Best Christmas Ever!

What a wonderful Christmas we've had!  It's hard to put into words how special this Christmas has been for us, after so many years wondering if we would ever get to share Christmas with a child in our home.  The joy that Ethan brings us on a daily basis, and as we celebrated Christ's birth with family and friends, reminds us again and again of God's perfect timing!  Ethan was such a trooper for all of our travels and throughout the 3 different Christmas celebrations with family.  We went 1st to Florence to celebrate with Tyson's family; we went up on the 23rd and came home the next day and attended our church's Christmas Eve service.  Then we were up early the next morning to have our 1st Christmas as a family of 3, and then we were off to surprise my family by attending church with them.  Then we headed to Granny's for lunch and celebrating with my Dad's side of the family.  Ethan enjoyed hamming it up for his "audience" and had us all laughing.  We stopped briefly by Gam Gam and Pop Pop's for Ethan to open a few gifts, and then we were off again to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's for Christmas with my Mom's side of the family.  Ethan had a bottle and fell asleep shortly after we arrived, and after not napping much all day, we thought he was down for the count.  However, as he often does, he surprised us and woke up recharged and was ready to open his stash of presents. We spent the next day at Gam Gam and Pop Pop's and he opened more gifts and also took a 3 hour nap!  It was, for us the perfect Christmas!  We hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and wish you all Happy New Year!  

Ok, get ready, lots of pictures to follow... (including a few pre-Christmas pics that I haven't had a chance to post)

Needless to say, visiting Santa at church did not go so well...

But, as you can see, he recovered quickly, no permanent harm done, :)

We had a great lunch with our friend Frances, who knew we had the same shirt?
Not the same size, obviously...

Christmas in Florence

Loved crawling backwards on Nana's floor

All of these are for me?

LOVED his duck from Sarahann!

What a cuddly bull chair from Uncle Heath!

Slept almost the entire 2+ hrs home from Florence!

Christmas at Our House

His Santa gifts

Loves his activity table!

Not sure about the Elefun yet...

Ooh, it blew my hair back!

Let me check out this octopus...

To mommy's delight, also loved all his books from his stocking!

Christmas at Granny's

Loved seeing cousin Logan again; they are only 2 months apart.

Playing with Granny!

Christmas at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house

Not sure how long I can keep these eyes open guys...

Christmas has worn me out!!

His cousins, however, were not the least bit tired...

Ok, I guess I can open a few more gifts...

Christmas at Gam Gam and Pop Pop's house

You mean this is for me, more presents, wow!

But, I'd really just like to get that ball off the tree...

Here I go again, backwards..., but still so proud of myself!

We love that sweet boy!

1st visit to Santa

What a fun week we've had!  My mom and aunt came for shopping on Monday, Ethan and I recovered on Tuesday.  On Wednesday Ethan and I went to see the triplet's (our god-daughters) Christmas program at their school; they sang so well and were angels in the program, just like in real-life :).  Today Tyson was off, and we took Ethan to see Santa; it was a practice run to see how he would react, as our church is having a breakfast with Santa on Saturday. As you'll see in the pictures, Ethan was rather mesmerized with Santa.  We took about 20 pictures, and they all pretty much looked the same; him staring at Santa, like he was trying to take it all in or figure all that white hair out... 

Had to throw in a couple of triplet pics; we love those girls!!!

I hope that you are all enjoying this Christmas season as much as we are.  We seem to be feeling the peace, hope and joy of the season in a much deeper way this year; maybe because it's because we already received such a wonderful gift!

7 months old

Ethan turned 7 months old yesterday, and again, we can hardly believe that so much time has passed so quickly.  He is so much fun now, and his smile is almost constant, even though he seems to be teething again, and his gums seem to drive him crazy at times.  Besides gnawing on anything in reach, he loves playing with toys on the floor.  His new favorite game is to knock down the nesting cup towers that Tyson and I build for him.  His daddy has also taught him to "fake cough," and he loves to do that, especially when he is trying to get our attention. His other new trick is rolling over in his crib when he is fighting sleep; he's been rolling over on the floor for some time now, but has just recently realized that he can do it in his crib too.  We have gotten some great shots on the video monitor of him, rolling over, pushing up and then staring into the camera with a look that says, "uh-oh, busted!"

