Little Presquile Hike

Beautiful Lake SuperiorLoving Marquette!

You can see how the waves washed up on shore were like glass.

Ethan and dad checking out the view.

Last weekend Jim and I took Ethan on a little hike along beautiful Lake Superior! The waves that were washed along shore had froze and then melted some due to the warm weather and then melted again, so they were like glass and felt as if you were walking on glass too! We had a great time and it is times like this that we are so happy to be living in Marquette.

"Monkey"

Jim and I had company over the other night and they brought Ethan a "monkey". It is really a gorilla, but somehow it was called monkey and it has stayed. Anyway, Ethan LOVES this monkey and especially loves giving it kisses!!

Ethan giving monkey some loving!

UP 200

Once a year Marquette hosts the "UP 200", which is a dog sled race that starts at 7pm on Friday and the dogs and their mushers head a total of 200 miles to Grand Marais and back and end back up in Marquette around noon the next day. It is a big event and everybody who could stand to be out in the cold weather headed to downtwon Marquette to see the start of the race. We headed down there with our good friends the Longs and had a great time. We put Ethan and their 2 year old daughter Elise in our jogging stroller to keep them out of the cold . They fell asleep and snuggled together for quite some time, it was so cute!The bright spots are the dogs eyes. There is about ten pulling one sled. Marquette brought snow in so that they could make a trail in the middle of the streets for the start of the race.

Elise and Ethan snuggling together....that is Andrea and myself behind the stroller.

We have a walker!!!!!

That is right.... at 9 months and 2 days old we have a walker on our hands. I was washing dishes in the kitchen today and Ethan was standing, holding onto a ledge by the window. I turned to see what he was doing and he was walking to me!! He just took right off all by himself and walked straight across the kitchen=:)

Here is some video that we took when dad got home...enjoy!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Mommy's card from Ethan
Daddy's card from Ethan

We had a great Valentines Day yesterday. Ethan made some sweet cards for mom and dad:) All we asked is that Ethan give us kisses all day long when we asked for them...and he did:) You just say the word "kisses" and he will lay a big, wet, slobbery one on ya! The funny thing is that he will never just give you one at a time, it is always followed by another. It is so cute!

Ethan also went to the doctors yesterday for his 9 month check-up and he is doing great! He is right where he was three months ago in terms of percentiles:

95th percentile for height : 31 inches

50th percentile for weight: 20 pounds 7 ounces

50th percentile for head circumfrence

I am not going to tell you that he was a good boy at the doctors because that would be a complete lie. He cried more at this appointment then any other one and he didn't even get any shots! It took 5 tries to get his weight because he would not sit still, he would not let the doctor go near his ears, he twisted and turned into a complete circle so that the doctor could not take on or off his diaper, and to top it all off he would scream if anybody but mom would go near him! So neadless to say I, as well as the doctors office, could not wait to get out of there! It is good to know that he is growing and doing well though:) Gotta love our little monster!!!

Our Little Explorer...

The other day, once again, it was really quiet in the kitchen where Ethan was playing and I knew that he was up to something. I was doing the dishes and he was playing with all the tubberware on the floor. ..or so I thought. I caught him in the middle of doing this....One...

two...

Three.....got the pitcher in the back of the cupboard!! Piece of cake mom!!

Baby Steps....

Ethan is taking baby steps! If I set him away from me and steady him and then let go, he will take a few steps on his own to get to me! He is nowhere near full fledged walking yet, but in the next month, I think that we will have a walker!!

Sippy Cup Training

Sippy cup training is so much fun......

Pearly Whites!

Here is a great picture of Ethan and his new teeth! Grandma Helms has been asking for one and I finally captured a good picture that displayed them:)

My Newest Trick....Standing Up!

In the last couple of days Ethan has been interested in standing up all by himslef. It wasn't until today that I saw him do it for more then five seconds and with a toy in hand!! We are so proud of him and so is he!

Lets make a mess!!!!!

