A few pics from the CO Trip!!!!!

These first 3 pictures are from the Durango train ride that we went on - we had a lot of fun.  Les was fighting a cold and didn't go outside while the train was in motion, but I did and got some shots.  I have a lot of pics from this ride, but didn't want to post all of them!  hahaha

This is a frozen lake - part of it has already started to unthaw.

Here is Les and I while on the train!

Here is a really sharp turn that we made - you can see the front of the train coming around and getting ready to go around another sharp turn.  We went through these curves VERY slowly b/c it's a tight squeeze.  You can see the Animas River below us.  We followed the River the whole way up - it was beautiful!

Here are pictures from our drive to Colorado Springs f/ Durango

Here is a mountain range that we went through - it was one of the prettiest drives that I have ever been on.  We did hit a patch of ice, but I saw it coming and had slowed down before we got to it and we basically coasted over it - I could feel the car slide some.

Here is a tunnel that we went through - Les took this picture - pretty cool!

Here is another shot of the mountains that we went through.  It was like a 5 -6 hour trip.

We stopped at a spot by the River where guys were fishing for trout.  We stopped to use the bathroom and stretch our legs.  Here is me!

Les had wandered off and I had climbed down to the river to enjoy the sounds and have a snack.  I was walking back up and saw these deer getting water.  There were 8 of them.  I just watched them and then Les started heading back to me and he got some pictures of them.  They weren't scared of us and just stood there.  It was pretty cool!

Royal Gorge

I got scared when we went to get on this little train.  You rode in these cages down a really steep hill and I didn't like the "cage".  I stayed at the top and this is Les taking a picture up from the bottom.

This is the Royal Gorge bridge.  We had just ridden the sky tram across the sides.  That was a little scary b/c your crammed in this tram and then suspended over 1000 ft above the water.  It was fun once we took off and were going.  It was a very smooth ride and we got to see some beautiful scenery.  :)

Pike's Peak Cog Railway

This was looking up from 12,000 ft.  We couldn't go any further b/c of the snow covering the tracks.  They literally blow up the snow in the mornings to hopefully get as far as they can.  We got up up the furthest they had been in 2 months; which was a little over 12,000 ft.  Breathtaking views!!!!!!

We loved how blue the sky was - so dark and clear!  You couldn't look out the window without sunglasses on - it was just too bright.

This is where we stopped; which was in 10 ft of snow.  I opened our window and put my initials in the snow!  hahahaha  :)

This is looking out across from Pike's Peak - just gorgeous.  There is a glare b/c those people didn't have their window down.  :(

Garden of the Gods

Les and I hiked and road horses through the Garden of the Gods.  It was beautiful in here, but I LOVED the horses the best.  :)  Here is a picture of me posing for Les.  haha

Here is Les posing for me!

I believe that this might have been taking while I was on the horse.

This is the "kissing camels" 

Hope you enjoyed our trip to CO pictures.  We have a ton more, but I can't post everything, so I hope that you enjoyed what I did pick out!!!

So excited!!!!

Our vacation is about to start and we're getting super excited!  For the most part, we're all packed and ready to go.  Our little man is going to be staying with his grammy and poppy for the week.  I know that he's going to have a blast!!!  We've been away from him before, so this won't be the first time.  The first time that we left him was 5 days.  He cried when I picked him up and of course, I cried too........LOL  When Les got home the next day, Zachary teared up and I cried b/c of how he missed Les too.  :)  Some people may not know, but my whole life, I have been a very easy crier.  I try my best to hide that b/c I feel that it makes me look weak, but sometimes, I just have to cry.  Not sure how I got into that discussion, oh well.....hahahaha

I hope that you have a great week and I'm going to try to blog some while we're gone, but not sure how much internet we'll have the whole time.  We're planning on packing our days full of stuff, trying out new "hole in the wall" restaurants (I'm totally excited about this!), etc. 

So, have a great week!!!!!!!!!  :)

He Has Risen!

Our Lord Jesus Christ rose today!  Thank you, Jesus for dying on the cross for MY sins and everyone elses' too.  You have paid the ultimate price for me to be able to be forgiven and to be able to spend eternity with You in Heaven once my life on Earth is over.

Mathew 28:6," He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and remembers the TRUE reason we celebrate this season.  The Easter bunny is fun, but do remember your blessings. 

I love you, Lord!!!!

PlayGroup Easter Party & Egg Hunt

Today we had our playgroups Easter Party and Egg Hunt.  We had fun playing, decorating easter eggs, eating lunch, and having an easter egg hunt too!!!

I actually had my camera AND took pictures!  When I got home, I had taken 56 pics - WOW!!!  Here are a few pics from our morning with our friends.  :)

Here is Zachary and Logan talking to each other.  Not sure what they were telling each other, but they were really babbling away.  They were both also banging on the window and having a good time!

Here is Zachary playing with the slide.  He has just recently been introduced to slides and he seems to be enjoying them. 

Here is mommy and son playing throughout the easter egg hunt.

Here is Zachary - he was actually taking eggs out of Lola's easter basket.  He was having fun taking them out and sometimes putting them back in and sometimes throwing them......hahahaha

Here is Lola and Zachary exchanging eggs - they were just sitting there playing with each other.  I thought it was super cute!

Here is our normal group shot picture of all the kids - they always seem to really dislike this!  It's so funny b/c they would have just been playing and smiling, but just start crying once we try to get them altogether for a picture.  So funny!!!

Hope you have a Happy Easter - remember - Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life in Heaven.  Remember that this is the real reason we have Easter.  Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for my sins.  What a special gift!

Fishing!

