Random Pictures

Here Zion is in a storage bucket. Just a cute shot.his is The Blessed Dr. Monica Wehby, the doctor (well, the head one) that performed Zion's surgery. He had a check up a couple weeks ago and she says he "Looks just perfect"!

Couldn't we all use a bit of this right now?! This is the view from the boat ride through the Marriott Hotel's gorgeous landscape in La Quinta. Oh, for some warm sunshine!!

Vacation to California

Yes, we did it! Our first road trip as a family and it was totally spur-of-the-moment. We drove a total of five days to spend a total of five days in so-sunny Southern California. Worth it, though!!

Our friends, Emily (Aunty Em) and Justin (Uncle Juice), live in La Quinta, which is a suburb to Palm Springs. BEE-YOU-TI-FUL would describe the place: warm weather, sunny skies, citrus fruit growing on the side of the road, and picturesque homes and resorts. La Quinta was actually named after the resort (of the same name) that was a refuge for the wealthy in the 20's and remains so today. Many of the golfers playing in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic were staying there as the PGA Tour was in town at the same time we were.

Justin and Emily

Heath and Zion lounging by one of the MANY pools at the La Quinta Resort.

Zion eating an orange on the tree. Everyone is encouraged to pick and eat fruit from the trees all over the city.
Me and Zion at the Resort. This is his "lion roar" face. So cute!

Zion had lots of firsts on our trip. . .

First long car ride. He was such a trooper!

I LOVE how he sucks his tongue when he sleeps.
First bike ride. We loved riding around with him. We'll for sure be getting a bike seat for him so we can take family rides.

He had a hard time balancing sometimes becaue he wanted to suck his fingers.

First time down a slide and swimming.

Not so sure of the slide.


Playing with some of the 57 grapefruit that we picked on the side of the road.
So, over all, we had a GREAT trip. We were spoiled by Justin and Em and had a relaxing time. It is hard to be home in this refrigerator we call Oregon!

In Palm Springs!

We are currently on vacation in Palm Springs, California and are LOVING the sunshine! We are wearing t-shirts and flip-flops everyday. Tomorrow we are planning a lazy day by the pool--ultimate ahhhhh!

Our friends, Emily and Justin, live down here. I am taking lots of fun pictures that I will post after we get back home.

Two Birthdays

Let's start with Zion's:

Today he is eight months old! He now scoots around on the floor so well. It works really well in his jammies since he is so slip-slip-slippery on our wood floors. He also licks it as he moves along. So I guess I have to clean the floors more often now!

Here he is trying to crawl. He looks like a dying buy with his bum up in the air. He'll probably be crawling really soon and then my life will get more hectic with a roving baby.

He is now fitting into his nine month clothing. This little jacket is so cute! We just had his check up this week and he is fifteen pounds (10th percentile) and 27" long (75th percentile). Who know Heath and I could have a tall, skinny baby!

Here he is helping me with the laundry. Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks and pinch that belly?!

We went for a walk this morning because the sun was so beautiful! Here he is all bundled up. Those baby blues are just going to kill the girls someday!

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And now Quarter Pint:

Yesterday I had a check up for baby #2. It is growing like a little weed! Today I am 11 weeks along (hence, a quarter finished. . .). She wasn't exactly sure of the age of it the first time I went in so yesterday she brought the ultrasound machine back in for another peek. Seems like we are on track now at exactly 11 weeks today. She moved the due date up a bit too, but we'll just stick with the August 10th due date. Here is the little rascal:

Here is a shot of the whole body. The ultrasound says "hi dad" in it because I didn't think we would be getting another peek at the baby so Heath did not come to the appointment. So when she wheeled in the machine I told her that Heath was going to be upset he didn't get to see the baby again. So she wrote a little note on it for him.

Profile shot. Don't you think it looks like a girl??? I guess we'll know in a couple more months!

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In other news:

Rachel's baby, Mackenzie, is now two months old!

Here she is just a few days old with her dad, Jake. Isn't she a doll!

