The boys love to vacuum. Here’s a little clip of the fun:
Vacuuming from Stephanie Adams on Vimeo.
Yes that is Noah playing in front of the vacuum and screeching with delight, so hard to believe just a couple of months ago he was terrified of the vacuum.
Daddy wrestles with the boys before bed to get them good and worn out and, of course, they love it.
Bedtime Fun from Stephanie Adams on Vimeo.
If there is one thing worse than a rainy Sunday, its a rainy Monday. Mondays are the hardest day of the week for me, simply because I am spoiled over the weekend with all the extra help. This morning it was rainy and wet outside, so we stayed inside, because we live in Arizona and we don’t know what do to in the rain and we don’t own any rain gear. The boys decided they would work in the kitchen this morning and this is what it looked like just before nap:
Sorry it’s blurry I didn’t realize Matt had used a setting on the camera that I am clearly not ready to use. I could not walk in the kitchen with out tripping over something, toddlers, toys, pots, bowls, tupperware. The floor is now clear and the sun is starting to break through the clouds, we might just get to play outside this afternoon.
I took the boys to their first story time at the library today. It was a wild, fun-filled adventure. Upon arrival Noah began screaming (I guess he assumed I was ditching him there), once he realized I was staying he became wild. He found the door and kept taking off. Then Ezra realized what we were doing (running around) and got in on the act. It was finally time for story time and the door to the room was closed, thank goodness! At this time my lovely children discover there are cabinets in the room, fun. So I blocked them off with the stroller, Noah voiced his opinion on the act, at which point I was informed I was free to come and go as I please. Yea I was embarrassed, but I didn’t think they were being all that bad for 15 month old boys. It was a story time for 0-2 year olds after all, so I thought there would be other children who were a little rambunctious. All the other children seemed to be in the under 1 crowd or the over 2 crowd. Oh well, we still had fun and Ezra loved when they did “if your happy and you know it” between stories. I also know that someday very soon they will sit and listen to stories, for now I am happy to chase after them. :)
*During actual story time they continually checked the acoustics of the room by banging on every surface possible.
Bucket heads
Who's under that bucket?
Hanging out underneath the grill
Tending to the carrots
Prepping the garden beds
Sleeping, one leg escaped
I showed Ez how to use a step stool to reach stuff in the kitchen
Playing his xylophone
Think he is trying to tell me something? "mom let's go OUTSIDE!"
Big Ez in a little box
Looking at pics of mom and dad
It was seriously captivating
Nothing but the safest play area for our little ones
Air guitar?
Playing the piano with the cat
I think I will just lie down
After the way today ended I am so glad I snapped a few photos this morning. It enabled me to remember that we did have some fun today, that it wasn’t all cranky babies and drool (teething really stinks, Noah is getting four at once and Ezra is getting two more and he just hates teething.) We had a great morning playing and I will choose to remember that part of today.
One year ago today we first laid eyes upon the two most precious baby boys. We knew our lives were changed forever and were beyond excited for our future as a family as four. We have enjoyed this past year so much and are looking for many more wonderful years together.
Here they are as we first saw them:
Noah Esrael
Ezra Yakob
They both weighed around 6.5 pounds and were only about 18 inches long. The only developmental milestone listed was that they could move their head from side to side.
Noah - 2.11.2010
Ezra - 2.11.2010
My how things have changed, they both weigh about 24 pounds now, and last time daddy measured Noah was 30 inches and Ezra 29 inches. Ezra is running and Noah is happily crawling everywhere. We have been beyond blessed to get to know them this past year and are so thankful for the wonder of adoption.
After trying to re-creat their referral pictures, I tried in vain to get some pics of them together.
What you want us to sit together and smile?
Seriously Ez you just have to sit next to me!
Look sweet, don't they? Fighting in this pic.
Now for some video, because they are just so cute.
Noah super excited about his referralversary:
MVI 6207 from Stephanie Adams on Vimeo.
Ez pretty much implying get me out of this crib:
MVI 6211 from Stephanie Adams on Vimeo.
The boys love to be outside. LOVE. Good thing the weather this time of year is near perfection and we also love to be outside. We spent the bulk of time outside yesterday. Matt and I did a little yard work and the boys “helped.” Yard work takes significantly longer with two little helpers. 
Caged Ez
Ez holding the twine
Noah "edging" the lawn
Wanna see me tongue?
So happy
Me and Ez
Sidewalk chalk time - choosing our colors
Ez chose to eat the purple
Noah chose to eat the blue
Good job Noah! You are quite advanced in your art skills.
Chalk Butt
Banging the chalk
Coloring mom's shoe
*Please ignore the snotty noses, we wiped and we wiped, but we are teething and there is a ton of allergens in the air.
The boys are their daddy have a game called Mailbox Monster. Mailbox Monster brings about tons of giggles. We keep trying to catch the giggles on video but it is very difficult, because as soon as the camera comes out they want the camera! Here is our best attempt at catching the game and all its giggles:
MVI 5911 from Stephanie Adams on Vimeo.
