Photos of that glorious day...

...well, the glorious five minutes, at least. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, scroll on down to my most recent post, "Sneak Peak..."

Getting the "Mee-mos" on

Uh, these feel a little weird

Poor kid, we've got some great blackmail pics

Checkin it out

Sneak peek into our future

We recently experimented with Zachary in "big boy underwear". He was so incredibly proud of himself, and we were, too! He was strutting around in Nemo underwear (and, subsequently, Elmo underwear just for fun), as if he was the STUFF. He stayed dry for the entire five minutes of our experiment. Score one for true potty training (true vs. false being he has had at least one trip to the toilet each day for the past six months)!

The next day, I brought out the "Meemo" underwear at his request. I pulled off his diaper, put on the "Meemo's" and left the room for 30 seconds to toss the diaper in the proper receptacle. When I return, what should I find? Of course! A wet spot on the special "Meemo's". Score one for the not-quite-yet-trained bladder.

I imagine that this is a song I will be singing several times this year. I do vow to have that boy in "Meemo's" for good within the next few months. So, stay tuned!

Other thoughts and cherished memories:

*Zachary really "got" Christmas this year. He absolutely loved learning about Daddy Joseph, Mommy Mary, and Baby Jesus, both at his school, and at home. He also thoroughly enjoyed the toolbench Santa brought him.

*Each night, before bed, Adam reads to Zachary. The book of choice these days is You are Special by Max Lucado. The book tells the story of the Wemmicks, and each one's uniqueness in the eyes of his/her creator. This is an excellent book for each child's library. After storytime, we all sing four songs together--all of Z's choice, and always in the same order--Rock-a-bye-baby, Jesus loves you (me), Twinkle, twinkle little star, and The alphabet song. This bedtime ritual has become a cherished time for us, singing at the top of our lungs with great vigor, and not always all on the same pitch. I'm sure for an outsider listening in, it could be a humorous moment.

*Some of Zachary's recent sayings include: Yeah, baby!; I'll get it for you; Pick you up, mommy; I'll share it with you; I'm so proud of you. I also often catch him singing some of his favorite songs to himself, or his "friends" (stuffed animals).

This is a sweet, challenging time in our life with this little boy. He is an amazing human being, so gentle, loving, and funny. We look forward to seeing what 2009 brings with him!

Ice driving is not for the faint-hearted

This one thing I know: I'm a ninny. A wimp. Totally faint of heart. When it comes to certain things. Flying is one, driving in icy conditions is another. Most other things I can make it through without the heart palpitations, sweaty palms, and concrete creeping through the muscles in my neck and shoulders.

This west coast gal is not used to ice-driving. Yet, this morning, I had a great adventure. This is how it went in my mind:

"This is crazy. Why would anyone drive in this weather?"

"Hmmm...that stoplight turned yellow. Better keep going and not brake. I said, DON'T BRAKE. Why is my foot not listening?"

When I come to rest in the middle of the intersection (thankfully with no other cars around), the inner dialogue continues:

"Should I really be driving in this? Why are so many people crazy enough to be driving on sheets of ice?"

As I drive past a car that has freshly spun out, off the road, into a ditch, taking out traffic signs, I continue:

"Why am I driving right now????"

When I arrive at my destination, I throw my hands up and let out a Zachary-like, "I did it!!"--in my mind.

Thankfully, the drive home was almost boring compared to the drive to my destinatination. A few lessons came fresh to my mind once this adventure had come full circle.

First, God doesn't give us the spirit of fear, but one of power, love and a sound mind. As I focused solely on what I was doing, I did not fear going off the road. Instead, I felt confident in the journey.

Second, I realized that it's when my mind wanders--and I allow myself to be distracted--that those things I fear take over my thoughts and concerns and I don't find rest or peace in my mind or my heart.

Third, I am reminded that while I like to pretend I have control over certain things in my life, just like driving on ice, nothing is guaranteed. I may see an illusion of control, but underneath those tires, things are still a little slick, and could change in an instant.

So, while I'm faint-hearted about some things, I will continue to remind myself of the refresher course I had today. And, I'll be honest, I plan to stay home for the rest of the day.

Happy Ganksmiving, Ice Cream Saturday, and More

I wish I could be more consistent with these posts--there is so much to share in just a little space. I blame the holidays for my lack of consistency. Perhaps in January, we will be snowed in too many days in a row to ignore journaling our latest happenings. Here is a short snippet of things on our minds these days:

-"Happy Ganksmiving"--Zachary couldn't quite get Thanksgiving out of his mouth in the right fashion, so he spent the day wishing everyone...well, what I just wrote. He was very sincere, and it was super cute, but required much translation when he was talking on the phone with grandmas and grandpas. We spent the day at home, just the three of us. We had a nice meal for lunch, cleaned up, and were all in bed for a long nap by 1:00. That's my kind of day off!

