Friday, November 19, 2010
Picture Day
Today, we got some pictures taken and from the way it went, we were lucky to get even a few decent ones. Emerson did not like getting told what to do and where to sit and it was pretty tough to get real smiles and laughs from both of them. But, oh well, at least we can say we did it. Then, I took a few of my own afterwards while we were walking around.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Road Trip
Last week, Zack and I dropped the kids off at Grandma's house (pics of their week are coming) and drove 14 hours to Tucson, Arizona for a 5 day trip. Our good friends let us stay at their house there, which was AMAZING!! Thanks so much, guys! We had the best time doing basically nothing. We ate awesome food, went to movies, read outside in the sun, swam and sat in the hot tub, rode bikes, watched tv in bed, and had good quality time for talking and hanging out. We did miss Zane and Emerson, but knew they were having a great time - and even got to Skype with them a few times. It was a needed vacation for us and we enjoyed it so much. Thanks Mom and Dave for taking such good care of our monkeys!
This is us before our bike ride.
Swimming in the pool.
Our favorite cactus in the front yard.
Happy, relaxed Zack.
Our hangout spot in the living room.
Kitchen.
This is us before our bike ride.
Swimming in the pool.
Our favorite cactus in the front yard.
Happy, relaxed Zack.
Our hangout spot in the living room.
Kitchen.
Randoms
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Turning 30
Hey!!
I turn 30 this Saturday and want to do something different for it. Just a couple of days ago I heard about a charity idea that is so big that I can't stop thinking about it. It's called Charity:Water and it helps to build wells to provide clean water for people in the world without it. $20 gives clean water for one person for a year and 100% of donations go straight to that. So, this year, for my 30th I donated 30 dollars toward clean water and I'm hoping that my friends and family will help to also donate $30 or any other amount. I set up a page with goals, progress, and ideas and hope you take the time to check it out.
http://mycharitywater.org/josieturnsthirty
Thanks!!!! :) :)
Josie
I turn 30 this Saturday and want to do something different for it. Just a couple of days ago I heard about a charity idea that is so big that I can't stop thinking about it. It's called Charity:Water and it helps to build wells to provide clean water for people in the world without it. $20 gives clean water for one person for a year and 100% of donations go straight to that. So, this year, for my 30th I donated 30 dollars toward clean water and I'm hoping that my friends and family will help to also donate $30 or any other amount. I set up a page with goals, progress, and ideas and hope you take the time to check it out.
http://mycharitywater.org/josieturnsthirty
Thanks!!!! :) :)
Josie
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Zane Updates
Zane is 3 years and 4 months old now. I know I've said this a million times, but he seriously just could not be sweeter. He randomly tells me throughout every day, "Mommy, I love you so much." He tells Zack and Emmy that too and says he loves his family, stuffed animals, friends, etc. He gives us kisses and hugs and snuggles a lot during each day too.
He loves playing with Emerson now, for the most part. He is getting better at sharing and including her in what he's doing and playing. Sometimes, he gives her too many hugs or chases her too much and she gets sick of it. But it's cute because he knows when she's grumpy and he'll say, "Emmy's grumpy and wants me to leave her alone." Then usually he does but sometimes he still bugs her ( I think to purposely push her buttons).
He constantly tries to understand Emerson and interpret for me. He asks a ton of clarifying questions after she says something he doesn't understand to figure it out and then is sure to tell me what she's trying to say. Sometimes, I even ask him what he thinks she said if I couldn't understand and usually he knows.
He's been doing more helping around the house and just doing more independently in general. He puts his own clothes in the dirty basket, picks out his own pajamas for the night, puts on clean underwear every morning right when he wakes up, brushes his teeth and scrubs himself in the bath, and gets dressed totally by himself (shoes and socks and everything). He puts his milk cup back in the fridge after meals, and is learning how to carry his plate over to the dishwasher. He helps clean up toys pretty well, helps bake and cook. He's getting so big.
One of his new catch phrases is following up sentences with "And that's really the truth!" He also likes to repeat the word "really" to emphasize something being big or a lot.
