Avocado!!

Zoe had her first taste of real food (as long as you don't count the pretzel Grey gave her or the lime she snatched from my margarita).  We started with a couple slices of avocado and she seemed to like it as long as she could feed herself! I think we have a very determined little girl on our hands :)

"I'm ready! Bring it on!"

 Daddy giving her a first taste

 "Not so sure about this daddy!"

 "Much better doing it myself"

 Finger licking good!

 "What happens if I bang it?"

 It is still yummy!

 Even better in a mesh feeder!

 nom!nom!nom!

 Grey liked to help her, too!

 "I could get use to this!"

Zoe: Six Months

Happy 1/2 birthday, Zoe!!
It's a celebration, you have survived our crazy wonderful family for 6 months and seem to be thriving! You have been very busy this month, learning how sit up, crawl, and put yourself into a sitting position. You can get to anything you want and one of your favorite things to find are SHOES! My shoes, daddy's shoes,  your brother's shoes...on or off...you love to find them and try to chew on them. I guess we need to be better about putting them away!

We have yet to figure out how to get you to sleep through the night. I have major mommy guilt going back to work so I just assume you need to make up for time lost during the day. Plus you are a tiny PEANUT, gaining less than 5 pounds in 6 months! You need all the calories you can get :) You get a few more months of a free ride and then we will reassess! I love the middle of the night cuddles though so I guess I am not ready to quite give it up either.

No one can make you laugh like your brother does. He gets a little rough playing with you and you just egg in on with your belly laughs. I am not sure whether to intervene or let it go. You love it when he "knocks" on your tummy with his fist...you think its hysterical! He also loves to come give you big big hugs...this is getting more interesting now that you are sitting up and crawling since you usually end up sprawled out underneath him! As long as you enjoy it, I guess I will sit back and just remind him that he needs to be gentle :)

You are very quick with your hands now. You love to grab faces, hair, glasses, anything you possibly can. You are lightning fast! Your hands are going nonstop and we have to be really really careful what we put within your reach.

You are one determined girl who knows what she wants. You can be VERY laid back but you also have no problem letting us know when you don't like something. Whether you are done with Grey being in your face or not wanting to get your nose wiped, you make it very clear to everyone when they have crossed your line of tolerance. You have quite the lungs for such a little girl!

You are really starting to enjoy baths now. You have always liked them but now you are splashing and grabbing at the toys and giggling at your brother's crazy antics. You love being in the bath chair and could splash for hours.

Your hair is starting to get long enough...just in the front, to put in a little pony. You look so stinking cute. And your dad still doesn't enjoy bows but I sneak them in occasionally for pictures :) You seem to like them!

You are starting to wrap your daddy around your little finger. When he comes in from work and you hear him talking, you try to find him and give him the biggest grin. It melts his heart and I am sure you can get away with anything as long as you just look at him adoringly like that :)

Your little personality is coming out more and more every day. You have definitely left infanthood behind you and are moving quickly towards that next step, before we know it you will be a toddler running around with all the other kids around here!

We love you more and more each day!

Love,
Momma

These are just a few out takes from our photo shoot :)

After I took out her pony she was rocking the mohawk

 She loves being outside, this is how she usually "sits up" from a crawl when she is pausing before taking off again...she is trying to figure out how to get her brother's wrench

 She loves crawling onto the grass, I can't keep her on a blanket!

 "Finally, momma, the good stuff!"

 She was very happy once she got to that prized wrench

SSU Soccer Alumni Weekend & Grey's First Fat Lip

SSU alumni weekend was a huge success this year. More than 50 alumni were out Saturday on the field, most of them not feeling that well from catching up with old friends the night before! I love the camaraderie of these guys, it is like a big family. The Parish family came to stay with us all weekend to enjoy the festivities. Since they moved to Chico, we hardly get to see each other. It was so much fun hanging out and catching up. We headed over for a pre-BBQ Friday night at the Barker's. ABout 10-15 of the guys and their families were there.

Ruggs, Zip, Grey, Carol, & Ellis

Catching up with old friends

Mastin & Paula

Grey found a skateboard while we were there and attempted to ride it. I was in playing with Zoe and the other babies when one of the older girls ran in yelling "there's blood!!" All the mom's jumped up and then she said "it's Grey's!" Daddy was out there and when I got there, there was blood all over Grey's face and all over daddy. A popsicle seemed to do the trick, made it stop bleeding, and a few minutes later Grey was asking why one of the other dad's had put the skateboard away because he wanted it again. Boys...

Zoe's night wasn't nearly as eventful other than all the older girls loved mothering her(carrying her around, playing with her, etc) and she was exhausted!

Grey had alot of fun playing with the kids on the soccer field the next day and watching daddy play. His favorite time is half time at all of daddy's games because all the kids get to go out and play on the field. This time, the ref even gave Grey his flag and Grey was running the sidelines :) Too bad I didn't have my camera!

Grey and Grammie watching daddy, hoping he would score a goal for them!