Here are a couple of recent videos of him showing off.

He slept until 8:15 this am; we were both all smiles!

I love it when Mommy and Daddy play in the floor with me!

We are continuing to try new foods, and today we tried yogurt for the first time; I literally could not get it into his mouth fast enough!!

Mmmm, yogurt!!

Is this a look of satisfaction, or what?

It's also that time of year to think about Christmas cards... I decided (for some unknown reason) that Saturday, was the day for it.  Weather was supposed to be nice, it seemed like a great idea-WRONG!  First of all, Ethan only took a 30 minute morning nap, and was almost asleep again in the car by the time we got him ready, (with 3 changes of clothing), and got to the location, for what I envisioned would be a perfect photo opportunity-WRONG again!  It was really hotter than Tyson or I thought it would be, so we were both sweating as we lugged everything around.  Ethan was so distracted by passing cars, he rarely looked at the camera or smiled, and as you'll see in the pictures, by the time we were in outfit #4, he was really tired and over the whole thing.  I think my trying to put a turtleneck (that refused to go over his head) on him, may have been the last straw...  Anyway, here are a few pics from the colossal fail of our 1st Christmas card attempt with Ethan.

Well, this pic is actually from last week, at home, when I decided that indoor pics would not do...

Ha, you think you're going to get a great photo....

Now these balls, I like...

Maybe I'll try out some of the other ornaments on the tree at home...

Did Daddy just say I look like a girl in this outfit?????

Cheeks are red, not sure if it's from sunburn or the turtleneck attempt...

Well, we didn't have the experience I had envisioned, but, it was an experience, and one we learned from, and we did get a couple of usable pics for the cards.  Ethan really was a trooper, as usual.  I can learn a lot from his sweet nature and laid-back personality, and his ability to bring joy to most any situation.  We continue feel so blessed that he is our son, and know that this Christmas will be an extra-special one!

Thanksgiving

Well, we all survived Thanksgiving, also known as the "Fat Fest" tour of Alabama!  We traveled up to Florence on Wednesday, spent the night with Tyson's mom, and enjoyed visiting and lunch with his family on Thursday.  After lunch, we returned to Birmingham for a brief stopover to exchange dirty laundry for clean, and then we headed to Wetumpka for dinner with my mom's side of the family at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's; we spent the night with my parents, and had our 3rd and final Thanksgiving meal on Friday with my dad's mom, Granny.  Ethan was a great traveler and slept for most of the car rides.  He also did great sleeping and napping in 2 different homes 2 nights in a row! It was wonderful to be able to spend time with both of our families, and Ethan enjoyed all the excitement, and especially the food!  He got to try sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, dressing, turkey, and a piece of one of Granny's cookies, and loved every bite!!  

What a different holiday Thanksgiving is for us this year!  This time last year, we were finishing our adoption paperwork with our 2nd adoption agency (the one who matched us with Ethan).  We remember meeting with the social worker, and she commented then, one year ago, that "this will be your last Christmas without a baby."  Now, you might think this comment would have thrilled us, but we were rather cynical at that point, having already been waiting for over 2 years.  We looked at each other, and thought, yeah right, that's a bold prediction!  One year later, we see how perfect God's timing was and are forever thankful that he chose Ethan to be our son and us to be his mommy and daddy.  

Here are a few pictures from the past week; 

What, we're going where, and I get to eat what?  

He wakes up in such a great mood, even away from home

Bring on the turkey!

He stole Pop Pop's hat at breakfast!

Hard to tell who's enjoying this more, Ethan or Pop Pop...

Granny, playing the same game with her great-grandson as she did with all of us when we were his age; he loved it as much as we did!