The Frostenport Family Times

And here he is......Thomas Wilder Frost!!

2012-01-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

I know I know, I should've done this much much sooner but my sad little blog is pretty low on the priority list right now. At any rate, here he is, our third child and second son, sir Thomas Wilder Frost!! He will go by Wilder following in the tradition of his father (whose first name is Robert) And he really was born on Christmas! What are the chances I ask you. With Ezra being born on leap year, and this little guy on Christmas I'm beginning to think I can have a baby on any day I choose! Although alot of people would say they would never choose to have a baby on those days (and I can see their points), in my eyes it makes them all the more special. My Grandma Davenport was born on the 4th of July and to me it always made that day twice the party. Anyway, more on birthday celebrations later, this post will be about Wilder's birth story.

Now, as you may or may not remember, Wilder's original due date was Jan 3, but he was always consistently measuring about a week bigger so we knew there might be a chance of him coming earlier than that. It made planning our holidays a bit tricky because we always go north to spend time with our families who live about an hour away from Provo. Eventually we decided we would just do everything the way we normally would and if we had to rush back to Provo then so be it. Things never happened so fast with the other two that I was worried about the drive, I knew we would have enough time before things got unmanageable.

Christmas eve morning I woke up around a quarter to five feeling a little crampy. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so I waddled out to my parents tv room to watch some shows. Then I noticed that I was having some consistent contractions, about 10 minutes apart. I waited a couple hours before telling anyone, I wanted to make sure they weren't going anywhere. Around 7:30 I woke up Brock and told him I thought we might have a Christmas Eve baby on our hands. He reluctantly got up to get in the shower. (He's never shown the proper amount of excitement in these situations, in my humble opinion, but at least he lends his calmness during the actual labor). I think he might have been hoping the baby would come right after Christmas and not mess with the festivities.

We got ready, but things weren't progressing rapidly so we decided to wait a bit just to be on the safe side. It was a little bit of a dilemma because we didn't want to drive down an hour just to be told it wasn't real labor and have to drive back. Then in the afternoon they started to get closer together, about 7 min apart. We decided we'd better go, while they weren't too intense yet, but seemed to be speeding up. Naturally on the drive down they slowed down, and by the time we got home I was only having 2 or 3 an hour. "Great." I thought. I was afraid maybe this wasn't the real thing and we were wasting time and gas. By now it was in the evening and my mom suggested I call the hospital and see what they said. I did, reluctantly. I figured they would tell me what I already knew which is, when they're 5 min apart or starting to get intense, that's when you come to the hospital. To my surprise, the nurse told me since it was my 3rd child we should come in so they could check things. I guess sometimes things can happen quickly when it's not your first.

Off we went to UVMC me, Brock and Lizzi my little sister, who has been our trusted camera woman since the birth of Esther. When we got there I had to put on the sexy hospital sheets with snaps and they hooked me up to some monitors, explaining that they'd have to watch me for at least an hour. I was also dilated to a 1+. So something was happening, but not very quickly.

They let us walk around the halls for a bit, in the hopes that walking might speed things up some. The first hour came and went, and things had progressed a little so they kept me another hour. Right when everyone thought they were going to send us home, the contractions started to change. They were coming faster and getting more intense. After talking with the Dr, the nurse said we could stay. They would start me on the pitocin, and I could get an epidural if I chose to. Earlier in this pregnancy I had thought maybe this could be the "natural" birth my romantic mind had always pondered having. However, I never made up my mind one way or the other which meant when it was go time, it was give me that damn epidural time! And can I just say, that I think epidurals are wonderful. They turn a painful, uncomfortable experience into a calm happy one.. at least for me. I respect and admire women who can do without one, but I don't think I have it in me to be one of them.

So, epidural, check. Pitocin, check. Now we just had to wait. We all took a nap. The next thing I know, my Dr is there checking to see how dilated I was, and wouldn't you know it, I was fully dilated, fully effaced and ready to go! This was around 2:40 in the morning. All the help arrived and got me ready to start pushing. And I did. I think we pushed through 4 or 5 contractions and then we got to meet this little guy for the first time.

I was in love (as all mothers are) immediately.

He was born at 3:20 in the morning on Christmas day. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz, and was 21.5 inches long, our fattest baby yet. Our little Christmas Wilder. Overall this birth experience was probably the easiest and now that he was here I felt like I was in heaven. Being in the hospital after having the baby is always the honeymoon time for me. You've got nurses to bring you pain medication and juice, you've got excited visitors bringing presents, and best of all you've got this:

I'm always on some kind of high after I have my babies- not feeling like I need any sleep, just a little bundle for me to hold and smile at. Our families came Christmas morning to meet him, Esther and Ezra were pretty excited to see him for the first time. Unfortunately Esther had come down with a cold the day before so they both wore masks and didn't get to hold him until later.

We had a Christmas morning of sorts. My mom and sister talked the kids into only opening one present at home and saving the rest to open at the hospital. The nice thing about having him on Christmas was the hospital was slow and quiet, so I felt like we got very good treatment and care. The downside was nothing was open, even the hospital cafeteria. I think my family ended up eating at Beto's. We checked out early the next day so we could have our postponed Christmas Eve dinner at my parents that night. In a way, I felt like Christmas came and went this year without us. But it doesn't make me sad, because now we'll have twice the fun on Christmas every year, for many years to come. All in all it was a perfect birth and a perfect baby. We all love him very much. Now here's some more pictures:

The End.

I guess I'll be getting another one of these for Christmas!

2011-07-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie. I'd secretly convinced myself this baby was going to be a girl. All the online tests said so. But am I sad to be getting another little elf like that guy? Hell no! Now that I know what the baby is (most likely) I can just be excited. The due date was Jan 3, but every time I've gone in the baby measures bigger than he's supposed to be. For example, today I should be 16 weeks but the baby is measuring 17 and a half weeks. Maybe I'll finally get that chubby little baby I've always wanted! Esther and Ezra were so skinny, it would be fun to have a chunk:) And we could name him Santa! Maybe he'll even be born on Christmas day!

Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink. And now she's five.

2011-04-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my boss. I love you bug.

Thanks for keeping it classy mother nature.

2011-03-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

NO THANKS for pretending it's WINTER when we all know it should be SPRING!

Ezra's 3rd Bday Party!!!

2011-03-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

See, I told you I would post some Birthday pictures before the week was out, and look at this it's the same day! But that's how I roll sometimes:) I would have liked to post the best pictures with this post but I had left my camera at home in the stroller (doh!) So the pictures you see in the slideshow are all taken by my dads camera and my little brothers fiance Gracies waterproof camera (she is the pretty blonde in alot of the pictures:) I wasn't clever enough to figure out how to get the pictures on my computer so I just did a slideshow with the picasa website. Not that any of that is very interesting. Anyway, a little about the birthday boy and his partay:

Ezra and I started planning this shark party ummm let's see here, last fall? Sharks were his first boyish love, which ironically started when I would read the little mermaid to Esther. Ezra demanded that I turn it to the shark pages over and over. So that's where the shark party theme came from. Naturally several months later he was only semi in love with sharks and fully in love with airplanes, rockets, planets and marbles, but we'd been talking about his shark party long enough that he still wanted one. It's been lots of fun to watch Ezra because he really gets fixated on certain toys like the ones named above, where Esther has always loved all manner of toys (girlish in nature of course) but has never had favorites.
We had the party at an indoor wave pool in Layton called surf-n-swim. It snowed alot the night before and when I woke up that morning I thought for sure not very many people would make it, since some were coming from far off places. But everyone came that said they were and I have to say, I think it was our funnest party yet! It was nice having it at a place where you don't have to entertain everyone since I am not a huge fan of party games. Little by little I think I am getting better at being organized so it seemed like there was minimal stress for this get together. My in-laws are always the first to arrive at every Birthday party we've had which in the past meant they also had to help with all the things I hadn't got done yet. This time I knew if everything was ready by the time they arrived then in my mind my party was a success! And it was!
We were very grateful for everyone that was able to be there and can't wait to start planning Ezra's next bday....his first REAL bday:) (ok that's a lie I can wait, at least until Esther's bday is passed) Here is a picture of Ezra with his two sharks, Acorn and Hanchor (named for what I told Ezra I was making so he wouldn't suspect what they really were) both of which were crocheted.
p.s. just click on the slideshow if you'd like to see bigger pictures

Big chair or little kids?

