Note to self...

Like I said before, I like to blog b/c it will help me journal a little more and remember things about Zack when he is older. So, just as a little note to self, I wanted to record what he currently enjoys and what he is learning. Right now Zack is writing the letter "Z" and learning letters and sounds. He is also working on spelling the rest of his name. He goes around the house saying "there's a Z on that" and "there's a K on that". His favorite saying is "K for Kirt" (Matt's brother). And then he adds "K for Karen and Kristi" (his aunts). He's so funny. He plays with Cars all day, likes to play the Xbox with Daddy, likes to color and play school (me teaching him from little books and reading to him), and loves to play board games (esp. Candyland and Chutes and Ladders).

Random thoughts from my child...

Zack says the funniest things sometimes, pretty much like all of the other kids I know. I want to remember them, so I'm going to try to post them as often as I can. The following was a conversation about a month ago:

Me: I'm sort of depressed. (not really, it was kind of gloomy out, and nothing was on tv, etc.)
Zack: Me too.
Me: Why are you depressed, Zack?
Zack: Because I'm married to you.

I looked at Matt and we started rolling. Where the heck did that come from? I swear I've never said anything like that to Matt or about Matt. We had a great laugh, and then we explained to Zack that he isn't married to me.

Happy Birthday, Zack!

We celebrated Zack's birthday at the zoo. It was a lot of fun and he really enjoyed it. The weather was perfect-75 degrees! No complaints from me-this time last year we were living in blizzard weather! Zack's favorite part of the zoo this time was the merry-go-round. He chose to ride on the tiger. My parents also came with us, as well as my sister Blythe. After the zoo we went back to our place and had Chick-Fil-A (Zack's favorite) and cake and ice cream. For his birthday, like Christmas, he asked for Lightning McQueen and everything else Cars related!

SUCCESS!!!

It's official-Zack is potty trained! This is the final report of this long process. We started talking about it back when he turned 2, bought him a potty a few months later just for an introduction, and let him go when he wanted to go on the potty this summer so he would get used to it. When we officially started after the cruise/disney trip, it wasn't very long at all. It took less than 2 months for him to be in big boy underwear and off the little potty. He hasn't had a single accident since we changed from pull-ups to underwear. What's even better than that: he doesn't even wet the bed! I am so proud of my little boy!!! What a great start to the new year!

Busy Month...

Yeah, I know it's been a long time...Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

This month we attended Blythe's graduation from USC. My dad is so happy that he doesn't have to pay anymore tuition! I swear if he hadn't been sick he would have done cartwheels in the parking lot! We are 3 very grateful children because our parents put us through college and we all graduated: 1 BYU, 2 USC. We know who got the best degree!!!

We took some family pictures together, thanks to Shane the photographer. He's not really a photographer, of course, but he took some decent pictures of us and he took us to a cute place to take them. I thought they turned out pretty good.


We also went to NC to see the NC Freemans (Matt's brother and family). We always have the best time with them. We attended their ward Christmas party and got to see Santa there. Zack freaked out and cried, but then when he saw him he calmed down and took a picture with him. We had a good time just being with them and can't wait to see them again soon.

Christmas was great. We spent it with my family. The best part was that it was 70+ outside and we didn't have to deal with any snow. I'm so thankful not to have that anymore! My mom bought us a little tree so that we'd have one in our cozy apartment. (Did I mention that we finally moved out and into an apartment while we are building our house?) Zack enjoyed his gifts from Santa (all Lightning McQueen as requested!), and Matt and I had exchanged gifts too. Matt has been purchasing guns and ammo, so that was part of his gifts, but he also got a couple of cd's. Matt spoiled me with a Cricut and nice scrapbook photo/paper trimmers and a punch I'd been really wanting.




Most importantly, Zack learned more about the true meaning of Christmas. When we would ask him "what does Christmas mean?", he would answer "Jesus" or "Baby Jesus". He would also say that it was Jesus' birthday, and he started singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus" in the bathtub a few nights ago!

Wish me luck...tomorrow I'm putting Zack in real underwear!!! He's finally made it! I'll have to give a final "potty training" report later!

