Ezra James' Blog

August 31, 2007 vs August 31, 2008

Ezra’s 1st birthday has now come and gone and we had the best day yesterday! Thank you to all our family and friends who celebrated with us. You all are so very good to us and to our sweet Ezra James. All day long yesterday (and really this entire weekend) I’ve kept thinking about where we were a year ago and what we were doing all day long on Ezra’s birthday. I’ve been meaning to write it down for Ezra’s baby book so I thought I would do it today. Oh what a difference a year makes! Here’s what our day looked like on August 31st last year and August 31st this year.

6:15 a.m. last year – Logan and I were about to leave for the hospital. We had an elective induction scheduled for Ezra’s birth and we needed to be there ready to go by 7:00 a.m.

6:15 a.m. this year – Ezra woke up. A little earlier than his normal wakeup time which is usually about 6:30/6:45 a.m. He had a sippy cup of formula and then played with his toys and read a few books.

7:00 a.m. last year – Logan and I arrived at the hospital. We checked in at the desk and began what would be a very long wait to get a room.

7:00 a.m. this year – Logan, Ezra, and I headed out for a 6 mile run in our neighborhood. Ezra fell asleep for about the last mile and a half.

8:00 a.m. last year – Still waiting for a room at the hospital. Apparently August is the busiest month of the year for babies being born. We weren’t guaranteed that they could get us in but we decided to wait it out. As my sister Emilie says, we were like Mary and Joseph waiting for a room at the Inn. Ha!

8:00 a.m. this year – We finished up our run, gave Ezra a bath, and had breakfast. Ezra ate half of a banana and a waffle. He loves waffles!

9:30 a.m. last year – Still waiting for a room at the hospital.

9:30 a.m. this year – Ezra took his morning nap. He usually takes about a two hour morning nap.

11:30 a.m. last year – We finally got a room! They checked us in and started Pitocin. It was almost immediately that I started feeling contractions.

11:30 a.m. this year – Ezra woke up from his nap and had a sippy cup of formula. Next, Ezra and I headed to Central Market to pick up some fruit for his birthday party. While we were there we got Ezra’s very first balloon. He was so very happy to get this balloon! He was fascinated with it the entire time we were there and again when we got home. Ezra ate lunch – applesauce, turkey, and zucchini. Logan went up to his office to do a little work.

1:30 last year – Dr. Bradford broke my water and then about an hour later I got an epidural. I think that one hour without the epidural was the most painful part of labor for me. I don’t know how women do childbirth naturally.

1:30 this year – Ezra laid down for his afternoon nap. I did some cleaning for Ezra’s party, made a fruit salad, and hopped in the shower to start getting ready. Logan came home from work, picked up our sandwiches for the party, and helped me start setting things out.

5:00 last year – I was about 6 cm dilated. We all predicted that Ezra would be born about 10:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. this year – Our family and friends arrived for Ezra’s birthday party! Guests included Nanna & Pop, G-Ma, aunt Francie & Addison, & Preston, Aunt Bess, Jason & Dori Constantino, Dori's little sister (in town from Louisiana because of Hurricane Gustav), Aunt Shana & Randall, Shawn (Randall's friend in town from Arkansas), Sean Moore & his girlfriend Britney, and of course me, Logan, and the birthday boy Ezra James.

5:30 p.m. last year – I was 10 cm dilated and ready to start pushing. This completely caught us off guard as we were expecting to have several more hours of waiting. About 15 minutes later we stared pushing.

5:30 p.m. this year – We continued to celebrate our birthday boy. A little after 5:30 we stared opening presents. Ezra got some fun ones! He also had a great time playing with the tissue paper!

6:37 p.m. last year – Ezra James was born!!! 8 pounds. 21 inches long.

6:37 p.m. this year – About 6:15 we sang Happy Birthday and Ezra got to eat his first birthday cake. He did so good! He had mixed emotions about the cake. At first I think he was disgusted with it. But then when he figured out that he could dig in and play with it then he started giggling and smiling big! My guess is that he was taking a bath 6:37 p.m. I completely forgot to look at my watch but looking back on it I think that's where we were at the time. We got dressed and went back to enjoying the party.

9:00 p.m. last year – Ezra met his grandparents for the first time -Nanna, Pop, and G-Ma as well as Aunt Francie & Uncle Eric.

9:00 p.m. this year – Ezra had been in bed for about an hour already. All that partying made for one sleepy little boy. Logan and I chilled out in our living room and enjoyed leftover sandwiches and birthday cake.

The exact same date but one year apart. Our family has had the most amazing year. Who knew how much joy this little baby boy would bring! I wish I could freeze time.

p.s. - Lots of birthday pictures coming soon!