Happy Saturday

Barbara (Chad's mom) called this morning and requested an updated picture of Ezra so she could print it and update the one in her office. I didn't have any on hand, so we went outside and did a little impromptu photo shoot. I sure do love my little boy...especially when he says "Cheese!" and looks at the camera. :)

Recent videos

For some reason I am not able to give little explanations in between the videos. Most of them don't need them. These are just little glimpses into our everyday life for those who are interested. Some of the videos are a little long, but it is my way of keeping a record of the kids and remembering what they were like.

March/April menu

I'm back from my menu-posting hiatus. I've been cooking again for about a month, but just no time to post menus. After Ivy was born, my dear, sweet, wonderful friends from church brought us meals every other day for four weeks. What a blessing. But alas, after those four precious weeks of not having to think about what we were going to eat, I once again had to take responsibility. So here is our latest menu...enjoy!

Baked creamy chicken taquitos
Chicken cordon bleu
Chicken pot pie
Black bean & rice stuffed peppers
BBQ meatballs (I use frozen homestyle meatballs and the sauce from pioneer woman's meatball recipe) & mashed cheesy cauliflower
(I have been wanting to find a cauliflower recipe that our whole family will enjoy for a while. This one's a keeper. Keep in mind that it calls for 2 tablespoons of roasted garlic so you will want to make sure and roast your garlic bulb earlier in the day when you make this recipe). 
Pizza spaghetti
Chicken taco soup (like regular taco soup but with chicken)
Creamy chicken & artichoke pasta
Brisket
Chopped BBQ baked potatoes (made with leftover brisket)
Lasagna
Braided sandwich loaves
Fajitas
Steak bites
Sour cream enchiladas
Chili
Taco salad (using leftover chili)
Smoky pork tacos
Sriracha burgers
Chicken gyros with tzatziki sauce (I plan to check our favorite greek restaurant to see if they have their gyro bread for sale in the little market; otherwise, I will try the bread recipe)
Grilled chicken bruschetta

What's happening

Well, it's only 7:30 and both kids are in bed so I thought I'd get caught up on posting pictures to the blog. I am going to try and post some videos too but that will depend on how long til Ivy wakes up to eat again.

The biggest news around here is that Chad finished everything for his master's degree! We are so excited and relieved that he is finished. Chad went through the same school that he got his RN from, Excelsior College, and it's a distance program based in Albany, NY. So he had to go there for 4 days to present his final project, and my mom came and stayed with us. We had a great time and she was a huge help, as usual. Ezra LOVES his granny.  

 We had a little problem with Ivy while mom was here. One night she woke up around 11, and usually during the night I just feed her and she goes right back to sleep. Well, this didn't happen that night. She cried like she was in a lot of pain all night and would only sleep if I was holding her. It was so out of character for her that I took her in to the doctor the next morning and he agreed that that amount of fussiness was unusual for a baby her age (she was still crying as we were in the doctor the next day). So he ordered urine and bloodwork (traumatic for me) and an x-ray of her abdomen. I saw the x-ray before we got the results of the labs back, and it showed that her entire abdomen was filled with gas. I was so relieved. She wasn't completely herself for another day or so, and she slept the entire next day except when she was eating. Poor thing was so exhausted. Thankfully, she is back to her normal self now. She is seriously the sweetest, smiliest baby and she really doesn't cry much at all. Once she sleeps 12 hours in a row at night she will be the perfect baby! :)

 And finally, daddy came home, and we were so happy to have him back.

 I have also started keeping Ezra's little buddy Trevyn again. Ezra saw that Trevyn was wearing a baseball hat one day and just had to find his too.

 Here is Ivy having some tummy time and big brother keeping her company.

 Giving me his best "cheese face."

So that's the last few weeks in pictures! I am in the process of uploading videos so look for another post soon.

Friends

I just had to share this picture of Ezra and his friend Aiden. Ezra has two BFFs, Aiden and Trevyn, and he talks about them constantly. When he has to leave them, he gets very upset. He always asks to go see them. I just love the little moment these two are sharing. I hope Ezra stays friends with these boys for the rest of his life.

Two months!

Lots of family came into town last weekend...dad, Ginny, Mackenzie, Erin & family, Shawn & family. Ivy is in that swing and everyone is gathered around her. Lots of attention for such a small person who doesn't do much! 

 Bathtime tonight...she smiles when I pour the warm water on her. So sweet.

 Took these yesterday when she was "officially" two months old.

 Who doesn't love baby toes and squishy baby thigh rolls?

Well, here we are, another month of Ivy's babyhood in the books. I say that in the figurative sense, since I haven't actually written anything in Ivy's baby book. At least I have the blog to refer to when I do get around to doing that. I am so enjoying this sweet little girl. So far, she is a pretty easy baby. She has her times of fussiness, especially in the evenings, but I find that she is fussy mostly if I have not paid attention to getting her down for naps in a timely manner when she starts showing signs of tiredness. Overly tired=short naps=fussy evenings. She will have her two month check-up next week and then we'll know how much she weighs and all that.

At two months, Ivy is...
-eating 7-8 times in a 24 hour period. Usually around 8, 11, 2, 5, 8, 10, and 4.
-still not a huge fan of her pacifier, but getting better.
-will nurse or take a bottle.
-taking about 4 naps a day, ranging from 1 to 2 hours. She usually does great if I just put her in her sleep sack, sing to her a bit, and put her down awake. That is, unless she is overly tired...then I rock her to sleep.
-sleeping a 6-7 hour stretch at night, waking up around 3 or 4 to eat, and then I usually wake her up in the morning to start our day. I love this...it's waaay different than our experience with Ezra.
-smiling whenever you talk or sing to her. She is so sweet.
-starting to use her hands to touch objects.

To summarize, she is the sweetest, most precious baby girl ever! We love you Ivy Noelle!

Sweet baby

I just love this little girl...she is the perfect addition to our family. Ivy is becoming more and more expressive every day. As an added bonus, she is starting to eat less often and take good naps. Last night I actually got a 6 hour stretch of sleep...she only woke up once. Bless you my child. (Yes, I realize it's probably a fluke).