Zackrison Sisters Update

It's my turn to host the update again.  Enjoy!

Sarah:

Last weeks:
-moved Huck out of the nursery - he had started sleeping in June's room a couple months ago but all his clothes and stuff was still in his old room. This required sorting through all of June's clothes too and cleaning out the closet.) Now we can call it Huck & June's room and his old room can be called the new baby's room.
-lost my ankles. My swelling is worse with this pregnancy than I remember ever before.
-lots of rooftop concert planning. Finally secured our funding for the season which is a nice relief. But we're a little in scramble mode now.
-made good progress on my work project, but still need one last push to get it handed off before my leave
-got June's dental work done - 3 cavities filled and a silver crown. Went ahead and put her to sleep for this one
-opened a couple new band accounts for the various business endeavors we have going. That will really simplify reconciliation and record keeping to have them separated.


Next week:
-rooftop concert on Friday! So far the weather's looking great. My hope is to teach others how to do all the jobs I do so next month I can have a baby.
-dr appt on monday. I don't love my midwives (had to switch due to insurance change last year) plus they are far away and I'm busy and think I know enough about having babies by now. Consequently I haven't been in very much this time around. But now I'm getting curious about how I'm measuring and baby's position and what to plan/expect for the delivery so I'm motivated to go in again.
-I'd like to get a new crib, even though it is hard to justify. Spending some time watching the classifieds and dreaming of the hand-crafted land of nod options.
-need to bring up the newborn boy boxes from the basement and assess how well equipped we are for this new baby to come. I bought some newborn diapers and pacifiers the other day. Oh man it's getting real. Now if only we could think of a good name.
-I've really got to get my work project done so I can move on to cleaning my house and doing the laundry.
-finalize a couple lower lights concerts for June and December.
-pedicure?! Massage?! Wouldn't that be so great. Maybe more realistic for next week's post-concert/post-work project plan.
-plant our vegetable garden. Every year I do it too late and I fear I'm missing the window yet again

Annee:

 Past Weeks:

-new van got on the insurance!
-George and Jane got their cavities filled. One each. Not too bad!
-subbed two days in a row!  Art one day, Jane's K/1 class the next. I managed okay, but my feet were aching by the end. Apparently you spend a LOT of time on your feet when you are being a school teacher for the day.
-an early release day where George had a playdate so I took the other three out to lunch, just for fun. Lately these kids can almost always talk me into going out on a food outing. I seem to feel hungry almost all the time. When I'm not hungry it might be because I have heartburn.
-an Earth Day play for the ladies had me at Old Navy like three days in a row. I just couldn't seem to get it right for them. In the end, the play was not a big enough deal for me to have worried on their behalf so much. They did great in the play!
-we had our big ultrasound!  The mystery was discovered, we'll be having one BOY and one GIRL. Everyone is so happy. It makes it feel so much more real now. I'll look at Jane and Ruby sitting at the table eating, or crafting together and imagine that one day their sister will be sitting there next to them. Kind of melts my heart. And the boy!  I hope he's coming good and strong, able to stand up to the three sisters who he will have as his mother-hens!  Henry is afraid he won't be here long enough to influence him and that he might be wimpy under the influence of so many girls. I tell him to rest easy, his dad is pretty good at making boys tough. It's going to be great.
- Liberty Antique Festival as our weekend date. We woke up early on Saturday, got donuts and chocolate milk for the kids, and told them not to fight while we were gone. We made it back by noon to find all getting along perfectly fine still in their pajamas. I almost thought we were going to leave the Festival empty handed, then at the last minute we found the perfect three piece wicker set for the front porch. It's not terribly "antique" which is kind of perfect because then it might last through a move or two yet to come :) Of course, I'm thinking of painting it, and making pillows, etc. Love it!

