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!