Our Wonderful Life!

So I can't keep up...

2011-11-11T20:13:00.023-06:00

You probably thought that we dropped off the end of the earth. Well since it has been 11 months since I last updated this, I guess you can say we did. Life has happened and gotten busier and busier and I am not too sure when it will actually slow down to tell you the truth.

I wrote myself a checklist and this item was on it, other wise I am not too sure when it would have actually gotten updated. Plus the fact that by good friend Melissa always seems to update hers and then our other friend who just adopted a sweet child from China has managed to update hers and well I felt really bad that every time I logged on to see their updates I saw mine from January. So to catch you up since then, here we go!

February- May We always knew that God blessed us with a very smart and energetic son but we never realized that he was going to have an over abundance of energy and would need some help containing that energy. Now if I could only bottle it up and drink some it myself then I would have a lot more accomplished. Ethan was diagnosed at a very young age (3.5) with ADHD with an emphasis on impulsive. If we didn't have the most loving day care provider we probably would have been trying to find one who would see the good in Ethan. We have gone through a few different medications as of now and seem to have found one for the time being. He also has a hard time sleeping at night because his brain wouldn't turn off. We were also going to behavioral therapy once a week up until the end of August when he showed so much improvement they released him. Now he can actually sit and learn things in class without the impulsive to turn around and pop one of his classmates for no good reason. Lia is now 13-15 months at this time and just picking up speed running and finding trouble. Zac was working at the base until the end of March for the Air Force. April started the job search but with no avail. After about a month we both prayed about the direction our family needed to go and so Zac reapplied for school and decided to go forward with that. Once he finishes his bachelors in history with a minor in English he will go back into the Air Force full time as an officer.

We also went to Dinosaur world with our wonderful friends- John and Melissa Williams and their three children. The boys were in their element! They loved the dinosaurs!

March- Nana and Bubba came into town and Zac and I took off to a bed and breakfast that was local. The kids go to go to the zoo with nana and bubba and mommy and daddy got out of the zoo for a bit! Thanks Nana and Bubba! We needed some TLC!

April- we went on our biannual camping trip and added a few more friends to join us! More sword fighting and swimming and even canoeing! Don't worry. No one was hurt in this picture! We had a blast and already scheduled our next camping for Halloween weekend!

May- Zac was gone for 2 weeks with the Air Force to Savannah, GA and so I attempted to keep the house running. Parenting with two and an ADHD child is not for the week! The house may not have been clean and the refrigerator may have been empty but the kids were fed and the house was still standing upright. Sometimes I feel like I still haven't gotten caught up from that two weeks. The end of May I (Nicole) got to go on a mom/sister weekend to San Diego! It was amazing and went too fast! We got to do a number of things using groupons and that included a cooking class which was awesome! The guys went on their Canada trip in 2005 so this was well past due and much needed!

The end of June-july we flew to Farmington for a week. We got to spend some great family time but it never seems like it is enough. We left Ethan there until the 15th and so he got to spend some extra time with family! He loved it and still asks about his next trip to farmington and if we are going to leave him there.

July- We got in an air show this month!!! Zac also took a summer class and we were trying not to burn up. This is was one of the hottest summers we have endured here in Texas and I hope it is the last. End of July I took the kids out to Oklahoma with the Williams and their family to a cabin. Zac had drill that weekend (silly government changed the drill weekend on us so he couldn't come with us)

August- Ethan started "school" full time at his daycare and is doing great! He will be way past kindergarten when he is done in May. He did have homework on the first day of school and he figured out fast that this wasn't very fun. He told me that he wasn't going to go to school if he was going to have homework. He is in for a big surprise in the coming years! All in all he has learned so much over the last few months! His mind is like a sponge! He has 10 bible versus that he has memorized and about 75 site words as well! AMAZING!! I don't think I was anywhere that when I was his age! We definitely have to keep him busy or he will look for things to do and it is usually not good things! Last week he wrote his name backwards because he said he was tired of doing it the other way... Oh my... Zac started school full time and has embraced it! He is doing well and if we have calculated (okay, I calculated) he will be done December 2012! Yes! That is only 13 more months!

End of September- Nana and Bubba came through on their way out to Pennsylvania. They got to go to the new Lego world in Grapevine and Ethan was in heaven! Ethan does have a lot of Lego's but this had so much more than he knew what to do with!

Did I mention that I have I guess you can say started my own side business! I have been pretty busy with a cake or cupcakes at least every weekend. I have had a few off here and there but with the support and encouragement from Zac, friends and family I have started Your Portion cakes. If you are in the area please let me know how I can serve you. I love getting to use the creative side of my brain!

Zac and I also became directors of a sunday school class at church! We started in October and have gotten to know a few of the families. They are all ages but they have just gotten married in the last few years and some are starting their families now. It has been a blessing to walk beside them in their new adventures with children and we look forward to watching their marriages and children blossom with God as our guide.

We have gotten in another airshow just a few weekends ago and another camping trip too! I also took the kids up to Tulsa last weekend to see my cousin and her husband who are about to meet their first new born. The baby shower was so much fun and she is a beautiful preggo!

Oh I forgot to mention that my neighbor and I ran our first 10K (6.3miles) in October. We started running in the mornings in June/july and have been running for the most part 3 times a week. It has given us a chance to get to know each other more and a chance to get into shape! I love our running times in the morning! I really gets my mind ready to face the day with kids and work! We got 5th and 6th place for our age group! Not to bad for it being our first race and I stopped to give some medical aid to a racer for about 5-7 minutes!

So, as I type all this up I have realized why I haven't updated this very often! WE HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY! There really are a lot more pictures and events that have happened. It has taken me two hrs to do this and maybe (maybe) I will get to go back through and update more thoroughly... This weekend is one of the first weekends in about 5 months that we aren't doing anything! To celebrate- clean the house and then Zac and I are going out on a date tomorrow night!

Lia's first Christmas and such.

2011-01-03T14:33:00.009-06:00

Merry Christmas to all!

Ethan and Marsial Vickers at church posing for a Christmas picture!

Lia and Abby Williams playing and sharing so well! They are only 14 days apart and their mommies are best friends! We are so blessed to have daughters to close together. They are destined to be best buddies too!

Christmas Eve in their new Christmas pajama's!

Christmas Morning! Ethan was so excited! Bad expression on his face here but he had so much fun!

When he sat on Santa's lap this year he asked for GI Joe's! He was so excited that he got some GI Joe's. There aren't the same kind that Zac had when he was growing up...

This first Christmas thing is hard!

What Christmas is already gone. We can't believe that it came, went and Lia has already turned one. We didn't travel any where this year since both Zac and I are both the low man on the totem pole at our jobs. Hopefully next year that will change we we can go and see some family.

All of us enjoyed the Christmas season this year while Ethan learned more and more about what the season is really about. He now understands that it is Jesus's birthday and we sing happy birthday to him but he kind of got confused that a few days later we sang to sister.Hope you enjoyed a few pictures of our fun!

Lia's first year picture that we took here at the house.

I had so much fun making these shirts for the girls!

Lia and Abby celebrated their first birthday together on Saturday. Lia was the ladybug and Abby had the flower cupcakes.

Happy Birthday Lia! We are so blessed beyond belief to have you in our lives! You bring us so many smiles and laughs! We love you!

December?!?!?!?!

2010-12-12T20:07:00.012-06:00

Wow! We thought Thanksgiving was here quickly... I was mistaken, December and Christmas have come at lightening speed and I foresee that it will only get faster! As you can see from earlier posts' (pictures only) mid November we went camping with our friends the Williams and we even added some more friends to the trip and hopefully they will continue to join us! The kids did great on the camping trip despite it being the coldest camping trip for them (and us for that matter) It would get down to 42 degrees and when it is merely a thin layer of tent between you and the cold weather... you get my drift (no pun intended). It it was up to Ethan we would still be camping right now!

A few weeks after that Thanksgiving was upon us with Nana and Bubba here to visit! It was so wonderful having family here to enjoy our time with. Bubba did a brined turkey for us was so delicious and tons of other food that we all pitched in and made!

While they were here Lia started her walking debut! It was the first few steps of her precious life and since then she has picked up speed! She desperately wants to run after Ethan or even run away from Ethan-just depending on the day! She is now walking about 90% of the time and when daddy is chasing her she still crawls- She is faster that way. She has 2.5 teeth on the bottom and one is making it's way on the top. She is handling it much better than I thought she would. She is starting to mimic what we are doing and the sounds that we are saying. It won't be long till she is chatting away like Ethan!

Ethan is such a talker these days. Full on sentences and the majority of the words are used in the right context. He will even do things that we have no clue where he learned them from and he just says in his cute little way with shoulders shrugged "from school". We have definitely been blessed by our daycare provider! She is so patient with Ethan and all his boyisims. Ethan is almost out of his 4T pants mind you he is only 3.5 yrs old. He will be taller than me in a not so far away future! He knows all of his ABC's and all his colors and will even do some subtraction. He uses a Vtech smile at school and we will have to see what Santa brings him this year to help with his education!

While Nana and Bubba were in town we enjoyed the Ft.Worth Museum which had tons of things for the kids to do. It I was a stay at home mom that would be the place to go! So much to do for them! They (and us adults) loved it! Thanks Nana and Bubba!

We have also done some updating to the house. New floors in the kitchen and dinning room and then Zac put in a new sink and faucet! Beautiful!

Zac had a Kids Christmas party at work where Santa came in on a jet. Ethan is waiting patiently here! Santa was a little stuck in the cockpit! Too many cookies for him!

Ethan wasn't afraid and was so excited that he called his name and gave him a present. Lia... well she didn't want anything to do with Santa this year. I have a breakfast with Santa on the 18th so we will have to see what she thinks about that one!

(picture above kind of low quality but it was my Hospital Christmas party that we went to last night! It was great to get out!)

They are the joy's of our lives and couldn't be any happier. Work is picking up for me right now in preparation for a major survey to come in early 2011 and Zac is doing very well as crew chief. He loves his job and I love that he loves it! It just makes everything run so much more smoothly that way.

With Christmas right around the corner I am not sure how much I will be able to post between now and then given my track record... I will try and post pictures of Christmas morning as soon as possible and then get Lia's Birthday pics up too!

Merry Christmas everyone! Live and Love the true meaning of the season!

The Tyson's

Christmas Cards 2010

2010-12-06T21:33:00.001-06:00

Family Wall Red Christmas Card

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Camping Memories 2010

2010-11-18T20:47:00.001-06:00

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Pumpkin patch

2010-10-13T20:58:00.006-05:00

We made it to the pumpkin patch for Zac's Birthday (and mommy's picture opportunity) but that was about all we did that weekend. 3 of the 4 of us have been sick in the last two weeks with the flu and I was the last one on Zac's birthday. I felt so bad but glad to get that over with. Here are a few pics of the kids since our last blog. They both went to the Dr on Monday with Zac for their check-ups.

Ethan who is 3 yrs old is in the 82% at a height of 41.5 inches tall and weighs 36.6lbs!!!

Lia is 9 months old and is in the 50% at a height of 28 inches tall and weighs 19.2lbs!!! I two growing very fast kids! They both got their flu shots and neither of them cried at all!!!

Zac started his seasoning job at the Air Force Reserve base on Tuesday and will be doing this for 160 days! That is very exciting because it will get him a lot of experience for the civilian side of things! I was thinking that 160 days would be working days but found out tonight that it is counting all days which will bring him till mid March! He loves his Jet and has even been assigned to one where he will have his name on the side of it! I will have to get a picture of it when it is finally on it! We are so proud of him!

We are still alive!

2010-09-30T20:18:00.011-05:00

(sorry so late. Lia at 6 months. She will be having her 9 month appt on the 11th)

MMMM... homemade butternut squash!

Sea World San Antonio Sept 17-18, 2010)

Hello friends and Family! We survived! Daddy came home on Sept 7th and we have gotten back into a "normal" routine! (what ever that might be) Zac was gone for his Air Force training since April 19th and now home for good (at least till his next orders come in which could be till next year for long distance work). He is now waiting for the Government Fiscal year to start which is tomorrow to hear back on his seasoning training (like an internship for the military) which will keep him here local for about 8 months. He has also applied at Lockheed Martin to work on their F-35's which he is now qualified for. Come on jobs that pay! I say that because after 5 months of being gone there was a honey do list just as long! It is so good having him home and helping me with things that were neglected around the house and freeing me up to do things like this.

We took a family trip down to San Antonio mid September and spent two days at Sea World! Thank you Busch Gardens for supporting the Military and their families for at least one day of passes! Ethan was in heaven and Lia loved the fish tank! Lia did really good with being flexible in her nap times. Where ever we went she was able to take a nap.

Lia is 9 months old today and Ethan came home feeling fine and then at the dinner table not so good. Could be a long night but I praise God that nothing like this happened while Zac was gone. Hopefully he feels better in the morning and we can go to the Ballpark tomorrow night with some friends. The Texas Rangers won their division and will be going to the play offs. Enough about them... you want to hear about the kids. Lia is now pulling up on everything and growing up so fast. Her hair has lightened up and is working on her first couple of teeth. I felt one starting to poke through tonight! Ethan got his first real bike with training wheels and loves to right every night up and down the sidewalk! He has only crashed once and that was on the first day. I am sure there will be more to come in his future (he is a Tyson) and so we will be getting his helmet and pads soon. I love Craiglist! We found the bike in great condition and a steal of a deal!

I will let the pics do the rest of the talking. Enjoy and hopefully I will be getting better at this writing thing. I have been determined now that Zac is home to not let life run me over but let me run my life. This week has been very productive! Thanks for checking on us and say lots of prayers for a job for Zac!

2010-08-04T22:04:00.005-05:00

Here are some updated pics... Sorry it has taken so long to get something,... anything up. Been pretty busy around here with trying to keep the house running, my job running and the kids somewhat in a routine. Zac left today to finish up his training in phoenix and is actually spending the night right now in Las Cruces, where I graduated! Miss it sometimes especially the good mexican food! He will be in Phoenix till Sept 2nd and then go up to Farmington for a few days to spend time with his parents, brother and family and then stop in to see my family as well! Wish we could be there as well.

Lia is mastering the technique of eatting Cherios! She is pretty funny. She isn't as good as Ethan was at this age but she is catching on quickly! See that handful!

Fourth of July Parade! Ethan's first as well as Lia's

I've been missing

2010-05-09T20:59:00.006-05:00

Here is our most current family photo! After church last weekend while Nana was in town we went to the botanical gardens in grapevine and took a few shots! What a beautiful family I am blessed with! Ethan 2.5 yrs and Lia 4 months.

Just some updated pics with a little of what we have been up to over the last few weeks- months. Zac left for school in Wichita Falls on April 18th and has been able to come home on the weekends! Thank goodness! You never realize what a big help the other parent is until they are not around through the week! He is doing good in his classes and one of the top ones for his scores on his tests. He is learning a lot and able to help the 18 year olds out a lot. The picture above is at an air show the first weekend that he was home. What busy weekend that was. Our sweet friends had a garage sale and let us bring over a lot of stuff to sale. We then had the air show and then on that Sunday we went to a baby dedication in Keller and then a birthday party in Grand Prairie. What a weekend. The following weekend was not as full of items but still flew bye...

This was Ethan's first time getting his shoes and socks on all by himself! We were going out back to do something and we told him he needed socks and shoes on. He listened alright but we forgot to tell him to put pants on! Way to go buddy! You did it all by yourself!

This was Easter weekend. Zac's friend from his childhood Allen came here from Chicago to meet Lia. Unfortunately she had croup all weekend and so I stayed home with her while they all went to church. She looks so cute in those bunny ears that Nana and Bubba sent her.

One of the weekends Zac came home it was raining and so we took Ethan to the Mall to play on the playground that they have there. He also wanted to ride the Carousel!

Ethan could never do this. Lia on the other hand can fall asleep anywhere as long as her hand is near so she can suck on her fingers. It was her nap time but I must have been busy with Ethan and his never ending potty training. I must have taken too long. Sweet Girl!!!

Lia's motor skills are picking up speed! She has great Eye- hand coordination and loves to pick up things and try to put them in her mouth. Lia had her 4 month appt last Monday and she is doing great! I think they weighed her in wrong because she dropped from the 81% to the 54% in weight. She is still growing so fast and loves to smile! Her weight is 13lbs 6.29 oz and is 24.25 inches long (47%). She had to have two shots and did okay with them. Luckily Nana was here this week and she had some one on one time with them. She had Lia on Monday and was a bit cranky! I would be too if I just got two shots and didn't understand what was happening!

