Updated Pics and Videos!

Be sure to check out our youtube channel for a couple newly added videos! :)

Kristy has also updated her facebook picture albums...click here for the latest Ethan album.

Lots of exciting things happening in the coming weeks:

• Ethan will be 4 months old already on Friday!
• We will be starting him on rice cereal this weekend!! :)
• 4th of July fireworks on the lake (hopefully)
• Kristy's 28th birthday on the 8th
• Ethan's 4-month check-up on the 9th

Trip to Ohio and Kentucky

So I realized that we have been back from our 3-week long trip for a couple weeks now and we had not yet blogged about it. So, here we go.....

Josh had to go to Germany for 3 weeks for work, so Kristy decided to stay with family while he was away, since it was such a long trip. So, on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we began our trek north. Our first stop was Georgetown, KY, where we most recently lived. We wanted to catch up with some friends there. So, we stayed with Greg and Lisa Brown, co-workers of Josh's at Toyota, on Saturday night. It was a fun time and we even took the boat out on their lake on Sunday, which was a first for both Ethan and Daisy! :) 

Early Sunday evening, we headed about an hour up the road to Cincinnati. This time we stopped to visit Josh's brother, Aaron, and his daughter, Braelynn, at their house on the east side. We spent the evening catching up with them. On Monday, we got up and made our way to another friend's house in Cincy - Jeff and Amanda Balster. Jeff is Josh's fraternity brother and roommate from freshman year at UC. We caught up with them and then decided to make a trip downtown to Taste of Cincinnati! It was delicious as usual and we had a great time, until it started pouring down rain on us. :( We were able to fill our bellies first with some super tasty food, and also catch up with a couple of Kristy's classmates from UC - Liz Ebbeler and Cindy (Klinefelter) Busse.

After that we began the trek north again, to Kristy's parents' house, in Fredericktown. Josh's flight left Tuesday at 12:30 pm, so, then it was Kristy, Ethan and Daisy for the duration. We spent the first week in Fredericktown and Ethan had the opportunity to meet many relatives - Deb & Steve, Ed, Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma Irene, Lori & Vanessa, Great-Grandma Hannan-Zehner, and Steve & Becky.

The following week, Kristy's sister, Katie, was scheduled to go to the hospital to be induced on the 2nd. So, that Tuesday we made the trip southwest, to her house in Huber Heights. There we stayed with Jacob, Ethan's cousin, while Katie and her husband, Mike, went to the hospital. Little Rachel Aimee was born on the 3rd! We then spent the rest of that week and the following week at Katie's house, helping out and letting the cousins "play." Ethan and Jacob did love watching Shrek together as Jacob sat with his arm around Ethan - too cute! He loved spending time with "his babies," as he put it. :)

On that Friday, Josh's flight was scheduled to arrive around 4:30 pm, so we packed up and headed to the Columbus airport to pick him up. It was great to have him back in the states again!! He had a nice trip and was able to meet up with his brother, Jared, the two weekends that he was there and do lots of sightseeing in Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium! They had a great time together. For pics from his trip, check out his facebook page. From the airport, we headed south to Josh's parents' house in Wheelersburg. We spent the rest of the weekend there, where Ethan had the chance to meet his Memaw Sparks and Great Aunt Sharon. He also spent more time with cousin Braelynn and Uncle Aaron.

On Monday morning we woke up and packed the 4-runner up one final time! It was time to head home! :) It was a nice trip and we had the chance to see a lot of friends and family, but we had been away for quite a while, and it was great to get back home that evening!!

For pics from the trip, be sure to check out Kristy's album on facebook!

Three Months Old!

Ethan turned three months old last week. It is hard to believe - they really do grow up too fast! It seems like ages ago that I gave birth, yet I still don't know how three months have past already either. Since last month, he has gained about 11 ozs, to weigh in at around 13 lbs, 6 ozs, which is in the 50th-75th percentile. He grew an additional two inches from his previous length of 23 inches, to a length of 25 inches now, which is in the 75th-90th percentile. Such a tall boy now! :) And I am pretty sure he is currently in a growth spurt, as all he wants to do is eat and sleep, even more than usual, haha. :) As I type, he just passed out during tummy time, which NEVER happens and he took a 1.5+ hour nap today, which also never happens anymore! His head circumference has also increased to 41 cm, which is also in the 50th percentile. This month he received a special surprise on his 3-month birthday - a new cousin! Rachel Aimee was born June 3rd at 9:46 am to my sister, Katie, and her husband, Mike. She was 8 lbs, 1.6 ozs and 20.75" long.


It's amazing what a month can bring for an infant. He now flashes hundreds of smiles a day and just last week had his first true laugh while I was changing him to get ready for bed. He has been able to roll from his stomach to his back for over a month now, but is still working on going from his back to his stomach. He did it once last week (which unfortunately everyone missed - we only know he did it because he was on his back, and then next time we looked he was on his tummy!), but has yet to make it happen again. He easily gets on to his side both ways, but then stops there. :( He is soooo close! I think he is just waiting for his daddy to get home from Germany. :) He loves looking into the mirror, staring at the cute boy he sees. :) He is constantly drooling and he has also discovered his hands and fingers, and LOVES chewing on them. It will definitely not be long before those teeth pop in!


