Furniture Barlows

Birthday

2011-10-01T13:50:00.001-07:00

Before I get to the birthday I wanted to show a picture of Maggie and how she sits. If she can not get her leg out then she gets very upset. But if you giver her room to move then this is what you end up with.
Her cake provided by Grandma and Grandpa Barlow.(Because I was to lazy to make one that day)
She just blew out the candles. (with my help) and she is really happy. When we first gave her a piece of cake she had no idea what to do with it. She figured it out pretty fast.
She not only figured how to eat she figured out how to make a mess with it and still be cute.
She really enjoyed her cake.

Sunday Activitys

2011-09-25T18:53:00.001-07:00

So I don't have any pictures but I thought that I would share what we did this Sunday. I don't know about all of you but I find it hard sometimes to think of things to do on Sunday's with my kids. Well I don't know if it is appropriate but today Ethan, Maggie, and I ambushed Rene' with snowballs. That's right Snowballs. They are not real snowballs they are just soft fluffy white things that you can throw as hard as you want and they don't hurt. Anyway while Rene was talking on the phone to her mom the three of us decided to attack. It worked really well, I would throw them and Ethan would fetch them, with Maggie in the background sucking on them. (to make them seem more life like.) It continued to work until Rene' finished her telephone call and then the war was on.

With each of us hiding beside our side of the bed, we attacked each other with no mercy. The battle raged on between us and helping to keep things even was Ethan, allying with who ever had the most snowballs. In the end we decided that the winner depended on how you look at it. If you look at who got hit the least then Maggie was the winner. If you look at who was on the winning side the longest it was Ethan. Either way all we know is that Rene' and I didn't win. But we sure had fun.

Our first first

2011-09-12T18:04:00.001-07:00

So I know that I missed a week, Sorry. Last week was the first day of Ethan's joy school. He was excited to go but I would have to say that Rene' was much more excited for him to go. She had all of his cloths picked out (then found out they were going to paint and abruptly changed them). She talked about it non stop with him for days before hand.
The first day Rene' asked me if other kids had backpacks. After I responded to the affirmative she immediately ran to the store to get Ethan a backpack, even if it does go to his knees.
Today Maggie got to try a chocolate animal cracker. We thought it would keep her busy while we ate dinner and well.... We were right.

Just for those of you wondering it is an animal cracker not poo. On a side note we are trying to potty train Ethan and as part of that he gets to watch daddy use the potty. So as I was peeing Ethan looks at me and asks "what are you doing daddy?", "I'm using the potty" was my response. His next question immediately comes "what happens when the poop comes?" Needless to say I had a very hard time keeping the pee aimed straight. I did reassure him that when the poop comes I sit down on the potty.

What do you do.

2011-08-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you are bored. This is what my father and I did. I wish that we could say that we came up with this on our own but we just duplicated what someone else had done.

Vacation

2011-08-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

So last week was the last week of summer school and I was excited for my two week break before fall semester starts. I made a list of all the things that I needed to get done and when I should do them and then Wed morning I wake up and I can not move. I was so sick I couldn't move, think, or sleep. Basically all I could do was lay there and be miserable. I was sure that I had the flu and a sinus infection and a small sore throat on top of it all. I called my brother David and he graciously came and picked up my kids and watched them for the day. By the end of the day I was not any better and was feeling a lot worse so I arranged for my Mother to come up and watch my kids for the next day. When she got here the next morning things had gotten worse. I still had all the other problems but now the sore throat was the worse sore throat I had ever had. My entire throat was on fire all the time. Well my Mom looked at my throat and made me call a doctor. To make my long story a little shorter. It turns out all I had was one thing and the was Strep Throat. Apparently it can make your body act like it has the flu and it can inflame your sinuses. It can do all of it. Who knew. I have had strep before and it has always been nice and stayed as a sore throat but not this time. It was a very bad case of Strep and after being on antibiotics for 3 days I am finally able to eat something. I can't eat much but I can eat something. On the plus side I have lost 8 lbs.

In the midst of all this I was able to get my grades and all of them were great.

Some photoshop

2011-08-16T10:13:00.001-07:00

I my class I had to work with photoshop and so I thought I would share some of the pictures that I put together. These are my favorites.

Commercial for class

2011-08-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

I had to make a commercial for class as part of a group. This is the commercial that we made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Fjy4F9rG0

Ethan's Pics

2011-07-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

So the other day Ethan asked if he could take some pictures. I said yes and then started doing some homework. After about 10 min he asked to see them and so I took the camera and to my surprise he had taken well over 100 pictures in that 10 min. Lets just say i am glad it was not film. Anyway I have decided to post some of the pictures that he took. If you imagine about every angle taken of each of these subjects then you can picture all of the pictures he took.

So first lets just say I am really glad that my fly is not down.
Ethan almost documented the entire episode of sid the science kid. You could make a flip book out of the pictures and watch the whole thing.
Lots of pictures of Maggie and strangely enough a lot of close ups of the furniture.

Posting

2011-07-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

So time flies when you are really busy. For those of you who don't know I am going back to school to get another bachelors degree. I am getting it in Business/Marketing Education. It will take me 2 years and then I will be lisenced to teach 6 different subjects. Well we have been able to get all of my classes on the same days so that we don't have to have our kids babysat very much. The kids have really noticed that I am not home and so the days that I am home this is a good representation of what it is like. They climb all over and won't leave me alone. Which makes it a little difficult to get things done but that is okay I would rather play with them anyway.
Here are two pictures of Ethan playing with his cousin Kambri. They are the same age and so they enjoy playing together, or fighting together, it is interesting how one will generally lead to the other.

For Ethan's birthday he got a big boy bed. He was so excited he got to watch me make it and assemble it. He talked about it straight for about a week. A little disclaimer is that Ethan got his bed a month before his birthday. It was done so we went ahead and gave it to him.

I like what Jen is doing and so I thought I might try it. It might help me realize how much time passes. I don't know how long I will be able to keep it up but I am going to try. (Jen is posting every sunday using the blog as a journal) I also hope this will make sure that I take more pictures of my kids.

Playing together

2011-04-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Isn't it nice when they play together.