Here Ethan is again picking out his shoes! He loves his boots to much dismay of his daddy!

Thank you Nana for coming last week to help us! She stocked up the freezer with meals and cut coupons and cleaned and... wow! Thank you for all you have done! I think you spoiled me because I am not looking forward to being alone again.

Look close James! He is about to kiss a snake! We found this little guy while we were taking our family photo shoot! Ethan had so much fun touching him!

Thanks for checking back here! I will try to keep it updated but I have found it a little harder being a "single parent" for a few more months.

Thank you all so much for all your prayers! I can feel God's power all day long to get me through the days.

Last month, last week, today and tomorrow....

2010-03-23T22:03:00.009-05:00

My two beautiful children! What a blessing from God!

( we went to feed the ducks last week! Ethan had a blast and Lia well she was happy to just sleep)

( what a sweet time this is for me to watch. They won't ever be this small again and love having these pictures to capture time)

Well... It has been over a month since I have updated this site and a lot has happened since then and lots of growth as well. Lia is getting so big and has traveled so much!

(february)

Since the last post...

The whole family has traveled to New Mexico and both kids did really well on the drive. Yes, you read right. We did make the 13 hr drive with two children and one under 3 months. We had to stop every three hours for Lia to eat and that gave Ethan a chance to stretch his legs. We got to show Lia off to her Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles as well as Great Grandparents. We had some awesome photos that will last a life time. We also got a chance to go to Wichita Falls and go the base where Zac will be living for 4 months starting April 18th through July 30th and then Zac will be at Luke AF in Phoenix till Sept 2nd. We drove right back in time for our Financial Peace University class at church that will go through mid May. (it has been a wonderful class to go through for those who have not heard of it) That ext Sunday Lia and I (Nicole) flew to California to visit my grandparents and family and introduce Lia . From there we flew to Tucson to see Lorra (my sister) and her family. It was wonderful to show off Lia and get a chance to visit with all of our families before I return back to work.

Lia has her own room now!!!!! Our original plan was for the kids to share a room. That soon changed upon our arrival back to Texas. Since then Zac and I have been clearing out our "office/hobby room" and in the mean time have gotten ready for a garage sale. Craigslist has come in handy to sell a few things as well. Our reasoning for this madness??? Since I will be the only parent home during the week I didn't want the chance of one child waking up and then waking up the second one. Keep one down and tend to the other and get back to bed ASAP!!! Things moved around and abracadabra... Lia has her own room!

( MeMaw and Papap Gigliotti in California)

(Cousin Caroline and Lia- 12 month difference)

(James is in here now)

Lia had her two month appointment when we got back and she has grown so much! She weighed in at 12lb 13oz and is 23inches long. She is above the average in both categories but is not as long as Ethan was at this time.

Ethan's newest thing is digging for worms. That's right Bubba. He will be more than ready to supply you with worms for the next fishing trip! Every day after he gets home from daycare he asks to go right out back to dig for worms and every day he brings them in to show me. Wow! Why do I pay so much money to have bugs out of my house when I have a son that will bring them in to me for free? Priceless!

During this time of maternity leave I had a huge list of to-do-items for myself to get accomplished before returning and Zac leaving. A few things didn't get done, a few things got added to the list a long the way and I got most of the big tasks completed. Zac fixed the roof shingles, we painted the living room wall, moved the office out, moved Lia in her room. Long story short... I start work tomorrow. I can't believe it is already here and Lia is already 12 weeks.

Today Lia was to have her three month photos taken. Did that work out just as I planned? Did my sweet and happy go lucky baby perform...? No. My poor girl has been eating and sleeping and slobbering and sucking on her fists. Yup... I think she is teething already. There is a little lump on her poor gums. It seems so early for her to be teething but I am now convinced she is teething. Today I have felt so many prayers from so many people. I have a peace about returning tomorrow. I think I have gotten as much together and organized as I can and well... we shall see. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be interesting. First full day away from Lia (you have to keep in mind that Ethan didn't go to a babysitter till he was 13 months) and we have church tomorrow night. I am tired just thinking about it.

(most recent picture- Today!)

Hope to keep this up sooner than later. For those of you praying for me/us as we go on this next adventure in our lives, I thank you so much. They have helped so much and I can't thank you enough. (It is late and I must go to bed now- I will post the New Mexico pics another time!)

Oh what fun this past week has been!

2010-02-13T20:53:00.006-06:00

There are a lot of pictures this time! So much has happened in the last week and a half but the pics can tell the stories themselves for the most part!

I accidentally put Lia down for a nap with one of her bow thingies and this is what I came back to see her as. I hope she doesn't expect to sleep like this every nap to make it darker!

Ethan wanted to help with bath time this go around and had so much fun helping her! I can tell that bath time in the future will be "fun" for mommy and daddy!

We got snow this Thursday and lots of it! We placed a ruler in the yard as we saw it was still coming down after lunch time and by the time we woke up Friday morning we had measured 8.5 inches of snow. It was a record here in this area and we felt more at home with it! We loved it! Ethan couldn't wait to get out side and play. He had to go out there before daddy came home. He even went and got his socks on by himself and then went outside by himself. He used to hate to go out back with out one of us there. He is growing up do fast and becoming more independent. Not sure if that is all that good since he thinks he can do everything with-out assistance. In the end when we sit back and let him try it is way, he usually comes and asks for help!

Look at those beautiful blue eyes! (with rosey cheeks and nose too!)

(snow angel!)

It's bigger than Ethan! He had so much fun helping daddy build this snowman!

That dimple is still there! She has hardly lost any of that beautiful dark hair!

Lia's first snow!

Ethan loves to be by his sister! He insists on knowing where she is at all times and loves to read stories to her at night! She loves to be by him as well! She watches him run around her and wants to go play so badly!

This cake was for a baby shower for a gal in our Sunday school class! It turned out really well!

What a doll! Zac and I had a weekend getaway that was sponsored by our church this Friday-Saturday. It was such a blessing to be able to have a wonderful babysitter come over and spend the night with Ethan and then we escaped (we did take Lia with us) to the event. It was so rejuvenating and wonderful to spend time together and talk about our family, goals and faith. God has some plans up his sleeve this year and we want to make sure our beautiful family will weather the storms. Lia got so many comments on how beautiful she is. We agree and couldn't be more proud to be her parents.

Have a great weekend! We will be heading to New Mexico after our church class on Wednesday night. Hopefully by leaving at night it will make it easier for the kids during the day. Our dear friends from church let us borrow a DVD player for the trip for Ethan so that will be AWESOME! Thank you Hosni's.

Commitment service for Lia

2010-02-04T07:56:00.004-06:00

Thank you Becky for taking this pictures for us! Can you believe we walked out of the house on this very special day!!! Lia had a special day on January 31st. She was dedicated in service along with 15 other babies. We did this rather quickly because the next one was going to me in May and we were not sure if Zac would be able to come home that weekend. Sorry to the grand parents. We have the video of the service and the slide show that we will bring home with us in a few weeks!

Also to update you on our Financial Peace University... we started last night at church and this is going to be an amazing journey for both Zac and I. We have already had some good discussions together and have a goal in mind. If you haven't taken the course or never heard of him before, it is great. He is funny (to hold the guys attention) and has great points to make. He makes the information make "cents" and gets you motivated. He helps you believe in your ability to get out of debt! If you want more information, please let us know. The kit comes with all the CD's and would love to pass them on when we are done with the course in April.

Bye for now- off to take care of a flat tire that Zac woke up to. Nothing like emergencies that you are prepared for!

5 weeks!

2010-02-03T13:12:00.006-06:00

(Lia holding her head up very well)

(Ethan holding Lia before we knew he was sick)

Lia is 5 weeks today and growing like a little baby should! We had her one month appt on monday and she weighs 9lbs and 13oz already which is in the 63% for weight. She is 20.5 inches tall and growing very well. The doctor didn't have anything for us to do differently. She is also sleeping better at night now that we have been working on her schedule of getting her up to eat during the day. She sure does wish she could sleep right through the morning (mommy wishes she could too). She is tracking people better and loves to watch her crazy brother run around. Ethan loves to entertain her and has been hard to keep him out of her face. Both of the kids were at different doctors at the same time. Zac took Ethan to a Dr down the road for a pretty bad upper respiratory infection. He is doing better now that he is on antibiotics and some decongestant. I also elected to keep him home for the week so we can work on potty training! He is doing pretty good despite the little accidents. He is learning pretty well and even stayed dry the entire night last night! Now to just work on number 2 and telling us before he goes... Over all I have been pretty proud of him. Lia is starting to talk a little more when we are around her. She loves to take baths and have a rub down with lotion. Over all things have been going pretty good with two at home. (Secretively I have been getting more done with the two home than I was alone with Lia- why is that???) Zac has drill this weekend and I am making a cake for a baby shower and attempting to go to church with the two kids by myself... I think we will be okay but I may have something to say after sunday!

Today Zac and I and a few other couples from our connection class are starting Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey at church. It is a 13 week course and we are looking forward to learning new ways to save money and pay off my school loans. It will be good to do this with other friends so we can keep each other accountable.

Yesterday I made four meals to bring to couples at church and then one for us and then today I have made 4 loafs of bananna nut bread! Busy bee at the Tyson house! Have a great week everyone!

4 weeks old today!!!

2010-01-27T15:48:00.009-06:00

I can't believe that four weeks have already gone by. Lia has been such a blessing to our family and it is hard to remember what it was like with just one! So much has happened in these past 4 weeks. Nana Mac stayed for over two weeks to help out and make sure I got things done! (I have slacked off a bit since she left...) While Bubba and Nana were here we drove down to Waco to meet up with Uncle Ernie and Aunt Karen and went to a pretty neat Museum at Baylor Univ. Ethan had so much fun and really tired Bubba out! I didn't get to see most of the museum as I was taking care of Lia but came back with a ton of pictures!

Since they have gone home to NM we have tried to get into a routine. Lia was doing really good sleeping at night but that was a bit too good to be true! She is still a pretty good sleeper but likes her ealry morning feeds!

I am excited for Monday to come around because Lia has her month old check up! I am sure she has gained a lot since she now has some rolls, but I want to see how much. At last check she was 7lb12oz...

We have some big trips coming up in the next few weeks-months before Zac leaves for training and I return back to work (march 24th). Mid February we will be driving to NM so we can show off our new addition. We will be there about a week and then a few day after we return as a family, Lia and I will be flying to California and then Tucson to see more family. Hopefully the weather and roads will be good for both the trips...

Ethan also got to go to a jump house for Drew Williams 5th birthday. I did make the cake again this year and it was from the PBS TV show (his request) Dinosaur Train. It was more difficult to make this one than any of the others partially due to the weather and noncompliant icing. He still enjoyed it all the same. I will have a couple more to do in the next few weeks. Hopefully pictures to post when they happen!

Have a great week!

Nicole

Is it really 2010???

2010-01-11T21:30:00.009-06:00

( Day before induction)

( We are all praying over Lia and a safe delivery)

( The last night just being the three of us)

Maybe since I will be home for the next 10.5 weeks I will be able to keep this site up to date so all can see our newest addition. Amelia "Lia" Louise Tyson came into this world on December 30th at 0748 in the morning. She weighed 7lb 10oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. I say was because she has grown already in 11 days. Today we took her into the pediatrician for her 2 week appt (a little early) and she has gained an once a day since her last weight check last Monday. My little piggy is doing very well when it comes to eating! When we got out of the hospital she was down to 7in 2 oz and now weighs in at 7lb 12 oz and has already grown a 1/2 inch in length! I think she will grow just as fast as Ethan did and I am sure will eventually grow taller than me.

I guess I should first catch you up since my last post. November was pretty busy. I finished for the time being my last cake class and have done some cakes since then. 7 to be exact. I did two birthday cakes and then 5 smaller individual cakes for some graduates from our hospital. The two birthday cakes were a lot of fun. One was a train cake for Gabe Williams 2nd birthday party. The other was for our connection class (Sunday school) director. We had our Christmas party on the same day as her birthday so we made it extra special for her.

( See the Glow... When she was on Bili lights)

(First Bath at home)

I had a couple of baby showers and for the one the church ladies threw for me I received a wonderful surprise! Mom came out with the help of Zac and surprised me. Poor Zac, I figured it out about 30 minutes before they returned back from the airport. He tried so hard and was almost successful but he cleaned a little too much and on a Friday. I figured something was up and I am glad my guess was not wrong. It was great spending some time with mom and she got to see my with a larger belly. Ethan got a surprise too when he woke up the next morning. I had him call Nana on the phone and then she jumped out and surprised him! While she was here we went to the zoo with the Vickers. Marsial and Ethan had so much fun looking at all the animals and riding the train. They were wiped out when we were done. A few weeks before this event we went to a ranch where Ethan got to ride a horse, not once but twice. He loved telling the horse to go faster!

Thanksgiving was very nice. We continued our tradition in going up to Keller to enjoy our friends, the Williams. Melissa and I were pregnant at the same time with 5 weeks separating our due dates. We got to take come prego pics together and then Zac took their family photo. She has two little boys and then this one is a girl. This is also the family that we go camping with twice a year and now we will both have girls to add to the fun! Our next camping trip is in the works for early April!

After the Thanksgiving weekend we put up the Christmas decorations over the next few days. Ethan was a big help this year with the ornaments. I was able to catch some video of his excitement in placing them on the tree. Both Nana's made advent calendars for Ethan and he was able to count down the days to our saviors birth. He didn't quite get the true meaning of Christmas but ever since we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus he wants to sing it to everyone. I am sure next year he will really be able to understand it all and then be able to help Lia with her gifts.

Christmas was a joy. We were invited to spend time again with the Williams but our family had other plans. Zac woke up sick to his stomack and Ethan followed two days later. I was also nesting a bit and wanted to get things done and finalized around the house. In the last month and a half we painted the spare bathroom, placed a new fan in the bathroom, new shower head, new sink faucet, and built a closet maid shelf in Ethan and Lia's closet. Yes, I was nesting and also wanting to get things done before we have two little ones around and also the pending date for Zac and his training.

This last drill week solidified his training dates. Zac will be heading off to Witchita Falls April 19th through at least Sept 2nd. This date comes with mixed emotions for us both. We were blessed to be able to have Zac home when Lia arrived into our family and he will have almost 4 months with her before he is gone for 4-5 months. I will be returning back to work on March 24th and luckily that will give me three weeks to figure out how I will be getting all three of us ready and to work on time. Zac really helps out a lot when it comes to getting Ethan to school. We are sad that he will miss Lia getting bigger but blessed in multiple ways that he will get to come home on the weekends and also technology. I am sure we will be skyping a lot when he is gone. Ethan will really miss his daddy! We also glad that he finally has a date for training as at the end of this month he has already been in the reserve for a year. This also means that he can continue to pursue his career and finish school. God has many plans for our family in the near future. Ethan is doing great with Lia, He loves her so much and can't wait for her to get bigger and play with him. He is going through trials and seeing how much he can get away with. poor guy went to bed early tonight but after we prayed he peacefully went to sleep. We pray that the attitude gets fixed really quick before daddy leaves!

Thank you to all who sent Christmas Cards... our 2010 greeting will be in the mail soon with Lia's announcement. If you don't get one and would like one please send me your address and I can send it to you!

Thanks for all your prayers and support! 2010 has started off great and we can't wait to see where it goes.

In Christ,

Zac, Nicole, Ethan and Lia

Where has the time gone?

2009-11-01T14:51:00.015-06:00

Well it has been about 6 weeks since I last blogged and it has flown by. We have stayed busy and have had a blast! Where to begin... Love and Logic at church is coming to an end and I am sure Ethan will be glad for that! He has been the gunnie pig of what we have learned at class and it is actually worth it. Ethan still has a bit to go before he will listen the first time but he really, REALLY doesn't like time out. All you have to say is "Uh OH" and he amazingly knows what to do and does it. Just wish it could be the first time and we don't have to get to that point. I can't complain. He has come a long way and only have two more weeks to go.

I finished one cake class and went right into the next one. I have learned so much and have even had one paying customer. I am hoping to start my side business soon and doing a lot of research. I am not going to be doing the third class as I had hoped because I really need to get ready for Lia and get the house in running order. It is running but I am not always sure which way to go.

