Stings and things...

So this weekend was pretty eventful, and aside from a few things I would not care to experience this again! On Friday 9/23 Ezra tripped and fell into the wood coffee table and split his forehead open. We didn't know know if he needed stitches or not so we took him to an urgent care that could do them if needed. He ended up not needing stitches, just glue. Ezra was such a good sport!

He just wanted his daddy to hold him. 

Until it was all over, then only mommy would do.

That evening we went to the football game at Corona del Sol. It was the kids first time and they loved it!

Gabi absolutely adored the pommies and cheerleaders! 

She insisted on taking a pictures of them. (with mommy's help of course)

Sunday seemed normal enough, after sacrament meeting I went to teach my class for the 12-13 year olds. Jack took Gabi to her class and then practiced walking with Ezra down the halls. As the neared the doors to the chapel Ezra bent down to pick something up from the floor. As Jack looked closer to see what it was, he suddenly realized that it was a scorpion! Ezra let out a whimper as it quickly scurried down his hand and back to the floor. A pediatrician in our ward happened to be standing nearby and, after smashing the little demon, instructed Jack to get him to the hospital right away.

 Jack found me in the classroom and told me we had to go "now!" Before we left, we had someone in the building help us give him a blessing, and we were off. Because neither of us remembered our wallets, we had to stop by the house first. Until this point he seemed fine, crying a little and wimpering but that was it. Luckily, I decided to sit next to him in the back seat.

About a minute after I took this picture, Ezra started vomiting, a lot and often. Then, he started convulsing. His eyes were rapidly shaking back and forth. Then, he had trouble breathing. It was the scariest thing to watch your child go through this and think "My child is going to die". I remember talking to him and saying "keep your eyes open, stay with us". By the time we reached the ER, he wasn't crying much anymore because he couldn't get enough air. He was starting to turn blue. It was very traumatic for everyone involved.

 The ER rushed us in and started working on him right away. They gave him scorpion anti-venom, which made a noticeable change in him almost right away. It took several hours, however before he stopped convulsion completely. I stayed right by him stroking his head, talking to him in his ear and helping to gently hold him so he didn't injure himself during his convulsions. In all, he got five vials of anti-venom. After a night in the pediatric unit for observation, we were on our way with no apparent lasting effects. It was a miracle considering the dire straights he was in. This is something we hope we never have to go through again!

 Here is the actual scorpion. It is a bark scorpion which is very common here in Arizona.

Here is the adorable get well card that Gabi made for Ezra. Thankfully we were in the same ward as my parent and they took Gabi to their home after church and watched her. Thanks a million Mom and Dad!

So cute!

Gabi and Ezra birthday photos

I know these are a bit late, but we got some wonderful photos from Whitney Here are some of our favorites! Thanks again Whitney for such great pics!

Before and After!

Disclaimer*** I started this post on 4/21/2010. It finally got finished around Christmas 2010. I took the after photos on 6/25/2011 and am FINALLY posting it today 8/25/2011!

Here is one of our first remodels in the house. This basement bathroom was not at all usable when we moved in (read reeked of cat pee). The vanity was soaked in it, as was the grout in the tiles. Everything else was covered in a layer of dirt or leaked. It stayed like this for over a year. We just closed the door, out of sight out of mind right?:)

Finally we decided that we had better get a move on so we could have a working bathroom on that floor and not have to go upstairs every time we had to go to the bathroom. Also, we didn't want to have to send our guests up to the 3rd floor to shower.

It also helped that I was due in about 5-6 weeks with baby number 2. Eeek! Talk about cutting it short. It still wasn't done by the time the baby was born, but at least we had started the project.

Here are the lovely before pics:

*note* You can't fully appreciate these pics without having smell-o-vision and I should note that the walls are a really gross shade of pink that the previous owner tried to match to those lovely green, pink and white tiles in the shower.








After demo. Plans changed and we ended up having to get a new tub too. :(


Wait for it....