Below is a pic of Ethan at three months, once again wearing a 12-month onesie. He hasn't changed quite as much this past month, but is still getting cuter by the day! ;)

Mother's Day 2009

So Kristy celebrated her first Mother's Day as a mom this year and she must admit that until now, she could not truly appreciate the job of a mother. Because of this, she wants to say a BIG thank you to her mom and let her know how much she loves her and thanks her for being such a great mom! She can only hope that her son will someday appreciate her as much as she now appreciates her mom.

Josh surprised Kristy for Mother's Day this year with a beautiful pot of flowers and some yummy donuts from a local donut shop. They later spent some time at the lake and hung out with Josh's parents and brother, Jared, who were there visiting for the weekend.

Kristy is currently a stay-at-home mommy, which is not an easy job somedays. She can't imagine how hard it would be having a job outside the home on top of her job as a mommy. Thankfully, for now, she can enjoy being a mommy and return to the working world when she and Ethan are ready!

Ethan's Two Month Check-Up

I took Ethan for his two month check-up today in Newnan. He is still doing great! Since last month, he has gained 1 lb, 15 ozs, to weigh in at an impressive 12 lbs, 11 ozs, which is still in the 75th percentile. He grew an additional inch from his previous length of 22 inches, to a length of 23 inches now, which is in the 50th percentile. His head circumference has also increased to 40 cm, which is also in the 50th percentile. 

He received his first round of vaccinations, 3 shots and 1 that was taken orally. The first shot was a combination of the DTaP (Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis), Polio, and Influenzae Type b (Hib), the second was for Hepatitis B, and the third was a Pneumococcal conjugate. The oral vaccine was for rotavirus. He did fantastic! He only cried for a minute and then mommy was able to get him calmed back down. After eating his lunch he was fast asleep again for the trip home! :) Everything else looked and sounded good, so we will be back in two months for his 4-month check-up!

Below is a pic of Ethan at two months, once again wearing a 12-month onesie. Amazing how much he has changed in just a month! Getting cuter by the day! ;)

Sleeping!

So, Ethan has had some great developments in the sleeping department. He graduated to his own bed at 8 weeks old. He had been sleeping in our room in his pack 'n play, but he is now sleeping in his crib in the nursery! :)

We have also been incredibly fortunate that he is sleeping all night long already! We usually put him down by 10:30 pm and he has been sleeping consistently until at least 7 am, sometimes until 9 am! :) This has been great for Josh and I! We are just hoping he can keep it up! ;)

Trip to the Lake

This past weekend, Grandpa and Grandma Frank, Aunt Katie, Uncle Mike and Cousin Jacob came to visit. We had a wonderful time catching up and giving Jacob and Ethan a chance to get to know each other better. Ethan isn't quite ready for playtime yet with his cousin, but he did enjoy spending time with him, as you can see in the picture. :)

Grandma Frank was excited to get to spend the weekend with both of her grandchildren and even had the opportunity to babysit them (along with help from Katie and Mike) Friday night while Josh and Kristy had their first "date night" since having Ethan. They enjoyed a lovely evening and dinner on the patio at the Southern Harbour Cafe located on West Point Lake. If you ever have the chance to visit, you must try their spicy cajun BBQ shrimp - incredible!!

On Saturday afternoon, we decided to make another trip back to the lake, but everyone came along this time - even Daisy! :) It was a gorgeous 88-degree, breezy, sunny afternoon. We enjoyed the day playing on the playground (sand and all), swinging, feeding the geese (plus their babies!) and hanging out at a picnic shelter. It was a wonderful way to enjoy the great weather. We rounded out the evening with a yummy dinner of grilled steak and chicken kabobs and homemade strawberry shortcake! :)

Sunday morning came and everyone left to go back to Ohio. It was a great visit and we hope to do it again soon! Visit Kristy's facebook page for pics from the weekend!

New Picture Album

I have added another album on facebook with recent pictures. You can access it by clicking here. Also check out a couple videos we have posted here. I will try to get more posted soon! :)

Ethan's One Month Check-Up

I took Ethan for his one month check-up yesterday in Newnan. He is doing great according to his pediatrician, Dr. Kemi! Since birth, he has gained 2 lbs, 5 ozs, to weigh in at an impressive 10 lbs, 12 ozs, which is in the 75th percentile. He grew 2 inches from his birth length of 20 inches, to a length of 22 inches now, which is in the 50-75th percentile. His head circumference has also increased to 39 1/2 cm, so he is in the 75th percentile for this as well! Everything else looked and sounded good, so now we go back in another month when he will get his first round of shots! :(

Below is a pic of Ethan at one month, wearing a 12-month onesie. I will be taking a pic each month is this onesie to show how much he grows each month! By the looks of the way it is fitting at just one month, we may be lucky to get him in it at 12 months!! haha :)

Pictures

I have posted more pics of Ethan on my facebook page. Click here for the first album and here for the second! :) If you want to check out pics from my pregnancy, click here.

I also have an album with pics of our new house in Georgia, which can be found by clicking here. And a second album can be found here. I will be posting updated pics here as we finish painting and decorating! :)

And if that isn't enough pics to look at, you can check out some great ones from our most recent vacation to the Caribbean, by clicking here! :)

I will try to keep the blog updated with links everytime I add a new album. For easier access to our pics, add me as a friend on facebook!