Swimmin' Women

On Saturday Erik, Bob, Etta and I went swimming at the Clarkston Aquatic Center. (One lesson I learned - have the baby and myself in full swimming gear BEFORE getting to the center.) After Etta's initial "shyness" of the water, I think that she was just cold, she loved it. She likes to dip her face in the face and either blow bubbles or take a big drink. We are hoping to do some swimming lessons over there this spring.

Ready to get in (Thanks for the suit Kellie & Payton!)



Getting used to it



Blowing bubbles



Special moment



Post swim

Scratch that...

Three teeth.

8th Month Annibirthery

A couple of days late...From as close as I can figure from our scale, which gets harder and harder to use the bigger and more mobile she gets, she weighs just about 18 pounds. That would be TRIPLE the birth weight already. She has two teeth poking through, army crawls every where, likes to sit in the bathtub and bend way over, stick her face in and slurp up the water, is eating like a champ and enjoys the occasional Cheerio, makes raspberries with her lips and uses her tongue in the same way. Of course she discovered that sound at church last Sunday during Matt's opening prayer. (Sorry Matt.) We are truly enjoying our time with Etta and look forward to what is going to happen next.

8 Months



In action





Family shot on her 8th Month Annibirthery



One month annibirthery = two squares long // 8 months = 3 square.

Aunts and Uncles

We were so fortunate over this Christmas holiday to get to spend some time with people that we love very much but rarely get to see.

Bob's sister Molly and her husband Jim arrived home from Kuwait near the beginning of December and were able to be here for a week before driving to South Carolina starting Friday morning. (The 3,000 mile test of love!)

And my brother Erik is now in college and has, as he calls it, "three months off for Christmas break". Bob and I were talking about it and we think that this past week was the most time that we have spent with him over the last four years. He was one busy guy in high school!

Over the course of the week discussion included the question, "Who loves Baby Etta more, Aunt Molly or Uncle Erik?" Thankfully love is something that you can never have too much of. We love them both and are so glad that we got to spend time with them.

Meeting my [boy] friends



Play time



Getting some chow



I love you Aunt Molly!





And Uncle Jim too!

All I Want for Christmas...

...is my two front teeth.

Yes, we have teeth. Notice the plural. On Friday evening I was feeling around and noticed that the bottom right tooth had broken through. This tooth has been a very long time in coming. On Saturday morning it had been covered up again, but by the afternoon it was back through. This morning we had been "showing" off (you can't get her to let you see it really) to everyone at church. This one tooth that had come through. Well, tonight I was feeling around again (okay, I'm weird, I know) and it suddenly dawned on me that I wasn't feeling just one tooth but TWO! Pretty fitting since it is Christmas - and she is eight months old today. More to follow tomorrow...

Christmas Morning Fun

As everyone knows, babies don't really care all that much about opening presents. But it sure is fun to pretend that they are having a good time.

Montana Grandma! Pay attention to me!!



Monkeys galore



Do I hafta share with the little dogs?



Thanks for the MSU gear Uncle Erik. Go Cats Go!!



Montana Grandma sharing a story about "BOB".

Generations

Here are a couple of generation photos that we were able to get with being able to spend so much time with family over the course of the last week.

This one I have been trying to get since Mother's Day. It seems to be harder to get these group pictures when you see people "all the time". When you only see people a few times of year it seems to be easier to make time. But here it is finally. Great Grandpa Lynn, Great Grandma Barb, Etta, Grandma Cathy and Bob.



And this shot is courtesy of Montana Grandma. Matching shirts all around. Thanks!