On Saturday Sept 26th we went to the air museum in Addison. Ethan LOVES airplanes just as much as his daddy! Thanks MoneySaving Mom for the free museum coupons! I love free stuff! That next weekend we had a couples weekend but really got to participate as a couple on friday. It was a wonderful evening dinner and listened to a great talented couple. The church provided the day care so that was even better! Zac had drill this weekend but was pleasantly surprised when he got out at 11:00 on Saturday. Just in time to go to a Birthday Party for a little girl from church!

Nana and Papa Bill Tyson got in Late Sunday night to help out for a few days! Ethan had so much fun with them and is always asking to talk to them. Our Daycare person takes personal days off to celebrate their anniversary every Oct for three days. We Praise God that we have a Daycare provider that takes time for her marriage! Wanda is wonderful with Ethan and loves him so much! It has actually been a year now since we have started to go to her and one of the reasons we couldn't move more north in this area is because we didn't want to loose her!

On Oct 8th we flew to Colorado for a McCloskey Family Reunion. It was very cold when we finally got there but it was beautiful! It was in the 30's-40's and Ethan even got to go fishing! He loved playing with his cousins and great cousins and now calls our our friends little boy "James"- after his cousin! Zac celebrated his 29th birthday in Colorado and I have never seen a happier person being able to be in colorado where you aren't fighting the hot weather. He loved being there!

That next weekend we took Ethan to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. At first he wasn't too excited to be there to take pictures but once he got to go and play on the big blow-up bounce houses he was fine! He even found an older boy to help him climb walls in the bounce house! Lets just say he slept pretty good on the way home from that!

The following weekend we were supposed to go camping with the Williams and Purvis's but we didn't make it this time. Melissa has very delicate pregnancies and her contractions just so happend to start causing problems for her at that time at 24 wks. Not a good thing, so her husband layed his foot down and we stayed put. Kind of... Zac and I took their oldest with us to the Airshow that is right by their house so she could stay off her feet. The boys had so much fun! Ever since then Ethan has been asking to go and see "big airplanes". He definatly has the same love for airplanes as his daddy does! It is so fun to watch. I am still hoping he will be a pilot when he grows up... Melissa celebrated her 30th birthday along with her sister, brother in law and husband who all have birthday's in October. I made a cake for her not knowing we were going to also celebrate the other birthdays, but they still enjoyed it the same.

I finished my last cake class this week and Zac took it to work again. They loved it and it came on a good day too! They had a birthday to celebrate there for one of the pilots and so they celebrated with the cake. I was a little nervouse making a tiered cake but doing it in a class setting helped calm some of those fears!

Trunkfest was on Saturday at church and Ethan started off slow with the idea that when he said"trick or treat" they will put candy in his basket. By the end of the night he could say that and also "Happy Halloween" as well as help pass out candy with our friends the Vickers. We couldn't help this year since we didn't complete a background check but we let Ethan pass it out! He had a lot of fun and by the end of the night his dinosaur costume didn't bother him. He looked so darn cute and could even make a great "roar" to go with it!

Next weekend Zac is at drill for the Air Force and he is hopefully going to get more accomplished! He has one more round of shots to get and then try and get a date of when his school will start. Zac has also been working on finding the right online school for him. He is trying this road again but it is something that he wants to persue and not me pushing him to do it. His goal is to finish he bachelors so he can then become an Officer for the Air Force. Instead of photography he will focus on Graphic website stuff. I am really excited for him and excited to see where this road takes us. Keep him in your prayers as this has always been difficult for him.

Pregnancy is going well for us. I am now 30 weeks today and Lia is a mover! She loves to listen to Zac talk to her. I had an appt last week and everything is going the way it should be. She is already in the right position for delivery and weighing about 3 lbs. The doctor estemates that she will be about 7 lbs, so much smaller than Ethan. Hopefully this also means that I will not have a four hour pushing marathon after rounds of inductions. We are still praying that she will be born on the 29th- Grandma G's birthday! We are excited to have anywhere between 7 and 10 wks left but we know amongst the holidays it will fly by! Having an event like this really makes you work on your organization skills! (Lia's face is in the upper left corner. Kind of hard to see)

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween and enjoyed that extra hr of sleep! November is officially here and I have actually decorated for Thanksgiving!

Hope to hear from you soon!

The Tyson's

Another wonderful weekend

2009-09-20T21:25:00.004-05:00

1st cake from class.

Rangers Game 9/19/09

Mercy Me concert

There is a pocket of alphabets inside of the pillow so they can learn to spell words!

We had such a fun filled weekend if you ask Ethan and I anyways... Zac had/has a headache for the past two days that wont go away with pain meds or rest. I think he will be calling the doc in the morning. He has been such a trooper though! I will start with Friday. Zac brought my cake that I made in class to work so the pilots and co-workers could eat it up and pass the word that I am starting to make cakes and it worked! Zac was approached by one of his co-workers for a birthday cake for her son for this coming weekend and we agreed on a price and the cake and I now have my first paid customer! I am so excited and feel like this is a direction I want to be going for some extra cash to get my school loans paid off. Watch for pics next weekend. Friday Zac and I went to watch a movie while Ethan was still at daycare and watched the Time Travelers wife. It was pretty good even though we were the only ones in the entire theater! Saturday we went to a Mercy Me concert at the Ball Park. It was packed since they are now more popular than when we saw them a few years ago. Ethan enjoyed running around the grass and dancing with the music. We then watched the Rangers play a baseball game and Ethan loved flirting with the girls behind us(sorority girls). We left early since Zac was still not going very well. Sunday was church time and spending time as a family. We are watching the Cowboys right now which is the opening night in their new stadium and Ethan was getting into the game just like his Uncle Brian would if he was here! TOUCH-DOWN!!!!! It was pretty cute. Ethan then jumped up and said poo poo so daddy rushed him in there and he went #2 like a big boy. He is just growing up so fast! Here are some pics from our adventures over the past few weeks. The pillow that is posted is something that I made for a friend who's son turned 4. It was fun making it for him. If there are any requests for gifts let me know...

Funny Video's of Ethan

2009-09-13T15:06:00.003-05:00

It has been rainning for three days now and everything is sopping wet. They say we will dry out this week but we will see. Zac had drill this weekend and still nothing has been progressing in that area. That is the military I have been told. I know we are both pretty frustrated with the whole ordeal because we want to move on and have Zac start his trainning so he can then start his ART career- civilian job on base. Other than that we have been staying pretty busy.
Zac and I have been going to a Parenting Class at church called Love and Logic and has some great ideas to help your child mind. Last night Ethan was hitting and we put him in time out. Let's just say he was in there a lot longer than we all wanted but he wouldn't stop crying in order to start the timer. It's a new day today and he is doing much better. This class is every wednesday night at church and then on Thursdays I am going to a cake decorating class. That just started last thursday and I have three more classes. I am so excited and hope to start a little business once I get through all 4 courses. I am sure you will see some of the cakes that I will be making over the next couple of months.

Enjoy some of these vidoe's of Ethan. We have learned that we need to be much more specific when we ask things from him. He is just so darn smart!

We were in for a shock this week!

2009-09-03T21:10:00.011-05:00

I know, I know. It has once again been another month since I have written anything here. Where to begin... Since the last post Zac took a 5 day vacation back to Farmington to see friends during Connie Mack. This was the scheduled 10yr High- School reunion but not enough people wanted to participate so it got canceled. Zac and Allen had a great time spending time together as well as family. Ethan and I stayed home to save my Maternity leave so I can stay home with Amelia (Leah) as long as possible. This was a pretty exciting weekend for us at home as well. That Saturday we drove up to see Melissa and family and take advantage of the AWESOME savings that Kroger had when they doubled their coupons including the dollar ones. Look below to see what all I got for under $100.

That same weekend Ethan got to experience his first Baseball game on Sunday. My work was sponsoring a minor league team, so we got to get in free (which is great because this was our fasting month) At first Ethan had no idea what was going on till he noticed them throwing and hitting a ball. After that he was their best and loudest fan! It was pretty cute! He also really enjoyed his $1 hot dog that took 45 minutes to get in line. Talk about cruelty to Mommy and Ethan. Zac got back on that Monday the 17th and Mommy was fast to exit and spend some adult time with her best friend Melissa and relax after a busy weekend. I was so glad Zac made it home. I viewed this experience as a window to what the 5 month stretch is going to be like. I know know I can handle it but that was just one child- We will have to see what two will be like.

That next weekend I did a car wash with other Leadership from MCA as a fundraiser for American Heart Association. I was out there 3 hrs too long and I sure did pay for it! I was tired and a little burned. I don't think I will wash another car for a while. We did raise however over $550 dollars and even our CEO was out there getting his hands dirty. That evening we drove up for a birthday party for a little girl in Ethan's Sunday School class and her parents are in our class. It was fun for the time being but we think Zac got a stomach virus from up there on the playground. Zac was out of commission and not very far from the bathroom for an entire week. Praise God neither Ethan or I got it.
21 weeks here in this picture.

Since Zac was gone from work all week he had a lot of catching up to do on Monday August 31st which was a HUGE day for us. I had another OB appt and learned that the Previa that was discussed in the earlier post has resolved. We were very happy about that because now we don't have to worry so much about me having an early delivery and having complications. Then next item discussed at the OB appt was the gender of the Baby. Remember at 13 wks we were told it was a boy. Then at 17 weeks we couldn't confirm it due to the baby being in a breech position and not cooperating with the Doc. Now at 21 weeks we were hoping we would confirm the gender of the baby as a Boy but we got a huge surprise when we saw it was a girl. The doctor is 100% sure it is a girl. She is already approx 15oz. and growing well.Her movements are getting stronger and she loves my lower bottom. It does make it hard to walk sometimes when she is on my sciatic nerve.

I had to run some errands after the appt and while I was at Target Zac called and I gave him the news. If only I could have recorded his voice and words. He kept asking " Are you sure... Please tell me you are joking... Who did the sono..." And then a few minutes later he called after he picked Ethan up from Day care and asked again. Poor Guy. He actually said he was scared and that there was going to be guys eventually at our door for our little girl. Since then he has warmed up to the idea.

Her name will be Amelia Louise Tyson. Amelia (which we will call her Leah) is after my paternal grandmother whom I share a birthday with and then Louise is my mother's middle name and it is tradition to pass a long the middle name. I have my Grandmother's middle name as well as Ethan has his great grandfathers middle name.
We are very excited but now having to figure out some things in their bedroom. We have a little painting to do and try to find some bedding that will also go with the colors already in there. We have enough time but we do need to start now.

As you can see, our life has been a bit busy. I am sure it will only get more exciting from here on out but we wouldn't change it for anything.

I forgot to mention that during all of this Ethan has started to sleep in a big boy bed. We finally finished repainting a bed that we traded with a co-worker of mine. He loves it and had a smooth transition on 08/26. He doesn't even need a nightlight nor does he get out of bed till we come and get him in the morning. He does have all his Hot wheels lined up on the dresser right next to his bed. We have switched him to soy milk due to what we think is a milk allergy that was passed along from the McCloskey family.

Thanks for checking on us! We will keep you posted hopefully better than what I have been doing.

Pregnancy update

2009-08-04T22:00:00.007-05:00

Just real quick... An update for you and why we have been absent from this blog...Life has happened and keeps getting faster. I have a couple of personal prayer requests! We are 17+2 wks pregnant with possibly a boy that we saw on a sono at 13 wks. I had another appt yesterday and came home with some complications that I wasn't prepared for. I have a placenta previa ( click on link in red to read more about it) I just need to watch my activity. Nothing going on right now that would put me in the hospital but it could happen. I am so glad that I have a wonderful husband to help take care of Ethan. Just pray that over the next month it will resolve and we can move on to the Platlet problem that still exists. I will try and get back to this soon and post Ethan's birthday! He had a blast! I am also working on a video too. Hope you are all well. Thanks for checking this!

We can now tell everyone!

2009-07-11T20:40:00.011-05:00

Since the last post We can now announce the big event happening in the new year of 2010!!! Ethan is going to be a big brother! We found out on my (nicole) birthday May 16th that we were expecting and shortly after that the fun began. So far this pregnancy has been the exact opposite of Ethan's pregnancy. With this one for the first trimester I was extremely nauseated and tired. I am now 13.5 days pregnant and feeling much better. I am not one to loose my lunch but a few time it probably would have felt better to that keep it down. Thank goodness for medicines that help with the nausea and a wonderful husband who can take care not only Ethan but me and the house! ( before we knew we were pregnant we took the house off the market, and it was a good thing because there was no way they we would have been able to keep it up since I was taking a nap every day after work and couldn't cook) Our first appt with Dr Hernandez (same Doc as Ethan) went well and the baby had a great heart beat. We decided not to tell any family until we were able to go out to Farmington for the Tyson Reunion in July. We wanted Ethan to be able to tell them face to face and he did just that!

June 10th changed this pregnancy for what we and the doc's thought not for the better. I went to go have my regular Prenatal labs done the week before and a week later got a call that became pretty intense for the next 24hrs. I was told that my platelets were pretty low and needed to go to a specialist. The next day (God's doing) I was able to see a doctor in my own hospital that then ran his own labs. The platelets at LabCorp was 80 (normal 115-410) and then at the specialist it went down again to 74 within one week. Dr L. was very confused and extremely concerned that this pregnancy was going to be rough and long and unsure of what to expect. We had many people praying for us (including my parents that we ended up telling the night before due to the lab results and the need for prayers) and we felt at ease that this is what will make us stronger and it is God's will. After being told by the doctor to go to a highly specialized hospital in Dallas if any bleeding occurs and also being told I may have to have my spleen removed during pregnancy, receive chemo drugs for ITP and steroids. After that huge roller coaster of events the doctor reviewed the blood on slide and determined that the blood had clotted to quickly for them to accurately count. They drew another set of labs with special tubes and very soon after heard down the hall "194". Withing seconds the doctor burst in the door with a big smile and said it is 194, get out and good luck. Whewwww. What a relief and Thank you God for keeping us calm through-out it all. Even though Zac became white as a ghost we were able to get through it and become stronger together. Thank you to all who were saying prayers for us and this precious little one growing inside of me. We were still able to go on our long anticipated vacation to Farmington.

June 27th we headed out of town in our CR-V and car top carrier towards the mountains. We went fully prepared with laptop in hand for Ethan to watch movies and I went to 1/2 price books to get new books for Ethan to read. (He was starting to get bored of the others) We drove 9+ hrs to Ruidoso to meet Nana and Bubba (my parents) where Bubba had a meeting to attend. We went from 100+ degree weather to a beautiful 74 degrees. WOW!!! It was beautiful and clean air to breath. We could even see the stars! While we were there we we found a park that had a pony ride and Ethan was beside himself. He tried to climb over the barriers to the pony's and then the owner came over and brought him to the other side to ride them (yes plural). He started on one and rode like he has been doing it his whole life. When he got bored on one he reached for the owner and she took him to the next. In the end he changed pony's 5 times and there were only 4. It was so funny to see.

The next day we headed up to Albuquerque to see Grandma Tyson and then pushed on ward to Farmington to begin the Reunion. Ethan did great the entire time and has become a great traveler!

From the moment we stepped foot at the Tyson house at 5700 Los Ninos Ethan was in his element! He loved climbing the big sandstone rocks just like his daddy did growing up. Let me back up a bit... Before we went to the Tyson house we stopped at Grandma Mac's house to let her know the good news. We changed Ethan into one of the two T-shirts that we made and let him bring in a stick that had the announcement stating a new branch will be added to the family in January 2010.

Ethan loves spending time in Papa Bills arms and surprisingly that was the only time he would be still.

More to come on the next blog. I have to space it out other wise you will loose interest. There is so much to talk about and so many pictures. Hope you enjoyed this post!

The past month or so... Where did it go?

2009-05-10T17:51:00.008-05:00

As you can see from the date I attempted to start to blog but it did not get finished until 5/31/09. Sorry about that...

Well this is a recurrent theme I am seeing as I am not as good at this blogging stuff as I would have hoped. Life... Keeps us pretty busy and I am still trying to adjust to this new schedule. I love my new job still. I look forward to going to work and also look forward to going home to see the family and be able to spend time with them. Ethan is growing so fast and his vocabulary is getting pretty big. He likes to copy you in anything you say. Most of the time it is the sound that is the same, just not the punctuation.

