Slowing down.

Well, we have had a busy month.  Two kids has been quite the adjustment. All of a sudden Noah has the attitude of a 13 year old-seriously he is a butt munch. It's been pretty intense. He does however love his baby brother, and is really sweet and kind to him.  It's mommy and daddy that he has the issue with. It's been really fantastic. He has spent more time in time-out than ever before. He also become quite the bargainer-everything is "5 more minutes" or "I can do it myself." I've thought about renting him out as birth control-if your interested just give me a call. 

Easter weekend was really fun. We went to church on good Friday because we went away to Disneyland for the weekend. Easter is such an awesome time of year. The Easter story continues to amaze me. On a side note- if you watched The Bible series I think that the Jesus that they casted was just a little too attractive.

Here is Noah's Easter outfit. He is such a big boy. It really freaks me out how huge he is.

Our little bunny Zachary. I cannot wait to bust out this photo at Zachary's wedding.

For my 35th birthday Shannon and Noah decided that we should go to California Adventure. We went up on Saturday and had dinner at Goofy's kitchen. Noah was terrified of all the characters so most of the pictures are of me, Zach, and the characters.  The high point of the evening was when Aladdin came to our table. I was so excited to meet him. He still makes my heart flutter. Shannon was cracking up at our kodak moment. It was a great birthday dinner.

The next day we went to California Adventure. Noah absolutely loved cars land. Lightening McQueen and Mater are Noah's current obsessions. They were the only characters that Noah would take photos with. Cars land is awesome. It was a very magical day, and super fun way to celebrate my birthday with the family.

I also was able to celebrate my birthday with my girlfriends. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have such fantastic friends.  We met up at Cheesecake factory for drinks and dessert. I actually had TWO drinks and lots of laughs. There is nothing better than getting dressed up, girl talk, chocolate, and fancy presents. I was still laughing the next morning from my time with my girlfriends. 

These ladies are the best!

 Time is flying by. In fact time is flying by so fast that I made the executive decision to take some time off work. I learned a lesson with Noah-I worked right up  until I gave birth and went back to work after 12 weeks. It felt rushed. This time I took off two weeks before Zachary came, and I am not going back to work this school year. That means that I will be off for a total of 6 months. It is incredible. Originally I was going to go back when Zachary was 14 weeks-however I started to have some anxiety about going back to work.  After talking to my doctor he was kind enough to write me an excuse to take the rest of the year off. I will go back at the beginning of then next school year. 

I just want to slow down and take life one day at a time with my boys.

 This past weekend we went to a friends t-ball game. I took this picture and I was so shocked how Noah looked like a boy rather than a toddler.

This picture is perfect. Their faces make me melt.

Part of slowing down is appreciating every little moment that I have with my baby. I love the middle of the night feedings where it's just baby Z and I.  His faces are so cute.

This is my favorite photo our life as of late. All my boys snuggling. It was definitely a "slow down" life moment.

My mother in law sucks.

*Disclaimer* I recently wrote a blog about Zachary being born. My mother in law Anita immediately read it, and inquired why there was no mention of her or photos.  

1. I didn't have any photos of her in the hospital

2. I was already in my head writing this blog about her

3. She is impatient:)

I have been extremely blessed with the gift of a an amazing mother in law. Many people cannot say that. I truly love her, and she is like a mother to me. She is literally one of my closest friends, and without her I would not be able to function. I believe that God knew how much I craved and needed a healthy mother/daughter relationship, and it is one of the best gifts that I could have received. I decided to look through some old photos to share how much of an awesome woman that she is.

For my 30th birthday we all went on a cruise and had a pirate dinner party. She could use come help on her pirate face.

She is the best aunt to all her nieces and nephews. She loves them but not as much as me or her grandchildren:)

The woman bought me a snuggie. Enough said.

She throws a fabulous party. Seriously.

She taught Noah how to take care of a "baby" to prep for Zachary.

I love her so much that I let her wear my Marc Jacobs snow hat. NOW that is love.

She buys Noah ridiculous gifts.

She also makes him cry. I'm kidding-I am sure she is trying to comfort him.:)

She looks amazing bald!

She loves this damn jade dinosaur. She has also taught Noah to love it.

Did I mention that she loves to party?!

Anita has fun wherever she is. She lights up a room with her joy and kindness.

I love the marriage she and Naji have. They truly love each other, and are a great example of marriage.

She will go on train rides all day with Noah.

She will also go on rides with me.

We are true friends and she is stuck with an awesome daughter in law.

She lets us drag her on family adventures.

She treasures every adventure with Noah.

She is a breast cancer survivor! Man-that year sucked.

 She supports us in all of our endeavors.

