I'm Still Standing

We finally began potty training a couple of weeks ago. It began with a rough start. The first week was very difficult, but we just had to laugh about the funny things he did. One day we could tell that Xander had to go #2, so he dissappeared into the bathroom, (he does not like us to be in the bathroom when he goes, he wants his privacy) then, a couple of minutes later, Codi went back into the bathroom, and was greeted with a terrible smell. He went in his pull up and was in the process of scooping his stuff out of his pullup and putting it into the toilet. He listened to us and went in the toilet. Since that he has been doing pretty well. Knock on wood.
Blayne is about to crawl. Xander wont stop talking. And two little ones are keeping us very active.


Codi got a new hairdo, and doesn't she look good?

I Remember It Being Cooler

When I was younger there was this place that I thought was so cool. Giraffes, Ostriches and Zebras came up to your car and ate out of your hand. Well, it is not that great as an adult. The animals area all dirty, they area little too aggressive and it only lasted for about 15 minutes. But to hear Xander scream at the top of his lungs at the camel sticking his tongue through the cracks or the seeing the Ostrich peck at the window and hearing mommy freaking out, was well worth it.

Our First REAL Vacation

Day 1- Drive to Missouri
Day 2- Actually pay for a show that belongs in a high school talent show
Day 3- Watch Mormon Branson Performing Families attend church together
Day 4- See my sister Lindsey blow chunks before 10:00
Day 5- Have a cute Ukranian rub oil over our bodies
Day 6- See a seashell like temple
Day 7- Have our first date alone since Xander was born
Day 8- Turn painfully red in a matter of hours
Day 9- Pay $50 to be taken 15 feet into a cave

But, we did have a lot of fun. Thanks mom and dad.

I Hate When...

- People dress their animals in humans clothing.
- Oprah talks.
- I get stuck on hold with ATT
- When producers make the best food every and then discontinue the items, leaving us the consumers with a void in our diets, with nothing similar enough to fill it. Let me give you two examples:

1. Alpha Bits- You might be saying, "Zach, they still make Alpha Bits," to which I would respond, "NO, They Don't." They make nasty cardboard like substitutes. Imagine my disappointment when I see the Alpha Bits box after years of missing them, making myself a somewhat large bowl of cereal, taking my born again virgin Alpha Bits mouth and what in the world, they took all the sugar out and replaced the yummy Alpha Bits with cardboard. I am not happy General Mills, not happy at all.
2. Dunkeroos- Is it sad that I sometimes dream about food and end up eating that certain food for breakfast. I think this is a sign of obesity, but I am OK with that. I think obesity will look good on me. Well one night I had a dream about a kangaroo jumping into icing. I woke up the next morning looking forward to grocery shopping that day and had planned on buying half a bakers dozen boxes of the lovable Dunkeroos. For those of you who do not know what Dunkeroos are they are these cinnamon graham crackers that you dip in this delicious sprinkled icing. And you know what, they stopped making them in the US. I was beyond disappointed and could not find anything to fill that void. Teddy Grahams in icing were not the same, and believe me I tried it. I got on line to find out that they still make them in Canada, so I ordered a box on Amazon, thinking I would get two or three boxes, and this is what happened, Christmas in July for both Xander and I. We may or may not have eaten two boxes the first night. Like I said, I think obesity will fit me well...

The Most Traumatic Day of Xander's Life

We had just gotten back from a long drive from Dallas for Isabel's blessing and decided that Xander's blanket needed to be washed. We grabbed the blanket, thought we were being very sneaky about it, and put it in the washing machine. The sound that erupted after the washing machine started should have made the neighbors call the police. He had the tantrum of his life. We tried to explain that we were just cleaning it, that it was taking a bath, but it took him a while to calm down. He eventually grabbed his stool and sat and watched his blanket for most of the wash. Every time he saw his blanket emerge from the ball of clothes he yelled, "blanket" Very traumatic....

Feeding TIme

All we can say is what a good brother.....

Never Again

This past weekend we all went down to Dallas to see our new niece and nephew. If you know the Beck's and did not know that Aleshia and Natasha had a baby, please check out their blogs. Isabel and Giovanny were born about 7 weeks apart but we decided to wait until the second baby was born before making that 6 hour long trip down to Dallas. Driving=NOT FUN>> While down there we went to our heaven on earth, IKEA, and this time made a budget for ourselves before going in. We did great. We hung out with family and had a good time. On Saturday we got this call that my brother Dustin had just about totaled his car (Codi's old one) by swerving to miss a girl on her bike and ran into a tree. I should have figured out then that accidents don't happen in single events. One accident is lonely and he wants another. I saw my dad's motorcycle in the driveway, the one he takes to work everyday, and thought "it would be really cool to learn how to drive a bike" so I asked him. He started teaching me about shifting and braking and told me just don't worry about shifting into second gear until I feel more comfortable with it. I took the bike around the block and felt like hot stuff, wind blowing in my hair, shirt flying up in the back. I stopped to ask my dad more questions about the bike and how to shift into second gear. I made my way around the block again and my dad yelled, "2nd, 2nd," so I put it in second (pretty well I might add, no jumps). So I decided that was enough and I came down the alley to take it home. I tried to downshift but don't think I did, I think I upshifted right before I needed to take a left and when it sped up I tried to slam on the brakes. In my mind the brakes were on the handles, which they are on bicycles but not on motorcycles, so for a moment there I was confused and ended up slamming on the gas. I was out of control and did not really have anywhere to go, I missed the house but hit their gas line. A spark was created so a 15 foot tower of flames shot in the air. I jumped up and tried to pull the bike but had almost all of the hair on my right arm burnt off and could not handle it anymore. I took off to try to find my dad. I ran inside the house screaming, "DAD, GAS....Dad.." So needless to say all the kids were crying, the adults freaking out thinking that something had happened to my dad. My dad then nonchalantly appears from the backyard with a grin on his face asking, "Did you call 911?" No, I said. He picked up the phone and called. The neighbors were going crazy because the gas line of the house I hit had flooded twice and caught on fire twice and was currently being remodeled from the fire damage. It is a cursed house. The neighbors got their fire extinguishers and put out the bike but it was too late, the flames had already destroyed the bike. We waited about 10 minutes for the Fire Department and Police to come. It took 4 policemen and 6 firemen to try and put out the flames. They put out the flame but the gas was still flowing. WHAT IDIOTS>>> Gas just flowing through the air, that's when everyone watching went inside. It could take just one spark to make things get even worse. We all just waited for the gas people to get there. It took another 20 minutes for them to come and finally turn off the gas. My dad is so great because he was just happy that I was ok. So not only do I have to get a new bike for my dad but I will have to pay about two grand to fix the gas line and pay for all of the gas lost. What an expensive little trip. I was very sore for two days. No arm hair on my right arm, and some bruises and scrapes on my legs and arms. I just got really lucky.