Disney World...now that it's been almost 2 months!

After the big cruise, we decided to stay in FL a few more days and go to Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. We were trying to see if Zack would have a change of heart about the "scariest" place on earth. We spent the first day at Hollywood Studios, and I think Zack found his "Happy Place".



There was just one little area that had Lightning McQueen and Mater in Radiator Springs. Zack was in heaven! It was so cute. We totally surprised him with that and his smile and excitement was worth it.


Halfway through the day we met up with Matt's sister's family and had fun with them in the park. These are just some pics with Zack and his cousins.



Matt rode the Aerosmith roller coaster 9 times. I liked the Little Mermaid show, the Great Movie ride, the Muppet show, and the Tower of Terror. We really liked the closing show with the lights and fireworks. That night our nephew Jeff stayed with us b/c the next day he was flying back to Utah and we wanted to spend some time with him. The Magic Kingdom was so much fun. This time Zack had a blast! We went to Pirates of the Caribbean first to break him in, and by the end of the ride he was fine. He rode it 5 more times with no fuss. We also made him do the Haunted Mansion twice, and he loved it both times. Zack's favorite rides were It's a Small World, Pirates, and Peter Pan's Flight. I couldn't believe how crowded it was for October, so we'll have to try another month next time. Zack couldn't ride the Star Tours ride, so we put him on this to make him think that he was riding in Star Wars.

This time we got to see a lot more characters than when we were at Disney Land. Zack would walk up, give them a hug, turn and pose for a picture, then walk away like he was a pro at it.



A few things I learned that I'll pass along for anyone who goes to Disney World/Land with kids:
A big stroller is great for carrying your junk and for naps.
A backpack is great for taking a camera, food/drinks, sunglasses, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, diapers, jackets, etc. and easy to grab when you park the stroller and go ride the attractions.
Don't buy the crap in the park, go to the local Wal-mart for souveniers (except for Mouse ears).
Food in Disney is terrible, so take lots of snacks and drinks-they really don't check that hard, and they pretty much let you take whatever if they see you with kids.
Take your own pictures-Disney Photo Pass sucks but you can hand your camera to those people and they'll take your picture for you.

Potty Training Revisited...

I know I have written a couple of times about potty training Zack. Well, now that we have moved to SC and the Cruise and Disney World have passed we are now in full potty training mode as of this past Monday. I have to brag...Zack is doing great so far. He started out on his own months ago when I bought him the potty, but Monday I introduced him to Lightning McQueen pull-ups and he is in heaven. By today (Wednesday) he didn't pee any in his pants, he pooped for the 1st time on the potty, and he napped without even going in his pull-ups. I almost took a picture of the poop b/c I was so proud and excited, but I knew that would probably be a little too much. Ahhhh...the little things in life that make you happy...! Hopefully we'll stay on this great track. He seems to love the stickers that he gets when he goes, so I'm glad that is working. We even went to the library today and he didn't go until we got back. I know everyone is probably laughing about my awesome potty training day, but I thought I would just share my hap-pee-ness!!!

Jobs...

Zack is very proud of his Daddy's job. As most of y'all know Matt works for Blackberry. If you ask Zack he'll tell you "Daddy works for Blackberry." Then if you ask "Do you work?" He says, "I work for Blackberry." Technically he could b/c he can work those things like no other. He can take pictures, play ringtones, videos, songs, and find the games on any Blackberry he can get his hands on. Zack really believes that he works for Blackberry too. If I ask Zack "Does Mommy work?" He says, "No, Mommy doesn't work." But then if I change the question to "What is Mommy's job?" He always answers "Mommy's job is Zackapoo." I love it!!!

Alarm Clock

Back in September I was opening a box to get out my alarm clock b/c at night I was tired of not knowing what time it was when Zack would come roll into my bed with me. (Yes, Ashley, I do have an alarm clock and it does go off every morning, but I choose to ignore it!) Zack saw that I was setting it up on the nightstand, and just burst into tears. I asked him what was wrong and he told me "No Mommy, don't go to work." He repeated it over and over through his tears and I realized that he thought that I was going to start getting up again and leaving him to go to my job. I explained to him that I didn't work at Nature's Way anymore b/c it was in Utah and we moved and Daddy works now. He was happy with the explanation and now doesn't mind that the alarm clock is out of the box.

