Happy Birthday!

Ethan was due August 31, but I knew I'd go past my due date. I had an appointment to see my doctor Tuesday, September 6 at like 11 and I got a call from his office asking me to come in early. My doctor told me to go home, stay by the phone because the hospital would call me when there was a room available for me to go and be induced. (The hospital was very full that day and they finally called me about 4.) Mike and I headed to the hospital, were admitted, and put in a room. After a few hours, my water broke and then everything went down hill from there. With every contraction, Ethan's heart rate went down. I tried different positions for half an hour and then my doctor, who had been next to me the whole time, told a nurse to get an OR ready and call the anesthesiologist, I was heading for a C-section! Ahh! I freaked out because Ethan was in trouble and I really didn't want a C-section. But at 8:42 pm Ethan was born and entered the world screaming! He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Here is Mike with newborn Ethan.

The first time I saw Ethan. Right off, I noticed that he has my triangle nostrils.
This was taken two days after Ethan was born. We were in the hospital for three days and I was ready to go home.
We love having you in our family, Ethan. From the day we came home from the hospital, I didn't remember what life was like without you. You are very special and we love you.

Happy 3rd birthday, little E!

Flashback Friday, Ethan style

What a smile Ethan has! He sure can cheer me up when I need it. Even when I am so mad at what he has done, he flases that smile at me and BAM, no more!

Here he is pushing his walking thing around. He sure loved it. (He's about 14 or 15 months here.)

One afternoon, after a nap, when he was about 6 months old I heard him talking to himself and laughing. I just had to grab the video camera and this is what I found. (Mike took the video and made it a still. I don't know how to put video on yet and I don't know where this video is. But Grandmas and Grandpas have this on video.)
Ethan loves to laugh even when he needs to be getting ready for bed. Here he is laughing at me while I am trying to get him ready for bed. This is about 4 or 5 months old.
This day we went out as a family shopping and to lunch. Ethan pooped all over his outfit and then when we got home, he needed a change too. He must have been one happy camper after those blow outs. (About 2 or 3 months.)
Anyone have any stories about Ethan and how he made you laugh?

Ducks, brownies, and of course, the temple

Last December my good friend took our family pictures and caught some very fun candid pictures of Ethan. We were south of BYU campus at the duck pond and Ethan just loves animals, so he ran after the ducks and this is what Angie caught--

Ever had a bad day? We have and this is what we do when those days come--
(that's right, we make brownies, but save a good chunk of the batter to eat.)

And of course living in Utah, we live within 5 minutes of the nearest temple. Ethan absolutely loves the temple. When I tell him that Mike and I are going to the temple and he is going to Grandma and Grandpa's, or Gavin and Lily's, or Benjamin's, he always says he wants to go to the temple with us. I remind him that in 9 years he'll be able to go to baptisms for the dead. However, after our last conversation about that, he corrected me and said it was "goodtized." (I guess he thought I was saying "badtized" instead of baptized.)

Biggest fan

From a year old, maybe younger, Ethan has been a Minnesota Twins fan. What a cute outfit he got for his first birthday from his Grandma Herrington.

Even younger than that, he was an Ellen DeGeneres. When Mike was going to school and home at 10 in the morning, he'd sit down to watch Ellen and Ethan was captivated with her (that was at one and two months old. Here he is at about 6 months old watching Ellen).
Another thing that Ethan is a BIG fan of is reading. He loves to read, whether I read to him or he plops down, pulls out a book and starts to recite the story from memory. He looks forward to going to the library a few times a month for new books and the more books I check out for him, the more I find that I like and I think we need. His latest favorite, "Oliver and the Monsters."

Winter activities

Last winter was filled with fun and fun pictures.

Ethan had a blast at Mike's work party at Boondocks. He especailly liked the whac-a-mole.

While in Minnesota for Christmas, Ethan played with Carpet, my in-laws' cat. He soon discovered that Carpet doesn't like having a 2 year old's face right in hers constantly. (She scratched Ethan.) So when Ethan found the bucket the toys were in, he dumped the toys out and put it on his head so he could get as clost to Carpet as he wanted to and not get hurt. It was so funny to see Carpet take a swipe at Ethan and hit the bucket on his head.
This was Ethan's first time to Minnesota and the first time in Minnesota's cold snow.
All bundled up and ready to take part in one of Dad's favorite Minnesotan activities, sledding!
This is my favorite picture of Mike and Ethan!

A few of Ethan's favorite things

Ethan loves to help Mike fix things around the house so when I found a tool bench at Kid to Kid for less than $10, I just had to get it. Ethan loves to hammer the nails and twish the screws with his screw drivers. He knows all his tools too. When Mike and my dad were working on the sprinkler system with their tools, Ethan would run into his room, grab his tools and be there next to them helping them out!

One of the best features of our house is our big backyard. Ethan's favorite thing to do on a nice, and sometimes a not so nice, day is to be outside.
Recently, Ethan has discovered Spiderman. When he sees anything Spiderman, he needs to have it. (I don't get it all, but sometimes I do have to give in.) His favorite hat to wear is his Spiderman hat.
I would have to say that Ethan's favorite thing ever would have to be dinosaurs and the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum. Here he is with one of his favorite dinos, spinosaurus. (I'm not sure if that's exactly what it is, but it looks like one!)
If you ask Ethan he'll tell you his favorite of all favorites is the T-rex who eats meat and is a carnivore. Some of the other dinos he likes and can name are Pachysepholosaurus, Parasorolophus, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Stegasarus, Pteradactyl, Pteradon, just to name a few!

Play, Play, Play

Ethan loves to play and play hard.

He loves his new slide and old pool.

He loves bubbles.
He even loves his cousins. I like to think that he is trying to comfort poor Gabe in this picture.
Here he is with his Lott cousins and he plays so hard and crashes even harder when the day is over after playing with these guys.
(Oops, where is Dreyton?)