moving blog sites...

6 years and 905 blog posts later...I have officially used up all of the free photo space that blogger allows a person to have.  Boo!  I will be moving my blog over to another blog site and will update you of the new address when I have it.  Being the non-techy person that I am, and also having a newborn + toddler in the house...this may take a couple of weeks.  Sit tight...I'll still keep taking photos and totally inundate you when I return. :)

"This a show!"

Ryan has a regular gig playing at Armitage Wine Bar every other Sunday with his friend Paul...they go by R&P Music Factory.  :)  Tonight however Ryan and Cameron (Ryanhood) were playing the gig together, and I just knew Ezra would have so much fun watching them (he has seen them on youtube as well as on the Ryanhood dvd and has all of Cameron's foot-stomping, guitar throwing moves down).  So despite the fact that the show started an hour past bedtime, I decided that it was well-worth the 35 minute journey across town to take Ezra to the show.

As soon as we walked in, he climbed right up on the couch to get front row seating and leaned over the back of it and watched intently the entire time, with the occasional question/statement to me of, "This a show, mama?!"

Our friends Will and Anja were there as well.  Ezra loves them, so that made the night even more of a special treat...

After I put both boys to bed, I walked into the living room and saw this...

....and thought, "Today was a very fun day!"  ...and now instead of cleaning it all up, I'm blogging...  :)

(p.s. this was my first trip out of the house by myself with both boys...success!)

We miss you grandma!

My mom had to fly back to Michigan today.  After we got home from the airport, Ezra and I sat down for lunch and as we were about to pray Ezra said, "I'm gonna wait for grandma".  And then this evening at dinner, he dramatically asked, "Where IS grandma?"  Needless to say, she is missed here already!

Ezra playing the uke for Niko to enjoy!

Modeling session

While Ezra and my mom were at the zoo the other morning, I did a little photo shoot with Niko. 

After all, I don't want him to suffer from having no baby photos because he wasn't the first born, as I had/have to suffer.  (Really, no hard feelings mom and dad :)

Dada snuggle time...

And, Ezra in his favorite role as the diaper-changing-entertainer...

(Ezra is holding a mirror up for Niko look at himself in :)

I should have known...

After Ezra's nap today I discovered this on the floor...

(pages of a dr. seuss book torn out)"

Me: Ezra,  what happened?

Ezra: It's cd's

Me: What?

Ezra: They go in my cd player.

Me: (totally confused face)

Ezra: (Points to his cd player):

(the opening of the window = cd player)

Me: Let's go make cd's...

Kix box turned into cd's within minutes

Oh, I do love his imaginative and creative little mind...I just wish I could predict these things ahead of time...

Brothers...

Ezra is quite a big fan of this "brother" business.  He always wants to know where Niko is,  if Niko wants to hear a song on his uke, if Niko wants to play bean bag catch, look at Niko's poopy diapers, etc.  He also always wants to "wake Niko up with gentle kiss?"...its such a sweet question, that I often find it hard to say dissuade him. Fortunately Niko is still at the stage of life where he can sleep through pretty much anything...or at least fall back to sleep rather quickly, so the gentle kiss (often followed by a bear hug) doesn't cause much of a stir. 

I have to say...I'm quite a big fan of watching this brother business unfold! 

Today...

Here is a photo of Niko from today.  I feel like he is changing every single day!  He's looking blonder and blonder...and his facial features seem all his own.  At first I thought he looked so much like Ezra...but I think he is just his own little self now.

It's a boy!

Friday morning we welcomed Niko Ryan Echelbarger Green into the world!  He's a quiet little guy and we love him like crazy. 

Ryan will be writing the birth story soon for you to read...this time it could probably be written in a tweet vs. 7 parts, which was a huge praise! 

For now, here he is...

7lbs 11oz and 21 inches for those who like stats :)

Due date...and beyond...

Well, my due date has come and gone. As has the day-after my due date. But, that's okay. This time around I am feeling quite happy about each full night of sleep I get before the baby arrives (something I totally took for granted before Ezra was born)...and truthfully, a "full night of sleep" now means getting up to go to the bathroom at least twice in the middle of the night...and then one of those times not being able to fall back asleep right away, so reading in bed for a half hour or so.

My mom is in town, so that has been a nice distraction from just thinking about going into labor constantly...and also super nice to have an extra set of hands around the house to help with the ins and outs of every day living. The other morning she got up from the breakfast table and Ezra said, "She's pretty"..."She likes to play with you" (which, is his way of saying, "she likes to play with me"...we still have trouble with pronouns :). It's true, they make great playmates.

We are finally loving the sprinkler (it was super scary for a loooong time!).

