Happy President's Day!

First Stroller Ride

Today I put Will into the stroller big-kid style for the first time when we were at the grocery store.  Up until now he's had to be strapped into the bjorne to be happy and my poor back has been suffering, so the fact that we made it through without any major breakdowns is huge in my life. 

When Jack was little he was always in the stroller.  He and I would take walks to the local parks and spend our mornings there with me chattering on about everything under the sun until he was old enough to contribute to the conversation.  Then we talked about the sky, the birds, airplanes, cars, cars and more cars.  We talked about our favorite colors, flowers, and we ate bagels and played at the park.  I remember those days with reverence.  They were sweet simple days.  I know time has made the memories lose their hard moments and left only the good, but seeing Will in his stroller brought those days back.  I can't wait for long lazy days to come with William strapped into the stroller.

And yes, that is a monkey wearing a tie and glasses. :)

Baby Will at 4 months

-Laughs the loudest watching Jack play the wii
-Is happiest with his whole fist wedged in his mouth
-Loves reading Rainbow Rob most of all
-Sobs like the world is over when his bowl of solid food is empty
-Insists on holding the spoon himself 
-Wakes up once a night (totally doable)
-Tolerates all of his animal hats remarkably well
-Still has way more hair in the back of his head then in the front.  I'm contemplating cutting it once again in hopes that it will grow in a bit more evenly this time...
-Has beautiful blue eyes
-Is fascinated by my sparkling water.  It's better then any toy
-Flirts with everyone when we go out
-Drools more then any other baby.  Really its unbelievable what this kid accomplishes
-Cries when his brother cries (actually he waits till Jack's sob is over and then sobs himself until Jack starts up again.  It's a blast.)
-Sleeps to rain noises during naps but wakes up if it really starts to rain
-Growls a lot 
-Hates peas.  He gags on each and every bite I give him
-Loves him some bananas. Gives me dirty looks if I eat one in front of him and don't share
-Has a relatively small belly button in spite of our worries when his doctor said his two clamp belly button was in the top ten she'd ever seen
-Is obsessed with my hair. Loves it when it's in his face
-HATES his car seat. LOVES crying in it
-Won't cry in his carseat as long as both Jack and I can keep singing "8 days a week" by the Beatles
-Cries a little less in his carseat now that I moved Jack one seat further from him and his hair gets rubbed a little less during car rides
-Nurses to sleep (I know I know but it's future Ana's problem)
-Has to be swaddled to sleep in his crib
-Loves being held by Adda because it means he will get to nap in her arms.  She must covers herself with fairy dust because she just lulls him right to sleep.
-Thinks its hilarious when I ask him where the poo poos are. Sorry Zack, he thinks potty talk is funny already
-Loves his bath as long as its empty when he gets in it. Otherwise he hates it and screams
-Loves the bjorne as long as his hands can be folded together like he's saying a prayer
-Is the best gift our family could have asked for

End of an era

It's an end to an era and interesting to be watching Jack's baby teeth fall out just as William's are coming in. 

Zackrison Sister Update

Sarah:

Last weeks:

• Introduced Huck & June to edimame (a snack I only recently discovered myself).They had fun shooting the beans out of the pods and I think they actually ate a few too.
• Hosted a very impromptu non-super bowl party. None of the musicians there were slightly interested in the game, but it was on as an excuse to congregate and eat snacks. I made yummy french dip sandwiches, but otherwise hadn't planned anything ahead so pulled out whatever crackers and chips I could find in the pantry. Certainly nothing pinterest-worthy
• Stake Temple Night
• Got the house appraised - hoping we can finally take advantage of the crazy low interest rates and refinance. Values seem to be coming back up now
• We got a couple inches of snow one day so we rushed to take advantage and go sledding. Oliver and neighbor Julia took Huck & June to the nearby small hill and Brenden went with some friends to go "extreme sledding" - start at the Y parking lot and sled down the mountain on unmarked trails. Sounds safe enough, right? I guess that's what we get for having pre-teen boys and living in the foothills
• Baby shower for Tracy Marben Beals
• All 4 kids went to the dentist, which unfortunately resulted in reprimands for me and 2 cavities for June, 2 extractions + 1 cavity for Oliver, and 2 sealants for Brenden. Oops. Guess my whole approach of buying fluoridated water to avoid the fluoride tablets isn't exactly working.
• Watched as many Downton Abbey episodes as we could find. What will be our next obsession?

This week:

• Finish Oliver's Native American report and papier mache project
• Brenden gets braces on Tuesday
• Playdate with Anson Kendrick - he's been coming over on Mondays while Courtney works on her book
• Plan Oliver's birthday party - he's thinking laser tag with a few friends. Sounds manageable
• Plan & execute valentines cards. Anyone have any fun/easy ideas this year?
• Looks like I'll probably have to take a trip out to Mountain View for work next week.
• Better start doing some Rooftop Concert Series work. Need to send out incentives to people who donated to the kickstarter fund, do some more fundraising for next year, and book the lineup.
• Should probably pull together our tax stuff soon.

