18-month Ezra

Today was Ezra's 18 month check-up. He weighs 19 lb. 11 oz. which puts him under the 3rd percentile in weight. He is in the 35th percentile for height and his head circumference must have measured normal because the doctor didn't mention it. He's our little peanut but the doctor didn't act worried, even when I mentioned that he eats like a bird. The great news about being 18 months is that he is finally legal in nursery! He did great his first week... let's just hope it continues.

I'm sure many of you have heard the sad news about the Provo Tabernacle fire. I remember having stake conferences there while at BYU. It was a beautiful building. But I thought I would share these pictures from Deseret News. They're so fascinating and they somehow seem fitting at Christmas time. Even during difficult trials, Christ is always there for us.

Christmas Card

Consider yourself greeted! We hope everyone out there has a magical week and a wonderful celebration with family and other loved ones. We are so grateful for all that we've been blessed with, and we're especially glad for this time of year when we can focus a little more on Christ and His sacrifice for us. Happy Christmas, everyone!

Santa's Lap

We had a quick visit with Santa today at our nearby clubhouse. Wow, Santa's beard sure has gotten thick. We couldn't even hear what he was saying under all of that fluff. And Mrs. Clause must be giving him a few too many cookies... there was very little room left on his lap for the children to sit. But all of that aside, Nolan told Santa that he wants a "big, big, giant motorcycle" and Ezra didn't cry so that's about all we could hope for. Ezra does say "ho, ho , ho" very well, but didn't share that talent with Santa.

While Justin was out of town last week, I took the boys to see the lights at temple square. Why go without the Daddy, you ask? Well, I asked Justin if he wanted to go a week ago and he said, "But I just get so, so cold." I guess he really is from San Diego! But we had a nice time and even enjoyed dinner at The Lion House. It was a balmy 40 degrees and drizzled on us a bit, but it was a good night compared to when it's typically 25 degrees.

And here's a look at our snow tunnel from last week's storm. Quite impressive and still standing (barely) 7 days later. We were all excited for Ez to wake up so that we could show him, but he wasn't that impressed. He must take after Justin because he was too cold and started crying about 3 minutes in. I'd cry, too, if I refused to keep gloves on! Justin tried making it through but had to reverse out. I was in the middle of baking but was talked into going through. And no, this is NOT an announcement... I am not pregnant although the picture would suggest otherwise.

Tubing Video

It took us a while to get the video of Nolan tubing off of Justin's phone, but we figured Grandma K would especially love it. Better late than never!

Pretty Girl

Last night at tithing settlement, our bishop asked Nolan if he was planning to serve a mission. Nolan said, "Yeah, I will go on a mission to Brazil and I'll find a pretty girl in a black dress." We're thinking we need to tell him a little bit more about the actual purpose of an LDS mission!

Turkey Day

First of all, welcome winter! Here's Nolan playing on our 4 ft. snow hill. We're thinking of making some kind of fort.

This year, Justin's father's side of the family rented a cabin in Park City for Thanksgiving weekend. We met up with them at The Canyons to enjoy a fabulous "Turkey Day" buffet. Justin and I were thinking it felt odd to be going out to eat, but as soon as we laid eyes on the food we both decided that we could get used to it! There was too much... I didn't even have a chance to try everything. Nolan and Ezra loved the miniature kids buffet, especially all the fruit and chocolate sauce. The kids surprised us by behaving pretty well so it was a wonderful meal. Thanks to Grandma P. who made it possible! We spent the rest of the afternoon at the cabin visiting and letting our boys play with their 3 and 5 yr. old uncles (Justin's little brothers).
On Friday morning we drove up again, and I headed straight for the outlets and found some sweet deals. It was the first time I've been shopping on Black Friday. I think one of these times I might like to go early in the morning or start at midnight. After lunch, Justin took Nolan tubing at Gorgoza Park. It was pretty fun, but also very crowded. We were thinking that it would be fabulous to go this weekend instead. So if any of you are interested in some family fun, head up there. They have a conveyer belt that drags you and your tube up the hill. Justin and Nolan had to stick to the shorter hills, but Nolan had a ball! I even wore Justin's coat (so that it had the pass on) and took Nolan down for the last run. We couldn't all go at the same time because kids have to be 3 years old, but we did drag Ezra around and he just laughed and laughed.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at home and putting up Christmas decorations. Nolan was so happy to see the toy nativity scene that he kept saying, "Thank you, Mom" over and over again. Ezra can't get enough of the lights on the tree. It's going to be a fabulous season!

