Baseball or food storage

the smallish house- which is also looking a little crooked- I should fix that. :)

So, it's no secret, we aren't wealthy. Well, in comparing our financial package with the general worlds population we are actually very wealthy (I've spent time in one room, dirt floor homes), but for now I'm speaking relative to the majority of our cohorts.

We live in a smallish house which, coincidentally, has a smallish mortgage payment. We have ginormous medical bills (which we actually pay) and in contrast and, in part, because of, have a very small food and extras budget. When we do go out to dinner or to an event (95% of the time the outing being free to us because of gift cards or prizes) we almost always spend a portion of the evening wondering how and why people without prizes or gift cards actually spend money to do such things.

In the past I have been guilty of an occasional ''envy moment" but I have come to learn that that is just silly.

Last Thursday on our way to see Sarah McLauchlan (part of a prize package of course) we drove through streets that were decorated with beautifully, enormous houses, I thought to myself, why? First of all, you could feed a lot of hungry mouths with what you put into that. Second, I would never want to have to clean all of it and third, well just another why? Does a bigger house make someone feel better about themselves?

If we were wealthy the only "benefit" would be a sense of security that would come however I think it would be a false sense of securtity and also run a person the risk of thinking he/she can actually survive without God. I know, I know, that's silly to say but I think the theme is pretty evident in the pride cycle in The Book of Mormon, as soon as the author starts talking about wearing fine clothing the next thing you know they are drifting into prideful wicked ways. I know this is not true for everyone and some people handle the wealth they have been blessed with very well but I think it would be a tricky thing to do in a world where everyone is trying to have the latest and greatest or have their kids in every talent endeavor possible.

The other day I got one of my favorite publications in the mail, "The Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Calendar", I immediately opened it and read cover to cover of all the wonderful things I would like sign Zane up for. He is interested in tennis, he is one amazing baseball player, and he has an internal devotion to fighting...tennis, baseball or taekwondo??? I talked it over with Lee, we asked Zane what he would like to do, the more I thought about it the more I loved the idea but then I remembered our budget priority list...rec activities are on it but food storage happens to be above it and I do think that, in the event we couldn't shop at the grocery store, Zane would prefer to eat rather than to have played in a rec league...

Although I do not think we will be in the "poor years" forever, Lee is working towards his goal of owning his own agency, I am grateful for them. It is giving me a chance to learn the difference between wants and needs (something many people never learn), and to prioritize wants, once the needs are met. My goal, when richer financial times do come, is that no one will ever know...

Other items on our "priority list"

seat belt for the exploder- I should get on that one.
savings, savings
more food storage
a bedroom door for Tate (he's in the almost finished basement-it's lacking doors)
bathroom vanity in basement
Lee's knee operation
Contacts
New living room furniture (many of you that read my blog would recognize my awesome burgundy leather couch and big chair the minute you entered the house-it's got to be 20 years old-but still holding up-it's been though a lot...it deserves to be basement furniture now :) )

My solution to save the world!

Well maybe not the world but I'm guessing my awesome idea would rid us of around 83.6% of marital conflict, based on my calculation which has no scientific resonance what so ever, so sit back read on and discover how we could all enjoy a happier, healthier,more laughable world.
(Alright, I always like to start a blog post with an incredibly long grammatically erroneous run-on sentence so check that!)

I would like you to conjure up in your mind the last argument with your significant other? Maybe it was this morning, last night or a distant 28 days away (if the latter, congratulations but I feel a storm a brewing in your future). Possibly you are arguing with him or her right now while reading this. Sometimes I argue with Lee without him even here (it guarantees that I win and then I can move on without him even realizing that I was angry about something-tune into my next post on multiple personalities, my favorite trait).

Ok, I'll admit, Lee and I delight in a good "discuss and debate" conversation every so often however I can pin point a few days of the month where our "discussions" leave the description of "delight" and are down right irritating. And although it pains me to confess this, it has more to do with my physiological state than with what I am actually picking a fight about. Occasionally I can muster up all the courage in my being and graciously remind him that things are about to get a little rough so he can take it in stride but that still doesn't do much to tame my inner wrestle with the hormonal imbalance.

I'm guessing most household relationships work this way, maybe you have a better game plan in dealing with it but I would propose a solution that works to the benefit of all mankind, male and female alike!

