Day 362: Packing

It is a little hard to get things packed with "help" from Zaria. Not that I can move a lot on my own right now anyway. It's strange that we'll be out of the townhouse for good in just a few days. I tried to get her sitting in the box, but she was having too much fun climbing in and out.

Day 358: Family Sunday

Jamin didn't have to start work yet today, as he has most Sundays this summer, so we had some nice family time. Zaria enjoyed some extra "papa time."
We also had Dan and Gwendolyn over to help fill a few boxes. Gwendolyn wanted me to take a picture of her-- I told her to pose and this was the result. The thinking 3-year-old.

Day 355: Our little Olympian

The word on her lips in this shot is "running." Zaria's been watching a little bit of the Olympics with me and she decided to do her own relay back and forth through the kitchen this evening. She'd start with her back to the door, and chime in with me as I said "Ready, set, go!", and then she'd run and grab my leg, then run back to do it again. I think this went on for 15-20 minutes. Moments like this I love being a mom.

Day 332: Dine and dance with ZJ

After the Bible study, Zaria, Mom and I met with Cassie and her grandma for lunch. Typically, Zaria ignores us when we go out to eat, but today she had fun hamming it up for the four of us. She stayed with her Grandma Joy through the afternoon while I had a short OB appointment, then we met up again to watch a Scandinavian band play in the park. Zaria had fun dancing and entertaining the mostly older crowd.

Day 322: Fun at the cabin

Zaria loved having the run of the cabin, and she had an especially fun time when she discovered the shower and could open and close the door. We heard her repeat "open, close" and squeal with laughter. What a fun little girl we have!

My dad seems to be working on a project at all times when we're up at the cabin, so it was no surprise that he was down fixing something on the dock with Dawn's help. I caught this picture just as they had finished and were about to come back up the steps. Today the lake was much more wavy than it had been Friday or Saturday, but I like how the light plays on the waves.

Day 314: Back on the wagon

After a traumatic spill out of the wagon a few days ago, Zaria was still willing and happy to get back in, especially with her cousin Gwendolyn. Zaria skinned her cheek and had a pretty good bruise from the tumble, which was partly due to the plastic seatbelt bolt coming out on one side while going around a fast corner. We'll be taking it much easier now, and probably replacing the bolts with something metal and sturdier. I walked just a short ways with Jamin, Dan, Naomi and the girls, then met them at the park after driving. I just can't walk very far or very fast at this point without being completely winded.

Day 310: Close expression

Day 303: Bubbles with Boo-Boo

After Bible study today, Zaria and I visited my mom for lunch and a little playtime with the dog. She used to be called Princess, now she's usually called Boo-Boo. Zaria thought it was hilarious how Boo-Boo chased the bubbles my mom blew for her.

Day 298: Bandage

With more walking around outside comes the inevitable boo boos on the knees. Zaria handled this one quite bravely, but was rubbing her knee later. A little bit of blood, mostly a scrape, but she'd already scraped both knees earlier this week. I'm predicting perpetual scabby knees in her young years.

Day 297: Checking out books

I've made it a habit to check out 5 new board books each week so we have something new to read over the week. Zaria had fun at story time today and I had a chance to talk with a twin mom who has 15-month-old boys that come to story time. Zaria's also getting more prone to tantrums . . . usually the limp noodle and cry type, but it's hard with me trying not to pick her up much. We almost didn't make to to the library today.

Day 284: Socks

She's been able to pull her socks off for some time now, but today she was quite determined to try putting them on by herself, as well. Our frustrated toddler stage may have officially begun. Zaria wants to do things herself, but is still learning how. I try to wait until she wants my help, and I'm learning patience when she doesn't accept help or she has a small tantrum.

Day 283: Ready to go?

I almost wasn't sure baby storytime at the the library was going to happen today, but it did.

Happy birthday to Jason and Gwendolyn today!

Day 280: John Deere birthday

We celebrated Emil's 3rd birthday today in grand John Deere style. Everything was yellow and green, and he got lots of tractors and farm equipment, which he loves. Zaria found his hat for him and helped put it on his head. She apparently likes saying Emil's name because she repeated it many times on the way there and said "bye Emil" many times on the way home.

Day 274: Asleep for the night

Last night I just had Zaria in a T-shirt and a diaper, but tonight it seemed a little chilly out. Still, she is hot-blooded like her papa and had a sweaty neck, so I made sure to open her window for a while to cool her room down. I think she was pretty worn out after playing Ring around the Rosie with Grandma Joy. She was really zonked.

Day 264: Happy Birthday Roy!

This is our friend Roy, who is 31 years old today (unless you believe his license that they messed up, which says he turned 30 last month-- for some reason they were 11 months off on his birth date). For his birthday he invited a bunch of friends over and made some fabulous Indian food. It was very good. Jamin didn't get into town until after midnight, so he missed the celebration.
I also love this picture of Zaria's cheeks. They've gotten a little bit smaller, but they are still extremely kissable.

Day 260: Little talkin mama

She loves babies and loves phones -- I guess she's a born multi-tasker. Her typical conversation on the phone:
"Hello. Ahhhhhhh. (Insert other random noises) Bye."
If she's talking to Grandma Joy on the phone, she'll ask about Boo Boo (the nickname for their dog).
We met with our real estate agent this evening, took another look at one of the houses we saw last Friday, and have officially put out an offer! It is bank-owned and already had one offer, so now I'm hoping that we'll hear back sooner than later whether or not they'll accept our offer so we can keep looking if we need to. We walked around the neighborhood over the weekend and really liked what we saw. I could imagine pulling the wagon train around by this place. (=
Happy birthday to Dawn today!

Day 254: Slippers

Incredibly, Zaria kept her slippers on this evening. She usually has them off after a couple of room crossings. So I put my slippers on and we did some slipper dancing, turning in circles and waving our hands.

I also had an OB appointment today, and X and Y are doing great. In 3 weeks, I have my level II ultrasound, which will be a good time to determine the sex of each baby. But the doctor asked if I wanted to find out today, and I was up for it since the big MOMs garage sale is this weekend. So . . . it looks like one of them is a boy! I'm not sure if it was X or Y, though I think it was Y (I'll call him that since it matches his chromosome, not to confuse the other one if X is also a boy). We're still not sure on X, because X was a little more shy . . . it's likely X is a girl, but we'll make a better determination in three weeks.

Day 235: Toothy grin

Day 216: Funny faces

We didn't end up watching Nils and Emil tonight because the boys were sick with RSV, poor kids. So instead, we stayed home and made funny faces at each other. Well, OK, Zaria did. Earlier we had the pleasure of sharing lunch with John, Jen and Maria after church, along with our friend Kristie. Kristie had some exciting news-- she had just accepted Jesus as her savior on Tuesday! We joked about her becoming a "fool for Christ" on April Fool's Day. It was so encouraging to hear, as Jen (and I with her) had been praying for her for about 9 years. God is so good.

Day 210: Sweeping

With no prompting from me at all, Zaria decided to grab the broom from the utility closet (which she's not usually allowed in) and start walking around the kitchen sweeping. Of course, this was a little difficult since she didn't want to put down the bear and there's the obvious size problem of this broom, but it's fun to see her wanting to help out!