Lots of gears this weekend

On Saturday Justin watched the boys while I went to the temple to do baptisms with the youth. I think that in those 4 hours he realized how bored the kids really are with their toys. He got it in his head that he wanted to take Nolan to the store and pick out a toy that they could enjoy together. Justin has been irritated that I buy the boys little treats or toys as surprises every now and then. He says, "No wonder they love you more!" So we all headed out (despite a coming snow storm) in search of Daddy/Nolan bonding time. First we had a delicious dinner at Pizza Hut where Nolan begged for salad and ate the whole thing. At Wal-Mart, I shopped for food while the boys scowered the toys for the perfect thing. Apparantly Christmas is too long to wait!

It turns out that Justin decided to buy this gears/chutes set without Nolan knowing. Well, when we were getting ready for church the next morning, Nolan saw it in the closet. He couldn't believe it. He said, "Wait, we brought the gears home?" Needless to say, it was a long time to wait through church, Daddy's meeting and home teaching appointment. It sure was fun, though! Daddy loved it the most.

Ezra snacked, cuddled with blankie, and threw parts on the ground throughout most of the building process, but he was very enthralled once it was put together. It was an entire afternoon filled with gears! Definitely some great bonding time for Dad!

Excellent Evening

I'm the secretary in Young Womens (the best calling!) and we just held our Evening of Excellence. It turned out so great! It was a fancy Oscar night complete with a red carpet for each of the young women to walk down with her Dad while Moms and leaders took pictures (the paparazzi). The awards portion was so fun because our MC had a tux and had a great sense of humor just like a real awards show host. The girls each came up to receive an award that their parents had written ahead of time, and we gave them a little heart trophy. Then most of the girls gave a little "acceptance speech" about what they had worked on this year in personal progress. Our speaker talked about things of real worth and her husband even wrote a song and sang it for us. It couldn't have been a better night. Well, I guess it would have been better if our powerpoint presentation would have worked. I had slaved making sure we had a picture of each of the girls and then another leader made the slideshow. We were going to display a picture with their name on it as they stood up to receive their award. I guess that's our fault for trying to be tech savvy. I think all of us leaders had even more fun than the girls in our formal dresses. It's pretty rare!

Happy Birthday to my Honey

For Justin's birthday, Grandma K (his mom) came down and watched the boys so that we could have a full 24 hours away from the screaming, jabbering, whining little boys and stress of everyday life. We went on a short hike, ate at P.F. Chang, saw a wonderful choir concert on temple square, did a sealing session, had a fancy breakfast at the hotel, and went to Ballet West's Carmina Burana. The best part was having a normal conversation with my good husband - not about the kids and free of interruption.

Grandma K acknowledged that I have a tough job staying at home with these boys (which obviously makes me feel good to hear her say that). She is a fabulous babysitter but they seemed to have given her some challenges. They managed to break a decorative plate (no big deal, really) and here is where she found Ezra two separate times.

The toilet really calls to him lately. She managed to not only take care of them, but she also showed them a great time, baked Justin a cake, and cleaned the scummy corner where the high chair goes. I couldn't be more grateful!

Fun Night

It was fun trick-or-treating for at least a good hour. Nolan never got tired or cold and finally I told him we needed to head home so that we had time to go see Uncle Daren and Noel's "haunted house." They made up a large canopy tent as a mini haunted house. They really do an amazing job and it was good to have a short visit with their family. Nolan and Ez were so brave and we even went through a second time to study all of the details. We're sad to be done with Nolan's "scary bones face" - even though it had a naughty effect on his personality (he's trouble enough already). But mostly I'm sad that October is over. It's definitely my favorite month. Here are the highlights. I uploaded a little smaller than usual so if any of you didn't realize, you can click and they'll get bigger.

Happy Halloween

Nolan's very first preschool program was so much fun. We all enjoyed it - even Ezra, who you can occasionally hear squealing in the background of the video. We recorded the whole thing and have made a little movie out of some of the highlights. We mostly just wanted to make sure that all the grandparents out there had a chance to see him performing. Our favorite part is when Nolan asks for a little audience participation.

He's walking!

It's official, walking is now Ezra's preferred way of getting around. He has sure taken his time, especially since he is 16 months old, but now he is lovin' it! He took his first steps a few weeks ago, but he was quite timid and is just now feeling confident. Even though he's a late walker, he still seems so tiny to be up on his feet. He weighs in at just above 18 lbs. He is definitely thrilled with himself!