Yay, I was so excited to get to go out on the boat today and go fishing - I LOVE fishing.  My grandpa (dad's dad) taught me how to fish YEARS ago!!!!!  Everytime that we would go to visit, my first request after hugging everyone was for my grandpa to take me fishing.  Usually he would take me for a little while and then I would get several more fishing extravaganzas in while there.  hahahahaha

Well, today, Les took me fishing while he was scouting around.  I sat in the boat and fished while he walked around.  Within 10 minutes, I already had 2 catfish.  I kept one and through one back.  I was very excited!!  Thank you, mom, for watching Zachary while I went fishing for a few hours.

6 days till we leave!!!!!!!!!  :)

I just found this picture of Les, Zachary and I.  I think it's just too cute!  This is from Christmastime, I believe.

Hope that you're enjoying this beautiful day!  We went to the doc this morning and poor baby has a throat infection and is asleep right now.  However, his ears are clearing up, so that's a big praise!

It's Snowing..........AGAIN!

It's beautiful outside here!  We have, I don't know, probably about 6 inches of snow.  I'm not really sure, but it's swirling around outside from all the wind - that's really neat looking! 

Zachary and I are staying home and staying warm.  He already has fluid in his ears and I'm trying to keep it from turning into an ear infection, so we'll stay safe and stay in.  Les has to work today from 11 - 8, so he has to get out in it.  Glad it's him and not me!  Of course, I'm sure that that many people won't be wanting to get their cars worked on, but it is family and friends day at Sears.

I'm watching Les and Zachary play with the bubbles - I guess that is another advantage of having wood floors.

Oh, this morning, Zachary climbed up onto the coffee table from his little Pooh couch - it was so funny!  He just climbed up to his daddy's lap by climbing up the Pooh couch.  The daredevil part of Zachary is coming out - OH NO!!!!!!  hahahaha  j/k  It's cute watching him climb, but I'm sure we have some falls in our near future too.  :)

This blog is very sporadic - LOTS to say!  I haven't blogged in a while and lots has happened.  Have a great day!!

Check Out Momma's Blog

Head on over to my momma's blog for a few pics of Zachary's big day!  There are pics of him at Friday's (b'day lunch) and then his b'day party too.  :)

I don't have them on my computer, so there you go!!!!!!

Today is our dog's 1st b'day - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KODI!!!!!!!!!!  You have definitely been a challenge, but you're so fun, sweet, energetic, loving, and gosh darn INTO EVERYTHING!  We're glad that you're apart of our family (most the time.....hahahahaha).  I look forward to what happens this year with you - will you calm down any?!  Love you, Kodi!!!!

Also, hope you had a great St. Patty's Day - we did!  Zachary and I went to our playgroup's party and had a blast!  I was so proud of Zachary..........he played with the other kids and by himself, more independent.  :(  He also mooched food off of Amy S., so sweet of her to share her Hawaiian Roll with him.  It was really sweet watching him stand there and take food from her.  Amy, thank you for sharing with Zachary!  :)

I'm off to bed now - I'm getting tired..........NIGHT NIGHT!!!

HAPPY 1ST B'DAY, ZACHARY!!!!!!

Our baby turned 1 this morning at 12:03 AM!  I was so excited to not be recovering from surgery this year.  :)  He slept 12 hours last night and woke up all happy this morning.  He is in the other room jumping and watching Baby Einstein - Baby Bach.  We're about to leave to go for his blood check.  He has an ear infection, so he goes for his shots next week.  I'm going to post more later, but I wanted to wish our BIG boy happy birthday before we got too busy.

We LOVE you, Zachary and so happy that you're ours.  You're such a blessing in our life and your smile is so contagious. 

Love you,
Mommy and Daddy

OMG........HILLARIOUS!!!!

This morning I thought that I was totally going to bust a gut by laughing so hard.

Okay, so yesterday afternoon Zachary completely tore the little skin piece under the top lip (what connects the lip and gum together on the top).  It bled for an hour and I took him in b/c I was a little worried.  My pedi was showing me that he really ripped it well (he hit it on his crib railing) and even broke the blood vessel; which is why it bled for so long.  He said that it would eventually heal, but it would be loose.  Well, this morning I wanted to look at his mouth.  I had heard him pooping, but quickly forgot about that b/c then I saw Les and wanted him to hold him on his lap while I looked.  He held him in his lap while I looked and when he was pulling him back up to sit, I saw a BROWN STREAK; which turned out to be poop.  I immediately saw it and started laughing.  I could hardly breathe!  Les was like," what is the matter."  Then almost immediately said," what is that?!"  I am still dying of laughter and then he says with a huge question in his voice," is that poop?"  I just laughed and barely got out," let me get my camera!"  I took a pic of his leg in between bouts of laughter.  Afterwards I said," well, Zachary, you're off to take a bath."  I got the water started and we showered him off b/c I didn't want him sitting in the poo poo.  I was still laughing as we showered Zachary off.  The worst part is that Zachary is on antibiotics for a double ear infection, sooooooooo, he had loose stools...........HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This was the 1st time that this has happened to either of us.  We have been peed on before, but not pooped on like this!!!!!!!!  So funny, poor Les.  ;)

5 days and counting........almost only 4 days!

2 posts in 1 day - WOW!

We finally purchased a new laptop and I'm so excited to finally be able to post some pics!  I did a blog post earlier in the day and now one before I am off to bed.

We have 6 days (5 tomorrow) till Zachary's first b'day!!!  Here are a few pics of him over the 11 month.  :)

ENJOY!!

Here is Zachary clapping - I don't remember what he was clapping about though!

Here we are at the Allen American's game - it was Z's 1st hockey game!

