This one's for you Jen

Jen complained that we never have pictures of Ethan with his eyes open so here you go Jen.

Blessing Day (cont.)

Here are some family pictures taken after the blessing and luncheon. Marissa, Ricky, and Kambri even came down from Logan. This was the first time I saw Kambri. She is adorable and SO big compared to Ethan.

Four generations: Grandpa Morse, Marissa, Kambri, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Morse

Four generations: Grandpa Morse, Rene, Ethan, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Morse

Grandpa and Grandma Morse with Ethan

Cousins! This is Kambri and Ethan's first picture together. They are exactly 7 weeks apart.

Kambri with Aunts KyLee and Tayci

Blessing Day

On September 21, 2008, Ethan was blessed by his dad. Many relatives and friends came to support us and get a glimpse of Ethan. It was only a glimpse because we took him home early. We're sorry that most people haven't been able to see him yet, but we're trying to keep him as healthy as possible. We'll be glad to show him off in the spring once the cold and RSV seasons are over. Until then, here are more pictures.

When he was in the hospital the NICU Parent Support Organization gave us this white and blue outfit. We thought it would work quite well for his blessing outfit. The afghan was made by my Grandma Greene and given to me at my wedding. I couldn't decide on just one picture so here a couple. His facial expressions are SO cute.

Trekkie in Training

On September 5, 2008, I woke up and walked into the living room to see this...

and this...
They were watching episodes of Star Trek -Voyager to be exact. I couldn't believe it, well, actually I could. You see, Chris and his parents are major Trekkies. They've seen (and own) every episode of Star Trek multiple times. Before I married Chris I knew only this about Star Trek: there was a guy named Captain Kirk, a spaceship called the Enterprise, and a saying,"Beam me up, Scottie". I had seen a couple minutes of one of the movies and that was it. However, by default I am becoming a Trekkie. I have seen many episodes and a couple of movies. My favorite series is Deep Space 9. In fact, while I was pregnant with Ethan I would sneeze multiple times a day and it reminded me of Kira when she was pregnant. Apparently Bajorans don't get morning sickness; they just sneeze a lot. To top it off, I have even been on the Star Trek ride in Las Vegas and had my picture taken with Quark. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would watch Star Trek, ask questions about, and even have conversations with people about it. Oh well, it's not the end of the world or universe.

Chris is just curious. How many of the Brent Barlow family members are Trekkies? If you would respond he would love to know.

Measuring West Virginia Style

Ethan was having "Tummy Time" when Chris (who served his mission in West Virginia) had the crazy idea of showing just how big -or little- Ethan really is. His torso is 1 DVD long, his whole body is 2 DVDs long, and his width is 1 DVD case wide. It makes me wonder how people measured things before we had the standard or metric systems. What would they compare things to that was the same for everyone? Cooking pots, barrels, plows, saddles. Hmm?

Walking Burrito

Chris swaddles Ethan up pretty tight at bedtime. Ethan usually wiggles his arms out, but this time he managed to get only his feet out. We called him the "walking burrito" (even though he can't move very far).

Great-Grandparents

Four generation picture: Ethan, Grandma Honey, Grandpa Honey, Grandma Barlow, & Dad.

Sleepy-Head

I've slacked off a little lately on updating the blog. I'll try and get some of the pictures from when we first came home up soon, but for right now here is something adorable from today. Ethan has been asleep for almost 5 hours (he's still asleep as I post this) and we were trying to wake him up to eat. We changed his diaper, tickled his feet, and then decide to try something new. It's too cute not to share.

Home Away From Home

We had seven different "homes" while at the NICU. First in Nursery A, then the rest in Nursery B. We were even in the overflow area downstairs for a little while. What's cool is that this was our first and last spot in Nursery B. We went full circle and were very happy to be going home. Ethan weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. and was close to 18 inches long at time of discharge. We're so proud of him.
Going home outfit.
The carseat was barely small enough. We had to pull the straps as small as they go so it would hold him in. Once he was in the car he loved it. He was sound asleep by the time we got home.

Firsts

Ethan's first bottle. The occupational therapist showed Chris a new technique to make the transition from bottle to nursing easier. It worked! Ethan did great and Chris was happy for the chance to hold and feed him.
First grandchild. Ethan is the first grandchild on the Morse side, and this is Grandma Morse's first time holding him. She was so excited that she even started crying (no surprise there).
First time in mom's favorite outfit. It's cowboys and horses and absolutely adorable!