the simple life

"melling" pudding

Remember how I told you that Ezra made random appearances in the background of every food photo I've ever taken?  Example from last July: click here.

Well, in an attempt to photograph some pudding treats yesterday...

 

I got about 3 shots in before I heard somebody yell, (somebody who can't pronounce his "S" sounds), "I WANNA MELL!"  

And there was Ezra, my little photobomber, smelling the pudding treats, and then making a delicious slurping sound.  And then our photo time was over, b/c every time my camera clicked, there he was, "melling" away.  :)

big tiger dweams

Last week Ezra woke up from a bad dream and walked into Annabelle's room.   He had a pouty face and slumped shoulders.  He said in his deep, nasally morning voice, "Bewwa, I have bad dweam.   I dweam BIG tiger chay me!"

She said, "Oh Ezra!  A big tiger chased you?  What did you do?"

He declared, "I POKE HIM IN DE EYE!" and made little jabbing motions with his finger.  

Judging by the ferocity in which he poked when re-telling this little dream to me later, I'd say Ezra won.  

That night, I was in the boys bed doing the bedtime routine.  After we read books, I sing the same 3 or 4 songs, give hugs and kisses, and then pray the same prayer.  They don't like me to deviate from it much, as it mostly consists of praying for good dreams and sweet sleep and fun days in the morning.

(Julian once misunderstood me say that he should "Play with Tata (his grandma)" and thought I said "Pray with Tata".  He stopped in the middle of my parents living room and said, "Jesus, I pray for Tata to have good thoughts and good dreams and SWEET sleep, so she can have a fun day tomorrow.  Amen." )

Anyway, on this particular night, I told the boys that I was getting sleepy and they should pray tonight.  Ezra laid his little hands on my face and said, "Jesus, Pway for Mama, have good dweam, and no dweam dat a BIG TIGER CHAY HER! Amen."

when toddlers attack.

Julian's pre-K teacher came over yesterday.  They do "home visits" 2 or 3 times during the year, and it was time for the  "end of year" visit.  :)

Her birthday was today, so Julian asked if I would make cupcakes for her.  I assured him that I would, but the night before the meeting was also Annabelle's music program at school so I wasn't able to  make it to the store.

I woke up to a very disgruntled 5 year old who insisted that I whip up  cupcakes from something in the kitchen.  We ended up finishing these strawberry cupcakes as she knocked at the front door.  We even made lemonade, because when it's 85 degrees outside and humid (and your home's air conditioner and car's air conditioner are broken), well, you deserve to have as much ice cold lemonade as you can stand.

Ms. E. was very surprised.  :)

It's a strange thing to have your child's teacher in your home.  I found that even though her stay would be less than 20 minutes, I cleaned the house in a frenzy.  I was afraid for her to see the crumbs beside the stove in the kitchen (the kitchen that she didn't once enter).  I even hid the dirty laundry in the downstairs bedroom.  You know, in case she decided to give herself a tour of our home.  (she did not)

Everything was going well, and I looked like the world's perfect mother/hostess, and then Ezra walked up with a pink water pistol (no idea where it came from), pointed it directly into the teacher's face and shot her repeatedly with his best set of "angry eyes" in place.  You know the ones:

Thankfully, it was empty.  I don't have a strong stance on toy guns, though we don't usually keep them in the house.  I did feel like my 2-year old's  enthusiasm for shooting Ms. E. in the face brought the June Cleaver ambiance that I had created down a few notches.

And then Ms. E. told me that Julian was one of the most creative children she had ever taught.  Okay, that may seem like blatant bragging, but if I were bragging, I would tell you that she actually said, THE MOST CREATIVE" child she has ever taught.  See?  I wasn't really bragging at all! 

After that, she basically threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't continue to encourage that creativity in him as he grew up.  Fearing for my life, I assured her that I would.  I then vowed to myself to never buy the generic 97 cent box of colored pencils ever again.  It's only the high dollar stuff from here on out.  Look out Crayola, here we come!  ; )

I would dare say that aside from the assaulting 2 year old tyrant, I walked away from the meeting convinced that we're not doing such a bad job of raising these monkeys at all.  
Thank goodness she didn't ask to see the rest of the house.

mama and ezra

mama and ezra, originally uploaded by mindibartell.

my littlest guy, my last baby, turns two tomorrow.
very very very bittersweet day for me.

thumbs up :)

When we lived in Austin, I made several trips to Arkansas to visit family while Dustin was working.

The 8-10 hour trips (depending on the attitude of all the kids in the car) were rough, some worse than others.  The worst times were when I was 8+ months pregnant and potty-training Julian or  breast feeding Ezra, and had to make SEVERAL stops to keep the peace.

On one such stop, I had to go to the bathroom as well, which was always a worst case scenario. 

*Try to choose a gas station that had a clean bathroom.
*Hopefully it would be a private room, and not a huge room of stalls that Julian would crawl under.
*Hope Annabelle could carefully hold Ezra without getting dirty on the floor, and without him trying to crawl around.
*Attempt to ignore my bathroom phobias and just do my business and get the HECK OUTTA THERE ASAP.

I was in a not-so-clean restroom, with a  handful of stalls, Julian was semi-listening to me while playing with the air dryers.  Annabelle was using the bathroom as I changed Ezra's diaper, and a woman stopped and said,

"Please tell me you're not a single mom."

I respectfully replied that I wasn't, but my husband was working and I was making a trip home to visit family.

