Zane: 19 months (+ 18 month post)

Zane is now 19 months old!  He is as busy as can be, but still sweet and fun to be around.  He loves nursery but is a pain in Sacrament meeting.  Kevin is in the hall with him half the time.  Fun times at church, that's for sure.

To say that he is a handful is an understatement.  A few of his most recent antics are: - getting in the pantry and taking a bottle of RED snow cone syrup and poured it into the vacuum attachment.  Good thing it didn't happen on the carpet.  I didn't see that one coming; and the following proof of busyness (more too crazy not captured on camera for his safety - like turning on our bath faucets - yes, I have taken the handles off, but he figured out how to turn those on even):

Glitter and Zane. Not a good combo.

Getting a stool and trying to figure out the door locks.  At least he hasn't figured it out yet.

Zane and the kitchen faucet = Water all over

And just recently, taking a jar full of sticky hair gel and applying it all over his head.  I knew it was too quiet!  and it all happened 5 minutes (yes I am not kidding) after he woke up.  

Here's a closer look:

Fourth, and most likely the most damaging to our schedules is the fact that he's been climbing out of crib every time we put him down for a nap or to bed at night.  Unless he says "night night" back he is out again in less than 5 minutes.  We are seriously considering a crib tent at this point but I am not sure about caging him although ... what am I going to do when preschool starts?  and he really still needs his 1 long nap to keep him happy til he goes to bed.  

On the upside,  he really is learning quite a few things -- he likes putting shapes into his little shape sorter, has  a vocabulary of about 15 words - mama, dada, cracker, allie, collin, cookie, head, bath, bye, night-night, blanket, hot, movie - he says "mo", car, etc.  and tries to "talk" in little garbled sentences.  He points to things a lot, knows how to ask for a drink, runs away when you want him, and knows where his head and feet and hair are.  He even has his own chore - it is to throw away his wet or soiled diapers in the trash.  He is good at it and loves to do it.   He also looks forward to Kevin brushing his teeth at night before bed.  He loves to brush his 10 pearly whites!  At his 18-month appointment he got his last shot - and was 23 lbs (10%) and 33.5 inches (75%).  Glad those visits are over until he's 2!

Zane can brush for an hour if you let him.

Zane heard Collin say something about playing the wii.  Pretty soon we see him try to find a wheel for himself and then he sat on the couch and pretending to turn the wheel to "play".  

Zane always takes books and toys wherever he goes.  This was his little collection of things on this day.  6/21

Zane at the July 4th parade 07/04

Playing frisbee with Aunt Andrea 7/4

July 4th BBQ - he loves hamburgers!

Hiding under the table!  Not pictured - but he also liked climbing and sitting on Danny and Aireen's foosball table.

He also wanted to bowl. Except the ball was a bit too big and too heavy.  Boy was he mad about that.

Park City 7/6 - he didn't want me to hold his hand or be by me even.  He just wanted to explore on his own.

I love when he's sleeping - he looks so calm unlike when he's awake. 7/8

And Zane's little fun life as captured by my phone:

Driving

Crashing on my bed with Maddie. Cute moments I don't want to forget.

Zane loves to vacuum.  He is actually pretty good at it and will find all the crumbs on the floor.

Helping make pancakes.  He loved to stir the batter.

Got beside Collin while Collin was still asleep. Super cute!

This was the day before we left to go on our summer trip to Utah.  He liked helping pull this suitcase around.

Zane's first LONG trip in the car.  He did pretty well considering that we were in the car for over 10 hours.  

"Reading" at the hotel

Loving the backyard in Utah

Kevin loves to take pictures of our sleeping kids.  A brief reminder they are angels.

Zane made himself at home during a BBQ and stole someone's food.

Ice cream is always really good and tasty.  Can't blame him!

More ice cream!

He thought this RC car was pretty neat.  He kept laughing the whole time he watched it go.

Bath in the sink.  Always a favorite of mine and the kids.

Zane will try anything.  Here he is eating snap peas.  He'll also eat broccoli and eggplant.  

Aunt Aireen's laptop barely survived Zane's visit.  Good thing.

Little boy loves being outside - in the heat, in the rain, he doesn't care.  He practically lives in his little cozy coupe since we got it. 

Now he is officially 19 months, 2 weeks.  Where did the time go??? 

Old Post: Randoms

- Allie gave her first youth talk in church on 7/22.  She spoke on gratitude and worked on her talk for a good few days.  She did a great job and didn't look nervous at all, although she wishes she would have talked slower.

Zane - 17 months

   Finally posting little guy's 17-month old portrait - better late than never!  Time is passing me by fast - and I can't believe Zane is this old.  He is such a busy body, and keeps me on my toes.  There is always a spill to clean up, messes to vacuum, etc.  I've given up on a clean house (haha!) - babies know just how to teach their mamas what's important.  He is a good little eater and sleeper and LOVES being outside, no matter how hot it is out there.
   He won't sit still for more than a few seconds it seems which equals me not being able to do anything when he is awake.  One time he got away from me at church and was nowhere to be found.  I looked for him everywhere and couldn't find him and started to get really nervous that he had gotten out of the building.  I happened to peek in one of the nurseries and found him there happily playing.  The nursery leader (Denine) told me their class was on a walk with the kids holding on to a rope.  Zane saw them and hurried over and held on to the rope too.  She thought it was cute and let him on the rope into nursery with them.  That's just Zane for you - he is always on the go but he is so sweet and very funny.
   He tries to talk but it all just comes out like gibberish to me - he says the usual mama, dada, ba for bath or bye, hi, hello, "me" for mess, caca for cookie or cracker or Collin, ala for Allie.  He tries to always clean up after himself (which more often than not results in an even bigger mess) - he loves to wipe our floors, vacuum, or put things in the trash, even important things that shouldn't be in the trash.  In fact this last month, he has succeeded in taking my iPhone from off the countertop, run away with it, and toss it in the toilet TWICE.  Luckily my phone survived both toilet experiences and is still alive and well.
   My most favorite thing that he does at this age is how when he wants a kiss he just comes up to you and lays his cheek on your lips so you could give him a kiss.  It's so sweet and he will do it over and over until he's had his fill, then he runs off again.  For a little boy who is always on the go, these little moments are precious!

