Zachary meets Great Aunt Cheryl!!

(I am waiting to get pictures from cameras other than my own to write this post... more to come about another great NJ roadtrip! LOTS to talk about... Zach meeting Great Aunt Cheryl for the first time, Chuck winning his regional tournament and now heading to Nationals, watching CJ's soccer game, and lots of birthday celebrations!)

11 Months Old... the countdown to 1 is on!

It is just daunting to me that in 4 short weeks, our little critter will be ONE YEAR OLD! Where does the time go? I remember the state of mind I was in this time last year... tired, nervous, excited, nervous, tired, excited, and downright exhausted! Len and I were both a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of being responsible for a little, vulnerable life that, together, we created. We were still finishing up the nursery, washing new baby clothes, writing thank you notes for all of the wonderful gifts we received to prepare us for a new baby, putting together all kinds of stuff (well, that was all Len and others I must admit... what would I do without him?? - a stroller, the glider, car seat installations, a swing, a crib, etc.), learning all about infant care by reading and going to classes... all while we were both working. It amazes me how it all came together, though.

Now that we find ourselves a year later, I can't imagine our life without Zachary! All of the anticipation and preparation didn't begin to prepare me for this overwhelming love and adoration that consumes every ounce of my being... all because we have this amazing little creature that Len and I hug and kiss every chance we get. I'm the luckiest person on the face of the earth!!

Speaking of hugs and kisses, I must say, Zachary is such a loving little boy! I think that is what is most evident to me over this past month. He is so expressive - with the looks on his face, the laughter and excitement in his voice and the tons of hugs, kisses and cuddling he gives us. What a gift it is to have Zachary speedily crawl or cruise in my direction only to throw his arms around me and plant a big, wet, open-mouth kiss wherever he happens to land when I scoop him up... sometimes my shoulder, sometimes my head, sometimes my cheek, sometimes my lips, sometimes my arm... whatever is closest and fastest for him to reach. It doesn't really matter to me where... it always melts my heart!

Zachary is really getting around these days... he's mastered cruising and is working on the courage to walk on his own. He'll walk while holding on to anything, including just one of my fingers. When he does that, I can tell he's not always using me for balance; rather, I think it's just a safety net for him. Soon, I'm sure he'll muster up the courage to purposefully let go and walk all by himself... he's sooo close!

Zach loves following Kitty around and giving him a kiss, too! It's just so adorable... he'll lean over and barely touch his lips to Kitty's fur, kiss him, then sit back and see how he reacts. Zachary is obsessed with kissing Kitty lately... but I have to say, I don't think Kitty loves it as much as me. What I will say, though, is that Kitty is amazingly tolerant of Zachary these days - perhaps he's realized that if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em.

It's all about love for me these days... my heart is completely and totally spilling over and I am so grateful for the beautiful gift of my family!

Our Baby Boy is Baptized!

On Sunday, November 2nd, Zachary Leonard was baptized at the First Presbyterian Church, witnessed by a large group of our wonderful family and friends! It was a beautiful fall morning... so many traveled to Bel Air to join our celebration and we were so grateful and blessed to have such loving people surround our little family on such a special day. No pun intended, but our little cherub was an absolute angel throughout the baptismal ceremony and the entire church service. Afterward in the receiving line, so many folks from our congregation complemented us on what an adorable and well-behaved little boy we have! We were just so proud!!

Zachary is such a lucky little boy to have such an amazing Godmother, too... my sister, Lynne. We were just so pleased and grateful when she agreed to play such an important part in our son's life. We know Zachary will always be in loving, guiding hands with his Godmother!

Immediately following the service, we all proceeded to the Mountain Branch Golf Club for Sunday brunch. It was just so delightful and laid back, especially since they were able to seat our large party in the private room off of the main dining room. (Score one for the kids, as they were able to spread out and play while the grown-ups enjoyed some good food and great company!)

After brunch, we invited everyone back to our place for dessert - cake, cookies, and apple crisp - yummy! Since many traveled in from New Jersey and Pennsylvania not everyone was able to join us, so there was lots of food and drink to go around.

