Accessorize

This series of pictures was taken before Ezra's 4 month appointment. I love Ezra's expression of, "why are we taking another picture?." In an effort to get Emerson to wear something different (which is a whole other post itself) I pulled out a pink ruffle dress we recently bought. She said she needed pants with it. Although it was 90+ outside I obliged and picked out some white leggings. Emerson added cute necklace, a wood bangle, of mine, and asked to put her hair up. She  looked to me like an eighties rocker. Ezra was easy to please. Since he wears what I put on him. A onesie I picked up on consignment for $3. It has a huge elephant on a swing, saying "my turn." With a tiny mouse waiting. I don't know why but I found it hysterical. Come to find out the brand, Threadless kids, sells onesies that run about $15. So it was a good deal! They also have tons of graphic tees, and onesies that are unique and adorable. I thought this one was super cute. Plus you can get thing in onesies up to kid tees. Maybe I'll have to keep my eye out at consignment sales for the threadless brand from now on!

A different kind of post

I thought for today I would do a different kind of post. Less of the kids, more of adult stuff.  First of all I actually finished a book for the first time in a very long time. I read "The Ministry of Motherhood," this summer and loved it!

I found it extremely interesting, inspiring, and an overall easy read. I would highly recommend it to any mother looking for encouragement. Some of my favorite quotes from the book..

"We must be willing to pay the cost of discipleship, determined to lay up our treasures in heaven. When we do this, our children will have the freedom and peace to know that God is not measuring them by how much money they make, what kind of car they drive, or how big a house they are able to buy. By God's standards, our children will will be successful in life if they are willing to love and follow Christ wherever they are asked to go. "

"A child who does not have the opportunity to marvel at the bigness of God, the wonders of his creation, and the reality of his supernatural work will tend to measure the questions about "who God is" according to his or her finite, limited perspective."  Sally Clarkson. From the chapters regarding the gift of inspiration. 

I was so feeling so good that I finished a book I picked up a new one this weekend. "Give them Grace," by Elyse Fitzpatrick. 

I've only read one chapter but I can already tell it is already going to pick my brain and shatter some my previous perceptions about parenting.  Looking forward to it!

On another note. Are you ready for fall television? Ever since Master Chef's season ended I've been over summer television. I don't have a whole lot of time to watch tv but it's nice to sit down and relax for a bit. We really don't have a whole lot of regular shows we watch anymore. I have a feeling The Office will not be as good this year after the departure of Steve Carrell. But, I do love Parks and Recreation. It's so funny, in that quirky way. For new shows I think I'll tune in to see the premiere of Once Upon a Time.  Who doesn't love fairy tales? Especially for adults.  I have to admit the show, "Hart of Dixie," looked cheesy at first to me. But, since I was a huge O.C. fan maybe I'll give it a shot. Plus it has Jason Street from Friday Night Lights! Which by the way, if you haven't watched the complete series of Friday Night Lights you should skip all of the new fall shows and go straight to netflix and watch seasons 1-4. Then go to Hulu to see the final season 5.  It's one of the best shows ever. Seriously. Alright, if you were bored with my book and show recommendations check back tomorrow for cute pictures of super cute kids. :)  

Photo Op

I think I'm pretty much going to give up on an actual "good" picture of the kids. For now that is. Snap shots will have to do to document the chaos. Emerson did of course tell Ezra he needed to smile while she was not smiling. But, getting them both to have eye contact was pretty much impossible. Well, I did get one but they both looking at me but they looked completely zoned out. Haha! Emerson insisted that she hold Ezra which I thought could make a good pic. But, when she was done she just tossed him to the side. *No baby was harmed in the taking of these photographs* Haha. Luckily Ezra is a good sport. Obviously this one below is not what I had in mind. Even Ezra knows this is not going to work!

But, he gave me one good smile once Emerson took off. I think he was relieved for it to be over!

A picture update

I hadn't uploaded any pictures recently so I decided to dig back into July for a picture update blog post.  I've had some issues with Emerson's hair. It's very fine, somewhat wavy and falls in her face. I think we'll be getting some sort of cut soon. But, one day she actually let me braid it. It's pretty cute but doesn't last too long with her being so thin.  How did I get her sitting still long enough to do her hair you ask? Cartoons of course.


Next up is Ezra attacking Lily the Frog like I told you about.  It seriously cracks me up. Leapin Lily better watch out!

Last but not least is my documentation of Ezra's sleeping habits. I put him in E.'s crib and two minutes later he had covered his face with her blanket and passed out.