Annee:

LAST WEEKish:

-We bought plan tickets!  I walked in from school on Wednesday and Darin said he had gotten a Kayak alert about one of the routes we had told them to watch for us.  It had dropped significantly.  When we logged on to the website, it had dropped another hundred dollars, per ticket, from what the email had advertised.  We couldn't waste our time worry about too many details.  We knew this was a deal we wouldn't be seeing again soon, if ever.  We bought the tickets.  July 1- August 1, we'll be out West.  We want to celebrate dad's 60th birthday in Provo with him.  And we want to see the new baby Wiley.  But we also need to go to Madras for a good chunk of time.  We haven't been there in years.  We're all excited.
-Saturday was the pinewood derby.  We didn't finish in the top three, but we were in the top five.  There was some really, really , really tough competition.  Word in the gym was that the top finisher has been building pinewood derby cars for a decade at least.  George had fun, Darin built his fastest car ever.  Going to show that years of experience really does make a difference.  This might have actually been our last one!
-Subbed four full days last week.  The EC (which stands for "Exceptional Student" but really means the kids with learning plans, and learning disabilities) Aid had asked me MONTHS ago if I could sub for her this week.  Four full days in a row working with the EC kids is not exactly easy.  The easy part about it, versus a class room, is that in total throughout the day, you are only dealing with about ten students.  The hard part, is that those ten students really need a lot of help.  The most interesting part of the job was working with a single 5th grader on math.  It was so frustrating/sad for me to see that no matter what I did, I couldn't help him understand "greatest common factor".  Four days later, and it was still like I was introducing the topic for the first time.  I don't know what it would be like to have a kid who couldn't grasp math topics.  But I realized it is a blessing I haven't appreciated enough.  I don't know what you do in life if you don't understand math?  It felt kind of hopeless to me.  It also made me want to bring him home after school and be his math tutor.  But alas, that won't happen either.
-By Friday I was wiped out!  Darin took to the "working wife" challenge very well, and planned for and cooked three meals for us last week.  I couldn't have loved him more!  Friday we treated ourselves to a lunch date and some shopping.  We skipped our Friday night date since we had had a Friday afternoon date.  No movie this weekend.
-Saturday we went with a group of Darin's friends from school out for Korean food.  This is the first time we've eaten Korean food since leaving Korea.  Seriously.  I won't be going back any time very soon, but I will say that I really enjoyed it.  It's funny how food can transport you.
-Sunday, sharing time and Super Bowl.  I spent all Sunday morning trying to prepare a decent sharing time, while Darin prepared his ribs that he would cook after church in honor of the super bowl.  We instituted a Sunday afternoon quiet time when we saw that waiting until 6:30 for the Super Bowl to start was almost too much to handle.  Things needed to settle down.  I think I ate my weight in chips and various dips, but oh well.  Super Bowl Sunday only comes around once a year.
-I finished my quilt top!!  I think I'll post a finished top picture over on MOM sooner rather than later.  Liz has me convinced that if I forgo running, chores, and everything else responsible today, that by tonight I could have myself a completely finished winter quilt.  I'll admit, I'm tempted to take her challenge.  My agenda today might read, "Finish quilt, at all cost".  We'll see if the Major agrees with my plan for the day ;)

THIS WEEK:

-Subbing on Thursday.
-Finish quilt.
-Run more.  I think I only managed to run twice last week with the subbing.  That's embarrassing.  I need to do better.
-Find a new book to read.  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet will be done in 35 minutes.  I will feel a void when it's over.  I don't know what I'm reading next.  One book club is reading Persuasion.  I feel like I've read that pretty recently.  I don't know if I need to re-read it just yet.  Anyway, anyone have a suggestion?
-Laundry.  I washed two loads of girl clothes last week.  They are still sitting clean in the baskets in the laundry room.  They have been dug through and dumped over so many times that I wonder if they are clean anymore.  I want to wash everything from all all the laundry baskets throughout the whole house, AND put it all away today and tomorrow.  If I can do that, I'm worth a million bucks.
-I need to schedule six dental appointments.  I'm nervous because we haven't been flossing.  I hate getting the flossing lecture twice a year.  It really hurts my feelings.  I know already!
-I need to work on a sewing project for a neighbor.  She asked me if I could sew patio seat cushions for her.  I didn't know how to say no, but I wish I did.  But since I didn't, the only way to get over it, is to just DO IT.  She's going to pay me, but it doesn't make it worth it to me.  I don't like sewing for hire.  I like sewing for pleasure.  It's that simple.
-We need to eat at home this week.  If I'm not working, I need to make sure I have good solid dinner plans.  It just makes life go so much smoother if I am on top of that.
-Sounds like a pretty boring week.  But somewhere in it all, I am happy.

