"I love you, baby Ivy"

I just wanted to write down a couple things about our first few days home and how Ezra is adjusting to his new sister. That is probably the number one question we get about how we are doing--what does Ezra think about all this? Well, so far, he LOVES his little sister. He wants to hold her, show her all his toys, and hold her some more. He has been going up to her throughout the day and saying, "I love you baby Ivy," without being prompted by us. He will hold her and look at us and say, "MY baby Ivy." When she cries, he gets very concerned and says, "Don't cry baby Ivy. Poor baby."

Right before Ivy was born, Ezra and I had a talk. I told him that when Ivy comes, I would really need his help. He was being silly as usual when we were having this talk, but Ezra hears what we tell him (whether he chooses to do it is another thing), and I know that he took this talk to heart because he is already being such a helper...going to get a pacifier, or a burp rag, or just trying to figure out why Ivy is sad. This morning as I was dressing Ivy for church, she started crying. The next thing I know, I hear a little boy's steps running into the hallway, I see him pass Ivy's room running, and realizing we're in there, stop in his tracks and back up. Her crying had awoken him and reminded him that he had a new baby to tend to. 

Tonight as Ivy was hanging out in her swing, Ezra was bringing up his little dinosaurs and setting them on the tray of her swing, one by one, explaining that this one is a stegosaurus and this one is a brachiosaurus and this one is a t-rex. It seems he is already taking the responsibility of being a big brother very seriously. She needs to know what kinds of dinosaurs these are! She does not sleep as much when he is around. She watches him. And I watch both of them already interacting. I hope I never forget Ezra telling her "I love you baby Ivy." It's amazing how quickly she has just become a part of our family.

A few more pictures of Ivy

We've got a little extra time to post pictures, on account of this:

 I'm not sure if there is anything cuter than a newborn baby with little sunglasses on under a bili light, but obviously the circumstances aren't what we would like. Yesterday they told us that Ivy is "Coombs positive," which made it sound like a good thing, but it basically means that her blood type is different from mine so her little body was having to fight off all of the blood that wasn't her type. Basically it makes her jaundiced and so here we are still in the hospital, letting her hang out under the light. We'll find out in a few hours if we can go this evening or if she'll need to stay longer to get her bilirubin levels down. She is being a trooper! And we are watching lots of food network.

So! Time for a few more pictures.

Ivy "facetiming" gramme

 I like to call this one "the smirk"

 Engrossed in Goodnight Moon

 Talking to daddy. I have a picture of Chad and Ezra very similar to this. We are in the same recovery room that we were after Ezra was born so a lot of these pictures look alike to me.

 Love this one...it almost looks like she is smiling at me.

Ivy's birth day

It has been quite the 24 hours! Ivy decided to surprise us yesterday and we are so glad she did. Monday night the 16th I started feeling bad and having a few uncomfortable contractions, but nothing major. I put Ezra to bed, took a shower and was still able to sleep. The moment I woke up Tuesday morning I thought it could be the day that Ivy would come. Chad was getting off work and I texted him and told him that if he was going to the gym before he came home he better make it quick because I needed help getting Ezra ready for Superkids. Soon after Chad came home I started timing my contractions. From 7 a.m. to about 11 they were about 5-6 minutes apart. My doctor had told me that once my contractions were about 4 minutes apart I needed to head to the hospital. Well, they weren't yet obviously, but I still felt the urge to call the doctor's office. Oh, before I did that, I went and got my hair cut. I had an appointment and I knew they were just going to tell me to hold off on going in to the hospital, so I just went and got my hair cut, timing my contractions through the entire thing. My hair stylist said that was a first for her, but she is also a mom of three so I'm sure she wasn't too weirded out. Anyway, so I called the doctor on my way home at about 10:45, and sure enough they didn't think the contractions were close enough together or long enough to warrant going in, but the nurse said that if they did get stronger or longer then I needed to go in. So I went home. And called Emma, probably just to make sure I wasn't making a big deal out of nothing. Meanwhile I needed to hang up the phone because the contractions were hurting bad enough that I couldn't talk. I called mom too, to let her know that she might need to come, but not to get on the road yet. Then, I woke up Chad who had just gone to bed after working a 12 hour shift and being up all day the day before. I think I was kind of hoping that I was not in labor because I was going to feel really bad about waking up Chad. I waited until I really couldn't wait anymore...contractions were about 3 minutes apart, lasting about a minute each. So I woke him up and said "I think we need to go." We made arrangements for Ezra to be picked up from Superkids and where he would go afterwards, and off we went. By this time I started to be in a lot of pain. We got to L&D triage and I was so afraid the nurse was going to check me and say I was not in labor, just a few contractions, and to go back home. Luckily my doctor told me a little later that he would not have made me go home. Anyway, the nurse told me that I was dilated between a 5-6! I was so excited. I knew this meant we were going to get to meet our baby girl today. So they admitted me right away (but not before I informed my nurse in my triage room to go ahead and call the anesthesiologist for my epidural). I think I was admitted around 2. I'm not sure when the anesthesiologist got there but I think it was probably about an hour later. It was too long, whatever the amount of time was! Anyway, he finally showed up, got that big ol' wonderful needle in, and things went pretty quickly from there. My doctor showed up right after the epidural was placed to break my water and I was at about a 9. He went back over to his office for a few minutes, and then it was time to have a baby. I delivered Ivy after pushing for maybe about 7-10 minutes. It was the most perfect labor and delivery I could have asked for...and I even got to have her a few days early, something I never thought would happen. We are so thankful to God our Father who gave us a perfect, beautiful healthy baby and protected me and kept me safe through her delivery as well.

So now, what y'all are really waiting for...pictures! We had a good nurse photographer this time who knew how to use an SLR camera and get the pictures in focus so Chad and I weren't having to be the photographers. 

Check out that hair!

 Here she is! And there is my wonderful doctor, whom I will miss...he is quitting private practice in about two months.

 Daddy counting fingers...he said after she was born that he saw her hands at first and thought a finger was missing. I guess he is just triple-checking.

 Ezra meeting Ivy for the first time. He still doesn't know what hit him! He was looking over at the Parrishes, like "Who is this supposed to be?" It will be hard for him to share them with her.

 Not impressed, dad.

 This picture looks a lot like Ezra to me.

Taste and see that the LORD is good! blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

Ivy's shower

Yesterday some of my dearest friends hosted a shower for Ivy and me. It was so nice and we got lots of fun things. Here are some pictures from the day (thanks Amanda for being photographer for the day!)...

DeLeisha made this canvas to hang on our hospital room door, and then I'll hang it in the nursery when we come home from the hospital.

 The food...everything was delicious.

 My wonderful friends. I would do anything for these girls! From L-R DeLeisha, Tiffany, Heather, Amy, moi, Elena, Monica, Cassie. (Tiffany #2 not pictured)

 Opening gifts...

 Ten bucks I'm saying the word "adorable" or "cute." It came out a lot yesterday, and I know I say it a lot because when we unloaded everything into Ivy's room last night, Ezra kept picking up little outfits and saying "How CUTE!" in a high, squeaky voice.

 The haul!

Quite possibly the last pregnant belly picture I will take. 38 weeks. I think the last time I took one was at 28 weeks. 

Thanks again to everyone who made it yesterday and especially to my friends. I love you all! Now it's just time for this little girl to get here and start wearing all these clothes! :)

Last monthly menu for a while

Hooray! I only have 2 weeks or left in my pregnancy! I planned out the meals for the next two weeks today and after that...I don't know...pizza, cereal and chick fil a for a while I guess. Sounds pretty good to me.

Most of the recipes are from Jaime Cooks it up. I had never made anything from this website before until yesterday, when I made the Braided Sandwich Loaf which was delicious and we ate every bit of it for leftovers today. So when I find one recipe that I like from a website, I try a few more to see if there are a lot of winners. If you try any of these, let me know what you think.

