Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

So you are probably looking at these cute pictures thinking, "I thought Judy said that Zoey wanted to be a ghost and nothing but a ghost." You would be right--or so I thought. Apparently, at daycare today her costume just wasn't working out, so Mary let Zoey borrow this dalmation costume and Zoey was thrilled to be a dog for Halloween. Who knew! I was glad because I was dreading going out with the ghost costume tonight because it wouldn't stay on and Zoey would have tripped every two steps. I think she made an adorable puppy--Thanks Mary!

Zoey loved going up to the houses and trick-or-treating.

She also did a little trick-or-treating at the mall.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween Part 1

About a month ago I asked Zoey what she wanted to be for Halloween. "A Ghost," she said. I asked her a few days later. "A ghost." I showed her costumes at Target--which she oohed and ahhed at. "Now what would you like to be for Halloween?" "A Ghost. A scary one. Boo!" So being the crafty mother that I am (ha ha!) I found an old crib sheet and cut a hole in it--tried to make it long enough to look like a ghost, but short enough so she wouldn't trip all the time, attempted to cut a circle for her face--all of which is not easy with a two year old that never quits moving!

So last Saturday, Zoey got to test out her new ghost costume downtown North St. Paul--the stores there were passing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters. Here is Zoey riding in the stroller. She was very tired and could barely find the energy to say, "More! More!"
Zoey was really getting the hang of saying Trick-or-Treat and then saying Thank You! and after a while wanted to do it by herself! This was the first one she did with out Tyler or I right with her. She was very proud of herself.
On Sunday we went over to our friends' house and joined in their Pumpkin Carving Party. There were a ton of other families there and we all sat in the back yard and carved our pumpkins. The picture below shows about the most help I got from Zoey in the process. She wasn't interested in carving a pumpkin. She wanted to pick candy off of the Gingerbread House that was there for DECORATION!! Argh!
She did stick with me long enough to say that she wanted her pumpkin to be sad. Then she posed with the pumpkin. She is becoming quite the empathetic little toddler. One of my favorite lines of her's lately is when we are reading and she says, "I want to go into book and help that little one." or "I want to go into book and give that baby kisses."
Zander was with us for all of our weekend activities--teeth and all! Here is our little penguin chillin' out at the pumpkin party on Sunday.

I have another Zoeyism to add to our ongoing list:

We were playing with her play dough and she made something and came to show me. "Mommy, these are my knockers." Hmmm. . ."Sure, Zoey. Those are nice knockers." I sometimes feel like I am playing Mad Gab when we talk. She says something and I keep repeating it to myself until I can turn it into something that I understand. Knockers. . .knockers. . .(Zoey puts it up to her eyes). . .AH--binoculars!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Believe It or Not!

I was holding Zander today, thinking about whether or not he would get teeth around the same time that Zoey did (3 months, 3 weeks old). So just out of curiosity I looked inside his mouth and OMG--there they were. Two little teeth buds coming out. So at 13 weeks, Zander has his first two teeth.
"I am so proud of myself!"

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Zander is 3 Months Old Today!


Zander has been such a good baby so far! He is easy going and smiles all the time. We haven't heard him actually laugh or giggle yet--but he coos and gurgles all the time. I can't believe how much he is growing. Above is one of Zander's 3 month portraits.

Below, Zander is wearing one of my favorite outfits. (FYI--Zoey didn't fit into this outfit until she was about 6 months old--Crazy!)



This last weekend was MEA Break so Tyler and I took the kids up to Grand Forks to see Grandpa. (Grandma was down in Florida.) Grandpa was very excited to take Zoey to Sherwood Park in East Grand Forks. Zoey was very impressed and enjoyed climbing around the castle and all the other things around the park.



Tyler and I are Godparents to our friends Roz's and Kevin's little girl, Hazel. Hazel was baptized this past weekend up near Grand Forks. It was a very nice day. Zander was enthralled with Hazel--I think they will be great friends!


Here is Zander before we got back into the car for the long trip home on Sunday. He was such a good traveler.

Here is yet another picture of my two guys sleeping. No matter how often it happens I always think it is cute enough to take a picture of it.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

It's Pumpkin Pickin' Time Again

Zoey has been waiting for this all week long. She talked about it everyday to me. Zander could really care less, but look at his face when I told him that we were all going to the Pumpkin Patch today.

"Oh my goodness, The Pumpkin Patch! I am so excited!"

This year we decided to travel toward Hastings and visit McDougall's Apple Junction. We were blessed with an absolutely GORGEOUS day and picked an orchard that wasn't too overly crowded. In fact I would say that it was a perfect outing.

Here are some of the highlights of our day:

Zander's very first tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Zoey driving the truck at the play land.

Zoey finding the answers to our Apple Quiz in the kiddie corn maze.

Zoey searching for more mailboxes.

Zoey is 3ft tall this fall!

A valid attempt at a picture of my two pumpkins.

Zoey in the mums.

"Seriously?"

"Much better!"

And of course we picked out two pumpkins to take home with us.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Zander is Baptized


Zander's big day was on Sunday. He was baptized at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in North St. Paul. It was a very nice service with lots of family and friends in attendance. I was fairly impressed that the service went so smoothly, seeing that among our family there were 6 kids ages 4 or under. There was barely a disturbance--just the normal kid stuff. For example, I gave Zoey her new monkey purse during the sermon to occupy her for a few minutes--forgetting that she would make monkey noises when she saw it. Oh well!

Uncle Robby gets Zander to smile a bit and lets him play with his cousin, Kylie.


"Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."
Psalms 34:8
We wanted Zoey to come up to the baptismal fountain with us when Zander got baptized. She was very interested in what was going on. She has also had her eye on the fountain every time we go to church. So she went up and immediately put her hand in the water--then proceeded to lick her hand. Uncle Robby got a picture of her "drinking the water."

Above: The godparents--Kevin and Roz and their daughter Hazel.

Nana and Poppa

Grandma and Grandpa

After the service everyone came to our house for lunch. It was so nice to see everyone! Some people even got to see the new house for the first time. Above is Zander during his gift opening. Thank you for all the wonderful gifts he received.

Couldn't resist the picture of Hazel modeling one of Zoey's many hats.

A family shot
Uncle Eric and Aunt Tammy

Daddy and Zander chilling out after everyone had left.