Ana:

(Pre-SuperBowl Loss, and yes that is a build a bear outfit on poor Will)

LAST WEEK:
-Jack lost his first tooth!  It may or may not have been lose.  He has started this bizarre ritual of biting his towel when he gets out of the shower (I have no idea why) and last night his tooth popped out.  I'm sure it must have been at least a little bit lose before right?  He's growing up so fast.
-Took William to his four month appointment only to find that I totally spaced and skipped his two month check up.  Opps... He's a tall guy measuring in at the 86%. He did not do well with his shots.  He screamed the whole rest of the day and refused to sleep.  I am so looking forward to doing his catch up 4 month shots in a few weeks.
-Started our taxes.  Fingers crossed this might be the first time in years we (I) haven't messed up our taxes and owed thousands of dollars.  (Huge sigh of relief)
-There are moments that I just want to go on a crash diet and fit into my normal pants again.  But I love nursing this baby more and try to remember there will be years to be skinny and only this one to nurse Will.
-Got our silly string damaged furniture fixed for free thanks to the warranty.  What the guy was able to do was very impressive.  It made me realize how little I know how to do.
-Watched the Super Bowl.  Jack was devestated at the Patriots loss. He cried and threw his Brady jersey on the floor but on the way home rallied.  He wanted to play football with Zack this morning to cheer himself up.  I guess it's good news that the Patriots haven't made Jack hate football forever. 
-Started William on solid food.  He cries when his bowl is empty.  He really, really loves food.

THIS WEEK:
-Try to figure out Williams new schedule.  Just when I thought I knew what to expect...
-Be on time to pick up Jack everyday.  It's just sad that I'm late.
-Exercise 4 times this week.
-Do more as a family and not separate mom/will and papa/jack groups.



Ie Li:

Last Week:

• Celebrated my friend's birthday with a bunch of girls at Sweetwater Tavern.  As I was getting ready to leave the house for it, Steve explained to Stephen that it was just for moms.  Stephen replied, "I can't go there!  I just know they're all going to kiss me because they love me and want to marry me!"
• Went visiting teaching.
• Steve and Stephen attended Dad's night at the preschool and made a robot together.  They both wore jeans and navy blue BYU t-shirts at Stephen's request.
• Made a heart banner for my mantle.  Stephen and Mei Li helped me trace the heart shapes onto fabric.  This is the most festive I'm going to get.  I might tackle homemade Valentine cards for the classroom parties.
• Continued reading Little Women with Mei.
• Started watching Parenthood with Steve.  We are loving it so far.  
• Kept up with the house cleaning for the most part.  This was not a stellar laundry week.
• Enjoyed three days of spring-like warmth.  It was lovely.
• Went on a dinner date with Steve to a mediocre restaurant.  Next time, we'll stick with our Thai and Indian favorites.
• Did some closet purging.

This Week:

• Continue listening to Cutting for Stone and re-listen to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for book group.
• Make a chocolate cake for no other reason than I've been dying to for the last couple of weeks.
• Stay on top of the laundry.
• Go to the adult stake dance!  I'm not sure what to expect, but Steve and I are open-minded about it.
• Get to bed early and wake up before the kids are up.
• Start making the Valentines.
• More closet purging.

Rachel:

 Last Two Weeks

• We had a successful little dinner party with 6 people.  I made beouf bourguignon, but I took extra time to really make it right and it turned out better than last time.  We sat half around the table and half around the coffee table.  It was really fun.  I am definitely on the lookout for a table with leaves (sp?) because that would completely solve our problems.  (Aside from moving obviously, which is an enjoyable thought AT ALL.)
• We've enjoyed following the presidential debates/race very closely.  Newt Gingrich is a dangerous, self-interested idiot, in my opinion. 
• I taught my primary class alone last week and it was really rough.  I was completely out of material with 25 minutes of class left.  Yikes. 
  
• This week I taught the 5 year olds again and it went much better.  We talked about families which was way more interesting for the boys. 
• Used my early out day last week to go to Crossfit with Ken. 
  
• Heard about mom & dad's upcoming adventure to Morocco! 
• Ken is itching to take a big trip as a graduation/post-bar celebration so we're brainstorming.  It would be so amazing to "pick up" mom and dad from their mission in Morocco if the dates line up.  Fingers crossed, that's probably our first choice.  Otherwise, should we take a Baltic Cruise?  Or go somewhere else?  We really need something to look forward to. 
  
