Weekend with Amanda

My good friend Amanda came to visit us this weekend. She drove lots of miles to see us and we are so glad she came! We had a great time and Ethan got spoiled again! He's a pretty lucky kid. We watched movies, made cards, went to Columbia, and just had fun spending time together.

Thanks for coming to see us Man!

For our family and friends back home here's a fun video of Ethan chewing on some toys. We miss you all....come and visit us like Amanda!

Like Father Like Son...

Week in Review

This week has gone by so fast. I worked my last two days of work this week. I was on my "maternity leave," so I had to go back to turn in my keys and all of that jazz. It was a little weird to shut my office door for the last time. But, I am so happy at home with Ethan and can't imagine being anywhere else right now. Ben was able to take a couple of vacation days to take care of Ethan while I was working, so that was nice for us. I also made the decision to stop breastfeeding this past weekend. I have struggled with it from the beginning and we just couldn't do it anymore. I know that no one needs an explanation, but it makes me feel less guilty, so here's my excuses...
Ethan never could latch on properly and I never produced enough milk for him, so we have been supplementing with formula since he was about two weeks old. I began just pumping because of the latch-on issues. I had already gotten mastitis, though. I have been on 5 or 6 rounds of antibiotics (I lost track), had a culture done on my milk, and had 2 breast ultrasounds trying to solve my problem; but still, I can't get rid of the infection. Needless to say, nursing has been a very painful and frustrating experience for me! Anyway, the last straw came this past weekend, when I pumped out what Ben called "strawberry milk" (milk mixed with blood....I know...pretty gross, right?!) I am now getting to where I feel almost like a normal person again. I feel guilty quitting, but really, I tried as hard as I could. Enough of that...
Ben is just finishing up his peds rotation. Starting in April he begins anesthesia and will do that for the next three years. He is so ready, too. He is still an intern until July and he is counting down the days. He is getting so tired of the night intern call.
Ethan is growing so fast. I can't believe it, but I had to put away his 0-3 month clothes this week. His "long sleeves" were now 3/4 length sleeves and it was getting hard to snap his little shirts over his belly. The picture below is Ethan this morning in his big boy clothes.
So that's the news around here.

Homeward Bound

We made our first trip home this past week with Ethan. He did so well in the car; we were so relieved. I didn't know how the trip would go. It took us lots of extra time because we stopped to feed him and such, but we made it. Ethan got to meet so many new people in addition to visiting Grandma and Grandpa Franklin and Schrant. He met 5 of his great grandparents and his great great grandfather. We also got to see Becca and Amanda (a couple of my good friends). We had so much fun and Ethan was spoiled with lots of love and attention. We are home now and poor Ethan has no Grandpas to play with or Grandmas to rock him to sleep. I know he's missing everyone! We even had a small break-through while we were home. Ethan slept through the night for the first time! It hasn't happened since, but maybe we are working towards it. I hope so, anyway! Below is a movie of a few of the pictures that we took during our visit.

Bath Time

Ethan loves his bathtime. He gets so calm and really enjoys being in the water. Maybe he will be a little swimmer when he gets older. We usually put him in the sink right now instead of using the baby bath tub. It's just easier for us. He's a modest boy, too, and covered up his boy parts with his little hand.