Throwback Thursday: 8 Months Pregnany vs. Now

Originally I had planned to post some photos from our Spring photo shoot today, but as I was going through them I realized there are way too many good ones, and I need some more time to narrow down my favorites. Otherwise I'd just blast you guys with 300+ pictures, and that could be a little overwhelming... 

When we took the photos I decided I wanted to reenact a few of my favorite poses from my maternity shoot so I could do a before & after collage (you know how I love collages!), and this is what I came up with. I absolutely love the way these turned out.

The photos on the left were taken almost exactly a year ago, when I was 8 months pregnant and still a whole month away from meeting Ezzy. (Longest month EVER!) I remember not wanting to even do the maternity shoot that day, and feeling like we had waited too long and I was too huge to want my picture taken. Of course, once it was done, I was so glad I went because we got hundreds of beautiful photos that perfectly captured that special phase of our lives. 

The photos on the right were taken a few weeks ago. Never in my life would I have been able to comprehend a year ago the amount of love I would feel for both of these guys today. My love for each of them just keeps growing. I remember having no idea what to expect about parenthood or Ezzy. Honestly it's been easier than I imagined (knock on wood). I think there's something about parenthood that makes you quickly forget the difficult times (like labor/delivery, not sleeping, crying fits, diaper blowouts) and focus on the good. Ezzy is such a happy, curious, giggly, chatter box little boy. Every day Joe and I feel so lucky to be his parents. I still can't get over what a dapper little gentleman he looks like in these pictures. It's crazy how much can change in a year!

(Disclaimer: you'll have to pardon me if I get more nostalgic as the month goes on, I still can't believe my baby is almost one!)

It's the little things: Easter Edition

I've seen a lot of bloggers posting what's going in their kids' Easter baskets, and I loved getting a sneak peak and stealing some ideas, so I thought I'd do the same for Ezzy's basket. Also, I think it'll be fun to look back and see what was in his first Easter basket, and once it's in his possession this Sunday there's no guarantee we'll be able to get photos before stuff gets strewn across the house (or eaten). 

The theme of his basket is cars, which isn't very Eastery, but it's what he likes. He's getting:

• Melissa & Doug stacking cars
• Melissa & Doug construction puzzle
• Target sippy cup 
• Ella's Kitchen milk + vanilla baby cookies
• bandana bibs - I haven't really been putting bibs on him lately, but since he still has no teeth I figure there's some heavy duty drooling in our future and I've always wanted to get him some bandana bibs, which I think are so much cuter and grown up than the regular bibs.
• Target animal-shaped eggs, which I stuffed with a few Ella's Kitchen baby cookies.
• Little Blue Truck Book & Plush

We got our photos from our Spring family photo shoot (I posted the behind-the-scenes shots here) and I love them! Our photographer got so many great shots, and I'll be doing another (or a couple more) posts with all my favorites. But for now, here are some photos of Ezzy discovering Easter eggs for the very first time. We definitely should have saved this for last, because he was obsessed with those eggs. I love the series of shots of him about to drop the egg in the crook of his arm and trying to catch it with his mouth. Silly boy! Also, Joe and I tried to get some bubble action going for these shots, but unfortunately the breeze would carry them away too fast to get really good photos. You can see a few bubbles in the last two photos.

Other than Mother's Day (which Ezzy missed by three hours last year!), Easter will be Ezzy's last "first holiday." This past year has been full of so many amazing firsts for all three of us. It's kinda bitter sweet that his first year is already almost over. I know there are a ton more firsts to experience though, like first steps, first words, first sentences...and I'm so excited for all of those!

Today I'm linking up with Ashley and Jess for their Little Things linkup. Hop on over to check out other moms' favorite little things this week :)

Weekend Recap: Auntie Anna Comes to Town!

