Monday, March 14, 2011

mm'k, so I may just be the world's worst blogger...

But maybe I can appease you with some pictures of this cute little guy??

Wow, I love looking at other people's blogs but for some reason never find the time to update our blog. Mike has actually been bugging me to update it for a while now, but for some reason he couldn't be bothered to update it himself! I also find it very interesting that HE was the one who created this blog, but NEVER writes in it! Oh well!
Obviously we have been busy with the new addition of our little Drew Bug since August (has it really been that long?!) and have just been enjoying life! Drew just turned 7 months on Friday and I can't believe how much he's growing! As of Friday, he now has 4 teeth. 2 on top and 2 on bottom. His disposition is to just be happy and smiley! He is such a great baby, we are so blessed and we just have fun with him all the time. He loves to play with his toys, especially anything that makes music. He loves to jabber and growl. Yes, growl. He loves his jumper and is really starting to get some height in that thing due to building muscles in his legs. It's so cute he hangs on to this toy like a handlebar and just goes at it! I will have to get a video of that one!
He is eating solids like a pro (started that right around 5 months) and he just gets so excited when it is time to eat. Just like Daddy. :)
He sits up like a champ and has started trying to get places but isn't quite crawling yet. (Thank goodness, so NOT ready for that milestone!)
He loves to watch older kids play and thinks they're hilarious, he is always giggling at whatever they're doing. He is still really friendly towards others, not shy at all. Just yesterday at church he was flirting and smiling and talking to everyone sitting behind us.
He also really loves his bath time. He will sit and the tub and play with his toys and bubbles, and splash to his little heart's content.
**Warning: Major photo post!** Enjoy!
P.S. these are seriously out of order!
Getting warm and dry after a bath

Daddy and Drew rooting on the Seahawks in the playoffs


"Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump Around!"


Waiting for New Years!


Drew & Grandma Ethington at Christmas time


One Happy Family


Snuggling with his ginormous pillow pet that Grammy got him


Just want eat those little sweet cheeks up!


"Why, yes I CAN shove my whole fist in my mouth!"



Drew taste-testing his Christmas toys!


All tuckered out from opening presents


Drew's first visit with Santa


Our first Christmas!


Drew's first Thanksgiving


Drew and Daddy ready to go to church


First Halloween, Drew was a hotdog, Mommy was Ketchup, and Daddy was Mustard


A visit to the pumpkin patch





Snugglies




Drew liked the Pumpkins


"Happy New Year!"
(Don't worry we celebrated on a different time zone to get the nugget to bed at a decent hour!)




Gettin' his splash on



Lots of bubbles! Mommy likes to play in them too!

More Bubbles!

I also like to eat my feet!
Play time

I am THIS big!


Meeting Uncle Harry for the first time, I get to know everyone by tasting of course!


Too Cool


Um, I don't like peas, thank you very much.


I like hats too!


Watching Daddy carve our pumpkin (which incidentally is much bigger than I am)

One of my first attempts to lift myself up


What a ham!

He is just too much fun!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Drew's Crib...literally


One of my favorite ways that I prepared for Drew's birth, ie. "nesting," was in planning and decorating the nursery. I didn't want the typical baby blue or cars nursery. I wanted something that would be bright and cheery and a little unique. I knew that I wanted to use the colors green, orange and blue but thought I would have to end up making the crib bedding to get the look that I wanted (nothing too themey, if that's a word). Then I just happened to find the most adorable crib bedding with all the colors I loved one day! It was meant to be! Intricate details on the bumper and quilt, with just a few cute little grasshoppers sprinkled here and there. It looks so cute in his crib!
From there I found a lovely spring green color to paint on the walls. I also found a really neat piece of art from TJMaxx that perfectly matches his crib set. I found a really neat vintage dresser on craigslist. For a moment I contemplated painting it white or a fun color, but ultimately decided against it as it looks so great with his crib.
In the pic below, you can see a truer version of the actual wall color. It didn't show up as well in the other pictures. And that is moi posing for my 40 week prego pic in all my glorious hugeness.
I found some cute shelves to paint white at a garage sale and stacked books and an adorable owl piggy bank that got a makeover with some spray paint (another garage sale find!) His cute little cardigan that is displayed on the wall was made lovingly for him by his Great-Grammy. She is so talented and is super cute so of course I couldn't bear to hide it away in a closet, thus it's placement on the wall.
The mobile above his changing pad was a fun little project I took on. It was pretty simple and although I borrowed the idea from a couple of websites, I loved creating something for my little man. It took a ton of ribbon, an embroidery hoop, some pom poms, and some grasshopper clips from his crib set. A few hot glue burns later, and voila! A sweet mobile that he already loves!
This is the view of his room from the door. The rocking chair got a fresh coat of paint and with lots of help from Great-Grammy once again, we recovered the chair with some cute fabric.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Introducing Andrew Michael Ethington!

On August 11th, 2010, our little man Andrew Michael Ethington made his way into the world. We couldn't be happier with our adorable baby boy. He is such a good baby and we fell in love with him the moment we laid eyes on him. We had a long labor to get him here, but it was all worth it in the end.

***I also wanted to make this post about his birth story, so be forewarned, as this is a long and well, obviously personal post.

