He Doesn't Get it From Me

Zach's absolute favorite thing to do is read books. I seriously think he would read books all day if he could. He loves to go into his room all by himself and sit there queitly reading his books. It is so cute! I will be doing dishes and he will be playing in his room and all the sudden I will hear him yell out "dog" or duck" since those are his favoite pictures to look at. The other day he wandered down the hall and I found him in his completely dark room sitting there quietly reading books. It was pretty funny. I don't think he even realized the lights were off.
The only way to distract him while we change his diaper is to have him read a book. He points to the pictures and says "dat" which means "what's that". He can now say dog, woof, cat, car, goat, and duck, all of which he has learned from reading his books.
It sure is fun watching him learn and grow so fast!

Bragging Moment

I would just like to take a moment to brag about my amazing husband. In July my family started a Biggest Loser competition and Ray and I were a part of it. We had done this in the past with my family but after we lost the weight we just gained it right back. Not this time. Ray got really serious about it this time. He completley changed his eating habits and started running every morning. Last Saturday he ran over 12 miles. CRAZY (especially for someone like me who has a hard time running 1 mile)!!! The competition only lasted a couple months and Ray won, by far. Now, 3 1/2 months later, Ray has lost 30 pounds. That's right, in 3 1/2 months he has lost 30 pounds. I think that is pretty amazing and I am very proud of him! He has been working very hard and deserves every pound lost! I love you Ray!!

November 2, 2010

My Family!

Our Little Angel

Today is a special day for our family. Three years ago we gave birth to a little girl named Hailey Rae. I was 23 weeks pregnant when I delivered her, she was stillborn. Going through the experience of losing a child was the hardest thing Ray and I have ever been through. Even to this day, thinking about it will bring tears to my eyes. She was so beautiful. She was 1 lb and 10 inches long, the size of a little doll. Her feet and hands were so tiny...so precious. We know that Hailey is in a happy place watching over us. We know that we will get to raise her again and how wonderful that will be. We are so grateful that she is a part of our family. She is our angel.
I remember at Hailey's funeral the Bishop that spoke said that on this day every year it is a time for Ray and I to reflect on how we are living our lives. Are we living righteous enough to return to our Heavenly Father and raise our daughter? Of course there are always things we can improve on but if that isn't enough motivation to live a righteous life then I don't know what is.

To our little angel,
We love you

My Little Dinosaur

Halloween sure is a lot more fun when you have a kid to celebrate it with. We had a great Halloween! We went trick or treating at my dad's work, which was AWESOME, and then we went to our ward's trunk or treat. Zach looked so cute as a little dinosaur. He enjoyed everything, except for Willy Wonka. He especially enjoyed the sucker, Crunch, and Kit Kat he had a taste of. Here are some pictures of our fun Halloween. Check out the Sponge Bob, that's my dad!!











Yes that is chocolate on Zach's face in the last picture. I have him a Crunch bar, with the wrapper on it, for him to play with. He must have really wanted the chocolate because he chewed off the wrapper quite quickly.

Pumpkin Patch

For Family Night this week we went with some friends to a pumpkin patch. We had a great time!

1st Birthday Party

I can't believe I am saying this...Zach is almost one. CRAZY!! This happened way too fast! I guess after they turn one they are considered a pre-toddler which means he will no longer be a baby. I am not ready for that. He will always be my baby!!
Now that I got that out I will share some fun pictures with you. Some of my family came into town this weekend so we decided to celebrate Zach's birthday early and have a family birthday party. It turned out great and Zach seemed to love it!

Here is the birthday cake I made. I have never made a cake before so I was pretty proud of it. I tried to make it look just like Zach's best friend, Panda!



I am not a huge fan of giving Zach sugar but everyone convinced me that since it is his first birthday he needed a HUGE piece of cake. Zach must not be a big fan of sugar either because he was not interested in eating any of the cake. Although, he sure had a great time destroying it. At first he was just picking at it but as soon as I told him it was ok to smash it he went CRAZY!




Here are a few other pictures from the party!





The party was lots of fun and it was great having my family there to share it with us. Ray actually said that it was the most fun he has had a birthday party in a long time. I think he just really enjoyed watching Zach smash the cake!
Happy (almost) Birthday Baby Zachy!

A Few Smiles!

It is funny seeing how Zach's smile keeps changing. His newest smile is him opening his mouth as wide as he can.




He is just too cute!

Recipes

I have already had a request from my friend Ashley for the baby food recipes, so here they are:

Golden Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

1/4 cup golden flax meal
3/4 cup farina (wheat cereal)
1 1/4 cup of flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 cup or 1/2 cup raw-turbinado sugar (I used 1/4 regular sugar, next time I might add a little more)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (you can use soy milk)
1/4 cup oil (or 1/4 applesauce but the texture will be more springy instead of dense)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup of blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F
Toss all ingredients together and mix until all is moist.
Lightly oil muffin tins or use inserts
Spoon into muffin tins, filling 1/2 way
Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes

Yield – 12-18 muffins depending on size of muffin cups

Baby Cereal Pancakes Recipe

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup baby barley cereal (or other commercial baby cereal)
1 cup formula (or another liquid such as milk)(I used milk)
1/2 cup mashed banana (or fruit of your choice)
1 tbsp melted margarine or butter (unsalted type)
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup baby oatmeal ( commercial baby cereal)
apple juice (about 1/2 cup) or use water if you prefer (I used almost 1 cup, they cooked better when they were thinner)

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of vanilla or other flavorings if you wish.

Mix all ingredients together and add enough juice to make pancake consistency. Cook on cook top in frying pan as with "regular" pancakes.

I hope your kids enjoy these, mine sure did. I think my next mission is biter biscuits/cookies. I will let you know how they turn out!
If anyone else has any great recipes that their baby/toddler loves please feel free to send them my way!!
Enjoy!

A Healthy Baby is a Happy Baby!

I have decided that I need to be a good mom and make Zach some healthy finger foods. My first mission was breakfast. Zach was sick of his normal oatmeal, prunes, and a banana since none of those make great finger foods. He no longer lets me feed him so I had to come up with something that he could feed himself. I found a healthy muffin recipe and pancake recipe online that is specifically made for babies. Well it is a good thing I made plenty to freeze because this kid couldn't get enough of them, especially the muffins.

Here are some picture of my hungry boy!



If any one is interested in the recipes let me know and I will post them!

Go Broncos!

Here are my boys watching the Boise State game!!

Family Update

I know I haven't posted in a long time so it is probably time for a family update. Zach will be 11 months in September...CRAZY! He is getting so big and he is more fun than ever. He is always on the move. It even hard to get him to stop moving for food or a diaper change. He is pulling himself up on everything and he will walk along the furniture. He still army crawls everywhere, even though he knows how to crawl on his hands and knees...silly boy! He likes copying people. The other day Grandpa was making kissing noises to get the dog to come to him so Zach started copying Grandpa. Cute! Speaking of dogs, Zach LOVES Pepper, my parents dog. Whenever we walk into their house Zach immediately looks out the back window for the dog. When he sees Pepper he just keep saying "dog,dog,dog". He giggles every time Pepper comes near and he even likes it when Pepper likes him, gross!
Ray and I just love being mommy and daddy. We just can't believe how fast he grows. We sure are lucky to have such a happy boy. He makes parenthood easy!
Here are a few pictures from the last month.