2011-03-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, how does this Marchy day find you? I was on facebook wasting my valuable momming time as usual, when all of a sudden I got the urge to put a post on my blog. This picture was taken in January which is a testament to how much I've been using my camera lately (not much). Who knew that they make camping chairs for giants. Like my earlier post mentioned I have been meaning to get back in blogging action, it's only my terrible perfectionism and procrastination that's been stopping me. I think I am the worst kind of perfectionist because I would like things to be a certain way, but I am too lazy to stay dedicated and focused to make it so. Ah well. I'm going to try very hard to put up a post about Ezra's 3rd Bday (aka shark party) this week. So keep your fingers crossed my faithful 9:)

Maybe.....someday......

2011-02-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

Hello world! Just wanted to say that I might be updating this blog again someday soon. That is all.

Autumn, anyone who doesn't love you deserves a punch in the face.

2010-11-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

Sigh. Isn't Fall one of the most lovely times of year? My Brother Nathanael took most of these when he was visiting the sis in New York. They were all taken in Vermont except for well, Lady Liberty:)

Hello my seven followers

2010-04-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Wondering where I've been since.....October? Well wonder no longer because I'm going to try my darndest to get back into blogging action! Maybe! Well the truth is I've been uploading most of my pictures and stories to facebook (it's just so easy and fast.) But I have been meaning to do more on the blog....if your not on facebook, you should be (uncle John) because everyone and their dogs/kids/what- have-you's are already there. So just join the crowd I say! Anyway, here are some things that have happened since last you read:

1. Christmas. It was great this year, no pappy's in hospital gowns, always a plus.

2. New Years. It came, it went. With all the usual resolutions and all the usual ignoring of resolutions.

3. I started school! Math and stats...ew yuck! My stats class is almost over but I'm not out of the woods yet, keep your fingers crossed I pass the final exam....and the class!

4. Ezra turned 2. And it has been Terrible, let me tell you! That boy keeps us running all over the place and is always up to no good. But he does have quite the personality and makes us laugh alot. I know when he's grown I will only look upon his younger years with a smile on my face. Hopefully.

5. Me and Brock ran our first half marathon together! I had run one previously in the summer, and Brock had never ran. At all. He ran a half marathon without training for it! I think we finished in 2 hours and 47 minutes. (much slower time than my first one, but I wanted to finish with old pokey.) And I have to say, for never running any race in his entire life, finishing in under 3 hours was pretty impressive to me. After running this race, Brock has decided he wants to run too, and I now envision us with a hobby together, running races all over the world...into old age. I also signed up for my first marathon (that's 26.2 miles people) in September and Brock will run the half in that race with as well. It's called the Little Grand Canyon Marathon, hopefully it will be a good one, and I don't die trying to finish it.

6. Esther turned 4! And my older sister Abby got engaged! All on the same day! Hot damn! I'll talk more about Esther's Bday in a different post with some pics when I upload them. Now, as for Abby's engagement, well we're all just tickled to death that she's finally found her someone. His name is Kyle, but we call him Cricket, or Crickie for short, because the man can do an uncanny cricket chirp. The more time I spend with him the more I like him and am very glad he's going to be a part of our family.

p.s. The picture above is some "graffiti" we found on BYU's lovely campus. Everything you've ever heard about Utah County is true. The chalk doesn't lie.

The little escape artist

2009-12-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

In the last week Ezra has discovered he can hop right out of his crib. Which terrified me at first, but once I saw he was adept enough to do it without hurting himself, my terror switched quickly to anger. The first night and day after he realized he could do it were hard because he kept climbing out at nap and bedtime. I think he's figured out now that no matter how many times he gets out we will just put him back in, so he just stays in. The really funny thing is he can hop outta there in 2 seconds when no one is watching him, but the second I tried to catch it on tape he just stayed straddled over the rail and pretended he was stuck. SNEAKY! This kid dishes out something new everyday, it's a good thing he's so cute and funny or I don't think I could take it!

Bold Bouncing Boy Boy

2009-11-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

This was at a Birthday party for a cousin, they had it at Classic Skating, the kids as you can imagine had a very fun time. Ezra had absolutely no fear, which I'm not entirely sure I appreciate at this stage in his life. Boys will be boys I suppose, they had to kick his father off one of the bounce houses because he was diving onto things that weren't meant to be dove on.....

Big Beautiful B week

2009-11-09T13:08:00.001-08:00

Birthday girl with her Big Button hat (I made it, thank you very much:)

Blurry Birthday picture with Cousin Kennedee

BYU Boy with a Bag on his head

They colored their faces with a Brown marker (I had nothing to do with this one)

Beautiful BYU campus

A Blonde and a Brunette

Best Buddies

Bunny Sandwiches

Halloween in a spoooky old village!

2009-10-31T21:15:00.001-07:00

Little House with a Fairy

Ezra was telling me where to go.

Esther and Honey (the pony not Abby)

Ezra was not appreciating this hayride, and he really wanted Lizzi for some reason, that's why he's squirming.

Esther's cornhusk doll

Ezra the lostboy "gink" or skunk if you speak adult English

Run fatboy run! It's ok to say that because he's not really fat, see? He was running to catch up with his brother (in the black) who hopped on at the end.

My what a busy but lovely Halloween!! These are some pictures from today at the This is the Place Monument Park in SLC. Last year we took the kids to their "Little Haunts" that the park does two Saturdays in October. As you can clearly see we had a great time and I feel a family tradition coming into our midst. This year it was just me Abby, Lizzi and the kids, Brock graciously stayed home to make stew and fresh bread for us to enjoy after trick or treating (I will do another post on that, but probably not tonight). Anyway it was a fun day activity to do with the kids and we saw lots of great costumes (a blow up sumo wrestler among them).

Happy Halloween!!!

"A" week without T.V.

2009-10-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

SO last week I decided I would bite the bullet and unplug the t.v. Just for a week. To see what would happen. It's something I've been wanting to do for awhile, always feeling guilty that our t.v. is constantly on and I know Esther is watching way more than the recommended 2 hour a day quota for kids her age. I was terrified, but it was surprisingly easier than I thought. Yes, I did have to spend more time trying to find different ways to entertain them, but suddenly all the things I do when they are normally occupied by the telly, (like clean an apt. that is forever not clean) didn't seem to matter that much. Which is how it should be, I like to think. Mostly we went on more walks and played with play-do and the like. The best part was that it forced me to pay attention to these precious critters. I can only imagine the loneliness I will feel when they are grown and no longer need me. Also in conjunction with this no tv week I decided to start the letter of the week thing where each week you concentrate on one letter, and do activities or notice things that start with that letter. Each week I am going to crochet a block patch and chain stitch that letter on it and by the end we'll have an alphabet blanky!! I might be more excited about that at this point than my kids are but we'll see how it turns out. So here are some pictures of things we noticed during a week with no tv. Don't worry we talked about real A words too. Oh and in case your wondering if we watch tv now, the answer is yes. But only one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. It seems to be working out fine.

"A" little farmer boy.

"A" pretty fall pixie

"A" pretty view of my favorite Nose Mountain.

"A" stop at the beloved Creamery on 9th

My favorite, an "A"utumn rose.

"A" window that sees a tree.

"A" face that reminds me of my own.

"A" Bluebird

"A"n unexpected warning. Bet you thought BYU's campus was the safest place on earth? Well think again!

"A" strange duck that didn't look like the rest

"A" Gingerbread house (I was having trouble finding A things to take pictures of)

Ahhh.......Autumn.

2009-10-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's that beautiful time of year again up here on BYU campus, our second Autumn here. I just can't get enough of nature when the air is crisp and the ground is crunchy. I've always loved the feeling I get when fall comes, getting ready for the holidays, wearing lots of sweaters and warm socks....the colors, the smells. We would do lots of things outdoors when I was growing up, and I know I didn't care much about autumn hikes and camping, I took it for granted. But I find the older I get that those walks and family adventures instilled in me a hidden wonder for each season and the changes they bring.

This one's for Missy

2009-08-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday I ran my first half marathon down the Provo canyon, and I am dedicating my run to my friend Missy who got me running in the first place. I never and I mean NEVER in a million years thought I would have it in me to walk 13.2 miles, let alone run it. But I did, and now I feel like I could do almost anything if I really wanted to and started out small. I ran this race with my good friends Erin and Jayna, and I wouldn't have any pictures at all if it weren't for Erin's husband (thanks Chaz). So what's next you ask? Well I seem to have struck some interest in Brock and hopefully soon we will start running together (I don't think it would take him long to train up to the same place I am). We want to run the Red Rock Relay next October (anyone want to be on our team?) I would like to start training for a marathon, I think I will have to do that by myself or with Brock, and then who knows? The sky is the limit!

Nico's Moon

2009-08-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post for one of my favorite cousins, Sarah. She just had her second baby boy last week on Wednesday night, and I happened to notice there was a lovely moon out. Sadly I am not the photographer that my father and brothers are but I just wanted her and Nico to see I captured a little piece of nature in his honor. Welcome to the world baby Nico, I can't wait to meet you in person!

