Zoey's Christmas/Birthday Wish List

A lot of you have been asking what Zoey would like for Christmas and her first birthday. Below you will find a few ideas of things she might like. Dave and I are so thankful for how you all love on Zoey. Nothing makes us happier than knowing you care for our little girl. Thank you for being such a wonderful family...friends are family, too...to Zoey Michele. This has been an amazing first year with her and we look forward to many years and holidays to come. Again, these are just suggestions. She is truly happy playing with my keys and Dave's school ID badge. Anything she might receive as a gift will be treasured.

Anything and Everything written by Sandra Boynton

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr

Books, books, and more books with lots of pictures and rhymes

Time For Bed Book by Mem Fox

Animal Toys

Little Champs Sports Center

Shape Sorter

Infant/Toddler Steelers Gear

Winter Clothes size 24months/2T

Our Little Pumpkin

Today we took Zoey to her first pumpkin patch. A word of advice: don't go to a pumpkin patch on the Sunday before Halloween. It was a zoo and we didn't stay very long. We were just glad that admission was free. So, we wanted to get some great pics, right? We sat her in a pile of straw (which she loved and wanted to eat) and tried to get her to look at the camera (which she didn't want to do because, heck, she's sitting in a pile of straw surrounded by pumpkins). Actually, she did very well and we even got a few pics of her looking at the camera AND smiling. I love that she's holding one of the little pumpkins. Also, today Zoey is 10 months old. We went to see Dr. Day on Friday and here are her stats...

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19lbs, 6.4oz (50%)

29 1/2 inches (93%)

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She is "talking" all the time, now. We've added cheese and bite sized pieces of banana to her diet and Dr. Day says we can add yogurt and meat, too. Pretty soon she's going to be eating right off our plates. Maybe she'll be ready for a turkey leg by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. Yummy!!!

new pics posted on Flickr

happy birthday, dave

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Dave turned 36 years old today. To celebrate, Zoey and I took him out for breakfast tacos at one of his favorite places...Rudy's "Country Store" & Bar-B-Q. Zoey, of course, couldn't wait to give him his present. We got him an iPod shuffle. She really wanted to get him the pink one, but I told her, "Look, Zoey. Yes, you're the cutest baby girl on the planet, but you can't always get your way. Daddy won't use it if it's pink. Let's get him the silver one." She reluctantly agreed. But only if I let her wear the bow on her head during breakfast. Oh, alright.

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Zoey turned 9 months old on September 28th. She is getting bigger and stronger every day and she's becoming more of a little girl and less like a baby. She loves...holding onto the couch and walking back and forth, eating cheerios, touching every light switch in the house, banging on tables, smiling at herself in the mirror, when mama claps her hands, and when daddy comes home at the end of the day. She does not like...having her face wiped, changing her diaper/clothes, and when I leave her to play by herself. She has two universal words for everything. "MMM-BUH" and "UUUHHH". In the last day or two, she started mimicking smacking sounds with her mouth. It's amazing how much of a little sponge she is and picking up on so many things every day.

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new pics posted on Flickr

a very busy day with Zoey

OUR WALK THIS MORNING

Our day today began like it usually does...with a walk around the neighborhood. Zoey wakes up around 7:30am. After breakfast, we get ready for our day and head outside. We walk from 8:30-9:15am. She loves to be outside. Some days, like today, she likes to ride in the stroller backwards and chew on her head rest. Other days she faces forward and gets excited and kicks her legs when she sees birds fly by, hears a dog barking, or sees a basketball goal (we think it's because she thinks it's a person...it's really funny). After our walk, we come inside and cool off before we go into her room to get ready for a nap. We read a couple of books together, close her blinds and cuddle for a minute until I lay her down with her blanket and bear. She spends a few minutes, after I leave the room, cooing and chatting before she falls asleep. Usually her morning nap is from 9:30-11:30am. That's when I get a shower, check my email, make phone calls, and try to get some chores done.

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When she wakes up from her nap, we have lunch and get ready to go somewhere. Anywhere. Neither of us like to be in the house all day long. We'll go to Target or visit friends or go get the oil changed like we did today. She does really well in her car seat for errands around town. When we go places longer than 45 minutes away, she gets a little stir crazy. But who doesn't.

