Recently my Father Glen, handed over a CD of some of his recent pictures. Here is a sampling of the adventures of Zachary as seen from the lens of his Grand Father Bop-bop's camera.

We have been so lax in posting new pictures on our blog! We apologize for those of you who may be checking in just to be disappointed in no new news. However, we have been very busy and today we can't wait to share! A few weeks ago Zachary turned 2! It was an exciting celebration, the entire family got into the festive spirit! The men decorated during Zachary's nap time.

The theme was -surprise, surprise-- ELMO! Zachary was decked out in his Elmo attire for his party.
My sister created the birthday banner (at the top of this post) & the invitation. She did such a fabulous job! She just blows me away with her talent! Thank you Camie!! I plan on keeping the banner for future birthdays and just changing out the age and the Elmo figurine with what ever character is the "IT" of the year.

Matt wrote a rhyme for the inside of the invitation:
There is a little boy named Zach
Who has a party to pack.
He fell under the spell-mo
of a creature called "ELMO"
And he and the red guy
invite you to come by
to pass along your birthday best!

I did my best to create a ELMO cake. I was very pleased to hear Zachary yell out "MELMO" when he first saw his birthday cake. Here's a picture of the cake AFTER Zachary had his hands in it.

To my surprise Zachary did not want to get too involved in the Elmo cake. He didn't want to get dirty! And, he wouldn't start eating until he had a fork in hand. He did get a little messy...I was waiting for a messy picture to commemorate his first birthday at home.

Happy Birthday our adorable son!!

Two new videos of our boy Zach. The first one shows us his burgeoning multi-tasking abilities:




The second one shows him getting his dance on:

Here are a few more moments captured from our recent beach vacation. Zachary loves the ladies! He is such a flirt. He knows how to turn on the charm (even at his young age). He loved playing with all his cousins. He just blossomed around the younger generation!

Chloe' & Zach

Chloe', Zach & Maggie

Maggie, Zach & Caroline

Bop-Bop & Zach

All Smiles

Daddy, Zach & Mommy

Daddy & Zach

Bop-Bop, Maggie, Zach & Caroline

Chloe', Zach & Kasey
Finally Zach started to like sand!

Yummy, Spaghetti!!
Last night we visited with Zach's Grandfather Poppi. And, he made us his Miller family famous spaghetti recipe. It was Zach's first time eating spaghetti. He couldn't get enough of it! Of course we took pictures to document the mess we knew would ultimately occur. Zach loves noodles!

(We dedicate this Blog Post to our dear devoted blog reader and friend Tracey S!)

We have finally recuperated from our beach vacation this past Fourth of July Holiday. We had a fabulous time with family relaxing and shopping! However, the trip drained us in other parental ways. And, unfortunately we returned not feeling well. Zachary had an ear infection and I had a bad sinus infection.

The Sunday we returned there was a cartoon in the local paper that captured our trip perfectly. Essentially in the cartoon, the parents brought their children to the beach for a vacation and after all the crying, tantrums, hauling toys, chasing kids, cooking, cleaning, packing, etc the two parents looked at each other and declare they needed a vacation to recuperate from their vacation!

We certainly had all the help in the world on our vacation but being parents now for only 2 months (at home) we are still learning how to adapt. We are loving every second of it but our stamina is still not up to par for the energy of a toddler. My mind constantly swirls with thoughts of safety concerns, possible behavioral issues and the constant movement a toddler...Every day I still have that grand debate- to take a nap when Zachary takes one or stay up and be a Zombie by dinner time!


Our 4th of July beach trip was participated by thousands of other vacationers! And, most of us were on the interstate the same day! Our normal 6.5 hour trip took us 10 hours! Luckily my sweet cousin Chloe' drove the majority of the way with us & she was beautiful distraction for Zachary! Chloe' and Zach made video's with my iphone in the back seat. And, she read books to him and played with Zach's toy cars! He immediately fell in love with Chloe' and adoringly calls her "cocoa".

Zachary experienced 2 "firsts"! His 1st- 4th of July Holiday and his 1st time at the beach! I was prepared enough to think forward to photo opportunities! Luckily Party City had me covered with props and Old Navy for appropriate festive clothes!!!

Zachary's first day at the beach set the tone for my relationship with the beach the rest of the trip. He did NOT like it! He kicked, he screamed, he caused a scene! He hated the sand, was scared of the water and no amount of consoling encouraged him to relax. After that first day my parents took Zach down to the beach to introduce him slowly to the sandy shoreline. By the end of the week he was content to sit in Nonnie's lap at the point where the water reached her toes. I did make it down to the beach to witness his grandparents accomplishment.

The waters in the gulf were so clear that Matt purchased a snorkeling gear. Most of his time at the beach was spent with his head in the water floating around the fish and seaweed. One day he convinced me to give it a try. It certainly is a magically eco-system with it's own bright colors and twinkling sunlight.

Enough jabbering...on with more photos!

We have a lot more pictures to share however blogger is being very slow uploading. So we are going to take a break from this post and we will put up more pictures later.

Zach rode the Carousel at the Mall of Georgia!

