My friend Crosby

Zoe has been getting together with her new friend Crosby lately. He is a month younger than her and luckily both Mommies get along really well. We went to the mall yesterday just to walk around and look at the people and lights, and ended up staying 3 hours (without even buying anything!:)! This was the first time that the kids actually noticed each other. Zoe was much more into Crosby, trying to grab his ears (surprisingly gentle I might add). Crosby didn't seem to really care until we switched babies and he realized his Mommy was holding someone else! The horror! Anyways, I hope that we get lots of more play dates in before they move away...It is AMAZINGLY nice to be able to talk to another Mom who is going through EXACTLY the same things I am!

Scrub A Dub Dub

Zoe is big enough to shower with us now. She loves it! Luckily we have a two person shower because sometimes we need another person to be around to catch her in case she slips! :) Wet squirmy soapy babies are slippery little buggers!

2nd Anniversary Kiss - Sept. 16

Many of you were at our wedding two years ago today. What an amazing day! We can't believe it's been two years. It took us a few months to actually get used to the idea that we could start trying for a baby, but then a few months later there was no turning back! Here we are 15 months later with a baby and a house. How things change so fast! This is why we got married - to have a child together. We knew from the beginning that that was going to happen and we are so glad it did!

Zoe HEARTS Ian!

Zoe is madly in love with our friend Ian. Whenever he comes over, she does everything in her power to reach for him and pull him in for a kiss. She laughs at WHATEVER he does and grunts really loudly when she can't get to him! Ian is so cute, he gets stage shy when we ask him to do something to make her laugh, but when he thinks we aren't looking, he will "shake his booty" for her or tickle her or give her a toy. Zoe just gets so excited she can't even conatin herself! So cute! Laurel is Ian's mommy and a great friend of mine. She is the only person in NC that I would ever leave my baby with at this point. She is a great Mom, and I have already taken some parenting ideas from her!

6 months old!

Zoe is now 6 months old! I can't believe it's been this long, but at the same time, I feel as if I have been her mother forever! She has taught me what it feels like to truly love a person with no strings attached. It's an amazing and kind of overwhelming feeling! But I guess that's what children are here for.... to prove to us that real love is unbreakable - no matter what.

Balance is Key

Zoe can almost sit up completely by herself now. She uses her belly to prop herself up and can stay upright for a little while (as long as she doesn't reach too far for anything:). She seems to like this new point of view!

(Almost ) Hurricane Hannah

Zoe survived her first almost-a-hurricane in NC. By the time Hannah got to us, it was only a tropical storm , but we still lost electricity( and therefore water) and got some wind damage and tree damage. This was the first hurricane I had to deal with that I had anyone other than me and a dog to worry about. Having a baby and a house this time gave me plenty to freak out about. I have a whole new appreciation of the difference between good and bad insurance now... Luckily, this time Keith was not on lock down at the hospital and Mom was here also to help with the stress. Overall it wasn't too bad and we didn't end up getting Hurricane Ike (my heart goes out to Texas) which was supposed to hit us harder. The day after Mom, Zoe and I went to the beach to see the sights, but it was too windy for Zoe to go down to the water. I went and got some great pics...nature is a beautiful and sometimes scary thing.

Button Nose

One of my favorite things about Zoe is her cute button nose! It is just too adorable!!!!! And that's all I have to say about that!

Thanks AGAIN Grams

So it's been awhile since I've publicly thanked my Mom for all she's done for us and I'm definitely overdue. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you Mom! Without you, there is no way I could be working from home and therefore be able to stay home with my baby. We also wouldn't be able to afford to eat, or do anything else for that matter if it wasn't for this opportunity. We both know you bust your butt everyday to grow this business and IT IS WORKING! We are so proud of you and thankful for what you sacrifice to help us. We know you miss John , and so do we. Thank you for helping us and thank you for being a wonderful part of our family.

Another reason Papa John is the best....

Papa John is an excellent grandfather for many reasons. A recent addition to the list is his sweet need to constantly wipe the drool off of Zoe's chin. I am so used to drool rolling down my arm, getting smeared on my face, dripping down my pants, etc, that I don't even notice it any more. Papa John always catches it right away and helps Zoe not look like a neglected slobbering mess. Thanks for caring enough to take the time Papa John!

Song Bird

When I was pregnant I tried to get Keith to talk to the baby through my belly. For some reason, this made him very self-conscious and uncomfortable (this seems to be a common feeling from a lot of Daddy'd to be I hear). He decided to play the guitar instead. He would put one side of the guitar on my belly so the baby could feel the vibrations. Ever since Zoe was born he plays the guitar for her and she loves it. She will watch him very intently, and recently has begun reaching for the strings. Daddy is really good at playing almost any song just by hearing it once, though his recent fave is U2. Sometimes I join in if I know the words and we have a regular Partridge Family vibe going on! Now if we could just learn some kid songs....

Sweet Tooth

Does watermelon licorice count as a fruit? Yeah, yeah I know...put me down for Worst Mother of the Year. It was only a lick , I swear! And anyway, Gramma made me do it :)

Out to Dinner

Zoe is becoming a pro at eating out. Well, more like Momma is getting the hang of carting the bottle of water and the container of formula and the jar of baby food and the packet of cereal and the bib and the baby bowl and the baby spoon along with the rest of the diaper bag necessities. Not to mention right away having to remember to ask the server to bring a glass of very hot water to the table only 1/3 full so that it doesn't spill all over the table when I immerse the bottle to warm it up. Usually once all that is ready, that is exactly the moment my food arrives and I have to feed Zoe instead and by the time I get to eat my dinner it is cold. It definitely is nice to have more people at the table to rotate feeding duties so that at least some of my dinner might be warm by the time I can get to it. And then, of course, after Miss Z is done eating it is usually time to walk around the room with her until everyone else is done. You might say I should learn how to cook so we can eat a t home more often, but the same thing happens there:)!

Bikini Babe-Y

This is Zoe's bikini that Aunt Mary Jo got for her - so cute!!!!! Daddy wasn't very happy with the idea of his daughter in a bikini, but he was OK with it as long as it was the last one she EVER wore!!!:)

Does this diaper make my butt look fat????!!!!!!
8/14/08

I Can Do It Myself! 8/14/08

Zoe has been trying to feed herself. Sometimes she will grab for the spoon. Sometimes, if she doesn't want to eat the deliciousness of sweet potato or green pea baby food mush I've prepared for her, she will lock her mouth shut. All I have to do is put the spoon in her hand and she will automatically put it in her mouth and eat every last morsel!

All Around Cuteness!

How cute are we???!!!! 8/13/08

Momma's Got You - 8/12/08

Zoe was a little scared of the water today. The waves were washing away under her feet and I think it was giving her vertigo. After holding onto Momma, Daddy, then Gramma, she got used to it. Today she loved watching the children play and the birds fly by.

Baby's 1st Ice Cream - 8/12/08

Zoe got her first taste of junk food today! She had a lick of Daddy's frozen custard ice cream cone while we were walking at Wrightsville beach with Gramma today. She definitely liked it! I always swore I would be very careful about introducing junk into my child's diet because I don't want food to be an issue for her like it has been for me. My Mom said that when I was little she didn't let me have any junk food but when I went over people's houses all I would do was raid their pantry and eat all their snacks like a ravenous pig! Hopefully Zoe will be a little less obsessed and just enjoy a random sweet snack like her Daddy does.