It wasn't until after she left the restroom, that I realized what a callous thing she had said.

I don't believe that she was trying to be rude.  I think she was trying to be sympathetic with the obviously huge workload that I had, but her approach was just so terrible.

What if I HAD BEEN a single Mom?  How awkward would that have been?  Would she have voiced disapproval or given me a pat on the back? 

Ezra's signature "pose"

I was reminded of this incident while I was in Target earlier this week.

I only had the boys with me, as Annabelle was in school, and I was attempting to purchase a popcorn for them to share, as a bribe for maybe 10 minutes of peace while I shopped for a few necessities.

As I dropped my wallet multiple times, Julian whined for a lemonade, Ezra screeched his ever-so-charming request for "Paporn", and I looked up to see an older man sitting at a table alone.

He smiled at me and said, "What do you do in your free time?"

I laughed and stated the obvious "What free time?"  and then mentioned that I had a little girl in 1st grade as well. 

He said, "You're doing a good job.  Enjoy them as much as you can, they'll grow up way too fast."

I almost started crying right on the spot.

Sometimes you just need more than a glare of disapproval at your wild brood in the middle of a shopping trip. 
Sometimes you need more than a look of pity when you're baby shows his "monster" side in the middle of the library.  
Sometimes you just need to be told that contrary to what appears on the surface, "You're doing a good job." 

So, Mama's of little ones, and even Mama's of big ones.  Just in case nobody has told you today, let me be the first to say:

we need some Trick or Treat ideas!

Annabelle is going to be a Princess for Halloween. (of course)
Julian is going to be a BIG spider.
Ezra doesn't know what he wants to be...right now he's just planning to be a "cute baby who screams for candy". 
Anybody have a better suggestion? 

I'm trying to be creative without breaking down and buying a $20 costume from Target, although I am pretty notorious for waiting until the 30th and buying whatever is left that will fit the kids.

What are YOU going to be for Halloween?  Your kids?

ezra's morning snack

yesterday I left a box of berry cheerios on the counter after fixing a bowl for each of the kids for breakfast.

about an hour later, i heard somebody, presumably Julian, pouring the cereal into a bowl.

he kept pouring....and pouring...and pouring...and finally I yelled, "Julian!  ENOUGH CEREAL!"

Julian yelled from my bedroom, "I'm not doing anything!" and I realized suddenly that  Ezra can now reach most anything left on the counter.

look at that bowl! i guess it was Ezra's turn to make the morning snack.  

sorry Uncle, no naps for you

it was really cute how Uncle CJ thought that grown ups got to take naps in the middle of the day, in the MIDDLE OF THE LIVING ROOM. 

the kids quickly corrected him. 

despite his lack of beauty rest, he still managed to be ridiculously good looking when he was awake. 

Ezra's chicken wing

ezra took his role of entertaining baby Jonas very seriously.
this is his "chicken wing" dance.

you can see Ezra doing some serious dancing if you click here on my Mom's blog

give him a few seconds and then he ROCKS OUT!

sesame street headaches, and a little (big) trip

watching Sesame Street is exhausting.  mostly because of Ezra's compulsive need to say "Elmo" over and over and over, and his equal need of hearing it repeated back to him by whoever happens to be in the room.

today he actually fell to the ground and cried because I stopped repeating "Elmo" after 8 times, and this physically pained him. 

last week Robert DeNiro was on the show with Elmo and he was teaching Elmo how to use his imagination (to be an actor).  he imagined himself as a puppy (and appeared suddenly as a puppy), and again as a cabbage.  (Hearing Robert DeNiro pronounce Riboflavin was a highlight of my morning)

then, he imagined himself as a "fuzzy monster with a good imagination", which turned out that he was imagining himself to be Elmo.

in doing so, 2 Elmo's appeared on screen.  Elmo, the original, and Elmo, with a Robert DeNiro voice.

seeing two Elmo's on screen laughing and talking together was too much for Ezra, nearly causing his head to explore.

Fortunately, the scene switched over to the Count, so that we could learn the number of the day.

11.  Eleven is the number of the day.   I casually mention that 11 is one of my most favorite numbers and Julian gives me a sad, almost pitying look and says, "Mama, eleven is only 2 little lines."   It seemed to really disappoint him that I couldn't choose a more exotic number to be my favorite. 

by the way, Ezra, Charlie and I are headed to Arkansas tomorrow and we are SO excited to see the big kids! Fingers crossed for an easy trip, as the last trip from Arkansas to Iowa resulted in a headache that didn't go away for almost a week. 

I didn't think it was possible for a baby to scream for 7 consecutive hours, but let me assure you that it is VERY possible.  and Ezra made it seem effortless.  Slight chance that we will stop half way for a hotel room, and maybe a couple of sippy cups of rum.  okay, not ezra, but ME DEFINITELY.

i'll update as soon as i can once i make it to arkansas :)

oh yeah, and my sister's baby is coming!!!!!!!!  lots of sweet pictures of Baby Jonas to come SOON!

see you then!

food photography gone wrong

i am slightly obsessed with photographing food.

my kids do not understand why.

annabelle and julian mostly ignore this obsession, but ezra.  oh ezra.  he has such a hard time understanding why the food strewn about the living room or dining table or whatever is not to be eaten.

