Rowan and Zane's Pictures

This photo shoot was originally suppose to be Rowan's three month, but ended up closer to the four month mark. The pictures were taken on the hottest, most humid night to date, so if you are wondering if the boys have sunburns, they do not, they are just on the verge of a heat stroke. I can't believe how big Zane looks, baby no more, all big boy. These adorable shots were taken by Dayna Pollard in about thirty minutes, not bad if you ask me. I cut four inches off my hair the next day, possibly in response to the sweltering heat.

Here are my favorites, including one where Zane has his hand in Rowan's mouth, classic! If you would like to view the entire album you can go here.

Ten On Tuesday

1. I think I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that during Zane's doctor's appointment they checked his eyes with some magical camera looking, box thing, that makes bird noises, and turns out he has an astigmatism. This means that he needs to go to an opthomologist for what his doctor said would be "around a two hour appointment." Awesome. I can't imagine what takes so long, but they dilate his eyes and the whole nine yards so that should be fun. Not sure how or if they treat it at this age, but somehow the magical box thing said his vision was fine. Kind of confused by how it all works, but I guess I will be making an appointment to get his eyes checked and probably should go ahead and take him to the dentist while I'm at it.

2. I wish Zane could go to a preschool for a day or two a week, but also enjoy him being at the same place as Rowan. Since it really isn't an option I am trying to work with him on his letters, numbers, ect. Th door to our basement is now our alphabet door, displaying the letters we are working on. Currently A and B's of all different kinds are taped up there. I have gathered toys, games, books, and print offs with letters and are slowing (very slowly) moving through the alphabet. If we are lucky we might get through the alphabet before he goes to kindergarten. Yesterday he told me "I like our door mamma." So I guess he is having some fun with it too. He did also tell me yesterday " I like this house mamma," but was open to the idea of a "big house" as well. If only we could afford it.

3. There was a wonderful surprise on our front porch when we got home from getting snow cones the other day. Aunt Abbey had sent him the Imaginex Batcave, which I couldn't pull the trigger on buying for him for his birthday. It's pretty impressive and Zane thoroughly enjoys playing with it, when it's too hot to be outside. Thanks Aunt Abbey!!!

4. Zane would prefer to be outside playing in his swimming pool. We got a slightly deeper pool this year so he can run, jump, and actually, kind of swim around in it. He loves it, but Zach and I are finding the filling, refilling, and trying to keep it clean process slightly annoying. The squeals of "this is soooo fun guys" every time he plays in it are helping combat this annoyance.

5. Friday we fly West to the mountains for the Dotter, Rockie Reunion. I am ecstatic about seeing the Dotter cousins, most of which I haven't seen since before Zane was born. That is crazy!!! We use to spend every fourth of July together growing up and I have missed them all dearly. I can't wait to catch up and for them to meet my boys. The travel/sleeping logistics are quite daunting, but we will figure it out and I'm sure we will have a great time.

6. Upon our return from the mountains I think it will be time to get a new computer, yet again. We have saved for this, and we are going into it thinking we will be lucky to get three years out of it. Not spending tons of money, as we really use the iPad or our phones for most of our computing these days. Maybe in three years a laptop will be obsolete. I am excited about having a computer that turns on the first time I push the button though. It's the simple things in life.

7. Here are Ro's four month pictures. I couldn't face putting him in the long sleeve white shirt when it was 100 degrees outside, but it does still fit. Rowan has a new found love for his stuffed sheep. They became fast friends and he quickly was trying to eat him, a sign of true love. I'm slightly concerned about how little he is, but the doctor reassured me that he is fine. He has started to eat more over the past couple days, but still hates trying to eat solid food. I guess I'm use to Zane being huge, I'm going to try to just enjoy our little guy.

8. Since Rowan is so little and Zane is so crazy they hav been bathing separately, with Rowan still bathing in his little bath tub while Zane is in the real tub. Rowan does enjoy splashing around in an inch or so of water though so yesterday I finally took some much needed bath time shots of Mr. Ro. They are stinking cute, per usual.