Here she is at about six weeks old. Zion was so curious about her.

We continue to feel so blessed to be entrusted with Zion. He is such a little treasure from the Lord. We just love being his parents and are excited about #2!

Christmas

Christmas was not what we expected this year due to the blast of wintery weather. In an effort to join Sam and his family in Bend, we tried to drive to my folks' house to ride with them over the pass. Well, eight hours later, we were back home. Yep, we had made it as far as Wilsonville in seven hours and finally gave up and drove home. Thankfully, that only took one hour!

So I have yet to see my niece and nephews on Christmas day in three years. Sad, I know.

Here are some pics:

We celebrated Christmas early with just the three of us.

Heath gave Zion three books for Christmas. They were so cute. It was sweet the way that Heath read these little board books to Zion; what a pair they make!

Who doesn't love a good nakey baby picture! :) I just love his little body--it's so kissable!

I gave him some shoes. He'll be needing those soon!

Christmas morning and Zion in his Santa suit.

My parents drove up Christmas Eve and stayed the night. It was fun having a small Christmas, but we would have loved a larger one! Oh, well, next year!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Time

Lots has happened since I last posted. Like. . .

1. Zion's surgery is over and a month behind us now.

This is one day post-op. Giving Zion up to the group of surgeons the morning of November 19th was the most heart-breaking thing we have ever gone through. We are so thankful everything worked out just fine and that is behind us now. Here is a picture of him today with his perfectly rounded forehead (he turned seven months on the 16th of this month):

He is so happy and such a good baby. We were afraid the surgery would hamper his spirit but he is just fine! All his scabs are gone now too! His scar looks just great (you can't even see it in this picture!). We are so thrilled about our baby boy!

2. We moved into our new house! We closed at the beginning of November and feel really settled now.

Here is our kitchen. It is my favorite part of the house!

This is the rest of our first floor--dining room and living rooom all in one. Then you go up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Our bedroom. Our nook is fun. And here is the view out the window of our nook:

3. I got a new haircut:

I really like it and have not had short hair forever! Plus, it is nice because Zion was constantly pulling and chewing on my hair. Problem sovled!

4. Our last bit of news has to do with our family. . .and the expansion of it. That's right! We're adding another little one to our clan in August. You may think we are crazy but we are excited about it. Here we go again! :)

Merry Christmas!

What a Whirlwind!

Well, it's been a while. Just thought I would update everyone on our life. We have been SO busy the past few weeks and here is why:

*We bought a house! We closed two Fridays ago. From the moment we closed a 5 o'clock, we started the whirlwind to get moved in and semi-settled before Zion's surgery. We LOVE our house! It is perfect and a true gift from the Lord. We are thankful for it.

*Both of us have successfully lost some weight. So we are also thankful for that. Heath is at his goal but I still have a ways to go. I'll get there, though!

*Zion's surgery was last Wednesday. We really felt all the prayers and although the time leading up to the event was SOOOOO sad, we were at peace while they were actually performing the surgery. Totally an answer to prayer! He was in the ICU for a day and night and then we moved to the regular infant/toddler unit. We got to come home yesterday (Saturday). He is looking so much better each day and today he really started acting like Zion again. Again, another thing to give thanks for next Thursday.

*My birthday was on the 21st. We did get to go out to dinner while Grandpa Frank and Grandma Nora stayed with Zion in the hospital. It was the first date we had had without Zion! He was in good hands, though! :)

*Rachel, my good friend, had a baby girl on the 15th! She highly recommends the epidural. :) Mackenzie Isabell is so perfect and has a full head of brown hair with Rach's cute chin.

*Tonight I actually got out a couple Thanksgiving decorations. I have not really felt like doing any extra decorating stuff in the midst of all the moving and Zion stuff. I am anxious to get back to normal--whatever that means!

Well, happy Thanksgiving and thanks to all of you who have been praying for us these past few weeks! I'll post pictures of a new Zion soon.