which is why i usually have one chance to get a picture that i want, such as:

before this happens:

there's another funny picture of his little chubby hands sneaking a pear, in my new blog banner! 
yes, i've finally cleaned up the blog a bit for a fresh, summery look.  if you're reading through a blog reader, click through and check it out! :)

and while you're here, stop in, say hello and tell me what your favorite summer treat is!
mine is berries, (especially raspberries), which is why i currently have about 298 photos of berries on my computer to sort through...most of them with ezra in the background, trying to sneak a few bites. ;)

happy thursday :) 

melmo and bananas at a ridiculous hour

it is 4:54 a.m.

nope, not up early.  ezra decided to wake up around 2ish, which happened to be the exact time that Dustin and I were going to bed.

only ezra is refusing to go back to bed.

we've watched a BBC mini-series on YouTube.  (of course, i tried to rock him quietly in the dark before resorting to a movie night) 

we've looked at blogs.

we talked about bananas and elmo, ezra's favorite topics (and 2 of his most clearly pronounced words, other than family members names).

he's now looking at a Sesame Street book, calling all of the fuzzy characters "Elmo", although Elmo doesn't make an appearance in the book, since it is an old pre-elmo sesame street book.

he doesn't care.
every 10 seconds, he pops his head into the office, and points in the direction of his book, proclaiming "MELMO! MELMO!" and he won't stop until i have repeated "Elmo.  Yes.  Elmo", a sufficient number of times.

...yep.  he just did it again.
this could go on all night.  oh wait.  it's 5:01 a.m.   
it already has.

please ezra, for the love of Elmo and bananas, go to bed.

p.s.  i'm a bit of an insomniac.  i've seen 5 a.m.  MANY MANY MANY times.
it's just so much harder when i'm being held hostage by a monster loving dictator baby and i just want to go to sleep.

that is all.

"yes ezra.  yes, elmo.  i understand perfectly.  elmo.  elmo loves nite-nite.  he really does.  just ask him.  oh really?  he loves bananas?  i'm sure he does, but his true love is nite-nite.  i wouldn't lie to you."

hello from Ezra

hi guys, ezra here. 
i just wanted to stop by and apologize for my Mama's slacking in the blog department.
i know you want to see me and our new house and maybe even that wild brother and sister of mine, but my Mama has been busy. 
she says that i'm almost as big of a handful as my brother Juju was when he was my age.  i think that's supposed to be impressive.
i'll see to it that she blogs SOMETHING tomorrow, i promise. 
until then, hello  from Iowa, and Happy Cinco de Mayo!
love, Ezra

"Danger" is his middle name

something has happened between Ezra's 12th and 13th month.  he's pushing boundaries, testing limits, all those cliche's. 

maybe it happened shortly after the choking incident, but he's at a point where he has to be watched closely at all times. 

his personal favorite ways to scare mommy, in 5 pictures.

1. the plastic bag cabinet. 

the kids like to play "shopping" and one of their favorite things to do is grab a plastic bag from the cabinet, and fill it with their shopping goods.

Ezra's favorite thing is to dump out their shopping goods and place plastic bag directly over his head. (the bag was on his head long enough for a picture, then i took it off and scolded him with my best "worried mommy" tone.   and then he put it back on his head.) 

2. climbing on table. 

this picture below was taken shortly before he learned how to climb onto the table, and then attempt to climb onto the bar above. 

this scares me so terribly, so of course, it's one of his very favorite things to try to do.  2000 times a day. 

coincidentally, i hung those baskets on the wall for crayons/markers/pencils just a few weeks ago, because it seemed the best way to keep those items out of ezra's mouth.  and a few days later, he learns to climb on the table.

 3. climb, walk, hop and  jump on Bella's bed.  Bella's bed is close to a wall/window, so if/when he falls off, he can really really hurt himself. 

i remember Julian being a terrible climber himself, but i guess i just forgot that boys do these tortuous things to their mamas.

4.  one more cute trick Ezra does.  wraps things around his neck.  shirts, stretchy toys, strings from balloons, annabelle's toy dog leashes...

i should have invested in a padded room long ago...for me as well as the boys.

4.

5.  this isn't a picture of him being too naughty, at least he is SITTING on the bed instead of jumping on it.  i just like it because in it he almost looks remorseful.  he looks like he's really thinking over his wild behavior and deciding to give mama a break and calm down a bit. 

only i know the truth...

poor piggies

double ear infections
pink eye
cough
fever
diarrhea

and that's just one kid.

we're sick around here, so this is the best i've got today.
sorry :)

look at these cute piggies though. 

911 what is your emergency?

so part 2:  i'll try to be as brief as possible...

ezra gave us quite the scare yesterday.  about 15 minutes before i went to pick Annabelle up from school, he started coughing very very hard.  it sounded like he was trying to throw up and his breathing was so labored and wheezy.

he had been eating a small piece of apple, but then went to play with julian, so it could have been any number of tiny things that he swallowed.

i was so conflicted.
i looked in his throat and saw nothing.
i gave him something to drink, and between gulps, he would pause to cough violently.
i googled, "baby choking".

and that is where i was thrown off.  he was breathing well enough for me to google an instructional for baby CPR.  is that really choking? 

regardless, i held him in the correct position and hit him in the right spot the way the website instructed.
that pissed him off.  big time.
and yet he continued to cough and wheeze and hack away like an old man who has smoked for the past 60 years.
i finally called my mom, as he began to try to fall asleep on my chest.  which wasn't normal, since he had just gotten up from a good nap 30 minutes earlier.  i was also prompted by Julian's sobering statement, "Maybe Ezra's going to cough until he dies." Hm.  Thanks for the encouraging words, buddy.

