Picture Time!

Just wanted to share some pictures from the past week!! I just look at my kids and think to myself that they are the most beautiful kids that have ever existed! ;) Does EVERYONE look at my kids and think that? Kidding! Actually I was wondering if everyone looks at their OWN kids and think that they are spectacular in their gorgeousness, or am I just vain?

The first few are just a couple face shots I took of Ivy on her 9 month birthday:

Here is Zayden "helping" me make a birthday cake for his daddy:

The rest of the pictures are just random pictures I took this week that I really liked:

I love this picture, because Zayden sat up on this car thing for several minutes and kept saying, "beep beep Living the dream, living the dream!" It was cracking me up. I don't know where he got that from!!

Thursday Gratitudes

I have been forgetting to do this lately.....just like everything else in my life. ;)

1. I am grateful that we had a wonderful family vacation this month!
2. I am grateful that I am all caught up on my paperwork at work for the first time in a long time!!!
3. I am grateful for the beautiful day!
4. I am grateful that one of the kids I work with is being recognized tomorrow as our "child representative" at our big business luncheon which I get to attend. (And as an added bonus since I work with the child representative I get to go to the VIP lounge prior to the luncheon and meet Dallas Clark and Jeff Saturday)
5. I am grateful that right now everyone in the house is healthy!!

Ivy the 9 month old

Ivy is 9 months now as of Saturday. She had her 9 month check up on Monday. She is now 29 1/4 inches long (90-95%) and 18 pounds 5 ounces (just below 50%). Maybe she will be tall and thin, like I used to be. ;)
She is still very much a crawler!! :) I think those independent steps were a fluke. She will stand without holding onto anything for a few seconds now, and then drop to her knees and crawl. She seems fearful now to take a step on her own which is fine by me!! She does love to walk while pushing toys around, and has gotten very good at that. When she hits a wall or obstacle, she will walk around the toy to the other side, and then start walking in the other direction with it. It's pretty fun to watch.
She is still my very happy baby. People are always commenting on how much she smiles! She is also now banging toys together, and is trying to clap. She brings her hands together, but they are kind of fisted, so she is not quite clapping.
She is babbling more and more now. She is saying mama a lot now, but not necessarily at me. She also says dada when babbling and today it sounded like she said, "dog". Also this morning while babbling, Zayden asked what she was saying. I said I didn't know, and Z said, "Sometimes she says pickle." I haven't heard that one yet though. ;)
She is not sleeping the best...I think this may be her only flaw. She has been napping less and less, and it is getting harder and harder to get her to sleep. Yesterday she took only one 45 minute nap all day. She also gets up AT LEAST 2-3 times every night! I have forgotten what it feels like to be well rested!
She is still nursing very well. I love to watch her nurse. She does this thing now often where she will grab her foot. If she is nursing on my right breast, than she will grab her right foot with her right hand, and will then do some stretches. She will flex her hip and bring her knee to her chest, and then will extend it and pull her foot back by her bottom like she is stretching her quads. She will do this over and over again, and it cracks me up!
She also is now loving to eat solids!! She is eating more and more every day it seems, and is demanding more and more. She prefers fruits, but does well with Veggies too. She likes all fruits, and her favorite veggies are: Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower.
She also is loving finger foods!! She would eat crackers all day long if I let her. She also loves her cheerios and puffs! And because of her love of food, and good pincer grasp she is now finding every tiny bit of anything on the floor and eating it. It scares me to think all that this girl has eaten. I am vacuuming often now, and constantly scanning the floor for fuzz and stuff, but apparently her eyes are better than mine, because I feel like I am always fishing some bit of something out of her mouth.
She has a love/hate relationship with her brother. There are moments when she loves him, and she will just laugh and laugh at him, and follow him around. She also seems to REALLY love bath time with him. They both enjoy splashing each other. Then there are the moments after she has been attacked by him in some way that she wants nothing to do with him, and he'll come near her and just the sight of him touching her toy that she is pushing around will make her scream and cry!
She is going through a phase right now where she is extremely attached to me. She wants me and only me if I am around. It has been rough, because I can't leave her alone with anyone but my in-laws including Brian. Last week, I went to the store for an hour and she cried for the entire time despite all of Brian's attempts to calm her down. It is a bit tiring, but I prefer this to the alternative.
I could talk about my sweet baby girl for days! I just love her to pieces. She is so sweet and loveable, and I am seeing her personality shining through, and I LOVE it!

Zayden Funnies

I am angry for not writing more of these down, but I am always busy when he says something funny, and then I forget. I have a few in my head right now, and a spare moment so here are some recent funnies:

When we were on vacation. My nephew, Christian, was hiding from Zayden. Zayden was walking around the house looking for him and then said, "Oh where or where has Christian gone? Oh where or where could he be? With his hair cut short and his tail cut long, oh where oh where could he be?"

The other day we had to leave a park because Zayden was not being very nice to some of the kids (pushing). So, Monday we had this conversation:

Z: I was mean to the kids at the park.
Me: Yes, you were not being very nice. You should not push the other kids. We had to leave, since you were not being nice.
Z: Yeah
Me: I like it when you are nice to the other kids. That makes me proud and happy.
Z: Why?
Me: Because when you are nice to the other kids it makes them happy. Don't you like it when other kids are happy?
Z: No, I like mad kids!
Me: Why?
Z: Because I just like mad kids!
Me: You don't like mad kids.
Z: Yes I do. I like bad guys!
Me: Why do you like bad guys?
Z: Because I just like bad guys. I like them all night long.
Me: You like them all night long?
Z: Yes, I do. I like bad guys, like strangers and stuff.

