my world.

things that make my world go round right now?

-micah trying to whisper. it takes every fiber of his being and half the words end up a yell, the other half a whisper.

-jack laughing. i could listen to it all day. so i do every ridiculous thing you can think of to get it to happen. his favorite? me working out in front of him. lunges make the kid giggle. it's probably my form or my panting.

-micah jumping. he just learned to jump (i realize it's a bit late, but he's half me, so that's not surprising) and does it everywhere. we. go. today? we went to red robin for dinner. he jumped all the way to the booth. and then stood next to it jumping, waiting for every waitress to see and comment.

-jack sleeping in his CRIB and doing an okay job... we've got a way to go, but baby steps!

-micah somersaulting. it's just too good. oh, and his dancing when we give him headphones. really, most things he does kind of kill me.

-micah's funny phrases, like "that's ridiculous, mommy. too ridiculous." and counting to "twenty-ten," which is thirty.

- micah singing... "He's got the whole world in His hands, He's got micah james ebright in His hands, he's got baby jack marshall ebright in His hands, he's got mommy and daddy and bailey the dog in His hands."

-french press coffee. always and forever. used in place of sleep.

-gilmore girls. why and how did i miss it in the 90's?! and can luke and lorelai just fall in love already?

-patterned socks. i'm late to the game, but i'm no longer an only-white-sock-wearing gal.

here are some random pictures from the holiday season...

(to recap for my own memory later: we spent thanksgiving with the ebrights and i forgot to take pictures... extended marshall family christmas... our little family christmas when matt was actually home... christmas eve/day with my parents and brother/sister-in-law... ebright family christmas a few days later!) 

 we celebrated my brother's birthday with the 

worst cake writing in the history of cakes. 

i mean really. 

look at that. 

the cake decorator didn't even cross the t.

 these two are starting to love each other.

 and wear matching pjs.

 we had real christmas, and we hosted!

 so we broke out the fine china for the first time. ever. 

 micah looking like a rockstar. that's his guitar face.

 these two. plus my feet.

 jack's favorite location to sleep:

in my arms. 

snuggled in my armpit. 

owning me by grabbing onto my shirt for dear life.

 we got a date!

 and a family date!

have i mentioned he's getting cute? ugh. i'm obsessed.

2015.

a new year!

i looooove resolutions.
this year? i have a phrase: loving well.

i'm going to be working on loving well: loving God well, my family well, my friends well, and myself well.

one part of that is keeping track of life, thus re-entering the world of blogging!
the goal: sharing thoughts, funny stories, pictures (with the eventual goal of printing the year in a book!)

let the year begin!

jack marshall ebright.

well, it happened.

another baby got out!

started timing contractions at midnight...

up all night tracking...

at 6 am woke micah up, took him to a friend's house, and went to the hospital!

wasn't dilated/contracting enough to be admitted, so we started walking the hospital.

by 9 am it was go time, and jack marshall was born at 12:37 p.m.,

7 lb 12 oz, 20 inches long

so here he is!

oh, and that last pic? micah when he was supposed to smile while giving baby jack his present. possibly my favorite picture of all kind. literally no reaction.

sweet words of the day.

for a toddler who has quite a range of emotions, seeing the sweet side of him melted my heart today. 

when in the car on the way to my OB appointment, micah said, "micah love God." random, but melted my heart.

then, at the OB, he told everyone, "hear baby heart! micah love baby. baby loves micah!" (of course, he said the baby's name, too, so a lot of strangers now know more than our friends. whatever.)

i mean really. it's like it was on purpose for his super pregnant (and apparently 3 cm dilated?!) mom!

second birthday party!

here are some quick shots of micah's second birthday party... zoo theme!

we had the party a month before his actual birthday of october 18, since baby brother is due october 14.

one last birthday of not sharing the spotlight!

 zoo animal cupcakes... they're walking on grass

kangaroo kabobs.

shark teeth.

lion veggies.

and then we had "animal feed"... aka tacos and toppings and the "watering hole" for drinks!

the party getting started...

the petting zoo of animal crackers for party favors.

 the readers... and the dodgeball players. haa

2nd birthday cake... with the animals walking on grass and on his special birthday plate

cupcake. i don't have pictures of him actually blowing out the candle on the real cake because we took a video... but he didn't want to eat the cake anyway. cupcakes are WAY better, mom.

the crazy process of trying to open presents with kids all around to help.

so much joy!

happy (early) 2nd birthday, micah!

turns out, he's quite the party animal.

i thought he may get shy, since we crammed 25 people in our house.

but he loooooved every second being the center of attention, seeing all the animals everywhere, and playing with all the family!

now, baby can come aaaaany day!

finally. decorated a room.

two months from right now, i'll either be four days overdue (thus a literal terror to all around me), or something will have happened: hopefully, prayerfully, we'll have a brand new healthy little boy added to our family!

so, a lot of prep. august is my "actually-finish-both-boy-rooms-so-I-don't-lose-it-completely" month. (in case you were wondering, september is my "stop-denying-labor-is-coming-and-start-kegeling-all-day-every-day month). one room is finally finished. only took me since the end of may...

