More fun with the fam!

On Sunday we decided to go to the zoo! First, we had to get all covered in sunscreen. Here is Lilly slathering Allie with "Special Sunscreen" (aka water in a bowl).

While she was busy doing that, I was noticing that my son is a hippie! Look at how his hair goes over his ears! I'm pretty sure I've seen a picture of my dad in the 70's with that same hair. Looks like Zac will be getting his first haircut before Lilly does!

So off to the zoo we went! The kids, Jeremy, Marv, Margaret, Rob, Nana and me (behind the camera). Oh yeah, and the Christmas Reindeer. Weird. He must have heard what Stevie said about him the day before. He looks mad.

We saw animals, fed the giraffes, and even ran into my good friend Suzanne and her family. Here are Nana and Marv enjoying a little break.
And Zac enjoying his sippie. He likes to kick it with his feet up in the stroller. What can I say, it's that relaxed, laid back hippie lifestyle of his.

Lilly enjoyed all the animals of course!

That afternoon, we rested for a bit (Lilly did not nap for the second day in a row. yikes.). Then, the whole crew came over for hot dogs (except Jer - he had to go to work).

Here is Zac showing off his new move. He goes from sitting, to standing, to tackling whatever is in front of him. In this case, the floor. Then he laughs and laughs.

Ahhh time for his first hot dog. Uh oh... I think he is a fan! He went crazy, then would get mad when he accidentally ate a carrot instead. Oh boy!

That's my girl with the Starbucks! Don't worry folks, I had refilled it with water. Pretty sunset...

And then it was bathtime. After this picture, Zac went to bed, the fam left, then it was Lilly's turn for a bath. After bath she likes to be carried "like a baby," then we sat and had girl talk before going to bed. What a doll!

What fun! We are having a great time with Margaret and Nana, and wish they could stay way longer!!

You can't roll a reindeer!

They're here!! Margaret and Nana are here to visit!! We are so happy and so blessed that they are here! I can't wait to have so much fun with them both!!
Don't they look great?
Me and Auntie Margie!

Here is Zac, looking very proud of himself after realizing that he can use our dining room chair as a "walker." He pushed it and walked through the entire kitchen until the got stuck on the carpet in our bedroom. 9 months old. He will be walking in no time.

Stevie likes to kick young children. Nice.

I know there will be so many pictures and so many stories from Marg and Nana's visit... stay tuned!!

Oh, and the title refers to a quote from Stevie from this evening. He is weird.

Our morning routine.

Lilly is such a good big sister. I've said it before and I'll say it again.
At night, it is her job to help put Zac to bed. Specifically, this requires turning off the light and closing the door quietly while whispering "nite nite Zacky... I wove you... close your eyes." Sweetest thing ever.
In the morning, she helps me wake him up too. Yesterday I took a couple snapshots of the deed.
First, she crouches down by his head and says "morning Zacky... time wake up." This picture looks like she is yelling, but she isn't. She whispers and is quite gentle.

Finally he picks up his head and looks around. Not sure what is going on with Lilly's face here.

Then he sits up and finds his blankie and his thumb for a minute. Lilly stays nearby in case she is needed.

Finally, Mr. Bed-head himself stands up and is ready to start the day. Lilly can sip on her juice knowing that she has successfully completed her job once again.

Have a great day! It's time for me to get this very routine started again....

Busy week - just some pictures!

Whew! Is it only Thursday??
First up... poor Ginger! I don't say that very often because, frankly, Ginger makes it quite clear that she hates me, puts up with the kids, and loves Jeremy. Still, no one deserves to be consistently hunted and tracked down in their own home.
There she is!

Hmmm maybe from this angle...

Look mom! She's all mine now!!

Unfortunately (for Ginger... muhha ha ha) this scene is recreated freqently these days, with just a change in setting. Could be Lilly's room, as seen above. Could be the kitchen table. Could be mom and dads's closet... but the characters and theme stay the same.

Next up, Lilly and mom goofing around. I hate this pic of me, but think it's hysterical that Lilly put her hand up on the camera like I do when we're doing self portraits!
Zac and daddy goofing around as well!

Lilly brushing her teeth. Kinda a bad picture. Not really sure why I'm including it. But I am. Because I can.
And, this last one is of Nicole on the news the other night! Our school gets a pretty good amount of press, being that we're new, have cool technology (that we're USING), and that we just rock in general. Nicole got to be interviewed and show off a really innovative tool that we are using district wide. Pretty much, she's famous now. Go Nicole!

Happy Friday to you all!

Oh... wait.... it's not... darn it! Have a great Thursday anyway :)

The 20th - what a day!!

Happy 9 months to Zac and 2 years 7 months to Lilly! And, happy 4 months to Shyla!
We have had a great weekend! First, this picture was taken a few days ago - the first time Zac tried out a swing! He loved it!

This was a few days ago too - just some fun playtime with my kiddos! The smiles were so worth the physical pain!
Yesterday Jer and Rob took the kids to the zoo and the mall while I went to run club then to work. They all had a great day! This morning, we slept in a little bit (wonderful!). Lilly then woke me up and we decided to make pancakes. She had to help of course!

After our delicious blueberry pancakes, the men of the house woke up. We asked Lilly what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to go to the zoo. We mentioned that she had just gone yesterday and she replied that she wanted to go with both mommy and daddy. How (and why?) could one say no to that! So off we went! First, we saw some animals. Then Lilly and daddy fed a giraffe!