Portfolio

2011-04-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all it was recently made known to me that I should have an online portfolio for all of my work. So the easiest way that I new to do it was to make a blog and use that. So I did. Please feel free to check it out at http://christophersportfolio.blogspot.com/

General Conference

2011-04-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

So ever since Rene' and I got married we have been making coffee cake for General Conference. For all these years we have never been able to get it right. The topping would always just stay on top and not sink in. Well I am happy to announce that on our 14th try we have been successful. THE TOPPING SUNK. It was delicious. Apparently you need to accidentally freeze your butter and not refrigerate it and you have to have your electric beater beaters in the dishwasher so you have to beat it by hand for FOREVER. So if you make coffee cake and can't get it to work try messing up and it might turn out.
Another tradition or really just something I liked to do and always ended up doing was playing with legos during Conference. Well I can also say that that is continuing. Rene' and Ethan built a castle to hold his tennis balls and his lego man.

Apparently the castle wasn't strong enough to hold up against the monster Maggie.

She cremated it while we all took a break to eat coffee cake. Lets just say that Ethan was not happy

But she was

"Pickles"

2011-03-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

So kids really do say the darn-dest things. Tonight Ethan has wanted pickles. It started about 9:15 pm when we asked for a pickle. So I gave him one. Then he asked for another one. So I gave him another one. When he asked for his FIFTH pickle, Chris asked if he wanted something else to eat instead of just pickles. Ethan thought for a second, then said, "Two pickles!" ...You guested it, we gave him two pickles. Chris gave him the first pickle and Ethan said, "One pickle for me." After Chris gave him the second pickle, he said "Another pickle for me!" It was SO cute. I'm always surprised at how his mind works and what he can connect together. So if you're hungry tonight, grab a pickle. Ethan will be eating them, too.

Tradition anyone?

2011-02-14T19:41:00.001-08:00

I was telling my mom about my Valentine’s Day experience and she just laughed. So I decided to share it with everyone and maybe give you some comic relief, too.

It started a few days ago as I was walking through the store and looking at all of the Valentine’s Day “stuff.” I wanted to do something fun for my kids, so I looked through the aisles and tried to decide what to get and if it was really worth it when I realized two things. 1 –My kids wouldn’t even know the difference. 2 –Did I really need more toys and candy?

I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to spend any money. Some of my favorite Valentine’s Day memories where making heart-shaped homemade pizza. I’ve been wanting to make homemade pizza for a few weeks anyway, so this was the perfect time. I decided that I would do it on Sunday because I would have more time then if I tried to do it on Monday after work.

Sunday turned out to be quite the day. Chris made a quadruple batch of chocolate chip cookies so that he could take some to his home teaching families. He had to leave for choir practice before they were done, so I finished baking them. As soon as Chris arrived home he woke up Ethan so he could go home teaching. (Chris takes Ethan as his companion because it’s really hard for him to go with his assigned companion.) Ethan was extremely grumpy and we were trying to get him happy and ready to leave when our friends from Salt Lake called and wanted to come visit. –I was fine having them come visit, but let me just say my house was NOT in order for company. I agreed as long as they were okay with coming to a messy house and trying my first homemade pizza ever.

Our company arrived about 6:00 and Chris was supposed to be home about that same time, but he wasn’t. They watched Maggie while I started pizza (I wanted to start it sooner, but I was holding Maggie so that she would stay asleep –she was really grumpy after church so I didn’t dare lay her down).

The pizza experience was quite the adventure. I made the first batch of pizza dough (it took me forever to get the right amount of flour so it wasn’t sticky) and it was super thin and still wasn’t enough to cover the whole pan. So I washed the measuring cups and bowls and started again; this time making a bigger batch that I hoped would make two pans worth. It turns out that it was way more than that. So I had one “thin crust” pizza and one “super thick crust” pizza, plus a huge ball of dough left over for another pizza. At this point it was about 8:00 and I didn’t care about having a heart shaped pizza, just that it would get cooked so we could eat dinner. –Did I mention I was going through his adventure with company and no husband to help entertain them? And I think I used half a bag of flour trying to get the dough right!

Chris and Ethan finally got home and the pizza finally got done. It actually turned out great, two hours later than I wanted, but still good. The next time I make it will hopefully be without company around and in a clean kitchen. It turns out my kids are too young to even know what was going on… no surprise… but I’ll sure remember it. And all of this for the sake of a tradition!

More Pictures

2011-02-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

I don't know why but the first picture always goes sideways on me and I don't know how to fix it sorry. Anyway here are some more pictures.
Ethan created this fort on his own during a Christmas party, I guess he was bored.
We had all of Davids kids down the other day for a sleep over. These were there sleeping arrangements. It went over quite well.
Ethan is always wanting to play and to hold Maggie so today I thought I would grab there picture as he was holding her. Luckily I got both of them to smile.

Internet

2011-01-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Well we finally got a different internet service provider so we should be able to update our blog more often. Here is a little preview. These are not in any order I just picked some at random.

Finally

2010-12-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Finally I am making an update. I am having to use my brother Davids internet to get it done but that is okay. So here you go.

She has grown since these pictures but they are on the camera still. I will try to steal his internet again soon.

Not the greatest starts.

2010-09-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

So things have not worked out exactly as planned for our family. Everything worked well with the birth of Maggie, both she and Rene' are doing well but the same can not be said of the rest of the family. First off, Tuesday afternoon while I was at the hospital I got food poisoning. at least that is what we think it was. I spent the rest of the day and that night throwing up or as Jen put it "throwing up my toes" and the next day I was fine nothing wrong with me. Sadly the same can not be said of Ethan who has come down with a fever and allergy's and we think a sinus infection, we find out for sure later today when we take him the the doctor.

Lets hope the next few day's of Maggie's life are better on the family than the first ones have been.

Margret Lynn Barlow "Maggie"

2010-09-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

The Pictures speak for themselves.

She is determined to keep this pacifier.

We're Ready

2010-09-28T12:21:00.001-07:00

Thats right you read it right We Are Ready. During the last month or so whenever we talked to people they would ask what we were up to and the answer was always "getting things ready for Maggie"Well with hours to spare we did it. Our entire house is ready for her to join our family. What does this involve you say. Well it involved rearranging our room to make room for her and to make sure that it was the most efficient design for waking up in the morning and getting the things you need.
It involved moving every book I own to make room for her.
It involved making, painting, hanging, and filling several shelves. (with more selves on order once Rene' saw how well they turned out)
And it involved not only getting a spare bed for all those people coming to help us but it also took all of the time to move every box (we still have not unpacked and every storage box) several times, first to make room for the bed and then to make the bed accessible. And yes if you look closely you will see a lot of banker boxes under the bed.
Sadly these are but a few of the things that we had to do. But once again we can say "WE ARE READY"

Greene Family Reunion

2010-09-19T20:27:00.001-07:00

The Greene Family Reunion was also the same day as Ethan's birthday. So after visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Barlow some more we went to Uncle DeR's house in Lehi for another party. They had a mini golf tournament set up and Ethan joined Grandpa's team.