Nightmare at Church

We've really been enjoying October this year. It's definitely my favorite month, especially when it's as warm as it has been lately. Last weekend, I took the boys to the cabin. Dad stayed home to work extra hours and get homework done for his online college course (he's working on a certificate from Stansford... he's loving it!). Each of the 5-hour drives went fairly well, and they really did have so much fun at the cabin. I don't think I remember either one of them getting bored. The only trouble was church.

While the sacrament was being passed, Nolan started yelling things like, "I hate that! I'm gonna kill him! I'll knock him dead!" I don't know what he was angry about but I had to drag him out as he continued yelling 3-yr.-old obscenities. Not more than 3 or 4 minutes after coming back in, I watched as he stuck his head through the small square opening on the back of his plastic chair. Next, he stuck his arm through. Before I could do anything about it (yeah, you guessed it, folks) he was stuck. I quickly tried to get his arm back through but soon Nolan panicked. He was screaming in terror and it became obvious that there was nothing to do but take him out with the chair still attached to him.

It was so awkward getting out because the chair legs kept clanking along and banging into everything we walked by. He was screaming so loud. By the time we got out to the hallway and I pried him out of the chair he was sweaty and panicked. I was so angry with him and, looking back, I feel bad because I know he was just scared and didn't mean to be naughty. Why is it so hard to find these kinds of moments funny at the time? Later that evening, the bishop from the Alton ward brought Nolan a baggie of suckers because he'd heard about "the chair incident." What a nice guy, although I hardly think the experience deserved an award.

The whole thing was so ridiculous but at least I wasn't the mom just one row up from us whose little girl coughed, gagged, and then vomited all over her. I was amazed that she calmly caught the bulk of it in a little pool between her chest and arm and then quietly walked out without causing a scene. The Dad then used wet wipes to mop up the stray chunks on the floor. It was at that moment that I totally second-guessed whether or not it is okay to let Ezra eat treats that have fallen to the floor during sacrament meeting.

The rest of the trip was fabulous. We had good food and I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games. Do any of you local readers have the second book I could borrow?

The boys at Duck Creek:

French relatives

It seems like just yesterday that our French relative, Pierre, visited:

Now Pierre's cousin, little Gaston, has come to play. What a cute little French boy!

Both Ez and Nolan were around 15 months when these photos were taken. I'm never very good at telling whether they look alike or not.

One last taste of Summer

We had a heat wave last week so I thought I'd take the kids for one more outing at Liberty Park. Ez was getting over a stomach bug during our last visit so I didn't dare let him in the water for fear of spreading germs. So this time he was truly enthralled with all the little rivers and rocks to climb over. I had a fun time photographing his excitement. We loved our last chance to splash in the water before it's too cold. Now we are looking forward to soup weather, wearing jackets, and going to the pumpkin patch!

October Conference

We were due for a visit to Logan, and what better time than General Conference weekend? It's a tradition that Justin go to the priesthood session with Grandpa Moulton while all the women in the family have girl's time (along with their kids, of course). This year we went up Logan canyon for a campfire. The s'mores were so delicious. Ez was in love with his marshmallow. Thank goodness for wipes!

We kept busy between sessions by taking walks and visiting Moultons and Great-Grandma Petersen. We attempted to drive up to Mt. Logan and see the Fall colors, but we soon realized our gas light was on. We did enjoy the bright colors as we coasted down the hill trying to conserve gasoline. As always, Nolan's favorite part was all the motorcycle rides with Grandma K. It's pretty awesome that Grandma is the one in the family with a motorcycle.

It's challenging trying to listen to the speakers while two little boys are demanding our attention, but there were many wonderful talks. I'm so thankful for our dear prophet. I'm sure there are few people out there who think of us as a perfect, happy family. But just in case, here is a picture of Justin glaring at me for something snippy I said, while Nolan spits in my face. Nice.

And here's one of my favorite moments of the trip. There couldn't be a cuter little white bum on the planet!

New Bike

Nolan has outgrown his 3-wheel tricycle recently. It just didn't go fast enough for him. He was so excited to receive his new bike and give it a try. Whenever he passes people he says, "Look at my new green bike. It came on a delivery truck!" It only took him a day to get the hang of keeping his balance and he can really cruise now when there's a little hill to go down. He coasts down our driveway with his feet completely up on the footrest, even as he goes off the bump and into the gutter. The idea with balance bikes is that kids learn to balance first and then when they are introduced to pedals they'll already know how to stay up - eliminating the need for training wheels. So far it's a hit. Even Ezra wanted to try it out. Now when we go on walks it's great exercise for me because I have to work to keep up with him.

