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This just in: My son is the cutest hat wearing boy EVER.



Other than hat wearing, not much is going on around here. We are having a guest for dinner tonight, so I've got some salmon marinating in the fridge and a pumpkin spice roll for desert. Yum!

In bummer news, I ordered a glider with ottoman from Target via Amazon and it arrived yesterday, but it was broken! And not just a little broken, the whole bottom part of the glider was basically shattered. I was really disappointed. You see, ever since the visit to my in-laws last month (where there are gliders and rockers all over the house) I have realized the importance of having a rocking chair when one has a new baby. Even in our tiny house, we are just going to make room because I've decided it really is an essential item. So we're sending this one back and hoping for another one to arrive intact soon!

Two Month Checkup

Little Ethan celebrated his two month birthday last Friday, and as his present we got him a trip to the doctor's office today. Lucky him, eh?

I'm happy to report that everything is well with our little man. His weight is up to 13lb 5oz! That's a gain of 5 pounds in just 6 weeks for those of you who are keeping track.

So the doctor's visit was great. The next trip down the hall to immunizations was not so great, however, for Ethan or his mama. I probably won't forget his wide-eyed look of surprise when they jabbed him with that first needle and the screams that followed when they stuck him with two more after that. It really broke my heart.

Here are some pictures of us in happier times:

Craftiness

So, I've just gotten into stamping and card making. I wanted to make my own birth announcements and when I went to the stamping store in downtown Oak Harbor, I found out they do a (free!) card making session each Friday. It's really great -- you can go in anytime during the day and they have all the supplies out to make one card. Plus they set out a sample for you, so if you're like me and not really all that good at making stuff yet, you can just copy their design. The above is what I made yesterday.

The scan didn't come out so well, but it is a scarecrow stamp on creme colored paper, colored with pencils and a little strategic glitter placement. Then I used what looked like a mini shaving cream brush to put some distressing ink all over the paper. Then I took the metal side of a ruler and scraped up the sides of the paper. After that, I put some straw around the orange card and put Mr. Scarecrow on top of it with some little adhesive squares. Easy peasy! Again, this was all done from someone else's example, so no real points for creativity on my part unless you count the coloring job.

But I did design and make Ethan's birth announcements all by myself and they are looking pretty spiffy. It only took me 2 months to get half of them finished! I think they will be in the mail after Thanksgiving, but I'll put a sample one here after I mail them.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, prayers would be appreciated for Ethan and I -- we are taking a big trip to Kansas City to meet all of his great-grandparents and great-aunts and uncles (basically all of my extended family). Steve is not able to go because of work, so I will be braving the friendly skies alone. Alone, but with an infant. Mainly I'm just daunted by getting through security with a car seat, stroller, diaper bag, myself and, oh yeah, the baby! Anyone got any tips?

Lobster Overalls

These pictures are for Auntie Jill. The cute lobster overalls belonged to her boys before Ethan got to wear them.
The overalls made him sleepy. Oh, and I forgot to put on the matching socks!
Zzzzzzzzzz.

Smiles!

I am not the photographer that Steve is (especially when he is gone with his camera and all I have to take pictures is a digital camera purchased at the turn of the century), but I believe this is the first big Ethan smile captured to date:

He is so cute I just can't stand it!!

Ethan and Family

Since Steve has been gone to San Diego for the last couple of weeks, Ethan and I took a trip to visit my in-laws. The trip was wonderful! It was so nice for me to have Nana and Papa and Aunties and Cousins around to help with the baby. Ethan loved having all the attention and gave everyone smiles (his new skill!).

We arrived on Halloween. Ethan dressed for the occasion.

We took walks with Cousin Chase. Chase is 6 and has cerebral palsy.

Papa getting Ethan dressed for an evening walk to Starbucks.

You can see here Tallulah is walking herself. She's become very independant since the baby was born!

Nana helped with a bath.

Cousins Landon (left) and Logan loved on Ethan.

Logan went outside to help Nana rake up the leaves in her yard.

Landon went outside to disperse the leaves back over the lawn.

Ethan now gets to join in everyone's favorite activity: reading stories with Nana.