The Bayou City

Guess what month this was taken? Yes. January. We enjoyed our morning stroll through piles of orange leaves and inhaling the sweet scent of fresh roses blooming all around us. Even the magnolias are in bloom at the church. No doubt about it, the Bayou City is to die for in the winter--if only we could figure out what season it is!

Our Favorite Ethanisms

Here is a collection of funny little "Ethanisms" we enjoy watching. He has a unique little personality we are getting to know better every day and boy do we love him!

One thing Ethan has done since before I can remember is he crosses his feet. When he sits, reads books, sleeps, and eats his feet are usually crossed.

If you haven't noticed from other pictures, his thumb is a permanent installation. When he was first born it was the back of his hand or first two fingers. At around two or three months he discovered the thumb and it rarely comes out for even a laugh.

Ethan loves to pull faces at us. Sometimes we catch him pull these hilarious faces aimed in our direction when we are not looking. He does this flexing-scary face thing that just sends us rolling. This picture is the end of a funny face--I am still working on catching the actual 'look'.

Books. Ethan loves to read. His favorites include Hop on Pop (64 pages of rhyming nonsense which I am now dreaming about I have read so many times), Brown Bear Brown Bear, and anything with a flap he gets to turn. Past favorites were Elmo's Counting and Numbers. The week pushed 6 teeth--yes, 6 teeth in one week--the only thing that helped him calm down was reading books in bed. (He must be my son)

This is probably not so unusual but just an interesting fact about Ethan--he crawls faster than lightening. He is still not walking (14 months) but his crawling proficiency works for him. The other night I took him visiting teaching and I sat him on the floor. He looked at each of us in the room and when he realized we were not paying attention to him, he laughed loudly and took off crawling so fast he was almost a blur to the human eye. Of course he went straight to the mirror my visiting teachee had on the floor leaning up against the wall--you know, something highly breakable.

Some of his favorite foods include bread with peanut butter, green beans, hummus--just straight, ice cream of course, and freeze dried yogurt treats. We have had a difficult time getting him to eat and I started clapping and cheering after each bite. He now claps for himself after each bite he takes. He is just so proud of himself!

Ethan's favorite toys are his dog tent, any blocks, anything that makes noise, and puzzles. Although he almost always would prefer a book to a toy.  

 
One toy Ethan has plays a symphony after after he pushes all the buttons. I think once I pretended to conduct the music when it came on and ever since then he ALWAYS conducts music now. It's pretty cute.

Ethan also loves girls. He has a little girlfriend in the ward who when she came over once he showered with kisses--literally from head to toy. He is very affectionate and loves to snuggle, especially with  mommy and daddy and his stuffed animals.

A funny love of Ethan's is string. I can always tell when he is getting tired because he will find a string--no matter where we are--and suck on it while also sucking on his thumb. He loves strings on blankets--tied quilts are his favorite because of this. Sometimes when he is upset I will give him a ball of yarn or spool of thread and the string makes him happy.

Our Little Artist

Here is a good shot of those shiny new teeth we worked so hard to get. It's too bad they will only fall out one day.

This is Ethan creating his first piece of art.
We are so proud. 

I think one of the cutest things on earth is a little boy in overalls.

The Legend of the Green Comb

This may look like an ordinary, old, green comb; it's not. This green comb has traveled the world, combed hair for more than 20 years, performed as a hilarious toy to naughty children, and now serves as a reminder of my Grandfather (Ethan's Great Grandfather).

When I was a kid we lived in Germany, and while there my grandparents came to visit. Grandpa had brought his bright green comb. He kept it with him to keep his handsome, graying hair tucked into place. As children, my brother and me thought it was hilarious that this comb was green and that it played such an important role in his grooming practices. We somehow managed to steal the comb away from Grandpa and pretend to lose it. I can remember running ahead of the adults on the cobble stone path we were walking on and teasing Grandpa about his lost comb. After a day or so that didn't seam funny enough anymore, so we put our imaginative selves to work and took the comb to the bathroom, dangled it over the toilet, and laughing hysterically, flushed. Of course we still had the comb but informed Grandpa it had been flushed away. We later found his watch and performed the same ritual.

Eric and I thought we were clever and funny. Grandpa played along. The story itself is actually rather stupid. I guess why this old green comb is important to me is not because I got away with being a bad child, but it is important because my Grandpa played along with us. He always did. He played on the floor with us, he listened to our grand stories, and he was always there for us. He used to call us all "squirt" when we were little (another piece of Grandpa we found entertaining as kids). He loved us and we knew it. That's what I think of when I see this comb.

In years since we have enjoyed making him a southern style breakfast every time we visit. (He served an LDS mission to the southern states--something he and Craig instantly shared in common.) Last summer we had the opportunity to visit and for him to meet his Great-Grandson Ethan. Besides the ticket we got driving across Idaho, the trip was a joy. When Grandpa held Ethan he commented over and over how he was proud of him.  

Grandpa passed away on Friday night--Eric's birthday. I wish Ethan could remember the trip we made to see Grandpa, but even though he probably won't, I will never forget it. I love Grandpa and miss him already. Despite my sadness in his passing, I am grateful for my faith in God. I am grateful Jesus Christ atoned and died for us so we can be together again. I have faith that Grandpa's spirit lives and that his body will live again. I thank God I was blessed with a Grandpa who was a good man and loved us. He and my Grandmother taught my mother how to live an honest life and I thank God for that legacy.

We have a lot to live up to.

Start the New Year Right!