I started to have contractions on August 7th (the day after my due date) when Mike I went down to Seattle to try and walk the little guy out. They continued on through Sunday so we decided to go to the hospital to see if I was ready to be admitted. Sadly, I was only at a 1 and they sent us right back home. I was really frustrated and was just getting used to the idea that the next time I would be coming home would be with my baby. On Monday, the 9th I had a Doctor's appointment and ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid levels. Little guy looked great in the ultrasound, but my fluid levels were super high (which had been one of the reasons that my weight kept creeping up). This is not as dangerous as when you have low levels of fluids but can still cause some complications. I was then checked and I was 100% effaced and at a 2, which made me feel a lot better as my contractions were actually doing something. My doctor, Dr. Cole, let me know that he felt good about letting me be induced tomorrow if I wanted and we talked a little bit about the risks that went along with that. I knew that your risks of having a C-section are higher if you are induced, but he assured me that where my cervix was completely ready for labor, my risks were a lot less. I thought about it and after talking with my doc for a few more minutes felt good and comfortable going ahead to be induced. Then we started to get excited, we were going to have a baby tomorrow! (Or so we thought!)

That night I continued to have some pretty good contractions, however, after laying down for a while they started to slow down and didn't have quite the same intensity. Mike just kept wanting to go to the hospital, as he was closely timing each contraction and asking me how hard they were. :) Gotta love his enthusiasm! The next morning however the contractions seemed to progress and were difficult to talk through. We were supposed to go in to be induced in the morning but when I called the hospital, there was a waiting list from yesterday and they said they might not get to me until later that after noon. Well, my with the way my contractions were going, we decided to go get checked out anyways. I was nervous about doing this because I just plain didn't want to get sent home again! Mike was nervous because he didn't want my water to break in the car.

Before we left Mike gave the sweetest blessing letting me know that whatever happened, everything would be all right and that our son would be all right as well. He also promised me that I would be able to remain calm through the birthing process, which really did help me through the labor and delivery.

We got to the hospital and my doctor checked me and I was only still at a 2. I wanted to cry right then and there. There was no way I was going to go home. My doctor wanted me to stay for an hour on the monitor to see if I progressed. I immediately started to coax and sweet-talk my little boy to PLEASE move down a little so the contractions would progress more. When my doctor came back to check on my we were at a 3 and he would let us be admitted! YIPPEE! I was then super excited, especially since my Mom and Gram and sister had just rolled into town, as they knew I was at least being induced that day. We got admitted and Mike and I started walking the hallway to keep the contractions coming. I then had my water broken by the doc, and it was crazy how much my tummy deflated, I couldn't believe how much fluid I had in there!
That was when the contractions REALLY picked up, they started to com close together and with major intensity. I only lasted about 2 more hours before I felt like I needed an epidural. It was like nothing else I had ever experienced.

After getting an epidural, I was no longer allowed to leave my bed and my delivery nurse, Erin (who by the way was amazing!) would have to keep flipping my from side to side. But for some reason, whenever I was on my left side, little guy's heartbeat would drop after a contraction and not come up for a while. We actually had one big scare where my nurse made my sister leave the room (everyone else was getting dinner before the cafeteria closed) and then more nurses and my doctor were running down the hall. So then my sister and her husband are trying to find my mom and husband and kind of freaking out. I was surprised that I didn't freak out as well, as the nurses were putting an oxygen mask on me and moving me into different positions to try and get the baby's heart rate up. The nurses were actually betting that the little guy was holding onto his cord and squeezing after really strong contractions. His heartbeat kept returning to an exceptable rate, but there were nurses in and out of my room all night due to it dropping. They ended up putting internal monitors for both my contractions and his heart rate to keep a closer eye on things.

I was given pitocin, but was only on it for a little while due to baby's heart rate again continuing to drop. But it did help my contractions get really going. I was at an 8 around 11:00 pm and the nurse thought I would be ready to deliver by midnight, alas, it was not to be. It ended up that his head was not centered on my cervix so I ended up being at a 9 for about 4 hours, because my cervix couldn't dilate to a 10 on one side where baby's head was. Finally my doctor came in (again) to let me know that we would try pushing past my cervix and then try and deliver him. If that didn't work he let me know that I would have to have a c-section. I decided right then and there that I did NOT want to have gone through all that labor just to have a c-section. I knew that if that's what had to happen to get my baby here safely of course I would do it, but felt sure that I could do it. I said a quick prayer to give me strength and calm myself and felt ready and more reassured that everything would be okay.

I only pushed for about 10 minutes and the doctor had to use the vacuum to get him out. It was the biggest relief to have him delivered safely. He didn't cry right away, but was flailing around when I looked up and then heard his amazing little cry. They had to take him right away to suction him out, because he had had a bowel movement in the womb. It seriously felt like hours until they could get him to me. I was really shaky from the labor but was so overwhelmed with the feelings of love and relief that my baby was healthy and here! I couldn't stop crying because I was so happy. They gave him to me all clean and wrapped up and I couldn't believe that this beautiful little boy was mine. Mike and I had waited to long for him, and he was well worth the wait. I knew right away that his name would be Andrew. It seemed to fit him perfectly. He is our little peanut. Drew (his nickname) was exactly 8 pounds and 20 inches long. He is long and skinny with long fingers and long toes just like his Daddy. The first few days I thought he looked a lot like my baby pictures but each day he develops a little more and I think is taking after his Daddy more.
(Sorry theses are totally out of order)
He is really alert and already focuses really well.

Drew grabbing his binkie.

Getting a good look at Daddy.

Taking a snooze on Grammy's shoulder.
Hanging out with Uncle Cooper.

His onesie says it all!

Asleep again.

Loves his Grammy, on the day he came home from the hospital.
One happy family.
Mommy and Drew, snuggling.

Drowning, but still adorable in his coming home outfit.
Yea! We get to come home today!
Auntie Ashley loves little Drew!

Drew loved the bath at the hospital.
Drew checking out this strange new world.

Keeping toasty under the warmer.

My sweet 8 lb., cone head baby.

These are 2 happy grandmas!

Daddy is so proud of his little man.