So let me rewind to my last blog and go from there. Easter happened and the weekend before we went to some dear friends house and had an Easter egg hunt. This was the first for Ethan so it took him a few minutes to figure it out. He learned how to do it so next year will be better. He had a lot of fun doing it and jumping on the trampoline that they had. They even had a bunny for him to chase after. Thank you Charlie and Denise for inviting us!

The weekend after Easter we went camping with the

Williams and another family. There was five boys under the age of five and it was a blast. There was a lake that we got to swim in and play in the mud. Ethan always hates to go back home after these trips.

We already have the next one planned and can't wait. That next weekend Zac was at drill and Ethan and mommy took a drive to Lubbock. We met up with Nana and Bubba and went to visit a family friend that was seriously injured when he was hit by a man who was talking on his cell phone. The good Lord was protecting Jim and saved all his internal organs but his legs and hip and right shoulder was a different story. He looked like he was on the mends when we saw him. Ethan did alright in the 5-6 hr drive that we had. Thank goodness we had movies and he watched Cars and another movie the whole time. Poor guy... he needs a play mate. Oh wait. He has daddy to play with but daddy was a soldier that weekend.

Following that weekend it was mother's day weekend and we built a new back fence. We were able to do it in one weekend and it looks so much better. Mother nature tore down 2 sections and the other 3 were sure to follow soon so we decided to do it all at once and before the extreme hot weather came. It was already hot by that time but not as hot as it is right now.

So that brings me to my birthday weekend. It was raining that Saturday and we tried to go to an air show at Zac's Base. Ethan loved to climb in the planes and helicopters. It was a bummer that the air show part never happened while we were there. I'm sure there will be others coming up.

Last weekend we drove into Dallas for the fresh farmers market and that was awesome. It was great weather and the fruit was great. I can't believe we have been here for more that five years and we have never done this. We will be back when the weather cools down a bit.

That brings us back to this weekend. Ethan was invited to a birthday party from his daycare. It was fun and exposed Ethan to some different culture. After that we drove to the park to have a picnic with our Sunday school group. What a difference and breath of fresh air. Ethan had a blast and slept great last night!

Now that I am off every weekend we tend to fill it up with family outings and always doing things. The house is off the market and now we have to decide when and how to paint the walls to make it feel like a new house to us before we bring in all the stuff from the garage. What a hassle but we learned a lot from it. The next time we will be better prepared for a down payment on another house. Lesson learned the hard way...

We planted a garden on the side of the house this year and Ethan loves to help us water it and himself. The pool has also opened and he is quite the swimmer and loves to jump into Zac. Hopefully I will be getting some pics up of that soon because it is so fun to watch them. I have to get more memory in my computer so I can play with the digital scrapbooking that my mom has gotten me into! Maybe I can get some albums done... Don't hold your breath... I see I am not as good as a blogger as I thought I was.

At the end of June into July we will be make the drive to Farmington for a Tyson gathering and while we are there see my family too. Lorra and her family will be there too so it will be awesome! We are driving so we pray that Ethan will do good and yes we will be bringing movies!

I hope to write you before this trip! Toodles...

Where did the past 5 weeks go?

2009-04-05T21:32:00.005-05:00

So you can see our little man has started the potty training. He started to train us about 3 weeks or so ago and we have been trying to go strong. He has part of the concept down but not all of it. He knows that when he goes to the potty he gets a treat but he hasn't gotten that he needs to tell mommy and daddy when he needs to go. His Bladder doesn't have the control yet either. I tried that out this past week. After he went potty we put on big boy underwear and within 5 minutes he already peed in them. We went right back to the diapers but hopefully this week we can go stronger. I will be home with Ethan on Friday since Zac stayed home with him while his daycare provider was out sick last week.

Zac had drill weekend this weekend and he found out that he will not be going to his training to at least October. We were kind of bummed but they are out of funds until their new Fiscal year which starts again in Oct. Yeah I get to have daddy home to help with Ethan during his terrible two's. Ethan is not really that bad, it's just that when there is two to enforce the time-out it is more real for Ethan.

My job has been going strong for 5 weeks starting my sixth tomorrow. It has been awesome. So many things going on and changing and things that I have part in. God is AWESOME! I have some opportunities to share my beliefs with some of the women in my department so I know why God has me there. To God be the Glory!

I know there has been a lot more going on since I last wrote but I can't remember at this time. As I think about it I will hopefully come back here and post. I have to get some pics from Zac from our recent photo op- Bluebonnets. We were able to go out and take some but Ethan will not sit still at all. We did however find a ladybug and he was all over that- What a boy!!! So that is why some of those pics when I get posted he is not looking up. Have a great week.
Remember --- Today's trials are tomorrows testimony's

For Michelle

2009-03-12T22:21:00.003-05:00

I was asked by a co-worker to go to her swearing in cermony and I recorded it. I am just not getting a chance to get it to her but the file is too big to send via e-mail. We are trying to send it through this. We will see! Thank you Michelle and of course my husband for serving our country! You are awesome! Anyone can watch it!

Michelle. If this works I think you can click on the video and save it to your computer. If not let me know!

We are still here!

2009-03-12T20:35:00.005-05:00

Before and After the haircut! He does pretty good if we have him occupied.

So I took a long break from writing... So sorry. Life has happened and gotten much busier! I have to say busier for the better but a big change around our house. I will update for a while.

Zac did go to the Doc that afternoon and had a bad upper respiratory infection and acute asthma. Three meds later and 3 hrs waiting for meds at Walgreen's we are all better as of right now. On the Thursday of Valentines Nana and Bubba came into town to watch Ethan while we attended a Marriage Conference. It was not the same conference - Weekend to Remember- that we have gone to in the past but a mini version that cost a lot less. I think we will continue to go to the Weekend to Remember next year. We got a lot of good information but missed the structure of the other. Nana and Bubba had a great time with Ethan- in the car-. While Zac and I were at the conference they got a call to show the house that is still up for sale. It went good but they had to occupy Ethan while the house was being show. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!! They left on Monday and Ethan and I enjoyed the day together. I then worked the next three days and then I went to a Whole Hearted Conference by Sally Clarkson. Melissa and I were in a book club by our good friend Denise about a year ago and now we were able to go to the conference. It was awesome and refreshing to learn be reminded of the joys of being a mother and wife.

I worked my last day on the floor on that Sunday the 23rd. It was a bitter sweat time. I will miss my patients but am looking forward to being home in the evenings and weekends. That next week I took off so I could get things in order before I start my new job. It was great staying home with Ethan. On that Friday we as a family went to the Ft Worth Zoo. It was so much fun to see Ethan understand what animals we always read in the books to real life. He would growl and jump. I think the area he liked the most was the snakes!

I started my new job in March 2nd and I can't believe two weeks have already gone by. Last weekend Zac had his first drill weekend (UTA) The first day was pretty rough for him since all the head people are deployed and no one knew what was going on. The second day (also change of time day) went much better. I survived my first weekend and then started my second week. I LOVE my new job. There is so many things that I will be involved in. Now if I can just get up to speed on everything I think I will feel much better about myself. They had a 1/2 welcome party for me at On the Boarder (the other half was for getting the Pathway to Excellence application in- AKA Nurse friendly) The CNO and VP's even came to have a toast! I felt pretty special. Everyday I thank God for this chance to develop my management skills and for my Boss to have the confidence in me. I have truly been blessed with this job.

Wednesday morning (04:30) Ethan woke up vomiting. His daycare and I think that he is very curious. We have caught him with his hands down his pants when he sleeps (yes he is all boy) and sometimes he has a BM. With that said we think that he doesn't keep his hands out of his mouth area. Yuck!!! We are trying to put him in a onesie type shirt when he sleeps so we don't have this issue. I sure hope he grows out of this stage. On the other side we already bought toilet covers because Ethan is interested in potty training. He doesn't understand yet that he needs to tell us before he has a BM but almost immediately after he tells us. I think he will catch on quick once we really work on him. He is very smart but I don't think he can't grasp the concept yet. It will be soon though. Anyways. Ethan is better today. Zac stayed home with him yesterday and never got sick that day with daddy- THANK YOU HONEY!!!

I think we are all caught up for now. I will try and post some pics soon from the Zoo.

Somewhere during all this (the Sunday before my job started) we got to see my sister and take her and Caroline to lunch while they had a 1.5 hr layover at DFW. She is so cute and tiny.

A new Blogspot address to watch

2009-02-06T14:13:00.004-06:00

So after that last post with the prayer requests I was thinking... Why not start a new spot for just prayers and thanksgivings! And that is just what I did. The address to follow is...
www.prayersandthanksgivings.blogspot.com

Enjoy! I hope I can keep this one up too!

Nicole

P.S. Zac is going to the Doc this afternoon. Technology these days allows us to check in on line, wait for them to call, and it will cut down on wait time. Right now the wait time is 2-3 hrs. Yikes! At least he can be comfortable in our own home and cough up a lung their rather than wait with all the other sick people.

Are we Germ Free?

2009-02-06T11:30:00.004-06:00

Not yet... Ethan has a double Ear infection but doing much better. He woke up from his nap at the day care crying/ screaming and tugging at one ear. He never tugs and with all the coughing and drainage that he has been having I figured something was up! And sure enough we took him to CareNow (an Ugent care) and sure enough, not just one but two with an Upper Respitory Infection. We got him on some Antibiotics and wouldn't you know he is happier now and even ran up to Wanda's house today waving goodbye to me (nicole) He is eatting better and not coughing as much. Who else is sick... Zac is and I have a small sore throat. I think mine is just nasal Drainage but Zac... He coughs up a lung every time. I sure wish we could get better and other people would keep their kids home if they are sick and contagous. Oh well...
I had my formal Interview on Tuesday and it was pretty intimidating. It was board room of people... I am still waiting to hear back for the offer as me soon to be Boss told me on Tusday. I sure hope nothing has changed. God is teaching me pacience.

I have been adding some items at the end of the posts lately and I have been inspired by my best friend to post a list. I am going to post a list but mine is going to be different. Melissa's is a list of things to be thankful for while mine is a list of prayers. I have learned in the past few months to years that prayer is VERY powerful and God does answer them. I have realized that it might not be the way I would have wanted them answered but they will be answered in His timing. I will also place the Answered Prayers as they come too! ( and they will come)

1. Unspoken- removed per request.
2. My families health- Zac, Ethan and I as we have been sick for the past 2+ months with something or the other.
3. My daily bible reading. Right now we are in Acts and I have been reading in the Contemporary English Version and have enjoyed every line.
4. My husband- As he starts training (once he is healthy) for the military and his new job as Crew Chief and all his training. (19 wks)
5. My new job (hopefully)- That I will rely on God for direction in this new Management job. That God will use me for his kingdom in all that I say and do at or around work.
6. My new and old boss.
7. The house is still up for sale.
8. Finances- Paying off School loans and following the Dave Ramsey- The total money makeover.

I am sure there are more... Plenty more.
Have a blessed weekend. I will hopefully have some pics of Ethan soon!

My cooking/baking day

2009-02-01T13:39:00.003-06:00

I forgot to mention in my post earlier that I (nicole) had a great day with Ethan and being called off from work (low-census) and so I decided to get items off my to-do list in the kitchen. I made a batch of chex mix (wish it could have gone better but I got my first batch done) Zac is such a good husband in telling me that he liked it. Then I made banana bread, pizza sauce for the homemade pizza for dinner, and cookies from scratch. I also made breakfast burritos for the freezer for those "I don't have time to eat breakfast" days (more likely to happen when Zac is gone for training) For me this was a busy day. Ethan sat on top of the counter and helped stir and eat bits and pieces.
Ethan seems to be on the mends... We might be able to go to the super-bowl party today.

Have a great rest of the weekend.
Pray for a co-worker- Her Aunt was killed in a car accident on Friday. The family is not handling is well.

We are sick again!

2009-01-31T13:17:00.003-06:00

Yup you read right. Ethan came home from daycare at 4:00 because he woke up with a fever of 101. He started to cough the night before and I questioned sending him to daycare. We did send him only to be called to come and pick him up. That night was marked but numerous up's and downs as he would get a fever, throw off the covers and then when the fever broke he would be cold and coughing and searching for his covers. Mom and Dad were there taking turns saving him during his plea for help. Friday I (nicole) took him to the doc only to be told to ride the sickness out. He did give us a stronger decongestant only to be given at night. Hello, didn't anyone tell Ethan not to get sick before the super-bowl party. I love going to super-bowl parties and it looks like we are just going to celebrate by ourselves. Oh well. There will be many other's right...
On thursday I did discuss the new job with my soon to be new director. I still have to go through a formal interview on Tuesday but she assured me that everything would be alright and she has the go from the VP's to hire me. I will have my own office with a window and be in a totally different building. It looks like I won't start till after March 1st but that will be okay. I just have four more weeks to deal with my current director. I can manage that. We are still in amazement with God's perfect timing. I doubt no more at his power and control.
Zac is currently helping some friends from church move into their new home and Ethan is taking a much better nap today. Hopefully a couple hours as yesterday he only took a 30 minute if that. I think that is all for now. Pray for a fast recovery for Ethan and Zac and I as we catch up with our sleep. Also pray for the Rumuly's as they head out to DisneyWorld on Monday. This was the family that I had the privilage going with them to Disney World two years ago with Make a wish. Aly is going to be 10yrs old on the 8th! Yeah Aly Sue!!! If you want to read about their amazing family take a look at their link over their>. They are an amazing family!

Have a great weekend!
Nicole

God is awesome!!!

2009-01-27T20:22:00.006-06:00

Of course some of you realize how wonderful God is and what he does astounds us. He is forever faithful and good and is true! Friday was an answer to prayers!

Update to Ethan- He is better. He was finally able to go back to daycare of Thursday. He was so excited to be with his buddies that he didn't want to leave that afternoon. We are so thankful that he is better. What it was we will never know but it was awful! Gabe Williams is still not over his yet. They had to take him in today for some more tests and then if they can't figure it out they will go to Cook Childrens to a GI specialist. We pray for his healing and parents sanity.

Friday the 23rd was an amazing day! At first we were not sure if Zac was going to be sworn in to the Air Force Reserves because there were a few blank spots on the Security clearance that needed to be completed. As I was waiting for a call from Zac with the "GO" to go pick him up and drive out to the Carswell base I (Nicole) received a call from the Director of Education at Medical Center of Arlington. We had some items to discuss regarding Clinical Practice (which i just finished my term as Chair on Thursday. Oh happy day!) and then Judi proceeded to ask another question. I had interviewed for a position in the education department about two years ago and was turned down because of lack of experience. Judi then asked if I was still interested in doing education. At this point we still had some unanswered questions regarding the Air Force and how long we were going to be here in Texas. I said yes I was interested and let her know about the signing for Zac and unsure of where it was taking us. She then offered me a job as manager of education. Yes - for the entire hospital. I was speechless and honored at the same time. I told her I would let her know at the meeting we had set up for Thursday. WOW!!! I was just offered a management job that would allow me to work Monday- Friday at the hospital that is so close to the house. WOW God answered a prayer for us. He knew that with Zac having to be gone for 19+ weeks, that I needed a job to care for Ethan. Speechless is all I can say and amazed at God's timing. Our mentor just sent us a quote that I want to pass on. "If you want to see God smile, just tell him your plans!" We make plans, have plans, but God has "THE" plan for our lives and when he works it out, we know it is right and good. WOW!!! I then got the call to go pick up Zac to go to the base and was able to tell him on the way. Zac and I had a lot of questions answered during this time and we felt 1000% comfortable with our (God's) decision for our family. The cool thing about the AF is that Zac tells them when he wants to go to his training in Wichita Falls TX (about 2 hrs away) He will also be able to come home on the weekends and go to church as a family. When he is done with the training he will be able to tell them when he wants to do his seasoning. Seasoning is an apprenticeship program or journeyman program for the Crew Chief position that he chose. He also got a very good bonus that will be paid out 1/2 after 1 year and then 1/5 every year after that for the next 5 years for a total of 6yrs. When he is done with the seasoning he/we will be able to choose where we want to go if at that time we still want to go.

We still do have the house up for sale as we have a contract till May. If we get the right offer then we will probably sell the house, but it is not as imperative that we take the first offer. God is working real live miracles. Zac will get a welcome package in the middle of February and then after that he will let them know when he wants to go to training in Wichita Falls. We would like him to go ASAP so we can get this over and done with. Once again this is our plan... God may have others. That night we had already planned to have a date night. It was great to be able and go celebrate both of our "new jobs" Our wonderful babysitter, Annette from DBU came to play with Ethan while we enjoyed a good dinner and time at Borders. We got home kind of early... All that excitement tired us out quickly!