Did I mention that she buys Noah ridiculous gifts?

 We are a Disney family-She loves to experience the magic with Noah and now Zachary.

 She loves her damn dog Echo. Seriously it's out of control.

Shannon and I love to buy her Christmas gifts that make her cry. It's our goal every year to make her cry. All I got to do is slap a picture on a product and BAM there are tears!

She gives great hugs.

 She recently moved into a house that is just plain stupid. And by stupid I mean amazing. Here is the movie theater, it is Noah's favorite room.

She is a straight up ganster.

Noah loves his grandma so much. If he goes a few days without seeing her he starts to bug me about going to grandma's. They have such a special relationship.

She is super fun to go to Vegas with! The woman is out of control.

She will dance the night away!

She loves her family!

She has the best friends. 

So...Awesome people generally attract awesome people so this means that I am super awesome and Anita lucked out with getting me as a daughter in law. :)

Announcing baby Zachary

Sooo....we had a baby last Thursday. His name is Zachary Thomas and we are in love. So far he has been full of surprises.  We arrived at the hospital last Thursday morning at 8 am for a c-section, and he was born at 10:32 am. I was told a week before he was born that he was going to be huge-like over 8-9 pounds huge-BUT he came out 6 pounds 11 ounces and now he weighs 6 pounds 5 ounces. He is TINY!!!!! Even the newborn clothes are swimming on him. I love it.  He also has a full head of hair!!!! We were in the hospital for 5 days. The surgery went great however about day 3 the pain, and after labor contractions caused the medical team to keep me longer. They also decided to put me on double doses of oxycodeine to get me through it. There were some real come to Jesus, and cling to Jesus moments in that hospital room.  Now that we are home, and I am heavily medicated we are doing great. Zachary sleeps constantly. He eats and crashes for 3-4 hours at a time. He only wakes up once in the night-so I can honestly say that I am well rested. It's bananas. Noah was never like this. I think I am in shock. I am sure this won't last but I will take this perfect, chill, and magical baby while I can. Here is a picture recap of the hospital. 

Pre-surgery-all hooked up. Yes, I rocked the headband in the OR. Zachary had to meet a glamourous mommy. 

Another surprise-Zachary came out with his eyes wide open. Everyone in the room screamed with excitement because he was so alert! The doctor kept saying "look at him" I replied-"Can you just sew me up?!" 

Shan is a trooper! He kept me calm in the room-Before the surgery as I was laying on the table the Doctor said-"look at the beautiful clouds on the ceiling. This OR was freshly painted and redone. Isn't it relaxing?" To which I replied;"Uhhhhh sure, not really, you are about to slice me open and I cannot feel anything below my chin."  Everyone thought that was a funny joke. It wasn't. 

Noah rocked a big brother shirt to meet his little brother. He also rocked his big brother sticker. He was so excited to meet Zachary. It was such a moment. He was a little scared to see me and decided that he just wanted to hold my hand. By day five he was climbing on my bed and moving me up and down. He thought the beds were rides. He also knew all the nurses and gave them hugs, and high fives in exchange for cookies, and juice. 

Noah's first kiss with Zachary. Everyday Noah says "I love Zachie, he's so cute." He loves to kiss him and hold him. It literally makes me tear up constantly.

He is obsessed with his little brother. It is precious.

Family photo at 7:00 pm on day 1. I am completely out of it, but I am still rocking that sparkle!

We had lots of visitors this time which was exciting because with Noah we couldn't have any visitors. When Noah was born the H1N1 virus was happening, and visitors were restricted.  It was exciting to see my friends. Sarah and Bill brought pizza and Tori and Susan brought cupcakes. It was the best food ever! Julie, Annabella, Hanna, and Heavenly came too. I loved seeing my friends.

My boys. It's so great to have my little family. Noah calls me the princess of the family, and I really appreciate the fact that he recognizes my ladyship. 

Here is our first family self portrait. There will many more to come.

This is my moment with Zachary. Everyone was out of the room and Shannon was going to get the car so we could go home. I took that 5 minutes to pray with Zachary and commemorate the moment with a photo. I did the same with Noah. I told Zachary that I will be the best mommy that I can be and then I prayed over him. 

This is the outfit that he came home in. It is the same outfit that Noah came home in. I love it!!! It's little robots with a matching blanket. He's so little. He's my small fry.

Here is the best surprise. Bellababy photography came to my room and offered to take pictures of Zachary. It was amazing. I gave them my blanket and "mustache sticker" and they took the pics in my room! It was awesome. We bought the disc with all the pics because they were great! Here is a sprinkling of them. 

Welcome to the world baby Zachary Thomas. You already have stolen our hearts, wallets, and kisses. We love you so very much!