• Tuesday night we went to see Iron Lady with my friend Kirstin.  What a fascinating story. 
• Wednesday we considered buying $155 round trip tickets out west during July like Annee did.  We didn't pull the trigger but made some good plans overall for our time in CA and UT this June & July. 
  
• We attended crossfit several times this week.  Soooo sore. 
• Friday I brought snacks to my work Superbowl Party.  Those parties are always so awkward and dumb.  I forgot to tell Steve to come down and get some snacks!! 
  
• CZ has been out of the office forever and it's boring.
• Saturday I slept in super late, cleaned the apartment, worked from home and ran errands with Ken.  
• Sunday morning we found a live raccoon stuck in the bottom of the outdoor trash can.  EWW.
  
• Sunday after church I made a homemade lasagna because CZ was making one for her friends so I thought it'd be fun to be doing the same thing even though we weren't together.  I joined my office pool for the superbowl so it was really fun to watch and see if we won.  We didn't, but maybe next year. 
  
• Tried to do some life re-planning with Ken.  Should he go back for a masters in Real Estate?  If he did an LLM, would accounting firms still be hiring when he's done?  He knows that his dream company/job is JLL.  Just needs to find the best way to get in.  This is not fun and I feel like God has completely abandoned us.  So that's good. 
  

This Week

• Tomorrow on my early out day we will go to Crossfit again before Ken goes to work.  I'm aiming to go 4 times this week.
• Thursday there's a fun Enrichment meeting about flower arranging and making cake balls. 
  
• Finish listening to Little Women.  Why won't Joe love Laurie?? 
• We're supposed to lead the discussion in the Marriage Sunday school class this week.  Better read the lesson. 
• Apply to more jobs.
• We have a companion pass that will expire at the end of March.  I'd love to find a way to use it.  
• Keep dreaming about a vacation in the spring. 
• Eyebrow wax.
• I'm putting eye doctor on here again even though I'm not sure it'll happen. 
  
• Begin to file our 2011 taxes.  Want to get this done ASAP. 
• Come up with something nice to do on Valentine's Day.

Christine:

Past Couple Weeks:

• I've been working a lot.  I guess I'm officially learning for myself now what busy season is all about.  Since the middle of January I've been working late nights everyday and have work to do most weekends, whether at home or at the client site.  It's pretty exhausting and it's hard to figure out how to fit in anything else.  For some strange reason I've found myself totally starving all day whenever I'm at a client (which I am always at now, I kind of miss the office).  I've been talking a lot to Rachel about how to handle this strange situation.  I try to bring good snacks with me everyday and only allow my self to eat what I bring.  Working with the audit teams (oh yeah, I'm doing audits right now, not so awesome, but getting better), they always have tons of candy and snacks to share, so if I didn't limit myself to only what I bring then I would literally be eating all day.  It really is a strange thing for me, I used to feel like I was never hungry and didn't need that much. 
  
• I've been to the gym three times in the past two weeks.  Doesn't feel like a lot at all, but I'm glad I've been able to squeeze even that much in.  I've started packing my gym clothes and keeping them in the car so that I can go straight from work, and that helps a lot.  If I leave work by 9/9:30 then I feel like I can make it.  That doesn't always happen.
• Last weekend I luckily didn't have to work other than a few small things I could do at home and Jon came to visit.  Saturday I had an extremely productive day finally picking up my dry cleaning (when you don't get any dry cleaning done for almost a year the bill can get pretty high), finally getting a new drivers license (although I recently got a letter in the mail informing me I still have some loose ends to handle, I can't believe this has been such a long process), and doing a little shopping for some suits (my current client requires that we wear business professional).  We ended the day with a date to Cheesecake Factory and seeing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which I LOVED and definitely cried a little in (Jon may have fallen asleep).
• This most recent weekend I went to dinner Saturday night with some friends after getting my eyebrows waxed, which was so very much needed.  Sunday I was planning on making dinner for friends and had decided to make lasagna.  Rachel sent me a good recipe but told me I needed to do a test run before the real thing.  So Saturday after dinner I went to the grocery store to get all my supplies and then cooked until about 3am, making my practice lasagna while also getting everything ready for the real one so that Sunday would require little prep.  Luckily both turned out delicious.  I also wanted to make some treats for the Super Bowl Sunday night, so I ended up feeling like I was cooking all day on Sunday.  I made S'more Tarts and Reese's Surprise cookies, both of which I found on Pinterest.  The S'more Tarts ended up soooo delicious and were super easy, I would highly recommend them.  The cookies were of course good as well, can't really go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie with a reese's in the middle.
• I was planning to watch the game at Josh, Ben, and Ryan's house, but with all my treat making I was a little late getting over there.  Around 7 (the game started at 630), I started getting a lot of texts from them asking if I was coming and telling me to hurry over.  I was a little confused why they all cared so much, especially since they know by now that I'm late anytime I hang out with them.  When I finally walked into their house at 730 I was totally surprised and a little confused to see Jon sitting there amongst a bunch of people.  He had been home for the weekend and decided to take a (LONG) detour through DC on his way back to Morgantown to surprise me.  He knew I was watching the game there so just went straight there, and ended up waiting almost two hours for me to show up!  It was a great surprise and fun to get to spend even just a few hours with him.  

