Never be too busy to stop and take a moment with your child. There will always be dishes to wash and counters to wipe down, but these moments will soon just be memories and he will be grown.
Category: Life
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Dedication
Yesterday we dedicated the boys at church. They looked super cute in their Ethiopian outfits.
The Family
Noah
Ezra
As you can see the boys were a “little” interested in the stage behind us and all the instruments up there.
After church we came back to our house for a lunch and a little fun.
Ezra and Ethan giggling together.
Abby
Michelle attacking Noah
Ez with Grandpa’s camera
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Happy Easter
The cousins and the Bunny
Thrilled
My bro, me, and the kids
Dancing Noah
Dancing Ezra
Ez contemplating
Abby mowing
Abby hunting eggs
No Winny
Ez checking out his basket
Noah finally picked up an egg, then ran off to take it apart and put it back together, again and again
Ez eating an egg
Abby and her juice
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Phoenix Children’s Museum
The boys’ received a membership to Phoenix Children’s Museum for Christmas. (I had asked for memberships places since we have lots of toys already.) We waited until now to actual purchase, so the boys could enjoy it a little more and enjoy it they did. They had lots of fun and kept us very busy! It will be a great place to go and play once the weather is hot and we can no longer play outside for hours on end.
Noah loved the squishy ball machine, Ez was scared of it. 
Sand and light table. 
Noah licked the sand, yuck. 
Air vent was a big hit! 
Painting with water. 
Notice they are going in opposite directions? Luckily there were four adults to keep track of them. 
Playing some music. 
Mmmm food puzzle pieces. 
Ez fixing mommy a plate. 
Yes he also ate some dried beans, notice a theme with Noah? 
Noodle forrest was scary! We did traverse a couple of times though with mommy and daddy's help. Thanks Nana and Papa!
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almost a miracle
Yes, almost a miracle! Matt is down to 19 t-shirts. Yep. he cleaned out the closet. Some people at a garage sale / goodwill are going to have some sweet shirts.
Some may say 19 is normal. You may need some history on matts shirt collections.
the guessing game
the final count on how many T-shirts matt owned last yearSo as you see, 19 is way down from 83. Thats not even factoring in how many were acquired over the 2009 year.
19 still doesn’t count dress shirts, polos, bike jerseys or misc other items.
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16 months
Please don’t tell me it’s been another month already! I can’t believe how fast they are growing up. I couldn’t resist the photo above. Look at those teeny, tiny babies in my lap! They are such big boys now.
Ezra has 6 teeth now and Noah has 4 with numbers 5 and 6 about to poke through. Plus I think they are both working on their one year molars.
We spend our days playing outside, eating, eating, and more eating. They love snacking on fruit, graham crackers, cheerios, and dried fruit. They aren’t always so thrilled with what I cook for dinner, but when its compatible I can add spaghetti sauce and they will eat it.
We officially are done with day-time bottles! They still get a bottle if they wake up in the middle of the night. They slept through the night 3 times last week!
Noah said thank you for a whole week and it was adorable, then he stopped. I am sure it’s still in there, he’s just busy learning something else. We still mostly hear dada, mama, kitty, and hi/hey from both of them.
Playing in Grandpa’s tent (this was my dad’s tent from when he was a little boy)
Playing outside is still our absolute favorite.
Climbing is really starting to pick up.
Noah cooking his momma something.
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Fun with video
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.
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Rainy Monday Morning
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.
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Story Time
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.
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Photo Friday – 02.26.2010
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 -
Picture Proof
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.
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Referralversary
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.
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Outside! Outside! Outside!
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.
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Mailbox Monster
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.
