Christmas is Here!

Christmas is actually here. I've had my tree up since the middle of November because Chris' parents were here and we were going to celebrate Christmas with them (we didn't end up opening presents due to some stubborn men *not mentioning any names though...*) but since the house has been decorated forever, it feels like it's been Christmas for a long time already.

But yesterday my Uncle Dave, Aunt Janelle and cousins arrived from Calgary and NOW it feels like Christmas. At my grandpa's house, the big long table is set up with the green and red table cloths, the tree is decorated, the table is covered with chocolates and homemade goodies, and I spent this afternoon cookie cutting with my little cousin Katie (5). She really loved it and it made me remember how much I loved doing that when I was little. I hope it's a fond memory of hers as she gets older. It was also SO great to see Ethan with my family. Dawson and Katie (5 and 7) LOVE him and spent a lot of time entertaining him. It was so cute and they all had so much fun. It made me excited to have more kids.

I was there from 4:00 until 7:00 and the majority of the time, Ethan was sitting on someone's lap being entertained. It's amazing how much pride you can feel for a baby who doesn't even have any great accomplishments. I'm just so proud of who he is. I love it that he loves smiling and interacting with everyone and that he makes everyone around him so happy.

Well, our lives are about to get crazy, but hopefully I'll have some time to post some pictures from Christmas. If I don't get to say it on the day, I hope you have a great Christmas, filled with true joy and lots of love. I also hope you'll remember the amazing gift that God gave us and feel humbled by His love.

*** MERRY CHRISTMAS ***

Look At Me, Look At Me!

So, the older Ethan gets, the more entertaining he gets! He has always been VERY smiley and loves people. Well, Ethan now has realized that he loves being the centre of attention and has learned how to be it. The other day I was in line at the photo centre in Wal-Mart and Ethan was sitting in the cart. I'm just standing there minding my own business when I hear laughing behind me. I turn around to see that Ethan is rocking back and forth, shaking the cart, and grinning with his little nose scrunched, just lapping up all the attention he's drawing. Well every woman there was just tickled pink and couldn't stop talking about how cute he was, how good he was, how funny he was, etc, etc... Seriously, Ethan was IN HIS GLORY!!! Whenever it would get quiet again and the excitement would die down, he'd YELL; AAAHHHH, then wait for the head turns, and do his whole act again! It was so funny and I must admit I felt quite thrilled and proud myself.

Yesterday I was in line at Superstore and he was just staring at this guy who had his back turned. Well what do you know, Ethan yells, the man looks, and Ethan grins, scrunches his nose, and turns on the charm. The guy was fairly young and didn't seem like the friendly type. Well what do you know, he can't help but smile and as I'm looking around, I see out of the corner of my eye that he continues looking and smiling at Ethan.

I'm so glad that my baby can bring people joy. There was this miserable woman in the Wal-Mart, but she was so happy when Ethan was smiling at her. I don't know what's going on in people's lives, if they're going through difficult times, if they have no hope. Maybe they don't have a reason to smile, genuinely smile these days, but there's something about looking in the face of an innocent baby that makes you forget all your worries, even if it's just for a short time. I'm so thankful that I get to look in those sparkling eyes on a daily basis and be reminded of the simple pleasures in life. Thank you Lord for my precious baby who brings me so much joy.

Toilet Paper!!

It all begins with an excited grin when he sees the bathroom
Aha! He spots the TP
He's making his way to it
Finally! Now he can unroll it!
Look how happy he is (can you tell he just woke up?)

Ethan has always had somewhat of a bathroom fetish. Since it looked so appealing, it was the first room he crawled to, all the way from the living room and he hasn't stopped ever since! He started by loving to fling the spring behind the door, to pulling up to standing on the tub, to opening and closing the cupboard doors, and now to getting wedged between the toilet and wall, unrolling the toilet paper and EATING it!!
I'll often try to distract him in the living room with a musical toy, then quickly sneak into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Well Ethan apparantly has some kind of built in bathroom sonar, and no sooner have I turned on the water, that Ethan is right there with his excited face (scrunched up nose and heavy breathing), with only one thing in mind; "MUST GET TOILET PAPER!" It doesn't matter how much I try to distract him, he is clearly a male and has a one track mind once he has something on it.
As you're reading, I'm sure you're thinking to yourself "why don't you just take the toilet paper off the roll." Good idea, after scooping wads of TP off the roof of his mouth, that's exactly what I did. (j/k, I do actually keep an eye on him and he's never actually "eaten" it, he just tries)