Happy First Birthday to Zoey!

I cannot believe this tiny princess turned one year old!!

 This is her favorite place in the house--on the hearth of our ratty old fireplace. I'll be so glad to say goodbye to this aspect of the house when we move out! She loves climbing up and down it, and I am constantly worried she will get hurt falling off it. So far, there have only been a couple small spills.

 We took she and Zach to the zoo in the 70 degree Dallas weather for her big day. She was mildly interested. Zach enjoyed it. They both enjoyed getting up close and personal with the giraffes the best. Zach fed a lettuce leaf to one, and jumped about a mile when the giraffe licked his hand with that giant tongue!

 What is wrong with this picture? Zach gets to go on the merry-go-round while the birthday girl watches?!

 I love those big, blue eyes. They honestly melt my heart!

 We bought Zoey a doll stroller for her birthday. She's not quite walking, and this is helping her figure it out a little (when Zach isn't stealing it from her!). She has the tip-toe thing down, though!

 Wow! A Tinkerbell tent--since Zach doesn't always share his Toy Story tent he got for Christmas! She had a blast opening her gifts. Christmas was a great warm-up for her birthday! She knew just what to do!

 Now she can have her own hideout when Zach won't share his!

 She liked the chocolate cake!

 And got hosed-down in the sink afterward!

I am no Martha Stewart--especially for first birthdays. Maybe when they get old enough to actually remember all the work that gets put into those fancy, Pinteresty, themed birthday events, I'll give it a go. But for now, hearts and chocolate will have to do!!

Here is a video of Zoey's first experience eating a chocolate cupcake. She'll be a pro soon!

I am so grateful to have this beautiful angel in my life! Zoey has honestly been the sweetest, easiest baby in the world. She is saying mama, dada, and baba (for baby). She crawls lightening fast, and has no interest in standing or walking yet. She loves getting into cabinets and drawers. She is pretty self-directed when it comes to playing around the house. Zoey is a climber. She is constantly trying to get on a higher plane. Zach never really got into climbing like she has, though he was walking at 10 months. I have put off feeding her many table foods for awhile, because it is so much easier, quicker, and cleaner to nurse her. She is way underweight from her last doctor visit, so I need to get her as many calories as possible now. It is seriously a time-consuming and messy undertaking! Zoey is still quite snuggly and sweet, and has the most darling angel voice ever. She adores Zach, and they get along well most of the time. Being 3 is just a little hard, so Zach sometimes has a hard time sharing things and being as gentle as he should. Overall, he is a great big brother. A few weeks ago he had a friend over that was being a little rambunctious, and he dutifully told the friend to "be careful around Zoey, because she's really, really, really tiny!" I was so glad he was watching out for his baby sister, even if he doesn't always follow his own advice. Zoey loves her pacifier and her baby doll. I have so much fun dressing her up and putting ponytails and bows in her hair (which she often pulls right out. How do I prevent this?!). Thankfully, she has been a pretty good sleeper, other than waking a little early now and then. She naps twice a day pretty well and goes to bed like a charm around 7:30-8 each night.

 I have enjoyed Zoey's first year more than I could have imagined, and look forward to watching her continue to grow in grace and beauty.

V Day

 These two truly make my heart beat! They bring me pure joy, every minute of every day. 

Peek-a-boo! 

 So this year for Valentine's Day, I decided to start some traditions. We'll see if they continue next year! We began by having a special candlelight dinner as a family on Sunday evening. I made chicken and eggplant parmesan- yum!

 The night before Valentine's Day, I cut out paper hearts and made a path leading from Zach's room to my room to his high chair, where I placed...

 a heart-shaped bowl of sugary-sweet cereal. I also gave him a tiny box of chocolates. You can tell this kid doesn't get a lot of sweets. When I asked him what was inside the orange-cream chocolate that made it so yummy, he said, "Cheese!" Makes sense--it's orange, gooey, and tasty, right?!

He was super-sweet all day, and insisted we have a candlelight lunch and dinner again!

 I had to go to work that day, but we got some snuggle time in also.

 All decked out. I drove CLEAR across town last year to buy her this outfit when it went on sale after Valentine's Day. I was so excited to have a Valentine's outfit for my baby this year! Last year at this time, I was ready to pop. Corey sent me flowers with a card that said, "Happy V Day--Too bad it's not B Day!" I had to wait another week to deliver this little angel! I had kind of hoped for a little Valentine's baby, but she came right on her due date. 

 I had placed hearts in various places around the house, and later found Zach on the potty backwards. I asked what he was doing and he said he had to read the Valentine!! Priceless!

The only recent picture I have of my real valentine is of Corey eating spaghetti, and it isn't the most flattering, :) I need to take more pictures of my handsome husband. He truly is the love of my life. He is the best husband and father I can imagine. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing person in my life. He is such an example to me of patience, kindness, and so many other qualities. Anyone who knows Corey can attest to this. I am especially grateful to him for giving me the two sweetest children I could hope for. I love our life together, and hope it just keeps getting better! Oh, and he even remembered to get me all milk chocolates this year--no yucky dark ones. See? He's perfect!

This Sweet Kid....

This was taken at the Nasher Sculpture Center in downtown Dallas

The other night after Corey put Zach to bed, Zach kept hollering for one of us to come in, which he does frequently. Sometimes we acquiesce and give him the extra drink of water, song, story, or snuggle, in hopes that he will settle down and tucker out. After a few minutes of begging through the closed door from his bed, I popped in and snuggled down on the bed next to him. He delightedly squealed, "That was SO kind of you to come in here!!" and wrapped his tiny arms tightly around my neck. My heart melted! What did I do to deserve this angel child??

I turned around in the car the other day to see Zach holding Zoey's hand so sweetly!

 It turns out the real reward was mine for going in there in the form of a stream of entertaining, sweet comments from little Zach. After the hug, I asked if he had said his prayers with Dad. He said they had forgotten, so he started one. "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all my stuff (he begins almost every prayer with this eloquent expression of gratitude!). Please bless that I get a blue blanket with Mickey Mouse on it. Please bless that I get a Buzz costume with wings (I guess his plain old Buzz costume I got him is second-rate). Please bless that we will be safe from storms...and lightning...and tornadoes...that break houses...and cars..." :) That kid!!! Come to find out he had chosen the library book about storms as his bedtime story. I suggested to Corey that we not read that right before bed anymore.

A few minutes later I told Zach how grateful I was for eternal families, explained the concept a little after singing the Primary song "Families Can Be Together Forever," and then asked him if he understood what that meant. He said, "So if you go away, I pay some money to get you back." What?!! I have no idea where that thought came from, but whatever!!! I told him how grateful I was for our family, and for he and Zoey, and he said, "Zoey will protect us!" I replied that she certainly would, because she is such an angel. This little boy is such a blessing in our home. I love him with all my heart, and am truly grateful for the doctrine of eternal families, that God has provided a way for us to enjoy the bonds of family not just through our brief mortal existence, but throughout eternity in His kingdom. I can't imagine a heaven where those I love most are not present and connected the way we are here. I believe that, after the doctrine of the Atonement of Jesus Christ making eternal life possible, that the doctrine of being sealed as eternal families brings the greatest peace and happiness to my heart. Heaven forbid that any of us should depart this life early, but I know we will all meet again and enjoy the family bonds we shared in this life for eternity.

As I was looking for pictures of my Angel Zachary to post, I came upon this--some creative artwork Zach lovingly performed on his cooperative little sister! Luckily, the dry erase marker came off pretty easily. I suppose this is the first of many such experiments for the two of them!