Zach, Zach, Zach....

So my sweet little boy is usually full of nice/funny things to say like:

"Mom, you're beautiful"

"Thank you, mom, that was very nice of you"

"Mom, if it weren't for you, I would never get to eat waffles!" (the word waffle is interchangeable here with any other food that I've made him that he likes)

"Wow, mom, this is gonna be great!"

"Mom, I love you!"

Isn't he the sweetest? So the other day I had to laugh when this happened: Andy had given Zach his old piggy bank and Zach has been having more fun just taking all of his coins (which by the way he knows the names of and the name of the person who's on them all!) looking at them, putting them in his cars and taking them for rides, and then putting them all back in the piggy bank. This had been going on for a couple of days and I was getting a little tired of pennies, nickles, and quarters being spread all over the place so often. Not to mention the choking factor with Abby! So I went into his room the other day and he had them all over the place again, and I said, "You know Zach, I'm getting a little bit tired of your money being all over the floor all of the time. They're really not toys and we should be keeping them in your piggy bank where they won't get lost." To which Zach replies, "Mom, you know everytime I take them out, I always put them back in when I'm done. So mom, I don't want to talk about this anymore!"

I was put in my place by my 3 year old! Gee, I wonder where he's heard things like that said before......He definitely had a point though.....I guess I really shouldn't complain, right? It sure did crack me up!

So that's my latest with Zach, sorry I have no new pictures to put up. Abby has been great, cruising more, but still not terribly interested in walking. Zach walked so early, it's weird to Andy and I that she's not there yet. She's definitely girly! Lately she tries to put anything and everything that slightly resembles a necklace, around her neck. Yesterday she had a couple of plastic leis, a boomerang type toy, and a headband all on. You could tell she thought she looked quite beautiful in them too! And don't worry, I do watch her carefully to make sure she's not choking herself or anything! The other thing she does is takes anything that might resemble lipstick or chapstick, takes it to her lips, and mimics the motion of putting it on. So funny!

Again, sorry no pictures. I'm sure we'll be taking some this weekend and my next post can be a little more......colorful. :) Happy Friday!

No Video Afterall...bummer

Please disregard me saying that I was posting a video of Zach riding his bike.....maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I tried and it didn't work. I've never posted a video before, so it wouldn't surprise me if I was doing it wrong, but I'm not sure. So, I'll try again later. Sorry! It was cute though, really.

Biker Boy

Zach got a hand-me-down bicycle from his cousin, Gary, last summer, but was too small to ride it. Andy got it out again a couple of weeks ago to see if it would work yet and voila, a perfect fit! It's the cutest little red bike, and once Zach finally got the hang of continuous forward peddling, he was off and riding like he had been doing it for years! (The forward peddling comment was because with his old little tricycle, he could peddle forward or backward and it wouldn't make a difference....but with this one of course, peddling backwards means you stop moving!) Silly kid, he just didn't want to let go of that backward peddling option! Anyway, here are some pictures of "the bike." Oh, and a video too. It's pretty long though so I don't expect people to watch the whole thing if they don't want to, but it's pretty cute to watch him riding around and hear the little things he says as he goes. I swear he could ride around in our cul-de-sac ALL DAY if he could! He just loves it! :)

Abby Turns 1!

Our sweet little girl turned one on Jan. 31st, and we had our celebration for her last night with family and friends. We had her party at the Knights of Columbus Club and pretty much had the place to ourselves which was great! There was lots of room to spread out and let all the kids run around too. I would have to say the night was a success! Great company, delicious cake, wonderful presents, and one precious Abby in the center of it all. She is such a delight and we are so lucky to get to call her "ours!" Happy Birthday Abby!! We love you!

As we're singing to her. She did not know what in the heck was going on!
First taste of her cake. She started out being so dainty and just picked off one of the little polka-dots to eat.
That little dot was pretty good! She's getting a little more aggressive here.
Ya, baby! This is some goood stuff!
Daddy, mommy and Abby. Trying to figure out those blow things. (I don't know what they're called!)Time for presents! Aunt Colleen, Uncle Mike and their boys got her the Abby-Cadabby Doll from Sesame Street. It is so cute and Abby loves it!
Having fun unwrapping. Lots of fun loot here!
Sporting her new shades. How cute is she?!

Thank you to everyone who came to her party, helped us celebrate, and showered her so generously with such wonderful gifts! Seriously, she got spoiled!! We are so lucky and grateful to have you all in our lives!!

SNOW!

Yes, we got snow! What a fun surprise!! Looked outside Sunday morning and saw all of THIS! Sooo pretty, I love it!

Zach was, as you can imagine, in heaven. Here he is trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue.
Pushing Curious George around in the snow....
Zach and our snowman. Not only did our snowman have a carrot nose, but broccoli eyes and a tomato mouth! I know, it's kinda weird, but we gotta use what we have, right?

He had to go down the slide of course!
Abby's first snow experience. I sat her down on a plastic bag so she wouldn't get wet. She really wasn't so sure about all of the cold, wet stuff though! Didn't want to touch it, that's for sure!

Bathing Beauty

Some shots of Abby during her last bath. Usually she and Zach take a bath together, but this one she had all to herself, and I think she liked the more peaceful aspect of it!!
What are you looking at??
Cheeeeese!

Recent pictures of the kids

She had just been crying (see the tear?) but as soon as she saw the camera she flashed me one of her most charming smiles. She cracks me up!
Everytime I take a picture of Zachary, he wants to see it. After this one he looked at it and said, "Hey, I'm cute!"
Not sure what this is all about. Looks like some sort of Pilates stance or something!
Touchdown!! Andy is very proud of her recent accomplishment. Now if she would just say "Go Ducks" he would be in heaven. :)

How Does it Do That???

So has everyone already heard about the wonders of this little tub when it comes to stopping your kids' cough? Goes like this: If your child has a persistant cough, keeping them (and you) awake at night, then rub Vicks VapoRub on the bottom of their feet, put socks on them, and the coughing will STOP! They (whoever "they" are) were claiming that this was instant, and 100% full-proof. Quite a claim! So on the last round of coughs we went through around here, we tried this on Abby........and it didn't do squat. Although I didn't use very much on her feet, and I didn't put her in socks since I figured her sleeper was good enough. Oh well, we tried. I knew it was too good to be true. Sigh...

Well she again has a cold and BAD cough, so I thought I'd give ol' Vicks another chance to prove his worthiness to me. Andy really rubbed a thick amount on the bottoms of her feet and then we did put socks on like we were suppsed to. And do you know what? The difference was AMAZING!!! Her cough wasn't 100% gone, but more like 90%, which is good enough for me! Wow! I have no idea how it works, but it does so I guess I shouldn't question a good thing. I guess it also pays to do things the way they tell you to. (thick layer and use socks) So, the moral of my rambling is: Try it! And use it the way they say and you will be sooo happy you did. I'm telling you, a restful, peaceful nights sleep makes a world of difference for everyone! Yeah Vicks! :)