This Week:

-I'm working on some sewing projects that I'm pretty excited about. I have two smaller things to finish and then I want to make my most epic quilt to date. This one I think really is going to turn into an heirloom. But it's going to be so much work, and hurt my back so much, that I'm kind of scared. But I also know that this might be my last chance to take on such a project for a while, so I think I'm just going to go for it!  No pain, no gain!
-enjoy our last week before swim-team starts. When it does start, it's every day of the week!
-Go on the zoo field trip,  if I can't make Darin feel sorry enough for me to go in my place!
-volunteer at the spring book fair.
-Friday is our BIG date to go see "Wicked" at the Durham Performing Arts Center. I'm so excited. I hope Darin finishes his two final papers that are due on Friday before our 8pm curtain time!
-we have some details to work out about our summer travels. It's maybe time to inspect the plan closely, and fill in a few gaps, etc. My OB is worried about the current plan, of me being gone for five weeks. I need to go to a few more appointments to figure out if she is worried specifically about something, or if pregnant ladies with twins, traveling in their third trimester make her nervous in general.


Ana:

Wish I had shut my closet door...

Last week:

-Will sat up (tripod) for a few minutes on his own!  Whoo hoo!
-Will rolled over back to belly, over and over and over again.  Once in hot pursuit of a sneaky butternut squash. :)
-We instituted a new Wii rule in our house.  It used to be that Jack could only play Wii while Will was sleeping so he would be quiet, but it was eating into my alone time with Jack.  Now he can only play his allotted time while Will is awake.  That way I get some concentrated Will time and then concentrated Jack time.  So far it's made a difference in Jack's happiness level at home.  Now we spend Will's naps reading books together, playing board games or making banana pancakes together.  So much nicer.
-Went out to dinner with my sister's family.  All of the kids were so well behaved, we actually got to have conversations.  I guess the planets must have aligned because it was a lovely meal.  William tried avocado for the first time and went to town on it.  That boy loves food.  Loves it.
-Met up with friends at/after Dodgeball. Its so nice to have good girl friends.  They make me feel understood and sane. 
-Found out the big open field out of our window is not going to be developed any time soon.  I was panicking that it would be so noisy we'd have to move.  Its already been 7 moves in the almost 10 years Zack and I have been married.  I'm just not ready to move again so soon.
-Discovered that Will has no idea how to take a bottle which greatly reduces the amount of time I can spend away from him.  He has had maybe 3 or 4 bottles in his life just to make sure he would drink from one if we needed, but I guess I needed to do it more frequently because he thinks its a funny joke.
-Sent Jack to bring your kids to work day with Zack.  He had a great time and Zack even managed to do a bit of work.  Jack came home exhausted from his work day.
-Took Will in for his ear check and makeup shot appointment (we are finally caught up!).  Will is now 19.5 lbs.  If we stand him on his feet he towers over other 1 year olds we know. 


This week:
-Month end at work, Father son campout on Friday night (William is not invited unfortunately),Swim lessons, hopefully buy airline tickets for Christine's wedding, dodgeball lessons, library visits, down time with Will, down time with Jack, and maybe just maybe some down time with Zack.

Ie Li:
(No photo this time...she is pregnant and sick so she gets a pass)
Last couple of weeks:

• Steve turned 30!  We celebrated on Sunday with some cheesecake, cannolis, and crepes.  The kids blew his candles out for him.   They couldn't help it.  
• We finally bought a mattress.  It will be delivered today, thank goodness.  
• Stephen's t-ball and Mei Li's soccer games.  Sports have officially overwhelmed our schedule, especially on Saturdays.  
• Ate at McDonald's at least every other day.  It's two minutes away from our house so if I can't seem to find anything desirable to eat at home, I go there.  
• Thursday was take your child to work day!  The kids had a blast at Steve's office.  I took Mi Na back to Oakton to visit some friends.  I was able to visit five friends.  By the end of it all, I was ready for a nap. 
• Hired a babysitter on Friday between 5:30 and 11:30.  Steve and I tested out mattresses and then drove over to Potowmack Farm for Steve's birthday dinner with Rachel, Ken, Christine, and Jon.  Jon's attendance was a complete surprise.  The food was good and the setting was beautiful.  It was just so nice to sit and talk for hours without the kids.