(Ethan learned to unzip his clothes. We paid for this picture. He cried for the next two hrs.)

Ethan turned 18 months on Monday. His Stats are 33.5 inches tall, 29lbs. Tall and thin and the doctor was very impressed with how Ethan interacts. He knew right where to put the stethoscope. Dr Beadle said" I think you are raising a very intelligent boy" Every mother wants to hear that. I was excited but also nervous. We are going to have to keep him intellectually involved or he will get bored. He never ceases to amaze me. We really have to watch what we say and how we say things because he has turned into a copy-cat already!

We have some events coming up in February. Nana and Bubba are coming out over valentines weekend to watch Ethan. We are doing a marriage conference with our Best Friends the Williams. We are changing it up this year and not doing the Weekend to Remember. Financially this one worked for us this year. Maybe next year we will be able to go back. We highly recommend Weekend to Remember by Family Life. They have many everywhere and we have always come back from them refreshed. It is worth the investment in our marriage. The following weekend I am going to a mother's conference by Sally Clarkson. Melissa and I are very excited to go. Hopefully there will be a post after these events.

I think this is all for now. Have a warm evening. (we are getting a ice storm right now. the travel to work for me tomorrow will be interesting. I sure wish the hospitals closed during bad weather. Wishful thinking)

Much love,

Nicole

We are almost better!

2009-01-20T16:16:00.003-06:00

Sunday night was another bad night for Ethan but that seemed to be when he turned the corner for the better. He woke up vomiting again at midnight but tried to go back to sleep until I got him up out of bed, and Zac came to help with the laundry. He took another bath and then we proceeded out to the couch for another fitful night of sleep. He had two more episodes and one even made it to the trash can! As early as the phones were turned over a the Dr's office I called to make an appt. Dr Beadle is testing for Rotavirus with the sample (which we have plenty) we provided. The good thing is that as I write we haven't had one mess today! What I don't understand is how Gabe Williams got sick. We didn't even bring Ethan to their house for the party. I sure hope he gets better soon!
Nothing new to report about Zac... We are requesting certain things with the Air Force Reserve and so far the recruiter- who is very new to the job- hasn't been able to get the I's dotted and the t's crossed for us. If this is of God then we know it will work out. If not then we will be here for a bit. Only time will tell.
My best friend Melissa and I are now signed up to go to the WholeHearted Mother conference in February! And depending on Zac's plans we will also go to a marriage conference with the Williams the weekend before. We have chosen not to do the Weekend to Remember Conference this year due to budget restraints. We pray that the other conference will be just as enlightening for our marriage. We are so excited for these times to work on marriage and have a better understanding of Motherhood and our desires to be a wonderful wife and mother. Pray for God to be with the speakers and all attending!
Ethan just woke up from nap and no Messes or gurgling bellies! Yeah!!! That's all for now! Thanks to Melissa's website you can all enjoy some of our favorite music! More to be added to the playlist later!
A sweet moment that Ethan and I had today was when we were playing music and playing and Ethan came up to me and wanted me to hold him and to step dance with him. That is something that I have done since he was able to hold up his head! And he nows that when there is music playing his mother likes to dance with him! What is sweeter is he game me a kiss when the song was done! Memories to last a life time!

Day # 6

2009-01-18T15:13:00.004-06:00

Well today is number 6 and counting. Ethan has been sleeping in the past week (0800) and this morning he woke up crying. My sweet husband was the first up and went to check on him and get him ready for the day when I hear through the baby cam " you poor guy, stay there just a minute" and hear the bath tub starting. Yes another green blow out and this one oozed out everywhere and was still a lot in the diaper. I just don't get it. He is eating a BRAT diet, drinking plenty of water and doing everything the doc told us to do on Friday with our phone conference with the nurse. He is napping now and hasn't had a mess since this AM so hopefully he is getting better. I weighed his the morning and he has lost about 2 lbs. I sure hope this ends soon. The doc said to call Monday to get in to see him if he is still having issues. I feel a Dr visit coming on.

Zac was so sweet yesterday. I had promised our best friends a cake for Drew's 4th birthday and it was yesterday. I had started the process Thursday night in making the icing and then baked the cakes on Friday. Saturday came and it was time to place it all together. All Drew wanted was a "rocket cake" from little Einsteins. What would you know... no cake pan for that so the creativity started. Twinkies, Graham Crackers, Gum drops and toothpicks. It turned out great! Drew loved it. They live about 45 minutes away and so I needed to leave my family at home. Zac stayed home and played with Ethan and had some bonding time. I had fun showing off my cake decorating skills but it wasn't the same without my family there with me. Today Zac let me go to church while he stayed home with Ethan. So sweet of him to let me go to church since I get to go every other weekend since I work at the hospital still.

Today at church was wonderful. We are studying James and the "storms" that happen in life. Everyone is in a storm at some point on their lives and it all depends on who you go to during those trials and storms. We have gone through a few and have put to practice a few times that going to the Lord is the only way. Practice makes more practice!!!

Here are a few pics of the cake and then Ethan has turned into a big helper. He likes to vacuum with us when we are cleaning. Enjoy!

Don't come near our house!!!

2009-01-15T19:43:00.004-06:00

So Ethan came home from day-care having the runs and that night he had worse! It was the first time that he woke up vommiting. Poor guy! He didn't know what was going on. He took a bath that night crying the whole time and then Ethan and I layed on the couch for about 20 minutes before round 2 and 3 came right on me. All he wanted was to cuddle but I (nicole) needed help getting changed and cleaned up. He was better the rest of the night. His bed was dirty and he wanted nothing to do with it. For the past two days we have battled the runs and he now has a very red bottom. It is amazing that no matter how fast you change that diaper he still got an open sore from the acid in the diarrhea. He cries every time I change his diaper (every 1-2hrs and when needed). Ouch!!! Then Zac came home vomiting today. I am the only one so far that hasn't gotten it... I did have to call into work for tomorrow because I can't send Ethan to daycare with the runs. I just hope they get better before Saturday. I am making a cake for Drew's 4th birthday and it is a Einsein Rocket. I will have to take a picture so you can see. I think it will be cute!

Here a video of Ethan saying prayer at dinner time. He started to say them one night while Zac was saying prayer so we let him do it from now on! How precious is that!

Saturday January 10th, 2009

Well some other big news is that Zac has decided where he wants to take his family after we prayed about it and thought about all the pro's and cons. After some details get ironed out we think that with the Air Force reserve he will be working on F-16's at Holloman Air Force base in Alamogordo New Mexico. We are really excited and feel very comfortable that God will provide all that we need and more including a buyer for our house here in Texas. Alamogordo is right by White Sands and also by mountains so we will be back with the best of both worlds. It is also about 45 minutes from where I graduated with my undergraduate- Las Cruces- NMSU. As soon as some details are ironed out Zac with take the Oath and then depending on the unit he is attached to he will then go off to training. Training will take about 19 weeks or more. Hopefully that will give us enough time to get the house sold and get things packed up. We will miss our friends that we have made here so much! Especially the Williams!

Do we still have any followers???

2009-01-12T21:19:00.002-06:00

Our dearest friends and family whole still follow us. We are so sorry, this is so long over due! Let me (Nicole) catch you up on the happenings over the last month and a half. Many of you got the Christmas letter (some are still coming and one unlucky soul didn't- If you didn't let me know- we got one card back without an address nor a card in it... it was just the top on the envelope with return address and then the bottom)
In the beginning of December we contacted a Realtor to list our home on the market. Zac and I had prayed about the future of our family and where we are going and headed. Zac and I decided that school for Zac is not going as we had planned and causing more strife for each other and the family. Zac finished the semester the second week of December and from then on we were getting the house ready! When you think the house is ready to show just bring over a designer and Realtor and you have a different story. We kicked out Zac's car from the garage and boxes and more boxes have overcome his side of the garage! We had more junk that we had thought and the Realtor wanted clean lines around the house "so the buyers can imagine their items in the house". The Realtor also stressed that since we are wanting to move we can get a head start. That was our obsession for those two weeks. Amongst all of this house business Christmas was coming.
We didn't put up a Christmas tree this year for many reasons. One Ethan is a 17month energetic boy who is very curious about everything. I am pretty sure that we would have had to put the tree back in place many times and would have more stress of keeping the house clean. Second we were going to California for my grandfather's 80th birthday bash.
Zac and I decided that the military was the best option for our family and so he preceded to go to the air force reserve office the around the 3rd of December. Zac took the Medical exam on the 21st. He was honest when they asked about any hospitalizations. Zac had been hospitalized in March 2008 for abdominal bleeding from excessive vomiting (maybe food poisoning) We then began the waiting phase while they reviewed the doctor's notes.
Ethan had been sick off and on since our camping trip in October and since the over the counter cough meds were not helping any more, on the 24th I took Ethan into the doctor. I had no inkling that he was as sick as he was but he ended up having strep-throat. Poor guy!!! What a trooper he was.
Zac and Ethan left for California on the 25th since I had to work for the next two days. We figured he might as well be with family since I had to work. Ohh the life of a nurse at a hospital... Oh yeah... did I mention I still worked 4 days in December for the school system and they got out on the 19th. Zac's trip to California didn't go as planned... His baggage got lost amongst the three plan changes that he had to get to North California. Ethan's antibiotics were in that bag along with all of their clothes and hygiene products. It was a good thing that I was still in Texas so I could bring out more clothes and thank goodness he was with family who were able to help him and not out at a secluded destination. I got out there on the 27th. The birthday bash was awesome. The whole Gigliotti family was there except my very pregnant sister and her family. They stayed in Tucson. We missed them a lot but it was a good thing they stayed. She was already 4 centimeters dilated on the 30th. We traveled back to Texas on the 1st and about 10 minutes from landing I inquired about the keys for the car that was still at the airport. You guessed it! The keys were in the bag that was still lost! SWA determined the bag was lost and we could claim the items after 5 days.
God provided a very sweat pregnant lady that lived in south Arlington and I bummed a ride from them and left Zac and Ethan at the airport so I could go home get my car and go back to the airport for them. Zac's car never had any spare keys when he bought it 2002 and we lasted this long without needed any back-up. On the 2nd we spent 1/2 day and 215 bucks later and got Zac's car out of the parking lot. On the 7th SWA baggage department called and said they found the baggage and it will be returned back to us in two days. Yeah!!!! The bag and keys and clothes and personal necklace was going to be back! Things were finally going to get back together!
One side note... while we were gone the house was shown on the 31st and we were praying that they cats hadn't puked any where. When we returned there was of course puke on the ground! That was a good showing I am sure!
So the bag was returned on Friday the 9th and Zac used the keys that he was comfortable with, picked Ethan up and came back home. We did find that part of Zac's necklace was stolen from his bag. Someone will be judged for that... stealing a cross. I was off this weekend and what a wonderful weekend it was! We ran errands, I got my coupons back in order, I went grocery shopping and we cleaned up the house! It was great going to church as a family and hearing about the trials of like and learning from James 1:1-4. God was definitely speaking to us that sermon because 2009 has not started off to a good start! Sunday afternoon was beautiful and we went to the pond and park to feed the ducks and play.
Today, Monday the 12th, was another rocky day for Zac and I. I went to work and 0745 I got a call that Zac's car wouldn't start! Oh NOOOOOO He finally got a mechanic to pick up the car and take it to the shop. With the keys provided the car still wouldn't start after the mechanic deemed the car fine. He called Zac to see if the car had been rekeyed recently... yes on the second and Zac just got the original keys back and used them on Friday. Lo and behold Zac brought the replaced keys to the shop and it worked! Go figure... the car has a anti-theft system in it and it thought that the car was stolen since it had been reprogrammed and then going to another set of keys. One good thing that happened is that the car was leaking and was having some driving issues. While it was in there the mechanic inspected everything and found that the leak was the transmission fluid. There was 1 quart when there should have been 4 in there. We were advised that if we had gone another week and that quart escaped then the transmission would have dropped and it would have financially been better to get another car. A new car would always be good but I just finished paying off the C-RV that we purchased Nov 2006 after my accident. (Yeah for the pay off!!!!) $185 dollars we are back in business.
Whew... What a month it has been! Update to Zac's Air force decision. We looked in to going back to active and the military has a force reduction all the way around and is not taking any prior service. Bummer. Zac went to the local AFB and talked to some guys on base on the 9th and discussed some jobs. They ones that are available for reserve and have full time civilian positions would include some training for 19+ weeks in another state and we still need to sell the house. I am going to look into a temporary job since Zac would have insurance and have a few leads! Where we are at now is picking the right job for Zac, wait for the right buyer (showed the house three times including today- the car not working day), and get me find a job that I wouldn't have to work weekends while Zac is at a school somewhere for training so I can take care of Ethan.
So you see... we have been very busy and I hope that you will please forgive us while we try and do better in 2009. Pics and videos will be up soon to the site so please check back! And my sister who was 4 cm on the 30th held off till the 8th of January and had a beautiful baby girl. James- my nephew calls her "carolion" grrrr he says. Caroline Ruth was born at 10:04pm and I just about lost my mind as I was not able to be there this time. It was a swift and smooth delivery and she is doing well with two. My mom is still there and says she is a sweetheart! Can't wait to meet her sometime soon! Ethan is much better now that he is not sick and he really misses the family that he got to spend time with.

Please check back later. Ethan has done some cute things and since this one is so long I will end this one here!

If you finished reading this thanks for sticking through it all!

Hope your 2009 has gotten off on a better foot than ours!

Nicole

Fall is in the air.....we think

2008-11-03T16:17:00.010-06:00

Hello everyone!

Back in early October we made a visit to our friends Amy and Adam Adair for their son Gradee's baby shower up in Enid, Oklahoma. Zac had to miss an airshow in Dallas that weekend for his birthday, but Nicole made sure that on Friday he got to see them practice with the Rumley's before heading up to Oklahoma City to stay the night and then go on to Enid on Saturday. We visited the Zoo in OKC and Ethan enjoyed the animals-even got into a staring contest with a gorilla!

The highlight of the trip was an invitation of Amy's father who is a firefighter to the Vance Air Force Base Firefighter's building. Ethan got the grand tour by climbing into the 7 big firetrucks and going anywhere he wanted! They even took him for a short ride in one and sprayed some water with him!

Ever since then, whenever he sees a vehicle, he immediately runs to it, tries to open the door and if he gets inside-sits in the drivers seat and turns the steering wheel and touches every button! Zac had to fly home to return for school but Ethan and Nicole stayed until Tuesday. Zac missed them greatly!
Spring came and went, and Fall arrived with much anticipation. Cool mornings, leaves falling and the daylight growing short. Well, cool weather left us and now we are back to 80ish temps here in North Texas. We went camping with our great friends the Williams down to Glen Rose, Tx from October 24th through the 26th . And once again we made it a tradition to vote early before going! We all enjoyed the break form the big city-and the kids loved being outdoors.

It was very cold the first night, but it warmed up after that. Gabe Williams had a stomach virus that had him and his dad John a little sick during the camping-and eventually Zac and Nicole got it after returning home. So far Ethan has avoided it thankfully!

Nicole has School Nurse Substituted on some days when not working at MCA-and she has enjoyed it for the most part. A patient at MCA recently that she has befriended is a principal and so is her husband for two different school districts in our area! What luck! Come December we might enjoy a very welcome change of her work status. Zac is still grinding his 19 hours away at UTA. He is past the midterms now and is just trying to get lined up for the spring semester.

Below is a video of what we do with the little spare time with Ethan we have. He loves to have fun! Mommy and Daddy would love to have the kind of energy and charisma that Ethan has! Everyone he comes in contact with smiles at him and he just casts joy onto the world without any effort. Thank you for your continued love and support! We love each and every one of you and may your days be blessed and wonderful as ours have!