Ethan liked playing with Grandpa so much he wanted to try it out on his own. He's pretty good... maybe the next pro?... He'll probably need a few pointers on form, but I think he's on his way!

This was my favorite part. Eating homemade ice cream! Ethan likes it as much as I do -he's such a momma's boy. It was a fun to see the relatives and visit and Ethan was such a good boy... no sign of the terrible-twos (at least not on this day)!

Birthday Boy

2010-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

These are long over due, but here are some pictures of Ethan's birthday. The Sunday before we went to Dugway to celebrate with my family. The first picture is Ethan sitting in Grandma's toy car. He LOVES this car. All he wanted to do was go outside and play in it. He would get in and out over and over. Below is Ethan and his cousin Kambri making birthday cupcakes with Grandma. They were such good helpers.

We opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa and Kambri. Then we had cupcakes. Notice that Ethan doesn't have any clothes on. This was so he could eat the chocolate frosting and we wouldn't have to worry about his clothes. He later had a bath and story time with Grandma and Kambri. It was a great way to celebrate turning two.
On his birthday we were at Chris' parents in Mt. Pleasant. Grandma and Grandpa Barlow gave him a set of cars with this cool road map to drive them on. He had tons of fun playing with them and still likes to play with them at our house now.
Then we opened the presents from mom and dad. We gave him some peg puzzles and a small play keyboard. He loves to play with both of them. He has gotten pretty good at the puzzles. There is one that has a train and a boat and it's his favorite.

This is the Place State Park

2010-08-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day Weekend we went to This is the Place State Park with my family. Ethan LOVED the train ride. I think this is where his obsession with trains -choo, choos - as he calls them started. He now has 2 Thomas the Train movies, 3 Thomas and Friends trains, 2 Thomas books, and 1 pair of Thomas pajamas. He loves them all. He wore his pajamas for 3 days straight. And the day Chris finally changed his clothes he found them, brought them to daddy, and said, "pease" (please). So of course Chris had no choice but to put them back on. I didn't know that one little train ride could turn our life into "choo, choos" mania.
There was also a small petty farm. Ethan was pretty scared of most of the animals. But we finally got him to touch the bunny and the goat. All this dad's help of course. It was a fun day and we enjoyed spending time with family.

Easter

2010-08-08T20:59:00.001-07:00

About a week before Easter we had a small Easter/house warming party with my family. Here is Ethan and Kambri eating the jelly beans - their favorite part.

Becky, Ryan, and Ellie came to stay with us for Easter weekend. Becky tuned our piano (thank you Becky, it really needed it after moving). Ethan LOVED Elli. Here he is holding her and saying "baby" over and over. I hope he loves his new sister as much as Elli.
Easter morning. Ethan got a movie, a children's CD, a Mr. Potato head, and some candy. Of course he went for the eggs full of candy first.

Baby #2

2010-06-01T21:19:00.001-07:00

Hey I though that I would make another posting for all of you that still manage to look at our blog. Good news, our baby is healthy and so is Rene' but not only that we are having a girl. We are very excited about it and it makes our life easier because we already know what we are going to call her so we don't have to figure out the name.
So stay tuned for pictures. Coming up you will see a lovely crib for Becky and Ryan Allen, David and Elann Barlow's kitchen (after a year in the making), and a beautifully designed piano bench for Rene'. All of these will be coming this month on Furniture Barlow's.

Phone

2010-04-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some quick pictures from off my phone. I finally pulled them off so they range in date. I should be able to update more because I am done with school.

This is a picture that I took when I came out of the shower. Usually when i come out I can hear Ethan either really grumpy or getting into trouble. But this time I came out and the house was dead quite. When I went to go get some cloths (Yes they were in the dryer still) this is what I found.
I sent these to Rene' and they quickly became her favorite. She ended up showing them to every person that she works with.

House

2010-03-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

So we have officially moved into our house. It is really nice but it is a lot of work to try and get everything setup how we want. I am just using somebody elses internet so I don't have time to put pictures on but I will post them soon when we get the internet. Until then just picture iin your mind a nice beautiful house filled with boxes and out of place furniture.

Kitchen

2010-02-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

Here is our kitchen, it is not very big but we didn't want to get any upgrades because I am going to redo it in a year or so. So there it is.

Drywall and Paint

2010-02-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

Now I know that it has been a while since I have posted. I just got busy with school and we had some internet problems but we are back up and going. so as you can see a lot has happened with our house. It has drywall paint and stucco. This week they also installed the cabinets and the floor. We will be moving in about 2 weeks. We sign for the house on the 5th of march and we get the keys the next Monday. We plan on moving the following week on the 12th and 13th if anybody wants to help. Before that we are going to paint some rooms our colors and get everything else ready that we want.

I think I should mention that this is not the final color of our house this is just one of the layers.

Up Stairs

2010-01-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

It is not easy to tell from the pictures but the above is our stairs. Below is our Master bedroom closet.
Here I am in the master bedroom.
This is part of Ethans room
Behind all the 2x4's is our 3rd bedroom and in between the 2x4's is the Master Bath.

Down Stairs

2010-01-18T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of our down stairs. Below is the living room window.
Here are the bottom of the stairs and the entry and half bath.
This is looking at the kitchen. With the pantry on the left.
And best of all my garage.

Framing

2010-01-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

So we were told that they started framing on Wed and so we came to see the house and here is what we saw. Poof all done. They apperantly got the framing done really fast. So here are the pictures of the out side.

For Father

2010-01-09T17:27:00.000-08:00

This is just for you Father, feel better.

House Foundation

2010-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

So here is the foundation of our house. It was really funny to see it because it is a small foundation on a big lot.
The black tarp is the garage. Since these pictures they have laid the cement in the garage.
Above is the kitchen .

Dancing

2009-12-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a fun video of Ethan Dancing. He dances a lot and I finally decided to record it.