Here he is in his jumper with his bear around him.  He likes to bite on this bear, so funny!

Here he is trying out his new carseat; which he'll be switching into on Wed.  :)

Here is Les and Zachary the day that we had the record amount of snow.  This is such a cute pic of my boys.  ;)

Here is Zachary on his 3 wheeler - I call it his Batmobile...hahaha  He likes to push it around the yard.

Here is Les, Zachary, and Bryan with the hog that Bryan shot.  This pic makes the hog look small, but he was huge!  He weighed about 250 lbs or so.

Here is a really cute smile - he's just so adorable!  I feel so blessed to have him as my son.

I hope that you have enjoyed the picture update - will post more soon!!!

Praying for Our Husbands

One blog that I thoroughly enjoy reading is Today's Housewife.  I know 2 of these girls from growing up in Allen and going to church with them as well.  I really enjoy this blog b/c it is real, godly, useful, thoughtful advice.  They talk about how to save money (which I love coupons!), how to be a better wife (the one that God intended us to be), how to work around our house, etc.  There are just soo many topics that they cover; I couldn't even begin to list them!  I always find that their advice is straight from their hearts and is what I believe too.  Today, I was looking through a few posts that I hadn't read due to my laptop dying.  I found this particular blog post a MUST READ for every Christian woman out there.  I think that it will help strenghthen your marriage, but will also help our husbands out in general.  I love finding new ways to encourage Les, pray for Les, whatever!  This past week I had put little notes that I made around the house where I knew that he would find them.  There were 3 notes in all of why I loved him.  It was fun and I think that he liked finding them (I know that I enjoyed hiding them!).  :)

Anways, here is the blog part that I really liked........ENJOY:

Dear Lord, I pray for my husband, from head to toe.
His head-That he will look to You as Lord of his life (1 Corinthians 11:13).
His mind-That he will have the mind of Christ and think as the Holy Spirit would lead him and not the flesh (1 Corinthians 2:16).
His eyes-That You will keep his eyes from temptation and that he will turn his eyes from sin (Matthew 6:13, Mark 9:47).
His ears-That he will hear Your still small voice instructing him (1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 32:8).
His mouth-That his words will be pleasing to You (Proverbs 19:14).
His neck-That he will humble himself before You and be strong, courageous, and careful to do everything written in Your Word so that he will be prosperous and successful (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8-9).
His heart- That he will love and trust You with his whole heart (Deuteronomy 6:5, Proverbs 3:5).
His arms-That You will be his strength (Psalm 73:26).
His hands-THat he will enjoy the work of his hands and see it as a gift from You (Ecclesiastes 3:13, 5:19).

His feet-That You will order his steps and that he will walk in Your truth (Proverbs 4:25, Psalm 26:3).

10 Days to..........

ZACHARY'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know where this last year has gone, but it has been full of tears, laughter, faith-building, fun, and every other emotion (I will post all about the stuff after birth on his b-day).  :)

Z's cold came back stronger this time - booo!  He has a snotty nose and is congested.  He's been coughing more and trying to get all that yucky up.  He's still in good spirits and playing well.  He is sleeping at night despite coughing, so we're glad about that.

We're working on planning his party and looking forward to it.  But first, he has his shots and blood work next week - ON HIS BIRTHDAY!

I am hoping at the blood work appt that they discharge us or we won't have to come back for longer than 3 months.  I am so excited to see how he's doing after the blood work comes back (within an hour and doc talks to us about it).  So, we'll know that day how it's all going; then we head over to the pediatrician's office for his shots and all those fun things.....haha  Poor baby will have a rough day! :(  At least he'll have all day Friday to recoup before his party on Saturday.  :)

I can't post pics right now b/c the laptop officially died.  I am so sad b/c I wasn't able to get all the videos off of it b-4 it crashed.  I am hoping that the Geek Squad will be able to help out.  We'll see!

Have a great week!!!!!

I know!

I have TOTALLY been MIA from my blog lately.  I looked and the last night that I blogged was February 8th.  I totally have a few excuses........hahahahaha

We are looking at a new laptop to buy and I like the Asus (I think it's a German company).  Who knows when we'll get around to buying one b/c they do cost $$.  :)  We're planning a trip to Colorado in April, so we're trying to save $$ for that.  I am super excited b/c it's going to be just Les and I going.  Zachary is going to stay with his grandparents that week and have a little vacation himself from us.

We're in the process of planning his 1st Birthday party - oh where oh where have you gone time?!  My baby is growing up right before my eyes and I can hardly believe that he's going to be 1 years old in about 3 weeks!!!!!!!!  Yes, you read it, less than a month away.  :)  I am super excited b/c I found out today that one of my best friends will be in town and will be able to come and bring her daughter - YAY!!!!!  Christy lives in Vegas, but will be in town for awhile and gets to come.  She is pregnant and is expecting in July, so I'll get to see her and her growing tummy. 

Zachary has been sick for about 5 days now, so that's been fun b/c he gave it to me and I think that I gave it to Les.  Les and I are feeling better with meds, but poor Zachary doesn't get anything, but Tylenol.  He is still his happy self most of the time, but he definitely has his moments too!  He is also cutting tooth #7 and I think #8 won't be far behind.  These last 3 teeth haven't nearly been as hard as the first 4 teeth!!!!!! 

