It's laundry time...

This past weekend, we had a Ladies' Night/ Laundry Soap making party! I was inspired by SouleMama's blogpost about making her own laundry soap and thought, "I want to try!". It's really quite simple...and quite satisfying.

Laundry Soap Ingredients
2 Cups of grated soap (1 bar of Dr. Bronner's soap works great!...choose your own fragrance)
1 Cup of Borax (found in the laundry soap aisle)
1 Cup of Washing Soda (found in the laundry soap aisle)
1 Cup of Baking Soda

Directions
Use a cheese grater to finely grate the bar of soap
Mix together all ingredients in a bowl or bag...and voila!...you have laundry soap!
2 Tablespoons per load is all you need. GREAT for washing diapers...as well as the rest of your laundry stash!

Ezra goes to the gym...

Having a 14lb baby around the house, is definitely great for the arms...turns out he is also a great sit-up partner. :)

Ezra goes dancing....

Here's a smiley glimpse of our dancing boy...

Happy 3 Months!

Ezra is 3 months old today! To celebrate, we met up at the zoo with some other mamas and babies (well, okay...the other mamas planned the zoo trip without knowing it was Ezra's birthday...but I told him it was really for him.) I'm not sure that he loved it...but I think he'll like it more and more as he gets older...and as the weather cools off a bit.

"Mom, he's looking at me!..."

So, I know I already posted photos from Ezra's last get together with his cousin Eleanor, but Jessica just sent me this photo and I couldn't resist posting it...it makes me laugh every time I look at it!

Teething, already?

Well, so it goes that Ezra appears to be an early teether. He loves to gnaw on anything that comes near his mouth.


Well, I suppose these photos don't really show how much he is starting to teeth...but I like the photos, so there you have it. :)

Why cover up?

So, I've gotten pretty into breastfeeding humor lately. How could I not when it is how I spend at least 4 hours out of every day. This is the latest and greatest that a friend shared with me...

Oh rats!

So, here in southern Arizona, pack rats rule the land. To have a pack rat could be likened to someone in Boston having a mouse, or someone in Michigan having a mole. The only thing, is that I'd rather have a mole or a mouse than a pack rat. Rodents totally gross me out, even when they are outside! Oh, I guess I should clarify, the pack rat is not inside our house, rather it's between our roof and our house (if we had an attic, it would be the attic). We first heard this creature creeping around two Saturdays ago. It was creeping so loudly that we actually thought someone was breaking into our house and called the police. Oops. Then, last Wednesday, I actually saw it's tail and had a minor freak out. Ryan was in Boston, so I called some friends of ours to come over and help me set up a trap. After two days, we still didn't catch the rat. I decided to move the trap into the backyard to an area where I've heard this little critter before. Sadly, I ended up killing our "pet" lizard, Howie! It's a live trap, but when I went to let him out, he freaked out and tried going through one of the small cage holes and got stuck. I carefully helped him get out by wiggling each leg one at a time, but somehow the trauma was too much and he hasn't moved now in three days. Very sad.
So when Ryan returned, he bravely got up on a ladder and propped the trap up right next to where the rat was getting in. (I could never have gotten that close to this little critter's stomping grounds.) The first night we heard the trap and peaked outside, only to find that the rat was standing next to the trap peering down at us...eww! Then last night (night 2) the rat was caught in the cage! Much rejoicing happened today with that news!

**For all of you animal rights activists, now would be the time to stop reading.**

Our friend told us that the best thing to do is to drown them otherwise they are just going to go right back into your house or someone else's. Ryan went to Home Depot and got a 5-gallon bucket with which to drown the creature. He filled up the bucket and stuck the trap inside. Only, the trap somehow opened the thing got out!! grrr...we couldn't be more frustrated with this thing! Perhaps we'll laugh at it next week, but not today. Today we stopped with the humane trapping business and instead got sticky traps to stick outside it's little "home".
Here he is as I found him this morning...

Hopefully tomorrow morning he'll be in the same place stuck to the trap.

Friends!

Last week Ezra and I spent the afternoon hanging out with Owen and Stephanie. Stephanie and I were in the same birthing class, and Owen is just 3 weeks older than Ezra! This was our second time getting together...and both times have been really fun. It's one of those friendships where the more we talk the more we realize how much we have in common...and the more we want to hang out in the future.
Ezra was totally fascinated by Owen, but Owen was feeling a little shy.

