Merry Christmas 2011

This year has been a busy one and I can't believe it is almost over already.  Time sure does fly by when your days are filled with watching Zoe. 
It has been a great year for us and we are most excited about moving into our new house.  We have done a lot of work already and their is much more to do.  We are working right now on organizing all of your stuff and weeding out the things we don't need and have gathered over the last 4 years of married.  It is amazing the amount of "stuff" you can collect in just 4 years.
Christmas was wonderful and we got to spend the day at church, with Aaron's parents and then my parents.  I love that we can spend a day with just family.  What a wonderful blessing this time of year is.  I'm so grateful for the family that loves and supports us.  It is a real blessing to be close to those we love.  We hope that everyone had a magical and wonderful Christmas.

A visit from Aunt Kira.  It was so nice to see her for a few days.

Zoe got a tea set for Christmas from her pre-school class and she loves it.  We have to have a tea party at least once a day.

Zoe was so happy to come downstairs and see a horse.  She ran over to it and climbed up on and took the horse for a ride.

Zoe got her first doll house form Christmas.  She was so funny and put the potty in the bathroom of the house and put the baby on the potty.

Zoe got a new hat for Christmas and now she looks like a lion.

The traditional picture in a Mormon home on Christmas.  Everyone gathered around the computer/phone to talk to their beloved bother on a mission.

Zoe and Aura decided it was a pretty long day and so they layed down for a nice nap.  The dog was the only one to actually nap.

The House that Katie and Aaron Fixed

 There was a lot of unfinished work in the house.  Here he must have started to do something and then never came back to finish it.

Aaron was able to find the missing molding out in the garage.  We was also able to find the molding that went around the window too.

There was only molding on one side of this doorway.  So we took it out and Aaron built new molding to replace it.

This is the new molding around the doorway between the study and the living room.

This was the master bedroom with a wall between it and an office. 

We took the wall out and made it into a large master bedroom.

Here is where they had an entertainment center that stuck out form the wall and looked like it was just right for someone to walk into and get hurt.  So we took it down and Aaron replaced the molding.

We then painted it with our accent color and will put a new entertainment center in the corner.

The "pepto bismol" as we called it was primed and painted in our base tan color and then accented in our second color.

We did the doors and window trim in this room.  It is the guest room.

We did not do the chimneys but hired that out.  They look pretty good and the fire furnace works great.

Here is the study and the new carpet.  It is so nice and warm.

We have been having a lot of fun as well as a lot of hard work.  But it is paying off and coming together. 

The House

We have possession of the new house but we have not moved in yet. There is some work that needs to be done first. The stairs into the house where a major problem b/c one side had sunk into the ground which pulled everything down to one side. Aaron ripped the front steps off and replaced them with eight beautiful sturdy level ones. He is amazing.

Next we will be washing all the walls and getting ready to paint. We will also be taking out the floor on the sun porch b/c she has her cats out there and they used it as a liter box. We will put down a new floor with linoleum and then make a place for the washer and dryer so that I don't have to go down into the creepy dark basement to wash clothes. HEHEHE

We will also be adding a closet to the master bedroom to the side of this door. It will have shelves on the short side and a place to hang my dresses on the tall side.

Since we had to replace our shower and tub in the house we are in right now and it came out to well, I really want to do it again and replace the tub with one that has more room on the inside of it.

Here is the outside of the house. It is a great looking house and will be a wonderful place to raise Zoe and any other children that come along. It has just been neglected for some long, that with some TLC and time and money, it will be beautiful once again.

Zoe Skating

Zoe is amazing.  She picked up the bottom of her toy trains and turned them into roller skates.  She is turning into a pro an now goes back and forth across the room.  I wish she was as coordinated when she walks and runs as she s when she skates.  Maybe she would stop falling down and getting bumps on her head.

Happy Second Birthday Zoe!

 I cannot believe that my baby girl is now 2 years old. She can even tell you she is 2 when you ask her how old she is. We had a very fun party at the farm. We invited a bunch of the kids from her nursery class at church and all their siblings. I brought my sisters outside play gyms to the backyard at the farm. The kids had a blast climbing all over them. I also made a "pin the baby duck on the mommy duck" game. The kids got to color their own baby duck and then my sister laminated them so the kids could take them home as a keep sake. We made hot dogs on the grill for lunch. After lunch we loaded up on the hay wagon and went for a hayride. I saw more than one big smile on the children from that activity. After the hayride we had the cutest little duck cupcakes for all the kids and a huge ice cream cookie sandwich for all the adults. I think everyone had a good time. I know Zoe did. She loves playing will other children.

The kids had a blast in the backyard.

Zoe just finishing putter up her baby duck.

