Recent Shenangigans of Ethan and His First Christmas

Ethan, being the great son that he his, took it upon himself to personally inspect each and every light bulb for mommy's Christmas tree!

He says, "hmm....I'm not sure what to think about this spoon-feeding thing..."

Looks like he really likes it!

This is Ethan really enjoying his new bathtub ducky!

Here is Ethan with his cousin, Fallyn Fuentes, on Thanksgiving at grandpa and grandma Fuentes' home in Manti. So cute!

Cute Ethan and Halloween Ideas

Ethan is a cutie, with no choice but to wear what we put on him. Yet I think he was kind of having fun in this Hawaiian shirt. My dad added the ukulele because it fit the theme, but Marc also plays ukulele so it was that much cuter.

In this one, he even looks like he's singing. :)

I have been trying hard to come up with something for the three of us for the ward Halloween party, and it is hard! I have been thinking that maybe this Hawaiian thing can double as a Halloween costume idea. The three of us could be tourists with Hawaiian shirts and a camera. I'm not totally sold on it though. Another idea I had was to come as M&M's. We would all wear a solid color and stick M&M's on ourselves. My sister is going with her husband and child as bank robbers, with the baby either being the loot or a policeman.

If you have any grand ideas, please let me know!

Ethan's top 10

Hello all! In the world of blogging, I am definitely a top-notch procrastinator! I love reading everyone's blogs, but I don't post myself.

To catch everyone up, I will do my best to give a good picture of life the past nearly 4 months. I wake up in the morning and feed Ethan. I eat breakfast. I play with Ethan. I feed Ethan. I put Ethan down for a nap. I do housework while he is sleeping. I make dinner for Marc when Ethan has his second nap. I try to squeeze in time with Marc before I go to bed when he is done with homework. I get up with Ethan in the night. I repeat this every day. I keep everyone fed, clothed, and cleaned. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, even when it is routine and a little boring. It just isn't much to blog about.


Ethan of course, is growing so fast! He is becoming so smart and handsome.
Here is a list of the top 10 things that he likes to do:

1. Smile. He does this best for Marc. He loves his Daddy!
2. Play with his toes. They are his favorite toy.
3. Suck on his fingers.
4. Laugh. He really thinks that plastic baggies being crumpled is funny.
5. Listen. He likes all kinds of sounds and stops what he is doing and cocks his head.
6. Babble and gurgle. He makes so many sounds without opening his mouth!
7. Be carried on walks outside. He is completely quiet as he takes everything in.
8. Put things in his mouth. Blankets, toys, my clothes, my hands, etc.
9. Blow Bubbles.
10. Turn on his side. No rolling over yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Ethan's Persona

Ethan has a way cute smile he wants all his friends and family to see!

Ethan Marc Fuentes

Introducing Ethan Marc Fuentes!

We are so excited to have our little boy with us at last. He is such a joy in our family already. He was born June 20 at 12:54 am weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. I was in labor for 3 hours and only pushed 6 times. I also delivered without an epidural, I think mainly due to my preparation mentally, spiritually, and physically. I also was in mild labor for a week beforehand that wasn't painful at all and got him nice and low. He was just ready to come! He was very awake and aware from the moment he was born. He also is a very calm and happy baby, as everyone who meets him can tell. He is my sweetheart!

This is right after he was born. They wrapped him in a towel and put him right on my chest. The expression on my face captures exactly what I felt: "Oh. THIS is what the person that was inside of me looks like. THIS is what Marc and I's genes together make!"



Our little Family!

Two of the proud aunties, my sisters Rachel and April.

Uncle Willie, who thinks that Ethan is adorable.

His cute little feet! So tiny!

My adoring mother, Ethan's grandma Atkin.

The Fuentes grandparents.

His footprints. His big toes are trying to hitch a ride!

