Ethan's First Christmas

Boy how this past year has flown by. I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone...I can't believe my little boy is already 7 months old! Time just goes by too fast. Here is a recap of our holiday season. Ethan's first Christmas was perfect, and we couldn't be more blessed to have this little boy in our lives. Merry Christmas!

GRANDPA'S VISIT
Ethan meeting Grandpa Kelly for the first time...
My dad was deployed for 6 months so this was the first time he got to hold his first grandson:)

































Celebrating an early Christmas!









ETHAN'S FIRST SANTA PHOTO
I couldn't believe it he didn't cry or anything. In fact he seemed entirely unamused with the whole thing. I could barely get him to smile :)









CHRISTMAS EVE
Ethan opening his traditional Christmas Eve present











He did more eating the present rather than opening











He finally got it open with a little help from Dad...











Yeah...It's pajamas!












CHRISTMAS DAY
Here is our tree Christmas morning after Santa came:)











Present time...











"A shirt...what I have always wanted"
I figured this one of the few years I could get away with getting him clothes. Don't worry he did get plenty of toys also.











Playing with his new toys in his ADORABLE Christmas Day sweater!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our Thanksgiving weekend was awesome, and the best part was Josh got 4 days off!! On Thanksgiving day I cooked dinner for 5 of our friends. After a delicious meal (if I do say so myself) we played games and just laughed all night. It was a blast! Over the rest of the weekend we put up our Christmas decor and just spent some good, relaxing quality time together. I never wanted the weekend to end. Here are some photos of our weekend.

Our house with Christmas lights that Josh worked very hard to put up...
Isn't it beautiful?!









Not quite crawling yet, but he's up on all fours'









Daddy and Ethan putting the "Jeff Gordon" Christmas ornament on the tree












Mommy and Ethan "attempting" to put up an ornament...
It seems that Ethan was more interested in trying to eat the tree rather than decorating it.




















Our Christmas tree!












"WHO'S WHO??"
Here are photos of Josh when he was 8 months old and Ethan at 6, almost 7 months old. I don't know if the blog will do these photos justice, but when you put them side by side it is crazy how similar they look. It's those big blue eyes...













I'm sure you can tell "who's who" due to the quality of photo, but to clarify Ethan is on the left and Josh the right! My two favorite boys!

CHEER FOR THE TROOPS CHARITY- PLEASE READ!!!!!

Hi fellow bloggers! First off thanks for reading, because if any of you out there are like me I tend to skip the blogs with too much writing...I'm more of a picture person myself:) Anyways, I'll get right to the point. As many of you may or may not know I danced with the Denver Bronco Cheerleaders for 3 seasons before Ethan was born. During that time I started a holiday charity called "Cheer for the Troops" inspired by Josh's 15 month deployment in Iraq. Although Josh is now out of the military...thank goodness...I am still heading up "Cheer for the Troops" for a 4th year!

"Cheer for the Troops" is just like it sounds....we are sending holiday "cheer" to our men and women overseas. We do so by collecting goodies, letters, and of course Broncos gear. Now we used to do this exclusively within the cheerleader organization, meaning we used to collect the goods, pack and ship them solely as DBC.

This year I have teamed up with my friend Bri, and our goal is make the "Cheer for the Troops" program bigger and better. After amazing responses from grateful soldiers we figured it was our duty to continue to let this program flourish and to spread more "cheer" to our deserving soldiers. So with this in mind that is why I am reaching out you.....Friends, Family, Fellow bloggers and of course blogstalkers:) I need your help to expand this program.

If anyone out there is interested in donating a gift we are collecting donations at the team store at INVESCO Field from November 27th-December 3rd. If you are not local, or are interested in hosting a donation box at your business, church etc. please contact me, by commenting below or at: Cheer4TheTroops@Yahoo.com.

For more info about Cheer for the Troops, and for a list of needed gift donations please visit our website at http://www.denverbroncos.com/; Click on "Cheerleaders", then the "Cheer for the Troops" link. I also am blogging on the Bronco's website where you can continue reading about our progress this season. You can find this blog on my friends list under "DBC Blog". Thank you all for reading and for your help.

Of course I can't blog without adding a picture of my little man. I sent this picture to Josh for Veterans' Day , but I figure it's appropriate here also:)

Halloween and New York

This past week has been such a blast. We have been busy with Halloween, Ethan's first Halloween...AAWWHH, and our trip to New York to visit Josh's family. Here are some photos from our trip.

Halloween Party with our friends Carrie and Leo









Sometimes I have to show Josh who's boss:)











Daddy getting Ethan ready for his 1st Halloween!











All dressed up








Our little monkey...











So cute....

Ethan, Mommy, and Great Grandma Drake handing out candy

Josh did some hunting while we were in NY. That's why he is in camo in most of these pictures.

Ethan and Grandma Woodworth

Yes, I know its unlike me, but I did go out hunting with Josh one day. I don't know if you would call what I did hunting. I just dressed up in a funny outfit, and froze my butt off in the cold:) We did see some doe while we were out, but Josh didn't shot anything with me there. And thank goodness I don't think I could have handled it. Although I can confidently say now that hunting is NOT my sport I'm glad I went and experienced it with Josh. It is so peaceful out in the wild like that, and I can understand why he likes it. Minus the shotting deer part:)

I had to get pictures of us all dressed up in our gear.

And in case you were wondering Josh did get a nice 8 point buck while he was in NY. Of course while I wasn't around :) He was so excited, and I couldn't be happier for him.

Josh, my father-in-law, and I at the Buffalo Bills game

Ethan's Pearly Whites!

On Wednesday I woke up to find Ethan's first tooth! I was so excited I could hardly contain my self! I kept looking at it and poking around his gums to feel it. Ethan didn't understand what all the excitement was about, but he made it very clear to me that he had had enough of me poking around his mouth:) Also on Saturday I awoke to find Ethan's second tooth. Now he has both his bottom teeth. Man this little guy is sure growning up!

Here we are after the 1st tooth discovery. As you can see I'm ecstatic, Ethan not so much :)













On Saturday we went to a picnic for Josh's work. Ethan was such a ham with the camera that I couldn't resist snapping as many photos as possible. I am the worst at taking those "hold the camera out in front of you pictures" so some of them are not the best. I wish I could crop myself out because Ethan just looks so stinkin' cute.

My Big Boy

I can't believe my little boy is already 5 months. Time just goes by so fast, and I want to savor each and every moment with him. Here are some photos of just how big my little buddy is getting.

Introducing the cup...
Although he can't hold it on his own, he was a natural at grabbing the little handles and bringing it to his mouth.










He pretty much just laps up the water with his tongue like a dog, but its good practice :)









So Cute...












The King of Tummy Time...
He just loves being on his belly. He's not quite crawling yet, but he is inching around like a little worm :)









I know this photo is kind of blurry, but I just love that little face.









My little man all ready for church in his "big boy" button up shirt












I love you Ethan!