Happy Birthday Ethan!

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Today my Ethan turns 14! Last night as I put him to bed (yes I still tuck him in every night) I told him the story of what I was doing at that time 14 years ago.

We were living in Ramsey (down around New Albany) because Aaron was working at UPS in Louisville. I had given up trying to get in and out of our waterbed a few months earlier, so we were sleeping in the spare bedroom. I spent the night sitting up in bed contracting every 10 minutes or so while watching OJ Simpsons now famous white bronco chase. When I think of my labor with Ethan... I always think of OJ.

We finally headed to the hospital about 5 a.m. We stopped at the McDonalds across the street first so Aaron could eat... while I contracted. However, Ethan was in no hurry and did not make his arrival until 6:16 that evening, after an extremely difficult forceps delivery. He weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz. (same as his Uncle Kent) and had a head full of black hair. Not only was he our first baby, he was the biggest, outweighing both brothers and his sister by over a pound each, and also holds the record for most uncomfortable pregnacey, longest labor and most weight gained for me... I was HUGE!

The last fourteen years now seem like a blur, although some things seem like they happened only yesterday. His first steps, his seeing Austin for the first time, the first day of Kindergarten... etc. My tiny baby now looks down at me and takes great joy in being able to pick me up. His tiny baby feet are now two sizes bigger than his dads. And so it goes...

I had so many hopes and dreams for him the day he was born, so far they have all come true. He is such a handsome boy, straight A student, great person, always with a smile on his face just like his dad, sensitive, considerate, caring, very aware of the feelings of others, and just a joy to be around.

Happy Birthday Ethan! We love you.

Chapter closed...

This is Austin and BFF Brandon last night at the end of the season banquet for the Shoals Summer League. It marked the end of Austin's days in little league. Next year he will move on to Babe Ruth. So hard for me to believe. I can still see him in his tiny cleats playing t-ball seven short years ago. It was a bittersweet moment for me. You know how I am.

Last night also marked the beginning of the All-star season. This means from now until the end of July our life will be all about baseball. At this moment, it just makes me really tired thinking about it.

So here's to Austin. I'm sad to see his time at the park is over, but excited to see what lies ahead for him next year. I will miss spending my Tuesday and Thursday nights eating ballpark pretzels and watching him play.... NO WAIT ... Jaden moves up from t-ball next year... that means another seven years...do you know how old I will be in seven years....still spending my time at the ballpark at that age... still dealing with all the ballpark drama....somebody shoot me now!...

Just kidding... I love it!

No time to blog...

Take a week off and BAM! We have been hammered this week. Right now I think I have about 600 and some trophies downstairs to be put together and countless shirts and hats to finish... all-star orders, catfish festival orders... and on and on and on.

There has been lots of drama this week also, and those who know me well know I despise drama. When the drama starts to unfold, I revert to the fetal position. I want no part of it. Sometimes though, you get sucked in whether you want to or not. I think for the most part it is behind us this time, but then again, with some folks you never know. A lot of it was ballpark drama and that is the absolute worst!

Vacation is over... back to reality!

Slideshow...

Hope you have high speed... there are a lot of pictures here!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Vacation a success...

Well, on our way home from yet another successful Burns/Jones family vacation... We really did have a great time. Totally different feel with all of us in one house. I loved it. I am so fortunate to be part of a family that gets along and actually likes eachother and wants to hang out together.

We are tanned and well rested and sick of seafood! I took tons of pictures which I will post in a slide show tomorrow. The pic above was taken this morning right before we all headed out for the airport. (minus Patti cause she took the picture) Some of us had literally just gotten out of bed. :)

Seven days ago we were excitedly speeding down the interstate... today we are doing the same thing. We missed Ava horribly! She was a trooper though and had a great time being spoiled by mamaw. We are arguing about who gets to squeeze her first... I think I better win that one.

Good to get away.... but even better to get back home!

Wiped out Wednesday...

This is Jaden and Abby yesterday... they have played HARD this whole trip. they have been up early in the morning and up late for midnight swims. The beachhouse we are in has 6 bedrooms and one of them is called the bunkroom. It is a room that sleeps 6 kids in bunks. So cool. Anyway, as of 10 this morning... they were still snuggled up in there. It is slowly catching up with them. Bless their hearts. As soon as they get up though, I am sure they will hit it hard once again.

As for the rest of us... we are in total relaxation mode. The pace of this vacation has been perfect. Since we are all in one house, there is no bouncing back and forth from condo to condo. We can sit and visit as long as we want, and when we all go out to eat (all 12 of us) it is not such a big production to coordinate. All of the adults are in separate suites so we still have the privacy we normally would.

Gotta go... the sun and sand are calling