Zackary & Shyla get baptised!

Zackary and Shyla got baptised yesterday! A huge thanks to my sister for doing all the legwork and my parents for hosting a post-baptism get together!
It was really nice having a combined baptism for the two cousins. Let's face it, they're growing up together and they might as well get used to it!
Here is Zackary in the morning after getting dressed. How cute is a tiny white tuxedo?

Lilly got to get dressed up too. In the morning, we looked at pictures of Lilly's baptism and talked about it. She was a really good girl!

Look at that hat! I thought he looked like a very formal train conductor!

Zac was a little unsure about Father Ricky at first, but then warmed up a little bit. Father Ricky was great - very friendly and positive and seemed to love Zac and Shyla very much.

Me and my little man.

Apparently there are no pics of the actual "dunking" on my camera - I'm hoping that someone got some good dunking pics.
Poor Shyla cried through most of the ceremony. Zac was a monkey, fidgeting around, but didn't seem to hate the water part too much.

This is after the baptism, playing with daddy.

Then, as I mentioned, we had a get together at my parents house. Here is the yummy cake!

Ahhh and baby Shyla!

Lilly was a good girl all day! She also ate a lot all day!

She didn't take a nap, but at one point we went into the room and I put her in the portacrib with a couple of books. She sat and had quiet time at read her books for probably 30 to 40 minutes. Even without napping, I think this quiet rest time really helped her maintain for the majority of the rest of the day.

Here is Shyla with her godparents, Dan and Erin. We love Dan and Erin! And isn't Shyla a beauty in her dress. This is one of two baptism dresses for her for the day!

All the kiddos with Uncle Pete and Aunt Nanette!

Love this pic of Zac and Rob

What a great day and a great ceremony! Zac and Shyla are on the right path...

After the party, Jeremy and the kids and I headed over to my friend Natalie's parents' house for her and her son's combined birthday party. Natalie is 30 and Spencer is 2!

Natalie, who is known for her insanity regarding birthday cakes for Spencer, made this train cake with all those pieces and details!

Here is Laura, Natalie, me and Zac.

Here I am giving Zac a sweet potato fry! yum!

And Jer with both kiddos.

What a big day! Lilly whined a bit on the way home and as we were getting her ready for bed, but all things considered she did just great! Zackary, of course, had no problems at all since he still naps when he needs to in his carseat.

We are lucky to have great family and friends!

Uh oh... a new addiction!

PICNIK!
I've been playing around with this photo editing program for a few days. There is kinda a lot that can be done with even just the free subscription!
If nothing else, it is something to occupy my free time (ha ha ha) and to add a new little touch to my blog and our yearly Yager Family Yearbooks!

Been a busy week - will post more this weekend. Until then... fake it till you make it!

Birthday party!

My parents had a birthday party last night for me, my aunt Sherry, Pat, and uncle Pete (not pictured here). It was fun!


Host and hostess extraordinaire!

One of our three cakes. Doesn't it look like the names are written in sharpie?

Nicole, Soren and Suzanne
Natalie, Michael and Spencer Hakey, with Jeremy and Lilly.

Dave and Jen with John and Donna

Sister! Mom and aunt Sherry. Looking at this pic reminds me that I didn't get a picture with my sister - in fact I don't think I got a single picture of her :( Probably because she calls me paparazzi - guess I wasn't a very good paparazzi last night.

Me and Liz.

Jeannette with cake!

Lilly with cake!

Thanks to everyone! It was a lot of fun!

The 20th! Again!?! Already!?!

The 20th of every month is so special for me. Just a nice time to take a few pictures and reflect on my little angels. They change so much, so fast.
Zac is 8 months and Lilly is 2 1/2 today! Wowzers how time flies!!!!
This pic is one ofmy favorites of late! This was tonight after Lilly helped me give Zac a bath. They love each other so much!


Lilly is such a girl! This was the other night when she was putting her babies "Allie and Bear Bear" down to sleep. She says "sshhhh" and "I wove you" and "close your eyes." These are the same things she says to Zac when she helps me put him to bed.
My big guy!

And another dinner time shot! Dinner time is a good time to take pictures, since they are both sitting somewhat still!
Zac is eating everything in sight these days! He has had most veggies and fruits (well, not most in the world, but most that we eat), and even chicken and pasta now. We're also able to give him chunks of food now rather than just "mush" which is nice.

I love love love these two little kiddos so much!

We also love Shyla, who is 3 months today! Which is weird, because I swear my baby sister was in the hospital having her, like, sometime late last week.
I also love that tomorrow is Friday! Have a good one!

Ice cream & bath time!

Lilly looks mad, but was posing for the camera with her messy face! Just havin' fun!
Zac loves bath time!

Have a great week!

Zac's on solids!

First of all, thanks for all the comments on my last post! I really loved reading all your thoughts and opinions!

Zac has made it perfectly clear that he wants food. All kinds of food. Lots and lots and lots of food. Last weekend we finally started him on Cheerios. He played with the first one until I put it in his mouth, but once he got the idea he turned into a professional Cheerio eater! Here are some first pics!

