What I'm Doing Different

I remember being asked what I would do differently as a parent from what my parents did. If you know me at all, you know how much I revere my parents, so this question was hard to answer. I thought and thought about it, and finally came up with this: I will take lots of pictures of my kids and keep up with organizing them.

There is one thing my kids will never accuse me of doing... Not Taking Pictures! I'm probably so camera happy because there are about five pictures of my whole childhood. I'm the ninth kid in a line of ten, so it's easy to understand why. Also, in my parent's defense, they recorded our lives in the way that mattered most. Dad kept meticulous journals and there are volumes and volumes of them. When each of us kids got married he was able to put a book together with all the excerpts from his journal where we were talked about, and then present it to us as a wedding gift! Mine is a treasure. My husband and my kids are able to read all about how I was as a kid.

So here is the most recent evidence that I take pictures of my kids. I've been taking less pictures lately than usual because I'm frustrated with my camera and my photography skills. My camera is so bad that I usually only like to take them with Joseph's phone. Bad ones are better than none at all though!

After Church Backyard Photoshoot

More Ezra Pictures

He's three weeks old now.

Check out these ears!!!

Look at all this preciousness in my lap! I fell asleep shortly after taking this picture and Joseph came by and took a picture of the three of us sleeping. That picture isn't quite as cute as this one though.

Ezra's first real bath

A Busy Boy

Ezra has been busy during his first two weeks of life. If his activities during this time were representative of his future, then he will be quite the manly and spiritual individual. He has already browsed the aisles of Cabellas, gone fishing, visited the temple, and attended church!

Size Comparrison

Fishing Trip:

Kilynn caught a fish and wanted to eat it. We brought it home, Joseph cooked it up for her and she gobbled it all up. It amazes me how much my kids love to eat fish of all kinds. That is the one thing I never cared to ever eat until about five years ago.

The primary had a trip to visit the temple grounds. The tulips were beautiful and I was hopeful that we would get some good family pictures. Unfortunately that is a very difficult thing to do. The girls were not happy to hold still and when they did, they were always making silly faces. I did my best though and came away with these:

I will probably regret this picture being put here, but I feel like I should document it. Kilynn took this picture of me just minutes before my water broke. I knew I was in labor so I had her take a few pictures. Joseph had just left for the fire station at 7:00. I called him and told him to come home and we were off to the hospital by a little after 8:00. Ezra was born about 2 1/2 hours later at 10:33!

He's Here!

Our little boy is here!

He was born April 1st (Tuesday)
at 10:33 pm. He arrived two weeks early and quite suddenly. It was only about six hours from the time I knew I was in labor to the time he made his appearance. He is quite the April Fools Day prankster!

Ezra LaGrande Waite

6lbs 13oz

19 1/2 in long

Meet Brody

Brody is a German Shorthair Boarder Collie mix.

Joseph has wanted a puppy really badly for a long time. I finally broke down and got him one as an early birthday surprise! I haven't been excited to have a dog around. Though I'm not really a dog person I always knew we would need to get a dog someday. Joseph has been begging and begging for one even though I told him we couldn't have one while we live here in this house. The yard is just too small. He wore me down enough I guess. Around Christmas, he started emailing me links to different craigslist post of puppies for sale. Then when his birthday was approaching he did the same thing. I took one that he seemed excited about and gave him an early birthday surprise. Brody came from Wallowa so Joseph's brother Ben brought it down when he came for a visit toward the end of January.

Even though this was a whole month before his actual birthday, I made his birthday dinner and afterward presented him with this poem/contract before he was able to see the his new puppy. He was pretty surprised!


Bet you're wondering- what is up?
(hint: I'm trying to think of a rhyme... oh I give up)

Well your fondest dreams today come true,
but first there's one thing that you must do.

Before this gift you are allowed to see,
there are terms to which you must agree.
________________________________________

- I Joseph Waite will walk my canine
  every day whether rain, snow, or shine.

- I'll rise every morning before I go to work,
  and exercise my dog and me and never ever shirk.

- I will take charge for my dog's every need,
  for training , exercise, water and feed.

- If bath time is needed cause he smells like decay,
  I will bathe him promptly without delay.

- My wife and children will never have to find
  doo doo in the yard from my dog's behind.

- I'll do all these things and with superhuman strength sublime,
  still not put any priority over frequent family time.

- My wife must never feel she should do any of the chores
  in order that she might buy my time to be with me some mores.

- Though Ivy may choose to help every once in a while,
  I'll never expect it, I'll do all tasks with a smile.
___________________________________________
That is all, your name please sign,
and this thing will be yours in a very short time.

     X_____________________

If these conditions aren't lived up to satisfactorily,
I'm sad to say a craigslist post will have to set us free.

I'm hopeful all will work out swell.
I love you Joseph more than words can tell.
(If I did not, I wouldn't have looked twice at a dog that is for sale)

Love,
Ivy   xoxoxoxoxxxoxox!

He did sign his contract without hesitation!



I know that poem makes me sound pretty harsh, but I had to be harsh in order to make sure my bases were covered. I do like Brody. He has been a pretty good dog and I do spend time with him too. Joseph has done an excellent job living up to his contract so I don't have too many complaints.  Brody rarely barks and he seems to learn things quickly. The girls really love him. Kilynn was a little scared of him at first, but I expected that. Before we got Brody, Kilynn was scared of any and every animal. Even if she saw a little fruit fly in our kitchen, she would cry hysterically and refuse to come out of her room. Brody has helped her get over those fears. Brody does have his faults, but I'm in a positive mood right now so I'd rather not get into them. None of them are too bad- just normal dog stuff.

 

technical problems

After over three months of no posts I finally got one up last night! Aren't you proud of me?
I always have some lame excuse for why I only blog in spurts, and this time it is that for a long time it wasn't letting me upload my photos. I finally got that figured out, but it only worked if I uploaded the pictures one at a time which is a huge pain! Does anyone have suggestions? I'm also having trouble changing my background and anything else that has to do with the layout of my blog. It just won't let me do it! I want to change the picture in the header to one that includes Marjorie, but it won't let me remove it! It's probably something really simple, but I don't know what it is and I'm too lazy to sit down and really try to figure it out. Any ideas?
Oh yea, and then there's that annoying "Sorry this person has deleted this image" sign right it your line of vision. Nice.