Christmas Pictures

After getting Thanksgiving dinner in the oven, we got dressed and headed to Bass Pro Shop with Mimi for some Christmas pictures. It was awesome, the store was almost empty! Completely different from last year's hour long stand in line.Ethan made himself right at home and led the way to Santa.
First Santa sighting

He walked up all by himself!

The final outcome...no smile, but no tears.

He was in awe of the snowman.

Here, he was having a good ole' time throwing the "snow"

This picture is out of place, but we did wind up with a cute snowman picture.

You just might see some of these pictures again very soon!!!

A Little Snug

Here's what happens when Daddy buys an outfit when he's away on business and Mommy forgets that it's in the closet for almost a year. Last year (I really think it was that long ago), Ben went to San Francisco on a business trip and brought back an Alcatraz outfit for Ethan. He was too small for it then, so I put it in the closet until he was big enough to wear it.

I think he's a little too big now, though.

B'Ball Time with Daddy

Although November came and went without a post, we were still out and about. You will always find Ethan and Daddy with some type of ball in their hands in the afternoons.

Costume Party

Last night, we headed over to our friends, the Burchfiel's, for our Life Group Costume party. We had a blast and the weather was perfect! Ethan loved playing in the backyard with all of the toys and other boys and girls!

Our little dinosaur!

Can you tell that his new favorite thing to play with are volleyballs and soccer balls, not to mention baseballs, golf balls, or any other round object that can be thrown.

Pumpkin Patch

We started out at the Maze!

Off and Running!!

Then we headed over to check out the pumpkins.

Although you can't really tell, this is mid-laugh! He's having a blast!

Wow! What a big pumpkin!

Then we headed to check out the little pumpkins.

Trying to climb on them...Thankful that we weren't caught!

Whoa! Look at all of these pumpkins!

Last, we headed over to the scarecrow for some Mommy and Daddy pictures.

Mommy and Ethan

Daddy and Ethan

Random Pics

Every time I see a picture like this, I just can't believe how big he is getting!

Ethan has TOTALLY picked up the "golf bug" from Daddy! They practice inside the house all of the time...much to Mommy's dismay.

Isn't this face hilarious!

And the leftovers all over him...he thoroughly enjoyed his dinner!

Sweet boy!

First Haircut

Mimi and MawMaw came to visit last weekend! We were so excited to see them and spend time with them! The weekend was way too short, but we did manage to squeeze in our first haircut. MawMaw always cut both mine and my brother's hair when we were little, so it was very special for MawMaw to give Ethan his first haircut! I can't believe how tormenting the experience was for him! As soon as MawMaw brought out the scissors, it was all downhill. Even though Daddy held him the whole time, he cried. It wasn't the fussy, "I'm not too sure about this" cry, it was the "I'm dying" scream. I had heard that haircuts could be rough, but I was truly not prepared!

After his torture, Mimi and MawMaw made it all better with some playtime outside while Mommy and Daddy had a date night!!

We love you, Mimi and MawMaw!

Visit to the Gaylord Texan

Mimi had a long layover last weekend, so we headed out to the airport to meet her and spent the afternoon at the Gaylord Texan. Ethan LOVED running around and seeing all of the trees and plants in the hotel. It was all that we could do to keep up with our little ball of energy!

Of course, Mimi thought we needed some ice cream.
Can you tell that he's in a sugar coma???

We had a blast and it was a terrific way to spend an afternoon!

Mommy's Helper

This is Ethan's favorite new hang-out spot. Nevermind that the cabinet already has stuff in it, he'll just help Mommy and clean it out. In our next house, we will definitely remember to put safety latches in the bathrooms, too!

Not My Baby Anymore

Can you believe this picture??!!! Where did my baby boy go?

Growing Up!

It seems that there was an explosion in Ethan's understanding and interest in learning at 13 months and it continues as we have entered his 14th month. We are so thrilled to hear him as he has a "conversation" with us and is able to answer some of our questions. This is such a glorious time to watch him and he truly is a sponge right now taking it all in!

He understands almost all of what we say. Ben can ask if he wants to ride in his car (Cozy Coupe) and he will run to it, climb in, then wait for Daddy to push him around the house. I can ask if he has a poopy diaper, wants to go to school, or go night-night and I am sure that you will know the answer to all of those...it is, of course, that cute little "Noooo" with a shake of the head and in the sweetest little voice.

Here are the words he is using most often right now:

MaMa
DaDa
MiMi
Ball (Bo-with a short o)
Bath (Ba-with a short a, then running to the stairs, crawling up, and running all the way to his bathroom)
No (with a sweet tilted head and in the most precious voice)
Uh-Oh (Uh, he forgets the Oh)
Yum-Yum (NumNum)
Sit (Zit)
Banana (Nana)
Moo
Duck
Yes (Ya- with a short a and of course not used near as often as No)

This Little Man also gives the sweetest hugs and kisses. He wraps both arms all the way around you and just holds on tight, then starts to pat your back with his little hands. Sometimes he'll even surprise you with an open mouthed kiss right on the lips! With the cutest little grins and giggles and all the love he has to give, we couldn't be more blessed.

Mommy and Daddy love you so much, Ethan!

Seriously...

Don't let this sweet little innocent face fool you!

After I put Ethan down for his nap this morning, I sat down to do a little work for my part-time job. A few minutes later, I check the monitor and saw the black fuzzy screen. Hmmmm...I switched the channel to see if maybe it had accidentally gotten changed, but that didn't work. So I decide to go upstairs and try to sneak in without being seen. This little stinker had reached down behind his crib, unplugged the camera, wrapped the cord through the slats at the back of the crib, then wrapped them again through the side of the crib, and finally threw the plug over the top of the crib so that it could swing back and forth. Really!!!

And I thought the last safe place in the house was his crib.

What do we do now?

How do you get outsmarted by a 1 year old?

Through the first gate...
And the second gate...

We have a long road ahead of us! At least he latched the top gate after he got up there. What in the world do we do now???!!!

Playin' in the Buff

What's a baby to do on a hot day? Play naked in the backyard, of course.

Of course, like any good play time with Daddy, there has to be a chase scene. Grab the rubber ducky from the pool and run!