No pictures...

Argh... I can't seem to get pictures uploaded. We finally got our wireless working, yahoo! But now I can't get pictures on here - and I have lots to share. I'll keep trying, I guess.

In the meantime, thank you to all of you who have been checking in to see how we're doing. We are definitely settling in; in fact I've reached a state of inertia when it comes to unpacking. We have all the fundamentals put away or at least accessible, with the rest of the boxes hidden in closets and rooms we don't use much. Which means I have zero motivation to keep unpacking. I do have to say our office is calling me... who knows what sort of important paperwork we have buried in a random box!?!?! But this truly is "home" already - which continues to amaze me. Although Scott probably won't feel completely at home until we get the new tv he's been lusting after. :) On Saturday we've been invited to the neighborhood block party - a good chance to meet and get to know more neighbors!

What I was going to blog about was our recent adventures with Zach's buddies. Last Wednesday we had our usual "playdate" (a word I never imagined I'd use) with friends; we met at the sculpture garden for this one. It's a beautiful setting, so I brought my camera and got some fun shots of the kids - Zach's friends Maggie and Clark were there this week - with the sculptures, flowers, and Zach dancing around in a puddle. Hopefully I'll be able to post those soon.

We also had fun last week with my college friend Mary and her daughter Kelly, who came to visit from the Ft Worth area. Kelly had just turned 1, and is absolutely adorable. It was really amazing to see what a difference 8 months makes - it's hard to remember when Zach was that age! While Mary and Kelly were here we spent lots of time just hanging out with the kids, up at my friend Cindy's (also a UW alum) house. The three kids, which includes Cindy's daughter Caitlin, who is 3, had a lot of fun playing together - the noise was staggering. Friday night we three ladies went out on the town, having dinner at Bellanotte in Minneapolis, followed by drinks on the patio the Chambers Hotel. We definitely enjoyed a night out - a long leisurely dinner is something we don't get to do very often! And again, I got some really fun shots of the kids, especially the three of them in the tub... but can't get them posted! UGH!

As a side note... today I discovered a big benefit to living in the suburbs - at least this particular one. I went to get my address changed on my driver's license - and what a pleasant experience. A very nice setting, lots of people ready to help me so no waiting - it took about 3 minutes total, and that was just because I had to chase Zach around while trying to fill out the form! Quite a change from our Mpls experiences.

Home sweet home

And internet, sweet internet! We finally got hooked up with cable and the internet on Wednesday... difficult to be disconnected, especially when Scott had to listen to the Twins/Sox game on the radio!! Anyway, hopefully you understand why it's been a while since I've blogged...

I’m actually surprised at how quickly our new house has started to feel like home, especially with all the unpacked boxes still surrounding us! But apparently home is not only where your heart is, but also where your stuff is, because once we had our “stuff” around us, we felt at home.

The move went as well as can be hoped for! It was a little warmer than one might have thought for a day in mid-September, but I guess that’s better than rain. Our friends were great – we had help all day, and got things done pretty quickly, I think. My parents did a great job of distracting Zach (we thought my mom was lost, they were at the park for so long!), so we were able to focus on loading, unloading, and starting to unpack.

Here are some pics of our efforts…

The enormous truck that didn’t quite fit all of our stuff (how is that possible???)

Relaxing with pizza and beer at the new house

Putting together the most important piece of furniture for our first night

Zach exploring his new front yard

Zach “helping” dad put together our new dining room chairs

As you can imagine, we've spent a lot of the week figuring out where to put stuff, especially all the boxes of things we've had in storage since March. As I write this, we are functional, at best! But despite being surrounded by boxes and empty walls (with HUGE holes in them... what did those people use to hang things???), we are loving the house. And we can't say enough about the neighborhood - we've met lots of our neighbors, especially the kids. Just one example: when Scott came home Monday night after work, he found Zach and me in the backyard, surrounded by six neighborhood girls, all of whom wanted to play with Zach! As Scott said, I just needed a magazine and a chair!

Kids galore - and maybe a babysitter!

I'll keep this short, since we've barely started moving and I'm already tired! Our closing went smoothly, and we hauled quite a bit over today using our cars and my parents' mini-van, but the big move day is tomorrow.

