Seth

This post is as close as I will ever get to one of those saccharine "my busband's the best" FB posts...

But a blog summary of our life wouldn't be complete without recognition of how blessed Ezra, Isaac and I are to have Seth in our lives.

He loves us so well and self-sacrificially. I'm so glad God made us into a family.

"Isaac just keeps ruining my day"

"Isaac just keeps ruining my day" he says. It's kinda true. Poor Isaac wants Ezra's attention SO badly that he keeps forcing himself on Ezra.

This morning, at least, Ezra is overtired (Isaac did rudely wake him up) and just wanrs to be left alone. Isaac, however, is in a great mood and is being super sweet. He hasn't hit Ezra once! And keeps trying to (open mouth) kiss Ezra ("but he's so slimy!") and pet him ("but I'm not a dog or animal!")

This is as difficult as keeping them apart when they're being mean to each other!

"Such a Nice Lady"

Ezra finished his peanut butter and jam sandwich and stood up. "I think I need another one!"

"Oh?" I asked. "Do you want another peanut butter and jam sandwich?"

"Yes please! To the kitchen!"

I beat him to the kitchen and started spreading the peanut butter on a slice of bread.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making you another sandwich."

"Oh! You are just such a nice lady!"

Friday Update #1 (1/3/14)

The first (half) week of 2014!

Saturday was the big exception to that statement. We did enough on Saturday to last for the whole week! The boys and I went to my friend's house for a mini-CHS-girls reunion, which was lovely and much needed and all too short. And then we drove up to Shoreline for a Meyers family reunion, with my grandma's two nieces and family.

And then I left Ezra with his grandparents and drove back down I5 with Isaac to go to our monthly dinner with our group from church! Whew! But hey, breakfast, lunch and dinner were all provided! Maybe I should attend an event for each meal every day.

We went to my parent's to watch the last Seahawk game of the regular season on Sunday. Thankfully the Seahawks turned themselves around and made a much better showing than they did the week before.

The boys and I hung out at our house all day Monday and Tuesday, playing with new presents and watching some TV while I accomplished some much needed work on the computer.

Tuesday night, though, we went to church for a New Years Eve sleepover with the high schoolers. The boys fell asleep at 11:15 (Ezra) and 11:30 (Isaac) and then I fell asleep at 11:45. Oops. But Seth stayed up until 5am with the youth (who actually stayed up even longer, until 7am)!!!

Thursday was another stay at home day for the boys and I. We did some laundry and wrapped birthday presents.

Today is Seth's 28th birthday! We had a breakfast birthday cake and opened presents.

Ezra was tasked with putting the "2" and "8" in the "cake" as I gathered up cups/plates. I turned around and he was adding all the other numbers too, because "Daddy needs them all".

Ezra was really excited for Seth's "cake" and presents. I love the look on his face here.

Of course they can't both be looking at the camera/smiling.

And of course Ezra is still anti-camera.

Isaac is such a big boy.

And Ezra is... a dog? He said he had a great idea: "lets eat the cake like a dog!"

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Then Seth had the morning to relax without us (or at least to make moving calls and talk to Mormon missionaries for three hours!?), while the boys and I went to the Adams'. We were then supposed to have a family lunch at Old Country Buffet, since that's his favorite restaurant (well, kind of... most of all it's the easiest place to take Ezra) but Ezra was pretty obviously not in the mood, so we got Ezra chicken nuggets instead. And then my mom and dad watched our boys while we went on a date!

Mid discussion of Mormon theology and Famous Dave's hunting decor.

Even though my parents did just watch Ezra last weekend, and though they will watch him if/when we need a sitter (like three weeks ago when I had to teach and Seth was running late from work), I truly can't remember the last time we went on a date. A real, live date. Like where you spend time together for the sake of spending time together, not just to accomplish some obligation you can't otherwise do with children. Glorious!

On Photographs

At the park the other day, Seth snapped this photo of the boys and I. But he brought his phone to me last night to show me his editing job. I love this photo, and yes, the way Seth edited it.

However, when I see it, I think of how much fun we had at the park and how sweet it is that Seth even looked back through the photos on his phone, let alone edited one of them. That's not at all something he usually does. I definitely try to play family curator, taking photos and then trying to print them and send them to family members or post them online. But sometimes I trick myself into thinking that Seth doesn't care about making/preserving family memories just because he doesn't make as much effort to do so. There are a lot of reasons for that, including our families of origin and our perspectives on historic preservation, etc, but it's completely unfair to equate less effort with just not caring at all.

Avocado Face

My big eater can devour an entire avocado, no problem.

Operation Toilet Training

I'm hesitant to declare Operation Toilet Training a success, but since I'm no longer concerned about Ezra's ability (read: willingness) to communicate his need to use the bathroom successfully, I don't know how else to describe our progress. I guess I'm just afraid that all of this has been some elaborate mind game on his part to raise my hopes and then cruelly dash them.

That being said, what else am I waiting for? Phase one is definitely over. Ezra wears underwear all day and is very good about telling me when he needs to go. Most nights we do have him wear a pull up, but he stays dry through the night half of the time. When we put on his pull up, he usually protests that he doesn't want a diaper, because he's a big boy. But then again, every once in a while he asks to wear a diaper so he can be a baby. I think it's just his obstinacy. As with everything, once Ezra decided he wanted to use the toilet, he did really well.

Ezra does not/cannot go the bathroom all by himself, however. He can pull his underwear up and down, and he can flush the toilet and wash his hands by himself, but using the stool to climb up and sit on the toilet is just a bit much still. Probably primarily because Ezra does still wait until almost the last moment to tell me that he needs to go. Still, I will happily run him to the toilet in exchange for not changing his diapers! In a month or two I'll help him learn to be self-sufficient, but for now I'm glorying in the fact that he's finally out of diapers!