Little Kiddo Prayers

Most nights we'll do a round of prayers with Ezra and Levi. Here's Ezra's prayers last night...

Henslee Halloween '08

Here are a few shots of Ezra on Halloween this year. In case you can't tell, he's a monkey.

Injured Bad

Man, I've been out the past week with all sorts of medical issues. I had an upper endoscopy where they stretched my esophagus to help with acid reflux n'such. Aaand I learned that my gall bladder has to come out soon...boo!

The worst part of it all is that Ezra (18 months) had a surgery on Friday of this week. There were some problems with his nether region that we had to correct so that he would like us when he got older.

When we met him in the recovery room he was awake and screaming. He had pulled out his I.V. and was really ticked off. The worst part is that for two weeks he's gonna walk around like he just rode a horse for 7 hours straight.

Please pray for the little guy and a quick recovery! There is one video that sums up his experience....here it is...

He's Already Leaving Us

Ezra is over a year and a half old now. So, were were able to enroll him in "Mother's Day Out." It's a program that Asbury United Methodist church offers that allows us to put him in "school" for 5 hours, 1 day a week. We're really thankful that Asbury offers this ministry!

I'll get to take him every week and drop him off before work. That will allow Rachel to get some time to herself and Ezra will get to play with other kids his age.

Here are some pics from his orientation today:

Looky What I Got!

For Father's Day, Ezra (only 16 months mind you) got me an 8GB iPod Nano. So...I had to get an armband and the new Nike+ pedometer thingymabobber. I plan on running tomorrow whilst some lady tells me how far I've run, and how fast I did it in. I'm purdy excited!

Zoo-Mania

Bird Poo
Originally uploaded by dhenslee

We took a trip to the Zoo today with our friends the Craigs. Ezra really likes birds so we went into the Feather Fest exhibit with a ton of birds. He almost crushed one in his little hand. We would have had to name it Petey and stroked it while re-assuring it that it was a "pretty bird."

Anyway, check out the flickr album by clicking on the photo. Good times to be had by all!

I Actually MEANT To Go In There!

So we took a trip to the mall to use a couple of gift certificates. Rachel stepped into Victoria's Secret to shop...and so Ezra and I headed out to cruise the mall in his Eddie Bauer stroller. There were a lot of stores I could go into...which one do I choose? The Disney Store.

I know, right? What was this ex-baptist doing going into a Disney store? It was a giant Nemo stuffed animal at the back of the store. Ezra and I had a good time looking at all the giant stuffed animals, and I learned a thing about myself.

I have completely stepped into daddy-dom. I no longer felt the urge to stroll into the Sharper Image, now I was all about seeing what would make my kiddo point and smile. Good to know I've grown up...at least a little bit, I mean I was looking at stuffed animals.

He's A Golfer?

No, Ezra is not yet a golfer. I myself, have only been twice. (Need to dust off the clubs.) Today he spent a couple of hours with my running buddy Steve Harrison. I dropped him off and they watched the LPGA finals going on here in Broken Arrow, OK. He got a ball from some random ball-finder-washer-giver to little kids-guy. He wouldn't let go of it. Those are good to gnaw on!

New Words

Our kiddo is saying a few words... Cool right?

Here they are:

"Dhaduh" (translation: Dad)
"Dhad-dee" (translation: Daddy)
"Mohm-mah" (translation: Momma)
"Toogee" (translation: Fugee, our dog's name)

He can also sign other words that he can't say yet:

More
Thank You
All Done
Please
Milk
Dog
No (although for this, he just shakes his head)

So, these are the things that are stealing my heart lately. Thought you might want to know.

Look At Him Go!

Ezra is making new strides these days. It seems like everyday he does something new. The other day he figured out he could push his walker thing down the hall all by himself. He needed a bit of help turning around though. Enjoy!

Crack-a-lacka!

You see, it all began when my son Ezra was crawling down the hall. I reached down, grabbed the back of his footed pj's and proceeded to lift him up and down, soaring around the house like a miniature super boy. That's when my back protested. (I didn't drop my son.)

So, after a couple days of pain, I gave in and went to a Chiropractor. Some of you out there in blogging world may approve, others may not. However, the experience went like this...

• I arrived and filled out appropriate paperwork.
• Was given once-over by Dr.
• X-rays given
• X-rays gone over with
• Laid on bed while neck was snapped like in the movies when the spy kills some poor henchman silently so as not to be found out.
• Had grown man laying on me while I was contorting my body and exhaling...weird huh?
• Had electrodes or something of that nature placed on me and they proceeded to electro-shock my back
• Laid on table while massage thing undulated my back up and down.
• Paid money for it

So now I'm contemplating going back a few times. I did find out that I have ortho-arthritis in my neck. Hmmm, may explain the periodic headaches and dizzyness...I dunno. I may have to get a MD's opinion on that too just to say I checked it all out.

So, what do you think about the professional back-cracker?

Shiny Fire Trucks!

Ezra got a shiny red fire truck for his first birthday. His great grandparents bought it for him and when I put him on it he held on to the handle and was ready to ride. Please forgive the cutesy kid voices we're using as I push him up and down the hall.

I can't wait till he's older...I'll become a big dork (more-so than now) and be a part of A.C.E. and we'll hit all the cool coasters! Enjoy the video!

