The Days of Our Life

(Sorry for the title, I happen to be in the middle of catching up on DOOL)
Just some random pictures and videos of our days.

 Helping Mommy with the laundry.

 And by helping me I mean distracting me with her cuteness.

 Scarfing down some turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy with carrots for lunch.

While I made cookies; I'm such a June Cleaver. I actually baked a lot that day - sugar cookies, chicken, and oatmeal muffins.

 Rockin' out to Kelly Clarkson on The View.

 Instead of just sucking on them, or banging them together, Zoey has evolved to actually building things. In fact, if you sit down to play with the blocks, she'll build something with you.

 Can you say, baby model? Zoey is modeling the latest fashions in vintage Florida House of Representatives lanyards, courtesy of [one of] our Godfather[s]. 

 Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

 Enjoying a Popsicle at Grandma's house.

 Sometimes she feels the same size to me as when we brought her home. Then I see pictures like this and am shocked at how big she actually is. And - holy man! - those legs!!

 There are 2 deer camped under the tree in our front yard. I've noticed that our street is quite popular for lounging deer.

 A couple of cool babies in their cool shades on our way to the park.

She was obsessed with my sunglasses, and not too bothered by her's. I'm doing my patented crab-wave because if I wave like normal my way-too-big wedding rings fly off.

 She loves to sit in my office chair. A lot of the times we'll make it spin around, or push her around a little in it, but she's content just sitting there watching Go Diego Go sometimes too.

 I'm proud to admit she inherited my Billie-Lips. 

 Toodling around the house eating macaroni and cheese for lunch. She starts off in the highchair but then starts taking forever to eat. Seriously, what is with kids and hoarding food in their cheeks? I've done it, Jacob did it, now Zoey does it, but I don't think I could ever answer why. Maybe as a child it was the only way I had figured to outsmart my parents.

Post lunch Durby pet. They are so cute. Durbin loves holding still for her, but you can tell he has some serious ants in his pants about her being able to give him full on cuddles. Louis is a little more aloof but when she does pet him, he just drowns her in kisses so she is never able to get to him.

 We went to Costco on Sunday (with the weather getting cold, I totally feel like we're - to use the term my dad eloquently uses - hunkering down for the winter), and to occupy Zoey while we stuffed food in every corner of the house we gave her one of the boxes.

 She started to fuss but refused to get out of the box to walk to the coffee table for her snack. So I moved her box closer to the coffee table. Hey, happy baby means happy mommy.

I didn't realize it, but all three of us were representing ASU at the Billings Costco. She wore this shirt, I had on a sweatshirt, and Jacob wore his baseball cap. No one realized, actually, until the Costco check-out boy.

My mom will appreciate this, Zoey clomping around in my shoes (I won't admit to your face that I own Birkenstock knock-offs). We have video of this with me making a cameo but it was too big of a file to post. Oh well!

We had a busy but fun weekend. Zoey went to her grandparent's house on Friday night even though she wasn't feeling well. But it was only a fever and a rash, figuring it was teething. The change of scenery seemed to do her good as she was perfectly content when she arrived at their house, slept for nearly 12 hours, and was back to her usual chipper self on Saturday. I must have had sympathy pains because I did not feel up to doing anything with our baby-free evening, even though I wanted us to finally use the Jake's gift card we received last Christmas. I think we even went to bed shortly after 10pm. But we slept in until almost 9am and had a nice day. We gorged ourselves at IHop then treated ourselves to some new sock and underwear. Aren't we classy. Jacob drove me around in the Honda, it was like we were dating again (or dating period since we sort-of glossed over that part of our relationship).

We had a nice time in Columbus, once again gorging ourselves on food (not like it matters since I have yet to gain any weight, and Jacob apparently lost a couple of pounds. And this was post-IHop, pre-bathroom!). They ordered pizza and Jacob's mom made a triple layer white cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting. Jacob and I decided we must have a tape-worm not to gain weight after that.

Sunday we went to Costco which is always a joy. I know most already wonder how a schlep like me wound up with Jacob, but he really is fantastic. He follows me around the store with the giant Costco cart while I push Zoey in the stroller and point to everything we need, and then he expertly stacks it in the cart like a game of Tetris. He does the same when it's time to load it in the car as well. We should be set for awhile and now would be the time for anyone to come visit! :-)

So, now, life just continues to happen....

The Park

Last weekend really was the last weekend of nice weather (not chilly and windy) so Jacob and I took Zoey to the park around the corner from our house. She gets more active by the day, and I read on babycenter.com that the park is one of the best places for toddlers because they can explore (relatively) at their whim.

