four [ezra sparrow]

our sparrow is four.  

this spunky girl keeps us on our toes with her strong & yet sensitively spirited ways.  she is surprisingly independent & can spend hours alone, talking to herself, entertaining herself with daydreams & playing in the dirt/collecting rocks.  and yet, she's enamored with all things family/mama/baby related & cries the saddest tears when i sing "sweet baby james" because she knows its about a cowboy who misses his mama.  her artwork is fascinating - usually abstract, but with a detailed story to accompany it.  

she's fiercely stubborn, fiercely loving & brings us more delight than we ever could have wished for.

here are some of my favorite recent ezra quotes:

(yawning in the morning) "this isn't a tired yawn, its a wake up yawn" 

"when baby sneezes i say 'special bless you' because she's so special"

"God made some people with no arms, but no people with no heads"

"when baby selah grows up we will really miss our baby"

to both parents: "did you know, the more you get bigger the more you get fatter. I know because I see you guys a lot." 

"mama, what comes after thirty-twelve?"

"i don't want to help with diapers, i want to hold the baby because that's cuter"

ezra: "i love you around the galaxy two times, mama"

daniel: "and me?"

ezra: "one time"

"when selah was in your belly, it was hummmmmmmmongous.  your shirt couldn't cover your belly so your pants had to help it - like teamwork!"

celebrating 3 [ezra sparrow]

we celebrated ezra's 3rd birthday with a small party of cousins, friends, tacos, pin-the-hat-on-the-birthday-girl & a cake with a rainbow teapot with a bird flying over it (as requested by ms. sparrow) 

ezra expounds [age 2]

celebrating two [ezra sparrow]

we celebrated ezra sparrow's 2nd birthday with a late summer backyard hot dog roast, birthday hats, cousins & dirt dessert.  

 

seasons [ezra & amanda]

nine months [ezra sparrow]

[ezra with her papa at her uncle ben's wedding

picture by one of my very oldest friends adam giese]

While we were busy traversing the globe & visiting loved ones, our sweet sparrow turned nine months old.  At nine months she's the perfect huggable size -  sturdy enough to squeeze, but not squirmy enough to wiggle away.  Unfortunately, she's a total mama's girl, so not many others get to enjoy her tiny hugs right now.  She's not very mobile yet, still content to sit on the floor in one place (thank you, little one!).  When she does move, its a bum scoot rather than a crawl.  She hums while she nurses & as she's falling asleep.  She doesn't seem to like baby food, but goes to town on rice, noodles, & yogurt bites.  She doesn't sleep through the night, but she smiles wide & giggles all day long to make up for it.

family photos [eight years!]

A few months ago, our lovely friend Chatti from Savady Photography took these beautiful, vibrant family photos for us.  We've really loved getting to know Chatti & her TJ, who played with Daniel in the Grass Snake Union band as the guitarist/lead singer.  

They've run off to Italy to get married & we sure do miss their presence in our lives here.

When we were thinking about locations for a green photo shoot in this urban jungle, we realized that the University of Agriculture, where Daniel & I taught when we first moved to Cambodia, would be the perfect place!  

So we took shots in the crop test plots, probably the only corn field in Phnom Penh!

When I saw the pictures, I nearly cried because Chatti did such an amazing job of capturing the sweetness of our little Cedar & Ezra Sparrow & the deep love we have for our family.

And now, the day I am finally getting to posting these, just happens to be our eighth wedding anniversary.  Thinking back to that beautiful, sunny Vancouver day, its crazy to think of all the incarnations our life together has had.  From Ft. Langley, to New York City, to Terrace in northern BC, & now to Cambodia.

We've spent more than half of our married days here, in this chaotic city where we've become a family & built a home.  I think we will treasure these pictures in the years to come - such lovely snapshots into the deep joy we're been given for this season.

dedicated

[phnom penh home church: december 2012]

We were filled with joy to dedicate our Ezra Sparrow with our home church community here in Phnom Penh.  Just like with our Cedar, we felt that it was important to say out loud, in the presence of our community of believers, that are we are grateful for the gift that Ezra is to our family, and that on our own, we are completely insufficient for the task of raising her.  We are now, and will continue to be, dependent on the grace & wisdom of God and the love & support of the church (in whatever form that takes for Ezra in the years ahead), in our endeavor to raise her well.  We are so thankful that she was born into this beautiful community & pray that she will find shelter & encouragement in the body of Christ her whole life long.

[dedicating our sparrow, as captured by julia's iPhone: may 2013]

A Reading of Dedication

Ezra Sparrow Talstra

Leader: Daniel and Amanda, God has given you the beautiful gift of a child.

Amanda and Daniel: We joyfully accept His gift.

Group: We join you in thanksgiving

Leader: This gift is also a great responsibility.

Amanda and Daniel: With God's grace, we accept this responsibility. We will depend on God to love Ezra unconditionally, to have patience with ourselves and with her, to care for her well, and to accept the help of our community.

Group: As your church community in Cambodia, we will help. We will happily hold Ezra, change diapers, read stories, and most of all have grace with you as you learn about caring for your children.

Leader: Jesus said: let the little children come to me. [Luke 18:16]

Amanda and Daniel: We commit to teaching Ezra about Jesus, and living in a way that demonstrate to her God's peace, compassion, generosity and service.

