Zac's teeth and more.

Zac has been working so hard on these two teeth, and they're finally here! His right one came in first, slowly sometime last week. Then his left one popped through overnight last night.

It's a good thing too, because this little boy is hungry! In no time at all, he's gone from just "trying" rice cereal, to scarfing through a big bowl with a whole jar of veggies this evening. This is about 45 minutes after a bottle of formula, mind you! I thought teenaged boys ate their parents out of house and home, but I didn't realize it began so early!
Zac is now eating cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans. yum!

Here is Lilly, loving an avacado this evening! She is feeling much better, thankfully.

Yesterday my friend Liz came over to hang out with us. Lilly decided to move all her chairs to her room and play "class." I think it's cute that her purse and Allie's purse get their own seats.

Speaking of Liz... she made me promise to post this! It's a little hard to see, but these are Jeremy's work schedules on the fridge. Liz cracked up at seeing how he saves each one. Jeremy, honey, I love you. And I know you're a pack rat. I will love you no matter what. But... seriously, I'm not sure why we need to know when you worked last October!

Hope your week is off to a great start! I unofficially went back to work today. My "report back" day is next Monday, but I will spend this week getting my classroom unpacked, organized, and ready for those crazy kids! Summer goes so fast...

Fun stuff

This picture turned out a little blurry, but it's just a first attempt. Jeremy loves the monsoon storms, and especially loves snapping pictures of lightening. Since we have just a basic camera, it's tough. This picture was taken two nights ago, just minutes before the storm hit hard!
Lilly and Zac with cousin Shyla, all dressed up for the 4th!
The Forgacs family.
Today we had a playdate with Soren and Suzanne. Lilly and Soren are so cute playing together! There were other cute moments, but this was the last picture I took since our camera's memory card is full! Time to backup and erase.
Hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend!

Preparing for the 4th, etc.

Look at how cute Lilly's new hat is!!
She made this today with her daddy. Zac and I had our Weight Watcher's meeting today, which means Lilly-daddy bonding time. They went to the mall to play and attend storytime at Borders, which apparently is also craft time! Lilly and Jeremy both told me about all the fun they had, and I know it is so good for her to have her daddy all to herself sometimes. It's cute that she sees my Weight Watcher book and knows that Zac and I go, and her and daddy get to do something fun!

This evening, Lilly and grandpa hung flags in preparation for tomorrow!
My mom decided to pose for a picture with Shyla. I kinda hope this picture embarasses her a little bit. Why? Click on the "A Beagle and a Baby" blog and read the latest "Flashback Friday" along with the comments. That's why!
Sorry mom... I still love you!

Mr. Big Man Zackary is now sitting without any support!

He is also crawling like crazy. We had to pull out the playpen yesterday so that we can contain him if we're not able to watch him like a hawk. We don't have dangerous furniture or anything, but Lilly has a lot of toys with small parts that can and do end up on the floor, and we're not willing to take any chances. Lilly, of course, had to try out the play pen too. I think the idea of it was more fun than she ended up having though.
From time to time people ask if we're planning on having any more children. The answer is, of course, heck no. Realistically, this is because I am already the mother of 3. And, I'm not even counting Jeremy. (ha ha ha). Lilly has a baby doll named Allie, and Allie is pretty much like my 3rd child. Honestly, sometimes I think she's more work than Lilly or Zac. I hear Lilly say "help please" regarding something for Allie probably at least 100 times per day. At least she's saying "please" though, right? Here, she is putting Allie down for a nap after I had to lay out the pink blanket JUST RIGHT. For the record, I did it wrong a bunch of times first. And Lilly told me I was wrong. Loudly.
Notice that Lilly is putting Allie into her bench seat for nap. Please know that I never made Lilly sleep in a bench. Or even a drawer for that matter. :) But, this is a huge step up from when she would insist on Allie sleeping in Lilly's crib, which meant mommy had to get her in and out.

Lilly also feeds Allie. This pic is cute because she was feeding her, then crossed her legs like I do, apparently when I feed Zac.

I also think it's cute that this spoon feeding of Allie has just recently started. Like, when Zac started eating from a spoon. She had been known to pull up her shirt and breastfeed Allie in the past. Then, she burps her. She also gives big hugs and kisses before and after Allie's naps. What a good mommy!

