Resolutions....

I'm a terrible blogger. There. I said it. My last post was about Zach's birthday party, and here it is nearly half a year later. I could give a bunch of excuses about work and responsibilities and being tired after chasing after a 1 year old with boundless energy all the time, but those would just be excuses....

So, here I am with my New Year's resolutions.

1. Eat better. I know most people make this resolution in the context of losing weight, but I'm not focusing on that. I just want to do a better job of cooking healthy foods and making sure we're all eating as healthfully as possible. I hate the idea of eating fast food more than once a week or eating junk often. Right now we're not doing horrible, but we definitely have room for improvement...

2. Make time for things that I enjoy. This includes blogging. I feel like I get so caught up in responsibilities, like work, house stuff, taking care of Zach, etc. that sometimes I forget that once upon a time I was a reasonably well rounded person with interests and hobbies. More than anything, I guess my goal is to find some balance and find ways to not be stressed out all the time.

Lofty goals, huh?

I hope everyone has a wonderful start to the New Year!

Zach's Birthday!!!

We had Zach's first birthday party the Saturday before his actual birthday (which is July 26). It was a great success! It was a baseball theme, and it was a lot of work but a lot of fun. We had the party at our house, and because the Kroger's bakery wanted an astronomical amount of money for a couple dozen cupcakes plus a cake for Zach, Heidi and I made all the baked goods. Keeping in with the baseball theme, we served ball park food: hamburgers, hot dogs with coney sauce, giant pickles, soft pretzels, and nachos. Zach had a blast; he likes big groups of people, especially when all eyes are on him. Plus, some of our friends that have children the same age came, so he had lots of playmates. He received a lot of great toys and books, which is wonderful because we read 4-5 books a night with him - so it was good to add to our repetoire. My mom and Heidi went together to get him a sandbox, which he absolutely loves. And Chris and I got him a swingset. He plays on it at least twice a day, so it was a great present.

I can't believe my baby is already a year old. It seems like yesterday that he was all brand new and squishy-faced, and now he talks and runs and dances and jumps and climbs. And has opinions on EVERYTHING. He's got 6 teeth and is working on 4 more, and absolutely refuses to eat any pureed baby food. He's tall and handsome and looks like his Daddy with my brown eyes. It's amazing how fast this year has gone by, and I can only imagine how fast the years will continue to grow...



This is the picture I used for his party invitations.


A glimpse of all the cupcakes and Zach's cake: We had baseball caps, baseballs, and Zach had his very own baseball diamond. It took a long time to make, but was fun for Heidi and I to do and infinitely cheaper than the bakery...



Happy birthday to you!

He wasn't quite sure what to do at first...

But he got into it pretty fast.

Mmmmm...... icing.....

And he even shared with Mommy! And don't we look cute in our matching Braves shirts! Chris had one on as well, so we were all matchy-matchy!

Next week we go back to work, which I'm kind of dreading. But it's one of those things where once it just starts I know it won't be too bad. It just seems like summer went by so fast!

The Zoo

On July 9th my Dad turned 49. So when Heidi and I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he got very thoughtful and said that he'd like to go to the zoo with his grandbabies. So that's what we did! We even managed to go about a week before his birthday, when the high was about 75. It was a perfect day for it, the kids did way better than anticipated, and we all had fun! Kaylan really like the lemurs of all things; she thought they were hilarious! Zach was intrigued by a lot of the animals, but he was partial to the dolphins, tiger, and monkeys. But his favorite part was probably the petting area, where he got face to face with some goats and a giant Flemish rabbit that had to weigh 30 pounds. Now, my batteries in the camera died out about halfway through the trip, so I don't have pictures of everything. But Heidi does, and she should be posting them on Facebook in the near future, so be sure to check them out!


An iguana in the desert biome. Kaylan found it really interesting, Zach not so much.

Zach and I in the underwater viewing area for the dolphins (which is why the background appears to be black). He thought it was really cool when the dolphins swam overhead.

At the dolphin show. He did really good here and didn't get fussy at all. KayKay slept through most of it but did manage to see the end of the show.

This is Zach walking up to the doors for the dolphin show. We thought he might like to stretch his legs, and he just took off up the ramp. In fact, Chris had to run to catch him! He's a fast little man, especially when he's interested in something. And he just had to see where all those people were going!!!

Checking out the giraffes.

This is from when we first got to the zoo. They couldn't understand why we went to all the trouble of driving there and putting them in the double stroller only to stand around and take pictures for 5 minutes...

This is the bear exhibit. Zach was talking up a storm. I'm assuming he was asking questions, but since everything comes out "Da-Da, Ba-Ba, Ma-Ma" I have no idea... You can't see it in the picture, but Jeremy is holding Kaylan just out of frame. And she was responding to Zach's questions with her own "Da-Ba-Ma's". Or maybe she was asking questions and Zach was answering?

This is towards the end of the trip. Look how tired they are!

This is the best shot of the double stroller we rented. They had to sit side by side, and not a single fight ensued! I was proud of them both!!!

The Pool

This is the first in a short series of updates.... in short, the babies like the pool! Mom got them a little baby pool to play in, and they adore the water! In fact, we even got Zach a pool of his very own to keep at his house. We've taken them both to the city pool as well, and while Kaylan wasn't as big a fan as Zach, they both were definitely in favor of it. Heidi and I are going to do swimming lessons with them next summer, we think. So here we go!

Uncle Chris (aka Daddy) with Zach and Kaylan after playing in the pool...

What's that stuff on your face, Uncle Chris?

