Zach's first Christmas

It was so fun to have Zach in our lives this holiday season. It was fun to dress him up in his little Santa suit and hat. He was spoiled for being so young...thanks for all of the fun toys and outfits he received. He loves playing with all of his new toys. We are so thankful for our families and also our own little family too. Its crazy to think that it was just last Christmas that we announced he was on his way. We are glad he is here!

Mmmmmmm....

We started Zach on rice cereal a couple days before Christmas. He loved it!!! With the first bite he didn't really know what to do but after that he would just sit there with his mouth open waiting for the next bite and start whining if I took too long to get it to him. I never realized how messy it was going to be, but it is fun anyway. We feed him some cereal every afternoon and I think he looks forward to it as much as we do each day. He is getting to be such a big boy!

Family Pictures

So we went to have our first family pictures taken the other day. I was a little worried that Zach wouldn't tolerate them and that he would be grouchy but it all went well. He was so cute and didn't even cry at all! Chris put up more of a fuss that I made him wear that puffy vest than Zach did about the whole situation. I love Chris and Zach so much and am so lucky to have two such wonderful guys in my life.

A father's love

Ok so I just had to get some pictures of Zach in his UTAH onesie which Lisa and Matt gave him, by the way....just to get Chris' blood boiling. He was in the backyard mowing the lawn today and I held Zach up to the sliding door in his UTAH onesie...he immediately shut off the lawn mower and came to the door...it was so funny...Zach was just smiling back at him through the glass. Later he said "I guess I know how much I really love him because I still loved him even dressed in UTAH." So, here is a picture of him in each and you can decide which one he looks cutest in!!

Zachs new toy

We broke out the exersaucer...I don't think I spelled this right but oh well. He is still a little small for it so we have to put a blanket in front of him to help support him. I think it would seem a little overwhelming with all the gadgets surrounding him but he likes it. I also had to post this cute picture of him in his bumbo...which he is doing a lot better sitting in.

Birthday Bash

So I know it has been quite a while since I have posted but my Great Grandpa....which would be Zach's Great-Great Grandpa had his 100th birthday the first week of November. It was so much fun to see how healthy he still is and it is amazing how well he gets around. He is so special to have in our family and it is really neat to hear all of the stories he has to tell. This is a picture of the shirt I made for Zach to wear to the party.

Halloween Eve

Tonight we carved pumpkins....well Chris did most of the work while I watched Zach. He did such a great job! I especially like Zach's little dino pumpkin. And yes, I was right there as I took the picture of him in his bumbo on the table. He is really starting to like his bumbo. I have to work on Halloween but I know Chris and Zach will have lots of fun passing out candy while I take care of the sick babies.

Meeting Uncle Mike

Chris' brother Mike came home on leave from Afghanistan this past weekend for 2 weeks. He and Chris' other brother, Rick left at the end of February and will come home for good this February. I was only about 4 months pregnant when they left so this was the first time Mike got to see Zach. It was such a special moment...and I can't wait until Zach can meet his Uncle Rick too! We are so proud of Mike and Rick and it was amazing to hear all the stories of the accomplishments and progress they are making there (instead of all the bad news you see on T.V.) We are blessed to have these brave and hardworking guys in our family. We love you and can't wait for February!

Zach and his Elmo

So I recently got this as a gift and Zach didn't really want anything to do with it. One day we showed it to him and he smiled and it is one of his favorite toys now. Chris puts music on and dances Elmo around on Zach's tummy and he just smiles like crazy..Zach also loves to chew on Elmo's eyes and hands. Last weekend, Collin, Amy and Mack came to visit. Zach and Mack are about 2 months apart but you can really see the size difference...hopefully Zach will catch up.

Grandpa Great and his Mustang

Zach's great-Grandpa (my grandpa) comes to visit him quite often and this week he stopped by in his 1968 Mustang convertable. I though it would be neat to get a picture of Zach by it since I had my picture taken in it when I was small too. Its been a while since I have ridden in it but it is really fast!!

Zach Lauging

Zach laughed for the first time a few days ago, but has it has been really hit and miss trying to get him to do it again... Chris got him to do it again last night but by the time I got the camera to record it, Zach wasn't really doing it anymore. So the first 15-20 seconds of the video are of him laughing and making other funny noises but the rest of it is just us trying to get him to laugh again. It is like 3 minutes long so just watch the first 20 seconds or so if you want. Here are some pictures also I took before I took him on a walk a earlier this week.