Our first kidless weekend since Ezra was born

2009-07-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Our trip started at Water World, where they had a large population of very unshy fat squirrels, I think this one was laughing at me.

Joey and his roommate Sam

The second time we've posed this way, I think it has been 8 years since we were last here.

I was exceedingly happy to ride the piccolo pony, the worlds largest rocking horse (according to the pamphlet)

The King and Queen....and a couple of people in funny costumes

Empty movie theater. We didn't mind more room to stretch.

Here we are in line for the latest Harry Potter movie, actually we were pretty much "the" line, and I think maybe 10 more people showed up for the movie. We couldn't figure it out.

This was us saying goodbye to the stinkiest Motel 6 ever. Stinky before we got there. And maybe a little bit after (Brocks fault:)

Our trip started out with driving through the wild and boring freeways of Wyoming into the night, and ended with a scenic drive through Colorado's mountains (i'm sure they have a name but I failed geography class.) We went to Water World on Friday, it was a pretty amazing water park, with the fattest squirly squirrels I have ever seen. Then on Saturday we went to the Colorado Renaissance Festival, it was loads of fun. This was our first time going on a vacation without the kids and I was excited to have a break and worried that they might be difficult while we were gone. Of course the kids did fine, in fact every time I called to check in it sounded like they were having a blast. We were having a blast too, but I was surprised at how much I missed my two little troublemakers. I found myself thinking every 5 or 10 minutes how much Esther or Ezra would like the things I was seeing. I think when they are old enough to handle a 8-9 hour drive we will definitely be taking them on this trip. It was so much fun we might just have to make it an annual tradition. Next year we might even dress up like all the other dorkasaurs that go to the Renaissance fair too.

Our Lava Hot Springs 4th of July

2009-07-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

This year over the fourth of July weekend we went to the second annual Frost/Solomon family reunion up in Lava Hot Springs, ID. We had lots of fun going down the river and although had intentions to try taking Esther and Ezra down the river this time, we chickened out, afraid that we might go over with them. So they pretty much got to bounce around in the tubes all day (on dry land). Only Esther seemed to mind and I think next year for sure she'll be ready to go down the river. Joey and his girlfriend Gracie got to come this year and we had a lot of fun with them! We also cooked our first dutch oven dinner together (with the help of Brocks father) in pouring rain (it took 3 or 4 hours to cook) but it was so delicious it's inspired me to get a few dutch ovens of our own and cook some on our balcony! All in all a fun weekend with family, we had a great time!

The Three Amigas

2009-06-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Elises parting words, "I really love you guys"

The last picnic

2009-06-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

We had to say goodbye to some of our best friends at the beginning of this month, the Matthews family. With their graduation at the end of May, they put out for jobs all over the country and picked one in Anchorage, Alaska. Missy and I seemed to have the rare kind of friendship that just is, there is no effort on either side, just an instant connection. It was also a happy coincidence that we both had two children within close age ranges. Elise and Esther seemed to have an instant connection as well, I remember both Missy and I watching them with satisfaction go down slides holding hands (I think that was the first time they met) and whenever we were out on the playground, as soon as Esther and Elise saw each other they would run towards one another with their arms outstretched and hug like they hadn't seen the other one in weeks. We invaded there home many a time and Missy would always feed us happily, she embodies the type of mother and woman that I would like to be....someday:) But Missy didn't leave me and Esther friendless because she also introduced me to another good friend, Erin, who I am now training to run a half marathon with in August (her daughter is Susannah, the little girl in the pretty red dress.) So even in parting she still in a way took care of us:) We really love these guys and will miss them terribly, but look forward to watching them grow up and seeing them every Christmas!

It was downright impossible to get a picture with all three of them looking at the camera so I chose the one with our guest of honor, Elise, looking at us.

Having fun on the slide together, one last time:)

Grandma get yer wagon!

2009-06-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Ezra and Susannah

So where else but in Provo could one find a specially designed mini covered wagon to pull along after your four wheeler? No where is my guess. Just one of the many things making Utah county great! About a week ago we were having a picnic at our friends house who's husbands grandmother lives next door. She must have heard all the little peoples voices and came over to offer all of us a ride in her mini covered wagon. Me and Esther were pretty excited because we had admired the wagon when we first got there, but we didn't know it was in the family. This grandma was one of the cutest grandmas ever, and we were happy she let us ride in the wagon!

Addy, Elise and Esther

Great (and I do mean great) Grandma Davenport

2009-05-31T20:21:00.001-07:00

My Grandma Davenport was the sweetest most loving person I have ever met. I have so many fond memories of her and the house that she and my grandfather lived in. In my entire life I only remember her scolding me twice and I well deserved them. She had twinkling eyes and a laugh that was contagious. I loved it when she would play the piano and sing with us, the song inchworm will always remind me of her. In short, my childhood memories with my Grandma feel as close to magic as I may ever get.
When she died in 2004, it was so sudden. I don't think I would have changed anything about it, she seemed like she had made up her mind and was ready to go. Luckily all of the family that was in the area was able to be with her in the hospital when she went. I do remember being envious of my older brother who got to say goodbye to her over the phone, I envied his privacy, that we couldn't see or hear him cry. It was hard for me to do that in front of all my family, aunt, uncle, and cousins. When I think of her even today I still get bleary-eyed. We all loved her so much, but she was the founder of that love and gave it all back to us times ten.
There are so many ways that I would like to remember and honor my grandmother, the first of these was naming Esther after her. When Es was born in 2006 we took her down to my grandparents grave site on memorial day to remember them and take her picture. We have done so ever since, and I would like to continue this tradition, forever, if possible:) I don't have the very first picture on here (before I got a digital camera so I will have to scan it in later) and this year I was having a very hard time getting Esther to be where I wanted her but....you get the idea. I love both of these woman very much and as I remember one, I will thoroughly enjoy watching who the other will become!

Super Ezra!

2009-05-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

These were taken on Mothers Day, Ezra got his clothes all wet when we were spraying off some mats (he really loves to get wet) so someone in my family took them off and I think Rebecca was the one that tied the little bandanna around him. I just thought they were cute pictures so I posted them. Enjoy the cuteness.

Have yourself a happy little mother......

2009-05-11T20:04:00.001-07:00

Well it was a busy Mothers Day but a good one, filled with mostly family and food, and a few fragrant blooms. Right from the get go it was move, move, move! We had breakfast at nine-ish with Brocks father and stepmother (and siblings) and then we had lunch at Grandma Clarkies (far right in above picture). Brocks mom is on the far left. After that we went to my parents for a early dinner, so it was a lot of eating but lot's of fun of course too. Then on our way home to Provo we stopped at my Grandma and Grandpa Snyders house for dessert. Some highlights of the day were the pretty bouquet of lilacs and irises that Joey and his girlfriend Gracie gave me. They smelled amazing and they are still smelling up our apt today.

Also we cleaned out our van which I know doesn't sound that exciting, but when your used to riding around in a trash can, it feels nice to be in a clean vehicle. Brock kept the kids a little busier than usual and I know they enjoyed that. The night before me and Esther made cards and flowers for all the moms and grandmas in our life, I really enjoy watching her motor skills develop. She painted the cards by herself but I did make a few suggestions on what theme we were going for. All in all a beautiful day filled with beautiful people!

Esthers Bubble-palooza Party!!!

2009-04-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Picture it: Exactly one year ago. Esther has just turned two. Her Grandpa Tom lovingly bought her some bubble wands and a bubble machine to help her celebrate the occasion. Her mother while snapping picture after picture has a lightbulb suddenly blink on in her head. Bubbles. Lots of them. Esthers 3rd Birthday party. The heartfelt photographic moments will abound. She starts mentally planning. "Surely the weather will cooperate," she thinks to herself. The week following the party gets into 80 degree temperatures, Maybe just maybe, her party hopes and dreams will come to fruition this year, three is a charm as they say. Alas. Mother Nature always has something to teach Mother Ann. In this case that lesson was always plan for rainy weather in April. And if having an outdoor Birthday party, always have a plan B. And no matter how Ann plans, there will always be surprises.

So jumping out of whatever narrative I was just in.......Yes Esthers party was last Saturday and despite my yearlong planning/daydreaming for the event, I was still unprepared for the very rainy almost snowy weather. I guess I just didn't believe it would happen because the weather was downright summerish all through the week.

