March Already....

I can't believe how fast this year is already going. It is already March and I just got the hang of writing 2009.
Well, we have been doing really well at the Zak household. Julianna is reading and getting smarter than her daddy everyday. Ansley is trying to crawl, although using her head to push herself around seems a bit odd.
Nanni, Papa, Tara, Dawson, and Lauren came for a visit a couple weeks ago. We took the kids to Portrait Innovations to have their pictures taken. The kids did such a great job. Of course, after we spent all afternoon with the kids and spent way too much on pictures, we had to buy frames for them. So I finally have pictures of my girls hanging in the house. We have been in the house for almost 2 years, and only had 1 picture hanging. I changed that last week. We now have pictures everywhere! I love it.

The kids had such a great time hanging out together, as always. Dawson did have to go to the emergency room though, for croup. But, I did get some pretty cute pictures. He is such a funny kid. At one point, when the doctor or nurse hadn't been in the room in a while to check on him, he said "what kind of hospital is this?" We couldn't help but agree.

Last week Julianna went to Build a Bear Workshop and got a black dog named Snowflake. Now her favorite animal is dogs- not sure that she will ever have one in real life, but we will let her have the stuffed kind. She got a much needed haircut yesterday from Jason's barber. I know, a barber? But it turned out really cute.

Ansley is doing well. She went to the doctor twice this week. Once for shots and the next day for a cough and suspected ear infection. Her ears were perfectly clear though! She just pulls on them when she is tired when she scratches her head. She now weighs 14.9 pounds. She is an itty bitty. The doctor said that she should be drinking 24 ounces a day, but to get that much in her is a struggle. She is way too busy to eat. I am questioning if she is really my baby.

I know I am biased, but seriously...

Have you ever seen anything this cute?

A Southern Snow

Well, this week we had our first (and probably only) snowfall of the season. We got about 3 or 4 inches of snow and didn't have school on Tuesday and then had a 2 hour delay on Wednesday. It was nice to just hang out in our jammies and watch the presidential inauguration. I know that all the northerners make fun of us for not knowing how to drive in the snow and for stocking up on milk and bread, but do you really mind a day off for snow once a year... Julianna played out in the snow for about 30 minutes. Her feet were "frozen" so the fun didn't last too long. By the end of the afternoon I had a little cabin fever, so we went out to dinner at one of our favorites- Qdoba.
The girls are still enjoying spending time with Grandma Campbell, and I think that the feeling is mutual. Grandma said that she missed them since she didn't come on Monday and Tuesday. I wonder if she will be feeling that same way in May when Ansley is getting into everything and Julianna has Spring Fever.
We are still trying to get Ansley to sleep through the night- if anyone has any suggestions, I will listen!
Yesterday we went to Diddy and Susan's house to celebrate our birthdays. Julianna always has so much fun playing with Diddy- he is such a big kid himself.
Today Julianna is going to a birthday party at a roller skating rink, and she is very excited about it. I know she will have fun.

It's About Time...

I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while, things got busy when I went back to work last week.
We had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house again because I am not quite sure that I am ready to give that up. Santa came and brought Julianna a bike! She has been riding it when the weather permits and doing a great job without her training wheels. Santa brought Ansley some little toys and books. The girls got lots of beautiful clothes from their grandparents. Apparently Grammie has discovered the joy in buying girlie clothes (and I love it). Christmas day we spent time visiting family and enjoying lots of good food and company. I love that even as I get older, the excitement of Christmas doesn't fade.
On the 26th we headed to Ohio to visit our colder family members and to celebrate Christmas with them. We had camp Christmas one night, and the Price family Christmas one night, and had lunch with Grandpa Ron. Last year there were no "babies" in Ohio and this year there were babies all over the place. So much fun. Dawson and Julianna had a great time playing together, like always. He is so sweet to listen to everything that she says and not argue! No wonder she is so sad to leave. Ansley and Lauren had a good time getting to know each other. I was hoping that Lauren would tell Ansley about sleeping through the night, but I guess she is keeping that secret. The day that we left (New Year's Eve) it snowed a few inches. Julianna and Dawson had fun playing in it, while we packed up.






We celebrate Christmas with Grandma Fran and Grandpa Ed when we got back into town. The girls were spoiled again with lots of wonderful and thoughtful gifts from them!

I stared back to work last Monday, and waking up was quite a shock to the body! Grandma Campbell has been taking care of Ansley and Julianna after school and the girls seem to love it! Julianna is disappointed in the afternoons when Grandma leaves to go home.