Owen's feet were practically twice the size of Ezra...he's going to be one tall, handsome boy!

motherhood

I was nursing Ezra tonight before putting him to bed...it was the half nursing, half sleeping and snuggling kind of feeding. Sometimes when this happens I just gently slip him off and tuck him in bed. But for whatever reason tonight I just didn't want to put him down...I love having him snuggled so close to me. Time is going way too fast, I'd love for it to just s l o w d o w n for a little while. I'm so in love with this little boy of ours!

Here are some recent photos of our growing boy...

He LOVES to stand...his latest trick is standing on Ryan's shoulders.


And, tummy time is becoming a bit more tolerable...(and drool is becoming a bit more prevalent...)


In other news, Ezra slept for 9 HOURS STRAIGHT last night. Miraculous.
He also pooped all over the couch today minutes after I had taken the cover off of it to wash. So, I ended up not only washing the cover, but also scrubbing the sofa. Oh, and minutes after he pooped on the couch, I dropped my toast--jam side down--on the carpet. And yet, somehow cuddling with him at the end of the night is still breathtaking.

Ryan is in Boston for the next couple of days playing at Trish Ryan's launch for her new book, A Maze of Grace. I'm in the middle of reading it right now, but will write more in depth on it when I finish.

SEARS

For all of you mamas and papas out there, might I recommend shopping for kids clothes at Sears? Yes, that's right, Sears. The place where you buy stoves, refrigerators, and TVs...and now kids clothes too.
Last week I went there to return something that we had been given, but was the wrong size for the wrong season. They gave us a giftcard for our return, and at first I thought I'd save it, but then I changed my mind. :)
We bought 3 Carter's romper outfits for $3 each! And, I must say, they are pretty darn cute. But it even gets better folks. You can get a free Sears card (like the kind you get from grocery stores and put on your key chain) which tracks all of your purchases so that you can return things without a receipt! And, with that, they have a Kids Advantage program (for free) which allows you to exchange any of the clothes you buy from there that get worn out or stained before your kid grows out of it. So say I buy Ezra a pair of 6month pants, but he wears a hole in the knee...I can bring it back for a new pair of the same size. Crazy, I know. But, very cool.

And, on a completely unrelated note...guess who rolled over from his front to his back today? Twice.

Happy Father's Day!

Dad, thank you...

::for playing with me in the morning when mom is too tired to get out of bed
::for always helping me get my burps out
::for rocking out to music with me in the living room
::for helping me to stand up and telling me what a strong dude I am
::for translating for me so others can know what I'm trying to say
::for reading to me before bed every night

Happy Father's Day!
xo,
Ezra (and Abby)

11 weeks...

Today is Ezra's 11 week birthday!
He seems to have a bit of a stuffy nose right now. The past few mornings, we've woken up to him snoring, or perhaps snorting is a better word. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother him much though. He's nursing just fine, and leaves behind a trail of snot on my chest when he's done. Lovely, I know.
We read all about the adventures of SkippyjonJones today...wow, is there a read that's more fun out there?

And, we ended the day by eating cupcakes and ice cream outside. I'm so amazed at how fast he's growing, and how much more in love with him I'm growing.

Happy 11 week birthday to you, Ezra!

welcome to this big beautiful world josiah!

Last Tuesday, Josiah Gerard was born to Samantha and Jacob! He's a beautiful bundle of blond hair, soft skin, blue eyes, and that newborn yummyness that makes you just want to kiss him to pieces!

Only 9 weeks and a gagillion calories apart!


I've talked with several different friends about starting a commune. Wouldn't it just be so perfect to all be neighbors and get to raise our kids together? I find that I've become and more of a homebody since having Ezra (perhaps part of this has to do with the fact that he hates being in the car), and it would be so nice to be able to stay at home, but yet be in the company of good friends nextdoor. Anyone else in?

Back in the kitchen...

