Ethan's First Birthday

Ethan just turned 1 on December 15th, and he had a spectacular party! We celebrated at my in-laws' house with fajitas and cake with ice cream. All of Jonathan's siblings were there and even my parents got to come. We're so grateful to have family that live so close, especially at times like this. Thanks to everyone for your generosity, Ethan loves all the new toys!

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He was a little sick that day, so he was in a daze for some of the pictures....still cute though!

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Ethan's enjoying his cake.

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Me and Ethan

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Cousins Dario and Aiden with Ethan

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Aunt Rachel and Ethan

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He fell asleep on the ride home. Poor little guy was all partied out!

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Ethan loves Baby Einstein, so I copied the Baby Einstein caterpillar for his cake. I made a delicious cool whip and cream cheese frosting, and a white cake. It was my first time to use fondant and it looked perfect.......then after 30 minutes the colors started to run! Oh well, we still ate it.

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Happy Birthday Ethan! We love you so so much!

--Mama and Daddy

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Ethan's 1st Thanksgiving

I'm a little behind with the blogging, but here are a few pictures of Ethan's first Thanksgiving. We went to my parents' house that morning, then to Jonathan's cousin's house, then to Jonathan's parents', then back to my parents'. Whew! We were definitely busy, but it was a fun day! (sorry, I only took pics for part of the day)

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Granddad and Ethan

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Uncle Todd, Aunt Emily, and Ethan

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Aunt Taressa and Ethan

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Aunt Laura and Ethan

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Cousin Nicholas and Ethan

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Cousin Ava

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Me and baby Laila (Brian and Emily's newest baby)
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Me, Jonathan, and Ethan

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Todd & Emily got married!!!

Jonathan's brother, Todd, got married to Emily Johnson on Friday, November 21st. We weren't able to go to the wedding in Houston, but we got to see them at their reception the next day. It was decorated beautifully! Their colors were black and white with a little red, one of my favorite combinations...very classy! We had such a good time and we're so happy for them. Congratulations Todd and Emily, we love y'all!

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Emily, Todd, Jonathan, Me, and Ethan

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Ethan's puckering up for the camera.

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Me and Jonathan

(don't adjust your screen, my hair really is pink, and yes I did it on purpose)
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I found Ethan's suit coat at a resale shop for really cheap. He looked like a little man, it was so cute!

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Projects

Recently, our Wal-Mart got rid of their fabric department, so all of their fabric was marked down and super cheap! I decided to jump on it, and bought material to make curtains for the house. I quickly realized that this was going to be a huge project, but after many hours, I finally finished the curtains for the living room. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, but I'd like to add a solid colored stripe on the bottom, to make them longer. (I bought all there was of this kind).

Here are the curtains.

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This is what the material looks like. I'm going with an Asian theme (so that explains the dragons).

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I've also been working on some pictures. I found some cool stencils online, but they're way too expensive, so I made my own stencils! I cut out this black paper with an Exacto knife. Then, I put red paper behind it. I've got seven pictures to do, but so far I've only finished two.
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This is the second picture I've done. (They're supposed to be cherry blossoms.)
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The colors might not make sense right now, but hopefully after I make matching pillows it'll work out. Wish me luck!
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He's just so funny!

Last night, Ethan and I went over to my parents house. At the supper table, I tried to feed him beans and he kept spitting them out! I thought it was funny and I wanted to get it on video, but by the time the camera started rolling, he decided he liked the beans and started something else instead...





I thought it was pretty hilarious. I put my hand out to catch the beans that he was spitting out, but he kept putting his face in my hand instead!

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Of course, emptying the kitchen drawer has gotten old, so he found a new way to play with it, or IN it I should say...

I just love him!

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Ethan's 1st steps!

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Ethan took his first steps tonight and I'm so excited! Jonathan's at work, so he hasn't gotten to see it, but he'll be so proud. I'm so glad I was here for this moment. I know I can't always be with him, but as a mother, I wish that I could be there for everything and see every milestone. Sometimes I get cabin fever when I stay home all the time, but I really am lucky that I can be a stay-at-home mom. Especially at times like this.

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Ethan's 1st Halloween

This was Ethan's first Halloween and, unfortunately, Jonathan had to work. But Ethan and I still had fun! We went to my in-laws to trick-or-treat around their neighborhood. Ethan really needed a nap and was being a bit grumpy, but we went anyway. I carried him around to a few houses, and by the fourth house he fell asleep! So we went back to their house where he finished his nap, and that was the extent of our Halloween partying. I didn't mind though. He was getting pretty heavy, and it's not like he was going to eat the candy. We had a good time, and hopefully next year Jonathan and I will get to wear costumes and join the fun.

Here's the pumpkin I carved.

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Our sweet little lion.

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Ethan was distracted by all the trick-or-treaters.

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Ethan and his cousins, Aiden and Dario, the power rangers.

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This is Aiden, Ethan, Ava, and Dario, just before they went trick-or-treating.

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Ethan and Aunt Taressa (a.k.a. Auntie).

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Ethan and me.

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The little lion after 15 minutes of trick-or-treating.

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My sister Kelly, me, and Ethan. Kelly was going to a Halloween party as a Black Jack card dealer. We teased her hair up really big, and I loved the red lipstick!

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Surprise!

Last night we went to Monica's surprise birthday party at my parent's house. She had no idea, so it was a success! Benny did a great job of putting it all together and keeping it a secret. I made a chocolate cake and we had hot dogs and snacks. It was really fun to visit with everybody. Luckily, Jonathan wasn't working, so he got to come too! I loved that part!

Happy birthday Monica!

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My little helper

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Ethan's good at a lot of things, but he's especially good at reorganizing. This video is what happens when he gets loose at his grandma's house...and they think it's sooo cute. I bet if I did that they wouldn't be too happy. Why the double standard?

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He'll eat anything!

Ethan's been eating a lot of table food lately. He'll try pretty much anything we're eating and crawls as fast as he can to get to our plates.

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First, he eyes our food as if to say "Mmm, that sure looks tasty".

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Then, we let him try a little bit...

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but it tastes so good he won't let go!

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Are babies supposed to eat chicken?

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Baby Simba

Last night my family got together to carve pumpkins. We've been doing it every year for a while now and I really like the tradition. Jonathan didn't get to go because he was working, but Ethan and I still partied without him. Ethan showed off his Halloween costume for everyone and he looked so cute as a baby lion. He's like a baby simba off the Lion King! I love to see him crawl in it because his tail kind of wags. After a little while he started getting hot, but it was fun while it lasted!