MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

HELLO!!! So sorry about not updating sooner but I have not been able to get on the Internet on a regular basis right now. So I will try to catch you up in a nutshell....

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas with all of our families. Each family had a party on a different day so we were able to spend some quality time with everyone this year. We were thankful for that:) Ethan was not quite sure what "Christmas" meant but had fun eating the paper and playing with the ribbon and didn't really realize that there was a present under there until the paper was thrown away! He is blessed to have such a wonderful extended family and friends, thank you for everything!!

Ethan has totally mastered the crawling thing and pulling himself upon things and soon walking will be in store. I can hardly believe it! WE think some teeth are coming in and he is not sleeping like he normally does, but that will get back to normal here soon, we are taking it day by day:) He is just a happy boy who loves life, what more could you as for???

Jim spent some of his spare time away from interviewing building some miraculous things. He made book shelves for our house that we will be moving into in May and he is currently building me a cabinet to hold all of my scrapbooks. I am so excited and it wasn't even my idea!!!:) He also has been hanging out with Ethan and I and he just got back from a snowmobiling trip with his dad in the UP. They had a great time and got lots of snowmobiling in. His interviews start back up here in Thursday where he will travel to Dayton, OH and then to Detroit. After a handful of interviews he takes his boards on the 26th in Grand Rapids. After returning to the UP in the end of January things will start to slow down. He has two rotations left and then he is done until residency begins. WE are very excited about Match Day in March and are counting down the days!!

As for me..... I just love being a mom and Ethan makes that so much fun!

Here are some pictures from the last month.... Ethan with his new table!

YEAH..my sister is here and we took Ethan to Fredrick Meijer Gardens

Mr. Trouble is his middle name:)

First Christmas hand and foot ornaments.

He climbed into that himself....thought that it would be way more fun underneath for some reason???

My mommy is so silly!

Ethan's first pancake....I think he liked it:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Tricking Ethan!!

Today Grandpa Jastifer was shining his laser pen on the floor to see what Ethan would do....well see for yourself!:)

In this video he shows everyone a trick that he has perfected!

He is SO proud of himself!

RECORD!!!

Ethan beat one of his own records last night....our little guy slept 12.5 hours straight!!! Jim and I both woke up at 8am (2 hours later than we usually get up with Ethan) to find him just getting up from a long night sleep!! It is the best when both you and your kids sleep so well:) Way to go Ethan!

Catch Up

Hi Everyone!
Well we are home from our first road trip for residency interviews. They are going well and Jim has a list going and is trying to sort out what each program has to offer. He is done until after Christmas and then they will start up again in January. We are counting down the days until Match Day in March when we find out where we will be going. For the time being we are living in Lowell and are loving the time that we get to spend with our family and friends, especially around the holidays.

~~Swimming with daddy~~"OMG....that is me!!!""I HATE SANTA!!!!!!"Sleeping with dad:)"Ughh am I suppose to use this cup??""I see you!!"

Ethan is doing well and thriving! He is so inquisitive about EVERYTHING! He had a blast on our road trip and was such a good traveler. He is all over the place crawling and is grabbing onto things and pulling himself up all the time. He has a couple bumps to prove it:) Before we left for our road trip Ethan had his six month check up (and five shots!) and here are the measurements.... he is 28 inches tall (95%) and 17 pounds 10 ounces (50%). Long and lean!! He is growing well and is loving life! We are so proud of him!! We look forward to Ethan's first Christmas....I have a strong feeling that the wrapping paper will be the best present ever to him!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Our little climber: post from Jim

Ethan loves to crawl. He especially likes to open drawers and chase things across the room. The other day Laurie was brushing her teeth, leaving Ethan to play on the floor. She returned literally seconds later to find him inside his suitcase (we have been on the road for the last week). She was dumbfounded as to how he got himself inside. Yesterday, we found out how he might have managed, enjoy:

Traveling.....

Hi Everyone! The three of us are one the road for the interview trail and it is going great! Ethan has been a complete joy and has had no problem adjusting to hotel life. In fact, I think that he likes the change of scenery. We are in Erie, PA right now and will travel back to Akron, OH and then to Toledo as well before we come home for a couple of days. We are really enjoying the family time as well as a chance to look at prospective cities that we could be living in. I promise some pictures soon. Ethan is all over the place and is now pulling himself up to a standing position!! we took him in the pool and he LOVES it! A little scared at first but soon was splashing all over the place! For some reason he is completely fascinated by: Remotes of ANY kind, my belt, his suitcase, propel bottles, and mommy and daddy's shoes:) Love to all and we will post again soon!

He crawls....

At 6 months 2 weeks and 3 days (so says the bar at the top of the page), Ethan is crawling! He needs to be coaxed with toys but can get across the room in no time. No pictures now because we don't have internet for a while....