Cherish the Moment.

These are the moments where this little boy should be getting into a lot of trouble and be scolded because he certainly is not being good or in a safe situation,

but on the other hand he is so darn cute that taking pictures seemed more fun.Maybe next time we will scold him!

Right now it is times like this when you I just want to cherish the moment and realize that my babies won't be babies forever and someday we all will get a kick out of thinking... way back when... Zachy used to play in the dishwasher...

I think of a picture my Mom has of my little brother laying on the bottom shelf of the corner Lazy Susan, at probably the age Zach is right now... again a moment that she should have been scolding him... but he was so darn cute... and now her baby is a grown man...


So let's forget about being safe and good for a couple of seconds and cherish these moments!

Zach Can Walk!

11 months old and Zach is upright moving around. He started doing a couple of steps about 2 weeks ago and now he can go across the room without falling! He is growing up sooo fast! This video my cute Zachy walking and the bonus of the loving relationship between siblings... in one moment Gracie is playing so nice with Zach and then next moment... well you will have to watch to see. Enjoy.

Trip to San Diego, CA

Over Labor Day weekend Gracie and I decided to go visit one of my college friends, Jina and her family in San Diego, CA. I was able to talk my other friend Jillian in to coming along with us. Jina, Jill, and I were all roommates for 3 years and we went through our entire nursing program together. Jina moved to San Diego after college all by herself and now has a husband and 2 children, Keala (almost 2 years old) and Kaeden (4 months old). It was a delight to see our little girls play with each other. We were able to visit a beautiful San Diego beach on Sunday and then go to Sea World on Monday. On Sunday evening Jina's husband watched the kids so the grown-up girls could go out for supper. We had a wonderful time at supper - Thanks Eddie!

The three Grown-Up girls... Me, Jina, and Jill (with her baby in her tummy!)

It is amazing how we first became roommates mearly because we needed roommates, we really didn't know each other. Then we became nursing classmates, and in the mix of it all became really good friends. Now 6 years after school with drastic changes in our lives like, careers, houses, husbands, and kids we are still good friends and I think safe to say life-long friends. It is a great feeling to be able to get together and just pick up like we still see each other every day, even though it may be year or two in between visits.

Gracie all ready for her fun day in the sun. This is the first time she has seen the ocean and been in waves. She had lots and lots of fun.

Playing in the HUGE sandbox with her new friend Keala.

The cutest toes you will find in the sand.

Mommy enjoyed playing in the sand too!

Next up: SEA WORLD and the famous Shamu show (the killer wales)

We are waiting to see the killer wale show with Shamu. It was a beautiful day.

Gracie telling the Wales "come back" after they went back into the water.

Jill and Keala also enjoying the show.

Jina and her little bundles: Kaeden and Keala.

Looking at the polar bears and Gracie holding her new SHARK! (it was actually was suppose to be a present for Zach, but someone became pretty fond of the shark... Sorry Zachy)

We had a WONDERFUL time.

Thanks for letting us come Jina. Thanks for coming with us Jill.

Thanks for being such Good Friends.

Dancing Moves!

Zachy has mastered his dancing moves and his sister isn't too bad herself. The music comes on and these two instantly start grooving. They are quite the entertainment... you can hear Grandma Betty in the background laughing.

Swing Set Fun!

This spring we bought a Rainbow Swing Set and put it up. We have very much enjoyed playing on it all summer long... kids and adults!. Gracie loves to swing. I think she could do it all day long. Zach also likes to swing, but his sister often thinks she needs the baby bucket instead of the regular swing. Some how we work out a compromise.

1st Haircuts

Today was haircut day for the two little Malecek's. This is both Gracie and Zach's first haircut ever... therefore it is a big event in both of there lives! I took pictures and saved a locket of hair for both of them. It again made me think "They grow up so fast!".

Gracie was first. She sat in the beauty chair like a little princess. She did not fuss at all. She just got an all over trim and the beautician layered it a little so the curls would fall nicer on her. She looks so cute.

Zachy was second for the beauty chair. He did pretty good at first and then got a little squirmy. He has some curls on the side of his head. I think if we were to let it keep growing it may be as curly as his sisters. For today it was just a trim to even it all out and get the bangs out of his eyes. What a handsome little fella.

The reason Zachy needed a haircut... look what his Auntie Christy did to him when we were on our summer vacation! (He does make a cute a little girl... shh don't tell him I said that!)

