EZRA IS #1- football party

*UPDATE:Hello Pinterest friends and Dietpepsi.com ! I didn't know anyone but my family looked at this little, neglected blog. I've been blown away by the daily number of readers checking out this post. I've added a few more pictures of the little projects we did for fun (warning not the best photo quality!)

So long sweet baby, hello big boy!  One. Year. Old. I can't believe it. "Ezra is #1" (as we like to chant)!

Ezra's actual birthday was kind of a boring day. But he did get his first ice cream!  And really he had no idea what was up. ( I wonder if he'll be like his big sister and give me a detailed list of what he wants for his second birthday.) But his party was awesome (if I say so myself ;-).

I had so much fun finding ideas on Pinterest!  Jose  helped me make a lot of our decorations, and since we are kind of football fanatics we already had a lot of the supplies!

A few of our projects:
$3 thrift store ugly picture turned chalkboard menu, Concession Stand sign (AKA the picture pinned 1000 times on Pinterest, and featured on dietpepsi.com)

Jose made the field goal with a couple of dollars of PVC, and spray paint we had on hand. The banners were all from Ezra's room!

Football field table cloth was out of an astroturf carpet and white duct tape

I bought the carpet at Home Depot, and used poster board letters for the end zone. 

The food table didn't get much photo love. It was pretty basic, but we did have football themed plates, napkins and cups. The silverware was in vases I wrapped in scrapbook paper and white tape. 

 Inside the house, I replaced all our regular art and pictures with pictures of Ezra (mostly football related).

A view of the mess the night before! The signs were on our walkway and door. The bags were for the piñata candy.

Jose really wanted to get Ezra an official Nike jersey. It was almost like a gift for Jose more than Ezra! Fortunately it has fit him all year so he's got plenty of use from it. We are hoping future babies will use it too. 

 I worried all month about the weather. We never know what we will get in March! The month started as one of the warmest we've had in awhile (and driest!) which convinced me it wouldn't last until his party on the 21st! Fortunately all projected rain didn't come, and the day was beautiful (but windy, which meant I couldn't put all the centerpieces outside).





I ordered football popcorn boxes and the suckers from Oriental Trading. Easter was around the corner so I filled football eggs with candy, and used pictures of him from throughout the year that were football related.

My sister in law provided the super cute football cake pops, and we made the field stand out of styrofoam.  The cupcakes were made by our niece and tasted and looked great! My mom made football rice krispie treats, and the football strawberries were made by an aunt. I was so grateful for all the creative baking help!

The desserts were probably my favorite part! 

We asked guest to wear their team colors, and I loved how everyone got into the football theme! 

Poor Ezra did not sleep well the night before his party and had a fever. The day of his party he was not himself, and preferred to be carried. I was bummed that he wasn't running around playing, but I think he still enjoyed himself. He ended up getting sicker the next few days. Poor guy was miserable, and couldn't sleep for a week.

The next couple of pictures may be hard to believe....Raider and Charger fans getting along??

 He LOVES to wear the mini foam fingers!

 He of course loved his cake, but hated having his hands dirty!

I made his high chair banner out of fabric remnants from his nursery. I just printed the letters out from my computer and traced them onto the fabric.

Glimpse of the football bounce house.

 Love the team spirit!

My boy and I!

Can't have a party without a piñata! 

It was such a fun day! Everything came out great, and it was fun celebrating with 75 of our closest family and friends (CRAZY!).  

11 months

My little man is 11 months old today. This past month he has "grown up" so much! At exactly 10 1/2 months to the day, he took his first steps! Aubri and I kept looking over at him and he was standing unassisted playing by himself. He had done this for a couple of months, but this was for extended periods of time. I asked held out my hands for him to walk to me and he did! When Jose got home from work he showed off a bit, but then later that night he took 8 steps! Every day he has become a stronger walker, though his preferred mode of transportation is still speed crawling.

He has also expanded his vocabulary this month. The little stinker still won't say Mama, but he loves calling for his Dada! He also says Papa (puhpuh), book (without the k), ball (ALL the time!), Hi (ha), up (uh), dog, woof (every animal woofs now), baby, and bye.  He can point to his hair, nose, tongue , hands, feet and when he wants to, his eyes.

 Ezra LOVES to sing and dance, and does the cutest little wiggle dance when he wants to make us laugh. One day our family was out to eat and he was doing his little wiggle dance, which Aubri copied, then Jose and I copied. We were all taking turns doing the wiggle moves when it hit me how ridiculous we had to look! His favorite toys, besides balls, are microphones- or anything that can be made into a microphone. He hums and sings away! And with about a 90% success rate, the surest way to stop his tears is to start singing "If your happy and you know it!" He knows how to clap, stomp and shout along (doesn't say amen, but at least tries).