my Mom answered and in her calmest, bravest voice, she began to describe what to do. 
i cut her off and said, "i did that.  i googled it." 

her concern was that he may pass out (hence the drowsy, attempt to sleep on my chest) from his air being too constricted.

i understood.  i called 911.

i was brave.  i did not cry.  i did not panic.  i freaking googled "baby choking" in the midst of all this.

and yet, when the woman on the other end of the line said, "911, what is your address?"  i choked up.  tears fell and my voice shook as i slowly enunciated each letter.  each word. 

i guess the times where i have seen 911 called on television, usually don't turn out so well.  thus the emotion.

she commented that he sounded pretty bad, as he coughed into the phone while i talked.

5 minutes later a knock was at the door.  i opened it and Ezra's eyes lit up at the shiny red flashing fire truck.  he gasped, "Oooh".  and like that, the coughing stopped.  his breath was still coming out raspy and hard, but the coughing stopped.

i was a little embarrassed.  why couldn't he have just choked for 2 seconds longer, so the firemen would believe me?  silly thought but it did run through my head at the time, along with a thousand other random thoughts.

they listened to him, thought his breathing would calm down after he had a chance to rest from such a hard time, and stayed with me until i was sure all was okay.

in the midst of this, julian ran in with his doctor kit and stethescope, just like they were using, and shouted, "look guys!  i got tools too!" 

after it was over, i picked up annabelle from school.  she sharply reprimanded me for being late.
julian told her what happened and said, "it was so cool to have a whole fire department at our house."
which is what it felt like, with 6 large men filling our tiny apartment. 

we are all breathing easier today.

(photo by ezra.  he loves to help me take pictures) 

ummm...where's the groceries, lady?

yesterday i was trying to take some pictures of ezra, with no luck (that kid wouldn't look at me for anything!)

this was the closest thing to eye contact that he gave me.  he mostly ate grass and complained about the itchy grass on his feet.

so i walk around the corner to see a lovely shopping cart parked in the middle of a grassy play area (we live one block from a grocery store), and i plopped ezra in it for a minute and he stared at me like i was crazy the entire time.
who cares if he thought i was crazy???  look at that eye contact!  :-)

ezra's new trick

check out ezra's new trick!!

actually, this bad habit developed while he was sick. 
i guess he was trying to clear his nasal passages without help from the big blue snot bulb thing, and now it's just something he does for fun.   
ALL. DAY. LONG.
mama's so proud. 

Ezra right now.

ezra: (photos courtesy of annabelle and julian, via juju's camera)

*loves to dance.  especially when he is standing up, holding onto the headboard or coffee table.  he can't help it, he just shakes his booty, non-stop.  he entertained a large crowd in IKEA yesterday after i placed him in a crib to compare it's size.  he pulled up on the railing and started shaking his little booty and people gathered around him and cheered.  made this mama proud.  :)

 

*constantly "clicks" his tongue.  24/7.  click click click.  he loves when i click back to him.  it's as though we are communicating in a strange language that i don't quite understand...from what i gather, this is how the conversation is going:

ezra:   "click click click. listen to this.  isn't this cool? isn't this fun? can you do this? click click click."
mama: "click click click.  you are a genius.  no other child in all the world is as brilliant as you, to think of this clicking language."
ezra:  "i know.  it's so great.  you are a lucky woman.  click click click."

*loves elmo's world.  the kids watch sesame street everyday, and as soon as "duh duh duh duh. duh duh duh duh. ELMO'S WORLD!" starts playing, he sits up, fully alert and watches, mesmerized.  we sing it to him when we change his diaper, so that he will not try as fervently to roll over onto his stomach and try to play in his own poop. 

what worries me, is that my parents are those grandparents that would do anything for their grandchildren.  and remembering the great "Tickle Me Elmo" disasters of years gone by, I am terrified at what my mother might do if another Elmo sensation hits the market in December...hopefully Ezra will have moved onto a different fascination by then...like photography equipment. 
"Hey mom, I think Ezra would really love a new Canon 5D for Christmas...you are planning on spending approx. $3000 on him for Christmas, weren't you?" 
hmmm...ideas are flowing now, baby.

(ezra, daddy and Tata, looking at daddy's laptop.  i think ezra would really like a new laptop for christmas too.)

*thinks it is fun to literally tear my flesh open with his fingernails. especially as he is trying to fall asleep, so that if i cry out in pain, i can guarantee at least another 40 minutes of rocking and shhushhhing him to sleep.

(scratching poppy's face off, with a little help from his toes)

*is a little overwhelmed by all the extra attention that Julian lavishes on him while Annabelle is in school.  What? you don't like having a 3 year old lying on top of your little baby head?  He's just loving on you.  What?  you don't like when he kisses you so hard that it leaves a bruise?  Accept his love, Ezra!  Accept his love!!

(no gurlz alowd)

Yesterday, i took the kids to HEB to get groceries.  we got a big shopping cart that has two seats, side by side that the boys sit in.  I had to tell Julian, AT LEAST 8 times, to stop licking Ezra's head.  seriously.  i would look up and Julian would have his tongue to Ezra's scalp.  Yeah, Ezra LOVED that.

*is fascinated by women who wear toenail polish.

