Surprise from my Sweet, Shopping, Gramma Great, Girls night out, & Mac's Halloween Masterpiece

I've run myself into the ground again and didn't have enough umph to go to work Friday. Little did I know I was ruining Mac's plans for the day. He was a quick thinker though and made arrangements. Anna texted me and invited me to walk to Walmart to with the kids to pick out Phil's Birthday Present. He wouldn't let me take Zoey - I thought she'd really enjoy the ride. But I gave in and let him keep her at home. It was a hot sweaty walk, but I was in good company. I came home only to find myself locked out. Mac let me in, ordered me to keep my eyes closed and to go cool off upstairs. I didn't hear any baby sounds... so I wondered if Zoey was even there. He came up a few minutes later and said dinner would be ready in 5-10 mins. I finished reading a chapter of Mockingjay (excellent series by the way!) and changed and since he it looked like I had a few minutes to spare, I waited at the top of the stairs waiting for permission t0 come down. That's when I saw him scattering pink rose petals on the stairs. How romantico!

This is what I saw when I came down the stairs. I floral path on the way to this....
Yum! I know... isn't your mouth water right now at this gourmet salad, rice, tilapia covered in peach BBQ sauce!? (With chocolate molton cake in the oven?! YUMMA!
And more flowers!!! I'm soooo lucky to have such a talented thoughtful man!
Eric, Brynn & family were nice enough to watch Zoey while we enjoyed dinner and raced to Stadium 8 for the movie Inception. It was a relaxing refreshing evening! I'm sooo blessed!

Last night we took Zoey shopping to Macey's Caselot sale. She's a good sport and didn't fuss. She was just really tired - but I think she enjoyed the ride.
Here she is keeping track of our coupons! What a sweetie!

Cousin Shannon was up so we made a trip to see her (it's been about 8 years!) and Zoey got to visit with Gramma Dutson for a bit. We had a good time!

While the men were at the Priesthood Meeting Sat night, we had a girls night out! Here we are in the dressing room finding some new duds. I think this pic is sooo funny!

Zoey is growing sooo fast! Her neck muscles are strong and one of her favorite places to be (besides Grammy Pammy's) is in the bouncer that Chris & Wendi let us borrow. She always has a big grin when she's bouncing away. I love this little girl!

Her smiles are sooo sweet! We can't wait to share them with Gramma and PaPa Backerman!

This is what I see when I have to go back to work after my lunch break picking up Zoey from Grammy's and waiting for Mac to come home from school.
Mac is enjoying school! He made this meringue skeleton. Yum! Isn't it too cute to eat?

Labor Day Weekend & Week!

It was a nice weekend - sleeping in, relaxing, finding deals on cute baby clothes for Zoey next year and a little bit of sewing. Sat we packed up the car and drove

to Tremonton to visit Grampa Knell. We had a WONDERFUL visit! He treated us to warm doughnuts and tall glasses of cold milk! We brought home a stack full of pictures to scan.

(It was WAY fun to see pics of Mac when he was little!)

Monday I woke up in a cleaning frenzy! It felt soooo good to sweep and mop the kitchen & bathroom, finish the laundry & dishes, take out all the garbages, polish & clean the kitchen cupboards, and clean off the back patio. I was exhausted, but it was well worth the effort!

We took a break where our good friend invited us to be her guests for lunch at Carl's Jr before they opened. Seriously! Soooo-much-fun!

We all got $7 vouchers to order what we wanted from the menu. I really wanted one of the PHILLY CHEESESTEAK BURGER but they hadn't prepped for it. Instead I tried the THE PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM SIX DOLLAR BURGER™ delish! I'd never eaten at Carl's Jr before, so it was fun to experience the messy magic on the south end of town before the doors were open to the public.

Zoey is 14 weeks! It's amazing to see how fast she's growing!

What a lucky girl! She's wearing the outfit from Aunt Leah & Uncle Adam that Adam brought back from Germany! Soooo cute!

