Zach's 1st Year...

Our handsome little sweetheart has already turned over a year old... so, let's see how much I remember from his first year... eek!  Poor third child!

Smiles arrived around 3 Weeks

2 Mos- Sitting in Bumbo

3 Mos- The month of Giggles

4Mos - 17lbs 4.5oz (92%) & 25.5" (68%) 

5 Mos- Our First 2 teeth Arrived

 

6 Mos -Starting to Sit-up, 2 More Teeth (Bottom), Tried First Solids (banana & avocado, FINALLY Rolled Over (after DocVisit)- 19lbs 12oz (83%) & 26 3/4" (60%)

 

2 More Teeth, Eek!

Just Plain CUTE!!

9Mos = 22lbs 13oz (81%) & 28 3/4" (66%) 

 

11Mos - Army Crawls

 12Mos - 2 More, for a total of 10...EEK!! 

Zach is such a layed back sweet little man.  His smile can melt any heart!!  He is a huge flirt and knows how to work a crowd.  He wants nothing more than to hang out with his brothers.  He was a nursing champ, and I just weaned him at 13month. It was such a blessing to not have any nursing issues this time around.  Zach-attack is just such a joy and great addition to our family!  Hid nicknames are:

Zach-Attack
Wacky Zack
Zachy
Turkey
Zach-a-Racka

Drew Turned FIVE!

My sweet Drew-boy is growing up way to fast!  I still remember the LONG 8 yrs it took to hold him in my arms.  During that LOW valley in our lives I truly thought we may never have a child of our own. After many years of clomid, metformin, ultrasounds, a miscarriage, and 2 surgeries we got the best news of our lives... and 9 months later on Nov 26th, 2007 we welcomed our 9lb 2oz boy, Andrew Charles!! He is now 5, and I am continued to be amazed at him, especially his love for Zach, how his brain works, and his tender heart.  He is such a bright, quick witted young man!  He has such a great mix of David and me..  He has really showed signs of loving artistic things this year. I have been amazed at some of his drawings. I will be interested to see how that pans out through the years.

This past year has been a little tough as he has gone through a very shy and scared stage.  I have to admit at first it was really hard for me to understand because he was never a shy kid.  When he started preschool this past fall it took him about 2 months to feel somewhat comfortable.  It broke my heart when his beyond awesome teacher said he was almost having a panic attack.   This is where I PRAISE his teacher and the time she took with him, pushing and loving on him.  It is still a work in progress and we continue to pray for the best approach for him.  We Love him sooo much!!

Enjoy some pics of his 5th Birthday (held on Dec 2, 2012)..

Thanks to Courtney Solstad for this OH SO CUTE CAKE!!

Bye Old Gal... RIP BELLA

I know this is from last summer, but I really needed to honor sweet Bella!  As many of you know we lost our precious Pug Bella last summer to heat stroke.  There are many days I still can't believe she is gone as I look for her at my feet.  She was the best dog anyone could ever ask for, and it was so sad to see her getting older in the days leading up to her passing. She provided so much love and joy to our lives, especially throughout the years we struggled to have a child, she filled that gap soooooooo well! She lived almost 10 years, and I hope they were as full for her as they were for us.  She lived in Washington, Idaho, Missouri, & Texas... such a traveler!  She was the best foot warmer around, and no matter how crazy my day got with the boys she was always by my side.  And.. lets face it she was an ADORABLE gal!  I am sad the boys won't remember her, especially Evan.. he loved that old girl!

On June 26th, 2012, somehow I didn't realize she hadn't come inside with us as we rushed to get ourselves together to go and pick up Drew from VBS.  In the course of the that short hour or so combined with an unusual day of heat when we got home and I realized she had not greeted me at the door, I quickly ran around looking for her.  She hadn't been doing well for a few weeks, so I was worried.  As I looked out the back door I saw her under the boys sandbox panting away.  It NEVER dawned on me she had heat stroke.  She was unresponsive and I went into panic mode, so I quickly poured some water in her mouth, which just made her choke & gurgle a bit. I picked her up and brought her inside. I covered her in wet cool towels and even put ice under her tongue that was hanging out... NOTHING! I frantically called David for help, I couldn't believe this was happening to my fur baby... I was sooooo scared.  The vet got us right in and they tried everything.  They eventually told us she was brain dead and would never be the same.  She was having seizures and just sounded aweful! The vet was amazing and gave us all the time we neededwith her.  We knew the best decision was to put her down, such an emotional sad moment.  I am thankful to know she is running the streets of heaven in no pain.  RIP Miss Bella Boo, we miss you so much!!

