2 MONTHS!!!

A few days before Thanksgiving Ethan and I were trying to get some work done...thank goodness for the sling!

Grandpa Schaffer holding Ethan after Thanksgiving dinner.
Cousin Courtney cuddling with baby Ethan!
After eating Thanksgiving dinner at the Schaffers' we headed over to the O'Malleys for another delicious dinner!! Here is papa o'malley with Ethan.

Here is my Grandpa & Grandma Dreiske. My grandpa planned a HUGE surprise for my grandma's 60th birthday. He invited around 60+ people on a Caribbean cruise for a week! So that's where we were from December 1st to the 8th!
Here we are having dinner after boarding the ship in San Juan. After spending most of the day on an airplane and at the various airports we got a little bit silly!
My sister and I on the deck as we departed San Juan.
Here is a group shot of some of the family.

Anne at the market in St.Lucia.
Ryan and the cigar man. Haha!
My sister and I at a different section of the market.
We missed Ethan TREMENDOUSLY!!
Check out that pirate ship!!

Here is a scenic view of where our ship was docked in Barbados.
My dad, sister, and I on the first formal night.
Awww **KISS*KISS**!!!!
A picture under the beautiful stars!
Ryan and I in Antigua...behind us you can see where our ship was docked.
Don't let him fool you...he's really not a tough guy!
St.Thomas!!
Here's my dad and Logan taking a swim.



The cruise was quite the experience! It was extremely beautiful...but very hard to enjoy because we missed our little man SOOOO MUCH! It was great to finally meet all of our family...we love and miss you all!!!!

While we were on the cruise Cindy & Joe, and also my Aunt Char took the huge responsibility of watching our baby. They did such a wonderful job and we are very grateful to have such fantastic family. When we got back into the twin cities there was one thing on our mind....seeing Ethan!! Oh my goodness, we could not believe how big he got in that one week! I was so nervous that he would forget us...thankfully that was not the case at all. He was a little mad at first, wouldn't look at me in the eyes...but he soon got over that. My other fear was that he would forget how to nurse after getting so many bottles while we were gone. That was definitely not a problem either...I was so happy to nurse him and not have to use that stupid breast pump anymore...uhh!

Week #7 O'Malley Baby Shower

Ryan's parents threw us a very nice baby shower over the weekend. This was the first time I had met the O'Malley relatives. Everyone was super nice and definitely eager to meet Ethan! Ryan was on present duty while I held the baby.
He was very well behaved throughout the entire party...although he did get kind of sleepy towards the end.
Our little niece Taylor was worn out too!! Daddy and Ethan napping after everyone left the party...precious! He is so angelic when he's sleeping.
Ethan really loves it when daddy bounces him like this. Ryan even made up a song to sing with the bouncing: "bounce that dupa..uhn..uhn..uhn". The "daddy dupa dance" comes in handy when Ethan is really fussy and/or gassy.

He is getting so big...look at those cheeks!!

Week #6

He is still a little too small/young for his bumbo but we just had to give it a test run...look at that cute dimple! What a charmer!!
It's kind of hard to tell in this picture...but Ethan sleeps with his arms up in the air. I usually try to wrap his arms down otherwise he constantly wakes himself up!
Ethan surprisingly loves tummy time!!
Wow, so strong!!
Haha that was a lot of work, he needed to take a break and chew on that hand for awhile.

Week #5

We went out to dinner as a family for the first time and Ethan was VERY well behaved! Here Ryan was using the little umbrella from my drink to block the bright lights from Ethan's eyes. It doesn't take much to entertain Ryan and I, haha!
I just love how little he looks on our couch.
Here he is up close, and definitely relaxed! He really loves sleeping on the boppy pillow.

Here is a little video clip of Ethan!! I apologize for it being so dark... at the time I was recording it seemed like it was going to turn out lighter.

This week has been more of a challenge. I am finally getting over a cold/flu, but unfortunately Ethan is now sick. Trust me, I would much rather be the sick one. It really breaks my heart to see him not feeling well...especially being that he can't tell me what hurts. Right before he got sick he was feeding every 4-5hrs...now we are back to every three hours. Exactly three hours!! So there hasn't been much sleep for this mom! I'm hoping once all of this passes he will go longer between feedings. Ohhh and how could I have forgotten, he is now my little gassy baby. Recently he has been getting such bad gas...the screams/crying resulting from that were enough to make us invest in a wonderful bottle of anti-gas drops! It is seriously a miracle in a bottle!!

All of that aside he is doing so much now-a-days. I feel like everyday there is something new. We've recently found out he loves to bounce. And when you sing to him he is all ears, although sometimes he looks at us like we're crazy. He has so many facial expressions now..he could surely make anyone smile!