Makai's Birthday Party

James couldn't wait to have Makai open a present and Ezra had been begging all morning to open them, so we decided to give him one to open before church. He loved it!

That night we had a delicious meal and then some cake:

And who says I don't have talent... ha. Ezra did the sprinkles :)

At first he was excited, then not so sure. (The green mess is from his favorite, avocado. )

Since he was a little timid about it, daddy put his finger in it, then mommy smashed his hand in it :(

Then he got into it:

After cake we rushed to the tub, had a quick bath and hurried out to open presents.

This (^) was the present from Ezra. He doesn't seem too enthralled, but he really loves all his gifts.

The unwrapping went a little slow, so Ezra took over on one of them:

I think he had a great first birthday. I still can't believe he's already one. He's really little, which sometimes makes me feel bad for him, but mostly I love it because he gets to be my 'baby' longer. 

We sure do love our Mak Attack.

Happy First Birthday Makai

Big Mak is ONE today. It's really hard to believe. It seems like the one year mark crept on me a bit, but I guess that's how it always seems. He's a sweet baby. He lights up our days.

Here's a little about our babe:

His hair is long. I planned on cutting it when he turned one, but I can't bring myself to cut off his curls in the back. My mother-in-law also told me she wasn't going to let me cut his hair, so that just justifies his girly do even more.

He's very expressive. He has the most entertaining faces. He also really enjoys playing with Ezra. They like to sit down and share popsicles, or cookies. They hold hands. They climb on each other. They play with trains and cars. They make each other cry and they make each other laugh. It's adorable. 

His favorite activities lately are cleaning, crawling, dancing (or bouncing really), eating, and climbing.

He only started crawling when he was about 10 1/2 months old and isn't walking yet. He really doesn't even seem close. It's a little strange because Ezra was walking before Makai was even crawling at the same age. I don't mind; the second they start walking they get into more trouble and they seem so much more grown up. He doesn't laugh much, but he smiles and giggle-grunts all the time.

He is always doing cute things (as all babies do, right?). He loves to play with his voice. He's still nursing and I don't really see an end to that as of now. He can't stay away from the stairs, but thankfully has only fallen down them once (sad, horribly sad, but he was fine).  He's a definite daddy's boy. He loves mommy, but if he's fed and sees his daddy, all he wants is James. James loves it. He absolutely hates being left alone and still cries in the middle of the night often. 

He goes berserk over sweets and screams if you either don't share fast enough, or finish it. He loves splashing in the water. He doesn't have much fear. He enjoys when I sing to him. He would be content being held all day long. He's extremely schedule oriented. He's my special little dude and I still can't stop squishing all his cheeks. We are so blessed to have him. 

Happy 1st Birthday Makai. We love you.

(I will post some messy cake face pics soon.)

Ezra's Girls

Ezra left his heart with two girls in Idaho. He talks about them often and misses them.

This is Caity. She is a little over a month younger than Ezra, so they have pretty much known each other their WHOLE lives! She is one of my best friends daughters, so our play dates were mostly for us, but thankfully they hit it off too. She is a cutie. 

This is Isi (Isabel). Sometimes Ezra calls her Isi-bel. They have also known each other their whole lives. Ezra and Isi were in nursery (the 18mo-3 yr old class at our church) together. She (and her parents) are the ones who really got Ezra comfortable with nursery. She's a smart little cookie.

As hard as it has been to say goodbye, he has found a new girl to fill a little bit of that void:

This is Hailey. Please disregard his hand placement; he doesn't know any better. This is one of James' best childhood friends' daughter. She's adorable. Ezra had gone too long being cooped up in the house with only mommy and Makai to play with, so he was bouncing off the walls when Hailey came to play. He had so much fun we made sure to quickly invite her back the next night for another playdate. 

I think I'll be keeping a close eye on this boy...

Ez is "Free"!

Ezra turned 3 on July 17th.

 Since it was right in the middle of our move, we kind of celebrated for a couple weeks. Nothing wrong with that if you ask me. James and I found a good deal on a pillowpet, so we ordered that for him for his present. It got to our house too soon. Neither of us are good at waiting, so we gave it to him early. He kept running around saying, "My birthday came! Thank you for my birthday!" He named the parrot pillow Paco/Taco (it depends on the moment which consonant he uses).

(Left picture is Ezra at the library. Right picture is Ezra's first roller skating trip. He was terrified at first, but loved it once he got onto the floor. He kept doing tricks (or trying). The first time he fell, I tripped over him and I was so scared that he was going to start screaming, but I couldn't help but laugh at how silly we looked and he just cracked up. He kept trying to trip me after that. It was such a blast! And they let us push our strollers on the floor too, so Makai had a good time. )

 (This picture cracks me up. Look closely and tell me if you can tell why. Watch out ladies.)

Then while I was at my sister-in-laws in Pocatello we had a little party for him (this was on his actual birthday). He chose a Tangled cake and his cousins all got him great gifts. He got a couple of Cars cars, a coloring book, a dinosaur and play-do (which was a total blessing to have while waiting in the airport).

(The lady was a little confused when I asked if she would change the pink writing to blue because it was for a boy. Not that he'd care what color it was considering the cake he chose. haha.)