This is what we have been up to the past few days

2008-10-03T20:00:00.004-05:00

Howdy everybody!
We are all doing pretty good around here! It has been busy with midterms for Zac, First haircut for Ethan and saying good-bye to an old babysitter and looking forward to our new one!
Last friday night Zac and I got to go to a wonderful movie called Fireproof with Kirk Cameron in it. Our church rented out three showings and on friday they even offered free night child care and you better believe we took advantage of that! We had a wonderful night just hanging out with each other watching a clean movie and meaningful one too! One that we both would recommened to everyone out there! On saturday night we had another date-night! Yes you did read that correctly. We found our first local babysitter to use on Monday evenings when Zac has school and I work at the hospital. She was wonderful with Ethan and he didn't even care that we left. We went to go see a movie that isn't even worth mentioning. The tickets were free and if we hadn't ordered food (it's a site down dinner and movie joint) we would have gotten up and left. It was hard to watch after you just watched a wonderful movie the night before. Oh well... It was just wonderful going out with my hubby and knowing that Ethan is being well cared for! She is from DBU which is my Alumni school and a great one that focuses on God and servanthood. Awesome!!!
Let me back up just a bit! Ethan got his first haircut this same day (saturday) Mommy took him out to the playground so daddy could study for midterms and then after nap we took daddy and Ethan for a haircut. Daddy was first and then Ethan. Lucky for us there was a 3yr old boy across the way and he was screaming so much that Ethan was only interested in him. We got his haircut with-out any crying! YEAH FOR ETHAN!!!!! It was hard for me to cut his cute curls in the back but he looks cute now too! Zac was right... It was time for a haircut!
On Sunday we were able to go to church as a family and then we went our own ways. Zac came home to study for his tests and I took Ethan to Karen's house (melissa's mom) to play with Drew, Gabe, and Kayla while Melissa, Bethany (friend from Oregan) and I went to have facials done and then go do some shopping at Goodwill! Great finds too! It was great having a ladies afternoon together and Zac got a lot done! THANK YOU KAREN!!!!!
This week was busy for Zac and I both. I worked a lot at the hospital and even got in my first day as a school nurse substitute. I was actually just in training but it was wonderful! It was much more relaxing than the hospital and one that I think I can do for a long time without worring about my family. I know that I will be home at a decent time and I can let Zac study for his school! Speaking of... Zac is doing wonderful this semester. It is a heavy load and he says that if it wasn't for math it would be perfect! That darn math. Maybe next semester he can get a good teacher! By the time I went to bed tonight I already had two job offers for subbing. One I had to turn down because of the hospital on call days and then the other I accepted for december already! Awesome!!!!
Zac is still at work right now and I thought I would get everyone caught up with what has been going on here! I work this weekend so I am sure I won't have time to write! I will post pics in a bit. Have a great week! Oh yeah... Ethan has 11 teeth now and looks to be getting a few more! He is such a character and loves to play rough with his daddy! We did find another daycare for Ethan that is much closer and much more stimulating educationally. She is a wonderful Christian woman and seems so sweet! Ethan starts on Monday so we will see how his tempers are when he starts at this place. I don't think Mrs. Wanda will let that go on too long! I am sure he will learn so much from being around older children.
Thanks to all those who are faithful in checking this. Sometime the blogs are far and few between!

Love,
Nicole, Zac and Ethan

A Whale of a....video

2008-09-24T19:42:00.003-05:00

So, as you can see Ethan is very fond of water. He loves to pour water on himself, and now apparently, into himself!

Baffled by the speed of time

2008-09-17T21:27:00.007-05:00

As you can see, Ethan is quickly becoming a toddler. He is unafraid at the playground, loves to play in the water-whether in the backyard or the pool-and is the quintessential boy. His talents of running and falling into objects is quite perfected. He has run into the cabinets in the kitchen, playground equipment (he bit his lip very well) and various objects that are in his way. He can ask "please" in sign language (with vigor) and is learning to sign thank you. Although his speech vocabulary is really beginning to take hold, he can certainly chat you into submission with jibber-jabbering in kiddo talk. If you say "Ready...Set..," he will always finish off with resounding "GO!"

Running is pretty much his normal speed and he is learning that it is not good to throw tantrums and is learning to follow and obey his parents rules. "Time out" in his crib is his least favorite activity if only for a few minutes, but he is a quick learner and is not often a repeat offender. Thank God! ...Now if only he could help his daddy study for his math and art classes!

When Ethan sees daddy getting ready for school and grabbing his backpack, Ethan knows just what to do! Daddy thinks that if he could teach Ethan to drive to and from school-daddy could relax and let Ethan teach him without leaving home! Mommy thinks otherwise. Mommy also says that when she sticks her finger in his mouth, she can feel 5 new teeth coming through-all at once! Daddy knows that by looking at Ethan's slobber-soaked apparel he can tell what is going on in there without the chance of having his finger bitter off. More power to mommy!

That's it for the moment...........it seems our "moments" are weeks long!! Yikes! Love All!! ZNET

The school trek has started!

2008-09-02T20:57:00.003-05:00

The first week is gone already and Zac has had to change one class. The military leadership class was not what we thought it would be! It turned out that it was supposed to be for the ROTC people and third year cadets that are planning on going into the military after school. Zac got issued equipment/clothing and was told to be at PT at 0600. UMMM NOOOO! We switched him into an advertising class that so far hasn't be able to attend yet. It is a Monday class and by the time Zac had his first Miltary class it was tuesday. And then this monday was a holiday... so you see where this is going! He may have a lot to catch up on this coming weekend!
Ethan is doing great at the babysitters! He is able to lay down and take some naps but the greatest thing is that he is ready to come home and have some play time with mommy and daddy! He is learning so much everyday and it is so much fun to see his wheels turning! He can now sign the word please when he wants something and we are working on "more please". It is so cute! We will have to get a video of it to place it on here! He is currently cutting some more teeth so he has had the norm fever and loose bowels. Poor guy but he sleeps through the night still!
Work for me is getting more and more stressing! Many of you may have heard the big changes with the medical care and how much more charting the nurses and docs have to do just in order for payment to be made by medicare/medicaid. October 1st comes with a lot of changes great for patients don't get me wrong, it just comes with a lot, I mean a lot of changes for the hospitals. I can't keep up with it anymore and it really makes me think about nursing anymore and the legality of it. It is getting really hard to keep up with the changes! I know God has a plan for me and my family and we are just waiting for things to get started! Hopefully I will be seeing some changes in Dec/Jan time in going to school nursing. I actually just got a call today to interview for a full time position for the highschool that they need quickly. I had to turn her down since I have an obligation for my term at the end of December. Lord, Give me patience! I sure do wish I could change now! Oh well!

That is it for now! Hope all is well with everyone! We would love to hear from everyone too!

First 1/2 at the babysitters

2008-08-20T12:36:00.003-05:00

So it didn't go as well...

Ethan was having so much fun at the babysitters yesterday while mommy was at work (again) and daddy had to go to work for a meeting, that he forgot to take a nap. Well he didn't forget... it was just a new place we think and trying to figure out who he was with. Ethan go there at 1155am and he was supposed to take a nap after lunch. It might take him a while to learn how to take a nap when someone else is in the room and how to unwind when he is really tired. Poor guy... Zac fed him dinner when they got home and put him down for the night. He slept solid until 7:15 this morning. The next day for Ethan to go to Diya's is next wednesday. We are going to try and work with him as far as sleeping while others are in the room. I think I will be doing some reading/ computer work in his bedroom so he will realize that he doesn't have to stay awake all the time when someone is in the room. We shall see...

So I can keep this thing updated!!!

Ethan Is learning to feed himself with a spoon

2008-08-18T22:00:00.003-05:00

Thought you might like to see how Ethan is doing with a spoon. He is getting better but it sure if funny to see how much actually gets into his mouth! We learned the hard way not to have him feed himself before we go to church! Clean up too a while! Oh well... He will learn... We hope!

Zac is trying to get ready for School next week and Ethan is having a 1/2 day with the babysitter tomorrow. Her name is Diya and her friend Susan is going to be helping as well! Keep us in your prayers as this is always hard for any parent!

Hope everyone is doing well! Love, Zac, Nicole and Ethan

The house is quiet! Well ...

2008-08-13T21:52:00.002-05:00

So today was the last day that we watched Marsial. It was a bitter sweet ending. I am so glad that we have developed a lasting friendship with the Vickers and also looking forward to the next page in our journey. Zac starts school in a little over a week and that also means that Ethan will be in another babysitters home (or so we think). It never fails that when you have something set up, things change. Of course it did for us. Ethan was going to be at a daycare wight on campus with Zac but when we went to buy Zac's books on the 7th (our 4th anniversary) I wanted to stop in and show Zac where Ethan would be going. To make a long and upsetting story short, I make too much in order for Ethan to get a scholarship. Bummer... So then we have been frantically looking for another daycare/ babysitter for him to go to. It is so hard to try and place your child in someone else's care. I know that God will provide but the day is getting closer... We have gone to two interviews for home care and the first one is a definite NO!!! The second one is a good possibility. I have a third set up tomorrow at 0900 so keep us in your prayers!

So to catch you all up from over the last month...
Ethan turned 1 and he did it with grace. We have friends over to the house for a BBQ and he had fun entertaining everyone! He did so well. He went to his 1yr check up and all is well. He weighs 22.5lbs (50% for his age), 32 inches tall (90%) and his head grew another 1.5 inches. We have been praying about that because the doc was concerned at his 9month check up. We will be going back in 3 months to check his head again. He was a big trooper in getting 4 shots in his little legs! He cried for 5 seconds and then once he was let up he was fine! I think he is now on teeth # 8 and 9 and doing well today so far. This is a day to day thing. Poor guy. He doesn't understand why his mouth hurts him so much! Last Friday I came home early from work and he hadn't eaten anything nor would he let anything come near his mouth- sippy cup included. I was so worried... he was lethargic and very pasty. I had to force down some fluids and then make a trip to the store for pedialyte! He finally recovered over the next three days! Thank goodness for Tylenol and Motrin.

Zac published his first wedding book. There is a button at the bottom of this web that will take you directly to the website! He did such a great job and the website allows him to sell the book to the bride and groom's family/friends if they decide.

I had another skin punch on my back today. The other two have come back benign but you can never be to sure. I also finished by application for school nurse substitute position. I wont be able to start till Sept 24Th so I will be having some extra days to myself since Ethan will be at daycare. Maybe... just maybe I will be able to keep this blog stuff up to date!

I am sure that there are many things that I should be post but I am going to just start fresh from here on out... (or so I say) I will place some photo's in the morning. I am pretty beat this evening. This searching for the right babysitter stuff is hard and has been very stressful for me!

Hope you continue to check this site out! I will try and do better!
Zac and Ethan say hi and love to all!

Nic

I know, I know...

2008-07-03T11:24:00.015-05:00

Where do I begin...

At the end of May Lorra and James (Nicole's sister and son) came into town from Tucson, AZ to visit us and her friends from college that live in Tyler. We had a blast and got to spend some great time together. James was able to fly free one last time before he turned 2yrs old. He is such a big boy now and he loved showing Ethan how to do things! Ethan really picked up on how to drink from a sippy cup from his big cousin! Thanks Lorra and James for coming out here and for Jordan to share them with us! Hopefully we will get to see Jordan sometime soon! We miss spending time with him as well!

Next up was our fabulous Weekend to Remember conference at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine. The day that Lorra and James left we got more visitors- Nana and Papa Bill (Zac's Parents). They graciously came to watch Ethan while we went on our yearly marriage retreat with our best friends John and Melissa. This was our Third year to attend and each year the speakers get better and better and we come away with more reading material and ways to not only improve our marriage but our relationship with the Lord and how that impacts our lives, marriage, and our parenting. We look forward to this event every year and can't wait for next year! Who wants to watch Ethan next year??? Anyone? We will take bids now and get the date to you later! While they were here we also went to the American Airlines museum where Zac has some of his photos on the wall! He did a wonderful job and it was fun searching them out!

Nana and Papa Bill left that Monday I think and then by that Thursday we flew to Farmington for My (Nicole) 10 Year High school reunion from Farmington High School! Where did the time go and why have not many people grown up yet? I was pretty surprised at how many people didn't show up that still live right there in Farmington and how many people are still into the parties. Overall I was glad to be able to go back and show off my beautiful family! This was a picture before our last night for the reunion. It was a casual dress attire.

It was also great being able to spend time with family. While we were there we celebrated with family Ethan's Birthday. I know it was really early but it was wonderful spending it with family! Ethan knew just what to do with the cupcake that Nana Mac made for him. Thank you everyone for coming to it! I am not sure who had more fun... Ethan or Daddy!

Another great thing we got to do there was spend Zac's first Father's Day with him. We spent half the day with my dad and went up to Blue Lake Ranch and bought some Iris's and then had a picnic at the lake and took some beautiful family pictures.

Then in the afternoon we spent time with Papa Bill and enjoyed eating dinner from El Paso BBQ (thanks Kyle and Beth) and spending time with cousins!

Did I mention that on the 13th we celebrated with Papa Bill and Nana their wedding Anniversary! They had a gathering of friends and family over and we all had a wonderful time. Ethan even got to play with a frog ( I mean Zac got to place a frog on Ethan's head)

We even had time to spend a lunch with my great friend from High School Amanda and her three beautiful children (Jordan, Madeline and Cody)

Did I mention that Ethan found his most favorite toy at Bubba and Nana's house! The broom! He carried that thing around as if it was his long lost toy and couldn't be with out it! We had to hide it from a couple of times!

Bubba bought Ethan a little blow up swim pool and filled it a couple of afternoons. Ethan was so scared of the pool! It took a couple of attempts to get him in there and this picture below was after about 10 minutes of him screaming and then he figured out that it was okay. He is still warming up to the idea of a swim pool outside of the house! I don't understand it at all! He loves taking a bath but has freaked out for lack of better words to a swimming pool! We are working on it though. At home we have a community pool and he has liked sticking his feet in the kiddy pool there. He is getting better! The second picture is Bubba saving him and reassuring him that all is well with Bubba. I've never seen Ethan so calm before!

Zac and Ethan took their first trip solo from mom at the end of last week. Zac did a photo shoot for a family-church friend that was getting married in Albuquerque. They left on Friday and returned on Monday. I was pretty lonely but soon found plenty of things to do to fill my time on Friday. I repainted the bathroom, placed kitchen cabinet knobs and then painted a dresser that will be outside to hold all the gardening tools. We can no place safety locks on the doors in the kitchen to keep little paws out of harmful things. He still has his Tupperware cabinet and loves to pull everything out of it and place on his head! I worked on Saturday and Sunday and was sure glad to have them home on Monday! The house gets too quiet!!!

We are back home now and getting ready for Ethan's real first birthday! He has his fifth tooth and many more moving! He is clingy, drooling and has high temps. Can't wait for this part to be over. He has done better than I thought he would though.

I(Nicole) am still working a lot and we are still keeping Masial on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. That will be coming to an end in August since Zac got ACCEPTED into University of Texas as Arlington!!! He has signed up for 5 classes and waiting to see about the 6th one. This will be his full time job for the next 2-2.5 years. Hopefully it will go fast and painless. I am so proud of his and his attitude to keep going. We just got word from Papa Bill the other day that there is a new Bill that was passed by the president for post 9/11 soldiers. We are waiting to see the criteria and see if Zac can get a full ride scholarship. As of now it looks like it will only be 60% paid. That is better than nothing but won't start till 8/09. Hopefully he will be almost done. Ethan will be going to an on campus daycare so at least daddy will be nearby! We think Ethan will be able to hold his own! He is growing up so fast and is pretty much running circles around us.

Sorry for the long delay in getting things updated. As you can see we were very busy for the entire month of June and looking forward to things slowing down a bit before school starts.

Hopefully I will be able to keep up a little better!

Take care and keep coming back for more updates!

Love you all!

10 Months!!!

2008-05-25T18:42:00.004-05:00

Okay so I thought that I was going to be much better and update this a lot quicker but well stuff happens! We are all well... just staying busy! This month was very busy with my first ever Mother's day (which I worked), my 28th birthday, started to watch a little boy by the name of Marsial.

Where to start... I can't believe I had to work on my first Mother's day but I guess from here on out I will have a mother's day and hopefully they will make up for having to work on this one. My little sweethearts came up to work and Ethan brought be a home grown rose! He looked so darling and at that time he was just taking a few steps here and there. I was adorable... if boys look adorable! That next week we took our turns watching Marsial and Ethan play (more like watch and steal each other's toys) and then I had my 28th Birthday on that Friday the 16th. I am very lucky to get to celebrate the same day with my grandma Mac ( even tho she is still in Farmington, we enjoy the day just the same) In the afternoon we went down to Waxahachie and went antiquing (yes, my mom has worn off on me) and found some great tea plate sets! We then came home and Ethan took a little nap before we went out on a date! Zac got off easy trying to find a babysitter. Our church was having a date night that evening and we had to pay 7 dollars for them to watch Ethan from 6:15-9:00. Not bad and Ethan loves playing at church with all the new toys that we don't have here at the house. We went to Genghis Grill with our best friends John and Melissa. They got to have a date night too without their two boys as well! Oh how we look forward to those times!

