Ethan at 3 months, almost 4

First of all, I have to apologize for my procrastination at keeping up with our family blog site. Ethan has really come to life in the past couple of weeks. He smiles, laughs, blows spit bubbles, and is always trying to "talk" to us.


He seems to have an easy going personality...except when he's hungry--then he wants his bottle NOW. At night, he sleeps about 6-7 hours, eats, and then 2-3 more hours of sleep. I can't complain. Here is a picture of him in his "big boy" highchair. He has started sitting in his chair when we eat dinner.




On the 13th of each month, I take Ethan's picture with this football. Once he turns one, I will take his picture each year on his birthday with the football. It's amazing how much he has grown already next to the football in just 3 months.

Andrew comes home in 2 weeks (July 12). We can't wait! We have missed him so much! I think Andrew will enjoy Ethan now that Ethan has a personality.

Yard Work and Landscaping

We have finally finished landscaping our backyard. When we bought our house last year, we decided to remove the large above-ground pool in the backyard. The lovely Nebraska weather only allows us to use the pool for about 3 months out of the year, Andrew is gone for 2 of those months, our dog would be in the pool every time we let her out in the backyard, and with a baby on the way, we decided removing the pool was the best option. Plus the pool and deck took up most of the yard. We hoped to use the added space to do some creative landscaping and maybe increase the value of the home.

Unfortunately, the pool sat on a large amount of sand and was surrounded by landscaping bricks. With the pool and deck gone, we realized the size of the challenge ahead of us. Over the next year, we began hauling out sand to level the ground and moved the landscape bricks around to create a new look. We didn't think it would be a good idea to plant new grass in sand, so we hauled in dirt to mix with the sand. We also had to mix in peat moss to help the ground retain moisture better.

With grass finally growing, we focused on filling up the newly created planters with soil and designing a pond to sit in the top planter. Once we had all of the planters filled with dirt and the pond in place, we brought in some plants to finish the project off. It was a lot of work, but we are very pleased with the results. This was a nice practice project for a much larger plan when we finally settle down for good.

Welcome Baby Ethan!

At 12:59PM on March 13th, 2008, we welcomed baby Ethan Matthew Sattler into the world. He is truly a miracle and a blessing from God. He has given us just a glimpse into the perfect love and grace that God has shown to us. It is amazing to see Ethan change and grow with each day. We will continue to post pictures and stories of his progress.



Andrew has just finished the 7th grade and left for his summer vacation in MS. We are sad to lose him for 8 weeks, but we're so proud of how well he is doing in school. He continues to make all A's with a B+ here or there, and will be moving into algebra next year (the "honors" math class). His current dreams involve engineering and/or physics, with some medical aspirations sprinkled in for good measure. He continues to talk of an ROTC scholarship to help pay for school. He is also very involved at our church and seems to be maturing daily in his faith. Needless to say, his mom and I are very proud of him.


With the expansion of our family, Sara has left her job as a nurse at the Nebraska Medical Center and will focus on the family full time. Matt will be moving into a new position soon as a Flight Commander - hopefully less traveling but probably a more demanding day.

Stay tuned for frequent updates on all of our adventures!