clogging competition.

We were so proud of Brady for finishing out clogging this past year.  He was the only boy in his class of about 14 girls, and he was slow to pick up the steps initially, but he finally got the hang of it and turned into quite the little dancer!

His last competition was at Lagoon at the beginning of May.  Man are those competitions crazy!  He did an excellent job and so did the girls.  It was so fun to watch our son up on that stage.  Chris and his sisters had performed there many times over the years, so he especially felt nostalgic.  We both felt so much pride for Brady and can't believe how fast he has grown! 

It will be so fun to watch him continue to develop this talent in the future and other talents.  

There were only six of them that competed, which actually made it better I thought with a smaller number of kids to focus on. They ended up coming in 1st in their age group for overall!

You can see the video HERE!!!


It's so cute to see them at this age...he did pretty good despite some stage jitters!



The ladies' man...




After the competition the kids wanted to get to the rides as quickly as their little legs would carry them!  Olivia was very patient as Brady got to go on several rides before she did as we made our way across the park to the kiddie rides.  







Brady decided this year that he was "too old" for most of the kiddie rides, but indulged his sister for a few...

Daddy got to go on a leisurely ride with the kids on the gondola while mommy and Zach watched from below!  I had quite a time with Zach as he was apparently getting sick (he later puked all over himself, me and his car seat at dinner...) and I also forgot his formula, so we had to make a hasty leave of absence from the park to dash across the highway for baby sustenance!  

Zach was a pretty patient boy as he spent most of the day attached to me in the front baby carrier or in his stroller.

Brady got two ribbons and a medal for his performance!!!

We still haven't decided if we're going to have both Brady and Olivia do clogging next year.  It is a big commitment, for time, travel and finances!!!

Zach. 6-9 months.

Tomorrow Zach is 9 months...time for an update!

At 6 months...

(May)

sleeps on tummy

has two bottom teeth

claps his hands

waves hands all around in the air when he gets excited

jumps up and down in the exersaucer

can put his binkie in his mouth by himself

 Olivia always sticks her baby doll "Stella" in the exersaucer with Zach or in his travel crib with him.  

7 months...

(June)

takes good long naps in the afternoon and small naps in the morning and evening

can sit up on his own

starts to army crawl around and explore more

can say "mama" and "dada"

laughs at brother and sister all the time

FINALLY starts eating solids, although he is not happy about it!!!

starts to lean out as he is moving around more
get his two front teeth!

8 months...

(July)

loves to crawl under anything and tries to squeeze through as many things as possible

(when I am in the kitchen and standing in front of the counter he tries to get between me and the cabinets!)

discovered that he loves water and is like a little froggy!

is learning how to wave, and always uses his left hand (Grandpa Graf will be proud!)

still does not like solid foods...will eat baby puffs, banana pieces, graham crackers and will tolerate banana baby food, green beans and squash

is almost crawling...and he can scoot pretty fast to anything he really wants!
has one more tooth up top...for a total of 5

enjoys tubby time and loves the bubbles and splashing in water!

Figuring everything out in life.

You know when you were a kid you just couldn't wait to grow up? Well, at least that's how I always felt.  Now, I look at my children, playing day in and day out without a care in the world and I think how wonderful that would be!

Sometimes I just don't appreciate something for WHAT it is, WHEN it is!!!

I would love to be able to keep up with this blog, and as one of my best friends, Charlotte said, "blog like it's 2009..." In fact, I have often actually stressed out about the fact that I am such a horrible blogger.  I am seldom clever or witty and can't seem to stay on top of posting regularly to save my life.  Weeks usually go by before my dumping of the latest and greatest...

We have already had a very busy summer with family and friends visiting and us doing likewise...long work hours for Chris, me trying to organize and sort through our entire household and two storage areas in prep for a yard sale this weekend, odd jobs etc.  Needless to say I probably have accumulated a million pictures on my camera.  There are so many on there that I really don't even remember what I've taken pictures of!

Basically, for any one who still randomly checks my blog from time to time, I just wanted to let you know that

#1- I am alive...and so are my children (but just barely!)

#2- I will eventually post again...maybe after the yard sale?!

SO, look forward to what is to come...and in the meantime, I am going to try to enjoy life like my children do, with less worries and less pressure that I put on myself to meet demands that I make for myself!

Have a fun weekend!