4.12.12 Visit to Utah

Last month, Ezra and I made a trip back home to Utah for my Mom's 60th birthday celebration.  We were only there 5 full days, but we jam packed those days with lots of fun stuff...

We played with cousins...

With Becca

Cute little Gemma

With Greta and Lily at the family party

Ezra loved Scout's arm bands

Playing with Jaxson and Tanner

We had TWO surprise birthday parties with LOTS of balloons...

We went to City Creek THREE times (its obviously THE new thing to do in Utah)...

We saw ALL THREE of Ezra's living Great Grandparents (all Grandmas)...

Grandma Moyes

Great Grandma Young who turns 97 this month!

Great Grandma Thomas

And we had fun on the farm in Mona...

Very first tractor ride with Grandpa.

Ezra was more entertained looking in the mirror than by the cows.

It was nice to come back after only being gone a couple of months, but it was also nice to have the feeling that we are living where we are supposed to right now.  I absolutely LOVED seeing the flowers on Temple Square.  

I kept commenting how green everything was because compared to Midland, IT IS!  But Codi, who is living in Pennsylvania, just laughed and said, "I keep thinking how brown everything looks!"  You know you live in barren wasteland when Utah seems green and the sight of a green lawn is a distant memory :)

4.8.12 Ezra's First Easter

Discovering his Easter basket...

No, I did not let him eat any candy.  That piece was still wrapped, and
Marc took it away from Ezra and promptly ate it.

The paper filler seemed to be his favorite part, but that was also taken away.

Still a happy little boy, despite his parents taking away most the stuff in his Easter basket!

All ready for church...

 

...and unfortunately, my blouse was ruined by the Easter corsage the Young Women made as a camp fundraiser.  But aside from that, it was a good Easter.

3.16.12 Pennsylvania

For Christamas, Jenny gave me an airplane ticket to visit Codi in Pennsylvania.  I hadn't seen her family since August and none of them had met Ezra yet, so I was very excited to get this gift.  The gift also came with my brother-in-law, Matt, acting as our personal travel agent.  He took care of everything when my first flight was delayed, which would have caused me to miss the second.  Thank you, Matt!

Flying with Ezra was not my favorite thing...I'm sure all other moms understand.  I realized how social he has become, however. He loved to smile and talk to everyone around us on the plane and in the airport.

THE BARNES GIRLS
Ezra loved all the attention he got from Iris and Willa.  They played with him and entertained him so much I'm afraid he is now super bored with just me back in Texas.

Olive didn't pay much attention to Ezra.  She was too busy in her own little world.  I couldn't believe how much she has grown and how much she talks.  Sometimes she would give Ezra toys and then just watch him, but I don't think she ever figured out how to play with him.

No, Ezra really can't sit up on a stool by himself.  I was close behind balancing him while Codi took this photo.

And I guess when your in a house of all girls, this is bound to happen even to little boys :)

LANCASTER COUNTY

We took a drive out to Amish Country on Saturday.  Apparently Saturday is laundry day because we could spot the Amish homes by the clothes lines full of clean laundry in their yards.  I always imagined the Amish living in their own isolated community so I was a bit surprised  to see they that they live along side the "non-amish".  I didn't really get any great photos except for a few of the kids playing on the playground near the Amish market.

PHILADELPHIA

On Monday we spent most of the day in Philadelphia touring Constitution Hall and the surrounding area.

The girls loved to take turns helping to feed Ezra...

....and helping to push his stroller. However, Oli couldn't get too far with Ezra.

Do you recognize this room?  After watching the BYU movie about the making of the constitution in high school, I felt like I had been here before.

I love these photos of the girls having their pictures taken by Codi because they show Willa's personality so well.  She obviously wants to do what her mom asks and smile for the camera, but she can't seem to help but be distracted by her surroundings.

THE PARK

On our last full day in Pennsylvania, we stopped by the Park after picking Willa up from preschool.  Ezra loves the swings, and he enjoyed his first time on the slide as well.

I think Ezra looks so much like Marc in this picture.  His hair is getting more like his moms, wavy than straight, especially in humid weather.

We had so much fun with Codi and her girls.  I miss all my nieces and nephews.  Hopefully one day we'll all live within driving distance of each other so the cousins can play together more often.