You'll notice that Zach has ALL the toys by him and KayKay is just sitting there. It appears to be a theme in their relationship. However, she can crawl now, so she's becoming a little more assertive in going after the stuff she wants. And in getting away from him once she's got it. It's really quite comical...

That's my Mom playing with them... she just eats it up! Even when they splash her. Which happens a lot...

Here's my beautiful niece lounging in the pool. Just look at that beautiful Buddha belly and those gorgeous chubby thighs... the boys will swoon, I tell ya!

And yes, that's Zach's foot right by here. I don't think he was trying to kick her... I don't think....

The Sprinkler

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves....

Tubes, Easter, and More!

Well, the procedure for Zach's ears went extremely well. He hasn't had any ear problems since then, and we've noticed a huge improvement in his hearing. He's also trying to talk more and says DaDa pretty well! I really think he would have had a language delay if we hadn't gone ahead with the tubes! He enjoyed Easter and my Grandma Carolyn's 70th birthday party, although he couldn't figure out why everyone was so excited to find eggs. He can take about 2-4 steps by himself before he falls down now, so I think he'll probably be walking completely on his own by the end of May.

On to pictures! You can't tell it here but he's got one tooth on top as well...

Going for a walk - one of his most favorite things to do!

Unraveling the toilet paper... another one of his most favorite things to do!

Unlike walks, this is decidedly NOT one of my favorite things - although it is pretty funny!

My boys matching!

Easter eggs with Daddy

Yes, he's knawing on it with the shell still on... yes, it turned his mouth blue... but look at that fantastic swirly dye job! That's all me!!!

With Heidi and Kaylan at Carolyn's birthday party... Kaylan wasn't having a fun night and Zach can't figure out what her problem is!

Getting ready to go to the party!

Me and Zach... I think we look alike here.

5 more weeks of school... hopefully I'll have more time for posts by then!

Spring Break Updates

Sorry I haven't been a very good blogger lately! I just realized it's been a month since I posted our sledding pics! But we've had a LOT going on!

Update 1: Zach has been eating a lot of "real" food for a while now. He really likes it and always grabs the spoon out of your hand and tries to do it himself. Our babysitter keeps telling me I shouldn't let him do that, but I figure how else will he learn to feed himself if you don't let him get a little practice? Besides, I know who cleans up around this joint, and she doesn't mind the mess!!!



These are a Garden Veggie mix (which I think has green beans, peas, spinach, and some rice). He really likes it! Of course, his favorites are fruit, but we make a point to get in lots of veggies every day... in fact, he's better about eating his vegetables than his daddy is!



Update 2: Zach can CRAWL!!!!!!!!!! He started about a month ago, and now the little monster can really MOVE! If you're doing the math, that means he started crawling at a little over 6 months. In this picture, I was trying to change his diaper, which of course is a totally challenging experience now that he's mobile! We've been trying to babyproof the house, but it seems like every time we turn around he finds something else we need to take care of. On the plus side, he is starting to learn what NO means...... not that it slows him down all that much. He usually just looks at you with this rotten little grin and continues to do whatever he isn't supposed to be doing!


Update 3: He's also pulling up and trying to walk! He can stand alone for a few seconds at a time, but he's not great at that yet! But he is really good at pulling up, and he's starting to figure out walking around while holding on to whatever he pulled up on. But the funniest thing is when he pulls up and just lets go to stand on his own.... his face is a mix of triumph and concentration and laughter... laughter because he knows he's going to fall right on his bottom! And when he does, he gets right back up and does it again! Everyone that sees him think he'll be walking within the next few months.... so we'll have even more babyproofing to do!

Update 4: When he starts to get tired, he really likes to be read to. Before, he wasn't really that interested in reading; he'd rather play! But now he really likes it, and we read 2 or 3 books a night. I think he likes it when Chris does it better, because Chris does better voices than I do! Except for Chris' pirate voice, which always makes him pout and cry!

Update 5: The poor little fella, for all his new milestones, hasn't been that healthy. About a month ago, we had to take him to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with RSV. Luckily they didn't have to keep him, and we just had to do nebulizer treatments with him for about 2 weeks. Apparently there were 2 little boys at the sitter with RSV, and it just passed right along to him. The most frustrating part for me (aside from the sitter allowing those contagious little boogers to come and spread their germs to Zach and 3 other kids) was that 3 days before we took him to the hospital I had taken him to the pediatrician because he wasn't feeling well and I knew he'd been exposed... and they told me he was fine except for an ear infection! And speaking of ear infections, because he's had 6 in his short little 7 1/2 months, he's going to have tubes put in on Wednesday. The specialist doing it is really nice and I've heard a lot of good things, but I'm still a nervous wreck about it. I guess the whole procedure only takes 5 minutes, but they do have to put him to sleep for it. So keep us in your thoughts on Wednesday!!!

Snow and Sledding....

With all the snow we had over the weekend, we decided to take Zach sledding for the first time! Don't worry, we were extra careful with him!

Okay, this first picture has nothing to do with sledding or snow... Zach's been chewing on his toes for a while now, but this is the first good picture I've gotten of it. It just makes me laugh!!!

The two of us at the bottom of the hill.

Going down the hill. Look how huge he looks when I hold him!

Going down with Daddy..

At the bottom of the hill coming back up...

In his snow suit with Daddy. He had fun but wasn't crazy about the cold.... I guess he's like his Mommy that way! Considering that tonight we're supposed to get 4-8 more inches, we might give it another go!!!