All smiles as he splashes.

 Stinking out his tongue, and putting his hands together, very advanced stuff!

 Mr. No Teeth

9. Zach is back from the desert again. We are all getting quite tired of his commuting between Arizona and MO. The trip home usually ends with him getting home around 1am and then has to get up to go to work the next day. I'm hoping he is getting some sleep on his flights home, because I know he isn't getting much sleep at our house. It also seems that there is some sort of drama with him getting home everytime. He missed a flight, one was terribly delayed, and apparently almost missed last night's flight home as well. I cannot wait for this project to be over, but we don't have a definite time frame for that just yet. The boys and I do great during the day, but come 5:30pm we really start missing daddy.

10. Lastly I want to wish a very happy fourth birthday to our nephew Levi. His birthday was yesterday and hopefully he had a great day and a wonderful celebration. Hope to see him soon!

Dueling Doctor's Appointment

First of all why do my children seem to think that when Daddy is gone they should fight for my attention all night long, instead of sleeping. Last night was rougher than most, but that seems to be how it goes when I'm here alone.  I moved past it and tried to prepare my exhausted self for both boy's doctor's appointment, four months, and three year well visits. This is one of those situations where I try to picture in my mind how to make the situation work, but every way I spin it it's going to be a disaster, so I just go with it. It turned out to be as difficult as imagined and I really could have used an extra pair of hands.We all survived with a lot of help from the nursing staff, who took pity on me with two screaming boys.

Zane was up first, weighing in at 39.5 pounds, 40 inches tall, ninety fifth percentile for both. Zane has recently been watching the Danial Striped Tiger episode, about going to the doctor and getting shots, on the iPad, so he was prepared, but also pretty freaked out. When I stripped him down to his super hero undies, for his exam, I felt slightly embarrassed as he was covered in scrapes, bruises, and bug bites. I felt like these things alone should prove that he is an active boy, but the doctor proceeded to ask if Zane, crazy person Zane, could jump and run, and if he was an active boy? Active boy is an understatement, and he passed all his three year old questions with flying colors. He even listed healthy food choices of strawberries, bananas, and peas, when the doctor asked if he ate fruits and veggies! Then he was up for his shot, so we sang the "shot song" from Daniel Striped Tiger "close your eyes and think of something happy." This didn't work, he screamed bloody murder, calming down only once he got his cookie and sticker. Then Rowan was up to bat, making Zane very concerned for his well being. 

Rowan, unlike his brother, is a tiny little peanut. He only weighs 13lb 15oz, so lets round up to 14lbs, 30th percentile. He is 26 inches long, which is 80th percentile, tall and skinny, not my genes at all. He also passed all his four month old questions, rolling over, grasping for things, "talking," being adorable. Ro got four shots and did not take them well, neither did Zane for that matter, very upset that Ro Ro was crying. At this point, when both were hating their lives, Zane had to go potty, and I remembered I had daycare paperwork to fill out and needed both of their shot records printed out. So we stood around, both boys crying, Zane hungry and tired, Rowan feeling betrayed, while we waiting for the paperwork. I, meanwhile, am a sweaty hot mess, trying to haul around a huge diaper bag, carseat, toys, sippy cup, bottle, and all sorts of other stuff. Motherhood in it's finest, always glamorous.

We made it home alive with lots of band-aids and two healthy, if not so happy, boys! 

Birthday Weekend Celebrations

The birthday celebrations continued this weekend. Saturday Zach and I took Zane to his first movie, Monsters University. I was slightly nervous about the sitting quiet and still for hours, but we had talked about how only big boys get to go the movies, and that you have to sit still, and not talk while the movie is on, all week. He was thoroughly prepared and did a great job. Before the movie he got to pick a game in the arcade to play. I was mostly trying to kill time, in hopes of missing some, if not all of the previews. This turned out to be all for not, but he had a good time driving a car with daddy.