Let's see, in case you haven't seen me lately, I have cut 4 inches off my hair - growing out my layers.  I have joined the Allen Natatorium and am excited about that.  I have only worked out 1x b/c of being sick.  :(  Zachary and I are possibly going to go to a mom and tots thing tomorrow, but we'll see how he sleeps tonight.  He slept great last night despite being congested, so hopefully the same for tonight too and maybe we will go for a little while.  It looks fun, so we'll see.  :)

Hopefully I won't be gone as long this time, but this computer doesn't let me post on my blog very easily, so we'll see.  It always tells me something about the cookies.........sheesh, I don't know much about the cookies, but I know that I like eating cookies..........hahahahaha

Till later my blogging buddies!!!!!!

Hello!

We won't have any pictures today b/c our laptop is CRAZY!  Geek squad told me to download a driver, but that didn't fix it either.  So, it keeps saying that the display driver is not running or something like that.  The laptop is considered to be ancient in the way they come out with laptops constantly.  I got this laptop, let's see, back in like March 05, so it's hitting 5 yrs of age......LOL  I think we might try to look for a new one, but that is not a top priority, but how I do love my laptop and will miss it dearly if it goes out completely.  One thing that I did do probably a year or so ago was copy all the pictures on to disks, but, I CAN'T FIND THOSE DISKS NOW!!!  I had deleted all the pics that I had saved and I know that I'll find them someday, but I want that someday to be NOW!  I was even in the attic a few days ago looking..............I sneezed for a while after that fun adventure. 

We decided on Z's next carseat and we bought a Graco Nautilus 3 in 1 in gray.  He really likes yet and before you freak out on me, no he is NOT riding in it yet, but it is in his room.  He climbs on it, in it, and LOVES it.  I know that a month from this Thurs, he's going to LOVE sitting forward.  We rode in one of our OLD trucks a month or so ago and Z was in the front with us facing backwards, but he could see us and loved it.  :)

Anyways, what is your fave laptop and why?  We don't want to spend thousands of bucks, but don't want the cheapy either that will last a few months and die on us.....hahahaha

Hope you're have a great week!!!!!!!!!

Z's 1st Haircut!!!!!!!

Our big boy got his very 1st haircut yesterday and he did VERY well, much better than I thought. Here are just a few pictures from his haircut.
 

Zachary just got back to the back to get started.  He was so excited by the car and really liked that part!  He was watching Dora and Diego for a few seconds.  You can see the lady in the back about to put on the drape.

Here she is wetting his hair and we're still doing really good.  No tears yet!

Here he is a little unsure of what's going on.  He is reaching out to me; which he did several times throughout the hair cut.  He's still not crying!!

Here he is looking at my mom for reassurance, but he still didn't have any tears until about 5 minutes till it was over.

Here he is ALL DONE and is crying.  He was DONE for sure.  He left with a mohawk and I was very pleased with his haircut.  He looks so much like a little boy now and has the hair to go with it.  :)  I was so proud of him and how well he did.  I'm glad that we don't have to go back for a while now!!!!  hahahahahahaha  He is too!!!!!  :)

Day with Friends!

We got together the other with some friends and made Valentine's.  Here are a few pics that my friend, Kim, took for me..........THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so glad that you're GREAT at taking pics.  Can you rub off on me?!  hahaha

Here is Z and I inking his hand to make handprints on his V-day Cards.  He did surprisingly well while doing this b/c I kept inking his hands and then mashing his hands on the cards.....hahaha  He was fairly fussy if he wasn't IN MY ARMS!  Thank you, April for holding him for me a few times..........MUCH appreciated. 

Here he is LOVING the tunnel.  He kept crawling through it back and forth.  Logan had been in the tunnel, but had crawled out.  So, we did have 3 kids in there at once and it was really cute.

Here is Z and the others eating lunch.  He LOVED the baked cheetos, so I am going to get those for him next time I go to the grocery store.  He has the Gerber "cheetos", but they're a lot more expensive and he loved them all the same, if not more!  He has become soo independent while eating, well, pretty everything........hahahaha  Looks like Logan is either sharing with Z or eating off his tray too.  So cute!

Here is a GREAT picture that Kim took of Z crawling in the tunnel..........I think it is sooo cute!!!!  My new goal is to try to take more unique and fun pictures.  I just seem to always forget my camera or if I do manage to bring it; then I don't think to take any pictures.

This morning we took Zachary to the docs office b/c he woke up about every 5-6 hours crying and normally he sleeps all night.  He said that his ears looked good; which was GREAT news to me, so since Z only had like 1-2 days of medicine left, he said that we didn't have to finish those last few days.  YEAH!  While Dr. E was looking over Z to see if he could find anything else, he noticed another tooth.  So, Z is cutting in the top 2 teeth that are in beside the 2 front teeth.  He said that shouldn't be waking him up and he wants us to call him tomorrow if he wakes up again tonight.  I hope that he sleeps all night b/c Les and I are both are kind of tired.  I guess that I slept more than I thought b/c overall, I do feel good. 

Tonight I am excited about Ladies Night out with the ABF (Sunday School class) gals.  We're going to get together and have dinner (chili frito pies......yum!!) and just talk.  I am so excited about this b/c we haven't had a LDO in a while.  So, it will be good to be baby free and have time with the girls.  Hopefully the major storm stuff will be over with, but if not, well, that's okay.

Geez

I was wondering WHY, oh why, are we having another fussy night and not wanting to eat a lot.  Well, when Les got home and was playing with Z, I saw our point of fussiness.........LOL  He is working on getting his 6th tooth.  This one is coming in next to the right front tooth.  I can see it, so it won't be too long till it cuts through.  I can only imagine what it's going to be like when the molars come in...........OUCH!