This Week:

• Mei Li will go to a full day of school on Wednesday.  I bet she'll be pretty tired when she gets home.
• On Thursday, we'll go to Mei Li's kindergarten performance.  Mei Li says it's "tip-top secret," but I think a hoe-down will be involved.  :)
• Soccer and T-ball
• I will be 14 weeks pregnant on Thursday, I hope that the nausea magically comes to an end then.  I have been a horrible mother and wife.  Steve has been very kind about taking care of everything when he gets home from work.  
• I have a midwife appointment this week.  There are six midwives at this practice and I am excited to meet a new one.  My mother was a little concerned when I told her that I was seeing midwives instead of an OB.  She felt better when I told her I would be giving birth in a hospital and not at home.  
• Make dinner!  Last week, I made dinner once, an improvement over previous weeks.  This week, I'll make dinner twice using the crockpot.  Since morning is my best time of day, I figured that the crockpot was my only hope of getting dinner on the table.  My poor little family has been very patient with me.  

Rachel:

 Last week:

• Busy season ended Tuesday the 17th, and I'm sure you're all as glad as me to be done talking about it!  Fun Facts -- My favorite thing about busy season: being too busy to snack.  My least favorite thing about busy season: all the rounding of numbers I have to do in my head.  I wish everything could just be provided in whole numbers because when you're tired and your eyes hurt it is really annoying to be constantly rounding every number you see. 
  
• I worked from home Wednesday the 18th which was super low key.
• Thursday 19th I went to work and, surprise, I got a 5% bonus!!  Random!  It's so hard to wrap my head around that kind of positive feedback, because I feel in my own head that I could always be doing better so how could they not think the same about me?  It was unexpected and the best part for me was how excited it all made Ken!  Taking notes on the best way to react when our roles are flipped later in life.
• Watched every episode of The Kennedy's on Netflix. 
• Saturday 21st I slept in and went shopping at the Eastern Market Flea. Finally pulled the trigger on a couple Turkish rugs turned into pillows that I've been wanting for a while. Then I brought lunch to ken between his class sessions. Saturday night we met up at the temple for ward temple night. 
• Monday 23 thru Friday 27 at work was full of training and annual review writing/discussing. Blah. 
• Thursday Steve's kids came to work! Was so fun to see them!
• Friday 27th I did some shopping during our training lunch break. I'm making an effort to dress more truly business casual this summer. Most of the summer clothes I have are quite casual so I'm usually pushing the envelope a bit at work. Don't want to feel that way so much anymore. 
• Friday night the 27th we had a birthday celebration dinner with Steve and CZ at Patowmack Farm in Leesburg which is the best wedding venue option at this point!!
• Saturday the 28th was low key, some shopping and organizing. We made pizza after Ken got home from work which we haven't done in ages. It was raining hard all day. We stayed home that night which was totally boring and blah. 
• Sunday the 29th was church, dinner at a ward member's house, then we started a massive spring cleaning and organizing project. Our clothing/closet situation is so dysfunctional that it was time for an OVERHAUL. We totally rearranged everything to make room for a large new wardrobe in the guest room which we desperately need. 

This week

--Pick a hotel/bed & breakfast/apartment in Paris for our trip. 

--Grocery shop and make some meals for our family again. It's been a while. 

--My car is at the shop this week for repairs so I can pass safety inspection. We will do some creative car sharing that will mean mostly running/walking home from work for me. 

--Look at invitations with CZ on Tuesday after work

--Continue massive organizing and purging. Buy and put together new wardrobe from Ikea. 

--Friday at work everyone is going to the Dulles Sportsplex for a huge Tax Olympics day. It'll mostly be fun the have CZ there with us too!!

--Saturday night is Truckeroo down in DC where all the food trucks gather in one place for the day. A fun novelty activity. 

--More trip planning. 

--Next Thursday May 10th is the This American Life live show that CZ and I are going to see at the movie theatre. 

--GET A HAIRCUT! Agh!

--Manicure/pedicure finally? That could be nice. 

--I actually do have a lot of work to get done this week on projects I can accelerate and move along before my trip. The summer is going to fly by. 

**Christine gets a pass too this week because she is busy working, planning her August wedding and future life!