Safe at Grammy's! Poor little Zoey's fingernails grow faster than mommy can trim them!

Little miss independent! She loves sitting in on all the action!

Zoey spends a lot of her awake time playing. She's getting really good with her fingers and hands.

Soooo precious! Love that little sleepy baby!

Wednesday was book club and lots of meetings. It was fun, but I was exhausted.

I picked up a cold Thurs and Friday... spent those 2 days recovering... it took me down hard.

I'm glad Mom could watch Zoey while I recovered and Mac made it easy for me at home to rest.

She loves sticking her little tongue out at us!

Our self portrait Saturday

We stopped by Great Aunt Linda's for a visit. It was fun to catch up with the family.

She sure has us wrapped around her little finger when she pulls this face.

To wrap up the day, we fed the ducks. Zoey really enjoys the walk and we have fun seeing who will dominate, the fish or the ducks for the moldy bread chunks!

Stake Conference was very memorable! It was very hot, I felt dizzy and claustrophobic, but the speakers were great. Zoey almost made it the entire 2 hours, and then started screaming. On my way down the steps to take her out and change the diaper that was making her grumpy, I sliped and slid down a couple of stairs. I made sure during my fall that Zoey was in no danger - she was well protected and all that was injured was my pride... and I might have a bruise on my backside tomorrow. Needless to say, next time, we'll be sitting on the main floor in the back by the door where no stairs will be involved.

Then while Mac was making lunch, a big huge poisonous spider was playing in the house by the back door. Ugghhh! Guess the memorable events keep coming!

Can't wait to see what next week brings.

Catching up!

I don't know where the time goes... but here's a little of what we've done in the last little while. Our little Zoey is already 13 weeks/2 months.

Last night she went 7 hours of straight sleep! Yippee!

This morning I found her with her legs hanging out of the crib bars. This girl likes to travel!

Daddy was there to experience her first real laugh! What a cute little squeal she has. I hope to catch it on video soon!

These pictures are in no particular order.

She's developed quite the smile lately!

Mac made this amazing cheesecake at school! Soooo rich and delicious!

13 weeks! What a cutie!

I call this one raaaaarummm!

(I'm getting used to wet-slobbery shoulders)

Little Z is content and happy with her Daddy!

PPaz always wants in on the action too!

Little Z loves to be with people! I love that wide happy smile!

Batting the butterfly chime that Lanette gave us. It's a BIG hit! (Ha!)

She fell asleep while I was sewing in her room one night

Dinner that Mac made for us and our lucky dinner guests!

Grammy Pammy and her little buddy!

Play time at Grammy's really wears her out!

She is Daddy's Little Girl!

(What a lucky baby!)

I just love all the expression she makes.

Roy, Ogden, & Tremonton

Last Saturday I was anxious to spend some of my Birthday money and enjoy a BIG BEN BURGER in Roy and visit Linda & family in Ogden. We had a lot of fun!

Here's Zoey enjoying the wait for our order

And here comes Dad with our grub! YUMMM!

It was fun to visit with Linda's family! Zoey was quite content to spend the afternoon with Aunt Linda.

I love this little girl! She's sooo adorable - and had a talent for making scary movie noises. Can you recognize what film this sounds is from?

On our way home we swung around Tremonton and visited Grandpa Knell. It's soooo much fun to see these two together.

And of course we couldn't leave without saying hello to Uncle "Ug" and Aunt Lynn... then rub it into the folks in MO. *sigh* Sure wished they were closer.

Zoey just keeps a-goin'!

She's creating moments! (Even if she doesn't know it!)

Zoeykins!

It's fun to see Zoey's little expressions as she grows. These are a few of my favorite!

*wink*

someone gets to catch up on their sleep while mommy goes to work...

what a happy girl!

trying to fly

(it hasn't worked yet)

New Sunday Dress from Aunt Linda!

A quick clip of our 6 & a half week girl.