Ethan Ross First Days

Troy made this great video of fun times from the first 6 weeks of Ethan's life!

Mission trips and Motherhood

Ethan and I went to Target today.  It wasn't a trip of necessity for commodities; it was more a necessity to see other living human beings in this world and just to see if I could accomplish what used to be a mindless task and now is a master skill.

After getting Ethan ready, I dashed in the bathroom, threw my hair in a ponytail, painted on a fresh coat of deodorant and changed my shirt to a less dirty shirt.  And we were out the door.  I felt such a high feeling of accomplishment driving to the store.  I made it into the car with Ethan--he wasn't even crying.  And I didn't smell too bad and only had two stains on my pants and one on my shirt.  

Something about the way my body smelled and felt seemed very similar to another time in life...and that's when it hit me:  the smell and look of early motherhood is very similar to the smell and look of mission trips.  If you have ever been on a mission trip, you know the feeling--you haven't showered in 2 days, you've slept on a sleeping bag on a gym floor with 40 other people of which 25% snore, you're wearing the same pair of jeans from yesterday and the definition of a shower is a fresh coat of deodorant.  And you know what, it's all okay to smell and look like that when you are on a mission trip.  And what I've learned is that it's all okay to smell and look like this when you have a 5-week-old-little boy.  

So maybe I'm not out building a house or repairing a roof or teaching the Bible to children in rural villages--but I still have a big mission and at this point, it's about perseverance and faith that the little acts of love I do today (while being a little smelly) will make a big difference in Ethan's tomorrow.   

Ethan and Sarah

This is just too good not to share...Sarah trying her best to get as close as she can to Ethan while he is playing on his baby gym. So what you are seeing is Ethan lying on his back on the play mat and Sarah inching up to him putting her head on his tummy.

Ethan visits his first restaurant

Ethan visted his first fancy restaurant on Sunday, May 21. We joined UrbanLife for a special summer Sunday brunch at Hector's on Henderson. Pictured in this photo are Hector Garcia, owner, and Blythe Beck, executive chef. The menu was fantastic...Ethan did not get to try the watermelon martinis, though! If you have not tried this fabulous restaurant, then do so soon! You are in for an amazing culinary experience with food that is out of this world. I would describe it as upscale meets soul.

The Many Faces of Ethan

I'm working hard to get THE birth announcement photo so when Ethan is having a good minute, I play photographer. This was my latest attempt, a series that Troy titled "The Many Faces of Ethan." I'm still on the quest for the photo for the birth announcement...and until I get there, I'm having fun trying.

Enough is Enough...

  Did you ever wonder if newborns get fed-up with new parents bumblings?   Charlie Brown often utters the catch phrase "GOOD GRIEF!", Ethan seems to be having one of those moments... 

Celebrate Cinco De Mayo with this Free Chickenstrips offer from Papa John's

Our last blog entry date has a lot to do with the headline above: both our lives and this offer from Papa John's is a little crazy. First of all, Papa Johns--who would have thought to put Cinco de Mayo together with Chickenstrips and pizza? My guess is that those who really DO celebrate Cindo de Mayo didn't wake up this morning saying to themselves, "If ONLY I could have some chickenstrips and pizza today in celebration of Cinco de Mayo."

On to us--so our last blog entry was April 26--the day the blogging stopped is the day that life began to find its new normal. The following week Troy returned to work full-time and I became a full-time nurterer and feeder of Ethan. Full-time mom. Sleepless nights. Long days at work for Troy. 7 pm bedtime for both of us to help off-set the middle-of-the-night-Ethan-wakefest.

Three things have been constant and faithful companions for me the past week: the indie movie "Once" (A modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story); the book "Babywise"--we will get Ethan's days and nights straight; and, surprisingly, Eckhart Tolle's book "A Whole New Earth," specifically his chapter on the roles we play in life. If you have ever felt stuck in your "roles," or, if you have had difficulty in adult-parent/adult-child or parent-child relationships, this chapter is a MUST READ.

So that's our life for now...will blog when I get a chance but time is a precious commodity around here these days.

The pictures above -- our family picture on May 2. The other picture is of Ethan and my aunt Rosemary. She has been a huge help to me in caring for Ethan.