He understands numbers and counting really well now. He can truly count almost any object (people, pictures, whatever) up to about 15 and almost always gets it right now. He barters with me on how many minutes left to play or how many pieces of candy he should get. He knows when he should ask for more or less depending on the situation.
He used to ask why about everything and wait for an answer, but now he still asks why about everything but comes up with his own possibilities for what the answer could be. For example, he asked why our brakes were squealing the other day. He answered by himself by saying "Maybe we used them too much and they're wearing out. Maybe a part fell off and we need a new one..." and kept coming up with smart answers that made total sense.
He's a hard core reader. He recognizes books and remembers titles and authors. He can almost always guess who wrote a new book if it's by an author he knows. Same with illustrators. He doesn't remember all their names, but he says, "I think it's written by the same author that wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar." He also can list a bunch of books by the same author. He's starting to recognize some words too. He can read the word "no" when he sees it in any book, and he likes when a character is sleeping and it says, "zzzzzzz." He also has so many books memorized that it seems like he's reading them. I LOVE that during the days, he'll so often say, "That reminds me of when the Berenstain Bears ____" or something like that. He learns so much from reading - I love it.
He got to do an announcement at church a couple of weeks ago and got to talk on the microphone. He remembered what I asked him to say and did really well. He told me right before he went on stage, "I'm super excited to talk on the microphone!"
He tries to use big words and sometimes it just doesn't make any sense at all. The other day he said, "I'll play the cymbals, you play the drums, and Emmy will play the giraffe compactor, I mean contractor." I have no idea what he meant. :)
He comes up with big elaborate games. This morning he and was dragging Emmy along to Disney World. He picked some friends to come along, they packed their bags, got on the airplane (couch), buckled up, and flew to Disney World. He even came and asked me for some money so he would have enough to go. When they got their, they rode all the imaginary rides and talked about each on they were on, describing what they were and what they were like. They even packed a lunch and stopped to eat a picnic. (All Zane's ideas).
He loves playing with Emerson now, for the most part. He is getting better at sharing and including her in what he's doing and playing. Sometimes, he gives her too many hugs or chases her too much and she gets sick of it. But it's cute because he knows when she's grumpy and he'll say, "Emmy's grumpy and wants me to leave her alone." Then usually he does but sometimes he still bugs her ( I think to purposely push her buttons).
He constantly tries to understand Emerson and interpret for me. He asks a ton of clarifying questions after she says something he doesn't understand to figure it out and then is sure to tell me what she's trying to say. Sometimes, I even ask him what he thinks she said if I couldn't understand and usually he knows.
He's been doing more helping around the house and just doing more independently in general. He puts his own clothes in the dirty basket, picks out his own pajamas for the night, puts on clean underwear every morning right when he wakes up, brushes his teeth and scrubs himself in the bath, and gets dressed totally by himself (shoes and socks and everything). He puts his milk cup back in the fridge after meals, and is learning how to carry his plate over to the dishwasher. He helps clean up toys pretty well, helps bake and cook. He's getting so big.
One of his new catch phrases is following up sentences with "And that's really the truth!" He also likes to repeat the word "really" to emphasize something being big or a lot.
He understands numbers and counting really well now. He can truly count almost any object (people, pictures, whatever) up to about 15 and almost always gets it right now. He barters with me on how many minutes left to play or how many pieces of candy he should get. He knows when he should ask for more or less depending on the situation.
He used to ask why about everything and wait for an answer, but now he still asks why about everything but comes up with his own possibilities for what the answer could be. For example, he asked why our brakes were squealing the other day. He answered by himself by saying "Maybe we used them too much and they're wearing out. Maybe a part fell off and we need a new one..." and kept coming up with smart answers that made total sense.
