Kason's First Pumpkin

John's sister Amanda has been growing a pumpkin in one of her flower beds all summer long.  It unexpectedly started growing, and we thought it would be fun to have Kason take pictures in the pumpkin patch... so we made her keep it.  One of the pumpkins is perfect size for Kason and it is starting to go bad on the bottom... So we picked it today and took picture of Kason with it.  They turned out GREAT!!!  I just love how they came out.  He did so good!!!  Thanks Aunt Man-Man for the pumpkin and helping get the poses. Enjoy!

This is probably my favorite

Holding one of Daddy's Milk Trucks

He has on Lance's cowboy boots from when Lance was a toddler.
They are still too big, but SOOO cute

John's dad bought him a knife and
cowboy hat when he was born.  The
hat finally fits!!

Doesn't he look like a baby George
Strait here.  He's so handsome.
I love this.

Here's another one of Lance's shirts
from when he was a baby.  This is
one that my dad gave me from his
auto store back in the day.

This one's for you dad. :)  So cute, thanks for the shirt.
I love it!

this just makes my heart melt.

Unexpected Day off WORK!!!

Well, I very unexpectedly took a day off work today.  So unexpected, I showed up to work... and then just left.  LOL.  I got to work and realized that I had left my computer at home (DANG IT!!)... then Kason has been having this eye "goo" and dry cough/sneeze going on for the last week so I finally decided to take him to the doctor.

He's fine... he's on the tail end of a virus (regular cold)... He's still happy go-lucky... just with green goo coming out of his eye.  He's napping now, he missed his morning nap because of the doctor's appointment.

So, in lieu of going back and forth to work three times today, I just took the day off.  It's actually been WONDERFUL!  So fun!  I got home and went on a 4 mile run, picked Kason up, went to the doctor, fed him, got him down for a nap, ate lunch w/ John, yada, yada, yada... all in all, good day so far.

I also cooked a noodle-less lasagna for dinner.  I wanted to share the recipe... It's baking now and smells SOOO YUMMY!!!  I can't wait to eat it for dinner.  I'm quite positive this is a dish that adults and children will both like, so you should try it.  It is pretty healthy (in moderation of course).

Zucchini, Spinach and Italian Turkey Sausage Lasagna (without Noodles)

Preheat your oven to 425

Mix: 8oz of onion and chive cream cheese, 15oz of Low Fat Ricotta Cheese, 1/2 cup chopped basil (fresh), 1 tsp salt.

Brown sausage

Slice (thinly) 4-5 zucchini's and sauté with 2 cloves garlic, add 10oz spinach (fresh or frozen will work), let wilt if you used fresh.

Layer zucchini mix, cheese mix, sausage, zucchini mix, cheese mix.  Sprinkle with Mozzarella.

Cover with sprayed foil.

Bake 30 minutes covered, Bake 5 minutes uncovered.

WA-LA!  Super easy, only takes about 20 minutes of prep-time.

Finally, add spouse, children, kitchen table and a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord and your sure to have a great evening!!!

Enjoy! Kason's awake, time to play!

Kason's into Baby Food!!!

I am so excited we are to the baby food stage!!  I love it!  I love the mess, the gagging, the smiles, the spoons.... and did I say the mess!  He is just so cute eating!!!

We have dappled into Rice Cereal, Oatmeal (his absolute favorite, like his mommy), Peas and Green Beans so far!

Rice Cereal!!!

Kenna feeding Kason oatmeal

mmmm... peas.  These took some getting used to.

I love real food!!!

LOL.. here's one where he's gagging.  I love this

Dad feeding me Green Beans

The other day, I read a startling article...  What is the #1 most eaten vegetable by 2 year olds (and probably older children)?........  French Fries!!!  Oh my gosh!!!  Why?  There are so many fabulous vegetables out there, why fried potatoes?  Look, I'm not saying that I don't like a thing of fries and a milk shake every now and then... I just don't want that to by my child's number one vegetable eaten.  His favorite "fry" will be baked sweet potato fries, I'm sure.  LOL.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE to make his baby food.  It's so easy, and INCREDIBLY inexpensive.  I bought a 2 dollar bag of peas the other day and it made the equivalent of 40-50 dollars of baby food.  For containers, I just bought the small Glad containers instead of the traditional baby food containers.  Most baby food containers at $10 for 4 small containers.  You can get 8 of the same size glad containers for $2.50.  Seems like an obvious choice to me.

Also, you can easily make your own baby food with a stove, pot of water and a blender or food processor.  This is what I did with the peas while I was waiting for a part to come in for my baby food maker.  Yes, I do have a baby food maker (thanks Donna and Holly)... but is a hand me down.  I love it!  But, I would not have gone and bought one.  They are quite pricey!!  Yes, they are "easier".... but the other way isn't hard either.

