Zoey stories...

For memories' sake..

- We went looking for new fridges, and were out rather late, which meant Zoey hadn't eaten dinner (mother of the year). So on the way home we were going to stop at McDOnald's - sidenote: everytime we pass a McD's Zoey yells out "fries".. yes she is our kid! -
- so Gary asked her "Zoey do you want chicken or cheeseburger?"
- Zoey "Cheeseburger"
- so I asked again "Zoey do you want cheeseburger or chicken"... just like I always, to ensure that she says what she really wants to avoid a meltdown later..
- Zoey responds and says "Ahhhhhh (HUGE SIGH).. Mom, Daddy already asked me that.."

We could not stop laughing...

- We bought Zoey a piggy bank to help her learn to save money, so whenever we have left over change we place it in there (Sorry Dax). So when Grandma came over the other day to help with the fridge, Zoey brings her piggy bank out and asks grandma if she has any money for her to put in her bank... Then the other night Zoey brought out her piggy bank to us and said that it was hungry and needed to eat money.. Oh Zoey.. smart girl!

- Dax was crying in the car (common) and Zoey said to him.. "look Dax, look!" "it's ok Dax we are almost there." and "shhhhh, shhhh, shhhhh" Sweet girl!

3 Months

This picture is a pretty good representation of month 3 with little Daxton.. You are a MUCH happier baby! and we are enjoying the time with you much more than we had, sad to admit, but TRUE! Daxton is wearing 0-3 months, and a few 3-6 month clothes. You are still tiny to us.. you eat and eat and eat.. but it doesn't seem to effect your size... You probably weigh about 13-14 pounds. You love soy formula and oatmeal at night before bed. You talk up a STORM, with shrieks and babbles, that make you laugh! There is almost a laugh coming, but not quite yet. Everyone says how BEAUTIFUL you are, and that you are "too pretty to be a boy." You do not like riding in the car still, but its getting better. You LOVE to hold something in your hands, often a blanket. You are sleeping through the night!!!!! Mostly between 8-10 hours! You go to sleep at 10 and wake-up by 8...You do not like your swaddle at night to sleep, and you try to break free nightly. You take between 3-4 naps a day, with a long one in the afternoon, this often falls when Zoey takes her nap, which makes mommy VERY HAPPY! You are quite the little flirt, and several girls in your life are obsessed with you.. but you are a momma's boy... remember that! We love you Dax...

Dax can..
- sleep 8-10 hours at night
- take 3-4 naps a day
- eat 3-4 TBSP of oatmeal
- talk and babble all day
- smile
- almost laugh
- do a half roll to his side
- hold his head up
- start to discover his hands/try to suck his thumb or fingers
- break out of a swaddle blanket

Dax likes...
- when you talk to him
- playing in his ocean play gym
- bouncer seat
- FOOD
- to see what is going on
- sitting up in the corner of our couch

Dax doesn't like...
- being swaddled at night
- tummy time
- being left alone, or with no one paying attention to him
- the bumbo seat :(
- riding in the car/carseat

So blessed...

Last week was kind of a crazy one.. I had a conference in Orlando, my mom and dad came up to watch the kiddos, along with Gary's parents.. then we met up in Tallahassee for the FSU v. BYU game. It was a lot going on.. and in the middle I realized how amazingly blessed I am that I have sooo many people willing to help out and watch my kids!

The other bonus was we got to see my Aunt Sheila, uncle Rick, and cousins Matt and Kelly! We love hanging out with them and wish it would happen more often.. But nevertheless I am soo happy we were able to be together for a few hours... even is they were FSU fans! Sadly this is the only picture I got...

Happy Boy!

EAGLES!

Come on.. how freaking cute is that!?

Cutest Gator fan EVER!

Can't be comfortable...

Someone sure does love their daddy...

Aquarium!

The week Gary started school, Zoey didn't, so I was left alone with both kids... I thought I was quite adventurous and took both kids over to Fort Walton Beach to the Gulfarium.. mostly because I thought it was indoors and Zoey LOVES seeing animals! Well it is mostly outdoors... but thankfully both kids did AMAZING! It was a perfect size for Zoey, enough for her to see and do, and not be overwhelmed. Best of all it wasn't crowded! and Zoey still talks about it... so SUCCESS!

This was Zoey's favorite part because she got to see Nemo and Dory! I loved it because it was indoors, a nice place to feed Dax and had chairs!


The coolest part about this place was you could get right up next to the tanks! and they were perfect Zoey height... she loved watching the Sea Lions.


Daxton enjoying the day!


Mommy and Zoey enjoying the day!


Zoey at the Dolphin Show... I swear she would have jumped in with them!


Just after it jumped.. horrible shutter speed!


The Dolphin and Sea Lion show! The shows were pretty cool..


Dax enjoying the show!


All-in-all a fun day with my two kids! More importantly I survived and so did they!

... and then Zoey spilled an entire milkshake on her and her carseat... it was AWESOME!

Rewind #3

?? 2009:
Just Zoey being cute... where did this little girl go..



although we still see the tutu...all the time!

Rewind #2

FEBRUARY 2009:
Gary and I headed down to Tampa/Orlando/Lakeland for the weekend to go see Jimmy Buffett! The trip was made even better since Darrin, Joy, Milton, and Kathleen joined us. Darrin got us into the VIP section and had free refreshments all day, and then got our seats upgraded as well! soo much fun! We definitely need to do this again!

