Thanksgiving 2009

I was so excited to celebrate our first family of 5 Thanksgiving this year! And what a year it's been- this time last year, I was pregnant with my two little miracle babies. And now they are 8 months old and growing bigger every day. Thanksgiving Day we went to my Grandma's for dinner (at noon). There was a lot of good food and it was great having everyone together, including family from out of state. Later on, we went to my in-laws for dessert. Ryan is on vacation this week- time to get all those fun appointments done (dentist, haircuts, new tires for car, family pictures for Christmas). Maybe I'll let him rest one day :)

Cutie Cousin Hanah holding Valerie.

Pebbles & Vanessa taking a nap.

Nessa holding her bottle- and proud of it!

Zac cleaning Val with a baby wipe.

I'm multi-tasking- loving on Val while feeding Nessa.

Nessa smiling as she pins Val!

Happy sisters! Val on right.

Nessa (I hardly take individual shots)

Val

Val's turn to get her sister!

Zac showing off his Diego pull-ups.

Colton & Val

Great-grandma Settle & Nessa

Zac and his favorite things: straw hat and shopping cart.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009! Kids did NOT cooperate!

Cousin Mallory feeding Nessa (while sitting on Brittany).

All the kids!

Nick & Val

Happy 1st Thanksgiving Girls! Nessa & Val

They're learning how to play the piano! Nessa in yellow.

Zac being sneaky underneath the bench!

Happy girl Nessa

Zac underneath the barstool.

Watching TV!

Val sleeping on Melissa

Nessa & Val eating puffs for the first time.

Nessa is out!

Val looking at her mobile.

Scooter sitting on the vent, getting warm.

Just Hanging Out

The past few weekends, we've been relaxing, which has been nice. We'll be busy with the upcoming holidays, making our rounds. 2 weekends ago, we visited my Mom and brought pizza for dinner. She has been working overtime on the weekends, so we stopped by before she went in to work. Sunday we went to my in-laws to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday, with a taco dinner- yum, my favorite! Last Friday, my friend Melissa came over to see the kids. She even offered to watch them for awhile so Ryan and I could go to the store. Wow, that's sad when that's our highlight! Saturday, we celebrated Zac's cousins' birthdays at Waldo Pizza, again, good food! Sunday was a very lazy day. We didn't even leave the house! I have been busy taking pictures of the kiddos. They are always doing something cute or silly! On a side note, I only have 2 weeks left of the Biology class I'm taking. Then a month break and then back for more- Anatomy & Physiology next semester!

Vanessa & Valerie at 8 months old. Check out their curls!

Vanessa & Val fell asleep in the Boppy pillows.

Happy girl Val rolled over by the toys.

Val again- sucking on her fingers and somehow put the burp cloth over her eyes!

Zac LOVED the race car game! We couldn't get him away from it!

Rolly-polly Valerie! She rolled underneath Zac's table!

Zac hammering the wall, helping Daddy hang pictures!

Love Vanessa's smile! Both girls sitting supported in the Boppy.

Val is snoozing on Daddy.

Zac helping me with ironing!

Peek-A-Boo Vanessa! She's helping me with laundry too!

The girls (Val on right) fell asleep on Dad.

Val playing with Zac's truck.

Zac & Val playing.

Hi Val!

Pampered Chef, Burr Oak Woods, and the Park

What a beautiful November weekend! Saturday mornings Ryan and Zac go grocery shopping. This time they surprised me with a dozen red roses and Lamar's donuts!! Wow, what a wonderful treat! Saturday I hosted a Pampered Chef Party. We sampled yummy Mexican Chicken "Lasagna"- the best part is you cook it in the microwave! While the ladies came over, Ryan took Zac to Burr Oak Woods and walked through the trails. Actually Zac jogged the whole time! Ryan said Zac was so excited to be outdoors. Ryan figured Zac would get tired halfway through and he'd have to carry him, but Zac didn't even stop to rest at any of the benches along the way. I didn't trust Ryan with the camera, so if it's nice again this weekend, the whole family will go! Afterwards Ryan took Zac to a nearby park and they played some more! Of course this fun time was during normal nap time, and Zac never did settle down. He was wired! Sunday we were going to have dinner at Grandma Linda's, but the younger cousins had fevers, and we didn't want to take the chances with our kiddos. So instead we all went to the park! We loaded up the double stroller and were on our way. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Zac remembered the place. He put his hands up and said "WEEEEEEE!!" He ran right over to the slides. We all had a good time. Me and the girls enjoyed the fresh air. Of course Zac did NOT want to leave, but we will continue to take him there as long as we have nice weekends. It was a nice, relaxing weekend.

My baby giving me my beautiful surprise :D

Zac finally fell asleep at 9pm on his Daddy (and babies!).

Val is pushing up like a big girl!

Love this! Nessa laying down, Val is like "What are you looking at?"

Zac's favorite place!

Zac pointing to the tunnel slide.

Weeee! Going down the slide!

Swinging in the baby swing!

He's having a blast!

I surprised him while he was in the tunnel. What an adorable smile!

Peek-a-Boo!

Crawling through another tunnel.

Daddy posing with the girls in the double stroller.

Mommy & Zac

My big boy! He wasn't scared a bit!

My 2 boys!

Another favorite!

Baby girl Valerie- look at her crazy hair! It was windy out!

Happy Val likes her peas!

See how much hair she has now?

Vanessa (left) and Val "petting" more like pulling on Freddie!