we're home!!!

We are home!! We got back from Columbus yesterday (Friday) afternoon. Thank you SO much for all of your thoughts, prayers, gifts, and cards. We feel truly blessed.

When we arrived Wednesday, they quickly got Ethan admitted and had a brain scan done...which came back normal! Praise God! He then was hooked up to an IV for dehydration again. Poor guy...he has been poked and prodded so much this past week. He would see a nurse or doctor come in the room and just start crying and clinging to whoever was holding him. At one point, he was so dehydrated that they had stuck him 5 different times/places and could not get blood to draw. Four nurses and an IV team later, he was less than thrilled. I felt so bad, but I finally had to leave the room. I couldn't stand to see my little boy being held down screaming for SO long and I couldn't help. I appreciate Josh and Stacy SO much....they were such a big help to me. (Josh started feeling a little better and came to the hospital Thursday morning.)

Here are a few pics from both our Coshocton stay and Columbus stay...

Eating breakfast with daddy.

Reading with mommy for distraction :)

The Coshocton "cage"

One of his IV bandages.

Snacking in the ER...

The Columbus "cage"

"Finally I can sleep if they would just leave me alone and stop picking on me!"

"I only want mommy to hold me while I'm sick..."

"Peanut" loved to snack on Cheerios during his stay...the nurses all nicknamed him Peanut. We kind of like that :) He is such a little guy now that he's lost so much weight. He was 19.5 lbs when we left the Coshocton hospital Sunday afternoon. When we admitted him to Columbus, he was 17.11...what a little man. His poor ribs are sticking out! :(

Ethan and his IV machine :)

As we were leaving, a nurse gave him a star balloon...very fitting for a "star" boy! He is such a trooper!

We're going HOME!!!!

leaving

I am leaving with Ethan now for Columbus (Stacy is going with me...thanks Stac)...they are all ready for us, have our admission papers ready and all. Our pediatrician called ahead for us. Josh however is staying home because he is sick now. He was up all night last night (as was I) and can't even get off the couch. This bug is AWFUL! Thanks for your prayers. We have no idea how long we'll be down there, but we'll try to keep you updated when we can. Please pray for strength...with Josh sick and me still not feeling well, and with very little sleep the past several days, we're exhausted before we start.

ethan...

I guess I'll begin by sharing with you our not-so-relaxing Memorial weekend. Friday morning, Ethan woke up vomiting. He got sick all day and into Saturday. He had thrown up so much and couldn't keep any liquids down that we ended up taking him to the ER Saturday afternoon. He was pretty dehydrated and they admitted him overnight putting an IV in. So we were released Sunday afternoon. Ethan was doing better, not great, but better. He had color back in his face and was moving around again. After we left the hospital however, he started refusing to drink anything. They said that may be normal at first since he had so many fluids in him from the IV, so we didn't think much about it. Well, he wouldn't drink anything Sunday, and Monday we grew a little concerned that he didn't want to drink at all.

In the meantime, I get sick and Josh ends up taking off the day to help with Ethan (thank you babe!) Well, his pediatrician wanted to see him again this morning, so we took him back in. She wanted us to really force the liquids through a syringe since he wouldn't take it through any other method. Long story short...he vomited everything back up tonight (don't think it's still the virus), and as of this moment (which could very well change) we are planning on heading to Columbus Children's tomorrow to admit him and have another IV put in and see what's going on. That's what his doctor suggested to us. I promise to fill you in as soon as I can. Thanks for your prayers...

pray

Please pray for Ethan....that's all I have time to write....just pray....

taking steps...

I've been meaning to post this new info sooner than this...but Ethan has started taking several steps on his own now the past couple of days!! It's so cute to see him with such wobbly legs! I'll post pics soon, but just wanted to pass on the info! He's almost walking! :) Oh, and if I wasn't imagining things, he also said his first word the other night during his bath. He said "duck" when he was playing with his rubber ducky. He only said it twice, but I'm sure that's what I heard!

piano solo

Ethan loves to play on the piano. He's always pointing at it and kicks excitedly when he gets near it. He must be following after his aunt Jess and great grandma Noelle :)

walk in the park...

For the second Friday in a row, the men's softball league games have been cancelled. The guys were pretty bummed, so since the weather cleared up a little bit Friday evening, we got together at the park anyway and took a walk. I love seeing the guys with the kiddos...how sweet! :) Hopefully this Friday the games will be on!

growing up!

Since Ethan is down for his nap, I thought I would update you on what he's been doing now that he is one! Notice that I'm writing while he is sleeping, otherwise I wouldn't be able to post! I can hardly keep up with him now that he is on the move. He is into EVERYTHING! Any space that I think is too small, he squeezes himself into. He opens, throws, rips, grabs, and eats anything! I'm laughing just thinking about it because he's so curious!! He's definitely crawling everywhere and walking very well holding onto one of our hands. He's very close to walking on his own.

It's amazing how much he has changed this past month. At his one year appointment, he weighed in at 18 lbs. 14 oz. and 29 inches long (tall). He eats any food that we eat (minus a few spices) and is almost through nursing. Ethan waves "hi" and "bye-bye" to anyone, claps his hands, shows you where his hair, tummy, and ears are...and can let me know through sign language that he wants more (and that's with about anything when he's eating!). He LOVES to read...we can sit and read for 30 minutes and he just wants to keep turning the pages. He laughs at his favorite parts...it's so cute!

We are learning that Ethan may very well be a strong-willed child. He throws his food when he doesn't want whatever it is (and believe me when I say that we don't tolerate that!) and pinches even when told "no". "No" or smacking his hand don't even seem to phaze him. We're praying for wisdom and guidance in discipline for him. He is surely a piece of work, that's for sure.

We are enjoying this new stage of our lives with Ethan so much and look forward to all of his next "firsts". Thanks for all of your support, thoughts, and prayers as we've faced challenges this past year. We don't want to re-live those times, but we surely thank God for how we've grown in Him through them. It's amazing how such a little guy can capture our love and show us a glimpse of how much God loves us. I'll close for now knowing I have much to do before he wakes up, but I promise to post more pictures soon! Thanks for following along with us on our journey...

an afternoon at the park

ethan's first birthday party!

Following an entire week of cool, rainy days, Saturday turned out to be beautiful! We had such a wonderful time with friends and family celebrating Ethan's first birthday. He is an incredible blessing in our lives and it's so hard to imagine life without him! Here are some pictures of the "big day"!

What's a party without a chocolate fountain?!?

A special thanks to Kathy Cutshall for making such a beautiful, and tasty I might add, cake!

Ethan didn't care for the cake too much...he was fairly eager to dig into the cake, but once he got his fingers messy, he wanted nothing more to do with it! (I think he's going to be "neat" like his daddy.) He kept trying to fling the icing off!

The boys and their bows :)

Standing tall!

Daddy helping Ethan open one of his many gifts.

what a weekend!

What a weekend! In addition to Ethan's birthday party, we also had a child dedication service on Sunday and Ethan was dedicated (on Mother's Day!) Here are a few pics from Sunday:

I love this picture of Uncle Justin, Aunt Jen, and Ethan!

Grandma Noelle and Ethan

Aunt Jess...(Ethan looks a little zoned!)

The girls!

What a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

Then...

Now...

It is so mind-boggling to think that Ethan entered our lives one year ago today! I have so much to say and so little time to say it. I promise I will update you all within the next week on what he's doing and so on. This week is just a little crazy. I will definitely have some birthday pics from his party this coming Saturday. Until then...happy birthday Ethan! WE LOVE YOU!

cousins!