Today, Z went to see the pedi b/c he had a little infection on his middle finger.  He said that he must have had a hang nail that got ripped off (hmmm.......probably) and caused a minor infection.  So, he opened it up and drained it.  Z didn't flinch, tear up, or anything!!!!  I was so proud of our little guy.  He looked in his ears while we there and the infection is gone in the left ear, so he's all clear for now.  He has like 3 more days of medicine and then we'll be done.  I wish that was over now b/c he's not liking the taking of the meds...........hahaha  So, I have to trick him into taking it, but I get it down him w/ minimal spitting it out or drooling it out........CRAZY!!

His fave thing to do for several weeks now is to feed the dog(s) his food.  He will be looking at me, while I tell him "no" and then drop it over.  I think that we're going to have a strong-willed boy on our hands.  I told him no again after he dropped it and his little lip drew in and he was about to cry.  I asked him if he was not hungry yet and got him out of his seat and let him play till the pork chops were done.  Then I got him back in his chair, he ate with me, and was so happy to see dad come in the door too. 

He's so sweet and growing and changing like crazy.  He's at SUCH a fun age and I love when he Les will get up and get him out of bed and he'll come crawling down the hall toward our room.  He's so excited to see me and just grins super big!  I love getting him out of bed too in the mornings b/c he has such a big smile and just so excited to see me/us.  :)  One thing that has stuck with me was when Marcy blogged about being happy and letting them know that you're happy when you see them (totally paraphrased.......sorry, Marcy!!!).  I try to always let him know how happy I am to see him, let him know how much he is loved (he gets TONS of kisses), etc.  I can't remember exactly how Marcy put it in her blog, but that's what I got out of her blog.  He always grins as big as his mouth will allow when we come to get him out of bed, playing with him, or even getting him out of the bouncer.

I count it as a true blessing and reward from God for allowing us to be Z's parents.  He brightens my day everyday and I am always soo excited to spend time with him.  Makes me tear up right now just thinking of how blessed I am to have the husband that allows me to stay home and raise Z.  I am also so blessed to have such a great little guy, even on the hard days.

Here's a few pictures to leave you with:

4 Wheelin' w/ Our Little Guy

Here is a picture of Zachary and I on the 4 wheeler!!

Here is a picture of Zachary on the 4 wheeler by himself - he LOVED riding on it!


Here is a close-up that I took of Zachary and I.


Here is daddy and Zachary on the 4 wheeler as the sun was setting.

Then, I had to throw thi picture in the blog too!! This is Zachary after eating Ravioli's for the 1st time - as you can tell, he got it ALL over him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think this picture is funny with the way his hand is. I can picture him thinking," mom, what's the big deal, all I did was eat dinner?!" hahahaha

Now, to tell you about his 1st 4 wheelin experience. He sat in the front and I held onto him with 1 hand. We just stayed on our land, but we have some hills around the pond that Les made when digging the pond out. So, we went on those, played by the dog (she was scared!), and just rode around. At 1st he was holding onto the front of the ATV and then I realized that he had let go w/ 1 hand and had it in the air and he was squealing out of excitment. Then, a few moments later he was totally relaxed and had both hands in the air and just loving it!!! The 3 of us did get on it at 1x and that was fun. Zachary started off between Les and I, but he didn't like that as much b/c he couldn't see anything, so then we moved him back to the front. We used to talk about this moment when I was pregnant with Zachary and now we FINALLY got to experience it. It was really neat and we both enjoyed sharing it together. I know Zachary won't remember it, but it was fun and he just laughed and giggled and squealed the whole time - SO FUN!!!

Zachary has had several rough days - he is cutting his 5th tooth (bottom right) and ear infection to boot. They said that his left ear was infected, but since he has started medicine, he has been really rubbing/scratching his right ear too. So, I'm so glad that he's on medicine to help him feel better. He has woken up every night for a week now, but since Les had a few days off in there, he helped by getting up with him too. Thank goodness he has only been getting up 1x a night for about 15 - 20 min and then going back to bed. He usually takes 4-6 ounces. When we were at the doctor the other day, Zachary had gained a whopping 3 lbs in 1 month - WOW!!! I told Les that he was feeling heavier and stocky, well, there we go!!! He is now 21 lbs!!!!!!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures and our update on Zachary!!!!!!!!!!!

OH YEAH!!!

Not sure where this was taken, but it is us!!!

Caitlyn, Zachary and Caleb (2 of his cousins on my side).

Here he is.......he crawled under the tunnel. LOVES crawling through this. Zachary got this from the triplets when he was about 2-3 months old.

Here he is standing up and giving me a big grin!

I was eating an apple one day and he REALLY wanted to bite the apple too. He would cry if I didn't let him bite it too. It was so funny - he loved that! He is still that way, if you have an apple, be prepared to share with Z.

Our baby is 10 months old - where has the time gone?! He is so much fun. Here are a few things about him:

1. He hums as he is going to sleep - SOOOOOOOO cute!

2. He loves mandarin oranges, blueberries, and applesauce.

3. He now has 1 leg up and foot planted when crawling. He keeps the other leg under him like he is crawling and he is very fast at crawling now.

4. He is cruising along the furniture - has been for about 3-4 wks now.

5. We have 4 teeth (2 top and 2 bottom).

6. He sleeps about 10 hours at night.

7. He is starting to kiss me - he hasn't done this with anyone else yet.

8. He has said dada and mama. He has other "words" too that he repeats when he wants to.

He is such a sweet little guy and we're so blessed to have him as part of our family. We really enjoy spending time with him, playing with him, loving on him, and just being his parents.

Zachary, we love you oh so much!!!!