-Ice Cream Saturday--Somehow, Saturdays have become a dessert tradition for our family. After dinner each Saturday night, we all have a scoop of Edy's (Dreyer's for my west coast friends) Berry Sherbet in a cone. Yum! This has become something we all look forward to each week, talking and goofing off around the kitchen table together over a yummy treat.

-Before bed each night, Zachary loves to read a story, rock, and sing songs together. The two songs that are "must-sings" are Rock-a-bye Baby and Jesus Loves Me. Recently, Adam has hung out in Z's room while we sing together. It's become a collage of sweet moments for my heart to remember, all three of us singing those songs together. I know in a not-so-distant future, he will be too big for such nonsense.

-I have hit upon two "musts" for myself recently. Besides my absolute addiction to Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte, I also have discovered a terrible addiction to Facebook and to Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peppermint Joe Joe's cookies. Indulgent, but oh so good.

Christmas is right around the corner (gasp!), so here are a few pix from our decorating adventures:

Just a simple afternoon project for Zachary

Decorating Zachary's tree
All done, time to pose for the paparazzi

Hmmmm how many jingle bells will fit on this garland?

Truck-or-treat fun

Okay, so I am behind and just trying my derndest to get caught up. Following are pictures from Zachary "Truck-or-treating" on the first Halloween that he truly "got."

With Mommy at her old office at Wheaton College

"Hey Sean, try a sucker, they're AWESOME!"

"Uh, Mom? I thought you said we were going to see Avery and Romey."

With neighbors Tunde and Sade, our neighbors

"Mom, I found a fire hydrant!"

"Check out my haul!"

Favorite Zacharyisms

Zachary's verbal abilities have exploded in the past couple of months. Because of that, he's come up with some pretty funny things that I just have to write down. If I don't, I will forget, and that would be a shame. So, here they are:

-Talking to Adam about the leaves that have fallen off of the trees: "Need to buy some more leafs at Target."

-In response to pretty much any question: "Um, no, I fink so" (which, in Bob the Builder world is, "Uh, yes, I think so")

-When given something (like milk, snack, food, you get the idea): "Fank you, welcome."

-Inquiry: "Where's the old stove?" "Backing up." (in the truck that hauled it away)

-General food statement: "It's yucky...IT'S YUMMY"

-When taking off his jammies because they were wet and dirty: "Need to buy some more jammies at Target." (Do you see a theme here?)

-When something is broken (including crackers): "Need-a tape."

-Overheard singing: "Yes, Jesus loves juice, the Bible tells me so."

Us out "truck-or-treating"

The house of croup

It's been entirely too long since I've posted. So much has happened, and Zachary has developed in so many ways, that I will have to do a more in-depth post at another time.

Suffice it to say, it's been quite an adventuresome couple of weeks for our normally very average household.

It all began when our washer quit working. We may as well have unplugged it, we were getting such a great response from it. So, I called the Matag repairman. After learning that the cost of the repair would not have been worth it, we began the long, arduous task of researching replacement options. My train of thought turned into this: Well, we were told a couple of months ago that our dryer would also need a repair costing another couple hundred bucks, and on top of that, the stove is starting to smell a little too strongly of gas (which felt slightly dangerous to me), and we were told a few years ago that to fix it, we'd have to shell out another couple hundred bucks so...what the heck! Let's just buy three new appliances at once! Very pragmatic, don't you think?

In the midst of this, Zachary woke up a few days later with Croup. So, evidently, our appliances must have passed the bug along to our sweet little boy. Poor child could not sleep a wink for almost a week. Okay, he could sleep a wink, but it really felt like only a wink for five days.

We have now made it through the craziness. Our new stove is already in use, and the laundry appliances are on order.

Zachary has offered us many laughs in the midst of the sleepless nights and slight stress. Consider the following exchange during a recent nightly bath:

Zachary, beginning his nightly fishing game, looks up and says, "Where's Dad?"
I reply, "He went downstairs, he'll be right back."
To which he responds, "ADAM, ADAM, ADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!"
Upon returning, Adam says, "What's my name, Zachary?"
"Dad"
"What's my other name?"
"Adam"
So, I decide to jump in the mix, "What's my name, Zachary?"
"GRANDPA!"
We'll try again another day.