I know that this is long in coming, but I think that I can be forgiven with all of these pictures. :)

The Rasmussens: Reunification

On the 10th of June, Amy and I had the great privilege of having Annie and Neal, with their little Joseph, over at our house for a little party with many of Annie's old friends, who also happen to be Amy's friends. Corey Clawson, Nic Maughan, Emily and Marc Muir, Shelby Riggs, David Atkin, and Amy's sisters Rachel and April were in all in attendance! It was a fun get together as many of Annie's friends were able to catch up on each others lives. We played Apples to Apples with Nic as being funny and jovial as ever.

We all were just so excited and happy to see Annie and Neal make it out to Utah from North Carolina and especially so since they had a very booked 2 weekend reunion with family and friends. Little Joseph was certainly as cute and handsome as he was in the pictures sent from North Carolina over the internet and Skype. It was really good for Amy to get some sister-time in with Annie.

Amy and I were able to watch the much-anticipated Disney/Pixar movie UP with Annie, Neal, Willie, Rachel and April. We went to the 3-D version; it was an awesome movie but both Amy and I agreed that we'd like to see it someday in regular "2-D".

Amy here: I cried at the beginning of this movie. It is the best Pixar yet! Definitely one to buy when it comes out on DVD.

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to my beloved sister Annie and awesome brother-in-law Neal before they took off for the SLC airport to head back home to North Carolina. It was so good to see them the little that we did. I wish that they didn't live so far away! It was especially helpful to have support at the hardest waiting period of the pregnancy, when everything is ready to go but I still have to wait. I enjoyed holding sweet Joseph, living proof that pregnancy DOES end some day. Hopefully our next post will have pictures of our little Ethan in it.

Bear Lake Getaway!

Amy has given me full rights and privileges to write this entry on this cutesy blog site of ours. That said, we were bored today (May 29th) and I came up with the ingenious plan of going to the beach at Bear Lake: a proverbial hop, skip, and one long jump away over the mountains. I had only been to Bear Lake once before, and that was just at the rest-area lookout a couple thousand feet above the lake. This time second time around, coming around the bend over the summit, I was still just as stunned as the first time to see the majestic panorama, as well as the vista bellisima. I was stoked. I wasn't so stoked about the SUVs tailgating me.


We finally arrived at our destination after a misadventure into Idaho, nearly reaching St. Charles before Amy finally called her dad (I've never been the this beach before, and Amy apparently forgot how to get there), thereafter we promptly adjusted our course back the way we came, this time heading south.

I must say, the beach was much bigger than I anticipated, which is by no means a disappointment. I was also surprised to find very few beach goers on this fine, dandy, and sunny day. But hey, more to love for us, right? Anywho, we got right to work at setting up our picnic towels upon the sand, and ate our yummilicous turkey-spinach sandwiches. And don't forget our fun and crisp Lays Stax Potato Crisps and Mozzorella Stick and Marina-flavored Pringles. We come to find out that Mozzorella and Marinara flavor for Pringles is an idea best left as an idea.

The plan was for me to have the Pringles, and Amy the Lays. Since we love each other, we compromised on her sharing her Lays crisps with me, and the Pringles would go to the rotund and plump seagulls. I was very happy that Amy obliged me.



After our feeding, we finally got our feet wet. Amy informed me that when she was a little girl here at Bear Lake, she would collect many of the seashells here. I quickly learned why as I approached the water front. Wow. There were enough shells to choke a whale. And, to my great astonishment, many of the minuscule shells came in veritably diverse colors, shapes, and sizes. We agreed to wade about the waters edge in search of more shells. Amy got bored real fast and thought it was "cute" that I was continuing my very focused and important quest for pretty seashells. So, she took a picture of me in my "cuteness".



Cute, no?

