My Little Brother Got Married!

My little brother got married!!!  I am very happy for him and his new wife, Tia.  I pray that they have a very long and happy life together.  The wedding took place on Friday, Oct 9, the date of my late mother's birthday.  It was a nice way to honor my mom's memory.  It was a very emotional night for me.  Chad and Tia had set up a tribute to my mom (a picture and candles) which was displayed on the alter during the ceremony.  Dinah stepped in to fill the mother-of-the-groom role.  I couldn't have asked for a better person to be the MOG for Chad.  When I saw them dancing during the mother/son dance at the reception, though, I got very emotional.  It was hard just knowing that my mom wasn't there in person and it totally caught me off guard.  I didn't expect to have that reaction.  I also got to spend some time with my older brothers and sisters - Terri, Sheryl, Ken and Randy, who I don't see but about every 5 years or so.  My little Zachary was the ring bearer.  He was dressed so cute and he ran down the aisle when it was his turn and everyone cracked up.  It was an awesome night! 

                                                                      Tia and Chad

Zachary checking himself out

Me and Chad

Meal Plan Monday - Week of Oct 5

I've been getting better and better at planning meals around what's on sale at the grocery store, what we already have in the fridge/freezer/pantry, and what I have coupons for. On Mondays I try to plan at least 5 days worth of meals for the week so I know what we're having each night and don't have to scramble at the end of every day to figure out what to cook for dinner. The other two nights I leave for leftovers or special occasions to eat out. Here is what we're having this week:

Mon - Turkey, Spinach and Pesto Meatloaf
Fiery Corn

Tues - Garlic Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon
Asparagus in Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Weds - Chipotle Beef Burgers with Fire Roasted Garlic Ketchup

Thurs - (my brother's rehearsal dinner)

Fri - (my brother's wedding)

Sat - Jerked Chicken Salad

Sun - Stuffed Tri-Color Peppers

Zerberts for Zachary

Zachary loves it when Daddy "zerberts" his neck. He signs "more" and tries to pull Daddy's face to his neck. It is so funny.

Zachary Laughing

Click on the triangle to view the video.

Noah's Ark

Gigi came into town and we decided to take Zachary to Noah's Ark splash pad yesterday. The water is only 6 inches deep with toddler sized water slides and little animals that spray water. He had a blast!



He loves the slide



My son the fish

A Day at the Beach

We took Zachary to Galveston beach a few days ago. He LOVED it! This boy has no fear. He went right for the water and kept on walking thru the waves. (Great, give mommy a heart attack!)

And Baby Makes Four?

No, not ours... I am keeping a friend's new baby during the week. Little baby Ethan is about 12 weeks old now and so cute! Zachary loves to say "baba" (baby) and then go over and put his head on baby Ethan's arm, giving him some love. Zachary is fascinated by Ethan and he "helps" me by trying to put Ethan's pacifier back in his mouth when it falls out. This is a great learning experience for both myself and Zachary (and Jamin too, hehe). Jamin asked me the other day if, since taking care of both Zachary and Ethan, I think I could handle another one (ours). That is certainly a question worth a lot of thought. I would love to have another baby, and handling Zachary and Ethan has been pretty easy so far. But how would it be with the serious sleep deficit that comes with having your own newborn? Anyone who knows me, knows I don't do well on lack of sleep. And I really like just having Zachary and being able to focus on him as he grows up. There are a lot of advantages to a singleton. But another child would be wonderful too. Zachary would have a playmate as they got older. He'd have that close sibling bond. I think we'll just wait and see what God has planned for us.

Zachary and Baby Ethan