(Here are two of his cousins, Elizabeth and Trey)

Then we had a little party for him when we reunited with daddy at Grandma Lene and Pop-pop's house. His great grandma Marie and great aunt Dale were able to join us. He got a little kiddie pool from Grandma Lene and Pop-pop (james' mom and stepdad). It's a Cars one and it has a slide and a sprinkler attached to it. He loves it!

He also got a Cars bike from Nana and Grandpa (my mom and dad). It came a couple days after the other party, so it really did feel like we were celebrating for a couple of weeks. He's riding like a pro. I tried to take the pedals off, so he could learn to balance and not need the training wheels, but he's a little too short for that. He loves to pedal and go "fast", so I guess he's happy with the training wheels.

James and I also got him a helmet to go with his new bike and a couple of piggy banks for all his "moneys". Today he told me he was going to save his "curgles" (quarters) for special candies at his house. I love when he forgets the word and just makes one up. This really is a wonderful age. (Wonderfully trying at times too, don't get me wrong, but I have fun everyday because of this silly boy.)

He is such a joy in our family. He is constantly making us laugh. He comes up with the strangest things.  He's a quirky one. The other day he felt something on the bottom of his pool and said, "hmm it's kind of something quirky." That's when I realized just how quirky he is and I love all that quirkiness to bits. He is getting so big and grown-up. It makes me so sad. It really is exciting to watch him grow and see him learn and hear all the funny things he comes up with, but I can't believe he's not a baby any more.

I love you little Ez. Happy 3rd birthday!

We Have Moved

After years of talking about it and changing our minds many times, we have finally moved out of our first home and ventured back to our roots on the east. It was stressful and sad to leave. I am so surprised we actually got all our belongings shoved into the truck.

 James, his dad and stepmom left on the 12th to drive to Maryland. (James is from Maryland). The boys and I just got here on the 21st. We stayed in an empty apartment for a couple of days and then ventured to Pocatello to stay with my sister-in-law for a week before our flight. It was a wonderful break and helped me to take my mind off of the move. We missed daddy though, so we're glad to finally be back together. We're taking over the basement in James' parents house until we can find a place (though his mom says she's never letting us leave now that she got us here :), so now I'm busy unpacking and reorganizing and trying to help the kids adjust to a new home and no friends.

Makai has had a hard time sleeping and Ezra has been asking me to go home or to go visit certain friends. It makes me sad. I really miss our friends. I don't know if we'll ever have as good of friends like we had in Rexburg. I will cherish them always. 

It is great to be with family again, so that does help greatly. 

I don't know the area, nor do I have a car anymore AND it is a sauna out there! I'm from New Hampshire, so I know humidity, but oh man, this is hot. Therefore, we're hiding out in an air conditioned basement most of the day. There is still much to be done which explains my blog absence.

Also, Ezra turned 3 on the 17th, so I will post about his birthday soon.

For now, we miss you Rexburg. And hello Maryland.

The New Pool

We got a new pool in town and we were eager to try it out. It is definitely catered towards little kids, so we thought Ezra would have a blast. I should've known better. Ezra screamed and cried for the first HOUR we were there. Then something changed and he was completely different. He was running everywhere, going down the slide and even swimming in the 2.5 deep water all by himself. I was shocked. He didn't want to leave. 

(I couldn't even get him to stop for a picture. He was just on the go until we left.)

Makai loved it too, but got cold quickly since we went in the evening, so we spent a good chunk of time snuggling and getting warm.

It was a great family adventure/getaway for us. I think pools are necessary during the summer months.

Update on Mommy Blog

A Mother's Fear

Father's Day Flop

It's the thought that counts, right? Hmm... I guess not. I kind of flopped on Father's Day. I wanted it to be special, but... he had to change a poopy diaper and take care of Ezra while I taught Sunday School. That was kind of a bummer for him. And I couldn't think of anything to get him. I came up with only a few ideas, but they were either too expensive, or something he'd need to pick out himself. So... Father's Day came and I still didn't have anything, so I signed his card and stuffed some cash inside for him to get whatever he wanted with it. He opened it and just put the cash aside. He wore a disappointed look the rest of the day. I felt awful. Then to make matters worse, I overcooked dinner. He didn't complain, but I wanted to cry.

The next day I asked him if he was disappointed and he said, "Well, yeah. A little. I just wanted you to get me something. Giving me cash was like handing me the debit card."

Lesson learned... he didn't care what I got him, as long as it wasn't money. Even if the money was my hard earned babysitting money.

I love my little Jamesy poo and I really wanted him to feel so special. Soo.... today is his birthday and I have really been trying to make it a special one. He did have to work today, but I hope he at least feels loved. Of course I made sure to splash cold water on him while in the shower. That's what people in love do. What? You don't... hmm... I'll pray for you.

Oh and where have I been? Why no pics lately? We're moving. Did you know? In like a week. Across the country. I'm just a tidge busy. But not too busy to finally post this post that I wrote soon after father's day and not to busy to give a shout out to my lover boy who thoroughly drives me crazy, but still puts a smile on my face.

Happy Birthday James!