Birthday Bash

We had a wonderful birthday weekend in Logan, celebrating our little Ezra. We can't hardly believe he is one year old, but we threw him a big party anyway! It was fun to enjoy Grandma K's backyard and the beautiful weather. A big thanks to everyone who came and brought food. Thanks even if you didn't bring food. It was fun! I have a feeling Ezra knew exactly that it was his special day. He would crawl around looking at everyone, giggling, smiling, and grunting. And what could be better than eating cake pops and his own ice cream cone?! Happy day, little man!

I got the idea for the cake from my cousin, who pointed me to bakerella.com. Those little bees are like eating pure joy!

Stats and Alarms

Teenie tiny Ez is only 17 lbs. 12 oz. - that's just under the 3rd percentile for weight. He is 28 in. tall (12%) and his head is 18 in. (60%). He might be little but he's still smart! We'll be taking him in every month to weigh him to make sure he's gaining. The doctor said it might be because he's crawling faster now with his tummy off the floor and he's standing up to everything. He's burning more calories. I think it's partly because I'm trying to quit breastfeeding and he's still not getting enough whole milk yet. But we all know Justin and I won't have a heavyweight champ, so I'm not worried.

I'll be posting about Ez's birthday weekend in Logan a little later, but I thought I'd jot down another "endless alarm" experience. Do you remember our camping experience? Well this wasn't quite as bad, thank goodness, but bad enough. We ran into Best Buy so that Grandma K could look at TVs. As we were browsing, Nolan pushes open an emergency exit door and a very obnoxious, loud alarm sounds. Oh jeez. Not another alarm. Well, several workers walked over, I apologized, and I figured it would be turned off in a jiffy. Turns out the workers' key was broken. They messed around with the door for a bit, and then walked off. At this point, we're all feeling very sheepish. They send for reinforcements but no luck... the alarm is still sounding and customers are starting to clear out. By now there's about 8 to 10 employees (I guess they have that many employees for occasions such as these) swarming around dealing with the alarm. After about 5 minutes, they located the "chosen one" who had the magical key and peace was again restored. Other than us and some die hards looking to buy a huge plasma, the place was empty (oh yeah, and the 10 employees). Justin made sure one of the tall, ominous workers gave Nolan a little talking to (he's learning about natural consequences) and we were out the door. For some reason, Grandma K was no longer interested in looking at TVs.

Portraits

The boys are 1 and 3 years old so we headed to the portrait studio. They turned out great considering Nolan is at the "fake smile" stage, and Ezra is crawling all over like a wild man. Love these cuties! We're looking forward to a fun celebration for Ezra's birthday this weekend.

Feeling Happy

All is well in the Petersen home. We've planted our vegetable garden, the flowers are blooming, and we're enjoying some warmer weather. Justin actually took 4 days off for Memorial weekend (including his regular Friday off since he works 4 10's) which is wonderful because he's been working 60+ hours a week lately. It was great to have some family time without any laptops or blackberries interfering. So naturally, we headed into town and bought a TV and entertainment center. I've said it before and I'll say it again: we love IKEA! We started Monday off at the nearby track where we got a little exercise as a family and tried to teach Nolan some baseball skills. Justin and I ended up practicing our batting skills while Nolan ran around the track yelling, "I'm exercising with by myself." (His words, not mine.) The rest of the day was spent doing yard work, washing/waxing the van, and mopping the kitchen floor. Not exactly fun holiday stuff, but it felt good to get it done.

Ezra has two new words this week. "uh-oh" and "wow." He kind of whispers the "wow" sound and makes his mouth open really big. He also loves feeding mom and dad his snacks. As we pretend to eat from his hand, he makes the movements with his mouth along with us. I've officially cut off the breastfeeding at night because I've started giving him cow's milk in a sippy cup. If he gets up in the night, it's a quick sip and back to bed. Pretty soon he'll be on cow's milk only... yahoo! Of course I've loved bonding with Ez, but bonding time is over, buddy!

We had a fabulous visit at a nearby park today with 3 of our friends. They each have two boys also, so there was a total of 8 boys age 3 and under. Good to know there are lots of little friends for my kids. The park play ended early when I caught Nolan hiding behind a nearby fence. I knew immediately he had dropped a bomb in his underwear... again. This poo in the underwear has got to stop. It's starting to get me down. Poor guy is doing great otherwise, though. He'll get it! Apparantly our bribes of gum, new Legos, train rides, and a computer in his bedroom aren't working.

We recently got a water softener. That has immensely improved my quality of life. Softer skin, no more eczema for Ez, less time spent cleaning, less soap, cleaner dishes, the list goes on and on. It's fabulous! There's the trouble of expense and hauling salt from the store, but I'm willing to overlook that (or at least make Justin deal with it)!

That's the report for the week. Hope everyone's summer is off to a happy start!