The Women's Sanity Sanctuary. For 5 days of your special time you get to go to a local women's retreat. So, instead of irritability, bloating and bickering you can bask in pool side and spa treatment relaxation. You choose what you want to do, sit by yourself on a window seat and enjoy the quiet sound of your own breathing, curl up in a ball in the luxurious 5000 count, lightly scented sheets, or hit the state of the art gym if you are up to it, it's all about you and that's what matters.

Is it fair? Why of course it is! What does the man get out of the deal? I think it is obvious, he get's to bypass the worst week of his month! It's clearly a win-win for everyone.

reaping what you sow...our garden

This is what became of our garden....at least someone partook of it (the dried, dead pellets that never made it past seedlings) Maybe next year we will be more fruitful. :)

Raspberries

Being a stay at home mom has also meant being the go-to babysitter for those who have out side of the home jobs. It seems I am always the honorary mother to other women's children. I have been watching Cole (6 yrs. old) and his little brother, Eli (2.5 yrs. old) for the past 1 1/2 years or so, on a very part-time basis.

Yesterday Cole, being older and bigger, figured he could push Zane around and tell him what to do. I was downstairs with Tate and I hear this conversation after hearing some laughing "Zane, go tell your mom that I farted" Zane laughed and said "Noooo.." Cole persisted, "Zane, go tell your mom that I farted, go do it! Zane you do what I say!" I can only imagine the look on Zane's face but what I heard was him doing a raspberry, then he said "let's go downstairs and watch Top Shot". Cole's reply was "don't spit at me, I'm telling your mom." Feet pounding down the stairs "Miss Amy, Zane spit at me." Interesting, how would you respond in this situation? I reported to Cole the conversation that I had just heard and told him I didn't think it was very nice to try to get a smaller boy to do something he didn't want to do and that I was happy that Zane didn't do something just because he told him to do it. I'm glad Zane isn't a follower and can stand his ground when he doesn't feel comfortable with something. He did not get in trouble for "spitting" at Cole but he did get praised for not doing something he knew was just silly.

Mini-social outings...

Waiting for Toy Story 3 to start. Kendall, to the right of Zane, was a little jealous that there was another girl there. Lee told Zane not to choose sides but to play both. :)

So many little stories, so little time...

The other day we walked out the door at aproximately 8:32 am, we were greeted by the sun rising in the east and realitive humidity that was so horribly, humid (for lack of a better word) that I felt like I was begining the 26th mile of a marathon, actually I have never ran a marathon but I imagine you sweat pretty badly. At this point I rethought my decision to go to the park in this sort of hellish weather but I'm glad we did.

We were the first ones to arrive, a little while after another little boy and his mom dared to endure the sauna like conditions as well. Zane immediately started to try to get the other boy's attention, I said, "Zane, why don't you ask him his name?" The other little boy thought I was talking to him and said to Zane "What's your name?" Zane replied "My name is Zane and my number is 4." The little boy didn't quite catch his name and asked for a repeat, Zane responds "Zane- Z-A-N-E". Zane then asks the little boy his name, "My name is Eduard, E-D-U-A-R-D". I love it! I think the next time I introduce myself to someone I will say "Hi, my name is Amy, A-M-Y- and my number is 30." Just to see the response, it probably won't go near as well as when two little boys, numbers 4 and 5 do it.

This "number 4" stage is a funny one. Zane can obviously dress himself and has now taken on the task of doing his own hair. Sunday he went into the bathroom, spiked his hair with the small travel sized bottle of hairspray, then he came out and spiked Tate's hair. We got to church and he took out the hairspray that was, unknown to me, in his pocket, because he was also going to spike Lee's hair, (hmmm...good luck). I was out in the hall with Tate and Lee was sitting with Zane by my parents, they eventually had to take the hairspray away.

Pair the hairstyling fetish with his strong wardrobe preferences (the boy WILL NOT wear a shirt with a bear on it anymore, no matter how hard I try to coax him- a good time to point out that I have a few NWOT or EUC babygap shirts up for bid if you are interested) and you may start to wonder about this kid. Not me, all of his stuffed animals are now girls and his "friends" (the imaginary ones) are not just his "friends" but his "girlfriends". And, on our way to meet one of his special girl friends ( a real one) to see Toy Story 3 he said "mom, I think Kendall will have her toenails painted." I said, "yeah, I bet she will. Do you like it when she has her toenails painted?" He says "Yes, and her fingernails!". So, he likes girls, and girly girls at that. There is nothing wrong with a well dressed, cute, athletic boy. :) Oh, and his new name is "Forcer", which is pretty masculine I think. :)

Prodigy kids...