Not just for Exercise

2009-12-19T08:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a video that I liked. It shows that although you buy something for a specific purpose that is not necessarily the purpose your kids will use it for. Thankfully it is like getting two things for the price of one.

Fun Pics 2

2009-12-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here is Rene' trying her hardest to read and not let Ethan or I bother her.
For some reason Ethan loves his toy box. He will tip it over and know out all the toys then he will climb in and either stand in it or sit and play. Sometimes he doesn't take the toys out and just sits on top of them. Then yesterday I found him standing on the edge of the box with one foot the other foot was out in space balancing him and he was concentrating on watching his show.

and here is two more pictures that I liked.

Fun Pics 1

2009-12-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

These are just some fun pictures from the last couple months. Above is Ethan using the numbchuck from the wii as a cell phone. Below is if Rene or I go into the bathroom Ethan tries to get us under the door.
Here is Ethan two best friends. They live next door and they all enjoy playing together.
Ethan likes to hide under the table I made and use it as a fort. He will drag toys there and play for up to 30 min at a time.
This next one is the last time I left tissues within reach of the baby.

Our Hole

2009-12-16T12:34:00.001-08:00

This is our hole. We are so proud, we got a call today telling us that they were currently digging our hole which is great because it means that our house is now on the work list and should be done in March. Bad news is they told us that they discontinued one of our floor choices (Which we really liked so we have to go re choose it.

Food Storage Breakfast

2009-12-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we made a breakfast with food storage recipes and items. I got the recipe for the pancakes from Syl. It is delicious and we all love it (including Ethan who can eats them like candy). We even used wheat floor in them so they were even more healthy. I would have made them sooner, but I had to find dehydrated shortening (my can actually says shortening powder). I had never even heard of that, let alone bought it. The recipe is flour (I used half wheat flour and you would never know - it takes that good), powdered milk, powdered eggs, powdered shortening, salt, and baking powder. Then all you do is add water. It's SO easy and SO good. We aren't the only ones who think so. Syl has given the recipe to most of the family and they seem to love it, too. We made pancakes and then tried scrambled eggs using the powdered eggs. Chris didn't like the eggs at all. I thought they were okay. And Ethan LOVED them. He ate all of Chris'. It was really fun to use our food storage and make something that we would actual eat (we might not do powdered scrambled eggs very often, but we did at least eat them).

Besides the pancake recipes, I have also been researching and slowly doing more food storage. I have always wanted to "do" food storage. But it always intimidated me and our apartment is too small to store a lot of it. But I have solved both of those problems! We will be in a house soon (they told us last week that it should be around March) and I found an awesome website that doesn't make me scared of food storage any more. Here is the link to it. You should check it out. This website links three separate blogs together that each deal with a different part of food storage. One for planning it, one for buying it, and one for eating it. This way you can focus on one thing at a time and then move on to others. I love it! I actually bought the recipe book for the "eat it" blog and I am going to buy the ebook from the "plan it" blog soon. They focus on the basics and then go into more details. I have started doing some of it and now I'm not as scared to "do" food storage.

Surgery

2009-12-09T15:13:00.000-08:00

Well as many of you know I had sinus surgery in the beginning of November. I was healing fine and not having any major problems and then our family caught a cold. Now normally a cold will not bother me very much but this one really hurt. It felt like I had just had the surgery again and I was wiped out for a week. It was not fun. It actually did put my healing back several weeks and so my nose is still bleeding after a month. Now I know it is not pretty and that is why I have not taken a picture of it but so that I can keep working and doing stuff when I have a nose bled (which I get often) I stick a tissue up my nose. It helps. Well it has fascinated Ethan and if he gets hold of a tissue he will try to put it up his nose. Hence the pictures. He is just trying to be like dad.
On another note it is my birthday today and you know it is time to update your blog when every call you get wishing you a "happy birthday" also has an "update your blog" comment with it. So here. I will also be posting more now because our house is progressing more. But that is a different post.

House Update

2009-11-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I should put on here the progress of our house because everybody keeps asking me. Well we have done everything that needs to be done on our part. We picked all of our colors and upgrades (and we didn't fight once over the choices, in fact we both really enjoyed it). We have got our loan approved and decided and every other little thing that we needed to do. Now the builders (Fieldstone homes) are getting the permits and will start building as soon as they come in (Usually about 4-6 weeks). All we have left on our part is to meet with the contractors when they ask us to and to go look at our house get built. So as soon as we have more than an empty lot we will take pictures and post them. On a side note I realized the other day that I now know the size of my Shop (the Garage) and I can now design it how I want to. Which is becoming the highlight of my week.

Completely different subject just so you all know I am having surgery on Friday. What kind of surgery you ask well think of my mother (that's right mom I blame you) and what she passed on to me and several other kids and what do you get. BAD SINUS'S. So it has now gotten to the point that I have to have sinus surgery. Oh well I look forward to being able to breath with both sides of my nose at the same time (I have not been able to do so since I was in high school).

Wired Monkey

2009-10-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

We went to the UVU Kid Halloween Party tonight. Here is Ethan in his monkey costume. The banana was sewn into the pocket, but he threw a fit so I cut it out. He had fun looking at all the people and especially the balloons. He also had some cookies, some from mom and some from dad. Apparently he had way too many for a monkey his size. The video below is proof of what happens when you feed a monkey boy too many cookies. Imagine him laughing like this for two straight hours. Everything was funny and he was moving non-stop. We've learned our lesson. Only one piece of candy on Halloween Night. Otherwise we're in for round two of the Wired Monkey.

Lot

2009-10-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well here is our lot. It is a corner lot so if you can see Rene' that is the end of our lot.

New House, Here We Come!!!

2009-10-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Chris and I are moving... in about 5 months! We signed the papers yesterday to start building a house in Springville. It will have 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths and be 1400 square feet. So it's not huge, but it will work great for now. Because it's new we get to pick out many things. I never realized how many choices we would get to make. We went to the Home Fitting Center yesterday after signing the papers and started choosing everything. Cabinets, counter tops, flooring, appliances, doors, paint, carpet, wall texture, door knobs, light fixtures, tubs, shower rods, mirrors, more light fixtures, counter tops, and floors, exterior light fixtures, stucco color, garage door height and color, front door color, window patterns, and more. This doesn't even count the landscaping or the interior decorating that will come later. Man we have our work cut out for us. But I'm loving every minute of it! We will take a picture of the lot, a corner lot... YIPPEE... and post it soon. If you can't tell we are SO excited. So stay tuned for more house building details.

