On Grandma Bears Time..

The wonderful Grandma Bear insisted on babysitting Ezekiel last night for us so we could go out on a date! (She is the best!) While we were out she got on video Z's newest tricks! :-)


Z's new favorite word! :-)

Needless to say we have a very happy "dada" around here! :-)


His newest trick that Grandpa Bear taught him!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

And the totals are in...

Ezekiel's stats from his 9 month appt are

25 pounds 11 ounces

(<95%)

30 3/4 inches

(<95%)

Since my last blog Ezekiel has learned to clap! I am going to be a braggin' mom here for a sec...


I have to say that I think Ezekiel is SO smart (I know all parents think that)! But when he learned to clap last week he has since applied it to patty cake (or pat-a-cake, but who says that!), when we say "yay!" he will clap, and if you just ask him to clap he will clap then too! Also if we tell him "good  job" he will clap and say "yay"!

Here is a fun video that features him patty caking!

He has also learned to wave bye-bye too!

He is so smart! :-)

Love him!

Happy 11th Birthday Brodie!

Our very special house guest celebrated his 11th birthday on Friday! We were sure to make it a wonderful event for him! The festivities started out with a birthday grooming to shed his wooly MN winter coat! (Since it had been in the 70s and 80s here, we were starting to feel bad for him!) He is looking so handsome with his new hair-do!

Before

After!

That evening we went for a birthday walk when Mike got home from work and the puppies got an extra treat!

The next day we celebrated the way that we love to celebrate Jaxon's birthday, with a party at Galaxy Drive In!

Grandpa & grandma bear, Darek, Steph, Toby & Hunny, and Mark, Katie & baby Lena joined us for Brodie's party! The weather was pretty much perfect for Brodie's party; 65 and sunny! The puppies got a puppy ice cream cone and puppy hamburger! Needless to say they loved their treats!

Jaxon's half way done!

Brodie ate his too fast to get a pic!

Jaxon wanting a burger!

Brodie waiting for his burger!

YUM!

Double yum!

We all had so much fun!

Grandpa & Grandma Bear

Ezekiel showing off with his patty cake!

Toby & Ezekiel hanging out during the party!

Then on Monday Brodie got a special delivery from Korea (well from Amazon, but the love came from Korea)! Brodie's dad, mom and sisters sent him a wonderful present of some treats and a little hide a squirrel toy! He absolutely loved the toy (and treats, of course!); he was plaything with it all night! It's like he totally knew it was from his family and he was treasuring it that much more!

A quick rest during his playing!

He got all the squirrels out!

We later looked over and found him like this!

Passed out!

 Too much birthday fun! :-)

Brodie says, "Thanks so much to everyone for making my birthday so much fun!"

Holy Guacamole!

Whoever said that time could fly this fast?!

8 Months - 25 pounds & 30 inches

9 Months - Stats TBD at his Dr. appt on the 23rd

I am so not on board with it! So I continue to do my best to take one day at a time and not let them pass by without living in the moment each day! A lot has happen since my last update and I try to get it all in without boring you all! :-)

Our biggest victory (in my book anyways) is that Ezekiel is finally SWADDLE FREE! And it only took 8 months! lol! He started to not sleep through the night anymore and it seemed as if he wasn't happy being swaddled anymore. So we started doing naps swaddle free and that was going well so then one weekend I decided to finally make the leap and it was PERFECT! He slept through the night again and Mama was as happy as a peach! :-) So we have stocked up on pajamas and are sleeping like a rock star!

Z's new PJs!

Another exciting thing occuring in our life is, long story short, Mike's schedule has really freed up and he is able to enjoy a lot more time with us! So he has been volunteering to put Z down at night or for naps and getting up with him if he by chance does wake in the middle of the night! Everyone is loving this change! Mike loves that time with Z, I know Z loves the time with Mike, and I am loving their time together (and some time to myself :-) )!

On the mobility front, he has finally been utilizing his rolling skills that he has had for quite sometime now! He is also trying to pull himself up on stuff, inch worming backwards on his tummy and back, and will "walk" while holding on to our hands. He doesn't really seem like he has a big desire to really move yet, so we will see how long it takes him to really start crawling or walking.

Getting up on all 4s

Standing at the screen door in March! Love it!

