It's ok, Cora...I'm coming!!!

These are the words of a loving big brother when he hears his sister crying. Yes, Ethan is a constant source of help and comfort to his "Baby Cora" (his title for her). If we're in the house and he hears her crying, he goes running to her, yelling his reassurance to her all the way and then ever-so-gently shoves her pacifier into her mouth. It's the heart that counts, right? And when she cries in the car, he serenades her with "Jesus loves me" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". He really is so sweet with her and always wants to be right by her side...at this rate, Matt and I are going to have it pretty easy!

It's ok, Cora...I

Cora Jane

Well, I'm blogging again (thanks to gentle prodding from my mother). Obviously, our most recent big news is the arrival of Cora Jane (Sept. 17th). She has already grown and changed so much, but remains so very sweet and has such a laid-back and somewhat serious disposition (guess whose genes she got?). Although, compared to our congenial, gregarious, never-has-a-dull-moment Ethan, any baby would seem a little serious and laid-back!

So here are some updated pictures of our dear Cora...I will do my best to keep this up (I can hear you all laughing right now).

Father's Day

On Father's Day, Ethan must have had some clue that it was a special day for his daddy...Matt was preaching that Sunday, so he had to leave early for church. Before leaving, he had changed his mind about which pair of pants he was going to wear. After Matt left, Ethan wandered into our room and saw the pair of pants that Matt had decided not to wear and quickly declared, "MY pants" (yes, the "mine" phase is still in full swing). He proceeded to put his father's pants on, holding them up by the belt and walking around the house, feeling quite proud. It was such a fitting Father's Day picture!

Our Trip South

Well, we have finally returned and settled in after our stint in the South. We started off with a week with Emily's family at Hilton Head Island (our yearly family vacation), then Matt unfortunately had to head back to work in Michigan. Ethan and Emily stayed around for some time with family and friends. You can see the fun Ethan had with his cousins, Poppy and Nana and his Aunt Kathleen. It was a great trip, but it's always nice to be home (and for the first time, I'm actually grateful for Michigan weather!

All in a day's work!

A few weeks ago, we were coming off of a long, cold weekend here in Michigan. Ethan had also been sick, so we hadn't been out in a few days. Needless to say, he got a little stir crazy by Monday, and as I was talking on the phone, I heard some splashing in the bathroom. I suddenly realized that I had not drained the water after his bath...yes, I know you've already figured out the rest of the story by now. I ran to the bathroom, and what you see here is what I found...we now drain the water immediately after his bath! And to make the day a little more fun for his mother, Ethan also filled 2 toilets, my water glass, and the fish bowl.

Our Southern Boy

I (Emily) was recently at a consignment sale where I picked up this great tractor and trailor for Ethan...he rode it all day. At one point, he asked that we not put his clothes on after a diaper change, and the result was a naked boy on a tractor. As Matt put it, "You can take the boy out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the boy." Poppy, we thought you would especially appreciate this one!