ZACHARY

Hmm, I sense a theme here one post on Caleb, another on Heather and now Zachary!

Today, my little man is 18 months old. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was axiously awaiting his arrival. This picture is one of the many days I thought I was in the early stages of labor. I was having regular contractions, we packed our bags and decided to go eat lunch to make sure the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. They ended up tapering off, and Zachary started his big entrance the next Saturday, though he wasn't actually born until the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

Here is my sweet baby right after he was born

Now my little guy is 18 months old! What a difference a few months make. He went to our pediatrician today, Dr Jan Davis, and he is 31.25 inches long and weighs 26 pounds, 14 ounces. When he was born he was 19.5 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces. Zachary says 12 words that we can distinguish, his pronunciation is not very clear. We are pretty sure that other people could only make out 2 words, "mommy" and "daddy". He also says "shoe", "keys", "ball", "Heather", "hi", "bye", "doggie", "cat", "eat" and "beep beep". He understands a lot, he can correctly point to his ear, tummy, hair, head, mouth, nose, shoe, sock & foot. He also can follow simple directions like putting his toys away (though he often chooses not to), come here, beep, beep (for move), sit down, lay down, eat, dance, bounce or jump, kisses, hugs, high fives, clap, scratch (we tell him not to scratch though he tends to take that to mean scratch more), tickle and I'm sure there are a few more that I can't remember.

He is an excellent climber -- too good, in fact. He also is incredibly social. He is happy to talk to anyone and loves attention. He is quite artistic when it comes to his food, he loves to make "modern art". At every meal, he puts food in his hair, his chair, the floor, the table, etc. Here are a few pictures of him creating a huge mess.

Growing up

Heather is taking a communications class this semester called Communication Applications. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but the class seems to focus on public speaking. She isn't thrilled about it, but it is good for her to get comfortable with talking in front of a crowd. Apparently they have to get up in front of the class once a week and talk about something. For extra credit, she was encouraged to watch someone speak to a large group of people -- her teacher said that going to church would count. So, this past Sunday, Heather went with us to "Big Church" as opposed to the Youth building. She got all dressed up and it blew me away when I saw how she is growing up. The girl is beautiful and stylish! Much to her chagrin, I took some pictures of her. . .

Her fake smile, she was hopeful I would only take one picture.

I kept going, she is just too pretty not to take a picture of.

Daddy being silly

Heather trying to pretend I'm not there. Seriously, does she not look all grown up here?!?!?

This afternoon, she wants to go to a football game at school. We are quite sure a boy she likes is either playing football or going to be there watching the game too. Sometimes, it's hard to let go. She is growing up so fast. Of course, she gets embarrassed if we mention boys, so unless we press her, she won't volunteer the information. She is so pretty, I hope boys appreciate what an amazing young lady she is!

Caleb's Party

Caleb's birthday party was a week early so that Heather could be there with us; his actual birthday is Saturday, October 2nd. We had his party at Cypress Academy of Gymnastics and it was so much fun! Our coach, Annie, kept the kids busy and made sure they all enjoyed themselves. They played on the "mountain" (a huge, green-carpeted indoor playground with hidden slides, a pole, a block pit and lots of stairs for climbing), they jumped on trampolines, walked on balance beams, did flips and got a lot of exercise!

All the kids seemed to have so much fun! It was really hard to narrow it down to just a few pictures, there were so many good ones.

Caleb's party theme this year was Toy Story; the Toy Story 3 movie came out over the summer and saying that Caleb loves Buzz Lightyear is an understatement. The kid LOVES Buzz and the Toy Story gang. For Halloween, he is going to . . . Buzz Lightyear. His backpack and lunch box for school are. . . Toy Story. His sheets and comforter are. . . Toy Story. He has almost every Toy Story toy produced, at least 5 different Toy Story shirts, 2 sets of Toy Story pajamas and even Buzz Lightyear shoes. This morning he told me he wished he could be Andy, the boy who owns the toys in the Toy Story movies. He just loves the storyline and the characters so much.

I want to thank everyone who came out to see us and be a part of his party. To the mommies, I am so sorry I forgot to pass out the goodie bags. I hope you all get them at some point. I was so tired by the time the party was over, I was hardly thinking straight anymore. It was a really fun party and it's always nice to visit with everyone.

Caleb playing on the rings, with his Buzz & Woody shirt that says "Caleb" on it.

Zachary also had a Toy Story shirt that had his name on it in the same colors, except his had Rex, the dinosaur.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the party. Savannah is giving Caleb a cute look while Caleb is completely oblivious to the pretty girl looking at him!

Mason and Ethan having a blast jumping on the trampoline.

Our token family picture

Caleb with Grammy and Poppy

Grandma, Heather and April

Daddy and Caleb with the Buzz & Woody cake

Mommy and Caleb

Zachary, eating neatly, as usual

Kristi and Ethan

Seth, Elaina and April

Jamal and April

Jennifer and Mason

Alicia and Savannah

New Recipes

I generally find myself making the same tried and true meals night after night. Organic Turkey Dogs (they look like hot dogs), Macaroni & Cheese with whatever fruit or veggie that was on sale that week at the store; Sweet & Sour Chicken with white rice & candied carrots; Grilled Cheese on homemade herbed bread and Vegetable Soup; Pizzagna, a cross between pizza and lasagna (this is something I made up with a thick herb & cheese crust, a layer of fresh mozzarella, a very generous helping of pizza sauce and topped off with shredded provolone, mozzarella and parmesan – not very waistline friendly but quite tasty); Taco Salad (I don’t do the shell, just the salad part with avocado, corn, bell peppers, black beans, tomatoes and cheese) and my family’s all time favorite – Quinoa! Seriously, they all hate Quinoa but we eat it occasionally because it is so healthy. I cover the kids with cheese to make it easier for them to pick up and to add some flavor. This is what we eat week after week after week. It gets old.

