Rubber Ducky Bathtime Fun

Auntie Kaycie got Ezra this great blow-up bathtub. We tried it out the other day & he LOVES it. He's already into kicking and splashing. And this tub gives him much more room to move than his infant one.

 

 It also makes cleaning his backside much easier since we can just prop him up against it.

Here's a short video of the splashing kiddo in action. And try as I might, I couldn't get a good angle to hide his family jewels. Oh well, at least this blog is private & he's only 4.5 months. :)

Throw Back to the 50s

Our friend, J Moog, came over yesterday to work on his 50s style diner booth that we're storing in our garage for him. While he was away getting supplies, I took a few shots with Ezra since he was all matchy-matchie in his pjs!

And He's Done!!

My wonderful & patient husband is finally finished with his our DIY project for storage in Ezra's room!! I'm so proud of all his hard work & attention to detail! :) Who knew spray painting actually requires some skill & patience?! A few summers ago, we found an old locker with really great potential abandoned along the street we live off of. And since the sign shouted "FREE" in capital letters {Us, Swensons favorite price}, we couldn't pass it up. And so it sat, and sat, and sat in our garage.

{Finished sanding & starting to spray paint}

 

Fast forward to end of our pregnancy and we still need a bookshelf or something to fit in the baby's room...the locker! How perfect! So we bought some spray paint, sanding supplies, stencils, and safety wear. The thing had old hornet's nests & cobwebs in it! W & a friend of his worked on it multiple days for long hours. My contribution? Supper after they were finished for the day. :)

{Making the ugly old inside pretty with paint!}

W & a couple of strong guys moved it up to Ezra's room several weeks ago. I added a few dollar store magnets I bought when I was pregnant {I still consider myself a non-practicing teacher} W nailed it to some straps that are connected to the wall for safety. And voila! It's done!! What a fun way for Ezra to store his toys & books! Perhaps make clean-up more exciting?!? Now if I could just convince him to make an upholstered headboard for our bed and help me turn old paint cans into flower pots... :)

{The front. Barely passed the husband "boyish enough" 

inspection with some of these stencils.}

{Sorry, Ez. The only E was hot pink.
And #13 is what we referred to him as in the womb. He's Grandbaby Swenson #13.}

{the inside}

Cup of Water, Please!

Ezra hit another milestone today to my complete astonishment! Man, that cute little stinker sure is sneaky! Here I was thinking that we were a long way off from introducing food because he hasn't shown any interest. Just a few weeks ago, he started grabbing & playing with toys but I really didn't think it would transition into our things so soon. After getting back from a walk, we stopped off at a friend's house for a visit & a glass of water. I had Ezra in the wrap & after I took a few sips, he totally grabbed at my glass with both hands. I let him lead & he brought it straight to his mouth, opened up, & put his tongue to it. It was hilarious!! He totally knew what to do! After a bit, I tried to get my glass back so I could finish my water & he would have none of it.

Since W wasn't with us, I tried again when we got home with a to-go coffee cup just to see what he would do! I was seriously laughing the whole time he played with it. Simply adorable!!

  Ahhhh, Mama, it's empty!

American Gothic Take Two

{Ez at 20 weeks}

{Ez's first ex-utero art experience at 4 months}

TEA Shirts for a TEA party

I'm the first to admit it. I'm not really political whatsoever. It's probably one of the few arenas in life where ignorance is not bliss. And I'm quite ignorant. I'm also quite ashamed because I remember my AP government class, I taught 5th grade American history, and I at least know that an ignorant public makes for too powerful leaders. We sometimes forget just how blessed we are in American as a republic. Plus I have a husband who is a very passionate guy, especially when it comes to politics. I definitely didn't know the extent of his political passion until after we were married, but I should have seen the signs. My so sweet Mama-in-law is an avid writer, reader and supporter. She's not afraid to write letters to politicians or local city officials to give them a piece of her mind. W's father even ran for a local office when W was young. So I was not shocked that the Swenson family would be going to an afternoon TEA party last Friday. I really went just to support my husband, parents, friend Lindsay,...and apparently our pediatrician {who we ran into} too!

W came back home early from school to make some t-shirts for the event. And a little onesie for Ezra that says, "One Nation Under God" with two little kids praying & an American flag.

Here are the ladies & Ezra

W was really excited to meet Brian Sussman, one of his favorite radio guys.

And Ezra was just happy-go-lucky in Gma's arm with his little Sophie 

It was great weather and a wonderful walk both to & from the event. And from my family's stand-point, the event was a great success.

A Garden Of Cacti

William found The Ruth Bancroft Garden through our recent Via. {We actually get a lot of our vacation and day trip ideas from that magazine. It reminds us of a place and I'll research a more frugal B&B. Via inspired our Oakhurst/Yosemite anniversary trip.} So, even though the weather was lousy, we packed up a lunch and headed out to see some cacti. We were lucky in that it was a "Plant Sale" day so admission was free.

