Ezra hosted a little dinner party for his friend, Sydney, on Friday night. If my ever-fading memory serves me correctly (luckily, I don’t have to go back too far) this might have been his first hosting event of someone his age. Sydney, of course, brought along some family – otherwise known as parents – for Ahna and I to converse with while the two of them played the evening away.
Categories: Ezra! · Life in General · Photos Included
From in front of the fire station this afternoon….
Categories: Life in General · Photos Included
Ezra had the opportunity to celebrate his birthday with the Family Dinner crowd on Thursday night. It was our turn to host, so we decided to have a little private celebration with Tori, Mary, Jennifer, and Charlotte (Hafner wasn’t able to make it due to work, but plans are in the works for something this upcoming week with her). Ezra was serenaded to Happy Birthday, while the lit cupcake was brought out…and he had this priceless look of confusion and awe on his face (see big picture below). He enjoyed some of the frosting – which we promptly took away since it was bedtime, and then opened up some great gifts. Books, a cd, and some finger puppets….lots of fun to be had.
Categories: Ezra! · Photos Included
Yes, it appears that Ezra is taking after his Mom Dad in his never ending hunt to live in front of a computer. It’s hard to believe that when we grew up, it was the Apple 2E+, then eventually a mouse was added, then eventually….well, you know. Now, at 11 months, Ezra already knows to go to the computer, grab the mouse, and look for the little thing moving on the screen. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before he takes over the blog.
Categories: Ezra! · Photos Included
So Ahna and I made the switch to a brighter verizon tonight. Our contract with the previous carrier expired yesterday, and we jumped on the opportunity and went into a full sprint to the store to switch over to a network with better coverage here, as well as more family and friends on it. Whenever we would go down to my parent’s house, we would have to think about where we were at and then remember that we couldn’t make any phone calls with any level of certainty. These phones are our first mobile devices in over two years, so we are finally getting something that is designed with texting in mind.
(Okay, I know that some of that paragraph sounds weird, but I was trying a little hiding game….can you find all of the cell service providers? There are the names of the 4 major carriers embedded in the sentences.)
Categories: Life in General
Today we say ‘thanks.’ It’s not just another day off (partially because I have to work), but it’s a time to remember all of the sacrifice made by generations of people and families protecting who we are as Americans. We put our political differences and opinions aside, and honor our fallen soldiers. I found a really interesting and poignant plug-in for Google Earth…you can find it here. The picture below is a map of the fallen soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can see photos of the soldiers, learn about how they died, visit memorial websites, and explore the places they called home as well as the places where they died. It’s really worth some of your time…
Categories: Life in General · Photos Included
In what was the first of many-to-come days out, Ezra and I joined Joe and Barrett in an adventure up to them there hills. I first must tell you that Barrett is 3 months old, and this is only Joe’s second day of being the daytime provider. We started the morning by heading to Black Hawk and the casinos. Yea, seriously….the degenerates that we are. Really, we went over there for the cheap breakfast and to start the day off on the little-bit ridiculous side of life. After a filling breakfast buffet for 2.99 each, we headed towards a short hike.
We decided on a trip to St. Mary’s Glacier which consists of about a mile of hiking (including a short trek through some snow) up to a mountain lake that is borders by the glacier. On the trip up the hill, I think that Barrett and Ezra conspired to provide Joe and I a pretty good parenting test: really poopy diapers at 11,000 feet. We managed, and we fed the boys up at the shore of the lake, after which we packed back up and headed back down the hill.
The last destination of the day was actually the inspiration of the day….a stop at Arapahoe Basin. Joe and I needed to pick up our mugs (it’s a mug club and the season is ending soon) and we needed a little mountain-side fix. We weren’t able to go skiing, but we did enjoy sitting on the deck and having one last beer for the season. When we got there, we ran into none other than Mr. Scott Russell, who had come up on his own and was hanging out with some new friends that he met. It was the perfect conclusion to a really fun day. Both boys did awesome all day long!
Pictures courtesy of the camera phone and include the views at St. Mary’s Glacier, chillin’ at A-Basin, and a joint diaper change on the tailgate of Joe’s pickup.
Categories: Life in General · Photos Included
Well, you can turn another page in the “Been There, Done That” book of parenting. 3 sets of PJs for each Ezra and Ahna, two shirts for me, one set of sheets, half a roll of toilet paper, and one towel (all amounts qualified as ’so far’) add up to a child that decided that the outside was better for the food than the inside. We aren’t exactly sure what has caused this to happen – since it is the first time (not including spit up) and the CSI hasn’t arrived as of yet – but we are getting a rare glimpse into exactly how much Ezra chews his food. Answer: when it comes to veggie burgers, not much. We were once again reminded of two things: 1) the stomach is acutely aware of the time of day, since it only and always decides to have episodes like this during the nighttime hours; and 2) somewhat surprisingly, vomit smells the same in an infant and an adult.
I am reminded of a scene from an old Nick cartoon where one of the characters farts for the first time…his verbal response was: “something just came out of my butt.” Ezra was sporting a similar expression as he was standing over the toilet. He seems to be acting okay for the most part, other than having no idea what is happening. He is trying to fall asleep between sessions, and even cracked a smile or two. This is being written as the clock shows near-midnight….here’s to hoping the worst is over.
Updated 0544: the worst was not over, and I suppose that it still may not be. As far as throwing up goes, once he empties his stomach, he was able to fall asleep for an hour or so at a time, but as soon as we tried to give him some fluids….up it came. More outfits gone through for Ahna and I, Ezra slept in diapers only. All of this should make for an interesting day.
Categories: Ezra!
As the summer storm season has begun, it’s my hope to be able to capture some good photos…..alas, hopes were not realized the last two days when great lighting/thunder storms rolled through Castle Rock. I was at work both days, and after deciding that “oh, it’s alright, I can leave my tripod at home – nothing will happen” I had to settle for just looking (and then responding to lighting strikes all around our first due). This photo is about all that I could capture between everything else going on. It’s standing on the front ramp of the station at about 4:30 on Monday afternoon.
Categories: Life in General · Photos Included
Ezra’s Great-Grandparents have been in town for the last month or so (since just before Dad’s surgery) and are planning on leaving over the weekend, which means that they won’t be here to celebrate Ezra’s 1st birthday at the party. So, we started the events early and held a nice little dinner tonight….balloons, the gifts from his Great-Grandparents, and a muffin with a candle instead of cake (trying to avoid the sugars for now). Ezra made the obligatory 1st birthday mess, and also got some really cute outfits that he will be sporting this summer and fall. Oh yea, and a book also – which is probably his favorite thing to do right now…read.
Too many pictures came out too cute to trim down the amount loaded (just wait for his actual birthday), so here they are:
Categories: Ezra! · Photos Included
