Ezra's Surprise!

Sunday

Every Sunday is the same for me...........

Get up fix Ezra breakfast, try and grab something myself, shower, get Ezra and myself ready, pack diaper bag (snacks, water, toys, diapers) and go to church. At church I try my hardest to keep Ezra happy, still and quite. Mostly still and quite.....happy just helps the process! This is NOT at all easy! He is a very active little boy!!!! My goal is to at least keep him sitting still, on my lap and quite during the Sacrament. This is about ten minutes. He fights it by wiggling, screaming, kicking one or all of these things happen. Most Sundays I get him to sit still for those brief moments. I have these little cutouts to teach him what the bread and water symbolize. Each Sunday as he sits on my lap I talk to him about what they each mean. I also have this picture.........

I always point to the picture and say "Jesus." Then I ask him "Ezra, who is this?" Ezra's response......wiggle, kick, squeal, whatever he feels like that day.

Last Sunday being like every other Sunday I went through this same process. Pointing at the picture above I said,"Ezra, This is Jesus." "Who is this Ezra?" Ezra pointing at the picture said, "Jesus!" I was SHOCKED!!!! So were the people behind me they were all saying, "Did you hear that baby?" "He said Jesus!" (I admit this was a very proud Mommy moment!!!!) Still in shock I asked Ezra my question again. And once, twice, three times he answered the same. He understands!!!! My wiggly screaming child has heard what I've been saying all along, and now he understands!

So to all you Moms out there who get discouraged (as we ALL do). Your children hear you. They are learning. And some day, One very wonderful day, They will tell you.

As I have been writing this post Ezra has been pointing and saying Jesus. He's got it!!!!!!!

Be Mine!

Here is how we celebrated Valentine's Day

I made heart shaped soft pretzels

Ezra was just being cute!

My sewing club had a party for the kids. They played outside, decorated bags and handed out valentines. Ivy and Ezra had so much fun!

Entered Trader Joe's coloring contest. My sister took the pictures in and they didn't tell her that our phone number needed to be on the back. When she went in the day after Valentine's day to see if the kids won they said they had already called the winners. They did give her some roses which was the prize for the winner. She shared them with me!

(The kids look a little crazy in these pictures because they just got up from nap time)

Ezra

13 1/2 months

Ryan and I went on a group date with some our friends. Ryan was working so we missed the movie, but met up for dinner. We ate at Pei Wei.........YUM! I had never been there before. If you go I recommend the lettuce wraps with a side of white rice. Take the lettuce and first put on the rice, then the meat, then the sauce (this is how they served it at my cousins wedding). It makes it more filling when you add the rice. It was fun chatting and hanging out without the kids. Something we haven't done since the babies were born! I have to give love to Melissa for putting the date together and also to Jordana for the cute/yummy Valentines she made us.

Thank You!

On Valentine's Day Ryan worked. Ryan and I only had one hour together the whole day! I'm glad we celebrate (most) everyday together like it's Valentines day. We don't need a special day to share our LOVE!!!

I Love You Ryan!!!!!!

xoxo

Don't knock the cheesiness........this is a Valentines post!

SNOW!

Las Vegas has been having A LOT of wet weather lately.......At least a lot for us! In January we had almost a full week of rain. In that week we got more rain then we did in 2009 TOTAL!!!! Ryan and I hadn't been to play in the snow in a long time and Ezra had never been. So we thought it was a good time to play in some SNOW! We took a short trip to Mt. Charleston. I have NEVER seen that much snow on the mountain. It was so beautiful!!!!

Ezra LOVED it!

The only mittens we have for Ezra are cloth. Once they soaked through he was DONE!

We had hoped to go on a hike while we were on the mountain but all the hikes were snowed in. Still in the mood for some outdoor fun we headed down the mountain to Red Rock Canyon. The hike we chose is called Ice Box Canyon. Because if all the rain/ snow there was a big river and waterfall in the canyon. A beautiful treat for our dry mostly hot desert!

What a fun family day!!!!