(this is Noni.  Noni had a beautiful new pedicure.  then she made the mistake of wearing open-toed sandals when she stopped by for a visit. )

*loves to lick the lotion off of my legs after i get out of the shower.  especially when i am standing in the kitchen, trying to cook dinner.  he'll just sit on the floor next to me and lick my legs.  usually my hands are covered in olive oil or flour or something and i can't do anything but try to gently nudge him away from me with my foot.   Then, Julian screams at me to "STOP KICKING EZRA!  HE"S JUST A LITTLE TINY BABY!!!!!" 

great, let's hope he shares that news with everyone.  Mama kicks Ezra while making dinner.  Just like she twists Annabelle's teeth until they break off.

dear ezra...

little ezra, ezzie, EZ-E, ezra pie...

today you are 9 months old.

this has been my favorite age with your brother and sister, and you, my dear, are no exception. 
you have the most delightful personality.  you are very easy going, very happy, very curious (please leave my magazines alone) . 

you are pleasant 98% of the time, and the other 2% can be attributed to teething or sleepiness.   which, to be honest, has been frequent lately.  you seem to be getting all of your teeth in one short frame of time.  you are so cute with your little baby teeth.  you had one tooth for so long, that Daddy started calling you "Snaggle-tooth"  and it stuck.

you love your brother and sister so much.  they race around the house, like little tasmanian devils, little blurs of movement and energy and a little growling and mess  along the way.  you try so hard on your little calloused knees to keep up, and i love your desire to always be in on the action.
 

you seem to always be one step ahead of yourself.  when you should be crawling, you are focused on pulling up onto furniture.  when you should be trying to pull up, you are letting go, trying so hard to stand unsupported.  and now, you are cruising along furniture like a pro, trying to walk.

ezra.  i DO NOT want you to walk yet.

you are too little.  you have little to no common sense.  and finally, you are my baby.  you seem to be racing through these baby years, and i would really like you to slow down.  with annabelle starting kindergarten recently, i realize now, more than ever, how fast you are racing to catch up with her.  i often find myself telling annabelle to "stop acting like  a baby, act like the big, 5-year old girl that you are".  this one time, i am telling you, "quit acting like a big boy.  be the baby that you are."

you definitely completed this  unit of ours so perfectly.  i am so happy that God's plan for this little family was far greater than any plans that we could have ever made.  i honestly cannot imagine life without you in it and i am so grateful for you.

minor facial deformities

annabelle lost her first tooth!  she has a second that is loose.  ezra got 2 new teeth this week, so he's up to 6.  it's like they are in a race.  julian feels very left out and continues to tug on teeth, trying to find one that will magically fall out and earn him some money and a little recognition.

when my dad asked her how her tooth came out, she told him, "Mama twisted it around and round until it just broke off".  it didn't quite happen like that, but this is the story she is telling.  hopefully not to the entire kindergarten class.

in other news of bartell children's facial deformities:

julian has a black eye.  he was chasing himself around the living room when he tripped and fell onto either a basket or the TV cabinet.  (annabelle was at school and ezra was napping, so he was literally chasing himself, like a dog chases his own tail)

ezra fell off of the bed (under dustin's watch, this time) and has a big bruise on his forehead.  he also scraped his cheek across a chair and has a big red welp.

it has gotten to the point where i am literally afraid of taking the 3 of them out in public together.  one or two kids with bumps and scrapes is acceptable.  but when all 3 of them look like they've just stepped out of the boxing ring, people have to start being suspicious. 

i finally made those cupcakes this weekend.  like i mentioned before, annabelle has been upset about having a "boring" holiday, so i was determined to do something fun each day, even if it was exhausting and frustrating and required me to take all 3 of them out in public and risk having CPS called on us.

*the first day was a big trip to the library.  we also made a trip to Chick-fil-a for "ice dream cones".
**the second day consisted of me dragging the art easel, table and chairs and watercolor paints outside and letting the kids paint until they grew tired of being outside.  we also got popcorn and lemonade from Target, Julian's FAVORITE thing.
***the third day, rain spoiled my swimming plans, so Monday found annabelle and i in the kitchen, baking cupcakes.  i even let her use my beloved green kitchenaid mixer, who i lovingly dubbed "Martha", after the queen of domesticity herself.  i let them eat cupcakes before bedtime, which is UNHEARD of around here. 

after all of this, my Mom called to check on the kids and Annabelle's first declaration was, "We're not having any fun.  We're not doing ANYTHING."

i've thrown my hands in the air.  that is the answer she gives when we actually don't do anything.  so next holiday, i'm going to do exactly what I want to do.  lock the kids in their bedrooms with 2 big feather pillows,  (and the vacuum, so they can clean up after themselves when they are finished) and let them knock each other around until they are exhausted enough to go to bed without my persuading and pleading and threatening.  I, on the other hand, will make fresh lime margaritas and watch episodes of Big Brother, uninterrupted.   and i can guarantee that there will be chocolate somewhere in that scenario.

a little ezra update

this little guy seems to get lost in the shuffle from time to time.

we definitely seem to operate on the "squeaky wheel" system in this household, and well, Ezra doesn't talk.  Well, except to annoy me with his non-stop "Dadda" vocabulary whenever Dustin is within 1 mile of home. 

Oh yeah, and to say "Ta-ta", just enough to drive my Dad crazy with the same jealousy that I experience when he says "Dadda", even though he is perfectly capable of saying "Mama".  Which, by the way, he only says when he is really really upset about something. 