This Week:

• Work.  It's hard to plan many other things when I'm not sure how much time I'll really have away from work.
• Read with Flor Monday at lunch.  I feel like it's been forever since I've been there.
  
• Clean my room.  It's a total disaster right now.  I'm sure that's not too surprising.
• Visiting teaching.  My companion is leaving on the 14th to go get married in Utah (I'm pretty sure she got engaged a month ago and started dating the guy maybe a couple months before that), so she wants to get it in before she leaves. 
  
• I'm currently scheduled to go riding Saturday morning.  I've finally started looking into some possible barns to ride at and there's one in Alexandria I want to check out. 

On my phone

Jack-Man Turns 6

Jack at 6

One seriously handsome fellow

Loves the Patriots
Won his first ever Fantasy football league Championship
Loves Kindergarten and Mrs. Litt
Loves Wii
Loves to get as close to his brothers face as possible
Loves to rub his brother's head (don't ask)
His best friends at school are Jacob and Claire
He wakes up every morning before 7AM and gets himself dressed and makes his bed
Has nasty allergies
Loves to bowl
Loves to play football with Zack...and he's actually pretty good at it
Loves to yell "hike" as loud as humanly possible
Knows almost every random rule in football and never gets tired of explaining what a touchback is to me.  I still don't remember even as I'm writing this.
Misses his HBS friends
Hates it when he spells something incorrectly.  (Sorry Jack, with parents like yours you are doomed)
Forgets his shoes more often then I'd like (For instance I found his rainbows at the neighoborhood park this morning)
Misses the snow (silly guy)
Loves Curious George
Loves his cousin Maddie, Adda and Papi and complains if he goes more then 48 hours without seeing them
Loves quesadillas, tortilla and cheese roll ups (somehow these are two different foods in his mind), guacamole, innout cheese sandwiches, chocolate cake, pesto pinenut pizzas with feta, gnocchi, and chicken nuggets with mac and cheese, apples, and MONKEY DRINKS
Hates all vegetables
Loves to be tickled
Loves that I'm terrified of sharks.  Mostly he loves teasing me about it endlessly
Wants to take surfing lessons this summer.  I won't stand in his way but man I wish I would (see above)
Loves cake and cookie batter (maybe even more then cake and cookies)
Can't blow his nose
Walks over to William's crib first thing in the morning to see him
Can do the crawl swim impressively well
Loves to play baseball, maybe it's better to say he loves every single sport, even soccer which after 6 months of lessons he still can't manage to stay up on his feet while playing.
Loves falling (see above)
Rides a two wheel bike like a champ
Dances like me and Zack (Poor child)
Has more toys then any one kid should ever have
Loves the Beatles
Tells us he'd like to live with us till he is a million
Has "question time" with Zack most every night.  They spent almost a week's worth of question time on bait.  Such as, what kind of bait would you use to catch a squirrel for a pet?
Loves the beach and boogie boarding
Wants to spend every waking hour with Zack and misses him when he's at work.  Told me he would miss me if I wasn't always around  
Is so proud to be a big brother and wants to make sure everyone know William is his when we go out in public
Loves playing Milles Borne more then Monopoly (thank you Sean for saving me from hours and hours of Monopoly...)
Reads chapter books
Forgives me when I call him ridiculous things like "buttercup" and "babydoll" in public.  Yes, I am working desperately hard on stopping.
Loves to help as long as helping doesn't include putting the silverware away
Is the best big guy Zack and I could ever dream of.

Can't get enough of this face

Can you blame me?

Jack goes to Kindergarten

For history's sake I want to rewind and remember that my big kid started kindergarten this year!  I won't lie, I was pretty devastated about it.  I put on a super excited and brave face with Jack who could hardly wait for the first day of school while in bed at night I counted down each night till the first day of school like the world was ending.

 

Jack, I know the time will come when you hate going to school, but I want you to know how much you love Kindergarten.  The biggest threat we have over you right now is not loss of wii, tv, or going to bed early, it's not being able to go to school the next day.  (I know I should be ashamed that I threaten that some days... awesome parenting at work!) 

I love you big kid and your father and I are super proud of who you are!

Brothers

I worried a lot about the age gap between our children.   Not that we could have done anything about it, but I mourned each passing year both for myself and for Jack.  That's why moments like these touch my heart so much. 