Here's what we do.  The doctor said to start with the greens and then work towards the yellow and orange veggies... We've done peas and green beans quite successfully.  This week we are going to try spinach so he can be strong like popeye; then we'll move to broccoli and zucchini.  I was going to get him some asparagus, but it was still kind of pricey.  I'm going to see if it goes on sell.

Thanks Christyn for the wonderful strainer as a wedding gift, I use it all the time.

Don't these veggies look yummy!!!  Obviously, I clean the vegetables thoroughly first, then I use my baeba food maker.  You just put it in the cup, add some water and turn the nob to steam... and forget it... literally!  It finishes in about 20-45 minutes depending on what veggie you are making.  Then you turn the nob to purree and pour it in a container.  I freeze mine and use them when needed.

Here's  my complete set up...  pretty simple, huh?

this is all you need.. the spinach is making in the maker while i took this.

Here's how I see it...  I could go trample thru Walmart buying baby food wanting to rip my eyeballs out because that store drives me crazy... or i could run to the local grocery store half a minute away... buy some nice veggies and spend about 30 minutes making 1-2 months worth of baby food.  I think I'm actually saving time AND money making it.  Seems like an obvious answer to me.

I can't wait to see his face when he tries the spinach!!!

Schedules

Several people have asked in the last couple of months for me to blog about Kason's schedule...  okay...

Let me start off by saying, I don't think that his sleeping 12 hours a night at 8 weeks is a reflection of our parenting, rather I think it's a reflection of what a laid back easy baby he is.  With that said, I did follow this book to a "T"... almost and it worked.  The only thing I still deviate from is his afternoon nap.  He still likes to take a 30-45 minute power nap around 5-6ish... so I quit fighting it and just let him sleep... it made no difference.

The book is called "12 hour sleep by 12 weeks old" by Suzy Giordano with Lisa Abidin.  It's my kind of book, big letters and few pages.  It only took me an hour and a half to read.

Here we go:

Kason wakes up and plays in his bed for about 30 minutes or so between 5-630am, then falls back to sleep.  He's just playing, even if he fusses some,  I let him be.  I think it's good for babies to learn how to play independently and he can soothe himself on his own quite well (he started doing this well around 6 weeks).  He also eats, a lot... He's been taking 4 8oz bottles since around 6-8 weeks.  I worked with him to eat more in longer stretches, and it worked out really well.  It was really hard for me when he was eating every 3 hours, and the book encourages you to stretch your feedings to every 4 hours... so I did.

6:45 (weekdays)/7:30 (weekends): Pull Kason out of bed, change poopy diaper and eat bottle (8oz)
715-830: play, talk, play, talk... repeat
830-9ish: he starts to get tired so I get him put down for a nap (takes about 5 minutes)
9-1030ish: he naps (usually between 1-1.5 hours)
11: bottle 8oz

1230-1ish: he starts to get tired so I get him put down for a nap (takes about 5 minutes)

1230-2ish: he naps (usually between 1-1.5 hours)

2-3: play, talk, play, talk, maybe swim if it's a weekend

3: bottle 8oz

330-530ish: play, talk, swim... repeat

530-6ish: he starts to get tired so I get him put down for a nap

530-615ish: he naps (usually between 30-45minutes) (takes about 5 minutes)

630: bath (I pour lots of water in his face, and I have since the cord fell off)

6:45 bottle

7: lay down in crib to go to bed

Anytime I lay him down in his crib, even if he starts fussing, I don't pull him out.  I try to help him soothe himself to sleep.  I very rarely break this rule.  In general, he's not real receptive to anything the first time I do it... but if I'm persistent he grows to love it.  So for instance, I remember the first time i bathed him in the tub and poured water on his head (I think we was 2 weeks old)... he hated it.  So I did it the next night, and he only kind of hated it... so I did it the next night and he tolerated it... and so forth... now he loves it.  Same thing happened the first time I took his head under water in the pool (I know, now you think I'm one of those crazy parents... whatever).  He still hates tummy time after doing it for 4 months... but we still do it. :)

I try to keep him on his schedule as best as I can... but that doesn't mean that we are left to be at our house all the time.  We still go out to dinner, hang out at other's homes, etc.  If we do that, I usually just bathe him before we go wherever, and stick to the feeding schedule.  I take the pack and play with me or he can sleep on the floor on a blanket or in his carseat.  I have found that when we go to get him to take him home, he wakes up, but he just goes right back to sleep when you put him in his bed.  We try to stick to his schedule within a 30 minute window... so everything fluctuates +/- 30 minutes.

I try to be laid back with him and not get frazzled when he cries.  Yes, he cries.  In fact, he's a little off his normal schedule right now so he fought his morning nap for 20 minutes with me this morning... I just let him cry and get his frustration out... then he went to sleep.