On Saturday morning we got up with Ethan, had breakfast and then went garage-sale hunting in our community area. This was our first time going ever... and we had so much fun! There is a lot of junk out there but if you are looking for something particular then it makes it interesting. Poor Ethan... buy the end of the time he was pretty tired getting in and out of his seat! He did pretty well I must admit! It was sure nice being off my birthday weekend and spending time as a family!

That next week we both did our work stuff, Zac found out what he made in his class... an A of course! He is doing so awesome with his classes! (By the way we are still waiting on the admission letter to UTA as of right now. ) I got another weekend off with my family and am feeling very spoiled! I love my time with my family! I am starting to think about the school nursing positions that I see in the area and wouldn't mind it a bit! The thought of working the school year, all the holidays off and the summers would be great! If only...

Ethan is 10 months tomorrow (Monday) he is walking up a storm and loving it! He loves to rough house on daddy and mommy and loves showing us that he can stand up without assistance! He can pick things up off the floor and walk with them and bring them to you too! This is such a fun stage but we have had to crack down a few times on him! He is learning so much and so curious and loves to copy what we are doing! We really have to watch what we are doing! We are going to be having some company for the next two weeks! Lorra and James are coming in for a visit and then the day that she leaves we will have Nancy and Bill come in while we go to a marriage conference. We are so excited about these next couple of weeks! I just pray that Ethan does well with all the changes! He hasn't gotten any more teeth yet but we think they are coming! He is slobbering and whining some. Other than that he is doing well. Still sleeping his 11-12 hr nights with two, two hr naps (most of the time). He is wearing 12 month old clothes now, I had to put away the 9 month today. Tomorrow we are going up to John and Melissa's for Memorial day.

At church today they did a wonderful celebration of the men and women who are or have served in the military. We are so blessed that we have not lost anyone in recent generations (in our family) in the military/ law enforcement but very blessed for those that fought to keep our freedom and we thank them and their families and remember what they have done. We pray that the importance of this day be not forgotten and one that Ethan and his generation will honor.

I did have some spots removed this past week and had three stitches. Still waiting on the biopsy reports. It is in God's hands. This week we also started our mentoring 101 class. There is a sweet couple from church that will be our mentors and already with two meetings it has been wonderful and enlightening. we look forward to what God has in store for us over the next year.

That is all for now. I am sure at some point we will have updates and more pictures of our wonderful, lovable, playful, full of energy, little boy! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and past couple of weeks!

Fix up Mommy day

2008-05-08T21:11:00.002-05:00

I have been off for four days in a row and it felt wonderful! Ethan has been teething some for the past couple of days and just crying his heart out. It was kind of nice for me beacause I got to hold him and rock him. He wanted his mommy to make it feel better. Today he was feeling better!

Today, I (nicole) had three dr's appt's. My first one was a dermatolgist at 0700. There are some areas's that I wanted her to look at and she does want to remove some spots. Please keep me in your prayer's as I get them removed and biopsied on the 21st. I was next off to the Eye Doc and I will go back under the laser for an enhancement on the 15th. I am excited about not having to wear glasses again! And then last but not least the dentist. It was a great visit and while I was there I was talking with my dental hygenist and she was visably upset. While whe was cleaning my teeth she talked about her mother and her upcoming knee replacement that was upexpected. Her mother watches her 12 month old. After discussing with Zac we are going to help them over the next few months till Zac starts school at UTA. We had them over for dinner tonight and the boys played well together and we will start on Monday. Marshall can't walk yet so I am sure Ethan will be teaching him some tricks. I have a wonderful husband that knows my heart to help others and he also agreed to watch Marshall when I am at work! It is amazing how God works and organizing things. Two weeks ago when Zac had a flat tire on wednesday I was supposted to have my dentist appt. Needless to say I had to reschedule the appt to today. Sara's mother didn't fall until this past weekend. If Zac hadn't had the flat and I didn't reschedule then this would have never happened. God is good! I am sure there will be photo's on the site in the next few days of the two plating together.

Ethan is walking so much more today then ever! He is getting so comfortable on his feet! Watch out world! Ethan is on his way!

Well I am off for a good-nights sleep and then three days of work. My first mother's day will be kind of hard on me since I won't get to be home with my family! But I know there will be plenty more. (just not my first one)

Have a great rest of the week!
Nicole

My special Dinner

2008-05-05T12:45:00.006-05:00

My wonderful husband surprised me last night when I got home from working my weekend shift! He had Ethan in bed already and a wonderful dinner on the table by candlelight with music and it's not even Mother's day yet! He had some dinnerware out that we hardly use and decorated the table for me and cleaned the house! What a wonderful husband I have who thinks about me and loves to look out for me. It is wonderful having a husband who loves to stay home with our son and take great care of him and get things done around the house! That is no easy task! THANK YOU ZAC! I have been so blessed and wanted to share with everyone at how much I am blessed. God has provided me with all that I could ever want or need! Phil 4:19

Camping, Working and Busy....Oh My!

2008-05-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

April. Hmmm, where did April go? Seems like we are on a monthly basis with the blogs. Even though the calendars show 30 days or so, it feels like just last week! So, this is what Nicole and I can think of that has happened this past month-

On April 11th Zac and Nicole went to one of two days of a marriage conference sponsored by our church. A deacon and his wife came down to our home for the evening and played with Ethan while we went and listened to our pastor. It was wonderful and wished we could have attended the second session. Nicole had to work... but next year we will make plans to go the entire time. We do have another marriage conference in June where Zac's parents will be coming out to watch Ethan. We look forward to going every year with John and Melissa. If you are ever interested please look up "weekend to remember" by Family Life. It is worth the investment in our marriage and highly recommended for everyone!

Ethan took his first to steps on the 12th. He was very cautious but learned that if mom or dad was just a few steps away, he would trust us fully and commit to falling/stumbling into our awaiting arms. Since then he has added another few steps but is not fully committed to stand and walking tall. The cats seem to notice this change-but are always on guard for the speed crawler!

Then on the 14th we decided to go to Joe Pool Lake and had a wonderful afternoon with a picnic and lakeside activities. The Bluebonnets were fantastic so we stomped around and took pictures and fed the ducks. Ethan did very well with the local wildlife and enjoyed some mom and dad time.

The weekend of the 25th-27th we met up with our best friends the Williams and went down to Glen Rose, TX for some rough camping. There was 3 kids, a dog, and 5 adults. We had a campsite that was near a small river perfect for Zac and the dog swimming in during the hot afternoons. It was a challenge with having three small campers-but all in all the did better than what we expected. Zac started the fires without a match or paper-just a good old magnifying glass and some bark-and the second with just the hot air he is full of! We survived a severe storm on Saturday night/Sunday morning in which the critters happened to make off with a large block of cheese! Ethan slept hard through the hard rain, lightening and thunder-but Nicole and Zac were wide awake! We came back home having properly "broke in" our new 7

man tent with a tear and leaks from the hard use!

Ethan continues to add teeth and is now sporting his top two teefers with style. He has also weened himself from nursing and is only interested in "adult" foods-dodging any baby food we try to put into his mouth! He is growing way too fast for mom and dad. His Nine month checkup shows that he is 20 pounds (50th percentile) and 31 inches long (95th percentile). No concerns were revealed and we will update his dimensions at his ONE YEAR appointment! Yikes!

We keep saying we'll get better at blogging more often through the months-we'll see how May works out.

Was that blur a vacation in Florida? Must've been...........

2008-04-07T19:47:00.004-05:00

March flew by and in it we had a hopsital stay for Zac. Yes... you are reading that right. Zac was in the hospital in the beginning of march. He ended up tearing the lining of his stomach from some food that he ate at Red Lobster. It was rough with him being in the hospital and a little one that doesn't understand what is going on. He is better now and will be staying away from Red Lobster and Shrimp for a while.

And then our VACATION!!!!!!!!!!

Hello all! So, suddenly April has arrived and Nicole, Ethan, and I have a vague memory of getting on a plane to someplace with beaches and a themepark for kids and adults that takes up alot of space.....and it recieves alot of attention for miscounted votes and hurricanes....but where the heck was it? Vancouver, BC? The Galapogos Islands?

Oh-right! Florida! Nana and Bubba Mac brought Nicole, Ethan and I along with Lorra, Jordan and James to Bradenton, Florida to hang with the Gigliotti G-parents and themselves for a fun time! Ethan got a big kick out of watching Cousin James walk and talk-and not wanting to share Ethans toys! It was a blast to watch the two kiddoes interact with one another and the adults. We went to two different beaches and had some fun. I say fun because Ethan sure liked the sand-but that saltwater was not to his liking. It took him awhile to get used to sleeping in his pack'n'play and us in some foreign room that was not his own. Just about the time he got used to it-it was time to leave again.

Nana and Bubba Mac treated the young parents to a day at Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom while they watched the little ones! Zac remembers his visit there in 1987 and to him-not much has changed! Of course, he didn't ride "It's a Small World" ten-thousand times! Lorra and James had some friends who they know in Tucson that we met up with to have as tourguides (the husband worked at DisneyWorld for a time). We got to pretty much see what we wanted. And no, Nicole did not want to leave. I had to drag her kicking and screaming from the Peter Pan ride back to reality (well, almost)!

Next thing we knew, Zac was leaving early to get back to work and school while Ethan and Nicole stayed a few more days to get in another couple of visits to the beach and a last chance to relax. Except for some luggage mixups (not at the airport) all in all it was a blast!

Back in Texas-Nana and Bubba Mac made sure to catch Ethan's Baby dedication at church! Bubba helped Zac replace a door to the side of the house and Nana got in all the grandson time before returning to New Mexico. We sure miss them!

Anyway, Zac is tired of waiting to get his Associates degree-so he has decided to transfer to UT Arlington and get his Bachelor's so he can finally put school behind him. Nicole still contemplates becoming a school nurse so she can quit working weekends and have all the major holidays and suumers off. Ethan can use his toy mower and walk all over the house-and can stand unassisted for close to half a minute. Zac foresees he will be walking by 10 months. That's all for that we can remember for the moment...

Take care of yourselves and know that we think of everyone very often-SO COME AND VISIT-you can babysit anytime!

We are back

2008-02-25T14:56:00.005-06:00

Hello to all that check this thing.

We are back from New Mexico. We made a quick trip for the celebration of life of Robert Dermont Tyson. He passed away and went to be with our Lord February 15th. He lived a wonderful 87 years and 65 of that was with Mary- his wife. It was a great service and it was good to spend some time with the Tyson family and friends. Ethan got to meet two of his uncle's and aunt's while were were there (minus Christa- she had a family emergency as well) Ethan loved playing with his cousins and showing them how he has learned to crawl just earlier that week.

Yup... you read right. Ethan is now crawling and loves to follow mommy and daddy around the house. He hasn't figured out how to get through the cats door to their food, water, etc,... but I am sure it wont be long. Ethan will be 7 months old tomorrow and I (nicole) just had to lower the his bed. He can already pull himself up to standing position when he wakes up from sleeping. It was scaring us so it needed to happen. He is just growing up too fast. We are also trying to wean him from being swaddled when he goes to bed. He just doesn't know what to do with his hands yet. This morning I swaddled him with one arm out and he did pretty good. This afternoon I just layed him down without being swaddled and as of right now he has been upset for about 25 minutes. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but I decided to come and update this while I listen to him cry and keep myself from going in there to "rescue" him.

Tonight I am going to chat with my best friend Melissa and have some girl time. Zac is so wonderful for letting me out to do this every-other week. Melissa and I look forward to this ever since our book club is done. At the end of this week we get to see Dennis and Michelle again. This trip was planned before our trip to New Mexico and we are so excited to see them and show them around the area. Michelle has a friend here in the area so they will get to spend some time with them as well. YEAH!!!! We love visitors!

I think he is done crying for now. Thank you all so much for praying for us and the Tyson family in New Mexico. Grandpa passed away peacefully at home and Grandma was doing very well while we were there. Please keep her in your prayers through the next near weeks as this will be a huge adjustment for her.

I will have Zac place some pictures up of Ethan and I think we even have a video of him crawling!

Love you all!
Nicole, Zac and Ethan too!

He's a Monkey!!!

2008-02-13T15:44:00.006-06:00

They grow up too fast. It seems that just yesterday we were bringing him home and in the past few days he has turned into a monkey! He loves to climb all over us as we roll together on the floor. He still loves to play with daddy! He is much more fun than mommy and can make some pretty funny noises too! Ethan is working hard on his crawling and with just a little assistance today he crawled! Watch out world here he comes! He gets so excited when he gets from one place to the next! He has found some freedom but still likes to have you nearby. I think so that he can show off his new trick! He has also proven that it is time to move his mattress down to the next level. If he is sitting up in bed he can pull himself up to a standing position and just laughs at his accomplishments.
Nana Mac was here a few days last week while Zac and I worked! It was great seeing her and of course she brought a new toy for Ethan! He loves to play with Noah's Ark and all the animals! Ethan now has two teeth on the bottom and still has those beautiful blue eyes. I don't think that there has been one time when we are out that someone mentions how beautiful his eyes are.
February has already gone by fast. Starting on the first of february we started a financial fast with our friends John and Melissa Williams. We are not spending any uneccissary spending and relying on what God has provided for us already. It is amazing to analyze what we use too much of and what we could do without. We use this time to pray and to enjoy our family time. Back to the simplier ways of life and it feels good!
Our friends the Nelson's had their beautiful baby girl Evie yesterday according to an e-mail sent out. We can't wait to go and see her help the family out in any way that we can. We pray that the delivery went well.
On another note, Zac got a call today at work that Rogie (his grandfather) is not doing well at all. We pray that we remember that God is the ultimate healer and provider during these hard times. Please keep our family in your prayers.

So I/We are a little late and slow. Sorry

2008-01-30T12:17:00.000-06:00

Hello friends and family.

Yes I know... we are very slow and late in getting this out since I know see that the last post we did was almost a month ago. Ethan is a month older and learning many new things. He has grown to love many new baby foods and just today (after the doctor told us to) we started giving him some table food that will help develop his sense of texture. It was a slow start this morning but as with everything else he will catch on. He still loves to be swaddled before being layed down for naps and bedtime. I just tried to see if he would fall asleep without being swaddled and nope... He wouldn't. I know that there are not 6 year olds asking to be swadles before going to bed so hopefully this too will change. We don't mind for now. Ethan had his 6 month check up and shots on monday. The doctor said that he is doing great and right on target for his age. His is still at the top of the charts for height and low on weight but doing fine. He said nothing to worry about. He has started to like his tummy time a little bit more... when he realizes that he can move around a bit more. He is starting to be very independant already. He likes to try and feed himself with the spoon and will get upset if I don't let him. We are trying to work with him on playing with himself for more than 5 minutes. If we leave the room he gets very upset. He loves to play with daddy and many times when I (nicole) am home and he wakes up from a nap he is looking for daddy.

Zac has started two more classes this semester. There was supposed to be three but the school canceled one due to low census. We/he was pretty upset but we know that in God's perfect timing it will happen. We still have not had to take Ethan to a day care so that was the major blessing that came from the class being canceled. We just have a couple of Saturdays this semester that we have found some help from a dear friend that loves babies. It is only for a few hours so that is great for both of us.

I am still working hard and just got elected to be Chairman of Clinical Practice. It is a big responsibility and a year commitment. We meet once a month but I get to do a lot of behind the scene work. It will be a great year but already looking forward to December.

It was great hearing from a lot of family and friends over the holidays. It sounds like everyone is doing good! We have a couple of new babies coming into the McCloskey side of the family and we look forward to those precious miracles. I think that this is it for now. I need to eat something while Ethan is down for his nap. Here are a few Pics of Ethan during his first bath and then some other fun ones that we have taken! Have a great week and please Pray for Aly (the family that I went on the Make a wish Trip). They were planning on going this next week and Aly has gotten sick again. Pray for fast healing, and if they need to change their plans that they are able to not loose any money.

