The Upgrade

We upgraded Zachary to a big boy bed. He had learned how to crawl out of his crib so we built a fort around it but that wasn't going to last forever. I knew it was time but I was extremely nervous for the change. We thankfully received a hand me down bed from Jacob's sister. Its a bunk bed which is perfect because Zach likes to jump on beds, but he can't even stand up with out hitting his head so I have no worries about midnight jumping. We took his crib down and brought in the new bed on Monday. He was so excited about it! He kept saying, "Mine?! Mine!!" This is the one thing I told him it was okay to claim as his. This is his first night on the new bed. And yes, we do give him blankets. Jacob bought him cute blue and white rugby striped sheets the next day.

I prepared myself for Zach crawling out of bed for hours before he gave up and went to sleep. I found a good book to hunker down with at the bottom of the stairs and waited for Zach to come crawling down. Thankfully I was so wrong. It was just like laying him down in his crib. He hasn't tried to get out of bed yet, but I'm still knocking on wood everyday and probably will for a long time. I think he's more comfortable now that he can move all over with out getting his feet stuck in between crib slats or having his head pushed up in the corner. I am so relieved that this change has been going well so far and I am very thankful for my happy little boy.

My Two Year Old!

Zach turned two!! My little baby is growing up quick and its hard to believe. We had such a fun day with him. Jacob had Zach's birthday off because Zach was born on Veterans day and Veterans day is a state holiday! Woohoo! Jacob made the traditional Curtis pancake birthday breakfast and these pancakes were especially good this time. Zach had his pancakes in the shape of a monkey and a banana.

 After breakfast we pulled out Zach's presents and he had plenty to open. He had to stop and play with everything and if I didn't make him stop and open more, we would have been opening presents ALL day, which thinking about it now, would have been fun. Zach received very nice presents including new legos, hot wheels, books, coloring books, donations to his future mission and college funds, and a new play outfit.

Jacob and I only bought Zach one present and that was a brand new shiny red trike. We were trying to save it until after his nap as only last surprise, but when we weren't looking he snuck into the office and found it. I heard him saying, "WHOA!!! WHOOOAAA!! It's cool!!!!" And then I heard him pulling it out into the living room. He was so cute we let him have it earlier than we planned. He road it around the house and then we went around the block. I ended up pushing him most of the way. Zach doesn't understand the peddles yet.

After dinner we took Zach to his first movie at a theater. We saw Despicable Me 2 at a cheap theater, just in case it didn't work out we wouldn't have wasted $20.00 at a nicer theater. He did great though and was all tuckered out when we got hime. We had brownie sundaes for dessert but we couldn't get through singing happy birthday because he was so tired and was throwing a fit, hence no birthday sundae picture. He's a good boy and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate his birthday with Jacob home.

We have so much fun with Zach. He's in the 95th percentile for height and weight and very solid. He loves to go on walks and asks to go outside all day, even when now that its freezing outside. He loves Jacob very much and loves when Jacob comes home from work. After dinner Zach will pull Jacob's hand and say, "Play! Play!" and they go off and chase each other in the living room. We love this happy boy so much.

Halloween

This year was Zach's first year Trick or Treating. We dressed him up as Clark Kent in his transition to superman, and the best part about this costume was it cost less than $10 and everything I bought can be reused. That's my kind of costume. The Superman shirt came with a detachable Velcro cape, and what little boy doesn't want to wear a superman shirt?

The night before Halloween, an new shopping area was throwing a classic car trunk or treat. We thought Zach would love it since he's loving cars right now but it was incredibly crowded and cold. We made our way down a line of cars, which we could hardly take a look at because there were so many people, and called it good. I think Zach found it a little over whelming. This was the only picture I took because I thought the witch's feet coming out of the planter was funny, and then a girl walked in front of my picture.

Afterwards we trick or treated at Jacob's parents house and Zach helped his Grandma make cupcakes. He was much happier making cup cakes.