Also, I have found that he often wakes up 30-45 minutes into a nap... I used to go pull him out of bed because I thought he was done... WRONG!  He was still clearly tired, now I let him wake up in his crib, play and talk and he usually goes back down 5-10 minutes later for another 30-45 minutes.  If he's still awake after about 10 minutes, I'll go in there and get him... because that usually means he's not tired anymore.

How do we manage both working and running Kason around where he needs to go... well, we tag team- and then ask his oma/opa and aunt/uncle for breaks when we want some alone time (they usually offer, and rarely do we even have to ask).  

I usually pull Kason out of bed in the morning before I go to work so I can see him, then John takes over.  John does the entire morning routine and then gets him off to daycare (he changes him, feeds him, plays with him and then takes him to Mary's).  I leave work earlier, so I pick Kason up from Mary's and do the evening routine (eat, play, nap, bathe, eat, sleep).  It works well for us, because we each get very focused dedicated time with him.  John is a great dad and does really well with him.  They really enjoy each other.  We're lucky because we have family close (and when I say close, I mean CLOSE!).  Most people thought I was crazy when I told them that John's parent's were moving across the street... but we love it and it works out great.

I think every kid needs a schedule and does better on a schedule...  THIS IS JUST MY OPINION.  However, I think every child is different and you have to do what is best for your family.  For John and I, it works really well for us to know when he is going to eat, play, nap and sleep.  We get a lot more done around the house because of this.  So for us... it works.

Again, Kason is an easy baby, and his easiness is no reflection of our parenting skills...  We try to be good parents, but that certainly doesn't mean that we are good at it.  Let's be honest... we don't know what in the heck we are doing... we just do. I thank God for our sweet natured baby and we really enjoy getting to watch him grow.

Kason's into mush now... he LOVES his oatmeal... and we are trying to give peas a chance.

Having family close is truly a beautiful blessing

So I promised a look into our wedding 4 years ago and failed you all on that.  When I went to upload pictures I found out all my wedding CD's are corrupted somehow, so I have the photographer sending me new ones.


A lot has gone on the last couple of weeks at the Ebert household... I finally had a chance to lay my head down and rest this afternoon for a couple of hours (thanks Oma and Opa).  I know most of you look at my blog for pictures and not to listen to my ridiculous rambling... but today, you're going to have to scroll thru the rambling before I post any pictures.


Growing up, I always had (and still do) and extremely close bond with my Grandma and my Aunt.  They together with my mom ran a bridal store when I was young.  I remember running around the store, trying on flower girl dresses and spending lots of time with my them and my cousins.  I knew when David and Susan (John's parents) wanted to move up here it would be a great thing.  I was excited that Kason was going to have grandparents that are close.  Being that I have such a special relationship with my grandmother, naturally, I wanted Kason to have that with his grandparents.  To double the excitement, John's sister was pregnant with me and I couldn't have been more elated for the babies to be close in age and run around together.


I probably should have gotten an okay to post this from Amanda before I did, but I'm pretty sure she'd be okay with it.  As many of you know, John's sister had her second miscarriage June 2.  She lost her first baby at 13 weeks (I was about 20 weeks along); and sweet baby Eathan went to be with the lord at 24 weeks gestation.  To say the least it has been a roller-coaster of emotion over the last week.  I will speak for myself though in that I have had a lot of closure and realization that God is with me, and us as a family every step of the way.  As I was pondering this morning, I remembered the verse I put on Kason's  birth announcement, Psalm 139: 13-18:

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
      Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
      as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
      Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
      before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
      They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
      they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
      you are still with me!

I was most struck by the part of the verse that says: You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

For Eathan, God was with him every step of the way.  While Eathan's earthly life was only about 160 days, his heavenly life is eternal.  I can't think of a more perfect place to be.  While I thought longer, I thought of the time Eathan had here on earth, and truly how perfect it was.  He got to be right next to his mom the entire time, knowing how much she loved him and hearing her heart beat for him every second of the day.  That however, doesn't ease the pain that we feel as we got through this time, but for me it comforts me in knowing that he truly had a blessed earthly life, and is living eternally with our Lord.  I look forward to the day that I can step up to heaven's gate, meet our father face to face and see my mom, angel baby, Eathan and other friends and family on the other side.    

So, back to my original note about having family close:  I thought this morning that our pastor's message was very fitting for the time that our family was going through.  His message was on "How to be a great friend" out of Proverbs 12.  He touched on the importance of being "friendly" to everyone but selectively choosing a group of friends that you really can rely.  These friends do more than just make you feel good and be nice to you.  They hold you accountable and make you a better person.  They experience emotions with you and walk by you side by side through the good times and the rough times.  I'm so grateful that the lord has blessed me with my husband, who is hands down my best friend.  Talk about an accountability partner, I think we keep each other in line and we certainly take each emotional journey hand in hand with one another.  However, beyond that, it just brought to light how thankful I am for some of my other best friends, like his sister, Amanda; several of my girlfriends from church, college and highshchool.  I am extremely grateful to have "a few good friends" that I know I can call on, talk to, and laugh with.  