My confession, I'll admit to being "that mom", yes the one who really does think that my kid is better than yours. I'm sure it's horribly obnoxious but I just can't help that both of my children are prodigy kids, the stars just all aligned perfectly for them I guess. :)

Ok, I'm not THAT bad. But Lee and I do joke that I am always accusing my kids as being developmentally advanced, Tate will do something and I now just say, "wow, most kids don't do that until they are at least 10 yrs. old". It's probably not so much that my kids are advanced but that I am amazed at the quick development of the little human beings.
I, however, would like to share a few instances that Tate has demonstrated superiority over your kid. (I really hope that I don't have to add a written chuckle and that the reader knows that I am chuckling as I write such absurdities.)

Today Tate grabbed the plug to the vacuum and decided to try to put it in the outlet. ( I realize that this example could also be posted in my previous post "Parenting Skills..." because what good parent lets their 10 month old even attempt to plug something into an outlet...). Although, he didn't succeed in actually fixating the plug into the outlet, I thought it extremely astute of him to know where the plug should go.

Later that day, Zane and Tate got into a little argument, Zane took a track piece out of Tate's hand, Tate screamed at Zane, Zane screamed at Tate and I told Zane to go to his room (he had been warned that if he took another thing out of Tate's hand there would be a consequence). So, Zane was in his room and I was at the table and Tate crawled over and sat close to my chair. I looked down at him and he had the same track in his mouth. He looked up at me as if he was thinking "uh, I'm not suppose to have this" then it's as if his mind, like speed lightening, came up with a plan. He looks down, takes the track out of his mouth and, with a look of astonishment and disgust, that the track was in his mouth, begins to "reprimand" the track for ending up in his possession, and then he throws it down on the floor. Oh my, what a funny little boy. I have to give him credit though, most kids don't use that kind of manipulation until they are at least 10 yrs. old.

Parenting skills...

(Yes, the above photos is my four year old with a very real hammer and very sharp nails-some may think that's not the best afternoon activity for a four year old but he came up with the idea on his own and it has been occupying him for the better part of an hour-We are just testing out that tetanus vaccination.)

As of late I have been self-examining and questioning my parenting skills, or techniques rather. After Zane received his 5 vaccinations he also received 3 super awesome blue camo band-aids. The band-aids were so cool he didn't want to take them off. I don't really blame him, who really likes the feeling of an adhesive being ripped from your skin, I know I don't. I suggested that he get in the bath so that the warm water would loosen them up a little. He still protested. This was day two of the band-aids and I didn't think it was very sanitary for him to have those bacteria breeding grounds sitting so close to his injection sites. So I say to him, "Zane, we have to get those band-aids off or you might get and infection and they will have to cut off your leg". Really? To a four year old. I really didn't think much of what I said until, a few days later, he runs up to Lee and announces "Daddy I got my band-aids off so they won't have to cut off my leg!". Lovely.
I'm currently reading a book about effective ways to communicate with kids, I'm thinking the above scare tactic won't be on the list of suggestions.

what's on the menu?

Tate is a funny eater. He had terrible reflux and has enjoyed a 90% liquid diet up until a month or so ago. Although he frowned upon rice, apples, bananas, etc. he did however have a favorite solid which remains at the top of his list, paper! Ummm so yummy and non-digestible (is that a word?) paper (actually I'm not sure how easily digested paper is but I'm going out on a limb and thinking it probably isn't the most digestive friendly consumable or non-consumable for that matter).

We have just discovered another one of his pallets preferences, bubbles. He just can't get enough of them, possibly the effects of the bubbles will help the paper along.

One of these days I'll get this...,

Today I woke up with Tate, I changed his diaper and then laid on the floor as he played with various things on the floor, the empty diaper wipe tub, his cars and his blanket. He in his affectionate Tate way, came over every few minutes to snuggle up to me and then he was off again. After my grogginess finally wore off enough so that I could muster enough strength to drag myself off the floor, I got up and put Tate in his high chair to eat. Oatmeal mixed with apples and blueberries and bananas, yum. After about an hour of playtime I realized he was ready for his nap. I put him down and off to dreamland he went.
I grabbed a blanket and hit the couch. Everything was still and quiet. It wasn't long before I heard the little thump of Zane's feet hitting the floor, then the quick pitter-patter of him running into the living room. I invited him under my blanket to snuggle for a minute as I still wrestled with the idea that it was morning. Zane snuggled up to me and I enjoyed his closeness as I watched the sun and leaves' shadows dance on the blinds.
I started thinking about all the little moments that go un-noted. The little things that fill my day with joy, laughter, contentment, gratitude and a dose of frustration and craziness to add to the mix.
So, a blog I suppose is a great place to note all these sometimes mundane and sometimes amusing happenings.



