Merry Christmas!

So its been literally forever since i last posted on this blog. Life has just been going on as usual with of course one new addition due on May 6th 2010. This pregnancy has been completely different from the last one. I was sick for about the first 14 or so weeks. Yuck! I feel really good now though and hope that will last through the rest of the time. Keeping up with Z while pregnant is a challenge but will hopefully keep me from gaining extra weight from all the cookies etc i have eating! We have been traveling as usual with trips to CT and FL. We had Thanksgiving here for the first time with R's fam. I cooked the big turkey dinner and got to use my china and dining room table for the first time. It turned out really good and was fun. We leave for CT on tuesday for a week then from there to cleveland for new years. Lets hope that we stay healthy with all the airport travel. Z is doing well. he is saying tons more words and is starting to string things together. he LOVES Tigger and Pooh and could watch it all day long if i let him. he also loves being outside playing in the driveway or his new sandbox. best purchase we made for christmas! I thougt for a while that he was a pretty well behaved kid but with the temper tantrums of the past week or so i may have to revise that :) i know he is approaching 2 and this behavior is normal if not expected but is still tough when he is screaming and thrashing in the mall and your pushing the stroller as fast as you can just to get the heck out of there. yikes! oh well this is just another phase that will pass i'm sure. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Big Helper

So Z is becoming a big helper around the house. Lord forbid you ask him to put his toys away but when it comes to mowing the lawn and vacuuming, he is your man. Z has developed a fondness for the lawn mower and the vacuum. I guess he is going to personally ensure a clean house and manicured lawn. I think he pulled the vacuum out of the closet at least 3 times today. He gets upset when i don't then jump on it and vacuum the floor or the carpet. The picture of Z and R mowing the lawn is one of my favorites. Z has his own little lawn mower but much prefers pushing the big one.

Another month goes by...

I can't believe how the time flies these days! We were away again for two weeks in July for our annual 4th of July blowout at the lake in CT. Z spent alot of quality time with my fam (esp great-gramma) and saw his first fireworks. I was a little worried that they would be too loud since Uncle Dan and Uncle Pat were lighting mortars from the floating dock but Z LOVED them. He stayed up for the whole show and didn't get into bed until after 10:30. Z also got to do alot of fishing...rather we caught some sunfish off the end of the dock and put them in a bucket for him. He loved poking them and watching them swim around. Z also showed his true boy side when he started picking up the worms and carrying them around. CT was chilly for July as you can see Z is wearing jeans and long sleeves, but we managed to get in a few nice days. Now that we are back in SC we are dealing with the heat and humidity. Z and i are doing library and also joined Little Gym (see photo of R and Z). These two classes get us out of the house and the heat at least 2 days a week. Little Gym is great because Z has a ton of energy and is able to run around while still having some structure. Other than that we are enjoying the boat, hanging with our neighbors and trying to stay cool.

LONG TIME!!!

Holy cow, i can't believe its been 3 months since i posted last! needless to say i am a bit behind and things have been busy. we did alot of traveling between april and may and weren't home very much. lets see we spent almost 2 weeks in cleveland over easter, a week in CT beginning of may and then straight to hilton head for 2 weeks after that. THEN Z and i both came home with colds, i got a spider bite that was majorly infected, and then a reaction from the antibiotic that i was on that gave me a huge rash ALL over my body. SO now i am on the last couple of days of steriods to clear that up! poor R has been great taking sicks days to watch Z while i recoup. I am hoping that is all the excitement for us in the next few weeks.
Lets see on the Z front he is getting bigger every day. At his 15 mo. checkup last week he was 23 lb 10 oz and 32 3/4 inches tall. he is definitely getting his own little attitude which while funny to watch him exert his wants can be a little exasperating after asking him no less than 50 times to leave the a/c registers in the floor so he doesn't fall in. or to please not pull the leaves off mama's plants! while the house is as baby proofed as it can be there are still a few things we are trying to teach him not to touch. hopefully he will get it eventually and R and i are learning the whole discipline thing which believe me is a challenge. Z loves to run around w/ no clothes on these days and hates getting his diaper changed, he is going through a sock phaze where he wants to wear multiple pairs, he LOVES to eat anything from brocoli to doritos. any time he hears a bag opening in the kitchen (ie R getting a snack) he immediately runs in for his share. Last night he got his first boo-boo as he was racing down the driveway, fell and scraped his knee :( So i can't think of everything that has happened in the last 3 months but hopefully thats a pretty good update. We are off to CT as usual for the 4th of July. Hopefully after that things will calm down a bit and we can enjoy the boat this summer.