Tigers @ Padres game 2!

June 21, 2008

This was the next night when we went to the second game of the series. Zack was really cute when he got his first autograph. It was from Curtis Granderson and he was really nice to Zack. He had a big grin on his face when he saw the little red-head just barely able to hand him his ticket and Sharpie! Matt was the one who called him over to come sign autographs for the fans. They say Granderson is just a really nice, laid back kind of person. Zack was good for this game. He slept a few innings and then there were fireworks afterwards. The Tigers won this game so that was worth the money for the price we paid this night for the good seats (not like the cheap seats the night before).

Now that I'm finally caught up from June I'll be able to tell you what we did in July (now that it's almost August!). I'm always on top of things!

Zack's First MLB Game!

June 20, 2008
San Diego, CA

Matt sort of scheduled our trip purposely around the San Diego Padres inter-league games with the Detroit Tigers. Matt always said that Zack would have to attend a Tigers game first, so even though it wasn't in Detroit, this counted and Matt was happy. When we walked in I was a few feet behind but the usher-lady stopped me and said "I saw your son's face when he walked in and saw the field. I can tell it is his first time. His jaw dropped and he is so amazed." Matt said he saw Zack's face and loved it b/c it reminded him of his first trip to Tiger stadium. We arrived early enough to see them practicing, and Matt was able to meet Todd Jones who threw the last pitch in old Tiger Stadium on Sept. 27, 1999. He even signed a ball for Matt. (Matt is really like a big kid at these kinds of events.) Zack wasn't exactly the best kid while we were there. In fact, he basically got us thrown out of our seats, but thankfully the ushers thought that he was so cute and they hooked us up with some sweet seats. Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, it pays to have a bad child!

The best story occurred while Matt had taken Zack down to the kids area to run around. We had gotten a Tigers pennant just like Matt had gotten at his first MLB game. The San Diego Padre cheer people came around and handed out items like little balls and baseball cards. They left Sirley and me with one of their signs that said "Go Padres". Well I held up the pennant over it so that it said "Go Tigers". Then out of nowhere one of the mascots that walk around the park yanked the pennant out of my hand and started to pretend to fight me for it and then proceeded to "wipe his butt" with it! I was so embarrassed. I'm just glad I didn't end up on the jumbo-tron or even worse ESPN highlights. It really was histerical, and Sirley was about to crawl under her seat. Matt couldn't believe he missed it. We left a little early b/c the Tigers lost, however we did go back the next night...more pics to come of that too!

Road Trip!

June 17-18, 2008
Heading Out with a Happy Kid!



We left on Tuesday after I got off of work. We stayed at Matt's Dad's place in St. George, UT. We got there around 10pm and Matt just had to hit up the new In-N-Out Burger. It is almost a tradition that if we ever come up on one we have to stop and get something. (Thankfully the closest one is about 4 hours or my butt would be bigger than it already is!)

The next morning we got up and took it easy so that we would be ready for Disneyland on the following day. We still had quite a way to go and we wanted to spread it out. Our first stop on the way-Las Vegas, NV. (Matt also had to hit up the In-N-Out here too.) We decided to walk around the shops at a few casinos hoping to wear Zack out enough to sleep in the car at least as far as Barstow, CA!



At the Wynn waterfall and at the Venetian waterway...



Some pictures are just too tempting not to take!
(Zack thought it was a video game!)
We did not gamble in our time in Las Vegas. We are good people after all.

Zack didn't sleep much on the rest of the ride. Our plan to wear him out walking failed. We made it to Anaheim without much going on in between. That night at dinner (Mimi's Cafe-mmmmm!) Zack didn't want to eat anything. He took his fork out and ate the butter. I gagged and laughed at the same time. Isn't that gross? I had to take a picture of it. He is so boy. And then he proceeded to yell in the restaurant that he needed to go poopoo! Needless to say, I left Matt to pick up the check!