Ethan has had so much fun exploring his new home! He has especially had fun going through all the cupboards and baskets and anything that he can stand up on. He is starting to stand in his own for about 5 seconds at a time. He has taken no steps yet, but I am sure that will take place soon enough! With the standing milestone comes lots of bumps nad bruises, Ethan is taking them like a champ and is quickly learning what can and can't be stood up on! He has some "war wounds" as we call them. He is "roaring" all the time and is saying "ba" and "ma". Children are so much fun and he continues to amaze us everyday!

He is down and out with a cold right now, but is still his cheerful self most of the time. We are just taken it easy and hoping it will go away fast!

We had fun with our friends Jason and Carly Davis (med-school friends) and their adorable daugher Avery. Ethan and Avery ahd fun playing together:) Thanks for coming guys, we had a great time!

This is Ethan spot when he eats....he LOVES to look outside the window!

I found the cupboards!!

I help fold and eat the laundry!!

Grandma and Grandpa Jastifer came snowmobiling and hung out!

Dad and Ethan playing Peek-a-boo!

Ethan and Avery playing with their favorite toy...the booster seat:)

Spaghetti dinner......Ethan's face says it all!

This was my entertainment during the Super Bowl:)

Home in Marquette!!

Ethan, Jim and I are now home in Marquette. We arrived last night at about 8pm. We are currently baby proofing the home since Ethan is much more mobile then he was before we left:) We already miss everyone from home, it was so nice spending time with all of our family and friends.

Thanks so much to our parents who were so much help by letting us stay with you. We loved being able to spend time with you and to have Ethan spend some quality time with his grandparents....he really enjoyed it!! We love you and miss you!!

Happy Birthday Elise, our good friends adorable daughter from up here in Marquette!! She is turning TWO and I can't wait to see her and her family here soon!! Hope you have a wonderful Sesame Street birthday party!:)

Love/Hate Relationship

Jim and I have found out that toys are overrated. Ethan prefers dog bowls, coasters, TV remotes, spoons, pans, coffee tables, magazines, lamps, cords, rocking chairs, fish tanks, and any cabinet drawer over a toy any day! The first thing that Ethan does when he wakes up in the morning is grab a set of coasters on the coffee table and spill them out and play with them, not even paying attention to any of his toys. Don't get me wrong, he does play with his toys, he seems to have a love/hate relationship with them:)

One of his favorite things....playing under grandpa's table reading his aviation magazines.

Here is his newest entertainment, better quality video to come.

Feeding Myself :-)

Ethan is enjoying the fact that he can feed himself!! He loves all kinds of food but lately his favorite has been avocados:) As you can see...he really enjoyed that snack and mom had a big clean up job to do, but it was all worth it to see that smile on his face!!

My First Oreo Cookie!!!

"I think that I can fit the whole thing in my mouth at once?!?!?"

"Mmmmmmmm this is really good!!"

Ethan had is first Oreo Cookie today and the pictures say it all!! He LOVED it and ate it all up quite fast! He had it everywhere, but the mess was all worth the taste!

I Love My Grandparents!!!!

Ethan has had so much fun playing with his grandparents while we have been in Grand Rapids for four out the last five months! It has been great for Jim and I as well to be around them and watch them love him as much as we do. Thanks for everything guys, Ethan is blessed to have such wonderful grandparents!!

Ethan and Grandpa Jastifer reading the paper....one of their favorite things to do together.Ethan laughing with Grandpa Biener:) It took a little while but Ethan soon warmed up!!
Ethan loves playing with his Grandma Jastifer, they always have a good time!

Ethan and Grandma Helms being silly, he loves when they chase each other around!

Happy Ethan (Christmas is extended!!)

We spent Christmas with the Eggleston's the other day! Due to life being a little crazy, we had to do it a little late....but better late then never!!

Ethan has been a happy boy despite the TWO teeth that he has now! When we were over at the Eggleston's, Sharon realized why he was being such a pill....his second tooth had arrived! I love my new lawn mower the Eggleston's got me for Christmas!!

"This is so much fun....thank you Aunty Amy!" "This girl is pretty funny!" Amy and Ethan having fun:) Sharon and Ethan playing together! My "sisters" Amy and Nikki:)

Thanks, we appreciate everything!!!!

