The Many Faces of Zachariah

One of my favorite things about this kid are his many facial expressions. I could never capture them all, but I happened to catch a few of them the other day during snack and thought I would share. :)

This last one is my favorite. I love his goofiness. :)

Happy Monday!

New Addition

Blog friends, meet Mr. Ducky.
Mr. Ducky, meet my blog friends.
Good. Now that everyone has met, we can move onto the cuteness that is my son. :)

Zachariah received this duck in his Easter basket from Mimi and Poppie. Ever since the nap time after the egg hunt he and Mr. Ducky have become fast friends.

Seeing as how we added a new addition to our family of stuffed animals, I thought it would be appropriate to document their first week together. Unfortunately blogger and I are having some issues tonight with this collage. Click to make it bigger.


Oh, and I should let you know that Zachariah does not accept all stuffed animals into his circle of friends. He only has a select few that he will even consider taking into his crib with him during nap time (most of which are penguins). But I am happy to report that Mr. Ducky has been welcomed into this little boy's circle of friends with open arms. :)

Bla

I need to get out of my rut. I need to get more photography books and "study" more. It has been MONTHS since I have done that. I feel as if I am backtracking with my photography, and that depresses me.

I need to start learning again, or I will be in this rut forever.

Any book recommendations? I am going to see what I can find this afternoon.
:)

Our Day...

was filled with lots of fun. I neglected housework (typical) and did not drag Zachariah on a single errand. We just had a fun, relaxing morning doing what Zachariah wanted to do. Without any time constraints whatsoever. And you know what? He was SUCH a happy camper all day long.

Oh, and I took a lot of pictures. Because I am a picture freak. So you are going to just have to bear with me. :)

We started the day eating breakfast on Zachariah's playroom furniture. But we moved it into the kitchen. He LOVED this and did really well staying in his chair. So we may try this again!

(and in case anyone is wondering... he is eating a scrambled egg, a whole wheat blueberry pancake and a whole wheat sweet potato pancake. With a side of juice. Yeah... he can put down some food.)

After breakfast we headed to the play room and played in there for a good hour. We played with his Little People toy (a new favorite), and then we dove into some coloring.

Though we have tons of coloring books, we like to color on this spiffy material that Daddy brings home from work. It covers over half the floor and Zachariah has a BLAST coloring all over it.

See? Doesn't that look fun?!? Oh how I love to color.

Anyway, after our coloring we decided to get dressed and head to the lake for a walk. I didn't bring my camera though, because I needed my hands free in case I had to protect my son from the killer geese. *shudder*

We ended the morning with some play time on Mommy and Daddy's bed (Another current favorite of Zachariah's).
And yes, I am pretty sure he is having a pillow fight with himself.
Crazy kid.

Hope your Thursday was just as great as ours! :)

A Day In The Life

While I was making this...


Zachariah was doing this...



And after I yelled, he was doing this...

Never a dull moment.

Park Fun

Zachariah woke up a bit whiny. To be honest, he has been whiny and fussy all weekend. And since I just do NOT have the patience to be stuck inside with a whiny toddler today, we decided to go to the park. Much to our surprise there was some type of special event going on (still have no idea what it was called) and there were lots of fun activities that kept Zachariah "ooo-ing" and "ahh-ing".

He played in the bouncy thingy and loved it. He has never worked up the courage to get in one of these before... but since we got there right before the rush, he had the whole thing to himself! Until a school group came and almost trampled him. But I wont go into that in fear of the horrible things I would say about the so called "teacher" in charge of them.


After the stampede incident, we walked around and found some horses! Oh how he loved this. As soon as he saw these miniature horses he started making the "horse sound" and pointing vigorously. He would give the horse (named cricket) two pats on its back, then walk back to me with a proud look on his face. It was the cutest darn thing to watch.



There was also an animal show with some really cool lizards. He LOVED that. But the darn lady skipped right over him when she was letting all the kids pet the lizard. He was signing "please" with all his might. He was heartbroken when he realized he wasn't going to get to touch that lizard. :(

But he was a big boy and didn't shed a single tear. So we went over to the play ground and he had the whole place to himself... which cheered him right up! :)




Overall, it was a pretty good morning! And of course, anything that ends with my baby being a happy camper makes mommy a happy camper. :)



Happy Monday!

I Heart Radio Flyer

I saw this bike in a Toys R Us magazine and I immediately fell in love. I want this for Zachariah so badly. I probably should wait until his second birthday to get it... but its going to be SO HARD for me to wait. I swear, as soon as I come across $50 I am hitting the stores. I think this Radio Flyer Tricycle is just so cool!

P.S. Is it normal for an adult to fall in love with toddler toys? Or should I delete this post immediately?

My Mother-In-Law Is Going To Kill Me....

I LOVE little boys with shaggy hair. I have wanted Zachariah's hair to be long, wispy, and shaggy for a while now. So I have decided not to cut his hair for a while, just to see what would happen.

A week or so ago I noticed the back of his hair getting pretty long. And so just out of curiosity, I decided to try this....