We also have to frequently change Allie's diapers, take her for walks, and even sing her to sleep. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Finally, here is a recent picture of my beautiful niece Shyla. Isn't she an angel??
Wishing everyone a wonderful 4th of July!!

Turning corners.

Lilly seems to have turned a corner with her virus and is thankfully feeling much better. She still has her nebulizer, which we're supposed to use a couple of times per day to clear out and un-swell (?) her little bronchial tubes. Now that she is feeling better, she is a lot less happy about the nebulizer. These days, I tend to hold it under her chin and aim it up her nose, while distracting her with a cartoon. Yikes!

This was taken when she didn't hate it as much.

Zac has turned a corner in his own way as well. He now eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, the occasional fuzz from our constantly shedding rug and, as of last night, carrots. Last night he did the best job yet of eating, where not one bite got spit (or fell) out of his mouth. There is a little rim of carrot around his mouth, but I didn't have to "catch and retry" any. My little boy is growing up so fast. Next week sometime we'll be introducing a green veggie!

I took this picture the other day, when I realized that the kids had been quietly playing, individually, by themselves for a number of minutes. Lilly was playing with her tea set and Zac in his walker. They were both happy and content and I had to sneak around the corner to take a picture. The picture does it no justice, but trust me when I say it was a NICE feeling to not be pulled in different directions for a few minutes. Could we be turning a corner into more peaceful playtimes? I won't hold my breath!

Finally, I think we may have turned the corner into monsoon season! We love the rain and storms and are hoping for some good ones coming up!
I, meanwhile, have turned the corner into sicksville myself. I probably have what Lilly had, but it's not so bad since my bronchial tubes are bigger. Last night was pretty miserable with fever and chills, but I'm feeling a little bit better today. Hopefully it moves quickly, as Lilly's did.

Thankful for our great pediatrician!

Well, we had a rough night. Lilly was coughing and crying and had a temperature most of the night. This morning was a little better, but her throat hurt and she was still coughing a little. We saw her doctor, checked oxygen levels and had two breathing treatments, then had to have a chest x-ray just to rule out pneumonia. Well, it turns out Lilly has a viral infection, and needs to be on a nebulizer (I'm anxiously waiting for it to be delivered now), followed by another doctor's appointment tomorrow. Poor thing!

10 Reasons I LOVE our pediatrician:

10. He used to be my pediatrician. :)

9. He is "better safe than sorry." And is not afraid to take longer than planned.

8. He explains things in understandable terms, and makes sure mommies and daddies understand.

7. It is incredibly easy to get in to see him at the last minute. Today I called at 8:20, and was asked if we could be there by 9am. This is after I told them that I didn't think we needed to be seen, I was just wondering if we could give her any kind of cough or throat medicine.

6. His nurse is good with kids. She let Lilly "help" put the medicine in the nebulizer and gave some of the medicine to her dolly.

5. He schedules follow-up appointments as a check-up, not only if it gets worse.

4. He doesn't believe "no news is good news." He calls when he gets the results of something, even just to say "chest x-ray looks just fine."

3. He PERSONALLY calls back. Every time.

2. When Zac was sick, he gave me his cell phone number. Today, he confirmed that I still have it.

1. He also gave me his home phone number, and told to call anytime.

I'm just very thankful for the comfort that having a good pediatrician provides parents!

Here is Lilly with the tubing for her nebulizer.

Zac, meanwhile, had his 6 month well-baby check-up last Friday. He is 26 inches and weights 16lbs, 11oz. He is also officially crawling (still sorta soldier-style, but getting around for sure). Here's a pic of how I found him a few minutes ago, trying to crawl under the side table.
I will likely do another post later or tomorrow with some fun swimming pictures from this weekend. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Tuesday & Wednesday in CA!

