12.7.2011 Living Nativity

Every year my sister's community puts on a live nativity in the glen in their neighborhood.  It is actually quite a big production with numerous cast members and actual livestock, including a camel and a little midget donkey.  For visitors, it is like walking through Bethlehem and as they walk the path through the glen, they eventually come to a stable where Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus sit.  The living nativity is just one of the many events that my sister, Jenny, is involved in putting on.  She asked Marc, Ezra, and me to be one of the holy families for the night. Since it is held outside, there are four holy families that rotate in 45 minute shifts and we were the first of the evening.

It was a very memorable experience portraying Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.  Every 15 minutes or so the wise men would come and kneel at the manger as portions of Luke 2 were recited.  Experiencing this gave me a greater understanding of the condescension of our Lord, who humbly came to earth as helpless infant.  This article from the December Ensign teaches so clearly how amazing it is that the Great Jehovah came to our world in such a humble way.  Portraying the holy family and watching my innocent and helpless baby gave me a deeper insight into Christmas and the birth of our Savior.  It is something I hope to never forget.

12.4.11 Ezra's Blessing

We blessed Ezra in our ward at the beginning of the month.  A baby blessing is something you witness a lot if your a member of the Church, but having your own child receive that blessing gives it a whole new and personal meaning.  Thank you to all of our family and friends who came and showed your love and support to our little Ezra.

Ezra and Grandma Holly

We were so happy Ezra's Great Grandma Moyes was able to come!

With Grandma and Grandpa Minster

Ezra and Grandpa Gordon

 And here are a few photos of just Ezra. I really hate the quality of the photos but it is my own fault for not knowing how to use my camera.  Ezra is such a squirmer that I thought it would be a good idea to use the sports/action setting so I wouldn't get any blurring.  The result was no blurring, but bad lighting/coloring.

The only smile we've been able to get on camera.

This is me on my blessing day...

After looking at some of my baby photos, I definitely see myself in Ezra.  Marc said the same thing today, only referring to his own baby photos.  I guess he's just a good mix of the both of us.

11.16.11 Two Months

It has been a while since I posted.  Actually, not too long if you consider how often I posted before Ezra arrived, but now he is growing so fast that I want to make sure I share and document as much as I can. I started working again at the beginning of November, which probably explains why I haven't posted anything since then.  I'm only working part time and mostly from home, but it is so much harder and time consuming than I expected it to be.  What I really need to do is go back to my old ways of scheduling each day like a missionary, but the thought of that kind of makes me cringe.

Anyway, this is Ezra at 2 months...

...weighs 10 lbs 7 oz. -- 22nd percentile.

...23 1/2 inches long -- 73rd percentile.

...smiling lots, just not for the camera.

...decided he no longer wanted to nurse -- the doctor

thought it was acid reflux, but aunt Brianne discovered

 he was tongue tied a few days after his two month appointment.

...over the fussy for no reason stage.

These photos were taken just before we went to the doctor for his two month checkup.  He still looks so little in his car seat, but it kills me to see how much he has grown when I compare it to the photo of him in his car seat on the way home from the hospital.

Random Finding

I was browsing the internet the other day looking at the website for the Bella Vista Reception Center in Lindon (my work is holding an event there this weekend).  Under their preferred vendors page here I thought one of the photos under florists looked familiar.  The thing is its obvious the photo is of me...how likely is it that someone else had a dress like mine.  However, I still had to check my wedding photos just to be sure.

look what ezra can do...

Ezra had a large audience Sunday night, but it just happened to be the one time he enjoyed being on his tummy so he wouldn't roll over for them.  I figured I should post the proof that he can do it.  

Isn't it funny the things you find to be exciting when you have kids?  I remember when I was single and hanging out with my married friends was just boring--their lives just seemed to lack any excitement.  Then I got married and found I loved my new "boring" life without the parties and social events every weekend.  However, I then found I couldn't relate to people with children.  A couple of weeks ago one of Marc's friends came over to see Ezra.  He brought his girlfriend with him who is in her early twenties.  While they were here I could tell she was thinking the same things I was when I was her age and single--"These people have such a boring life!"  But I'm loving life with this little boy.  Yes, it has probably been the hardest life transition I've ever experienced, but Ezra has brought so much joy to Marc and me.  It's definitely worth all the sacrifices.

And I just have to post a couple more photos...

Hanging out in his bumbo seat...

After his bath...Ezra doesn't like getting his hair washed, which is evident by the expression on his face.

Actually, this is just the expression he usually has on his face.

And the best shot we have of his pursed lips face...

Yeah...we love this little boy.

10.14.11 Four Weeks

I cannot believe Ezra is already 4 weeks old.  The first two weeks went slow and felt more like one long day to me, but now time is going by so fast.  Here are more photos of his first month...