Witch Festival

Last night we went to the Witch Festival at Gardner Villiage. We took this cute picture of Zach on a bail of hay. It was a lot of fun and it reminded me of when I visited Salem Ma. We also went into the Christmas shop there and found some Dept. 56 villiage houses for half price and bought a couple to start our Christmas villiage to go along with our polar express train we bought last year. Chris is excited to set everything up..and has already started designing how he is going to do it.

Hanging with Dad

So I came into the bedroom and found that Chris had created a homemade mobile for Zach to look at while they were watching Football together by tying his ties around the ceiling fan blades. I was laughing so hard. Chris is so creative when it comes to entertaining Zach whether it is reading Zach a book in funny voices or just singing him one of his made up songs...Zach is lucky to have such a great Dad.

Bathtime with Erin

Last night our niece, Erin slept over. Zachary is so lucky to have such nice cousins. She was so excited to help with his bath. After his bath she put lotion on him and even got him dressed for bed after picking out his pajamas....the pumpkin bum ones, of course. I had an appointment in the morning for a pedicure and needed to leave the house early. I told Erin last night that she would need to mind Chris and try to get herself ready because I wasn't going to be there to help and she said "Don't worry, I will take care of Zach for you." I thought it was so cute. Oh yeah...Greg.. She also made sure I put her cereal in the UTAH bowl not the BYU bowl.

Daddy's Little Wingman

I took this picture a few days ago just before Chris was leaving the house to go fly. I thought it was appropriate for Zach to be Daddy's little wingman just before a flight. Chris has been doing a lot of flying so he can finish his multi-engine rating before I go back to work. Chris is already asking when he can take Zach up to fly....I hope he is kidding....I think we will wait quite a few years.

Got Frosting?

My Mom makes sugar cookies every year for Halloween and I thought that since I'm not back to work yet, I would help this year. Zach was such a good boy and just sat in his bouncer while we made cookies. Here is a picture of him asleep on Chris' lap....I put a cookie in his hand and he started smashing the frosting between his fingers. I also had to post a picture of him in yet another Halloween outfit.

Double "B's"

Here are the pictures of Zach in the Double "B's" shirt Cole made for him. He is getting so big that you can see his little belly in the shirt...As you can see he had mixed emotions about me taking his picture. Thanks for the Shirt!

An HOUR at the Zoo

Ok so it may sound a little funny to take a 2 month-old to the zoo but we thought it would be nice to do something as a family and Chris and I could get some exercise too. We took Zach to the Zoo last Friday. He was calm at first but didn't really care to look at things, of course. We were there for almost an hour and he had a little meltdown and wouldn't take his bottle. After many tries to feed him with his bottle...we decided to leave because he was upset. We got to the parking lot and he let out a huge burp and then he was fine...if only he had done that before we had left. Oh well, we bought a year family pass so I'm sure we will get lots more time at the Zoo, and Trav, Nikki and Kohen have a pass too and Collin and Amy live right next to the Zoo so we can go together.

Dinner

Tuesday night we went to dinner with my Dad and Lori and it was so nice. Zach had been so cranky all day but he was an angel during dinner. He woke up at the end of dinner and was smiling for grandma and even let grandpa take him for a little walk around the restaurant. I should have brought my camera but forgot. Anyway, it was nice and we enjoyed it. Thanks!

A Smooth Transition

Last night Zach slept in his crib for the first time. Although it was a little hard for me to do, Zach did awesome! He does such a great job sleeping through the night, infact a couple of nights ago, he went 8 hours between feedings! I kept hearing him move around on the monitor..which by the way does and excellent job of detecting his breathing---(for all thoes who have made fun of my paranoia) I know it sounds rediculous to have a monitor that detects if your baby is breathing and alarms if they stop for more than 20 seconds..but I can't help it.. it is just the NICU nurse in me. Anyway, when we were woken up this morning by Zach crying...I went into his room and found that he had completely moved into the opposite direction. I put him to bed in the picture on the top and I this is how I found him on the bottom. We are still trying to figure out how he did this???

Game Day

Yesterday BYU played Utah State... GO COUGARS!! We went to Chris' parents to watch the game. Chris loves dressing Zach up in all his BYU accessories. These pictures were taken before the first home game. I thought it was funny because I came in the room and Chris was doing a photo shoot of Zach dressed in his BYU gear.