Silly...

I know it's pretty silly, but when I saw this background it just made me smile! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Our Christmas was very nice. We celebrated a day early so we could have the big kids with us. Santa brought all of the kids bikes. (Big hit, that Mr. Claus!) Anyway, now the tree is down and all of the decor is waiting to go back out in the garage. Sad that it's all over already. I did enjoy vacuuming a moment ago...still smelled like Christmas because the pine needles haven't been dumped out yet.

Check out the new pictures of the kids down the side panel. I know I can't take full credit for the first three, but we have some pretty cute kiddos, huh? Thanks again Aunt Amy for the photo shoot! Heath Photography

Decorating the Tree

Big Boy Bed

Sort of last minute the other night, Darrell and I decided to go look at, and possibly purchase, a toddler bed for Ezra because he is getting too long for the portable crib. When we saw it, we couldn't resist. It was so cute! We brought it home, cleaned it, and aired it out for a day. I washed sheets and set it up yesterday afternoon. Ezra was SO excited! He played on it for forever. Last night went pretty well. Didn't fall out. We did wake up about 2:00am, and finally had to have a bottle to get back to sleep, but woke up happy as a lark this morning! Where does the time go? My 14 month old is in a big boy bed....before I know it he'll be driving!

Merry Christmas!

Photographs by Heath Photography

Dancing to Sesame Street Songs

No time...

Busy, busy, busy! No time to really blog, but here are a couple of cute pics for you to enjoy: Branson stuck? sleeping? who really knows!
Snacks with big Sis!
Our Daddy's the greatest!
Our first snow day! (The tears are because we didn't want to say good-bye to Daddy, or go to daycare this morning)

Uncle Clay Slumber Party

Darrell's brother Clay, from Ontario, is in nursing school and had a rotation at St. Lukes Meridian. He has stayed with us a couple nights each week, for the last 3 weeks. Last week the kids were out of school so we got them early (Thursday night). Since Uncle Clay had their bed, that meant they got to have a slumber party out in the living room! They watched a movie and got cozy. Even little man got in on the party. He was a trooper, but was the first to fall asleep!

No Halloween For Us...

We are all sick! Such a bummer. We tried to make the best of the night. We borrowed a movie and Darrell brought home fast food, but we were mostly just miserable. No trick-or-treating for Ezra. We did make him dress up so we could take pics. Thought we'd share. He is a pretty cute dinosaur!

Train 'em early!

Ezra has been fascinated with the vacuum since he was very little. He would crawl in front of it and you couldn't move. Now he chases after you, and still gets in the way. This weekend Daddy let him help vacuum, and even taught him how to turn it on and off. He loved it! Good thing he can't get into the closet yet. I have a feeling we would be hearing the vacuum going on and off all day long! This weekend he also learned how to say water, please, cookoo, what a snake says (tssss), Brans, Ash, book, and baby. He pulls the step stool up to the couch to climb onto it, brushes his own hair, and dances like a maniac! Love this boy!

Warning...not a pretty picture!

I am taking some of my "down time" to blog. I had foot surgery last Tuesday, and have been "down" ever since. Though the recovery has been rough, expecially with a 1 year old, it will be so worth it! I guess it is rare for someone my age, but I had a huge bunnion that was causing much pain on the left side of my foot, and what they call a Taylor's bunion on the right that was just a nusiance. So, I had them taken care of. As yu can see in the pic, it was my right foot, so I can't drive for a while. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS? Whew...tough. Thanks go to family members who have helped out this last week. Gram stayed over and entertained Ezra and fed us. Mom stayed the first night to take care of Ezra (and me too). Amy has helped with Ezra and food. AND...of course...my hubby has been bustin' some serious moves around the house! Thanks you all! Love you!

Family Home Evening

When we get our big kids for the weekend we usually try to have Family Home Evening with them on Sunday nights, before they go back to their mom's house. Last night we had a lesson on obedience. Afterward, we usually play a game, and it was Ashlan's turn to pick one. Darrell suggested we play the "flour" game. None of us had ever heard of it before so we were excited to find out how to play. Dad was excited to teach us...

