Another transition

Number 2 on our list of things to do before Zacharina's arrival involves transitioning Zachary to a big boy bed (plus, he's 36 inches tall now and can climb out of his crib). So for the past month, we've had his mattress on the floor inside his bed frame (the poor man's toddler bed!). This has worked fantastically! He can climb in & out very easily and loves the autonomy. Sometimes he'll just walk around his room and fall asleep on the floor. (Don't worry grandparents - we put him back in his bed!) As usual, Zachary has handled this change very well. (Mommy, on the other hand...is kinda sad he's growing up so quickly!)

Handsome

Zachary was super handsome for church today. I had to chase him around to get a few pictures, but here are two (very lucky shots - even though I think his eyes are actually closed in the second one!).

"...is you pregnant?"

Most of you know that I work a few mornings every week as a counselor at an alternative high school. I love my job and especially love the kids. Today, one of my boys walked up to me and said, "Woman...is you pregnant?"
Now, I try to look for teachable moments with these kids while still respecting their uniqueness...and I quickly responded, "Did you just call me 'woman'?" To which he corrected himself and said, "Uh...oh yeah, Miss E., why you din't tell me you was pregnant?" And of course I apologetically told him that I guess I forgot to include him on my list of people to tell - can he ever forgive me? He got a good laugh out of my response and he quickly (and graciously - ha!) forgave me.
Anyway, I've recently had 3 long-distance friend/family requests for a mid-pregnancy picture of me (and all my round-bellied glory!). Much to my dismay, I'm posting this one. This picture is at 23 weeks - Zacharina is much smaller than Zachary was at this point. And I've been blessed with another mild pregnancy. Thank God.

Redneck Sandbox

We don't have a nice clean sandbox just yet, but who needs a classy sandbox when an old non-growing potted plant will suffice! Zachary had such a good time with this flower pot of dirt on the back porch. (And don't tell Grammy that mommy didn't realize he was wearing one of his new outfits during the mayhem! Since everything stayed dry, the clean up was easy.)

And, he did a fantastic job cleaning up his mess afterwards! (Some of the dirt he threw landed in the kitchen doorway.)

Just another bird

We have 2 small bird feeders on our deck, to attract birds for Zachary to watch. We've seen many neat birds - including cardinals, finches, chick-a-dees, blue birds and sparrows (you know, normal yard birds). Today, we've got a giant hawk. You can imagine our shock when we walked into the kitchen and saw this out the window! Todd said, "I don't know how I feel about having a giant hawk on our deck." I think I agree!