Mexico 4 Dolphins

2009-10-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

While at the aquarium we decided to swim with the dolphins. We got to swim and do stuff with them for an hour and it was the funnest part of our trip. We have a video as well as these pictures but I am having trouble with it so I am just putting these up.

Mexico 3 Aquarium

2009-09-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

The next day we went to the aquarium that Itze' works at. Above are some really cool jelly fish. Then they had this snapping turtle that you could pet with a worker next to you to make sure you were doing it right.
Then we went swimming with the dolphins. Swimming with the dolphins was one of the funnest things that we did there. I will work on getting the pictures from it and the video up for you to see. After we swam with the dolphins we walked around the shopping area waiting for the dolphin show. The next picture and video are from the show it was fun to watch but I have seen a much better show at Sea World.
They had two sets of dolphins, one set from the Pacific and one from the Atlantic Ocean. We swam with one set and then the other set put on the show. It turns out that the dolphins that did the show have a really funny fact. The lead dolphin is racist and hates fat people. It will refuse to swim if a Black or a Fat man is in the pool. They have no idea why but it refuses and it convinces the other dolphins not to swim either. Maybe that is why we swam with the other set, they got a look at me and figured they should give us the dolphins that will swim.

Mexico 2 X'carat

2009-09-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we did was go to a place called X'Carrat. It is a preserve that was really fun to see and go around in. They had 2 man made rivers that you can snorkel down and see a lot of cool stuff. Then around the park they had a lot of historic Mexican recreations. In the picture above I am standing next to the playing field of an old Mayan game that you play with your hips. Later that day we got to see them actually play the game.
Below is a picture of Rene' next to some parrots. They were everywhere. For those of you can't find them they are green and over her shoulder.
At the end of the day we went to there show and saw them put on this really cool play of their history. This is where we saw the hip game and then they also played a game that was like hockey without the skates and where they lit the ball on fire. It was really fun to watch.
X'Carat also had some manatees and Rene' loved them we watched them for a long time and them we got this video.

Mexico 1 The Hotel

2009-09-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

If you don't know Rene' and I went to Mexico at the end of June. I thought I would finally put the pictures of that trip on here for you to see. These first two were taken from our hotel lobby. Because of the swine flu not many people were going to Mexico at the time and we were able to book a 4 star hotel for the price of a 1 star. This made it really fun for us and we were really glad near the end because our hotel room was the only place we had air conditioning.
Here is Rene' showing off our room and bed (Which was really comfortable).
The next two pictures are the view from our room. if you went out on the balcony and looked straight down you would see the bottom of the building and then 10 feet away the ocean started. We could not get any closer.
At night if we left the door open then we could hear dolphins playing. It was really fun because we thought that we were just hearing birds but Itze' my friends wife told us it was dolphins.
I forgot to say why we went to Mexico. My very good friend was getting married to a girl from Cancun. We thought that it was a good excuse for us to go. We were there for 1 week and we are very grateful to my mother and father for watching Ethan for us.

We are back

2009-08-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well we finally have the internet again. It has taken us a while but in the end we had to get it for school when you have two online classes then you don't have a choice but to get it. so here are some pictures just for fun. No commentary just clean old fun.

Some Quick Catch-Up

2009-07-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here is Chris reading Ethan his bedtime story.

I love this picture because they both are SO into it.
Ethan loves to read stories and we love to read to him.

Look at that cool hat!
Ethan also loves to be outside, which gives him plenty of opportunity to wear his hat.

Our Ward had a Luau, complete with a roasted pig and chicken and a wonderful pineapple drink. They roasted the pig in the backyard of our apartment. Our neighbor is from Fiji, so it was actually authentic food. Yum, yum. This was Ethan's first neighborhood activity. Notice the hat again!

Ethan has learned how to scoot. He can't crawl yet, but he can cruise around the house. In this picture he made his way under Grandma Barlow's cabinet.

I'll post some pictures of our Cancun trip soon. But until then, here are some to look at.

Apple Sauce

2009-05-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

I liked Beckys video and I remembered that I recorded one as well and it shows his face pretty well so I put this on here so you can see.

Phone

2009-04-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

We have kept our old phones for this purpose. When Ethan sees our phones he loves them and always wants to play with them. So I got out one of our old ones and charged it and gave it to him. He loves it. I tried to get pictures of him playing with it but our camera beeps when it is focused, he hears it and then stares at the camera. So imagine him talking to the phone and yelling at it. Because that is what he was doing before I got out the camera.

I hope you appreciate these pictures. They took me a long time to get them taken.

Weekend

2009-03-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Rene' and I went to visit my parents. Sadly for my father this usually means I have a project, and to hold to form i did. So instead of a nice relaxing weekend he got put to work helping me. I hope he know how much I appreciate the help. Because of his genius and ingenuity my project came out pretty cool.
This is a cabinet for my computer. It is to protect it from an ever moving curious baby. I think it will work well.

I also think that this would be a good time to thank my brother David. Who were it not for him this computer would not exist. He not only put it together but he has been willing to give up his days off to fix it whenever I break it, and only he knows how often that is (because i am not going to tell you.). So to David, may he never screen my calls.

Lounging about

2009-03-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Some where some how Ethan has learned that Rene' is a great place to lounge about. I could not agree more, I love it and so does he. The only difference is he gets to do it more often.
Last night he was fighting his naps with all he had. He absolutely refused to go to sleep. I think he missed 2 naps and it was getting close to bed time and so Rene' started to feed him. Well that got him and he was out. He would not wake up. So in the end he slept and Rene' got to hold him. I think Rene' won in both cases, she is good at winning.

Never Again

2009-03-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

This will probably be the last time that you see Ethan with a bennie on his head. I put it on and he took it right off. He has decided that he does not like things on his head. He is fine if it is on his face but not his head.
Right after this picture he reached up and took off his bennie and threw it off the couch. I also think that he is all ready for St Patrick's Day.

Look a like

2009-03-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

Which of us does Ethan look like. Everybody has different opinions and I am curious what you all think. They are not the best pictures of us but they are all I have at the moment.
I am above.
Rene' is below
voting encouraged

Growing

2009-03-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

I thought that these pictures would be a good way to show how much Ethan has grown. So The picture above was taken when he was 8 months and 1 day old (Today). The picture below was taken when he came home (7 weeks old).

