Zoey is 3 Months Old!!

I know it sounds cliche, but the past three months have absolutely flown by!! I cannot believe our little girl is already a quarter of a year old! As you can see, she is growing like a WEED! She started at 7.5 pounds, and now weighs in at 13.4! She is a good little eater, and goes around 3 hours between feedings, usually. She sleeps amazingly well at night, and usually has a long stretch between 10 or 11pm and 5 am-ish. She has a 2 or 3 am feeding every now and then, but it's rare. 

Zoey is as sweet as can be, and has the best temperament. She rarely gets honery--only when she's super hungry or tired, and a few times in-between. She likes to snuggle, although she sometimes prefers her swing to my arms, which makes me sad. I try and hold her as much as possible, because I know this time is flying so quickly. Don't come to my house unannounced, or you will see the result of my choosing snuggle-time over housework!! I just love to smother her with kisses and cuddles. Zach didn't really like to be cuddled. He was really fidgety and liked to always be moving. At this age he was already loving his Jumparoo, doing sit-ups, and almost rolling over! Zoey's much more easy-going.

I love watching her stretch in the mornings when she wakes up. It is so intense that anyone watching feels a little relief!

I love when she smiles in her sleep.

But she smiles all the time now, and laughs pretty easily, too. The sound of her laugh is the most beautiful music to our ears! She makes a little squeal that we've never heard anyone make except Zachary. She is especially ticklish in her underarms!

Here's that super-stretch in realtime!

Such a good girl, wearing the giraffe PJs that her big brother used to wear.

Here is Zach in the same outfit, only he was about 7 weeks old in it, and she is closer to 12 weeks, so it's not the best comparison. She is a bit more filled-out than he was, probably because he was just catching on to eating well at this age. Lots of people tell us Zoey looks just like Zach. I don't honestly know how they see it yet, because, while I think their baby pictures look alike, I don't think she looks much like he does now.

Here is a shot of each of them at about 3 months old. Their smiles and other features are pretty similar. Zach's head was like a perfect sphere though. Zoey's is still pretty round compared to many babies, but not as round as Zach's was. Zach also had fuller lips, Corey pointed out to me. I think Zoey also has a little dimple on the left side. It makes me wonder if she'll look a lot like he does in the future. I wonder if she'll have his cute, curly hair. It's not the same color at all--hers has more reddish tones in it. So I'm trying to imagine a red-headed Zach. I can't really do it! They are both sweet, beautiful angels to me!

Let's Pretend

Zachary is just starting into the fun stage of pretending.

Tonight Zach asked Corey if he wanted any strawberries. Corey said yes, and Zach proceeded to hand him several invisible strawberries, which Corey pretended to eat. Then Corey asked Zach if he had a blueberry. Zach said yes, and handed Corey a pretend blueberry. Corey looked at it, handed it back, and said, "No, that's a raspberry." Zach grabbed it with a look of concern on his face, examined it carefully--almost embarrassed to have gotten it wrong, and then looked up at Corey again and laughed, realizing the joke!

This kid is already cracking us up with his imagination! I asked him to show me the strawberries for the picture, and he had to go get them from the table first!

Our Family Vacation to San Antonio

While I have been desperately missing Hawaii, and even slightly regretting that I didn't jump on the $400 plane tickets I saw a few months ago, we decided to save the $3000ish that Hawaii would have cost and instead spent around $300ish on an extravagant trip to tropical San Antonio!

Corey has a 2-2.5 week break between each trimester of school, and we have gone to Hawaii or home for each break so far, so we haven't seen much of Texas. Our friend's sister has a lovely home in San Antonio, and graciously allowed us to stay while her family was out of town. So we piled in the car for a serious road trip. San Antonio is about 4.5 hours from our house, and we also drove 3 hours extra down to the Gulf. We probably spent at least 20 hours in the car during this trip, and the kids did amazingly well.

We started with a trip downtown to the Alamo. We looked everywhere for Pee Wee Herman's bicycle in the basement, but alas- it was nowhere to be found! We actually didn't go inside and so not know that much about it all. Guess we need to read up on it on Wikipedia!  

 We next stopped for some very mediocre Mexican food on the Riverwalk, Blech!

The Riverwalk is a series of channels that were built to prevent flooding back in the mid-1900s. This area is now lined with shops, restaurants, hotels, and other attractions.

 We took a tour-boat ride through the Riverwalk and it was great! Zach especially loved it!

The next day, we headed to Sea World. Season passes were the same price as a day pass, so we bought them instead. Who knows if we'll make it back or not? But I love aquariums and marine animals, so Sea World is right up my alley. It was perfect weather that day, and I'm sure it will just get hotter and hotter as the summer goes on. We hardly had to stand in any lines at all. It was great!

 Here is the dolphin pool.

 And, of course, Shamu. Zach gave him several "loves."

 Our friend, Kyler, took Zach on the merry-go-round. Kyler is one of Zach's favorite people.

 We went on this lame ferris-wheel type of ride with Zach that takes longer to load and unload than the actual spinning!

