Oct 25, 2006
Go away please
Oct 22, 2006
Pictures from our camping trip
Chris and Zach at the campsite.
Chris & Isabella looking at the falls.



Oct 21, 2006
Our first camping trip
We got out there and set up our tent. Isabella couldn't figure out that if she went in the tent she would have to take her shoes off, and then put them back on. We only did that 10 times. And then she promptly had an accident all the way down to her shoes. Thankfully we still had her pool socks in the car. Isabella loves her new sleeping bag and was very excited to sleep in it and to eat hot dogs which was her mantra as soon as the tent was put up.
Zach stayed up later than usual, but I fed him and he went right to sleep in the pack-n-play. Isabella ate 4 marshmallows and played with the other kids, but went to sleep easily while listening to her VeggieTales on the portable speakers and iPod. Zach started "talking" at 4:45 a.m. and of course Isabella woke up. I couldn't feed Zach back to sleep, so we talked and played quietly in the tent, trying to not wake Daddy. Isabella finally got antsy so we got out and got dressed, Zach had food, we went to the bathroom, and discovered others of our friends had awakened. We enjoyed breakfast burritos by the fire and despite the somewhat short night, called the trip successful.
We are looking forward to going again. Happy Birthday to me. I'm sure Chris will be posting some photos.
Oct 16, 2006
Date with Daddy

Later I went to pick them up from Ashley's house where they stayed for the afternoon, and Zach was showing off. He's taken a couple of crawl "steps" but hasn't quite got it yet. But, as you can tell from the picture, he is working hard at it. 
Some comments
When I was taking Zach upstairs to put him to bed, Isabella (while eating her donut with sprinkles) called out "I yove you Yach! I yove you."
When we were putting her to bed, Chris asked Isabella who we were going to pray for. She said "Nobody." So Chris started to pray and said "We pray for nobody." She interrupted with "Yesbody." And then she prayed for her usual suspects as well as her babysitters Georgeanne, Haley, and Tiffany. She loves them.
Oct 15, 2006
Trike

She also has a trike (pink) that her Grandma and Grandpa DeGarmo gave her. She loves sitting on it, but she has not been able to ride it. A while back (about a week or so) we went to Babies R Us and there was a little trike there. She got on it and I told her what to do. She finally figured out how to push each foot in turn to make it go forward. I captured some video on my phone and you can see it here.
She was really excited as she got it going saying "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" all the way. By the time I got the video going, she was more focused on what she was doing... now she can ride her pink trike at home as well. I think she'll have to get a little taller to ride the bike, but she still likes to get on it whenever she can...
Oct 13, 2006
Park
And Belle rode the cow. She also played with a little girl in the park and got her pant's seat nice and muddy. It's hard to have fun if you're not getting dirty...
Mouthful
Oct 12, 2006
Fire truck
Isabella and I moved quickly up to the store and watched as the a guy in a tow truck pulled up, jumped out with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. She was pretty excited. "Man blow out fire!" We went in and looked at dishwashers and then came back out in time to see the fire truck that showed up. Isabella was fascinated. She waved to the firemen then said, "Tell mommy about fire truck when get home!" And that is just what she did. I'm betting she'll be talking about it for a long time...
Oct 11, 2006
Zach's latest weight
Oct 10, 2006
Monday fun
Typically when Katie gets here, it is about time for Zach to take a nap. This leaves me with 2, which is easy for the most part. Then when Zach is waking up, it's time for Katie to go to sleep, so we switch them out. When it's all done, out of 3 hours of watching all of them, I only really have 3 at a time for a few minutes.

Then there was Monday. Katie got up at 5am so she went down for a nap just prior to coming over. When she got here, she was happy as a clam and had no intention of going back to sleep. Thankfully, Zach was tired, so he went down. Isabella and Katie played well together for quite a while while watching an episode of Blue's Clues. After a while, Zach woke up again.
I thought, "this is the time to get them all out of the house. We'll go do something fun, like drive in circles killing time, or buying milk at sams." Brilliant plan. I put Zach on the floor, I put Isabella on the couch. I start to put her shoes on.

I then hear screeching from behind me. I look back and Katie (15 months) has Zach's top lip up over his nose. I let out a "yipe" and she then proceeds to bean him on the face 3 times in the not so gentle "Pat Pat Pat" that her parents have taught her to do to things she likes. Turns out more like "slap slap slap" on the face, and Zach bursts in to tears. I grab Katie and set her up the chair, all the while saying, "no Katie, no. be gentle with Zach. no hurt Zach." She bursts in to tears.
I go back to Zach and pick him up and discover that he is FINE and he starts to settle down.

However, Isabella then bursts in to tears saying, "No Katie hurt Zach! No Katie be gentle with Zach! No hurt my Zachy!" By this time, Zach is back to smiling and being happy. Katie is sitting in the chair wondering what just happened and how she's going to climb down. Isabella is beside herself and wants to personally inspect any possible damage done to her little brother. She then takes up the guard position between Katie and Zach as to fend off any future hostilities.
All of this should have had be laughing, but let me tell you, three little kids screaming at once can really ratchet the stress-o-meter right to the top of the scale. When it was all done, I was ready for everyone to come home!
I'm just thankful that Ashley gets to experience the joys for 3 at once as well on Friday's. I'm willing to bet that she is calmer about the whole thing. :-)
Chris
Oct 9, 2006
Jesus Loves Me
A Few Pictures
Zach the traveler. Mostly he is gets around by the face in the carpet tummy inchworm method, but with a little help he can get around a little easier. He's not walking yet, but he's having fun trying.
Isabella was so excited when Zach got to go swing with her at the park. They had a great time.
"Daddy Red, Mommy Red, Zach Red!" Isabella exclaimed as she looked around the room through the top of a ziploc container. She thought it was cool that everything was red.
What kind of p?
Funny, when I was little, I thought it was an "Elmeno-P" I wasn't sure what that was, but it didn't matter. She has decided it must be an "apple-p." :-)
Chris