On Halloween we had a quick dinner and got Zach all dressed up again and made the rounds through the neighborhood. He caught on pretty quickly, but never was able to say "trick or treat" But he'd knock on the door, stick out his bucket, and say "bye" and "thank you." He really didn't like the houses with decorations that made noises. He'd say, "No! No!" and we'd have to convince him that these decorations were just for fun.We trick or treated for an hour and half. When we were getting to the end I was practically begging Jacob to go home. "Let me do this!" he said. He had that crazy look of determination in his eyes, mixed with a 12 year old boys excitement. There was no convincing him. Zach wasn't even walking at that point, Jacob was carrying him. But Jacob hit every house that was lit up on the loop we made. He zig-zagged back and forth across the street to every house that had their porch light on, carrying Zach the whole time. Finally we made it home and we checked out the stash.

I made the mistake of showing Zach his bucket of candy the next morning and telling him he could pick one to take in the car with him while we ran errands. He took the whole bucket, ran to the front door and said, "shoes on!" We got in the car but he had to carry the bucket with him on all of our errands. He only ate one piece of candy, he just wanted his bucket, or "buckie" as he called it.

Next year I'll know better than to show him his whole bucket of candy. Rookie mistake. And Jacob can relive his childhood again with Zach.

Fall in Full Swing

Its fall, its fall, its finally fall!! Fall is my favorite season. I love love love the changing colors. The red and yellow and still green trees. I love a bowl of warm soup after a cold day playing outside. I love the excuse to snuggle on the couch and watch a movie with hot chocolate. We've been celebrating fall in all the ways I know how.

On Friday, we made Halloween sugar cookies. Can you guess which one is Zach's?

He had fun making cookies with me- pouring, stirring, and snitching dough, but when it came to the frosting he was only interested in doing one cookie.

The next day Jacob and Zach went metal detecting with Jacob's dad.

They went up to a swimming hole where the water gets emptied out for the winter leaving all sorts of buried treasures to be found. Zach mostly had fun playing in the dirt. They found a butterfly cookie cutter, a bud light bottle cap and a bobby pin.

Jacob and Zach brought it home and Zach looked so proud of himself holding his bag of treasures. He handed them to me with a big smile and said, "Here you go!" I never thought a little boy with a bag of trash could melt my heart.

Today we went to a pumpkin patch. Well, not just a pumpkin patch, more like a Fall themed fair. There were barn yard animals and Zach picked straw up off the ground to feed them. (This horse really wanted some hay.)

There was a huge jump pad type thing

and Zach's favorite, a corn box (like a sand box, but with corn).

He also loved the tractor pull and I was glad that I wasn't the only ridiculous looking adult going for a ride.

We took Zach through a straw maze which he loved at first but got tired of at the end. He just wanted to sit in the dirt and play with the rocks.

Lastly we picked out a pumpkin. This is the one Zach wanted. Its a cute pumpkin but I don't think we'll carve it.

While we were paying for the pumpkin, Zach found this little squash and started hitting the other pumpkins with it. It did not come home with us.

And now we're all pumpkin patched and corn mazed out until next year.

Mythbusters

Peanut Butter Takes Gum Out Of Hair. Finding: Confirmed.

Jacob and I were pretty giddy one night. You know those kind of tired nights where anything seems funny and anything goes. Its a good thing we were just sitting there watching the office. That is, until Michael got gum stuck in his hair...



So we decided to give it a go.

First I chewed up some gum, Orbitz to be exact.

Then we added some peanut butter and let it sit for a while.

Next we washed it out. Jacob did not get the nice peanut butter massage that Michael Scott did. Honestly the mixture of mint gum and peanut butter really stunk. I pulled a good chunk of the gum out and at first I thought the peanut butter wouldn't work. But once I started to tug at the gum some more, it all just kind of fizzled away while I worked the peanut butter out of his hair.

So, should you ever get curious about the peanut butter myth, it works like a charm.