 Corey and Kyler took Zach on this "big kid" spinning ride. Corey said Zach loved it!

 Zach loves sharks, and totally dug this sign for a crazy upside-down roller coaster the big boys went on while we waited. I'm totally good to never go on a roller coaster again. Between getting motion sickness and needing a chiropractic adjustment to work out the kinks afterwards, they're just not as fun as they were 20 years ago!

After being in the sun at Sea World all day, we needed a good night's rest before heading 3 hours further south to the beach on the Gulf Coast in Port Aransas, TX. We stopped briefly in Corpus Christi before checking in at our beachside camp site.

 Another fun shark exhibit for Zach. He fell asleep right after we stopped here, and as he was drowsily waking up, he said, "Rahr! Shark!" I guess it left an impression!

 Luckily, I married the Scout Master of the Universe! This Eagle Scout can raise a huge tent in 5 minutes flat!

 Zoey is ready to hit the waves.

 Zach was PUMPED about his Toy Story camp chair, the tent, and everything!

 The look on his face here just cracks me up!

 This handsome boy is also ready for the beach.

 Zach loved playing in the sand, as well as jumping in the ocean with Daddy.

It was warm, but pretty windy, so Zoey and I watched from the shore.

 Did I mention it was windy?!

 We did dip our tootsies in the Atlantic Ocean though. I have a picture of Zach doing the same thing at the very same age as Zoey, only it was in the Pacific!

 Survivorman!-using our homemade ice pack to fill our water bottles.

 Corey packed and prepared almost everything for our trip--including the food. He seriously was awesome! How many husbands do all that?! He even made delicious cowboy dinners for us to cook.

 They got a little over-cooked, but were still tasty! And I had picked up some rolls from Texas Roadhouse at our last stop, so we were set!

 The boys were equally excited about their matching headlamps!

(Corey secretly wished his had a Buzz Lightyear on it too!)

 Zoey snug as a bug in her swing! I can't believe we packed that thing all the way from Dallas. It ended up not being a necessity, but came in handy anyway.

 Zach is really into shadows since watching Peter Pan.

He was WIRED in the tent- so excited about his sleeping bag, sleeping in the same room as Mom and Dad, etc. He was rolling and jumping all over the place!

 The next morning we grabbed some pastries for breakfast and watched the pelicans on the beach. They were amazing! We rode the ferry across the small channel, wondering why in the world they don't just build a bridge--it's not very far at all--and headed back to San Antonio for one more night of fun before returning to Dallas.

 We stopped at the lovely Japanese Tea Gardens, and found out it is NOT very stroller accessible!

 We took Flat Stanley with us to the Alamo so Zach's cousin, Corey, could have some cool pics for his class project. Beat that, other Utah kids!!

We finished off the day with some fare from the Hard Rock Cafe, downing several liters of ice water in the soaking Texas heat. It's gonna be a long, hot, humid summer, and I'm glad we were able to visit Southern Texas before it got any warmer!

Family Visit

We don't get much visitor traffic here in Dallas, but since Zoey was born, we've had some great fun with visitors! Corey's parents and sisters, Melanie and Cherlyn, came to visit on Easter weekend for Zoey's blessing. It was so great having them here! I always feel like there's not much to do in Dallas, so I wonder what to do with company when they come. We go to the malls, which are bountiful in the area. I especially like the Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall near our home. We also hit up Dealey Plaza to check out where JFK was assassinated and go through the museum. Everyone did lots of snuggling with the babies too!

 Papa never wanted to put this one down. :)

 Here's the Wilhelmsen Clan (minus James, who was hard at work)!

 You know Nana is near when there are five bowls of jelly beans on the table (yes, we polished off the other two!). We had to do a taste test between the different brands. Starburst won! :)

 Nana and Melanie outside the JFK museum.

 Cherlyn and Roger discussing various conspiracy theories regarding the assassination.

 Cherlyn in the street, trying to get killed in the same exact spot as JFK! (There are Xs in the street that mark his location when shot. It is a busy freeway entrance still.)

 Two handsome men!

(I think Zoey may have a slight dimple on her left cheek thanks to Papa and her Great Grandma Alexander!)

In other goings on around the Wilhelmsen household:

 Zach makes a nearly daily habit out of escaping from his crib and trying to sneak out of his room. Needless to say, bedtime and naptime have been a bit of a battle lately.  We've been trying to rock him until he's pretty much out so we don't have to deal with him getting out. But sometimes he still gets out and we find him knocked out on on the recliner!

 This is one of my favorite outfits for Zoey. I bought it years and years ago, and am elated that I finally have a tiny girl to dress in it! There's something about ruffles I can't resist!!

 Especially on the bum!!

 This girl is starting to smile all the time now. I love it!! She has the sweetest smile ever.

 Ruffle Bum!

 Great Grandma Alexander bought Zoey this precious crocheted dress. Isn't it gorgeous?!!!

I absolutely love it!

 Especially the tiny booties (which she kicks off incessantly)!