We're Back!!

Well, Zachary got to fly on his first airplane! He did so good. He made lots of friends and was accused of flirting by a few ladies - I'm going to have to talk to him about that someday.

It was a long day of traveling, but it was all worth it when we were greeted by my parents (Dada and Gui Guis) at the airport in Connecticut! Zachary hadn't seen them since Christmas. Then we went back to the house they share with my sister's family where he met his Aunt Sonya, Uncle Matt, cousin Nicole, and cousin Tommy for the first time!!

The 3 cousins had so much fun playing together - as much as possible for 3 years, 10 months, and 6 months. Nicole shared her chair with Zachary as he sat proudly in his new throne.

Tommy shared his Johnny Jump Up and Zachary LOVED IT!!!

He bounced for hours!

We all got to go to the mall, as my Mom had this week off from school.

The 3 kids had a blast on the carousel. Zachary got to ride on a horse that went up and down, which may have been even more fun for Mommy as I got to yell wee for the full 2 minutes.

Colie (as I call Nicole) picked up some crowns to share with her happy meal. Don't worry - Zachary only had a bottle for lunch.

What a great day we had together!!

We were grateful to be able to see so many friends on this trip home. Mrs. Tomkiel and Mrs. Ferriss came over to meet Zachary. Stacey's friend Christy came to visit too! On Friday we drove up to Gordon to visit Stacey's friend Tricia and meet her son Dylan. He's already 14 months and walking circles around Zachary.

On Saturday Zachary got to meet Stacey's cousin Scott and his family. They were so kind to drive down to New Hampshire from Maine just to see us!

Then we got to visit Great Dada and take him out to lunch. He had been in the hospital recently and we were so glad to see him doing better.

We are home now and enjoying every minute of Daddy time!

We're Off to Connecticut

One of Zachary's favorite things to do these days is to play with his toys in the "big" chair. It was nearing the next feeding before his morning nap and I was typing up a last minute email when I turned around and saw this adorable sight!

Poor guy was overcome by his sleepies - as we like to say. I guess I was a little too slow. He's now warm and snugly in his crib with no idea that in less than 6 hours we'll be flying in a plane to visit his grandparents and his Aunt, Uncle and cousins (who he has not met yet!).

Six Months Today!

Today is my 6 month birthday!


Things that I can do now that I couldn't before:

• I can roll over
• I can reach for things that I want
• I can pick up toys
• I can almost sit up
• I can bear my own weight on my feet
• I can sleep through the night (when I want to)
• I can not only laugh, but purposefully try to be funny to make Mommy and Daddy laugh
• I can eat solid foods
• I can bite (That's right - I cut my first tooth!)

Please visit this link to see more pictures of me from this month.

First Solid Food

Well, it was mostly like feeding Zachary milk from a spoon. There was hardly any cereal in the mix - Mommy's going to have to work on getting the proportions correct.

Oooo, Mommy! Is that for me??

I think I like it!!

Zachary Weighs In

Today was Zachary's 6 month check up!

He is a healthy and thriving little boy. He weighs 18 lbs. 9.5 oz. (75th percentile) and is 26.75" long (65th percentile).

We were so glad that Daddy was able to come with us as Zachary got 3 more shots!

The doctor said that his eczema was looking good so he can now start on solid foods. Rice Cereal here we come!!

Make That Six!

Yes, it's true. Just moments after writing my last post Petri laid yet another egg. I hope Petri can survive this many "births" in one month.

The Petri Phenomenon

Petri is our parakeet. We got the name from the pterodactyl in The Land Before Time.

I always thought that Petri was a boy until recently. Shortly after Zachary was born Petri starting going crazy - sitting in the food dish, ringing the bell all the time, running around on the bottom of the cage. Then one day when I looked in the cage I found an egg! I wasn't sure whether to leave it in or take it out until I found another egg cracked at the bottom of the cage.

Apparently parakeets may start to lay eggs if something happens to trigger their maternal instincts. I guess having a newborn baby around wasn't making her jealous for me, but jealous for her own! However, with no male partner that won't happen. Since then she has laid 2 eggs every month. Well this month she has laid 5 eggs!! Sadly, I didn't take one of them out fast enough before she ate it, so my collection only shows 4 of them.

And she is looking like she might lay another one! Where in the world does she store this many eggs? Poor Petri - all that work and no little ones to love.We are beginning to realize that we'll have to give Petri up if we leave the country. A teacher that one of my friends works with has a male parakeet in his classroom named Petey that might be a good option. I'm having trouble letting go, but it's a lot easier knowing that I'll never have to part with Zachary. Oh dear, I can already feel the college separation tears coming on!

Home Sweet Home

It's hard to believe that this is our 5th year living here in St. Louis!

It seems like such a long time ago that my Mom took this picture of us when she came out to visit our "new" home. And now here we are in our last year getting ready to say goodbye.

We still don't know what next year will bring, but (as I keep telling myself) wherever the Lord takes us will be so much better than my imagination fears!

What we do know is that after spending this summer in Nashville with Dane's parents we will move somewhere for Dane to begin his Ph.D. studies.

Where will that be? If you could answer that question for me I'd be very grateful. Dane has applied to 6 schools: Aberdeen and St. Andrew's in Scotland, Durham and Cambridge in England, McMaster in Canada, and Wheaton in IL (our old Alma Mater). So far, we have heard back from Durham that Dane has been accepted to the program and we've heard from Wheaton that he made it to the interview phase. He goes up there for that next week! Unfortunately Zachary and I won't be able to go with him because we will be partying at home in CT with my family!!

We are both eager and anxious for our future. We know that we are in God's hands, that He has prepared our future before we were born, and that wherever He would have us go will be the absolute best for us!

To Blog or Not to Blog

Dane talked to me about starting a family blog a while ago and I'm just now getting to it. Honestly, I've had some reservations about it. It seems that in our culture today where families and friends are spread out all over the world, we have lost a sense of community that we cannot comprehend today as a result. What I don't want is to start a blog with the intention of keeping better in touch with people and in actuality my interactions become less personal and even generic. However, since I am not very good about emailing anyway, I have decided that in an effort not to sacrifice the depth of my relationships I will vow to continue to call friends and family in addition to this blog. Sadly, I cannot make this same promise past this year if we are not in the states. All this to say, please keep me honest in staying real with you and not slipping into a one sided monologue of a relationship without you!