 

open closet... mostly so i don't have to think about him smashing his fingers!

 reading nook

 yes, that's a CRACKER BARREL rocking chair. 

it even has the stamp on it to prove it. 

possibly the best garage sale find anyone has ever found?!

oh, and a naked fireman running around, holding his diaper that should be on him. all in a day's work.

learning my kid.

so, i recently had an epiphany.
i'm not going back to teaching right now. which was kind of killing me. this is normally my most favorite time: decorating the classroom, buying school supplies, not sleeping because i'm so excited about fun lesson plans and meeting and loving new students.

but not right now... right now, i just have one child (and one growing baby!) to think about...

and my child is no longer a baby.
i am no longer just providing for his physical needs.
and it's so exciting.

now, i get to do the part i've really been waiting for... learn who he is!
try to help/guide him to become a man of God.
try to figure out how to discipline him in a way that helps him learn and understand.
all while raising a toddler. who threw himself on the ground in meijer today. because he only got to ride the horse twice.

man alive. it's terrifying.
you could mess up in a lot of ways.

but SO exciting! so, here's what i've been learning/inwardly laughing at about micah, and if you don't care about micah, skip it... you'll fall asleep while i get gushy for a minute:

1. he is always listening. to my phone calls, to what i say to matt. he will repeat things i say about him back to me... already. like today, i told my mom on the phone about how he had a plastic bat and started saying, "hit mommy. hit baby." and then hit my belly (obviously, disciplined...). when i got off the phone, he started telling me how "micah mommy sad. micah hit mommy. micah hit baby."

2. he LOVES learning. truly a geek. knows all uppercase and lowercase letters, all colors, counts to 20, recognizes to 12, knows the written words from one-ten, knows his shapes, animals and animal sounds, and is always shocking me with all the names he knows, songs he knows, places he knows. one of his favorite activities is flashcards. really.

3. he is very attentive to feelings. when he has a fit, he'll say, "micah crying!" or "micah whining." when we're at somewhere fun, he'll say, "micah happy!" "micah SO excited!" emotions are so interesting, learning sad and mad and happy.

4. he thinks he understands about God. it's adorable. he has a Noah's ark set, and calls the people, "Noah and Abraham," when they're really Noah and his wife.  He wants to pray to Jesus and then to God before meals and bed.  today, he did his first prayer totally on his own, saying, "thank you Jesus food, mommy, micah, bailey, daddy. thank you God. amen."

5. he comprehends way more than i give him credit for. without discussing, he'll explain an entire book or episode of daniel tiger... and he'll continue to rehash situations or random events for weeks after them.  case and point, he's repeatedly talked about going to the park with daddy (two weeks ago), "rocks in the water. eeew duck. goose. ducks. baby duck. eat bagel. bagel gone!"

6. he has to be clean. he'll clean his hands and the table about 20 times during a meal. he won't climb on the couch if he sees crumbs. he'll pick trash up everywhere and find trashcans. he'll freak out if his hands get dirty.

7. he's very loving... when he wants to be. he kisses a mole on my arm every day, thinking it's a booboo. when the barney song, "i love you" comes on, he runs over to kiss and hug and cuddle.

meanwhile, we're constantly on the edge of a meltdown in one way or another, always trying to learn how to handle meltdowns and tantrums and feeling like i should start reading parenting books. so, so stubborn. 

i may not be teaching in school this year, but i'm pretty excited to get to teach him new things every day... and selfishly love that he loves the ridiculous things i come up with.

like this! inspired by pinterest, but using the supplies i had and adding a bit to it... super simple, but entertaining and easy for a pregnant mom :)

basically, the muffin tin has a different uppercase letter written in each cupcake liner. the eggs have matching lowercase letters written on the inside of them. i put the egg together, throw it... he runs to get it, opens it, tells me what letter it is, then finds the matching cupcake liner and puts it in the spot. 

works on gross motor (running), fine motor (opening the egg), and uppercase and lowercase letters. and he loved it!

andddd end micah-obsessed post.