January 28 = Catch Up Day

Well... I haven't taken any pictures since the baby shower.  Oops!  But I do have some notes to share.  I have this really awesome calendar- This one- so there's a column for each day and then rows for me and then 5 areas of my choosing.  The top one I have dedicated to Liam/Malia.  Malia doesn't have too much on her schedule at this point so they can share a row.  Zachary gets the next row so I can keep up with his classes and meetings.  Then I have a row for planning our meals and then another row is devoted to planning out exercise whether it be a time to aim for to go to the gym to do cardio and/or weights or when a yoga class is.  I've been leaving the last row blank but decided this week that would be a good place to write down cute things Liam and Malia do or milestones they reach.  Here's this week's pages so far:

I put everything in pencil because I am very aware that things change... pretty often.  I'm tempted to start using colored pens so I can add some color to my life but... I like being able to erase and rewrite things so I'll probably stick to the pencil.  So on Monday, Malia ate some scrambled eggs and Liam let me read him a whole book (This one) for the first time ever!  Also, I have been working on getting him to clean up after himself.  Believe me, it would be much quicker for me to put his things away but teaching him to clean up after himself teaches him a little bit of responsibility and also helps with our routine.  So he will take out his blocks and pour them out on the floor but before he moves on to the next toy that he will undoubtedly just make a mess with, he has to put his blocks away.  He's been doing a great job and I'm thinking it's starting to stick because we got home from the gym and he took his hat off while standing in the middle of the living room but walked to the closet where his hat goes and waited for me to open the closet door so he could put it away.  Success!

Tuesday, Liam had speech at 10 am and one of his therapists from the county school system came at 2:00.  His speech therapist excitedly told me that he has started saying a lot more two-word phrases which is the main thing we are concentrating on in speech and that one of them was "all done."  We have a sign for all done but I've never heard him say it before so I told the therapist that came at 2:00 about it and she got him to say it!  So now if we do the sign and say "Alllllll..." and wait for a second, he'll say "Done!"  He also continued his new interest in books by bringing me a book, letting me read a page or two and then disappearing to bring me another book.  He brought me four books total- I'm loving it!  I also wrote down that Malia ate some ham!  I wrote this down because it's fun to remember what foods she's been eating but it'll also help me in case of an allergic reaction which I hope she doesn't have.  

Today was Liam's last day of preschool- his teachers don't know that yet because I'm going to let Zachary do the dirty work- he's going to go in Friday and talk to them.  But I also wrote down that Malia ate some kiwi and Liam brought me books again today!  I love that he makes me sit down and then gets in my lap before we can read- it's really the only time he shows me affection (unless his Daddy bribes him with food in exchange for giving mommy a hug or kiss) so it's now my new favorite thing to do!

So that's what's been happening- I hate that I have no pictures- I'll probably overcompensate these next few days!

January 25 = Baby Shower Day

So the actual Duke game that Zachary was so excited about yesterday actually happened today!  The bad news is that a couple weeks back we planned a baby shower for one of Zachary's classmates and his wife for the exact same time as the game.  So, being the incredible wife I am ;), I put in a plug for the game being the sporting event shown during the shower at the hosts' house.  There is a new trend of men attending baby showers and I'm not sure they are happy about it.  We had to promise sports and beer to get any of them to show up.  But they did and we all had a great time and the parents to be got some great gifts that they will definitely use!

The artistic host of the shower made these calendars and each guest paid a dollar to choose the square representing the day when said guest guessed the baby will be born.  I chose the day before the due date and Zachary chose the day after.  I'm super impressed with this expecting couple's decision to wait until the baby is born to find out if they're having a boy or girl so the guessing was two-fold because the color sticker you chose indicated if you think it's a boy or girl.  Whoever guesses closest to the actual time wins the money in the jar.

 I always love me a good banner.

 We decorated onesies and bibs with markers and paints letting everyone's creative side come out!  Here you can see ones that say "Spit Happens," "Feed Me," "Spit, Spitmate, Self," "Don't give up the ship," a really cute whale, and in the left corner there's one that says, "Keep Calm, Sleep On... please!"