Post quick, before I forget: Changing Boy

Ezra is changing SO much! It seems almost daily he does something he couldn't do the day before. I just wanted to post some of the things he is doing.

• Walking: He has been doing this for awhile now but I've never posted about it. Ezra took a very gradual approach to walking. He started walking around the furniture MONTHS ago. Then came some steps here and there. He really has been able to walk on his own for quite a while but preferred to crawl. Then one day he just decided he like to walk more and has been toddling around ever since!


• Copy Cat: He has been copying almost everything we do! It all started one day when I was blowing my nose. Ezra looked at me, took a piece of toilet paper and started blowing his nose. Whenever he sees someone blow their nose he does too....using whatever he has to do it on! Ryan had food poisoning and I had the flu. As Ezra is always bursting into the bathroom on us he witnessed us well........lets just say, "losing our lunch." Now Ezra goes into the bathroom lifts up the toilet seat and coughs/ gags. It is really funny!!! Ryan says we've created a bulimic boy. These are just a couple of the many thing he has been copying.


• Signing: He signs milk, more, food, all done, please and Thank you.


• Words: He says Mom/ mama, Dad/ da da, hi, pees (please), mo (more), baby, Ivy, thank you (this is one of the cutest things I've EVER heard), water (wa wa wink... he got this from Ivy), NO (:(), and many, many more we are still trying to understand. He walks around babbling most of the day!


• Combo: He combines signing with speaking. When Ezra is whining at me for something I say, "What do you say?" He will instantly sign and say PLEASE (he signs with much vigor). He also usually signs and says thank you at the same time. Many times he signs thank you with both hands. Sometimes he makes it a SUPER sign by adding kisses as well.


• Sweet things: Ezra gives us kisses! Sometime I hear him making the kissing sound and I look at him and there he is with little fish lips ready for a kiss. A couple of days ago when I was nursing him he stopped and stared making the kissing sound, I gave him a kiss and he continued on with his breakfast (he did this two or three times during his short feeding). Whenever he gives us a kiss we always say thank you. So now Ezra says thank you almost ever time we kiss him, it is the sweetest thing! He is a love bug!!! If Ryan or I are sitting on the floor he will climb into our lap and give us hugs.


• FOOD: He LOVES to eat........what he chooses! I have been having a really hard time lately tying to get him to eat his vegetables!!!! Now that he is eating other foods he wants nothing to do with them. This has been frustrating! In our home vegetables are mandatory.....so I guess he will learn to eat them when he is older or starve........hahaha. So we have been trying everything to get him to eat his veggies. I will put them on a fork with pasta and he will spit out the veggies and eat the pasta. I was watching Ivy the other day and she was eating some organic macaroni, so I gave Ezra a little which he GOBBLED down! And then it came to me........Mix in some butternut squash. It worked like a charm and by the next day I had him eating the plain squash! A small but very rewarding victory!!!! So I've been using this trick with other foods and we are doing ok. He loves MEAT!!! He must need the iron for his little growing body. One night we were feeding him some chicken and he was so excited to just kept signing/saying MORE, PLEASE, THANK YOU, & KISSES, over and over. We are still not giving him sugar. We really want to give him a love for healthy foods before we give him hummm, well, CRAP! If you want some good reading try, The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood by Dr. Sears. It is a fantastic book to read even if you don't have kids. I will teach YOU to eat healthy. I really think everyone should read it! Every time I read from it I am built up and I know that what we are doing for Ezra will be such a blessing to him. I am SO thankful my parents taught me to eat healthy!!!


• Vroom: he makes this sound while playing with cars. Something he picked up on his own.

Well, I know there is more but I can't remember it right now.

Below are a few pictures from my phone that I never posted

Mac & Squash

Sitting in a pizza box


Birthday LOOT!

Eating the popcorn off the Christmas tree

Standing

Sitting

I combed his hair right out of the shower. It stayed for about a minute before it was standing up again!!!

And yes, that is a razor. And no, we don't let him play with razors!