Cookies with Eric!

My cousin Eric was staying here a few weeks ago. It was hard to figure out things to do with a teenager and a couple of little kids. He was pretty excited to help us make cookies.

The girls watching Eric's mad mixing skills!

Brynley using the mixer as the others look on

Eric thought the cookie "ice cream" scoop was pretty cool! He did a great job making perfect cookie balls.

Yum!

The finished product - perfect Nestle Toll house Cookies! Eric was so excited when they were done, he got a plate and piled 7 or 8 cookies on top - they were gone in a just a few minutes!

Eric must be deprived of junk food at home. One night when we were playing games he asked where my candy was. (I had given him a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup the night before) I told him to look in the cabinet by the microwave - his eyes almost pooped out of his head when he saw what awaited him! I had just restocked our candy supply. He said, "Wo, you are so lucky, you have a whole candy cabinet!) I explained to him that he too could have a cabinet of candy when grew up and got married! Oh, and this was about 30 minutes after downing his 4th Krispy Kreme Donut! (Sorry Aunt Lori and Uncle Scott, hopefully we didn't corrupt him too badly)

Zac and Kate's Birthday Party

A tale of two beautiful 1 year olds...

(For the record, no I do not have twins. One of my Facebook friends thought Zac and Kate were both mine, no way! Not that I don't love Kate like my own but I am not cut out for twins!)

Zac turned 1 on April 15th while Kate will be turning 1 on May 6th. Aunt Shelly, Uncle Joe, and Grandma Nadene were all in town last weekend so we decided to have a combined birthday party. We also had the Rogers and the Myers come over who might as well be family and my dad was able to attend as well.

Zac and Kate did a little wrestling before the party actually started. Zac quickly ruined her hair! I made a fresh lemon cake for the party goers, while Meredith made individual cakes for the birthday kids - notice the cute polka dots colored to match the kid's outfits!

Kate was the only one who actually enjoyed the outdoor photoshoot. Meredith will probably post more of those pictures, Zac was not a happy camper!

We went with a spread of salads for the luncheon. They were divine - Chinese Chicken Salad, Chicken and fruit pasta salad, fruit salad, Strawberry Poppyseed Spinach salad, Cowboy Caviar with chips, and rolls. The kids weren't thrilled but most of the adults enjoyed the meal. (The ladies did anyway, Andy thought it was a poor excuse of a meal!) The lemon cake was wonderful paired with sherbet or vanilla ice cream!

Zac and Kate both enjoyed the present opening, they got some very fun stuff. Kate's big present was a red wagon, the kids had fun pulling the two babies all over the house!

The Cake... Zac is known to have an aversion to certain foods and textures (most foods and textures). I was a little leery of how he would deal with the cake thing. He put his hand on it and then proceeded to try to wipe the frosting off, thus getting more frosting on his hands because he was rubbing his hands on the cake. He noticed Kate eating her cake and decided to try some. He seemed to semi-like it for a few minutes after which time the cake ended up on the floor! Typical Zac for ya!

After the cake, we had a pool party. Zac was so tired I decided to put him down for his nap so that I could have fun with the party guests! We had a couple of near drownings which ended with both Kristin and I in the pool, fully clothed. Everyone was safe and had a great time!

Happy Birthday to the two cutest 1 year olds ever!

Zac's 1-year stats: Zac has gained a bit of weight since his 9 month appointment.

Weight : 18 lbs. 9 oz . - 3rd percentile

Height : 28 inches - 25th Percentile

(He has finally doubled his bith weight! Most babies do this by 6 months)

Zac is being referred to a gastroenterologist to help deal with his constipation and vomiting. The doctor has ordered that we push juice as much as possible to try to loosen his stools and keep him hydrated. It goes against my parenting style to allow juice in a little baby's diet but it sure seems to be helping. He is still having trouble with his bowel movements but they're happening none the less!

Family Night - Bowling

We had so much fun bowling for family night. This was our first time taking the kids and they absolutely loved it! When we gave Brynley her shoes she said, "Ooh, these shoes are cute!" She was excited that we got to wear the same shoes. Brynley was hilarious the whole time. Each time she let the ball go, she would turn around with this weird look and put her hands over her eyes and shake her head back and forth. It was the funniest thing to watch, I caught a little bit of it on camera below.