In Christ, Nicole and Family

Kind of hard to see. I will try and get a better one today sometime but for now you can see Ethan's progress! Watch out Mom and Dady I am getting faster!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T21:57:00.000-06:00

2008 is just a few hours away and what a great 2007 it was. We pray that everyone else had a great 2007 as we had.

Ethan just keeps growing and growing and growing too fast! He is now into his 5th month and it is not going any slower! Ethan was so excited for Christmas morning and when it got here he wasn't sure what to do with the paper from the gifts. He enjoyed watching mommy and daddy open the gifts and then give the gifts to him to play with. After a while he got really tired and took more naps than usual. He loved his first Christmas but wished he/we were able to be with family. We did however go to our friends the Williams' house in Keller for the afternoon. It was great to bring over food and sit and talk and enjoy each others company. Here are a couple of pictures from Christmas of Ethan.

Yesterday (12.30.07) When I was driving home I found a high-chair that was sitting out in the garbage. After cleaning and sterilizing the high-chair, Ethan got to eat in it today. He enjoyed his big boy chair and did so well eatting his baby food. It wont be too long before he out grow's this too! What a blessing it was that someone didn't want the high-chair any more and it was in great condition!

2008 doesn't have too much planned yet like 2007 did by this time. In March we may be going to Florida to see Great Grandparents and then the adults will go to Disneyworld. Zac will graduate and then we will see from there! How about you? What is in store so far? We pray that all is well!

Nicole

Sitting up!

2007-12-14T18:08:00.000-06:00

Hello friends and family. We are all well and for the most part healthy. We are not sure if Ethan has a cold, is teething or just plain cranky at times. Other than not wanting to nap for the past two days we are well. I(nicole) have been able to be off for 4 days and trying to get caught up with the Christmas cards (soon to be mailed out) and then also gifts to family for the family exchange. The weather has been pretty different for Texas. One day it was 80 then the next it was in the low 40's. Tonight there is fog out as I sent Zac on an errand and he called to say he couldn't see in front of him very far.

Ethan is now 20 weeks old according to weeks but by date he is 12 days short of five months. He is growing so much and fast! He is well in and out of his 3-6 month clothes! The pants are too small length wise but then the shirts are too big! He is tall and lean! And just perfect too! On wednesday he rolled from his back to his stomach just 30 seconds before Zac walked in from work! He has also been working on his sitting up as you can see from the video above.

Zac's semester has come to an end and he did great as usual! He is getting very close to obtaining his degree in Photography! He has a couple of classes left and depending on when they offer the class and how ambitious he is to work on Math over the Christmas will determine when he is done! I know that he is ready to have this part done!

Last weekend we took Ethan to his first babysitter while we went to Zac's Christmas party. Since he is so curious he (Ethan) didn't want to go to bed. The babysitter enjoyed watching him and it felt kind of weird not having Ethan with us. It was however nice to dress up and be taken out on the town! I still worried and thought about him but it was worth it to get out!

I will have Zac put up some recent pictures of us/Ethan when he gets home! Have a great weekend and drive safe! We love you all.

Nicole

What's new with us...

2007-12-03T18:32:00.000-06:00

I know that this seems redundant... but where did the time go? November flew by just the same as October did. Ethan is now 4 months old and loving everything about being 4 months. Daddy took him in for his 4 month appt and all went well. Ethan weighed at that appt (now almost 2 weeks ago) 14.2 lbs and is 26inches long! For height he is in the 90th percentile and for weight he is in the 25-50 percentile. I am sure he is going to be tall like his daddy! He had to get two more shots while he was there and both my boys did great! (Zac got his flu shot while there).

We got the chance to fly to Albuquerque to go home for Thanksgiving. Ethan slept the whole way and we didn't mind at all. There was enough crying babies on those flights to cover for Ethan. We had a great time while were were there. Ethan had not only his first Thanksgiving with his family and cousins but he also had his first snow! It was great to see him studying it and putting his hand in it! Grandpa and Grandma Tyson were not able to come to Farmington while we were there. Grandpa had Pneumonia in his left lung and was in the hospital. We did get to visit him twice while we were there. Grandma and Grandpa Knobeloch drove us to farmington. It was pretty fun entertaining Grandma with Ethan. Every time that Ethan was sleeping grandma would want to take Ethan out of the car seat and play with him (while we were driving). She did good and Ethan was a good sport.
Of course the grandparents and Aunts/Uncles spoiled Ethan by holding him the entire time. We had to go through detox for a week of trying to get Ethan to understand that we don't hold him all the time, every time. He is doing better this week. I am not sure we can go through that again! J/K It was worth it to spend some great family time together and eat two thanksgiving meal! Beth and Kyle cooked up a good meal for over 13 people, and then we went to Nana and Bubba's house for another wonderful meal!
The day that we got back we set up our Christmas decorations. Ethan enjoyed waking up from his nap to see the Christmas lights on the tree.

Zac just signed up for two more classes and possible two more for the spring semester! This could be his last semester if they offer all the classes! He/we are ready for this part of our lives to be done. I am still working full time and blessed to have a husband that brings up Ethan to me so that we can nurse once while I am at work. Oh yeah... Ethan has started on cereal, sweet potatoes and carrots during the day. He loves the veggies believe it or not!

Ethan just woke up from his nap...
Hopefully it won't be another month till I can get on here. When Zac has a chance he will be putting more pics and videos that we have taken! We love you all!

Desert Travel Pictures for the Tysons Spread Nationwide

2007-11-19T10:04:00.000-06:00

These pictures are mostly for the brothers and family of Zac that miss the desert. I hope to gain many more images as we travel tomorrow for the Thanksgiving Day Feast in Farmington. We look forward to spend time in actual winter weather (Texas still is in the 80's) and family....not to mention the loads of good food and friends to visit. We will give an update when we return....so here's to the desert dwellers who are elsewhere at this time in their lives! WE LOVE YOU ALL-ZT

Where did October go???

2007-11-09T10:04:00.000-06:00

Was it just me or are things going faster and faster? Make it slow down please... anyone... please. The Tyson's are doing good. Nana Mac came to visit over Halloween. It was great to see her and she sure did help out a lot. She watched Ethan as Zac and I both worked long hours. Then on Halloween Ethan had two photo shoots. One of them will be in an add for Lifestyles magazine. My OB doc asked us if Ethan could be in it with him. It was a great experience. Zac was able to be off that day and go with us. Ethan did great as usual and had fun spending time with both of us at the park. That afternoon we went to the second shoot and he did great again! Zac has learned a great deal from Glenda at Alexander portrait.
Speaking of photographer, our very own Zac Tyson has been doing some more photography. He did a 60th anniversary for a co-worker of Nicole's while Nicole, Terry and Ethan were down in Houston. He has been doing a great job and working so hard!
On Thursday Nicole, Ethan and Nana went down to Houston for a Quilt festival. Ethan loved having all the "grandma's" around to talk to him. He did really good during the days but started to wake up very frequently at night wanting to nurse. We think that he was going through a growing spurt or Teething already. He started to sleep better on Tuesday night but it was rough for a couple of nights. Nana watched Ethan while Zac and Nicole went on their first date to the movies since Ethan has been born. It felt really weird to not have Ethan with us, but it was very needed to have time to the two of us. We actually have a second one tonight. Our church has parents night out and so we can bring Ethan there for 2.5 hrs. We look forward to it!
Ethan has found his fist to be very appetizing! We have been working with him on his tummy time and sitting up. It wont be too long. Ethan just wants to skip right to walking though. He loves his Daddy time and really like to laugh at daddy now. It is just so cute the way that he laughs and giggles and his whole body giggles too! We love being parents!!! Ethan has even stopped using his pacifier at nap time and bedtime. He stays up for almost 2.5 hrs eating and playing in between naps, so he is good and tired!
We did find a good home for the puppy that I found. A guy from work was looking for a mix pit and really wanted this one and any others if we had them. Chance is now loving his new home and even has a playmate. He looked nothing like the photo that we had posted before. He looked like a healthy puppy. Another life saved!!! No wonder God enjoys being God so much! Lives saved is awesome!

We are now gearing up for our Thanksgiving trip to New Mexico. Both grandparents are there and waiting till they can spend time with Ethan! Forget about Zac and Nicole now... just bring the baby! Oh well, as long as they are happy, we will be too!

We are still doing our bible studies and Nicole is loving her book club when she gets to go. It is good to know that things we are going through, other people have gone through it too!

Hopefully we will be updating this more often! We are finally getting into somewhat of a routine.

What a week- doggy and all

2007-10-21T21:34:00.001-05:00

It was another great week...very, very busy week, but a good week. I (Nicole) worked three days in a row and Zac did a wonderful job watching Ethan. It has been wonderful that Zac can bring Ethan up to me once a day to nurse him. I look forward to that time all day!

This past Thursday I picked up a puppy on the side of the road before he got hit. He is a cute little thing but severely malnurished! Zac took him into the vet on Friday and they say that he is a Pit mix. I am not convinced but hey, they are the professionals. He has the sweetest personality and is very tiny for his age. They think that he is about 12 weeks old (Same as Ethan). He has one blue eye and one brown eye!Besides being underweight and having some hookworms he checked out amazingly good. No ticks or fleas!! We are going to try and fatten him up before we try and find a no-kill shelter or a home for him. We both agree that at this time in our lives we shouldn't have a dog. We just pray that he finds a good home! If you know of anyone...

On friday we went to a parent training class at church and had a great time. We learned some great things and hopefully we will be able to use them on Ethan and siblings. On Saturday Zac missed an airshow locally. Ethan is still giving him some fits on the bottle so he didn't feel comfortable handing him over to our sweet friend Melissa for a couple of hours. I am sure that next year we will all be in tow.

I think that is it for now. I just got done with three days in a row and they were pretty busy. That also means that Zac had Ethan for three straight days, so we are bushed!

We will add more later!

..How do you spell Busy?!

2007-10-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

Busy. Busy. Busy. That is the operative word that has been our modus operundi recently. Nicole has been back to work since October 8th (leaving Zac to take care of Ethan at home for 12 hours) about two or three times a week. It's hard for Zac sometimes to please Ethan at home, but overall Ethan approves of his daddy's job! Zac has been doing photoshoots on the weekend (and weekdays). When Nicole is home with Ethan-Zac attneds his regular job-and making sure his school is kept up with. Yard work is nearing the slow-down point-but tree trimming and mowing still keep Zac running like his namesake-a chicken (Tyson Chicken for those that don't know our running family name joke).

On a more relaxing note, Ethan got to visit his first Pumpkin Patch! After a photoshoot in Farmers Branch, Nicole and Zac took him to the Farmers Branch Pumpkin Patch that is renoun in the area for a great time. Ethan was awake for the first half, but got tired and took a nap. He gets really tired having so much fun all the time! It was a great experience-one that we plan on doing annually from now on.

Slept through the night in his crib

2007-10-04T15:11:00.000-05:00

Our little man is growing up too fast!!! He is already 10 weeks old and since Nicole is going back to work on Monday the 8th we decided to see how Ethan would do sleeping in his crib in his room. We have been having him sleep in a pack and play in our room. Since he has already been sleeping 7-8 hrs at a time at night we figured it was time to ship him out. He did great and we were so relieved!
Last week Nicole spent a better half of the day decorating her first cake with a good friend from work. It was for Melissa's' baby shower on Saturday. It turned out great and they really liked it! If only Nicole had more time, she thinks she has found a new hobby! Since that cake, Zac has requested one for his birthday on the 10th. Hopefully Nicole will be able to do it again!

On Friday we are driving down to Houston for "Wings over Texas" airshow. Aunt Karen volunteered to watch Ethan for a couple of hours down at the beach and then they will bring him up to Nicole to nurse and he will stay with us the rest of the day. Hopefully Ethan will like the airshow as much as his daddy does! I know that Zac is eager to show him all the planes and even more eager for when Ethan gets bigger and able to interact with daddy and his third love-planes!

This week Zac battled the stomach bug but is feeling much better today. He is back at work and working hard! Nicole has been holding on to Ethan a little longer and harder before she goes back to work. You can keep her in your prayers as we are sure that Monday will be a long day for both Zac and Nicole! We will update this when the day comes!

LIFE IS GREAT AND WE LOVE BEING PARENTS!!! It brings us the greatest joy! He brings us so much pleasure when he plays and coos and laughs! Now we know how God feels when he sees us doing things that bring him pleasure!

California and the Bean Sprout

2007-09-26T21:11:00.000-05:00

Nicole and Ethan enjoyed their trip to California this past week. Zac was more than glad to have them back, but he was glad they got to enjoy some very cool fall weather (45*F-75*F). Ethan got to meet his Gigliotti Great Grandparents and Great Aunts, Uncles and cousins for the first time. Nicole and Ethan were apprehensive to leave the great vacation behind, but Zac demanded they return else he be admitted to an insane asylum. His lack of sleep and the quiet house nearly made him lose it-No, he played golf with a friend, mowed the lawn, and harassed the cats-as always.

As you can see-Ethan continues to grow. He was quite upset at getting 4 shots in his thighs-and made sure we knew about them too. The video gives his current stats. We guess now we can leave him with complete strangers to go about our business-no measles or mumps for daddy's little tough guy!

Here in Dallas, we are still waiting for the cool weather to arrive. Zac got lucky and was summoned for jury duty on the 26th. Out of about 400 people he was 10th to last called, was put in the morning substitute jury pool-and released at noon. He was glad he didn't have to choose to hang anyone! So, back to the daily grind of life.

"Deep thoughts with Zac"

It's okay to make mistakes in life. That's why we put the pointy end at the pencil-and an eraser at the other end.-zt

2007-09-18T21:44:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share this with everyone! We are such proud parents and love watching Ethan grow and learn new things every day. He is talking (cooing) more and more every day and recognizes Zac and I. This morning Ethan actually got upset when Zac left for work. Ethan has still been sleeping 7-8 hrs at night! We are certainly blessed!

Another Busy Monday

2007-09-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

Today starting @ 0545, Zac travelled to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to take some photos for the American Airlines Museum! He is working with a good friend Mat Nelson on the project which includes some very large format pictures of American Airlines planes. He enjoyed getting paid to take pictures of airplanes, and the access onto the very busy Monday morning ramp at DFW was well worth the effort.

On a decidingly different tone, Ethan was not very cooperative in taking his scheduled naps today. He did however learn to take the bottle from Zac recently, which greatly relieved Nicole as she is growing more concerned as her working days approach. We are hoping that when Nicole is at the hospital, Zac will stay home and care for Ethan while she is working hard. We are sure Zac will truly appreciate the hard working ins and outs of being a stay at home.....parent. No, he will not force child labor upon Ethan by mowing the lawn and doing the dishes-although tempting!

Nicole and Ethan are preparing to travel to California, this time without their personal chauffer (Zac). They will be living it up with the Gigliotti Great Grandparents for 6 days while Zac tries to keep the house from burning down. (Not a small feat in the Texas heat-in September).

Once back, the "Travelling Twister Texan Trouble Trio" will drive down to Houston for Zac's annual pilgrimage to the airshow down there. The season is quick, but Zac hopes to continue to take tons of photos in Houston and the one here in Dallas at the end of October. We will keep you all up to date on the seemingly instantaneously growth spurts of Ethan. If he continues at this rate, he'll make Paul Bunyan look like a little person!

2007-09-13T12:54:00.000-05:00

Here are just a few of the pictures that we have recently been taking. We will do more as we get the hang of this new site. The Third picture is on James (Lorra's son who is almost 15 months), Nicole and Ethan is in the pouch! We went to Tucson September 6-10th and had a blast. The temperature cooperated with us and didn't get above 100 while we were there. We are now preparing for our third trip (just Nicole and Ethan this time) to California so that Nicole's Grandparents can see their second great-grand-son. We are excited but nervous to travel without the help from dad. We leave September 20-25th.

Starting off

2007-09-13T12:44:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends and Family. We are going to see how this goes. Our good friends John and Melissa Williams have one of these and see that it is a good way of people seeing what is going on in our family and what we are up to! Please visit as often as you want and you can post comments I think.

Today we have started to try giving Ethan a bottle. This morning was unsuccessful but we are going to keep trying. Nicole is going back to work October 8th and Zac (if it works out) will be staying home with Ethan on the days that Nicole goes to work. It will be hard for the first few days but Zac is a wonderful father/husband and I am sure that he will go great! Keep us in your prayers as we try the bottle thing.

Zac is taking two online classes this semester and has been doing great! Hopefully he will be able to get math completed and take the needed photography classes that they have cancelled this semester.