6 Months

(Just as a note.. Zach was 6 months on August 24th.. which is when I actually wrote this entry.. I just didn't get the pics/videos attached until today.. yes.. I know it's almost two months later..)

We've made it!! 6 Whole Months! Whew!!

So.. just to document some of Zach's progress over the past couple of months..

He mastered the art of rolling from back to front as well as front to back on July 1st, and by mid-July had developed his highly skilled combination of rolling and scooting on his back, inch-worm style to get around:



He loves to be on the ground scooting / rolling around and hates to be confined anywhere -- high chair, car seat, etc. Don't get me wrong, he tolerates these places for a time, but then starts to complain if he doesn't get his freedom.

He has started sitting up on his own for fairly good chunks of time, and can easily pick up just about anything, move it between hands, etc. His favorite? Chords (especially those attached to electronic devices) and paper (which, of course, if you don't grab it fast enough gets eaten).




Just a couple of weeks ago, he started eating solid foods and is catching on quickly and has gobbled down everything I've given him so far (which pretty much amounts to bananas and rice cereal)



Just recently, he's started to get up on his hands and knees and 'rock'.. looks like we're going to have a crawler on our hand in the near future:



He is such a happy little boy and LOVES to smile -- especially at strangers. It's amazing how much he's grown in the last 6 months.. it will be fun to see where he's at in another 6.

Reed Family

The day we came back from Monterey, Sharon & the Kids flew in for a visit. They were here for a week or so and then Greg joined them and on Saturday, August 14th, Lindsey was baptized. We were excited to see them and spend time with them and were really happy to be able to be there for her baptism!!

Since it was the first time in a very long time that the entire family was together, we actually succeeded in having some family pictures taken.

Escaping the Heat

Truth be told, it's been a very mild summer, with very few days in the 'intolerable' category. However, by about the 2nd week of triple digit temps in July, I took Zach and escaped to cooler climates -- up to Monterey.

We hung out with my parents, Keri, Tanner, Andrew, Isaac, Shel, Sam & Meghan for two whole weeks where the temp never got above 70 (and rarely above 65).

Chad came up with us for the first weekend and we took Zach to check out the Monterey Aquarium. He was sporting his terribly cute golf hat and got quite a few comments





Chad left us on Monday and we spent the rest of our trip just hanging out with the family..

We went to the playground with other kids from Michelle's ward and Zach got his first chance to play on the swings (which he loved)



We went up to Apple and had lunch with Uncle Sam



Tanner went with us over to the Elkhorn Slough where we had a lovely little walk and saw some pretty cool birds





Mostly, though we just hung out with the cousins.

Zach & Tanner:



Zach & Issac:

The Perfect Shot

Sometime around June, I had this crazy idea that I wanted to enter Zach into the Babytalk cute baby contest. Not really becuase I thought he was the cutest baby in the world (although I might actually think that), but because all the semi-finalists got a free trip to NYC.. and I thought I might have a shot at one of those spots.. and when have I ever passed up the idea of a free trip??

However, I also knew that I couldn't submit just any old shot.. it had to be the cutest one I could get which had to include a huge smile and those big blue eyes. So.. I spent the next month taking pictures at least every other day in hopes of getting that one perfect shot. Which, I finally did, exactly 2 days before the entry deadline.. When I finally went back and looked at all of them, I decided that, if nothing else, I got a lot of terribly cute pictures. Here are some of the 'losers':



And the winner:



As for the contest.. the semi-finalists were supposedly notified by August 13th.. and, unelss my notice got lost in the mail or on my answering machine, it looks like we didn't make it. Better luck next time, eh?

4th of July

We had family in town over the 4th of July weekend for my nephew, Jared's blessing. Of course, true to form, I took no pictures of Jared or the visiting family, but here is one of Zach in his 4th of July finest:



We had everyone over for a 4th of July swim party on Saturday and, being in a fairly festive mood, I had a Martha Stewart moment and decided to create a flag cake for dessert..



It was just as tasty as it looked! :-)

Summer Days

Whew!! Summer is over? Didn't it just begin??

Sorry for the dirth of blog entries over the past couple of months.. apparently we've been a bit busy around here... so the next few posts are my semi-lame attempt to catch up...

Water Baby

When we saw this little baby inner tube we knew immediately that we needed it. Afterall, we figured that it's never to early to start getting Zach used to the water. We came home and finally looked at the age on the package -- 9 - 24 months. Um.. well.. we decided as long as we were with him that there was no harm in at least trying it out. It turns out that not only does he fit -- he survived and he loved it! :-)

Happy Father's Day!!

I know this post is a tad late, but I wanted to wish a Happy Father's Day to the best dad on the planet -- pictured here with his adorable son (in their matching Father's Day ties):



Seriously though, I am truly blessed to have Chad in my life. He has been an amazing dad to Zach thus far and I know it's only going to get better from here.

Happy Father's Day hon!! :-)

Four Months

I can't believe that Zach is already four months old!! I also can't believe that it's already July.. My oh my how time flies when you're having fun! :-)

And fun we have been having. Zach is growing into a very happy, smiley little guy. He loves to play in his little baby gym and is reaching for and grasping toys..




Which, end up going directly into his mouth



He's just starting to play in his Baby Einstein Jumper



And while he hasn't quite figured out what he's supposed to be doing in there, he certainly seems to enjoy it



He's been rolling over from front to back for a few weeks.. and is just now figuring out hot to roll from back to front. (I don't actually have a picture of that, so here is one on his tummy where he was contemplating his big move)



Mostly, though he just hangs out and smiles at just about anyone who happens by :-)

The Many Faces of Zach

I have been on a quest recently to take some pictures of Zach's cute smile. Unfortunately, as soon as he sees a camera the smiles go away. However, for this morning's efforts, I got a pretty funny collection of faces.. and at least one smile.