And the great thing is...they happen all the time these days.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (oh and Thanksgiving)

Thanksgiving was wonderful because of our guests.  Dorothy flew out to help me negotiate Jack's week home and a Thanksgiving dinner for 11 to be prepared.  She was a joy and the week got even better as soon as Grandpa showed up.  Jack got to make not just one, but two trips to Build A Bear, a trip to Ceramic Cafe, swimming with Grandpa and Papa and a quick trip to the beach.  It was like Christmas come early for that little boy.   Other highlights include me and Grandma cutting Williams "party in the back" hair.  It really is a lot more even and he doesn't look more bald then he did before.  Success.

The meal preparation spanned three days and was full of flops.  I won't name them all here, but a sleepy mind and a little baby made me have to redo more then a few dishes!  By the time we sat down to eat I think I may have had a few bites off of Zack's plate, but I didn't even bother to fill mine.  William fell asleep in my arms and words do not express how grateful I was this Thanksgiving to have my baby in my arms, my big kid to my right and my love to my left.  I am truly blessed.

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving Football players

You can't beat a Holiday Season in sunny California!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed out to pick out a Christmas tree.

"Gee Jack look how small this tree is...I think we need an even bigger one to make Christmas that much merrier!"

I got a real kick out of this picture.  The Zackrison men standing around critiquing the Christmas tree netting process.  Love these guys!

 There's nothing in the world like Grandparents!

This is how William felt about the whole Christmas tree shopping experience.  Big old beautiful stink face.

It took us a few days to actually get lights on the tree (much to Jack's dismay) but then it was finally time to decorate the tree.  Let's just say it was not the picture perfect experience.  Jack kept dropping and breaking ornaments and then running upstairs to cry and hide about it despite the fact that we didn't get upset with him.  William was crying and spitting up (the norm) and the first ornament I picked up I dropped and broke.  Maybe the years will fade the edges of our memories and we will remember how perfect it really was.

More William Love

Seriously how beautiful is this child.
(ignore the flower pillow.  And Adda, take this as proof that we do some belly time sometimes...)

Loving on this guy

Seriously words do not do justice to how much I'm loving on this little guy. He is a total chunk and I can't get enough of him! Zack says the camera adds 10 lbs but I earned every roll on him! Also that smile just warms my heart.

I love you little buddy. You and your foot that looks huge in this shot!

Zackrison Sister Update

SARAH
Last Week:

• Released the Lower Lights Christmas CD - "Come Let Us Adore Him". It turned out great and orders have been rolling in which has been exciting to watch and overwhelming to ship (luckily I don't have to do that, although I did plenty of other administrative work around the release).
• Took June shopping again to try again to find more weather-appropriate clothes she's willing to wear. This time we went to the Gap and I actually told her she could get anything she wanted there - knowing first there would be very little she actually liked but also anything she does like will be worth the money spent on it because she will wear it to death. We came away with 3 graphic tshirts, 2 pairs of sweat pants, and a pack of underwear (that's what she was most excited about - and it was the most expensive thing we bought and she didn't actually need them but I was anxious to make it a positive experience for her so I splurged)
• Took the boys to the indoor skatepark in Midvale on Saturday night, and left them there while Huck, June & I walked around the Fashion Place mall. Haven't been there in forever and now I'm anxious to go back without the little ones to have the chance to browse around the new Crate & Barrel and H&M. Driving past point of the mountain always means a stop at Pei Wei on the way home, so that's incentive for me.
• Did a little more yard work. Pulled out the garden and trimmed back the roses. One more round should do it for the end of the season wrap-up, but I'm afraid I might have already missed my chance. Had our first real snow on Friday night.
  
• Watched supportively as Scott put up the Christmas lights on the house
• Tried to explain several times why all her friends get to have their Christmas stuff up already but we don't
• Made some good progress on my work project 
• Went to a watch Scott play with newish local band Moth & the Flame at Velour with Courtney (no baby yet)
• Had dinner at Mom & Dad's on Sunday - haven't done that in quite a while

This Week:

• We're headed to La Canada for Thansgiving. We'll try to leave at 4am on Wednesday and hopefully we'll beat the Vegas traffic
• Lots to do to get ready for the trip. Laundry, shopping, packing, cleaning
• Looking forward to a yummy Thanksgiving feast and hanging out with family for the weekend.
• Take a shipment of Lower Lights Christmas CDs to the post office. This will probably take me a couple hours.
• Finish William's stocking - made great progress on my trip back east last week. Just need to put on the finishing touches now.
• Get creative with my wardrobe - none of my regular clothes fit anymore, but can I really bear pulling out maternity stuff already?!

ANNEE
Is excused while she recovers from her Marathon!  Super impressive!!

Check out those skinny feet and that adorably chubby baby!