Zane is now four. He can do anything now because he is four. You would think he was 18, which is actually the age he pretends, quite adamantly, that he is most of the time. We took him to Stone Mountain for his birthday, because he was four he was not afraid to ride the train (he had a small phobia of the train whistle from a steam engine parade we took him to when he was two), he was not afraid to ride the sky ride to the top of the mountain and he was not afraid to go on the ropes course-it's amazing what one day can do to a person- he walked with a new stride of confidence. Being four also has its trials, five shots at his well visit! On the way over he sat in his car seat, anxious and looking for a way out of his vaccinations. I began to explain to him again that the shot would be much more bearable than one of the nasty viruses he could get if he didn't gget the shots. He had a solution though, he reminded me that strawberries could fight the viruses instead because of the antioxidants, so maybe he could just eat more strawberries. I love his little problem solving skills! He did endure the shots and now has a lovely red rash to prove it. Zane is in the 81st percentile for height and 91st percentile for weight.
I chuckled at the questions they ask to see if they are on track. Can he count to 5? uh yeah. Does he know his shapes? Are you serious...Zane loves to learn, and apparently he now likes to mark his territory with his name writing skill. I lifted up the toilet seat to clean it and thought, how did hair get stuck there? Upon closer inspection I realized that Zane had written his name (in pencil) on the bottom of the seat, nice, at least it wasn't on the walls.


I find parenting two kids much more difficult than one for one simple reason. Sibling conflict. Yes, Tate is only 10 months old and yet they still manage to argue and fight. Tate is just as good at picking a fight as Zane. I can't wait until Tate is a little older and I can stop playing referee and let them duke it out, or at least make them do something silly until they are laughing and not fighting. I did get a bit of hope today as I heard a funny interaction. Tate went over to play with Zane (or take his toy, which is usually the case). Zane growled loudly at him- as I started to reprimand Zane for being rude- Tate growled right back at him. I laughed, Zane was caught off guard and laughed too.



Tate is, well, he has red hair. He is feisty, mischievous and has the cutest little devious smile I have ever seen. He "talks back", tells Zane where to put it, and he knows what he wants. I have a feeling he is going to make Zane seem like a breeze. That being said he is already an entertainer, very affectionate, and sympathetic. He's passionate- mad when he doesn't get what he wants but so sweet and loving when he is content and happy.
Tate is a great communicator. He says "mama", "da-da-" and occasional "daddy" and he calls for Zane when ever he is in a different room "aaaanne!". I swear he has said "I love you too" and "where are you" but that is disputable I suppose. :)
Tate is by far the hardest subject I have ever photographed, he is so busy doing something, that I generally get this shot- looking down or blurrrr, there he goes!

It's getting indisputable...

lashes- so glad he got the dark long lashes. :)

We have been trying to determine what color Tate's hair will be...I have thought that it has had a red haze and that it was going to eventually be pretty red, he has the complexion for it. Lee, however thought that I was crazy...Lee is starting to see it my way now, as he usually does. ;)

Pumpkins and baby smiles! (Well it actually posted in baby smiles then pumkin patch, ugh)

These are the smiles I get every time Tate gets a diaper change, this one happened to be on the front seat of our car and the camera was handy. :)

Zane thought the pumpkin patch was pretty cool, Tate was not so impressed! ;)

We ventured off to the pumpkin patch for the weekend, it was pretty fun. I'm still not quite sure why people fork out .17 cents a lb for a pumpkin when they can get one the same size at BJ's for $4.99???

And, could someone please teach me how to blog! My goodness, I can't get the hang of posting in backwards order so that my pics follow a storyline and I can't seem to move them around once I have uploaded them! This is why I am not a blogger!

Back to blogging...

Aye! I need to blog more than facebook. I really should get into the habit of jotting down what happens in our lives. So now I am going to be in catch up mode. (We will see how long it lasts!)


