Zachary's Birthday Party

It has actually been over a year and wow did it go fast. We have had such an amazing year, Zachary is such a delightful little boy, more of a blessing than we could have ever imagined. We decided to go all out for the one year party and did we celebrate. He loves animals so I decided to go with the "Animal Parade" theme. I also knew that we would be inviting lots of friends and children so I needed to come up with some fun things for them to do therefore the games evolved. I had help from my dear friend Angela and her two girls, Marissa and Scarlett to assist with the planning. We set it up like a carnival, bubbles, darts, bean bag toss, floating ducks, water guns, and a ring toss. We had the most beautiful day for weather, the sun was shining and it was a mild temperature. We set up tables outside on the lawn for eating and then had a buffet style inside with a table designed just for kids. The cake, ice cream and presents were on the back patio. Pictures say it all, enjoy!
I have included a link to many birthday pictures.

http://s922.photobucket.com/albums/ad66/sdillonjgo/Happy%20Birthday%20Zachary/?albumview=slideshow

What a summer! It goes so fast!

July found us on the move. It started with spending July 4th weekend at Grandma's cabin in Roslyn. I was able to attend my first parade in Cle Elem and watch all the other kids run to grab the candy on the street. As you can see in the picture he was not that impressed, very calm at this parade. We know that is only temporary. I am sure we will be back for many parades on 4th of July. We couldn't find a small flag for him to wave so we improvised and made a flag from a napkin, of course he thought that was a blast and soon figured out it would tear but not before we were able to get some fun photos.

The following week we headed for the Oregon coast with James and Matthew Tveter. Our first destination was Gleneden, which is just north of Newport, Oregon, then we ended up at Seaside Oregon where we met Auntie Cathy and Sean and spent the remainder of our time in a beautiful ocean front condo. We had our first train ride, first day at the beach, first time in a kiddie pool and first time pulling up to furniture. He became quite active on this trip, not sure if it was the other boys around or what but he became very confident in moving around furniture and the floor.

We had a long awaited visit from cousin Haley, Grandma brought Haley out and we made a quick trip to Canada along with Nana Shirley. Our first time using our passport! He was a champ, the long car ride at the end was a little trying but Haley and Nana Shirley were champions at singing and playing games to keep him entertained.

With Haley's visit we had a marvelous time showing her our beautiful city with boat tours, ferry rides, the locks, and Pikes Market. It was such a joy to have Haley here, she was also such good help especially when we headed to Texas.

The first week of August found us in Texas visiting cousins Halli and Billy Ford and Ryan. We attended the Believers Convention along with Grandma, Auntie Aim, Auntie Pam, Haley, Reid, Savannah, Aunt T and Crystal. It was quite an event. Zachary did amazing, I think his favorite part was the praise and worship, he was in his stroller for much of the meetings. An amazing week but was it hot, over 100 every day. It was nice to return to Seattle and 70 degree weather.

Seems like August came and went, his first birthday was such an event. I will gather pictures and post them later. It was such a great party and special weekend I look forward to sharing them with all of you. So come back and check those out. I wanted to get the summer pictures up and going before we went into the birthday pictures. Enjoy.

A visit to the Farm

June found us visiting the farm at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Teresa's in Potter, Nebraska. Actually they don't farm, they raise cutting horses and a few kittens here and there!
Zachary loves animals so this was right up his alley. He was more amused at the baby kittens than he was at the new baby colt. The horses were very curious about him though and he was able to take his first mini ride on Jack. We can't forget the puppy dogs, Rowdy, Cutter and Molly. (yes, they have a Molly too!) Zachary would get down on the floor and they would come right over and lay beside him, he kept wanting to stick his finger in their mouth. Not a good idea for several reasons. Grandma and Auntie Aim drove out to join in the fun for a few days too! I am sure this will be an annual event.

Molly my best friend.

Where ever Molly is, he is there also and the other way around. They are two peas in a pod.

I came out into the kitchen to find Zachary and Molly on the blanket together(Molly knows she does not get on his blanket) and Zachary was all over her. The look on Molly's face was so funny, almost as if she didn't care but looking at me with a question of should I be doing this. When he pulled her hair back and kissed her that was too precious! With Molly being a puppy herself they will definitely grow up together and be fast friends.

The other set of pictures he was just talking to Molly and she was listening, it was if they had their own language. Molly is so good about staying away from his mouth, she does not lick him or try to take things from him, she is very calm around him. It always brings a chuckle.

Nine months and crawling!

Yes, the 9th month is coming to a close and I am a little slow in getting pictures to you all. He is quite a camera ham, he knows when I have the camera and looks right at me and smiles. Marissa and Scarlett are his new babysitters and they put the hat on him and he was just being silly, of course they were giggling too, so he was quite amused.

We also spent Memorial Day Weekend over at the cabin with Grandma Barbara, the Scanlan and Tveter cousins. He was trying so hard to get down the crawl. He puts one leg out and one leg underneath him and boy he can sure move like that, amazing how flexible they are at that age!

