Halloween as a family

Halloween was fun this year! Jared and I hadn't planned on dressing up but things fell into place just a couple days before the holiday with Zinni and I as cattle (yes, I felt so attractive) and Jared, well, Jared was the butcher, blood stained apron and everything! Zinni picked out her own costume, and learned to say mooo! We visited a few friends and family instead of going door-to-door trick-or-treating. Zin picked up on the concept quickly and wanted to get into her candy bag all night!




My cute little moo cow!! Next year we'll probably do the typical door-to-door thing and possibly dress up as a family again!

She is one!!

Of course blogger is being lame and I can't figure out how to move these pics so please enjoy the pictures first and then a little stuff about Miss Zinni Anne.

I marvel at the little person that is Zinni. She is smart, beautiful, and hilarious! Sometimes I can't believe all the stuff she can do and understands. Sometimes Jared and I bust up laughing at the stuff she does or noises she makes. She is my pride, my joy, and one of the love's of my life! And she's got Daddy hooked!

Stuff about Zinnidee:

The girl LOVES books! She always escapes down stairs and when I look for her I know exactly where she'll be, on her bedroom floor looking and talking about her books.

She has the prettiest bright blue eyes! So many people comment about her eyes, that they are unusual, bright, smiley, prettiest blue, and just like her Dad's.

We always hear that she is the funniest baby people have ever seen. She just does silly things like impersonate people (and sometimes their sneezes), makes funny noises (growling, baa-ing, and fake coughs), and the funniest faces (she'll scrunch up her nose, squeeze her eyes closed and give you a goofy grin!

Zin is very self entertaining and I love that! I'll be working away in the Kitchen or on the computer and she'll play by herself for hours!! She freely goes up and down the stairs and will come find me when she needs me. Sometimes when I go find her she doesn't want to come with me, she's to busy "reading" her books or playing.

Zinni also communicates very well. She can sign, hungry/thirsty, more, all done, please, I love you, hi/bye, milk, story, night-night and she says "What?" (which was her first word) she'll point at everything and say "what?" she says block, red, one, Dada, yeah, wow, and a very enthusiastic mmm while she's eating food that she really likes (which is most food). She is a chatter box, especially in the car and will sing on occasion.

She understands a lot of what we say like sit down, get down, stop, no, hand it to me, good job (she'll start clapping at this one), breakfast, dinner, and many more I can't recall.

She loves to "help" with the dishes and gets very upset when we close the dishwasher. She'll clean up her toys if someone else starts the process.

She likes going to bed and doesn't make a peep (unless it's happy jibber-jabber) until she wakes up happy and talking.

Zinni is still very cuddly in the right mood and I hope that stays!

I can't believe a year ago today I gave birth to my little crazy, funny, gorgeous girl. We love you so much Zinnidee Anne!

We like to camp

Us Zank's love to camp. Period.

We like to camp in a tent. We like to camp in a trailer.

We like to camp under the stars and without rent.

We like to camp without a wailer (surprisingly this was not Zinni!).

(Forgive me for my failed Dr. Seuss attempt, I had to try).

Jared will camp no matter what the weather is like, I like to be without snow and/or rain. Other than that we'll pretty much go anytime anywhere and it's so nice to be able to go this summer. So 4th of July weekend we went with our friends, the Rindi's and the Gate's. We also went on our own the week before for a quick overnighter. It was FUN! I love just sitting outside, playing cards, going exploring, making smores, and chatting around the campfire! We had a blast and can't wait to go camping again in just another week!

And now for a whole lot of picutes!

Zin Playing in her own personal tent.

Watermelon chin!

The Rindi's

The Gate's

Mckenzie being just like her mama, burrito in one hand club soda in the other. Love it!

Anyone want a smore?

Felisha playing Patty Cake with the kiddos.

Jared eating his double-decker smore!

Jared saving the baby lamb that was lost. We still don't know where the neglectful mama sheep was.

And this is exactly how much Zinni loves to camp. No joke, she LOVES it! Guess she was born into the right family.

