The Good Life

Kidney Stones & Ladders

2009-07-09T20:19:00.003-04:00

Today started with a bang...literally. I heard Steve hit the floor this morning when he tried to get out of bed. He was clutching his back and moaning in agony. He is generally good with pain, so I knew something major was going on. I got Ethan dressed quickly and we ran out the door to the ER. Steve was diagnosed as having kidney stones after having a CT scan. So, our day was pretty hectic. Steve is now pumped full of morphine and is doing much better. He is so sweet when he is doped up and is saying nice things to everybody. It's cute.

That was the kidney stones part of this blog, now on to the ladder. My mom and dad have a nice little play set for the kids at the church to play with. Ethan, of course, benefits from this. There is a ladder and a climbing wall to help kids get up to the slide. We've always just put Ethan up on the platform, assuming he couldn't climb. The other day he just took off and climbed up the ladder. My mom and I still get pretty nervous, but he does really well! Here's a little video of my all-star climber.

Catching Up

2009-07-07T08:45:00.002-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I last blogged. A lot of craziness has happened in the past few weeks. Steve was scheduled to have his ankle reconstructed (for those of you that don't know, his foot was hurt at work...a delivery driver dropped a 250 lb box on his right foot). At the last minute the surgery was rescheduled for the 13th of this month, so the waiting game continues. Steve still has to limp around and is in a lot of pain.

Ethan had his 18 month checkup and continues to do really well. Amazingly his height is between the 75th and 80th percentile. He's just a little more than 2 feet shorter than I am. He definitely isn't getting the height from me! He weighs around 25 lbs which is a bit on the light side for his height, but he eats well. He's just a very active kid and loves to run around. Ican't believe how big he is getting. I get nostaligic for the baby stage, but I also am enjoying his new more independent personality as well. He definitely knows what he wants and how to get it.

Silvia and Alex came down for the July 4th weekend. The boys LOVED playing on the new playset that my parents have setup at their house. They took turns going down the tunnel slide. I didn't get a picture of them playing together, but I think my mom did. I'll post it soon. For now, I just have a pic from my cell phone of Ethan at the end of the slide.

Tagged--6th folder, 6th Picture

2009-05-21T11:32:00.005-04:00

My Grandma Decker and I at Lark and Aaron's Wedding

Ok, this is for you Shawna.

Oddly enough, this picture was also taken when I was pregnant. Shawna, you didn't even look pregnant in your picture! I wish I could say the same about this one lol. My cousin Aaron got married to my friend Lark so of course I had to help out (I felt slightly responsible for the marriage as I had them sing together at my own wedding. They exchanged phone numbers and had to spend time practicing together, and a romance blossomed). I manned the guest book table and made sure programs were passed out while teetering on 3.5 inch heels...not the easiest thing when you have a gigantic stomach. I am 37 weeks pregnant in this picture. It was a beautiful wedding and a very good day.

Tagged: Silvia, Missy, Jaime, Jennifer, Rachel, Beth

Fun in the sun

2009-04-26T15:23:00.003-04:00

Playing in Grandma's flowerpot

We got Ethan a little slide for the back yard. He loves it!

Ethan is really enjoying the warm weather we've had for the last few weeks. He wants to be outside constantly. Here are a couple of pictures of him playing outside.

Pictures from Easter weekend

2009-04-14T18:29:00.006-04:00

Ethan's easter basket...it was cute with lots of plastic sports things (hocky sticks, golf set, baseball set). Let me explain the plunger in the picture lol. Ethan adores playing with plungers...not sure why. So, I bought him his own to carry around. Hence the plunger in the living room.

Climbing the car at the play area at the mall.

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T09:55:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful long Easter weekend as a family. Steven and I had Good Friday off of work, so we took Ethan to the soft play area at the mall. He had a great time playing with the other kids there, and I got some shopping done too :-). We skipped the Easter Bunny pictures since there was quite a line. On Sunday, we went to church. Ethan was all dressed up in his new easter outfit and looked absolutely adorable. My friend Beth snapped this picture of us together after church.

My little helper

2009-04-04T18:12:00.006-04:00

Ethan is getting to be such a big boy and LOVES to help me around the house. I've put a couple of clips here of him cleaning with Grandma today. He gets so excited to dust and clean windows...let's hope he keeps that up.
Ethan also jabbers constantly. He jabbers and then laughs like he said something funny. It cracks me up. He still only says about 10 "real" words, but he understands and obeys (most of the time) some simple commands. I can't believe how quickly he is growing up.