The mama duck after all the kids had their turn.

Going for a hayride.

The cutest little ducky cupcakes.

Zoe eating her cupcake.  She actually didn't eat any of it.

Zoe got a T-ball set for her birthday and she loves it.

A Day in the Life of Zoe

Zoe is almost 2 now and she is no longer a baby. She is very active and very smart. We have been taking swimming lessons at the high school and she was doing great. That is until she discovered that they have letters all around the pool. Soon she had totally forgotten about kicking her feet and moving her arms. She started pointing and saying "P", "A", "L", "M", "A", "C", as I moved her around the pool. (Our local high school is Palmyra-Macedon and called Pal-Mac for short). It is cute and but not really what we are working on at swim class.

We have also been enjoying a play ground with some other mom's and kids from church once a week. This past week we went to the playground at the local primary school. Zoe has been there before and this time she was determined to do things on her own. I gave her a little more freedom and she did great. She figured out how to climb the stairs and go down the slides. She even climbed a ladder that went up about 6 feet to a platform. My sister saw her and got there just into time see Zoe reach the top and climb onto the platform. She is my little adventure with no fear. Thank goodness she has a high tolerance of pain.

Zoe climbing on the playground equipment.
Zoe enjoying some side walk chalking.
Look at those pig tails. So cute.
Trying to blow bubbles by herself.

Learning something new and so proud of herslef.

Summer Time Fun

Summer is in full swing in upstate NY. We are having wonderful sunny and dry days which would be great for cutting hay but with all the hay done we could really use some rain to help with the garden.

Zoe has been up to her usual antics. She is taking swimming lessons right now and is doing really well. I think she is the best one in her class of two kids. HEHEHE

We spent most of the 4th of July weekend in Savannah helping Aaron's parents put up the pool. Aaron and his dad spend almost a whole day just getting things level and smoothed out. Then we came back a few days later and Aaron, his brother and dad with help from the younger ones put up the sides and smoothed out the sand and got everything ready for the liner to be put in. It was quite the process but it is up and so the next time we go visit his parents we might be able to go swimming if the water has warmed up some.

Here are a few pictures of some of the fun things Zoe has been up to.

Zoe Bug at her friend Adam's birthday party.

Getting ready to go for a ride in the cart. She has her water cup, football and crash helmet. She is good to go.

I made some pasta with butter and slat on it and Zoe thought I made it for her. She took my spoon and ate almost the whole thing.

Zoe and all her "bling".

Zoe has started to dress her self. She usually puts everything on her legs but this time she turned her pants into a hat.

This Seems Familiar

On Mother's Day I got a present I didn't expect. Zoe feel and hit her head on the door and it immediately swelled up into a goose egg and turned black and blue. Zoe fall down? That never happens. Enough said.

Zoe's First Trip to the ER

Zoe decided that it was to quiet and boring around the house on Monday morning so she thought that a trip the emergency room would be fun. I was sitting on the couch and Zoe was walking around the front room and as she walked by me she tripped on something, most likely her own feet, and fell face first into a wood dresser. I knew that she hit really hard and that she would start crying so I leaned over and picked her up. I look at her face and she already had blood coming out of her forehead. She was still taking in a big breath of air before the cry finally came out. I picked her up and jumped over the baby gate and grabbed the closest towel to put pressure on her head. Then I went to the bathroom and got the infant Tylenol and gave her some. Then I went to the kitchen and grabbed the ice pack. I went back over the baby gate and sat down on the couch with her. I called my sister b/c I was suppose to watch her two boys while she took her third boy to the doctors and said "Um, Zoe just hit her head and I think I need to take her to the Urgent Care Clinic so I can't watch your boys." She said that they don't open till 11am. So I put Zoe down and got dressed and then noticed that Zoe had stopped crying and was playing with the buckle on her high chair with blood running down her face. I got a band-aid and put it on which made her start to cry again b/c I took her away from the buckles. My mom called and said to pick her up on the way which we did. She drove us to the ER in her van and Zoe watched Elmo and was just fine. We got there and they took us in after about 20 minutes. They cleaned up her cut and measured it. The nurse gave me some medicine to hold on it to numb the cut so that the doctor could put some "derma-aid", which is medical super glue, on it. Zoe did really well until Aaron and I had to hold her down so that doctor could squeeze her cut shut and put glue in it. Hopefully, it will heal up without any problems and it will not leave a very big scar since it is right in the middle of her forehead. It is almost in the same spot as the scar in my forehead. A little dried blood on her face and she still looks cute. A cut on her head and she is till blowing kisses. All cleaned up and ready for the doctor.

Mommy holding the numbing medicine on Zoe's cut before the doctor puts the glue on.

All done and ready to go home.