Ethan's Adventures

We've had quite a lot happen in the first 4 weeks of little buddy's life. His Gram Argotsinger came to stay with us for the first week after he came home from the hospital. We had a great time together and she was a huge help. We're still eating some of the meals she made and froze for us! Nothing like a home cooked meal.

Grandma and Grandpa Fassnacht as well as Great Grandpa Fassnacht were here last week for a few days. It was great to see them and we were able to do some fun stuff together like taking Ethan on his first trip to the West Side Market. We got some really great 4 generation pictures with all the Fassnacht men. What a special opportunity!

Ethan Paul and Harley Paul Fassnacht.

Snuggling with Grandpa!

Playing with Grandma!

4 Generations of Fassnacht Men.

Ethan is starting to do better and better every night with getting into a sleep routine. He usually wants to eat every 2 hours but sometimes he'll go 3 or 4 and I can get a few hours of sleep in a row instead of just one. He's started to enjoy bath time now that his umbilical cord is gone and he can take real baths. Eric likes to let him swim a bit after we clean him and he loves it! They are two peas in a pod. I'm in trouble when Ethan grows up a bit;)

My shirt says it all.

Too true.

It's nice and warm in here!

I love playing with Daddy.

I wore a sweater vest to go meet everyone at Mommy's office.

First trip to the Market. I love noisy places.

First Pediatrician's Visit

We had our first visit to the pediatrician on Monday. Ethan is exactly average in weight and head size, and slightly above average in length. He had dropped to 8lbs 2 oz when we left the hospital on Friday and was up to 8 lbs 4 oz at the doctor.

It was a big day on Monday as Ethan also had his first trip to Target after our apt. Eric finds it very convenient that I found a pediatrician that we liked who's office happens to share a parking lot with Target. Just a coincidence;)

We've had a couple rough nights at home with Ethan wanting to be awake from about 12:30-4:30 am or longer. He finally slept pretty well last night only being awake from 12:30-2:30 other than for feedings.

Ethan has arrived!

Ethan decided he was ready to join us on Tuesday. My contractions started around 4 am. We went to the doctors office 3 times before I was far enough along to be admitted to the hospital around 5 pm. That was a LONG day. By the time I got to the hospital contractions were only about a minute apart and were very intense. It took a while for the anesthesiologist to be available and get my epidural hooked up, but once he did it was amazing. The epidural really didn't hurt at all. The IV was way worse. They actually let Eric stay in the room for the whole thing so he saw it and said it was crazy to see that huge needle. I don't know what I would have done without the epidural. I actually got a few naps in after I had that done. It's a beautiful thing. After having gone 17 hrs with no pain relief it was some much needed rest.

I was finally ready to start pushing around 5 am on Wednesday. This continued for 3 hours. I'll spare you the details, but it was rough. We found out why when he came out and weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long at 7:45 am on 10/12/11. Hearing his cry and seeing his beautiful little face was the most amazing thing I've ever seen after 28 long hours of labor.

They gave him right to me immediately after he was born. I'd never seen such a cute little boy before.

In the warmer getting checked up on. Poor guy had quite the cone head from the long labor.

Getting weighed. I love how he's hanging on to the scale. Note the weight on the scale.

All warmed up and looking at Daddy.

Snuggling with Daddy. Eric is absolutely enamored with him. He can hardly stand to put him down.

We had some mommy and me time while Eric went home to shower. Yes I dressed him in little outfits in the hospital. The nurses loved it.

Exhausted but very happy mommy.

The hospital gives us a "celebratory meal" after he's born. I thought that was really nice. You just get a fancier menu to choose from and they make it look all pretty. Note the flower.

We were hoping to be home on Friday by the time Gram arrived, but unfortunately the circumcision took a long time to get in for so we didn't get home till 4:30. He loves snuggling his Gram.

All dressed and ready to go home!

First car ride!

Ethan is on the move!

We're settled in at the hospital and Ethan is on the way! Katy is feeling great with the epidural in, finally going to get some rest...

Ethan's Adventures

Well, the little guy is not so little anymore. He's very entertaining already. He kicked Eric in the head twice the other day and also caused a scene in a meeting I was in. He just started to thrash around so much that my stomach was going visibly nuts and my coworkers could see it and started laughing. He did a great job with staying put this weekend though when we flew home which I greatly appreciated. We got to meet little Quinton, my new nephew, who is only 2 weeks old. That was a great way to make it all seem more real for us and get us excited to have our own little munchkin.

Connor, Ellie, Quinton and I. Owen wouldn't join in the picture because "he was busy getting naked" as he informed me. 

Little baby Quinton. 

Shortly after our above picture op we were treated to an impromptu superhero parade. Hilarious...

Two weeks ago we went to daddy's first Cyclocross race of the season. This race is one of only two in the year where they have a kids race. I couldn't believe how little some of these kids were that were not only riding their bikes without training wheels, but racing them through the grass! I can only imagine this is going to be Ethan's future.

This little guy had to only be about 3. No training wheels and about to race down a huge grass hill.

Signs of Baby Everywhere

We are continuing to work on finishing up the nursery. Our friend Dan is painting a mural on the wall above his crib that I designed. I built the rocking chair my mom got for us, and we've gotten all sorts of fun things for him that are just ready and waiting. (Including the monkey head blanket his cousin Connor picked out for him.)

 I put the pack n play together to see how it would look and just decided to leave it up in our room. It's so cute and I love the diaper changing extension pad.

 I also got his bouncy seat and put that together. I figure these are the things he'll need right away and I won't want to have to worry about putting them together first thing when we get home from the hospital. That makes it rational right? ;)

Little Ethan is getting big and he's a very active peanut. He loves to make big movements when I'm in meetings at work to make me jump. He also likes to push at my bellybutton (which doesn't feel nice). It's pretty much on the verge of popping out. Visits to the doctor continue to go well. Everything is good, healthy, and normal. We found somebody for day care and are taking a birth class in a few weekends to help prepare ourselves. Little buddy will be here before we know it!

Decorating the Nursery

Ethan's Gram and Pa Argotsinger came up over the 4th of July weekend to help us get the nursery ready. We had to do some work to the walls to get them looking a little more smooth, then we painted, put in a new light fixture, and built the crib and changing table. It was really nice to have some help doing all of this, especially since I'm a bit more useless than normal. We've still got some finishing touches to put in place and my mom ordered us a rocking chair which will arrive soon. I plan to do a little mural on the wall with the help of our friend Dan with some of the colorful Dr. Seuss fish. We have to know exactly where the crib will be in the room first though and we won't know that until the rocking chair arrives. We're feeling really good about having the nursery pretty much ready and it's absolutely adorable!

Pa and Daddy building the changing table. They built it in our bedroom while my mom and I painted.

Painting!

Hanging the curtain rod.

Building the crib. 

Crib's all done!

I love this changing table/dresser. I already have the clothes I've gotten him in the drawers!