Ethan's 1st Halloween

My very own Pumpkin Moonshine!

Halloween morning.
We have such sweet neighbors. They were so excited to help Ethan celebrate his first Halloween and see his costume.
His trick-o-treat from our neighbors Barb & Linda.And, his trick-o-treat from our neighbors, the Solomons.
His very first bubbles and red bouncy ball!
A card & treat from Great Grandmom Williams.

And, now, the pics everyone's been waiting for. The Bishop's 2009 Halloween. Ethan's very first Trick-o-Treat.
Don't be surprised if you start giggling.
Our little red lobster- sooo delicious, and stuffed with nothing but sweetness.
(Costume is from One Step Ahead)

Look what the two of us cooked up.
Happy Halloween from the three of us!
Ethan's first treat.

Nothing beats a ride on Daddy's shoulders.Decorations for the Halloween party.

I'm so proud that I finally have an excuse to get crafty. I made a couple of garlands and hanging decorations out of recycled felt. And, I couldn't resist getting party plates and napkins.

Their first Halloween: Ethan, Eli, & Liam.

We also celebrated with Baby Nya, but I totally forgot to get a picture of the little cutie!

One tasty lobster.

"Why's everyone looking at me?
Happy, Happy 1st Halloween, Little One!

Discovery

Excitement, curiosity, plenty of drool. Ethan now spends his days tasting everything within grasp of his mouth, reaching out as far as he can, chasing the kitty, giggling in laughter, babbling on and on about I don't know what, grabbing at the faucet and splashing his hands in the water when it comes pouring out, staring out the patio doors- wondering why the leaves are falling, the branches are bouncing, why there are furry tailed creatures hoping through the lawn. What else does he wonder about? He loves to play in his crib after he wakes up from a much needed recharging of the brain.And, he loves to play peek-a-boo through the bumpers- it makes him giggle up a storm.

I believe those would be the remnants of peas. He loves his spoons- his favorite teether. I've even let him feed himself a few times.

A plethora of veggies and fruits: acorn squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, cantaloupe, bananas, pears, and, yes, brussel sprouts. Ok, the brussel sprouts aren't quite working out- after several attempts he's still sticking out his tongue with the first bite. However, mommy & daddy love brussel sprouts so we're expecting the same from this little guy- one day.
Ethan's new ride. He outgrew the weight limit on his carseat already- lol. We love this carseat- Evenflo Symphony 65. It should last him forever, and we still have room in the back for two other passengers.

"Hey, Schwin, what's that thing out there called?

It kind of makes me sad that he can play on his own for a couple of minutes- less mommy/baby time. But, then again, I can finally eat a lunch.

Sippy cup practice! He keeps reaching for my glasses, so I got him his own cups.

Teddy Bear picnic. Where's the cake?

We introduced him to the computer a month ago. He likes to imitate us typing. We like the fisher-price infant online games.

Guitar Hero, anyone? Daddy and son jammin'.

6th Month Photo.

This was the first time he sat forward in the chair- had to get his teddy in his mouth.

This shirt, I believe, belonged to his two great-uncles, Jeff & Greg.

Fall stroller rides. Brrrr- it's getting cold!

"Ahhh, Mommy, I want the camera!" Thank goodness our camera is water and shock proof- guess the baby was another reason we got those features, besides camping, kayaking, and mountain biking.

His new favorite game: knocking over the block towers mommy builds.

Blocks are an amazing toy- counting, colors, alphabet, sorting, stacking, grouping, picture recognition, spelling, teething.

Video! Here he is knocking the blocks. He's got to make sure the very last ones fall as well.

Video! Forget crawling. He loves to walk. He started 'walk reflex' last month. This month he loves to walk with support. Wait a couple seconds...

An Afternoon with the Cousins

I know. I'm way behind on posting some of the 500+ October pics that I have of Ethan. We went to visit the cousins on the 21st. So much fun as always. It's exciting to see Ethan start interacting with his cousins, and how much they adore him and are more than willing to share their toys with the little guy.

First stop was to see Great Grandmom. I love this picture of them.

She gave him his first football. Go Bears!

Then, we rushed over to pick up the kids from school. Were they surprised to see us- they didn't even 'notice' us till Uncle B scooped them up.
The boys playing choo-choo.

So sweet. Ethan and his cousin, Thias, whom we adore.
I hope they're buds as they get older.

"Cute and cuddly, boys." (Penguins of Madagascar, anyone?)

The young and the restless.