Grey had alot of fun playing with Fletcher and Anouk. Fletcher will be 4 in October and Anouk is 1.5 years old. With being right in the middle, there was always something entertaining to do. Anouk loved to come sit right by him where ever he was, it was super cute!

The kids playing doctor with Zippy's stethoscope!

The whole gang

Grey's lip was looking good all weekend. Especially after eating blueberries!

Looking forward to next year!

Tahoe 2011: Girls Weekend Minus the Girls & Kids!

Well, girls weekend did not go as planned this year with all the kids. Unfortunately, not all the girls or kids could make it. Four out of the five original kids had sibling born in the last year. We are adventurous but not THAT adventurous! NINE kids aged 3 and under? I am exhausted just thinking about it!

Grey, Zoe, and I still headed up to Tahoe with Michelle, Andrew, the other Michelle Wing(Andrew's aunt), Trevor, and Michelle's cousin, Alex. We arrived Friday and played around the condo, went outside to check out the creek that runs behind, and collect pine cones for a project with the kids. Michelle made pinecone bird feeders with peanut butter and bird seed. Both of the boys thought they were delicious!

Zoe trying to sit up on her own...she loved watching all the boys run around and loved playing with the toys scattered everywhere

Grey showing off his pinecones for his project

 Michelle risking her life for a photo op!

 The boys working hard (eating) on their art project!!

 Michelle missed her calling on a preschool teacher :)

 The boys loved playing with the bird seed outside-they had to strip out of their peanut butter covered clothes first though!

Friday night was a little rough. Both of my kids woke up crying and wouldn't fall back asleep until we were all cuddled up together on the pull out couch. Michelle and Alex win big points for getting up and comforting Grey while I tried to get Zoe back to sleep at 2 am...finally, Michelle just pulled out the couch and Grey thought it was the greatest idea to be able to cuddle with Zoe and everyone could get back to sleep.  Zoe was super cranky the next day and wouldn't nap well so we decided not to stay another night and torture everyone :) It turned out she was getting sick and has the never ending runny nose and crankiness that is just so much fun....I seriously have never heard her cry as much as she did this weekend, poor little girl!

Saturday, we walked around the Village at Northstar, played in the sand box, and did the build a bear with the boys. Grey made a cat that he has named " Kitty, Kitty, Nicki." Zoe was loosing her mind so the two of us headed back to the condo for some rest while everyone else headed to the swimming pool and then for pizza and ice cream. Grey was in heaven...thanks, Michelle!!

Grey showing off "kitty, kitty, nicki"

 Trevor, Grey, & Andrew enjoying the kids pool

Silly boys!

Even though it was cut short, we had fun like always but after this weekend, I think Michelle has me convinced to go back to the girls only weekend!! Already looking forward to it!

The boys are going to love this picture as they get older, especially when we have them hold hands every year!!

Zoe: Well Baby Check 5 months

We are about a month behind on all of our doctors visits...we have been so crazy busy! Any who...Zoe had her "4 month" check up at 5 months 1 week. She is healthy and strong. I think the word both the doctor and the injection clinic nurse both used was "determined." That is a word I use alot with her :) She is not fussy or whiny but when she doesn't want to do something, you are going to have a hell of a time convincing her other wise! The doctor was trying to use the tongue depressor to check her mouth and she didn't make a peep but kept pulling her head back to avoid it until she had spun a full 360 on the hospital bed.

Stats:
Weight: 14 pounds 12 oz (38 percentile)
Height: 27 inches (90 percentile)
Head Circ: 16.73" (64 percentile)

Missouri Trip 2011

We had another good trip back to visit family and friends in Missouri.  This year seemed to be geared towards Grey, and he had such a blast. We spent 10 days there and after a long flight back to California and an hour drive home from the airport, Grey wanted to go back....he was in tears that we were almost back at our house instead of at his grandparents! Here are tons of pictures of the trip, enjoy!

It's a good thing we brought the double stroller to carry all our stuff!

 Zoe stole my seat

 Gardening with Gigi. He loved picked all the fresh veggies and eating them straight out of the garden

 Climbing the tree-I think Gigi and Grandma Georgi must have over 100 pictures of kids over the years climbing this tree.

 Visiting with Great Grandpa Kearney

 Cooling off with a banana split at Clintons

 Reading the paper with Grandma Georgi

 Getting to drive a big rig at Grandma Georgi's work

 Playing at the Bass Pro Shop

 Eating sushi at the Drunken Fish with Quinn, Ben, & Granny Jo

 Chilling in Grandpa O's chair

 My cousin owns a rock climbing gym so we went to check it out

 Grey thought it was fun...but liked it best when she would swing him

 Grey liked watching daddy climb

 Finger painting with Gigi and Grandma Georgi

 Well, body painting

 Sleeping with Granny Jo...and holding on tight to her shirt so she won't put her down

 Fishing in Grandpa O's pond

 Helping daddy with the bait

 Playing with his bug friends

 Daddy showing off his spiderman fishing pole

 Grey loved sitting on the four wheeler and all the tractors, lawn mowers, and bob cat! He wanted to move there, it was a boys dream!