Despite the storm, it still turned out to be amazing. I have only my friends and family to thank for that. I was at the last minute able to reserve the basement room in our apt, and we had the party inside. We BBQ'd hamburgers and hotdogs, and let the kids play with bubbles and pool noodles inside. Abby had made a cd of all of Esthers favorite music (steve songs, wizard of oz, things like that), playing in the background, adding to the atmosphere. Me and my friend Missy (the blonde by the cake with me) stayed up until a quarter to three the night before frosting that two tiered baby....thanks to her it turned out beautiful. Esther got lots of fun presents, and then we had to clean up quick to move out for the next folks who had the basement reserved. Everybody helped clean and the place was spotless in 10 minutes! It really made me appreciate my loved ones!
After we cleaned up those that wanted to, came up to our apt on the 3rd floor and blew bubbles. The pictures were not exactly as I imagined them (the children in them had mostly grown up) but in some ways I swear it was more magical. That's why I put so many pictures in the slide show. I know it might seem like if you've seen one you've seen them all, but I just wanted to portray an appropriate mood, everyone was having fun it was like we were all kids again. So my party didn't go exactly as I had planned. I think it turned out to be a lot better. I can always try again maybe for Ezra's 3rd Birthday. All I know is at the end of the day I felt happy with everything and extremely grateful for life and all of our loved ones that fill it.

p.s. just in case you want to see a picture bigger, all you have to do is click on it.

When your Esther the party never stops!

2009-04-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

I made this cake because I recently started a cake decorating class, and I needed the practice, and we also wanted to celebrate with Brocks mom, who unfortunately will be scaling pyramids in Egypt over Esthers party. I don't know how to do much yet, but I liked how it turned out, and it tasted pretty good too...yellow butter cake with strawberry filling.....mmmm dee-licious!

Three Glorious Three!

2009-04-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here she is our great big (little) three year old! She turned 3 on Monday April 20th, around 3:30 in the afternoon. Truth be told I have been seeing the "signs" of three-dom creeping up on us in the last few months.....I'll just say that it will be nice when she's four. But on a more positive note, it is really fun to here her speak in full sentences, tell stories, here her asking, "why.....why.....why?" She has just recently figured out how to operate her leapfrog computer, navigating the mouse and keys to actually play the game...that has been really fun to see because we got it for her when she was almost two, and had no idea what to do with it. On our way to Target to get her official birthday portraits done, she mentioned that she can't wait to be big, so she can go live on a bus....This has been her funnest Birthday yet for me, because she definitely understands now what it is all about, well at least the part that is all about her:) I had fun pampering her and letting her get away with a tiny bit more than usual. She got to have two baths, because she wanted to play with her new bath toys...I bought her a chosen toy at the store....things like that. All in all a great day, and she still has a bubble-palooza party to look forward to on Saturday! Talk about Queen of the world!

mmmmmm.....cream cheese frosting.....

I made cupcakes to deliver to the neighbors with party invitations...a sure way to make(and keep)friends:)

I made a little red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, as you can see it was kind of a mess, but it tasted good.

We went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries to celebrate for Esther's Birthday dinner, It was pretty good, I was blushing in this picture because I felt like everyone was watching us...

Ma first 5k!!!!!

2009-04-04T10:08:00.001-07:00

Yipee! I just ran my first 5k today and it was alot of fun! I have to say I feel so proud of myself, I know that 3. whatever miles is not that big a deal but 6 weeks ago I could barely run 10 minutes without feeling sick! I can't believe how empowering it feels to train for something and then do it, and have fun doing it in the process. This all happened thanks to my good friend Missy (green sweater) who encouraged me to start training with her and other good friend Erin (brown jacket). I am so thankful that she kept asking me to go with them, the first few weeks were definitely uncomfortable, but now I feel like I could conquer the world! sort of. Sadly the temperatures were not appeasing and my family did not look like they had a good time waiting for me:( Ezra I guess had been screaming for the last 20 minutes before we finished, so hopefully next race will be better in that department. My next goal is to run a half marathon at the end of the summer or beginning of fall, I'm not sure which, with Erin. I just want to thank Erin and Missy for being my friends and getting me to run with them, it's been so much fun!

The Dork Parade

2009-03-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

This was the St Patrick's Day parade, the Saturday before. It was cold and I have to admit a little disappointing because there wasn't a lot of bagpipers or floats. There was a lot of Irish families and clans that were wearing excess amounts of green. And a lot of dogs. Still I will probably go again next year, why not it's a fun family tradition. And I can call it a dork parade with respect, being a big dork myself (want proof ask me what I did for St Patrick's Day when I was in 7th grade)

Here was a bunch of folks dressed up as alcoholic beverages, had something to do with some Utah proposition, I thought it was funny, I hurried to take a picture of Abby because I wanted to see the look on her face, but she saw me and smiled. I'm sure on the inside she was shocked and horrified.

Some sort of Irish pixie I think. This family was the most creative in their get-ups. They had some little kids that were pots o' gold, but I wasn't quick enough to get them.

Everybody loves green-tailed ponies.

This felt like one of the only floats with decorations , well endowed ones at that.

My kids with their other moms, because let's face it a picture of one of them is almost like a picture of me.

Ezra's 1st Birthday

2009-03-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

So here are the pictures from Ezra's first Birthday party, I am so late in posting them and anything else for that matter, because our little picture uploader broke and we just barely got another one.
His party was a success despite myself. Just the right amount of people came and everything seemed to fall into place. I made his Birthday cake (again) and I think this one tasted even better than the first. I also made some marshmallow filled cupcakes (with a little help from my friend Missy) that were very good. He got some really great presents, all in all a great first Birthday party for a great little boy! I was so grateful and pleased with everyone who came and my family for helping me. Thank you everyone for making Ezra the boy he is today!

And the winners are....

2009-03-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

I am publicly announcing who the winners of my handmade gift giveaway are, just so they know that they won.....drumroll please.....

1. Samantha (my lovely friend of back east who I miss very much)

2. Missy (my lovely neighbor and sister wife:) it's a provo thang)

3. Jen (she's Missys sister and I have yet to meet her but I am sure she is lovely too)

So congratulations ladies now all you have to do is email me an address to send your present to whenever I get it done, and i promise it will be before the year is over.

free handmade gifties

2009-03-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift.

Comments, comments! Leave em' today!

Ezra's Very Meri Un-Birthday!

2009-03-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

Well I can't believe it, our little guy turned one this Sunday. Thank goodness Esther hasn't found a way to off him yet and with a little more luck he'll be around for practically forever (I'm sure all parents want this, well maybe my parents wish some of their children would leave...the house at least... heh he). As most may or may not know, Ezra was born on Feb 29, Leapday, so he can't officially turn one until 2012. In the meantime we've chosen to celebrate his fractional Birthdays on March 1st. We figure that if it had been a normal year that's when he would have arrived. We didn't do a whole lot in the way of celebrating on Sunday because he is having a more official party this coming Saturday (thanks to my poor planning skills and procastinational style) I elected to have it a week later. I did make a "practice" cake which one can see in the picture, and don't worry I'm planning on making the party one look a lot nicer. It tasted good though, so that's got to be worth something.
I think the best thing that happened all day was when Esther and Ezra were playing in the living room with Brock and Lizzi and Abby was playing the piano. It must have been the song that she started playing, Inchworm, from the Reader's Digest book of Children Song's that belonged to my Grandma Davenport (the one Esther was named for). Anyway that song has always reminded me of my Grandma, and in turn reminded me of all the Sunday nights we used to spend over there, eating popcorn, watching T.V, talking and playing on the piano. All of a sudden, I could see Abby as a Grandma with kids and family littered about laughing and enjoying each other. It made me feel a pang of emotion at how truly fleeting our lives are, but so memorable and so worthwhile because of our love for each other. It put Ezras first year in a different perspective for one second, and in that second I felt so blessed. I am so proud to be the mother of these two, and I can only hope that I will impart upon them anything and everything good and worthwhile.

Ezras first nonk

2009-03-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

Ok so this isn't really his first "nonk" (a word from Esther's early days). In fact he has had to date many many little bumps and falls, more than Esther, it feels like any way. But this was his first one that left a good mark, almost a goose egg. It happened in the courtyard outside Lizzi's condo, where the grass slopes a little to meet the sidewalk. His head was only a few inches from the sidewalk when he went over, but it made a pretty loud conk, and when I picked him up to comfort him he was kicking his legs (that's what he does when he is really upset about something) So I figured he got himself good. Of course he had to get his most noticeable mark right before his 1st birthday picture on Sunday. Luckily though by Sunday it only looked like a little scrape. Oh well......memories and all.

Friday at Lizards

2009-03-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we stopped at Lizzi's on our way down to the folks, Brock had some business to attend to in SLC. To entertain ourselves we went on a stroll around the block and then Lizzi got out some soccer and badminton equipment. The kids had fun playing with both, although it wasn't long before the chilly air got to us. Esther really liked holding the racket, but she had a hard time hitting the birdie. Ezra mostly enjoyed the cones and falling down on his head.