This one isn't about solids, but it's a pretty neat "messy face" pic... plus it is a good shot of his teeth. He still just has the two bottoms, but I think some tops are at least threatening to come in.

And this was last night when we gave him peas. He's also had sweet potato puffs at Daycare, and loved them.
We're going to be introducing more and more solids now that he has the idea. Plus... the boy is just always hungry!!

What kind of person am I?

This morning, I stopped at Starbucks. I was excited! As I sit here enjoying my delicious drink, though, I am reflecting ... 

Starbucks is busy on Fridays. That is just usually a fact. Today was no exception. There were probably 5 people in front of me in what was a very efficient and quick line. No kidding, I was probably there for only about 5 minutes. Toward the front of the line there were two ladies. They ordered, and one lady got her drink (I think it was straight coffee or something really fast - I wasn't yet paying much attention) while the other lady went to the pick-up area to wait. In no time at all, it became obvious that they were annoyed at having to wait. They were rude. The lady making the drinks got flustered. 

My thoughts were: you are at Starbucks on a Friday. Be happy that: A. You are at Starbucks and,  B. It is Friday. Instead, they were obnoxious and, again, rude. 

As the barista handed her the long awaited for drink (can you sense the sarcasm?), she apologized. Mrs. Obnoxious said "I'll just be needing a free drink card." 

Seriously?!?

It gets better. 

Barista said "sure thing" and told the lady at the register, who said, "you got it. It will just take a minute." 

Mrs. Obnoxious got, again, annoyed that it was going to take a minute to get her undeserved (in my opinion) free drink card.

Poor barista was obviously flustered. 

My question... what should a customer such as myself do in this situation?

A. Ignore it

B. Confront Mrs. Obnoxious

C. Passive Aggressively comfort the barista

D. Something else??

I chose C. When she handed me my drink and apologized intensely (needlessly) for the wait, I told her not to apologize because I am not obnoxious like Mrs. O. 

Barista laughed and seemed to relax a little. 

My thoughts:

On one hand, no matter what I said I would not have changed Mrs. O or her personality. 

On the other hand... do I always choose the "middle?" Wanting to do something but not wanting to confront? Am I one of those "bystanders" that we teach in bullying lessons that stand by and don't do anything? 

My apologies for being a little "journal-y." This isn't usually my type of post, but I'm curious... 

What would you have done??

Saturday and Sunday in Vegas!

Saturday we were able to have a little downtime. Lilly watched a movie and read some books.

Zac played and played.

Lilly discovered new toys.

Shyla laid around and looked cute!
We were all pretty tired.
It's hard to tell, but Stevie is pretty much asleep here.

Not as hard to tell... Lilly is asleep here. This is after another tantrum due to lack of nap.

The brothers. Apparently there is no "Palmer rule" in Vegas - in Tucson there can be no more than 2 brothers together in a public place at any one time... they just cause too darn much trouble!

Saturday night as the kids went to bed, Andrea and I were able to sneak out for a couple of hours of eating, gossiping, and sipping on some cocktails. Thanks again to my mom and Kendra for taking care of the kiddos so I could go out! It was much needed, and SO much fun! Naturally, I forgot my camera.

That concludes our Vegas trip! We flew home on Sunday morning-ish. It was definitely fun, but I couldn't do a trip there with the kids again until they are a bit older. Well worth it though!

Goodnight!

They do!

Our Las Vegas trip continued....
Friday evening was Cindy and Dean's wedding! Here are the pics of the ceremony:




Ha! I didn't get to see the ceremony due to the tantrum of a two year old. Honestly, I don't blame her - it had been a big day and she just had a meltdown. I got her out of the chapel literally seconds before Cindy walked down the aisle. Kendra followed only a few minutes later with Shyla, so us girls sat outside and listened sheepishly.
I took Lilly up to uncle Pete's room to cool down. A little while later, we decided to try to go to the reception. We missed the introductions and first dance and stuff, but we still got there in time to have some fun. Here are the newlyweds!


And my attempt at a pic with my two kids.

My grandparents - aren't they perfect!
Grandma was the first one to the dancefloor!
Uncle Pete, dad, and Shyla

I like this pic of Pete and Nanette! They both laugh a lot, so getting a pic of them laughing together just makes me happy.
My dad and Cindy. I especially like how Kendra is ducking.
Zac was a party animal! He made it through the wedding ceremony, then danced all night with Nanette and anyone else who would dance with him! So fun!

And, this is about 5 minutes after putting them back in the stroller.

I'm usually pretty good with the camera - at least in terms of getting pics of everyone. Kendra calls me paparazzi because I always have it out. But, honestly, Lilly's meltdowns kinda threw me off, so my pictures were kinda spuratic and random. Plus, there were some that I thought I took that apparently I didn't. For example, I didn't get any of uncle Joe (Cindy's dad) or aunt Vicky. Or my mom, apparently. Kinda bummed, but it is what it is I guess.

Regardless, a big congratulations to Cindy and Dean!

Stay tuned... Vegas day 2 coming up soon...