On TUESDAY, I was finally able to see my friend Torie! Torie, Kim and I used to have regular "Coffee Talk" (CT for short) before work. We had a traditional CT, with the addition of Lilly & Zac. It was just like old times (with a few child related distractions). I love my girls so much, and miss seeing them regularly!
After CT, Kim and I took the kids to the mall, then we headed home for lunch and nap. Before nap, Lilly got in some great playtime with grandpa in the backyard!
After nap, the kids and I headed out for a BBQ with my friends. It was SO nice that everyone was able to be there! It was great to see everyone that I used to hang out with so regularly! There were many more children there now, but lots of jokes and good times... some things never change!
The BBQ was at Dan and Allison's house (Allison of the gorgeous cakes, for those of you who pay attention). Here is Ryan (Dan and Allison's youngest) with Zac.
For some reason, I like this picture. Brett is on the left, looking a little lost. Dan is in the middle and Brandon is on the right, and they are making eyes at each other. Pretty much typical stuff! Brandon's daughter, Brooklyn, is the cutie on the right!
Here is the Blom family! Brandon, Liz and Brooklyn, plus little baby Blom who is due in December! Congrats to them!
Brett, Kim and I used to carpool to work each day. Boy do I miss carpool!!! Brett, as a result, got to know Lilly pretty well from drop-offs. He has always been kinda enamored with her. Not in a wierd, creepy way, but in a "Brett needs to get off his butt and find a girl so he can have a baby of his own" way. Regardless, they had a great reunion!
The boys! There is Dan again, on the left. Chad is in the middle, who is married to Jamee, and Matt is Kim's hubby, on the right. Chad and Matt are BFF's for sure, and it was so great to see them both!
Here is Allison with Emma, their oldest. Emma and Ryan were both so good with both Lilly and Zac. Such neat kids!
Kim and Matt!
Here's Jamee! She had baby boy CJ about 6 weeks after Zac was born. Doesn't she look great for having such a young baby?
Emma and Lilly got to frost the cake that Mary made for us to bring (thanks again!!). Emma got a little freaked out that Lilly kept trying to lick her fingers, then touch the cake. But, we kept germs at bay.
The funniest thing was that, after the cake was frosted and decorated with fresh strawberries, Lilly started up her own rendition of "Happy Birthday." I used it as an opportunity to point out that we don't have cake usually unless it's someones birthday! We all joined in and sang "Happy Birthday" with an audible awkwardness during the "Happy Birthday Dear ____________" part.
And, finally, here I am with Dan. Dan and I have a great and pretty unique friendship, built at least in part on the mutual love of FOOD. Ahhh for the days when we would have contests to see who could eat the most pizza at lunch. Taking turns racing to Arby's during impossibly short lunch breaks. Excitement over seeing bacon in a box. Ahhh.... good times!! Fat times, but good times!! And, I will never forget Dan bringing Beer (Ok, Odouls) for breakfast when it was his turn to cater morning the staff meeting on Wednesdays.

That was our BBQ - good times for sure!

On WEDNESDAY, we laid low during the morning. We had been out late Tuesday night, and I was just pretty beat. Lilly got yet another present from her grandparents - this large floor puzzle of her favorite Yurtle Turtle. Grandpa helped her put it together!

That afternoon, after nap, we headed out the The Fountains area in Folsom. Sadly, the big fountains kinda freaked Lilly out, and the ones that are set up for kids to play in were turned off for a concert. But, Lilly had fun playing with both grandma and grandpa in the play area.

Then, we got to take a train ride! Here are Lilly, Mary and Dave looking back at me and Zac.

After our fun at The Fountains, we went to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Yum!! Then, it was time to head back to get a good nights sleep before Thursday's travel day.

I have no pictures of Thursday, but we were able to have some play time in the morning before heading to the airport. Dave drove us to the airport and made sure we got to security safely. The airplane ride home was as uneventful as the ride to California. Lilly had her Dora the Explorer DVD, plus made friends with a girl who sat in front of her. Zac and I had our new baby carrier from Mary, so we were even more comfortable and I had the use of both arms. A very nice lady sat next to us and, while I didn't need nor did she offer to help as much as our friend from the first flight, she talked to the kids and was more than understanding about the fact that I was traveling with two young kids. Lilly even offered her a only slightly licked gummy bear. She politely declined, but complimented Lilly on her manners. My mom picked us up at the Phoenix airport and, after finally finding her car in the garage (seriously mom!!), we got back home safe and sound.

What a great trip! I cannot express how thankful I am to Mary and Dave for everything. About an hour into our visit it looked like "childhood" had vomited all over their home, and yet they didn't bat an eye. They gave me full use of Dave's Explorer, so they basically shared Mary's car the whole time. They spoiled the heck out of Lilly and Zac with presents and love. They also spoiled me, which was so thoughtful and completely unnecessary, but very very much appreciated. Not to mention constantly cooking and cleaning and doing our laundry... I'm sure I'm forgetting so much, but the bottom line is that they did everything possible to make our trip comfortable and easy and, most of all, fun! They are such wonderful grandparents, as well as in-laws!

