of Ethan...

She has got the eye for photography and is very talented!

I absolutely loved how Emma used the light in these pictures...beautiful!





Below is one of my most favorite picture of Ethan that Emma took last fall....

Nathan and I were out for a walk with the dogs and

randomly met up with Emma and her family...

Emma had her camera on her and took some shots of Ethan ...

My plan is to get this picture blown up, framed and onto my bedroom wall!



LOVE