A Whole Year? Really?

Today is Ezra's first birthday. Man, a lot has changed this year! Ezra has entertained us, marveled us, and at times even annoyed us (I know..right?) The most significant thing that he has done though has made me realize just how much God loves us. Every night Rachel and I put Ezra to bed at 8pm. We put him in his crib, put his favorite blanket over him, place a hand on him, and one of us prays for him. It is usually in this moment that I realize just how much responsibility God has given us. That He trusts us to raise this person as HE sees fit.

The fact that Ezra is God's child and that we've been given the responsibility to raise him hits like a freight train. That thought alone gives us such pleasure when we see him develop. Some of the things that he has done this year are...well, it'd be better in picture form. Enjoy!

First Word Ever!

Ezra has been babbling since he was about 6 months or so...maybe sooner. So, we weren't sure as to what his first word would be. I often wondered about parents (before I had a kid) who didn't really know what their kid's first word was. I was like, "how can you not know when your kid says a word?" Yeah, now I'm eating those words! But Ezra, his first word is officially...DAD! Now, he's been saying, "momamamomaomamaomaommaoo" for a while...don't know if that's an official "mom" or not, but he most certainly will say, "dad!" Just thought you'd want to know....cool huh!

Almost A Full Year Old!

We took Ezra to Big Cedar Lodge for Christmas this year. I sat him in a rocking chair on a deck overlooking the lake. He instantly started to rock! I am amazed at how fast things come to him. He is pulling up and starting to move around A LOT more! Now he can sign that he wants "more" and "please." Although he doesn't sign it...he definitely understands the sign for "NO!"

He is sounding out "dad" and "momma." But I'm not sure if this is just regular vocalizing or if he's trying to say something. I can't wait to see how he develops in the coming months. Next month he'll be a year old and I have been amazed with this new life that God has blessed us with. I have learned so much about myself this year. So I can honestly say I'm looking forward to what God will teach me and Rachel through the next year. For now, I'm just caught up in hanging out with my little boy. I mean look at him....he's like the cutest thing you've ever seen right?

The December Event - Long Story

Each year, for the past several years, Lifechurch.tv hosts all of its staff and spouses for the annual "The December Event." (Yes, it is in its simplicity that you'll find the creativity of the name!) Anyway, we came together at our OKC campus and heard from Perry Noble, Senior Pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. All I have to say about him is that I have a new-found fear of butt-freezing snow snakes. You can read more about his talk and the first day of our event here.

Thursday had some really great information and insight which you can read about here. It was a rough day for the Henslee family though! Ezra got some sort of 24hr bug last week and was VERY sick. Rachel got it next, and wouldn't you know it I followed right behind. It all began Wednesday night when I was bowing down to the porcelain water goddess and retching myself so hard my femur hurt! Sorry to be gross....but I think the whole hotel was afraid an woolly mammoth was about to break through their wall! What can I say, I'm a loud sick person. So most of Thursday I was just achy and cold.

Rachel had to stay in the hotel with a crying baby so that we wouldn't put him in child care and potentially get other people sick. So, although she was feeling the best out of the lot of us, she had to listen to the screaming kid all day!

Today, all is well. The kiddo is doing better, Rachel feels better and I feel like nothing ever happened! I wish that were the case. I wasn't able to get as much out of the event as I would have like due to feeling so puny. So, I'll end the whining session now and let you get to reading the cool blogs that I posted links to up ahead! Moral of the story.....freakin wash your hands!!!! It's FLU season!!!!

Bubbley Bath

Ezra took a bath in the sink at his Great Grandparent's house. Thanksgiving went really well and we didn't really get all that stuffed...well, at least I don't remember getting stuffed....wait, maybe that was the tryptophan putting me to sleep!

Anyway, when you're a 9 month old on the move, you've gotta take a bath...just to get rid of the nasty stuff you pick up from crawling around so much. Here's a shot of Ezra getting sudsy!

That's One Fuzzy Bear

This is obviously a year of firsts for our son Ezra. We have decided to allow our kids to participate in the pagan ritual of dressing up for Halloween, walk around a trusty-worthy neighborhood, knock on doors and ask for candy. *Insert gratuitous prayer for our family decisions. Our friends Todd and Stephenie Craig were nice enough to invite us out with their son who is actually old enough to say, "Trick or Treat." He actually said, "to infinity and beyond!" The thing about this night was that both of our friend's parents were there with them and were active together in their grandson's life.

More than a nice house, or car, or any"thing" else, we found ourselves wishing for Ezra's grandparents to be more cognitive of him and actively pursuing a relationship with him. Until he gets a little older, we may not see much of that! But, until then, we've got great friends who act like family most of the time anyway. We can't wait to begin a legacy that will carry on through with our grandkids someday!

You know me, I like to show you pictures of my kiddo...here's a couple:

Pumpkin Town

We recently went to Pumpkin Town with some friends of ours. Ezra has quite the contemplative personality. We never got a smile out of him, I think he was too enamored with all the pumpkins and his friend James!

Ezra's Shopping Trip

Yeah so we've now graduated from putting the carrier in the basket to now just setting Ezra in it. He can look around and take it all in better this way. We went to the baby superstore Babies R Us. Man he's getting big!