Thankful for our family this Thanksgiving!

As is tradition, my mom gets the boys an ornament for the Christmas tree. They get to unwrap their gift on Thanksgiving. Asher was thrilled...

...with having a present to unwrap

...and with what the present was: a Thomas train (to remind us always of Asher's love of trains and our summer trip to Boone to ride the steam engine).

I think this was Ezra's first experience opening a gift. He thought the bow was real neat. Ezra got a baby's 1st Christmas ornament.

So, our ever observant child has learned quickly to SMILE for the camera. Here is one of many examples of Ezra's new big, big smile:


Before everyone came over for lunch, Al took some time to join Asher watching the parade on TV. I thought it was cute how they were both so laid back:

Everyone brought food and Al carved the turkey:


Holly and her family came over and all the kids were excited to see their grandpa and grandma:




Jeff and his family joined us. (We were sorry not to get to see April and Tyler though.) After lunch, visiting, and the kids' nap time, we went with my mom to see Grandma Gleason:

New Family Photos

We finally did it... we got some family photos!






Thanks Holly for your help!

Growing, growing, growing... daddy would be so proud!

Ezra has been growing fast! At a recent check-up, he was 29 inches tall and just over 20 pounds. Can't believe my baby is now 7 months old...

...and eating all kinds of food too.

He has liked everything we've fed him: sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, peas and carrots, green beans, banana, applesauce (as long as it's not too cold). But I'm not sure what he's going to think of spinach ;)

Ezra is a very busy boy. He is very expressive with his voice and facial expressions...


...and exploring everything he can get his hands on. Including chewing on his hands too.

He has two teeth so far and is working on a third.

One of his favorite activities is jumping, jumping, jumping in his excisaucer.

Also, books are a new favorite. He actually looks at them and turns the pages instead of putting them in his mouth...



...Daddy, the librarian, should be so proud! ;)

More Fall Pics

Finally got a fall picture of Ezra:


The kids have been loving the beautiful fall weather!



Asher being the loving big brother!

Halloween Fun

We had lots of fun this Halloween. Asher loves his pumpkins! He carved a pirate pumpkin (with just one eye).


Also, Asher was excited to decorate a pumpkin for his brother (with glow-in-the-dark stickers)...


...Ezra loved it!



Thanks to Al's coworker Kim, I think Asher had the biggest Jack-O-Lantern in the neighborhood. He had fun carving it with dad.



Asher was excited to go to Bartels for candy (in his monkey costume).


Ezra dressed up too (as a bear).



Halloween night, we went to Trunk or Treat and houses in our neighborhood...



Then Asher was excited to sit on our front porch and hand out candy to other kids out trick or treating.

Fall 2009 Photos

Thanks to Aunt Holly, we have our annual fall photos of Asher.


Surprisingly, we got a picture of all the cousins together too.

Not sure about the look. I think the kids were ignoring our jumping around trying to get their attention, and Ezra was wondering what was going on. We are hoping to get a fall photo of Ezra too sometime soon.

New Smile

Well, Ezra has a new smile now. Our blessing has been that through everything he has kept on smiling. Here are some pictures along the way...

Ezra day of surgery:


1 week after surgery:


2 1/2 weeks after surgery:


The end of this week will mark the end of the arm restraints. Ezra will be thrilled to be back in his crib again and on his tummy to play and roll around. He also will be able to put things in his mouth again, like his toys... and bring on the big boy food!

Miscellaneous September Pics

September was going great... lots of pictures with the birthday party and fun summer activities. Then my camera BROKE!!! Here are a few miscellaneous pictures from the rest of September. Some of the colors are off because of my camera malfunction, but you get the idea.

Following are pictures of Al with the boys on his birthday morning, policeman Asher getting a call and giving orders, Asher's new favorite activity: Tinkertoys with Grandpa, mommy and boys on the couch, and Ezra playing at the end of the month.






I wasn't sure what I was going to do... Ezra is turning 6 months old soon, he is having surgery at the start of October, then there's Halloween, etc. But sis saved the day and let me borrow a camera. So, stay tuned for more pics in October. PHEW!

Time to get out and enjoy summer before it's over!

So, it all started with the realization that our neighborhood sidewalks are not too great for a little... sorry BIG... boy who is learning to ride a bike. Al had a great idea to go to the bike trail with Asher's bike to give him a little practice.

We had a picnic snack and Asher found dandelions to blow. Then to riding the bike... yeah!


Well that lasted a whole 3 minutes. But hey on to the next thing right!

We all had a great time spending some time together as a family. Asher wanted to "run, run, run!"

and then explored with daddy up a lot of stairs.

I just love watching how curious and excited Asher is about new experiences. Ezra, of course, enjoyed watching too.

And as long as he had his teether, Ezra was happy as could be!