Then all it took was a snuggle from a couch pillow to take a good snooze. I hope he stays such an easy sleeper! Next post will have current pictures. Or more current. ;)

Dancing Bears

Since Ezra doesn't have a crib of his own he hangs out in the pack n play from time to time. I decided to attach the mobile the other week and Ezra was thrilled.  It has three bears hanging from it and he thinks they are his new best friends. He squeals at them, giggles, and makes silly raspberries. It's really funny to watch how into them he is! I guess mobiles really do serve there purpose! Who knew?

Emerson 2 Years Old

The other week I took some 2 year pictures of Emerson. So what if she is almost 2.5? I had been wanting to take her out to a rustic area for a sunset shoot. But, with a little one and temperatures near 100 it's not a surprise I had w hard time fitting it in. So when we had an overcast day I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take some shots during Ezra's nap. I had made Emerson a skirt, which I was super excited about. But, my little critic wanted nothing to do with it. I guess she doesn't appreciate Amy Butler fabric. I know it turned out a little tight (aka a toddler pencil skirt) but it worked for not using a pattern. So when she said, "I don't want it," I was a little sad. But, bound and determined she was going to wear it for a picture I forced her to wear it for 15 minutes. :) She is also sporting my shirt from when I was little which says, "amy." She picked out the headband of mine, which was a nice touch.

In true two year old fashion I couldn't get a smile to save my life. I only got eye contact by saying I had a bug on my head.

I tried out some hazy editing. Tried to get the effect we shot in beautiful sunlight but we didn't. ;)

Couldn't capture a two year with old without documenting the chipped mismatched nail polish. 

To compare this is about the same time last year. Same dead on stare, longer hair. :)

* Update* 

I forgot one. :)

Happy 4 months Ezra!

I cannot believe Ezra is 4 months old. It really has been the fastest 4 months of my life. I no longer have a tiny newborn but a giggly baby. His personality has really came out over the last month. He is pretty easy going, flirtatious, and happy. Ezra has become such an easy baby. He seems to be just along for the ride and loves spending time with us. With an adorable grin he always seems so happy to see us. I'll just go to put him in the car and he'll lock eyes with me and start smiling and giggling. Emerson always gets excited and says, "Ezra's smiling!" One of the things that is changing is he is into playing with toys. Before he had no interest now he loves to grab things and pull them to his mouth. He loves his baby gym and really tries to pull the toys that are hanging down while yelling at them. He usually plays there first thing in the morning while I get breakfast together. He can now roll from back to tummy so he gets stuck sometimes in the baby gym bars and needs some help getting rolled the other way. Ezra is a super napper, taking about a two hour nap in the morning, and sometimes a 3 hour one in the afternoon. Most nights he is down for bed by 8pm. He loves soft lovies and rubbing them on his face. If I catch him before he is over tired I can just give him a paci and lovie blanket and he'll conk out. But, if he gets too wound up he'll kick and squirm until I hold him still so he can relax. He is ticklish especially in his neck rolls. He will always get tickled if I sing a ridiculous song. He makes me feel like I'm funny even though I'm really not. Haha. We went to the pediatrician and he weighs 14lbs 10.5oz (50%) and 25.75 inches long (80%). At this rate I expect him to be bigger than Emerson by January. :) I love all of his rolls and it's such a change from Emerson's size. He's wearing pretty much all 6 month clothes now and occasionally 9 months. They are just night and day in terms of growth.

Ezra loves stuffed animals so this toy captured his attention and I couldn't get him to look at me!

A tiny smile. A shyer smile than his usual grin.

I saw an idea on pinterest to document the baby each month by putting them in the laundry basket. I think we started to late because he is already out of it. I guess we missed our window. Ha!

I couldn't forget to capture these sweet feet! 

Love those toes!

Happy Birthday Ezra! If you could slow down growing up the next 8 months that would be great.

 Love, Mom

At the Carwash

Emerson got the cleaning gene. Not from me though. When she sees the yard guys mowing our grassy, she calls them "messy" because of the grass flying all over. So when her Dad was cleaning the jeep, she jumped right in.  Now, if she would apply her love for cleaning to toy up keep instead of pulling everything we own out the cabinets we'd be set. Here's to hope. Until then I think we can get her a side job. What do you think?

Ezra's Birth Story

Ezra is 4 months old today! To commemorate the day I'll share his birth story. It took a long time for me to write down. It was an emotional experience for me and something I could revisit until recently. I know I'm a nut. I also just realized that the midwife that delivered was the first person I had an appointment with when I found out I was pregnant, and the last before Ezra was born. Anyways enjoy!