Anyway, I finally finished with my quest, being satisfied with the sea paraphernalia I had procured. I then returned to our picnic area with Amy in hand. Deciding that I was bored, I remembered that I was going to feed the plump seagulls my unfavorably-flavored Pringles. Amy didn't like that idea since 1) she hates seagulls, and 2) they have a tendency to swoop down suddenly and abruptly after I threw out a potato crisp. Logical solution: walk away at least 100 feet from Amy, and enjoy my time feeding the seagulls. And Amy enjoyed her nap-time (though little did she know that the sun would come out from behind the clouds and catch her slumbering long enough to give her a good old solar version of the indian arm rub). Sidenote: Seagulls are vicious towards each other when feeding, kind of like the old days with my brothers and sisters :D.

Well, that was a delightfully fun and sunny trip to the beach, my first time at Bear Lake, and I have to say that I was not disappointed. We packed up our picnic materials and headed back into scary-driver Logan canyon, which is okay because the scenic-ness of it all makes up for it.

This was one of the most fun times I have spent with my sweet and loving wife, Amy. And you can bet we'll be back again, hopefully this time with some friends and/or family.



Until next time, adios amigos!

33 Weeks!

So I realize that I haven't posted in a long time. Call me busy or lazy. I blame it on forgetting because of my pregnant brain. Some of you (a.k.a my sister Annie) have wanted to see how I am looking these days as I am in the home stretch of the pregnancy. I am nearly 34 weeks now, and I feel so round! These pics should give you a good idea of what I mean.

Marc and I love our new apartment. Pics are to follow. It feels so spacious compared to our last place! I want to decorate some more, but right now our budget is concerned with saving up for all the things that we need when the baby comes. We have bought our car seat and a stroller, which was very exciting. But of course, there are other things that we need to get to be prepared. Marc and I think that the D.I is one of the greatest places on earth for baby clothes, as we have found some really cute Aloha (Hawaiian print) shirts for the baby. Most of the baby clothes seem hardly worn, probably because babies grow out of them so fast! Can you tell that we are getting excited?

Our baby moves so much these days. He likes to kick in the middle of the night and wake me up. I think that this is to prepare me for when he is born and wakes me up in the night to be fed. I guess that I had better get used to it. Sometimes it is fun to have him kick, especially when my whole belly moves. The baby still really likes when Marc puts his hand on my belly. He kicks Marc every time, and often moves whatever body part is closest over to where Marc's hand is. It is so cute!

We're Moving!

Okay, so it is just two houses down from where we currently live, but it is still great. We knew that we needed a bigger place for when the baby comes, and this place is just wonderful. The best part is that included in the rent is gas and utilities! We will definitely be saving money, since paying for gas and utilities at our current apartment has been hard during these cold winter months! We were going tot have a basement apartment directly under the one that we now will be living in, but I will freely admit that I really wanted the upper apartment. It just so happened that the family that is moving out came over to our house and mentioned that they were possibly moving and that the couple who had wanted it had decided against it. We went and looked at it and came home praying to get it. The next day we heard through the grapevine that everything had worked out for the couple to move out, and Marc didn't waste any time. He called the landlord and we met with them that evening. They assured us that the place was ours, and that we could move in after the carpets were cleaned. YAY!!!

A little about the place. It is a portion of the upstairs of an old red brick house. Marc does better in the winter with lots of light, and this apartment has a lot of windows. My favorite part is the large built-in bookshelves! We also like the layout, which seems so roomy compared to where we are living now. I think that it will be less awkward to have people visit now. Many places are a step or two above where we are living, so we are happy with a little improvement. I like to joke that anything is amazing to us because our standards are low. We plan to move on April 1st, and I have already started gearing up for it. I try to clean and organize at least two things/areas a day. It is going to be mostly my job, as Marc is in school and has work and I have the time lately.

