We are alive and well...ALL of us!

I am finally plugged back in!  I must admit though, I kind of liked it with no TV, no computer and very limited access to the electronic world through my phone.  But nevertheless, I am back.

We are in our new home!  I can honestly say that I am more at peace in our little house in the woods than I have been in a long time.  Even surrounded by boxes, half unpacked and half empty, I have a feeling of love in this home that I haven't had since I moved out of my childhood home when I was 21.  BBZ's room was the first one done as I tried to keep the impact of all the changes as minimal as possible for him.  He already calls this his "new housh" and rather than hollaring "downstairs" when he is ready to get up in the morning he calls out "housh, housh!" in hopes of dragging one of us out of bed to let him choose between playing in his room, his playroom, the den with the "kid" TV and the main living room.  He has trains and toys spewed about and carries his very favorites from room to room depending on where he prefers to play.  Seeing him in this home with the vision of him growing much older in it is what was missing in our old house and I didn't even realize it.  This place is truely amazing.

So we are all settling in...BBZ, N, Delilah, Bill and........

Perhaps I should introduce you to our new neighbor...do you see him?

No?  Look closer......

Closer...

Yes folks, that is a hawk who spent almost all of Saturday staring at us through our living room window as we moved into his neighborhood.  The sellers told us that they had hawks, and at the time I thought it was cool, but I don't think I really appreciated how big these birds are!  There are actually two of them, but this is the only one I caught on camera.  It is so cool that they live on our land...or do we live on theirs?  The fact that I don't know the answer to that question is awesome.

My mom has been in town during this move and I don't know what I would do without her.  She has helped in so many ways I can't even explain.  Plus it's just fun having her around.  Our friends have come by to visit and we are having family over this weekend for the holiday.  The house will be nowhere near ready for a party, but I don't care.  I just want to spend time with everyone!  I have had a few blogs written in my head over the last few weeks and hopefully I will get them out as things around here settle down.  Unitl then, I will be unpacking and hoping all of our things find a new place in our new home.  I will also squeeze catching up on everyone else's blogs in there too!

What I've been up to.

I like really random posts because I can catch up on a lot and it doesn't have to flow. I'm a little desperate for time these days...let alone some Anna time.


I love my job. But. It's hard being back full-time. I'm not eating well and am drinking waaaay too much soda. I think having almost the whole house packed in boxes around me doesn't help, but I haven't even started the kitchen yet, so I can't really use that as an excuse. I really can't believe how much less time I have to do things now that I'm back full-time. I really didn't realize how much I loved that day off. Oh, well. It will feel all worth it when we are in our beautiful new home!  Plus I have a 4-day weekend next weekend so I will be back to my old schedule for a little while.  This was actually my first real 40 hour work week since going back full-time.  I guess that's why it feel so hard.

That actually does flow into my next update...we are moving one week from tomorrow! What a crazy ride this has been! My mama is coming in town this weekend and I can't wait to see her. She will have lots of fun keeping the little man busy while we are moving and unpacking stuff. She is great at home projects too, so it will be fantastic having her around to get things just right in the house before we move in. We have the final walk-through this Saturday and close on 6/23! That's in 6 days!!!!

N just cracks me up. He simultaneously can look at the computer, shake his thang to Usher on TV, and tell the woman on the phone from Charter that he is canceling our service because he is moving oversees to avoid talking about why he doesn't want to continue service. He's awesome. He also made me a fantastic mixed CD old school style. Remember when people used to give mixed tapes? He even included our wedding song...he's such a sweetie. Does anyone know why old blogs lose their formatting? That blog with our wedding song used to be spaced in paragraphs and now it's just one big one. Weird.

Twice today since I have been home I have read different blogs, opened the box to comment and got interrupted and had to close the box and forgo the comment. Maybe that's why I have lost a few followers this week. Good thing I don't care if strangers read my blog anymore. It was important to me for a minute to meet new people through blogging, but when I don't have much time for my real-life friends, it's hard to make time for the cyber ones. I do read all of my real life friends' blogs every time they post...even if I don’t get to comment.

BBZ has had a terrible diaper rash all week. It's red and broken and bleeding in a couple of places. He's surprisingly not complaining too much about it, which leads me to believe that it's heat rash. I let him run around a lot without a diaper on and yesterday he peed on the carpet in the guest room. I was right next to him so I grabbed him and said "Oh, you're going potty! Let's go sit on the toilet!" He immediately stopped peeing and sat on the toilet for me. He started whining a little and acted upset so I tried to reassure him that he was fine and it was ok and when you don't wear a diaper this is what you do...but he still wouldn't pee on the toilet. Oh, well. Baby steps.

My office mate has been on vacation all week so I have had the office to myself. Don't let me fool you though, I have missed her! I know you read my blog, so I hope you had an amazing trip and I can't wait to hear about it on Monday! And just to sit and chat with you...I've been lonesome :)

I'm taking BBZ to the dentist tomorrow to see what these black lines are on his teeth. From what people have told me and what I have read, the lines aren't anything to be concerned with and the dentist can polish them off and they may or may not come back. I just really, really hope it's not tooth decay. One thing I read actually said they are a sign of healthy teeth, but who knows where that information really cam from (it was on an online group thread. I guess we will see tomorrow. Luckily it is his initial visit and it's only $1!