This year Santa brought the Marshall boys matching bow ties. Sunday was their first chance to show off the new accessories. I was amazed at the response. People I didn't even know just had to find out where we managed to get matching bow ties! The Bishop even tracked me down after class because he had been looking for bow ties. I told everybody Santa was just busy this year and my boys were extra good.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!! and since I am a little late--Happy New Year! We had a fun Christmas this year. We stayed at home in Houston and enjoyed the absence of airports for our holidays which was wonderful! Although we did miss family. Here are a few pictures of all the fun.

Am I a terrible mother for laughing when my child is clearly scared of this man and then forcing him to pose for a picture?

 

 Being in a massive city for the holidays has its perks. We went to the Galleria for the Christmas tree lighting and saw quite a show. My favorite was the Olympic gold medalists figure skating performance! The carolers were fun to watch also.

p.s.
After having some funny issues with our blog, I asked Craig to just fix and change our background. He found this one all on his own:)

1st Birthday, Thanksgiving, and North Carolina trip all wrapped up in one

We had a pretty busy month in November--big holiday and lots of family birthdays. We also had the opportunity to go to North Carolina to celebrate all of this which was great. It was so nice to have some quiet away from the city.

We celebrated Ethan's first birthday which was fun. I still can't believe he is a year old. Where did that year go? We love him more than ever and we are grateful he is a part of our family. Here is a picture of him enjoying opening his birthday presents in his favorite outfit--his birthday suite!

This toy was a group effort! It was a fun birthday with Craig's parents and Gina's family also. Ryan and his family were also able to come. It's a good thing there were so many people because we never could have eaten the cake with just the three of us--although Ethan did try.

Ethan LOVES dogs so we made a dog cake. He is such a boy!

While we were in North Carolina we had the chance to drive along part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Again, it was really nice to get out of the city. Here is a shot of Ethan enjoying some free time out of the car. We were a little late to see the fall colors, but we still saw a little. It was a beautiful and very pleasant drive. I am excited to hopefully live by mountains again one day and take my son hiking. He will love it.

Craig took Ethan to help feed the horse one day and Ethan thoroughly enjoyed himself. (This is Craig's backyard where he grew up)

We spent Thanksgiving with Craig's Mom's family which was nice. There was more food than I have ever seen at a Thanksgiving feast! We are very blessed. Thanksgiving was also Nanny's (Craig's Grandmother) 90th birthday. What a party! I hope I am half as put together as she if I am blessed to live to 90. Craig also had a birthday in November which was fun. We enjoyed the usual cheesecake with Craig's family while in North Carolina and then for his actual birthday after we got home we made a special trip to our favorite Central Market for some birthday treats. (If you like to cook or even just eat, you have to go there!!!!)

We had a great month. It was busy, but that's always the best. We are thankful for all our friends and family. We are grateful Craig has such a great job that provides so well for us. We felt extra blessed this year especially around the Thanksgiving time. We are blessed to know and love all of you. We are blessed to know of our Savior Jesus Christ. Every good thing we have comes from Him and we are thankful.

Trick-or-Treat (I promise our pumpkins are not still sitting by our door)

I know it's obviously a little late for Halloween pictures but I guess late is better than never:)

This is Ethan the dinosaur and his buddy Ryan the cow. Unfortunately it's so hot in Houston both kids had to take their costumes off right after the picture because they were so sweaty! We had an evening of 95 degrees with 97% humidity. If that doesn't get you in the mood for trick-or-treating, I don't know what does.


Selecting that all important pumpkin (which was never carved after all and is currently sitting in 30 different zip lock baggies in our freezer waiting to be turned into something yummy)

The exciting news of Heidi's spare time

Between going to Dallas as a family for one of Craig's business trips for two weeks and Ethan becoming a crawling master, life has been busy! In my spare time I still am arranging flowers. Here is glimpse at a recent wedding that I thought turned out nicely.



This is another little project I have just finished: a trick-or-treat bag for Ethan. Craig gave me a funny look when I showed him. Wondering what he really thought, I asked him. His honest response was, "well, at least you are not doing drugs." There you have it folks. I may be doing crafts, but I am certainly not doing drugs.



And here is another picture of my little cutie playing peek-a-boo.

I didn't forget!

I know...I know....Heidi remembered she has a blog!! I often forget things these days and I usually remind Craig I really didn't because I remembered the baby--and that's all that matters!! So, if you are wondering why it has taken so long for me to get something up here, it's not because I forgot, it's because I remembered the baby and somehow feeding and diapering took priority over the blog.

Remembering the baby is kind of the central activity of my life at present. Reminders are everywhere! Even the keyboard I am typing on right now is missing keys (that hopefully are not currently lodged in Ethan's digestive track but who really knows--this is his favorite toy after all). The guy mowing our lawn right now even helps me remember the baby, "is this going to wake him up?" --and it did as it always does--

But, with all this remembering the baby, I remember I love my life and family. I love taking care of this little blessing more than anything I have done with myself before. And while taking care of and remembering this little blessing...we have been very busy!! Here is a small peak:)

We went to Idaho in July and visited Great Grandpa and Grandma Andrus, the famous "Uncle Ben" and Uncle Eric--who sadly is leaving for Iraq very soon:(



Ethan enjoying his first balloon from the worlds best grocery store--Central Market



This was too cute to not include

First time swimming--big hit!!



Uncle Eric came out to Houston to visit in June and Uncle Andy enjoyed holding Ethan while in Idaho

We also went to San Antonio to visit Kiersten--this is on the river walk



Washington D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial--we also got to see Craig's sister which was a blast



Ethan's first Astros baseball game--he did actually have a good time even though I couldn't get him to smile for the pictures



Ethan and his buddy Jamisen "playing" We are so sad he and his family moved away!



Ethan chilln' under his mosquito net (we have HORRIBLE mosquito's here)