On to Z's favorite topic...FOOD! We have now transferred into finger foods as well and Ezekiel is LOVING them! I am still making the majority of his foods and he is liking my cooking (so far), hopefully he is like his Dada and will eat almost anything! I have been def doing my research to figure out and brainstorm what would be good foods to give him as finger foods. He is a great eater and eats most anything!

Eating avocados!

We have had a lot of visitors over the last couple of months and got to hang out with a lot of really neat people! We had a super bowl party at out place and had a bunch of our friends over and there are just a few new babies in our bunch!

Carissa, Toby, Ellie, Ezekiel, and Bella all born within about 5 months of each other!

Toby & Zeke wearing their Zubas from Grandpa & Grandma Bear for the big game!

We also got to see Mike's family at his cousins wedding a couple weeks ago (which of course we forgot the camera)! It was so fun to see them all again and for Zeke to see them and get to know them better! And it was such a beautiful wedding! And I have to brag for a minute because this was my first time really dressing up since having Ezekiel and since I have lost all of my baby weight plus 10 pounds (yay!) I decided I deserved a new dress. So I got a super cute dress that fits perfect and super cute pink (HIGH) heels (I also haven't really worn heels since before having Z! So it was fun to get all dressed up for their wonderful occasion!

My Uncle Mark has also been up a couple of times, including just this past weekend and we celebrated his brithday with him! Z shared his 9 month birthday with my Uncle Mark too! We are loving the time that he is coming up to spend with us; it is so special to us!

Z and I also finally had a lunch date with my best friend from high school, Savannah! Or should I say I was the chaperon of THEIR date ;-P lol, just teasing! It was so good to see her again and I was so excited to introduce Ezekiel to her! We had a very long lunch at Crave at the MOA which included a lot of talking and catching up, it was SO nice! It just reminds me that no matter how busy we get in our day to day life, that we need to make time for those that are closest to us!

Savannah & Z

We also had a quick visit from Mike's brother Jeb and our niece Ellie, which is always nice! We also have som exciting plans in the making for this coming June! Mike's brother and family are coming home from S. Korea and will be spending 20 days in MN on their way to Pheonix where they will be stationed next. We are beyond excited to have them here and to spend time with them and meet our newest niece Tessa and make some wonderful memories! They are going to be renting a cabin in Grand Rapids so we will hang out there with them a bit, but then we are all going to the Bemis family cabin in Canada for about a week or so and then we will all come back in time for Ezekiel's 1st birthday! Mike's dad will also be up from Arizona during this time and Jeb and Ellie will be joining us all too! I think this will be the first time since our wedding that we will all be together!

And as always, we ge to spend time with my family! My parents are still staying with us and helping us out a TON! My dad is continuing to watch Z for us while we work, which is actually full time now bc we have gotten so crazy busy at my work that I am needed in the office full time! Its easy for me to head off to work more now knowing that our little guy is in such loving hands while we are gone! And my mom continues to help out a ton with dishes, cleaning, and laundry! It's so helpful and just frees up my time to be able to spend more time with Z! We also get to spend time with Darek, Steph, Toby, & Hunny too! We just love that time with them, its so special!

We have been loving this warm weather and taking advantage of it while its here! (We do live in MN after all, so you never know what the weather will bring!) I think we have been outside almost everyday for almost the last week going for walks, or going to the dog park, or just spending time on the patio and Ezekiel absolutley loves every minute of it! We have a swing that my dad and Mike are going to hang here this weekend (hint hint guys!) and I know he will just love that too! My mom got a walker for Z but our house doesn't have too many surfaces that he can use it on, but my dad has taken it out on to the patio and spent a lot of time out there with him yesterday. So I know he will be crusing around in it in no time! (Once he just finally realizes that its not a jumper!) He is moving around in it, its just slow right now.

The puppies have been loving this beautiful weather too and getting outside and playing and going for walks and going to the dog parks! Poor Brodie tho, he has his winter coat on still! We have been debating on when to get him groomed, since this winter has been so warm. But knowing MN, we were hesitant to get it done bc we didn't want to freeze him out all of a sudden! So we do have a grooming appt for him next week, but I am sure that is not soon enough for him!

Wooly Brodie at the dog park last week! It was SO muddy! But they had fun!