ANA

Last few weeks:
-Started to feel healthy again.  Such a blessing
-Volunteered in Jack's class during their Thanksgiving "Thumpkin Pumpkin Pie" day.  It was so lovely.  Zack took the morning off of work to watch William so I could go in and help.  It was the first time I got to see Jack in his class and I loved it!!  I always consoled myself when we thought we couldn't have more kids that I would just volunteer a ton in Jack's class and as grateful as I am for the way my life has changed, I was wishing I could be more a part of his Kindergarten experience.  Zack was my hero and helped me get both of my wishes answered!
-Had our first parent/teacher conference and got Jack's first report card.   She pretty much said Jack was a rockstar academically and personally.  Preaching to the choir...that boy is a champ and we are so proud of him
-Am loving the age gap between my kids.  Not that I don't hope for another one close to William's age, but Jack is so helpful.  He loves Will to death and is old enough to not be in diapers, buckle himself in the car, get dressed, feed himself, and entertain himself.
-Worked as little as possible but managed to make it through month end without losing it.

This week:
-Grandma Z came out to help me through my first week with Jack home full time and the baby.  I tell you I am so lucky to be so wonderfully supported by our families.  This has been such a gentle way to ease into life with two kids.  Thank you John, for loaning her to us this week.  She is a joy!
-Host Thanksgiving dinner for Grandma and Grandpa Z and the billion other people Zack can't stop himself from inviting.  Seriously, our total is up to 12.
-Get ready for my busy work week next week...either that or totally ignore the fact that its coming and let future Ana deal with it.
-Get my hair cut for the first time since March.  I have been letting the worst haircut of my life grow out since last December.  It's finally long enough that I think she could shape it a bit...fingers crossed.
-Get on the elliptical machine 5 times.  Turns out I gained 80 pounds with this pregnancy.  With only one baby.  Here's to a long road of exercising ahead.
-Try to meet up with Sarah this weekend and pass along the two huge boxes of maternity clothes I have sitting in my garage.  I am so glad to be saying goodbye to them and so excited for a new nephew/niece on the way!!
-Maybe take advantage of our visitors and escape for a bit of early Christmas shopping with Zack.  Zack and I both agree that Jack has been an all star lately and Santa needs to be extra good to him this year.  :)
-Commit to doing Christmas/birth announcement cards this year.  I certainly don't want to be in the photo, but maybe I can take Jack and William in and get a cute boys shot.  I think finally have two kids makes sending out a photo without Zack and me a whole lot more legitimate then just sending one out of Jack on his own.

IE LI

Last couple of weeks:

• Ran the Richmond half marathon
• Hosted John and Dorothy for a couple of days
• Took John and Dorothy to Mei Li's school for American Education Week and school book fair
• Picked up my new glasses.  I didn't need them.  Apparently, I'm not much of an accessory girl except when it comes to my glasses.  I have been collecting them since high school.
• Took a break from running, but I'm so ready to start again.
• Yard work
• Thanksgiving prep
• A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre with Steve.  I wept.  It was so great.  I understand that this is an old Zackrison tradition.  I'm so glad we finally made it.  In past years, we forgot to buy tickets until they were sold out.

This Week:

• Stephen turns four.  I think he's going to love everything we have planned for him.  I'm so excited! 
• Babysit for a friend.
• Cook a lot.
• Earnests come to town!
• Run a 5k or 10k on Thanksgiving day.
• It's going to be a great week! 

RACHEL

Last Week

• Everybody Wins on Monday.  Met Flor, our 4th grader.
• Dinner with Mom & Dad & Sazband at the mall on Monday.
• Felt so so sick on Tuesday.  Went to bed at 9pm.  Didn't want to go to work on Tuesday or Wednesday but did in the end.
• Forgot to bring cookies to work due to the feeling ill.  Oh well! 
• Ken went to PA for a work thing on Thursday, I worked late.
• Friday was a long day, as it always is before you try to head out on vacation.
• Friday night we bought Season 1 of Modern Family and started watching it.  It's so funny!!
• Saturday I slept in and was awoken by gardeners working outside which totally reminded me of being in high school!  I lounged around all morning because I didn't feel like doing anything, but finally pulled myself together so I could go to Day 1 of the sale at Anthro.  Picked up 4 sweater skirts, which is what I want to wear all season long.  It's like wearing a blanket all day, how is this not awesome! 
  
• Played games with some friends on Saturday night. 
• Church on Sunday followed by making Pizza Monkey Bread for lunch/dinner. 

This Week

• Not going to work all week long!!  Turns out this doesn't mean I won't be working all week, but at least I won't be going in. 
  
• Run every day!  Because the weather is prefect!  And because I can! 
• Begin the planning for the ward Christmas party.  We are helping with the decor again.  Hopefully I don't regret this...  They want a Whoville theme so we really need to re-watch The Grinch this week for inspiration. 
  