So, we have a new baby! (As if the world didn't know that already). We even managed to come up with a name. I'm not sure we can have any more kids, they may end up without names, well boys anyway. I think we will have an easier time naming a girl. Let's hope! We had a list of names for Tate and spent the better part of the nine months going back and forth, pulling them out of hats, etc. Brandon wasn't even on the list until we came up with it. All I know is that Tate went absolutely crazy inside me when Brandon came out of my mouth,, so there it was. If he doesn't like his name I will tell him it's his own fault. :)

Tate is an awesome baby and Zane LOVES him. He always asks if we can take Tate with us when we are getting ready to go. If Tate is crying he is right there telling him "it's ok, Tate it's ok".

The other day I asked Zane where Tate was before he came to our family. I had not had the "preexistence discussion" with him before so this was all Zane. His reply was that Tate was at church. hmmm...ok "What was he doing at church" I then asked..."praying" was his reply...I think, after analyzing this a bit, he got it as close to correct as anyone else could Tate was indeed talking with Heavenly Father at his house. Kids really do get it.

Zane is so smart. The pediatrician says my issue with him when school starts is that he will be bored! He is not quite 3.5 yrs old and he has all of this letters down, the majority of the sounds that go along with them and is getting the concept of putting the sounds together to sound out small words. He can also write a handful of letters.

Now for the updated pics and such...I had so many other little things to catch up on but now I don't remember what....

Brandon "Tate" Dawkins
6 lb 13 oz
21.5 in

Loyal ( a really old post that didn't get posted)

We have been trying to decide a name for this new baby, at first we were thinking "Bryson" and then we decided to look at other options, we came up with one other option but have been keeping it from everyone. Zane apparently picked up on this. We were at my parents house eating ice cream cones at their table and my mom decided to be tricky and ask Zane what the baby's name was going to be (when I ask him he always says one of the two names). I just smiled, I didn't tell him not to tell, just smiled and watched what his response was going to be (expecting him to say "bryson" and hoping he didn't say our secret name). He looked at me like what am I suppose to do and didn't say a word. This went on for a few minutes, then they started guessing names and he just responded "no". Then there was a pause in the conversation, he was eating his icecream, I was laughing that he was so ingeniuously loyale, my dad was fixing him another icecream cone to try to bribe him into telling him the name. Then he says, "how about we name the baby...brown!" and he just started laughing and then started spurting off all these random object names. He thought he was hillarious, so did I. My mom continued to ask him throughout our visit what the baby's name was and he continued to say random names.
I was telling Jen this so yesterday she and Zane were playing checkers, I was in the kitchen but caught him looking at me funny, it was the same "what should I do?" look, I said, "you just aksed him what the baby's name was didn't you?" She said yes, but she also included in her petition that I had told her that he could tell her. He kept silent her first attempt and changed the subject on her next attempt when it was just the two of them playing trucks in the basement he changed the subject. He has yet to reveal the name, I think it is hillarious and incredibly astute of him. :)

Zane is now totally into the imgagination stage, one of my favorites! The other day I had to open the door to let out the alligators that were on the celing and all the "other" animals in the house. The other night he came into our bedroom eating a granola bar, he said that ducks were following him. I said "well you still need to eat that in the kitchen" he said, "but the ducks are following me!" I replied that he should "tell the ducks to leave him alone". So, he turned around told the ducks to leave him alone and went back into the kitchen. Sometimes, his imaginiation also affects what I can do, I wanted to leave the bathroom but he informed me that there were a lot of trees and I couldn't leave. I said I would just walk around them, he said there were too many, I said OK, I will walk through them. Nope, not an option. So finally I say "well, I need to get out, will you please cut down the trees for me?" He says yep and proceeds to use his saw (finger) to saw down the trees, and at last I left the bathroom.

fireman

I love that we are getting lots of rain except that Zane gets cabin fever and then he does not sleep well. So I was telling my mom and she pointed out the obvious, which to me was a stroke of brilliance, buy the boy some rain boots and jacket. Wow, couldn't have thought of that on my own....so we did...
Zane got his first rain jacket and boots, what makes it the most awesome set is that it is a "firefighter" outfit...Zane is now a fireman and is almost always wearing his rain gear. Good thing he is super cute doing it. :)
Along with being obsessed with being a fireman he is also obsessed with his upcoming b-day party (in two months). He brings it up all the time in conversation so I asked him who he was going to invite to his party. I first suggested grandma so he would understand the question, his list of people are as follows:

