ONE YEAR OLD!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below! Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen!"

When I used to hear people singing the "Doxology" in church I used to think it sounded kind of corny and impersonal, but Andrew and I sing it a lot since we have been married and think it is very appropriate to start this blog off with!

Ethan raiding the recycle bin

Ethan turned one year old on November 15th and boy was it a celebration! The Dye family came down from Santa Fe Thursday night and stayed with us until Monday morning. Cameron got sick with an awful stomach bug late Thursday night (the 12th of November) and stayed home from work that Friday and Saturday. With the Dyes at our home they not only took care of Ethan but Cameron as well! Cameron's fever went away Saturday and we started to prepare for Ethan's birthday:) Talk about a lot of work! The party would not have gone as smoothly as it did if it weren't for Cameron's Mom and the Dye's help. At least 40 people joined us at our home to celebrate over lunch! It was fun to plan the menu for kids and adults, decorate the house and prepare little goody bags for the kiddos. The kids that came also got to decorate little foam vizors with bright foam stickers. I know I would have liked it if I were a kid! Ethan got to eat his first cake and tolerated all the action and people real well:) It was a lot of fun and very memorable.

To back track a little, Ethan dressed up as a Turtle for Halloween this October:) We had seen the costume at Babies R Us over a month before and couldn't resist! Cameron was able to work half a day at work and then go with Andrew, Uncle Daniel and Nana to the Trunk or Treat they were having at First Baptist Church Halloween night. Cameron went as a 70's Mom and Andrew was Bono. Random we know! Of course we didn't get a family picture:( but we have some cute ones of Ethan:)

Ethan is walking very well and even running when we chase him around the house. He is very curious and likes to crunch the fall leaves with his hands and feet. We have been trying to get him to use a sippy cup (all different kinds) for a while now but he isn't very big on them. This week is dedicated to mastering the sippy cup and weaning off the bottles- - -at least starting too;) He is eating fairly well, but doesn't enjoy vegetables as much as he used. We have also been trying to get him to drink plain old water (trying for a while!), but he will throw the bottle when it is offered (even though you know he is thirsty). Very picky, but he comes by it honestly:) It will be nice when he can understand the concept: No more juice until you drink a cup of water. I think he understands more than we know.

He can say Dad real well and just started saying Mom. He kind of mumbles the word Mom but we are counting it! He has five teeth and is needing a second hair cut;) He will have his one year MD appointment at the start of December and at that time will will give you his stats:) He is growing, that's for sure!

Thanks for thinking of us. Here is a bunch of random photos.

Walking in Old Mesilla

Ethan taking his first bubble bath

The pumpkins we carved! Stephen carved the little one and gave him two teeth because at the time Ethan only had two teeth (we called him our snaggle tooth)

The four of us and my sister Leigh got together to carve pumpkins

(Leigh had to leave earlier and didn't make this picture)

Beginning to carve the pumpkins- there is Leigh!

Ethan in his turtle costume:)

Our snaggle tooth

Ethan is always trying to sneak a rock into his mouth when we are outside!

When Ethan wants a piggy-back ride he will walk up behind you if you are sitting on the ground and then hold onto your shoulders until you pick him up.

Eating cake with Great Aunt Terri

Ethan's favorite animal!

Almost a year!

It's hard to believe that Ethan is almost a year old! On November 15th last year, Ethan took his first breath in this world and now he is practically running around the house. He's learned how to crawl, walk, roll a ball, pick things up and bang them on the coffee table, drive his parent's crazy, grab things that he is not supposed to, and baby cuss. In case you don't know what baby cussing is, it sounds like gibberish, but it is usually when he is upset at us or really tired. It sounds something like "Bwa, raga, raga, ma, pffff" He frowns and sticks out his bottom lip and sometime kicks his legs and swings his arms. He can be a monster sometimes. He's a terribly cute little monster, though! :) (We've decided that we have said how cute Ethan is several times a day, every day, ever since he was born) I guess we love him or something. ;)

On a side note, we have officially been moved in our house for a full year!! Time has gone by so fast. It's absolutely crazy! It is great to own a home and feel so comfortable here. To be cliche, "There's no place like home!"

Ethan and Cameron have had the flu. On Tuesday, they both started feeling ill. Wednesday night was miserable because Ethan was waking up every 2 hours. Andrew decided to stay home from work to take care of Cameron and Ethan. Ethan was not himself at all! He was super lethargic and would just rest his head on our chests when we held him. Cam and Ethan both had temperatures of 101-102, all Thursday, so we took him to an urgent care. They said that he had the flu (and Cameron as well) and put him on Tamiflu. Thankfully, there has been a huge turnaround for both Cam and Ethan. Ethan is in much better spirits and is smiling and walking again. We can see the energy once again in him. It was a little scary for a little while, but thanks to the Lord for his healing!!!

Well, on a lighter note, here are some pics from the last month or so of our adorable, sick, monster! Enjoy!

Hi gang!

Ethan is now 10 months old:) Yeah for Ethan!