Also big thanks go out to Aunt Jenn, who lined up carseats for both kids, port-a-cribs, a swing and booster, and too many toys and books to count. This made traveling so much easier, as I didn't have to worry about any of these important items! Plus Mary had diapers and wipes ready at the house, so I didn't have to pack more than I needed for the flight.... really, I could go on and on.

We're already looking forward to another visit, here or there, soon!

Monday in CA!

So, MONDAY morning we woke up, and Steph and I decided to take the kids to the park. Folsom has a great park near their zoo, and so we packed a picnic and out we went! In all honesty, we HAD to get the kids out and distracted from their bickering. There was more whining than I'm used to. Ahhh the competitive nature of kids.

Here are Lilly and Camille eating their sandwiches.

And Zac was oblivious to all the bickering. He just chilled on the ground, practicing his crawling, which he suddenly started doing right around this point in the trip. I am SO glad we were visiting Jer's parents when he achieved this milestone!

That afternoon, Stephanie and Camille had to head home, so we said goodbye.

Margaret and Rob were out of town for the Father's Day BBQ, so we were so glad they were able to come over Monday afternoon. Nana and Marv came too! They brought gifts (of course - they always do). Here is Zac sporting his new outfit!

Lilly discovered some butterfly wings. This is her new out fit too! They brought me one as well (totally unnecessary, but thanks!!!), which I conveniently got to try on after Zac pooed on me. His outfit, unfortunately, had to hit the laundry bag at that time.
Meanwhile, Lilly practiced flying like a butterfly!
Rob and Marv went out and picked up dinner from Adalbertos (Dan North, if you ever read my blog, eat your heart out! Adalbertos is one of your favs!!). Yum!

Here, Nana and Lilly are having a pretty serious conversation!

What a great evening! Thanks again for the visit, the gifts and everything!

Tomorrow, I'll finish up posting about our CA trip!

CA trip... continued...

Ok, we are on to SUNDAY!
In my last post, I mentioned that Stephanie & Camille came to visit Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, we all woke up and got ready for some playtime!
I just think this is a cute pic of Lilly.
And here are Lilly and Camille! They had a really good time together. They also had a number of "fights," usually including lots shouts of "mine!" But, girls will be girls, and two year olds (almost, in Camille's case) will be two year olds.
Ok, sorry to post the pic of Camille licking the windmill. I took a bunch of these, but this is one of the few where you can see both faces.
They had a great time playing on the air mattress.
Then.... time for the Father's Day BBQ!!!
Here is Nana, meeting Zac for the first time!
This is Brent and Bobbie, our neighbors in Citrus Heights. I am SO touched that they came to the BBQ - it was so nice to see them both and I know they were dying to see Lilly and meet Zac. They are such nice people, and we are thankful for their continued friendship! Eileen and Adam came too! It was so nice to see them, and (again) for them to see Lilly and meet Zac! Boy was it fun!
Grandpa Dave cooking up some yummy dogs! Happy Father's Day!
And, grandma Mary with Lilly!

Here I am with Zackary in my new baby carrier. I borrowed one for a few minutes from a friend and Kim's baby shower, and fell in love with this carrier. I've tried other carriers, and they just haven't been as comfortable. This one is great for both Zac and me! So fun!

A HUGE thank you to grandma Mary for buying me this carrier. I love it, and it was a big help in the airport too!!

Nana getting to know Zac a little better.

I just love this picture of Lilly.

Lilly and Camille swam earlier in the day. Actually, Lilly swam again (see pictures from the last swimming post - they look pretty similar), but Camille was a little freaked out by the cold water. This picture was taken later, after swim time, when they both decided they should go in again, in their party clothes. It's amazing how much more fun swimming is in clothes than even in a swimsuit. Lilly got a kick out of it and, being that we were on vacation and all, I let her go crazy. Then, we just stripped down and dried off after!

What a great day! I wish we could have celebrated with Jeremy, but it was awesome being with grandpa Dave for Father's Day! This was such a big post, that it is just one day... Monday will be coming up soon...