My sister drove down to visit this past weekend. That's a six hour drive for her, and I'm so glad she came! She brought Ezzy a beautiful blanket that she knit herself. You can see the photos at the very end of this post. I really like the colors, and it's hard to tell in the photos, but there's a leaf pattern in the trim that is really pretty. This is actually the second blanket she's made for Ezzy, he's so lucky to have such a crafty aunt :) The last time she saw Ezzy was in December, when he wasn't mobile at all, and now he's all over the place and super chatty and interactive. 

Ezzy loved kicking the ball around with his aunt. She would roll the ball to him while I held him up and he'd put one leg in the air just waiting for the ball, ready to kick it back. He actually does have good timing and good aim. Once he missed the ball and started crying, so we did a do-over, and then he was happy again. Silly boy. 

We spent Friday just hanging out, and went to dinner at a new Thai place in Pasadena which was really yummy. Saturday we spent the night at our aunt's house so we could visit with her and our cousins. You can see a few dark snaps below of Ezzy acting like one of the big boys at dinner. He was obsessed with David. It was so cute, every time David would talk Ezzy would stare up at him and laugh like it was the funniest story he'd ever heard. 

All in all this weekend went by too fast, but it was so much fun to catch up. And Ezzy loved soaking up all the extra attention.

Oh, and I just had to share a photo of a doll that my cousin's daughter made for me. She gave it to me as a thank you present for her Christmas gift, and I love it. It reminds me of something I would've made for myself at that age. It makes me want to give her a thank you present as a thank you for my thank you present! I love her, she is such a sweetheart.

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

11 Month Update

Ezzy at 11 months

All stretched out:  1 week // 4 months // 8 months // 11 months

Riding a coyote: 4 months vs. 11 months

Ezzy - Everyone told us when you were born that the first year goes so quickly, and they weren't lying. Your daddy and I can't believe you'll be a 1 year old in a month. That means you'll be a toddler! And you're getting so close to walking. There have been a few times you've tricked us into thinking you're ready to walk, but you're not quite there yet. We know it's right around the corner though, and I have a feeling that as soon as you get the hang of it, you're gonna take off running everywhere, because you've got so much energy kid. Even though you're still a cheerful baby that loves laughing and being silly, lately everywhere we go people make comments about how thoughtful and serious you look. You like to stare at people head on like you're taking it all in and making judgments and calculations. You're a lil thinker, for sure. Your dad and I love to watch you examine things because we can practically see the wheels turning in your head. And you pick up new skills so fast! One day you'll be frustrated that you can't do something, and two days later you have it mastered. Every day that your dad and I get to spend on this journey with you makes us feel like the luckiest people on the planet. We love you more than you'll ever know.

Some 11 month stats: According to my scale (which is always a little off from the one at the doctor's office) Ezzy weighs 20 lbs, up 1 pound from last month. Not sure how tall he is, he definitely seems taller than last month though, when he was 27 inches. He's mostly wearing 12 month clothes now. 

Our 11 month daily routine: Routine? What's that? As far as sleep goes, I've stopped counting how many hours I/we get because it's depressing. On a good night, Ezzy still wakes up twice. He'll usually start acting tired around 8 pm, but when I try to nurse him and get him to sleep he'll suddenly wake up and get his second wind. A lot of nights he'll also get a third wind, which means he's not going to sleep till 10. I always try to put him down for a morning nap, about two hours after he wakes up, but half the time he resists or just takes a really short 15 minute cat nap. On a good day he'll nap anywhere between 2 - 4 hours (total, sometimes split between two naps).

11 month eats: The doctor told me to limit Ezzy to nursing four times a day, but sometimes he'll nurse that many times in a single night. I've still just been feeding him on demand, which on average is 6 - 7 times a day. I've been trying to feed Ezzy more solids, but when it comes to eating his veggies he still prefers purees. I tried making a variation of these broccoli cheese bites, which Joe and I liked, but Ezzy acted like they were poison. He does like fruits though, especially watermelon, blueberries, and bananas. He also tried pears, oatmeal (not the baby powdered stuff), toast with jam, and french fries last month, which went over well with him. He's a big fan of those toddler puffs. Right now his meals look something like this:

Breakfast: waffle or toast with butter and jam + chunks of banana

Lunch: whole wheat quesadilla + blueberries

Dinner: fruit/veggie/grain puree + watermelon 

Some notable changes from last month:

• One week after Ezzy turned 10 months he started doing the army crawl. Less than a week after that he was full on crawling all over the place.   
• He loves playing "soccer" - aka, having us walk him around the house after a ball so he can kick it, or one of us holding him up while the other rolls the ball to him and he'll lift his leg in anticipation and kick it back to us. He actually has really good timing and aim. He's the next David Beckham! 
• For some reason he's taken shaking his head no and tilting his head to one side to a new level this past week. I'm pretty sure he's trying to show off for all the family we've been visiting lately.
• He's constantly pulling himself up to standing using the furniture. He doesn't quite know how to get back down though. 

Ezzy likes (in addition to his 10 month favorites):

• His Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ball! It's definitely our best toy investment since the exersaucer. He loves kicking it, crawling after it and batting it around the house, sitting up and playing catch with us (he's getting good!)...that ball is hours of entertainment every day.
• He's still all about moving cars. We've changed our walking route so that we walk along a busy street and he's in heaven. Sometimes he'll even squeal with delight when we get to the street. It's the sweetest thing.
• Straws. He waves them around like a little wizard, or chews on them, which makes it look like he's smoking a pipe.
• Walking along the ottoman.
• Babbling. He's a little chatterbox. And he likes to punctuate he lengthy speeches with lots of hand gestures. I think he may be an orator one day. He'd be great at rallying the troops. 
• He's still big on the bouncing. That boy must have buns and legs of steel by now.
• Balloons. We just figured this out last night at his grocery store when he was batting an Easter balloon around and cracking up.
• Crawling.
• Leaning to one side with his head tilted and getting us to do it too, or shaking his head no.
• Being outdoors.

Ezzy dislikes:

• Not being the center of attention. He definitely has an only child mentality right now.
• Sleeping. We had the worst night yet a couple nights ago. He woke every hour, and around 4 am he decided he wanted to get up for good. Both Joe and I were up with him for about an hour before he went back to sleep. He was feeling under the weather that night, poor baby. 
• Not being able to get back on the floor once he's pulled himself up to standing.
• Cold waffles. He used to be all about those, but now he likes them warmed up with some butter. Can you blame him?
• Changing his diaper. I always tell him I'm the one that should be crying, since I'm doing all the work and he just has to lie there and he gets a fresh diaper out of the deal, but that doesn't ever cheer him up.
• Honestly he's just been crying a lot more lately. He got his first cold, which I thought was teething, but there's still no teeth, so apparently I was wrong (again). He had a fever for two days, and his nose is still a little stuffed up, but he's on the mend now.
• Overall, Ezzy is still a very good-natured baby. His bad moods don't last that long, and Joe and I know we are very lucky.

On the go!

"He's always up to something."

Just loungin'

A boy and his TMNT ball..

Kisses from Daddy.

Hugs from Mommy.

Coffee Date Friday: Teething

If we were meeting for coffee today, I'd probably tell you that I almost had to cancel because we're going through some major teething issues over here. There have been a few times in the past few months when I thought Ezzy was teething (but was obviously wrong, since he's still toothless), but that was nothing compared to this. He's had a fever, been extra fussy, sleep has been awful, naps nonexistent, and he hasn't been finishing his food the last few days. That kid always eats, so that's a dead giveaway. I really wish I could do this for him and he wouldn't have to be in pain/uncomfortable. But of course it doesn't work that way. We're on day three of this awfulness, and according to Google, teething symptoms usually last up to four days before the tooth comes in. His fever seems lower and he's actually napping right now, so hopefully that means we're almost through (fingers crossed!)

On our last coffee date, I mentioned that now that Ezzy's crawling, he's always on the move. Well, now that he's learned to pull himself up to standing using the furniture or his walkers, he never wants to crawl anymore. He usually pulls himself up using the couch, then starts whining because he wants to play with something on the floor but isn't sure how to sit down again. This is all moving so fast, I definitely think he'll be walking by his first birthday. (You can see us practicing in the bottom pics. Ezzy cheats though, and grabs my hands before he'll let go of the ottoman.)

