OUR FUTURE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW IS A LUNATIC!!

Happy Friday (almost)! We hope everyone is finishing up a great week. Confused by the title of this post? Let me explain...
Lilly has had a very rough week. My best guess is that she is overtired, so she has been (very willingly) going to bed early. Still, we've had some VERY rough mornings and some VERY rough evenings... not every morning or every evening, but off and on. I didn't have the heart (or the forethought) to take any pictures of the tantrums, but here is a lovely shot of her ordering Zac out of the swing he was trying out for the first time, because she wanted her bear to sit there. That did not happen.


Through all the horrible screaming fits, I've watched Zac, who just sits and watches and is very patient, waiting his turn for whatever he needs. I've been very thankful that it hasn't freaked him out and that he is just such a mellow, easygoing baby. Then... late last night... I had a horrible thought. Zac is watching Lilly have all these meltdowns during very formidable years. What if he ends up marrying a lunatic because of it?!? These are the things that keep mommys up at night...

Lilly, though all her craziness, still has very sweet moments as well. Here she is reading a book to her baby. Ok, so at least my daughter-in-law will be a sweet, well read lunatic.

Zac is now LOVING this activity center. Jeremy and I sit at dinner and watch him, and are just in awe of his development. He can turn himself all the way around, playing with each toy on the way. One particular toy makes noise and music, and he really likes it. We watched him try and try to make the music happen, eventually being successful. Once it started, he moved on to the next toy. SO cool to see him know what makes noise and be physically able to make it happen.

While Zac is playing, Lilly is eating her dinner. Here she is doing a superb job of eating her peas with a spoon. The last couple of days she has asked for cereal and milk as her after school snack, so she hasn't eaten a great dinner. But, I figure there are worse ways for her to ruin her appetite than cereal and milk.And one more shot of our little man. He now rolls from his back to his belly with very little effort, which is also so cool to see. They grow so fast...

Here's hoping everyone has a nice Friday!

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter to all our family and friends!

What a fun day we had! We went to my parent's house for Easter, where there were of course lots of presents. This is earlier in the day when Lilly got to open her Easter basket!

Zac got a basket too, but this is just a picture of him watching Lilly.

Stevie & Kendra.

And the Easter Egg hunt! Lilly was wearing her super cute "Princess" dress from grandma & grandpa Yager. She had a blast looking for and finding lots of eggs. I think there were 20-ish eggs hidden in Palmer Playland (previously known as Lilly Land - now Palmer Playland is more PC due to Zac and Shyla). Based on the number of times eggs fell from her basket and she got to rediscover them, she probably found 50 eggs. Pretty good stuff! I took SO many pictures - here are just a few!
Running towards a found egg...

Giving grandpa a warning "no no" - he obviously did something wrong...

Right there!!

Jeannette helping Lilly find a particularly elusive egg.My uncle Pete couldn't be here, because he is in Las Vegas for a bowling tournament. When we came inside from the egg hunt, we realized that the tournament was televised, and there he was!

There was lots of cheering and yelling!

Then... one by one we all started realizing (or being told) that, while he was in fact in Las Vegas, THIS particular tournament was one that was filmed a couple of years ago. Then, the fun really began, as we all got to see how long it took various people to find out.

Shockingly (ha ha), my mom and Pat were the very last to find out - significantly after the fact. Good times! Stevie took the majority of the heat for the trick, though my dad and Pete were actually the masterminds (at least that's what I understand... it's impossible to know what to believe anymore).

Anyhow, here are Kendra and mom with Jeannette and Aaron - we are SO glad they came... and we sincerely apologize for ... well... just for everything. ha!

Lilly wanted to give Zac an egg, which was very sweet. She gave it to him while he napped.

After Zac woke up, he hung out with Aaron for a while.

Kay, Pat & Grandma

Steve, grandpa, Jeremy & Dad

Stevie with Lilly.

Nanette with Zac.I don't have a picture of the other BIG news story of the day...

When everyone arrived this afternoon, Lilly was napping. There was lots of talking and greeting, but we had the monitor on and didn't hear a thing from Lilly. A few minutes after everyone arrived, Lilly comes running out in her t-shirt and diaper, hair a huge mess (bed head), and a ginormous smile on her face. Super cute, and I fully thought my dad had heard her wake up and gotten her out of bed. Boy was I wrong. As it turns out, Lilly had woken up, climbed out of her playpen by herself, opened the bedroom door by herself, and came on out to join the party. Later, she showed me exactly how she had climbed out and landed on her feet. Yikes!! Looks like it's time for a big girl bed!!

Jeannette and I were brainstorming possible names for this post, based on conversations around the dinner table. A few notable suggestions:

"Bite me Snow White!"

"Apparently, my husband can nurse a baby."

"There are dead people in your church?"

"Now what's wrong with the meringue?"

And, this one came up multiple times...

"Shut up and listen!"

Ahhh... good times!

All in all, it was a great day! :)

A FUN & VISITOR-FILLED TIME!

What a week we've had - especially yesterday! I think I'll start from last night and work my way backwards...
Around 6 pm or so yesterday, Jer's phone rang. It was a blocked ID, which he usually ignores, but this time he answered. Thank goodness he did! It was his uncle Phil (Jer's dad's brother)... who happened to be in Tucson! Him and Jan came over soon after, and we had such a nice visit with them! Here is Jer and Phil enjoying some tequila from the barrel! Yum!