A Trip Home, Finally

It has been over a year since I've been home to California. Way too long. We were planning on going this week, but my Grandad passed away so we moved our trip ahead one week so we could attend the funeral. The funeral was a wonderful celebration of his life. I am grateful he was my Grandad. I am grateful for the traditions and heritage he has passed on to me. Here is a link to his obituary my Aunt Holly wrote. http://www.oakparkhillschapel.com/obits/obituary.php?id=337281

Later in the week we took Zach to a place called Tilden Park near my parents home. Its a HUGE park, with a steam train, a small farm where you can feed the animals, and a merry go round. Zach had such a good time. He wasn't sure about the Merry Go Round at first but he warmed up quickly.

Next we made our way to the Little Farm. Zach loved feeding the animals. The first animal was a cow and I think he was a little intimidated to be up close to such a large animal. The cow slobbered all over Zach's hand too which he didn't like one bit.

He liked the sheep and goats much better. He walked up to the animals and would say "Hi!" and wave. When he handed lettuce to the animals and would say, "Here you go!"

One particular sheep must have been full and wouldn't take any lettuce from Zach. Zach was being so polite and just wanted to the sheep to take the lettuce but it just stared at Zach. Jacob took offense to this ungrateful sheep, especially since Zach was trying so hard. Jacob told Zach to stop giving the sheep lettuce and turned to the sheep and said, "You're mean to my boy!" and gave the sheep a huge blow in the face. The sheep jumped about three feet back and did the splits. Jacob didn't let Zach say goodbye to the sheep before ushering him along.

Next we took a trip to San Francisco. We road the ferry which Zach loved. Once we got off the boat, there was a shop with bubbles blowing out front and Zach ran back and forth waving and screaming for a while.

Then we took him to see the Sea Lions at Pier 39. That was exciting for about 5 minutes as usual and the Zach was ready to play with Jacob's hat. Zach fell asleep on our long walk to meet my mom for lunch, and then we headed back home. We probably won't do San Francisco again with a toddler. That was a lot of work.

Other than that, we lazed around and visited with my family. On Saturday we made the long drive home, where Zach got very car sick. We returned home smelling like vomit and all needing a bath. It made pulling up to our house and vacation being over a little less bitter sweet.

Yeah, I'll do it again...

Last weekend, I sucked it up. Every last drop of it. I had been dreading dreading dreading taking Zach on a camping trip. Would he try to play too close to the fire? Would he sleep okay in a tent? Would he be too cold? Those were just a few of my long list of concerns. Not only did I dread taking Zach, I just really enjoy sleeping in my soft bed. No bugs, no bears, no dirt. But we went and I pretended to be happy about it. We went with our friends Kyle and Staci. They are big campers so I felt comfortable going with them.  Zach fell asleep okay, for being in the forest. We brought a whole bag full of blankets so he wouldn't be too cold. And he was great with the fire. So far, so good.

After Zach went to bed we made a peach cobbler in this amazing oven made out of a box Staci made. Warm peach cobbler around a cozy campfire? I was starting to warm up to the camping thing... We stayed up talking until midnight. I tried to figure out what Kyle and Staci do when they go camping by themselves. They explained that they talk and read books but I am still having a hard time understanding. I love to read books on my couch. Either way, by the end of the night, with a belly full of cobbler, I was warming up to the idea of camping.

In the morning we made breakfast around the campfire. Forget the oatmeal, we were making made the best breakfast burritos on a fire (besides Zach throwing a handful of dirt and rocks into the pan). This was my kind of camping. We went on a walk around the campsite area and played a few card games before packing up. I had to admit to myself that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Zach had fun playing in dirt and with our friend's dogs. I was actually pretty relaxed and the mountains smelled good.

I am so not a nature girl. But as much as I hate to admit this, I actually enjoyed camping and won't dread the next trip as much.

McCall

This weekend we took a family trip to McCall, Idaho about two hours north of Boise. Driving there is quick, but windy. This was Zach's first windy road and we learned the hard way that Zach gets car sick. And he didn't get just a little sick. He lost his whole day of food and our car still smells of vomit aftermath. Thankfully I had packed towels. We found a good scenic overview to pull off at and Jacob swung the towel around and around like a helicopter to get all the chunks off. I still am having visions of chunks flying around and around over a view of the Payette River, and that pretty river will never be the same again. After his vomiting episode, Zach cheered right up and the rest of the car ride went pretty smoothly.

We stayed in this quaint condo/cabin. Quaint is my way of saying, old, could use a little bit of a facelift, but still totally doable and not the worst place I've stayed in. It had a loft and Zach thought it was pretty fun to play on the ladder.

For lunch on Saturday stopped at a burger joint called My Fathers Place. It was the best burger I've had in a long time. On the off chance you find yourself in McCall and you're hungry, this will not disappoint.

Nice and juicy, not too big and not too small full of flavor with a yummy sauce.

Saturday afternoon we went back to our quaint cabin to let Zach take a nap and we all ended up sleeping. It was probably the best thing that has happened. There was no internet, no computer, I didn't have chores to get done, no one to call, there wasn't anything else I really wanted to do. So I laid there with my eyes closed and I wasn't even tired. This may sound completely boring to most people, but for me, that was just what I needed. A chance to breath and not think about anything at all.

The rest of the trip we mostly just looked in all the touristy shops that all start to look the same after a while and played by the freezing lake, which Zach loved.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a breakfast restaurant called the pancake house where they serve cinnamon rolls bigger than your head. Unfortunately, quantity does not equal quality and we were both a little disappointed.

Zach survived the ride home with out losing any part of his cinnamon roll, and we stopped for ice cream at Jacob's parents house.

I definitely need more weekends like that!

Zach Stacks Part 2

I know no one else is as impressed with his stacking as I am, but he worked so hard and I thought it was pretty cute. These were taken in February or March while Zach was playing at his Grandparents house. This time his stacks weren't made out of food so they didn't disappear as quickly and his towers got much bigger.

Working on two stacks at a time.

His biggest tower. Go Zach!

And just for fun, Jacob and Zach in a box.

Quick Trip to L.A.

Way back in February we took a trip to L.A. with my family.

Traveling with Zach has become a little bit tough. He just wants to move and has a hard time shutting down his curious side when it's time to sleep. So he had a lot of fun running around the airports and even got to play on a sample Boise States Smurf Turf.

And he played his first arcade game. 

And finally he slept on the airplane.

One of Jacob's birthday presents was a trip to Disney Land and my parents watched Zach all day! We got all our fast passes lined up just right and then we had to wait. So while we waited, we went out to the pirate island. As a kid, I always wondered what was out there, but my parents never took me. And now I know why we never went. There's nothing there, except for some pirates treasure.

On Sunday we drove down to San Diego to go to the Mormon Battalion. Zach got to in his first covered wagon and pan for gold, but by the time we got to the gold, my camera was dead.

Our trips are always way too quick, but we had a blast.

Good Thing He's Smart

My little Zach... what can I say. This last week has been more than frustrating with him. Melt down after melt down. I've become really good at ignoring them. Yesterday morning, Zach head butted me and gave me a fat lip and it was all down hill from there so by the time it was 7:00 last night he knew he was in trouble and going to bed early. Zach was pulling my hair while Jacob was trying to say our nightly prayers. I set Zach at the other end of the couch and Jacob and I folded our arms, then Zach did too with out being asked. Jacob started the pray and Zach shouted "Ah-mah! (Amen!)" We had to stop and cheer and laugh with Zach.  After that, every time Jacob tried to start our prayers over Zach would clap and cheer. Its a dang good thing he knows when to turn on the charm or else I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning.

Zach Stacks

Zach stacks his bananas at breakfast.

Zach stacks his bananas and string cheese at lunch.

Zach tried to stack again, but I distracted him my camera.

Perhaps Zach will be an architect... as long as I stop distracting him.