On the Move...Kind Of

Zack's preferred form of movement is rolling these days.  He moves all around but only if he can roll there.  Every time I try and set him up with a toy to crawl to or try and entice him to move his "helpful" big sister rushes to his aid and brings it to him.  Or, her alter ego steals it.

This is a video of him rolling around outside while Matt and Abby were carving pumpkins.  You can hear her in the back saying, " Abby's turn".  She wanted to use the knife...HA!

Gotta love that he chooses to lay right next to the towel I set up for him

Family Date Night

Friday night we ventured off the west coast from our normal Friday night pizza dinner at Red Baron for dinner at Souvaly, a thai resturant.  We got there around 5:30 and we weren't the first people there.  We usually beat the senior citizens to dinner!  Abby loved the rice- she's such a local girl:) and Zack was an angel as always.  He ate his prunes- the newest food to be introduced and just chilled through dinner.  Abby was really good too but made sure that she had constant attention...as always!  She repeated "date night" over and over all night! 

Abby and Daddy at dinner

After dinner we went to play a round of mini golf, where Matt and I had one of our first dates, and attempted to play a round.  Abby loved getting the balls in the holes but that meant that Matt and I barely got to touch the ball.  The new game turned into trying to get the ball away form Abby to get it in the hole.  It didn't matter how many strokes it was just who could get their ball from Abby.

Mommy and Zack getting ready to play some cosmic golf

Awesome Daddies!

We had a really nice impromptu beach day out on the west side today.  We got some cute pictures of the kids with their dads enjoying the beach.

Always playing some sort of game

The dads and their kids

Matt and his munchkins

Abby and Gavin..again!  It is crazy to see the year age gap between these two become less and less as they near 2 and 3.

Halloween Festivities

We had a pumpkin filled day on Saturday.  Although Matt and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch in San Diego, I thought that it would be fun to take Abby with the Hawaii crew.  I am not sure exactly what I was thinking leaving the house in white shorts to go to a hot, dusty pumpkin patch.  After about 10 minutes I was covered in red dust from Abby's shoes as I carried her off and on around the patch.
Good news is that she picked out a pumpkin for herself and Zack and she enjoyed the first part when I just let her roam.

Abby and Gavin on the way to get some pumpkins

Abby on a mission to find her pumpkin (She said she was going to find one for Grandma too!)

Abby and Makaela

 Bad news was that she wasn't interested in taking a group photo shot..poor uncle Brian!

After Abby and I went to her first actual dentist appointment ( the last one ended up just being a referral for this one) where she got her teeth cleaned and loved it!  She is totally my daughter..I was at the dentist earlier this week and I actual thought..man this is pretty relaxing.  Anyway, we went back home, napped and headed downtown with the family to Kristen and Ron's for a pumpkin carving party.  The kids had a blast and we are still reeling from trying to keep up with them! 

Abby and Gavin

Abby, Gavin and Makaela

Boys' Time

Matt took the kids outside so I could vacuum before they came in and got it dirty 2 seconds later, but hat is beside the point.  I looked out to see what they were doing and I saw Matt and Zack deep on conversation.  Look like a serious father-son talk to me!

 Of course as I took the picture Matt looked up and caught me spying:).

I just think he looks way too cute here!

He Likes It!

I thought about making Abby's baby food and never really made a point of doing it.  The other night I was making dinner (yes, a very seldom occurrence) and I decided as I was making sweet potatoes for the rest of us that I should try and puree some for Zack.  Well, they turned out pretty good and it turns out he liked them.  He is doing great eating solid food even though he is a mess!

MMM...Sweet Potatoes

 

In other news, Z is getting the hang of holding his bottle.  Abby is always near in case he drops it.  Ironically, as Auntie Steph pointed out Princess Abby NEVER held her own bottle.

Family Pictures

This is the last batch of San Diego pictures...  It is a challenge to get a picture of the whole San Diego family.  We had my Uncles over for dinner at my parents and Andy came over also so we seized the moment and got the best shot we could.

Make New Friends but Keep the Old...

I just had flashbacks of girl scout camp singing this song but really it is so true.  I have been very fortunate to make lots of amazing friends in my adult life as well as maintain my very special friendships with friends from my childhood, high school and college.

We drove up north to Temecula and had a perfect picnic at the Wilson Creek Winery with Courtney, who I have known since 8th grade!) and her family.  The kids were able to play on the swing set while the adults got to catch up.  Courtney's Zach is in first grade now and Makenna is 4.

Court and I laughed that the first time the girls met they were both wearing blue, which they rarely wear and they were wearing the same colors again.

Makenna (3) and Abby (3 months), March 2009

Makenna (4) and Abby (22 months), October 2010

Abby, Makenna and Zach holding Zack

                                               
After our picnic, we headed north again to visit the Archard family.  Jen and Jason's wedding was the day before I moved to Hawaii.  I arrived on island with my hair still done the night before!

Jen and I at her Bachelorette part in 2003!

8 years later with 5 beautiful kids!

