Spring has Sprung!

Dear Kate and Riley,
I know all the people in Utah and Wisconsin and other cold places hate it when I say things like Spring is here! because, well let's face it, its pretty much spring here all the time. But I look forward to our California springs when we can get back to the reason we live here, the beach. We've had some good beach days in the past few weeks. I've also discovered how much a very active almost 18 month old deters even the most determined mom from taking pictures. He just moves too fast for me! I find that by the time I even find my camera he's often no where to be found. Just not worth it most days. I'm determined that next week in Palm Springs (we get to tag along with Dad to a work conference). I'll get some good shots.

a beach day

St. Patrick's Day, it seriously took me like 20 min to get one shot of him looking at me

I got rid of our patio furniture and felt like I doubled our sq. footage, he LOVES playing on the patio!

I found the solution to the eating problem, get him REALLY hungry! This day after playing on the patio all morning and at the park all afternoon, I swear I've never seen him eat more. Here he is eating every last crumb, even the ones that fell on his shirt. And seriously, are those fat feet in the flip flops the cutest thing you've ever seen or what?!

Love,
Mom

We've been MIA

Dear Kate and Riley,
Well there's nothing like the month of February to make sure that life is really boring. After all of the traveling we were doing I was ready to get back to boring and we have done just that. Unfortunately that makes for bad blogging as well.

We've really been up to nothing lately and its been nice. A lot of park days, play dates and napping and its just how I like it.

Zachary is just getting bigger every day, he's flown through the last two sizes of clothes and I almost wanted to cry when I had to buy my BABY shorts that were size 2T! He is big and everyone seems to assume he is older than he is. He's learning SO much and it is so much fun to watch him so aware of his surroundings.

Some "new" things in our boring last month--

• new words-- almost every day its something new and he will imitate almost anything. His personal favorite is "TRUCK" which he yells non-stop as we are driving. Also "birdie" which sounds a LOT like baby and I couldn't figure out why he was always pointing and yelling about the babies until I realized they were birdies! "Pooh Bear" is another cute one though it may only be decipherable by mom and dad. I love hearing him try out new words (and sounds, he's really good at car and motorcycle sounds)
• food-- it has become such an issue. Zach (and mom) found out the hard way that eating nothing but carrots for two days WILL cause digestion issues (I won't go into the other details). He seems to be all or nothing. I agree with Aunt Kelli's theory that they are like rats, he must just store it up for those bad days.
  
• sickness-- first double ear infection combined with a sinus infection and a nasty cough. No fun for mom or Zach. This led to first round of antibiotics and mom's first worry that her kid is going to be a druggie as he literally SQUEALS with delight every time I give him his medicine and immediately says "mo, mo mo" (more, more more!)
• singing-- Zach is LOVING when we sing with him and although he doesn't try to sing along so much he is getting better at doing the motions, this kid is READY for nursery (oh PLEASE can't we send him a month early!?)
• shows-- yes I'm one of "those" moms. I swore I wouldn't be but if its between turning on a show or having him get into a huge mess while I get ready or make dinner, well I choose show. He loves "Tigger and Pooh" and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" they are both pretty annoying but whatever keeps him happy. Mom prefers "Backyardigans" and "wonderpets" so we compromise sometimes.
  
• Cars-- what is it with boys and their cars? While spring cleaning last weekend we found a big bag of Dad's old matchbox cars. It was like Christmas morning! He has done nothing for the past three days but line those cars up and then throw them all on the ground. He also puts them all in a basket which he then carries into the kitchen. Then he RUNS the cars back and forth from the basket to the coffee table. I don't know why, but I'm not asking.

Ok I think that was a long enough post to make up for two weeks of not posting. March should be more exciting. We have at least one trip planned and Aunt Jill and Uncle Austin will be in town so that will be exciting too.

Here's my treat to make up for having no pictures. Ignore the horrid singer in the background. And forgive me for trying to get the most out of the St. Patrick's Day shirt.




