Our little girl turns 2!

Wow I can't believe Nyah is already 2. She is looking so much like a little girl and less like a baby. Since Drew had to go out of town for a week, we celebrated Nyah's bday at both her grandparents' houses (her fave people in the world - Pita & Popo and Me-ma & Paw Paw).
Somehow my mom's name (Abuelita) got mixed up with the "arepitas" she always makes her...so Nyah associated the two and named her "Pita". She also just started calling Grandma (Smith) "Me-ma", which is really funny since none of us really like the term. Lisa doesn't mind though...we are just going to keep referring to her as grandma & hope she changes it on her own.

We went to this awesome playground at Tombass park. My mom has a blast drumming and entertaining Ezra, and I had fun re-living my childhood with Nyah.

This is one of the many b-day cakes she has eated in November. I think we have sang happy bday about 6 times. Two Nyah bdays, Philip, Lisa, Madison, and a Happy Bday Jesus bday at our church. Nyah seriously thinks there is a bday twice a week now.

Where else will your baby sleep peacefully next to an albino alligator?

The girls loved brushing the goats' hair in the petting zoo. Too bad Nyah brushed her own hair with it & then went on to put it in her mouth. hehe

I finally faced my fear of the bald eagle...apparently we ARE allowed to go in its cage. A year ago I promise it was standing on the wood railing, 6 foot wingspan and all, directing some type of angry eagle call at me. Clipped nails or not, I have been frightened of eagles ever since. haha

The Flinstones

We were super sick this year & had to miss Vanessa & Paul's wedding on the 31st, but I did get to take Nyah to our church's petting zoo that weekend when she was feeling a little better....and guess who I spotted there? $10 to the first person who can guess who it is.....


FYI: I really wanted to make a cute pumpkin for our yard & was pretty happy with my Noah's ark...even though it lived a whole 24 hours before the rain (& humidity!) took it over.

Yajaira's 25th B-day

I had a blast on my 25th. I haven't celebrated my bday in so long so it was so nice to have friends & family over. Drew made one of my favorite desserts - tres leches cake, and it was sooo delicious. He has since then been giving out his "secret" ingredient to those who ask for the recipe. Ezra had a little chat with his "future girlfriend" as we like to joke. This picture shows it all - serious guy falls for chatty girl, or at least that was how they were acting this time.

Ezra - 5 months

Our smily baby boy.

Ezra's first cereal

Ezra has never really liked baby cereal & absolutely prefers adult food. He would much rather be eating off my plate than the pureed veggies and rice. So far he really likes carbs, especially potatoes. Drew says its just because he's a meat n' taters sort of guy. As you can see, Nyah is following in his footsteps. Her fave new food is ribs, & she does a great job now that she has all of her baby teeth! Actually the moment she got all of her teeth, Ezra began teething for the first time, so..... here goes 2 more years of teething! haha.

Xavier & Maria's Wedding

Ethan & Ezra - the most handsome guys under 6 months

My beautiful sister

Yay, I'm not the only one married anymore! So excited for you two.

3 months post Ezra con.

Winnie the Pooh Ezra - his winning pose!

I have no idea what happened here...

Caught him on camera!

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Maria's Bridal Shower - so excited I'm getting a sister-in-law!

3 months post Ezra

1st time I took care of two sick kiddos


4th of July @ Steve & Shelly's

Ezra has the biggest smile! These pics only show half his smile...I still haven't caught it on camera. He started smiling when he was around 3 weeks old & hasn't stopped since! He is such a happy little guy by nature.

We survived the first month...

This guy is pretty cute but he sure is taking over my house.












I'm crazy!












1st time we went to church....had to bounce Ezra the whole time but it was great to get out.

1st month

Mother's Day

1st month

Why Ezra Alan?

Ezra's name is of Hebrew origin and means "helper". He's a pretty cool Bible character. He was a Jewish priest, writer, and teacher. He probably wrote the Old Testament books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. He was very faithful and had a gift for bringing people back to God. Plus we just think the name sounds cool.

Alan is a little comical Smith family tradition. Drew's dad (middle name) was supposed to be Allen, named after a relative. His mom spelled it wrong on the birth certificate - Alan. They fixed it when they named Drew's brother, Philip Allen. Now we are naming him with the "incorrect" spelling, after Drew's dad. If this sounds complicated, we'll just say we named him Alan because it means "handsome and cheerful", which of course he is. :)

First few days at home...

This is a picture of our first seedling we got from hybridizing daylillies. The spring/summer before Nyah was born, we began pollinating the flowers in our parents yard while we were living there for a short while. We were able to get a ton of seeds and planted them in Nyah's nursery under her cradle in our little apartment. The weekend she was born, we moved the little plants over to our parent's house for a long time until we were finally able to plant them. Now, 18 months & one baby later, we finally had our first flower bloom. What should we name this one? 'Welcome Home Ezra?'

Nyah & Ezra watching Sesame Street. :)

Nyah poking Drew with a stick of markers.

Our wonderful sleepy baby...gotta love those first two weeks.

Nyah telling her baby bro goodnight.

Baby Arrival Email

Hey everyone, we are finally home today (Sat) as of about 4pm.

Ezra Alan Smith was born 5:57am Thursday morning. Yajaira's water broke a day early, so we ran to the hospital at 2 in the morning. C-section went great and the little guy came out with absolutely no problems. He was 7lbs 1oz 18" long, brown hair, and not quite sure who he looks like. Possibly a little more like Yajaira, but it still is an early call. He is feeding/sleeping well (much easier than Nyah) to which Yajaira is very grateful for. We got a nice bit of sleep at nights, it was kinda weird. With everything going great so we came home early. Very excited to get home a little early to relax tonight. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers for us. Hope you enjoy the pics, plenty more to come in the coming months. (the hat on him goes quite nice if I do say so! Go TECH )

Thanks, Drew