More pic's

Here are some more pictures of Ethan's first week. Can you tell we're a little camera happy these days?
I caught Ethan smiling in this one.

Avery and her new glasses.

I was able to sneak in a quick cyclocross bike race on Saturday and won! I guess it helps to have little sleep and be tired.

Liam hiding in Grandma Cottle's bed.
This is one that Avery took while they were playing around.
The proud mamma! Brooke is recovering well. She is slowly starting to feel better after the c-section.

Poor Dad!

I heard a quote the other day, "Assume the best, but prepare for the worst." Because I couldn't tell if I was having an allergy attach or if I had a cold I got to wear a surgical mask over my face for the day. Sometimes you do what you have to and if that is what it takes for Ethan not to get sick, then that is what I will do.

@ the park with Grandma Cottle

Liam likes to fill his boots, yes he is still wearing his boots, up with sand. For days after whenever he puts his boots on he has sandy toes or socks.

My mom took the kids out to the park while I watched Ethan and Brooke got some rest. It is nice to have her here. We are lucky to have such a great park so close to home.

Halloween

Avery and Liam had a great time trick or treating. Avery was a witch and Liam didn't want to wear his costume, so we told people he was a boxer (sorry Margaret). I met up with the McFarlane's and the Ward's to go trick or treating. It was fun to have a Dad's Halloween out, while the wives passed out candy at home. Liam wanted to eat and eat and eat. I was glad that it wasn't as cold this year. Last year was freezing.

Avery & Ethan

Avery is a proud sister. She is always wanting to hold Ethan and cuddle him.

1st Bath

Here are some pictures from Ethan's first "unofficial" bath. He is still waiting for Grandma Marcheschi.

Liam & Ethan

Liam wasn't very interested in holding Ethan. He wanted to watch Thomas the Tank Engine!

Ethan Douglas Cottle

Yes, we have finally came to an agreement, and his name is Ethan Douglas Cottle!
We are glad Grandma Cottle was able to rearrange her schedule to come visit us early.
Margaret gave Liam a Thomas the Train Engine and he won't put it down. He was more excited about that than his brother.
This was as we were heading home out the door. Yes, Brooke was really smiling!

Our cute little family.

Suprise - 4 weeks early!

This is after his second helping of "nursey" and he looks pretty content.
Happy dad!

On Saturday night Brooke started feeling some contractions, nothing major, about 10-15 minutes apart. They continued throughout Sunday. Brooke was running around Sunday trying to get the primary program to run well, which it did. That night when we were putting the kids to bed she noticed that she was bleeding. We quickly called our friend Margaret who came over to watch the kids while we went to the hospital. I was able to give her a quick priesthood blessing before we left. Luckily, our doctor, Dr. Cooper, was on call that night. He examined her and found that she was dilated to a 6! Because of the bleeding, dilation, and the the baby was breech they quickly prepared to do an emergency c-section. Everything with the operation went well. When they pulled it out I got to have the first look at its gender - a boy. The little guy, no name yet, was having to work really hard to breath, so they took him to the NICU to give him a series of antibiotics and to monitor him closely. Dr. Cooper said that if we would have been 15 minutes later we might have lost our precious little guy. We are very humble and lucky to have him with us. Mom and baby are doing well. He is feeding like a horse and is pretty well behaved. If he continues to eat like he does he won't stay at his 5 lbs 10 oz and 19 in. frame for long. Brooke is sore, but smiling as always.

Thank you for all the support of family and friends. We couldn't have done it without you! Thanks for the phone calls, emails, and especially prayers.

Love,

Brady, Brooke, Avery, Liam, and (unknown first name?) Douglas (known middle name) Cottle

Trunk or Treat

We got to go to our ward trunk or treat. We went with the whole Oz theme, can you tell?

Our grown up girl

Avery is definitely getting older. We were looking at pictures of when Liam was born two years ago and were amazed at how much Avery has changed. She is turning into a miniature Brooke. I still need to put a picture of her with her new glasses. She walks, talks, and acts a lot like Brooke. I am starting to see her personality change from dolls to cd players. I don't think I am ready for a teenager! Atleast I have a few years to go.

Quite the character

Liam is quite the character these days! He is always pulling face and making us laugh. Lately, we can't get him to take a normal picture. There is also a picture of Liam and Bennett having fun and pulling faces.

Brooke's New Obsession!

This is the "Be Safe" note that I left Brooke in the car. You will have to read the book to find the pun!

Brooke has a new obsession - Twilight. Brooke and her friends are completely obsessed with this book. They have read all three books (Brooke read them all in a week). Brooke is constantly checking the author, Stephanie Meyers, website to see upcoming books and check new comments. Brooke even invited some friends over for a Twilight party. Here are the pic's that Margaret took.

Belly Up

I wanted to give you a "Belly Up"date as we get closer to the due date. The due date is November 26, less than two months away. With tradition in our family we always guess the gender, name, and birthday. So we are opening it to anyone for a guess.

Avery's First Day of 5th Grade

It is hard to believe that Avery is growing up so fast. She will be going to the 5th grade this year. Her teacher is Mrs. Cain. Avery still loves to read, and fight with Dad about who gets to read a book first (we both wanted to read Pretties, which is the sequal to Uglies, both of which are good books). We are lucky to have her.

What's new with Liam? aka Spencer's Butte hike

Who would have known our little Liam has already found his true love! Our family went with the McFarlane's to hike Spencer's Butte. It is a 2.5 mile hike to the top of a beautiful peak. On the way up Liam and Whitney were holding hands. Oh, true love! According to Avery they are already betrothed. The kids would walk by and "cut the pickle" and give them a tickle. All the kids got pretty dirty, but that was part of the fun. Brooke was a real trooper. For being 7 months pregnant she did well. At the end of the hike it gets pretty steep and difficult to climb, but she hung in there. She was pretty tired afterwords. Here are some pic's from our fun hike.

Lotoja 2007

Yes, I finished my fourth Lotoja race! This year had many unforgettable experience. What would a 206 mile bike race be like without some challenges? It is always fun to see the family and ride with them. I can't wait until next year.