____________________________________________________________________

NOW, for my update on last weeks weight loss. I am excited to report a loss of 10 lbs in the last few weeks. When I was at my docs office they weighed me............Oh how I love this part.....haha Well, according to what their scale said and what I weighed today, I have lost 10 lbs. I was very excited about that b/c I have avoided the scale as much as possible. :) I don't really care what the number is, but how I feel, but I did give in and hop on. I went and found Les' scale and hopped on, but to my amazement, I was excited. So, now I only have 40 lbs to go, but that is still a very long way to go. I know that I can do it!!!! Especially if I blog about it and am honest. I need the encouragement to keep going and not give up.

Some things that I did this past week to start changing my habits. I worked out 3 of the 7 days and on those other days, I would do little stuff around the house. So, everyday, I really did something. 2 days I did the 30 Day Shred. 1 day I did bellydancing. That was fun and I was a little sore the next day!!! haha Who would guess that I would be sore after that, but definitely not as sore as after 30 day Shred. This week, it's supposed to be warmer and I am SUPER excited by that b/c Zachary and I will be able to get out in the afternoon and play outside. He loves riding on the bike with us, so I know that we'll do that a few times this week. Nothing like good ole fresh air! :) I have also worked on trying to not snacking as well. That has been a little bit more challenging, but I am doing the best that I can.

Have a Magnificant Monday!!!!!!!!!!!

A New Year and A New Me

Yesterday I started my new weight loss plan (not a diet). I hate the word diet b/c the word "diet" is so cliche and means (to me) that I can't eat anything that I want, etc. and I'm stuck with well, salads. I love ice cream - so my weakness!!!! However, I am going to limit how much I eat, watch the rest of the food I eat (limit quantity), and eat only when I'm hungry.

I am also going to be doing 30 day shred; which I had done about 5 minutes of it before and could hardly walk the next day........LOL However, today, I did the full 20 minutes and my legs were pretty wobbly, but I made it through with several breaks! It talks about how your stamina would be higher in a few days, so I am looking forward to that. When I was in high school - I could do a full 5 minute kick routine and do fine AND have a smile across my face. Could I do that now.........NOOOOOOOOOO WAY!!!!!!! I am also going to be doing a few other videos that I have had that have been collecting dust!! hahaha They are pilates, belly dancing (I love this video), and I think I have a few others, but can't think of them. I get bored doing 1 video every day, so I need something to alternate with. I also LOVE getting outside and jogging or riding my bike. However, I just can't pull myself outside to jog when it's a mere 35 degrees........too cold for this gal!! Also, I bought several months ago a seat for Zachary to sit on on my bike, so once it's warmer for him; then we'll get out more. We have been out several times and Zachary LOVED it.........he would smile, laugh, and just look around. Occasionally, I could feel him grabbing for my back and laughing. So, it'll be a lot of fun once it's a tad warmer, but don't see that with THIS weeks forecast...........BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I am also going to be competing against a close friend of mine to lose weight (her name will remain anonymous since I don't know if she wants to be named on my blog), but mainly for accountability. I want to lose weight and drop a whopping 50 lbs! I am not alone in my quest and look forward to doing this with Blair too. She is a fellow momma who has some weight to lose. Even though I don't KNOW her personally; we are in the same shoes. Now, I can't say that I am ready to post MY picture quite yet, but I am ready to finish losing the rest of my baby weight and then some. I want to get back in my old clothes AND to be ready for baby #2. NO, I'm not prego either!!!!!

Here we go...............Wish me LUCK!!!

p.s. the picture above was taking of Les and I when we ate at The Melting Pot for my 30th birthday this past November. :)

3 teeth and counting

My poor baby actually BLED in his mouth today. We were eating lunch at this Chinese food place and he whopped his mouth on the table. Not only his mouth, but his VERY SORE spot where his upper right tooth (#3) is coming in. It was working on cutting through the gums today and had partially on 1 spot, but once he hit his mouth on the table - it literally cut through the gum. You could see part of the gum hanging there and his mouth just kept bleeding. He screamed of course, but it stopped bleeding and there is the tooth bottom. :( It was a quick, but definitely NOT painless way to cut that tooth in. So, now we have 3 teeth and a 4th one on its way too. His next tooth will be the upper left and you can see signs of it now too. ;) 3 teeth in a month - OUCH.....if you ask me.

Our Sweet Baby is NOT Shy!

So, I told Zachary that him and I were going to make a quick trip to Kroger to grab a prescription, grab some taco makings, and then we would be home in about 25 minutes or less. Well, not so much, I spent 1/2 the time in there talking to people that I didn't know b/c my baby is a VERY "talkative" little man. We ended up getting home almost an hour later! hahaha He is the most friendly baby and loves to let EVERYONE know that WE are there and that he demands there attention. OR he'll squeal just as loud as he can.......hahahaha He just loves hearing his voice and makes sure that everyone else knows that he is there. It's hilarious b/c people will talk, smile, wave, grin, whatever at him and he just LOVES it. He will squeal louder out of excitement, "talk" to them, or just watch them with a big ole grin.

I couldn't be any more happier with the baby that God gave to us. He is outgoing, personable, loveable, etc. He's just an overall very happy baby and we love him so much. Thank you, Lord, for our Zachary. :) As the saying says," That's my boy!"

P.S. the picture above was taken by some man at The Villages of Allen. He thought that Zachary was just too cute. He asked if he could take a picture (he was Asian and you know how they love to take pictures), so I told him and yes, and then he so kindly offered to send it to me. I think Zachary looks so cute. His hat reads " Git R Done (1st line), Deer Hunter (2nd line), Dominate the Woods (3rd line).

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Survey from BOTH of us!!!! :)

Okay, so I took this off one of my friends' blogs, thanks Jayme!!

