Christmas 2011

I didn't get many pictures of Christmas this year--mostly just video. I'm working on posting those for anyone who is interested. 

This year we weren't able to travel anywhere for Christmas, so we had a nice, low key Christmas at home. My mom came the couple days before Christmas and helped me clean/organize/play with Ezra, and my dad came for a couple days afterward. 

Ezra had fun opening his gifts this year, and even those that weren't for him (he's helping Chad open one of Chad's gifts in the bottom picture). He really wanted every single piece of wrapping paper off of each box. Probably the hit gift for him this year was his new "monkey puzzle" that gramme got him. He is really into puzzles these days and this one is 4 puzzles in one box, the pieces are wood, and he can do them himself...a bonus for us! He does the monkey puzzles all day, every day, and when he finishes a puzzle yells "I did it!" in a very proud way. I got video of that and will post soon. 

Ezra doing monkey puzzles with granddad

 Ezra helping Chad open his gift

Random

Trying out the new double stroller...thanks granddad

 Just hanging out, showing off our twin-ness

 Ezra remembering his infant carrier days fondly (except he hated this carseat...praying Ivy will like it a little better!)

First professional haircut

Ezra is almost two and a half years old and we just now took him to a barber to get his hair cut. Now I know why. He freaked out more than I even thought he would. I took M&Ms, the iphone with movies on it, gave Chad a haircut earlier in the day so Ezra could see daddy getting his hair cut too, and none of it worked. So Chad and I both went and Chad held him in the chair. It all started going downhill when the stylist brought out the cape. She said he had to wear it, I'm sure some kind of health code thing. Here he is putting up a fight. The camera went away shortly thereafter.

Here's the back of his hair before the haircut. You can't tell really here, but it was long and a haircut was overdue.

And here he is, afterwards (grandparents, look away if this is going to upset you). He was so sad. I really did feel bad for him, but he was overreacting. Hopefully his hair will grow slow and we won't have to get another haircut for a while. 

 The back, after...

The front after (and proof that he perked up quickly after we got done with the haircut)

Trying out the new lens I bought with the giftcard I won in that photo contest I entered recently. I'm loving it so far!

Cleaning out the clutter

I am a list maker.

I especially enjoy to-do lists, because I like accomplishing tasks and crossing them off my list. I know there are lots of you out there like me. I won't go to the grocery store without a list either. That's just crazy talk. Lately my to-do lists have been filled with the most menial of tasks, things I think I need to get done before Ivy gets here--cleaning out cabinets. Hanging curtains and washing baby clothes. Putting new knobs on the built-in bookcase in her room. My warped sense of thinking feels like we are just not ready until all these little tasks have been completed.

I digress.

Sometimes I become too task-oriented. I sacrifice time with my husband or child to complete tasks on my list. It becomes a bit of an obsession. If I don't get all my to-dos crossed off for the day, I feel unaccomplished for the day. Do I feel the same way if I haven't spent much time with God that day?

Last night I read these words out of my Jesus Calling devotional. My toes still hurt this morning from being stepped on. I am guilty of having a cluttered mind, a cluttered life, and too many times leaving God off my "to do list" or making him just another check-mark on it instead of allowing his presence to infuse my entire day. 

"Do not be weighed down by the clutter in your life: lots of little chores to do sometime, in no particular order. If you focus too much on these petty tasks, trying to get them all out of the way, you will discover that they are endless. They can eat up as much time as you devote to them.
Instead of trying to do all your chores at once, choose the ones that need to be done today. Let the rest slip into the background of your mind, so I can be in the forefront of your awareness. Remember that your ultimate goal is living close to Me, being responsive to My initiatives. I can communicate with you most readily when your mind is uncluttered and turned toward Me. Seek My Face continually throughout this day. Let My Presence bring order to your thoughts, infusing Peace into your entire being."

I share this with you all because I know I'm not alone. I think the holiday season especially can tend to bring a special kind of harriedness and frenetic energy from checking off our to-do lists, our gift lists, our meal shopping lists, and ultimately an empty feeling after all is said and done, because our lives are infused with trying to accomplish things on our list instead of being infused with the Peace that passes all understanding.

I want to know God better. I want his ways to become my ways, and I am pretty sure that obsessing over getting things done around my house is not the best way for that to happen. I want my "nesting phase" to be a time that I devote to writing more of God's word on my heart and learning more of his commands so that I can "teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deut. 6:7)

Santa Land

Last night we headed over to McKenzie Park with the Parrishes for "Santa Land." It was a fun time with lots of stuff for Ezra to see. He got to see Santa again but wasn't too impressed. I don't blame him; Santa was really lame and did not say a single word to the child. He did get a candy cane though so he was excited about that. We enjoyed our little outing and hope to make it a fun tradition!

The picture below makes me laugh...Anna Beth and Aaron jumped in and if you look closely you can see Ezra holding on to Aaron like "please don't make me sit on this guy's lap much longer."

Ezra with the Parrishes. Yes, this is the best one I could get.