Yeah. You can just add this to the list of things that my son will hate me for later on in life. But I just couldn't resist. I HAD to know if his hair fit in a pony tail. And it does.

And Mrs. Debbie, if it makes you feel any better, he HATED me doing this. He was swatting my hand away like crazy. :)

Snuggly

It's hard to say, but I think my favorite part of the day is when I walk into Zachariah's room first thing in the morning. I love seeing the groggy/rested look on my baby's face.

He is just so darn cute.

Yum-O!

Remember this post? The one about my son not eating vegetables anymore? Well it has gotten worse. He has pretty much steered clear of meats too. Anything pertaining to "dinner type" foods he will NOT EAT. I have even tried feeding them to him at lunch, but he wont have it. So I am trying to get more creative. And it is becoming very difficult to do.

In my quest to find a way to get healthy foods into my sons tummy, I happened upon a recipe for sweet potato cookies.

Yes. You read that correctly. Cookies that are somewhat nutritious. I know some of you are screaming "WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TOO????". Calm yourself and stay with me a bit longer.

Seeing as how sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest veggies in the world, and they USED to be Zachariah's favorite, I decided to give it a try. I tweaked the recipe a bit and hoped for the best. And you know what? The cookies turned out better than I could have ever imagined. They have the perfect amount of... everything. They are the fluffiest cookies I have ever eaten. And I don't feel like I am gaining 15 pounds a day eating them.

Anyway, I am going to post the recipe for those who are interested. And if you think this is just stupid and I should give up on trying to feed my son healthy foods... well, you may be right. BUT for now I will keep on truckin'.

(FYI: short but sweet version is at the end of the post)

Okay. Lets get started!

First things first...

The ingredients. All purpose flour, brown sugar, milk, salt, butter, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, raisins, vanilla extract, and a ginormous sweet potato. Optional ingredients include nuts, chocolate chips, and allspice. ( I left these out in mine, but you may feel free to do as you please. There will be no judgment here.)

Cook a large sweet potato in the microwave for about 2 min. to make it easier to mash. Peel it, then throw it into a bowl and go to town with your potato masher. You can get out some built up anger. Or not. Whatever.

Then melt a stick of butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Combine the butter, mashed sweet potato, and all of the other ingredients (except for raisins, nuts and chips) into a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to cream it all together.

I added in the flour one cup at a time, that way it wont end up all over your kitchen. Unless you want a flour covered kitchen. Then just dump the whole bag in.

After you mix all of that together, stir or "fold" in the raisins with a spatula. And now your ready to bake! Just drop the mixture on the baking sheet by the spoonful.

(FYI: I like to use a stoneware pan. Its makes the best cookies ever. Seriously. Never burns.)

Put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 min. They are going to look a bit runny at first. But don't be alarmed, this is perfectly normal. Soon they will be looking all light and fluffy.

While we are waiting, I want to show you what the bowl looks like after my last batch is in the oven. You can lick the bowl if you want. But considering it was pretty late, I resisted and save myself a tummy ache.

Oh. One more thing while we wait. I hate bad kitchen lighting. At 10:30 pm. It makes for nasty looking pictures. Bla.

Ok! I think we are almost done. See, I told you they would look fluffy?

Around the 15 min. mark touch the top of a cookie. If it is firm, then they are just about done. You don't want to wait for them to turn golden brown. You want to snag them right before that point.

Just listen to your gut. Its usually right on with these types of things.

Ok. Now once they are done, take them out of the oven and let them cool for about 2 min. before moving them to the cooling rack. That way they don't crumble in transit.

And here is the finished product! This recipe makes about 30 cookies. So they should last you a while. Unless my husband comes over. Then you may need to make a whole new batch. He tends to go a little crazy with these cookies.

Here is the recipe in a nutshell! Happy baking!

Sweet Potato Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 c. sweet potatoes
2 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chocolate chips (omitted)
1/2 c. nuts ( omitted)
2 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. allspice (omitted)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, spices, yams, and flour together, adding milk a little at a time. Add nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm to the touch.

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On a side note... I am needing a better name for these cookies. Something a little less of a mouthful (haha! Pun definitely intended. Boy I crack myself up.)

Any suggestions?

That's My Boy

Can you tell that his mommy has the camera in front of her face a lot? :)

Go Me!

I hit a monumental milestone today. To most people it will seem silly, but I took a huge step today. One that I have been dreading for MONTHS.

I left my son in nursery at church. For the first time. Ever.

Here is the thing. Up until he could crawl he would sit in church with us. He was quite the pleasant baby. Everyone would rave about how quiet and well behaved he was. And he truly did an amazing job. But once he started crawling he was NOT fine with sitting still anymore. He wanted to be on the go. At all times.

So I started taking him back to the nursery. And since he has not EVER stayed with anyone, except his grandparents, I was not about to leave him. (He had some separation issues as well. It took a while to grow out of that) And I didn't mind being back there. It was fun to see him play with new toys and occasionally interact with other kids.