I think that there is quite a difference.
Now for all you people that kept bugging me to update my blog (You will remain nameless). I expect a comment from all that complained. If I don't get one then you can look foreword to another month of the same pictures. If on the other hand I receive comments then I will update again before Sunday.

Lincon Logs

2009-02-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

When I was a child I had a nice collection of Lincoln logs. I enjoyed them and always love making different buildings out of them. Well at some point in my life they vanished. Well unknown to me they were given to my grandmother for others to play with. After Christmas I was visiting and Grandma told me about them and said that we could have them when we wanted them for Ethan. Well I naturally told her that he would like them now. and to prove that he can play with them and not just me I took pictures to prove how much he enjoyed it.

He built this with some slight help.

Spoiled Rotten and Loving it

2009-02-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

I have meant to put these pictures up for a while but I have been busy. So here I present to you the crib that I built for Ethan. Many people wanted pictures of the whole process and wanted to see the steps in building it. Just imagine a bunch of boards, now imagine them cut. You have now seen the steps before the above picture. I never took pictures because there was nothing to take pictures of. To get to this point I had the help of my resourceful brother David to sand things while I focused on the details. Thanks David, your help was greatly appreciated. These are the parts before spraying.
Here is a picture of the crib put together. After spraying all that was left was to attach the sides to the head and footboard. Thankfully Father was willing to help even when the 1/2 hour it was supposed to take turned into 2 hours. Thanks dad.
Here is Ethan showing off his cool bed. He loves it and nap time has become increasingly easier because of this bed. He loves it. Many times after he wakes up he will just continue to lay there and play letting his grateful parents sleep a little longer.
Below is the dresser that I built for Ethan quite some time ago. Thanks to some donated wood from my friend this dresser cost us a total of $30 for the drawer glides, and a total of 3 or 4 hours of work(at the most).
How do you know when your child is Spoiled. Is it when his birth costs as much as a house, is it when he demands and receives all your attention, or is it when you custom build all his furniture. I don't know but I am sure that we have crossed that line and there is no going back.

Definition Please

2009-01-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today while walking from the car Rene' made a comment that I think should go out to the world in competition to develop the most creative definition of her phrase. She said "I hate walking in melty mud" So I give it to you to leave a comment defining the term "melty mud".

Favorite Sound in the Whole World

2009-01-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

As the previous post shows, Ethan is laughing. I've decided it is my favorite sound in the whole world. It just melts my heart. I can't believe how good it makes me feel to hear him laugh. That's part of the reason I've tried over and over again to record it. I want as many videos as possible to watch later, after he's moved on to bigger things (like crawling or walking or messing up the house). I want to catch as much of his life now as I can because it's already gone to fast. He's already 6 1/2 months old and boy how time flies. I'm just grateful for the new digital camera and computers. I can take as many pictures and videos as I want and it's all free. Chris and I have taken 3 times the amount of pictures in the last 6 1/2 months then we have since we got married 4 1/2 years ago. Of course, we didn't have a great camera and it was just the two of us -no cute kid to catch the smiles, snuggles, and laughs. Anyway, Ethan's laugh is my favorite thing and I just wanted to share.

Ethan Laughing

2009-01-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

Finally after 7 upon 7 tries we captured Ethan laughing. Sadly it was to long to put on the blog so you get to see another recording. We have become quite skilled at hiding the camera to record him otherwise he will stop what ever he is doing to look at the camera.

Update

2009-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

I think that it is a little sad when your mother posts more blog about your child then you do. So to avoid being sad I figured I had better post something. So here are some photos of Ethan. I took the above picture for Rene' and sent it to her at work.
Some people have asked us how big is he getting so in true redneck style he is knee high.
Or a little over 3 DVD's in length however you want to look at it.

For those of you who want to be more technical. He is 24" long and weighs 12lb. (I think)

Christmas Eve 2008

2008-12-31T16:20:00.000-08:00

Ethan's first picture with Santa Clause in his cute reindeer pajamas. Plus our tree, Ethan's first Christmas ornament, and our ornament for this year (notice that it's a family, I looked far-and-wide to find one like this).

Thanksgiving

2008-12-23T22:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures from our Thanksgiving. I know, it's almost Christmas, but better late then never. We went to both grandparents' houses over the weekend. It was great.

Chris skiing with Wii Fit at the Barlow's.

Here is the entertainment at the Morse's. The Wii, the computer, and the baby.
Below: Chris and Ethan worn out.

The King of the House

2008-12-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

King of Dad

King of Mom

King of the Floor
(Ethan fell asleep under his toy. He's actually laying on his side.)

King of the Couch

King of the Chair

I never realized how much control a child can have over Everything! Ethan is definitely the King of our House. Everything centers around him: when he sleeps, when he eats, when we can go somewhere, if he's happy, if he's sad, even if the house gets clean. He's only 5 1/2 months and already he rules over us. It's been fun getting used to our new life. I'm just grateful that we have him, and that he's home and healthy. Here's to the King!

