on the mend!

The last week and a half have been rather rough for us, but I think God gives us times like these to quiet our busy lives and enjoy the time we have with our little ones. I have enjoyed rocking my little boy to sleep when he can't sleep in his bed (when he usually NEVER wants to be rocked), reading countless books snuggled on the couch, and singing endless worship songs with raspy voices. Thank God for times like these that slow us down a bit and help us remember our purpose is to glorify Him.

Ethan still has the runny nose and deep cough, but the pink eye is gone and his fever finally broke on Sunday after 6 days. Praise God! Thank you for all of your cards, thoughts, and prayers. You are all such an encouragement to us. I believe we're on the mend now :)

(Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, I just couldn't take a picture of my miserable little boy...it just didn't seem right!)

one sick little boy...

For those of you who didn't know, Ethan has been really sick this week. His pediatrician has been swamped this week and couldn't see him until this afternoon. I even tried calling other doctors, but noone could see him. So the verdict is: strep throat, ear infection, and pink eye. Poor guy! He is so miserable. No wonder he hasn't been sleeping or eating. We appreciate your prayers. Hopefully we're at the worst now :)

friends and catching up!

The last couple of weeks have been rather crazy and I realized I hadn't posted several pics, so it's a random assortment. The top pic is Ethan showing off his tractor keychain from Troy. Thanks Troy :) He takes it everywhere!

A couple of weeks ago, our friends Steph and Anna came to visit from Florida. We're so glad we were able to spend some time together. Ethan and Anna have such a great time playing together! Here they are climbing in the toy basket.

Playing the piano...it was a beautiful duet :)

It's always so hard to get a good picture where they're both looking!

Anna had to buy some winter apparel while she was here...she wasn't used to all the layers!

Last week, our friends Dan and Jen Graham were able to come over and visit with their son Remmington. The boys are only one month apart. They loved playing with the magnetic train.

Remmington is going to have a new little brother next month...we are so excited to meet him already!

On Thursday, our MOPS small group got together for a Valentine's Day party. Amanda made us some yummy frozen coffee drinks...SO good! I just had to take a picture of it! I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but these were yummy! (Maybe it's because she only put a few drops in mine and it tasted like a milkshake!)

Russ is decorating his cupcake...and the funny thing is that he never ate any of the cupcake itself...he just kept licking the icing off and putting more on! It's a good thing the boys all had their own bowls :)

Ethan's first cupcake...do you think he liked it?!

Baby Wade watched so patiently while the big boys ate their treats!

Zachary and Russ....notice the pile of sprinkles on Zach's plate!

The last two pics are from the Valentine dinner we had at our house on Saturday. We did fondue and had such a wonderful dinner. Alison made these delicious chocolate-cherry heart cakes for dessert....I had to take a picture! We waited until Ethan was asleep to enjoy them while we watched the movie Fireproof.

We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

finding letters in my name

alison's 30th!

This past weekend the Fisher family got together to celebrate (a little early) Alison's 30th birthday. We spent the night at the Carlisle hotel in Sugarcreek playing games, swimming, and hanging out. We had a great time!

Homemade cherry and apple pies courtesy of Kathy Fisher :)

Our suite living area between the bedrooms...fireplace and all!

Stacy and Kathy taking a break to pose for me as we decorated the room.

Stacy made this beautiful cake for Ali. I know this took a long time to make...great job Stac!

I love this pic of Ali wearing her birthday hat...such a good sport!

And on to the pool pics....here are some of the boys!

Who knew Ethan could surf??

Loving the water!

All smiles :)

I wasn't sure how Ethan would like the water since we haven't swam in such a long time, but he LOVED it! He was splashing and kicking like crazy.

We had such a great time together.

Happy 30th Alison!! We love you!

prayers for jon and ali

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post. I know some of you already know Jon and Ali's story, but many of you do not. My RA from college, Ali Feldman (Watts) and her husband Jon lost their baby girl, Emmalee, last year. She was born with possible brain damage, blood clots in her heart, and even had to have heart surgery. She went home to be with the Lord after only 2 short weeks of life. Just this past fall, Ali found out she was expecting again...and with twins! Everyone that knows Ali was so excited for her! What a blessing...and 2 of them to boot! Everything seemed to be going so well. However, both boys were born yesterday at 21 weeks and died 19 minutes afterwards. In a short year, Jon and Ali have lost 3 children. Please keep them in your prayers. I am sharing her story with you today because she believes that God has truly given them a testimony to share. The following is Ali's blog so you may follow her unbelievable story: http://feldmancrew.blogspot.com/

ethan gregory

I thought I'd do a little update since it's been awhile! Ethan will be 21 months this week. It's so hard to believe! He is really starting to talk. I love it! Here are a few of the words he's putting to use lately: daddy, mommy, papa, Paco (grandma and grandpa's dog!) me, hi, bye bye, night night, uh-oh, beep, bowl, keys, go, no, yes (though he uses no more frequently!), cracker, honey, down, up, bath, gate, eat, more, (ba)nana, row (when he sings row, row, row your boat), e-i-e-i-o, toe, open, whoa, and baby. That's as many as I can remember now. He's also beginning to put a couple words together. It's so much fun to hear his voice!

Ethan is such a great eater. He eats ANY vegetable, fruit, meat, etc that I give him. He even had cooked cabbage the other night (mmm....) I'm taking full advantage of that right now because he may not always want 4 helpings of veggies for dinner! He is gaining weight and getting taller so quickly. He's wearing mostly size 18-24 months right now. I'm not sure how much he weighs, but I'm guessing around 24-25 pounds.

Here are a few pics I took this morning. In the last couple of pictures, he's carrying around a rag "cleaning" his tractor off!

snowed in!

Last week Ethan and I went to visit Uncle Travis, Aunt Stacy, Colvin, and Kale while Josh was away on business. We ended up getting snowed in and stayed for a few days!

The snowflakes were SO big, this picture doesn't even do it justice!

The three boys watching the snow fall.

We finally decided to head outside and do some sled-riding. Here's the Timmons' family picture :)

Uncle Travis took Ethan on the tractor to scoop off the driveway, and as you know Ethan loves being on any tractor!

Ethan didn't like the snow hitting his face, so we headed to the garage and he played with the tractors in there!

One just his size!