Ezra’s birth story

It was Sunday, April 10th, 2011. 11 days before my due date. I was really feeling I was going to go past my due date and I was fine with that. We had a good weekend and that Saturday Mark and I had deep cleaned the house.  Sunday morning I woke up and felt the need to find all my nursing bras, and tanks and throw them in the wash. Which proved to be a good move! Mark made us a delicious breakfast, and I had some orange juice with it. One of my constant cravings throughout my pregnancy. As I was finishing I began to feel some terrible indigestion coming on. I had some awful heartburn/reflux issues early on so I assumed it was returning at this late stage. So I took to the couch to rest and try to settle my stomach. Mark kept Emerson busy while I watched some tv. I had little appetite at all, and in fact didn’t eat that afternoon. I had started Doc Hollywood on Netflix, an oldie but goodie. I was laying on my side around 4:30 and heard a pop with some force behind it. Thought it was weird but kind of ignored it. About 15 minutes later I get up and as I’m talking to Mark I feel some fluid trickle. I said, “Uh oh,” and ran to the bathroom. After all of my practice of staying calm I freaked a bit as I had a feeling my water had broken. I paged the midwife on call and when she called me back I told her I thought my water had broken but I wasn’t sure. As we were chatting I felt a huge gush, which completely soaked my pants. Then I told her it definitely broke. Ha! She laughed and told me the drill. Since contractions hadn’t started I could just wait it out until morning and take my temperature to ensure I wasn’t getting an infection. I could also take a bath to help me relax. Whoa! I couldn’t believe it. He could be here very soon! Nothing was happening other than my clothes were drenched so I continued to watch Doc Hollywood. Mark played with E. outside and around 6:30 I started to feel menstrual type cramping. Nothing major at all, and nothing  that I had not felt in the last month anyways. But, I decided to time these cramps and they were 7 minutes apart. Since my sheet had said second time moms need to come in at 4 to 5 minutes apart I called my midwife again. She told me 6-7 minutes apart, and just cramps was no biggie. Call when they are 4 minutes and they stop me from doing what I’m doing. So I decide to take a shower and change clothes for the third time. Mark throws some chicken on the grill and fixes dinner. I don’t eat due to the stomach issues, which appears were my hormones getting ready for labor. We start discussing what to do with Emerson. At this point we didn’t think anything was happening before morning but didn’t want a big rush in the middle of the night. After we figure out logistics I begin packing Emerson’s bag around 9 while she gets washed up. I felt a few contractions but I was still walking around getting things done. Mark’s parents arrive to pick up Emerson so he tells me to go lay down. I put on one of my hypnobabies tracks around 9:30 or 10 while he gets her out the door. Things start to get intense all of the sudden where I cannot lay there relaxing. I freaked out and texted Mark to see where he was. I timed my contractions and they were 4 minutes apart! When he comes back in I tell him to call Sarah, our midwife. She asks if we want to come in and get situated. We plan to meet at 11. Mark starts getting our bags together and by that point it feels very intense. We head the car and Mark tells me he has to take the dog out. At this point I think he is coming any minute so I told him to have someone else do it! Gotta love labor. :) We head to the birth center and I listen to one of my hypnobabies scripts. It was extremely difficult to be still and not flip out in the car. I honestly wanted to jump out of my skin. We arrived right around 11pm and they are so close together at this point I have to wait to have one before I can get out of the car so I won’t have another one in the parking lot. I walk in feeling terrible. I go to our room and we decide to check my status. I have another contraction before I get in the door. 3 minutes apart at this point. Sarah tells me I’m 3 centimeters and I’m so bummed. I really thought I was further along. Even though I had learned that numbers don’t mean much about progress in hypnobabies I definitely let it get to me. I was 4 centimeters with Emerson for about 20 hours and I was not prepared to feel like this for that long. I immediately say I want to get in the tub. I needed some relief! Thank goodness we have access to a tub this time around. I get in and I feel like it’s just one constant contraction. I start envisioning 10 more hours of this and I freak out. I begged them to take me to the hospital because I couldn’t do it. The birthing time I had envisioned of calm and peaceful was out the window. I was an angry woman in labor. I threw things, yelled, cried, the whole works. Mark can attest I said some insane things.  At this point I really felt like I was being tortured and I just wanted him out! To be honest I felt like I had been crazy for have wanting a natural birth and I was angry for being stuck. Ha! After two hours Sarah says it’s a good time to check. It really didn’t feel like it had been 2 hours. Felt like 30 minutes or so. I was 7 centimeters. I was relieved that I was moving forward. I asked her when I could give birth realistically. She said probably around sunrise. Compared to Emerson’s 26 hour labor that sounded amazing! It was around 1 am. I even asked if I could push yet. Haha. That was hormones talking because seriously who pushes at 7cm? I had renewed strength to have an end in sight. After an hour of being the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life I reached down and felt a head. I told Mark to go get Sarah. This kid was coming out! So clearly I was fully dilated and he was almost completely out. What a surprise! After 9 minutes of pushing, Ezra was born into a warm tub of water. It was the most the amazing feeling to hold him. She laid him on my chest and I said, “ You don’t look anything like your sister!” Mark pulled out the iphone to snap a pictures as we forgot the camera. After about 5 minutes Mark holds Ezra to warm him up so that I can get out and get cleaned up. I get to lay on the bed and Ezra nurses pretty much immediately and perfectly. He was so alert because of the lack of drugs it was amazing to see. He just stared at us with his big eyes and the last few hours disappeared from my memory. After his birth my personality swiched immediatley. I went from crazy to completely energized and estactic. I heard of the endorphin rush after a baby is born naturally and it’s no joke. I felt like I could go for a 10 mile run. It was nuts! I was elated and really couldn’t not believe I did it. I refueled with a burrito we had brought from Trader Joes and some gatorade. Mark is exhausted and falls asleep with Ezra on his chest around 4. I’m too full of adrenalin to sleep and lay there looking at my boys while I hear birds chirping as the sun started to rise. It was a special moment.  We discuss when we wanted to go home, and I decide I want food first. So Mark gets us some of the best bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits from Sunrise. They are huge and delicious!  I take a much needed shower and we get Ezra dressed in his onesie and the hate I had made him. We head home around 10:30 and stop at the mall to pick up our laptop. We’re home around 11 and I couldn’t have felt better. Oh and did I mention we didn’t name Ezra until 9:00 am or so. He was just baby boy for awhile. We just stared at him trying to decide what he looked like. I even asked the midwife if she had any suggestions. I have to say natural labor and delivery is of course much harder. But, the recovery was 10x easier and I was so happy not to have any drugs in mine or Ezra’s system. It is amazing what the body can do! I also felt much more emotionally present after his birth and could really take in the moment. I’m thankful to have had the experience and to have brought home a wonderful healthy boy.

