Ethan is 7 months old

Ethan continues to grow into such a happy baby boy!  He started taking some "crawling" steps just before his 7 month birthday, so I am certain we are in for it now!!  He has learned to clap and we think he might be waving, though we haven't determined if it's intentional or not.  He can get up to the sitting position on his own now too!  Army crawling is his preferred method of transportation and he has gotten really fast!!  He loves to chase balls around the house.  He has started to take some "steps" in the full crawling motion, so I know he will be hard to keep up with soon!  He continues to nurse about 5 times a day with an occasional day with only 4 times.  He is sleeping great and usually takes 2 naps, but some days will take a 3rd short nap.  He loves food and has increased what he eats.  He eats about 3-4 ounces at a meal now, and I am about to start giving him 2 meals a day.  I'm not sure what his favorite food is, as he eats everything very well!  My favorite to give him is avocado and I'm thankful that he loves it! He eat cheerios very well and has started trying small bits of other soft things like banana and avocado.  I prefer to feed him with a spoon though because it's much less messy!  He loves to go to the grocery store and sit like such a big boy in the cart.  His favorite though is when the "racecar" is available so he and Hannah can ride together.  Ethan loves bath time, peek-a-boo, and his sister!  We didn't go to the doctor this month so I don't have exact statistics on weight and height, but he has definitely grown taller!  He can easily fit into all of his 12-18 month clothes, can still wear his 9-12 month clothes, and has officially outgrown his 6-12 month gymboree/gap clothes.

December

December has been an exciting month.  Hannah is really starting to understand Christmas and it has been so fun to watch her excitement grow!  She loves the tree, and asks every morning to do the Advent Calendar.  She has been very good with the ornaments, looking at them and showing me her favorites, but never actually taking them off of the tree.  She has also been awesome with the presents!  The beginning of December was busy with Christmas parties to go to and then the preparations for our first Christmas party!  It was so fun to plan a menu of appetizers and desserts and look for lots of decorations to make our home pretty and festive!!  We had a great time and while I made too much food, everyone had a great time!

Christmas was so fun this year!  Hannah loved her presents and played with every single one!!  Her big gift this year was a play kitchen that my very talented brother-in-law made.  Hannah's eyes lit up when she saw and was just so excited!  We have been enjoying cooking lots of food!!  My parents were able to come up for a few days over Christmas so that was so fun to have them there.  We went to church on Christmas Eve and just hung out Christmas day enjoying each other and opening presents.  Then Christmas afternoon, we had Matt's aunt and uncle join us for a delicious Christmas dinner.  It was a nice day full of special memories!  The day after Christmas we had a fun visit with the Goforths! And then the weekend after Christmas, Aunt Melissa and Uncle Eric came up for a visit.  It was definitely a busy week but so much fun!!!

The biggest news of our month is that Matt changed jobs!  He interviewed with a company called Thornburg and is their new wholesaler for the Carolinas and Tennessee.  He is super thrilled though sad to be leaving some great friends at John Hancock.  We look forward to all of the opportunities he has with his new company!

We finished out 2013 with a little New Years Eve party at our house.  We had two very special families up for the night.  There were 6 adults, 2 two year olds, 1 one year old, and 2 infants!  It was a little crazy but so much fun!!  We are thankful for 2013 and all of the blessings it has brought us and we look forward to 2014!!!