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....

Post from Jim

Ethan is now "mobile." I wouldn't call it a crawl, but he gets around and it won't be long before he really crawls. He thinks he is hot stuff, we catch him several feet away from where we put him and he giggles mischievously....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Marquette with grandma and grandpa Jastifer. It was great to have them here and Ethan LOVED playing with them and showing off his new trick.....he gets up on all fours by himself!!! Granted he is not crawling yet, but I have no doubt that it will be soon!! Thanks for visiting, we miss you and will see you soon!!

Ethan and grandpa having a good time!Playing with Grandma:)The boys reading the paper...okay maybe one of them is eating it?!?!?Splish-splashing with grandma!!We went on a mini hike to Big Bay.

WE HOPE THAT EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!

Helping Mom!

Ethan likes to help mom around the house....here is one example!!!If only he could fold!!

Some Very Important Visitors!!

Grandma Helms came to stay with Ethan and I when the guys went hunting for a few days. We had such a good time and miss her so much already! Ethan and grandma shared some good quality time together:) Thanks so much for coming mom, we LOVED having you here!! Grandma read me lots of books!"I love my Grandma Helms!!"

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Grandpa Jastifer stopped by too on his way back from hunting, it was great to see him. Ethan and grandpa had LOTS of fun playing!! He is actually coming back on Wednesday, along with Grandma Jastifer for Thanksgiving, we can't wait to see them!!:)

Grandpa Jastifer reading Ethan some books!:)

"See You Later" Ludwig Family!!

As I sit here at my computer it has hit me that some very dear and close friends of ours who have been there every step of the way on this journey through med school are leaving tomorrow for good! I really do not know what we would have done without their friendship and all the friendships that we have made throughout the past four years. It is so bittersweet to say goodbye to friends that we will hold very close to our hearts, but know that they as well as ourselves have big plans in store during the months ahead. So please know that your family will be missed dearly. Here are some pictures that Logan took that I have to share:) What a photographer!

All the Kids: Maddie Ann, Logan and EthanThe Girls!!The Guys!Logan and Ethan.....great buddies!Great Picture of Maddie Ann, Logan!!The Gang!! (Minus the photographer Logan)

WE LOVE YOU GUYS! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

Ethan's 1/2 Birthday!!

Ethan is 6 months old today, I can hardly believe it! He is so much fun and is just an amazing little boy:) Here are some recent photos that I have taken of him....

Ethan and daddy brought mommy home some flowers!!

Guy Time!! Ethan LOVES his daddy!

Mommy and Ethan went on walk along Lake Superior.

Silly Ethan!!

Yes, that is Ethan in the toy basket...it looked way more fun in there then on the blanket?!?!?

Ethan's New Tricks!

Ethan has been learning some new tricks that he wanted me to share with you all. So here they are in no particular order.....

1. I can sit up with very little help!2. I can wave!! (I wave to mommy and daddy all the time!)3. I am rolling around all over the place!! (Sorry about the blanket... I am very modest!)

4. I can look like the cutest little yooper baby ever! (Do you like my Mad Bomber hat??)

The is Patty, she helps daddy out a lot with all of his education and planning to become a doctor and is a great person, I love when she holds me!

Hmmmm....

Who do you think he looks like???:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Ethan celebrated his first Halloween in style! He was the cutest pumpkin on the block thanks to Aunt Kelly (we love and miss you)!! He had fun trick-or-treating with dad and our friends the Ludwig's around our neighborhood. He was having a blast and even kept on the pumpkin hat that went with the costume:)Here is the front of my costume...Here is the pumpkin face hat that goes with my costume....and here is the butt of my costume that says, "trick-or-treat"!!Our good friends the Ludwig's and their adorable children came to celebrate Halloween with us!
Here I am with dad getting ready to trick-or-treat for the first time...I did really well!

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!!!