Milestone - 5 Years

I love this kid.  I have probably said it before but Ezra is a special kid.  I knew it before he was even born.  I knew when I was pregnant with him that I knew him before this life.  I knew his name was Ezra.  He was familiar to me in every way.

He is still our "baby".  I have a feeling he always will be.  We will have two "babies".  And not because he enjoys being the baby or acts like one but because he is such the dangest, sweetest boy you'll ever meet.

We celebrated twice this year, once at our new house and then again at Grandma Mikey's with the cousins.  I had envisioned an Indian themed, brave little warrior party for him this year but really who was I kidding?  Moving day to the new house was just days before his big day.

The Indian feather headbands were good enough for him.  He's not much for hoopla.  He just tells it like it is in his low serious voice, "Oh, that's not the [present] I wanted."  Then we all move on.

 We love you Ezra.  Don't ever turn six.

A bit overdue...Milestone 1 year

We made it.  One whole year.

What a busy year me and this gal have had.

We sold the little downtown house she spent her 1st year in a couple weeks ago.  It was a bittersweet time for me - that year.  Most days I was crying for more room and other days I was just incredibly grateful for my little family and our little house.

We had great neighbors and a great location.

Mikael and I would bike around the block to Rent-A-Flick, the library, we would occasionally bike a forgotten lunch to Highland Elementary, visiting teaching, and the thrift store down the street. Really nice, friendly people driving by us on our bike rides would wave and smile big as Christmas.  I would try to remember if I know them from somewhere....but I soon realized they were just waving back at my smiling, waving Mikael.  She is killer.

One year ago:

I have loved getting to know this baby this year.  She is our little sass pot.  I talk a lot of smack but I sure do love you Mikael.  We made it!  Happy first year.

We celebrated.

Our Kael Bell is 1!

All day long she really wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  There were tears when burning candles were placed in front of her.

She pretended to be shy.  She refused to eat or smile if someone was looking at her.

This is her new "I'm shy" pose.  Pretty much everyone is getting the elbow these days.

Very slowly and cautiously she explored her cake.

Silly girl.  We all know there is nothing shy, slow, or cautious about this chic.  Why, it was just the very next day we found her here:

Happy Birthday to our favorite little, messy lady.

Milestone - 30 years. And I'm over it.

I had these visions of turning of 30.  I envisioned I would be wise and confident and that I would know how to cook really good.  And that someone somewhere would take a really great photo of me - like one for the ages.

Mmmmuph.

Oh well.  The truth is I'm still learning how to make hard decisions and still figuring out who I am.  And that timeless picture will have to wait another day or year.

30 was hard.  Sound cliche.  But true.  I'll never be in my 20's again.  That's how birthdays work.  They keep coming.  And 30 was like a dark storm cloud headed my way all summer.  Maybe I am gloomy about it because just thinking about celebrating 30 years makes me tired.  The only thing we celebrate lately is when Mikael falls asleep.  And I should be dancing in the street for all my 30 years.  They have been good.  Real good.

Today, I asked Jace just as Mom used to ask me, "How old are you?"  I know Jace is 32 but when he is squirting my 4 years old with water just to get a rise - the question is appropriate.

Do you know his response?

"How old are you?"

Ouch.  He knew that one would hurt this week.

Milestones

5 Months

BFF

She is still a little dolly.  But no one loves her more than Ezra.  He is grabbing, poking, laughing, and talking to her all day long.  These are just some of the names he calls her:

• toot basket
• chicken toes
• little fart
• fatso
• a bum
• sweet little Mikaels

It has been a rough ride for this little lady this month.  I'm not going to lie about it.  The ear infection out stayed it's welcome and horrible sleeping habits were acquired.  When she cries out every hour during the night,  her mother cries too.  I have met a 9 year old toting a crying baby in the middle of the hall in the wee hours more than I care to admit this month.  Sometimes I might call her a little fart too.

7 Years

My 7 seven year old son.  Not afraid of anything.

Noie Boie Baum turned 7 on Feb. 11th.  He wanted to shoot a gun on his big day and eat at a Chinese buffet.  Right when I think I got this kid figured out he surprises me.  Some of the things he is loving right now:

• Wrestling (he was king of the mat last week and hasn't let us forget it)
• rice and pasta (still)
• Star Wars (still)
• neighborhood boys
• swimming
• cousins
• reading (he is tearing up the 1st grade)
• chips (the spicier the better - Grandma and Papa gifted him 2 of his very own bags on his big day)

I have driven by the school at recess and watched as Noah slashed thru the air with a pretend sword and kicked about while flinging pretend num chucks.  He has told me that everyone says he is the best one at sword fighting "because I do it so good."  Well put Dwight Schrute.  I seriously love this kid.

32 Years

And I seriously love this guy.  We celebrated his 32 years on Earth on Feb. 20th.  He is the life of the party.  He kids adore him and his wife follows him around - waiting for him to make her laugh again.