Big Bear

We took Zach on his first official 'vacation' this past weekend. (We figured we should probably start him young) We took a much needed two days off for Chad's birthday and headed up to Big Bear, which neither of us had really been to before.

We didn't really do anything exciting -- just relaxed, took a short walk through the woods and drove around to check out the area.

On our way back to town we also drove by Lake Arrowhead (which we liked WAY better than Big Bear) where we stopped for lunch and a short look around, and then headed on home.

Zach did amazingly well for having spent so many hours in his little carseat, and we definitely enjoyed the time away. :-)

Poppies!!

I'm currently recovering from yet another crazy weekend. Erin decided to visit us this weekend between business trips to Santa Barbara and Tucson. It's always fun when she comes to hang out..

After she made her plans, my nephew Trevor called and asked if he, his date and three other couples could stay Fri / Sat night and go to Magic Mountain on a pre-Prom road trip. Sure! Why not? Then.. as a definite bonus, Julie ended up driving them over so we got to see her too!

So.. while all the teenagers went and partied at Magic Mountain on Saturday, the rest of us took a little drive out to see the Poppies at the Poppy Reserve. They were beautiful as always (pictures are courtesy of Erin)..






Then, when we got back the house, Erin and Julie wanted to help me with a project, so I had them design my family picture wall. We cut some vinyl on a Cricut I've borrowed from a friend and I have to say the result looks pretty good.. (sorry for the crazy angle, it's a hallway wall and it's tough to get a picture of the entire thing straight on..)



So.. while the weekend has left me a little sleep deprived, it was definitely worth it! :-)

Bumbo

I ordered one of the Bumbo seats on a whim.. simply cuz it just seemed terribly cool, honestly. However, it has become one of my favorite baby items. Although he might be a tad young for it, Zach loves to sit in it and take in the world.

Blessing

We blessed Zach two weeks ago (March 28th). We were fortunate to have lots of visitors and had a big family BBQ the night prior to the blessing and then had everyone over for lunch directly after the meeting on Sunday. We had 27 people in the house both days including kids and babies. It was definitely on the crazy side, but it was fun to have both families able to participate. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to be here. It meant a lot to us that you could be here for Zach's special day.

The family pics will be posted whenever Sam gets them to us, but until then, here's a picture of Zachary looking terribly handsome in his blessing outfit :-)

Picture Day

(Just as a side note, it's been a little while since I posted, so here goes my attempt to catch up. I may or may not get to it all today, but we'll see how it goes..)

Uncle Sam and Aunt Michelle came for a visit when Zach was 1 1/2 weeks old to do some newborn portraits. They came out awesome, so I thought I'd post a few..

Three Weeks

It's hard to believe that three weeks has passed this quickly, but Zach is 3 weeks old today!!

Here are a few pics from the past few weeks..

He's Here!!!

He was 13 days late and took 30 hours of labor to get here, but he's finally here!!

Introducing..



Zachary James Reed
Born Wednesday, February 24, 2010
3:25am
8 lbs 1 oz
20.5 inches

We came home from the hospital on Friday morning and are now just trying to adjust to life with the new little guy. He's an avid eater and I'm sure will be growing like a weed, so I'll definitely post more pics as they become available. In the meantime, here are a few more 'birthday' pics. :-)

Week 41: The Final Chapter

One last pic to leave you all with.

I'm officially one week past due and, as of some time tomorrow, will be going into the hospital to be induced.

Here's to the adventure that lies ahead!

Off we go! :-)

Five Weeks

This weekend marks five weeks that I've been off work on 'Pregnancy Disability'. In some ways it feels like the time has flown, but I've been terribly grateful for the time it's given me to finish getting ready for our new little arrival as well as rest up for the big event to come.

For any of you wondering just what I've been up to for the past five weeks.. Lest you think I've been sitting around wondering what to do with myself, here's a quick synopsis of my activities:

I've been sewing, sewing sewing..

I made curtains for the nursery:



Matching bumper pads for the crib:



Made two Quilt Tops and tied/bound one of the quilts (the other is off at Aunt Sharon's house to get quilted):


(I know.. This one looks all wrinkled, but that's because I folded it up and put it in with the rest of the quilts before I took a pic.. I promise it's not that crazy in real life..)



I made three flannel recieving blankets (that were not nearly thrilling enough to take pics of) and a cute bag that originally was destined to be my diaper bag (until my niece gave me an awesome one for my baby shower), but now I'm thinking of using it as my Sunday tote..



In addition to all the sewing, I picked up and sorted out all the 'stuff' in the nursery; organized all the shower gifts and did some shopping to fill in the gaps. We re-hung the nursery shelves and got everything put back together:






Then I looked at the bare blue walls and decided to try my hand at some wall art. I saw some paper mosiac-type representations of nursery rhymes online and decided to see if I could do the same. Here are the results:










Add to all of the above: writing nearly 100 thank you cards (Thank you again to all of you who have been so generous over the past few months.. we truly have been blessed with wonderful and generous friends!!), doing our taxes, walking Molly every day, obtaining a libarary card and starting to read again (I can't tell you the last time I actually finished a book before last month), cleaning the entire house, keeping up on the laundry, and getting some rest in between, I have definitely not been at a loss of things to do.. which is just the way I like it. :-)