cuddle bugs and park bugs...

I forgot to mention that over the weekend we also got to meet my cousin's baby Noah for the first time. Here he is snuggling with my mom...

...and celebrate our godson Micah's 2nd birthday!


Today I met up with two of my girlfriends from high school. We now all have kids, which makes for lots of fun, but also very little concentrated chat time. :)
Kelly just had Jackson at the end of April! She never thought she wanted to have kids, and yet makes such a wonderful mama to this sweet little boy. He pretty much slept on her chest the entire time we were there. So precious.


And, here is Kelsey with 7 month old Evie.


...and this is her son, Harper! He is one of my favorite 4 year old boys. Loves to tell you all about the solar system, human body, and the Wild West (which he reminds me, is where I live :)


I've always known Ezra was a very curious and energetic lil' guy. But wow, putting him next to a cuddly newborn baby really made that obvious! Here are Ezra and Harper exploring in the backyard...


...and discovering that under the crib makes for a cool fort...


Here's our troop!


This evening we took a walk to the park. The mosquitoes were out like crazy, and poor Ezra gets massive welts with each bite, so we re-applied bugspray quite frequently.

Mom, Ezra and Haleigh swinging away...


And Ezra on the merry-go-round...who knew these even still existed?!


With my peanut-allergic husband in China, I have a batch of peanut butter ice cream in the ice cream maker right now (gotta make the best of things)...yum!!

Ryan!

Ryan is doing well in China. Here is a photo he sent the other day...

So far the food has been great...dim sum for pretty much every meal. He has only accidentally brushed his teeth with tap water once, and didn't get sick from it. Yay! I believe they are going to see the Great Wall today.

We have been missing him like crazy, but being in Michigan has helped the time go by faster. Before Ryan left he made some videos for Ezra...which Ezra loves to watch everyday.

Here he is rockin' out...after about 45 seconds though the blueberries rolling off the table take center stage for him. I didn't know how to edit the video though (my editor is in china...). :)

Weekend fun!

We had a full weekend of playing! The weather was very Michigan-like. Cold and in the 50's one day, and humid and in the upper 80's today. Who can complain about that? We get a little of everything... :)

Playing on my parents' trampoline with Haleigh. Though his face doesn't show it in this photo, he really was having fun.


Playing at Wahlfield Park. He loves playing around "big kids".


Meeting sweet Natalie for the first time!


Ezra liked her, but preferred that I not hold her. Or if I did, to hold him at the same time as well. :)


Ezra and I went for a couple of runs, and would stop at Westgate Park partway through. This is the park I grew up going to (it's in our neighborhood)...so funny to be bringing my lil' guy there now!






And a trip to the cabin...
(a piece of cereal is what's sticking out of his mouth...)


He was quite excited that he could enter the cabin all by himself (the screen is loose and makes for a great "kids door".


And, it's also light enough for him to open on his own (although he is getting a little help in this photo). He was quite pleased with his independence.


Eating lunch in the same chair I used as a toddler...


Our post-lunch nap in the hammock...


We played for a while in the creek, but for safety reasons, this was the only (not-so-good) photo that I took... I should also add that the water was probably not even 40 degrees, but somehow Ezra didn't seem to care one bit. In fact he even went past his belly...I on the otherhand only went in past my ankles. :)


One sweaty/dirty dude. :)

musings...

I used to think I wanted to have a baby who would go to anyone...
...that was before I was a mom and realized the importance of attachment.

I used to think I wanted to have a date night once a week...
...that was before I was a mom and realized babies go to bed early and we can have a date night every night!

I used to think babies slept through the night starting at just a few weeks old...
...that was before I was a mom and realized babies need to know their mama is close by even at night.

I used to think I wouldn't give our baby food in the car (just to keep the car clean)...
...that was before I was a mom and realized food is a great pacifier (ummm...I mean a great way to practice fine motor skills :).

I used to have a clean house...
...that was before I was a mom and had a baby to play and snuggle with all day.

I used to think homeschooling was dorky...
...that was before I was a mom and realized that I wanted to have more time than their teacher with my child.

I used to think a strong willed child wasn't a good thing...
...that was before I was a mom and realized that strong willed people are the ones that make a difference in the world.

I used to think 9 to 5 jobs were annoying and in the way of living life...
...I still do.

dos toddlers

Wow. How do mothers of multiple children do it without napping in the middle of the day?? My niece Lizzy who just turned 3 was over from 7:45am to 7pm today. I can't take full credit because truthfully, Ezra and I didn't even wake up until 9:45am...and we had a 2 hour errand to run in there...so my dad dutifully played My Little Pony and had a tea party (or two) with her as well. I love both kiddos to pieces and had a fun day, but will be crawling into bed momentarily myself!

Emma-day!