Finally, an update!

I was working on editing photos late into the night last night (2 down, 1 more shoot to go!) or should I say early morning, and looked at our blog and realized I haven't updated it in so long.  Almost a month to be exact!  Where have I been?
So...here's how I play catch-up - the last post being mother's day. May is such a busy month, and in some ways worse than December.  I'll take December any day since at least there is some special "magic" in the air!
I got busy tying preschool ends together the week of mother's day, with 2 graduations on 2 separate days. Here is my Friday class - super cute kids! It was nice to get preschool all done before the last week of school for my own kids.

Then Allie had her drama class recital - they wrote and performed a play called "The Golden Apple" based on Greek myths:

Then her piano recital, which happened to be on the same day and the same time as her dance recital, so she had to pick and choose which one she wanted to go to:

She played Fur Elise, and was happy about her performance (except she insists she missed one note, ha!)

Allie and her teacher Bob at intermission; and with her friend Macey:

It got too late to take a photo with the entire family + grandma Lorraine who came to watch, so it's just me and her:

Then the next week was crazy with rounding up end of the year teacher gifts:

I didn't have much energy to think of something more clever so I went with whatever I wanted to eat for lunch at the time, and went to PeiWei and rounded up 8 gift cards and all the cute stuff that goes with it, delivered to the school right after and whew, I was done.

Of course everything else doesn't slow down just because you're running like mad and need more time!

Normal everyday cooking (see Allie's baking skills above!  She is getting really good which also = messy kitchen), chores and cleaning, and 

weekly cub scouts:

Collin got a few awards on this particular day and is finally now DONE with his Wolf - maybe next time we have pack meeting they will remember to award it?

Allie and I went shopping for a formal dress for Time To Blossom (which I will have to write about in a separate post!). She wasn't too crazy about this dress at first. Lesson learned: Never judge a dress on a hanger.  Try it on!

 

On her last day of school I chaperoned their last Middle School dance, which was a luau.  I have never seen such a kind and good group of middle schoolers - all clean cut and respectful, and just there to have fun. Allie helped make all the decorations (the Student Council is in charge of the dances, so they get to do all the  theme decor):

A couple of banners she made and this big fun volcano they put together:

Allie and her friend Audri manned the ticket booth - they were raising money for the Student Council.  In exchange for $3, everyone got to enjoy burgers, chips, fruit and soda.  They showed a cute video of all their activities during the year. And of course they danced until it was time to go home:

Then it was Memorial Day and The Dickerson's came into town to spend a couple days with us.  The kids had fun together and that weekend we splurged and got our own Bahama Bucks party kit:

Then we celebrated Todd and Grandma's Lorraine's birthdays

Dropped Allie off to Time to Blossom where she would be for 4 days:

She was so excited!  And I was too...that hotel was full of young women and it looked like so much fun! This was the first time Allie was gone from home for a while - which would be the pattern for the next few weeks for her.  Her summer has been "swell" to say the least - with Time to Blossom, then Lake Powell, and then now Girls Camp. More on that later.

After May 31st, school was finally out!!!

Right off...

Collin went to Cub Scout Day Camp at Heard Pueblo.  Kevin and I helped for 10 hours on one of the days and got to have a little fun with the boys shooting BB guns, doing archery, swimming, and all other kinds of boy stuff.  It was hot, but Collin had fun with his buddies.

In the meantime I did three photo shoots that I couldn't turn down (see more at rinnaharris.blogspot.com) but...

Yeah!!! I was done with school and was just glad to have some downtime.  Summer had begun and the weather got hotter so we did a lot of this so far:

Swimming and swimming classes, lots of little friends over for snow cones, and late nights.

 Sprinkler fun in the backyard:

And of course, ice cream and other things to keep you cool:

But just when I thought I had it all together, and happy with my normal busy family life (and Kevin gone out of town just about every week this last month), 

On Memorial Day, I was called to be Primary President in our ward.  With 150 children, 40 or 50 in nursery, and 70 positions to staff, it is no small feat.  The Lord has a great sense of humor.  Apparently I need to grow and learn a few things.  So even though my schedule just got busier, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with some wonderful people and great kids.  I have spent the last two weeks training (myself) and handing off my past calling to someone else, and finishing the last of my photo edits. And since Kevin has been gone quite a bit, our conversation has been mostly just "hi" and "bye"! He is super busy with mediation and legal matters of all kinds - and so he too is tired and brain fried when he gets home. 

So life has been crazy around here.  Lucky I have good helpers and I've accepted that my house will not be spotless all day (our little Zane is a busy little body!).  I am grateful that the Lord thinks Kevin and I can do this raising a family thing.  No really, I can't complain.  Life is good and abundant, Kevin has a wonderful job that he loves, and we like each other still (ha ha)!  There are more families that have busier lives than we do -but it'll take me a few weeks to get used to this change, but for now I just need to remember to take a breath and enjoy the busyness and this phase of my life.

Oh yes, we did celebrate Father's Day and Allie turned 12 - and now we enter the world of Young Women's!  More on that later as well.  All I can say is, I can't wait for our July vacation.  I so need one (and so does Kevin, though he can't really take off that easy)!

Whew, long post!  If you made it to the end with all my rambling, kudos to you and thank you for being interested in our lives!