sweet as can be

Little Lucia,

You are such a marvelous addition to our family. It's been three months since you were born, and already I pull out the little clothes that drowned you when you were first born and can't believe that you were ever that small. You've got a healthy appetite and a belly and cheeks to match. Oh, how I love your cheeks! You've really figured out the smiling thing the last couple of weeks and that joyous, open-mouthed grin was well worth the two and a half month wait.

You are such a patient little girl. You put up with your Papa's kisses, although you do so with a look of displeasure on you face. At times you even seem to enjoy the overdoses of love that Ezra sends your way. The other day Ezra wanted to look into your eyes and decided the best way to do it was to plop his 27 pound body right on top of your tininess. When I turned around to find you squished under your brother, you had a huge grin on your face. Thank you so much for your example of patience, especially during a period when Ezra hasn't the slightest idea what that might be.

What more can I say of your 3 month old self? You're a very grunty-snorty baby, which is actually quite endearing. You spit up ALL the time which is quite the opposite of endearing and keeps the two of us perpetually smelling of sour milk. I find your body shape amusing. You are a big round belly with short, little fat-petite legs sticking out. I know that's a lot of adjectives stuck together to describe you legs, but I don't know how else to describe them. Tiny and petite, yet fat at the same time. Simply put, your thighs are adorable.

Simply put, you are adorable. I love you!

routinely happy

I feel like I don't have anything exciting to blog about and haven't for some time. We've settled into a winter schedule that gets us out of the house a few times a week for playgroup and music class, but mostly we just stay inside our apartment, sheltered from the cold. And while the world may not want to hear about how today Ezra ate oatmeal for breakfast or that we read "The Little Engine that Could" 8 times, I am truly happy. We are holed up in our little one bedroom with smiles on our faces. Smiles that get even bigger with dreams of the spring.

Lucia Wakes Up

After almost two months, Lucia is finally putting in some good awake time. It is so much fun to see her eyes and to watch her little body kick around. I love her more and more everyday.

Cheese Smile

Recently Ezra learned that you are supposed to say "cheese" when you see a camera. I'm not sure where he picked this up, but I am sure that his cheesy smile is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

He Loves Her

For those of you who have been around Ezra recently, you know that no one touches his trains.

So when he carefully placed Percy at her side saying, "Here. Baby Lucia. Here," I knew it was love.

Halloween 2010

We had a wonderfully warm October this year and one beautiful afternoon we went on our traditional upstate pumpkin picking outing with the Gilmores. The pumpkin patch was closed, so it ended up not being so traditional after all. Luckily, we were able to find a pumpkin lot, and while it didn't include a hay ride and the pumpkins were already picked, Ezra had a good time wandering around, playing with his cousins, checking out the pumpkins, and taste testing a rock or two.

Our ward (we're now in the Spanish ward) combined with the Harlem 1st Ward for a fun Halloween get together. And while we really enjoyed the warm weather on our pumpkin adventure, it didn't agree with Ezra's fleece lobster costume. He was not a happy camper, even after we stripped him down to just a diaper underneath. So the costume only lasted a few minutes, but it was long enough to snap a few pictures. I love how Max and Ezra's costumes worked so well together.

Martin and I (and Lucia) dressed up as pumpkin pie. I'm pretty sure this was Martin's first Halloween costume and it was a challenge to get Martin to even wear this basic of a costume but I think that in the end, he ended up enjoying it. Next year I'll see if we can move beyond a piece of paper on a string.

To: Papa in the Big City

Dearest Martin,

Here are the pictures I promised you. We miss you so much, but I would be lying if I said that we weren't having a great time. I haven't been home for autumn in 11 years and I had forgotten how stunning it is. Ezra is happy spending time with the Grandparents and Uncle Adam. Amid all the fun he's having, he hasn't forgotten about his Papa. He asks for you more times a day than I can count. I think about you just as often. We can't wait to see you in a few days.

Love,

Britney

Ezra loves being in Virginia. As soon as he wakes up the morning he asks to go outside. Actually, the first thing he asks for is "bee" (Cheerios), and then after he's taken care of his desperate need for nourishment he begs for the outdoors.

One of the highlights from this trip included visiting a real farm. He found that real horses are much larger than they are in books. This was a bit intimidating.

He watched some tractors in action and got to check out the hay bails they made.

He gathered eggs from the chicken coop and caringly threw them in the basket. There was surprisingly only one egg casualty.

He loved the chickens and ducks and was able to perfect his "cock a doodle doo" using some real roosters as a reference.

Other country activities enjoyed included stuffing acorns in the woodpile, picking pears, playing the sand and water at the lake beach, and throwing lots and lots of rocks.

One of the best parts of being out in the sticks is that you don't have to wear clothes. I did try dressing our child but he would go through 3 or 4 outfits a day because he kept on getting wet, muddy, or both. Skin is much easier to clean than cloth.