We got several unexpected bonuses today:

• we found out our new yard already has invisible fencing. One less thing for the to-do list!
• the sellers were throwing away one of those battery-powered kid-sized cars (a truck in this case), that we got to keep for Zach. I'm normally not a proponent of those - kids should power their cars with their legs Flintstone-style - but we couldn't let one just go in the garbage!!
• there are even more kids than we could have imagined in our neighborhood, they were everywhere! Water fights, tutus, trampolines - lots of fun going on. Zach is going to have a ball, just watching if nothing else.

We met a few more of the neighbors, and discovered directly behind us is a 14 year old girl who babysits! WHOO HOO!!

Zach's ABCs

The alphabet, as recited by Zach:

ABC HIJK NOP...

from there, it varies. If he can remember Q, he can usually get all the way to the end, which he likes since we make a big deal out of the last letter (you know, Z is for Zach). If he can't remember the elusive Q, he usually goes back to H and gets caught in an endless loop.

And yes, at our house, 13 still comes after 10, often followed by 16 and 18.

We had our usual Wednesday playdate this morning with Zach's buddies from our first ECFE class, and I got quite the kick out of this picture:

Doesn't it look like they're slow dancing high school style? And is it just me, or does Maggie look like she's humoring him???

One last time...

Here's Zach with some of his girls - Kasey (7 mos) and Sylvia (2 mos). The girls came over on Saturday for what will be our last get-together in our house - the "eat and drink it so we don't have to move it" party. We found some vermouth and other odd liquor that I think was from our wedding... and surprisingly, those bottles remained at the end of the night! But we got rid of lots of other odd assortments of food and drink, and had a good time while doing so.

There was some reminiscing about the house, unavoidable since two (Rosie and Adam) of the three guys lived here for a while, while the other (Aaron) was essentially an honorary roommate who usually crashed on the couch or the bed tucked in the spider web-y corner of the basement. There was talk of the "good 'ol days" when the pool table was in the living room and the fridge filled with nothing but beer. It made me wish I'd taken some "before" pictures of the house - we've come a long way. But take a look at the pictures and see how much these guys' parties have changed!

We definitely have mixed feelings about moving. This is the longest both Scott and I have lived in one place other than our parents' houses! Lots of fun memories, since this is where we first lived together, got Koskie, got married (yes Dad, in that order), brought Zach home, and then watched a lot of his major milestones occur. Not to mention all Scott's memories of when this was the bachelor pad, which I probably don't want to know too much about. :)

So we are counting down the days - this is the last Sunday we'll be living our house! - and looking forward to the amenities of our new house and neighborhood. But it was fun to try one more time to fit everyone (and the Bergums couldn't even make it!) in our little house for some good times.

(pictures... Zach with Kasey; Zach with Sylvia snoozing away; Jenny playing with the kids; Adam and Jamie; Aaron reading to Zach; Kasey saying goodbye to Scott; Aaron and Jen with Sylvia)

Take me out to the ballgame

On Thursday, we got an unexpected invitation to join our friends Jenny, Kyle, and their new daughter Katelynn, at the afternoon Twins game. I hesitated, since, as I've mentioned before, sitting still isn't a particular talent of Zach's. But, the tickets weren't going to be used if we didn't go, so I decided to give it a try, and hope we'd make it through a decent number of innings.

Let me set the stage a little... since Scott is a huge baseball fan, as soon as Zach started to talk, Scott started teaching him his "favorite" Twins players. "Go-go" was the easiest to say, so the nickname for Carlos Gomez (definitely not Scott's favorite) became Zach's immediate response. Not only to the question "who is your favorite Twins player?", but also any time he saw baseball (or football, if we're being honest) on tv, or anything having to do with baseball.

So, imagine when we showed up at the Metrodome. We were on the plaza outside, waiting for our friends, when we first saw a man in a Twins jersey. Zach promptly pointed at him and yelled "go-go!" The same once we got inside - all those players on the field - they were all "go-go". I pointed out Morneau, Span, Punto... some of the other players that Zach can name, but he just wanted to yell go-go. It was pretty funny.

The highlight for Zach was definitely when I took him down near the field before the game started, and was lucky enough to find TC (the Twins' mascot, a bear for some reason I don't understand) right below us. TC waved at Zach for a while, and he was mesmerized. When TC disappeared from sight, Zach said... "again?"

It turned out we made it through 5 innings. The first 3 or so were easy, Zach was very distracted by the singing of the anthem, the beginning of the game, cheering and clapping when everyone else did, and then eating. But once the food was gone and the novelty of the noise and motion wore off, the restlessness started. Up to that point, we'd been fortunate that there wasn't anyone sitting right in front of us. But a couple sat down at some point, and after Zach kicked the man in the back a few times (unintentionally) and then whacked him in the head (intentionally), I decided it was time to call the game.