He's a hard core reader. He recognizes books and remembers titles and authors. He can almost always guess who wrote a new book if it's by an author he knows. Same with illustrators. He doesn't remember all their names, but he says, "I think it's written by the same author that wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar." He also can list a bunch of books by the same author. He's starting to recognize some words too. He can read the word "no" when he sees it in any book, and he likes when a character is sleeping and it says, "zzzzzzz." He also has so many books memorized that it seems like he's reading them. I LOVE that during the days, he'll so often say, "That reminds me of when the Berenstain Bears ____" or something like that. He learns so much from reading - I love it.
He got to do an announcement at church a couple of weeks ago and got to talk on the microphone. He remembered what I asked him to say and did really well. He told me right before he went on stage, "I'm super excited to talk on the microphone!"
He tries to use big words and sometimes it just doesn't make any sense at all. The other day he said, "I'll play the cymbals, you play the drums, and Emmy will play the giraffe compactor, I mean contractor." I have no idea what he meant. :)
He comes up with big elaborate games. This morning he and was dragging Emmy along to Disney World. He picked some friends to come along, they packed their bags, got on the airplane (couch), buckled up, and flew to Disney World. He even came and asked me for some money so he would have enough to go. When they got their, they rode all the imaginary rides and talked about each on they were on, describing what they were and what they were like. They even packed a lunch and stopped to eat a picnic. (All Zane's ideas).
Friday, November 5, 2010
Halloween Videos
Here are some Halloween videos.
Our Halloween pictures are two posts below.
Here we are cleaning out our pumpkins so we could carve them...
Our Halloween pictures are two posts below.
Here we are cleaning out our pumpkins so we could carve them...
Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
Here's the kids first house of trick-or-treating with my Mom and me. I wanted to get Emmy's very first house on tape, and it was day-time so we could see them better. I really wanted to capture them both later that night trick-or-treating with Zack and me when they really got the hang of it. Zane would say "Trick-or-treat" really loud and then Emmy would copy him. Oh well, even though they didn't say "trick-or-treat" they were still cute. :)Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
Zane loved this fishing game at the Harvest Party. I really don't think he ever figured out that someone was hiding behind the big board attaching candy to his fishing pole. He thought about it so hard trying to figure out how in the heck he was "catching" candy. Emerson just wanted to eat suckers all night.Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.
18 Months!
Our spunky little monkey, Emerson, turned 18 months yesterday! Where does the time go??? She's pretty sure she's 3 and thinks she can do everything Zane can do and more, but she is truly only 18 months. We took her to the doctor today for her checkup and she's in the 90th percentile for height and 45th for weight.
There is so much that she's been doing lately that has cracked us up and made us proud. We love her more everyday and can't imagine life without her.
I can barely keep up with all her new words. She is repeating so much better now, words and phrases. And her words for things are more recognizable. Like, she tells us every morning exactly what she wants for breakfast - toast, bagel, yogurt, oatmeal, etc. She picks what she wants everyday. :)
Speaking of repeating, she also copies almost every single thing Zane does. She mimics Zack, me, and other kids too, but not nearly as much as Zane. We are so thankful that Zane is almost always a really good example. If they do something wrong together, it's usually Emmy leading the pack. She's pretty much the boss of the whole family. :)
She tells me when she wants to go pee or poop in the potty and the day before yesterday, she finally went pee in the potty. She's done it 3 days in a row now...only once per day, but I'm hoping she keeps wanting to do it more. Again, copying Zane.
She constantly asks where people are. When Zane's at school, she probably asks where he is 30 times during the day. She asks about other people too, including her and me.
Every single time we go up the stairs, she waves bye and says, "Bye Dada" and shuts the gate for us. It doesn't matter if Zack is there or not - she says it every time and then giggles like she knows it's her joke.
When she's done with something, she pushes it away and refuses to have it anywhere near her, food, toys, etc. She won't just set it down, she has to give it to us or push it all the way across the table or wherever she is.
She's super loving and affectionate. She plays with my hair gently and loves to brush it. She also gives gentle hugs and kisses a lot.
She spills drinks on purpose so she can clean it up. She loves wiping up messes. She also likes to use a napkin when she's eating and wipes her hands and face off.
I know there is so much more that she's been doing that has cracked us up and made us proud. We love her more everyday and couldn't imagine life without her.
