Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came today and left baskets of stuff for the kids. Included was sunglasses and garden supplies--as the Bunny knows that I want to plant a garden with the kids this summer. Most of our day today was spent driving back from Grand Forks where we were able to spend time with family and friends. Thanks Lisa and Josh for having us over on Saturday. It wore the kids out just enough for them to nap on the way to Kylie's birthday party! And it was great to see you today, Vanessa! I enjoyed meeting Owen. He is so cute!

Zander stealing a few Easter eggs.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. They are all from Kylie's 2nd Birthday party. Zander didn't really realize what was going on, but Zoey sure had a good time.

Kylie had a blast with all the balloons that her mom had placed around the house. Here she is running through them all.
We of course had to try to get a picture of all three together. This one is the best one I got.

Uncle Robby and Zander.

Zoey was really into all of Kylie's gifts--especially the tricycle that she got. Zoey did her best to take turns with her cousin. There were only a few fits thrown.

Here is Zoey singing happy birthday to Kylie and waiting for her piece of cake.

Grandpa and Zander.

The rest of the weekend was great. Tyler and I sneaked away a couple evenings and went out to eat and went bowling (I just have to brag a little that I got 4 strikes in a row!)

Spring Break is now over and everything will be getting back to normal. We are all feeling better. And just an FYI- I have been cleared by the doctors from my blood clotting issues--so I don't have any more blood tests or medications to worry about.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Spring Break

Yes, I know! It has been almost a month since my last post. But in all honesty, had I posted earlier you would only see pictures of snotty noses, kids coughing, and a mommy with the flu! It has been a tough March as far as health. I basically started my Spring Break last week when I stayed home a total of four days from work because of Zoey, Zander, and myself in some sort of combination. I still have the sniffles and a cough, but for the most part we are all on the mend.

Zoey has been able to play outside a few times during the nice weather.
Zander got all decked out for St. Patrick's Day yesterday.
Today Zoey and I had our special day out on the town. We had "yotsta, yotsa, yotsa fun!" We ventured out to the Children's Museum and spent a lot of time wandering around looking at the exhibits. Zoey really enjoyed all the interactive things there.

We made a hat with newspaper.

She played happily in the bubbles.

She explored all the water and pipes.

Stopped for a quick game of chess. Zoey won.

Zoey was absolutely fascinated when she got to be on TV with Elmo.

A quick wellness check and we were done.

We ended our day by going to Grand Ave. for a short bit and looking around at a toy store. So many neat things. Both Zoey and I are exhausted, but I love doing special things like today with the kids. Zander stayed at daycare and had a wonderful day himself.

The rest of my srpring break is pretty busy. Tomorrow I am going to Bon Jovi, then on Thursday the family is heading up to Grand Forks to visit family and friends. Zoey is super excited that we get to go to Kylie's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. We are looking forward to it!

Zander is 7 Months Old

Zander turned 7 months yesterday and he is learning and doing new things all the time. Above is one of his portraits taken last week. (He was too sick at 6 months with his cold to take pictures then.) Below he took time out of his busy schedule to stick his tongue out at the camera. He loves that tongue at the moment.

I know it is a still shot, but below you can see another one of Zander's new skills. He likes to rock on his hands and knees.

Zoey wanted to take a picture with her and Zander sitting together. But until today, sitting hasn't been one of Zander's favorite things to try. Here is a string of attempts and then the best that we could get before Zander wriggled away from her again.

Zoey models mommy's high heel boots.

Then this picture was taken just today. He is starting to get the hang of sitting. He stayed here long enough for me to get the camera and everything. Then he toppled over again--but it is a start!
Zander is eating lots of 1st foods now. On the menu are bananas, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, applesauce, and peaches. He loves his food.

My Favorite Sound in the World!

"Let's Play Annie! I am Annie and you are Daddy Warbucks!"

Those are the words that are spoken around our house ever since Zoey watched the movie Annie given to her by Nana and Poppa (my apologies for forgetting) for Christmas. She has decided that she shouldn't watch the movie again until she is three, because it is scary--but that hasn't stopped her from obsessing about the characters and the songs from the movie.

Zoey and Zander both had a wonderful Valentine's Day this year. Zoey is wearing the dress that I bought her. She also got a beautiful dress from Nana and Poppa and some handmade clothes from Grandma. She loves them all! Tyler and I decided to follow the trend and get a Wii for ourselves--it really wasn't a valentine's gift, but it happen to arrive on Valentine's Day. Zoey is trying to be our next Guitar Hero.

Zander is happy as always. He is feeling better and moving around a lot. He doesn't seem to want to sit, but rolling around is not a problem.

Happy Birthday Nana!