So that was Zach's 4th baseball game, but his first this year. The last game we took him to was in Baltimore last August, and what a difference a year makes!!

Thanks to Kyle and Jenny for inviting us!

And while I lugged my camera all the way to the game, not only to get some snaps of Zach, but also of Katelynn's first baseball game, I got so distracted I never actually took it out of the bag! Ugh! But, later that night, we went over to Jenny and Kyle's, for our first proper meeting of Katelynn, so I managed to remember to take a few shots...

Adorable Katelynn (almost 4 wks); Zach testing out Katelynn's chair

The Kray family, decked out in their Twins gear!

Zach-isms

Nothing new and exciting to blog about, but I thought I'd tell you a few funny things Zach has been saying lately - he's become quite the chatterbox.

My most immediate favorite he said this morning. Scott had just left for work, and as Zach walked back into the living room, I could hear him saying (to himself): "Daddy... work... bye-bye... hug... kiss... yeah, ok." With these pauses between each word; it was like he was going through what had just happened at the back door with daddy, and deciding it was ok.

His latest obsession is the number nine. He has learned to count to ten (followed by 13 and 16, for some reason), but he loves 9. He'll be talking about something else, and suddenly he'll just yell "nine!!" Other times, he'll be whining about something, or saying no to something, and it will just end up as nine... like "noooo-niiiine!" I have to wonder - is this how engineers think? With just random numbers in their heads?? I certainly don't whine or cry in numbers, he must get that from his dad.

Speaking of whining and crying, there's been more of that than usual at our house - more teeth are making an appearance. One has poked through; I think it's an incisor, but there must be more coming because besides the usual drooling and sticking his fingers in his mouth, he's been quite the moody kid. I'm hoping that's teeth; I thought we'd have another 13 years or so before he got moody!

A weekend in review

I think some of my favorite weekends are the ones that start out unplanned. We had absolutely zero plans for this weekend on Friday afternoon; as I sit here writing this while Scott, Zach and Koskie are out running (yes, it makes me feel lazy), I think it turned out to be a great weekend.

Friday night found us, as it often does, at the Bergums playing pinochle. Just one more example of what a great kid we have; he lets us take him over to Ben and Kirsten's, put him to bed in their crib, wake him up hours later, put him in the car, drive him home, and put him back to bed in his own crib. And he just goes to sleep - in both places!

Saturday Scott and our two boys did their usual trip to the dog park while I got a few more boxes packed. Then I went to a movie with Cindy (review below) - I love afternoon movies, when you come out of the theater and have to blink in response to the sunlight. Saturday night we went over to the Brodd's for dinner, a somewhat impromptu invitation for a yummy meal, despite the rain. Zach and Sylvia were fairly cooperative, so we were able to eat without inhaling our food or taking turns eating, for the most part anyway! We will miss the last-minute invitations to BBQ once we are no longer a 5 minute drive from our friends...

And today, not much. It is, of course, the beginning of the regular NFL season, so you can guess what Scott did most of the day. Don't forget it's still baseball season too... so the poor guy had to flip back and forth, the channels on the tv as well as various windows of the internet, so he could keep track of all his fantasy teams. Fortunately, he can multi-task - he can manage all that, plus doing the laundry and reading or playing catch with Zach, so it works out for all of us. :)

So... a weekend filled with friends and family time - what could be better?

While I don't have a picture to include for this blog, I did want to share a new favorite thing Zach has started doing... when he falls down, he instantly says "okay!" He's reassuring us that he's ok before we can even ask. :)

Movie review: Vicky Christina Barcelona
Knowing that I have a very diverse audience reading this... it's a little tough to review this movie. First of all, it's a Woody Allen, so if you don't like him, skip the rest. Secondly, it's about whatever you would call a love triangle when it involves 4 people instead of 3 (a square??). And those 4 people are 1 man and 3 women. And yes, that means what you think it may mean. It involved people talking about the meaning of love and life, and lots of bohemian artists believing they know more about both of those things than those of us without an artistic bone in our body. So yes, a little pretentious at times, but also a fun story about friendship and relationships. And, like all good movies, a chance to imagine what it would be like to live in a manner totally different from the way you do. So if you choose to see it, just keep an open mind. :)

Cheese!

