The Pumpkin Patch

I bet you clicked on here and expected to see pictures of our cute little family at the pumpkin patch, right? It is that time of year....and all the good moms and dads are taking their kiddos to pick out the perfect pumpkin, go on a hayride, and take cute family pictures on a hay bail.Well, that's exactly what you WON'T see here! Why? Because 'life' gets in the way. Let me explain...

Friday morning started out perfectly! Matt and I were both off of work on the same day! That only happens about one day a month at our house (that's no exaggeration). Zane had only been up once (at 5am, took a bottle, went back to sleep) and then slept til 8! This meant that mommy & daddy got to sleep til 8, too! That hasn't happened since Pre-Zane! Matt brought Zane to our bed and we all had snuggle time. Then we ate breakfast together--all three of us!

After weeks of raining, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful fall day. A perfect day for Zane's first pumpkin patch trip! Now, we just need to clean up the breakfast mess, get everyone bathed, Daddy run some errands.....oh, yeah, then Zane needs his nap.....that lasted 2 hours....and then he's up, so back to getting ready for the pumpkin patch...We're all dressed and ready....oh, wait....Zane's hungry. Got to feed him lunch...and clean that up...oh, my! It's NOON?! But, but....I've got to be at my hair appointment (that I've had scheduled for a month) at one.....and Dad's got to be at the airport at 1:30. So....no time for the pumpkin patch, huh?

And then I acted like a third grader, complete with slamming stuff on the counter, throwing a dish towel in the sink, and tears. CAUSE I WANNA GO TO THE STINKIN' PUMPKIN PATCH AND LOOK LIKE A NORMAL FAMILY! We're always so busy, and work crazy schedules, and just never have time for 'normal' stuff. Later that day, my great neighbor & friend, Jaime, told me that, "Guess what? That is a normal family! Something is always gonna come up!"

Well, we were all dressed and ready, so we took few pictures on the front steps instead. I am very thankful that I got to spend the morning with my two boys, even if my plans didn't turn out the way I'd hoped! Maybe we'll make it to the pumpkin patch one day, Zane! Just know that your mom & dad gave it a valiant effort!

Lately...

Lately, Zane has been nothing less than an angel. He is such a sweet little boy. He will deliberately give kisses. Big, open-mouthed kisses. When Zane woke up Friday morning, Matt went and got him and brought him to our bed. He sat him right between us. He crawled up to Matt and gave him a kiss. Then, he turned to me, placed his little hand on my cheek, and gave me a kiss. Probably the sweetest moment of my life. I want to bottle it up and keep it forever.Lately, Zane has learned to sleep. I can't begin to describe what my life has been like regarding the sleep issues we've had since he was born, but to sum things up...until about a month ago, he was still getting up every TWO hours. Every.Single.Night. And I was a crazy, psycho, sleep-deprived, emotional, looney tune. To put it mildly. But lately, Z's been going to bed around 7:30/8 o'clock and sleeping until 4:30/5. He'll take a bottle and then go back to sleep until 7:30 or so. Heavenly days! I feel human again!

Lately, Zane has been crawling all over the place.Lately, he's been pulling up on everything.Lately, he keeps at least one bruise on his head at all times....because, what pulls up, must come down....Lately, he loves the puppy dogs. He crawls around following them. He growls at them. And he pants. So, lately he sort of thinks he's a dog. And he calls all dogs "Lola". Lola continues to be his favorite word. First thing out of his mouth when he wakes up in the morning. First of about the, oh, five thousand times he says it in one day.Lately, his favorite toy is this Baby Einstein thing. He pulls up on it and chews on it. He's also figured out how to turn one of the gadgets to make animal sounds.
Lately, I've felt incredibly lucky to be Zane's mom.

Zane's first work of art?

Zane decided that our bedroom door would make a great canvas for his first art project! Now that we have a crawler, the adventures have begun. He crawled over to the door, got his hand in some grease that was on the hinge (I have no idea why it was covered in grease???), and made a pretty little picture on our door! See the cute hand print? No worries, though. It's nothing a little Magic Eraser couldn't fix!

A few pictures of our little monkey....

Still loving the Popeye face! As Matt said tonight, "It will always
be funny--no matter how many times he does it!"

Nine months old

April 08 - December 08.....longest nine months of my life. December 27, 08 - September 27, 09.....fastest nine months of my life! I now have a very busy, mischievous little boy on my hands. He is pulling up on everything and LOVES to "walk"....with the assistance of someone holding his hands. Today he actually crawled for the first time! He's been getting on all fours for awhile now, but hadn't actually conquered the crawl until today.

Proof of mischievousness:

Zane has seven words in his vocabulary: hi, bye-bye, mama, dada, ba-ba (bottle), Lola (Matt's parents' dog, his all-time favorite word....he says this, um...about 500 times a day), and Pay-pay (Paisley, one of our dogs). He calls Emma, our other dog, "Lola", too. He also waves bye-bye and puts his hand to his mouth to blow a kiss. We're still working on the "blowing the kiss" part.
He eats pretty much anything we're eating. His faves right now are waffle and fruit for breakfast, refried beans, avocado, and gnocchi. The only food I've found that he really didn't like was zucchini. Most kids would spit it out, right? Nope, not Zane! He just sits there with his mouth open and cries! So I either have to get it out with my finger or get him something to drink to wash it down. It's just down right pitiful!

His favorite past times are "walking", playing with his LeapFrog table and SillyTown toys, and cell phones and remote controls. He LOVES to be outside. Total boy. He has books that are "touch & feel", where the animals are fluffy or leathery or sticky. So now he tries to feel of the pages of every book. He's a pretty smart little cookie.
He's just now starting to get on a schedule....like, where most 6 week-old babies are...that's where we're getting to now! HA! This kid does NOT require sleep, but we're getting him to bed pretty consistently around 7:30/8pm. He usually wakes up once during the night. Then he gets up early to start his day -- like anywhere from 4:45 to 6:15am! Yikes! He hates sleep so much that he has started hitting himself in the head when he gets sleepy. What in the world? Surely that's not normal behavior!?

He makes his "Popeye face" on command and it is still the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life! All in all, he's a pretty sweet kid and we've decided to keep him around for awhile. :)

The End

Rosemary Beach

Zane's first trip to the beach! He didn't know that you weren't supposed to eat the sand. Oops! That's the cutest little sand-covered face I've ever seen!

Things Zane loved about the beach:

*Listening to the ocean during naps
*Attending Nicole's wedding

*Aunt Lindsey getting engaged*Playing with Skeet
*Getting ice cream from the Sugar Shack*Eating said ice cream*Eating lemons
*Playing with mom in the sand*Strolling around town*Hiding in the pillowsThings Zane did not like about the beach:

*The waves splashing him

*Waiting on food

*Pauses between bites of ice cream
*Not seeing Dad-o for a weekMore likes than dislikes equals future trips to the beach! Yay!

Here's a video of Zane playing "Pop goes the Weasel" in the couch cushions.

He's Popeye the Sailor Man!

This is Zane's new trick. My mom calls it his "Popeye face". Too cute!

She said yes!

Zane and I spent last week in Rosemary Beach, Florida with the Bell family. (Matt couldn't go because he was working nights in the NICU. Boo! :( We really missed Dad-o!) The highlight of the trip? Erik proposed to Lindsey! Now Zane will have a new "Uncle Rico"! We've given all of his uncles new names...My brother, Lee, is Uncle Bob because his first name is Robert....Matt's brother, Tyler Allen, is Uncle Al....and now he'll have Uncle Rico!

"How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?... Yeah... Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would've been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind." In case you're lost, this is a quote from Uncle Rico in Napolean Dynamite. HI-larious movie.

Congrats, Lindsey & Erik! We are so happy for you--two of the sweetest people we know! I know that you two are made for each other and can't wait to see what's in store for you as you embark on this journey called marriage. Well....I guess you do have to survive the engagement first, huh? Here's to stress-free planning!

"Uncle Rico" with his celebratory gum cigar

Aunt Lindsey showing off her new bling! Can you tell she's a little bit excited?!I think this guy's happy with the decision, too!