Cousins!

Two of Ezra's second cousins were born within 3 weeks of him. Jace was born on March 27th, Ezra April 1st and Eleanor April 22nd. And even though we all live within 10 miles of each other, we were just able to get all 3 of the kiddos together for the first time last weekend! It was a very fun afternoon at the park of swinging, eating rocks, going down the slide, etc.

In case you haven't tried, it is actually impossible to get three 10/11 month olds to all look at the camera at the same time.




I love this photo of Jace.


Jace and Ezra playing basketball.


More playdates and photos will hopefully take place in the future!

Makedo...

Yesterday the clean diapers were still a little damp, as was the diaper Ezra was wearing, so we had to come up with a simple makeshift diaper...a hand towel! Ezra reported that it wasn't so bad. It actually gave some extra cushion for when he would choose to sit down really fast on his bum.

Oh, and here is also a sneak peak of Ezra's new kitchen...to be revealed in full later this week. :)

birthday parties galore!

Saturday was the day for birthday parties! We were invited to FOUR! (Sadly, we had to miss one of them though because of already committing to the other three.)

The morning started off celebrating Truman's 1st Birthday! He is a friend from the birth center mom and baby group.

Here are Diego and Ezra checking out Truman's new guitar...


And Truman's balloons...


Then came Adyn's 1st Birthday party! (A friend from our not-so-young-anymore-marrieds group.) She had no trouble digging into her pink cake.


And Ezra had no hesitations about climbing onto the table.


I think the dog was waiting under the table for crumbs...but all she got was an empty cup knocked in her face repeatedly.


Josiah, Samantha, Me, and Ezro...


Hello, welcome to Ezra's BBQ, how may I help you?


Two steaks coming right up...


Um, please stay behind the customer counter area, this is my special secret recipe...


$50 please. Yes that is right, $50...these are high quality steaks I am serving.


Um, please don't be rude to my employee, he is my friend Efray.


And last, but certainly not least...Carlos' (undisclosed age) birthday party!

It was a gorgeous Tucson night...


Ezra is obsessed with sitting in boxes lately. No complaints here. When he is in a box, I don't have to worry about him eating other people's food, knocking over candles, eating cds, etc. Alexia (Beth and Carlos' oldest daughter) was so excited to have a baby to play with. She is 7 and has a brother who is 5, and their mom is expecting their 3rd baby in May! Alexia told me she wants to fully take care of the new baby when she comes, except for when she is at school of course. Oh, and also except for feeding the baby with her boob, she said. :)

Welcome Micah!

I was just looking through my photos and realized I hadn't properly welcomed Micah (he is an avid blog reader already) into the world!

He is ADORABLE and loved to pieces by his sister Kaia!


We can't wait to play boardgames with you someday Micah! :)

Mama and baby date

Last Friday Ezra and I went to the park for a little date together. It was nice to be there and with no time constraints whatsoever. I sat Ezra down on the grass and watched him explore.

This is what grass looks like in Tucson...


Ezra was really interested in crawling as fast as he could and then standing up to check out the view from each new resting post.








Mom, this is so embarrassing...please stop taking photos.


It was a lovely afternoon...soo happy that the weather is allowing us to spend so much time outdoors these days!

In love.

(written on 3/1/11)

Today I had one of those total roller coaster of emotions days where over and over again I would just look at Ezra and think, "I am soo in love with this lil' guy!" It all started with him waking up super early (6:50am counts as super early in my books) in a fun mood with his face smashed up against the mesh side of the travel crib looking out at me and laughing. I got down on the floor and smashed my face up against the side and started kissing him which just caused for more laughter to ensue. Finally I picked him up and said, "drop raffa (his stuffed giraffe) in your bed" and he would start to drop him in and then pull him in close and hug him as a tease. This went on for a little while...becoming more and more of a funny tease (to all three of us) each time.

We then went out to the living room, opened the blinds, and nursed as the sun was shining in and warming us. Such a peaceful part of our routine each morning.

Then this afternoon we went over to a new friend's house for a playdate. I've started to realize that Ezra gets quite shy in public sometimes, which is funny because he is all but shy at home. At this particular friend's house he was acting all shy and very serious...not even a little smile. They had a tunnel and he went in on one end and I stuck my head in on the other end so he could see me and he started laughing so hard while in the tunnel...just for me to see though. As soon as he climbed out on the other end it was back to looking serious. It made me think about how Ryan and I will be able to know what each other is thinking or feeling in a crowded room and only show each other our emotions, in that sort of way that makes you feel special. It felt this way with Ezra, a sort of "I know you soo well and love you soo much" way!

When we got home he took a long nap, and then we played in the living room/kitchen until it was time to get ready for bed. He's a sweet lil' fella that I love to pieces and I can't believe how fast he is growing up!

Our lil' helper...