This week I was determined to change it up a bit and tried three new recipes. My first attempt at with adding some excitement back into dinner was Polish Sausage (an old favorite that I had forgotten about http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Polish-Sausage/Detail.aspx ) , Pierogies, Dilled Cucumbers and Beer & Cheese Bread. The Beer and Cheese Bread was my new recipe and while I only used ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper, it turned out quite well. http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/unas-cheddar-beer-bread-bread-machine-dough-cycle/Detail.aspx I served this to my family and my brother on his last night with us before he went back to Germany and I think we all enjoyed the dinner, but the bread especially was a huge hit!

On Tuesday while the boys were at school, I tried a new pumpkin bread recipe that was absolutely delicious! While I highly recommend the Beer & Cheese Bread, I cannot say enough about this pumpkin bread! I even made another old family favorite for dinner, Bruschetta, and everyone ate a polite amount of it to have more room for the Pumpkin Bread. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sour-Cream-Pumpkin-Bundt-Cake/Detail.aspx I guess it technically is called a cake, but I did not put the icing on it, nor did I follow the recipe exactly. I try to make desserts healthier by substituting some of the flour with whole wheat flour, and some of the sugar with pure maple syrup. I also use the Healthy Balance Butter and I always add a few tablespoons of ground flax seed to baked goods to add some Omega 3. Regardless, of my attempt at healthiness, the family LOVED this one!

Tonight, however, things did not go so well. In our pre-children days, I used to make this recipe for Paul called Chicken Jerusalem http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Jerusalem-I/Detail.aspx . This was never one of my favorites but Paul always liked it. At some point I stopped making it altogether and Paul kept asking about it. I now try to stay away from overly processed foods and am not a fan of this old recipe because of all the pre-packaged, processed ingredients. I went searching for a recipe that didn’t require so many canned ingredients and decided on this one http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ppf/inn/214090/recipe/28783/ListingRecipes.aspx Let’s just say this one did not work out. Paul appreciated the effort but he only managed to choke down a few bites. I had the same problem and the kids refused to eat it at all. Zachary enjoyed throwing his everywhere to redecorate the kitchen and Caleb suddenly developed a “headache”. It was a struggle for me to eat, so I just gave the kids peanut butter and honey sandwiches and let them skip it. Normally I don’t do that, but this was really awful.

At least I added a little variety to our meals this week! I figure two out of three isn’t bad!

Mini-Buzz

Bill and Jackie came over this last weekend and we had a very nice visit! Friday evening the kids were with Becky while we went to eat at Genghis Grill, a Mongolian BBQ restaurant that just opened near our house. We had such a nice dinner, it was quiet and the food was great. The only downside is that poor Heather wasn't feeling well and didn't get to go with us. She had a stomach bug the whole time and none of us really got to see her much as she camped out in her room. She did come down on Friday night to play Trivial Pursuit with us and that was a lot of fun!

On Saturday Bill & Jackie took us out to eat at Chick-Fil-A (one of Caleb's favorite restaurants) and to Toys R Us so Caleb could pick out a birthday present. Of course Caleb wanted one of everything! He got a Super Reader wand, a bucket of Toy Story Army Men and the Buzz wings. Caleb has wanted these wings since the first time he saw them and was so excited to get them. They are a little loud and obnoxious, but he just adores them. Grandpa and Grandmom got to fully appreciate the present they bought him when Caleb was up before the sun running around with wings on and woke them up! Luckily, grandparents are never upset with grandkids!

We also went to the HUGE Outdoor World at the Beltway & 288 to let Jackie pick out her birthday present. She got a very pretty bedspread for their new cabin! We are hoping to go out there some time this fall and check it out. They have been working so hard on building it. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to go about building a cabin but these two have done it!

I normally pester everyone for pictures at all family gatherings, but we were so busy this weekend that I forgot to take any of the kids with Grandpa and Grandmom. I did get a few pictures of Caleb as Buzz, at least.

Hurry Daddy!

I know how cute I am in my Buzz shirt with my Buzz wings!

and I have a Buzz gun!

First Days of Pre-School

Both boys go to Cy-Fair Christian Church's pre-school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM - 2 PM. Caleb started on 9/7/10 and Zachary started on 9/14/10. Zachary started a week later because we didn't realize the school had a program for his age. Caleb attended this school last year and he was so excited to go back! Caleb's teacher is Ms. Mercedes and Zachary's teachers are Ms. Vera and Ms. Cindy.

CALEB'S FIRST DAY

So excited to go to school!

Showing off his Toy Story back pack!

Caleb hugging Zachary

ZACHARY'S FIRST DAY

Having a snack after school. Mommy forgot to take a picture before we left. He picked out his back pack, I held up several for him to look at and he instantly fell in love with the Elmo one.

His teachers both said he was so happy at school today and they wrote it on his Daily Report. Caleb's teacher from last year, Ms. Terry, even went to check on him several times and said he is such a happy boy.

Caleb having a snack after school. He loves his class too!

The Harris Family

Jansen came back for a visit on September 1st. We got to see him on September 2nd and he and my parents came over for dinner last night (Sept 7th). We had a wonderful time visiting, it was really a very funevening!

The first few pictures were taken 9/2/10

Caleb had so much fun with Jansen!

Caleb the pirate!

Jansen holding Zachary

Caleb wanted to be a super hero and asked Jansen to help him fly.

A huge Zachary smile

These were taken last night at our fun dinner.

Zachary kept getting into Grammy's purse and he got her glasses out. Both boys were having fun wearing her glasses.

Below are family photos. I get a few groans and eye rolls, but I think it's important to take pictures!