We still can't get over how much he eats! He will eat anything and everything. But he is over the purees. He wants finger foods only! Which is actually nice in a way because I can actually eat my own food instead of feeding him. He literally eats more food in a day than Aubri. I should be used to it by now, but everyday I still comment to Jose that I can't believe he sits so content in his high chair! When he wants more he signs for it, and he makes the funniest smacking noises to say he is hungry or thirsty. Sometimes I think he doesn't realize he is full because he can finish a good meal, yet act like he is starving when he sees something he likes. Grocery stores are crazy with him because he is reaching for everything, signing more, and smacking his lips jumping up and down in the cart. Costco and Trader Joes are the best because I can get him a sample and he is good to go. Poor little man still has a strong gag reflex. Aubri was the same way, so we are used to the choking incidents. It can still be a little scary! He actually has learned to fish hook himself to get the food out when he gags. It is funny and sad at the same time! His desire to self feed and his gag reflex have been a hard combo, but he is doing much better lately.

Now that he is toddling everywhere, he is also getting into everything. This isn't too new, but coupled with his love for food, our pantry was getting attacked too much. I caved and baby proofed the cabinets. It's one of my pet peeves (the inconvenience of the locks), and I avoided it with Aubri. However having two kids to look after makes things a bit harder, and for everyones sanity and safety the locks went on.

 He is hilarious! He is such a ham and so goofy! He has always been great at posing for the camera, but he learned a couple of weeks ago to say "cheese". At first I didn't realize he was doing it when I was taking a picture of Jose and both kids. All the pictures looked like he was in pain! Now he "asks" for pictures, positioning his head in front of our phones or camera and grunting and making his cheese face until we take it!

 I love that he knows when he is being funny! He cracks himself up when he burps or farts, and will fake either noise to make us laugh. He also makes a farting noise when you ask him what Papa does.

We won't mention how well he sleeps, but I will say at least he falls asleep easy! This handsome boy lights up our days. He's cuddly and sweet, curious and adventurous, tough and all boy! Ezra Joseph we love you!

3 years old

I just tucked my 2 year old daughter in for the last time! Next time I see her (assuming she doesn't start yelling that she is thirsty, needs another kiss, her blankets are twisted...) she will be 3 years old!

Three years ago right now, I was pumped up for labor! It was my due date and she was ready to meet the world! Things were getting pretty intense, but I wanted to stay home as long as possible. Jose and I had just got home from getting foot massages and renting a movie (note: do not try to watch The Hangover while in labor. Like I tell my students, do NOT laugh during contractions, it causes unnecessary pain!). We knew we would be meeting Aubriella soon, and were excited and nervous. Looking back it would have been wise to try to sleep for a bit.

After a few more hours of laboring at home, we headed to the hospital and arrived at 1 am. She was born at 7:54 that morning. Giving birth to her was one of, if not the most amazing, exhausting, beautiful, empowering events of my life. It was such a gift to give birth to her naturally and unmedicated, and afterwards I remember thinking I had never felt closer to Jose. I couldn't have done it without him, and we were a perfect team.

I don't think I could have imagined the spunky little girl Aubriella is today. Just like her middle name, she is a Joy!  She is also the source of many laughs (you'd have to read her quote book!), and to be honest sometimes the source of my frustration! Jose always says Aubriella is just like me. I don't see it personality wise, but I will admit I've trained her well in matters of taste and style ;-). I can't believe at 3 years old how often her and I already "duke it out"! I love every ounce of her strong will, independence, and determined spirit, but oh.my.word. She does not back down. And I love her and admire her for it! Before her I avoided conflict at all costs, and don't think I had ever yelled at someone. Not sure if that is good or bad, but this little lady has stretched me. Aubri-girl, we are going to teach each other a lot!

I could tell you so much more about Aubri, but I would be writing all night! And tomorrow is a big day for us! She has already submitted her birthday requests. First a Panera bagel and has also asked, "Can you take me and Ella to the pink hotel for cake?' Maybe I'm being too indulgent, but when she requests something so cute and sweet, I'm happy to oblige. So tomorrow after our Panera breakfast, we are having a Madonna Inn lunch and cake, topped off with a pizza dinner. Birthdays only come once a year!

Testing,testing, 1-2-3

Ok....so picture showed up last post. Let's try it again!

At 6 months old I decided to start taking a monthly picture of Ezra. You now same spot, same pose. It lasted 3 months, but it was worth a shot! 

 Ezra on his 6 month b-day

Much smilier on his 7 month b-day!

8 months

And an extra just for fun!

Hope these post!