Our breadmaker had been out of commission for almost a year because we lost the little paddle that kneads the dough. If you know us, you know that this was a big deal because we used our breadmaker on a weekly basis. The little part (which is literally less than 2" big) cost $25 to replace. Based on principle alone, I was unwilling to buy this because a new breadmaker is $80...how in the world can that little part make up more than a quarter of the price? Well, lucky for us (and for you if you live nearby and invite us over for dinner and request us to bring bread)...we were gifted a new paddle!!
Our breadmaker was sooo excited to be back in use, that it almost exploded out the top with an extra tall loaf!


In our bountiful basket this weekend we received 2 coconuts! Never having cooked with fresh coconut, I had to look up a recipe online. We decided to have coconut crusted chicken for dinner. It was quite tasty, but would have been even better with a dipping sauce of some sort.







The process of preparing the coconut was fun...I can't wait until Ezra is a little older and join us in preparing dinners like this!

Double digits for the E-man!

Ezra is already the ripe old age of 10 weeks!
His latest tricks include:
Finding his hand...

And, holding his head up nice and strong!


This past weekend he came with me to the Child Life Conference in Phoenix. It was a bit more difficult than I had imagined to have him there with me. He did great, but I just struggled with balancing my desire to be first and foremost his mom, and then a professional. The best parts of the conference were seeing Jen and Paul, and staying with Ryan's aunt and uncle. Jen and I went to grad school together, and Paul was one of our professors.



Instead of staying in a hotel, I stayed with Ryan's aunt,uncle, and cousins in Casa Grande. Sadly, I didn't take any photos while I was there, but it was absolutely wonderful!

Home for church...

When we first moved to Tucson we started going to a church we really liked and met most of our closest friends there. Since then, the church has disbanded as we first knew it, but we have stayed in close touch with the friends we made...something that I feel is unique and also very wonderful.
With no longer having that church to attend, Ryan and I found our way to another church that we enjoyed. We were going to our new church for over a year when we became saddened to realize that most of our other friends hadn't yet found a church they liked and some even seemed to have given up hope in searching. We decided to skip church one Sunday and instead have all of those friends over for a time of worship, prayer, and a podcast sermon. We ended that time by having brunch and discussing the sermon around the dining room table. It was one of my favorite times of "church" that I had had in a long time. Being in a community of friends made sharing what was going on in life feel so natural and "real". And having a set time and place to discuss the sermon really helped me to learn more from it.
Now, a year later from that first time, we have decided to host church at our house on a regular basis. The format varies from week to week, as does the "leader". We have more children in our midst now (and 3 more on the way!) that play together in the center of the room while we sing songs and pray; or nurse and fall asleep on their mother's laps. It's a beautiful community of friends.
And, of course we still end with having brunch together each week...

chubby cheeks unite

Yesterday Jess (Ryan's cousin) and Eleanor came over to play! Well, Ezra slept through most of it, and Eleanor played/nursed/played/nursed, and then Ezra woke up and nursed. Life is nice and simple when you are 5 and 8 weeks old. :)

I had to do a little weight comparison of the two...Eleanor is not too sure what to make of me holding her. :)

Ezra is 3 weeks older, and definitely a little heavier...but I think they are going for a chubby cheeks competition and both holding their own quite well as for now. :)

Baths...big and small...

Ezra LOVES bath time. So much, that we now give him one every night as a nice way to end the day with smiles, coos, relaxation, and a clean neck under all of those chins.


We went to a Memorial Day pool party yesterday, and I was so excited because I knew Ezra would love being in the water (especially since even unheated pools in Arizona are still the temperature of bath water). He was definitely uber relaxed and enjoying it for the first 10-15 minutes...and then, he decided to go to sleep on me for the rest of the time. I guess the association of bath time (no matter the size of the bathtub) and bedtime is pretty strong for him.

Covering Ezra head to toe with clothing and sunscreen...


The Party!!


Melissa and Dominic playing in the pool with us...


And, the one who makes bathtime so much fun!

11 Months

Today is Ezra's two month birthday! How in the world is time flying by so fast? It seems like yesterday we was still in my tummy, and at the same time it feels like he's always been with us. We certainly can't imagine life without him now...we are so in love!



Before Ezra was born we received a belly casting kit as a gift from Aunt Janice. And then the weekend before Ezra arrived, Ryan casted my belly in it's prime "hugeness". It turned out to be a beautiful piece of art that we now have hanging in our bedroom.