Just a Swinging........

I simply cannot believe that we are less than a month away from Ethan and Ella's first birthday!!!

We have had a lot of excitement in our little world the last couple of weeks. We have braved Summer colds, had our first sleep over at Mimi and Papa's new house, played at the playground, grew new teeth, and have a new CRAWLER!!!!

Top Honors this week go to Sissy. She has worked hard and caught up with her Buddy. She now also has her 2 top teeth. And last Thursday, she crawled for the first time!!!! We were so excited. We knew she would do it. We just weren't sure how long she would keep us in suspense. I have been trying to catch it on video, but she stops what she is doing and strikes a pose. In addition, she still doesn't crawl a lot. She really gets around very well with her crawl/roll/lunge combo she does.

When it cooled down last week, we started walking to the playground in our neighborhood to swing. How have I deprived my children of such pure joy for so long?? I have never seen happier, more giggling babies when they swing! : )

We have finally gotten the hang of sippy cups so we are one step closer to saying "Goodbye Bottles!" The only problem is that sometimes when they are donw with it they like to fling it overboard off their high chairs. Well I think it has gotten a little to close to nailing Majors a couple of times. Now he runs and hides everytime he sees the Sippy cups. Poor Majors - this is going to be a long few years for you......

It's Football Time in Tennesseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Ethan and Ella have waited all year for our season opener last Saturday. We all got dressed up in our best Orange and White to cheer on the Vols. (Too bad they were already changed into their PJs and on their way to bed by they 7 pm kickoff!) It was a disappointing loss to Cal, but we had fun anyway.

Our tooth count is now up to 7. Ethan has 4 (2 bottom and 2 top) and Ella has 3 (2 bottom and 1 top). Unfortunately, Ethan has taken to giving little love nibbles and actually left teeth marks on my arm last week. Those little buggers HURT!!! Ella is getting closer every day to crawling. She is rocking quite a bit, but still goes backwards when she start to move. She is making good strides and is at least now showing an interest in moving. She is still on target with adjusted age of 8 months. Ethan is cruising at full speed and will take out anything or anyone in his path. He is like a little steamroller. He just crawls right over whatever is in his path. He hasn't quite figured out that he can go around something.....

This weekend Daddy is getting a real treat. He is going to Knoxville to see his first UT game in Neyland Stadium in 2 years! We are really excited that he is getting chance to go with his friends and just relax. UT Football is a way of life with his family, so it much overdue after our rough couple of years.

I was reminiscing with Mom last week about how last season was. I was in the hospital, so our tailgate was a little different but we tried to make it as "normal" as possible. Eric would hang up our UT flag in my room. He would wear his game day shirt and I would wear my best orange tank top with my sweats. My wonderful sister in law, Amy, would bring us grilled hot dogs, Rotel dip and Chips (a necessity for any tailgate.) Of course I would drink my milk and water and Eric would still sneak his whiskey drinks : ) The nurses and doctors knew they could always sneak in our room to get a score check or talk some football. After the game, Eric would disappear for an hour or so to go "make a call." After a couple of weeks I figured out that he was sitting in his truck listening to the post game radio show. Mom asked me if it made me sad to think about it and I said "No. It just reminds me how lucky we are to have such a great family."