This past year has been a crazy one full of 3am feedings, diaper changes, and baby giggles. I won't fill you in on every detail of the past year as that would surely put you all to sleep! But I will give a quick little viewing into what this past year has looked like.
The first few months of new parenthood were HARD! I don't think anyone ever really prepares you correctly for just how tough those first few months can be. You always hear the sugar coated version that ends with "But it's all worth it in the end!" This is true. Of course it's worth it to have this amazing little person in our lives...but that doesn't negate just how difficult it is to deal with a little crying baby who has no real way of telling you what's wrong and screams and screams all while you are in an extremely sleep deprived state.
Ezra was exclusively breastfed so there was no need for Joe to get up with all the feedings during the night. This might lead you to believe that he had it easier than me but you would most certainly be wrong! He had to work full days at the office then come home to a tired and crabby wife and an often times screaming baby. At which time I would quickly hand Ezra over to him so I could breath a moment before getting started on supper. I'll never forget the evening when Joe walked in the door to find Ezra in her swing in an all out wail and me sobbing into my pillow on the bed. I could almost visibly see his head swivel from side to side trying to figure out which one he should go to first!
It wasn't until months later that we found out she was colicky! Once we found that out, I finally felt like I could understand and things seemed to begin to get ironed out. We got to settle into a semblance of a routine (a necessary part of life for this OCD mama) and over the summer I finally got to go back to work!
I started out with one hour a day to go in to the office then do what I could from home while Ezra was napping. Our good friend Deb comes to our house and watches Ezra while I'm at the office. Then just a couple of weeks ago I began going into the office 2 hours everyday. I don't really do much office work outside of those 2 hours now so when I'm at home I'm completely dedicated to Ezra and keeping this house somewhat in order.
Our growing girl!
Just last week we celebrated Ezra's first birthday! I can't believe it's been that long already! It seems like just yesterday we were driving to the hospital with me not 100% certain I was in labor only to find out I was dilated all the way to a 9!
Here are just a few stats about our little girl. We haven't been to the doctor since her 9 month appointment so I'm afraid I can't really tell you how tall she is or how much she weighs but she is a small one. Most people who ask us how old she is don't believe us when we say 1 year. She still isn't even maybe 18 lbs yet and was at 25" both at her 4 month and 9 month appointments. But she does seem to have finally hit a small growth spurt! :)
She has a head full of dirty blonde curls! So curly I'm getting nervous about how I'm gonna take care of that hair someday!
She has six teeth now! She got her two front bottom ones when she was six months old then we didn't see any again for quite a while. Around the time she was 11 months old we started seeing the front top ones coming in. But it was all four top fronts ones! All at one time! She was a very grumpy baby there for a while but she is finally able to chew a few more foods.
She can crawl at lightning speed, pull up on just about anything, and cruise her way around the house. She doesn't seem to show any real interest in figuring out how to walk just yet, but once she does I'm sure I will be getting plenty of exercise chasing her around.
She doesn't always want to learn things right away but once she decides she does, she typically picks it up and masters it in no time at all.
She loves eating fruits, meats, and breads. Like most little ones she used to love anything I put in front of her but she's suddenly decided to stop liking veggies! I'm sure this is a battle we will not see the end of for a very long time!
At about 10 1/2 months Ezra started sleeping ALL the way through the night, from bed time to morning. She now sleeps straight from 7pm to about 7 or 7:30 am! I love it!
No matter how you try you just can't put an entire year into a short message. Future messages shouldn't be so long. I don't want to lose any of you! We still love our jobs at NMSI and are very excited to share some of the great things happening in ministry around the world!
We love you all!
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