PEAS!!!

Now that Ethan is almost 6 months old, Jim and I thought that he was ready to dig into some fruits and veggies. We started off with peas last night and he loved them! This is what he looked like when the bowl was empty:) Since I have decided to make my own baby food, it is fun for me too! Next on the list: Carrots!

HOME IN MARQUETTE!!

We are finally home in Marquette, we arrived around 1:00pm yesterday. Ethan did great, but just wants out of his car seat at times and I can not blame him, but he is such a trooper! He slept great in his crib last night and is now rolling over all the time in his sleep, you should have seen the position that I found him in last night!!:) Anyway I will update later with pictures...we already miss everyone downstate already....have a great week!!

UPDATE!!

Hi Everyone! I finally am able to update you on what has been going on in the past week! We have been busy visiting family and friends before we head back up north this Saturday for the month of November and then we will be down again in December and January when Jim will begin the interview process for residencies. Ethan has been having fun staying at Grandma and Grandpa Helms and continues to amaze Jim and I everyday! He loves making grunting noises, playing with his feet, rolling over, jumping, eating banana and apple cereal, and spending time with anyone who will play with him (including Hunter and Duke...our parents black and chocolate labs). As I mentioned last week Ethan was baptized and that was a special time for us and our families. Jim and I carved Ethan's pumpkin today and it was so big that Ethan fit in it!!! There are pictures below to prove it:) Jim is enjoying Kalamazoo and their orthopedic surgery residency program. I am looking forward to the interview process in the next couple of months and finding out what places we could possibly be living for the next five years and where we will buy our first house (it will be small but we will own it!!!!). This year has been full of blessings and more to come and we are excited for them all! I wouldn't change the way our lives have been over the past 3 years for anything, med school has been an exciting, humbling, and joyous adventure so far. Enough said.....here are some pictures!!

Ethan LOVES his family!!!

Ethan LOVES his mommy and Daddy!

Silly Ethan Pictures!

First Sink Bath!!

"Hi....I see you!!"

Riding Duke!

"Anyone in there??"

Ethan Picking Flowers:)

"I am practicing riding a bike in grandma's flower pot!"

Our Little Pumpkin!!!

Five Months Old!!

Do you like my pumpkin slippers???
SO HAPPY!!

Ethan is five months old now and is growing like a weed. He is one solid boy who is discovering new things everyday!! He loves to put anything and everything in his mouth and he is scootching to get toys. He is so fun to watch!!

No Nap = Sleeping While Eating

Here is the picture I promised you of Ethan falling asleep while eating his cereal the other night...it was hilarious!!

No Internet:(

Right now I am staying at my moms and she has no Internet. So I will not be updating as much as usual this month, but when I come to visit Grandma and Grandpa Jastifer I can update then! Ethan is growing up so fast. Yesterday he refused to take an afternoon nap and fell asleep eating in his highchair ( I will post a picture of that soon!) It was hilarious! Jim is gone during the week in Kalamazoo and comes home on the weekends. We miss him dearly but love spending time with him when we can! Also, Ethan is getting Baptized this Sunday and I will post pictures of that as well. That will be a special day for him! God truly has blessed us with an amazing little boy!

Ethan LOVES helping Grandpa Read the Paper!

Ethan helps grandpa Jastifer read the paper just about everyday and he loves it! By the end he is covered in black ink and but finds it way more interesting then any toy! Ethan definitely enjoys spending time with his grandpa!

We stayed with them the past 5 weeks and had a great time! We can not thank them enough for all that they do for us! Love you guys!

Step One: Shred the paper.

Step Two: Taste the paper!

Step Three: Act so innocent with black ink all over his face!!:)

4 1/2 Months Old!

Ethan is one growing boy (don't know how since he spits up about half of his food!) but none the less, he is getting so big!!!:) Here are some pictures of him during the past week.....ENJOY!