We all appear to be over that nasty cold/flu thing and Ethan has only three more days left of taking his antibiotics for his ear infection he developed from it:( That poor kiddo! But we are so thankful for us all feeling much more energized and Ethan for sleeping through the night again (the cough was waking him up every night).

I just realized that we forgot to let you all know what Ethan's stats were from his 9 month check-up:

• Weight: 20 pounds and 6 ounces
• Length: 28 1/2 inches
• Head circumfrence... gosh I think it was 18 inches or something. I do remember that he was in the 75% percentile for this.

When we took him in to see the MD for his ear infection he was 21 lbs and 8 oz, but he was clothed and had his diaper on at the time- so I don't really count that.

Our backyard is looking better and better and we are getting anxious to get to sit outside and enjoy it:) Chris (our landscaper) has been working so hard that I hope he still wants to be our friend after he has finished it! We hope that it will be completed by Ethan's Birthday so that we can celebrate outside:)

My younger brother Pierce came into town on his way to Oregon and we got to spend a day with him:) Pierce has always had as much energy as Ethan does and they had fun together!

We also celebrated Uncle Daniel's Birthday this last week:) Happy Birthday you college Freshman you!

Somethings that Ethan has started doing this past month:

1. He sprouted his first tooth!
2. He walks more frequently on his own (without us coaxing him) and has become more steady and courageous!
3. He can crawl! This came after he took his first steps, but it is great to have him more mobile and be close to the ground at the same time;)
4. He is babbling a lot more and says: dadadada, bwabwa, tetete, and then will just let out long solid notes ranging from high to low:)

5. He will look at his stacks of books for about 15 minutes before moving onto something else

6. He got his first hair cut by Cameron- his hair was hanging in his eyes and over his ears;

Ethan's Grandpa Rudy just got him the cutest toy in the world: My Pal Scout. It is this little electronic plush puppy that will sing songs and talk to you when you push one of his paws. You can also have him programmed to include your child's name, favorite color, favorite food and favorite animal in his songs. One of the songs goes like this: "Me and my friend, Ethan. We like to do everything together. Let's jump up and down. Jump, jump, jump! Let's wag our tails. Wiggle, wiggle, waggle! Let's snuggle up. Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle! Me and my pal, Ethan. We're the best of friends! " When Ethan hears the toy say his name he turns towards him to see who is saying it and then stares at the dog trying to figure out where it is coming from (since it doesn't move its mouth or anything:) I know I sure like it:)

Milestones and stone walls

Ethan continues to grow and learn new things every day! It's amazing to watch him as he learns how to live. A lot of the things that we do on a daily basis has to be learned at some point in our lives. Ethan has to learn all of them (well hopefully only the good habits :) )

Ethan has been walking by himself more and more. He has always liked being on his feet, but he was never really able to without us holding his hands and shuffling him all around the house, much to the dismay of our backs. He can pull himself up and if we Cameron and I are sitting across from each other, he will hobble over to the other on his own two feet. It is exciting and nerve-wracking!




Cameron took Ethan to the doctor a couple weeks ago for his 9 month appointment and the Doc said to start baby proofing the house because it's "time". Time for what? The doctor said that since Ethan has been enjoying walking, he will probably skip crawling. We've witnessed this first hand! Although Ethan does scoot around a little on the ground like a soldier in boot camp, he definitely prefers to be on his feet.

Ethan has also been liking to play by himself more, which is a huge blessing! We can park him down in the living room with his toys and he will be content for 15 min to a half an hour! It's great when you need to catch a breather or get something done. He also has learned how to sit himself up, which is also a huge blessing because before he was like a turtle in distress when he was on his back.

On the topic of sitting, Cameron awoke one morning to find Ethan standing in his crib. Eeee! Needless to say, we have had to lower his mattress so that he can't topple over the side. It is not uncommon that we find him sitting or standing in his crib looking at the door when we walk in. It is so cute to see the big smile on the face of a sitting, waiting baby when we step into the room.

On a more down note, Cameron, Ethan and I are all sick! Booooo! Cameron and Ethan got it around the same time and I was soon to follow. Luckily we haven't had fevers, so we think it is just a cold. Cameron is almost over it, but Ethan and I still have the sniffles. My voice is pretty deep and I think that I could pass as Barry White if I recorded a version of "Can't get enough of your love, babe". At any rate, I am ready to be feeling well and most of all, Ethan to be well. Please pray for quick recovery, thanks!

Lastly, we are getting our backyard landscaped. (Finally!) We have hired a friend from our church to help us get our dirt pit to something that we can all enjoy! I think that it is going to be beautiful once it is finished. Poor Chris, our landscaper, since we only have about 5 ft of space on either side of our house, he has had to bring a lot of the heavy stones for our terraced walls, one by one or by wheel barrel. Slow and hard work. But with anything worthwhile, it does take hard work. We are thankful and look forward to the finished product. We hope to be done by Ethan's 1st birthday, so we can have a big birthday bash at our place. We will post some pictures when it is finished.

