Goodbye Harvey, Hello Cowboy

Goodbye...







Hello...
Zac's new favorite saying is "Come on in to my new car."
We love it. Come for a ride with us!

Easter- Only about a Month Later

Holidays are getting funner and funner as Zac understand more and more of what it's all about. After 3 different egg hunts, he was quite the expert.
I really think it's not nice to have to do an Easter Egg hunt in the snow! My parents' neighborhood puts one on and we decided to go. I didn't quite dress Zac warm enough for the occasion (the kids with smart parents came dressed in snowsuits and boots and gloves) so we didn't collect too much, but it was still fun. This whole walk around and pick up things with free candy in them is Zac's cup of tea.

Then the Easter bunny came to our house and to Grandma D's.

He got a new bike that his dad and grandpa diligently put together. The bike's name is Diego- in our family everything has a name- thanks aunt Shell (Mr. Shell:))

He can't quite reach the pedals yet, but he can get around on it just fine. It's also handy if you need to stop and take a potty break, Zac informed me, cause the seat lifts up. It's good we're still in diapers. I'm worried about when he does start potty training where I'm going to find presents.
Even though it was general conference and we didn't have church, we got Zac dressed up in his new spiffy outfit.

As Zac will tell you, he's so handsome!

It really was a wonderful weekend. Conference was awesome! It is so nice to listen to the prophet and apostles and feel of their spirit. I've been listening to the talks on the internet. So great. Hope everyone is enjoying their spring- snow and all.

Rock a Bye with Bunny

The other day Zac noticed an Easter decoration that I had up and he wanted to play with it. It is a bunny sitting in a rocking chair.
Well, Zac loves to "rock-a-bye" in any rocking chair he sees. His grandma does it with him to get him to sleep for his naps and has taught him the rock-a-bye song my great grandma used to sing and its a favorite. So after playing with it for a minute he told me he wanted to rock-a-bye with bunny. I said OK and we went into his room and sat in his rocking chair with him on my lap and him hloding the bunny. But he just kept getting mad and telling me he wanted to rock-a-bye with bunny. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I set the bunny on the table next to the rocking chair and made it rock back and forth, but that wasn't cutting it. I put the bunny on the ottoman that rocks and made it rock there, but that sure wasn't working for him either. It was only when Zac started climbing up on the ottoman and trying to sit on the bunny that I figured out what he was wanting to do. He didn't want to make the bunny rock, he wanted to sit on the bunny's lap and rock-a-bye with bunny.

He was pretty sad when he couldn't figure out a way to sit on the bunny's lap. This kid seriously cracks me up.

(Don't judge us. I know the room is quite a disaster in the background. I"m pretty sure it's just proof that we play hard and it had been a good day right? Zac's good at making a mess, but he's also a pretty good helper to clean up- we just hadn't gotten to that part yet.)

The Yellow One is the Sun

Or... Half game, whole snow cone. Or... Take luck... with you... on your journey.

Oh the joy that these quotes bring me. If you recognize them you are probably thinking of about 20 others and chuckling to yourself right now.

I was first introduced to Brian Regan when I was very pregnant with Zac. We were driving home from the Sunday party with family and Jon had downloaded one of his shows onto his ipod. We got home far before the show was over and we just sat in the car laughing till we were crying for another half hour. I made Jon bring it to the hospital so I could have something to laugh at when I was in pain. (Zac came way to fast, so it was never used)

Anyway, we have shared the joy with many family and friends and helped to create many new fans. This man is so funny (without the smut that a lot of comedians use). If you have never heard him before you need to look him up on YouTube. So when I was look for something to get for Jon for Christmas I saw a bill board announcing that Brian Regan was coming. I decided to get us tickets. My mother in law had the same idea and got tickets for all of us as well. It worked out OK since we just sold our tickets and got to go with the family. So fun!

Megan you finally made it!

If I had more money than I knew what to do with...
We laughed until tears ran down our face and our cheeks hurt. Thank you Brian for a hilarious night.




You can even join with us and hear the lady with the loud laugh sitting right behind us!

TWO

Since it's been a month now, I thought it would probably be good to post some pictures about Zac's birthday. Once again I think I had more fun with it than he did, but someday I think he'll appreciate it more. I was telling some people at school what kind of cake I was going to make and they told me to be careful because if I start out making fancy cakes that I will be stuck doing it forever because that is what they will expect. I told her that was OK with me because I think it's fun to have an excuse to make a fun cake.

We decided to take another bear picture. Someone was asking me why I hadn't been doing it anymore and I figured that no one cared about them at 21 months, however I thought it would be fun to keep it up on his birthdays. Here's a comparison between one and two.

I can't believe he is so big.

After church we went to get things ready at my parents house. Zac missed his nap with everything that was going on- and well that made for an interesting night. We decided to do a jungle theme birthday because Zac's favorite color is green. He loved the green balloons and he has learned to sing happy birthday with lots of enthusiasm.
I made him an alligator cake- more green!
We had some awesome pizza for dinner which is Zac's favorite.
And then we opened presents.