Notice in the bottom right picture, Brynley's bum crack. The poor thing has an extra long bum crack due to the dimple in her lower back from birth. It really does not go well with low rise jeans/pants. Hopefully by the time it matters, high waisted pants will be the "in" thing! She is showing her crack on a daily basis as it is now...

Some fun bowling shots

Thinking about...

...my mom today. Fours years ago today, on a beuatiful Saturday morning, she passed away.

The day after Easter Hayden asked, "Why didn't Grandma Sue come back? I thought she was supposed to come back from Heaven on Easter." Sweet boy.

The other day as we were driving to the cemetery Brynley was talking about how Grandma Sue was burried. My Grandma said to her, who was she married to? Brynley said, "Her legs, and her body because she died." There was a little breakdown in that communication but we got it.

My mom would love being with her grandkids, they miss her. I miss her.

One year ago today....

...our sweet little Zac was born. At 8 pounds 9 ounces, he was our biggest baby yet! Labor and delivery were rather uneventful. I was due on April 29th but I knew I would have him sometime between the 13th - 16th. My doctor didn't believe me, but I knew.

This photo shoot was from when Zac was 11 days old

So much has changed...

Picture taken two days before his first birthday

I love the newborn curled up pose on Daddy

So little...

Zac's first bath

2 Weeks old

1 Month

First real deliberate smile

Blessing Day

4 Months

5 Months

Halloween 2008

6 Months - Playing Peek a Boo

7 Months

9 Months - one of my favorite pictures

11 months - Zac loves drinking his bottle this way on Daddy's lap!

He loves swimming!

Easter 2009

Happy Birthday my big boy!

I'll update tomorrow on his growth, puking, and constipation tomorrow after we see the doctor!

Riding Bikes in the Rain!

Rain is a novelty here, especially in the Spring. We get some good monsoons in the summer but it's usually pretty hot and it is a lot of rain! Last Saturday we had a good old fashioned Spring rain storm. Hayden's first T-ball game was cancelled and so he asked me if they could ride bikes in the rain. I had one of those Mommy moments - you know the one where all you can think about is what a mess it will be? And you can see the mud splattered up the back of their shirts and into their hair from the back tire? Well, I pushed the thoughts aside and said sure, it will be fun! And so the kids had a fantastic time, 3 hours were spent riding through puddles and getting muddy up to their ears, it was definitely a fun way to spend a Saturday!

Bryn looks so sweet

Easter Activities!

This is a few days late, I know...

We had a great Easter this year. The kids started the festivities Friday morning with our annual Playgroup Easter Egg hunt. The big kids had the day off from school so it was fun to have them participate. Here's a picture of most of the kids together:

Brynley was hilarious looking for eggs. She would pick an egg up and shake it to See if it was worth keeping. If she didn't hear a lot in the egg, she would drop it and move on. She came upon one egg and after shaking it was very confused, she opened it to find only one M&M inside. Not wanting anyone else to be disappointed with the egg I'm sure, she took the M&M and ate it, then dropped the egg on the ground!
Brynley on her hunt

All three kids after the hunt. Why can't I get a picture with all of them looking at the camera???

Hayden looking for eggs

Kate and Zac having their eggs filled with Kix and Pirate's Booty!

Mom and Zac sitting on the blanket

Hayden and Bryn dying eggs with help from Aunt Shelly. They are both shirtless because I didn't want them to get dye on their shirts!

Brynley carefully pulling out her blue egg

Neither of the kids really cared what their eggs looked like, it too them about 10 minutes to dye all the eggs and they were off. Maybe sometime they'll care about them looking cool.

The following pictures are a bit out of order. (If I move them, you can't click on them later and that bugs me so they stay out of order.)

Sunday morning before church with Dad. Thankfully Andy didn't have meetings Easter morning (thank you to the powers that allowed that to happen!) I am usually on my own getting all of us ready and out the door by 8:15 but here is everyone at 7:55, thanks to a little help from Dad!

Brynley and Dad

Easter basket, all Hayden really wanted was Peeps, and he got them!

All of the kids got some fun pool toys in their baskets

Zac and Dad

Seriously, is this the best I could get??? No, but I thought it was cute.

Me and my girl!

After church we had a good time swimming and we had the best Easter dinner ever! It was a good Easter for sure!