Videos of Ezra, 28ish months

As usual, these videos are nothing special. Just my way of recording what Ezra was like at this point in his life. His vocabulary and speech are continuing to develop, and it is fun that we are able to start having "real" conversations. My favorite part of the day is laying down with Ezra at night before he goes to bed. We talk about his day, he tells me about his friends, and we sing songs. He is very into pretending these days. You'll see in one of these videos that his t-rex is eating his finger and he's saying, "Mama! Help me!" He also pretends to be scared when he sees or hears something he thinks is scary. Another cute thing he does is he'll come up to us and say "I hurt me." Then he'll present the hurt area and say "kiss it." Once we have kissed his owie and shown him what he thinks is enough sympathy, he'll say "Better?" In question form because he is mimicking how we ask him if it's better. So cute.

I took this video mostly because you can see the silhouette of his sweet little curl at the back of his head. We will probably be cutting his hair pretty soon, but I just love that little curl. Pretending to get his finger bitten off by a dinosaur Ezra likes to watch "Fox and Hound." He is saying "scary bear" because he is watching the part where the bear starts attacking the fox. Or maybe it's the hound, or both. I can't remember. Ezra and his friend Trevyn like to tell me that they are "super Trevyn" and "Super Ezra" My favorite part about this last video is when I am getting Ezra to say "yes I do." We are trying to teach Ezra how to answer in the affirmative, but he has a little Texan accent when he says it.

Getting ready for Ivy

I've been sick with a stomach bug today. It started last night. Being 35 weeks pregnant, having a 2 year old to take care of, and having a stomach bug don't mix. I'm always thankful for Chad, but today I was especially thankful...he basically arranged his whole day around taking care of Ezra so I could rest and be miserable on the couch. 

Anyway. I also have a few pictures/videos to post. I wanted to share Ivy's super-cute baby book that my mom gave her. It's from an etsy store and I got to customize it. I love it! We are ready to stamp her little hands and feet in her baby book.

 And here is Ivy's adorable bedding. My friend Emily made it for her and I just love it. The last couple weeks we have gotten her room all ready and all her little clothes hung up in the closet. If she came today, we would be ready...she has a place to sleep and clothes to wear.

Transformation

Yesterday we finally said goodbye to the last sub-contractor and all the renovations are complete! We are so excited about all the changes to our home. We took lots of pictures so hopefully you can see all the transformations. It feels like we're living in a totally different house.

Exterior--before

Exterior--after paint and new windows

If you have never been to our house, this might be kind of confusing, but this is the toilet/shower area of the master bathroom before.

Master shower before.

Master bathroom vanity area. When you go through that door to the right, the tiny shower is immediately to the left, and the toilet is next to that.

Master shower/toilet area during construction. They completely busted out the shower and toilet and we re-configured the space to push the shower up against the wall with the window and put the toilet to the immediate left when you walk in the room. The shower is now a walk-in that is the length of the room.

Former shower area, now toilet area

That is the divider wall between the shower and toilet. The opening to the right is the shower walk-in.

Vanity area and closet during construction (that's the old toilet that is just sitting in the closet for some reason)

After! When you walk in now, the toilet is immediately to the left and what you see in front of you is the walk-in shower. We LOVE the way it turned out.

Standing at one end of the shower (window to my right). Corner seat to the left and 10-inch rain showerhead (Chad's pick).

Toilet area (I'm kind of standing in the shower opening to take the picture)

Close-up of the granite. This is in both bathrooms and the kitchen.

New vanity area.

BEFORE: Guest bathroom. White tile, dated everything.

Vanity & mirror before

Shower before.

Guest bathroom AFTER. I love how this room turned out! New floor tile & tile wainscoting where the paneling was, knocked down the dowels and re-textured/re-painted walls and ceiling, put tile all the way up to ceiling in shower, New fixtures. At first I thought the tile wainscoting was going to be too much tile, but I really really like it. And it is going to be super easy to clean. Last night I mopped the walls.

New vanity area. I scored the mirror at Kirkland's for $85...I just had max measurements and the mirror fit PERFECTLY within the tile corners of the backsplash and underneath the light fixture.

Inside of tub enclosure. Sidenote, we got some new decor for the bathroom, and I am in love with this shower curtain. I found some striped towels to go with the curtain which I made into hooded towels for Ezra and Ivy. You can see them hanging on hooks in the first picture.

Toilet area

Kitchen before...goodbye off-white formica counter and backsplash with country blue trim. I do not miss you.

The other kitchen counter

Old oven

After. New counters, sink and backsplash. Backsplash is a subway style tile called tumblestone. It's a natural stone as opposed to a ceramic or porcelain tile. Our contractor took me to one of the homes he built and it had this backsplash and I loved it right away.

Countertop w/ stove

New oven

We are enjoying all the changes and are very pleased with how everything turned out. Time to get everything cleaned up and put back in place and get our little girl's room ready...noticed I haven't posted a picture of it yet. It is probably the biggest mess in the entire house. Oh well, soon enough.