Zach and his grandfather, Bop Bop, rode the train at the Mall of GA:

Zach does an arm cross!

Zach had his first encounter with a lemon!

Zach now has a teepee tent in his bedroom. Here is some video of him showing it off:

Zachary and I have had a standing "pool date" with friends of ours. And, Zach has taken to Miranda, his first girlfriend. The age difference will keep them apart. But, every Friday for the last three weeks he has had his own little love affair! His girlfriend taught him how to thumbs up!

And, his girlfriends brother, Devon, is loads of fun too!! Zachary looks forward to playing with him every week!

I don't know who enjoys the pool more- me or Zachary!?! I so enjoy having my friends Monica and Tricia over sunning and having adult conversation while their children entertain & love on Zachary! It's heartwarming for me to watch!








Zachary and I went to visit Bop-bop while Nonnie was in CO. I got another mini camera lesson from Bop-bop. I just wish I had a memory with better recall! We walked down to the lake to look for ducks but ended up finding turtles!! Zachary had a blast throwing bread out to the turtles (and minnows). I'd love to know what he was thinking when all these turtles were coming from no where to indulge in our Pep ridge Farm delicacies. There were two turtles who were not aging well and had certainly been around for some time. They scared me with their unsightly growths & pointy noses!

Last but not least, Matt experienced his first Father's Day this past weekend. And, he says it was a day he can't wait to celebrate next year :) We took some pictures to commemorate this very special day.

Guess who had his first taste of a chocolate, in the form of a brownie?

At last nights card class, Hostess Patti (HEY!!) served up my favorite chocolate covered brownies and she sent me home with some to share. Here's the proof that the brownies did infact make it home...

There's one left on the plate and I think Matt & Zach are going to have to thumb wrestle for it :)) Watch the "NO, I do not like" video below this post... Zachary has a new favorite word-- "NO". Poppi and I tested out his new word on a few of Zach's favorite things.

Here is a short excerpt from the conversation:
Poppi, "Zach, do you like to swing & slide??"
Zach, "NO!"

Mommy, "Zach, do you like bananas?"
Zach, "NO!"

Poppi, "Zach, do you like to ride in your cozy coup car?"
Zach, "NO!"

Mommy, "Zach, do you like watching Elmo & Fresh Beats?"
Zach, pauses to think then nods his head yes but clearly says "NO!"

Zach's favorite word these days is "No!" No is his answer to everything...LOL

Zach goes up and over at the Doctor's Office!



And then impersonates a frog!

Zach going bananas on his toy piano/xylophone hybrid thing

The Further Adventures of the Z-Man!

The Case of the Blue Balloon: Part 1:



And Part 2:

Hello again! We have had quite a few posts today (this is our 4th) so we hope you will scroll down and not miss a beat :) All the below pictures were taken with my cell phone so forgive the poor pic quality. I really need to get better and remembering to bring a quality camera but it's not easy getting out the door with all the accouterments Zachary already requires.

Today Zachary and I went to visit Poppi (Matt's Father Ed). We had a fun afternoon riding in his favorite toy car, then lunch at McDonald's.

Zach enjoyed one of his favorite snacks, a banana, while sitting in his Great GrandFather Ole' Buddies childhood high chair! What an honor!!

At McDonald's Playground, Poppi assisted Zach up and down, repeat and over and over- It's slide time! WEEEE!!!!


Yes, Zach's favorite car goes anywhere important with us! Zach has racked up quite the mileage on it's pedometer!
Again, Below this post are several video's of our adventures today.
Thanks for visiting our blog!!

Here is another shot of the Z-Man in his new car:


and Zach has a need for speed!:


And Zach Gets His Dance on! Part 1 and 2:

We bought Zach a new chair for sitting in the living room. Apparently he really likes it!

Zach was only able to get a power nap yesterday before we were rushing him all over town for his Dr visit. He cried for 30 minute over being woken up after just laying down. Then Zach gained the energy reminiscent of my childhood hamster running on his wheel- boundless energy until he crashed later in his red chair. Luckily my camera phone captured several of his exuberant outbursts.

This is the very moment Zach broke the sound barrier (with a shrill) in the Dr. office waiting room.
His Daddy responded by saying, "Zach, zip it". And, Zach responded by Zipping his lips! Despite the blurry photo, Mommy is very pleased to have this one on film!

Now in the patient room, waiting for the Dr. Zach finds the star glasses his Cousins Caroline & Maggie gave to him.
Finally home, crashing in front of the tv (watching "Fresh Beats") I noticed he was finally relaxed and looking sleepy. so, I asked him--- "Zach, do you like your new red chair?" he slowly looks at me and responds, "Yes, I do" OMG! He totally responded to me for the fist time with a "sentence"...wondering if I misunderstood, or was I the one in a dream state??? Matt came into the room and I explained what I swear just took place. We conjured up to trick him into doing it again, but only until I had my video camera ready. We will post the proof later!
It is amazing that after a very eventful, exhausting day for all of us, two little words from our beautiful son can light up our hearts & help us feel like we must be doing something right!