He doesn't complain about much.  Loves his family and friends and would do just about anything for them.  You would be lucky to make it on his list of family and friends.  You need a loan?  Bailed out of jail?  Picked up on the side of BFE?  A job?  A house?  You got it.  No questions asked.  You qualify.  Jace can not not help someone he loves.

He keeps our life interesting and keeps us moving.  When I die I will be able to say - I lived.  I really, really lived.  These are just some of the things he has talked to me about this week:

• owning a feed store
• bidding on a egg incubator
• dropping off one of his handicapped chickens in a stranger's yard
• where the full grown Rottweiler dog will sit on 7 hour drive home
• corn grinders
• how good his feet feel in his new "five finger" shoes.  I call them his dog fight shoes - as in I wouldn't wear them to a dog fight - but they are making his feet feel good - so whatever.
• how to keep the dog catcher away
• building a water park in the middle of an irrigation pond

Happy Birthday Lover.  I love you, even if I hate most some of your ideas.

Don't forget to check out all the action going on over here.

Milestones

3 Months

What can I say about this gal? Blue eyes. Long eyelashes. So quiet. So content. Loves her Mother. Laughs at Noah. Smiles at her Father. She can arch her back and scoot herself down when she is in the swing....I have walked into the room multiple times only to find her laying on the floor. She is basically a gymnast. We love her so. Heavenly Father could not have sent a sweeter 4th child to my home.

9 Years

And what can I say about this gal that I haven't already said? She is still so sweet and takes such good care of all of us. She is right now talking on the phone to Grandma Mikey asking if she would like a group Christmas number with her brothers or would she prefer a solo for the Christmas Eve program? I love it. Macy got to take a couple friends to the movie for her birthday. That is the closest thing to a birthday party this little lady has ever had. And a funny thing about this picture. Macy has always known what she would like to wear and sometimes it isn't what her Mother would like her to wear. She cries because "everyone at school gets to wear cool clothes except me. (you know the High School Musical and Hannah Montana clothes) I have to wear shirts with birds on 'em. Not cool Mom." Guess what Macy got for her birthday? Yep. A shirt with a penguin on it. Oh what sad stories she will have to tell about her childhood. Love you Macy. You will always be way cooler than your Motherdear.

9? WOW. Are Jace and I really that old? Funny cuz I sometimes still think we are the newlywed couple in the ward.

Milestones

2 Months

Macy has been waiting a long while to dress Mikael in this shirt. She and I find the shirt hilarious. Navajo county hands these bad boys out. For free. Any thoughts? Makes me wonder. Would a low income mother contemplating the the convience of formula or the benefits of the breastfeeding see this shirt and think "True. True. I'm convinced." Nope. They may have to see Mikael in the shirt to be convinced. Isn't she the picture of health? I want to eat her for breakfast.

4 Years

This guy turned 4. Yes, he is tall for his age. Yes, he loves the wii and pbskids.org more than his family. Yes, he still sucks his thumb, while holding his blue blanket.

And yes, we still can't get enough of him.

I worried how he and I would get along after the baby was born but he has been a champ. He loves his "tinsy, little baby" and tells me at least twice a day that my "tinsy, little baby is crying." He waits patiently all day for "those other kids" to come home. He is the sweetest boy.

Happy Birthday foofie pants! We love you.

Parties, Earrings, and Covenants

The day was cold and quiet. She wore the same dress I did when I was baptized by my father 20 years ago at the same building. She sang a primary song with Noah. She was worried her curls wouldn't make it all the way under and that she would have to be dunked again and again. But in the end, that would have been ok with her, the water was warm. She asked "backstage" in her dripping wet dress if she could swim a lap or maybe just to the steps? We ate her favorite roast beef sandwiches. I was so proud of her. And her Dad.

Turning eight at our house not only means baptism but also earrings. We have been talking about this day for years but in the end it almost didn't happen. Mattie held her hands. Macy cried and changed her mind. I held her head. And it was over before she knew it started. Five minutes later, she was posing in the streets.

Mattie, along with her Mom, Grandma, sisters, and cousins showed up on our doorstep the morning of her birthday. It was the best birthday surprise. It invoked tears, squeals, and hugs and then again when they had to leave.

I love this girl so much. She has grown up so much this past year. I love her sense of humor and how she tries not to laugh at her parents jokes. She is so thoughtful of her brothers and her friends. She is a rule follower and likes to be reassured that we are all on the right side of the law. Choosing the right comes so easy to her. She is my joy. We feel so blessed to have her in our home.

I used to wonder what in the world I was thinking, birthing a child this time of year. But maybe I was wrong. She is the perfect way to end a year and begin a new one. She has taught us so much and at times we feel like we are growing up along side her. I am honored to know her sweet spirit and how it reminds me how thankful I am to be a mother. Her mother.

My kids are still cute. Halloween 2009. Ezra turned 3. Thanksgiving 2009. We are still alive. In pictures. In no particular order.

Surprised you didn't I? I may or may not update this private blog after all.