Fall in Midland

I love Fall!  Fall in Midland is different than Utah.  I especially miss the Autumn leaves on the mountains.  However, there is still that Fall feeling when it starts getting cooler outside.  Here is a little of what we've been up to so far this Fall.

Friday Night Lights

We went to our first high school football game--something we've been told you have to do in West Texas.  Ezra was so excited and talked all week about the football game.  Even though it was 80 degrees at 4 PM, it was freezing and windy that night at the game.  We only stayed until half time, but Ezra still loved it.

Pumpkin Patch

Ezra loved going to the pumpkin patch this year.  He didn't want to listen at story time or get any pictures taken.  He just wanted to pick up all the pumpkins and ride in the wagons with Jack.

He was willing to sit still long enough to get some pictures with Louisa.  And when he was done he let me know by pushing Louisa out of the way.  The photo below captured the moment just before Ezra pushed her forward.  Thankfully Louisa is a tough girl...she has to be with a big brother like Ezra.

A Tour of the Fire Station

We visited one of the local fire stations with some of Ezra's friends last Saturday.  Ezra loved the "thunder trucks," as he calls them.  We even took a ride in one and Ezra got to sit up front with Daddy.  He was in heaven!

And just a few random photos...

Louisa loves to eat, although for a while most of the food ended up all over her face.  This is understandable as she's learning how to eat solids, and actually she is doing much better now.

Ezra, on the other hand, seems to be regressing in his ability to get his food into his mouth.

Louisa also loves tub time.  We tried out August's neck inner-tube for the first time last week and she had so much fun wiggling around and creating waves in the tub.

Louisa's nearly sitting up all on her own.  She can sit for quite a while with just the help of the Boppy pillow.

And she's getting some early practice driving the tractor.  Ezra was very upset this cowboy hat wouldn't fit on his head, so I had to go pull out my straw sun hat for him to wear, which he thinks is a cowboy hat.

Louisa @ 5 Months

Louisa will be 6 months old in 4 days and I'm just now posting her photos from 5 months.  So sorry for the procrastination!

Louisa seems to have grown up so much between 4 and 5 months of age.  Her little personality is starting to come out and overall she is just a happy and content little girl.

She has officially found her thumb.  She generally only sucks on it when going to sleep, which is nice since she won't take a pacifier.  I'm liking it now, but I may feel a little different down the road when I can't take it away like I could a pacifier.

Her hair has started to grow back in so she is no longer bald, but there still isn't too much of it.

In the photo above she is smiling at her daddy.  On a side note, Marc was very confused as to why I always dress her in the same outfit and use the same quilt for her photos.  Even when I explained that I did it so we could she how she has grown month to month he just responded that people are going to think I'm posting the same photos over and over again.  Sorry if that is what you've been thinking ;).

Louisa started solid foods at about 4 1/2 months.  She loves it and seems to have done better than Ezra did even though we started her earlier.  She has tried sweet potatoes, avocado, and rice cereal.  She grabs for the spoon every time and has an amazingly strong grip, so we have to be pretty sneaky to get it in and out in time.

She graduated from her car seat to the lower seat of the stroller, much to Ezra's delight.  He was getting bored of sitting down there and does much better in the upper seat.

Loves to suck on those toes!

Louisa absolutely adores her older brother.  She loves it when he plays with her and tries to make her laugh.  Ezra thinks Louisa is pretty fun too.

She is still a petite little thing.  She just started fitting into some of her 3-6 month clothing.  However, most of them, including this outfit, are still way too big.

9.16.13 Ezra Turns Two!

Our little boy turned 2 years old last month.

Marc decided he wanted to give Ezra a teepee for his birthday.  When I started looking for one online I couldn't justify paying $100 or more when most of them looked so simple to make.  I'm definitely not a seamstress, but I decided I could probably pull it off.

When Ezra first saw it, he said "Oh, house!"  He also kept pointing to the letters on the birthday sign saying "ABC!"

He was very spoiled by all his grandparents, aunts, and uncles and he loved opening every last gift in his teepee.

Codi gave Ezra a puppy that talks and sings.  When it began to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" we were surprised to hear Ezra singing along.  We had no idea he could sing it by himself, but  it is very cute.  Recently, he began singing "I am a Child of God" on his own as well, although it's still not very intelligible.  

Ezra had a very busy day on his birthday, including shots at his doctor checkup.  I made it better by taking him to Chick-fil-A for lunch afterward (although Marc said that it was me who really just wanted to eat there).

He also got to video chat with each of his grandparents and blow out his birthday candles 3 times so they all could see.  Ezra loves cookies (he's even made up his own cookie song), so we got a giant cookie for his birthday cake.

Ezra loved having everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to him.  He sang "Happy to me!" all day.

9.13.13 Party!

We had a little birthday party for Ezra the Friday before his birthday.  It was very simple--a park, balloons, and ice cream cone cupcakes. Really, I just thought it would be something that he would love and it turned out to be pretty fun.

9.7.13 SeptFest

One Saturday last month, both my friend Rebecca and I were husband-less.  Mine was working; hers was hunting.  So we decided to spend the afternoon at our local museum's SeptFest event.  They had lots of artist booths, lots of food, and lots of children's activities...and it all cost lots of money (there was even a charge to get into the grounds).  Yes, it was a museum fundraiser, but still I wasn't ready to spend $30 on all the activities.  So we decided on doing the petting zoo and a big blow up slide for the boys.  Thankfully, Ezra and Jack are too young to realize there was a lot more they missed out on.

The Petting Zoo...

This is Ezra pointing enthusiastically to the chicken.

Ezra loved petting the soft bunny rabbits.  He kept at it for a while, until I realized that he had started pouring dirt on the the bunny's back.  For some reason he loves to pour dirt on people's heads, including his own!

The Ponies...

The pony ride was one of the things we didn't want to pay for, but I think the boys enjoyed looking at them much more than they would have liked to ride them anyway.

Ezra was very apprehensive to get close, but after while he got enough courage.

Jack on the other hand was trying with all his might to 

get through the fence to be close to all the ponies!

The Slide...

The boys were very excited for the Cars slide, although Ezra 

doesn't really know who Lightning McQueen is yet.

It was a little too steep (and scary) for Ezra and Jack to go on their own, 

so they mommies had to take them.  Both Rebecca and I made the unwise 

choice to wear skirts that day, which made the ride down especially 

challenging as we tried to keep ourselves covered.

No photos of Louisa, but she was very good riding in the baby carrier all afternoon.

Rebecca and I carpooled together, and Ezra loved having Jack in the backseat of the truck with him.  He fell asleep before we dropped off Jack and Rebecca, so he didn't realized he was gone until we pulled up to our apartment.  Ezra woke up all groggy, looked around, and said quietly "No Jack?".  It was very cute.  He loves his friend, Jack (or "Jack, fren" and Ezra calls him) and if he had it his way he would go to Jack's house everyday.