The most important part about this news is that I know that it is a blessing that came from Marc and I paying our tithing. With the economy how it has been, my hours at Kohl's department store have been reduced. Marc and I have had financial struggles as a result. Things were already tight, and this made them even tighter. We had forgotten to pay our tithing for a few weeks, mostly due to my pregnant brain. I would remember on Saturday, but forget by the time church rolled around at 1:30 on Sunday. Marc decided that we really needed to remember, so he put the check right next to the front door. We paid tithing even though things are really tight, and we felt happy that we had finally remembered. The very next day is when we found out about our new apartment. It is as if our Heavenly Father was just waiting to bless us and got the chance when we paid our tithing. I am so grateful!

Wow, have I been getting behind on this blog thing! I have been pretty busy lately. I will try to be better, but no promises. Besides, how could I follow a post like Marc's? Isn't he just the greatest?

I think that one thing I need to post is my new haircut picture, which is above. I am so happy with it! Marc was the one that got me to finally do it by setting up the appointment for me. It is fun and different and SO EASY to maintain. This will be good when the baby comes.

Speaking of our baby, he is getting more and more active every day it seems. And he kicks quite hard! Yesterday it seemed like he was doing flips or something. He really got going when I was at my friend Nic's performance. He played piano in a performance of the Mozart Piano Quartet in G minor. It was very good. I guess my son thought so too!

Marc's Blurp: A letter to someone special

So, I was thinking about my baby boy yet to come. Actually, I was really thinking about him yesterday when I was holding Amy's cousin's baby, Jacob. Jacob's 10 months old, and Amy and I have had the great privilege of baby sitting him on more than one occasion. Because we have had many occasions to baby sit him, I noticed yesterday that he has become cognizant of me as a person. I suppose the term for such cognizance, as far as the relationship between he and I, would be "uncle", though I'm certainly not his uncle. But I sure feel like it though. Yet, as I was holding his tiny, itty body in my lap, as Amy and I conversed with his parents and real uncles and aunt, I couldn't help but experience a brief, yet powerful, thing; it's what I can only describe as a imagination of feeling, pondering on what it will be like to hold my little boy in my arms.
It was then that I knew that I already love my son very much. I don't know yet what he looks like, whether or not he has black or red or brown hair, nor do I know what's the colour of his eyes. And somehow, I love him. He is my son and I am his father. I want him to always know that I love him and care about him. It's February right now son, but June will soon come, and thereafter begins the rest of my life with you and your siblings. I love you Ethan.

Your daddy,

Marc Alan Fuentes

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday was our ultrasound. Everyone thought that I was having a girl, but I guess that we were all wrong! My parents had been so sure that it was girl that they had bought some pink baby clothes. When I told my dad, he joked that I would have to dress him in pink. I'm sure that they will have a grand-daughter to give those clothes to someday. In the meantime, they will have two grandsons to have fun with!

During the whole ultrasound Marc was beaming and wide eyed. It made things real for him to actually see that there is a little person growing inside of me. It was so fun to see our little guy wiggling around in there. He kicked and moved his arms. We saw his little hands and feet, spine and little bottom. We even saw his little face, which as you can see looks like a little alien. Right when the ultrasound tech went to see his gender, he got tired of being poked and flipped over on his belly. Then he crossed his little legs and we couldn't see where we needed to. What a funny guy. The ultrasound tech then jostled my belly for a while until he moved a leg so we could see.

As you can guess, Marc is ecstatic. There is just something about having a son that is so special to a man. When we left the room, a nurse said "It must be a boy!" We asked her how she knew, and she said that she can tell by the father's face. We had our OB appointment directly after, and he said the same thing as the nurse when he came in. From both my measurements and the baby's, we are looking on schedule and healthy. There's just 4 months to go. The rest of the day after the appointment our little guy was being really active. I love to feel him move.
I can't wait to meet our little guy!

Thoughts about baby

It's been a week since my last post. I guess that I haven't felt like there was anything interesting to mention. Probably because I have been asleep or sleepy for half of it. My baby has been doing some serious growing lately! The baby bump is getting bigger every day. I think that this obvious evidence is helping Marc to really wrap his brain around the fact that a person is growing inside of me. He is so cute and sings to the baby sometimes.