He is such a tall and skinny little man.  The clothes that fit him lengthwise are so baggy widthwise.  He is starting to be more alert and awake during the day (and at night too for that matter).  Overall he is such a good baby, but he has some stubbornness about him that he probably got from his dad.  At two weeks he hated being on his tummy so much he would roll over onto his back.  We're still working on helping him enjoy his tummy time.

9.16.11 Ezra is here!

Ezra was born on Friday, September 16, at 10:59 in the morning.  His stats were 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches.   Marc is so excited to be a daddy that he put up the previous photos as soon as he could to show off his little boy.  Here are some more photos from the hospital.

Here are some more from his first few days at home...

With Grandpa Minster...I think there is a photo exactly like this of my dad holding every one of his daughters and grandchildren.  This is just how he holds babies.

His very first bath at home, with the help of Grandma Minster...

And hanging out with Daddy...

We are so grateful for our little boy and love him so much.

Baby Pics

Here are some pictures of Ezra Ashbel Young.

9.12.11 Forty Weeks

Today is my due date.  I'm 40 weeks pregnant.  But there is no baby as of yet, which doesn't surprise me.  All along I've expected to go at least a week over since my mom was late with every single one of her six children (she was two weeks over with me).  My four older sisters were all late with their first child as well.   So this mind tactic of expecting my little boy to stay put until September 18 or so has worked rather well...up until a couple of days ago.  Things suddenly turned rather uncomfortable and now I understand why some women beg to be induced as early as possible.

So hopefully he won't be too much longer, but I'm still thinking he won't come until after the 17th even if I'm hoping for tomorrow.

***My sister Codi just posted photos of the baby shower my aunts threw for me back in August.  Click here to see the blog post.

8.25.11 No sleep for me

I'm having a little bit of a problem with sleep.  It is no longer the issue of just not being able to get comfortable at night -- I've gotten over that even though it still is uncomfortable.  The problem now is just not being able to sleep.  I'm thinking that whole nesting thing has kicked in.  With two and half weeks until my due date, I've suddenly become a little bit frantic over all that needs to be done at home and work before this baby gets here.  So at night when I lay down to sleep, my mind starts racing with all these little last minute details.  Then I fall asleep for a few hours.  Then, I wake up (usually due to needing to use the bathroom) and my brain starts going again.  This usually happens around 5 am, which keeps me up for a couple of hours until Marc gets up for work.  Then I'm able to fall asleep due to exhaustion for another hour or so.  But last night I woke up at 2 am, and was at first determined to stay in bed and make myself fall back asleep.  Finally, I got up and began organizing everything in the baby's room for a couple of hours.  Even after that, when I came back to bed I still didn't fall asleep again for awhile.  This is driving me crazy.  The bags under my eyes are starting to become unmanageable.  I know the lack of sleep is going to be so much worse with a newborn, so really I should be storing up for the famine that is to come, right?

On a funnier note, when I was coming back to bed one of the many times last night, I accidently knocked over the cup of water on my nightstand.  Marc woke up frantically saying, "Marcee?  Marcee?  Did your water just break?"

7.16.11 It's the Bulls and Blood

This past weekend was the annual Ute Stampede Rodeo in Nephi.  Being married to a Juab County native means we go to the rodeo every year--in fact I don't know if there is a single person in the county who misses it.  This is what I love about the Ute Stampede...

I love people watching...and cowboy watching is especially entertaining.

I love how patriotic the people at the rodeo are. This is Kent who parachutes into the arena every year carrying a huge American Flag.

I love that in Nephi they have a Bathing Beauty contest every year and then parade the winners in a pickup truck at the beginning of the rodeo.  I was hoping to enter the contest myself in my new maternity swimsuit, but Marc wouldn't let me.

I love when Marc shaves his beard into a handlebar mustache and I get to wear a cowboy hat...

...but this photo is from two years ago.  We were too lazy to get all spiffed up this year.

However, Jay never fails to dress for the occasion.

And of course I love the bull riding and bucking broncos!

Finally, I love going on the carnival rides after the rodeo, except we didn't go on any this year since I'm seven months pregnant.  

My first experience at the Ute Stampede (and first rodeo ever) was when my Grandma and step-Grandpa took Mallory and I when I was 14.  We got to go on two rides--we chose the Ring of Fire and the Starship 2000 which spins you around super crazy fast.

The first year I went to the Stampede with Marc, 11 years later, I was so excited to go on the Starship again.  That was a horrible mistake!  My stomach of steel is not as strong as it used to be and I thought I was going to vomit the whole time.

Next year, we'll have a little boy to take with us.  We'll have to find some wranglers and boots to fit him, but I'm sure they won't be too hard in Nephi.