9.16.12 Ezra turns 1!

Our little Ezra celebrated his first birthday yesterday.  And he is not our little Ezra anymore.  He's a big boy with his own personality and likes and dislikes.  He has his favorite games and he loves to make his mommy and daddy laugh.  Not walking yet, but he's just started testing out standing on his own without any support.  And his first tooth came in just a couple of days before his birthday too!

Since my mom is Kathy, I had to make a sign and do some decorating for my little boy's birthday...

Marc and I decided early on that we wanted to give our children only one gift for birthdays and Christmas.  I modified this plan later on to giving one gift and one book. We were hoping that this would help keep our kids from becoming spoiled or entitled.  However, we forgot about all of Ezra's grandparents, aunts, and uncles (and there are a lot of them) who would send presents too.  Ezra was definitely spoiled on his birthday, but he didn't seem to mind and neither did we. :)

One of the first things he went for was the crinkly paper bow on top of his gift from the Asay's....

He was very careful when tearing off the wrapping paper, which surprised me because he can sure tear a piece of paper to shreds when he it's something he's not supposed to get into.

He got a dump truck from mom and dad.  Hasn't figured out how to move it around much, but he loves putting the legos in the truck and taking them out again.

We were able to video chat online with all his grandparents and most of his aunts and uncles throughout the day.  They got to watch him open presents and make a mess of his birthday cake.  It's amazing that even though we live so far away, it still felt like our family was here with us to celebrate.

Ezra was fascinated by the candle, but of course, didn't grasp the idea of blowing it out, and instead tried to grab it out of the cake.

Surprisingly, Ezra started out by being very delicate with his cake, picking off the sprinkles first...

...but it didn't take long for him to start digging in!

 And he had a whole audience to cheer him on back in Utah!

I was pretty relieved that he ate as little as he did, and stopped of his own accord.  I don't think I've ever seen Ezra refuse any food or stop eating because he was satisfied or full.  This gave me hope that he does, in fact, have a limit!

Happy, Happy Birthday Ezra, dear! 

We love you!