This is what happens when we pull out the camera and ask Zach to smile. Good for seeing how few teeth he has, but not much of a smile! This is also what happens when he tries to eat with a spoon. We're trying really hard to let him do it himself, so that he won't go to kindergarten unable to eat with a spoon, but it sure isn't easy to watch.

Other exciting news in the Willard household: someone in the family has allergies. Dog allergies. And I don't mean that one of us is allergic to dogs... Koskie has fall allergies of some sort. It happened last year, and I was hoping it was a one-time thing, but nope, a few days ago he started scratching and biting at his feet and legs again. So he's back on antihistamines, and it appears we'll be doing this every year. Only we would have a dog with allergies!

Gotta love long weekends

Not a lot of labor got done at our house this weekend, which is the way it should be!

Saturday we took a mini-road trip out to Cokato, the new site for our annual "celbration" with the gang. I got to experience, for the first time (Scott had been for Aaron's bachelor party, although I'm not sure he remembers much), the beautiful setting of the Brodd family compound - or so I think it should be named. Adam's parents found a gem of a property on Cokato Lake, which is only about 60 miles west of Minneapolis. They have a whole bunch of acres, with a stream running through it, and a wonderful beach on the lake. Their lakefront is perfect for kids - sandy and an extremely gradual descent - we could wade out about 100 yards and still not get our suits wet. And did I mention the jet ski??

So needless to say, we had a great time. The kids had a ball, in the water as well as chasing each other around on dry land. Zach loves bigger kids, so Sidney (4), and Evangeline (2), were the perfect entertainment for him. He also got to play with Stuart, his birthday buddy, and little Kasey (6+ months). Little Sylvia (1.5 mos) missed most of the fun, that girl slept the day away! :)

On the way home, Scott and I were picturing this get-together in a few years, when all the kids are running around - I think it may end up being their favorite party of the year! I'd love to show you some pictures of the fun we had, but believe it or not, I forgot my camera. I was so busy thinking about all the stuff we needed for Zach for the day, the food we were contributing, Oasis Island (which now has a new permanent home on Cokato Lake), etc, that I completely forgot my beloved camera. It was a strange day for me; I kept thinking - ooh, I should get a picture of that... oh, I can't. Fortunately, Adam, Jamie, and Jodi took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully they'll share (although I doubt I'll include the pic Jodi took of me in my swimsuit). The Brodd's blog (see "Brodd Family Fun Time" on the blog list on the left) has already been updated with some great shots.

We'd like to say a big thank-you to Jim and Virginia Brodd for hosting us! We are definitely looking forward to returning to Cokato.

Sunday we experienced the great Minnesota tradition of overeating fried foods on a stick - the state fair. We went with Matt, Jenny, and Kasey; it seemed like Kasey loved her first time at the fair, although it's hard to tell since that baby smiles all the time!!! Once again, no pictures, but Matt and Jenny had their camera and captured moments like Zach "riding" on a tractor, petting a goat, etc. Zach's stomach seems to be holding up pretty well, considering he ate a bizarre combination of foods - cheese curds, a frozen banana dipped in chocolate, corn on the cob, and a bite of a deep-fried snickers bar. Yes, fried candy bars do exist, and yes, they come on a stick. If you want a recommendation, choose the snickers over the peanut butter cups.

Today we did do a little work - fun stuff like mowing the lawn and cleaning the house. But we also got out and did a little preview shopping, for things like patio furniture, a lawn mower, and a dining room set for our new house. Yes - we'll finally have room to have more than 2 adults sit down at a table to eat! Yahoo! We're plugging away at packing, but there's still a lot to be done, and fortunately, a few more weeks to do it.

Since I can't blog without including pics - here are a couple recent ones of Zach. The first are of something I didn't think we'd see this summer - him climbing his playset (we don't know what to call this thing!). I found it on Craigslist earlier this summer, and when I went to check it out discovered it was larger than I had expected. But since it was a good deal, I got it anyway and thought Zach would climb all over it next summer. But here he is - already mastered the climb!

This next pic is from this afternoon, a very cute moment. I got some of it on video... but you know that story, so I also took a picture and hoped it would capture the moment. I think it does!


What you are looking at is Zach's wind-up. He and Scott were playing in the backyard; Scott was jokingly doing a full pitcher's windup when he was throwing a tennis ball. Next thing we knew, Zach was trying to imitate him. Major leagues (American, of course) here he comes!!