By this time the lack of nap was becoming apparent and mom got to open most them. Our family is so kind to this little boy. Man was he spoiled.
We got him his own computer because he loves anything with "puttons". But I wanted to show off the quilt in the background that my mom made. It is an "I spy" quilt and Zac loves it. It has to be layed out on his floor and we find things on it everyday. Seriously, my mother is so talented.

We blew out candles, eat cake, threw a fit, and had a bath...

The first video is cute of him playing in the tub. The second is for Michelle- and what you are teaching my son to say and teach the other kids around him and get me in trouble.



I can't express how much I love this little boy. I had been an amazing 2 years. I am lucky that I get to be his mom forever. He is so smart and has such a fun sense of humor. Each day I am in awe of what he has learned and what he can do. It is helping through his new phase of throwing some amazing tantrums. He is a special kid. I'm so glad to be a part of his life.

Frogurt Explosions

Warning: This post involves explanations of the bathroom issues of a near 2 year old. If this offends you in any way, please do not read on. If you are a mom of a similarly aged child you probably have dealt with very similar issues and will find humor in our little adventure. While we didn't at the moment, we now do.

For the past few months Zac has had problems pooping. He is such a picky eater that if we aren't really careful he gets really plugged up. Over the week of Christmas things were crazy and we weren't really careful. The poor kid had to experience some pretty terrible things to get cleared out. (This part of the story is a little too graphic to go into, but it is enough to say that it is good that Jon keeps gloves on hand at our house and that he has a stronger stomach than me. Even so, I think all three of us were a little traumatized.) So, in an effort to keep things moving as they should, Zac received all kinds of remedies- fiber yogurt with prunes in it, probiotic pudding, all kinds of fruits, mineral oil... you get the idea. Well, one night not too long after, we had gone out to eat with my sister. After the restaurant (which was an adventure in itself- Zac would not eat anything and I was determined not to have spent money on him in vain and if you have ever decided to have a power struggle with a 2 year old you know how that goes.) we had gotten gift cards for Christmas to Frogurt- a perfectly lovely frozen yogurt establishment. We decided to go and get a treat. In the car on the way there, Zac smelled as if he had been successful in filling his diaper (we were thrilled of course because we cheer at our house for poop that comes easily- literally we cheer). When we first walked in, I found the bathroom so I could change him while Michelle and Jon waited up front. In the first place when we walked in, there was no changing table- just a toilet and a sink. So, we opted for the floor- gross I know, but what are you going to do. Zac was not pleased with having to lay on the floor and started screaming and trying to get away. Now, changing a normal diaper under these circumstances is hard enough, but when I opened the diaper it became clear that it was going to be quite the experience. The methods we had been using to help keep things moving had worked with a vengeance and had filled that diaper beyond capacity and up his back. So I am in a small Frogurt bathroom on the floor with a screaming wiggly child and poop pretty much everywhere. I yelled out for Zac to stay where he was and stuck my head out the door. Luckily Michelle and Jon were sitting where they could see me and I didn't have to go and find them. I motioned for them to join me, and the three of us got busy trying to clean up the mess. After going through a few wipies- I realized we were out. Jon went after the toilet paper and we used the rest on the roll. It took all three of us to get the onsie off with out getting the mess all over Zac's hair. Luckily the pants and shirt were spared and were able to put them back on. Of course since there was no changing table there was no diaper bin, and so we ended up having to leave the very full and very stinky diaper in the little garbage can. We all washed up and then got ready to leave- remember there were 4 of us in the bathroom meant for 1. Well, I had locked the door the first time I had gone in, but after Jon and Michelle had come in to help with the crisis, no one had thought to lock the door, and as Michelle started to walk towards the door to leave, a woman needing to use the bathroom started walking in. She was embarrassed thinking she had just walked in on Michelle and she quickly closed the door. At that point we didn't know the best way to leave the bathroom knowing she was standing just outside and might wonder what Jon was doing in the bathroom with 2 women. In the end, we all just paraded past her as gave an extremely sour look. We then went and got our yogurt which was delicious but of course our gift cards had not been loaded correctly and didn't work. As we sat down to eat, we kept watching for the poor lady to come out of the bathroom we had left smelling terribly and extremely lacking in the toilet paper department. So, ma'am, if you're out there we do sincerely apologize. I hope you can understand our dire circumstances. I'm not sure either of us will ever look at Frogurt the same way.

So with all of the poo problems that happen in our house, I am always looking for ways for Zac to eat more vegetables. My sister, Kristen, had heard from her friend about this spinach that her picky eaters just loved and I decided to try it. Zac LOVES it. It helps that his favorite color is green and that we can call it his green. All you do is pack the blender with fresh spinach and add a cup of water and blend it till it is a bright green liquid. Then you add half a container of orange juice concentrate and a banana. You can add any other frozen fruits that you want- I usually do strawberries and blueberries- and then you blend again. It comes out very green and you would think it would be very good, but it really just tastes like a smoothie. I like it, but Jon won't touch the stuff because he says that anything that looks the same going in as it does coming out couldn't be right. Either way, Zac drinks it all the time. And for anyone experiencing similar problems with their children, it works wonders and is a great way to get some good nutrients into your kids. Here is the proof of how much Zac loves his green. (Sorry some of the pics are blurry- he doesn't like to hold still)






Here's to more days of cheering and less days of pushing and crying!