Ethan's First Six Months

Janurary 15, 2009

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Love, love, love him!

One more day...

Well tomorrow is my sister's big day!

Things have been a little crazy around here lately.

Grammy and Ethan

It's been so much fun to see friends that we haven't seen in years that are coming in for the wedding!

Yesterday we had a bridesmaids brunch. We all went out for coffee and then came home to my parents house for a brunch and foot soaks with pedicures and manicures.

Crystal opening a couple gifts.

Me doing Shannon's nails.

Then after dinner last night I ran down to a friends house to see my good friend Brittany! She's the one who is going to look after Ethan during the wedding. Brittany's was one of the very first faces Ethan saw when he was born. =) As they were playing around last night in front of the mirror i caught this short clip.



Today we are off to decorate the church, then rehearsal and rehearsal dinner this evening.

Ethan's still not sleeping well so i'm going to be running on coffee today.

I talked to my dear Geoff and Elijah yesterday. I miss them so much! I really wish they could have come. It would have been so special. I can't wait to give them both a huge hug and not let go! But i'm so thankful for my family over there who are looking after Elijah while Geoff is at work. While i do miss him i don't have any worry about him. I know he is in great hands and he loves them and they love him.

Thank you again dear Gill family for taking such good care of our boy! See you on Thursday!

Day Two in Florida

Ethan got to meet his great grandma today for the first time. He was in bed by the time she got home from the airport last night. So they met this morning after he woke up.

It was love at first sight. He gave her the biggest smiles right away.

He's been having trouble with the time change. Unfortunately he thinks it's 9am and time to play when in fact it is only 4am! We haven't gotten much sleep the last couple days.

Mom and I took Grandma and Ethan to the beach this morning.

We're looking forward to this next week as more family and friends arrive for the big event.

I hope you all had a good week and get the chance to spend time this weekend with your family and those close to you. Enjoy it!

Man, it's hot here!

Elijah and I the day before I left for Florida.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers! They were needed and they were answered! The goodbye at the airport that I was so dreading went remarkably smooth.

There were a couple of those rides where you drop a quarter in and it moves back and forth. We told Elijah he could have a ride after mommy left. He said "OK, bye mommy!" So there were no tears in the parting and that made it so much easier to walk away.

Goodbye beautiful Northern Ireland

We were so happy to have the whole row to ourselves!

Ethan was a grand traveler. He fell asleep off and on and rode happily in his sling. Going through security in Belfast they made me take him out of the sling and then when we walked through we set off the alarm. So they had to do a search on me and Ethan. But I couldn't be holding him so the security lady handed Ethan off to this other young security guy. He looked like he had never held a baby his his life and suddenly he gets a strange baby tossed at him. It was kind of cute. And Ethan didn't seem to mind. Ethan gave huge smiles to any one who gave him any extra attention.

Florida clouds

Now that i'm here and the trip is behind me i'm looking forward to everything more. It was great to see my mom and dad again. My grandma flies into Orlando tonight. And then we'll see my sister on Saturday. Crystal's bridal shower is on Sunday.

Thanks to Lindsay for letting me know after my last post that buttercups are very poisonous if eaten. Good to know since our back yard is covered with them!

I wanted to share this deal with you...
Amazon has the Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 30-Minutes (White) for just $49.99 (reg. $149.99) with FREE shipping! That's a savings of $100! White only...note: the 60 min. version in white is down to $99!

I used my Christmas gift card from my aunt and uncle and it arrived in the mail today! The think i love about it is that there are no cords needed. The hardest part was figuring out how to put the batteries in! Here's my first video clip! It's sooo easy!





PS. I just checked the link above and the price is up to 54.99. But still a great deal!

Silhouettes

{love stories}

This was taken in January. Just two weeks before our Ethan was born.

4 Months Old

I just realized that our little E is four months old today!

I just can't imagine our family with out him. It feels more complete with him here.

What would I do with out this smile every day? We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family.

We love you so much, Ethan!