Grandma's "Welcome to Arizona" concert

Playing at the indoor playground at Park Mall (NOT the place to go at 4pm on a Friday :)

Painting with Josiah (somehow Ezra painted his own back...as well as his armpits :)

Josiah on the other hand got most of his paint right on the paper...imagine that!

I love how much Ezra wants to give the baby kisses...always has to be on my belly, over my shirt will not do. 

Ezra declared this to be his "diaper" and "hat"

Making birthday cupcakes with grandma

...for the baby's birthday that is

I'm cherishing these days of having lots of Ezra time...but also looking forward to seeing him as a brother...he is so excited for the baby to come home!

Mashup

Cora and Sheena came over to play the other morning!  Once the jumping on the bed and diving through the play house became old hat (that is after probably over an hour of doing it), they decided to form a band.  My absolute favorite moment,  was that Cora instinctively knew that my rigged up microphone for Ezra was a microphone!!  She walked over to it and just started singing away.

And my second favorite moment is this mashup that they performed...

(In case you couldn't catch all the lyrics, it's The Farmer in the Dell and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. 

Evening walks...

With the evenings being somewhat more bearable lately...we've been trying to spend more time outside.  Lately Ezra is really into walking to the end of our street, which is a cul-de-sac, and then running to touch the sign that marks the very end of the street.  The running part is obviously the most exciting part of this adventure for Ezra.  And we run back and forth approximately 400 times.  It's quite fun...actually, for me the most fun part is just watching how fast his little feet move compared to ours.  (And for our neighbors, they probably are getting a good laugh out of a 9 month prego trying to run/waddle down the street, over and over again.)

Date Night Swap

Two weeks ago Jessica and Noel babysat Ezra while Ryan and I went on a date...woot woot!  We went and saw The Hunger Games followed by pizza at Dry River Pizza Co.  It was a great little getaway.  Ryan and I joked about how when Ezra was little and people would offer for us to go on a date while they babysat, I only lasted approximately 25 minutes before I kept thinking (and saying), "we should really head back to get Ezra"...and somehow on this date, we returned to Ezra almost 4 hours later!  It definitely helps knowing that he is at an age where he is okay with us being gone....and that he is with people he loves to play with!

I stole this picture from Jessica's blog of their evening of babysitting Ezra...

This photo makes me laugh SO hard!  I guess Ezra wanted Eleanor to say "cheese", but she didn't want to...and clearly he thought a mean face and fist would help things...  (I don't think any punches really got thrown...at least I hope not...!)

For me, the above photo ranks up there with this oldie but goodie...I love the collection of photos we are gathering of the two of them...

I think they were about 6-8 weeks here.... I laugh every time I even just think about this photo...

Anyway, back to Date Night Swapping...

This past Sunday evening Eleanor came over while Jess and Noel went out on a date.  Eleanor is such a good match of a playmate for Ezra.  She loves to climb, jump, run around, etc.  I loved how as soon as she came over Ezra was like, "Jump on bed?"...and the two of them went to town jumping on his bed (I know, the monkeys falling off and all...but really, jumping on the bed is too fun and perfect toddler entertainment to say 'no' to!...this is why we have left Ezra's bed as just a mattress on the floor for now). 

However, it still amazes me at how different two kids can be.  I hate to say it's a boy/girl difference...it might not be at all...but I do feel like it's often little girls that I see playing so quietly at times. 

It puts me in complete awe, "Really, Eleanor just peacefully sits there and neatly combs the beans into a pile while Ezra is making them all soar across the room by driving cars through them??"

It was fun to see how cooperative they were in playing together and sharing.

And of course, naked bath photos are necessary to have in the collection of second cousin pics! 

As Ezra gets older, I am finding that having friends/cousins over makes the day fly by while they busy themselves playing together and having fun! 

Second Cousins...

On Sunday, Traci (Ryan's cousin) and Miri (her daughter) were in town visiting from San Diego.  Miri is 6 months older than Ezra, and I feel like this was one of the first visits where they really interacted.  It was so adorable hearing them have little conversations with each other...  "Miri, when everyone done eating, want to go outside?"  Oh, I just loved it.  And, I think Ezra rather enjoyed Miri's company too!  :)

Ezra and Miri bringing carrots to the horses

Aunt Terri and (princess) Miri

Me with my big ol' belly and Ezra (who loves to say "cheese" for the camera :)

Lori, Sara, Ryan and Ezra

My favorite two guys!

Miri and Traci

Feeling brave riding a horse with Dada

"Um, riding horses is cool and all guys, but I really just want to ride the 4-wheeler"

Getting a private concert from Jim playing double bass