• Get so many tasks done!!  I have a list a mile long I've been forming since I knew I'd be taking this week off.  I want to get my skirts hemmed finally, rotate out summer and winter clothes, take a batch of things to DI, organize the office and craft shelf, put up our Christmas decorations, finish our Christmas cards, etc.  This week is already too short!
• Turkey Trot 5K/10K on Thursday with the fam!  Turkey trots are my very favorite part of Thanksgiving day.  I know that sounds crazy.
• Visit the US Botanic Gardens to see their Christmas decorations, including the mini trains. 

CHRISTINE

Last Week:
- Had training all week at work.  This meant sitting in a freezing cold conference room with no windows in a nearby hotel for 8+ hours everyday as we were basically retaught everything from school.  It was good to have a refresher on a lot of things, but it was definitely a lot of information and I really can't remember the last time I spent eight hours a day in a classroom-like setting.  And on top of it all they actually gave us assignments we had to get done at home each night.  It was a pretty long week, and as a result of the lack of sleep and freezing cold room I came away from it all sick, but it was nice to at least have a clear idea of what I needed to be doing each day at work. 
- Had dinner with mom and dad and all at CPK Monday night, it's always great to have family around.
- Went to dinner with some of the other new hires after training one night.  It's fun to be back with a lot of the people I interned with last summer, we actually got pretty close last summer so it's great to catch up. 
- Studied as much as possible.  Last week wasn't a good week for studying with some of the later hours at training.
- Went to yoga at my gym one night.  It was alright, definitely not the same as It's Yoga, or I guess 3B Yoga now, where I was going in Utah, but it still felt good to go.
- Tried to sleep as much as possible.

This Week:
- Study.
- Work Monday-Wednesday.  The office is pretty dead this week but hopefully I'll be able to find somethings to do.
- Thanksgiving!!  I'm very excited for all the celebrating and family time!
- Work Black Friday at Anthropologie, 5am-12pm.  Sounds awesome, huh?  Work again Saturday evening.
- Study some more. 

William Todd Zackrison

I met Todd in 7th grade.  He was hilariously sarcastic, ferociously loyal, and always ready with a lame joke to make me smile when I was grumpy.

When Zack came into my life at 15 1/2, I think it's safe to say Todd was not his biggest fan.  In fact, he insisted on calling him the Jolly Green Giant the first few months of our relationship (It still makes me chuckle that the meanest thing he could think to call Zack references a tall happy guy).  But then he met Zack and the two became fast friends.  Don't get me wrong, I think he continued to call him the Jolly Green Giant, although not to his face, but that's just Todd.  We all remained friends throughout high school, visited one another through our college years and stayed in touch through frequent phone calls after we were all married.  He was not able to make it to our wedding which in some ways was good because I think Zack and I would have fought over which one of us got him as our wedding attendant.  He was our unofficial best man, and bridesmaid.

Throughout junior high and high school Todd would tell me and Dani two things constantly.  One, that we needed to name all of our children after him (especially the girls) and two, that some day in the middle of the night we would get a call to tell us he had been killed on some foreign battle field.

That call came Halloween night in 2003.

This last summer we took a trip out to Arlington National Cemetery to see Todd's tombstone and tell Jack more about our best friend who gave up his life for this country.  

When we found out last spring that we were having another boy, pretty much the only thing Zack and I agreed on as far as names go was that his middle name would be Todd. 

The world was a better place with Todd in it and he is missed by our family daily.
Little William Todd, you have huge shoes to fill.

These Women

I have these women in my life.  Strong women.  Capable women.  Loving women.  Sacrificing women.  And I'm surrounded and upheld by them.  They came and supported my family when we started down the IVF road and couldn't escape the Boston winter.  They came and supported me with chocolate cake when the doctors thought I was miscarrying.  They came with offers to get Jack out of the house when I was sick in bed.  They came and supported me when I was so swollen and pregnant I couldn't function.  They came and watched my child while I gave birth to by second.  They came and supported me and held my baby while I cried and tried to heal my torn body.  They have come and they continue to come.  They come in many different ways. Some in person, some through phone calls, some through emails and some through the mail, but they come.  And I am stronger, more capable, more loving and more sacrificing because of these women.

And I love you all.

On My Camera

The "My parents have no clue what they are doing look."  We see this look a lot!

Jack is the BEST big brother.  He loves to help and mostly to hold Baby Will

Mads gets in on the holding Baby William action

Baby William

I can't imagine whats kept me so busy that I haven't posted pictures of our beautiful baby boy William for over a week.  :)

I'm not going to narrate otherwise this will never happen.  Besides pictures are what everybody cares about anyways.

...waking baby...more soon