In other exciting news, my sister is on her way down here to visit this weekend. Last time she saw Ezzy was in December, and he's changed so much since then. I'm really looking forward to lots of family time in the next few days. 

Alright, sorry to cut this coffee date short, but nap time is precious and I've still got a few things I want to get done! 

How's everything going in your neck of the woods? Miss you all!

The Little Things: Bday Planning, Ice Cream, and Other Randoms

Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with Jess and Ashley for this week's Little Things post.

One thing that I'm excited about this week is how Ezzy's first birthday plans are falling into place. We've got a location picked out, I got him that cute crown in the pic below, and we picked up some decorations yesterday. All that's really left are invitations, cake, balloons, and a few small projects. I still can't believe my baby will be one in just over a month though. I keep marveling at what a different boy he is now than when we first brought him home from the hospital. It's crazy how my love for him grows every day.  

Heat waves and ice cream go hand in hand, so I was one happy girl when we made a mid-week trip to my favorite ice cream place: 21 choices. Ice cream + frosted animal crackers + sugar cookie dough + tons of sprinkles? YES please! A little goes a long way with that combo, even my sweet tooth couldn't handle the whole thing (though I'm pretty sure I finished off a few of those back in my pregnant days...).

Joe's been battling a head cold this week, and took the day off of work yesterday. Obviously that sucks, and shouldn't make it onto my list of favorite little things, except that I got so much stuff done. I finally put up the baby gate which we bought a few weeks ago, the floors are clean, I fit in a 3 mile jog, did three loads of laundry, changed the bedding...basically I crammed a week's worth of chores in one day. 

This may sound weird to y'all, but Joe and I are super happy about our brand new toilet. Our old one was constantly running, even with the water nozzle turned off, somehow water would still run through. And it was LOUD. Every time it went off while Ezzy was napping I would hold my breath and pray it didn't wake him up, that's how loud it was. (Thankfully, once he finally goes to sleep, he's a pretty deep sleeper.) Also, it didn't work well at all, and it had a wooden seat which was cracked....so yeah, you can see why we're pretty excited about having a new one. 

Also, on the topic of napping, Ezzy seems to have decided to start taking them again. Hallelujah! As I've said before, naptime is sacred. Every time that Ezzy does not nap, I wind up spending hours of my day just trying to get him to sleep. So pair that wasted time with a fussy cranky baby, and nothing gets done and nobody's happy. In fact, he's napping right now, which means it's time to start crossing stuff off my to-do list! 

Oh, and one more thing that we're excited about over here this week is Grandma's birthday, which is today! We're going out to dinner to celebrate tonight.

Hope you're all having a good humpday!

Assembly Required

I'm just gonna throw it out there that one of my least favorite parts of parenthood is all the assembly required. There was the crib, dresser, and changing table, which was a ton of fun to put together while I was eight months pregnant. *sarcasm* (nothing is fun while 8 months pregnant). Then we had an extremely pleasant year-long lull in putting stuff together which was broken today when we had no option but to put up a real baby gate (instead of the strategically placed cases of water that we had been using). Ezzy tried to jump headfirst over the water bottles last night. Thankfully he didn't make it, and just belly flopped on top of the water bottles, and then flailed around crying to be rescued. Unlike putting together his nursery furniture, this time I had to contend with a very active baby trying to climb on my back (see photo 1) as I was trying to decipher confusing instructions and manually screw the gate into the wall since my power drill is a cheap Ikea p.o.c. I know this is only the beginning and we've got plenty of Christmas and Birthday toy assembly in front of us. When you pair Joe's impatience for reading instructions, and my tendency to do at least one step per project backward, Ezzy should be in for some interesting presents... Sorry, kid.

Also, as you can tell from the pictures, Ezzy thinks the gate is his newest toy/personal jungle gym. Fingers crossed that thing holds up...