Life is full

Despite the fact that I get up twice a night to put Ezra back to sleep, or that I have started to break up "arguments" between my kids (mostly whines and cries about someone taking someone else's toy away), or that Ezra now knows how to open every drawer and cupboard (and take everything out in about 2 seconds), or that I lose my patience just about everyday (always gets misplaced)....life is great, and being a mom is the greatest adventure ever. 

Ezra is almost 10 months old. I can't believe how fast time flies! He is mimicking and "talking" lots more this past week. He says Dada, Ba (ball), Ha (hi), calls Aubri "Tah" consistently (no idea why! Maybe sis-tah??), says Nana a lot and seems to be in the right context, and copied Aubri and I when we said "uh-oh" after he dumped all the cards to a board game. He does the one sign I've taught him ("more')  He hums along when we sing, and you can't keep him from dancing! 

He is giving me a run for my money now that he has figured out all the cupboards and drawers open up. He is obsessed with our game trunk. Not. fun. Thankfully Aubri is a great tattle tale (really I appreciate it!), and she is a great little helper. She is such a helper at distracting him when I am trying to get something done.

Aubri is going to be 3 this month!! WOWSER! She is getting excited for her "Tinkerbell cabin party at the snow" where we will have "cake and donuts with sprinkles." We are looking forward to our trip to Big Bear next week! She got to move up in Sunday School classrooms and is SO excited! Her teachers have said she is doing great listening and participating, and it makes my heart swell when she tells us what she learned about in class. She always asks when she can go to real school, and remembers me saying (when she was 1!) that she would probably go when she is 3. 

Aubri got a new bike for Christmas and it has been fun to see her love riding it! She is becoming a better rider every day as she is learning how to watch where she is going!! She is quite the distracted driver. I've been so proud that every time she has fallen (even with training wheels) that she has gotten back up and said she wants to try again. 

I've been the worst blogger because I haven't figured out how to add pictures without purchasing more space, and lets face it what's a post without pics. When I figure it out, you can bet that I'll be updating much more about our crazy, busy, FUN, full life.]! 

8 months

As always, this post comes a little late! Ezra is now almost 8 1/2 months! I may have unconsciously postponed writing this update, because our sweet and mellow baby temporarily disappeared. Haha, only kidding. But not really.

Ezra is learning to communicate! He knows how to yell, grunt, or scream to get attention. It is kind of funny, but he can clench his hands and jaw and shake/yell and turn red when he is really upset. He did this a lot of few weeks back, but I haven't seen it much lately. Soon after realizing he could express his emotions he got hit with a cold. And it's been a doozy. We all got it so I can sympathize with him. It kicked my hiney so I can only imagine what it felt to his little body. And unlike only lasting less than a week for the rest of our family, his is still lingering. Poor baby! And I've got to get a little sympathy myself... We had some nights he woke every hour! He also wanted to be held all.the.time. And did not want to be put down in his crib, or sleep in mom's bed. He wanted to be upright, head on my shoulder.

Ezra is also babbling and "repeating". He will copy us say "papa" "dada", and other noises. He has on occasion said "mama" in the right context, but it hasn't been consistent enough to report he is saying it. He still "sings" along to music, and has now added some sweet dance moves.  He really seems to go with the beat (here's hoping he somehow got some musical genes!). It is the cutest thing to see him bobbing along!

He hasn't wanted to eat much lately, a few bites every meal is about it. UNLESS it is "big people food". He constantly wants what we have in our hand, but it is scary because like his sister he has such a strong gag reflex. He gags/chokes/ throws up soooo easy! Slowly he seems to be tolerating chunkier food.

Ezra is a speeding bullet. This kid crawls FAST. And climbs FAST. I don't remember this as much with Aubri because she always wanted to be up trying to take walk there. Ezra just wants to get from one place to another as fast as he can. We catch him standing unassisted playing sometimes.

He and Aubri are starting to play together. Normally it is grabbing a toy at the same time, but yesterday he was following her everywhere driving her crazy (which drove mom crazy).  She loves making a block tower for him to knock over.

Ezra is really good at waving high and bye, lifting his hands for "touchdown", clapping, giving kisses, and happy with anyone holding him (as long as I'm out of sight). He is a love bug!

He has one tooth very visible, and as of yesterday the second bottom tooth has popped through! He's got some surprising good bites on our cheek, noses, and while nursing! Sharp little things!

So far our Christmas decorations are faring well with him, but it is a constant chase. He understands to not touch the tree, but that means he stops right before grabbing it to look around and see if anyone is going to stop him!

Ezra got his third hair cut recently. He did great until she grabbed his head to do the precision trimming. He freaked. But I got to say he looks cuter than ever!

I have LOTS of great pictures to upload but blogger is telling me that I've used my max storage capacity! Anyone know how to fix that???