Ethan in his cool vest....he is obsessed with his tongue!!Family picture in Saugatuk! (Again, the tongue!)Grandma Helms and Ethan in the glasses that she got him! (hmmm there is that tongue again!)Here is Ethan's friend Hunter (my good friend Keri's son who is almost two and adorable!) who we play with every week. He LOVES holding Ethan and giving him hugs!:)

A Weekend With Dad!!!

With Jim working close to 95 hours this week, we took full advantage when he had this weekend off. Saturday we tried out our new hiking backpack and found that it put Ethan to sleep, and there was not much a of a place to put his head! We had a nice walk and then we just played outside for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening dad took mom out for a birthday dinner too:) It was great to spend some quality time with dad and I know that he loved it just as much as we did!

Ethan fell asleep like this in his new carrier:)

Mom getting some cuddling time with Ethan!"My dad is the greatest!!!!"

Visiting Friends From Lansing!

Last night Ethan and I went to visit some good friends of mine from Lansing. We had a great time and Ethan had fun flirting with all the girls. He was eating up the fact that he was the only male! I miss them all so much and it was great to catch up and hear how life is going for them. Thanks girls for a great birthday dinner, you are the best!!! Love you all (so does Ethan:)!!

DOCTOR UPDATE!

Ethan went to the doctor the other day and he has grown so much!!

Weight: 16 pounds

Length: 25.5 inches

All of his measurements length, weight, and head are all in the 75 percentile so he is growing well!! Our little guy is getting so big!

Hanging with the "Biener's"

Last week grandpa Biener invited us over for dinner and we had a wonderful time. It was great to see Grandpa Biener and Uncle Mark and Ethan loves spending time with them! Ethan loves his Uncle Mark!Ethan was trying to be cool:)Ethan and Grandpa Biener

A couple days later we went to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Biener, Great Aunt Lynn, and Great Cousin Leigh!!
Great Cousin Leigh and Ethan!!Group Shot with Great Grandma!

This is a quilt Great Grandma gave Ethan that was her grandmas.

Long day....Ethan sleeping on Great Grandma!

Our Little Man!!

This smile says it all!!!!

Ethan Meets the Eggleston's!!!

Ethan was overjoyed when he met the Eggleston's, great friends of the family:) Amy, Nikki, Bud, and Sharon gave him lots of love!! Since I talk about them all the time, he finally put a face with the name:) Thanks for all the love guys, right back at ya!!

Look at that smile...Sharon must be pretty funny!!!:)Aww Nikki and Ethan!!Ethan LOVED Amy.....can you tell by the huge smile on his face he was flirting big time!

NEW TOY!!

Ethan thanks Great-Grandma & Grandpa Edwards for his new Jumper!! For those of you who have not had a chance to hold Ethan yet, ALL he wants to do is jump, jump, and jump!! So this gift was the perfect present for him and he LOVES it!

CEREAL!!

Yummy-yummy in the tummy!
Ethan is now eating cereal!! He LOVES it and will eat and eat if we let him. I am hoping that this helps fill his belly so that he sleeps longer through the night. We are still getting up 2-3 times a night. It has helps somewhat but mostly he just enjoys eating it up!! Yummy!

A Fun Vacation to Indiana!

Jim had this past week off so we headed down to Indiana to my grandparents cottage on the lake for a mini vacation. It was so relaxing! Ethan was able to spend some quality time with his great-grandparents and LOVED it! A view of the sunset from the cottage...beautiful!
Ethan and Great-Grandpa!
Great-Grandma having a fun time snuggling with Ethan!

Having Fun In Grand Rapids!

Grandpa & Grandma Helms!

Grandma Helms with Ethan after getting his new sunglasses and puking all over himself:)
We love our Aunt Keri!

Sandy and Grandma Jastifer trying to get Ethan to smile:)

Libby and Ethan (who got him giggling like crazy!)

Ethan taking a nap on Great-Grandma Jousma....awwwww

Ethan having fun with Grandma Jastifer!

Grandpa Jastifer playing Patty-Cake with Ethan who was loving it!

On of my bestest friends Ang with the little guy!