Hooray for weather in the 50's (temperature that is)

2009-02-25T12:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day with a sky full of puffy clouds and a semi-warm breeze. Well maybe more like a cool breeze, but it still felt great outside. There were lots of kids playing in our "park" as Esther likes to call it and we couldn't resist either so we put on our jackets and went to join in the fun. It didn't feel like it had been that long since we've been able to play outside but since the last park excursion Ezra wasn't walking and I wasn't entirely comfortable with letting him crawl around either (to many haycorns to choke on). It was alot of fun to see him walking around and he also went down the slides by himself for the first time too. That was really fun to see, I will try and make a video the next time we go down there. I am so grateful to live in a place with a playground right outside our apt. Now if it could just stay this way that would be great. But last year spring didn't come until June in Utah. Hmph.

Davenports, Davenports, everywhere

2009-02-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Our cousin Lisa Marie and Lizzi (my little sister). Lisa Marie is a cousin that we don't get to see often (I think the last time I saw her was 5 years ago). She has two beautiful kids, and it was nice to meet them for the first time.

Here is Jessica Davenport (our cousin by marriage to Michael Davenport) and next to her is Lisa Marie's husband. Also in the picture is Esther and Lisa Marie's little boy. (I am really bad with names, sorry)

On the left is little Liviya (Sadie VanDyke Knowlton's daughter) in one of her princess dresses (she modeled two that night). On the right is my father, talking to Michael Davenport holding his youngest daughter on his lap and his second daughter is standing in front of him (again really bad with the names, sorry Uncle Alans kids...)

Esther's obsessions

2009-02-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

So here we see an example of one of the funny little things Esther has been doing lately whenever she is exposed to toys that are not her own. She sorts them and she usually adds narration while she is doing so. For example while she was doing this she was explaining that she was putting the bears to bed. The other little girl in the picture was just some random child floating through the library. She was mildly interested in what Esther was doing but when she overheard her talking about, "putting her bears to bed" she felt it her duty to point out that they were not all bears, pointing to the black and white one. Esther looked at it and said, "That's a cow." I don't know if this is normal toddler behavior or not, but it is semi entertaining, at least right now. Aunt Abby works with underdeveloped toddlers and babies and she keeps saying she thinks Esther has some sort of anxiety disorder. I suppose only time will tell, but to me right now, she is a toddler and I am not about to start diagnosing her for mental disorders yet.

The SLC Library

2009-02-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

So, last Friday was a busy day, we walked to the SLC library during a visit with Aunt Lizzi among other things. I was impressed by everything from the design of the library, to it's cafe's and shops, but especially impressed with their children area. They had very cute little couches and chairs that were exact copies of larger ones upstairs. They also had rooms that were themed as things like an attic and an icecave. Anyway we really loved it....here are some pictures of Lizzi and Esther enjoying the books and furniture. I'm not sure if Esther or Lizzi picked the book Kat Kong, but I wouldn't put it past either one of them.

My what a happy day...

2009-02-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

Esther woke up with a gentle spirit and a happy heart this morning (I attribute it to getting enough sleep). She was waiting patiently for me to wake up and once I was she then waited for Ezra to open his eyes. She touched his hand and said, "His little hand is so soft." And then said, "He looks so cute with his binky." So I knew today would have to have something special about it for Esther to be in such a great mood. As luck would have it, it was a perfect day for a walk. So we decided to walk up the hill aways and go visit the fountains at the Temple. I think the last time we went was in November, there definitely wasn't any snow. I had to give Esther strict instructions about not getting wet, because I knew she would get to cold, and she listened! The weather was downright springy and it felt so good to sit and watch Esther run around the fountain while me and Ezra watched and soaked up the sun. Note to self: I should do this every day so she can get good and tired for her naps. I believe what they say about seasonal depression disorder and how if you can get a little sun now and then it helps. Anyway suffering through this dratted cold has made me long for spring that much more, and I'm starting to go crazy waiting for it! Although come to think of it the older I get I've gotten to at least have an appreciation for winter, because if nothing else it makes the spring that much sweeter. I also like the black trees against winter skies. At any rate as usual once I get typing (or talking) I tend to wind up in a different direction than where I was headed.
So in this picture Esther was making the fountains rise with her hands, the other thing she liked to do was "grow" with them, squatting down when they were small and slowly standing up as they grew tall too. That kid really is fun to watch when I make the time to do so.

This Liger's for you Uncle John

2009-02-17T20:21:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to dedicate this picture to my favorite Uncle John, because in my previous post about the bean museum, he mentioned that he and my dad used to go visit Shasta at the zoo when they were kids. Talk about the circle of life. Any way I had no idea that Ligers were a real animal until we moved up here, I thought they were just a joke. Poor Shasta. But on a more positive note it's nice that he(or she, I'm not sure what gender it is) can entertain generations of children. I like to think that might mean something to the poor animal.

Every day's the Fourteenth!

2009-02-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to one and all from the Frost Family! We love you all, and hope your day was great!

The sickness........ has passed

2009-02-12T07:49:00.000-08:00

Yes it's true, I think the sickness is finally trailing off and leaving us semi-whole. I don't imagine we'll all feel ready to shout for joy until spring comes though. Luckily there is plenty to look forward to Ezras 1st birthday is the end of this month, then comes mine in March, and then Esthers 3rd in April! I still have all the planning to do for Ezras, I was racking my brain trying to figure out where to have it and what to do, until I finally just settled on having an open house at my parents (which i still need to go over with them). I set a precedent with Esther's first birthday, and now I have to follow suit. Anyway more on that when it actually happens. I thought I would just mention that we are all starting to feel much better and when is spring coming?

Aunt Abby to the rescue!

2009-02-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

I think it safe to say that the last 24 hours have been more mentally tiring than I can really remember with either of my children, although I know many parents have to deal with much worse or maybe the same but all the time. Recognizing that makes me feel very grateful that my children have been so healthy. It also makes me feel like a big baby even mentioning their common colds, but that is my only form of therapy I suppose. Our one bright spot was that Aunt Abby risked her own health and drove and hour and 15 minutes to come and cheer Esther bug up. Also our friend Missy dropped by with a papa murpheys pizza that was very delicious and made dinner much easier (thanks again Missy!) It is so nice to have loved ones there for you when you need them most! Thankfully I am almost sure that Esther has come round the bend, the first half of last night was awful she was waking up every 40 min or so crying and sounding like she was in pain but refusing anything we would give her. Finally, after forcing some antibiotics down her throat (I have never heard her scream like that before) she conked out on the couch and I stayed out there with her. She slept until the morning and she seems that much better just having a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. We were going to take her back to the Dr's today because her fever seemed like it was lasting too long, but this morning her temp was lower and she is also coughing much much less. Unfortunately me and Brock both woke up with sore throats and stuffy noses, but I am sure we'll survive too. Thanks again to all our loving family and friends for there support!

It has to get worse before it gets better right?

2009-02-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

So just taking a moment to relinquish some anguish about sick children while the sickie is sleeping. I thought yesterday Esther was at her worst and maybe physically she was as far as her actions. She was very listless and quiet, I was afraid that was a bad sign. But when we went to the Doctors he didn't seem overly concerned and prescribed some antibiotics and some ear drops. So I guess I was hoping the worst was over yesterday. Today however she seems in much more pain, she is crying and whining and coughing up unspeakable things. To make matters worse she is totally fighting me with medicine. I talked to a nurse today because I was thinking about taking Ezra in for a preemptive exam, he has a cough but not much else yet. She said there wasn't anything they could do if he didn't seem really sick yet. She also said that a lot of coughing meant that the mucus is breaking up and the main concern was that it didn't sound wheezy when she coughs or breaths. Which as far as I can tell it doesn't. So anyway yeah I just needed to whine a bit. I hope she starts to feel better tomorrow, I can't imagine it getting much worse than it is.

One sick kid, one kid sick of the other kid hogging all mama's attention

2009-02-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

Well that nasty bug that's been terrorizing everyone all winter has finally found Esther bug at last. She started acting funny on Monday, and it has just gotten worse and worse each day. I took her into the Dr's today and he diagnosed her with a ear and throat infection. So she's on some antibiotics. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Ezra's immune system is strong enough to kick Esther's bugs butt. He started coughing today so we'll see what happens. He's not sick in this picture, just angry that he's in his excersaucer prison.iiiiiiooooo000 (Esther added that last part)

Clay Day

2009-02-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

My first attempt at home made clay, and it actually turned out fine. Esther chose the color blue. She wasn't to keen on the idea of molding it into anything, but she did enjoy poking it with any and all manner of objects she could find. I was actually getting bored with it myself until I got out the garlic press which inspired my mermaid and jelly fish.