3.16.12 Ezra at Six Months

Ezra and I had a great time in Pennsylvania with Codi and her girls.  I'll post more about our trip this weekend.  Both of us had doctor appointments right when we got back.  Mine was pretty routine except for when they decided to draw some blood.  Apparently I have small veins, so the nurse decided to try a "butterfly" or something...I don't know exactly what it was because I have to look away when my blood is drawn.  All I know is she was messing with my hand and it really hurt.  I told her that I was starting to feel a little light headed.  That was the last thing I remember before I fainted.  When I started to come to, I realized there were several people in the exam room and I'm wondering, "When did all these people come in?"  It was then I realized I was lying on the floor with several nurses trying to lift me onto the exam table.  Ezra was safely sitting in his car seat through all of this.  One of the nurses took him out and kept him entertained.  I was somewhat embarrassed, but the nurses were very kind and it didn't take long until Ezra had them all charmed.  I don't remember fainting, but since yesterday I've noticed several sore areas where I must have hit the ground.

This morning, Ezra's appointment went much better than mine.  He's a healthy, happy, growing little boy.  So this is Ezra at 6 months...

...18 lbs 4 oz. (61st percentile)

...27 and 1/2 inches (78th percentile)

...sits up all by himself

...eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocados, and bananas

...loves to shake his head as if saying "No, no no!"

...was sleeping all night until our recent vacation 

(hopefully it won't take too long to get back on schedule)

More fun in the jumper

Tomorrow morning, Ezra and I head to Pennsylvania to spend some time with Codi and her girls (thank you Jenny for the great Christmas present).  They haven't met Ezra yet and it's been too long since I've seen Iris, Willa, and Olive so I'm very excited.

I didn't want to go another week without posting something of Ezra.  This is a video I took today of him in his doorway jumper.  He's such a funny boy and tomorrow he turns 6 months old.  I'll post more photos when I get back next week, but for now enjoy the video.

I've spent the better part of the past week trying to find a new pediatrician for Ezra. Like most things in Midland, every doctor that was recommended to me was not accepting new patients.  So I finally just picked an office on Tuesday and went to fill out the paper work so I could schedule an appointment for Ezra's 6th month checkup.  He seems to be a healthy little guy who is developing on schedule, so as long he can get his immunizations I figured I shouldn't worry too much.

As I was filling out the paperwork I was thinking how lucky I was to have such a great pediatrician back in Utah.  I've been putting together a mental list of things I miss about Utah to post on this blog, and I decided I needed to put Dr. Nielsen on that list.  He was kind, knowledgeable, and always willing to take the time to address questions. I was shocked when I received an e-mail that very night from Utah Valley Pediatrics informing patients that Dr. Nielsen had unexpectedly passed away.  He was only 38 years old and had four young children.

I only interacted with Dr. Nielsen four or so times since we moved just after Ezra's four month checkup. Even with that limited interaction, I could tell that Dr. Nielsen was an exceptional person.  We once had a late appointment scheduled and didn't actually get in to the exam room until close to 6 PM.  Dr. Nielsen was still just as kind as ever, didn't act rushed, and patiently listened to my concerns.  I thanked him as we were about to leave and commented that I hoped we were his last appointment and could go home, but he still had one more patient to see after us.  I realized that day what a sacrifice good doctors make to serve complete strangers, not to mention the sacrifice their families make having them gone so much.  They have years of intense and expensive schooling and then work crazy hours once they begin working.  With United Way, I worked with the Volunteer Care Clinic where several physicians volunteer their time to serve the uninsured -- they do this after a long day of work or even when their retired when you would think they would take a well deserved break.

I could go on, but ultimately I was greatly saddened to hear about Dr. Nielsen.  I am so grateful for the knowledge that this life is not the end and that his family will be able to live together in the eternities.  It just seems that I've heard of so many premature deaths lately and it makes me realize how important it is to make every moment count while we are here.

2.26.12 Life in Texas

Life in Texas may not sound too exciting, but our little family is very happy with the day to day life.

I tried the faux hawk look on Ezra and it was more funny than anything else.  Marc was definitely not a fan.  His hair is getting some wave to it so if I don't comb it straight right after his bath it won't go straight, so the faux hawk stayed around until the next day.

Ezra can now sit up just with the support of his boppy pillow...

He kind of prefers sitting in his bumbo chair, though...it's less work.

And we started solid foods...Ezra wasn't too into the rice cereal alone, but he loves sweet potatoes.

We had really nice weather today, so we went for a walk in a nearby park after church.

And here is a little video of Ezra's day on Friday.  Nothing too exciting, but I thought you would like to see how much he is growing and learning.