Photo Shoots Lately

These are how our photo shoots go lately. All I can say, is poor Ethan . . . 



Suprisingly, no one ended up crying, and they were both laughing by the end of it! As you can see we never got a "good" picture of the two of them. We will try again later. :)

Noah at One Month

Noah, I am so sorry I didn’t have this blog when you were a baby. I will try my best to recount everything about you when you were a baby. First things first, we LOVED having a baby. Nothing could have prepared us for the love we had for you when you were born. You were a precious baby full of dark hair (I mean you had a hair everywhere . . .on your head, your ears, and the side of your face . . . don’t worry it feel off fast). You were the longest lankiest little baby when you were born. 

You were not the best (and still are not the best) sleeper. You woke up about every two hours from the day we brought you home till about 3 months. You didn’t sleep through the night until 6 months. Your days and nights were completely mixed up. You would sleep all day, and then be awake all night. I did everything I could to keep you up during the day, but you didn't want anything to do with it. The guest bedroom became your and my bedroom for the first month in an effort to let your daddy get at least a little sleep.

You had your first bottle at 3 weeks and you loved your wazzie from Day 1. You also loved your swing and were the cutest little peanut all snuggled in there. Like Ethan, you were not a fan of swaddling and wanted your hands out and up above your head when you were sleeping. The car seat was NOT your friend though, and you were not a huge fan of the stroller either.

Uncle Willy and Aunt Coley were staying with us your first month of life, so you were surrounded by love and people who just wanted to hold you and cuddle with you all day long. You loved to cuddle up in everyone’s arms and were perfectly content that way all day long.

You loved your baths!! Your cord fell off really fast, so you had your first real bath at 8 days. We were so nervous the first time that I think there was barely a drop of water in the tub with you. :)

Noah, we love you more than you will ever know!



Happy 30th Ben!!

Last week Benjamin turned the big 30!!! I can’t believe he is already 30. We kept his birthday very low key. The night of his birthday we went to Lupes for dinner, and then come home to celebrate with our traditional cookie cake and balloons. 

On Saturday night, Ben and I celebrated at Papas Steakhouse. M'Lee was nice enough to watch the boys, so we could enjoy a nice dinner just the two of us.

Benjamin,

Happy 30th!! I hope you had a wonderful birthday! I am not sure how you are going to beat your 20s since you married me in your 20s :), but I hope your 30s are your best years yet. I love you so much, and I am so proud of you. You are an amazing husband and father. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Love you,

Ash

First Day of School

Noah had his first day of "school" last week. This is his second year of SFLP (School for Little People) at MDUMC. His teacher this year is Mrs. Neechel, and he seems to really like her. Plus, he is in a class with all of his close friends which I am really excited about. 

House Divided

Our house was divided yesterday for the Big Game!! Naturally, Ben & Noah represented the Aggies. Ethan represented the Gators, in honor of his Papa who had the misfotune of graduating from the University of Florida, back in the day, and I was a neutral party :).

Ethan (and Papa) ended up being the winner this year. There is always next year Ags!!

Ethan at One Month

Ethan, you are the cutest little dude ever. I can’t believe you are already one month old; really you are two months but this was written right after you turned a month. It is amazing how much love and appreciation that we have in such a short period of time, relative to the journey of life. It has only been a month, but it is hard to remember our lives without you.

Such a big boy!

You have the roundest face with the most adorable chubby cheeks that I want to squeeze all the time. I’m sure that this is a comment that will embarrass you later on, but I said it anyway. You still have extremely long toes that grab onto our fingers when we touch your feet.  Plus, you are still a grunter and have always made the strangest little sounds. I do not remember Noah doing this. Needless to say that it scared me a little when you were sleeping, making your noises, that you were chocking. We have gotten use to it now (sort of). I am not going to say it doesn’t keep us awake at night though. :) 

Half Smile!

You had your first bottle at 2 weeks and had no issues transitioning. You are funny when it comes to your pacifier (or "wazzie as we call it in this house). Sometimes you take it like a champ and other times you spit it out and start gagging. We are learning.

From his Aunt Coley!

You are definitely a mover. You do not like to be held in a cuddle position unless you are very tired or already asleep. I wish it were that easy to fall asleep when ready regardless of the situation and/or surrounding. You prefer to face outward so you can see everything, and we ALWAYS have to be moving. Whether it is rocking or bouncing, you don’t like to be kept still. Normally, we have to be standing too because sitting down is not a preferred position. I am not complaining though, as I am taking full advantage of holding you because I know the day will come when you won’t want to (or can’t) be held anymore L.

Look at those cheeks!

I love this picture. You look so peaceful!

Somewhat different from Noah, you are not a fan of your swing or your bouncing chair (which is not much of a surprise), so we are working on those; however, you don’t seem to mind your car seat or the stroller (for now). Hallelujah . . . It’s sort of backwards, Noah was generally OK with a most other things but not a fan of a car seat or stroller, so it made being in the car not so fun most of the time. So far, you are a bit easier when it comes for a road trip or a simple stroll in the neighborhood. Don’t get wrong, it’s not always that easy though because you like moving so when the car stops or the strollers stop you start to get fussy. I wonder what this "always moving" thing means for us in the future.

Melts my heart!

Favorite sleeping position just like your brother.

Through the 1^st month, you have slept great (or at least compared to Mr. Noah who was an up every two hours kind of boy for what felt like 3 months, maybe more). Normal Schedule: Eat around 10 or 11 and then you are down till around 2 or 3, then up at 5, and then up again around 8. I cannot complain. I am hoping this will last!!! Napping is kind of a WHENEVER exercise as we are on no schedule. We will work on that next month.



Not the best picture of me, but these are my favorite moments

It’s a different one, but one of your funniest quirks is when you sneeze. Almost EVERY time you sneeze, you sneeze three times, usually no more / no less. It is precious.

"I want to eat you up, you are so cute"

You LOVE the bath just like your brother! Noah loves you so much and is very helpful. He loves to try to help feed you, he always tries to find and give you your “wazzie” when you are upset, and even helps change your diapers (sorta). I pray that as you two grow up you will form a bond that only brothers have and will learn and grow from each other. I have a feeling you two are going to cause trouble together though, motherly instinct J.

At one month, you weighed 10 lb 13 oz (85%) and you were 23 inches long (97%).

A couple days before your month birthday you smiled for the first time (a real smile not a gassy smile). I can’t wait to see more of these!!!

First Real Smile!

Ethan, we love you so much!!