Aug 24, 2002- June 26, 2012

Drew's 1st VBS- June 2012

I was beyond excited that Drew was finally old enough to attend VBS!  Our church does it a little different, they call it Backyard Bible Club, but the teaching is the same.  I was thankful my friend Kim Heaton was a host home and some other familiar faces were there helping her out.  He literally cried the first day I dropped him standing at the end of the driveway. Talk about ripping my heart out!! I knew it was the best thing for him and as the week progressed he got more comfortable and even memorized a verse for the last day, whoo hoo!!  It was really cool because the evening of the last day our church had a fun event with a petting zoo, bounce houses, food.. etc... The kiddos loved it!!

We have been praying for Drew quite a bit this past year as he is really going through a tough stage of being shy to new things.  Enjoy some pics from his week (thanks to Kim for taking them)!!

After Party

I am a running GIRL...MAYBE: Survivor Mud Run

I can't believe those words, "running girl" are coming out of my mouth. I just never thought I would run for ANYTHING!  Well, I HATE working out and I needed to find something that would make it fun... not saying I am 100% sold on that theory yet.  BUT, I am working on it!!  So, I decided to sign-up and pay for some fun runs.  First up, Survivor Mud Run on October 27, 2012...WHAT WAS I THINKING?!  I am telling you YES, I completed it, all 20 obstacles, but I was sore for days afterwards.  I definitely trained for the running part, but not the upper body like I should have.  Needless to say it was a blast and I was thankful my friend Kamber ran it with me, she was such a motivator.  I can't wait to do it again this fall to beat 47min my time and be well more prepared!! Enjoy some muddy pics:

 

 

Weight Loss Journey UPDATE!

I am still moving right along with my Weight Loss Journey and at this current date I am only 4-5lbs(depending on day) from my Weight Loss Goal of 145, which is also my Weight Watchers Lifetime goal.  I will hit ONE YEAR with Weight Watchers this month and I was hoping to my goal by the end of the month, but I have to say I have gotten a little lazy the last few weeks.  Now I am officially done nursing I have lost 7 more points, eek that is ALOT. I am trying to regroup and refigure my foods and approach. I know I will get it!!  Here is where I have come in 11 MOS (as of 2/14/13)...  Almost 60lbs down:

 

FRONT

                                                  

 

 SIDE

                                              

 

BACK

                                                    

Crazy House Of Boys!!

I am sooooo a Mom of Boys! I still can't believe God entrusted me with this sweet little, rough housing, crazy, creative, funloving.... the list goes on... boys!!  Here is a little August 2012 fun (Drew 4.5, Evan 2, Zach 8mos)...

 

Where did that Boy Come From?

I have been so terrible about updating my blog, which I am sure will come back to bite me as I look back to check info while scrapbooking, eek!  Let's see how much I can go back and remember from the last year.  I am going to start with this fun post!  For the longest time David and I wondered whose features Evan has because he looks so different from the other 2.  Then my Mom saved the day, when we were back for Christmas this past year (2012) she pulled some family pictures out and low and behold, there was his twin... who was it you ask... my Cousin Danny who is one of my Mom's Nephew's the son of my Aunt Jean. Just wait until you see this, it is crazy!

My Weight Loss Journey

I am working really hard to catch up on things and praying about some other possible ventures.  Right now I am working on "Downsizing" my weight and just starting the process of "Downsizing" our clutter.  Anyhow, as I go through this process I will be posting on here and praying about the possibility of creating another blog to share my life ventures.  In the meantime, I wanted to share some info, to hopefully hold myself accountable during this journey.

Starting Weight:  223 (after having Zach)
Starting WW Weight (End of March 2012): 208

Weight as of Today (7/17/2012): 179

These pictures are from Apr 1-May 31st 2012.  I will post the next series of pictures once this month is over.

I have found success in doing Weight Watchers.  It allows me to still have control over what I eat, but teaches me how to manage it better!  I have around 30lbs to go, next goal complete a 5K!!