Growing Boy

Z had his 12 month check-up today...he weighed in at 22 lbs 8 oz and was 31 1/2 inches tall! I think since he is walking everywhere now and is very active he has slimmed down a bit. He is still at the very top of the curve in height though. We ended up not doing shots today as Z has not been feeling well the past few days. The Dr. seemed to think it is a stomach virus. He is also cutting some of his molars and has not been happy about it. He actually feel asleep last night at 6 pm on Daddy's shoulder, much to R's surprise and delight, something he has not done since he was an infant. Lets see, what else is new??? We are trying to wean, but unfortunately Z seems to have an allergy to cows milk, so we are doing soy and trying to get him used to that. Hopefully in the next month or so we will be fully weaned. Z still loves to eat...current favorites are french toast, pretzels, strawberries and Annie's mac & cheese. We go outside and play on the swing and go for a bike ride almost every day. Z has also developed a love of dogs. All of our neighbors have dogs and whenever we are outside he wants to go look at them. Last week he was mingling on our neighbors deck surrounded by their 4 dogs! He didn't like them all up in his face but refused to be picked up, it was too cute. Today's pic is a tribute to Cleveland the best basketball team in the nation as of now...go Cavs! (too bad shortly after this shirt was donned it was then the victim of a diaper leakage! Hopefully this is not a premonition of the Cavs future...hehe)

Our Little Boy is 1!

I can't believe its been a year since Z was born. The time seems like it has flown by, especially the last few months where he has developed in leaps and bounds. First crawling, then walking, now understanding simple questions and commands like "Z where is Elmo? Can you bring Elmo to Mama?" Its amazing when he does exactly what you ask him! We had a small birthday party last night with our neighbors which was just right. We ate pizza and cake and opened presents. I baked Z his own 2 layer carrot cake with whipped cream frosting. As you can tell from the video he thoroughly enjoyed himself and totally destroyed the cake :) By the time we were done there was cake everywhere...on the floor, on the wall, on the window and window sill and even on Katie! Z got some wonderful presents from both family and friends but still seems more interested in the tissue paper and wrappings. I'm sure that will change in the next few months. I look forward to seeing what he will do next and am so proud of our boy!

Walkin, Walkin, Walkin...

Pre-Birthday Birthday

We were in CT this past week for a visit with the fam. As much as we miss R on weeks when he is out of town it allows Z and me to travel and visit our loved ones. Considering how far we live away from everyone we are blessed to be able to see both families quite a bit. I am very lucky to be able to be a stay at home mom...it allows us tons of flexibility. We celebrated Z's first birthday on Friday night. Grammy made him an applesauce cake with whipped cream frosting. He had a candle and we sang happy birthday. He was not sure quite what to think of all the singing but he knew exactly what to do with the cake when he got his hands on it! We let him eat his fill and he had a serious sugar high after. It was SO cute. Z had a great time playing with his Auntie, Uncle Dan and Grammy & Gramps. His favorite game was taking D's hat off. Grampa's favorite game was Z's laughing Elmo. We would be trying to put Z to bed upstairs when we would hear Elmo laughing downstairs...that would be Grampa!

Little Social Butterfly

Z is a very outgoing little guy. I'm not sure where he gets it from since both R and i are pretty shy. Every time we go out somewhere Z likes to talk to everyone he sees. We were at Lowes the other day and i was talking to the employee asking him some questions when we here this loud "HAAAAA, HAAAA". Apparently Z was miffed that the guy wasn't talking to HIM. Then as we proceeded through checkout Z is saying "HAAAA" to everyone within hearing distance. He definintely likes people paying attention to him. He apparently has a southern accent since his greeting comes out as "Ha" instead of "Hi." He is too cute. On another note we had a nice visit with Gramma and Grampa Sustar. Z is also close to walking. He pulls up on everything now and will walk about 4-5 feet before barreling into me. Can't seem to stop himself yet!

Crawling....finally!

Zach started crawling last weekend! He doesn't much like it, just uses it to get where he wants to go and then wants to stand and walk. He is so close to walking on his own, probably in the next few weeks. Watch out!

Z's First Christmas

Christmas was in CT this year with the fam and it was great. Although Christmas is not the same without a little snow, i do have to say that i will pass on the snow any other time. Our trip up to CT was horrible. Canceled flights, sleepless night in a hotel room, lost luggage that showed up 2 days later. Once we got there all was well. My fam really enjoyed having Z around. Auntie didn't have to work so she was with us almost every day. We got the decorate Grammy's Christmas tree, make pieroges, bake and enjoy good home cooked meals. I think Z had a good time, he was not that into opening his presents but he loved his new mini rocking chair that Uncle Dan re-finished for him, loved ripping tissue paper into little bits which kept him busy for a while and last but not least LOVED the slot machine my parents have. All the lights and sounds and dropping coins! He would walk us over to it and then turn into your legs, meaning "pick me up" and then would watch and help us play. Z still loves to be "walked" around, hasn't gotten his balance yet and wants no part in crawling. Also as my mom remarked over Christmas he seems happiest when he's eating! Z is definitely my boy :)