All along, I have felt that we are having a girl. So have my parents, my older sister Annie, my cousin Emily, and my best friend Shelby. They are all convinced. We would be thrilled with either, but this is just the feeling we have. I guess we will see if we are right or not next Wednesday when I have my ultrasound. Marc and I already have some names picked out, but things have been interesting lately. We have wanted to name our first girl Gracie Anne since the beginning. We have just felt really good about that name. Yet the other day Marc came home and told me he had had an interesting feeling about the name while at work. He just felt that this baby isn't Gracie. Now this can mean two things: either it isn't a girl, or it just isn't our Gracie. This is another thing that we will have to find out. I think about this baby all the time, so I hope that it doesn't get old for anyone that might read this. I am just fascinated by the fact that I will get to meet a new person at the end of these 9 months that is part of me.

Flutter

So today something exciting happened. I think I felt my baby for the first time! Marc and I were at the USU basketball game sitting in the student section, and it was REALLY LOUD. I think that the baby didn't like that too much. At the loudest part of the game, I felt a little flutter in my belly. I am pretty sure it was the baby. We are getting pretty psyched to know whether it is a boy or a girl. We find out on January 28th.

Also, this week I have gotten so much bigger (at least to me). I have been pretty tired and it seems that every morning when I wake up I am bigger. To other people, this just means that they can see a slight baby bump. To me, it is a big deal. All of my pants are getting a little snug, which is really weird. I like my pants a little loose. I know it means the baby is growing too, which is exciting, so I just need to be better at reminding myself of that.

Me? Write a blog?

I suppose I should start with an introduction of our family and the name of our blog. Our family consists of 2 with one on the way due June 19th. Marc and I (Amy) have been married since June 28th 2008, when we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Utah temple. Marc and I met in our singles ward at Utah State University, where we lived in the same apartment complex called Mapleview. After the amazing success of our first date, it only took two days and we were inseparable. Marc is attending Utah State majoring in FCHD with a focus on financial counseling. He has another two years after this semester to go. I graduated this past May with a Bachelors of Science degree in Secondary English Education with a minor in English as a Second Language. We both love music, politics, space, laughing, summer weather, and spending time together.

I named the blog after two things. The first are an interesting set of experiences I have had with Marc's family. I'm sure that everyone has heard in-law horror stories. I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, ever since meeting them, I have gotten along well with his parents and siblings and I have felt accepted and included. I realized that in some ways, I have a similar personality and approach to life. I realized that things I do, feel, and say "fit in" with being a Fuentes. Second, there are things that even in our short marriage, Marc and I have things we do and say that I have come to see as being distinctly "us" and our family, that will continue to define us to others for years to come. Thus, for these two reasons our blog is entitled "Fittingly Fuentes".

So why am I starting a blog? Good question! Even after enjoying the blogs of my family and friends, I have been pretty reluctant to start one myself. I did not know if I had anything interesting to blog about. Finally, when I read my friend Valerie's blog, I found a good reason. She described the exact feelings I had when she said "I'm adjusting to what do to with the rest of my day. I had been in school so long I have no idea how to cope without homework and projects." This is me exactly. I worked really hard to graduate. I put in great sacrifices of time, money, and summers into it. I obtained my teaching license, but I did not find a job in or close to Cache Valley, where I need to stay until Marc graduates from Utah State. At the time, it didn't bother me because I was in preparation for my wedding. After that excitement was over, I started working at Kohl's department store in July. I thought that with all of my responsibilities I wouldn't miss school. But I do. And now, Marc and I are expecting a baby in June. Our plans for the future have changed and I am unsure if getting a teaching job in the near future is right for us. It is something I am still working out. The one thing I do know is that I miss writing. That is what I miss most about school. I don't write anymore. I have made it a goal from now on to write a little something every week. For my own sake, I hope I can stay on the bandwagon.