Zoey heard it was Nana's birthday and was very excited. The first thing she said was, "I am going to draw a picture of Nana!" She then proceeded to get a piece of paper and her crayons and draw a pretty detailed picture of Nana--complete with toes and a big smile. She then added hands so that she could draw herself with Nana. Hope you enjoyed the picture! Zoey, Zander and Tyler all went over to Nana's house for a while to visit today. Here are some pics. (Yes, I was absent for really no great reason--but I did buy curtains for the house--something that I have been wanting time to do for a while. Sorry I missed it.)

I am glad that the kids got to go and spend some time with Nana and Poppa and Auntie Tammy and Uncle Eric. Zoey ran around--a lot. Zander jumped around--a lot.

Apparently, after a while, Zander realized that 6pm was quickly approaching and he wasn't at home for his nightly bath. He got cranky and everyone came back home.

Not to worry though--Zander got his bath and bottle and happily went down for bed. Zoey did a crossword puzzle while she waited for us to be done with Zander. She really just wanted to play "Tag It"--the game she learned at daycare this week. (Her way of saying "Tag, You're It")

The Sick Little Princess. . .

This story is too cute to hide in the comments. . .Thank you, Nana for using your day off to take care of Zoey. It really was a huge help!

As told in Nana's words. . .

More info on the Princess:
Nana took on some sick child babysitting today. 1/30/08After a little Tylenol took effect, Zoey got up off the couch and said very seriously, "I want to dance, I need my Princess socks, my Dancing dress and some music. You, Nana, get the music. And I'll get my Dancing dress and my Princess socks." She came upstairs with some socks that had bows on them that looked super tiny. She said, even before the small socks registered on my doubtful face, "these fit me, they do, and I need these to dance." I looked at the socks, slid them on her feet and smiled. (The socks fit perfectly.) Off we went to find a suitable dancing dress. At first we tried another pink dress in the closet but it just wasn't good enough (too small). THE dress was found neatly folded by mom in the laundry room. We also found tights since it was 39 below wind chill outside.We went upstairs to dress the Princess and it was easy as pie. All fitted out - tights over the Princess socks - Zoey aked me to play the piano for her dancing. I don't know how to play the piano...? so... I'm playing Livingstonkowsky Prelude Number 2 while Zoey twirled and did some floor hip hop. Finished with her solo she said, "OK, Nana, now you dance and I'll play the piano!?"Usually I never turn down an opportunity to dance but soloing is not my thing so Zoey played the piano and I rested. We had a short dance lesson in the kitchen and that was the end of that -- the dress stayed on for the rest of the day. No way was that going to come off.About an hour later she realized she didn't have on her Princess underpants. Off came the tights and socks before I turned around and she ran into the laundry room to find the proper underpants. Fully dressed in no time flat she was a happy camper.We did puzzles and I was told, "Nana, you're not so good at puzzles, but I'm good at puzzles." I got lots of help with my puzzle.Spending time with Zoey is an amazing adventure into the bright and interesting mind of a precocious toddler/preschooler. Her understanding and vocabulary is surprising. I find myself having to upgrade my conversation to her level.

Lively Gran

My prince and princess. . .

All right folks, take a good look at this dress. You will see it a lot in upcoming pictures, because Zoey wants to wear it all the time. She has entered her dress phase--it is pretty cute.

Today she wanted to be with Zander all the time. She was in the crib with him for
a while (and yes, she gets in there by herself.) She wanted to lay down with him and
"pretend sleep" on the floor.

She wanted to hold him by herself on the chair.

Zander finally got to be by himself.

Tonight, Zander had baby peas for the first time. He ate almost the whole thing.

I really wish he would smile more. . .

Happy 6 Months, Zander!

Zander went for his wellness check today and was diagnosed as "cute as a button!" My dad and I decided that he is in the 100th percentile when it comes to being cute. His other stats look like this:

Weight: 17 lbs. 9 oz (50th %tile)
Height: 28 inches (90th %tile)

He is such a blessing and everyday his smile reminds me that life is good! (Of course the full night sleeps that I am getting now have helped improve my attitude tremendously). Zander is such an easy going baby and I am excited to continue to watch him grow and learn new things all the time. Zoey and I have been brushing up on our baby sign language. Zoey used to know all the signs in her sign language books and used them a lot. Now if I ask her how to say juice, she just says, "juice."--and looks at me like I'm stupid. She is excited to teach Zander how to use signs though.

Zander is almost 6 months old

Zander will be 6 months this Thursday. I can't believe it! He now has 5 teeth and just today has perfected rolling over from back to stomach to back again. Wow, can he move! I get the feeling that he is going to start learning a new skill a week.

"Here I go. . ."

"Whew. . .that is hard work."

"I am so strong!"

"Watch out Zoey. . .pretty soon I will be able to chase you around and take your toys."

Zander has his 6 month wellness check on Thursday morning. At his last clinic visit he weighed in at 18 lbs. 3 oz.--that was two weeks ago. I am looking forward to seeing his stats.