My "In Between" Day

Today I'm celebrating my "in between" day, that is, the day between Mother's Day (my first!) and my Birthday. My birthday has always fallen at a great time of year because it was never combined with Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday. Well, that is until this year. Fortunately because of leap year, my birthday never actually falls ON Mother's Day, but it has always been around it. I used to say I was my mom's Mother's Day gift.

Yesterday Kyle was supposed to work, but he used a pay day so that he could be with us all day for my first Mother's Day. I got cards from Zachary and Kyle in the morning before church, and Zachary presented me (okay, well Kyle AND Zachary) with my gift. Daddy had very bravely taken Zachary and had him make his handprint on a canvas and added the following poem to it for me:

"My Handprints"
My little hands play patty-cake.

They peek-a-boo and wave.

They catch me while I learn to walk,

And splash me as I bathe.

My little hands reach up to you

For hugs before I sleep,

And fold together when I pray,

"The Lord my soul to keep."

My little hands are tiny now,

But yours will serve to guide me.

And when I'm grown I'll still reach out

And know you're right beside me.

~Unknown

Zachary and Mommy on Mother's Day

After Sunday worship and Bible class, we went over to Mom-mommy's house for a big family Mother's Day lunch of grilled burgers, baked beans, macaroni casserole, and homemade strawberry ice cream--YUM! (The burgers were Mom-Mommys choice). After lunch Zachary was in very much need of a nap so we came home.

Also, Mother's Day marked 3 years ago we took home our two, precious and crazy kitties. Can't believe they've been part of the family for so long!

Cinnamon and Sugar, the night we brought them home. (Mother's Day 2006).

Well, today for my in between day, we had a busy day full of appointments and spending lots of money (unfortunately). I had a check-up Doctors appointment this morning and after that we went and dished out some of our savings to buy a new stove, because our oven part quit working a few weeks ago. :( Then we headed to HH Gregg where we bought the exact same stove we had when we lived in Texas, so we already know we like it. Then it was to Babies R Us to buy a 2nd car seat for the Civic, some things for our beach vacation, and baby gates because SOMEONE is CRAWLING now.

Zachary, crawling after his kitties. He hasn't caught them yet.

After that we grabbed a quick bie of lunch at Steak -N- Shake and rushed to Zachary's 9-month check-up appointment. And, YEA!, no shots today! Although, he did have to have his finger pricked to check levels in his blood which was absolutely NO fun and Zachary was NOT happy to wear a bandaid on his finger, even for a few minutes. (BTW, his blood was fine). Zachary now weighs 20 pounds even and is 28.5 inches long, average in height and weight. Everything checked out great, so hopefully we don't go back until after he turns 1 year old!

We'll see what tomorrow holds in store for my birthday (besides getting older!)

Great News!

This will be a short, but sweet entry. My Mom had a follow-up appointment today with her chemo Doctor and he says her numbers look good and he doesn't plan to see her for 3 months for blood work! Mom thinks she is feeling better, but is ready for school to be over so she can rest a little better. It is so good to finally hear some positive news from the Doctors about my mom because most of it has been bad in the last year.

Also, I got a call from my youngest older brother today and it turns out he will be making a trip up from South Carolina to come see us this next week because he has a job interview here! (Well, not here, but in East Ridge, which is also a suburb of Chattanooga). My brother has been without a job for awhile because his last job asked him to report incorrect numbers and so he was let go. Then the economy took a nose-dive as we all know. So, this is a great opportunity for him and hopefully it will work out. It would definitely be weird to have some of my family in town, but it would also be good for Zachary to have more cousins in town (his cousin Evan was 1 in November).

What I've Been Waiting For...

Today I got something I've been waiting my whole life for...Zachary's first word! And it was...Drumroll please....MAMA! (What else did you think it would be, Dada?!) I had just picked him up from spending the day at his grandparents and he just started babbling like crazy! He has been a big talker for a while now, but not so much with the babbling. Then all of a sudden, we heard it: "Mamamamama!" Of course as soon as I got in the car I had to call Daddy and brag, and then next important was to update my Facebook status (of course!) and share with the world my wonderful news. Now, mind you he hasn't said it again tonight, but that is beside the point! It was definitely the best Mother's Day/Birthday present he could have ever given me...music to my ears!

Speaking of music to my ears, I am looking into signing Zachary up for Kindermusik this fall as part of his birthday present. Kindermusik is a great program that introduces children to music at all stages of early life, and involves Mommy (or whoever wants to tag along with baby). I got a coupon to try a free class, so we are planning on going at the end of the month when the summer session starts up. My best friend does Kindermusik with her 2 year-old and they love it. So, hopefully I will have nothing but good to say about our preview class later this month!

In other Zachary news, I think he is ready to be weaned....off of baby food! (No, I am not ready to wean him off of me just yet!) He is getting very good at eating all sorts of finger foods I have given him over the last week: bread, pasta noodles, green beans, more bread, Cheerios, and did I mention bread? But by far, his favorite was PANCAKES. Over the weekend I made some and thought I'd let him try it after he'd already finished his oatmeal and fruit. Buddy, he GOBBLED those pancakes bites up! So I think we will be taking up stock in Bisquick soon!

Eating some "O's."