(I think the topic just got changed after that....I honestly didn't know what to say!)

This one Brian told me about last night. Apparently the last 3 times he put Z in his car seat he bumbed Zayden's head. Last night after the third bump, Z said, "Maybe we should get a new plan?" Brian said, "what?" and then Z said, "Yeah, a new plan, so my head doesn't bonk."

Florida Vacation

We went to Florida last week, and it was GREAT! We left last Thursday evening after work, and drove straight through taking us only 15 hours and 15 minutes for the just over 1000 mile drive! The kids did pretty well during the drive all things considered! I had to nurse Ivy about every 3 hours, and she had 3 poopy diapers, but she slept really well. Z had a lot of trouble sleeping. We had finally changed his carseat around, and maybe the forward facing thing just wasn't comfortable yet for him.
We arrived Friday morning, and we were all exhausted. I barely slept a wink. Zayden was in a grumpy mood, but that was too be expected. The first night we stayed at my Oma's condo. I always love spending time with her!! She is an amazing lady. The kids took good naps when we got there, but I think they were both too overtired, and really struggled going to sleep that night, and I was so tired, I about had a breakdown, but with the help of Brian we finally got them both asleep around 10:30, and then I crashed out. We all felt better the next day.
Saturday we spent more time with Oma, and then headed to our "beach house". Our house that we rented was actually a couple of blocks from the beach. It was a 6 minute walk, and it was located on the intercostal. It was awesome. We had a nice yard, swim spa, and a dock where we would watch all the boats sail by. Zayden especially loved the Pirate ship that went by several times every day!!! :) Zayden told me at one point, "I am going to be a pirate when I grow up, like those guys!" as he pointed to the tourists on the pirate ship.
We rented the house with my brother, his wife, and 2 of his kids. It was nice to spend time with my niece and nephew. For the most part it went well. I admit that next time we will be getting our own place, but we all got along pretty well, but did our own thing much of the time. Zayden slept in a room with his cousins, and even slept in a "big boy bed" the whole time even though he sleeps in a crib still at home. He NEVER once got out for any naps or at night. I guess it's time to convert his crib....he obviously can handle a big boy bed. Maybe it's me that isn't ready to get rid of the "baby" bed. ;)
We went to the beach almost everyday. Zayden still is not loving the beach. He enjoyed playing in the sand, once he got used to it, but didn't want anything to do with the ocean!! He kept talking about sharks, crabs, and fish biting him....so I think his imagination was getting the best of him. Ivy on the other had has NO fear, and loved the sand and the ocean. She was so easy going the entire time!!
She and I also would take long walks along the beach, while I wore her in my Mei Tai, which was really nice. I loved walking through the crashing waves, as my baby was nuzzled close to me on my chest sleeping!!
The only difficult part about Ivy during this vacation was the CLINGYNESS! She was soooo clingy to ME! She didn't want anyone else to hold her at all!! She let Brian hold her for a couple minutes at a time if I had to shower or something, but would cry for me the moment she spotted or heard me. She didn't want any other relatives holding her either. She let my grandmother (Oma) hold her a couple of times briefly, and my aunt Vicki hold her once briefly and that was it. If anyone else tried to hold her she would scream her head off. So, I didn't get the "vacation" I was really hoping for, but that's okay.
We have a lot of family in Florida so it was nice spending a lot of time with all of them too! (Oma, my dad and his wife, my uncle Gerry and his wife, and my Aunt Vicki, cousin Tom, and Vicki's husband).
Our last night there, we took Oma out to eat and that was great!! Both kids were very well behaved, and Zayden kept complimenting Oma (all on his own without any of My influence). When she got in the car with us, he told her he liked her dress (even though she was wearing a shirt and pants). Then while we were eating he was staring at her and then said, "Oma, I like your hair!" :D When we got back to her house, he told her she had a really pretty shirt. Oma of course was loving all of the compliments from this 2 year old charmer!
Our drive home went even better than the drive there. We left Saturday afternoon. Both kids did great. We stopped for dinner, and still made it home in just 16 hours. Both kids slept very well, and there were no poopy diapers.
Now here is a bunch of pictures from our vacation.


Zayden looking at picture albums with Oma, and asking many questions:

Zayden with his two cousins, Christian and Madison:

Ivy loved the water!:

Walking in the water:

Kids playing in the sand:

Oma and Ivy:

Just loved this picture of my boy.....he is the cutest! :

Z posing with a pelican:

Played at the park on one of the two cool days:

I loved playing at this park!! You can't beat this view, while pushing your kids on the swings. (that's the ocean behind the palm trees):

Riding along in my Mei Tai:

Letting my aunt Vicki hold her briefly:

Lathered up with sunscreen:

I wanted to get a really cute picture of the kids together sitting at the beach:

Except Zayden took the opportunity to tackle his little sister....Ivy didn't cry or flinch at all...poor girl is too used to this.

Playing in the backyard:

Gangsta in the backyard:

Front of our beach house:

Pretty girl at the beach:

My boys helping Oma walk:

My favorite picture of Oma with my kids: (I had to bribe Z with a treat to sit nicely and smile for the picture, and this was a rare moment when Ivy smiled while someone else held her...immediately after this picture Ivy started screaming, and Z demanded his treat) ;)

Bittersweet!

My baby took her first solo steps last night....all three of them! I don't know whether to cry happy or sad tears!