Kindness From Others

I brought back from Florida a bunch of Elijah's baby clothes for Ethan. But I found out in the end I really didn't need to! People at church have been so generous in giving. We received so many cute clothes for Ethan! I'm touched by their thoughtfulness!

And now a friend has lent me her baby seat so Ethan can relax in style! =)

Take a look and tell me if you think he likes it...


One lady even knit a whole outfit! That's a lot of work!

Geoff's cousin sent over two whole boxes of baby clothes that her little boy has out grown!

Even before we left Florida friends gave him some wonderful gifts. Like his first pair of over alls. And the outfit in the first photo above.

Thank you to all those who gave so generously! We've been blessed to have so many of you in our lives!

Laughter

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.
-- Irish Proverb



It's time for another I ♥ Faces entry! This week the theme is Laughter. It should be fun to see every ones entries!

But even more than the fun theme I'm excited about this week guest judge! The Pioneer Woman is joining in the fun and is going to be the one looking at and judging the winners! How cool is that?

The plan for today, after posting my laughter entries, is trying to make a gluten free version of her Yogurt Marmalade Cake.

But on to the photos...

Kids:

This is my darling little Ethan last week after a bath. He was all wrapped up in a towel and he's so ticklish I couldn't resist tickling his chubby little legs! I also couldn't resist trying to capture his adorable giggle



Adult:

A few years ago I flew out to Idaho to be in my friend Katy's wedding. I met her in England while I was going to bible school and she was in the same missionary training class as my future husband, Geoff. You can read about that in Part One of our story.

Katy is a lot of fun and you can always count on laughing a lot with her around.



A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.
-- Author Unknown

P.S. Those of you who are just visiting are welcome to join and follow along on "The Gill Family Adventures"! We love to get to know new people! That's what life is all about isn't it? Relationships, friendships and getting to know each other and being there for one another.

Name This Photo...

It's Friday afternoon and i've got a job for you.

Come up with a caption for this picture.

What is Ethan thinking/saying here?


"Enough with the photo shoot already!"

"It's over, mom. It over.'

Fun Frames

Sometimes you find that you have a natural frame in your photos already and there's no need to add one!

Elijah on Saturday night. Who knew that a clothes hamper lid could make such a great photo opportunity!

I discovered last week while trying to take my self portrait that mirrors are lots of fun and useful when trying to take your own picture.

This was us this morning. Ethan, like most babies loves to look at himself in the mirror and will give the biggest smiles and giggles. But when i tried to get a picture of his beautiful smile he got distracted with the camera.

I hope you all are having a blessed day.

I'm going to miss this...

Elijah is great at making his little brother laugh! I was in the kitchen yesterday making dinner and Ethan was sitting in his seat in the dinning room and I hear him start to laugh. I knew Elijah was with him and this is what I found when I went to check it out. Elijah was just laughing at him and that was making Ethan laugh!

And I thought "I'm going to miss this!"

This Week's Challenge...

As many of you have probably seen by now the theme this week at I ♥ Faces is Self Portraits. Here are the rules:

• Kids Category – the photo must be of you and a child (or children)

• Adults Category – show us your face…and your face ONLY!

For both categories, you must take the photo and you must be holding the camera when you take it (you can’t use a tripod or anything else to hold the camera for you.)

I thought that sounded challenging so here's my entries...

Kids:

Ethan and I when he was just over 24 hours old. Photo taken January 17th, 2009.


Adults:

I wanted my self portrait to tell a little about myself so here goes...

My wedding ring because I am a wife.
The hat is Elijah's favorite cap.
The baby shoes are Ethan's.
And the camera of course because I love photography!

Happy Easter!

1 John 4:19

"We love him, because he first loved us."

Ethan's 12 week old feet.

Poochy Lips!

It's Pout Week!

Kid Entry:This is Ethan at the beach a few weeks ago.
He's 7 weeks old.

I finally gave in and joined in the fun at I Heart Faces!

Pet Entry:My sweet Earl Gray who is no longer with us.

He was such a great cat!