One more update...I wanted to post a Waaay Back When-sday about my very first music festival, which was Bonnaroo in 2001, but all of my photo albums are packed and that was way before my digital photo days.  The festival was this past weekend and we were able to watch it online through our computer.  That may be my first post once we get things unpacked.

Have a great week and weekend everyone!

I have not intentionally ignored my blog.

I have, in fact, been extremely busy.  Here's the short of it:

BBZ's aunt and uncle (N's sister and BIL) had a tree dedicated to him at a local park.  We spent last Sunday eating lunch under the tree and playing in the nearby playground.  I gazed at my little boy and his beautiful tree and day-dreamed about taking a piture next to it each year and him proposing to the love of his life under this tree one day.  Yeah, I'm a mushy one.

My little tree hugger.

Man do I love his smile.

The gift-givers.

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Our new neighbors are having a summer block party in honor of the sellers leaving and us joining the neighborhood!  People really do stuff like this?  Is this what happens in a real neighborhood?  Who knew?  Hello suburbia, we are the Z's, nice to meet you.

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I bought a super cute and colorful dress to wear to a conference that I presented at this past Monday.  It's not like anything else in my wardrobe and I completely felt like someone on the What Not To Wear show...after the makeover, of course.  I had a great time at the conference and learned a few new things about counseling, which fall right in line with the beginning of my work toward my LPC that started last week.  I swear, things just have a perfect way of falling into place at just the right time.

What else...

BBZ slept in the other morning and while I was waiting downstairs for him to wake up I heard him on the monitor say, "Mama, wheareyou?", which is just about the cutest thing I have ever heard.  He usually stands up and cries for me to come get him, but him asking where I was like that just cracks me up!

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My sister and nephew are planning a trip to visit in August!  We will be in our new house by then and I'm so happy to have a house that can accomodate guests!

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Another morning N and I were laying in bed not quite ready to get up when we hear him start to say sentence after sentence over and over again.  "Choo choo brush, downstairs, ma-mai, daia (delilah) outside, choo choo brush!"  We both cracked up listening to him.  And to explain, I just bought him toothpaste with Thomas the Train on it and he calls brushing his teeth "choo choo brush".  So freakin' cute.

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Twice this week I wished I had stopped nursing BBZ a long time ago.  It was short lived, but it happened.  Once whenI tried for almost an hour to get him to sleep unsuccessfully and last night when I noticed some dark lines on his front bottom teeth which I am afraid is tooth decay.  I plan to take him to a dentist but also plan to wash his mouth as much as possible after he falls asleep and start using some flouride toothpaste.  I know nursing can cause this, but I am just not ready to stop nursing him at bedtime.  Go ahead and judge, I don't mind.

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My mom and dad are on vacation and just found out that a very good friend and co-worker of my dad died unexpectedly.  The are heading home to be with friends and her family.  She was only 67.  It scares me to think that death will come one day to my parents.  I talk a big talk about life and death and how it all makes the world go around and it's natural and a part of life and nature and blah blah blah, but the thought of losing my parents breaks my heart.  The thought that it is inevitable is even worse.  Love you mom and dad.

That is actually all my news, but I don't want to end on a somber note.  So here is a picture of BBZ tonight while I was putting the car seat back into N's car...man do I love him.

Memorial Day Weekend

What an amazing 3-day weekend we had!  We spent the weekend at our friend's parent's farm, a place we have been to many, many times over the last few years.  We always have an amazig time and now that the kids are getting bigger, the fun just keeps on getting better!  We took lots of pictures, but not enough if you ask me.  But who has time for pictures when you are swimming and fishing and chasing big blow-up donut toys around???  Of course I had time for a few...

The crew, with a few more mini members than years past.

He had to bring his train.

BBZ did not want to ride in the grocery cart for N when they went to the store on Friday, so N bribed him with these abnormally large (as my cousin called them) marshmallows.

There was a tractor!!!

BBZ and his friend, A played in this blow-up donut all weekend!  BBZ sees pictures now and yells "mine, mine!" at the computer!

I love this one.

N and the newest baby girl in our group.  Yes I am well aware of how wonderful N looks with a baby girl in his arms!

We did some lake swimmin'

And some cookie eatin'

BBZ and N also lived in this Gator!  I seriously think BBZ needs one of these...maybe next year though since he still needs someone else to drive him around.

All the kids by the fire, minus the newest baby girl...and Paige, where is Paige?

This is my very favorite one.  Me and my little boy...and a sippy cup.

What an amazing weekend it was.  BBZ did pretty well, but the first night sleeping was rough.  I couldn't sleep at all and poor N ended up sleeping part of the night in the car.  He also would not take a nap in the tent on Sunday, but it was so hot in there I couldn't blame him.  I finally got him to sleep in the pack and play in the house and he slept for 3 1/2 hours!  That is an all-time record for him.  Monday we packed up just in time to beat the rain.  There is nothing worse than having to air out a wet tent after camping.  We have some friends through BBZ's school that we plan to camp with next weekend.  It should be another adventure!  I hope everyone else has a great 3-day weekend!