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After we get back to the house, we play until it's time for Zoey's afternoon nap. About 2:15pm we go back into her room, read some more books, close the blinds and cuddle. She sleeps from 2:30-3:40pm but I tend to let her play in her crib until 4pm just so we both have some time to ourselves in the afternoon. At four o'clock Zoey has her dinner and then "plays" while I get dinner ready. Notice I said "plays." What this usually looks like is while I'm trying to work in the kitchen she is fussing in the living room wondering why I'm not playing with her. She does not like to be by herself. It's something we're working on but it can definitely test my patience. After 15-20 minutes of this...right about the time that I'm torn between letting her fuss and letting her learn the value of independent play, Dave comes home and scoops her up.

Yippee! Daddy always saves the day.

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Now today was a bit different. Dave has class on Monday nights so Zoey and I are on our own for evening playtime and dinner. Tonight we played inside until someone was tired of her surroundings. So we gathered up some outside toys and grabbed the plastic wadding pool (a gift from grammy & papa) and played in the front yard. The pool gives her the ability to play outside in the grass without having to worry about ants and spiders. Yuck. The weather has been warm during the day but it cools off and is lovely in the early evening.

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Thanks for sharing a day with Jenni & Zoey. Hope you had fun.

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PLAYING OUTSIDE THIS EVENING
new pics posted on flickr

football season is HERE!!!

As you know, Dave is from Pittsburgh, PA and is a Steeler fan by birth. I am a Steeler fan by marriage. :>) We celebrated the season opener by watching the game with my folks and Josh & Erika. As you can see, Zoey was very excited about the win and she was thrilled to wear her jersey.

Later that afternoon, Zoey came down with a cold. It was no big deal, at first, but then on Tuesday she stopped nursing. As of tonight, she is still on a nursing strike and we're trying to get fluids in her any way possible. Since tomorrow is Friday and she's still not making progress, I'll be taking her to see the doctor again before the weekend begins. Thankfully the cold has almost cleared up and she is able to sleep and nap again. She just doesn't seem like herself. There is a great possibility that she is teething and that it's just too painful to nurse right now.

Dave and and I humbly request your prayers for this situation. Please pray for wisdom for the doctor we see tomorrow that he will be able to shed some light on why she might be doing this. Also, please pray for healing rest for Zoey and for any pain she might be experiencing to go away completely so she will want to nurse again.We appreciate you all very much.

new pics posted on Flickr

My best friend, Shay

This is my best friend, Shay. She is amazing. This picture was taken at her baby shower/girls' night out the night before she went into the hospital to be induced to deliver her third baby. She had a baby boy named Ty Orlando. He is precious and his big brothers, Aidan(4) and Eli(2), think he's pretty wonderful.

I have been friends with Shay for, at least, 10 years. We were bridesmaids in each others weddings and have been there for each other during many of life's major milestones.

The two things I appreciate most about Shay are her faithfulness and her wisdom. She is a great example of a faithful wife and friend and she gives amazing, biblical advice. She has such a gentle spirit but she can crack you up with her sense of humor...just ask her what sound a dinosaur makes. :>)

I feel the Lord has blessed me with many things: a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, a fantastic family. But He went above and beyond when he put Shay in my life. Thank you, Lord.

new pics posted on Flickr

Welcome home, Zoey

We're home!!! And we couldn't be more excited. Zoey, 7 1/2 months, doesn't seem to remember our house at all and so she is a little nervous about everything. She doesn't know her room or her bed and she has had a difficult time falling and staying asleep. She has figured out that she can sit up in her crib but I don't think she knows she can lay down when she's ready to sleep. I know she'll get back to her normal schedule and that we all just need a few days to re-adjust. It's been difficult to unpack because when Zoey's awake, she cries unless we're holding her or playing on the floor with her. Our house is significantly bigger than our one room cabin at kamp. She must think when we leave the room, we're never coming back. She also has a bad cough which keeps her up at night and at nap times. As soon as we get unpacked and her cough goes away, we'll get back on track.

The state of Texas pushed back the start date for school, so we actually have a week off between kamp and the first day of school. We can't begin to tell you how amazing it is to have down time after kamp. What a treat! It's 109 degrees out today so unfortunately we'll be hanging out inside, but at least we can do fun stuff.

Gotta go...Zoey's calling.

new pics posted on flickr