6 months

Ethan is now half a year old. He is quite the cutie! He laughs at most anything. He has started making this growling sound constantly and thinks he is cute when he does it. He sounds like a baby dinosaur. He loves his jumper, is getting the hang of his walker and loves to sit up. He can sit up on his own if you set him that way. He isn't quite able to pull himself to the sitting position. But he sure tries! It's kind of funny to watch him doing mini sit-ups. He still has no teeth (thankfully) but they are ready to come. He is VERY clingy with mom (that's me! :) and I don't get a lot done without toting him along. We are thankful for him every day and feel so blessed to have him in our home!

These are his 6 month pics from Penny's. They asked us to sign a release so they could use them in their "book" or whatever. I didn't care because we got some free! :)

His stats will come next month - we had to reschedule his Dr. appt.

Camping

Ethan and his buddy!

- With our baby Kangaroo Friend(Yes, he's wearing a diaper!)

Ethan fell asleep on Daddy in the tent.
Next morning during breakfast.

Mom, Ethan and Nathan
Daddy and the baby fox.
Ethan is trying to jump out of my arms to get him!

He wasn't real fond of the turtle.
Daddy being silly
Roasting (BURNING marshmallows!)
Daddy Ethan and Nathan

Last weekend we went camping with some people from our ward. We went to the Tiger Safari Park. It was a lot of fun! We cooked dinner and then went on a hay ride (twice!). After which one of the employees took us to play with the baby animals. We saw a chinchilla, baby fox, a baby lemur, and my favorite - a baby kangaroo. I want one! Ethan really liked the animals. We let him touch the kangaroo and lemur. We roasted marshmallows, made smores, and had a great time! The next morning Jeff Poyner made a great breakfast with the dutch oven (yummy!). We also went on a tour of the park and saw a ton of animals. Ethan did NOT like the big turtle. He preferred his friend, the kangaroo.

Jeff wasn't feeling real good. He had what at the time we thought was a strained back/ arm / shoulder, which turned out to be a torn muscle in his back and one around his shoulder. He was pretty miserable and we ended up not finishing the animal tour. But despite his pain, we had a ton of fun! Ethan slept great, even in the cold. We left the tent top wide open so we could stare at the stars, which we did all night. It was awesome! The weather was PERFECT! I can't wait to go camping again!!!

Tired

Everyone has pictures of their child asleep in some contraption. Until now, we didn't. Ethan didn't sleep anywhere except my arms or his bed. Once in a while the car seat. But now we have a "worn out" picture of him in his jumper.

Happy Birthday Aunt Sasa

Aunt Sarah turned 17 last week. I asked her where she wanted to go for dinner. She said Outback. To most people, that would be a feasible choice - not one to balk at. In fact, I was thrilled because next to PF Changs, it's my favorite. But you see, Sarah is a vegetarian. LOL - so why she chose Outback, I'll never know. She says she likes their potatoes. And potatoes she ate. She had 1. Potato soup 2. Baked Potato 3. Baked Sweet Potato 4. Mashed Potato

Go figure! :) Happy Birthday Aunt Sarah!!! We love you!

Thanks Granny

When Ethan was first born, Granny sent him this cute outfit and hat. I never got a picture in it for her until he was too big for it. but I wanted her to see him in it anyway. Thank you Granny! We love you!!!

Shower

I felt inspired to have a baby shower for a woman in our ward that is fairly new and doesn't know a lot of people. I decided to make cup cakes instead of a cake. I also had to make a cream filled Italian Cream Cake for a dinner party my mom had. So I decided to make them all the day before. I spent ALL day making everything. The cupcakes were so yummy. I made two kinds - a vanilla cake with Cinnamon cream cheese filling and whipped frosting and then a chocolate cake with custard filling. They were great. I placed plastic wrap on them and put them in the oven for "safe keeping" over night. The next morning I knew I had a few other things to bake so I started to pre-heat the oven and went about doing other things - laundry, shower, made my bed etc. I walked into the kitchen and it was all smokey. I opened the oven and they were all burned and the plastic wrap was EVERYWHERE! Grrrr..... Where was my head! I had to make them all over again, so I just did plain ole' cupcakes. I just didn't have it in me to do them again. (Plus I was starting to get a cold and didn't feel good!) Anyway, it turned out really nice and I am so thankful I did it. I am not sure why I was personally inspired to do this for her, since I had never talked to her, but I know that she needed to have something fun in her life and am grateful I was able to help her.

Ethan had a total blast with her balloons! I don't have any pictures of her, Chris took them, but is a cute one of Ethan.

Softball & Beehives

Ethan went to his first softball game last week. We had a lot of fun. We went to cheer on two of the YW. It was one of their last games and they were so adorable! I just love these girls. I am grateful that I have been able to get to know ALL of the YW, not just the Laurels. The Beehives hold such an amazing place in my heart and I just love them! Their joy to be in YW is overpowering sometimes and I wish that it would rub off on some of the other girls who have been in for a while. It seems they have forgotten how exciting it is to be in YW, out of primary... I love you Beehives!!!

The Polings were there and offered to let Ethan use their blanket. He really liked being outside in the beautiful weather!

Bath Time

Ethan LOVES his bath time. He splashes and laughs through the whole thing. It's one of my favorite times of the day - when he is clean, smells YUMMY, and wants to cuddle after!