Ethan telling a joke

Ethan dusting with Grandma

Ethan cleaning Grandma's mirror

Bedtime Prayers

2009-02-09T09:25:00.002-05:00

Every night as part of our bedtime routine with Ethan, we pray (albeit a very very short prayer to accomodate a one-year-old's attention span). We always kneel by the couch as a family, just to get into the habit. We've been doing this for a few months now, and a few weeks ago, Ethan started coming to the couch on his own when we tell him it is time for prayer. On Saturday, we did the routine as usual, except when Ethan went over to the couch, he said, "Jesus." I thought I must have misheard, except my mom and Steve also said they heard him say it. We thought it must have been a fluke, so we went on with his routine, reading a bedtime story. Then, my mom suggested doing prayer again, just to see what Ethan did. Sure enough, he came over to the couch and again said, "Jesus." We got him to repeat it at the end of the prayer as well. It was so sweet to hear his little voice say. I'm so proud this is among his first words!

New Things

2009-01-05T11:33:00.003-05:00

Ok, I have no pictures from Christmas to post yet...I'm one of those people that never takes pictures, relying on other family members to take them and then email copies. Instead of pictures I thought I'd write a little about new things Ethan is doing. It seems he is learning something every day. These past few weeks he has:
1. Started to say "see" and "up" (in addition to his vocabulary of "mama" "dada" "uh oh" "hot")
2. Dubbed my mom "nana" (he came up with that himself...we've always referred to her as grandma)
3. Gives kisses on demand (well, that may be going a bit far...he gives kisses on request when he is in the mood)
4. Learned to open the back door, which is a bit scary. I'm starting to make sure the deadbolt is always locked!
5. Started waving bye-bye to anyone that puts on their coat.

He is an amazingly sweet little boy. I'm such a proud mom, if you can't tell :-)

Ethan's 1 Year Pictures

2008-12-12T21:00:00.006-05:00

Ethan turned 1 on November 12th. I can't beleive a year has gone by so quickly. His pictures turned out so well!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T15:53:00.004-05:00

Ethan was fascinated with little Braedon.

Alex and Ethan playing in the dishwasher.

Playing with grandpa.

Testing the baby-proof cabinets

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. The immediate family was there, and Jim & Beth, Aaron, Lark & Braedon joined us as well. It was so nice to spend time with them all...and the food was good too :-).

Alex and Ethan were so cute together. They both R-E-A-L-L-Y enjoyed helping grandma with the dishwasher. Ethan was also quite taken with Braedon.

Happy Birthday Ethan

2008-11-16T17:09:00.005-05:00

Playing with his toy from Uncle Mikey and Aunt Rachel

Ethan's reaction to cake.

Ethan's personal-sized cake.

Ethan's "real" birthday cake--actually made up of cupcakes.

We had a little family birthday party for Ethan today. He enjoyed himself and loved his presents!

First Haircut

2008-11-12T15:17:00.005-05:00

After

During...the hair falling tickled his nose--hence the look

This is actually the first picture of the group...Ethan's initial reaction was to cry.

Ethan got his first haircut today. He wasn't too thrilled about it at first, but he did ok once he got used to the idea. He looks like such a big boy now. My little boy is growing up on me...sniff.

Update on Mike

2008-11-04T11:46:00.004-05:00

Thanks to all who have been praying for Mike. He came through open heart surgery successfully on Thursday, October 22nd. His aortic valve was repaired (he was born with a birth defect that progressively worsened over the course of years). He came home on Monday afternoon, only 4 days after the surgery and was on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, he develop pericarditis, which is the retention of fluid and inflation of the pericardium around the heart. So, he was admitted to the hospital again on Thursday--one week after his surgery. They changed his meds and sent him back home on Saturday. Hopefully this time it's for good!

He's doing extremely well, considering what he's been through. He's pretty thin though (weighing 138 pounds).

Here's a pic taken yesterday evening of his chest. It look pretty good for 11 days post-op I think. The two slits beneath the long incision are from where his chest tubes were inserted.

Beth & Seth=Love Forever

2008-11-04T10:24:00.008-05:00

Johanna and I waiting for the pictures to be over.

Phil, Seth's Cousin, and I walk down the aisle.

The platform...the tress have candles in them and were gorgeous when lit.

The vestibule.

The beautiful bride and Sarah...getting ready for the ceremony.

Lark, Aaron and little Braedon. He was such a sweet little guy!

All ready for the wedding to start.

Ethan wanted the petals after the wedding.

Planning something devious.