Esther is training for the circus

2009-02-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

Umm I'm not sure where she got the idea to start carrying her stroller around with her teeth but I have to admit it does bring a tear of pride to me eyes, the things my kids will do to entertain me.

Grandma Louis, Ezra and the pianie

2009-02-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday me and the kids drove down to Layton to have dinner with my family. They hadn't seen the kids for a couple weeks so I thought we could make a day trip. Anyway I ran an errand and when I came back my mom was playing the piano with Ezra. I got a kick out of seeing his little fingers poke the keys like that.

Saturday- Jo Jo and Grace Face come for a delivering visit.

2009-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

Joey (my little brother) and Gracie (his little girlfriend) came to deliver an entertainment center that I bought off of KSL a few weeks ago. They had to deliver it in my dads truck because it wouldn't fit in our van. Anyway we took them to our favorite Indian restaurant where every time without fail somebody working there will pretend to steal our children. I know that would bother some parents but we just think it's funny, they never go farther than a few feet from our table. The food is excellent though, that's the real attraction.

I wanted to make sure they put it in the right place see.

Brock wanted to show Joey how well Esther can use the camera so he had her take these pictures. That's Gracie with our last caffeine free coke:)

Friday.....trip to SLC......car sickness and double decker bikes

2009-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

We went down to SLC on Friday because one of Brock's former coworkers was retiring and he thought it would mean a lot to her to meet the kids. On the way there Esther started to say she felt sick, and the last two times she said that in the car, she threw up as soon as the car stopped. We're starting to wonder if she might not suffer from carsickness once and a while. Anyway we didn't have any extra clothes for her to wear if she did yak so I gave her the only container I could find in the car, a wipes box. Luckily she didn't throw up this time. But the way she kept her head in it for I don't know, 5 minutes made me laugh a little bit. Maybe it correlates with an almost empty stomach too. So we got some curry before we went to visit Brock's coworkers. After our visit we went to aunt lizzi's place and just hung around, watched Ghostbuster's, you know the usual. But on the way home, we saw something we'd never seen before. When we were stopped at a red light a man/boy/guy was walking across the street with what looked like one bike frame welded an top of another, in other words a really tall bike. It was so funny to see his hands pushing the handlebars way above his head. At first we thought he was walking it because it was to tall for him to ride, so we felt a little sorry for him (while making fun of him, just a bit). But then when he got to the other side and turned down the road zhoop, just like that he was up up and away! I tried to get a picture of him while he was closer but all I got was the car passing in front of us. I should have taken a picture when he was walking past us but I was too chicken. I want to know how he dismounts that beast. I know how I would.....timber!!! Flat on my side just like a tree. This ties in first place with my other bizarre SLC bike sighting (last picture)- Peter Pan on his bike on Halloween day.
God bless big cities and their wackadoos.

All in a day

2009-01-29T21:37:00.000-08:00

Seeing these three bowls of malt o meal this morning reminded me of the three little bears so I had to take a picture. Don't worry fellow mothers, I don't normally add garnishes to my bowls of porridge. It just happened that I had some strawberries already cut up. Unfortunately I was the only bear who ate all of their porridge, the baby bear and the toddler bear where bein far to finicky!

Esther picked out this outfit today, and I took a picture of her because the theme she was going for was the color purple. So I guess she's not color blind. Although she does need some fine tuning about knowing when you are wearing too much of one color. (I unfortunately didn't learn this lesson until one fateful St. Patrick's day in 7th grade.)

Thursdays are "mom's group" days here in the quad and afterwords we played at our friends Elise and Adelle's house. We didn't get home until after two and Ezra hadn't napped all morning (this week he's decided to cut out his morning snooze for some reason.) Anyway, he was so tired but he wouldn't go to sleep so i finally just put him in his excersaucer and after 5 minutes he just gave up. I love it when they do this.

Ezra plays his game

2009-01-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

Old Friends, New Friends

2009-01-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Today we were blessed with a visit from a dear old schoolmate and her two little girls, Angela and her two daughters Kayla and Analise. Me and Angela went through Jr. High and High School together. We hadn't seen one another since 2003 when me and Brock were married. Although we've been in touch thanks to the internet. But I digress. She came all the way our from SLC to walk around in the cold with us down here in Provie. I took them to my two favorite places, the creamery on 9th grill, and the art museum. Her stroller was malfunctioning for the first half of our adventure but she was a trooper, I heard not one word of complaint. We were really glad that they decided to make the trip and we can't wait to have another playdate!

She done it again.....

2009-01-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

So there we all were, watching American Idol and having what I thought was a great time, when the kids slipped off very quietly and quickly to there bedroom where bouncing on Esther's bed ensued. I was innocently trying to get my #@$%&* camera to work (it has a battery deficiency) so I could get Ezra playing peek a boo. You can imagine my chagrin when I walked into their room to find these tiny little flash cards full of boring words and there meanings belonging to Brock scattered all over Esther's stripped bed. Seriously. I think there was at least a thousand of them. They were both swimming in them. Anyway this was the second time Esther has gotten into them, so needless to say, I was pretty upset. I made her pose like this as punishment. Esther 2. Mom 0. Dash it all.

The dead animal museum AKA The Monte L. Bean Museum

2009-01-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

So here we all are at the popular (among kids and moms here at the Y) Bean Museum. It's full of stuffed animals from all over the world. I have to say that when we went for the first time back in the fall with our new friends Missy, Elise, and Adelle, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was actually surprised to find it quite interesting. They have hundreds of animals I would never otherwise be able to see up close, and that also includes a Liger named Shasta.
So in these pictures we see Esther with her favorite little Wymount friend Elise and her little sister Adelle. They became fast friends in the fall. We then see Ezra happily cantering along, this was his 3rd visit to the museum but the first time he's visited able to walk. His pants were practically only staying up by his binky rope. In the second picture we see the unfortunate side effects of not having it in his mouth.

Ezra walks to the bath

2009-01-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

This is probably the funnest part of most of our days, watching Ezra get so excited to take a bath. At first we would hold him up and he would tap dance his way to the tub, then when he started to crawl he would rocket to the bath. Now he can walk and sometimes he is so excited he stumbles and does a faceplant, but he just gets right back up and starts gleefully screaming again. It happens like clockwork as soon as he hears the faucet turn on.

Bathy Bath!

2009-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday Breakfast

2009-01-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

So there we were on our way to church for oh, the second time since we've lived in Provo and Brock said, "I'm hungry, I wonder if Mimi's is open?" I knew that it was one of the few places open on Sundays in Provo (seriously it's a ghost town here), and I've never been able to resist eating breakfast in a restaurant. So we decided to skip church and go to breakfast instead. I know I know we're bad dogs. But the truth is we haven't really been down here so many Sundays, we're almost always visiting family on the weekends. One of our new years resolutions was to stay down here more and find a church we like. I guess we're pretty lazy too. It seems so easy to stay in and do nothing on Sundays. Sunday nights always feel lonely to me here, because I am used to eating dinner with my family. Anyway.....that was our Sunday.

Laundry Dizzle Day

2009-01-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

So I let my laundry accumulate since last Tuesday, and this is what awaited me today. Seven loads in all. I guess I can be grateful that it gives me a lot of much needed exercise, since we live on the third floor. Esther was enjoying rolling around in it.

Here we see little Ezra helping me by fluffing the laundry. He's such a sweet laddy.

Breakin in the old mixer-oo

2009-01-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

So as my "inheritance" my mom decided to give me her kitchenaid stand mixer over Christmas break, because we were thinking about buying one. Today I thought I would christen the old gel to our apt and make some chocolate chip cookies. So here we see Esther dangerously close with her little cooking apron that aunt Gecca gave her for Christmas. The cookies didn't look to pretty, but they tasted fine. I'll keep trying. I might have whipped them to much, I just got to excited by the speeds the whipper could go.

Uncle John comes for a visit

2009-01-22T16:56:00.000-08:00

My Uncle John came into town to see how my old pappy was doing (my dad got to go home today by the way). On John's way home to Colorado, he wanted to stop by and see Esther and Ezra. This was the first time he's gotten to meet either of them. Esther is doing her nervous hand thing in this picture. She chews her fingers when she is being shy. She had fun visiting with him and his girlfriend though, she showed them her tinkerbell doll, her stuffed ferret, and her stuffed rat. She also brought out a few books to show them too. A positive side effect was that I cleaned the place up a bit. (That was so not happening otherwise, I was all settled in to wallow in my filth when my mom called to say he was coming.) All in all a good visit, I was glad he finally got to meet our little ones. Esther especially, since she was named after his mother.

