Oh man , I can 't believe I 'm doing this . I was inspired by Swistle . She encouraged us to try the Couch to 5K running program . I thought there was no way I could even talk myself into it . Then I read Swistle 's post about her first time out . I was thinking maybe , just maybe I could give this a try . So , I did . When I put Zachariah down for his morning nap , I figured it would be a great time to exercise . I knew there was no way I 'd make it out of the house to walk / run , but I do have a Gazelle . I pulled it out and I did the 20 minute walk / run for day 1 . I would love if I had a treadmill , or could get outside ( when it 's not so hot and humid ) , or a gym membership . That would be better , but since I don 't , I 'll do what I can . And that 's how I started today . The program calls for 3 days a week . I think I might be able to manage that . That is if I can keep talking myself into it . It really wasn 't too hard . I worked up a little sweat without feeling exhausted . Go me ! Oh , and I 'm totally with Swistle on the fat jiggly thing . That stinks when you 're running . It didn 't used to bother me , but since having a baby I have a low belly roll . I always had a roll ( or two ) , but now this one hangs awfully low . Guess that 's what happens when you carry a baby around for 9 months ( and it 's a 10 pounder at that ) . So , do you think if I keep this up I can lose that roll ? I hope so . I started doing well exercising at the beginning of this month until my back starting acting up . Then I wasn 't able to do anything until it started feeling better . Now I can , and I did . I 'm just glad I started . I was to keep working out , whether it 's this program or something else . So Matt and I got away yesterday for our anniversary . Thank you all the for wonderful wishes . ( Oh , and Matt did not like that first picture from our wedding I posted . I 'll try to find a better one for him later . He thinks he looks drunk in that one , and he never had anything to drink that day . We didn 't want alcohol there , plus neither of us were technically old enough for it . ) After church on Sunday , my parents came over to spend the afternoon with Zachariah . Then Matt and I headed out to a neighboring town for lunch . ( Or as Matt called it lupper - lunch / supper . ) We tried a new restaurant . It was pretty good . We brought at least half of our dinners home . Probably because we ordered an appetizer ( which was super yummy crab stuffed mushrooms ) , then the bring hot rolls , then they bring a salad . That alone is more than I usually eat for lunch . I was getting full before our meals even came out . But I managed to eat about half of it . The rest will make great left - overs for dinner tonight . Then we went miniature golfing . Matt and I are always competitive with that , but we have so much fun . And of course Matt beat me . It helps that he 's a golfer and I 'm not . It was fun , and I even had 3 holes - in - one . : DAfter golfing we went to the mall there . I couldn 't believe all the sales on clothes . Matt bought a pair of jeans for about $ 6 . I saw lots of kids clothes on sale , but I have two problems with buying clothes for Zachariah . He doesn 't need any more clothes for the summer , and I have no idea what size to buy him for next summer . Plus I don 't want to blow the clothing budget on clothes for next year , when he will need clothes for this fall very soon . Plus he needs more pajamas , because he 's too long for all his one - piece sets . Anyway , so I didn 't buy anything . Before we headed home , we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream . I had the Birthday Cake Remix . That was the best ice cream I 've ever had . I loved the cake batter ice cream . Mmmm . It was a good ending to a fun afternoon . We didn 't do anything incredibly romantic , bPosted by July 29 , 2000 I can 't believe it 's been 7 years now . In some ways it 's flown by - I still love you and adore you . In other ways it 's been forever - I can 't remember what it was like not being married to you . My life has improved greatly in 7 years of marriage , and I have only you to thank , my sweet husband . July 2002This next photo was taken just before Matt proposed to me . Yep , he crawled out from under a rock and insisted I take a picture . It took some convincing on his part , because I thought he was hiding something like a bug to scare me . But no , instead , he surprised me with a beautiful ring and a promise to love me forever . And 9 months later we were united as one in marriage . October 14 , 1999We have had so many fantastic years together . We 've been through 3 college degrees , 5 jobs , 2 dogs , 1 kid , buying a house , deaths of 5 grandparents , marriages of 3 sisters , and so many other things . I can 't imagine doing this without you by my side each step of the way . I love you more each year . I learn more about you each week . I admire you each day . And I think about you all the time . I thank you for giving me my beautiful son . He has made me love you even more . And I look forward to traveling this journey of parenthood with you . It won 't be easy , but I know we can do it and do it well . We 'll lean on each other and learn along the way . As long as we support each other and look to God , we will make it . March 3 , 2006I knew our lives were taking a different turn when I saw the way you instantly fell in love with our son . You have been and always will be a fantastic father . I can be comforted in knowing that you will always take care of our family to the best of your abilities . March 4 , 2006 Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on . Thank you for holding my hand through the good and bad . Thanks for listening to me and caring and valuing what I have to say . July 8 , 2006Thank you for sacrificing many things for me . Thank you for being so generous with me . Thank you for having fun with me . Winter 2006Thank you for making me laugh . TPosted by I decided to let Zachariah try something a little different for lunch today . I gave it to him , then went to make my lunch . When I checked on him this was what was left . He devoured the thing . It was so funny . It was all over his face too . What a mess . Hilarious though . So , what did he eat for lunch ? Any guesses ? I made Matt play the game too . He did figure it out . It wasn 't anything too strange . I 'll tell you later what it was . The FedEx package came just a little bit ago . It was a large box from Hallmark with Flowers & Gifts written on the side . Hmm , I wonder what it is . Plus it had my name on it , so I didn 't hesitate to open it like I thought I might . And when I opened it I found a beautiful bouquet of roses . There was also a large vase and a card in the box . Matt sent me 2 dozen roses of assorted colors for our anniversary . What a sweetheart . After 7 years he still knows how to show me he loves me . Oh , I almost forgot . I 'm wondering what my husband is up to . He kept asking me if I 'd be home tomorrow to accept a FedEx delivery . I told him I should be home most of the day . ( I had planned to run a few quick errands . ) But last time FedEx just rang the doorbell and left it on the porch anyway . When I asked him what he was expecting , he would not tell me . Hmm . But he did say that I could open the package when it does arrive . Should I ? Normally I wouldn 't . I 'm one of those who doesn 't like to peek . I like waiting for surprises . I am thinking about opening this up . I guess I 'll see if the package gives me any clues first . Our anniversary is this weekend , so it could have something to do with that . We shall see . Anyone want to take guesses ? When Matt comes home in the evening , I want very little from him . And I ask almost nothing from him . What I want the most is just for him to spend some time with Zachariah . The kid spends all day , every day with me . He sees his daddy less than 2 hours each night during the week . And that 's not taking into account that there is something going on that particular evening that takes Daddy away . Zachariah is too young to understand that Matt sometimes has other things to do . And somehow I find myself hating when I say the following things " Sweetie , Daddy 's busy come play with Mommy for now " , " Daddy has to do something right now , he 'll play with you later " , " Let Mommy do that for you , Daddy is busy " . The truth is that Matt has more time to spend with Zachariah then he does in my humble opinion . For instance he will go to the office to pay bills and keep up with the back account . I love that he 's interested in takig care of the finances , and he does a great job with it . But , he could do this after Zachariah goes to bed . He likes to go to the garage to lift weights for 10 - 15 minutes , but this could wait . So many little things like this , he could wait to do . He does spend time with Zachariah . He loves to take him outside for a little while each evening . He usually lets Zac help him water the garden and flowers . But Matt will sit and use the computer while I take care of bath time . I do baths every . single . night . I don 't mind too badly , but it 's something Matt could pitch in and help with to spend a little more time with his kid . He has never offered to do baths . I don 't mind taking care of that , but geesh , he could offer once in a while . I just feel like he 's missing out on too many things . Being a great father is good . Matt is a fantastic father . I guess being a mother is different . I don 't understand why he just won 't spend more time with Zachariah . After Zachariah goes to bed , Matt generally does nothing . He sits and watches TV or plays games online . So I know he has time to do all those other important things then . I supPosted by Who came and replaced my baby with this angelic being today ? Come on , fess up , who did it ? Well , maybe he 's just being nice since he kept me up for a while last night . And the night before that he was an absolute grump - almost inconsolable . But I can 't help wonder if this means tonight or tomorrow or next week he will turn on me . Am I in for a hellish weekend ? I guess only time will tell . This morning Zachariah slept in . He usually gets up between 7 : 00 and 7 : 30AM . I don 't get up until he does most days , so I wait until his morning nap to get my shower . That 's usually around 9 : 00 or sometimes a little earlier . Today I got up out of bed at 8 : 20 . I didn 't hear a peep coming from the nursery , so I got my shower . Still no peeping , and I got dressed , ate breakfast , and checked my e - mail and started reading my blog roll . About 9 : 15 I started hearing him make noises , and finally by 9 : 30 he was yelling for me . I got him up and dressed . Then I fed him breakfast . Usually that seems never - ending , because he has constant demands . He woke up happy this morning , didn 't complain about diaper changes or getting dressed . After a happy breakfast , he happily played with his toys , ran around the room , and didn 't get into trouble like he normally does . He read books with me and wanted to cuddle a few times . I could tell he was getting tired after a while . But he wanted to stay up , so I let him until he was pretty tired . He went down for a nap around 11 : 30 - 12 : 00 . And get this . . . he just woke up at about 2 : 45PM . ( He pretty much took his morning and afternoon nap all in one . ) I almost had to wake him up , because he still hadn 't eaten lunch and I go tutor in a little while . He has been in a great mood since he got up from his nap , and I 'm hoping that this will continue the rest of the day . Boy , what I wouldn 't give for more days like this . So , I got this idea after reading Kelsey 's comment on my last post . Kelsey was interested in what I was reading . And she asked if it was Harry Potter . The short answer is no , it was not . I was reading " Castles " by Tracie Peterson . I love Tracie Peterson , and I 've been trying to read more of her books that I haven 't yet . When I finished that I started " Kansas " that she co - authored . Peterson 's books are all Christian historical fiction / romance . I have enjoyed every book of hers that I 've read . Anyway , onto Harry Potter . I guess I 'm not on that band - wagon . It seems like I read the first book . How bad is it that I don 't even know for sure ? It was good , but I didn 't get as into it as other people I know . I remember reading parts of the ( maybe ) 2nd or 3rd book to students when I did my student teaching . I think that 's why I read the first book . I believe I read it after a friend recommended it in our Children 's Literature class . There is an issue in my house with the Harry Potter books . Matt does not like them . He 's never read them and swears he never will ( he 's not much of a reader , so he most likely won 't ) . He will not watch the movies . His opinion on the matter is that the books are about witchcraft which we don 't believe in , so why would we want to read about things like that . My argument is it 's just a book . It 's meant to be imaginative . It 's fun and not real . I 've actually thought about reading the whole series . My understanding is I know where he 's coming from . Witchcraft is a real and awful thing . We do not believe in it . Well , I take that back , we believe it is real and exists but it goes against what we believe . There are some personal issues that we 've had to deal with pretty closely to this issue . I don 't want to go into them here , but know that the spiritual world is real . Anyway , where Matt stands he does not even want the books in his house . It upsets me that he can 't see my side of the issue . It 's not like I 've been dying to read the books or watch the movies , so it doesn 't bug me much . And where I come fromPosted by I 've been MIA this weekend . I haven 't read blogs . I haven 't written blogs . What did I do that was so time consuming and important ? Nothing really . I got wrapped up in a good book and finished it last night . Since I had read so much of that , I really didn 't feel like reading online too . And Matt had been using my laptop most of the weekend . Several of you wanted to know how Thursday night went . We went to the program at church with Zachariah . He seemed to enjoy watching it for a while . He would stand on the pew between us and " dance " to the music and watch all the lights and actors . But then . . . he was up . . . he was down . . . he was climbing on us and the pew . He was playing peek - a - boo with the friends behind us . It got exhausting . He wasn 't being bad , but this kid has a lot of energy . And it was hard to keep all that energy contained to a 4 foot area . To be fair I thought he was doing pretty well . About 10 minutes before the intermission he started getting really anxious and LOUD . Matt quickly scooped him up and left the sanctuary . He walked around the lobby with him for a while , so I could watch the performance . So at intermission I packed up all the toys and snacks that we 'd tried to keep Zachariah entertained with and headed out to the lobby . I told Matt we could leave . At this point it was already an hour and a half past his bedtime . Knowing there was at least another hour left of the performance , I knew there was no way we 'd make it to the end unless Matt just stayed in the lobby the rest of the time with the kid . We left . And it was OK . I was glad we got away for a little while . And I do know how the show ended , because it was the same performance as last year only with a new twist . For most of the weekend we just stayed at home . Boring . But I 'm glad that I got to read my book and finish it . And Saturday morning Matt even took Zachariah out for a while , so I had some peace and quiet . I cleaned . Oh well . I hope you all had a great weekend . Welcome to Monday . Here is a short video of Zachariah 's elephant noise . Someone once asked " What do you do for the elephant sound ? " Well , it 's like a tight - lipped raspberry noise . ( Or if you played a trumpet like me , it 's just that minus the trumpet . ) He loves making this sound . We find it adorable . I taught him to do it and put his arm up like an elephant trunk , but that takes too much time so he usually skips that part . I 've been trying to get more animal noises from him to make a video , but this is as far as I 've gotten . It 's my first attempt at putting video online . I know it 's short , but it 's all I could get him to do for now . Enjoy . Tonight was supposed to be a fun night out . But it 's looking like maybe that won 't be the case now . Only time will tell . The plan was for Matt , Zachariah , and I to go to a church event at a local park . We went last year to this performance in the park , and it was so much fun . A group from a college comes and does a drama with singing and dancing . We loved it . Of course that 's when Zachariah was only 4 months old . He was content to sit in his infant seat for a while , then he sat in our laps . He just enjoyed being outdoors . We had it all thought out . We knew being outside we were more likely to keep Zachariah 's attention . Plus there will be other people around for him to watch . Sounded like fun . We were going to head out there a little early and let him play on the playground . That might help get rid of some excess energy , especially since we 'll be keeping him up past his bedtime . The plans were good . Then . . . . then it rained . . . off and on all day long . So , we 've heard from the church recently that tonight 's performance has been moved indoors to the church instead of the park . Oh no . That does not sound as easy to do . Zachariah cannot sit still very long in church . Last Sunday I tried to leave him in the nursery . He usually will cry for a few minutes when I leave , but then he 's OK and goes to play with all the fun toys . So , as hard as it is , I make myself leave him even if he 's crying a bit . Otherwise I would never enjoy the service . I thank God that we have such a nice , caring nursery staff . They are wonderful people . But no , last week he cried and cried and cried . They had to page me from the service to come get him . They felt bad calling , but I 'm glad they did . He was so mad and inconsolable by the time I got there . It even took me a few minutes to get him calmed down . And I spent the rest of the service in the nursery with him . So , you see where this is going , right ? I think Matt will get to sit and enjoy the performance while I 'm out in the lobby with a squirmy toddler . To be fair Matt did mention that this would be hPosted by Today as I enjoyed hearing my son 's laughter in the room , I started thinking about how much fun this age is . I like where he 's at right now . Zachariah is 16 months old . He is not talking yet , but he tries to repeat certain things we tell him to say . Like " hallelujah " and he says " la la lu " or something like that . Adorable . Other than that he uses sign language to communicate what he wants . He knows " eat " VERY well . And now he 's using that to let us know when he wants something ( non - food related too ) . He wants to look at the picture you have , he signs " eat " . Pretty funny , but also shows him trying to use what he knows to communicate . I know he 's absorbing words that I teach him . He obeys commands pretty well ( as to be expected ) . I can tell him to go get his cup , and he 'll go find it . He usually knows right where he left something . And he 's a typical toddler that I can tell him not to do something and he won 't listen , though . I loved the newborn / baby stages , but I was so busy fulfilling needs that I felt like I had to put my own needs on the back burner . Now I can have fun with my child and have time for myself too . He 's getting more independent each day . He 's content to sit and play with toys or read books on the floor , so I can get my blogging fix or check my e - mail or maybe do a load of laundry . ( I usually save that fun stuff for nap time . ) I can read him a book , and see that he 's taking it all in . He loves to point out cars and any kind of animal . He recognizes elephants , dogs , and cows especially and will make the corresponding animal noise . Or I can show him how to stack blocks or put shapes in the right place or pedal his little tricycle . He is a sponge . I crawl after him on the floor growling and " attack " his belly . He will fall over laughing hysterically . Or I tickle his little feet . Or " eat " his toes . All of these get laughter every time . He likes to shout out " ahh " with bright eyes from whatever he 's doing and finds it hilarious . He always looks at us to see if we respond . If we do , he laughs even more and doPosted by Last week I took Zachariah to the local library . I needed some new books to read . And I 've been doing plenty of reading since then . While we were there I went to the children 's section to get a few board books for Zachariah . Oh course he pulled the first one he saw off the shelf . This boy is a book lover . It 's not unusual to find him sitting with a pile of books around him just looking at page after page . And if you can get him to sit still long enough , he 'll let you read the same book to him 3 times in a row . I love that he loves books . One of the books that I found for him at the library is quickly becoming a favorite . I think I 'm going to have to give in and go buy one for him . It 's " My First Tractor Board Book " . He has had a fascination with cars , trucks , and anything with tires for a few months now . Then he rode with Matt on the lawn tractor . He loved it . Then Grandpa took him for a ride on his lawn tractor ( around and around their yard just for the entertainment of the boy . . . spoiled . . . nooo ! ) . About a month ago we went to watch a parade . Zachariah 's favorite part was the tractors ( mostly antique ) that were in the parade . He stopped whatever he was doing and watched at them with wide eyes until they were out of sight . That 's when I really saw his love for tractors . He goes up to anything with tires and says " rmm rmm " - which translates to " vroom vroom " . Cars , trucks , tractors , bicycles , anything with tires . So , this book for him was pure heaven . He looks at each page with awe and wonder . He especially loves the page that shows the colors of tractors . Every time I ask him which is his favorite color , he points to the green John Deere tractor . Every time ! I didn 't know he knew enough to pick one out like that , but he does . Our lawn mower is a John Deere , so that could be the reason . It 's rather cute . Last night he heard a noise in our neighborhood that was the sound of heavy machinery backing up . He stopped dead in his tracks ( following his daddy , which he loves ) and turned around to head towards the sound . A lot Posted by Do you have a long lost love from your past ? I have to say Matt was my one and only love . We started dating so young . There was a moment when I thought I was falling for a friend of mine , but I quickly discovered he would never be anything more than a friend . Matt had the same experience with a friend of his . Once in a while I run into this guy that I was friends with . I will tell you a story . But the whole reason I thought about this is that Matt recently " found " his old friend . He 's been trying to find her for years now . Does it bother me that he was searching for her ? No , not at all . I was friends with her too . She knew Matt first and was better friends with him , but I 'm OK with that . This friend , let 's call her S , got married one week after us . We happened to see her the day after her wedding by pure coincidence . Matt and I had returned the night before from our honeymoon . Then we went to my parents to open gifts that next afternoon . We were loading all the gifts in our cars to take back home . S just happened to be driving by with her new husband and saw Matt outside my parents ' house . She knew my parents lived near there , so they turned around to see if it was truly us . It was , and it was nice to see her and meet her new husband . After that we never heard from her . We knew where she had moved to with her husband , but they moved and we couldn 't find a new address . Well , we found out now that she had two kids ( starting right after they got married ) with this husband . She at some point divorced him , had a child with another man , and just a few weeks ago married him . Seems funny to me that she 's been through all of that in the same span of time that Matt and I have been married and had one kid . And we are still very happily married . I know stories like hers happen often though . Matt met S while we were in high school ( while we were dating actually ) . They were in a church youth group together . They hit it off right away and knew that they could be friends . He told me about her , and I eventually met her . She was a suPosted by Last weekend we had a get - together with Matt 's family ( extended family ) . We usually only see them at Christmas and a few at Thanksgiving . It was nice to get together in the summer . The kids went swimming in a little kiddie pool . I let Zachariah get in , but I held onto him the whole time . The minute I let go , he slipped and went straight under ( luckily I was still sitting right there , I knew better than leave him ) . He sputtered and whined a bit , but then he wanted right back in . He just splashed around and played with the toys the other kids had brought in . He 's so much younger than the others , so he just watched them mostly . Some of the older boys and adults went fishing in the pond . And the rest of us tried to stay in the shade ( 95 degrees that day ) while catching up with our family . It was so nice to visit with everyone again . When I was getting food for Zachariah , I heard my name being mentioned . Matt 's cousin was talking to Matt 's mom . She waited until I could come sit down before telling me what she was thinking . Cheryl ( the cousin ) is pregnant . It 's the first for her . Her husband has 3 children from a previous marriage - 16 & 12 year old boys who live with their mom and a 7 year old girl who they have custody of . Anyway , she found out right away that she 's having twins . ( Twins run in Matt 's family . This is the 3rd cousin who is pregnant with multiples . ) She was telling Bev ( Matt 's mom ) that she has been thinking about who will care for the twins when she has to go back to work ( probably after the winter holidays ) . She said God told her that Matt will find a good job near them , and then I will be able to care for her kids . She laughed and said even if it wasn 't God telling her , she 'd like that a lot . We have been looking for a job closer to home . She is pretty close to where we 'd like to be . Matt 's had 2 interviews and one job offer up that way . Nothing has worked out so far , so we figured we 'd probably stay here for a while . The more I thought about it , the more I like the idea Cheryl had . I never thought I ' Posted by Oh my aching back . I am having back pains again . I need to see the chiropractor . The problem is that I don 't have anyone to watch Zachariah while I go . And taking him along with me would be more painful than the pain I 'm in now . So , I 'll bear it for a bit longer . Matt has offered to take a little time off work to get me in next week . Which is great , but it 's 3 days until next week . 3 whole days of not being able to move if I lay on my back . That completely immobilizes me . So , I 'm better off sitting in a chair . And to sleep at night , I crawl into bed and go straight to my side . I can sleep like that , but apparently I 'm wiggling a lot . Matt said it 's bad when it 's starting to affect his sleep . For now I 'm being lazy . I have sat in my comfy chair with a book and my laptop most of the day so far . Luckily Zachariah has been a good kid today , and he 's wanted to nap a lot . For the most part he has played quietly with his toys . I feel guilty when he is sleeping that I 'm not getting anything done . While talking to Matt today , he told me I should be lazy today and do the least amount of things I have to . He said he would do anything I needed done when he got home from work tonight . Guess I don 't have to mess with dragging that basket of laundry across the house and back . Although I 'm not sure I can go all day without doing it . And I 'd much rather do most things myself . But it 's nice of him to offer , so I may just put him to work because I can . My weekend plans consist of laying around doing as little as possible . Oh , and of course , ordering my husband around to do all my usual chores . ; ) Luckily I went to the library before my back started hurting , so I have books to read besides the blogs and Internet surfing and Sudoku puzzling I like to do too . How about you ? Tell me your plans , so I can live vicariously through you . So , Swistle asked us to tell about tacky weddings . I have lots of stories of things I find tacky . Also behavior at the weddings ( not necessarily the bride or groom ) that was tacky . So , here is my list of tacky things , and a few good stories for your enjoyment . * * * * Most recently my sister Rachel got married last summer . It was a beautiful wedding . Our other sister , Mary , was a bridesmaid . At the rehearsal Mary was there . But when we all got ready to head to the rehearsal dinner Mary broke down sobbing . Several of us went to her right away to see what was wrong . She gave us this big sob story about how her little nephew ( her husband 's brother 's son ) was sick and they didn 't know what was wrong and she was sooo worried about him . Mary is a bit of a drama queen anyway . . . always has been . So she says that she doesn 't think she and her husband will make it to the dinner , because they 'd like to get home and see how baby Kaden was doing . Now , mind you , this was a really nice rehearsal dinner ( complete with a privately hired magician for entertainment ) that my sister 's in - laws paid for in advance . And they 'd paid for Mary and her husband , because they had previously said they were coming . Then ( oh , that 's not all ) Mary 's husband did not make it to the wedding . We all stayed at my parents ' house the night before , so there was no reason for him not to get up . Us girls left early to get our hair done , but Matt was the last to leave the house and he peeked in the bedroom and told Tony he was leaving for the wedding . Tony had PLENTY of time to make it . So after the ceremony , Mary is going crazy calling everyone she knows trying to find out why Tony wasn 't there . ( Because he 's a stupid jerk you silly girl . ) At this point she 's worried and in tears . I was trying to keep her calm and helping organize pictures and other things . Finally someone called us ( as we were on the way to the reception ) and said Tony showed up there . He was there when we got there . He refused to go into the building , because he wasn 't wearing something nice . HPosted by On Saturday we took Zachariah to the Toledo Zoo along with Matt 's parents . It was a hot , Hot , HOT day , so a lot of the animals were resting and trying to stay cool . However , we did get a few neat pictures . Zachariah had a blast . This zoo is bigger than the last one we went to , and they had some animals the he didn 't get to see before . He liked the polar bears , elephants , and of course petting ( and hugging ) all the goats he could get his hands on . In fact he tried to climb up on the poor goats who were trying to lay down . I 'm not sure why my son is such an animal lover , but he is . It 's neat to see him developing an interest in something like that already . We took several rides too . We all went on the train ride through the African safari , and then Grandpa Chuck bought Zachariah a ticket for the carousel so I could go with him . It took him a while to really have fun with that . He liked it , but about half - way through he really started enjoying it and waved at everyone all the way around and around . Then there was a duck who tried to bite Zachariah 's hand off for a cookie . Zac is used to sharing with the dog , and he reached down towards the duck with the cookie still in his hand . I think he was trying to pet it , but we quickly shooed the duck away and bribed it with a cracker . Posted by I know I haven 't posted in a few days . We were away for the weekend , and now I just don 't feel much like blogging . I don 't know why . Probably has something to do with it being my time of the month . And maybe a little sadness , because nothing happened last month and I was thinking surprise pregnancy . It was not to bed . I think that elevated my baby fever though . I 'd like to write a post about that soon . I 'd also like to tell you about our weekend fun . But I feel like it 's a struggle to just post this . So , I suppose I 'll wait . Maybe I 'll feel a bit more chatty tomorrow or later this week . Maybe it will help when it 's not 95 degrees outside too . Ha ! I hope that the rest of you are having a cooler , nicer week . If you watch my blog through a feed or reader , I just wanted you to know I changed things . I set it to only view part of the blog message instead of the whole thing . I hope that won 't be an inconvenience to you . Thanks . Today while eating lunch with Zachariah , I realized ( not for the first time ) that he is on his own time . My son loves to eat , and usually he takes his sweet time doing it . For instance he usually is in his high chair for 45 minutes to an hour eating breakfast in the morning . That 's why when he started liking cereal and milk , I was happy he could feed himself . While he 's eating , I can eat my own breakfast , clean the kitchen , do dishes , vacuum the floors , exercise , or catch up on e - mail and blog posts . I 'm not complaining . It 's good having a few quiet moments to do things while he 's content . For lunch and dinner , however , I like to eat with him so it can get annoying when he wants to take him time . When he was eating his lunch today , he was watching everyone around us . And being the outgoing baby he is , he was trying to wave , point , " talk " to everyone around us . Then he 'd turn back to me and flash me his aren 't - I - just - the - most - adorable - baby - on - earth smile . So , what I thought was going to be a quick lunch today was not . Normally , by myself , I could have been in and out in 20 minutes . With Zachariah it took us almost an hour . It 's funny how much longer things take with a baby / toddler . A quick errand is no longer quick . By the time you get everything around to take that the kid could possibly need , then you have to talk him into coming outside with you , then you have to get him away from the plants and sticks that he wants to touch on the way to the car every time . And even after that you have to wrangle him into his car seat , and off we go . Getting him out of his car seat takes time once you get there . Even if you only needed a few things , you still need to put the child into a cart , because otherwise you will not get through the store . Then half - way through the store , the kid is tired of sitting in the cart , so you get him out and carry him . He squirms so much that you have to put him back in even though he is crying and screaming . So , if you finally manage to gather all the items you need in the store , you have to gePosted by I wanted to talk about something I heard on the news the other day . It broke my heart , but I think that story could have been about me . Read the story , then I 'll tell you my thoughts on it . 3 Die After Van Rolls Into Pond Police : Van Rolls Downhill , Killing Woman , 2 ChildrenPOSTED : 11 : 01 pm EDT July 4 , 2007BRIDGEPORT , Conn . - - Connecticut authorities say a woman chased her minivan as it rolled down a steep hill and jumped in before it sank into a pond , killing her and two children . A third child was in critical condition . The woman , who was the mother of at least one of the children , had gotten out of the van , then noticed it was rolling away and jumped back in before it went into the water . Police said the van rolled about 60 or 70 yards into a pond at a park where many people had gathered to celebrate the holiday . People nearby tried unsuccessfully to stop the van . The victims were trapped inside in 15 to 20 feet of water for 20 to 25 minutes before members of the Bridgeport police scuba team were able to pull them out . All three children were younger than 7 years old . Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press . All rights reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed . I have always been shocked when I hear about a young child or baby dying in a house fire or other similar situations when the parents got out safely . I just don 't understand how you could leave your child in the house . I said this way before I even had a child of my own . Now that I am a parent , I tell my husband if my son died in that fire I probably would be there with him . I cannot picture any scenario where I wouldn 't go after him . So , Matt , playing the devil 's advocate , says what if the fire is in the hallway right outside Zachariah 's window . Then what ? I say , I try going through first . If that 's not looking possible , I go out my window ( our room is right next to his ) and come in Zachariah 's room . I 'm tell you , I 'd get him out or die trying . If my car was heading into the water with my baby inside , I would have gone aftPosted by I have been enjoying reading blogs lately . Here are a few things for your reading pleasure . Every mom 's dictionary here . Then if you know what it 's like to be overwhelmed and feel like a single parent , Jen said it all . I won 't bore you with what I think , but you can read what I wrote in her comments . And let me say , I 'm happy that my day didn 't go as bad as this or this . And that was just this morning . But go wish Erica some congratulations at becoming a new SAHM . She 'll love it . Every minute . . . . or maybe not . No , not from me . I 'm wondering how you broke your pregnancy news to others . Was your husband with you when you found out ? If not , how did you tell him ? Did you just shout it out or try to hint at it ? I suppose what also plays into this is whether or not you were trying to get pregnant . Then how long did you wait to break the news to family and friends ? How did you tell them ? What were their reactions ? I guess I 'm just completely curious on how other people handled this matter . Also if you had to do this more than once , how was it different each time ? Let me tell you what I did . We had been trying to get pregnant for 1 1 / 2 years or so . This was almost exactly 2 years ago to the date . At the beginning of June Matt and I finally started talking about whether or not we should go see a specialist for testing . We had not done anything yet . I charted my body temperature off and on for a year , and then that got old . We were mostly of the mindset that God was in control and there wasn 't much we could do to change it for now . Anyway , in early June we had considered buying a home ovulation predictor kit and trying that for a few months before going in for testing . We looked at several different brands , but I didn 't want to buy one until after I had my period again . I told Matt that I 'd been late . A few weeks went by , and I still didn 't have it . It was probably mid - June when I took a home pregnancy test . It was negative , so I thought oh well . I would wait until my period started then use the ovulation tests . During this time we were busy helping my sister plan her wedding in a month . After her wedding on July 2 , 2005 , I figured I should probably see about another test . I called my family doctor 's office to see about going for a blood test . She asked me how long since I last tested . It had been 2 weeks , so she recommended taking a home test again . Well , that Friday ( was July 7 ) I took a home pregnancy test while Matt was at work . I made my friend chat with my online while I was waiting for the results , because I was so nervous . Posted by This has been a good weekend . Today is my birthday . I feel old . I guess that 's what life is all about . . . getting old . ( Well , part of what life 's about . ) Yesterday morning I got out of the house . . . ALONE . . . for about 1 / 2 hour . Not too long , but still it 's nice to run a few errands without toting a toddler in and out of the car . Then Matt went to get my birthday present . I didn 't have any idea what he was up to . He went to buy some products , so he could " detail clean " my car . It was sweet and thoughtful . . . not sure it was the best gift , but I appreciate it anyway . My car was a mess , not with lots of things in it , but just dusty and dirty floors etc . I don 't like clutter in my car , but I haven 't had time to vacuum it in a while or dust or shine it . He did all of that . It was nice . It looks great . Oh , I should add that he also got me some snack foods . : ) Last night we went to a parade . A friend of ours lives right along the parade route in her town . Zachariah loved it . He liked all the cars , firetrucks , bands , dancers , candy and especially the antique tractors . He would drop whatever he had every time one went by . He 's getting into this loving cars , trucks , tractors phase . It was really funny to see him do that . My grandfather ( who has been gone for 4 years now ) had 2 antique tractors that he took great care of and rode in several parades , so I think that was special to me to see my son enjoy that . After the parade there was a cookout with lots of food and several kids for Zachariah to play with his age . Then when it got dark we watched the fireworks which get shot off right behind her house . I have never seen Zachariah so mesmerized by something . He just stared quietly for the first 5 minutes . Then the rest of the time ( about 20 minutes ) he pointed and ooh 'd and ahh 'd . To say he LOVED it is probably a gross understatement . I could not believe that he stayed awake that long . The other two kids his age sitting near us fell asleep during the fireworks . Zachariah doesn 't usually sleep unless it 's in his bed or in the car . AndPosted by I am a mother . I have been married to Matt since 2000 , and we have two beautiful sons - Zachariah ( born March 2006 ) & Jonah ( born March 2013 ) . I am a licensed teacher , but I love being a stay at home mom .