Ethan

Ethan is Seip Et! I can't believe my little guy is 11. I am so grateful for Ethan and all he means to our family. I can remember someone, who will remain nameless on the blog commenting when we were talking about having another baby, when the triplets were 3 years old, "That's all you need like a hole in the head is another baby!" It did seem daunting to think about adding another baby to the equation when we were so busy with the three but how gracious God was to give us E-man. It was such a joy to have a 'normal' pregnancy and delivery with him, even though at 8 1/2 lbs it almost didn't turn out so normal, we were close to a repeat C-section but Dr. Del Castillo was very patient and even at one point turned to Mark and said, "Let's pray that we can get him out." What a special memory, Mark, Dr. Del and me holding hands and Mark asking the Lord to help get Ethan delivered.

We were initially hoping for a girl to even things out, but Abbie declared early on that we were having a boy. She was so sure and quickly gave him the nickname of "Bob"! For 9 months Ethan was our baby Bob but he sure is glad we didn't stick with that name. With our children we always asked the ultrasound tech to seal the sex of the baby in an envelope and then Mark and I had a tradition of going to a special restaurant, praying together over the envelope and then tearing open the surprise. (The US results were wrong with the triplets as we initially thought we were having 2 girls and 1 boy but they did comment that they couldn't be sure of one of the sexes. Thankfully we had 2 boy names picked out just in case!) We felt much peace in finding out we would have another son, knowing that God was in control and knew just what we needed.

Boy, did he ever. He gave us an affectionate, sensitive little guy in Ethan Rhodes Northcutt, someone that eagerly gives hugs and kisses to those he loves. I can't tell you how many times after Abbie died that Ethan would just set in my lap in the chair in our bedroom, hugging me, allowing me to cry, with us eventually falling asleep together in that chair. God provided much balm to my soul through Ethan's hugs and kisses walking through such a sad time after losing Abbie.

For you that don't know him very well, don't think that he is a softy, he is a good mix of loving, hugging and wrestling! His older brothers have made sure that he is a tough guy too. He has always been big for his age and is a bruiser. Many times his loving comes with a elbow in the face, a painful jab in the ribs..He loves to read, he loves to be read to and he loves his movies. Life just doesn't get any better in his eyes to lounge in the bathtub with his portable DVD player and a good movie. He likes animals and is sensitive to them. I can still see him running around with the kittens in his mouth holding them by the scruff of their necks, just like their mamma.

Ethan seems to be adjusting better to living in Thailand. It's taken a while, making friends doesn't come easy for him, he is shy and can become so easily embarrassed. He wouldn't allow me to bring any cupcakes to his classroom to celebrate his birthday, he just really doesn't want to be the center of attention. I can remember the first time he sang in front of church with a little VBS choir and he looked like he was going to be sick.

We had a small party here, he only wanted to invite the Clarkson family and requested roast, mashed potatoes and gravy. He wanted a white cake with Miney's chocolate fudge icing, which he didn't even eat a piece until the day after, he has never really cared too much for sweets. It was my first time to cook a roast here using Thai beef, I usually splurge and go for the Australian beef. After only seeing malnourished, poor looking cattle around here I couldn't imagine that Thai beef would be that tasty, but it turned our well-arroye ma-delicious!

We had a stack of presents for him to open. We were so glad that Grandmamma and Pappa Joe's package made it just in time! He was so excited about the lunch box he received from Aunt Lola. I have been unable to find anything here or in Singapore that resembles a lunch box. If you're looking for a source of income, I'm thinking there has to be a demand for lunch boxes, lunch pails here. Dustin and Nathan gave him a crystal making set, he has always had an affinity for gems and sparkly things. He can't wait to get started growing some crystals, it looks complicated and I'm asking him to wait to get it all out over the weekend. Mark and I gave him a big book on the history of comic book characters, he picked it out at the book fair weeks ago and a new Star Wars X-box game. We almost didn't get the game, it was held up in customs for over a week. We've not had anything tagged by customs before but I've heard they always hold anything that looks like it might be a video game, DVD or CD? and require an import tax to be paid. We paid $30 (1000Baht) to have it released from customs and finally received it on Tuesday, his birthday. He's been contemplating what movie he will purchase with the I-tunes $ Aunt Bon gave him. He has commented several times that he had a good birthday and can't believe he's already 11 years old-me either!