Unrelated, but also related, Zoey is getting increasingly hard to take a picture of, so video has become my default medium. I know, aren't you just so disappointed? Following my mom's instructions, I tried to get in one of the videos. But as I watched Jacob slowly turn the camera to the side (not knowing that the final product was now going to be tilted to the side instead of right-side-up) I conceded that there will never be a nice picture or video of Zoey and I. Now I know how my mother feels who always manages to be blinking in one eye during the "important" pictures. At least I have the memories!

Of course, I had to have some stills; what else would I put as my computer background?

When we weren't investigating the world, things were business as usual back at home.

 Giving some snuggles to her books.

 She seemed to really be going after something, so I plopped her in there.

 She minded terribly. :-)

 The all-important snack time. Since I am her mother, I've determined that it's still ok for me to be slightly obsessed with her being able to feed herself. Who am I kidding, everything she does is awesome.

I read on babycenter.com that "[age] 1 is the new [age] 2," in regards to mood swings, and the general beginnings of a developing personality. We've begun to see her "testing" us, grabbing for things she knows she's not supposed to touch with a bratty look in her eye, then giving us the mother of all pout-faces when we tell her she can't do something (so far, this is mainly when she's tired). On Sunday, she was in a crabby, whiny mood, and it was bath night anyway, so I plopped her in the tub to "reset" her. It works. And, as biology would have it, she was a little backed-up so the warm bath helped with that. too.

 It had to happen sometime - she pooped in the tub. So we had to drain the tub, then it was time for a new bath. In the meantime, of course, she peed all over the floor.

Her new thing is pointing at everything, we only wish we could understand what she's saying. Maybe she's pointing at one of her poop nuggets.

Jacob and Louis - yes, Louis - snuggling. He very rarely lets anyone snuggle, much less pet, him unless he's in the "proper" mood (i.e. not distracted by something for a millisecond). I should note, he does NOT allow me to do this.

I've stopped trying to get everything in the house done when I'm home. Even though I am home more, that just means I'm living in the house more, thus making it continuously dirty. So we just clean as we go, or when the dog hair becomes unbearable which is pretty much every weekend anyway. With the Honda fixed and an actual working vehicle (registered and everything!) the garage is now a hospitable place to store the Jeep, but there are still mounds of crap, a couple of bins being stuff I want to eventually donate. Except, here's the thing: I weighed a certain amount when I moved to Florida. During the year and a half I lived there I put on about 10 pounds, thus all of my pre-Florida clothes didn't fit. Well, they do now!! I was thinking in particular about a pair of khaki pants that left button impressions on my stomach; now I look like I belong in a Slim Fast commercial. Ok, so those (and all of the other pants) didn't work, but I was able to salvage some things that aren't completely out-dated.

My stack of "new" clothes.

Jacob was busy doing his own thing but gradually got involved as I starting trying things on in front of him. At one point, he faced away from his computer and started digging through the bin and laying things out for me to try on. I don't remember what top I had on but he looked at me and said, "That looks nice, baby, it will go nice with one of your pencil skirts." I looked at him, mouth agape, and said, "How do you know that's what those are called?" He said, "Oh come on, all of those times I watched Fashion Police with you, something sunk in." I supposed that was true since - thanks to Top Gear (UK) - I now know what a piece of crap the Chevy Corvette really is.

We took the dogs to the dog park too, of which I wanted at least pictures of, but that was just entirely too complicated. Louis loves dog parks, a veteran from growing up in the city. Durbin was a bit confused but enjoyed himself IMMENSELY. He had a one-track mind - his nose. Zoey had a ball surrounded by all of those puppies, and even met a couple of other toddlers. I'm hoping to take the dogs back this weekend; we figure it will be a good place to go when it snows, especially for Durbin, so they can run around and get exercise.

This weekend we'll be baby-free as Zoey spends the night with her grandparents in Columbus. We're not entirely sure what the details are, but they will collect her on Friday or Saturday, then we'll go up on Sunday to celebrate Rachael (Jacob's sisters) and Todd's birthdays (Rachael's fiance and soon-to-be daddy of a bouncing baby girl).

It got colder this week and we experienced our first frost. I keep waiting for the first snow, crossing my fingers I'll get to stay home that day. :-) Until then, we'll just keep heading to the park (and probably afterward depending on the super cute winter play clothes we'll undoubtedly receive because they're just too darn cute).

A Day in the Life....

