Apple Picking 2k9

At the beginning of October we got to take Zach apple picking for his first time! Since this is an annual trip that we take with Nate and Kristie it's easy to look back and remember what was going on around the time of previous years trips. Last year I remember watching other families with their children riding around in wagons and sitting on their dad's shoulders to reach the high branches. I wondered if Greg and I would ever get to experience that and prayed that God would bless us with children. Little did I know that I was already several weeks pregnant and that God was giving us such a precious and perfectly healthy son!

The apples and scenery were wonderful, too and we had a blast picking apples and hanging out in the beautiful orchard.

A HUGH spider we saw between two trees. Don't be fooled, I was no where near as close as the picture looks, my zoom was helping out. Greg was proud of me for getting a picture at all . . . I'm completely terrified of spiders . . . *chills down my spine*

I'm pretty sure Nathan wanted the spider to jump on me. Brother-in-laws are the best =)

Normally I get to be the tree climber, but Greg got to do that this year since Zach was strapped on to me in the carrier. I lived vicariously through him instead, haha.

Storytime with Dad

I absolutely LOVED to read when was I younger (and I still do, I just don't have as much time). I can clearly remember Saturday mornings sprawled out on the dining room floor right in front of our sliding glass door reading Nancy Drew for hours. The sun poured in and it was the most relaxing place (to a 10 year old) to lounge.

I'm determined that Zach will love to read just as much and it's never too early to start so I try to read to him each day. The other night, Greg was reading him a book before bed and I think Zach knew that each page turn was counting down to him being "forced" to sleep . . .



I'm not sure which is more sad . . . for him to hate sleep or reading?

Our dryer, may he rest in peace

Our poor little dryer finally bit the dust =( It was a hand-me-down from Steve and Carol and has served us well for the past 3 years (and them for many years before that) but it finally dried it's last load this month. The motor was so far gone that it would run dryer for 5 minutes, overheat and shut off, require an hour to cool down, run for 5 minutes, etc, etc.

Before we replaced it, Greg took the whole thing apart on several occasions and fixed several other problems it was having (a wire on the control panel had shorted out, the rollers were squeaking like a dying animal, and we thought a fuse had shorted out as well). With his handy-man skills we were able to keep it limping along for a few extra weeks, but when he figured out it was the motor that was dead and it was more to replace the motor than to buy a new dryer, we turned to craigs list.

Greg found a good deal from a guy that sold them out of a storage unit . . . we're really hoping it was legitimate and that we didn't buy someone's stolen dryer. Really, really hoping =)

So, now we have mis-matching laundry machines but I've never been so happy to have dry towels in under an hour!

Visiting Mawmaw and Pawpaw

A few weeks ago, Zach and I drove up to Concord to visit my grandparents who moved here right before Zach was born. It made my heart so happy to hop in the car and drive 20 minutes to visit with them as opposed to the previous 6 1/2 hours to Fairfax, VA. I hope that our visits with them will become more frequent now that Zach is awake for longer stretches between naps.


Pawpaw (he actually wants Zach to call him "grandfather") said that Zach is the most attractive male that's related to him. (Can you tell he believes in honesty in all situations, that's quite a qualifier there!) We won't tell his sons he said so . . . =)

Skilled at Sleeping

Zach loves to grab his sheet (or the blanket he's lying on during tummy time) in his little fists and snuggle down as far as he can when he's tired. During the night, the very edge of his mattress provides the best area to grip and we often find this when we get him up in the morning.


It apparently doesn't bother him at all, we'll just hear the normal happy baby noises letting us know he's awake.

Supermen

I love my boys . . .

Thumb sucker!

Zach has officially ditched his pacifier in favor of his thumb. (Except for car rides, his arms aren't quite long enough to manuvre around the safety straps yet!) He looks so content just lying there, sucking away. He still has some trouble getting the thumb in position, though. His most frequent blunder is to tuck the thumb in between his pointer and middle finger (picture the "I stole your nose" routine) and still try to suck only his thumb . . . doesn't work so well.

The best of friends . . .

One thing I was very nervous about before Zach was born was how Spartacus would adjust to having a baby around. And if his barking at cars and people going by the front door would wake up Zach. Thankfully, it's all working out wonderfully. He's only woken the baby up a few times and it really hasn't been a problem at all recently (Zach must be used to the sound from all the barking he heard while in the womb). It's been fun to see them interacting when they're both awake. Zach loves to stare and watch the dog and Spartacus seems to be counting down the days to when Zach gets to eat solid food and the messes will begin.

Spartacus will often stand guard over Zach when he's playing on the floor. I can't wait to see how these two will play together when Zach is mobile!

Greg took these pictures a couple weekends ago:

Don't you make me relax in a plush seat while rocking gently . . . don't you do it!

Zach has decided that swinging just isn't his thing. We've borrowed 2 different swings from friends and he'll chill in them for 10 minutes or so and pretend to be pretty happy . . . then the allusive swing monster jumps out and scares him . . . I can't even sit him down in the swing now without him screaming. Kind of defeats the purpose of the swing in my book =) Funny enough, we've discovered that he's super content just playing on blanket on the floor . . . low maintenance . . . I like it!

Here's Zach before the monster attacked . . . nearly asleep. I probably should have taken a picture of him screaming just moments later to prove my point, but you'll just have to trust me.

Wiggle Worm

As if anyone needed more proof that Greg and I would have hyper-active children . . . when I unzipped Zach's sleep sack this morning this is what I found: