Today is Dani’s birthday! Love that lady! She is someone I admire very much and I’m so grateful I get to be her mom💕

Tonight she and Sierra and Jenna and Greg, Chris & Clayton went out to dinner to celebrate.

Ethan and Sierra went rock climbing this afternoon.

 I applied for practicum positions, worked, and got busy this evening and missed a meeting. I thought it started at 8 but it really started at 7. 😫

After work we went to Elm’s. I love it there and I love watching Ezra explore- full speed ahead! 

We only have a few more days together and Im trying to soak it all in.

And this one💕💕💕😍

tuesday-wednesday

Tuesday found us at the park again. It wasn't raining this time, so the slides weren't as fast. A good time was had by everyone, and some energy was burned. 

This is from the softball game last week.  Such cute girls. 

 

Today after dinner we went out in the woods for a little walk. Ezra, Lincoln and Lana all enjoyed it. 

Happiest baby in the land!

Grace taking her partner to the bathtub.

Rain

Hannah went out to dinner with Holly and Shannon, her friends from when we lived here before. She took Poppy and we kept Ezzie. 

I was hoping to take him to elms to play but it was raining kind of a lot so we had to pivot. We went to 5 Below and he picked a new car to add to his collection.

Then we went to Petco to look at all the animals. 

We met Grandpa for dinner at Chipotle and by then the rain was light so we went to the playground.

 It was a lot of fun! Ez did run over to the soccer field to join in the practice, and we had to drag a disappointed boy off the field, but the rest was very fun!

sunday

 

Ezra is sick today :( It was so sudden. He went to nursery, by himself (a first) and I picked him up, got a great report, he was happy as can be. I guess as soon as they got in the car and started driving, he started crying.  He's still so sad and his tummy hurts. We think he might be constipated since no one can remember the last poopy diaper.  Hopefully that's it and it will sort itself out quickly.

I taught RS today. It went fine.

School is a lot, and work is a lot. We've got this.  I just don't look around at the house or anything and just try to do what I've got to do and then spend the rest of the time with the family. 

Update: it all got worked out and he’s fine now. 🤎

Tired

We are all feeling a little tired. 

Today we went to St Marys City. Ezra loved the ship and the pigs.

It was a fun outting.

After we went to asahi and he loved the fire! And ate well.

Lincoln as “Max”💕

It was a nice day.

 

Fri Yay!!

This is my great grandmother. I remember her with great love. She was always smiling and was so very  kind. I want to find a picture of her smiling but maybe that's not how photos were taken back then.

This is her and her husband, who I never met, and their two daughters. My grandmother is the one on the left with the chic haircut.  

Grace is taking two online classes this summer, bio stats and family history. In her family history class she's been doing research and found this classic of Rob in high school. 

Me and Alec and Baba Katya.
 

Rob and Hannah took the kids to the beach on base today. They had a fun time. When I got home from work we had a sister come over for a blessing and then we went to Bursters and Wendys. In that order. Ice cream first is a good "survived the first week at work" philosophy.

We got there and he immediately spotted this corvette and ran over to admire it. He smelled it, touched it, tried to climb in it.  The owner was a young guy and he was super nice. He revved the engine for E to enjoy and talked to him.

lest you think it's all fun and games..

You have to keep a good grip on him in public.

So, I love having the grandkids visit. So much. It's seriously my favorite. It does come with more noise, more laundry, more things breaking, and more messes. That is life.  

I often miss the child raising days of my life. I look back on them with great fondness, and a little bit of rose-tinted glasses. I feel like I did a good job of enjoying it during the moment as well and my kids are my favorite people.  Yet there are hard and frustrating parts to parenting.

He makes his way under the pew and up to the stand every week.

Having Ezra here is 90% fun, and he is so very sweet.  I love when he apologizes by putting his little hand on my cheek.  I love that we are buddies and that we can play together. I love that he will go with me without Hannah now and that he feels safe and special. I love when he cuddles in close and when we “read” together.   I am going to be very sad when he goes home to Idaho and doesn't have his Mimi right there.  Partly because I will miss him so much and partly because I think his life is a little more fun with me around. 

but there is the 10%. 

The writing on walls and chalking on house and markering on his body.  There is the climbing of the bookshelves, the poopy diapers, the wreckless & dangerous antics that lure him to the edges of rails, decks, docks, and cliffs, and the running away.  

He is really fast.  Saturday when we were at the pool, he escaped my eye and ran all the way to the deep end diving board, boldly climbed up the stairs, shoved his way past the legs of the teenagers standing on it and nearly jumped in.  I chased him yelling his name.  Luckily someone grabbed him before he jumped in, or the lifeguard might have had to execute a rescue. Or maybe not, he can swim... but I'm not sure he would know which direction to go.

That pool trip was fun and had some frustrating moments.  The pool had lots of rules, like you have to go down the slide on your bottom only.  E-Z likes to run down, slide down headfirst, swing on the bar before going down, etc.  You have to walk. You have to get out of the pool for a body check every hour.  All things that he did not want to do, and we had to make him.  So, when we got to the diving board incident, I scooped him up and told him we were done. That pool is actually a little complex with multiple pools and places to play.  I think it's overwhelming for him to have so many amazing choices and he goes a little nuts! He does way way better when there is one pool. (We were there for several hours) 

ANYWAY, today was my first day at work. It went fine. I came home and did a little homework then decided to hang out with the family and do homework after dinner.  We called R to see when he would be home and it was going to be a little later than usual, so we put a movie on for Ezra then Hannah, Grace and I played a game.  Maybe 10 minutes later I stood up to get my phone and saw Ez on the floor covered head to toe in baby butt paste.  It was on his hands and on the carpet.  I gasped and went to grab him, which is not the right way to approach a baby in the wild.  I picked him up, he started kicking, and the butt paste got all over me and got more on the carpet. It got on the wood on the way out the door, and on the door.  Then it got on the hose and on Hannah who followed to help. It did not get off of him.  He wiggled away while we were deciding what to do and he hopped into my car, my new car 😢, and got it on the seat. It was impressive how widespread the carnage was. 

Hannah took E up to shower them both, which he hates, and we all began an hours long project of cleaning stuff up.  We are becoming expert stain removers.  Luckily, it's mostly clean now. 

And I was not delighted.