Ezra's latest thing is wanting to help us unload the dishwasher. He can be in the other room totally engrossed in something, but as soon as he hears the sound of the dishwasher opening he crawls as fast as his little arms and legs will allow him into the kitchen and pulls himself up using the dishwasher door. And then one by one he hands us each piece of silverware to put away. Today he also tried to then proceed to handing us the plates to put away...so far no broken plates. :)


He is 11 months old (and toothless) today!

caves, canyons, cute towns...oh my!

While my nieces and mom were in town we went to Kartchner Caverns. I have been there before, and blogged about it too...but wow, that place is soo amazing! Ezra was really tired when we got there, and I knew he'd sleep the whole time we were in the cave, he just fought it a little for the first few minutes of the tour. I was wearing him, and helping him fall alseep, and even staying in the back so that he wouldn't disrupt the tour for others, when the oh-so-helpful tour guide says to me, "Did you bring a pacifier for him? That might help." Oh, I just love unsolicited advice. And, just for the record, he had a pacifier in his mouth already...and also slept the entire tour. :)

Our next stop for the day was Bisbee! Bisbee oh bisbee how I love you. Again, I know I've blogged about it before...but here are some photos from this trip there...
My oldest niece, Alyssa...


Haleigh pumping gas in the Prius. :)


And of course, what is a trip to Tucson without going to Sabino Canyon?


I think Ezra is showing off his ability to make fish lips in this photo...

Looking back...

Ryan is playing at Armitage tonight. I usually try to make these "solo nights" super productive in the crafting or cleaning department. However tonight after blogging, I decided to go back and re-read my blog from January 2010. I am not one to ever go back and read my blog, unless I'm looking for an entry to link to. I got a bit carried away reading and finally just made myself stop after I read from January-June of 2010. Next week I may just have to read July-December. I'm not saying that my blog is that fascinating and all should go back and read it, but for me, it was a fun trip down memory lane. So much has happened in less than a year...I was uber pregnant, we lived with Grammie, we had a memorable labor and delivery, discovered our new family member was a boy!, first mother's day, first father's day, picnics, family and friends visited, etc... I'm so glad to have this space to come back to and reflect on how good life is.

SNOW!

Look what we woke up to this morning!


It is a rare occasion indeed to get snow in Tucson, so a photo was necessary. At first I got all excited for Ezra to see the snow but then remembered he got a lot of snow play while we were in Michigan just a couple of months ago. :)

My running partner...

When I first started running with Ezra, he would fall right to sleep. Then came a (long) phase where he'd enjoy it for the first mile or so, but then insist on being carried the rest of the way (which was fine when I had my carrier...and a total arm workout when I forgot it).


These days, he almost gets excited about going in the stroller, and then talks for the first couple of miles...and snoozes the rest of the way home. In this particular photo he is holding his cell phone...some days he carries a tambourine and shakes it the whole time which is hilarious to all those driving by.


I usually let him stay sleeping in the stroller when we get home, but that has wound up causing a lot of 10pm baby bedtimes around these parts, and I'm not so sure how I feel about that. While I do love the little guy to pieces, I kind of look forward to having a few hours with just Ryan in the evening.

Reach for the stars...

I love these boys!

A Box Full of Fun!

Ezra has been enamored with this printer box for the past several weeks. It is truly the toy that never gets old around here. I think that is because there are so many fun things you can do with it!

Peek-a-boo through the handle...


King of the mountain...


Hide and go seek...


School bus...


Monster truck...


We also play a lot of "mailman" where mail is delivered to Ezra through this little slot...


Oh, and it makes a great garage for his trucks... The list goes on and on I tell you, hurry out to your recycling bin and pick up your own box today! :)

cholla ribs and cousins!

The weather has been GORGEOUS lately and perfect for playing at the park!

Limes, oh sour sour limes...

My family flew into town last night (YAY!!) and with that means a trip to the taco stand (we go to the one on the north side of 22nd just west of Wilmot in case anyone is wondering...it's a combo taco and sonoran hot dog stand).

Ezra had no interest in trying any of the rice, beans or meat. In fact, he has drastically stopped eating most foods and almost strictly nurses these days. However those limes were just too darn irresistible.

"Ummm...act tough, don't let them know I didn't know what I was biting into."


"Take another bite and pretend like I like it."


"Try to pawn the rest off on Grandma, yeah, good plan."


"Eww, these are really sour guys."


"Like oh-my-gosh-disgusting-I-can't-stop-spitting-sour!"


Haleigh and Alyssa feeling thankful they did not eat any limes. :)

Going greener...

I kind of want to act like a big time blogger right now and say, "You can find me over at Uncommon Childhood today." Which is actually totally true, I just feel a little pretentious in saying that.

So instead I will say, "I wrote an article on 10 (EASY and FREE) ways to make your home greener that was published at Uncommon Childhood today. I know I have told you about the site before, and if you haven't gone to it yet (and told all of your friends about it), you really should...I find the articles to be ultra inspiring!"