Vacation, Shee-O's and Shoes

We are back from a week and a half of vacation! Needless to say we are in desperate need of schedule and normal!
Ethan did surprisingly well with the 20 hours of travel each way.

We left Saturday morning and traveled to Memphis where we stayed the night.
Sunday we traveled from Memphis to Dallas and visited Jason's cousin Rachel & her little guy. It was so great to see them and catch up!
Monday, Memorial Day, we left Dallas & Rachel for Houston. It was so HOT in Houston. I am talking 100 with dew points in the 70s. HORRIBLE!
We had one day where the humidity dropped enough to go to the zoo.

We also made a stop to the Children's museum which had a whole floor just for little guys 36 months and younger. How cool! Except mom forgot the camera. Pictures coming from Grandma soon :)

But, thankfully, we weren't there for being outside. We were there to see my cousin Jeremy graduate.

Just before we left, Ethan learned his new favorite word/thing, "shoes". The boy has figured out that we need shoes for going outside. So, now he finds his shoes, says "shoe?" walks to the door, sits down and tries to put them on all by himself!
Now that we are back, he is trying to say his favorite snack "Cheerios" but it comes out as "Shee-O?" We are definitely growing up. He also goes through phases of wanting to feed himself without any help from mom or dad but usually we have to intervene to make sure more food goes in the mouth and less to Smokey :)

Once we made it home we noticed that our recently planted garden had been feasted on by the local wildlife so Jason made sure that a fence went up right away. Two nights ago, we had a disappointed deer standing outside the fence and having a staring contest with Smokey. We may have to take more precautions to protect our food!

This week has been pretty quiet except a stop to pick strawberries which turned out a bit disappointing since it was the last day or two of picking. Looks like we'll have to stock up at the farmers market since we only got 2.5 quarts from picking. The crazy warm spring has really messed with the fruit this year.

We are also wrapping up some loose ends from previous home projects (aka, the bathroom). Jason just finished installing the bottom baseboard trim and we are going to do the touch up paint. We are hoping to paint the exterior doors in the next week or two as well. Some days it feels like home projects will never end! We hope to work on the laundry room this summer yet too since the windows are desperate for replacing. It is shaping up to be very busy but we are so blessed!

A Whole Year Ago!

A year ago, we were blessed & surprised to hold our adorable baby boy weeks earlier than planned.
A year ago, God blessed us with health and family & friends.
A year ago it was 40 degrees colder outside!!
A year ago we were driving a car instead of a minivan (Yikes!)
A year ago, Uncle Craig went to be with our Lord
A year ago I could hardly walk let alone chase.
A year ago I could only sleep 2 hours at a time.
A year ago I couldn't walk into let alone find anything in Ethan's room

Now, here are a few most recent pictures of us celebrating the year.


Ethan had a white train cake and chocolate cars!
(Mommy had to play with her inherited cake decorating kit!)


Ethan loves his new 4 wheeler!




Let there be cake!


So excited to see what God has in store for us in the next year!
Thank you Jesus for this opportunity to love our beautiful baby boy!

Groundhog Day

Hmm, It's been a while since I've posted.

Recent updates. We survived all 8 Chrismas'! Ethan got an updated picture with his Great Great Grandpa Roman Vera. We had this generational picture taken while Great Grandpa Roman was in town for Christmas.

In the last month Ethan got his two front teeth! One you can clearly see and the other just broke through the skin.

The weather has been warm and we've had only a few days this winter so far when snow blanketed our yard. Needless to say, Ethan hasn't had much use of his sled yet! This weekend we are looking forward to throwing a baby shower for Sam and getting excited to meet Ethan's first cousin!

This Sunday we look forward to having a few friends over for the big game!

Ethan's just figuring out how to play in the tub and it makes everyone laugh. Smokey is super protective of her baby and is tolerant of his exploring and "petting" her. He hits more than he realizes so we are working on that! Ethan is also learning that he can fight us when it is time to change his diaper, go in the carseat, and go in his highchair. He loves books and textures yet. He is trying to stand by himself without holding onto anything and easily walks around while hanging on. It won't be long and we'll have a runner on our hands. We have started planning his first birthday party (how could it be a year already?).

I think back to a year ago when we had the massive snowstorm and how it has been in the 40's and even 50's with no snow lately. A year ago I was getting excited to meet our little guy and had no idea what kidney stones felt like. I got the stones two days after Valentine's day and was barely functioning until Ethan was born. How a year can change us! This year we are hoping to go on some family vacations.

The bathroom is almost ready for it's photo shoot! We had to take out the vinyl flooring that was put in last summer as the in floor heat made it bubble up. We have replaced it with laminate (fake wood) and the trim has gone around the door. We just have a bit of touch up painting and the baseboards to put in and we will be DONE!! Then we will be onto the next project (not sure what that will be yet).

I have discovered Pinterest in all it's glory. I have figured out how to make cleaning products, new recipes, gift ideas, how to decorate, and color schemes. My goal is eat healthy and to keep man-made toxins out of my home (MSG, BPA, etc) as well as save us some $$.

I am looking forward to attending a conference for mommies, "Hearts at Home" in Illinois. Praying that this will be a good foundation for raising our family in God's will. God has truly blessed us with our baby boy and each other and I can think of nothing better than to give my family back to Him. I am learning all the time! Looking forward while remembering how far God has brought us!

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

Ethan has been keeping us on our toes yet again. He recently mastered crawling and sitting up. It seems as soon as he masters one milestone, he's on to the next! So, during our Thanksgiving break he figured out standing. Needless to say, the break turned into a baby proofing frenzy!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving day at my mom's home with Joel, Jamie, & John. We also invited Jason's mom to join us so we had a group of 7 adults and baby Ethan. Jason hunted Thursday morning with Justin who got a doe. Jason is still waiting for his!

Friday morning I sacrificed sleep for deals. Jason stayed with Ethan until I got home and we traded off so Jason could get some more hunting time in. I managed to get to Meijer, Target, Staples, & Menards. The weather was wonderful for shopping so it was a fairly easy morning. I have about 80% of our Christmas shopping done.

Sunday we spent at Jason's dad's home for Thanksgiving with Justin & Sam. Ethan was very exploratory and quite the ham soaking up any attention he could get.

Despite our greatest efforts to keep a schedule Ethan still was an overtired, overstimulated, cranky baby by Sunday night. Monday was a welcomed day of normal schedule.

Most recently one of my major tasks has been to pack up all of the outgrown baby clothes and things into storage totes by size to be stored in the basement. Hooray I am almost done!

The Christmas tree went up this week as well and Ethan has a new fascination with it and the pokey wreath in the dining room. We made some changes to our Christmas decorating this year. We have a play area (baby jail) in the corner in the living room where the tree has gone in the past and the tree is now in the dining room. The tree has only scarce amounts of decorations just in case Ethan is drawn to it before I can catch him. We left all of the branches on at this point but time will tell how attracted he will be to it. Right now he is happy being held up to it and touching the needles.

Halloween & 8 months

Ethan is now 8 months old! How the time flies!
We now have a baby who can get from laying to sitting in no time. He also has crawling a bit faster now. He still loves Daddy's camo Cabelas hat. He says "Bop Bop Bop, Da Da, Mmmmm" He also loves to make different sounds like clucking his tongue. He is fascinated with our ceiling fans and the strings that make them work. Smokey is starting to realize that she now has to watch out for Ethan instead of the other way around.

We celebrated Halloween a day late as that day baby Ethan was too tired and Daddy was working on the car. But, this year Ethan doesn't know the difference.

Halloween

I can't believe we are already at Halloween. Stay tuned for pictures of a super cute little lion. Until then, an update.

After a much needed weekend it is Monday. The weekend was spent at home for Ethan and I, & Jason spent all Saturday at Grandma Sherry's. The project is done and that is music to this mommy's ears. Sunday was low key too. Menu planning underway, Christmas organizing started, shiny sink (perFlylady's instructions). I felt prepared for Monday and that is a much needed feeling! Tonight is tilapia with glazed carrots. Tomorrow is a beef (venison in our house) night, Wed is crockpot day & groceries. Keeping my sink shiny, clean for 5 min each day, review Christmas stuff for 10, & do one load of laundry. Baby steps, baby!

Provided that all are up to it, this family plans on dressing the youngest for the occasion and visiting with our Church family tonight. Hoping that it isn't "one more thing" and that we all have a great time.

Friday

Today is a dreary Friday. Ethan has had a rough week as we think he has another tooth coming in. Poor baby refuses to nap. He spends hours each day playing with his feet, crying, talking, and generally keeping himself awake instead of peacefully sleeping. We are trying to maintain his normal morning and afternoon naps so he has an hour of playing alone for each one instead. Hoping this passes soon as he is a grump by the end of each day.

Mommy has had her own rough week. Emotionally spent dealing with over-tired baby. Car issues that seem to be getting more and more frequent. Looking into November which leads to December and the madness that Christmas has become. Trying to maintain work & home and balancing who gets to see our family when has become a chore. The house is a mess, I barely keep up at work. I have made several resolutions this week and I pray they help me maintain emotional balance this holiday season. I have begun a pre-set up Christmas planner, intend to meal plan, set a designated grocery day, and follow a cleaning schedule with the house chores. Sounds daunting right? Well, having some sort of a checklist helps me to stay on task instead of being so scattered like I've been feeling lately.

Jason has had a rough week just because mommy & baby have. But, he has been diligently working on our home during the week as Saturday will be a work day at Grandma Sherry's again. We now have heat tape on the roof over the back stairs to prevent ice buildup on the stairs. This required an additional outlet to plug the heat tape into. Uncle Justin stopped by to help with the electrical needs of this heat tape. Jason did the fastening on the roof later in the week. After the project was finished and Jason safe on the ground, the ladder went through one of the old windows in the laundry room. Looks like the projects won't end and the back windows will be replaced this spring. Never ending list of projects!

Trying to keep our heads up