Love,
Mom

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dear Kate and Riley,
What a fun, fun weekend we had! Friday night Dad took me out for a romantic pre-Valentine's date. It was easier to get a reservation and a babysitter the day before so it worked for us. Dad took me to a nice Italian restaurant called Antonello. It was fancy and SO nice to eat a meal without a little monkey needing my attention. We walked around after and ended up at BJ's for a pizookie where we discovered the new TRIPPLE CHOCOLATE pizookie which was pretty much to die for. I can't wait until I have an excuse to have another one. Zach had a great babysitter and probably had a lot of fun without us.

Saturday I got to get my hair done, it had been months and it was really a treat for me. We got chinese food and just stayed in to avoid the "going out" crowds.

Sunday we celebrated Dad's birthday by having some friends over for dinner and dessert. We had four little kids in our house and it was pure chaos.

Monday was Dad's actual birthday. We decided to head up to Disneyland because they are having a promotion this year and annual passholders get a gift certificate on their b-day for $69! The problem with going to Disneyland is that it was POURING rain. I bet its the most rain we'll have all year and there we were at Disneyland! We took Zach to the playhouse Disney show since it was inside and then Dad stood in the rain to get his gift card. We were so soaked afterwards we just left. Probably wasn't quite the day he wanted but it was an adventure! We spent the rest of the day warming up and drying off.

Love,
Mom

Zach, amazed at the playhouse Disney show!

Dad, trying to wait out the rain at Disneyland

New haircut!

Valentine's Fun

Dear Kate and Riley,
I decided that Zach was old enough this year to participate in a little family tradition. Valentine's cookies. My mom used to make sugar cookies with us every year at Valentine's day. I loved that she made the dough pink and I loved making the giant heart shaped cookies. So for Family Home Evening we decided to give it a shot. Zach had a lot of fun and made a big mess. The cookies turned out pretty good! We are going to send some to Uncle Bret in the MTC, hopefully they don't all break in the mail.
Love,
Mom

The first thing he did was rub flour all over his face and in his hair

He was very serious about this job

Over it, and off to the bath before he could touch anything!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Dear Kate and Riley,
There is only one word for your brother right now and that is TROUBLE! This kid is keeping us on our toes. He has learned how to climb on everything and anything. It seems that any time I turn my back he is into some kind of crazy situation. Nothing is safe any more. I thought that falling off of the kitchen chairs a couple of times would teach him a lesson but he hasn't seemed phased at all.
Keep an eye on him!
Love,
Mom

This is how I found him the other day. He climbed up there all by himself and pulled
out the keyboard. He was very proud of himself and his little hood that he kept on all day
just really completed the "thug" image he was going for.

A Personal Best! And a little vacation

Dear Kate and Riley,
What a week! We have been on the go for over a week now and I'm happy to be home. It started with a drive to Phoenix so I could run in the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon. It was by far the biggest race I have ever been a part of (something like 30,000 people!) so that was crazy. But it was exciting and a flat easy course. I was hoping to better my last time but never imagined I'd knock 16 min off of it! I came in at 2 hours 8 min which I'm sure is really slow to some people but was speedy for me! I felt great and like I really raced and gave it my all so I was happy.

We spent the weekend in Phoenix with beautiful weather at a beautiful hotel (I am getting so spoiled, dad better not ever get a different job!). Then we left the sun and headed to cold, smoggy Utah to see Uncle Bret off at the MTC. We got to spend some time with the Hansens and play with "aunties" Liz and Michelle. Zach had fun playing with Henry, Owen and Taylor! So many new friends. And I decided that even a huge house with a basement wouldn't be worth leaving our California sun! (I still don't understand what people do with kids all winter)

We are excited to get back into a routine and be boring for a while. I'm training for another race in April and am hoping to get just a little bit faster.