February 24 = A Little Early Day

Zachary woke up this Saturday morning thinking Coach K was going for his 1000th win later in the day.  We found out, after I dressed both of my children in Duke fan gear, that that would be happening the next day.  I've always said (actually, I don't think I've ever said this but it works with the story) Duke fans are crazy- here's proof:

Liam has those devil horns in his hair and has no pants on.  So there's that.

January 23 = Lunch with Friends Day

I started off today right- meeting a friend, Amy, for yoga!  It really is the perfect way to start off your day- by 11:00am I had already exercised, talked with a friend, did something for myself, took time to relax (the five minute svasana at the end of yoga) and showered- that's a lot more than I get done in some days.  Then I got to meet Amy and two other friends (and wives of guys Zachary has class with) for a birthday lunch at the Mexican Cafe super close to our house.  Zachary took Liam and Malia to Liam's OT appointment and all of their husbands kept their babies too so while we mainly talked about our babies, we were able to have those conversations and focus on them and not feeding and entertaining little ones- what a gift!  We had the beef lo mein I made last week that I loved and just had a nice relaxing evening at home.  This is what it looked like:

And there's nothing better than that.

January 22 = Turn 27 Day

I've been thinking I was already 27 for the past few months- so now I'm right.  Zachary wished me a happy birthday and headed out- I thought it was a little early for him to leave but didn't say anything.  He came back about twenty minutes later with a carrot cake cupcake and flowers!  Liam shared my cupcake with me and Zachary put the flowers in front of the kitchen sink where I happen to spend a lot of time.

 

When he got home from teaching he took us to chickfila for lunch at the mall and I got a cookie- their cookies are so good.  I also got cards from Zachary and the babies.  Then we came home and he didn't have long before he had to head back to GWU.  But what was super exciting is that my neighbor, Anne, had invited Liam, Malia and I along with two other neighbors- one of which has two kids- for dinner.  She didn't know at the time that it was my birthday so it was a welcomed surprise that I got to have dinner with friends on my birthday since Zachary had class.  So we headed over there and had a delicious dinner- she even made chicken nuggets for the kids which Liam loved and Malia even had a few peas.  And then she brought out a strawberry cake she had bought for the occasion!  So sweet!  I brought home a slice for when Zachary got home but Malia decided to have a taste.

Then we watched some of our favorite show, The Newsroom, and went to bed.  Nothing terribly exciting but a good day complete with love from family and friends and lots of sweets- exactly what I wanted!

January 21 = Snow Day

Liam went to preschool for the second time since the New Year today.  Zachary is pretty frustrated with the way things have been going with preschool.  If the schools are closed- no matter what reason- the preschool is closed and if there is a two hour delay preschool is closed.  You pay the same amount whether they go every Monday and Wednesday or if they don't make it all.  In December, they barely went because the school system's Christmas break is pretty long and so in the last two months, he really hasn't gone very often at all.  But he did go today!  And it's kind of surprising because today we got a lot of snow!

Zachary had class in Washington, DC tonight and I was bit nervous about him driving back when it was dark and cold but it all turned out alright.  Well... Malia was grumpy.

Until Daddy came home and gave her a basketball.

And then Zachary surprised me as I was writing this with a early birthday ice cream cone!

January 20 = Orange Chicken Day

Most of the time I feel like we eat a nice variety of meals.  This may be compared when we ate the same 5 things every single week.  However- it seems like every time I sort through my recipe cards, I don't get excited by five to six already existing options so we have started trying a new recipe most weeks.  I came across a recipe for orange chicken which is our favorite from Panda Inn.  At the commissary they have a tiny food court made of Panda Inn and Subway so sometimes when we don't have a lot of groceries (hence the need to go to the grocery store) and I'm too hungry to wait until we get home, we stop at Panda Inn- this probably happens once a month.  We were excited to try the recipe and see how close it was to the food we get in the food court.  And it was pretty darn close!  We served it with fried rice that Zachary learned to make that we usually pair with our crockpot honey sesame chicken.

We also got Christmas presents from Aunt Pat today and Liam had a blast taking the paper out of the box and dragging it all over the house.  Here's a blurry picture: