Campquest 2008

WARNING: Way too many pictures of Ethan and his best-bud Peyton!

This past weekend was our big church camping trip. I LOVE Campquest! We've stayed in a cabin with friends the past three years. This year we were with the Thibodeaux's and Shad and Logan.
We drove up to Branson Friday afternoon - it was NOT a good trip. Ethan was fussy the whole way. It was his awake/playtime and did NOT want to be strapped down in the carseat. So needless to say, we were very happy to get there. After a bath and dinner, Ethan went right to sleep and slept all night, as did Peyton.
Saturday was a PERFECT day. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we played outside almost all day. We took lots of walks and just hung out. And then, Saturday night rolls around. Ethan went to bed fine, but woke up coughing around 10:30. He coughed so hard that he threw up! Yuk! (He's been coughing a lot in the past month, but not to the point of puking.) So we got him all cleaned up, but he would not sleep the rest of the night. We were so worried about waking up everyone else in the cabin, that we ended up just letting Ethan sleep in bed with us, which we've never done before. I was so nervous (afraid I might roll over on him, or he may puke again) that I didn't sleep the whole night.
When the sun FINALLY came up, we got up and headed to breakfast and church. Ethan was fussy and you could tell he wasn't feeling good, so we ended up leaving early. Ethan slept the whole way home (yea!). He woke up about a 1/2 mile from our house, coughed, and puked all over himself. At least he waited until we were almost home!
So, that was our weekend. Despite the puke and lack of sleep, it was a blast. We're going real camping (in a tent) in three weeks and I can't wait!

Oh, and don't worry, we took Ethan to the doctor on Monday and got some antibiotics. Hopefully he'll start feeling better soon!

Here's the insane amount of pictures from Campquest:

Okay, so I've lost all my baby weight (and a little more!) - why do I still look like a big fat cow?

Too cute - Ethan and Peyton holding hands!

Look at that smile!


The stroller gang!

For Rachel

Can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!! :)

Mr. Chatterbox

Okay, so this video is pretty much just for me since I'm sure you're all tired of hearing Ethan's babbling. I've found that when I post a video of Ethan talking, I keep going back to it and watching it over and over again, as if I don't already hear it all day. I just can't get enough of it! I love the way his little cheeks, chin, and jaw move when he talks. Cracks me up!

More Mama Mutterings

So here's a video of Ethan saying Mama, with something to actually look at this time. Excuse the crazy hair - I don't know what was going on with that.

Finger Foods

I read that you can start finger foods with your baby between 7-9 months. Even though he seems kind of young for it, we thought we'd give it a try. We got those little puff thingies and set them on Ethan's tray. Here he is, ready for some finger foods!


After we set a puff on his tray, he pretty much just sat there. He had NO idea what to do with it, which is funny, since everything else in the world goes straight in his mouth.

Finally, he did pick it up and put it in his mouth.

But then, it somehow ends up on his PJ's.
Then in the mouth...
Then back on the PJ's...

It was a fun experience! We'll try it every now and then, but it's not really a huge priority. I like seeing him working on his fine motor skills and concentration, though! Watching those cute little fingers chase after something so small is just precious. :)

$1.00

I bought this shirt over the summer at The Children's Place outlet in Branson for ONE DOLLAR! I've been waiting and waiting for it to cool off so he could wear it. He looks SO HANDSOME!

Just a lazy Saturday morning...

Ethan's first time to wear jeans. They were stripped off 30 minutes later and thrown in the wash after an explosive diaper. Lovely. But isn't he cute?
Have a great weekend!

3AM Wake-up Call

Ethan started fussing at 3 o'clock this morning. It started out pretty quiet - my plan was to just let him fuss and he will usually fall back to sleep on his own. But then the fussing turned into the most beautiful sound ever...

"Ma!" a few seconds later...

"Ma Ma!" then some babbling with the /b/ sound, then...

"Ma!" then more babbling, and so on.

I woke up Lonnie and we laid in bed just smiling ear to ear as we stared at the monitor. After a minute or two, Lonnie said, "You should record this!" Oh yeah. So I jumped up and grabbed the camera and poked it into his room just to record the sound. But by that time, he was mostly done talking and was back to fussing. About 30 seconds later he was sound asleep. So, this is not the best video ever (remember, it's just for the sound - there's nothing to look at), but I did get him saying it a couple of times.

He's said Ma, and Ma Ma before, just not very often. He's definitely started saying it a LOT more the last few days. It was SOOO cute that he woke up in the middle of the night saying it. Yes, I know that he doesn't know that 'Mama' means me, but I'm going to just pretend that he was calling out for me in the middle the night because he loves me and missed me. Right?