It was our first attempt at solid food such as o's and crackers. He was working hard to figure it all out, up until then he didn't really have an interest in the solid food. (I call solid food actual food, not baby food, he of course has been eating that now for 3 months) Now of course he loves them and drops a few on the floor for Molly. She hovers around his chair during mealtimes!

Haircuts are fun!

Yes, this is Zachary's 3rd haircut! I don't think we will have any problem with hair for this little guy, he actually just sits up there like a pro, he was very intrigued with the steering wheel, he was turning it, holding on tight, then she brought a tub of cars and it was all over! He picked through them all looking at the wheels, while she snipped, buzzed and trimmed him up! As you can see he needed it!

Zachary 9 months

Nine months, seems like just yesterday we were waking in the night, round the clock feedings and trying to get our sleep. It has gone so fast, but every minute of it has been a true delight. We love being parents and Zachary is such a precious little boy,( Yes we are a little bias), he is always so happy, looking, noticing everything, I know when he begins to talk he will be asking tons of questions. He is saying ma ma and da da pretty consistently and has found his voice and loves to make some noise. Mostly he is trying to talk to Molly and get her attention. She is somewhat interested in him, only when he drops food on the floor. Actually that is not fair, Molly loves to lay by him and is very good about leaving his toys alone. Occasionally I will find a stuffed animal in her kennel. He has seven teeth now so we are trying finger foods on our tray, I set bananas out and he didn't like the texture as you can see. It ended up on the floor and Molly loved it!

When I was taking 9 month pictures I was trying to get him to laugh and so I started playing peek a boo and he ended up peeking through the blanket. Just had to share his sweet little face.

Cleaning Inspector

Checking out to see if mommie got it clean! Zachary has discovered that he can pull up the rug to look underneath and finds it quite amusing. He has been scooting along on his bottom to get himself around, he is so close to getting up and crawling. He scoots under the dining room table and tries to get Molly's toys. We know our days are limited until he starts moving all around the house, life will definitely change!

Swiming with my first floatie!

Here is Zachary in the pool on our latest trip to Las Vegas. Mike needed to work so we tagged along and invited Grandma and Auntie Am too! The weather was cool a couple of days but we explored and did some shopping. The weather turned back to the 80's and so we were able to swim. Zachary loves the water, he almost becomes listless, it is very relaxing. We tried a seated floatie and he wanted to drink the water, kept putting his head down, mouth open wide. Humm, not good for the tummy! He finally got the hang of it and we were giggling and laughing as mommie was splashing and pushing him around. I think he prefers the sun, just like mommie and daddy!

Easter/Resurrection Sunday

Zachary's first Easter and of course it started out with his basket. He was not quite sure about the yellow duckie, he kept taking one finger and touching the fur, then pull back, then a giggle. He was pulling everything out of the basket and putting everything in his mouth, pretty fun. After church we went to the Scanlan house for our Easter dinner and a egg hunt. Cousin Maddie hid the eggs and helped him find them.

Easter in Nebraska

Zachary celebrated Easter with his cousins, Savannah, Reid and Haley. Palm Sunday was a beautiful day so an egg hunt was definitely in order. Zachary's first egg hunt and he automatically wanted to put the eggs in his mouth. We had put some coins in the eggs and he loved shaking them.

Visit to Grandma's House

Zachary and mommie went to Nebraska for almost 3 weeks to help Grandma after her knee replacement. He had a ball with his cousins and all the people who came to visit. There was never a dull moment, Cousin Savannah was very interested in entertaining him and made sure he always had something to play with, she even made sure she got to help him in the bathtub! Very cute! Cousins Reid and Haley were always helping with the feedings and watching him while mommie ran to the store. It was nice to have a little built in babysitting!

My friends!

Izzy and Will came for a playdate! Boy we had fun, at first they wanted to touch each other and then the looks of wait a minute what are you trying to do to gentle pats and toy stealing, and then of course there was Molly the yellow lab in the mix, jumping, sniffing, licking.We finally put Molly in her kennel and then Izzy went over to consol her.

I was sitting on the floor and both Izzy and Will crawled up, so we got Zachary in there and had an impromtu photo. So fun to see them growing up together.

I have teeth!

He has two teeth on the bottom he loves to show off, but he also now has two teeth on the upper right. The other side should be coming in soon, we are drooling and chewing on everything.

Zachary is becoming quite the traveler

Zachary's first flight was at 6 weeks old and he has not slowed down. He has flown to Nebraska, Palm Springs, San Diego(two times) and will be going back to Nebraska in a few days.
Our latest trip was to San Diego to hang out with family. Grandma, Aunt Amy and the Hueberts. These photos are from our trip to the Welk Resort. He also went to his first theme park, Legoland, the first of many I am sure. In the video clip cousin Savannah(5) is feeding him his rice cereal,very serious about her job, pretty cute!