How you know you're a NICU parent

2008-12-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

-babysitting costs you $1-2k a day
-you present your child’s wet diapers to the nurse as a prized gem to
be weighed
-you only get worried if your baby stops breathing for MORE than 20
seconds…
-you kiss plexi-glass goodnight
-you start to wonder if it’s possible to wash the skin right off of
your hands
-you find yourself making a phone call about twice a day, just to see
how your baby is doing
-all of the sudden, preemie clothes look huge…and you notice your baby
could share clothes with the stuffed animals she’s getting as gifts
-you get excited over ounces and cubic centimeters
-you begin to refer to non-preemies as “fat babies”
-changing your baby's diaper becomes a highlight you call your friends
and blog about
-you spend more physical bonding time with a breast pump than your
baby
-the blanket your child is wrapped in weighs more than she does
-you know people who have children in their stomachs who are older than
your child
-visiting your child includes surveillance cameras, being buzzed in
over an intercom, a few sets if doors, giving a code, and other steps
that make you wonder if you are seeing your baby or stealing the hope
diamond
-you know enough medical jargon to at least be a doctor on ER or
Grey’s Anatomy
-you start to wonder if babies can communicate with each other through
alarms on their monitors
-you wonder if you could somehow fit into your baby's isolet...because
it just looks so dang cozy!
-your child bundles up like an Eskimo every time you come to hold her
-your child’s foot could guide Santa’s sleigh any foggy Christmas
Eve
-you have a tendency to jam your knee into the cupboards at home trying
to turn on the water to wash your hands
-you have scolded your child for having too low oxygen saturation or
heart rate
-you sweat bullets when you change your child’s Kleenex sized diaper
-you look forward to the night that your baby’s cries wake you up
-you find yourself wondering if it’s petty to hope your child
doesn’t develop a toaster-head, when it’s a miracle she’s even
breathing!
-you see pictures of friends taking their kids to Build-a-Bear…and you
think you’ve spotted a good Halloween costume for your baby
-you can tell when a picture of your child was taken based on the color
of bedding
-you find out about cluster care the nurses are doing with your child,
to avoid too much interruption, and wished your parents would have taken
the same approach with you as a teenager
-people ask you if your child will need to pass a car-seat test to be
able to come home, and you just smile as a picture comes into your mind
of your baby and 4 of her friends from the NICU all sharing the same
car-seat.
-you have a running game of “steal-the chair” with one or more
nurses/respiratory therapists
-you have see angels wearing scrubs, and have looked through windows of
heaven by peering through the glass of an isolet

Rene's friend got this from a blog and we thought we would share.

November 22nd

2008-11-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ethan just wanted to say, "Happy Birthday, Grandpa Barlow."
And his parents just wanted to say, "Look how cute he is!"

Time for Fun

2008-11-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken back in October (I know I'm way behind). I was bending over to pick up something when Ethan ended up on my back. This is his first piggy-back ride. There is a back view and front view.
This is Ethan's "going out" outfit. My parent's took us to dinner for mine and my sister's birthdays. He stayed in his car seat covered up and slept the whole time. It was nice to actually leave the house as a family. Thanks mom and dad!

This one's for you Jen

2008-10-29T10:01:00.001-07:00

Jen complained that we never have pictures of Ethan with his eyes open so here you go Jen.

Blessing Day (cont.)

2008-10-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some family pictures taken after the blessing and luncheon. Marissa, Ricky, and Kambri even came down from Logan. This was the first time I saw Kambri. She is adorable and SO big compared to Ethan.

Four generations: Grandpa Morse, Marissa, Kambri, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Morse

Four generations: Grandpa Morse, Rene, Ethan, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Morse

Grandpa and Grandma Morse with Ethan

Cousins! This is Kambri and Ethan's first picture together. They are exactly 7 weeks apart.

Kambri with Aunts KyLee and Tayci

Blessing Day

2008-10-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

On September 21, 2008, Ethan was blessed by his dad. Many relatives and friends came to support us and get a glimpse of Ethan. It was only a glimpse because we took him home early. We're sorry that most people haven't been able to see him yet, but we're trying to keep him as healthy as possible. We'll be glad to show him off in the spring once the cold and RSV seasons are over. Until then, here are more pictures.

When he was in the hospital the NICU Parent Support Organization gave us this white and blue outfit. We thought it would work quite well for his blessing outfit. The afghan was made by my Grandma Greene and given to me at my wedding. I couldn't decide on just one picture so here a couple. His facial expressions are SO cute.

Trekkie in Training

2008-09-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

On September 5, 2008, I woke up and walked into the living room to see this...

and this...
They were watching episodes of Star Trek -Voyager to be exact. I couldn't believe it, well, actually I could. You see, Chris and his parents are major Trekkies. They've seen (and own) every episode of Star Trek multiple times. Before I married Chris I knew only this about Star Trek: there was a guy named Captain Kirk, a spaceship called the Enterprise, and a saying,"Beam me up, Scottie". I had seen a couple minutes of one of the movies and that was it. However, by default I am becoming a Trekkie. I have seen many episodes and a couple of movies. My favorite series is Deep Space 9. In fact, while I was pregnant with Ethan I would sneeze multiple times a day and it reminded me of Kira when she was pregnant. Apparently Bajorans don't get morning sickness; they just sneeze a lot. To top it off, I have even been on the Star Trek ride in Las Vegas and had my picture taken with Quark. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would watch Star Trek, ask questions about, and even have conversations with people about it. Oh well, it's not the end of the world or universe.

Chris is just curious. How many of the Brent Barlow family members are Trekkies? If you would respond he would love to know.

Measuring West Virginia Style

2008-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Ethan was having "Tummy Time" when Chris (who served his mission in West Virginia) had the crazy idea of showing just how big -or little- Ethan really is. His torso is 1 DVD long, his whole body is 2 DVDs long, and his width is 1 DVD case wide. It makes me wonder how people measured things before we had the standard or metric systems. What would they compare things to that was the same for everyone? Cooking pots, barrels, plows, saddles. Hmm?

Walking Burrito

2008-09-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

Chris swaddles Ethan up pretty tight at bedtime. Ethan usually wiggles his arms out, but this time he managed to get only his feet out. We called him the "walking burrito" (even though he can't move very far).

Great-Grandparents

2008-09-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Four generation picture: Ethan, Grandma Honey, Grandpa Honey, Grandma Barlow, & Dad.

Sleepy-Head

2008-09-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

I've slacked off a little lately on updating the blog. I'll try and get some of the pictures from when we first came home up soon, but for right now here is something adorable from today. Ethan has been asleep for almost 5 hours (he's still asleep as I post this) and we were trying to wake him up to eat. We changed his diaper, tickled his feet, and then decide to try something new. It's too cute not to share.

Home Away From Home

2008-09-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

We had seven different "homes" while at the NICU. First in Nursery A, then the rest in Nursery B. We were even in the overflow area downstairs for a little while. What's cool is that this was our first and last spot in Nursery B. We went full circle and were very happy to be going home. Ethan weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. and was close to 18 inches long at time of discharge. We're so proud of him.
Going home outfit.
The carseat was barely small enough. We had to pull the straps as small as they go so it would hold him in. Once he was in the car he loved it. He was sound asleep by the time we got home.

Firsts

2008-09-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ethan's first bottle. The occupational therapist showed Chris a new technique to make the transition from bottle to nursing easier. It worked! Ethan did great and Chris was happy for the chance to hold and feed him.
First grandchild. Ethan is the first grandchild on the Morse side, and this is Grandma Morse's first time holding him. She was so excited that she even started crying (no surprise there).
First time in mom's favorite outfit. It's cowboys and horses and absolutely adorable!

