My first sad little gingerbread house

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

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

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.....

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

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

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

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....

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!

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

Old Friends

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

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.....

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

An Angel, sent from above

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.

India Fest!

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

Little Esther long ago

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

A graduate student and his son

Easter with the Frost's

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

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

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

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...

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!

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.

"Glorious Easter", says Esther

Here is Esther enjoying her first real Easter basket. She eats more candy than I'd like her to though, so we didn't let her go crazy.

Easter Morn (also my birthday morn)

Here are all our family Easter baskets sitting peacefully waiting to be ransacked by small and large hands alike. Also I finally got an Easter egg tree, I'd been wanting one for awhile because we had one growing up. I found this one at Rainbow Gardens. The more I look at it though the more I think I could make one.

Esther's egg

Here is Esther holding her first dyed egg. We dyed eggs the day before Easter with Brock's brother and sister. She loved dying them and she actually really liked eating them too which surprised me somewhat.

Esther won some bubbles!

Here is Esther with her Papa Frost blowing some bubbles she won by finding one shiny easter egg.

The Easter egg showdown

This was Esther's first Easter where she was big enough to partake in actual festivities, so she went to the Weber county Sheriff's Easter egg hunt with her papa and grandma Jeri. In this picture her and another little girl saw two candies in the same place and neither one wanted to take it because they were not sure about the other one. I was surprised she didn't push the other little girl and take both pieces what with her love of candy and all. But I'm glad she didn't.

Monster hands

Look at these boy boys hands! He seems to have large hands and feet, so we think he might take after the tallies in my family. Only time will tell though.

Ezra's hat

This hat will never properly fit Ezra, unless his head stays smaller than average, which right now it is. But I still thought it was pretty cute.

Another thing Esther does for fun...

Esther likes to run off when I start feeding the baby and create mayhem. So I'll try and keep her in her highchair or an enclosed area. She's gotten a little better as the weeks pass but not much. She is after all almost 2. Surprisingly reading parenting magazines makes me feel much more patient with her. So I think I'll just keep doing that.

Pals

Esther's new hobby

Esther has taken up a new hobby, that being picking up the house cats and walking around with them. This is Lizzi and Greg's kitty Roary or Roy as I like to call her. She has an amazing amount of fluff that she uses to intimidate the much larger but also much sissier chainsaw (that's our cat).

Having two kids is fun.

Ezra was smiling and stopped as soon as I got out the camera, but Esther wanted to be in the picture as you can see she clearly worked her way in. She hasn't really acted jealous of Ezra at all, but she does usually want me to hold her if she's around when I am feeding him. Probably typical behavior.

Little One

Baby tootsies

His tootsies seem rather big, especially his big toes. He has great big hands too. Maybe he'll take more after my side of the family and be a tallie.

Father and Son

Ezra Mcgee

He looks like a little old man. A cute little old man. I can't wait to see what he looks like in the future.

Ezra Meriwether Frost

Alright so I've been neglecting this blog for awhile, but I'm here now and ready to update anyone who cares about the happenings in our little growing family. So the biggest happening lately is the arrival of our newest child Ezra Meriwether Frost. He came exactly when he was due (and when we wanted him to) on the 29th of February. When I started having labor pains the Thursday before I thought, "great he's going to come at 11:59 pm." But he was a good boy and stayed in until 12:46 am Friday morning. Which furthered my belief that he is going to be more like me, because he wanted to please me. (I like to please people too.) The labor this time was exactly opposite of Esther's . It was more painful upfront, but once we got the epidural it was smooth sailing. No two and a half hours of pushing. I dilated very quickly once we got to the hospital and I almost had him without the epidural. I also feel like I've recovered much quicker physically and mentally than I did with Esther. Ezra has been a very easy baby so far. But Esther has decided to kick it up a notch, I feel like I've had to adjust more to her changes than to having a newborn around. Figures.

I hate double chins!

Alas, our first picture in history together and it had to be taken at the least flattering angle possible. Luckily it shouldn't matter to the person that counts most and that's my new son.

40 weeks pregnant-exactly

Here I am in repose, trying to get some rest before we went to the hospital. Unfortunately the contractions were starting to get intense so it wasn't a very restful sleep.

Before the Show

My mother-in-law Jeri took this picture for me when she came to pick up Esther the Thursday before Ezra arrived. I had been having contractions all day but didn't start timing them until 1:40 pm. (I thought for sure he was going to come right before the 29th just to spite me!) The contractions never got very regular, but around 7 pm they started getting more intense. We didn't go to the hospital until 9:30 pm. And we didn't get into our room and all drugged up until 11:30 pm. Then Ezra came at 12:46 am! So I had to wait longer than I wanted to for an epidural (I was dilated to a 6) but now I know more about what labor actually feels like. Lucky me.

Ezra's tulips

I bought these forced tulip bulbs from Costco in the middle of February with the idea in mind to have some pretty blooms at home awaiting the baby. But they bloomed within a week, so I had to cut them and put them in a vase. They were dead by the time little Ezzer came home. I got that nesting syndrome they talk about a lot more this time than I did with Esther. It's funny though, I feel like all the preparations and pains I went to before he came, really didn't matter once we brought him home.

Me, Esther, and Pre-Ezra

These pictures, along with the other two of Ezra were taken by Brock's sister, Dannie Frost. They were taken just before Christmas,so I was around 32 weeks prego. Esther is getting big enough that she won't just smile and stay in one place anymore so these pictures weren't all that easy to get. They turned out great though, Dannie always does a good job.

3rd day of life

Ezra

Having two kids is fun?

You know there was a day last week, I think it was a Wednesday (Wednesdays are hard for some reason) where I was sitting on the couch holding both of my children and just thought, "Wow. Here I am with two kids. We're all just sitting here being." I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm still adjusting. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mother. As far as I'm concerned I will never achieve anything greater in life. But these first few months are rough. Ezra has been a fairly easy baby with the exception of the last few evenings. He's just been a little more high maintenance, I'm hoping he's just having a growth spurt. The sad thing is as hard as it's felt for me I know I have it pretty easy compared to others. High maintenance to me is a baby that instead of sitting quietly in his bouncer or swing, would like to be held. And wants to eat every hour. And through it all it's so hard not to question, "What kind of mother am I anyway? I'm not giving either one of my kids what they need." I'm sure it will get easier. It has too. Or we'd all be dead because of mother's gone a rampaging. Now I know why my mother seemed so angry all the time. There were 6 of us, all 18 months apart. Seriously. I mean seriously. I'm whining about 2. I hope someday I can properly thank my mother, perhaps host an awards show in her honor. Anyway, having two kids is fun.....will be....I know it.

Here is Esther and Abby looking at some sort of marine life book that my parents bought for Christmas. Esther really likes to look at it, maybe she'll be a little marine biologist someday. Anyway she loves to watch this video of herself.