"Touched by such tiny hands, and oh, such tiny feet."

In early November 2008 we found out we were pregnant! Before seeing a doctor for a definite due date, I plugged in the dates online to get an idea of when to expect our first born.... and what date did it pop out? July 25th, our wedding date!!! Eventually, I got a more accurate due date of July 15th. :)

We were both hoping for a girl and were a little shocked when we found out it was a boy... but by the next day we were in love with our little future Ethan and haven't looked back since.

For one of my art classes I had to take a self portrait and couldn't pass up the chance to show off my startings of a belly. Little did I know just how big I would get!!

By the end of my pregnancy, I had gained a whopping 50lbs! I just knew he was going to be a big baby. And then there was the puppps.... it's a rare rash that forms in only 1% of pregnancies and yep, I had it! It starts on your belly and is like little lines of hundreds of mosquito bites. It makes it impossible to sleep or wear clothing because the slightest touch will cause the rash to flare up and itch like the dickens!!! By far, the worst part of my pregnancy... even worse than labor. No joke. It eventually spread to cover my whole body, even in between my fingers and toes.

I was so ready for Ethan to come. The rash was relentless and would only go away after he was born. The morning of my due date, my water broke and we headed to the hospital. I was exhausted to begin with since the rash had kept me from sleeping for days. But after 12 hours of labor, Ethan was born! 8lbs 13oz and a full head of dark beautiful hair.

The next 2 months were quite a challenge for me. My mom stayed with us for the first week and after that I was completely alone. Motherhood was different than I expected (duh) but I was determined to get through the rough beginning patch. Ethan was a GREAT infant! Rarely cried and loved to lay in the grass. We would spend most of our time taking walks and sitting on the lawn. 

After 2 months, I was completely recovered from whatever emotional hinderances I had felt and loved waking up in the morning looking forward to my day with Ethan. He's so much fun! Through the fall we would still take daily walks and I loved teaching him about the beautiful sights around him. He learned to smile and then laugh and (his favorite) constantly stick out his tongue. 

As Ethan grows older his personality is shining through. He's in love with his dad who can make him laugh just by looking at him. He loves to play with his feet and stand up and reach for things. We are in absolute LOVE with our baby, he makes us head over heels happy every single day!