Beatle Bug

2008-09-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

The nurses would rotate Ethan's sleeping positions to help keep the back of his head from getting flat. This is my favorite one, and it always reminded me of a beatle bug. The second picture is a little fuzzy, but it gives you an idea of how he would curl-up around the towel.

Random Cuteness #2

2008-09-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

Unbeknownst to me, Chirs made a post with the same title earlier. I guess great minds think alike. So here is round #2 and stay tuned for more.

So cute!

We were trying to get him when we was grinning at us, but the flash kept scaring him.

As you can see Ethan already has us whipped into shape. He only has to use one finger to keep his daddy immobilized.

Here's an example of how small he really is. Chris' finger is the same size as his forearm.

Zonked!

Grandma and Grandpa

2008-09-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is the first time Ethan has been held by anyone but nurses or his parents. Grandma and Grandpa Barlow were the lucky ones.

One Month Old!

2008-09-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

This is Ethan's One Month Birthday. He's starting to have chubby cheeks. He weighs just over 4 lbs. which means he has gained about 1 lb. since he was born. The NICU's Parent Support Group even gave him a present: a cute cupcake and some baby lotion.

Another family portrait.

New Hobby

2008-09-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

First, make sure you are sitting down. I don't want anyone to fall over as they read this. Chris finally showed me how to Blog. I know, I know, what is the world coming to? So far it doesn't seem to hard, just type and add a picture. I should have done this a long time ago. So read on my friends. I'm sure I'll be addicted soon.

Bath #2

2008-08-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is Ethan's second bath. I gave him his first one when Rene' had a cold sore so she couldn't see him and so we didn't get any pictures of that bath. So I took some of his second one which Rene' gave him. When I gave him his bath he loved it and was really happy in the water, the nurse was very good at helping and teaching me how to bath him. When Rene' gave him his bath it was a different nurse and not nearly as good. She didn't put enough water in the tub so he was very cold and instead of helping Rene' she did other stuff. So Ethan was not happy in his second bath but here are his pictures.
I think that this picture below is really cute. He looks so pathetic, he had quite the ordeal with this bath and it was not something that he wanted to repeat.

Hands

2008-08-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice comparison of our hands. His are very little. I would like to say that he got is hands from me but Rene' said that I just have fat baby hands. What does she know.

Mouth

2008-08-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

Well we know where he gets his mouth.
Maybe he just wants to be like Grandpa.

Rene' and Ethan

2008-08-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

I would put pictures up but the blog is acting funny and they won't show up so here is an update.

Rene' is healing nicely from her surgery and has been able to go back to work. Her tail bone started to hurt. It was okay to begin with but it hurt more every day and finally she went to the doctor about it and it turns out that she has a cyst on her tail bone, not only that but it is infected. So now we are taking care of that.

Ethan is doing really well. He is now able to maintain his body temperature which means his is in an open crib. He is breast feeding twice a day and is doing well. Right now the only thing left that he needs to do is to get all his food from breast feeding. He weighs 4 1/2 pounds and is growing great. we are really excited about his progress. He continues to show a very distinct personality. We are very excited to get him home.

I will put pictures up once the blogger will allow me to.

The beginning of an Era

2008-08-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

How do you know that you are grown up?
Is it Leaving Home for the first time?
Is it Going on a Mission?
Is it Getting Married?
Is it having your First Child?
Or is it Losing your Final baby tooth at the age of 26?

Ethan update

2008-07-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long to post again but our internet was down and we have been very busy. Here are some fun pictures.

Ethan is doing well. As you can see he has his nasal canula back. That is because he does periodic breathing. They are treating him for it and he is working hard to breathe. He got his last IV out and so that means that he is now able to wear cloths. We have only two things that he can wear. And he is wearing both in these pictures. His is gaining weight and is digesting all his food. So far that is all that has been happing I will post more often and work at getting a lot of good pictures.

Fist Shaking

2008-07-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun video of Ethan shaking his fist.

Random cuteness

2008-07-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Ethan.

I have no idea why this is vertical and I don't know how to fix it. So just tilt your head.

Allen Family Ramblings: Far World Book Contest

2008-07-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

This is a book contest that I saw because of becky and I am all for a free book. I hope this works
Allen Family Ramblings: Far World Book Contest

Some Video of Ethan

2008-07-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun video that I took of him.

Holding Ethan

2008-07-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Here is Rene' Holding Ethan. Her shirt had a big neck so the nurse just put Ethan in the neck and I think that is was very cute.

He is being treated for Jondas right now so he always has on a mask to protect his eyes, So when he has it off then he will just keep his eyes wide open and look at everything there is to see.
He is always very content when Rene' is holding him.

Like Mother like Son

2008-07-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

After we got to hold him he had worn himself out so badly that right when the nurse put him back he fell asleep and this is how he was sleeping.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I saw Rene' sleeping like this. I thought it was perfect because we had seen him sleep this exact same way 2 hours earlier.

Family Portrait

2008-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Here is our first family portrait. This is the first time that Rene' or I got to hold him and the first time that Rene' got to see him. He really does not like to be bundled up. He constantly fought the blanket and after much struggle and work he got his hand free.
I think Rene' and Ethan were having a competition on who could have the most wires and cords attached to them. The problem is I don't know who won.

Blowing Bubbles

2008-07-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

One of his favorite things to do is to blow bubbles. His nurse came and told me that she has to constantly come wipe up his bubbles.
Another thing that he loved to do is to stick one foot out side of their bundle. He refused to let them keep his foot in, he was determined to lay claim to the area outside of the bundle. I didn't get a picture but I will get one we I can.

Our new Mother

2008-07-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here is Rene' doing very well. She is tired and she still has a hard time sleeping. She kindly consented to these pictures so that everybody will be able to she how well she is doing.

She has been working very hard to see and to get better. Her greatest wish right now is to see Ethan, she has been able to see a picture but it has hard to see and she still was unable to see it that well. One hard part of the day is everytime that Rene' would wake up then she would ask about Ethan and when the were going to bring him to breast feed, Then she would worry about buying everything because we will need it tomorrow. I would then have to explain that he is in the NICU and that she couldn't see her own son at the moment. A great part of the day is when she started to remember some of what I told her.