KIMBERLY'S ANSWERS!!!!
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both, but I drink hot chocolate more and only drink a little bit of egg nog (it's so rich!).
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? All wrapped and I like to try to use different wrapping paper for each person. I love to see all different kinds of paper under the tree.
3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? I'm a colored fan on both :)
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I still steal kisses from my honey!!! ;)
5. When do you put your decorations up? Normally after Thanksgiving, but this week I did it before Thanksgiving. I was really in the mood!!!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Oh man, I don't know. I love most everything!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I remember always spending the holidays at my grandparents' house (Brown side).
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I will always believe in Santa, his spirit is always around us.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No, unless we're with the family. This year we'll be doing the Johnson's on Christmas Eve, so yes to a present for Zachary. :)
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Colored lights and ornaments. Some of the ornaments are even handmade from whe I was little girl.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it!
12. Do you remember your favorite gift? I agree with Jayme, I have been very blessed over the years.
13. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? I look forward to teaching Zachary about the REAL reason for Christmas - Christ's birth.
14. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Baking candies, goodies, treats, etc!!!
15. What tops your tree? A little snowman - it's his 1st year on our tree!
16. Which do you prefer – giving or receiving? Definitely giving!!!
17. Candy canes: Yuck or Yum? I love SweetTart Candy Canes, but they change the colors of my lips.........hahaha
18. Favorite Christmas show? We LOVE National Lampoons Christmas Vacation....I think I can quote it line by line (We watch this EVERY year, Jayme and we still laugh through the whole thing). I also love to watch Elf!
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night or All I want for Christmas is You

LES' ANSWERS!!!!
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? sets them under the tree
3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? Colored Lights
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually Christmas time (however, I do them!!!)
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Ham
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Getting up on Christmas morning and opening gifts. It was always so exciting!!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't know when.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? It seems like we did when we were little (but see my answer above!)
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? very carefully (actually he comes home from work and it is magically up!)
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it!
12. Do you remember your favorite gift? no
13. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Getting together and fellowshiping with family.
14. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching Christmas Vacation together.
15. What tops your tree? He says," I don't know"
16. Which do you prefer – giving or receiving? Either way is pretty fun.
17. Candy canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum
18. Favorite Christmas show? Christmas Vacation
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells

Santa and Zachary!!!

Here is the picture of them together - thanks, mom!!! (I stole it from her blog....hahaha)

BUSY day, but FUN day!!!!!!!!!

We had such a fun and eventful day today. We started getting up out of bed around 7:45 (Zachary played in his bed from 6:30 - 7:45 AM and daddy had to be at work at 7 AM). I layed in our bed listening to Zachary play in his crib. He does so well in the mornings just playing in there. We leave several toys for him to play with now and when he wakes up, he finds 1. his paci; 2. his burp rag; 3. turns the music on; 4. plays with this toys. He's such a fun baby.

After we got up we played for several hours, watched the Children's Hospital Parade (definitely had a special meaning to me since they have and continue to take such good care of our lil guy. Around 10:15 AM; Zachary decided that it was time to have a nap, so he went down till about 11:30 AM or so. When he got up, he was a little hungry, so I gave him blueberries to eat and he loved them! He had had them pureed before, but not whole. He really liked them and ate about 10 blueberries or so.

After that, we went and had lunch with grammy at CiCi's. I was craving pizza and so that's where we went. :) Zachary really enjoyed his pizza that he had. He tried mushrooms and black olives for the 1st time today and he didn't seem to mind them at all and I am so happy about that. I love both too!!!!!!!!!!

We had a 2 year old birthday party that we were invited to. So, we headed out to McKinney to help Cassidy celebrate her big day; which is tomorrow!! Also, tomorrow is one of my really good friends' 30th birthday's too!!!!!!!!! Love ya, Christy!! I can't wait to see you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After that, we went to a holiday bazaar. I got to catch up with several gals that I haven't seen in over 10 yrs. So, that was really neat. There was several vendors that were there: MaryKay, Premier Jewelry, Scentsy (this is a cool idea), Tupperware, then also a sweet gal (met her today) and she had homemade bows for little girls, and these super cute shirts too! We didn't buy anything, but we did have fun being out with everyone. Zachary was having a ball of fun too, but then he decided it was time to go, so we left a little after 5 PM. We beat daddy home by about 15 min.

Then we had a fun (as always) visit from some friends of ours, Jimmy, Brennan, and Elizabeth. They were in the neighborhood and I'm so glad that they dropped by!!! Elizabeth is their daughter and her and Zachary are about 1 week apart. She is now walking!!! It was so fun to watch her get around.

Now, we're just home and relaxing. Les is working on getting Zachary down for the night. I am having fun blogging and will be hitting the hay soon as well. Good night all!!!!!

Santa Claus

I am so proud of our big boy. He went and met Santa Claus for the 1st time the other night. He did so good!!! Santa told us to not let him see him and to keep his back to him as I handed him over. Well, good luck b/c Zachary kept trying to turn around and look where he was going....hahaha

He did really well and we got our picture; THEN Zachary felt Santa's beard, got stiff, turned around, then cried till we picked him up. But we were lucky enough to get a good picture of him before the complete melt down. Once he was in my arms, he would turn around and look at Santa. :)

GOOD JOB, ZACHARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teeth, Teeth, and MORE Teeth!!!!!!!!!

Our poor baby is trying to cut all 4 of his front teeth. He has been pretty fussy, but like our pedi said," well, at least he'll get it all over at once and won't have to worry about having 4 months of fussiness." So, he has his bottom right tooth that has cut through the gums, then the others haven't broken through yet, but you can see some white and swelling. Needless to say, he's not very happy with this happening all at once. :) I wish he could understand, but orajel and tylenol are our best friends for the time being. Hopefully they'll come in quicker than just gradually coming in.