Esther at Lizards

2009-01-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

Esther always finds interesting ways to entertain herself at Aunt Lizards house. I am sure she had help with this one. This was taken last Friday, we went to SLC with Brock who was going for a meeting. It was also the day that my dad got admitted to the U of U hospital to treat his sepsis. I wanted to go and visit him but I guess the ICU is different than a normal hospital room, only two people can enter at one time and it's definitely not a place you want to take little ones. So we ended up just hanging out at lizzies place.

It's oh so quiet, shhhh, shhhh

2009-01-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Well it's another quiet Sunday here in Provo, and this one is especially quiet because Esther bug spent last night at Grandma Louies (My mom and dad's house, we nicknamed her after the family pet Lucy, don't ask me it was Abby's idea.) I guess now that Lucy is gone we will honor her by keeping the nickname. But that's not what I was going to write about. (Although I haven't written about it and I should, I am such a bad pet owner!)
SO this has been the first time since we moved here that she has spent the night away from us. I stayed up late last night working on this little dress that I am croshetting for Esther's 3rd birthday in April. It's funny how you miss everything that comes along with a child, good and bad, when they are not there. But an occasional break is definitely nice and I hope she is doing ok. I tell you though, just having one baby to look after seems like a breeze in comparison to a baby and a toddler. Makes me wonder about how easy two will have felt when #3 comes along. Once again I am awe of my mother and how she managed to do it 6 freakin times!
We also visited my dad yesterday in the hospital. He is doing better in the sense that his white blood cell count is down, so I guess that means the antibiotics are doing there job and killing the infection. They will also move him out of the ICU as soon as they have room. So that's good. He looked pretty worn down and tired, but when we stopped in to say hello he was telling the nurse all about his fathers problems and hospital adventures and my mom thought it was a good sign that he was talking. Hopefully he won't have to stay much longer, and we will put all this hospital nonsense behind us.

Out of the woods? Never!

2009-01-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

So my dad is back in the hospital. Anyone who follows his blog probably already knows this. He was doing fine, seemed to be getting better, and then boom, just like that he's back again. He got his catheter removed on Thursday which may have triggered some kind of infection. At any rate, I just really want him to get better. Brock likes to tell me that there is no reason to focus on the negative thoughts, and I know that makes sense. It just feels impossible not to. The worst thing about it all is this has brought me closer to the realization that someday my father will be gone. I know I've led a very blessed life, filled with love and happy memories. I just can't imagine a life without my father, not yet. A big part of me tells myself that everything will be fine. But I keep hearing the littler part of my asking, "What if it's not?" Then what will I do? Like I said I am blessed. I believe that God does what he does for a reason. But right now I just feel scared and hopeless.

Bug see bug do....and then bug 1 shares with bug 2

2009-01-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

When we were walking home from the earth science museum, Esther was feeding Ezra fish crackers. She was being very careful to wait until he wanted another fish to put in his mouth so he wouldn't get to many in there. She even started to bite them in half so he wouldn't choke. It is so very rare that she is doing something nice for Ezra that I felt i should try and catch this little moment on camera. And they also were playing some kind of copycat game. So the view you see is about what I was seeing walking home.

Esther and Ezra go to the Dino Bone Museum

2009-01-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today we walked to the Earth Science Museum just down the hill a ways. I have to say I am quite proud of myself this week, I am actually doing what I always say I will do. That is to say going on walks and partaking in activities with my children. It's just like everything else in my life, most things I just daydream about doing and never actually do them. But while I was visiting family last weekend my sister Abby showed a book to me that's full of games to play with your children ages 0-3. While I was reading it I realized that I don't play with my kids much. I'm always to busy cleaning. Now the truly ironic thing about that is my apt is never clean. Or almost never. So this week when I woke up on Monday, I said to myself, "Self, you need to start playing and enjoying your chillies more! Now get out of bed and go to the art museum!" So that day we went to the art museum where we saw a great exhibit by some german fellow featuring trash like items (it was actually really cool) and then stopped on the way home at the BYU Creamery that has a grill inside, with excellent inexpensive burgers and fries. On Tuesday Brock was home so we went to the store. Yesterday we walked to the library for toddler time, and today we went to the Dino Museum! And to top it all off my apt is clean, because we made Esther go to bed last night at a semi decent hour, so I picked up the place once she fell asleep. (Have I discovered the secrets to the Universe or what?) Now my little angels are both sleeping and I thought I better post this now while I gots the chance!

Ezra walks, for the third time!

2009-01-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

So I didn't intend to catch Ezra walking on tape, which is probably why I did. I was originally just filming Esther and her friend Katie watching Happy Feet and dancing. But little brother stole the show by sidling across the way. I was so excited because he had taken his first steps earlier this day and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get him to do it when the camera was rolling. We then see him get manhandled by Esther, I think this comes as easily to her as breathing. I'm sure she doesn't mean him any real harm though.

My Friend

2009-01-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

Since we've lived here in Provo I have had an addiction. A mint brownie addiction. We live right next to a BYU creamery mini store. It's actually quite lovely, having a tiny grocery store with all your basic needs within a minutes walk. The down side is the only way I can leave the place without buying a brownie is if they don't have anymore. I bought this one on Monday and when I bit into it, I could hear Johnny Depp's voice when he sings to his knives in Sweeney Todd, "My friend(s).." That's what this brownie is to me. My sweet and lethal friend. Please, I don't need your sympathy, I only need a good psychiatrist.

Duckles Duckles everywhere...

2009-01-14T15:23:00.000-08:00

Today we walked to the Provo city library to partake in their toddler story time. It's a longer venture than we are used to going on, and this duck pond meets us at the halfway point. I told Esther we could stop and say hello to the ducks on the way back home. I was actually kind of surprised to see them, I would have thought that they had all gone south for the winter. But what do I know about bird migration. Anyway now we still have a place to go to when the weather is sunny. When we were getting ready to go Esther said, "Goodbye ducks, we going to go home now, I am cold."

Christmas at the Hardings

2009-01-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

Here we see a dainty little Christmas bug in front of the fireplace. The Harding's (our cousins) have a very beautiful and welcoming home. My aunt is an artist, who in my opinion could be an interior designer if she ever so desired. At any rate we love it when they let the family gather there!

Guess who's back...back again.....Ann is back

2009-01-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

I guess first I should acknowledge that the Holidays are over, and just like every year before I have vowed to make next years Holidays more filled with presents that my own hands have created. I have been vowing that every January for at least the last three years and it still has yet to happen, but I am nothing if not optimistic and fantasy-filled so maybe the Christmas of 2009 has a shot to be tear jerkingly hand made. I was just reading my father's blog about his recovery and admiring what a good writer he is (while he was admiring what a good writer my sister Lizzi is but can she type one hanbded while breastfeediong and smellibng toxic baby fumesd isd wghat iwanrt to know. Because I obviously can.) Then I went to the Lizards blog which I have to say, out of all the blogs I have read I find Lizzi's to be quite entertaining and out of the norm. Anyway, they have both inspired me to, if possible, write a little bit more about our daily happenings than just the basics. The kids are both in their restraints (Esther in the highchair and Ezra in the excersaucer) and Brock is dutifully sleeping on the couch, trying his hardest to ignore the sounds around him I'm sure. I imagine if I'm serious about this thing I will either have to do it late at night or early in the morning. But for now I have a moment. Or moments I should say. Interrupted by little bugs screaming, "Mom I have to go potty!" and then, "Mom I'm done!" followed by, "I have the toots and the cough-es". Now then where were we.....well I guess I will start with how my Holidays went. Everyone close to us (and perhaps a few who aren't) know that our beloved pappy has spent close to a month in the Huntsman Cancer Institute due to complications from his prostate removal. So that was different. Spending Christmas and New Years in a Hospital I mean. But praise the Lord he is free at last (last Monday) and so now he is home and you can read all about his trials on his blog. Being in the hospital was hard, but also gave this Christmas much more obvious meaning I am sure you can imagine. (It also gave me a good excuse to not have any Christmas presents for anyone ready.) Life is about nothing if not love and relationships. This I am sure of more than anything else. And seeing someone you love so much sick in a hospital bed makes you appreciate what really matters in life. I have to agree with Lizzi, I think that we will look back on that time in the hospital as something very painful, but in it's pain very special.
Now some other highlights of the Holidays, let's shee here...... Brock got me my first ipod, goes by the name of ichapod crane. He had it inscribed on the back along with something loving in french (which always scores high points with me). This year was the first that I had to stop myself from buying Esther everything because I know how much she would love to play with them. In fact I ended up giving her only two presents that we bought and saving the rest for her birthday in April. She got a dressy Daisy dolly (which is naked most of the time) and one of those mini stroller sets that comes with a car seat and swing and all of that stuff. She of course loved both of them, she named her doll Etsy (actually my mom named her Betsy and Esther in her toddler-ness shortened it to Etsy.) Little brother got a walker, one of two (the other given by papa and grandma Jeri). By the second day he was walking with both, and today he is walking without either! He is getting better and better and we were all pretty excited about it because Esther didn't walk until after she was one. I guess those second babies got to step it up a notch if they want to play the game.
Me and Brock saw Benjamin Button, which we both enjoyed thoroughly. Some say it was to long, but I felt that it had to be that long, to get a good feel of a man's whole life flashing before your eyes in what seemed almost three hours. Of course most things make me cry these days, so I don't know if you could measure it's greatness by that. I'll just say that it was made well in my opinion, and we will no doubt be adding it to our collection of movies.
We also went to Body World last Tuesday, and I have to say despite all my desires to be modern and educated.....it kind of creeped me out. By the end of it I was ready to go, if you've seen one plasticized organ, tissue, bone skeleton art exhibit you've seen them all. But on the other hand I would have regretted not seeing it, as I most likely would not have had the opportunity again. I could write more on this but the bells of motherhood are dinging me in the head so I will have to end this entry. But please expect...nay demand that I continue on in this fashion. I thank you for your time and interest. Goodbye.