He cut his first tooth last month, luckily for me, on the drive to Arkansas.  So yeah, that was harder than I had planned.

The day we got home from Arkansas, he pulled himself up on the kids bed, and now tries to pull up on everything from kitchen chairs to the drawer under the stove.  Needless to say, he has a few extra bumps on his head from the practice.

*He drools relentlessly.

*He splashes like crazy in the bathtub.  Then he gives me cranky looks, like I am the one splashing water directly into his eyes. 

*He tolerates baby food.

*He prefers for me to chop up grapes and bananas and let him have at it.

*He still loves to shop with me.  More than shopping, he loves to eat my shopping lists. 

*He is showing a small independent streak, by refusing to allow me to put a cheerio into his mouth.  He must remove it from my hand with his pathetic little pincher grasp, and attempt to put it into his mouth by himself.  He has probably 70% accuracy in this endeavor.  Also, it takes about 45 seconds his way.  I've perfected my pincher grasp, but he isn't impressed.  He thinks his way is better.

*Annabelle makes him laugh more than any other person in the world.

*Jocelyn "taught" him to use a pacifier. None of my children have ever taken a pacifier, and at 7 1/2 months old, Ezra decided to give it a try.  He loved it for about 8 days, and now refuses all 5 of the pacifiers that we got for him.  Nice. 

*He tries to turn his head completely around in his car seat to see me when I am driving.

*If I dare take my foot off of the accelerator for an instant, or even think about turning the music down, he sets of a baby squeal alarm that could shatter glass.

*He has the loudest squeal out of all 3 of my babies.  Like shoes on a squeaky gym floor.  I guess he is understanding the "squeaky wheel" concept after all.

ezra's favorite things

my parents got this hat for Julian one Easter.  Julian's head grew very quickly, so he only got to wear it once or twice.  Ezra is going to wear it every day until he grows out of it, as he seems to have inherited the same "big head" gene that Julian got.

ezra loves:

*daddy.  he says "dadda" over and over and over when dustin walks into a room.  he tracks him like a lion and yells at him until dustin picks him up.

*billie holiday.  we did a lot of late night dancing to billie when ezra was tiny and in the baby backpack.  now when i play her "Essential Billie Holiday" album on itunes, ezra quiets down and sits mesmerized.

*food.  anything that he can get.  except ice.  the only one of my kids that doesn't enjoy ice...yet.  my mom is usually the one that gets all the babies hooked on tiny ice chips.

*chewing and gumming anything that comes near his mouth.  annabelle is often heard yelling, "EZRA'S EATING MY FINGERS AND I HAVEN"T WASHED MY HANDS YET!!!!" 
that's the rule in the house, "wash your hands before ezra gnaws on them.

*playing in the kids room.  as long as all those stupid tiny polly pocket shoes are picked up, ezra loves to be in their room.  he mostly just chews on "My Little Pony's" and "Little People".

*going shopping with me.  he is pretty content to sit in his carseat (or buckled into the shopping cart like a big boy) and wait for random shoppers or store employees to oooh and aaah over him.  he likes attention, and quickly produces a gummy smile, to show his satisfaction.

*baths

*massages with lotion.  especially his stinky feet and his rollie pollie legs.

happy friday

this kid makes me laugh.  happy friday!!

no bottles for me please.

i was sick yesterday.  really really sick. 
dustin was in dallas for business...the first time he's been away overnight since we've been home as a  family of 5.  and i got sick.  talk about crapola timing, right?

fortunately, Dustin's grandma lives in the same apartment complex that we live in, so a quick phone call and she swooped in to take the two big kids, and left Ezra and I to rest.

she also brought over a can of formula and a little bottle, because i was worried about how dehydrated i was becoming, and was sure that breastfeeding wasn't helping the dehydration. 

this is the look that  Ezra gave me when i introduced him to his new bottle...

needless to say, he was not impressed...which made it official...my kids are boob fans.  not one of them ever took a bottle or a pacifier.  which leads me to the conclusion that i must have some fabulous ta-ta's.  sorry, that was too far, wasn't it?

anyways...the good part was that Ezra is becoming so much more content.  the colic crap that we were dealing with is pretty much non-existent now, so he was pretty satisfied with just lying down beside me, studying the ceiling fan, listening to me whimper, and sleeping.  and oh how we slept.  after several horrendous hours, i awoke to a settled stomach, and a still sleeping Ezra.  kids came home and their auntie Ashley put them to bed while i made a quick run to the store for some chicken noodle soup and some vitamin water. 

and all is well again.   

thanks to Mimi, Ashley, Noni, Mom and Dustin for listening sympathetically to me whine, and helping me in my delusional state to come up with solutions to get me through the day.  thank you also to Julian and Annabelle for existing peacefully for 5 hours on Honeycomb cereal, since I couldn't stand upright to prepare anything else.  and once again, thank you to baby ezra, for being so darn cute and fat and somewhat quiet while i rested.  and for smelling good.

mommy's little tank

 
  this little guy is becoming so interesting.  such a fun boy, very sweet and easy going...unless he's been in his carseat too long.

and by too long, i mean, longer than the time it takes to buckle him into the carseat...  and then hell hath NO fury...

a few nights ago, Dustin stepped on the scale, and then stepped on holding Ezra to get an *approximate* weight for this little tank.  14 pound difference, give or take.  14 pounds.