It was very enjoyable and relaxing to be able to unwind and just chill with the family after such a busy day... we even dressed Zachary in his "Happy Feet" Halloween costume so everyone could see the critter all decked out in person.

Zachary finished off the day with a ton of excitement... he took a couple of steps on his own, and he managed to do it in front of all of us (we even caught it on camera!)- what a great way to close out a beautiful day!

Happy Halloween!

"Happy Feet" would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween, on this, his first Halloween! I can't take credit for the costume idea, but I certainly can for finding it! When Len and I were talking about what we should dress up the critter as (Zach left it up to us this year), I wanted to find something that resembled a "critter" like a bug or a lizard. Len thought, why not a penguin since he walks like a penguin and his little "happy feet" are always kicking and moving? Brilliant! Well, after several stores (i.e., Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Babies 'r Us, etc.) I was about to give up finding an infant-sized penguin. Wouldn't you know one afternoon I was in the Children's Place looking for a baptismal outfit (perhaps a little Divine intervention), and there on the rack by the register was the most adorable PENGUIN COSTUME! Sold!

So, here is our adorable little happy feet penguin for his first Halloween!


What a busy day we had! We had a nice morning getting ready for the festivities, and Zachary didn't mind at all when I put on the first few pieces of his costume. I can't believe how well he tolerated the hood and booties. I waited to put on the body of the costume, since he wouldn't fit in the car seat with it. I had the day off from work to get ready for the Baptism later in the weekend, so I was able to take him to daycare myself and watch their little parade with all of the adorable little children in their costumes! Zach just chilled (get it? chilled like where penguins live?? oi!) in his stroller and enjoyed the adornments and cheers from the on-lookers. He's so cool! (get it again? I know... I'm nuts!)



Later that evening after Len got home, we all answered the door to give the trick-or-treaters their goodies. Zach seemed to enjoy all of the action. Since Len pulled together a costume on a whim, we decided that maybe it would be fun to walk around the neighborhood with our amazingly adorable little penguin and have Zachary experience his first trick-or-treating evening out! (The scrubs Len wore during my c-section must've accidentally fallen into his bag after changing back into his street clothes!... Len was a surgeon if you couldn't tell - McDreamy is how he referred to himself - and I was the paparazzi, as usual!) What a blast, and everyone thought he was so adorable!! He even carried his cute little pumpkin treat bag (thanks, Mom-Mom) for the people to put candy in... I think he's well practiced for next year when he can knock on the doors himself!!




And this is the first door ever where Zachary trick-or-treated! You know I had to take several pictures of that, and I think the homeowner thought I was crazy! hee hee

Happy First Halloween, Zachary (a.k.a. Happy Feet)!!

A Sundae Stroll...

We had another beautiful Autumn Sunday, which was a nice treat after a very nasty, rainy Saturday. With the temperature at 65 and the sun shining down, we decided it was a perfect day for a late afternoon walk (after the Raven's game, of course). What is always motivating for me on our walks is when the destination is Baskin' Robbins for an ice cream sundae... especially when they have Pumpkin and Apple Pie flavors! So we headed out with our precious cargo tightly strapped in our new baby backpack. I carried him on the way, and Len toted him home, so you can guess that all of the pictures are of the latter part of our walk (hee hee).

Zachary loved reaching out and touching the leaves... and the pine needles, too, even though they were not as soft.

What a nice family afternoon... we're so lucky to have such happy-go-lucky little cutie pie!

Sunday chores

Talk about having a supervisor on your back watching your every move! Here's Len's very ingenious way to wash dishes and watch the critter all at the same time. Otherwise, we don't get anything done when Zachary is awake and playing. It's just way to easy to play with the little man instead of working around the house!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Yesterday at daycare was pumpkin pickin' day. Zachary was all ready for his big moment... picking out his first Halloween pumpkin. They did a beautiful job decorating the play yard with festive fall scenery, and I was lucky enough to be there to take a couple of pictures. (I timed drop-off just right to be when it was his class's turn to head outside.) He picked the perfect pumpkin, too!