Love,
Mom

Swimming with Dad in Phoenix

The best support crew (who had a hard time finding mom in the crowd!)

Mom and Zach at the finish line

Uncle Bret with Zach

The "O-H" original Hansen family at the MTC with Uncle Bret

Zach and his new best bud Henry at the children's museum
Zach LOVED the water and was soaked!

Zach and Henry

Zach snuggling with Taylor, I wanted to bring her home with me,
she was GREAT with Zach!

January Surprise!

Dear Kate and Riley,
What a fun surprise to have an 80 degree weekend in January! Even for the spoiled Californians that is a treat. Combine that with a visit from Uncle Andrew and fam and you have a perfect weekend! Zach hadn't been down to the beach really since he could walk (at least not when it was warm!) and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. In fact I would venture to say it was one of the best days of his life so far. Combine sand (yes he's still eating it by the handful), water (another of his favorite things) and older cousins and he was in HEAVEN! We had a blast too and it made me really excited for this summer. We are headed to Disneyland tomorrow and are going to try to enjoy every minute of this warm weather until it leaves us again for a few months.

Love,
Mom

Dad's future quarterback?

Zach and Camryn

This is my favorite, it totally captures how much fun he was having!

Happy New Year!

Dear Kate and Riley,
Happy 2009! We took it easy with just dinner and hanging out at home with a few friends. We did make it to midnight though which I have to say I was pretty surprised about!

2008 was a good year for us and we are hoping for an even better 2009!

Love,
Mom

Merry Christmas!

Dear Kate and Riley,

Merry Christmas a little late. We just got back from Christmas in Houston with all the Hansens. It will be our last time all together for at least two years since Uncle Bret is leaving on his mission in just a few weeks. It was fun to be with everyone, Zach, Summer and Ali are just a handful all together but I think that a good time was had by all. We survived both 3 hour plane rides with only minor melt downs and one "poop incident" which left some of Zach's pants in the trash can of the Houston airport.

Zach was spoiled by grandparents and aunts and uncles, mom and dad had some wonderful nights out (and even an overnight away!), we got to take Uncle Bret to the temple for the first time, hear his very funny and touching farewell talk, take Zach to see his first real live alligator, dad got to "golf" with Zach for the first time, we all ate lots of fattening food and just appreciated being together.

Being in the temple with all of my siblings and my parents was a really special moment. I really felt your presence that night at the temple and felt that you got to be there with us. I knew that if it was a touching day for me it must have been 100 times more special for my parents. I would imagine that was a very proud moment for them to have all of their children together in the temple and I'm sure there were times when they wondered if it would ever happen. I was so glad we got to do that before Bret left.

Reading with Grandpa Ross

Christmas Eve "bells" our favorite tradition!

Christmas Eve pj's. They say "What Santa doesn't bring me, Grandma will!"
So true. And seriously, will I ever get these three to look at the camera!?

Christmas morning

I love this picture, the Christmas morning overload. Dad had a good fro going on.

Overwhelmed by presents galore!

Uncle Bret after his farewell talk

Dad finally got to take Zach golfing!

Brazos Bend, the alligator park. The kids loved the bridge, moms and grandma were a little nervous about it.

We actually saw a bunch of alligators. This was a little one but still pretty cool!

Love,
Mom

Nightmare before Christmas!

Dear Kate and Riley,
Zach had a traumatic morning today at our ward breakfast with Santa. It really wasn't a bad morning, just a bad 30 seconds or so when Dad set Zach on Santa's lap. His friend Will quickly made up for it by letting Zach play with his car out in the parking lot, far away from Santa and that scary red suit!

Other that traumatizing Zach with Santa, we have been having fun getting into the season. We had to forgo our usual tree for a small one on the table that Zach couldn't destroy. But we made up for it by going to a tree lighting ceremony with some friends. We have hit up some ward holiday parties and have done a little shopping, we even caved and let Zach open one present early that was too big for us to bring to Houston. Hopefully the season hasn't been ruined for Zach by his little visit with Santa. Maybe when he realizes that Santa is the one to bring him all of his goodies on Christmas morning he'll have a change of heart.