Finally, we had our must have night out with the my high school girls, Shannen and Candice (Court had some family stuff so couldn't make it).  The four of us have been through it all!!! It is amazing to look back at our friendships over the past 16 or so years.  It makes me want to laugh and cry.  I am very thankful for such great friends and love getting together and feeling like not a moment has passed since we last saw each other. 

Wine tasting in Spring of 2009

Zack's 6th Month Check Up

Zack's 6 month appointment went well except for the 11/2 hour wait and a possible broken collar bone. Yes, I said broken collar bone!  A month ago we thought that Zack had what is referred to as nurse maid elbow, where it pops out and goes back in, after he began screaming when Matt separated him and Abby playing and once he put him down he began screaming.   We called the doctor and he talked us through it and Zack calmed down.  Over the next couple of days he didn't use his left arm as much but we figured it was a symptom of his dislocated elbow.  Over the course of the month we noticed a nodule on his collar bone but didn't think much of it since he was acting fine and I just figured I would bring it up at our 6 month check up.  Well, I told the doctor and he  suspects that it was a broken collar bone since the nodule a typical symptom as it heals ( still really have no idea how it happened. Luckily, there was nothing that we could have done differently and it is actually the most common bone for babies to break ( I guess that is supposed to make me feel a little better?). 

Aside from the drama Zack was such an angel the whole time we where there and I am very thankful because I was about to lose it.   He weighed in at 16 lbs 10 ounces and 27 inches.  He grew 2 pounds and 1 ounce and 3/4 of an inch which accounts for his pudgy thighs!

Abby was her chubbiest at this age and she was a pound lighter and almost the same length but she looked so much bigger.

Zack turned 6 months in San Diego and had his first taste of baby food.  We gave him peas and he looked at me with this, " are you kidding me?!" look.  Becasue he is such a good sport he eats them but he certainly isn't in love with them although you can't tell form his gummy little grin.

Abby a little over 6 months in Pennsylvania having her first taste of either peas or green beans

 Zack has continued "talking" a ton!  He says maammamam etc. and chatters frequently.  He loves rolling over, and over and over!  He sits well on his own and such a joy. 

My little Padres fan

P.S. Don't you love that Zack is in a purple bumbo and Abby is in blue one?

Better Together

We have seen Jack in concert at least 5 times together and one of my favorites was the most recent show in San Diego.  I saw that he was playing on our last night of our San Diego trip and booked the tickets immediately.  We usually go with all of our friends and bring the kids and make a big deal out of it, which is tons of fun but this time it was just Matt and I and we had so much fun (maybe a little too much!).  We drove down to Cricket Amphitheater after a full day of family and friends and had a little tailgate party with just the two of us.  It was a great way to end the trip and get some quality time with each other.

Right after In Between Dreams came out I was driving up to Matt's house in Hale'iwa listening to the CD and I heard the song Better Together and instantly loved it.  It was so perfect for Matt and I (1 1/2 years into our relationship).  As soon as I got to his house, I couldn't wait to play it for him since I had finally found a song that could be "our song".   His response: "I like it... but don't you want something that is more popular and that you will hear on the radio?  Seriously?!!!..he said that! I love to remind him of this whenever we hear it..and luckily that is quite often.  It ended up being the first song that we danced to at our wedding and make me smile every time I hear it.

Jack closed the show with Better Together and brought everyone out.  It was awesome!  I got a little video and then enjoyed it LIVE!

Pumpkin Patch

Just up the road from my parents house a pumpkin patch popped up on Saturday, our last full day.  We had a busy day but ran up to check it out before we had friends and family over.  We ended up having a blast.  The kids got to see pumpkins and Abby got to ride a pony and go on  a few other rides.  Zack was content just hanging out and exploring the sights!

Abby and Zack's first wagon ride together

Abby climbed up the stairs for teh slide almost all the way by her "zzzelf!".  One of her new fa

My little pumpkins

Such a big girl!

She rode the piny without any help and loved it!

My little man just taking it all in and waiting for his turn to go on all the rides.

Guests for the Day

My mom is teaching 1st grade this year and it getting back into the swing of things after her year in Honduras.  She was so excited for us to come visit her class and show off her grand kids.  She brought out all of her animal books and called up the kids in groups to share their books with Abby.  Abby didn't miss a beat and started naming animals in the books and telling the kids what noises they made.  Matt and I both agreed that my mom had set  it up perfectly...she is a fantastic teacher!

After all the kids got a chance to share their books with Abby.  My mom introduced Matt and told the kids that he was an author.  Matt read his book, Princess Abigail.  The kids loved it and when he was done they asked him to read it again!  So cute!

On our walk down Matt and I pondered how Abby might do in school in a few years so it was cute to see her just jump right in with the "big" first graders.  I think she'll be just fine.

Slides!

We spent some quality time a the parks nearby my parents house and any other ones we could find.  Abby loves the slides and consequently every time she sees one she poops without fail.  She is going to LOVE us telling that story when she tries to bring a boy home:).

Scoping out the newest slide

Loving the see saw

They were so cute on the swings

6 months old...time flies!

She always has so much fun:)