Lilly quickly fell in love with Jan! Here, Jan is helping her learn how to catch her ball! So fun!

A little playtime and visiting inside...

Whoops! I think Phil may have had a bit too much of that barrel tequila!

Just kidding! This was just for fun! You should have seen Lilly's face when she saw Phil wearing her hat - it was like she wanted to be mad (cuz it is hers after all... and she's 2), but at the same time thought it was hilarious... and she was a little confused. ha!

We are SO glad they called and came over during a very quick trip through town! It was so nice to see them and visit, even for a relatively short bit. We look forward to them coming by again next time they're driving through, but we insist that they let us cook them dinner - more tequila included!!

Now, yesterday was a day off for me, which was so nice. I actually still sent both kids to daycare even though I was off. In my "guilty mom" moments, I tell myself that it was because Lilly had an Easter party and egg hunt yesterday, and I didn't want her to miss that. As true as that is, it is also true that I really really wanted a day at home to clean and do some work and even to get a pedicure... some much needed time that I haven't had since well before Zac was born!

After the kids got off to school, I picked up the house a little bit, and waited for my good friend Josh Jordan and his son, Wesley to arrive!! They were also driving through town for just one evening towards the end of their Spring Break road trip! I worked with Josh at Norwood in Sacramento, and it was SO nice to see him and Wesley! We had coffee and pastries, and just caught up on everything! Josh has taken over the AVID program that he and I worked together on when I was there, so I got to hear all about that - he is having the same issues I did, so I guess it's not just me! ha! Here they are in our backyard!

It was so nice to see them both and to catch up! The bar has been set Norwood... who will be our next visitor???

The rest of Friday was spent doing some housework, schoolwork, and a nice pedicure/lunch date with my sister! Such a nice day off, and I couldn't wait to get to my kids after their fun day at school!!

This is sometime this past week - Zac is turning into quite a reader, just like his sister. He loves it when I lay on the floor next to him and hold up a book over him to read. The also loves his bumbo chair, in this case with a book in front of him. Look at that grin!

Here are Jer and Lilly watching Charlie Brown's Easter Special... this one is for you Nana!! Lilly loved it and we let her stay up a little later that evening watching it :)

On Thursday, Lilly had a bit of a rough day at school. She fell and got her knee pretty well scraped up, then she got bit - hard - by a boy in her class. The bite was the worst of it, but it was on her back so at least she couldn't see it and "re-live" it. The knee was being re-lived Friday morning as we got ready for school. So, we had to put a band-aid on it. Then, baby doll needed a band-aid too. Here are my two little knee scrape victims.

Zac has discovered and loves this activity center from Suzanne! Look how his little legs just hang there, no where near the ground! ha!

Here is Lilly telling Zac that he has a phone call.

And, we can't leave out Ginger. Jer made a delicious smoked turkey breast last night, and even Ginger got to enjoy it! But, he made her work for it...

What a week it's been! As for me, AIMS testing is almost over - just one more day on Thursday. Whew! Also, Jer dealt with a fire in the deli this week --- in the walk-in freezer of all places. What a week!

We hope everyone has a great Easter tomorrow!

PLAYDATE WITH SOREN!

Lilly had a playdate with Soren today... which is especially nice because it's kind of like I get a "playdate" with Soren's mom, Suzanne! Lilly loves to play in sand (or dirt!), so the fact that Soren has a sandbox was a huge bonus. Soren is a little youngerr than Lilly, but SO cute!

Here is Suzanne hanging with the kids.

And Zac overseeing the adventures!

It was super cute how the kids would mostly play next to each other rather than with each other, yet they had to have their drinks at the same time and be in the same area as each other all the time.

We sure had fun! Thanks again to Suzanne and Soren for inviting us! We'll have to do it again soon!

This is a picture of Zac from this morning - he has been trying and trying to roll over from his back to his belly... and sure enough, he did it twice this evening! Why is my little boy growing up so fast?!?

So many other cute things have happened in the last week or so, and the camera either isn't around or pictures just wouldn't do it justice. Here are just a few:

*Lilly picking up her little folding chair and carrying it from group to group during yesterday's party, so that she could join in.

*Zac falling asleep in the bumbo chair - really with very little warning, just closing his eyes and taking a nap.

*Lilly playing "night night" on the couch and instructing me on how she likes her back to be patted... not rubbed, not scratched, but patted in one particular way.

*Tonight as I drank a (much needed) glass of wine, I swirled it in the glass. Lilly proceeded to "swirl" her milk sippy cup every time before taking a sip for the remainder of dinner.

*Zac giggling when I lay him down in just his diaper - and Lilly immediately insisting on taking her shirt off and laying down too!

These little things make even the tough days blessings.

BABY PARTY!

We had a party today for Kendra & Stevie and their upcoming arrival. Here is the happy expectant couple!

Here are a variety of pictures - I took a ton, and can't include them all... but here are a couple!

Here is Lilly in a super cute pink tulip dress. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Yager for this and another, equally cute, dress!! Lilly was such a good girl at the party!

And Zac was such a good boy! He was happy the whole time - here he is just getting sleepy for his nap.

Dan and Erin came all the way from San Diego!

And, of course, the presents!!

Stevie is going to look hot carrying around this shiny gold diaper bag!

Kendra and mom.And Kendra with me. My sister is so beautiful!!

It was such a fun party! We will have a more traditional shower for her later, but wanted to have something that includes Stevie and was geared towards their closest friends - men and women. We just can't wait to meet little Shyla May!!