Love,
Mom

Tree lighting ceremony in Laguna Niguel

Making up for traumatic Santa visit by playing with Will.
They're both SO happy!

Taking a turn in the car, Will was much more keen on being pushed than pushing

Happy Birthday!

Dear Kate and Riley,
Happy second birthday. I cannot believe two years have passed. The one year mark seems like yesterday. Last year it was cold and gloomy on your birthday, this year it was warm and sunny. I felt like it kind of reflected a change in me as well. I was happy last year too but time does wonderful things for healing hearts and this year celebrating your birthday did feel a little more like celebrating instead of grieving. I did have myself a good cry last night but I also actually enjoyed shopping for your gifts that we are going to donate and buying pretty things to bring to the cemetery today.

Dad, Zach and I headed to the cemetery this afternoon with balloons and flowers and got such a nice surprise when we got there to find that Grandma and Grandpa Hansen had already sent a big huge arrangement and balloon that was on your headstone already. It was much more beautiful than the flowers we brought and it was just a great surprise.

Zach is still a little too young to understand but we told him that his sisters are here and that the balloons and flowers were for your birthday. We had him wave goodbye as we left and that just really touched me. I know that someday he will understand and then going to the cemetery will have more meaning for him. Today he was just excited about balloons.

I hope you have a big celebration in heaven. We got to go to a musical at the church last night called Savior of the World. It was all about the life of Christ. I was glad that we got to go the night before your birthday so we could be reminded of the wonderful gifts of the atonement and resurrection and know that we will see you again some day. We love you so much. We remember you in our prayers always and you are such an important part of our family.

Love,
Mom

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Kate and Riley,
Happy late Thanksgiving! We spent the week in Utah with ALL the family. It was crazy to have every member of both my side and Dad's side of the family in town and it made for a fun and crazy week. Zach had SO much fun with all of his cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, he was spoiled all week and by the end of the week he was a very tired baby.

I just love the holidays and with Zach getting older they are even more fun. We are blessed to be able to travel and see everyone. Aunt Stacy and I were talking one night about how lucky we are to have married into such a great family. The O'Farrells are a wonderful family and I am so happy to be a part of them, I love all of dad's family so much and have so much fun hanging out with them. Stacy and I also decided that we married well. Dad and his brothers are all great husbands who take great care of their families. I am so grateful for Dad!

I am also grateful for my family, it is so fun as we grow and add new people like Uncle Christian and it is SO much fun to watch Zach with Summer and Ali. Christmas is going to be chaotic but fun with those three all under the same roof, I can't wait! We are thinking of you as your 2nd birthday nears. Dad and I have found a great opportunity to donate your birthday presents to Concept 7 which is a local foster care agency. If any of our family or friends want to donate in your behalf they can bring toys to me or drop them off at a toys for tots or other donation place. We would love to get other people to do some donations in your honor and send in pictures that I could post on your birthday.

Love,
Mom

Zach and Grandma Janice, aka "Granice"

Ali, Zach, Summer. Ever tried to sit three one year olds on a wall and take their picture? It doesn't work. Swimming in Park City where Grandma and Grandpa stayed.

Cousin bath time! Summer, Ali, Zach

Zach and Granpa Ross, aka "Gross" at temple square. Mom and Dad got a night off!
Notice the socks on this poor child's hands. I really did have gloves for him but I didn't bring them for him that night because I didn't think they would dare to go out with all three babies.

Everyone kept telling us how warm it was in Utah. Zach and I disagreed.

This picture got distorted in the upload but I couldn't leave out your cute new cousin Jake! He's adorable!

Dad and Zach making a card for Great Grandma Gen at the O'Farrell family Christmas party. Zach LOVED doing the stamps with Dad.