Happy Thanksgiving!

I was so excited to get to go to Indiana to see my family for Thanksgiving this year. In just one easy trip, I get to see my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, two aunts, two uncles, four cousins, two cousins-in-law, one brother, one sister-in-law, one niece, and one nephew. And of course the Grubbs were with us, so add them in there, too. Well worth the trip!
We left Tuesday night at bedtime and drove all night. Not a great trip thanks to Ethan, but we survived. We were there Wed-Friday, then left Saturday morning. The drive home was MUCH better (aside from the hour 'break' we got when the keys got locked in the van at a gas station).
It was so great to spend time with my family, since we don't get to see them very often. Ethan warmed up pretty quick to everyone and we all had a great time!
I've learned I don't do very good at taking pictures on trips like these. Sure, I took plenty of pictures, but I didn't make sure that I got pictures of everyone. I'll do better next time!

The stairs were a hot spot for activity - you'll see in all these pictures...

We had a professional photographer come to Grandma's house on Thanksgiving afternoon so we could get the WHOLE clan. The last time we had a whole group picture was 2001, and we've added 3 husbands and 5 1/2 kids since then, so it was time for an update. Ethan did HORRIBLE during the photo shoot, so I can only imagine how the pictures will turn out. But....it was documented that we were all there together, and that's what matters, right? At least Ethan looks handsome, even though he didn't act very good.

Seriously, just look at that face! I know I'm biased, but is he not the most handsome little boy in the world?????

Mom and Dad with their 5 grandkids! (I decided NOT to stick my belly in the picture to show Grandbaby #6!)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with those that you love!

Our Little Sponge

I have been completely amazed by Ethan lately. All the words, songs, music, books, EVERYTHING that we've been exposing him to since the day he was born, are finally starting to explode out of his mouth! It's like he's just been taking it all in, soaking it all up like a sponge, and now he's ready to start using language on his own. Sure, he's been talking for awhile, but nothing like he is now. He's putting words together to make sentences, singing songs, requesting us to sing specific songs, and just communicating in general like he's never been able to communicate before. Things I want to remember about this fun new stage:

Songs Ethan will sing with us (and what he says when he is requesting us to sing it):

• Ring Around the Rosie - "ashes, ashes"
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - "tee dar"
• Row, Row, Row, Your Boat - "row, row, row" (with the movements!)
• ABC's - "bee, dee" (or something jumbled like that)
• Itsy, Bitsy, Spider - "bider"
• Jesus Loves Me
• I Love You, Ethan - (something jumbled that includes "tee tee," which is still what he calls himself)

Sentences he's started putting together:

• "Where Daddy go?"
• "Moon in sky"
• "I got it!"

Counting and colors:

• Ethan can pretty much count to ten now. Sometimes he gets them confused, and sometimes he skips 1-3 and goes straight to four, but he's learning!
• I wouldn't say that he knows any colors yet, but he knows what colors ARE, and if you ask him what color something is, he'll at least answer with a color (usually blue or green). I figure that's at least a step in the right direction. He'll say the names of all the colors and sometimes gets them right when asked. I love the way he says the colors, since he can't really pronounce them perfectly. I need to get it on video.

Just an example of what I mean -

The perfect night with Ethan...

On Friday night Lonnie was at a football game so Ethan and I were having a night to ourselves. It was time for bed and I had just made warmed up his milk for him. Sometimes he wants to snuggle and drink it, sometimes he's still in play mode and will kind of roam the living room while he plays and drinks. I was waiting to see what kind of night this would be. After I handed him his milk, he immediately went straight for the rocking chair and waited for me to come rock him. From the moment I got him in my lap, I felt like I had my tiny little baby boy back in my arms. I sang to him and he stared in my eyes just like he did when he was a newborn and was studying my face. He just kept looking at me with his big brown eyes and it just melted my heart!!!!! Every now and then he'd take his sippy cup away from his mouth and give me the biggest grin ever, like he was just on top of the world at that moment in time. Then he started requesting songs. He asked me to sing "tee dar" and "tee tee" and "row, row, row." We just had the best night together and felt like we had a big mother/son bonding moment!

Love that boy to pieces!

Counting Fool

Ethan woke up from his nap on Sunday in the BEST mood. He started climbing up on the couch, counting, and then jumping off. Most of the time he would count "4, 5, 6,...(I'd say 7), 8, 9, 10!" Then he'd 'jump' off and laugh hysterically. He's a bit of a scaredy cat so he never actually jumped off completely. (I don't know what happened to 1, 2, 3!)

So they may not be in order, but at least they're all numbers!

I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so here' another one:

Not sure where this came from...

Ethan started doing this at dinner tonight and laughing hysterically about it. I really have no idea what it is - I guess it's something he's done at daycare. We got quite a kick out of it!

Now I DO know where this one came from, and I'm sure you will too!

HOORAY for Handyman Lonnie!!!!!!!

About two months ago, our sweet, wonderful, dear child lovingly placed 3 shiny pennies in the CD player in the van. Instantly, no more radio, no more CD's, no more DVD's. Dustin and Lonnie worked to fix it, but even after removing the coins, it still didn't work. Soooooo, two months and $300 dollars later, it's fixed!!!!! (and just in time for our 10+ hour drive with 3 kids to Indiana for Thanksgiving.)


The new radio came in today, and we all played in the van while Lonnie worked on it. The second that the radio turned on, it started BLARING Barry White's "Let's Get it On." We got a good laugh out of that. So we knew the radio worked, but the true test was the DVD player. We popped in Elmo and hooray!!!!! It worked! But just to be sure, we stayed crammed in the van for about 15 minutes watching it (while parked in the garage). I learned that Ethan's carseat is not too terribly uncomfortable! Add a toddler on the lap, and it started to get a little less comfortable, though. (I know, random useless information)

Lonnie wanted documentation of him "fixing" the radio:

Completely unrelated, but doesn't Ethan look so cute in his big boy bed? He looks so tiny!

21 weeks

I haven't written too much about the pregnancy this time around. Once I hit 14/15 weeks, I finally stopped feeling nauseas and started feeling almost normal again. So I've been feeling great lately! Baby's been kicking a lot - so much that Lonnie's been able to feel him kicking quite a few times. As I've been typing, I just SAW my belly move for the first time, which is always exciting!
Here I am at 21 weeks - my belly is growing! (yes, that's the same shirt I was wearing in my last belly picture. Pretend you didn't notice, please)
We still have ultrasound pictures to post, but I haven't gotten around to doing that. Maybe soon!