the sweetest thing he does (which all of my kids have done, but not with the enthusiasm that Ezra does)  is sucking his fist.  but he doesn't just do it to self-soothe. he licks and slurps  like he has cherry flavored popsicles for hands. 

and if he DOES have cherry flavored popsicles for hands...it could explain the weight gain.

sweet, drooly smiles

                                                                                                                                           

all of my kids made this silly face.

blue eyes

i am so surprised that ezra's eyes haven't turned brown yet.  they are the same color as dustin's, a sort of blue/grey depending on the lighting.  i was so sure they would turn brown, but now it's just wait and see...8 weeks...how much longer will we have to wait to know for sure???

  regardless, i kind of like the idea of having one blue eyed boy and one brown eyed boy...

who wouldathunk dustin's white boy genes would be so strong?    at least we know where he gets those chubby cheeks from!

lifesavers

things that are currently making us happy/keeping us occupied:

EZRA:   a baby carrier similar to this one.  julian took most of his naps in this thing as a baby, but since ezra naps pretty well, i use this for grocery shopping, walking the mall with the kids, walking ikea for fun.  this makes my life 4 million% easier and he sleeps the entire time that he is in it. 

also, the vacuum cleaner.  if i am trying to clean the house but ezra won't stop crying (and my back is too sore to tote him in the carrier for another minute), i run the vacuum, and voila! instant happiness.  strange things, these babies.

Julian:  Mom bought this  fisher price "FP3" player for Annabelle for Christmas. (like a mp3 for kids) Julian loves it!  he knows how to work it, and because it uses pictures to identify songs (for non-readers) he can find exactly what song he is looking for.  Ours is a little malfunctioning, so when we get a chance to exchange it for another one, i can see us using this ALL the time, especially while travelling.  We plan on buying this blue one for Julian eventually (since Annabelle's is pink, and she is not fond of sharing all the time).  His current favorite song: Fidelity" by Regina Spektor.  both of the kids LOVE this song for some reason.

Annabelle:  two things, first, this fabulous website *Starfall* .  it is filled with educational games for little ones.  this thing is so wonderful, that i don't mind sharing my computer with her because she learns SO much.  it is so neat seeing her identify letters and words, even reading words on her own.  the games vary for all ages, so i think as early as your child can work a mouse, they can play with it.  Julian is practicing his "mouse" skills, but he is still a little young for it, although he sits by Bella the entire time and tries to learn with her.   

the other thing is actually something we bought for Julian for his birthday, and while he plays with it lots, Annabelle bribes him (with her FP3 player) to play with it more.   this totally fun artist's easel (from IKEA) has a chalkboard on one side, a dry erase whiteboard on the other, and (not pictured) a huge roll of drawing paper that you can pull up over the top to color on.  the kids room is filled with all of their artwork (i'll share some of bella's later, it is so fun to see her detailed little drawings of mostly animals)

 

all of these things are guaranteed to bring me some quiet time, which is always good thing.   

 

finally, a chance to share

finally, a chance to share a few photos :)  yay!  still no internet, but i am working on it right now.

this is ezra at 8 days old.  he is approximately twice this size now, with a very impressive double chin.  if he let me pull him away from eating long enough to take a (good) new picture, i would post it and you would be amazed.

i did find one other little snapshot, from his 5th week, but it doesn't do his chin any justice.

julian turned 3 this week.  we had a wonderful night (although bella had a really hard time not having 100% attention focused on her for that one day out of the year).  Julian has really turned into such an amazing, loving, fun little boy.  he still has a few wild temper flare ups throughout the day, but all in all, he is pretty easy right now.  (easy compared to a 4 year old with the emotional sensitivity of a menopausal woman, and a 7 week old baby vacuum)  i love him and his creative little mind.  i love that he loves to play "dress up", even if that means that he has to be the "little princess" since there aren't cool boy dress up costumes.  fortunately, uncle blair  and stephanie sent us this little pirate gig for christmas, and he can take off the tiara and replace it with a skull n crossbones eye patch.  we also found him an inflatable Superman costume for his birthday and it is so hilarious to watch him try to play in that massive thing.  pictures will come soon.

little annabelle.  she is such a sweet, perfect girl, but i never would have predicted the mood swings that a 4 year old could have.  she goes from affectionate little mommy hen, reading books to julian...to bossy little tyrant, commanding julian to "clean up your mess, or you won't be doing ANYTHING fun again, EVER!!!"
her interests are changing, and she wants nothing more than friends right now.  julian, ezra and a couple of hamsters just aren't cutting it for her anymore.  every outing results in a new friendship, Samantha from IKEA, Isabelle and Sierra from the mall.  but to be honest, Isabelle and Sierra deserved a good kick in the head.  In observing their catty-ness toward my little Annabelle, I really started fearing Annabelle's upcoming kindergarten enrollment.  are all girls so mean?  so bratty?  thankfully, annabelle is still so sweet, trying to have fun, rolling in the floor  while pretending to be a dalmation puppy.  Isabelle and Sierra would NOT play "puppies".  they only liked "princesses".
i was so annoyed as Annabelle did everything that they told her to do, playing all of their games.  and during a game of hide and seek (after intentionally ignoring bella for 10 minutes) they told annabelle to go hide her eyes and "count to 800 million...plus 40".  then they laughed and walked away.  little shits.  pardon my language, but seriously. annabelle ran to hide her eyes, and then looked sadly at me and said, "mama, i don't know how to count that much."  i told her, "count to 10...the blond one  is hiding behind the slide".
fortunately, annabelle took it so well and was just grateful to have friends her age to play with.  we went home and she said, "i'm gonna pretend that those two girls are coming to my house for a sleepover."
now more than ever, i am praying for annabelle to be a girl that is filled with compassion and integrity, and i am praying for genuine friends for her.  friends that love to play dalmation puppies, and pet shop, and other 4 year old girl games.  friends that love annabelle for the caring sweet girl that she is.  with her personality, i am positive that she will draw the right people to her.