So, first Darrell packed a bunch of flour into a rubbermaid container. Then, he turned it over onto a plate and placed a dime in the center. We were to use a knife and slice away the layers of flour without letting the dime fall.Whomever made the cut that let the dime fall, would have to dig it out of the flour with their teeth. The kids thought this was great fun, and the game went quickly because of the huge slices they were making to get to that darn dime! Even Ezra got in on the fun.
Branson and Ashlan were our "winners". Good fun!

Daddy

Ezra must be going through Daddy withdrawls. He was glued to Darrell all weekend. Wanted nothing to do with me. What's new? Sigh. Pretty cute though! Daddy made Ezra pretty comfy for his Elmo video this morning. Ezra's first glass of chocolate milk. He REALLY wanted more!
How can a blanket be SO much fun?! (I remember doing this as a kid too!)

Ezra's Birthday Party

We had a very nice little get together for Ezra's big day. He had fun and got very silly with his cake. Instead of eating it, for the most part he just kept digging his hands into it and then rubbing them together. He received some very nice gifts (thanks for the fun toys and clothes everyone). We had a fun time. Here are some pics:

Happy Birthday Bubba!

So, I can't believe it has already been a whole year! Time flies when you are surrounded by a little one who you love more than just about anything you could ever possibly imagine! Ezra is turning one tomorrow. I had high hopes of a big bash, (lot's of fun treats, a big fancy cake, balloons, music, a video of pics from this year, goodie bags, etc, etc, etc.) but alas...no time. Instead we are having cupcakes with family. Not a bad alternative, just different than I had planned.

Some of my favorite things about Ezra are: The way he cries (with such intensity, and his mouth scrunches up in the cutest way); His HUGE smile (his whole face smiles); He is never complacent or satisfied with learning another new trick...he must always be trying some thing new; How friendly he is (lot's of "hi" and "bye"); His cute little walk/ run; His big, dark, droopy eyes with the LONG eyelashes; When he says "hi Js" which means "Hi Jesus" to the picture of Jesus above his changing table; When he pokes his eye out pointing to his "eye"; When he steamrollers me on the floor or the couch or the bed; When he does his little signs for "all done" and "more"; When he giggles the whole time I'm making him a bottle; When he tells his daddy good night he says "bye" with great gusto because he know he is about to get his bottle; When he fake laughs; The way he carries our shoes around like stuffed animals; When he wants me to name everyone in all of the pictures around the house; His little "boo" when he sneaks around the corner on you; When he is snuggled up in our big bed drinking his bottle and watching Elmo while I get ready for work each morning; His great love for monkeys, airplanes, and dogs; Watching him sleep...sometimes it's curled up on his side, or sometimes on his tummy with his knees tucked in and backside up in the air, or sometimes on his back with both hands tucked behind his head just like Daddy!

I love you Bubbs! I can't imagine my life without you! Happy First Birthday!

Busy, busy, busy!

No time to post pics, though I have some cute ones! Darrell and I have both started new jobs, which are completely wiping us out! Darrell is working for Direct TV (5:45AM-2:15 PM-yucky)and I am working at my brother and sister-in-law's preschool, Whiz Kids, 8 AM-5PM. I take Ezra with me, which is nice, but very difficult. He doesn't get much of my attention, and when he does it is usually at a time when I should be focussed elsewhere. Not sure if my decision to quit teaching was a good one, but we'll go with it for now. Preschool (especially one that is a daycare also) is a whole different ball game! Darrell is having a hard time getting up that early. One benefit is that he is able to get off early enough to come to the preschool and get Ezra so he doesn't have to be there ALL day. They both come home and nap.