Beth is now a married woman. She was absolutely beautiful, and the wedding was amazing. Seth teared up when she came down the aisle, which was very sweet. I am so happy for my dear friend and know she is incredibly happy. Congratulations, Seth and Beth! (By the way, I stole these pics from Kurtis and Johanna, so they may look familiar :-)

Ethan's 1st Halloween

2008-11-04T10:07:00.003-05:00

Ethan celebrated his very first halloween this year! We dressed him up as a monkey, since that seemed the most appropriate fit for his personality. He is an extremely curious little guy :-). Obviously, he didn't get to eat any candy this year, but he still had fun. Most of the evening was spent at Beth Buntain's rehearsal. I'll have to post pics of her wedding in my next posting.

Balloons

2008-10-20T10:53:00.003-04:00

Ethan has developed a fascination for balloons. Everytime I take him shopping he stretches out his little arms and reaches for the balloons...so of course I buy him one :-). What can I say, he has me wrapped around his little finger. Yesterday he was walking around with two balloons. It was so cute that I had to get a little video of it on my cellphone.

Also, our little guy LOVES the phone. Yesterday during lunch he was playing with my mom and dad's home phone. Well, when we were finished with lunch we noticed that their message machine was blinking that there was a new message. When my dad played it, it was just Ethan jabbering away. I have no idea how he managed to leave a voicemail! It was such a cute recording that I'm going to try to figure out a way to save it.

Catching Up

2008-10-15T13:21:00.004-04:00

Ok, I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Since August (the last time I posted), Ethan has started to walk. He is soooo cute. He still is not super confident in his new skill, so he generally will only take a few steps in a row. It's hard to believe that he is growing up so fast!

He continues to be a fabulous sleeper :-). He generally sleeps about 11-12 hours each night and then naps for about 1.5-2 hours each afternoon.

I've finally moved down to part-time and am absolutely loving it! I have so much more time to spend with Ethan, and it is such a blessing.

The picture attached is actually from several months ago. Steve's dad is restoring a 1947 Chevy. Ethan got to "drive" it. Doesn't he look good behind the wheel?

Also attached is a little clip of Ethan playing ball with his daddy. He is REALLY into playing ball and will just go back and forth forever if you let him.

Summertime Fun

2008-08-02T15:08:00.004-04:00

Playing in the pool that Uncle Mikey and Aunt Rachel bought.

Harrassing a little girl at Appalachian Youth Camp...look at the mischievous grin!

Waiting for the bath water to be ready...Ethan loves his water!

Ethan has started to pull him self up on anything he can get his hands on. He even tried climbing the stairs at mom and dad's house (he made it to the third step before I caught him). Here are some pictures of our little man from the last few weeks.

New Toys

2008-07-11T18:12:00.002-04:00

Now that Ethan can roam around the house freely, he is finding all sorts of new "toys". I found him this afternoon playing with the door jam. He was fascinated by the noise.

Peek-A-Boo

2008-07-11T18:01:00.001-04:00

Ethan's Adventures

2008-07-11T16:35:00.005-04:00

Ethan is having so much fun with his freedom of crawling. He is exploring his world and thoroughly enjoying himself! He found grandma's curtains yesterday and played peek-a-boo with me for several minutes. He is so funny!

July 4th

2008-07-11T15:41:00.004-04:00

Grandpa playing with Ethan

Don't worry! He's not really drinking Coke.

This year was Ethan's first 4th of July. My great grandmother and my Aunt Sharon came up for the weekend. Little Ethan enjoyed having a larger audience to entertain :-)

Ethan's Booboo

2008-06-30T10:42:00.003-04:00

What a stressful day Tuesday was!!! I was getting ready to leave for work on Tuesday morning. My mom was holding Ethan while sitting on the edge of the bed. She was talking to me as I was finishing getting ready. Ethan suddenly decided he wanted down and just "dove" off of her. She caught him, but he banged his little eye/forehead on the sharp edge of the end table. He cried...we all did actually. He only fussed for a few minutes though and was all smiles on the way in to the doctor.

Thankfully the doctor called us right back. The cut was fairly deep, so it did require stitches. Because the cut was very clean and straight, the doctor was able to use liquid stitches and basically just glued it shut. Ethan didn't enjoy this process, but was a real trooper. They had to use a restraining device to hold him still for the stitching, and that didn't go over so well with him.

My poor mom feels terrible since she was the one holding him when it happened, but I keep on telling her it could have happened to anyone. He'll probably get more bumps and bruises as he learns to walk. Hopefully we'll make it through the toddler years and keep our sanity!