 The garden was beautiful in an unconventional way. It held all sorts of different species of native Californian plants & many cacti we had never seen before. Although cacti aren't really considering pretty, we definitely loved seeing all the colors, sizes, funky design, and shapes.

Sadly, Ezra pretty much missed the whole thing, but we were so excited that we traveled both directions without an angry baby passenger! I hope he's growing out of the "I-hate-my-car-seat" phase.

Eh, I could be wrong...

but after this afternoon, I'm pretty convinced that Ezra is teething.

He woke up from his late afternoon nap only 30 minutes into it. And it was not a normal cry....it definitely sounded more painful. We went in and did our usual tricks, none of which worked. I then pulled him out, nursed him, and tried again. He would have none of it, but at least he was smiling again. So we went downstairs to where everyone else was. I was sitting on the couch with him and his new favorite toy,  Sophie {Thank You, Pam!!}. And the little dude was just going to town on the thing, like a carnivorous lion! I had never seen him chew so madly before! Drool was everywhere. He started to get really fussy again, so Kirsten told us about these teething tablets that she uses on Ethan. She gave me some to try. He was calm within a few minutes. We went back upstairs after he was settled...I sang to him, put him down, and he was quiet. He's still asleep--an hour later. Errr, uh..guess we're buying more teething tablets. :/

Bring it on, teeth!

Our Little Peanut is 4 Months!

Our precious Ezra! Today, you are 4 months. Wow! You are still growing & changing almost daily. We have been loving how much more interactive and expressive you have gotten. Just recently, you are really into your toys and can play for much of your awake time. Papa's football hold is still your most favorite. We are really happy that we can still take you into church with us without you getting fussy before drifting off to sleep in his arms. Ezra, you are still our little peanut! Almost all your 0-3 clothes still fit well although some are too short, never too wide. You're just long and lean, little one. Here are a few other things we've noticed about you, lately:

- Lots of smiles & squeals!! You've been practicing with volume when you squeal and shrill so your voice has been quite hoarse
-Master of drool and shoving things into your mouth...not sure about teething yet although Grandma is pretty convinced
-Grandma calls you a "Mama's boy" already..when tired & fussy, you quiet in my arms
-Thankfully, you have a renewed love for your paci so car rides have gotten a whole lot easier on Mama & Papa
-We face you out now when you're wrapped and you love it! You won't face us unless you are tired & need a nap
-Baths & lotion afterward are fun now!
-We've had several rough nights where you just won't sleep. Hopefully, we're ready to turn a corner and see new nights of sleep. The recent 8 hour stretches have been so nice! Either way, we love you very, very much!

We love you, little dude!

Play Date

Ezra had his first official play-date today with his best buddy, Ethan. It was simply hilarious to watch these two interact...if you can call it that. Ethan is a month older than Ezra, and probably at least 7 lbs heavier.

They played with Pancho.

Told secrets that their parents couldn't hear.

And reached out to each other.

Let the season begin...

 The season of weddings!! We know so many people {mostly from church} who are tying the knot this spring/summer. And we're so excited to be a part of it. The future Mengs are starting off this season. A few weekends ago, Ezra & I headed to Sarah's bridal shower. He was one of two boys, all under the age of one, of course. We gave the future Mengs an unusual bridal gift: Scrabble. We were soooo excited to see that they registered for it, because we absolutely love board games & Scrabble is one that gets a lot of use in our house. There's been many a night during or after dinner when W & I will play a game or two. And we love putting our own spin on how we play.

Ezra & my perpetually wet shoulder

Praying for the future Mrs. Meng

{this & next two images courtesy A. Mayerson}

 They made out with lots of great goodies for their apartment!

Ezra got passed around so I could eat! :)

 We love Charlie & Sarah for multiple reasons. They just have such BIG hearts! One of our favorite reasons is their size difference. Sarah measures at 4'9" while giant Charlie is 6'4". When he was proposing on his knees, he was still taller than Sarah.

Here's C + S with Sarah's niece in Hawaii

(image courtesy S.Burns)

Pacific Grove

We spent the next day of our family vacation in Pacific Grove. We saw a couple we knew from church at our hotel's breakfast, which was really fun. They were celebrating their 10,000th day of marriage. Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk to the beach so we played there in the morning.

 William found a really gross dead seal (that he took pictures of, but I won't post!) which lead us to talk about his recently finished class, oceanography. Through a project, he found a few videos of a dead blue whale that exploded on people. Apparently after something dies, all the gases inside build up & then explode. Gross, I know. But this is one of the things I remember talking about as we walked down the beach. Romantic, eh? :)

After the beach, we headed into Pacific Grove's cute downtown for some shopping & walking around. I was NOT very good once we found a kid's second hand store. It had some really great finds that I couldn't pass up, but at least each item was only a few dollars & he could use a few more hats, cute cowboy boots to grow into, and an adorable little tie dye t-shirt! Plus we found a Moby Wrap at half price & sent it to one of W's sisters!