Yesterday I picked Emma up from school to take her bowling for her birthday. It was her first time bowling, and also really fun to have some 1:1 time with her to hear all that is going on in that sweet little head of her's.

She took approximately 52 photos on my camera of our bowling experience, to make sure it was well documented. I have photos of all of the plaques and championship bowling balls. Photos of all the bowling balls in the alley. Photos of the vending machines and the claw arcade game. She decided to stop herself at taking a photo of the tv that was showing the winning lottery numbers. I'm not sure what stopped her, but it was funny to me to see her decide it wasn't photo worthy.

We went to the bowling alley just around the corner from my parent's house. I had been holding onto some coupons that I finally remembered to bring with me. Only to find out that they stopped accepting these particular coupons 10 years ago. Oops. :)

Emma in action...


Her victory dance...


Me and my companion...


Our bowling balls...


Our bowling shoes...


Our shared cherry coke...


Her cute-as-can-be gap smile!


I can't believe she was just Ezra's age at our wedding...just able to toddle down the aisle. :)

Rainy day at Brown's Clearing...

Yesterday we went to the cabin to feed the birds, squirrels, deer, and all the creatures that live there.

Apparently, porcupines occupy the premises as well. One happened to wander into my dad's (un-baited) live trap...

...the trap door will now remain closed as to not catch any other unsuspecting critters.

Here we both are on the hammock in our flattering double-chin glory...


Ezra loved being inside of the tire, more than swinging on the tire.



It's hard to tell what is going on in this photo, but my dad is riding on one of those swings that is like a frisbee you sit on with the rope in between your legs. (The bench is just in the background.) Ezra giggled with delight! I took him on it as well, and it was a little scary for me (I have a weak stomach when it comes to things like this), but not Ezra...he loves it!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Yesterday afternoon my dad, Ezra and I went to a Whitecaps (minor league baseball) game.

When I was in middle school, my friend Casey and I would go to as many games as we could in a season. We'd bring our baseball gloves and try to catch fly balls. We'd keep track of the player's stats. So to go again brought back lots of memories. And, to top it off, I saw one of my 5th grade teachers (Mr. Burns) there. He of course didn't recognize me, afterall it's been 20 years, nor did he really know who I was. But that was okay, we still had fun chatting and reminiscing about the days at Stoney Creek Elementary.

Ezra was mostly there for the snacks...


But, my dad still tried to make a fan out of him... :)

Hi ho hi ho...it's off to visiting we go!

On Sunday we got to visit my friend Megan and her family in Benton Harbor, MI. Her youngest son, Simeon is just about 7 weeks younger than Ezra. Here they are chattin' it up over corn on the cob in the kitchen...


Corn on the cob has become quite the favorite for Ezra. Perhaps it's because it makes a great teether for the SIX new teeth that arrived this week!!

We spent Sunday night at my grandpa's house, and then had all day Monday with him. Here is my grandpa taking his duty as "steak griller" very seriously.


Ezra and my grandpa deep in conversation (over corn on the cob again)...


Playing outside...and eating (the same piece of) corn on the cob...


Oh wow, Grandpa was pulling out all of the stops for Ezra. Thankfully batteries were not included. Afterall, it would be dangerous to eat corn on the cob while driving.


Ezra is rich! He found diamonds in the Jeep! (that is Barb, my grandpa's wife, with Ezra)


One expressive lil' boy about having his own camera!






My favorite quote from my grandpa this weekend was, "Alyssa, do you have one of those facebooks you can read?" We were all confused for a moment, but then realized he was referring to a Kindle. I love that he took the "book" part of facebook so literally. And, that he is totally clueless about technology/social media.

Hello West Michigan!

We have arrived in good ol' West Michigan!

So far, Ezra is still on AZ time (3 hours earlier), and if I am able, I plan to keep it that way. It's so nice to have him stay awake until 10:30pm, and then sleep in until 10:30am. :) Unlike at home when he goes to bed around 7pm, I can go to bed right about the same time as him and get an additional 3 hours of sleep! Soo nice to feel so rested!

It is definitely spring here. On an hourly basis I go from wishing I had brought my sandals, to then being thankful I brought my shoes instead. The sun wants to shine, but the rain still falls. The grass is super green and lush. Perfect for running in, playing in, and laying in. The flowers are blooming. Oh, I love this season. Outside is definitely where we are choosing to spend most of our time.

On Saturday we celebrated 2 of my nieces and my brother-in-law's birthdays. (Although looking at these photos, Roger didn't get to blow out any of the candles! Oops! Did we forget about him, or did we just not have enough candles?? :)

Nichole, Lizzy, and Emma blowing out their birthday candles!


We are family. Ezra, my sister's ki-ids and me. :) (hopefully you got it, but if not, that was to be sung to the tune of R-E-S-P-E-C-T.)


One sleepy boy...