Christmas

Better late than never...
We had a fabulous Christmas especially since I didn't have to work :) We enjoyed having family in town and being able to spend time with them. We started the Christmas season with the annual Fitz Family Christmas dinner followed by a Backer Family party. Ezra really enjoyed everything that involved Christmas, especially all the lights. After I had strung the Christmas tree with lights and plugged them in, Ezra exclaimed "Oh, Wow!" It was so cute cute how awestruck he was with such a simple thing. Our family enjoyed spending Christmas with both sides of the family and going to my grandma's house for dinner. It's funny how different you view things when you have kids and see the world from their tiny perspective. All in all we enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Papa and cousins Selah and Eli

Christmas Outfit

Playing with my new cars

My new Slide

New TrainChristmas Morning

Fall

Ezra love the pumpkin patch this year. This was the first time we took him and he enjoyed all the "bumkins" We also enjoyed a stroll through the corn maze. I think he just enjoyed being outside on this gorgeous fall day and be able to be a boy and play with dirt, bugs and sticks.

This year I tried carving something different beside my typical triangle eyes and nose and toothed mouth. My friend Missy and I relieved our childhood and carved these 2 beauties! Hopefully you can tell what they are. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

What's new?

Glad you asked!
Ezra... has a vocab about 8 words now but car and cracker are ones we hear all the time.
loves playing with cars and legos and loves being read to and backs his little hiney into your lap when it's storytime.
has started brushing his 8 teeth, which we almost lost one to an injury.
has been doing well eating with a fork which is so great and not nearly as messy!
likes to give group hugs...so sweet
Joel...continues to be consistently busy with our flooring business...yeah!
Emily...decided to be certified in her area of nursing and so is studying to take the exam..uggh!

So with all that stuff going on we are ready for our next vacation and after having fun and a relaxing time on our last one we are going to be making it a priority. Whohoo!

I think I'll go to Boston...

And we did, Ezra in tow and all. Ezra was such a good sport on the plane and during all our travel adventures. We all had a great time back east. We spent most of our time in downtown Boston sightseeing, going to a Red Sox game which felt like you were going back in time. That park has such an antique feel and we (Ezra and I) enjoyed watching the Sox's beat the Orioles. Joel was not too happy as an Oriole fan. Boston has a good mixture of old and new stuff and we enjoyed it all. We walked the freedom trail which is about a 2 1/2 mile walk around the city that Paul Revere rode to warn that the "British are coming" It had a lot of different historical sites one of which was Paul Revere's house that's pictured as well as Bunker hill, the Boston Massacre, the state house were they read the Declaration of Independce. It was pretty cool seeing all the old sites. Ezra also got to experience his first bar experience as we went to the original Cheer's Bar in downtown Boston. We also enjoyed the oldest park in the nation, Boston common which is right next to Cheers

We took a day trip down to Cape Cod and caught a ferry over to Martha's Vineyard. That felt like it was a vacation from a vacation. We hung out at the beach mainly and just walked around. We made sure we were wearing collared shirts so we would fit in better.Here we are down by the harbor with all the yachts...ours never seem to come and pick us up...bummer

Veggies Anyone?

I just have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for being able to grow vegetables from seed. We have a very small raised garden and I tried to packed a few too many things in there this year but they produced veggies so it worked out in the end. We planted corn, green beans cucumber and tomatoes. Cucumbers are coming in right now so if you are in the mood for one let us know!

A day at the beach

We love the beach. If only it was a little closer and a little warmer then it would be perfect. Then we would probably go more often. Well maybe, maybe not. It's kind of big production when you bring your kid and then oh decide to bring your dog as well because hey he would have so much fun and we don't want to leave him out. Well we only did that once this year and it really wasn't that bad except for on the way there. Ezra was babbling/crying for most of the way there except the 30 minute nap he took and Moses was whining constantly and couldn't decide whether to have his head out the window or not. By the time we passed Hillsboro Joel and I were wondering if we're too far to turn around and leave them both at home. I said yes because hey you are practically at the beach already by the time you reach Hillsboro. It's so freaking far! But when we were actually at the beach everything went smoothly and we all enjoyed the beach. We went a couple of times this summer and lucked out on fairly decent weather. Ezra loved playing in the sand, eating the sand, throwing the sand, digging in the sand... etc. which then leads to finding sand in hidden in places on him a couple of days later. Well at least he's having fun. But he also loved playing in the water too and running away from the waves.