So, finally, I want to leave you with this.  In sunday school today we talked about the three types of love.  For me, the one I always remember is "agape" love, which is unconditional love.  I guess this comes to mind first because this is the love that God our father shows us.  There are no conditions on it, no matter how many times we falter he's there to pick us up, forgive us for our transgressions and love us... unconditionally.  I think we as human's put lots of conditions on our love.  We choose to fall out of love with someone because of x, y or z... we forget though, that we are called to have an agape love, especially for our spouses.  For those of you married, be thankful for you spouse and love them to pieces.  The other two types of love are "Eros" which is what our american culture focuses most on... this is the intimate love; and then there is the "Philos" love which is brotherly love, or in my language our friendship love.  Our marriages truly take all three, I think most people would agree that if you see your marriage faltering it's probably because you are lacking expressing your love in one or more of these ways.  It's unfortunate that our american culture only focuses on the "Eros" love.  I think in today's society so many couples get together (or married) based on the intimacy and forget that they have to love each other as friends and know how to be friends and also, not put conditions on their love... such as "I'll marry (or love) you if... you buy me a big fat diamond ring, or a pretty house, or make lots of money... etc."  Often this is fleeting and when you fall on rocky times you will struggle.  


So in closing, for our four year anniversary, thank you John.  Thank you for loving me unconditionally and being my best friend.  I truly am so thankful for such a wonderful husband and I am looking forward to many more wonderful years together.  Additionally, thank you to all my friends and family who have loved me despite my ways and have been there with me through it all... I love you all... unconditionally.

George Kason, 13 weeks

Rub a Dub-Dub...

No, there's not three men in a tub.  Who the H came up with that.  However, Big K's in the tub.  He LOVES his bath time.  I think aside from getting picked up from out of the crib in the morning, this is his favorite thing to do every day.  Therefore, I asked "Oma" to come over tonight and take some pictures of Kason getting a bath.

Here's a quick picture of Oma and K... he loves her.

He LOVES the water in his face!

He's pretty perfect. :)

A trip down memory lane...

John decided to go through all the pictures on the computer the other night.  I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane.  Most of you have probably never seen some of these pictures.  (I'll note, we have not always been perfect [cough, cough --college--]... and we're still not, so don't judge).  They are fairly chronological.  Enjoy-

This is the first picture I havae of John and I.  This was at a Halloween party at his house in 2002.  Wow, that's old.  Things have changed since then. :)

John getting his Aggie Ring

Our First Trip- New Orleans- 2004

This has always been one of John's favorite pictures.  This was at my parent's house in Dripping Springs at Lyle's graduation party from High School (2005)

Surf Club in Corpus Christi

John's graduation party (Bachelor's Degree, Dec 2005)

John at Northgate, Leianne working CARPOOL

ChiliFest 2006

Our Engagement, Messina Hof Jan 2006

Our Engagement Party, Feb 2006

Cheddar's (their margarita's are fabulous!!!)

This picture is cute... 

Lake House

John's Rent house in Grad School 2006

John driving me crazy... this is normal.

New Years 2007

River Trip w/ the Gibson's

Wedding 2006

This picture makes me laugh out loud.  We are so mature.  Notice John is wearing my sunglasses.

Joel's wedding.  These glasses were AWESOME!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.  This picture is classic

John's rent's lake house... look at how gorgeous the sky is.

ripping the carpet out of our house, Aug 2007

Cancun Trip, Summer 2008

Dylan's Wedding 2009

Halloween 2009

Mud Run Nov 2009

Mud Run Finishers!!!

Amanda's wedding Oct 2010

Alcon Christmas Party 2009 (day before our White Rock Marathon)

Christmas 2009

Miguelito's (only good mexican food restaurant by our house)

look at the sunset in the background

Date Night!!! 2009

Schumann's wedding (this was right before I got pregnant)

DC 2010; 10 weeks pregnant

Christmas 2010 (third trimester)

Last Date Night before Big K was born (39 weeks and some days pregnant)

Taking Big K Home (Mar 3, 2011)

Easter 2011

I think it's funny to see how much we've changed over almost 10 years.  I guess we've grown up some...  And by grown up, I mean we have jobs and a child.  In reality,  we still act like goofy kids most days; dancing on the porch, playing softball in the backyard and cracking Easter eggs on each others heads.  John still tells me dumb jokes and plays tricks on me and I still find enjoyment in surprising him with dinner, presents, etc.  I can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings.

If you noticed, I left out pictures of the wedding... that's because our anniversary is coming up in two weeks and I plan on posting a blog to take you back 4 years ago.