oh, and julian pushed Isabella.  apparently she said something mean, and he had heard enough.  i reprimanded him...but not too much.

i am in austin. i

i am in austin. i have no internet. i have broken into my mother in law's house and have taken over her computer temporarily. i lied...i used a key. i have no pictures on her computer. next week.  next week i hope to have my internet back. and then there will be pictures.

family updates:

dustin is a lifesaver, and has taken over morning duty with the two kids that actually sleep during the dark hours. he has also spring-cleaned the entire house, which was no small task.  and when i say entire, i'm talking organized closets and kitchen and office...he is my superhero.

annabelle is madly in love with her new hamsters, Kiki and Wendy, and bursts out in uncontrollable tears if we don't let her hold them all the time.  she has also perfected a "cooing baby voice" that i have only ever heard her use with ezra.  it is precious.

julian is wonderful.  he seems so gigantic to me now that ezra is here.  everything, his head, his huge feet and hands, his thick little legs.  he seemed so small for so long and now he reminds me of a tiny version of my dad, with brown eyes.  which is kind of weird to feel like you are parenting a tiny version of your father.  he loves ezra too, and the hamsters, regardless of the fact that he almost squeezed the eyeballs out of Kiki's head last night.  have you seen "Of Mice and Men"?

Lenny is to mice as Julian is to hamsters.

ezra is beautiful.  even when he is covered in yellow poo and spit up milk.  he is a big fan of not sleeping when i want him to, but he loves to dance and eat and take baths.  he is no longer my tiny one, and is very pleasantly plump, especially his chubby little face.  he is far from a gerber baby, but also far from the skinny baby chicken that we brought home from the hospital.

mindi is tired.  very very tired.  but very very happy.

more fun updates soon, promise.

annabelle loves to eat. if

annabelle loves to eat. if julian and i are home alone, i may forget to feed him for several hours, before finding him picking cheerios out of the couch cushions. but annabelle NEVER forgets to remind me when it is breakfast time, or snack time, or treat time, or lunch time....

yesterday, i was preparing lunch when ezra woke up SO hungry. i stopped to feed him, and moments later, annabelle came into the room expecting to eat lunch. she walked up to me and said, "mama, is lunch ready?" i said, "no baby, i had to feed ezra first." she sighed and said, "Mama, you STILL have to feed us TOO, ya know," and sulked out of the living room.

annabelle also has the best memory. if she sees a commercial for a new movie coming out, she will ask me how many days until the movie comes out and she will count down (on her own) every day until the movie should be out. while in the hospital after having ezra, she saw a preview for Fox and the Hound 2. I told her it would be out in 8 days. on day 8, she woke up and walked into the living room and said, "Mama, where's Tata?" I told her that she already left for work. Normally she bursts into tears at the thought of Tata leaving without saying goodbye. Instead she said, "Well whose car are we going to take to the video store to get Fox and the Hound 2? It came out today, you know"

lastone, i promise. i just

lastone, i promise.  i just love ezra's sweet little face in this one. look at his long skinny fingers.

baby ezra

we are alive and well.  i am just neglecting my blog because i have been a tad bit busy. our sweet baby boy, Ezra Harper Bartell, (i won!!) was born last Tuesday, December 5th. 7 lbs. 4 oz., he is the smallest of my three babies, and he definitely has the most calm, sweet spirit of the three (as newborns). He rarely demands anything from us, and spends much of his awake hours just snuggling us and contentedly sucking on his shirt sleeves and fingers.

the kids are just deliriously happy with him. i hear about 50 times a day, "baby ezra's cuuute" from Julian and Annabelle is seriously offended if I don't let her hold him on demand. she is such a great helper, and loves to rock him and sing to him.

ezra is small but has the longest, skinniest fingers and toes. he is a little baldie and has the littlest chicken legs and baby booty. he has jaundice but it is hopefully going away, as he has been doing a lot of "sunbathing" the past 2 days.

i am still using my mom's computer and don't have a way to upload photos, but i will share some as soon as i can. these are the only photos i can find on her computer, so i will share more when i can.

the doctor's appointment went really

the doctor's appointment went really well. 36 weeks, baby's heartbeat at 148, everything is perfect (other than the arthritic like pain, but we're hoping that will all go away very very soon)

we scheduled an induction (unless i deliver early) so as long as all goes as planned, the baby (who annabelle is currently calling "Curly Shirley CatDog Bartell") will be here December 5th!!

our ultrasound is tomorrow at 3pm, so fingers crossed that we will know who's old baby clothes we need to run through the laundry...bella's or juju's.

and now, cute baby find of the day: doesn't this little polka dot pony make you smile? :) julian would totally trash this thing in about 2 1/2 days...

EDITED TO ADD: this little pony is from Babystyle.com  i believe.  sorry i forgot to include that.  how am i supposed to be a good enabler if i don't post links??