Guess I tried to get one too many pics of them ;) Ok, maybe a couple too many.

This one keeps making me laugh.

Our Favorite Season

It is so gorgeous outside. Here are some festive pics.

It was a beautiful day to play outside- just warm enough.

I made a leaf pile for Ethan. He loved it when I threw leaves of him.
Getting our swing on. Wonder when it's going to get too cold for us...

A festive pic for his first halloween.

Liam, Eli, & Ethan.

Our friends, the Padgetts, had a pumpking carving party- it was loads of fun!

Ethan's pumpkin is perfectly tiny, so I carved an 'E' in it.

We even got it to light up!

Our baby's first halloween.

Projects

Being a homeowner is fun.... and extremely expensive!!! Just when you least expect it, something has to happen, in between all the home improvement projects.In July, our upstairs tub decided to start leaking into our foyer. Fortunately, it was a small do-it-yourself fix leak, but let me tell you, breaking into the foyer ceiling was a whole other ballpark! And, not something I saw coming. Brian ripped open the ceiling in a matter of minutes. It took until October for us to want to fix the hole. Little did we know that installing drywall is such a hassle- dust everywhere! The front foyer and hallway were quarantined for a couple of days. This pretty much makes me not want to have to drywall ever again.

Then, just the other day, our one and only old appliance decided it was done working. Plumbers are a bunch of fun! Thankfully, B's brother came through and found some nice guys who could install the new water heater, and they did a great job. But, what a mess and lots of stress.

And, the projects don't stop there. We built the custom massive toy shelf for the 'kids'. While we had it done a couple of weeks ago, we still needed to stain and polyurethane it.
This is the finished product, minus the wicker baskets to hide and sort all the toys away. Our basement smelled something awful for a couple of days, and little Ethan had to play upstairs and outside for the time being. It looks gorgeous though- Pottery Barn furniture makers would be proud.

On top of all of this, I'm no longer pregnant and feeling up to painting again, so I've started to tackle all the half-done rooms that I left off on. The biggest project is painting the basement/family room, but fortunately B had primed most of it while I was preggo so it cuts the work load down by tons.

Happy 5th Month B-Day, Little One!!!!!!

What a more fabulous way to ring in his 5th month birthday than with his first ever roll-over!!! The moment I've been waiting for. He made it with two minutes to go before his birth time (but, who's still keeping track??). From tummy to back- Great Success!!! And, of course my camera was within arm's reach but I was way too caught up in the moment to even think that I should have this on video. Grandmom Rita even got to share the special moment. Guess this means we'll have to watch him now every second that he's on his changer. Oh, but I couldn't be any more excited: he's no longer a beached whale- yea!

Not to mention, within the last week, he's had two other major physical developments. He can sit by himself for a few seconds (enough for me to take a couple of pics) before folding into my arms. And, oddly enough, he has 'step reflex' and will 'walk' gleefully to chase our now terrified cat around the house, or to get his toys which have suddenly found themselves tossed across the family room.

So exciting! It's as though all of a sudden he's gone from needing every bit of support to being able to explore his world a bit more on his own. I can't wait to see what develops throughout the rest of the month. For me, it's like getting a present.. I seemingly find so much joy in each of his little changes.

Decided to enjoy the nice day outside. Ethan sitting up by himself for the very first time.

I was so excited that the neighbors probably heard me cheering.

Everything that can and fit, will make it to his mouth. A little taste of elephant.

A chomp on the always handy rings. He's certainly teething now- he gnaws on whatever he can.

This was certainly a hereditary trademark from Mom.

A blanket or bib- why not?

Mom and Dad worked on their first project in ages. We built a massive toy shelf for the family room (custom fit to hold BB's 200lb college sign securely). It will hide away toys, books, etc. in wicker baskets when complete. We are currently staining it and so Ethan has to play upstairs in the living room.

Another pic of Ethan sitting up by himself.

Beary cute.

Poor Gershwin. No wonder the cat hasn't warmed up to Ethan yet.
Interesting fact: Ethan and Gershwin now weigh the same. What a bunch of chunkers.

Ethan's 5th Month picture.

He loves his bouncy ball. Of course he's yet to realize that it won't fit in his mouth.

Grandmom Rita was over to play, cuddle, and take care of Ethan the other day so Mommy could get over her cold.

Earning air miles.....

Ethan's Control Center

"Check out my new entertainment!"
Thanks Aunt Angela, & Cousins Thias and Mason!!