Ezekiel is such an amazing blessing to us! Everyday my love just continues to grow and grow for him, its such an amazing feeling! He is continuing to grow into his personality and he is SO much fun and SO funny (he gets that from me and Grandpa Bear :-p)! He just loves to laugh and loves to get us to laugh too! I am seriously cracking up at him all the time! I can tell that he is totally filled with so much Joy; it just oozes out of him! When we are out and about he is always smiling at people (especially ladies, he is such a flirt!), he is a definite day brightener and I love that! I hope that sticks with him forever!

I know there is so much more to talk about, but I will wrap it up here with these pictures!

My Joyful Little Man!

Dada's turn!

(I had been asking Mike for some time now to write out his thoughts and experience with Ezekiel's birth. Obviously life has been quite crazy since that wonderful day, so it was taking a bit longer than I would of liked for him to complete it. A few months back I asked him one last time to do it for me and then dropped it. Then on Valentine's Day he presented me with a beautiful necklace of Ezekiel's birthstone and the following note! I am so blessed to be married to such an amazing man! He is such a 'Courageous' father, if you have seen the movie you know what I am talking about! He so badly wants to be a great father to Ezekiel and be the right example to him so he can grow up and make a difference in this world! In my opinion he is seriously tied (with my dad, of course) for the best dad out there!)

I wanted to write a blog post of what it has been like to be a father.  I know it will mean a lot to the most important girl in my life, MY WIFE!. 

I remeber the day Ezekiel was born just like it was yesterday.  Emily woke me up at 5 in the morning and said she thinks its time!  I remember just being excited the whole day.  Now when Zeke actually came out that was a crazy moment, one second I saw the tip of his head the next he was out and I was like "Wow, what just happened?".  We hadn't decided yet what we were going to name him, but after holding in my hands and lifting him up to the light like Lion King I knew what to name him.  (No, it actually didnt happen that way.)  The way it really happened was after they cleaned him up I has holding him in my hands looking at Gods awesome creation and I heard in my spirit, Ezekiel.  I told Emily and she confirmed the same thing so Ezekiel James Bemis it is!

Now what has the expereince been like?  Its been everything I wanted it to be and more!  People tell you, you don't know love until you get married and then till you have kids.  Well now I understand.  I can't describe to you how awesome it feels when I come home and I come around the corner and he smiles and does his quick laugh he does.  Now honestly I would have been happpy either way if we would of had a boy or girl, but I've been speaking as long as I can remember that I wanted I mini me.  Well I got it!  The dude is huge.  He got daddy's big legs so he will have a tough time finding pants that fit.  (Sorry buddy I feel your pain.)  I thought maybe he will be a quarterback, but with shoulders that wide, I think he is going to be a linebacker.  He is always happy and is easily distracted.  (I don't know where he gets the easily distracted part from.)  So what were talking about again?  Anyways, Its awesome having God bless you with such a gift.  I know each parent thinks the same.  I'm just excited to be that example for Ezekiel of how to be a Godly man and show him God put us on this earth for a purpose and a mission.  

I have to give a shout out to my wife. She has been an awesome mom.  She takes such good care of him and is always ready for the next step of his development.  I appreciate her toughing out the beginning process of breastfeeding to make sure it is as healthy as he can be.  I love that she tries to do everything as organic as she can, she even makes most of his baby food!

Now my two favorite things to do with Zeke are "Baby Rock Jet Packet" and laying on the floor and reading to him while my arms are wrapped around him.  "Baby Rocket Jet Packet" is when I walk up to him and make a rocket noise (which he immediatley starts to smile and flop him arms when he hears it) and then I pick him up and fly him around the house out in front of my body (good shoulder workout if any dads are looking for one).  He smiles and laughs and flops his arms as I fly him past mom, grandpa, and grandma.  He just loves it! When I am reading to him on the floor I just love to watch him analyze and learn; then he looks at me and it seems like his says "REALLY DADA?  Wow that's good!"

Being a dad is so much fun. On a side note being an uncle to Ellie, Carlie, Tessa and Tobiah is fun too, I wish I could see them more!  Its going to be fun to have Ezekiel and Toby grow up being best buds.

I also want to give a shout out to Grandpa and Grandma Bear.  They have helped us out so much.  We thank you so much and things wouldn't be the same without you.  You guys are such great examples for us as parents. 

I also want to give a shout out to my Mom. She passed away a couple years ago but she was such a great example of how to be a parent for us, and her legacy still lives on.

That's it for now.  More to come in the future.  More play times and more stories.

Ezekiel you are everything I wanted you to be!

Love,
Your Dada.