There is so much that she's been doing lately that has cracked us up and made us proud. We love her more everyday and can't imagine life without her.
I can barely keep up with all her new words. She is repeating so much better now, words and phrases. And her words for things are more recognizable. Like, she tells us every morning exactly what she wants for breakfast - toast, bagel, yogurt, oatmeal, etc. She picks what she wants everyday. :)
Speaking of repeating, she also copies almost every single thing Zane does. She mimics Zack, me, and other kids too, but not nearly as much as Zane. We are so thankful that Zane is almost always a really good example. If they do something wrong together, it's usually Emmy leading the pack. She's pretty much the boss of the whole family. :)
She tells me when she wants to go pee or poop in the potty and the day before yesterday, she finally went pee in the potty. She's done it 3 days in a row now...only once per day, but I'm hoping she keeps wanting to do it more. Again, copying Zane.
She constantly asks where people are. When Zane's at school, she probably asks where he is 30 times during the day. She asks about other people too, including her and me.
Every single time we go up the stairs, she waves bye and says, "Bye Dada" and shuts the gate for us. It doesn't matter if Zack is there or not - she says it every time and then giggles like she knows it's her joke.
When she's done with something, she pushes it away and refuses to have it anywhere near her, food, toys, etc. She won't just set it down, she has to give it to us or push it all the way across the table or wherever she is.
She's super loving and affectionate. She plays with my hair gently and loves to brush it. She also gives gentle hugs and kisses a lot.
She spills drinks on purpose so she can clean it up. She loves wiping up messes. She also likes to use a napkin when she's eating and wipes her hands and face off.
I know there is so much more that she's been doing that has cracked us up and made us proud. We love her more everyday and couldn't imagine life without her.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Halloween
For Halloween this year, we trick-or-treated with Grandma and Grandpa, then partied at our church's Harvest Party, then trick-or-treated some more with Zack. Let's just say, we were all exhausted by the end of the night.
We were Alvin and the Chipmunks because Zane pretends he's Alvin on most days anyways, so it made the most sense. But looking back, I would have still let Zane be Alvin because he did the voice perfect the whole night and loved it, but I would NOT have given Emmy something she could take off because she basically didn't wear a costume because of it. Next year, I'll trap her in something she can't take off. I also looked ridiculous so maybe I'll try to look cuter next year. :) :)
Trick-or-treating with Grandma Jodi and Grandpa Dave...
Here's a couple of paparazzi shots of my kids walking...
Our church's annual Halloween party is so cool. It has bouncies, games, huge slides, free candy, and tons of people in costumes. It's sort of overwhelming for kids, but they had fun. They both wanted to go down the slide a million times, so I carried Emmy up and Zane conquered it by himself. Then, they finally moved on to the other stuff.
Here's Emmy "throwing" her bean bag into the hole...
Zane trying to get the football into the tire swing...
Golfing...
Worn out by the end of the party and resting on the steps to the bounce house...
Videos to come soon...
We were Alvin and the Chipmunks because Zane pretends he's Alvin on most days anyways, so it made the most sense. But looking back, I would have still let Zane be Alvin because he did the voice perfect the whole night and loved it, but I would NOT have given Emmy something she could take off because she basically didn't wear a costume because of it. Next year, I'll trap her in something she can't take off. I also looked ridiculous so maybe I'll try to look cuter next year. :) :)
Trick-or-treating with Grandma Jodi and Grandpa Dave...
Here's a couple of paparazzi shots of my kids walking...
Our church's annual Halloween party is so cool. It has bouncies, games, huge slides, free candy, and tons of people in costumes. It's sort of overwhelming for kids, but they had fun. They both wanted to go down the slide a million times, so I carried Emmy up and Zane conquered it by himself. Then, they finally moved on to the other stuff.Here's Emmy "throwing" her bean bag into the hole...
Zane trying to get the football into the tire swing...
Golfing...
Worn out by the end of the party and resting on the steps to the bounce house...
Videos to come soon...
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