It's a New Year, huzzah!

2009-01-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

Well another year has come and gone, I keep forgetting it's 2009. It's a good thing I don't go anywhere or have any cause to write down the date. Shew. 2008 was great! He he I couldn't help it. Seriously though, we got our little leapling last year, and he adds so much to our lives. Brock also got into BYU's clinical PHD program last February. I'll never forget how he tried to trick me by the kitchen sink into thinking they called and told him he didn't get in. I think it's safe to say that those two things alone have changed our lives dramatically. For the better of course. Esther is talking in full sentances now, and it is pretty humerous to hear what she has to say. Ezra just started walking in the last few days, it's fun to see his personality start to emerge. I guess the one thing I like about January is feeling like the next year is full of possibilities to change and do things you've never done before. I tend not to, but that is beside the point. It's nice to have a period of time, however short lived, to feel that way. Well one of my many short lived resolutions is to write more so we'll see how that goes. Until then.......

My first sad little gingerbread house

2008-12-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is the first gingerbread house that i have ever baked and assembled all by myself. In elementary school I was always in the class that wasn't making gingerbread houses (which looking back seems truly cruel to let one half of the grade do something the other half couldn't.) Anyway the house was hard to put together because the sides were mismatched and the icing wasn't thick and holding the pieces together. But one must start somewhere and as I would like this to become a family tradition there is no time like the present. Besides it doesn't look half bad from far away if you squint a little.

Our First Gingerbread Family

2008-12-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

These babies were made with a Betty Crocker mix, because I couldn't find a few ingredients to make the real thing. They didn't turn out much like I wanted them to, I didn't make the icing right and it was to runny. It always discourages me when my projects don't go according to plan (which is 99% of the time) but I still want to try one more time with a real recipe before I swear off gingerbread for good. See if you can guess which one belongs to each member of our family.

My beautiful childies

2008-12-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

I hate it when parents brag about they're kids so I will try and refrain, all I know is Brock and I were blessed with amazing children and we do not deserve them.

This was a Rudolph.....

2008-12-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

So this was a Rudolph cupcake that we made in "moms" group that we have every Thursday here in the quad. My dear friend Missy is the one in charge of it and she does a bang-up job every week! She is really good at cake making and baking so she made all the antlers and the eyes (both which are still featured before the out of control mom ate the other half of Rudolph). I really meant to take a picture before I ate it because they were so cute. Oh well.

Chrimas Pajamas

2008-12-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

Here is me and Esther by our old Christmas tree, this was Esther's first Christmas I think she was 9 months old. I tell you I can't believe how fast time goes by, and even with the aid of photos and videos it's still hard to remember them being this small!

Esther Ballerina

2008-12-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

I guess I am on a last year kick, I took these pictures last year for Valentines Day cards (which I never sent out) but I loved the pictures all the same. Another reason I will miss my old home, it had really good lighting.

Our Former Housie

2008-12-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

Here is where we were living this time last year. It snowed so much last year! After living in our neighborhood for three years, we didn't really ever talk to our neighbors until last winter because we all got stuck so much in the snow! That driveway was a thorn in my pregnant side I can tell you! Still I miss our first house, and I miss living with Lizzy and Grizzy. (Sister and Brother in-law)
This house was built in 1924, and was our first home, but when a house is that old I can't help but feel that it was never really ours. And now it's found a new person to shelter.

Christmas time is here....

2008-12-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

It's a little less than two weeks until Christmas and naturally I still have everything left to do. My father just underwent surgery on Thursday to have his prostate removed, and I've only just started to think how incredibly awful it would be if something went wrong and he was gone. He is having some problems with his kidneys so they probably won't let him leave until Sunday, but besides that I think he is doing ok. This would be the worst time of year to lose someone, and I just can't imagine life without my papa, so if you be the praying type, pray that everything goes well and he has a full recovery!

2008-12-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Here we are in Pioneer Park, blending in with our surroundings, well the kids are anyway.

Old Friends

2008-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here we have Esther and Korbi, enjoying each other's company as much if not more than their popsicles. This same time last year I was watching this little guy (see older posts). It's crazy how much a year changes them.

Heirloom Overalls

2008-11-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

Here is the little Meri Ezra modeling his uncles old baby clothes. He was a little long for them but they fit ok. We just put these on for pictures it was way to itchy to keep on. Hopefully they were softer in Nathanael and Joeys time.....

I will try.....I promise.....

2008-10-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Alright so I haven't been updating this baby very regularly. I don't really know how many people check this blog on a regular basis (my guess is no one but myself) but that's not the point. The point is to keep loved ones updated on all the happenings in our lives and I have been failing! So from now on I am going to try very hard to update our site daily or every other day. Or at least once a week. So there you have my promise. Now all you have to do is check in once in awhile. Oh and one or two comments wouldn't be to far amiss.

Ti red little monkey

2008-10-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

An Angel, sent from above

2008-10-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

I took this picture because there I was chasing around a half naked two year old, while trying to prepare breakfast for Ezra, all I know is it felt like complete and utter chaos and then I turn around and what do I see? I see what you see here, a perfect little angel complete with glow, waiting patiently for his breakfast.

2008-10-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

India Fest!

2008-10-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is the second time I posed this way, the first time there was only Esther.

Little Esther long ago

2008-10-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

I think Esther was around one year in this picture, I really liked my haircut too. Oh how I need a cute hairstyle!

2008-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

2008-10-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

A graduate student and his son

2008-09-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Easter with the Frost's

2008-04-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

This year Easter had the privilege of falling on the same day as my birthday. As far as Easter's and Birthday's go it was a pretty good one. Esther got to partake in two Easter egg hunts, and I got a new jogging stroller to help me shed some baby weight. We started the morning off discovering easter baskets and presents and then we had a delicious lunch at my parents house. Then me and the kids went to SLC where the little kids hunted for eggs and the adults ate dessert. When we got home Brock had dinner waiting for us and a clean house which we shared with his Dad and Jeri. All in all a great day!

Ezra in the morning

2008-03-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

Alright I know that Ezra isn't exactly doing anything special, but I thought that maybe people who haven't got to meet him yet (namely Aunt Rebecca) might appreciate some live action footage. Besides they're only this little once.

Esther's Undies

2008-03-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

So we've been "attempting" to potty train Esther probably since January. Not surprisingly though we've been pretty lazy about it mostly she's been wearing diapers. But now that baby # 2 is on the scene, cleaning up after baby # 1 is no picnic. So I finally bought her some big girl undies and we're just going to bite the bullet. So far she's had two accidents, but I think she will learn quickly. We'll see what the next few weeks bring. (Why she is sucking in her stomach I have no idea, but she reminded me of one of those barrel chested circus performers with the handlebar mustaches.)

My Birthday present

2008-03-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids enjoying my birthday present from my family and Brock. I really wanted a double jogging stroller so I had some way to take both the kids out at once. They got this one from babies r us and it has a little speaker in the canopy that hooks up to an mp3 player. We've all enjoyed it very much so far.

My what an attractive child...

2008-03-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Ok Abby was changing Esther from one dress into another and they got it caught around Esther's big round head. She thought this was funny, she looked like a little Shepard or a nun. That's what I was trying to get a picture of, but by the time I got the camera out she just wanted it off. So that's what this is, Esther just trying to get the dress off and obviously having a rough time.

Happy Bug!

2008-03-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here is Esther in all her glory running around outside with the dog and a few other family members. It was actually a pretty nice day, so she didn't have to wear a coat. She loves to be outside, I can't wait until it gets warmer. She was running so fast that Brock had a hard time taking pictures of her, he got several pictures of just grass.