Camping Trip

About two weeks ago, our family decided to take a camping trip up into Northeast Iowa. Thomas has been camping numerous and has always wanted to take me so Ethan and I were pretty excited to go. We were planning on driving up Friday afternoon, camping out two nights, and coming back on Sunday however our plans shifted quite drastically. We did have one good day of hiking on Friday and set up camp early that evening. The next morning around 5am we started to hear thunder in the distance but for some reason didn't think it was heading our way. I became a little anxious around 6am and went outside to start making breakfast when all of a sudden the sky turned dark and it started pouring. I ran back inside, muddy shoes and all and started talking to Thomas about what we were going to try and do. He thought we should just ride out the storm so we sat there in our little tent for 3 hours of thunder and lightning and pouring down rain. THe strom finally subsided for a short while which gave us time to hike back to our car. At that point the sky had started to clear up but we were all ready to go home. Despite experiencing thunder for the first time, Ethan loved his first camping trip. He loves being strapped to mom's back and ripping off as many leaves as he can get his hands on. This won't be our last camping adventure, but it may be a little while before the next.

Ethan's bottom two teeth just broke through last week. He hasn't been too fussy and has handled teething pretty well overall. He's growing up fast.

We hope everyone is doing well! Love you all.

Jennifer

Hooverball

We had such a great time in West Branch celebrating Hooverfest! I ran the 5k race in the morning and Thomas played hooverball all day Saturday. Ethan and I were so proud to wear our Fighting Quakers shirts to represent such a great team. They didn't finish as strong as they would have liked but we all had a lot of fun being there together.
Ethan has really taken off developmentally. He is really beginning to interact with us and his personality is blossoming. He loves to make funny faces and is starting to make different noises. He hasn't yet begun to crawl but he is brave enough to get onto all fours from a sitting position. He doesn't quite have the courage to take that first step but it should be any day now. We miss you all and would love to hear from you. Take care!

Love,

Jennifer

Too cool!

We just thought you might enjoy viewing Ethans first styled hairdo. He turned 7 months a few days ago and just to update you all, he is spending most of his time playing while sitting up, but not crawling just yet. When he is on his tummy he likes to kick his legs but hasn't yet figured out how to get use them to move. We are in no hurry to see Ethan become mobile as we still need to baby proof. We are moving this upcoming weekend, so it's been nice packing with Ethan who isn't able to get into everything yet. It will be interesting to see how Ethan likes his new room!

Hiking with the family

Ethan went on his first outdoor adventure with grandma and grandpa Fawcett. He had so much fun taking in all of nature's beauty. If he could get his hands on any of it, he'd eat it all! He especially liked being strapped to Dad so closely. We just recently bought a baby backpack for him in which we plan to use in August when we take him on his first camping trip. We will let you know how that goes. Here are some pictures of the hike with Mom and Dad and a picture of Ethan and Thomas trying out the new backpack.

Nice to meet you!

A couple weeks ago, we had the privalege of attending Owen Grady Fawcett's baptism in West Branch, IA. The Fawcett boys hit it off right away and didn't waste any time getting to know eachother. Ethan was pretty mesmorized by Owen's abilities. He could sit up without toppling over and crawl all over the place with such ease. It was great to see the boys play in the pond and spend time at a place where we hope many memories together will be made. We had a great time with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!

Loving those green beans!

Father's Day Fun!

Father's Day this year brought new excitement to our family! I consider myself extremely blessed to have such wonderful guys in my life. Thomas is so much more than I could have asked for in a husband and he is a great father to Ethan. Ethan is very fortunate to be surrounded by a great father and also great grandfathers! We were at the Mall of America this father's day and had a great time. We also checked out Ikea since Thomas had never been there. It's quite the experience and a bit overwhelming. Ethan is a great traveler because he loves that car seat and would take a nap in it over his crib any day. I won't mention what I have tried in an effort to get him to take a nap in his crib. If anyone reading this has any pointers, I'd love to hear them! He had his 6 month appointment with shots and all. He weighed in at 18.5 and really hasn't grown a whole lot. The doctor says that this is normal around this age because he is becoming more active and burning off some of those calories. He is now able to start fruits and vegetables so this week we are experimenting with avocados and it isn't going so well. We will make a few more attempts and move on to something more appetizing to him. I try not to laugh, but Ethan is so dramatic when he doesn't like something. He actually makes himself get sick...I might have to post a video clip of this for some good laughs. =) Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.