Teriyaki chicken and noodle bowl
Pioneer Woman's meatloaf
Smoky cream cheese-stuffed chicken
Baked creamy chicken taquitos
Braided Sandwich Loaf & Broccoli cheese soup
Sloppy joes
Sweet BBQ meatballs with brown rice
Crispy chicken with creamy italian sauce & bowtie pasta

So, about the braided sandwich loaf...the recipe makes a lot. If I had made the whole thing, it would have made two loaves, and one loaf fed Chad & me for two meals. I made all the dough, let it rest/rise, and froze half of it. So I will use the frozen dough to make the second meal. It was really good bread and I bet it would be great for pizza dough/calzones etc. I did almost have a mixer catastrophe--you are supposed to mix the dough on high for 7-8 minutes, and it made my mixer fall off the counter onto our tile floor. It took a hunk out of the tile but the mixer is fine...whew! I would have been very sad if my mixer had bit the dust. Anyway, the recipe allows for a lot of tweaking it to your family's taste, and you can fill it/top it with all kinds of different things. Plus, it's easy and pretty quick to make, for a recipe where you make your own dough.

Ezra 29 months

I will try not to get too sentimental about the fact that this is the last monthly post about Ezra before he becomes a big brother...all of a sudden, not a baby anymore. We are so excited to welcome Ivy to our family and to get to know her little personality, but I am surely cherishing these last few days when it is just Ezra. He will have to share the spotlight soon enough. Ezra is still such a sweet little boy. He has been a very easy two-year-old so far, and he is mostly obedient though he tends to ignore us or get distracted easily. His favorite things to do these days are puzzles, read books, play with his dinosaurs and cars, and watch TV. His favorite things to watch on TV are Little Einsteins, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, and Lion King. He is quirky and funny. Sometimes he is quirky/particular in a not-so-good way, like the other day when he got his hair cut. He is getting better at responding "yes" to questions instead of just repeating whatever we said, and sometimes he'll respond "nah" instead of no which makes us laugh. He still does well sleeping in his bed, and is very good to not get out of bed even if he doesn't want to go to sleep. Tonight he cried before he went to sleep but still stayed in his bed. He is very into spending time with his friends these days and requests to go see Trevyn, Aiden, and Toni & Charlie on a regular basis. His culinary repertoire seems to be narrowing. He requests grapes, pancakes, "square" cheese (yes, the super healthy processed kind), cereal, tortillas, macaroni & cheese, and burritos on a regular basis, but not much else. He is very suspicious about food, but he did eat pad thai at a restaurant tonight. He sleeps from about 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. and takes a nap from about 1:30-3:30 in the afternoon. He is just like any two-year-old that says, "No, MINE" a lot. He says too many things that make us laugh that I don't have time to write them all down, but tonight on the way to dinner we were listening to the radio and a song came on that said Jesus in it, and Ezra started saying "No. MY Jesus." Usually I kind of get on to him about saying mine, but I let it slide this time. :) He is getting better at making full sentences. Not always grammatically correct, but he gets his point across. For example when he wants to go somewhere, he says "Want ready go." He has no interest in potty training yet. We did get him some toy story underwear for Christmas, and he knows that when he starts to "go tee tee potty" he can wear them. But he is not ready yet, at all, and neither am I (especially with a new baby coming any day now), so we will wait on that one. Just took this video the other day to get a "snapshot" of Ezra at two and a half years old. I think he thinks that Baby Ivy and Noelle are two different people. He always sticks that "and" in there. It's confusing because he has a cousin named Noelle too, so I guess he thinks that Noelle is going to come whenever Baby Ivy shows up. Another funny story, the other day my dad was visiting and we went to Barnes and Noble to get Ezra a little Thomas the Train book that also has little train figurines in it. Ezra saw us buying it, and constantly asks to open Thomas but I told him he couldn't open it until Ivy came. It's his little "there's a new baby so here's a new toy to make you feel included/distract you" present. Anyway, anytime we talk about Baby Ivy coming he says, "And open Thomas?" He won't forget about Thomas and apparently that's the thing his little two-year-old mind is most excited about with the arrival of his baby sister.

Videos from December

Here are a few videos from the past month or so. The first one is my favorite. Ezra is so proud of himself for finishing the puzzle all by himself. The child definitely has a high self-esteem.

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.