Of us! I took these 8 videos (yes, count them, there are 8) with my mom in mind. I had spoke to her last week and thanks to my antidepressant withdrawal, and a general frustration, there were some sticky moments. I get a bit petulant when I can't reach my parents any time I want to tell them something Zoey did, said, or anything else that might have happened. There are no two people in the world who deserve more to be selfish with their time and resources, but as two people are are just as excited - if not more since they are observers this go-around - as Jacob and I are about every breath Zoey takes, I want nothing more than to be able to share every second. So, that is what I decided  to do.

I spent Wednesday (and a small bit of Friday but, ultimately, that day was paparazzi-free) videotaping Zoey's every move (ok, I did shut if off when she had to go number 2 since we all deserve some privacy). I'll admit, some of them are unnecessarily long and a bit boring, as she makes her millionth lap around the futon, and points to the dog bowls and repeats "no, no," over and over and over. But I know my parents - especially my Mom - with love every second.

I should mention these videos are shot by me and on my cell phone, so anyone who suffers from motion sickness might not want to sit too close to the screen. You'll also get the special privilege of being alerted to when I get a new message (FYI, the sound is very loud). Ahh, technology is the best.

I'm sure you won't be able to tell, Zoey loves being in front of the camera.

Layne's Wheel-Er-Iffic Birthday

As any boy turning 4-years old does, Rachael's son, Layne, had a birthday party. A few years shy of inviting a bunch of goobers from school, it was a family celebration in Columbus that was - what else? - car-themed. It was predetermined at birth that he would love cars, but he happened to reach that becoming-more-aware stage when Cars and Cars 2 came out so he is literally obsessed (he took a breather from Cars when Toy Story 3 happened). But he is also getting older and displays a wide variety of interests that sometimes lead him to Zoey's toys; he is a very well-rounded individual. In short, he had a good birthday, and we had fun celebrating with him.

 Layne on his new battery operated 4-wheeler that his parents got him.

 I said, "Layne, I want to take a picture of you and your 4-wheeler," and this is what he did.

The rest of these are all poses; he is such a ham-bone:

 We put Zoey's shoes on and out into the world she went.

 She loved it and started taking off down the hill. We, of course, stopped her since she has a little while before she's done tripping over her own feet.

 Off into the big, bad world. :-(

Lata, Mom! Peace!

But, of course, Jacob and I snatched her up and refused to let her go. I like that we can still do that.

 My first baby - back there - (Louis) is always around my ankles, and more so than usual lately.

 I'm probably talking to Louis.

 ASU happened to kick ass that evening. Unfortunately, it didn't last the entire game and they gave it up like a drunk girl on prom night.

 Daddy trying to zip her up in his sweatshirt.

She just wanted to explore the world some more.

Back inside it was time for cake.

 Layne with his mom and dad, Todd and Rachael. They have baby number 2 in the oven (a girl!!) so I get to be an Auntie from scratch!

 Is this not the greatest homemade cake you've ever seen?! Rachael and her mom put it together for Layne using a general car mold, icing, a giant picture of Lightning McQueen, and a shit-load of creativity. Jacob and I watched in awe the entire time, and they tried to get me involved but I wasn't really trying. Jacob and I concluded that we have at least a year before Zoey starts realizing it's her birthday and we need to go all-out on the princess cake, so we'll enjoy this break while we can.

Observing the cake ceremonies. Hey, didn't we do this a couple of weekends ago, only everyone was paying attention to me? And on Halloween weekend we'll be back celebrating more birthdays - Todd and Rachael's. Everyone but Jacob was born in the fall.

The cake was amazing, FunFetti with cherry frosting. So, naturally, we all had a bit of a sugar high we needed to work off. Zoey did it by clomping around in her grandmother's slippers. She was in her room and stepped into them herself, then walked into the living room.

 She loved them, but I think her legs eventually got tired.

With everything going on, Zoey didn't really take an afternoon nap (and she's getting to the age where she's fighting it, anyways), so once we calmed down, we headed for home.

On Sunday, the dogs, Jacob, Zoey, and I didn't do much. My favorite thing about going up to Columbus is that the dogs are worn out for about a week (and Jacob's parents have started brewing their own beer). Jacob finished the Honda so it will be registered today and we'll officially become a 2-car family. I haven't driven in so long, I hope I remember how. This evening is my book club meeting, after a day of snuggling Zoey. Last night I had her laughing so hard, she chocked on her drool and got the hiccups.

(In case you were wondering, Layne loved the Lightening McQueen hologram puzzle, and Cooties board game I got him. :-))