14 months actually marks a big moment for us. The boys have now officially been with us longer than without. :)
I am noticing I have not been taking as many pictures of them, I think it is due to the fact that I can no longer leave the camera in easy to grab places. The boys are really into exploring the house right now and find all sorts of stuff to get into.
They both mastered the art of the snack cup this past month and are now a little obsessed.
Snack time
Ezra is practically running now and hardly ever crawls anymore. Noah is working on learning to walk, he does great with your hands or a push toy, but isn’t willing to try balancing yet. He can do it though, he took a couple of steps the other day, but then he was mad about it!
Clapping and peek-a-boo are still two of our favorite activities. They also love books. The joy of unloading kitchen cabinets was discovered this last month and my kitchen floor is a disaster each and ever day, but at least they let me cook or wash dishes while they make the mess.
Pants are overrated
No new teeth this month. I suspect Ez might be working on his molars though, somedays he is really chewing on his finger in that area. He is not a happy teether. If Noah is working on any new teeth, we have no clue, he doesn’t let us know like his brother.
Ez loves making faces at the camera
They really love to make noise, when they are awake there is no silence. They make all sorts of noises with their mouths, they bang on everything, and they like to drop things on the tile to see how it sounds.
Noah and his favorite person, Grandma, he refuses to share her!
They do almost everything together, but they are complete opposites. Noah is much more contemplative and Ezra is all action. Ezra thinks everything is hilarious, but with Noah you have to earn your giggles.
We have a ton of fun together and the action almost never stops, and we don’t want it any other way.
I prefer goals over resolutions, goals seem more concrete and have a finish line.
First let’s visit how last year’s goals finished up.
1. Started as running a 5k then I decided I would rather do a duathlon. I participated in a duathlon but relay style, I did not do the whole thing, but I did run a 5k. So goal semi-accomplished and I am happy I tried.
2. Focus more on Reduce and Reuse. I am doing this, and I am doing it more and more. I almost made my commitment to buying used/hand made clothing for myself, but right before we went to Ethiopia I purchase a couple of new tops because I was having difficulty finding used ones that were appropriate for travel (due to the fact that I live in the desert I own a lot of sleeveless tops!).
3. More gardening and preserving. I hit a bump on this one, two little precious angels put gardening and preserving on the back-burner.
4. Continue my goals from 2008. I am continuing to improve in those areas. We eat mostly vegetarian. We did have some issues with food waste, but it is getting better. Water usage per person is down, adding two more persons helped. I don’t have final numbers yet so I can’t say if we met our goal of 75 gallons/person, but I can say in the months since the boys have been home we have been below that goal number, which is quite the feat considering how much laundry I am doing!
2010 Goals
1. I like to keep on with the running thing. Matt and I are doing the off-road duathlon again and I am hoping to do a duathlon all by myself this year. For sure I am going to run my first 10k in the fall.
2. Get more organized. This is mostly pertaining to being a wife, mom, and household manager. I need to find a routine that works for keeping this house running smoothly. I am currently putting everything into ical so I have set days for certain laundry items, vacuuming, etc.
3. Gardening. I need to refocus in this area and hopefully have a good spring/summer harvest. I don’t really know of a concrete goal to set in this area, because saying I would like to harvest so many pounds would just set me up for failure, since not everything is in my control. I am going to dedicate one day a week to make sure I get out there and do some gardening.
Yep. Aspirations. Stephanie and I are not big on new year resolutions. We do set goals often, and revisit these through out the year. Regardless, a new year brings a fresh blanket of snow, and we are free to make whatever footprints we wish. So i thought i would share some things we have been talking about recently.
As a family:
Matt:
Well those are mine, Stephanie will share hers later i am sure.
The boys hair was all sorts of out of control, growing every which way, and several different lengths. On New Year’s Eve we decided to take them for their first haircuts. It went fairly well, we went to CNC Barbershop and Cedric was super nice and did a great job with the boys. Ez’s hair is shorter than I wanted but it was the only way he could even it out (on the plus side Noah can’t pull it anymore). Noah’s turned out great and is easier to comb out.
Ez in the chair ready to go
Getting it buzzed, he was actually fairly relaxed during this
Noah's turn!
Noah getting started
He didn't enjoy it very much
The finished product
Santa came to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, Ezra, Noah, and Abby were very good babies this year.
Wow!
Noah is there something on your back?
Drums!
Which one should I open next?
Wrapping paper!
Taking time to read the card.
Poor boy just wanted to play the piano.
Checking out his see and say with Grandma
Ez was done with his shirt
Abby sitting in her new chair like a proper lady
High-Five!
I think we better feed this baby he is eating his arm!
Wahoo! We made it to the top.
Daddy putting together their kitchen from Nana and Papa
Noah and his wrench
Ezra watching the action
Checking out the new kitchen (after nap before church)
Getting ready to have dinner with Grandpa and Grandma
A Christmas Eve Tradition, Paper Crowns. (sorry Noah destroyed his very quickly)
Noah discovered the stairs and took off up them as soon as we tried to change him!
What is this blocking the stairs?
Mmmm pumpkin pie!
Presents!