Jerry
Heidi
Santa Clause
Grandma & Grandpa
Daddy
No cows, horses, moose, or zebras
well, just little tiny Zebras
No plants and trees and grass

I'm not sure if Santa will be able to make it although that would be cool. Ever since Santa brought him a train for Christmas he has been his #1 pal, Santa even took Jesus' spot of the people who he loves and loves him. We are working on it. Monday our FHE lesson was entitled "Jesus is better than Santa-although we do still like Santa"

Art

"spider"

the "stare down"

Above: baby brother

the sun

my favorite "daddy with lots of legs"

I love children's art...Zane enjoys drawing and has always been pretty meticulous with his pictures. He was drawing triangles, squares, circles, ovals, fish, and rocket ships six to nine months ago, now he has moved on to a bit more animated objects. Unfortunately his best work is usually done on a doodle or aquadoodle so I can't keep them so yesterday I decided to preserve his pictures by taking a picure of his drawings.

Close calls...

A funny day....I should have know it was going to be a day full of funny things. It started off great, Zane slept until it was actually light outside (very cool) and to top it off he decided to not wake us and to entertain himself (a first)..........................I woke up to him saying "ohhhh, look my blankie!", then I hear his little feet tromp into our room. There he is, covered in his paints. It's as if he made a mental note that I left the box on the counter and set his internal alarm to remind himself to take advantage. So, now the boy is discovered covered in paints, the only mystery left is where and what did he paint.

Lucky for us he stayed on the tile and nothing was irreversibly damaged. :)

Later that day I was taking a nap, Lee was in charge of daddy duty because I was sick. I woke up hearing zane say repeatedly "dad, come look at my poop" "dad! come look at my poop"...apparently dad was either not understanding or preoccupied so I drug myself out of bed hoping to find zane looking into the toilet (he isn't potty trained yet so that was a bit of wishful thinking). I pass the bathroom and find him in his room squatting by his diaper pointing at his poop, not really a good thing for a toddler to take off his own nasty diaper. Luckily, once again, no damage done and my carpets are still clean!

In the evening (this doesn't actually involve a mess) we were hanging out in our living room and Zane had went into his room. He ran out saying there was a monster in his room, I said "oh, well isn't he your friend? why don't you go and say hi?" so he returns and the conversation goes "Hi monster, you want to be my friend? oh ok, How are you?" I couldn't really make out the rest of the conversaton but I thought it was very cute. I definitely see an imaginary friend in his future.

One more funny thing about Zane, he is obsessed with colors and identifies people by the color they wear, today I am blue. So, a couple weeks ago we are sitting at a table at the food court and he sees a lady and says "she's black" the lady was wearing a black shirt...I though "oh no..." Luckily she didn't hear him however I can see the day where I have to explain that I am not identifing people by their race and that he is just talking about what they are wearing...

Mind of a two year old

Although it has some challenges attached, I love this toddler stage. It is so funny how a two year olds mind works. A few weeks ago we were teaching Zane that red means stop and green means go...he was, and still is, very adement that red means go and green means stop....We couldn't figure out his logic and continued the argument and one day while in the car he says, "No, not red means stop, red says go" and then I got it "Ready, Set, Go" or in a toddlers mind "red said go". I've come to accept that, although my two year old can hit a baseball from a pitch and nail the bazonkazonk out of a golf ball, he will not excell at "Red light, Green light", and that's ok, as long as he is convinced by the time he is 15 that red means go he'll be ok. :)

Another funny story: We were sitting at the table finishing dinner when Zane lets one rip. It was a passing of gas to match a very grown man. So Zane laughs, I say "oh my gosh!" and Lee, as ritual says "pooter" and then Zane says "pooter". Then Zane, still laughing says, "I want to do that again!" He even grunted a bit to make the attempt. Boys! :)

I'm sure I had a few more tidbits to jot down but I can't think of them now now. Zane is so much fun, such a personality! Although we anticipated another baby much sooner, I'm glad we've had so much time to spend with Zane. He isn't too excited about the new arrival, but he says he will love it anyway. (I'm pretty sure this one will make it's way here if not, lds family services will be the next resort) Any pointers for making the transition from one to two will be greatly appreciated. :)

Family Photos

Doing our own family photos is always a challenge...they rarely turn out the way I want them because we are so limited when we aren't controlling the focus and zoom...one of these days I am going to hire an outside photographer! Here are the shots that did work out... at least we didn't have to go far, we did these in our front yard.