6lbs 6oz, 19.5 inches. Born at 2:15am

Dress-Up

We enjoyed a little bit of dress up the other day. I thought Emerson resembled an 80's Madonna with her hair messed up and the stacked bangles. I tried to get her to pose with putting her hand by her face to show off her bracelets. But, of course she posed the opposite hand. Ha! She finished her look with plastic high heels, and big earrings. She doesn't care for dress-up clothes as much as the accessories. To be honest she was just wearing a shirt. Haha. I guess she knows you can go big with accessories if you have simple attire. Ezra didn't mind our girl time. He snuggled in the bean bag and apparently thought it was funny. Emerson brought him a stuffed animal and I just love how his expression changed to ecstatic. He is definitely a ham!

Cute

It should be illegal to be this cute. 

Little toes and all. 

I mean really. 

Swim Time

I decided to pull the baby pool out for E. and since Ezra likes water so much I decide to let him join in. I got him a Gap bathing suit at the consignment sale for $1 or $2. Next to nothing for an adorable pair of trunks.  Emerson put on a borrowed suit that fit last month but is too short now. Growth spurt I suppose! 

I realized that we are at the age that it's almost impossible to get a good picture. It's pulling teeth to get Emerson to look at me then she gives me this cheese ball smile. 

Then of course the excitement of Ezra being close by makes her want to squeeze him to pieces.  But, I guess it documents how everyday really is. Even if I can't frame it on my wall. By the wall check out that beach body on Ezra! Rolls upon rolls. Love it!

Which E?

I've had a few people say that Emerson and Ezra look alike. I don't think they do so much but I'll let you decide. While going through pictures I discovered that I took about 5000 pictures in the first few months of Emerson's life.  Also my photography skills have improved tremendously.

Emerson near 3 months

Ezra at 3 months

One thing is for sure they are both pretty cute! Must have good looking parents. :) Oh and by the way. You can totally see how he is going to have blue eyes compared to what Emerson's were at this age. And to think I thought hers might be blue. Ha!

Thirsty

You may see a baby pool.

But, Emerson sees a watering hole. 

Naptime

If you have a toddler you know how important naptime is. Emerson has been doing great at putting herself down for a nap. Sometimes I hear her playing for a little bit but she eventually settles down. One day I went in to wake her up from a long nap and I found her sleeping like this. On top of three stuffed animals, two blankets, and her diaper that she had taken off. So of course I grabbed my camera before waking her up.

Kind of reminds me of princess and the pea. :)

Meanwhile Ezra is sleeping downstairs with his feet perfectly crossed and his fanny in the air.

So sweet!

Ezra takes his afternoon nap on the couch, while Emerson naps in her room. When I noticed him waking up he still looked rather drowsy.

So I talked to him a bit and he left out the biggest grin.

But, decided he wasn't ready to get up yet, and remained snuggled up!