Ezra is a walking maniac! He loves stairs, and wants to do it all on his own. He refused to hold my hand going down hill tonight and face planted onto the cement. He still refused to hold my hand...
He turns 1 next month! I can't believe he has been here that long already! He is learning new words all of the time: mom, dad, hi, bye (bah), ding-dong (dee-dah), Jesus (js), ball (bah), bottle (bah -l), eye, Elmo (la la), The Count (ah ah ah ah), and all done (ah d); and loves to read books. I even give him books with paper pages because he treats them very well. No ripping at all. He just points and talks and laughs at each page. Though he is stubborn and a little spoiled, we sure do enjoy him! When I get a chance, I will post some pics and maybe a video of him walking. Pretty cute kiddo!

My Baby's Getting So Big

Ezra has really seemed to become such a big boy these last few weeks. He is so cute, and we just get such a big kick out of him all of the time. He has been scamming cereal off of Darrell and I in the mornings recently, and so I decided to put some into a little bowl for him one morning. He loved it, but really wanted to use my spoon, which was dumping over his little plastic bowl. So, I gave him one of his little plastic spoons and he was in heaven! My favorite is the last two pics where he has the spoon in one hand, and the cereal in the other! He sure tries hard to be grown up, and is so cute while he is learning. He has also decided that walking is the thing to do, however he can't get Mommy and Daddy to walk with him nearly as much as he would like. So, we borrowed a little walker yesterday that he can use over the next few weeks. He LOVED it! We LOVED it! Here is video of his first attempt. I was concerned that now I would have to follow him around and get the thing unstuck every couple of minutes, but after getting stuck a few times he sat down next to it and studied the whole "being stuck" concept until he finally figured out how to pull the toy back a little and then drive it from the other side! Yeah! My smart boy! :)

Utah

Last weekend we decided on a last minute trip to Utah to visit Darrell's parents, and also so that the kids could play with their "Utah cousins". We left late Thursday night, thinking that all of the kids would sleep, and we would have a smooth ride. Welp, our big kids slept, and Ezra cried...and cried...and cried! He finally fell asleep at about 1:30 AM, and we arrived at our destination at 2:30 AM. The rest of the night was not restful either. So, on Friday Darrell and I were exhausted! I had gotten up with Ezra early, so Darrell let me take a nap. (So nice!) Well, in the 2 hours I slept, Ezra fell down the stairs and got a black eye, and he got a hold of Grandma's vitamin B pill and munched it down. (He proceded to vomit several times after they dug what was left of it out of his mouth.) We had a nice day with Julie and her family, swimming and eating. On Saturday, Darrell took me shopping for a bit, and the kids played with their cousins. Sunday we attended church, but I had to sit out in the foyer (is that how you spell it?) through the entire meeting because Ezra was so squirly. We did lots of visiting, and eating. (Thanks for the yummy food Grandma Ward!) The kids played so hard that they were exhausted! Ezra bonded with Grandpa Ward, as he played "horsey" with him on his knee. We got up Monday morning and headed home. This time Ezra slept! We made it home safe, tired, and a few of us have some pretty yucky colds. Here are some pics:

Tricks

Ezra is always VERY entertaining. This week I caught some of his tricks on video. He is really into fake laughing right now. So funny! He has also learned how to throw a fit. (Not so funny!) Shouldn't they be a little older for that? He is so frusterated by his limitations, and the fact that he cannot communicate what he wants. I am attempting sign language, but he is not showing much patience for it. Hmmm.

Cousin-Sitting

Last week we watched Amy's kids while they went on a date night. Our kids have a dress-up box, which our guests seem to enjoy more than our kids these days. Anyway, Austin found this crusty wig that Darrell added to the box not too long ago. Each of the kids wanted to try it on, so I thought we may as well document the occasion! The boys were pretty much done dressing up at that point, but Amiah continued to be at least 3 or 4 different princesses throughout the evening. Abryn was satisfied by our playstation, and Uncle Darrell's old motorcross videos; and Austin cut paper until I thought his hands would cramp! We had a great time!