Gary and Milton sporting the cool hats they gave us.


Kathleen looking HOT in the hat as well.


The boys and the Landshark girls... I think Milton liked them the most!


Jimmy!


Darrin helping Milton... aww soo sweet!

Rewind #1

Soo.. You ever use an old camera and then forget to take the pictures off... well I did..

OCTOBER 2009:
Gary and I traveled with Mom and Dad Mattes up to Richmond, VA for Gary's cousin's wedding! We had a blast!

Gary and I just hanging around.. at the rehearsal dinner


Me, Mike Iaconelli (the Groom), and Mom


Becky Mattes (the bride), Mike (sorta), Gary, and Me


Gary sharing with Mike... Mike looking ever so BUSTED!


Gary and I before the wedding!


We LOVED the trip and can't wait to see the Virginia crowd again!

No words describe....

Zoey at 28 months

I was going to wait to post this about Zoey until she was 2 and 1/2.. but she has so many things that I don't want to forget that I have to do it now..

- Zoey has not been eating much as of late, when you ask her if she wants something she says "No thank you, i good"... until you ask her about something she actually wants
- Her favorite foods are chocolate milk (made by daddy), fruit, chips, cookies, ice cream.. you get the idea
- She is smart.. too smart for her own good.. and her memory is RIDICULOUS! She will bring up an event that took place MONTHS ago.. for no reason.
- Her favorite phrases are "Maybe I can't..." "I'd really like.." "... real quickly..."
- She LOVES her shows - Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, Super Why, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Dora
- Her favorite movie is Curious George 2 or as she calls it Kayla (the name of the elephant in the movie.. duh)
- She is still a thumb sucker
- Zoey is DRAMA! - she is very good at being two years old.. happy one minute, full on melt down the next.
- She loves playing on the computer. pbskids.org
- She knows her birthday, where she is from, and how to spell her name...
- She loves playing on our phones
- She loves her baby brother and will remind me.. "don't forget Dax" "turn on the colors for Dax" (His music and colors thing in the car
- She loves to chase the puppies
- Zoey does not like being told no.. she will scream and then clap her hands when she gets upset.
- Zoey can ask nicely for things, when reminded
- Zoey can count in Spanish to ten
- Zoey knows all her letters, by sight, and is starting to recognize words that start with certain letters
- Zoey can recognize letters by sound
- Zoey can count to twenty, knows her shapes and colors.
- She has memorized a couple books and 'reads' them to us.
- Zoey LOVES to dance and act like a princess with her tutu on...
- Zoey can win over her daddy in about 3 seconds, she now goes to him when she wants something or when she gets in trouble with mom, she screams for daddy
- She loves to go places. We often can't say the word "go".. because she will immediately say.. "I can go to"
- She especially loves to go to the store.
- If she wakes up, she immediately goes to our room... thankfully
- If she wakes up from a nap, or can't fall asleep, she comes out to find us

I am sure there are many more things about Zoey that I could put... she is an amazing little kid, who is super smart, and sweet. I can't believe how big she is.. Stop growing baby girl.

Fearless..

Last week I took Zoey to a bounce house place... and they had this HUGE slide. I asked her if she wanted to go.. not expecting she would.. SURE enough she did..

2 Months!

Daxton, you are two months old... and we couldn't love you more.. You are still a little peanut, but are growing bigger and bigger! You look a lot like your big sister, except for the mohawk mom gives you everyday. Everyone says how handsome you are and that you look like a little man.

Your colic is better as well as your sleeping.. so for that mom and dad are truly thankful!! We gave you Probiotics which seem to make you feel better... this makes us so happy! It was heart wrenching to watch you scream and scream and not be able to help.

You are wearing 0-3/3 month clothes, your newborn clothes are just starting to feel snug. You eat NON-Stop! It feels like we are always feeding you!

Daxton can
- sleep for 5-6 hours
- eat all day
- hold his head up...almost
- talk and coo
- smile
- sit in the bumbo seat for 10 minutes

Daxton likes
- being held
- food - soy formula and oatmeal at night
- his big sister, who plays with him and helps mommy
- his swing
- his playmat
- to be standing and bouncing
- to be fed immediately
- use his bottle for comfort, even though he's not drinking

Daxton doesn't like
- to be put down for extended periods of time

No matter what you do or how you are we will always love you!

Looks about right..

I think she has enough...

This is what has been sleeping with Zoey everynight.. and the amazing this is she KNOWS when one is missing and has to have it...

(Curious George, pig, Dora, pink puppy, white puppy, turtle, paci, elmo, and at least one blanket... this get rotated between this one, another pink one, and a blue one)

Dora is the best one, because if she moves at night and hits it.. it sings to us over the monitor.

We are trying to cut it back... to less than an entire zoo...

Helper Zoey

We were trying to let Daxton "cry it out," so Zoey tried to help soothe Daxton...

First she tried talking to him.. she will often sing "twinkle, twinkle to him.."


Then she went to her room and grabbed a book.. and started reading to him.. so sweet!

Unfortunately, it didn't work.. but it was the sweetest thing to see...

6 weeks...