That's Amore!

Here is Andy figuring out That's Amore on his Dad's accordian. Ezra is completely enthralled by that odd music coming from his Dad. All this time Andy claims he has no musical talent. I think not only did I unknowingly marry a liar, but I married an accordian player, too! ACK! ;)

I Married a What?

First Rice Cereal

The post about feeding the hungry little hippo

The Hungry Little Hippo is very interested in any food or drink we may have. He even tries to grab it from us. Sorry, little hippo, no beer for you!

He finds his own drink and guzzles it down. Loud burps soon follow. Little hippo sure can belch!

Little Hippo has a sweet big sister. She helps feed him too. But still Little Hippo wants MORE. He is never full, it seems!

Mommy decides to give some rice cereal a try. The Hungry Little Hippo is delighted to see a spoon coming his way. He opens wide and gobbles it up!

Mean mean mommy stops to take a photo of little hippos first bites. The hungry little hippo cries. "Feeeeeeeeed ME, Mommy!!!!"

The hungry little hippo attempts to feed himself just in case that mean mommy tries to take any more pictures.



The cereal is gone and the the little hippo is... what?? Full! Amazing! The hungry little hippo is hungry no more. And look at that, most the cereal went into the little hippo's mouth, and not on his bib. Hungry little hippo does not waste food.
After the hungry little hippo eats up all the rice cereal he decides it's time for a little nap. He probably is dreaming about more food!

Playing Games

Last weekend we drove down to Redding to visit with my cousins - we had a really wonderful time with everyone! Here is the one set of pictures I took all weekend. Sometimes I seriously forget about that funny thing in my purse called a CAMERA.
This is my cousins youngest, Simeon, playing the game SORRY with Ezra, Andy, and Sarah. I love how Ezra looks ready to join in. He always is ready to join in. It really makes him a lot of fun!

The reason we went to Redding, though, wasn't for fun and games. My cousin Kaylene's wonderful husband, Toby, passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was a such a good man and we feel blessed to have known him and blessed that he made Kaylene's life so wonderful for the 17 years they were married. Toby was a very dedicated man. Everything he did, he did well. From being a great employee, a good neighbor and homeowner, and especially in being a wonderful father and husband. I know that Andy was inspired by his dedication to his little girls so much that it changed how he viewed fatherhood. Thank you, Toby, for daring to be a better man than you had to be and for setting an example worthy of following. I can't wait to see you in Heaven!

Long

Long. Ezra just seems so long to me already. He fills my arms, he fills my lap, he even fills my bed! This picture is just short of 4 months old.

Ezra continues to be such a happy baby. He's really got that smiling thing down and I'm sure will be quite the charmer when he grows up. He has learned how to roll from his tummy onto his back which he does NOT like at all!!

Sarah is really doing great in school these days. She breezes through her math and reading homework with very few questions or problems. She received several new books and a wonderful Bible for Christmas and has had her nose buried in all of those, reading as much as she can.

I've been feeling creative and experimental and have tried a few new recipes lately. I'll have to take a few pictures and post a few recipes with my next blog post.

Random photos

Cloth Diapers for our Little Man

Blogger is giving me trouble tonight and won't upload my pictures in order so here we go...
















Here is Ezra modeling his new Bum Genius All In One Diaper . When I got it, I wasn't sure how I would like it. The "inserts" are sewn in and make it look very odd. But once I put it on him, it went on easily and fit great. No leaks! My concern on this one is that since it's a hemp (takes longer to dry) all in one (has the PUL cover built in), that the PUL (plastic cover) will not hold up to the dryer. I like how the cover part rolls inward on the thighs.





















Here is Mr Popular. He says that he loves his new diapers, he loves his Momma, and he EVEN loves the camera today. He was being very very adorable and smiling and laughing at me, but once I put the camera up, all I got were his huge wide eyes staring at the camera. This was the ONE smile I was able to capture on camera. :D Isn't he adorable? He's not as chunky as this photo makes him look, though.






















Another picture of the Bum Genius.






















Here is Mr Wide Eyes who was smiling until the camera thing came out. He hasn't figured out yet to KEEP smiling when the camera comes out. He is wearing a FuzziBunz Pocket diaper. You can see in the picture how the white fleece lining is showing a little bit at the thighs. It "rolls" outward a bit. I was worried this would cause wicking and give him wet clothes, and sure enough it did. I'll try and adjust the fit (there are elastic adjustments in the thighs and at the back) and see if I can fix that.















Here is our starter lot of diapers. I bought 3 cloth fitted diapers (meaning they snap on but need a cover), 3 all-in-ones (meaning they snap on and have the cover on them already) a cover, and some inserts / doublers. So far, I like the fit of the Swaddlebees Organic Cloth Fitted and the Bum Genius Organic All In One the best.

Day 1 of Cloth Diapering has been a success. Andy even changed him and reached for the cloth and not the disposable. :D

Turkey For Me, and Turkey For You...

On Sunday we cooked up a nice turkey we got at Thanksgiving and had a nice little holiday meal of it. Sarah, of course, was intrigued by the whole turkey thing. The neck, the organs in the bag, the big hole in the middle, even the drumstick. Who knew a Holiday meal would be such a learning experience??

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Sarah had her birthday party last night. We invited ALL the kids from her class at school - what fun!! Here she is with her beautiful Lillifee birthday cake that the wonderful people at His Bakery made for us. Isn't it cool?? I almost want to be 7 again to have a cake like that!
Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter!