Alyssa & Hannah

Alyssa met Hannah in preschool when they were three years old. Almost as soon as they met I knew their friendship was special. They were instantly joined at the hip. Six years later they are still close even though they live in seperate states. When we go to California to visit they start right where they left off. Hannah is a great kid and we miss her terribly.

Heather

I've known Heather for over six years now. We met when our girls entered preschool together. I had only known her for about a month when I found out I was pregnant with Zachary. I hardly knew her and found myself whispering to her that I had just found out I was pregnant. I thought it was so sweet that this "stranger" was so happy for us. She said "congratulations!" and a few months later she gave me a bunch of maternity clothes. She is a great friend and I am so blessed to know her!

Oakland Zoo

Eric took the kids to the Oakland Zoo while we were back home visiting. It was such a beautiful day. Alyssa's favorite were the rides while Zachary's were all of the animals. I loved that I could spend a few hours with my mom with no disruptions!

Bowling with Dad

Our family loves going bowling together. It's more of a Daddy/kids thing, but I went on Father's Day and had a blast! Eric can be a bit competitive and gets a little nervous when I get close to his score, but so far he has been the big winner. Alyssa was really good too. Zachary still uses the bumpers so his score was close to mine. We all have a lot of fun when we bowl together. I love finding things we all enjoy as a family.

Summer Fun

This summer the kids turned nine and five. I can't believe how fast they grow up. We take a trip to Pleasanton every summer to visit family and friends and to celebrate the kids' birthdays with them. This summer Zachary finally realized he could swim. Two summers ago he fell in my Mom's pool and swam to the edge with no problems. I ran over to him to see if he was okay and told him how excited I was that he could swim. He was a little startled, but excited too. I told him to go get his suit on! Instead, he just looked at me and said it was his spiderman jammies that helped him swim and he would not swim without them! This went on for almost two years. So we were so happy when he figured out he could swim without Spiderman's help!

Mother's Day Brunch

It's strange writing about Mother's Day in September, but this day was so special that I had to! Zachary worked so hard to make this day very memorable for me. He was so proud of himself! (so was I). When I arrived at his preschool, there were flowers on the table for me. They weren't just any flowers... they were in a vase Zachary made for me. He painted flowers all over it and in the middle of each flower his little fingerprint. Then his class sang an adorable song about how special Moms are. He served me crackers, cheese, and some fruit. He actually made me a plate and served me! If you look closely behind the kids you will see a bunch of faces the kids drew, they were numbered. While we were drinking our tea Mrs. Fitz (his teacher) read a bunch of hilarious "facts" the kids said about us, then we had to guess which Mom, along with the "facts" we were. It was a lot of fun! At the end of the brunch, Zachary presented me with an awesome necklace he made me out of a bottlecap...his picture inside. I just loved the whole thing. Another memory we made together that I will never forget.

My little heartbreaker

Okay, now I'm on a roll. Two posts in one day! I know a few people that are shocked right now. I couldn't write about my sweet girl without writting about my boy. Zachary is a love. He is definitely a "mommy's boy". Don't get me wrong, he loves his daddy, but he LOVES me. And I love that so much! He is so loving and so funny! He makes everyone laugh. He is also very easygoing. He makes my job too easy. These pictures were also taken on our way to church. While big sis is running around helping me get out the door, Zachary is hanging out with our dog, Chloe. I absolutely love being his mommy!

My sweet girl, Alyssa

I wasn't sure where to begin after not blogging for so long. I decided to go back to May, just about four months ago. I plan on writting as much as possible about our summer, so I thought it appropriate to start at the beginning. This picture of Alyssa was taken on our way to church. We were running a little late, but not Aly. She was dressed, bible in hand, ready to go...and help. She is always the one who is grabbing the water bottles, Zachary's snack, sometimes my purse!! How did I get so lucky?? She is so loving, helpful, beautiful inside and out. She is also the best big sister and is Zachary's best friend. You rarely see one without the other. God has definitely blessed me with this one. I don't know what I'd do without her. I could go on, believe me, but I will stop myself and write more later....promise!

I'm back!!

Where does the time go? I can't believe it's been over two months since my last post! We've had a great summer and I can't wait to blog about it.

Zachary's infamous "favorite" & "big blanket"

As many of you know, Zachary will be turning 5 in a few weeks. Right around 3 months of age his Nana bought him, what he has called since he could talk, his "favorite". This is a little square blanket with 24 tags that surround it. The only tag he cares about though is a little light green mess of a tag. He started sticking his tiny little finger in it when he was about 6 months old. Everywhere he went, that tag was around his finger. That's all he did with it until he turned about a year and a half. At this time he started putting it up to his nose and sniffing. When we ask him what it smells like, he doesn't answer, he just puts it up to your nose and wants you to smell for yourself. When you do, he looks at you like....see, it's good huh?
The pictures I put up are only about a week old. Which means, he is STILL sniffing away! Except now, he props his favorite up on his chest right before he falls asleep, then sets it up just right so he doesn't have to hold it. He can no longer can put his finger in this tag. It has been sniffed (and washed) so many times that we have had to sew it back on a few times and now it is very small. I've asked him why he doesn't put his finger in another tag or smell another one, and he looks at me like I'm crazy. We have also tried getting him new "favorites" and he will have nothing to do with them. Apparently there is a difference in smells or texture or something. Dah!
If you look really close at the first picture, and look to Zachary's right, you will see what he calls his "big blanket". This blanket is very special to him because Alyssa gave this to him when he was born. It was hers first, for almost 3 years!!! but she loved him so much that she gave it to him. It is now a big RAG! I have just started cutting away at it and so far so good. He hasn't noticed yet. Wish me luck!

This is new to me

I have never blogged before, so bear with me. I am so excited to be able to share our life with family and friends in this way. Plus, what a great way for our family to look back on the memories we are making.