Zac is 2!!!

Zac had his second birthday on Tax day - April 15th! We let him open two presents that morning... err... he found two of his presents in a Target bag and really wanted them so I let him. He has been obsessed with Toy Story 2 lately and so it was fitting for him to get a Woody and Jessie action figure - he loved them and played with them ALL day!

I was trying to get a picture of him playing but he kept turning so I couldn't get the picture

Brynley loved playing with them as well!

Hayden asked his teacher to make a crown for Zac like she does for all the kids in the class when it's their birthday. He was super excited to bring it home for him - it was so sweet even if his name is spelled wrong!

As is tradition in our family, we took Zac to Red Robin for his birthday. Unfortunately - we got to Red Robin with only one of Zac's red Crocs - but not to fear, we happened to have one of his brown sandals in the car as well. He didn't seem to mind that he spent the rest of the evening in two different shoes - I, on the other hand, was mortified! And of course I forgot my camera. Zac was thrilled when they brought him his own sundae and sang happy birthday just to him - he loved it!


We left Red Robin to go to our other Birthday destination - Krispy Kreme - yum! For those who don't know - you go on your birthday and get a free dozen glazed donuts. Thank you Zac for having a birthday so we could all benefit!

Saturday was the day for Zac's party. Meredith's sister in law Jeannie was in town from Georgia so we decided to combine Zac and Kate's birthdays and just do a small, relaxing family party. We also decided to break in the pool for the season --- unfortunatey, the heat pump broke the day before the party, thus the pool was still pretty cold. Needless to say (most) of the adults didn't swim - except Andy who was needed to supervise Zac in the pool. He is one brave man - that pool was COLD! The kids had a blast - especially Zac who WOULD NOT get out of the pool. That kid is crazy --- though I am super excited that he will enjoy the pool this summer as he hated it last summer!


Please excuse the pink pacifier you will see in most of the pictures! He had just woken up from a nap and wasn't too happy at first!

I was cracking up when I looked down and saw him looking like this!

The kids spent all night outside eating and playing - it was a perfect night and my house hardly got messed up because of it!

We had a great barbecue - burgers, hotdogs, beans, potato salad, watermelon, chips, guacamole - YUM!, and plenty of soda to go around. I made the kids a Strawberry Shortcake Cake (Found on The Pioneer Woman Blog) it was delish. Although I should say the cake was less a kid friendly cake and more a cake for the adults - you can do that when they're 2 and don't know any better! I think most of the kids ended up with Popsicles!

It was a Barney (Kate's favorite) and Elmo (Zac's favorite) party! (these cake picks were the only reference to the theme other than the red and purple balloons!)

Opening presents

Kate with her new shades!

Zac loved the hat Grandpa got him!

They had a great time opening their presents by the end of the night we had a great time celebrating the two little munchkins!

Singing to the kids - this is right before Zac decided to blow out the candle without even giving Kate a chance!

He just noticed Elmo!

Zac's 2 year old Stats (Are you ready for these stats???)
Height - 36 Inches - 90th percentile
Weight - 35 Pounds - 110th percentile!!!

Zac barely weighed 18 pounds when he went in for surgery at 14 months - and was sitting right at the zero percentile. My how this kid has grown! The doctor was shocked when he walked into the room and saw him, he said it was the most incredible change he has ever seen!!! I am pretty sure Zac skipped 2T clothes all together because he is now perfectly fitting into 3T!

The Bird Whisperer

We have a wreath on our front door - aka the door that is now off limits - due to the discovery inside of the wreath.

Look really close, do you see anything?

How about now? Do you see the nest?

Here is a closer look at our bird's nest, filled with 5 eggs... That's right 5! It must be a record or something.

The mama bird - who sits patiently on this branch any time someone comes to the front door and she has to flea the scene. Andy is quite the softy - I might have just moved the nest so as to not have to deal with the whole thing, but not Andy! Now, when these little birds are born - he gets to clean the bird poop off my front door!

We discovered the nest 2 or 3 weeks ago - now fast forward to last Saturday...

Andy was out taking care of the pool when he noticed this by the ladder of the slide:
Incase, you can't tell, it's a broken egg. Then he looks up at the ladder and sees a dove sitting on a rung, with an egg resting under her. Andy must have spooked her because she quickly flew away, knocking the egg off the ladder. But the Bird Whisperer came to the rescue and caught the egg mid-fall! He looked around to see that there was no sign of any kind of nest. So what do you think he did???

You guessed it... He came inside asking me for something to build a nest out of for a bird!

Can you see the mama bird in her new home?

A close-up shot of the bird in her "nest"

Notice the masking tape holding the nest to the ladder...

And the egg sits nice and cozy in it's nest!

Andy was afraid the bird might abandon the egg since he had touched it but nope - that bird seems to enjoy her man-made nest!

20 feet away, it looks like the papa bird met an untimely demise and crashed into the door! I guess Andy can't save 'em all!

Ashton Family Pictures

While in Utah a few weeks ago, Andy's Dad decided he would really like some family pictures taken. So, he and Sharon drove up from St. George since the whole family would be together. We didn't have a photographer or anything, so we decided to use the old tripod/timer trick. We were planning the pictures to be outside but that particular day it was snowing so inside it was at Mike and Kathy's house!

The best group shot we got of the whole family - of course Hayden had to be sticking his tongue out. It turned out that when we went back and looked at them all, he was sticking his tongue out in almost every one! That's what we get for not having a photographer to keep everyone behaved! Even with the tongue issue, I think the picture turned out fantastic!

Apparently everyone got the memo that this was the goofy shot except Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grand kids. From left to right Hayden - 6 1/2, Noah - 4, Koleson - 16, Clara - 15, Zac - 23 months, Henry - 12, and Brynley - 4.

Uncle Chris with the two munchkins! Chris is the brother right above Andy - he is 8 years older than Andy - he doesn't have any kids and is recently divorced and my kids have taken quite a liking to him!

Trying to get a family picture of us with Sharon and Henry - Zac was about done!

Hayden, Henry and Clara goofing around for the camera

Andy's oldest brother David and his wife Ashley with their son Noah

Andy's second oldest brother Mike and his wife Kathy and their kids

I thought this was the funniest picture, I don't think anyone knew Hayden was behind the couch popping up in some of the pictures!