We had a good Thanksgiving with our families. Now, we're just gearing up for Christmas. We have all the presents wrapped and under the tree. Definitely looks like Christmas here.

I bought an alphabet foam tile mat today at Hobby Lobby. I had a 40% off coupon, so I was super excited about that! Zachary loves to sit on the floor and move around, play with his toys, etc, but since the wood floor is slippery, he tends to fall and bump his head frequently. I hope that this will help him out and his falls won't hurt as bad. They are bright and colorful, so that's fun!!!!!!!!!

Les has been hunting on his days off and he did shoot a buck this year and hopes to get at least one more. No pictures of the buck, but our freezer is stocked again for another year.

I guess that's all that's new since my last post.

We hope that you have a GREAT week!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving/Christmas

Christmas music, really, this early?! Thanksgiving is still a little over a week away and Christmas music is already playing. Now don't think that I'm a scrooge b/c I LOVE Christmas time, but I don't want to listen to the music for the next 49 days or whatever it is.

I am excited about Christmas this year b/c Zachary will be 9 months old and I am anxious to see what he thinks of the Christmas tree, lights, presents, etc. One thing that I want to start with our little guy is the importance of Christ's birth and not so much on how many presents you get, etc. I want him to really understand someday about Christ and not just focus on what Christmas has become. I love opening presents, but don't want to ever lose focus of the REAL reason for Christmas. Thank you, God for sending YOUR son to save me from my sins. What better time to reflect on that truth than the holidays.

What I am thankful for:
1. My relationship with my Savior
2. My loving husband
3. My sweet little baby boy
4. My wonderful family who have been such a huge support system
5. All the doctors that have taken care of Zachary
6. That he shouldn't need anymore blood tranfusions
7. My church home
8. All my friends that are there no matter what
9. My home
10. How fortunate I am to be able to stay home with Zachary and not have to worry about tomorrow

There are so many mores things that I am thankful for, but that's all for now. What are you thankful for?

Here are some pictures!!

Here is our boy, he is now a whopping 8 MONTHS old. :) Enjoy our little man, oh, and who do you think he looks like (his daddy or mommy)?

Not sure what Les is doing, but I think that he is about to say something to me....LOL

Here he is during his "nap" time. I walked in b/c I could hear him laughing and he had pulled himself up onto his knees and was right there when I found him. Now, he will be sleeping with all 4 sides up.

Here he is posing for the camera. It's funny, whenever I get the camera out, he smiles at me.

He is working on crawling. Here he is on all fours. He's so cute!

Les dug our pond deeper this past summer. Here is Les and Zachary out in the john boat measuing how deep the water is. I think Les is so proud that he has Zachary out there with him in the boat. I know he'll be even happier when he can take him hunting and fishing. I just love my boys!!

Okay, so totally ignore me in the background. I was making him laugh....hahaha

I hope that you enjoyed the update! It's raining outside, the dogs in her cage (voluntarily), Z's in bed, and Les is out hunting, so I am enjoying updating my blog and I want to go and read my book here in a little while. :)

Pulling Up!!

Okay, so Zachary has really been growing and changing like crazy. I can hardly keep up with him and his new things. I think, honestly, that he is doing something new everyday!!

I had put Zachary in his crib to play for a while so that I could do a few things. I went in a little while later b/c I heard him laughing. I walked in and the first thing that I saw was him ON HIS KNEES holding onto the side of the crib. He had pulled himself up and I was like," what?!" Now I have to keep his crib sides all up. I do have a picture of him on his knees, but I have to download it and then I'll post it!!! He was so proud of himself.

Also, this past Wednesday, our boy turned 8 months old. WOW!! Even though I stay home with him full-time, I don't know where the time has gone. I am with him everyday and yet, it is still going fast. I am so blessed to be able to stay home full-time with Zachary. I love it and so does he. We have fun throughout the day in between naps, eating (no longer eating baby food), and just working around the house.

In the last few weeks, he has decided that he does NOT like baby food, but wants to only eat table food. He loves cheerios........hahaha..........and he has not been picky. He loves to eat off of my plate and eating with my fork. When I go to give him a bite off my fork, he holds really still and bites it off (still no teeth). You can always tell when he's ready for another bite b/c he will either make a noise or bang on his tray (this is the method used most).

That's all for now, have a great weekend!!!

Coyote Action

So, last night Kodi had to get up at 2 AM to go poop (she has been getting sick from sneaking pecans). I took her out and she was doing her business, but just seemed to be not wanting to go in either. I hooked her up to the chain outside and left her. When she was younger, we would leave her hooked up outside our window and we could check on her if we needed to. She had never had any problems till last night. I had fallen back asleep (FINALLY) and all of a sudden you hear Kodi screaming or yelping. Not sure what that noise was b/c we have never heard her like that before. I quickly jumped up and looked out our west window towards the chain. I saw something out there and she was on the back porch by our window all scared. All of a sudden, I saw what I think was a coyote or bobcat. It was light colored and she was petrified. I told Les that she had broke the leash, but when I ran to her, she had actually pulled the whole stake out of the ground. I was SHOCKED! So, I know that whatever it was, she fought for her life to get away. I checked her really well to make sure that she wasn't bit, cut, or scratched. She looked just fine, but definitely glad to see me. I took her back to our room where her cage is and she was out, safe and sound.

Now, I am a little scared to go out with her at night not knowing what it was that tried. From what I could see though, it was more than likely a coyote.