****Ethan Playing in the Snow*****

Ethan had fun playing in the snow today even though there was not a lot on the ground. It has been snowing but has been too warm to really stick. We decided that it would still be fun to get out sledding and playing in it though. He had a blast and was covered in snow and was rosy cheeked before we came back inside. It will be fun to get back to Marquette, where they have a lot of snow, maybe we can make a snowman!?!?

Ethan's New Jogging Stroller

Jim getting ready for a run with Ethan
Ethan all bundled up in his new jogging stroller!!

Due to the warm weather that melted all the snow, Ethan took his first ride in his new jogging stroller. He loved it so much that he was asleep before Jim even left the driveway!! This was a great buy off eBay (aren't you proud of us Audrey?!?!) and so far Ethan loves it!

Catching Up a Little More......

Since I have the Internet and some time (Ethan is sleeping:) I can update a little more. Ethan has another first besides his tooth.....he is saying "mom" and it is so cute! At first we weren't sure if he was really saying it, but now we know that he definitely is! We are now working on "da-da", but currently has no interest! We know he loves his daddy though, he LOVES playing "get my feet" with dad all the time. He anticipates dad coming and laughs way before Jim is even near him. Another new thing about Ethan that Jim and I find a little sad is that he does not like to cuddle anymore. When nap or bedtime come he wants to be fed and then put in his crib so he can put himself to sleep. I mean I know that sounds great, and it is, but we do miss that sweet cuddling time that we have had. There still are times that we sneak in cuddling though!

Ethan got his first professional portrait taken the other day (Thanks Ken, Tom, Bud, and Sharon!!) and he did fairly well. We walked away with a great photo! The photographer was like, "Does he sit still?" The answer we gave was, "No, not really." Even though he tried to get out of everything or crawl all around, he loves standing on things and that was the pose that ended up with and it was super cute! Loves standing on furniture and of course catching up on the latest news with Meradith Viera!!:)

I am so excited because a lot of my friends are going to have babies!! Congrates to JoLynn, John, and Maren who are expecting this July! Bethany I can't wait to hear the good news in March and then Angie is close behind in April!:) You all are or will be great mommies!

Also I big CONGRATULATIONS to Mindy and Aaron, some great friends of ours who are going to be married this August! I am so excited to be part of it and can't wait for August to get here:) Another big shout out to Stephanie and Bryan who will be married in September and Ashely and Matt who are also getting married next summer.....congrates everyone!!:)

Lastly, I have to thank my wonderful husband. He thought that I needed a safe place to showcase all of my scrapbooks ( I knew that he loved them!). So while he had some time he built me a beautiful scrapbook cabinet. It could not have turned out more perfect. I really appreciate it Jim!!

My beautiful cabinet!

Here are a few more pictures.....

This is HUGE! Ethan has been so afraid of Grandpa Biener for whatever reason and this was the first time that Ethan would let Grandpa Biener play with him!
Ethan is on love with this book....we read it like five times a day and mom and dad have it memorized we read it so much."Mmmmmmmm....mac 'n' cheese my favorite!""Hmmm everytime I go near this thing it blows air in my face??""I love when Aunt Kelly visits, I miss you!"Ethan and Avery (our friends adorable one year old) had fun playing together:)"FEED ME!" Great-grandma and "regular grandma" , as Jim would say as a kid, were feeding Ethan some yummy dinner.

First Tooth!

"Can you see it???"

(This is how Ethan looked for weeks.....fingers in the mouth!)

Ethan's first tooth popped a couple days ago...finally! The poor guy had been teething for awhile, but the tooth just did not want to make an appearance until yesterday!! Our little guy is growing up so fast!

We just got back today from our last interview road trip. We went to Flint and Fort Wayne. On the way we stopped and stayed with a couple friends from med school who are also in the interview process. It was great to see Jason, Carly, Christie, and Avery (the cutest 1 year old!). We have our very last interview Saturday in Grand Rapids and then it is out of our hands! We can not wait until March for Match Day! Jim is now studying for his boards that are at the end of the month and then we are back to Marquette!

Hope all is well!