March 09

The big snow brought us a total of 9 inches! Ethan played in it for 3 days....good thing because we're pretty sure we won't see that kind of snow around here for a long time!

We decided to pull up the carpet in the bedrooms upstairs and lay hardwood flooring. Here Ethan is helping Daddy in the nursery. I helped as much as I could being 7 months pregnant, but Roy really did it all himself. It turned out beautiful!!

We took a little trip to Aunt Jennifer's the end of March. Here Ethan admires Joey's hermit crab.
Ethan joined the Little Gym, and once a week gets to romp and tumble with other kids his age.
His favorite part of the whole thing is playing on the bars.

February 09

On Ethan's third birthday, Feb.11, we went to the park with Joshua and Marcie Meighan. Here Josh gives Ethan a b-day hug.

It was warm but WINDY!! A perfect day to fly a kite....the first time Ethan and Mommy had ever flown a kite.

Ethan's birthday celebration was at the Inflatable Palace, a big moon bounce play place near our house. Ethan had a blast with all his friends there!
The last weekend in Feb., Roy had a conference in Roanoke, VA. Ethan was excited to have his own plush bed!
We walked around town the first day. The train tracks were right next to the hotel, so Ethan was really excited to walk down to see the trains up close.

The best part of the trip for Ethan was driving up to the star the first evening we were there. He LOVED it!!!!

It was great to be back in Hokie territory! We wanted to visit the Virginia Tech campus, but it started snowing the last morning there, so we decided to head home. It's a good thing we did, because before evening fell, we already had 3 inches of snow, and had 5 more inches on the way! Unheard of in Richmond, VA!!!!

We went to Portrait Innovations for Ethan's 3 year pictures. Finally, he is smiling for the camera again!

January 2009

The James family came and spent the night at our house on New Year's Eve. The kids opened their belated Christmas gifts, and here the girls pamper Roy with a wash and set...a totally new experience for him since we are usually surrounded by little boys!!!

Christmas continued into January for Ethan as we got together with family and friends after the holidays. Here Ethan rides a scooter for the first time....what a cool gift from Nathan, Laurie and Jerry Miller! Ethan was a natural at it, and made it almost 3/4 of a mile before he got completely tuckered out!
Ethan's cousin Ella turned 3 on January 7! Her birthday party was a blast!

Ci Ci the Clown came and did a performance. Ethan loved it, especially the part where she made a real rabbit disappear and reappear! After the show, he requested to have his face painted like a tiger...
...all was going well...

....until she painted his lip, and he FREAKED out! He started crying, which started the paint to drip into his eyes, which led to an all out screech requesting that we "TAKE IT OFF!!" Glad I got this picture though, because she really did a great job. Oh well, we know for next time!

Ci Ci really made it up to Ethan by creating the coolest balloon snake for Ethan that you'd ever seen.

In preparation for the baby's arrival in a few months, we started getting Ethan's big-boy room ready for him. He's been sleeping in a regular bed for a couple months now, but we really wanted to make the guest room his own. He was a good helper, and enjoyed painting with Daddy (too many fumes for Mommy).