Ethan Loves Walks!

Ethan just LOVES walks! He mostly sleeps right now, but on Saturday he was awake for part of the time and I caught this photo. Yes, the hat is kind of geeky (says Jim) but Ethan doesn't seem to mind. The smile just proves it!!

Ethan Pee's on Dad!!

It was the funniest thing, Ethan was cuddling with dad on the couch and was beginning to wake up. Jim picked him up and to his surprise, Ethan had peed all over him!! Ethan could have cared less, but Jim and I thought it was funny!:)

Our Precious Sleeping Ethan

On Wednesday my mom was watching Ethan while Jim and I took a walk. He fell asleep and she snapped this precious photo of Ethan!! We love our son and he is already growing up before our eyes.

KISSES!!

Dad and Mom absolutely LOVE giving Ethan kisses and Ethan loves giving them back:) We love our precious boy (If you can't tell!).Mom giving kisses!!Dad giving kisses!

Double Duty!!

The "Feet Picture"

Jim loves taking pictures of feet, so we thought that it would be fun to have a "feet picture" with dad and Ethan. Grandma Helms gave us a card with feet that sparked the idea. It was fun trying to get the perfect one and Ethan was so good about it. These were the best ones that mom took!

Grandma Helms Visits!!!

On Monday Grandma Helms came to visit! We are so excited to have her here, especially Ethan! Grandma is definitely getting her "Ethan Fix" and LOVES spending as much time with him as possible:) Lets just say that we have been taking lots of pictures....she is one proud grandma!! I love having her here as well, it is great to get some "mom time" for me. We love you grandma Helms...come back and visit soon!!

So Blessed!

Today was one of our first days out as a family. We went to church with our little Ethan and he did a wonderful job!! We feel so blessed to have Ethan in our lives!! I even got to actually put on some real clothes as well as Ethan:) Here are some photos right before we left for church.

Pictures of Ethan!!

Jim and I have been having so much fun with Ethan. We can not stop staring at him, knowing that he is ours....we are overwhelmed with joy and love for him:) Here are some pictures that we have been taking while we are home....

Sleeping so cozy on daddy's chest .

Yes, I have socks on my hands...I keep scratching my face!!

"Just chillin like a villian", that is what dad said I looked like anyway.

I love having my hands anywhere on my face!

HOME!!!

We came home with Ethan from the hospital on Monday May 14th in the evening. They were going to have me stay until Tuesday but with the overflow of patients laboring, we were able to go home a day early since we both were doing so well. Here are some picture of him coming home and with some pretty important visitors. Both Jim's parents and my mom came on Sunday and were able to meet their grandson. They were all thrilled and excited to finally meet him. Ethan also was able to meet his Aunt Keri as well:) We love visitors!

Family picture right before leaving the hospital.

Ethan in his car seat coming home...looks like he has some growing to do!!

Meeting Grandpa Bob

Ethan and Grandma Chris

Grandma Nancy with Ethan

Aunt Keri came to visit and gave me some really cool skydiving shirts.

Ethan's Birth Story

I have had a lot of people ask me about my birth story...so here we go!

I went to bed on Saturday May 12th with a crampy stomach ache. I decided that I should just go to bed and that it will disappear in the morning. Well it was still there at 2:30am when I woke up to use the bathroom. It kept me up, along with the contractions that I was beginning to have about every 7-10 minutes or so. I tried to sleep but it was not going to happen. I woke Jim up about an hour later when they were 5 minutes apart and really beginning to hurt. We were going to try and wait until 5am to go to the hospital, but after beginning to bleed and not being able to rest anymore because of the pain of the contractions, off to the hospital we went at about 4:30am. When we arrived, I was already 3 cm dilated and 100% effaced and my contractions were now every 3 minutes. To try and help relieve them, I sat in the bathtub for about 45 minutes and that really help ease the pain, but it was still there. At about 7am, the resident on call (who delivered Ethan because my OB was out of town) checked me and I was 4-5 cm dilated. At about 9:30am when the pain was too much for me to handle, I received an interthecal (which is like and epidural but only numbs the pain, not the pressure or feeling that you have and it only lasts 6-8 hours). I rested and watched Plant Earth for the next couple of hours while I continued to dilate. At about 12:00pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push!! This part of my birthing story was the hardest and toughest thing I have ever done, but also the most beautiful thing that I have ever done. After changing multiple positions and pushing hard for three and a half hours, on May 13, 2007 (Mothers Day!!!) @ 3:31 pm Ethan James Jastifer was brought into the world. With a blubbering mother and a proud and happy father, we were able to meet our little guy. After secretly telling myself he looks like an Ethan (and his father!) and Jim saying the same thing, there was no question as to what his name will be. He weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was perfect and we are so excited to have him in our life!!

Spring Blizzard

Starting Tuesday April 2nd it snowed for five days straight! We ended up getting over 9 feet of snow while schools and some buisnesses closed. Jim would go and snow blow and a couple hours later, it looked as if he was never out there. Here are some pictures of the blizzard.

Beautiful Day

Today is a beautiful day here in Marquette. The sun is shining and even though it is cold, I can feel that spring is right around the corner! Here are some pictures that Jim has been taking of Marquette, these will prove why we like living here so much:) Enjoy!

Proud Parents-to-Be

Jim and I are thrilled to be living in Marquette while he finishes medical school. This town is beautiful and we could see ourselves settling here one day. We have our own little "family" with the other medical school families. We miss ours very dearly though and love to spend time with them when we can. We don't know where our next "home" will be, but that is fine with us. We are defiantly living in the moment! We are anxiously awaiting the birth of our son in May! Life could not be better:)

What is going on these days...

Well I tought that I would start a blog here as well since it looks fun and all my friends and family are doing it! I am currently 32 weeks pregnant and anxioulsy awaiting the birth of our son! The pregnancy has been great and I have had no problems (knock on wood!). I love feeling him kick and grow, it is an amazing experience. I think God each day for this belssing and look forward to many years of motherhood. Here are some pictures of what I am looking like these days:)