Then we posed for some pictures.

We also walked around Reid Park for a bit and even took the train ride!! We took a few pictures on the train, but none turned out even remotely blog-able.
After the train, we high-tailed it home for lunch. Lilly is such a good big sister - here she is feeding Zac. (He was actually eating leftover pancakes for lunch since he slept through them at breakfast).
After lunch, it was naptime. Lilly talked to herself and sang to herself for about an hour and a half before finally falling asleep! At least she wasn't crying.
After nap, Jeremy had gone into work but the kids and I decided to go to the park. We met my friend Nicole, and we had the intention of running. Unfortunately, the track there wasn't too stroller friendly. But, they do have a great play area for the kids!

And here he is again, still lovin' the swings! Lilly also loves the swings! She loved that she gets to go higher than Zac!

Ahhh such wonderful kiddos!
Lilly loves Nicole (even after Nicole watched her take a swan dive off the swing just minutes after this picture was taken! ha! Sorry Nicole - you knew I'd have to blog it! Plus, she didn't even cry)!

And just one more picture of my big bad 9 month old boy!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, and has a good start to their week!

I have only one week of work until Fall break, which is nice. I'm teaching "intersession school" for the first 4 days of break, but I'll still have over 2 weeks left. I have lots of plans during that time, but I am so looking forward to a little less structure in my life for a few weeks!

A bad day turned ... well... better.

Boy Lilly had a rough day at school today! Apparently she just wasn't herself. She wanted to be alone, just kinda sitting or playing by herself, and wanted to be held a lot more than often. So unlike our normally social and hysterical girl! I was so sad to hear that she was sad. I think having your child be sad is worse than having them be sick. I don't mean really sick - thank God I've never experienced that. But, like, fever/cold/flu sick. I think sad is worse. There is no medication for sad, and it is harder to figure out why they are sad. Ugh it is the worst!
Upon asking Lilly a lot of questions, I did find out that her best friend at school pushed her and was being "not nice." Oh my heart breaks for her again just thinking about it.
Then again, let's be honest - Lilly is 2. Friends fight and get over it. In reality, last night I took her and Zac running with me and, as a result, kept her up a little too late, so she was extra tired today. This, I'm sure, made the "not nice" friend situation much worse. Still... there is nothing like knowing your child is sad.
Ok, on to the good stuff. We got home and Jeremy decided to take us all to dinner! Lilly immediately perked up (ahhh emotional eating ... her mother's daughter for sure), so off we went. Naturally, I forgot my camera, which would have been especially handy when Lilly was grubbing her ice cream or when Zac was just happy about food in general. But, I did grab it when we got home.
First, we sat outside for a bit and tried to pet the neighborhood cat. It doesn't really look like it, but Lilly really was enjoying herself.

Then, enough was enough. It was time to play!!

Soon, my happy girl was back!

Let's not forget about Zac! He, apparently, had a fabulous day. Still... always time for more fun at home! He has been LOVING this big 'ol doggie lately. It just cracks him up!

Lilly and I had to take a pic. Gosh I look beat-down and tired by the end of the day. But, ignore me... Lilly looks happy and content! Finally!
Then Zac told us he was tired. How? By sucking his thumb. That's what he does.

As I got Zac ready for bed, Lilly found Jeremy's hat and had to play with it a bit.

And a bit more.

Eventually, it was time for Lilly to crash. And crash she did. This time, right on time.

I have been trying like heck to get in some running during the week. I've been trying different times and schedules, to see what works best. Apparently the "after dinner/take the kids" run isn't going to work unless we can get an earlier start. She literally was up probably 15 or 20 minutes later than normal, and it made a huge difference.

Anyone in the Tucson area have a used treadmill so I can get my runs in in the morning???

Anyhow, time for a .... FLASHBACK!!

These two pics were taken last September. Here, Jeremy and I show off the baby belly.

And, our precious Lilly. She looks SO little and young!!This week is busy busy busy with quarter 1 grades closing plus parent teacher conferences, not to mention the million other things that I am forgetting (ignoring?) for the moment.

Hope all other weeks are going well and that dinner, ice cream, and wrestling with loved ones has the same positive effect on you as it does on Lilly.

A random assortment...

Just a random bunch of pics from the last week or so... enjoy!
This first one was last weekend, I think. Lilly does not sleep with us, but sometimes I let her climb in to wake up Jeremy when it's time. Here, they both decided to "go back to sleep." Jer was pretending to sleep but Lilly was laughing and not being a very good actress!

This is just a random pic of Zac with his bottle. He is eating SO much real food now, but still having about 4 bottles a day. Poor second child - Lilly never held her own bottle, probably because she never had to. With Zac, sometimes my hands are full and I'm running around and he kinda has to fend for himself. He's good at it though - takes care of it with nothin' but smiles!

Speaking of my big boy... here he is in the big boy part of the shopping cart for the first time!

And this was tonight... it was Allie's birthday party!! Who is Allie you ask? Why Lilly's dolly of course. How did we know it was her birthday today?? Well Lilly told us, duh. So, what else could we do but have a little party after dinner, complete with cupcake and cookies. Leave it to my mom to throw together a birthday party in, literally, minutes. It was silly, but Lilly loved it.

And here are me, Nicole, Kendra and Shyla before a race last weekend. We're getting better... slowly but surely. Half marathon here we come!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends! And thanks for all the comments on my last post... 13 is a new record for me! I love love love knowing that people look at my blog from time to time.

:)