By the way, there was a beautiful double rainbow the other day and I took some killer pics.

August is here!

It has been WAY too long since we last posted and things are just moving right along:)


Ethan is now almost 9 months old (If you are counting month to month and not week to week) and he continues to captivate our hearts:)


What Ethan has been up to:



*We have watched him stand on his own for a 24 second period and sway slightly to keep his balance.

*He can take a couple of steps on his own when one of us helps him steady himself and the other coaxes him to walk towards them (What a fun time it is getting to watch him grow like this).

*Ethan inches along the floor with his belly on the ground to help reach things, but wont last long in this position before he starts crying. He is a happy camper if you put him on his feet.

*He is eating three solid food meals a day and currently trying out all the nasty ground up baby food meats:/ He drinks a bottle of formula with each meal and then one at night right before he goes down for the night. Snacks include gerber puffs, Earth's Best teething bisquits and Baby Mum mum crackers.

*Apple juice does not agree with Ethan's digestive system (we found out the hard way!) but Pear juice sits just fine

*Ethan goes swimming at least once a week and likes to kick his legs and splash with his hands.

*We went to the park for the first time last week because the weather was over cast and a little breezy. Ethan swang on a swing and slid down the slide with me and then we explored the rest of the park by foot:)

*He enjoys hearing books read to him. Some of his favorites are: I See A Monster, 5 Silly Monkeys, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam, a book on colors we got from Target. He loses intrest real quick and starts to fuss when I try to read to him from his children's Bible!

*He loves dogs and will laugh and laugh when he gets near them

Andrew and I are both doing well and enjoying being parents in spite of Ethan's fussy and tempermental days. I really think we have become more patient!:) For the Fourth of July we stayed home because Cameron worked later that day, however we went to the Diablos Game the next day to celebrate:) Cameron took a pic of two baseball players whose jerseys displayed the name of her younger brother (last name first)- - - we had to take a pic!

We are all planning to take a trip to Colorado for a friend's wedding and to visit other friends and family who are in the area. We are super excited and look forward to the vacation:)

Cameron is taking a Cake Decorating Course at Hobby Lobby and really enjoying getting all artsy-craftsy again:) We got to celebrate my Mom's Birthday last month and tried out Cameron's new skills.

Andrew had the opportunity to share the message with the congregation of First Baptist Church T or C this past month and will continue to sub in for the interm pastor as they have need. Preparing the message are time consuming and tiring, but the lessons we learn from them are great.

Have a great day!

This is a new post

new post

new post

test test 123

A little over 7 months:)

Welcome back to the Dye Family Blog:) Here is what has been happening with our fam since our last post:

We have had lots of reasons to celebrate: Andrew's 27th Birthday and Cameron's 26th, our 3rd year Anniversary, Cameron's first official Mothers Day and Andrew's First Father's Day:) We also got to see Amanda off to the Former Soviet Union for the summer, Daniel graduated Valedictorian from High School, and R. J. received ANOTHER promotion at work:) Way to go guys! Ethan has started sleeping through the night on a regular basis too! Praise the Lord! We really can't remember the actual date this started happening (sleep deprivation and over stimulation has taken it's toll on our ability to remember non-vital things;), but we are thankful for this change. Andrew surprised Cameron with a dinner and a movie date (in an actual movie theater!) a couple of weeks ago, and it was a blast! We also both continue to work and are thankful for God's provision for everything. Lots of good things to celebrate. Ethan continues to reach his developmental milestones and is finished with his 2,4,and 6 month shots! He sits up well, but still has his moments of poor balance. He continues to love being on his feet and would prefer to be walking around the house with your help, than sitting on the floor or playing in his Exersaucer. We need to start baby-proofing because he is so eager to move about independently that I don't think there will be much of a transition period when he does become mobile. He laughs more and more and can now reach the objects on his swing's mobile when he tries hard. He continues to have his meal menu expanded and just started in on mangoes this week. He has started biting and is thus fed more often than not from a bottle. He has about 1/2 formula and 1/2 breast milk for his meals, and it is working out well:) He enjoys being read to, but is picky with what books and for how long he is read to. Some other firsts include: going swimming, going to the zoo and sucking on his toes!

Ethan's parents have also reached a parenting developmental milestone: they just started letting him stay in the nursery Sunday mornings while they are in church service. They have done well with this new change and are thankful for the opportunity to focus better on the sermon. Ethan has done just fine and has not had stranger or separation anxiety. Ethan also stayed with the Lambeth family when his parents were on their date, which was his first time staying at a friend's home by himself. Phew! Andrew and I are growing:)

Our house is coming along and we are finally starting to decorate! It is real nice to finally see it take shape and become our home. We have also lined up for a landscaper to come and give us an estimate on doing our backyard. This area of our home has literally been a desert since we moved in and we would love to have grass and trees! So hopefully this week we will be able to meet up with the landscaper.

There you have it in a nutshell. Have a great week!