Group: On behalf of your future church and communities as Ezra grows, we will also provide Christ-like examples to Ezra.

Group: Daniel and Amanda, Don't you see that children are God's best gift; the fruit of the womb, His generous legacy? O, how blessed are you, parents! [Psalm 127:3-4]

Amanda and Daniel: We prayed for this child. And now we give you, Ezra, to the Lord.

Everyone: Amen!

five months [ezra sparrow]

she's a keeper [ezra at four months]

while we weren't looking someone sneakily replaced our sleepy newborn with a bright-eyed, chubby, crazy smiling four-month old.

ezra sparrow at four months is an absolute delight.  she fills her time cooing for hours (quite loudly, actually!) every morning & has officially grown up & out of all her newborn clothes.  she spends a lot time smiling (her baby-experienced oma says she may be the smiliest baby she's ever seen) & begins every crazy-eyed, happy smile with her mouth wide open, like she's trying to swallow the whole-wide beautiful world.

she adamantly refuses bottles & pacifiers, which means she can never be away from her mama too long, but she happily sucks on pinky fingers to help her fall asleep.  she still loves to be swaddled at night & shrieks like a little girl at the slightest appearance of a wet diaper.  

this month, we love her smiles, we love how content she is, & we love that she's ours for keeps.

dancing ezra [three months]

happy three months, our sweet, smiley, sleepy sparrow!

ezra sparrow & cedar james at three months

[see a resemblance?]

& all your 2,000 parts

& all your 2,000 parts [part 2]

two months [ezra sparrow]

 Little Ezra is already two months old.  In some ways, it seems like she's always been with us, but in other ways we're all still learning what it means to be a family of 4 & how ezra's joining us is reshaping us into something new & different.  It's been a really great month (I love maternity leave!) hanging out with this little lady & learning more about her.

Some thoughts on our little sparrow at 2 months:

• she has very dramatic hand movements, especially when she is sleeping.  cambodians like to joke that she is practicing to be an apsara dancer.
• she still sleeps a LOT, but sometimes she stays awake for a bit & we get to see her big, round blue eyes
• she's been learning how to smile & gives us huge, wide mouthed grins (a bit crazy looking, actually!) from time to time
• she's still a long & skinny baby, but is just starting to get some cute leg rolls
• she seems to sleep better on the go, in her sling with mama, than she does at home lying down in a quiet place. for now, its awesome! & we've been on a lot of sleepy coffee dates together. 
• her cries often end with cute little squeaks that remind us of a dog toy!

one month [ezra sparrow]

[our sweet sparrow at one month]

baby ezra has had an eventful first month!  she spent two weeks in bangkok visiting with her grandparents before hopping on a plane to finally return to her nest in phnom penh.  the next two weeks were spent with more visiting with grandparents & a bit of traveling (kep & prey veng), as well as getting to meet her loving cambodian community.  she weathered the changes well....probably because she seemed to be sleeping nearly all the time.  

we likely won't have many wide-eyed pictures of our sleepy little girl from this first month, but we don't mind!  her peaceful demeanor has helped to ease our transition to a family of 4 (especially with a big brother who just discovered the full meaning of the word tantrum) & who doesn't love holding a little bundled newborn, anyway?

[picture by steve chee}

 
it might be short lived though- after examining ezra, our doctor told us that he thinks she is going to be a very active child.  she measured in this month at a little over 8 pounds; the perfect size for all the sweet newborn clothes we've received (& which I'm sure she won't be able to wear next month at this time).  we'll hold on tight to these lovely newborn days while we can - welcome to our family little girl, we've enjoyed getting to know you (or rather, hold you while you slept all day) this month.

and a bonus picture - little ezra throwing the peace sign!  she's just following in the family line with a mama who works with peace projects & a big brother who also proclaimed his peace child status at an early age. 

homeward bound

[bringing our baby bird home]

held helper [ezra sparrow talstra]

miss ezra sparrow talstra

born september 10, 2012

3.3 kg [7 lbs 4 oz]

48 cm [19 in]

We chose this name for you, Ezra Sparrow, because we want you to know that from the moment you were born God's hands have been helping & holding you.

EZRA: In the bible Ezra was a prophet & a scholar.  His name means "helper" & is also short for "God is my helper". Ezra helped to gather God's people from exile & helped to lead them in rebuilding the temple wall which had been broken & destroyed.  When we call you Ezra it is a prayer that your whole life would be rooted in our Lord, your faithful helper.  And out of this rootedness, we pray that you will grow to be a helper & a healer, helping to rebuild what has been destroyed & bringing restoration where there is brokenness.

SPARROW: A line in an old gospel hymn summarizes Jesus' words & says "His eye is on the sparrow & I know he watches me" (Matthew 10).  You, little sparrow, are a picture of this promise to us.  We have felt God's hand on you even before you were born & celebrate His faithfulness in giving you life.  When we call you Sparrow it is a prayer that you would find blessed assurance & peace in the great love of our God & that that knowledge would bring you comfort for all the days of your life.

Ezra, we pray that you be a helper.  Sparrow, know that God is always with you.  

We anticipate with joy watching you grow.