Brothers

Just before running a quick errand I had to go back in the house for something. When I got back in the van Nolan said, "Look Mom, we're brothers!" Here is what I turned around to see:

These brothers like watching for trucks, playing Legos, wrestling with Dad, and watching VeggieTales.

We finally got the pool out this year. I know we're a little late, but Nolan still had a good time. Ezra splashed a little but he took his "swimming" very seriously. We got it put away just in time, too. Today is the last official day of Summer and it's now 65 degrees and raining. Goodbye Summer!

Nolan doesn't really take naps too often anymore, but sometimes he can't help but sack out in the late afternoon. After building a "cave" with the couch cushions, this is how I found him. I took a quick picture and then repositioned him before all the blood could flow to his head. As I'm looking at this picture now, it seems like Nolan could have used a potty break before falling asleep!
And Ezra even found a place on the floor to curl up and rest. I just want to kiss those little lips!

Last of all, here's yet another favorite place that Ezra likes to kick back and relax:

Ez Stats

Warning: one for the journal, not entertainment:

Went to Ezra's 15-month checkup today. Turns out he has gained about 6 oz. in the past 6 weeks since his last weight check, for a grand total of 18 lbs. (My sister's 2-month-old baby only weighs about 3 lbs. less!) That puts Ez around the 1st or 2nd percentile. The doctor said there's no need to continue weight checks since it's most likely genetic. And I know that Ez eats quite a bit so I'm not worried. Oddly enough, I always thought Nolan was heavier and never dipped that low on the percentile chart. However, I reread my post from his 15-month checkup and realized that that is when he finally went above the 10th percentile. So maybe when Ez gets walking he'll gain some weight like his brother did. He's around the 30th percentile for height.

He wasn't happy about shots today. First time a sucker hasn't cheered him up. It's good to have his flu vaccine taken care of already. It sure beats waiting in line at 5 a.m. like last year to get the H1N1 for the family. It's so nice that it's all in one vaccine this year.

And for my memory's sake: Developmentally Ezra seems to be doing well. He says several words: ma ma, da da, bye-bye ("buh buh" while waving), uh-oh, uh-uh (as in "no" and shakes his head), and he knows the sounds for a monkey, dog, and chicken. He absolutely loves animals. He makes high-pitched squealing sounds when he sees a kitty and gets so happy when they approach. He's getting close to walking. He has taken several "first steps" but hasn't really progressed beyond that. It's always two steps and then falling forward or turning to jelly legs. He's a lot more cautious than Nolan ever was. But he's so darn fast at crawling (forward AND backward AND in circles... very funny!) that he probably sees no use in walking even though he'd be capable if he wanted to. It's hard to imagine him walking because he's such a little tiny Ezra-Doodle!

Secret Hideaway

Here is Ezra's favorite new place to cause a little trouble. It's always a race to see who can get to the cereal bags first. It's a big mess if Mom loses! I think he would eat cereal all day long if I let him. He'll go for the cereal cupboard right after eating a meal, as if he's still starving. You'd think it would help him gain a little weight, but we haven't had much luck in that area yet. I love the innocent face, like he's saying, "Don't worry Mom, I won't cause you any trouble." I'm not buyin' it!

First Preschool Project

Here's the first project that I've completed now that Nolan is away at preschool 3 days a week. Actually, I'm realizing that Ezra takes way more attention than Nolan. Does anyone do preschool for 1-yr.-olds?

Our somewhat new entertainment center from IKEA allows for fabric to be inserted in the door, rather than a plain glass door. I chose this fabric and have long been wanting to make a stencil for the wall that matches the fabric. Here's what I came up with. I think I'm finally happy with my main family room wall.

The process involved laying the fabric on a laptop screen in order to get light shining through so that I could trace the image. From there I traced it with a thin black marker and then had it blown up at a copy store. I then traced the large drawing onto a plastic file folder. I purchased the handiest stencil cutter tool at the craft store. It melts away the edges of the plastic so that I didn't have to use an Xacto knife. That would have been very gruelling work. It involved mixing 3 stencil colors and some patience. But it wasn't too difficult, really. The finished product isn't without it flaws of tiny paint bleeds, but I think it gives it a whimsical look. I'm not going to pretend I came up with this idea on my own. Here's where I got the idea if you're interested in making your own stencil (I love this decorating blog). They give great detailed instructions.