Walker and Bubbles

This post covers two events.

First: Zach and his walker.

Second: Having fun with bubbles.

Be sure to hit click the PLAY button on the videos to watch them.

Zach learning to walk using the walker. He sure can cruise. When he hits a wall he looks back at me and gives me that look "Mom come turn me around so I can keep going."

The kids and I had some fun blowing bubbles and playing with sidewalk chalk. Gracie catches on pretty well. You can hear her say "I did it!" It was fun to watch her try to catch the bubbles. Zach enjoyed watching and trying to touch the bubbles too.

Such a simple little toy, but it can bring so much enjoyment and laughter.

Sohre Trip - Lake Vermillan 2009

The last week in July we went on our summer vacation to Lake Vermillan, MN with the Sohre clan. This year my entire family was able to come for the entire week, even Darrin from Washington DC. This is a huge deal for everyone to be together at once, because it has been many years since everyone has been able to join in the fun for the entire week. We had 3 cabins, 3 boats, 13 adults, and 11 kids! No pets allowed! The thought of everyone together for a whole week, kids and all, at first seemed like it could be a little overwhelming, but it really wasn't at all. We absolutely had the best time. All the kids played non-stop and I think the adults were following suit as well. Fishing was not great, actually it was terrible, but it didn't stop us from having fun. It rained on and off the entire week also, but we were still able to enjoy the beach most afternoons. Zach and Gracie both did fairly well. Gracie loved the Papa's boat. She kept calling it "My boat." One evening Papa took Daddy out fishing and boy did she not agree with that situation. I was on the dock with her and as they are pulling away from the dock with the boat and she is crying out "My boat, my boat!" then "My daddy, My daddy." She was not happy that her Daddy and her boat were leaving her.

The men (Marty and Jason) frying fish for supper...

we found a good Sunny hole that gave us at least one meal of fish!

Zachy and his Cousin Kate.

Gracie and her Best Friend/Cousin Paige.

They played non-stop the entire week.

Gracie loved her life-jacket and often refused to take it off.

Such a change from last year where she screamed bloody-murder when we put it on her.

Sister-Brother love! I wish Gracie was always this nice to her brother.

Mommy and Zach.

Fun in the sun and sand.

Zach's first time in lake water. He enjoyed it.

Gracie and Cousin Jesse throwing rocks in the water.On the way home. It is about a 6 hr drive. Gracie did pretty good. If she has her blankie... she usually is a pretty content kid.
Zachy on the other hand needs to hold his Mommy's hand in order to be content. I spent half the trip with my hand curved behind my seat so I could reach his hand. If I let go for a second he would cry.


The wonderful Sohre Clan - all 24 of us!!!
I think on Sunday when we were all back at our respective homes we were all missing each other. It is hard to spend an entire week together and then go our separate ways again. I hope next year we are all able to spend the week together again.

Thanks Mom for making this possible!

Thanks family for being so GREAT!

Zachariah Crawling

This is old news, but Zach is crawling and climbing around all the furniture. He has been doing this for about 3 weeks now. So he started around 8 1/2 month old. He is growing up soo fast! (This blog also acts as my calendar of events for the kids... so when I go to write it in the baby book... I have some better idea of dates/ages).

On the 1st of July he turned 9 months old. He is in supreme separation anxiety from his Mommy. If I am in the room he needs me to be next to him. Every time I drop him off at daycare he starts to cry, but Sue our daycare lprovider assures me he stops shortly after I am gone. I remember Gracie being the same way.

Yesterday Zachy woke up with a fever at 4 am of 104.3 degrees. He was sooo warm and lethargic. After I picked him up then he vomited all over me. So at 4 am Marty and I are giving Zachy a bath to clean him up and cool him down, then I take a shower because he got my hair all full (all at 4 am mind you!). After dosing Zach with some ibuprofen I sat on the couch and cuddled him for the next several hours. We kept the ibuprofen and tylenol in him all day and he still ran a low grade temp. I am not sure what the deal is. He has a bad cough too, which I think is getting worse. I thought it was just teeth moving, but maybe it is more. Last night didn't go to bad and now he is still sleeping at 8:45 am so we will see what the day brings. It is so hard to know... do you take him in to see a provider or wait it out? Poor little guy, if only he could tell me what hurts or aches... is it an ear little guy? or your teeth? or just this misserable cough? Hopefully today goes better.