Brady is Sitting Up!!

"Look Mom! I can sit up on my own!!



Brady loves him some Papa COur!

New Year's Eve "Party"

Our New Year's Eve is always very low key which is how we like it....this year we had our good friends the Johnstons and the Pirreras over. Lexi and Darrin were a little tied up at the hospital:-)

Ethan, Maddy and Parker

Ethan and Maddy (my best friend Christy's little girl)...these two are thick as thieves....reminds me SO much of my cousin Ted and I when we were their age. Love it!!

Parker Comes Over to Play (While Ella is Making her Big Debut!)

Our Niece Baby Ella was born this morning and so Parker came over to play while Nana and Papa Cour went to visit Lexi, Darrin and Ella at the hospital. He and Ethan had a great time playing together and eating "Circles" (or "coconuts"....what Parker calls donuts).



Brady hanging out in the kitchen with Mommy...rockin his helmet!

Brady Gets his Helmet

December was a scary month for us....while Brady has had a noticeably flat spot on the back of his head, we thought that it would eventually round out as he got older. Well, 2 months went by and at his 6 month check-up the doctor confirmed my suspicions that we should get a second opinion. (We had Brady seen by a pediatric neurosurgeon when he was 4 months old and were told that he did not need a helmet and his flat spot would go away as he became more mobile). So we went to see a second neurosurgeon and were told that Brady's soft spot (the anterior fontanelle) had closed prematurely. Apparently the soft spot is supposed to remain open until a child turns 1 year old, and Brady's was closed at 6 months. The neurosurgeon also told us that he supected Brady's flat head was a result of craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the sutures in an infant's skull). The only real treatment for craniosynostosis is brain surgery to open the sutures back up, so needless to say, we were worried. The doctor ordered a CT Scan for Brady and then we waited, for a week (seemed like a lifetime) for the results. Our prayers were answered and the CT Scan showed that all of Brady's sutures were open! So the neurosurgeon prescribed a cranial remolding helmet for Plagiocephaly which should correct the flatness as Bray's skull continues to grow.

Today was the big day that Brady got his helmet....its going to take some getting use to, but considering the alternative we were facing, a helmet is a welcome solution.

Day After Christmas....Recovery!

The day after Christmas is always spent recovering....we sleep in (well, until 7 am:-) and then spend the day in our PJ's, watching movies and playing with all of the new toys. (Of course, because we are crazy people (especially Ryan) we also spend the day organizing and putting everything away).
Brady decided to see what exactly the Christmas tree was all about (don't worry, I only let him stay under the tree long enough to get a picture:-)


Words cannot express how much I love my two little pumpkins!!! And it looks like they are pretty fond of each other as well:-)




The song Ethan created and sang all day long went something like this: "Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Oh yeah!" Not sure songwriting is in his future!

Ethan's New Bike from Nana and Papa Cour

For some reason I didn't take very many pictures of our Christmas at Nana and Papa Cour's (exhaustion perhaps?) but I did manage to get a picture of Ethan with his new bike that he got from Nana and Papa Cour. Unfortunately the toddler "Cars" helmet we got him was too small but I am happy to report that the youth size helmet that we exchanged it for fits perfect:)

Christmas Morning

Hanging with Mimi and watching Ethan open presents from Santa.


Opening gifts from Santa


Rocking with his new "Cars" Guitar

Playing with the remote control car that Ethan got from Aunt Erin and Uncle Scott....after Papa drove it around Brady numerous times he finally got his hands on it!

Christmas Eve in Shelbyville

Family photo before Christmas Eve service at my parents' Church


The Christmas Eve service at my parents' Church is a children's program where the preschool children sing "Away in a Manger" every year. This year my mom thought that Ethan might be old enough to take part in the program, so I practiced the song and the motions with him the week before. While he had a few breakdowns at first, when it came time to sing his big song he did a great job! (Will post video of the actual performance later when I figure out how to get it off of Ryan's phone!)

A very relaxed Sheep!

Ethan practicing for his singing debut.

After Church we went back to my parents' house to eat dinner and open presents. Mimi had promised Ethan that if he did a good job singing he could open the big present under the tree...


Matching Luggage!!

Ethan's was a little confused at first....but when he realized that he could put stuff in his suitcase and then wheel it around....he quickly became very excited!

Christmas with the Fathauer family

Bryce, Ethan, Jasmine and Natalie.

"cheese!" Can you tell they all have a little (or a lot) of Fathauer in their blood?