The Afters!!

The song is coming...

We caught a once in a lifetime performance....







Just a little tune she made up. So cute.

Beans...

I may not look half mexican but I love beans!!!

Gabi turns FOUR!!!

Gabi had an exciting birthday. She was very excited that it was coming and kept asking if it was here yet.

When the big day arrived Gabi went down stairs to see the kitchen decorated for breakfast. She had blueberry pancakes complete with a tiara for her to wear.






I had three presents for her to open at various points during the day and in the evening we had my family over for cake and one more present from us and some from my family.

The birthday dinner was Gabi's favorite "macaroni and cheese", the homemade version. Recipes at the end.

I also made her a "rainbow cake"
There are various kinds most common is seen here http://www.whisk-kid.com/2009/08/say-it-with-cake.html
My recipe is at the end of the post.


Gabi entertains us by doing the following:

Making up songs to sing.
Drawing pictures and coloring.
Playing pretend with her barbies.
Writing her name.
Greeting us every morning (sometimes before dawn) in bed.
Practicing the skills she learns in swim class.

Here are some more pics of the day











Happy Birthday Gabi! We love you!



**************RECIPES******************

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

I made the following substitutions: quinoa elbow macaroni, original almond milk, gluten free flour (spelt, quinoa, rice etc.) and no bread crumbs.

Preheat oven 400 degrees

2C macaroni
1 small minced onion
butter
1 TBS flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 dry mustard
1/8 tsp pepper
2C milk
1/2 lb chedder cheese
3/4 bread crumbs (I omitted this)

Cook macaroni, drain and set aside. Place onion and 2 TBS of butter in small sauce pan, cook until tender. Stir in flour, salt, mustard, pepper; cook for one min. Slowly stir in milk, cook stirring till smooth. Add about 3/4 of cheese, stir till melted.

Place drained macaroni into greased 1 1/2qt casserole pan. Pour cheese sauce over and stir to coat. Top with more cheese.

Bake uncovered 20 min.

4-6 servings.



Rainbow Cake

I just did a quicker version of layering the different batters in one 9x13 pan.

use a white cake mix and added in 1/4c sour cream and 1oz of vanilla instant pudding mix.

Take the batter and make sure to separate the batter into different bowls. I would reccomend using food gel for the colors rather than food coloring drops, you get more vibrant color.

Mix the colors with seperate spoons and then carefully layer the colors red, orange, yellow ,green blue, indigo (sometimes this color is left out), purple. I only had enough to do some of the colors but I think if I had measured it out better I could have done all the colors.

Carefully layer the colors, do not mix them together. I smoothed out the bottom color to cover the bottom of the pan completely. I just did my best with the rest of the colors.






Bake per the box directions, you might need to bake a little longer if you did the add-ins. Cool completely.

I made buttercream frosting. We colored it pink with leftover food gel. It was easy but make sure to put it in the fridge after you frost it so it sets.

Ezra turns ONE!

Hard to believe it but Ezra is one! This little boy has been such a welcome addition to our family and we just can't get over how cute he is!

Things that Ezra is up to...

crawls quickly
pulls up to stand and scoots around furniture
loves to play peek-a-boo hiding under blanket or around corners
Says Mama, Dada, Seh seh (for sissy AKA Gabi), this and baba (bottle)
He usually just screams for water LOL.
Ezra is a great helper when it comes to put away toys and has been seen putting his own toys away!

He is very loving and will put his head on your shoulder and give you "loves".
When he is in the right mood he will give sloppy kisses.
He has a tender heart and shows concern if you are sad or hurt.

Happy Birthday Ezra!

lemonade stand

Gabi decided to make a lemonade stand today! So cute!

Cinco de Mayo

We had a Cinco de Mayo party. Gabi loves parties, and her parents love mexican food, so it was a good combo!

I didn't get a picture of the spread but we went all out. Here are some pictures of the fun!