Lost Lake

Wohoo! Our first family camping trip! Is how we felt the first day of our camping trip. Arrrgh! Our first family camping trip...is how we felt the next day. So we took a little camping trip up to Lost Lake, Ezra and dog in tow. It was a nice and peaceful day up there but a little chilly. Ezra and Moses loved being outdoor exploring the woods and Joel and I had fun just being somewhere else besides home. We hiked, Ezra biked and Joel caught like 8 trout that we ate for dinner when we got home. We all had fun during the day but the night was a literal nightmare. Ezra who normally sleeps 12 straight hours at night woke up at least 5 times screaming, crying, playing, jumping, you name it he was probably doing it. It was cold that night which didn't help at all and contributed to his awakenings. We tried having him sleep in the sleeping bag but he just thought it was playtime. And it didn't help that Moses who was suppose to be sleeping outside the tent manage to unzip the tent and snuggle in between us. I guess he was cold too. By 3 AM and literally no sleep I was ready to pack up the tent and take the 2 hr drive home. Instead Joel took Ezra for car ride for about 2 hours to get him to sleep instead...thanks hun. Anyways the next day we were just tired and decided not to try another night and headed back to home sweet home.

Can't stop moving...

Well he's finally on the move!

And enjoying the beautiful day at Red Sunset Park

The Latest...

EZRA...

is walking but still prefers to crawl I think mainly because his "big brother" moses is on all 4s and since they are buds they copy each other
is down to one nap a day now usually for 2-3 hours
is very opinionated is throwing tantrums already
is very active and works up a sweat doing everything
is using his bed as a trampoline
is 'talking' more

JOEL and EMILY...

are learning Spanish! and having fun using Rosetta Stone to achieve it
are busy keeping up with Ezra
are getting more involved with our church by joining a couple of lifegroups for the summer
are busy with work (flooring, network marketing and nursing)
are planning camping trips for the summer
are having fun planning our meals for the week ( I know that sounds weird but it's been helpful, especially on work days, not having to think 'what should I make for dinner?')

I'm 1!

Happy Birthday Ezra! You have grown into a little boy that is curious about EVERYTHING, laughs and smiles all the time, eats like a garbage disposal, definitely knows what he does and does not want and yet still likes to snuggle in your arms. You have such a sweet disposition and we pray that you allow the Lord to mold you into a gentle warrior for his kingdom. We have enjoyed watching you grow and develop through each phase over the last 12 months and looking forward to the new phases yet to come.

We had a little birthday party yesterday with the family and Ezra had so much fun being the center of attention.

Checking out my new trike

My new car with lots of buttons to push and make noiseJoel and I had just as much fun as EzraEzra got to have both of his great-grandmas at the party. Joel's grandma flew in from Albuquerque for the occasion.The Grandpas...Elias also flew in for the occasion from Oklahoma The grandmas

Ezra did this all evening after the party; alternately between this and ringing the bell on his trike

Spaghetti is my favorite!

Ezra eats spaghetti like I haven't fed him all day. It's so funny to watch him devour his food. And you can't see below but Moses loves it too because he does miss his mouth from time to time and Moses vacuums it up for me.
I have a picture of me like this about the same age I will have to find it and scan it next to this one.

Traveling anywhere?

Go through our new website powered by travelocity
www.travelfhtm.com/emilyquintana
competitive prices on air, car, hotel, cruises, vacation packages
Thanks for the future support!!

Just for Kicks

We just love our little guy! He has been so much fun, he loves food like his daddy, has been sleeping through the night for 8 months now, and is always happy and very curious. It's crazy that he'll be 1 next month...time really does fly when you are having fun. Lately Ezra has been walking while holding onto something and the new thing is he has either rediscovered his tongue or just enjoys sticking it out all the time.

He has also gotten more chompers...that's 6 now

And we found out that mommy isn't the only one that dresses up her child. Dad has just as much fun.

Just having fun with mom on her day off

Quintana Look-alike Meter

Ezra actually looks more like Jennifer's baby picture, but at least the Fitz genes are dominating right now

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph