It's been awhile.

Hey, it's been awhile. School started for Jessica and me on Wednesday, September 12. Thank goodness.

I've been bored out of my gourd to say the least. Granted, it was really nice to spend so much time with Jessica and Ezekiel, but honestly, I think the Lord commands us to be industrious for a very wise reason.

It's odd to think that he's three months old now. I basically missed the first month of his life being that I was at work so much. But, he's growing SO FAST. He's not as squishy as he once was. He's not as small and vulnerable anymore. He's not completely helpless. I don't know. There's just something so endearing about the first few weeks of a child's life.

However, he's a lot more fun these days. He laughs. He really likes to laugh. If you just sit him on your lap and stare at him he'll start with a little grin and eventually work up to a giggle. Eventually, if you play with him enough he'll give you laugh after laugh. It's great.

Also, he a ton more interactive. He grabs things. He loves to pinch. He's a pincher. He's getting to be a biter. When Jessica's not around, I find different things to put in his mouth to suck on. It's great. The looks he gets on his face are priceless.

Also, he talks a lot. I imagine he gets it from me. A lot of times, early in the morning, I'll take him and put him on the baby swing and then go back to sleep. During that time, he's just content to be in the swing and talk to himself. It makes me think he'll grow up and be a megalomaniac... I can only hope.

New pictures will be up soon. I swear. For now, I'll just use the excuse that I'm in school from 6 in the morning until noon. Take it or leave it.

Zeke update continued

I forgot to mention two things: Zeke is almost able to laugh, he starts, but doesn't sustain it. He does laugh full on in his sleep however. He must have some pretty good dreams. Also a few days ago Peter said that he was singing with him.

Thats it.

oh, oh, I thought of something else. Zeke likes to pull his hair when he is tired. Sometimes he pulls a little too hard and it makes him cry, but because he doesn't have control over his hands yet, he will continue to pull his hair until either he randomly lets go or someone helps him.

He's a very silly baby.

Zeke update

Zeke is now over two months old and has begun to make interesting discoveries.

First off, he is much more aware of his surroundings and consequently is more sociable. He will now look someone in the eye for a long time and will study that person. He also has been giving us big smiles and will talk for long stretches of time.

He holds his head up better every day and on Tuesday he figured out how to roll over from his stomach to his back. We were very happy about that. Since then he has flipped a few other times, which shows it was not a fluke.

Within the past few days he has been trying to sit up. At least when I place him sitting down he will launch himself forward and try to stabilize, but unfortunately will lean over too much on one side and within milliseconds fall over. But it is really cute to watch.

Overall I think Peter and I are lucky that Zeke is a happy baby. He rarely cries except for the usual reasons; sleepy, hungry, and recently added to the list, bored. I can tell that he has a fun personality and it will be a joy to watch it slowly reveal itself over the next however many years.

I want to end this post with two stories.

Story 1: This story happened at church.

Zeke was getting a little fussy during Sunday school because he was getting tired so I took him out to the hallway. Since our stake doesn't have a building yet, we meet in one of the buildings on campus called the Austin. I tell you this because in the particular hallway that I was in there were what seemed to be student paintings on the walls. So as I was rocking Zeke to sleep I entertaining myself by observing these paintings. I came across one particular painting that I liked instantaneously; it was a landscape scene of I think the Grand Canyon, but had a lot of emotion in it with powerful colors. As I moved away from this picture I noticed that Zeke was not asleep but looking at the picture as well. I stopped to let him get a better view. Within seconds he flashed this huge smile at the picture. Thrilled, I then proceeded to expose him to the other paintings in the room to see if he would react the same way. Nothing. He would look at them for a little while, but his attention was soon lost. So to complete the experiment, I took him back to the first painting and sure enough, he again flashed a big smile at the painting.

Story 2. This is a two part story that has to do with smiling and frowning.

A while ago back when Zeke was just starting to be sentient and recognize his parents, I was feeding him and he pulled off, looked me in the eye, and gave me this huge smile. It was a "I know who you are and I really like you" smile. It was a sweet moment for me.

On Wednesday Joanna was kind enough to babysit for us so that Peter and I could sneak out and see a movie at the cheap theatre. It was a later showing so I put Zeke to sleep, told Joanna all the essential information, and we zipped off on the scooter. When we came back, Joanna was giving Zeke a bottle and everything seemed alright. Then Zeke started to cry so I took him back to his room to change him. I put him on the changing table, he stopped crying, looked me in the eye, and gave me a very sad frown where the lower lip is protruded. It was a "I know you left me" frown. As cute as it was, it made me just a little guilty, even though I know that wasn't really what it was.

Big photo update

I just stuck up a bunch of photos. Check 'em out.

Our new apartment

Well, we've had a really busy 11 days. We moved from Portland on July 27 and we've only now just settled down. Hope you enjoy the video and stay tuned because we'll have some pictures up soon!

The Beginning of Another Life Chapter

Peter and I have noticed that our life has "chapters" much like a book. These chapters include when we met (ominously known as "The Beginning") to when Peter left on his mission (simply titled "The Mission") with a quick interlude of "The Marriage/Honeymoon" to the more substantial "Life in Rexburg" when life got especially interesting.

Though all the chapters are precious in our life, I think that last one I mentioned is especially close to our hearts because it is when life as a married couple really began. It was during this chapter that we experienced life in all its variety and it ended with the expectation of a baby.

The last chapter we just completed ("Portland") ended with the birth of our son and the exodus from Portland to Rexburg. But as fun as that time was for us, Peter and I are very excited to start "Life in Rexburg 2.0: Even More Rexburg" because now we get to gain whole new experiences. Mostly I'm talking about raising Zeke and the development of our married relationship, but there are many other aspects of this new chapter that will challenge us in different ways.

I think this truth in life is what excites both me and Peter; with due respect of the past, we are constantly looking forward to the challenges of the future. Change intrigues us, and though we are nostalgic, we know that unless we are living our life now, there will be no past.

I foresee many chapters in our life, and though I can't guarantee the quality or the length of the book, I know that Peter and I are ready for each and every entry and plan to live our life with gusto.

P.S. I realize that the titles of our chapters are incredibly dull, so if someone has ideas or suggestions about what to call them, leave a comment.

Pics Continued...

Just uploaded some more pictures. Boring? Yes. Precious? Yes.