Family photos

We were lucky enough to go on a little vaca a couple weeks ago to my sister's house out in the Bay Area. It was so nice to see her, her husband, and our two (soon to be three) nieces. It was great to enjoy the warm moist air, go to the beach, and have a little time with the hubs. There is so much I love about California but I am always happy to be home. While in Cali we had to take advantage of my sister's mad photography skills and have some family photos shot. Go here to check them out. Now a few pics from a not so professional:

My cute little stinker on the drive out

First taste of sand, she liked it. A lot.

Daddy and Z at the petting zoo

Mommy and Zin out to dinner for my birthday (please ignore my spit-up child's chin)

First steps in the ocean and it was COLD!

Spring had sprung

First, I had to post this pic for my family because it is so funny to me. Two of my sister's sucked their fingers. My older sister sucked her first two fingers, my younger sister sucked her pointer finger but upside-down (don't ask me how that is comfortable?). Well Zinni has decided to put a twist on the family habits by sucking her first two fingers upside-down! Ha ha I think it is hilarious! However, I do hope it is a short lived habit. Can you imagine the orthodontic work she'd need!?

This is one of her new smiles. I think it is hilarious! I die laughing every time she does it! Plus she'll also makes this sniffing/snorting through her nose while she does it, which makes it even more funny!

She has so much fun with her Dad. She gets so excited when he gets home from work.

My curious child likes to get into everything. She gets bored of the same toys and always tries to do new things. So I thought I'd put her in the laundry basket to see what she thought. She laughed.

Well it's April and to no one's surprise there is snow on the ground. But for about two days there it was sunny, it was in the 70's, it was Spring! It is very strange and cruel that although my allergies have begun there was 7 inches of fresh, new snow on the ground. I don't like it. Not even a little bit. I want flip flops, capri pants, no jacket, and sunshine! Another cruelness, that was a "bad Mommy moment" for me, was little miss Zin with her first sunburn and then snow the next day. She didn't complain at all but I felt horrible!

With our brief warm weather we spent hours at the park, went on a walk, and spent a whole day gardening! We savored every ray of sunshine and soaked up as much vitamin D as we could!

This is my rough and tough girl on the tractor! She LOVED it and wanted to play with all the knobs and gadgets.

Just try to tell me she isn't the coolest babe you've ever seen! And yes, the onsie is placed in a manner as to attempt to prevent sunburn. She looked like a little Jamaican.

I can't wait for the sunshine and warmth to return. Until then I guess I'll just have to go on vacation to somewhere warmer. California here we come!

Side note

I chopped my hair off and here's the proof:

I like it but it definitely is NOT easier. My curl has gone completely hideous (I'm choosing to blame that on pregnancy hormones). Short + hideous curl = always having to blow dry and straighten.

I'm planning on donating my hair but I'm not sure where? Any suggestions?

6 months old, seriously?

Yes, that's right. My baby girl is 6 months old tomorrow! I love it, I hate it. Today has been a rough day. I don't know if she is getting more teeth, getting sick, or is learning the art of whining and crying for attention. I've lost my cool a couple times today which is pointless and wrong because she doesn't know it hurts Mommy when she bites down while trying to eat, or that if she turns her head while I'm trying to burp her she will spit up all over me. She's 6 months old and although she is growing and changing so fast she is still a baby. She has been SO easy the past 3 months I have become spoiled.

She is my buddy and my favorite thing to do everyday, all day, is try to get her smiling and laughing. If I get a few grins and giggles a day it is a day well spent!

Finally sold my motorcycle so I had to snap a couple pics of my Zin being wicked cool atop the old Vstar.

Zinni started solid foods a few weeks ago. She took to it really well but now doesn't like to open her mouth for a spoonful. We've tried rice cereal, bananas, peas, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes.

As I said, growing and changing fast! She rolls around a lot, wriggles her little body to grab various toys, sits up on her own, and babbles (she says "mamama" a lot).

This is the face that represents today. Honestly she doesn't do it all that much and I am grateful for the happy baby that she is *most* of the time.