 Oh yes, he was wearing his Sulley and Mike shirt.

Zane was very excited that Rowan wasn't coming with us. "Just mommy and daddy, not Ro." He couldn't wait to see Mike and Sulley and all the excitement got even bigger when he saw the Monsters snack pack at the concession stands. Of course we had to get that, a Sulley come and a little Monsters tub of popcorn. So much fun. As a side note, sometime between the last time I went to the movies (probably nine months ago) and now, the large sodas went from a large to an ungodly, unnecessarily large, size.

Once in the theater there were way too many previous, even after missing a few, and a terribly long, boring, unnecessary short feature, about umbrellas, before we actually got to the movie. You could hear grumblings of "where is Sulley? Where are the monsters?" throughout all of it. Zane did great through the movie, though it was about fifteen minutes to long. There was  a point, which seemed like a natural ending, with everyone winning, and the audience applauding, when all the little kids got up, thinking it was over. Then there were about fifteen more minutes, that were rough.  All and all it was a huge success and I was so proud of our big boy. He was beyond impressed by the "big TV." He loved seeing his monster friends, and the popcorn was a pretty big hit too. 

Today the celebrations continued with his birthday party with the Wamser clan. Lots of outdoor fun, splashing in the pool,  lots of struggle with sharing our toys (per usual for two and three year olds), great food, and I think a good time was had by all. Zane threw up twice, which is pretty much par for the birthday party course here. First time was due to his excitement over cheese, so he shoved the whole piece in his mouth, and vomited. The second time was after eating the cake (as he ate it I had a feeling I would be seeing that red frosting again). I had gotten silly string, thinking it would double as spiderwebs and the boys could spray it on things. Turns out it smells bad and Zane, with his very sensitive sense of smell/gag reflex, threw up, all his red cake, when he smelled it. At least we were outside and we could just hose him down. Above are Rowan and Ruthie taking in all the birthday fun with Ryan.

The Spiderman cake turned out much better than I thought it would when I went to bed last night. It darkened quite a bit, so it was actually red this morning. Zach drew on the spiderweb, which was spot on and Zane loved it. I still think I should buy the cakes in the future. The stress that comes with my kitchen being covered in frosting and the stomach ache that follows the cake decorating process, due to my lack of self control, are just not worth it. With that being said this year's cake turned out great and Zane enjoyed helping make it. I had planned on making Zane's favorite cheese dip, but apparently I should have let Zach make it, since he made it last time. I managed to screw it up somehow, but luckily Michelle brought dip as well, so every part of lunch was dippable. Zane was too excited about his cake to really eat anything, but enjoyed it for leftovers this evening.

Daddy left as soon as the party was over for yet another Arizona trip, while the boys and I cleaned up the house. Zane thanked me for his party, which was very heart warming, "thanks to my party mammy." (to doubles as for in his language currently). Then he informed me we needed to take down his decorations and pop all the balloons, because his party was over. I went with it since last year his birthday sign stayed up until around Thanksgiving. We have put the A and B from the sign up on our alphabet wall, so they are serving an educational purpose now.

It was a great day, though I was slightly sad that there wasn't any family here to celebrate with us. I don't think Zane knows any different. It would have been a party to him if it was just Zach and I. He felt loved and celebrated and that is all that matters, not how many people were here, or if they were family or not. Thanks so much to the Wamsers for coming to be part of his day. It meant so much to have you guys there  to celebrate with us.

Rowan's Four Month Update

The happy go lucky Rowan of last month has been replaced with a terribly crabby, borderline unable to please Rowan, in the past couple weeks. I am hoping that once his higher dose of Zantac starts working he will get back to his normal self. As it stands, as soon as you lay him down he rolls onto his stomach. He will entertain himself briefly on his stomach now, but then goes back to freak out mode. When in his chair or swing he also tries to roll over, which gets him buckled in, which he doesn't appreciate. He does enjoy his exersaucer for short periods of time. His favorite toy is Dolores the duck, who now goes pretty much everywhere with us. He also plays with a few other rattles, his caterpillar, and miniature Sophie. He can manage to get all these things in his mouth quite quickly, which brings him much joy.

Rowan sits in his high chair a lot, wanting to be part of dinner, but definitely not wanting to eat in it.

This face and hair crack me up. His long baby hair hasn't fallen out, just getting longer and more unruly. 

Rowan is starting to find his brother more entertaining. He watches him run around and smiles at him if, and when, Zane can ever talk to him from more than an inch away. Rowan's new enjoyment of toys has given Zane the goal of finding something Rowan might want to play with and shoving it in his face. This doesn't ever end well. Neither does Zane trying to turn Rowan back to his back, from his belly, in an attempt to "make him happy." So in short their relationship is still a little rocky, but we are getting there.

Rowan has decided that he hates sleeping this month. Luckily, he still sleeps pretty well at night, usually getting up only once. But in the day he naps in ten to twenty minute intervals, only after quite the battle to get him to sleep. I'm not sure if this is because our house is so crazy loud or if it's because of his belly hurting or his ongoing struggle with pooping. No matter what the cause, it is very frustrating and leads to a terribly crabby baby by the end of the day. All of this has been made worse over the past week when he has wanted to eat, but then decides that is a terrible idea, and the battle goes on and on. As mentioned previously we tried starting solids food this month, all of twice, and it ended in an epic failure, so we will try again soon. Poor kid, hopefully this isn't a long term situation. 

With all of his lack of eating he continues to be a little peanut. He is still wearing mainly three month clothes and over all just seems much smaller than Zane at this time. Monday is his four month appointment so I will have more official stats then, but he seems pretty small to me. For some reason Zane at four months seemed so big. Probably because the first four months of Zane's life were the longest of my life, with weekly or biweekly doctor appointments checking on his growth, in preparation for surgery. I cannot imagine taking little Rowan into have major surgery, but I guess we could if we had to. 

This is Ro in the famous, Denver Zoo hat. Able bought it for Brendan when he was a baby and Rowan is the first grandchild that it has fit.

Rowan had a couple of firsts this month. He took his first flight, on his first trip to Oklahoma, for his first zoo camp. He met all sorts of new people there, like Aunt Anna, Great Grandpa Dotter, and Kari. He loved all the farm fun was was quite the trooper through all the craziness. 

Here is Rowan, loving his first flight.

Overall Ro continues to grow, learn, and take in everything that is going on around him. He loves laying on blankets looking at the sky, watching the clouds. He loves hearing me sing, standing on our laps cooing at us, and playing patty cake. His happy, little face continues to amaze me. I love his cuddles, his smile, his crazy hair, and his little voice. I'm terrified about how soon he will be mobile and what exactly that means for our already crazy house, but I'm sure it will be a grand adventure. 

 His eyes are getting much lighter everyday. I think he might end up with crazy blue eyes like his brother.

No four month photos yet, I worked today so the photo shoot with the four month sticker will have to be done at a later date. I got the proofs for the boys professional pictures, they are unbelievably cute. I will post them as soon as I get the disc. Oddly enough most of Rowan's pictures are of him on his belly, as though he just loves it! He does not. Happy four months little guy!

Zane's Third Birthday Letter

Dear Zane,

You are finally three. You have been waiting patiently for your birthday and correcting everyone who said you were three before yesterday. It has been a long year, full of lots of changes for all of us. You started this year a little boy, garnering all of your parents attention, all of the time. You were more baby than little boy, but boy how you have changed. We have watched you learn so many new things this year and now you are much more little boy than baby. You are potty trained, you sleep in a big boy room without a pacifier, and you have learned how to share your parents time and attention with you new brother.

I have loved watching you grow and learn, though it hasn't always been easy. You have your own opinions and are full of energy, making it hard for you to listen at times. Over the past year you have tested my patience at times, but I end everyday loving you more than the one before. You have grown into such a kind, loving, wonderful little boy. Your smile lights up our lives and you can always make us laugh. Watching you adore your brother has been a delight and I can't wait for you to actually get to play with him. You are dying to be able to show him your toys and go on adventure with him, but currently he is too little, and you usually end up getting a little too rough with tiny Rowan.

You are my big helper now, helping me clean, cook, shop, or do whatever needs to be done around the house. You love having a job and always do it with great care. Your being a big boy, who can help mommy and daddy, has made life with a new baby so much better. I love how independent you have become, though I do miss your sweet baby face. Yesterday, when we got home from the zoo, you were sleeping in your car seat. As I carried you into your bed I saw our reflection in the front door. Your sweet, sweaty, blonde head was resting on my shoulder and your long, big boy legs hung down past my knees. I took in this moment, knowing soon I won't be able to carry you and one day you are sure to be bigger than I am. I love this time and wish I could keep you at this age forever, but I know time will continue to fly by.

I pray that you never stop loving to learn, asking questions, and exploring the world around you. May you always be filled with the unending energy and enthusiasm for life that you have now. Never stop imagining new things and always strive to be one of the good guys, out to rescue those who need help. I pray that you may always want to give me hugs before bed and tell me you love me. Your sweet pats, hugs, and kisses are my constant reward for all the hard work of motherhood. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful boy! Your daddy and I adore you.

Happy birthday sweet boy!!

Love,
Mommy

Zane's Third Birthday

Last night before bed we turned our house into a Spiderman wonderland for today's celebrations. We blew up lots of balloons, which I let Zane instruct me on where to hang. Put up streamers, a happy birthday banner, and got out the noise makers. After Zane went to sleep Zach and I decorated his door with streamers and balloons. I had wanted to put balloons on his door so he would have a balloon avalanche when he woke up, but I knew that I would be going into his room multiple times during the night, and I was correct in my prediction. So instead daddy put tons of balloons in his room when he got up with Rowan in the night so there was a big birthday, balloon surprise awaiting Zane when he woke up. He was so excited to show us, but claims he knew daddy did it while he was sleeping.

This morning we let Zane open a couple presents before daddy left for work, mainly so he would have things to entertain himself with this afternoon, turns out after an epic nap time battle there wasn't much time between when he wake up and when daddy got home to play. Luckily one of the presents I randomly chose to let him open this morning was the one from Grandma that had a Super Hero Cape in it. He immediately put it on and wore it all day, during all our zoo adventures. Imagine how much more fun the zoo is when you can run around with a cape flying behind you!

If this picture doesn't scream I'm three, I'm not sure what does.

Off to the Zoo!!!!

We had high hopes of seeing the baby elephant today at the zoo, but after walking through all of River's Edge, seeing zero animals (the hippos were even out for cleaning) the baby elephant wasn't out, huge disappointment, but we moved on to better things, specifically Wilbur, in the Children's Zoo. Zane remembers exactly where to find him and can't be bothered with petting the goats on his way there. He needs to get to Wilbur ASAP. Wilbur was doing well, with all his naked mole rat friends, who we introduced to Jamey. Turns out they aren't very exciting if you haven't read the book. It was pretty hot and sweaty, even though we were there early, so we spent lots of time in the inside play area of the Children's Zoo to cool off. 

Me and my birthday boy!

 Jamey and Michelle in front of the only two elephants out today.

 Love a super hero that can keep house as well.

 Allie came after working all night, to share in the birthday fun, and cuddle this little guy. Thanks so much for fighting sleep exhaustion to hang out with us and help me haul my kids around

Next stop the penguins of course. Allie graciously stayed outside with both double strollers and babies so we could do the penguin house sans stroller, which is much more fun. The puffins were out getting their cages cleaned today as well. Must have missed the "we are going to be cleaning everything this morning," memo. But still had worlds of  fun "flying" through the penguin exhibit. Many thanks to Michelle for braving the zoo with two kids to help celebrate Zane's birthday. This was Ruthie's first big outing and very first time at the zoo. She handled it like a beautiful little pro.

Here is baby Ruth taking in the zoo.

Loving the penguins.

We rode the carousel, went through the monkey house, checked in on the big snakes, ate lunch, picked out a bday gift at the gift shop then headed home. Nap time was an hour long argument with multiple unnecessary potty breaks and lots of discussions about whether he would actually be able to open his zoo present if he didn't nap. Rowan was also fighting sleep during this same time so it quite the battle for awhile. Zane finally gave in, Rowan did not.

The afternoon was spent playing with new toys, playing downstairs, outside, and decorating our cupcakes for the evenings pizza party. When daddy got home we had pizza, cupcakes, and then more presents, with the piece de resistance, a Spiderman costume. I hadn't told Zane that I was getting him this, but all day he asked me where it was. Not sure if he had seen it before it was wrapped or if he just assumed he would be getting one. After dinner more outside playtime where Zane played with his new t-ball set and Spiderman ball and glove. Then finished off the day by dressing up as batman and running around the yard. I'm going to be honest the mask creeps me out. I bought this costume online and wasn't sure if there was even a mask in this set, but there is and it's creepy, but Zane loves it, of course.  Zane went to bed, exhausted, in his new Spiderman jammies. 

Spiderman cupcakes for today, Spiderman cake coming on Sunday.

In a strange turn of events he didn't finish his cupcake. I think he was too excited about presents.

Zane loved his t-ball set and was quite good at it. His favorite part might have been throwing his bat down in celebration after hitting the ball. He was batting left handed most of the evening which led to fights over who was standing on the correct side of the plate. Is there a t-ball league where there are no practices and just three or four games played purely for fun, because I would sign up for that.

I cannot begin to explain how adorable and heart warming it was watching these two play catch. Priceless!

Zane as Spiderman, climbing walls, jumping off things, and rescuing all sorts of people who were in trouble.

There were multiple times today when he said it was the best birthday ever so I think all and all it was a huge success! I loved watching him run around in his cape and sing happy birthday to himself all day. I love this little Super Hero and can't wait for all the adventure three will bring us. 

Ten on Tuesday

1. Rowan has been having belly issues the past few days which has led to a doctors appointment this morning, an increase in his reflux meds, and lots of vomit clean up. None of this is fun and he just doesn't quite feel like himself. After switching out his little bottles for the bigger ones he had started eating 6oz consistently, but is back down to three, usually after a battle. Hopefully his belly feels better soon, either way we go back to the doctor Monday for four month and three year old appointments.

2. Before his belly issues started we had brought the high chair up from the basement and had started trying to get Ro to eat some "solid" foods. Baby oatmeal and bananas, nothing too crazy, and really only a few bites because he absolutely hates it. The first bite went ok, but every since then it has been pure hatred, meltdowns, and vomit.

"Hey this chair seems fun, sitting up, seeing the world."

 "This is the worst thing ever."

Not sure what we are going to do about that. I thought switching to bananas which are the best thing he is going to have to eat for the next year, might help, but it did not. Maybe once his reflux is back under control we will try again.

3. Yesterday, when the afternoon randomly turned into a monsoon outside, we headed to the basement for some random fun. In another case of "I couldn't have planned it if I tried," Zane decided we should turn his train into a rocket. Luckily for us we have a huge quantity of cardboard in our garage currently (think amazon Bday presents). Zane thought all the train needed to make the transformation into rocket was a "lid." Here is the evolution of the rocket. First, add a folding chair for comfort (don't forget your helmet), then some fixing, add a lid, and decorate, ta da!!!

This was good for a solid hour of fun while outside our house it looked more like this.

 Good news the basement didn't leak, hopefully we have fixed the big cracks.

4. Meanwhile here is Rowan in his new adorable $1.50 summer outfit, thanks to the resale shop. Note the hint of spit up/vomit.

Zane wanted to hold Rowan after this picture and things went well. Here are the boys, looking adorable.

5. This week we busted out another containment device for Rowan, making my house feel that much smaller. Rowan is so tiny that he looks kind of silly in his exersaucer, but he has enjoyed it. Here he is playing with the famous Dolores the duck. She was Zane's ever present toy at all his doctor appointment when he was a baby.

 This was during brother's nap time. It's not nearly as fun with Zane is "helping" him play.

6. Last week the boys and I were here, sans Daddy, from Wed. morning until Friday when he got home from work. I thought I would help myself out and send the boys to daycare Thursday while I went to meet baby Ruthie. The baby was adorable, and they are doing as well as can be expected. However, upon picking up the boys I was told Zane hadn't napped and my heart sunk. The evening unfolded as I thought it would, utter disaster, with melt downs galore. The boys were in bed by seven after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The one successful hour of that evening was courtesy of Grandma's bubble gun that had arrived earlier in the day. We need to live closure to family ASAP. I really needed someone to come to my rescue, but that isn't an option here.

 It appears all is well, how quickly the tide turned.

 Look at those toes. This blanket is made from extra material from my baby blanket. Lots of pictures of me as a baby on a blanket just like this. I love it! I'm sure you planned that, right mom?

7. Here is my favorite spice of the week. I swear I'm not just trying to plug my brother's business, but somethings are just too good not to be shared. This weeks feature, Supreme Shallot Salt. I had heard my sister rave about this so I picked up a bottle on our last trip home. The ingredients are simple, Salt, shallots, minced green onions, and arrow root. I, like most people was a little thrown by the shallot idea at first, but they are just a different member of the onion family, with a slightly milder, awesome taste. This makes every vegetable better, corn, green beans, potatoes, peas, you name it. It is on our table with the salt and pepper shaker now. Simply a must have, life changing find. Call Savory Spice Shop OKC (405-525-9119) to add this to your spice wrack ASAP.  

8. This week Rowan was finally big enough to wear Zane's green overalls that he got from Aunt Christal. These were made famous by a super smiley picture of Zane wearing them while sitting in his blue chair, pre-surgery. Yes, all of Zane's pictures are categorized in my brain as pre and post surgery. I took Rowan's picture in the same chair then went hunting for Zane's version. I couldn't find it at first because he was two months oldish when he was wearing them and Rowan will be four months on Friday and they are still big on him. Here are the two shots. Rowan has grown into his own little look, but you can definitely tell they are brothers.

My memories are all from pictures with Zane and this was the shot that they used for the blood drive for Zane, in Dad's honor, at the high school.

9. Birthday decorations are up, per Zane's request. They include tons of balloons, streamers, and an unnecessarily long Spiderman Happy Birthday banner. Zane told me where he wanted things hung, which led to some lopsided decorations that my OCD can't really handle, but I'm leaving them alone, it's his party. I'm thinking really hard about buying the $20 huge spiderman balloon, haven't pulled the trigger on that, but I might. I'm going to decorate his doorway, so it's fun to walk through, before I go to bed. Tomorrow we are going to the zoo and then dinner with just us tomorrow night. Zane is beyond excited and has been asking Zach and I, "what time is it" and then when we say 8:30, or whatever time it is, he says "it my birthday yet?"

10. I was hoping to be able to welcome little August into the world on today's blog, but last I checked Jess had just gotten her epidural (which didn't go well) and still had a ways to go. So Zane and August might be birthday buddies!! Hang in there friend, sending you lots of love. I wish I could say you forget all the pain of labor, like people told me, but I vividly remember it, but it is well worth it!!! Can't wait to see your baby girl.