Well, around his first birthday we had to stop going to church due to nap scheduling. Since we were going to a "new church", they didn't really have cribs in the nursery. And even if they did, Z wont sleep anywhere but his own crib anyway.

Since he now only takes one nap a day, the timing actually works to our advantage. So we decided to try going to this particular church again. I planned on staying in the nursery with him the whole time, but his back was turned to me just about the whole time I was in there! So I figured I would just go sit with my hubby and see how Zachariah would do (After being assured that the ladies would come get me if he started crying).

And you know what? He did great. No tears at all. He played his little heart out. He actually got a little angry that we made him leave the new toys!

No, I wasn't extremely attentive during the service. And yes, I kept checking my watch to see how long it had been since I left my baby... But we are making progress. And I couldn't have asked for better results as far as leaving him in the nursery went.

And that makes me happy. :)

Videos

Here are a few short videos that I have been meaning to show you loyal readers. I finally snagged them from Mimi's vimeo site. :)

The first is of Uncle Greg and Zachariah drumming on Mimi's pots and pans, the second is Zachariah playing the guitar (Zachariah LOVES to play the guitar with Greg), and the last one is of Poppie and Zachariah singing their favorite song.

Enjoy!

Belated Easter Post

We had such a great Easter this year. It was a day full of sunshine, great food, great family and a pretty good Easter Egg Hunt. :)

The fun started with Mimi and Poppie...

and continued by pretending to be a dog,
trying on Mimi's shoes,

cruising in a hot new ride,a horrible attempt at a family picture,
...and a much needed nap with his Easter duck (more on that coming soon).

It really was one heck of an enjoyable day. I have a video of Zachariah's first egg hunt coming soon. So keep your eyes peeled for that. :)

19 months and more rain

Yep. Its raining again.

And this time I decided Zachariah needed to experience rain with a real umbrella as opposed to his toy umbrella. Needless to say, he loved it.

P.S. Happy 19 months, punkin! :)

Happy Easter To All

I have more pictures and a video to post later. But I am tired and about to feed my family dinner. So I will leave you with a picture of Zachariah's studly Easter outfit and our attempt at a family picture.



Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

I Love Me Some Chocolate

I like to think that this is exactly how Hershey Kisses are made. And that thought makes me happy. :)



Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Veggie Delima

I used to brag on my son because he was NOT a picky eater. From the moment he started eating table foods, he has eaten every single thing that was put in front of him. He had his favorite fruits (grapes, kiwi, mango, and bananas), his favorite veggies (sweet potatoes, broccoli, and zucchini fritters), and his favorite "side dishes" (organic mac n cheese, boiled eggs, cheese cubes, and mashed potatoes). And he would even eat asparagus and beets from time to time. Barf.

So needless to say, we did not have trouble getting this child to eat. (Maybe that's why my 18 month old weighs as much as a 2 1/2 year old. :)

Well, until now.

For some odd reason, for the past month, Zachariah has been getting pickier with his veggies. He will eat his fruits no problem. But the veggies are becoming difficult to get him to eat. I have tried to give him more or a variety by giving him veggies he hasn't had in a while, I have tried to give him his favorites... and neither of those are working. I have even tried to put some veggies on the spoon with his mashed potatoes or something, but he has a built in radar and knows when I am sneaking them. So he just picks them out. The stubborn kid.

So this is where I need your help. I would appreciate suggestions of creative ways to feed toddlers veggies. I am going to start fixing more casseroles, because he LOVES broccoli casserole. But my kid cant live off of broccoli casserole. So I am in need of some other ideas.

Has anyone else out there had this problem?

My House...

...is a wreck. There is clutter everywhere (The play room and kitchen are especially horrific).

I am a horrible housewife. But usually when it gets this bad I clean at least one room (or do a very quick clean up to a few of them) so that I don't go crazy.

But today, I woke up at 6:30 to do my 50 min. work out video with Jillian Michaels.

So the house will stay a wreck.

Because I cannot move a single muscle.
(Well... except for my fingers. A girl's gotta type!)

And here I will sit, until my son drags me off the couch. Then I will have no choice but to remain motionless on the floor until Daniel gets home from work.

This day has the potential to be very long.
:)

You Can Stand Under My Umbrella (Ella Ella, eh eh eh)

Last week was pretty rainy. It rained for five or six days straight. I lost count. All the days kind of ran together. But Zachariah got in a very cute routine during that week.

Every morning when he would wake up he would point to the window and ask if it was raining (in his baby babble of course. but surprisingly I understood what he meant). Then when I told him it was he would immediately go searching for a toy umbrella that goes with one of his Little People toys. Once he located the umbrella he would go to the living room window and stand there with it over his head. Then he would put it over my head.

And just in case none of that made sense, I have a couple pictures for you. :)

And here he is wearing mommy's hat.
Still trying to keep dry, mind you. :)

He cracks me up.

Oh, and please excuse the use of the flash in the photos. The storms really made it difficult to take a decent picture. Thank goodness the sun is out again!