Down at the Lake

Last Friday evening Jesse, Ezra and I drove down to Lake Mead and fed the nasty carp. Ezra went nuts! He had such a good time. He especially loved the ducks. He kept trying to throw the popcorn really far so that the ducks had a better shot at it. He also kept quacking at the ducks. There were also a lot of brave birds that Ezra wanted to chase. Although we didn't get a great video, here is the one we got:

On the way home we stopped in Boulder City and got some really yummy soft serve ice cream. As you can see, Ezra was thrilled.

Cute pictures

Ezra LOVES anything soft and cuddlely. While I was changing the sheets, Ezra found the pile of pillows and brought his friends along for a snuggle. He is so funny about stuffed animals. Even though he has his favorites, he always makes sure to rotate them so that all of his stuffed animals get some lovin'!

Our serious musician. Ezra loves to perform his own piano compositions for us. And he expects a round of applause for each one.

Family Weekend Fun!

I just love General Conference weekend. Besides the actual General Conference part, I love that there always seems to be so much family time, too. We kicked off our weekend by going out on a family date. Jesse took Ezra and me to Macaroni Grill and then to Barnes and Noble. Ezra, who usually is not a big carb-loader, ate almost a whole loaf a bread by himself. And he LOVED the vinegar to dip it in. He was so funny at Barnes and Noble; He ran straight to the childrens' section and when he was finished there he ran straight to Starbucks. He is a boy who knows how to have a good time!

Saturday, after enjoying the first session of general conference, we took Ezra to the waterpark and pool by our house. Unfortunately, it was still a little too cold, but Ezra tried really hard to enjoy it. Then he started crying and shivering. We figured we might need to wait a couple more weeks before we go back.

Running into the full blast of cold water . . .

Running away from the full blast of cold water . . .

Sunday was fun, too. In between conference sessions, we had a yummy family brunch at my parents' house. Then, later that evening, we had a family party in honor of Ryan's birthday. Overall, a really fun weekend!

"Too smart to sleep" and some cute pictures

So, last night Ezra decided it was time to eat/play at 2:00 in the morning. Out of desperation I decided to put him in bed with us. Normally he won't fall asleep in our bed, but in my groggy condition I thought it was worth a try. After a few minutes of trying to get him to relax, I just gave up. Pretty soon I felt him pick my hand up, position it so that two of my fingers were in the air and then he said, "Two!" Then he put up another one of my fingers and said, "Three!" Soon he was counting to five and back down again, all the while positioning my hand so that the correct amount of fingers were in the air! Jesse and I couldn't beleive it. Jesse started asking him how many fingers he was holding up, and Ezra kept getting it right. Then we put him back in his bed and he went right to sleep. It was like he couldnt wait until the morning to show us his new trick!

Ezra's first finger painting experience


In the above picutre Ezra put his toys on his rug, rolled them up and then walked on them - who knows the thought process of a 20 month old!?!

The End of the Beginning

We are officially done with procedures/surgeries for quite some time! Last week Ezra had an appointment with our plastic surgeon up in Utah. My wonderful mom was kind enough to travel to Utah with Ezra and me. Ezra was such a good kid the whole trip. He always loves to stay in a hotel (even though he won't sleep well in one).

Luckily Ezra doesn't associate the hotel or even the hospital with any of his surgeries. Instead he has focused all of his negative feelings about all of the experiences upon his plastic surgeon. For months, every time Ezra sees Dr. Schmelzer, he becomes completely petrified and terrified. This encounter with his Dr was no different. As soon as Dr. Schmelzer walked into the room, Ezra sat quietly (albeit nervously) on my lap. He even obliged the doctor and opened up his mouth. It is actually quite a nice reaction - much better than screaming or running away.

As usual, Ezra was thrilled when he escaped without anything happening to him. Dr. Schmelzer told us that everything looked great and that we wouldn't even have a check up for six months!

After that, we had lunch at The Spaghetti Factory and left the hugest mess I had ever seen (and we also left quite a nice tip). Then we walked over to Pottery Barn Kids and Ezra practically begged me to put him in one of the cribs they had set up. It was like he was telling me, "I'll be so happy in there, I just know it!"

But, now we are home and I am so excited that this whole process is done for years - probably until Ezra is six or seven!

This is a picture of Ezra at the hotel. He was already in his pack and play for the night, but he saw me pull out apples and peanut butter sandwiches. He just HAD to have some! It is always tricky trying to feed him in a hotel. Next time I need to bring some sort of seat along with us!