Seven Months Old

I don't know what it is about the number seven. When I thought of Ethan being 1 month, 2 months, all the way up to 6 months, I think of my tiny little baby. But now that he's 7 months, I just don't think of him as a baby for some reason. Maybe it's because 7 months is past the halfway mark - 7 is closer to 12 than zero! He's closer to being a big one-year old than a newborn. Okay, enough rambling...


Here are Ethan's stats (according to our unofficial measurements):

Weight: 18.8 pounds
Height: 28 1/2 inches


What Ethan's been up to this month:

• SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! I can't even think of the last time I had to get up in the middle of the night. It's been at least 2 weeks. Talk about a happier, more rested Mommy!


• Bouncing - that boy LOVES to bounce up and down in his exersaucer


• Smiling - Ethan has been SO happy lately. Even the ladies at daycare have noticed it. He's just much more playful and smily than he's ever been before.


• Rocking and Scooting - When we set Ethan down on the floor, he will stay up on his hands and knees for a little bit now, and sometimes even rock back and forth a little. Once he collapses and is on his belly, he kicks his legs and will scoot backwards a little.


• Eating - He finally loves to eat baby food! He's started pigging out, too. We just switched to the Stage 2 foods, which have bigger jars. He'll usually eat 2 jars at lunch and dinner. When we were on the smaller jars, he'd eat 3! He's learned to eat just about anything, even bananas and green beans, which he didn't care for the first few tries. He still drinks his milk at 7:00am, 11:30am, 4:00pm, and 9pm, but only 6 ounces, except for the bedtime feeding, he drinks 8 ounces.
• Talking - Ethan is especially talkative in the morning when I first get him out of bed and change his diaper. He says "ma ma" a lot, and then a lot of babbling with the /b/ sound.
• Chewing/Gnawing - I didn't think he could do that any more than he already was, but he sure can! He's found a new obsession - a foam star that he plays with in the bathtub. He would chew on that all day if we let him. I need to get a video of that.


• Grabbing - YIKES! He's already broken two of my necklaces and who knows how many hairs he's pulled out.


• Favorites Song - Roll the Gospel Chariot


• Favorite Books - Down by the Bay, Ten in the Bed, Speedy Little Race Cars

Here's Ethan at one month:

Four months:

Seven months!:

Happy seven-month birthday, sweet boy!

HAIRCUT!!!!!!!!

Before:

During:

Veeeeerrrry distracted by the shiny scissors and all the action going on atop his head...

The chunk from the looooong piece in the back:

After:
Here's the baggie full of his precious baby hair! Doesn't look like much when it's all in one little bag like this.
I don't think the 'after' pictures truly do his haircut justice. He looks SO handsome, but I just couldn't get a very good picture of him.

Crystal did a GREAT job with Ethan, even though he was awfully wiggly. Luckily, the boy LOVES to hear me sing. Once I started singing and reciting nursery rhymes, he calmed right down.

Thanks Crystal, for coming by the house - Ethan is definitely spoiled to have his own personal stylist at only 7 months!

Sleep, glorious sleep

Ethan is becoming quite the sleeper! He slept through the night twice last week, which brings the total to 4 times in the last two weeks. Woohoo!!! All the other nights, he's only woken up once. Anyone that knows me well knows how much I cherish my sleep, so this is a dream come true!!!

He's also doing much, much better at eating. Lately he's been clamping his lips closed and refusing to eat. But this past week, he's decided that eating is fun. He LOVES sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots. He's not a huge fan of green beans and sweet peas, but if we heat them up, he eats them a lot better. We also started fruits in the last week, and he really likes pears and applesauce. Not a huge fan of bananas.

I've been bad about taking pictures and don't really have any new ones to post. So, since I'm on the topic of sleep, I decided to post one of my favorite sleeping pictures of the past (look how thick and lucious his hair is!):

Check back on Wednesday...haircut at 4:30!!!!!

Future Beethoven?

I know you're looking for haircut pictures...

Sorry, no haircut. Crystal and Camden got sick, so they stayed home to get some rest (and to keep their germs to themselves - ha!). Depending on how they're feeling, we may try for Friday, or next week if we need to. The only bad thing is that this gives me more time to second guess myself - do I really want to cut his sweet baby hair?

Anyways, to make up for no haircut pictures, I took a video of Ethan playing this afternoon. This is how Beethoven started, right?

(excuse the tv noise in the background - John and Kate were on Oprah, so I was trying to watch it and play with Ethan at the same time)

Thanks, Rach, for the fun new toy!