We had a little Panther Party for the playoff game last week. We wore our Panther gear and made a Panther cake (which I now refer to as Looser cake). Grammie and Grandpa came over and we ate dinner and watched the game- at least we had fun getting ready for it.



We did find out that Ansley has baby "acid reflux" which explains the spitting up and fussiness. Dr. Laramie put her on Zantac this week and things have been a lot better. She still isn't sleeping through the night, but she isn't waking up inconsolable either! I hate that we didn't know sooner, and that she was in pain for a while.




Julianna is back in the swing of things and getting smarter than Daddy. She has been reading to us every night. I can't believe how quickly she has picked it up. The ability to read is life changing and I am so excited that she enjoys it. Jason ran into Mrs. Fenimore (Julianna's teacher) this week and she said that "Julianna is wonderful and we should be very proud of her." We are!

Cookie Night

Yesterday we went to church with my parents and my sister and Graham. Julianna went to Children's Church- because she and I both learn more when she is in there. As I sat in the row with my husband, baby, parents, sister, and Graham (and knowing that Julianna was only a couple rooms away) I felt that our family was complete. Not that there won't be more kids or changes, but at that moment I felt totally at peace. I remember feeling that way last year on Christmas Eve at my parent's house.

Last night was the annual "Cookie Night" at my Grandma Hazel's house. It is probably one of my favorite days of the entire year, and definitely one of my favorite memories growing up. Every year the family goes to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner and then we make Christmas cookies. Grandma has always made homemade dough and icing. All of the brothers and sisters, cousins, and grandparents gather in the kitchen and watch the magic. There is always a little friendly trash talking about who will win the contest- although there is never a winner!
Last night I didn't make cookies. I sat in the sun room with Ansley Claire and watched from the quiet room. It was like a movie with the carols in the background and the excitement just one room away. I saw my daughter making cookies with her dad. My sister making cookies with her fiance. And my entire family together.
We are so blessed.
4 Generations

Party Time

Thursday was Julianna's 6th birthday- I know, I can't believe it either. She woke up early and came and got in bed with me while Jason got ready- she was very excited about her day. Grandma Campbell came over and watched Ansley Claire while I went to Julianna's school to pass out snack. Since she doesn't like cupcakes we brought in cookies. Julianna picked Bella to help her pass out the snack. I was only there about 15 minutes, but that was long enough for me to realize what a saint Mrs. Fenimore is. Seriously, I don't know how she does it everyday!


Thursday evening Julianna didn't think that we were going to do anything special, but I had invited all the grandparents over for dinner. Jason took her out for a little while and I got ready for the party. Jason took her shopping for a necklace at Hand Picked. She picked out a necklace with blue beads on it- very sweet. No more plastic jewelry for her anymore. When she got home all the grandparents were here and she was surprised. We had spaghetti for dinner and a cookie cake for dessert. She got lots of nice presents, but her favorite was a $4 pointer that I got for her at the school book fair. Apparently it is what her teacher uses to point to things in the classroom. Julianna practiced running a classroom with the family as her students. She had her hands full with us.



Friday evening Jason and I took Julianna to see "The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever" at the Imaginon Theater. Diddy came over and watched the baby. The play was wonderful. Julianna was so disappointed when it was over. I need to try and find the movie for her.


Last night was the sleepover. Wow!!! We had 4 girls come over for the party. We ate pizza, decorated and ate cookies, and made jewelry. Jason stayed with the girls in the bonus room (since it isn't really connected to the house) and I stayed with the baby. I think this was probably the first time Jason wished that he could nurse. The girls watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and played. They had a lot of fun. This morning we planned on having waffles for breakfast. When Jason told the girls that we were having breakfast they requested pancakes, eggs, and bacon- I guess next time we will know!


Ansley Claire is doing really well. She has taken a bottle everyday this week- I don't want her to forget how. She has been rolling over and sleeping in her own crib. The first night I cried myself to sleep, but I think that she sleeps better in her nursery and I definitely sleep better. She tried green beans for the first time yesterday- not so sure that she will be a fan of those, but at least I got some cute pictures!

Kids Questions

Last night I was helping Julianna get ready for bed and she asked, "Mom, how do you meet a man?" She said she needed to know for when she is older...way older according to her father!
Isn't it funny the things that kids are thinking about. I am kinda glad that I can't read her mind!