2008-05-27T11:07:00.003-04:00

Ethan has started to jabber. He loves to say "mama" over and over. I haven't deluded myself into thinking he is calling me mama, because he says mama to the dog, his toys and just about everything else.

Also, our little boy now has his two bottom teeth. He looks so cute when he smiles!

First Tooth

2008-05-12T08:54:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I discovered that Ethan had his very first tooth! He was trying to chew on my hand during church, and I felt something sharp and hard in his mouth. I looked in his mouth, and sure enough, a little tooth was peeping through his gums. Thankfully he showed no signs of teething (fussiness, swollen gums, etc) with this first tooth. I hope they all go so easily!

It's really hard to get a picture of the tooth, because he get his tongue in the way. You may barely see a little white in this picture.

Visit from Grandmother Kirk

2008-04-22T09:26:00.003-04:00

Steve has an absolutely wonderful grandmother that he loves dearly. Unfortunately we don't get to see her very often. On Saturday, Steve's dad and grandmother came over and spent the afternoon. It was so nice to be with them, and little Ethan loved all the attention he received!

Tagged

2008-04-16T16:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, Jamie Taylor tagged me, so here's my list:

What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was 15 years old and was finishing up my junior year in high school. I lived in Kansas City, Kansas and worked in a daycare after school. I managed 12 toddlers every day! I think that job prepared me for every other job I’ve had since then. If you can handle that many little munchkins, I believe you can do just about anything :-) My family was preparing to move to Hobe Sound, Florida.

Five things on my “to do” list today:
1. Clear my email inbox
2. Get my desk organized
3. Get caught up with phone messages
4. Send out invitations for Ethan’s dedication
5. Clean my house

Snacks that I enjoy:
Popcorn
Chocolate (of course)

What I would do if I were a billionaire:
First, I would quit my job and stay home to be a mom. I would also probably move overseas and become involved in missions. Keep just enough to live off of the interest when invested and set up charitable foundations with the rest.

Three of my bad habits:
Eating junk food
Shopping
Worrying

Places I have lived:
Washington Court House, Ohio
Shepherds Bethel, Ohio
Petersburg, Indiana
Dominica, British West Indies
Corydon, Indiana
Key West, Florida
Hobe Sound, Florida
Ghana, West Africa
Kansas City, Kansas
Marion, Indiana

Jobs I have had:
Day care attendant (that was in high school, so maybe that shouldn’t count)
Sales Associate at a Christian bookstore (that was a fabulous job!)
Assistant in a TESOL/GED lab in Stuart, Florida (also a fun job)
Student Worker for Indiana Wesleyan University
Administrative Assistant to Vice President for AGS, Indiana Wesleyan University
Coordinator, Office of Legal Affairs—Indiana Wesleyan University (my current job)

Five people I want to know more about:
Carissa (Everhart) Seward
Libby Snider
Beth Buntain
Jenness (Peak) Walker
Missy Lum

Ethan's "Photo Shoot"

2008-04-10T13:23:00.003-04:00

Jennifer Byler and Beth Buntain (two friends of ours) came over on Saturday to take some pictures of Ethan. They did such a fabulous job! Ethan did very well during the pictures and made such an adorable little model. A few of my favorite pictures are included in this post.

Playtime

2008-04-03T13:32:00.004-04:00

Ethan is finally starting to tolerate his tummy time. In the past, he only stayed on the floor for a few minutes before crying. He seems to enjoy it now.

On another note, he had his 4 month shots this week. He did very well and only cried a little. He weighed 16 lbs 12 oz and was 25.75 inches long. His head circumference was a little over 17 (all of these are at about the 75%). So, he's staying right on his growth track.

Tuckered Out

2008-03-26T15:41:00.002-04:00

Ethan doesn't generally fall asleep without being rocked or fed. Imagine my surprise to see him "play" himself to sleep in his activity center! I took him out, and even that didn't wake him up. He must have been exhausted.

Adventures in Eating

2008-03-18T08:24:00.003-04:00

Ethan turned 4 months old last week. I decided to let him try cereal for the first time and was amazed at how well he seemed to like it! He gobbled it down. He was so cute chomping away. I've posted a little clip of him eating. This clip is actually the 2nd time he had eaten cereal because the video from the first feeding won't upload for some reason.

We were at grandma's house, so he didn't have his little seat. Grandma held him while I fed him.

Hobe Sound

2008-03-11T10:02:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, we headed down to Hobe Sound to visit friends. Ethan did very well in the car for the 2.5 hour trip. He slept for almost half the way there. On our way there, we stopped by the beach. Ethan seems to really enjoy being outside. I'm sad that it will be a while before Indiana is warm enough to take him outside to play.

Tim and Dixie Bailey hosted a little get together at their house. Ethan enjoyed meeting new people and then conked out for a good nap. This nap meant he was awake the entire trip back to Orlando! Thankfully he was content to play in his carseat.

Sea World

2008-03-11T09:47:00.004-04:00

On Friday we went to Sea World in Orlando. It was a little windy, so we were thankful that a lot of exhibits were inside. Ethan did very well all day! He did get a little upset during Shamu's show because the music got extremely loud. I took him further away from the speakers, and he was happy again. The excitement must have worn him out because he slept in his stroller for most of the afternoon.

By the way, for all breast-feeding mothers out there, Sea World is FABULOUS. They have stations for nursing mothers near almost every bathroom. Most of them are just a little private room with a rocking chair. They do have one big baby care station with a play room, a changing room and a nursing room. This nursing room has soft music playing and has a dimmer switch on the light. These accomodations made our whole day a lot easier!

Little Swimmer

2008-03-07T13:45:00.003-05:00

Vacation is great! We were able to take Ethan outside today. We got him in his swimmer diaper, lathered him with sunscreen and headed to the pool. Our condo has a heated pool, so the water was just perfect. Ethan splashed, played and had a good 'ol time. It seems we have an outdoorsman on our hands.

First Airplane Ride

2008-03-05T19:56:00.002-05:00

Ethan had his very first airplane ride today. We left Indianapolis at 11:45 this morning and headed to Orlando. I must admit I was a little nervous about how he would travel, but he was amazing. He didn't fuss even once! He actually was probably better than he normally is at home:-). Our fellow passengers were extremely thankful. One even suggested that Ethan should become a pilot because he seemed to enjoy being in the air. He took a couple of little naps, but mainly he enjoyed looking out the window.

Giggles

2008-02-28T13:42:00.002-05:00

Ethan is generally a pretty happy little guy. However, although he smiles a lot, he had never laughed out loud when he was awake...that is until last Sunday. Mom had him on her lap and was making faces at him. All of a sudden, he just started giggling. He laughed and laughed at her. It was so incredible! I almost cried it was so sweet. Unfortunately, I didn't catch it on video :-(. There's always next time though.

Then and Now

2008-02-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

Then: (Ethan is 12 hours old in this picture) Now: (Ethan is 14 weeks old in this picture)

I always heard parents talk about how their kids grew up "too fast." But, until recently I didn't fully appreciate what they were saying. Steve took a picture of Ethan playing with a toy yesterday. I realized we had a picture of Ethan with that very same toy from the day after he was born. I couldn't believe how much he had changed!

Mr. Drools

2008-02-20T08:46:00.001-05:00

Ethan has started to drool like crazy! It seems I'm constantly wiping his little mouth. But, I must say, he is cute, even with a line of drool hanging from his chin :-). He seems to be learning how to swallow some though, so hopefully the drool phase will pass fairly soon.

Yummy Hands

2008-02-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

While he doesn't really suck on his fingers, Ethan does chew on his hands all the time. Sometimes I think he's going to get his whole hand in his mouth!

Ethan's "friend"

2008-02-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

Ethan really enjoys watching himself in the mirror. It is really funny to see how animated he gets. We go talk to his "friend" in the mirror several times a day. I don't know if he realizes that he is talking to himself or not. In any case, he's having fun!

The Mobile

2008-02-15T21:31:00.000-05:00

I must say that Ethan's mobile is the BEST thing ever! It's my "go to" item to distract him while I get ready in the morning. He doesn't seem to get tired of it. I've included a little clip of him watching his mobile. This time, I was getting his bath ready.

Talking to Daddy

2008-02-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

Ethan is now "talking" alot. He is so funny. He gets louder and lounder trying to get his message across. He seems to really enjoy the sound of his own voice. I've attached a little clip of he and Steven having a conversation. They are such good buddies :-)

10 Weeks Old

2008-01-22T09:49:00.001-05:00

Ethan turned 10 weeks old yesterday! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday he was born. He does something new every day. He LOVES to stand up. He just needs to figure out the balancing part, and he'll be all set. He is such a happy little guy!

Visit from Grandpa and Penny

2008-01-22T09:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, Steve's dad and his fiance Penny came over to visit Ethan. Ethan was so excited to have visitors and took to Penny right away, even though it was his first time meeting her. He certainly is not a shy little boy. :-) All the excitement wore him out, and he conked out for the night fairly early.

Happy Boy

2008-01-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

Ethan

2008-01-10T14:30:00.000-05:00