Halloween!

Paul's too interested in the MSU game but Max is too cute!

Straightened her hair-she looks way older than 2 1/2!

My very first Halloween!

My Mickey and Minnie!

We took the kids trick or treating! It was soo cold! Max had on 3 pairs of socks and a pair of shoes and we got home and he was still ice cold...poor little man. Hannah had fun but she was full steam running from house to house in the beginning so she wore herself out! After the first hour she said she was done and didnt need any more candy! They were both so cute. I loved making their outfits this year and I think I'll make their outfits every year from now on-there are so many more possibilities! Oh, and I just got my new sewing machine in the mail so I'm excited to see what else I can make. Here are some pics from Halloween!

Conversations with a 2 year old

We're outside and she's carrying around her blanket cause she said she was cold. While eating Strawberry Shortcake tonight I asked her if she'd like to pick strawberries again sometime soon:

Maybe we can pick strawberries on Saturday. Not today. It's 'possed to rain in coupo minutes. Right now, the rain is in the cwouds sweeping. Pretty soon it's gonna rain and tunder, rain and tunder, rain and tunder. Where's sunshine at?

After putting up the new bird house:

The birdies can libe in there. Puts her lips up to the hole in the house: Hello in there! And the birdies say (in a different voice) Hello Hannah, hello! Birdies house gonna hang down and maybe it's still on the thing ober there (the shepherd's hook).

What did you do yesterday, Hannah?

Pwayed at grandma's house and I pwayed with Woocy (Lucy). We got the car ready and we go home. Then, I swide down the swide and then I swide down with my bwanket. And I say WEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Pretending to be a princess:

(Puts a blanket on her head:) I'm a pwincess out here. They libe in they house and they pway. And they pway hopcotch like this (jumps around). I'm walking to my park and I'm gonna pway pwincess. They kiss a frog and they go inside a weeeeeeery big house. They kiss a frog MWAH like that and then the frog turns into Donald Duck (an episode from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).

Sandbox:

Inside are toys to dig and a bucket to make a mountain. Papa and Gramma make mountains with me. And I make mountains of dirts.

Come on bwanket. Wet's Go! Vamanos! (let's go in spanish).

Still carrying around her blanket:

I'm cold. Wiw you tuck me tug in a bug in a rug in a bug in a rug?

See's a plane: Pwanes fwy. (Do they do anything else?) Pwanes fwy and that's it!

Can I make noise outside? (mommy replies yes). OK! WHOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO. I make the noise WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!

I gotta eat my stwabewwies. I'm hungry for stwabewwies!

Max cries: No Max! Top crying. Dere's no crying outside, in the bath, in my bedroom, in this room (depending on where she was at the time).

Fatty Fatty

How does one little man wreck your body so badly? Sure he was only 8 lbs. 4 ozs. at birth but he made his loft comfortable for his 9 month stay and now I'm paying the price. I've been on Weight Watchers for a month and being more active but apparently my body thought the re-modeling job was something to hold onto. Only losing 13 pounds in 6 weeks is NOT cutting it for me. Apparently nursing mothers aren't supposed to lose it quickly but I can't stand this flab! My little man is worth every roll and stretch mark but why does it have to be one or the other??

It's A BOY!

Maxwell Owen "Max" was born on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 1:48 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20.5 inches long.
Birth Story:
I went in Friday, March 6 to be induced. I was given the gel and just sat in bed for 12 hours. It was definitely nice to play board games w/ Paul and visit with Kaylene when I was forced to just sit there.
Saturday I woke up and was still 1 cm. They started pitocin at 8:45 am. The contractions started to get a bit painful around 11 am. By then, I was only a 3 even though they were sooo painful! It was much more painful than I remember w/ Hannah. The epidural was taking too long but it finally got there and it was soooo nice! Shortly after I got to a 5 cm and Paul left to get some lunch. The way I had been progressing before then made it seem like he had more time. By the time he ran down to get food and came back upstairs to start eating I was fully dilated and ready to push. Unfortunately the dr. wasn't ready for me to push and the nurse had to yell at her to hurry up and get ready. She made me breathe through 2 contractions even though I wanted to push soooo badly! I wanted to yell FORGET THE BOOTIES, just get over here! I took a deep breath in like I was supposed to push and she told me to stop, he was 1/2 out. I took another deep breath and just had to let it out again since he was all the way out. The labor was 5 hrs. and 3 minutes long and no pushing! It was a miracle labor!
Max is of course perfect. He's such a great baby. Very easy to please and happy. He smiles a lot! Hannah is adjusting very well. She loves her little brother and makes sure he's content all the time.
Hannah's doing wonderfully too. She loves to sing songs and read books.

Vocabulary!

Hannah's language skills have really taken off. Both Paul and I talk about how amazed we are w/ how well she talks. She now is making complete sentences and it's blowing us away!
I love that now she can tell us if something is bothering her. She'll say, "teeth hurt, medicine please mommy". She says please and thank you 99% of the time without even being asked. If someone sneezes (or coughs or burps) she says, "bless you".
Sometimes she says things that make me wanna laugh and swat her butt at the same time. If I ask her to pick up her toys she says, "noooooo, vacuum (dac-doom) mommy!" I tell her that I'm not gonna clean them up by myself and she says "ok, Kellan help you". What a stinker!
She has trouble with the F sound so it usually comes out more like SH....she likes to smell showers and pours cah-shee to drink. The other day she was pushing a basket around. It overturned and she said "Uh oh! Basket Shell, Memo ok, Elmo hurt. Elmo bruise". I cracked up til I cried! If I ask her to walk up the stairs on her own she asks, "Kellan heaby? Hannah walks, mommy". She always says Hannah help boo and will pick up.
She loves to count to 10-1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9,10. She's getting there!!!
She's learning her colors but everything except pink and white are "green".
If it's cold outside she runs to the car saying COLD, yunning Mommy's car!" Once inside she asks for a blanket (or bank-it).
She knows everyone on Sesame Street's name except for Rosita--she just isn't a fan! It's funny to watch her wave and say HI to each character as they come on the screen.
It's been such a blast to watch her learn and grow and I can't wait to watch her when her little brother arrives. I think she will be the BEST big sister any little man could ask for!

Christmas Newsletter 2008

Happy Holidays! It seems like this year has just flown by! I never thought we'd join in on the Christmas Newsletter but since we don't see or talk to people as much as we'd like, it was the easiest way to update everyone on us (mostly Hannah).
Hannah is now 21 months old. She turns 2 at the end of February and she just keeps growing! She's still tall and skinny (like her daddy). She's up to about 15 teeth now and she's not afraid to use them! She talks constantly. Around 18 months, she had a few favorite words that she used over and over again (mostly EAT and DADDY), but since then her vocabulary has begun to expand exponentially. She has flash cards that she has us quiz her on all the time. Appletus (Octopus) and Melonwater (Watermelon), as well as Tibra (Zebra-she's confused by it's tiger-like stripes) and Dacdum (Vacuum) are some of her more amusing attempts. She has a few favorite books that she doesn't like to read, but instead point to each object on the page and tell you what it is.
Her first birthday was a Princess Theme party and she feels it necessary to carry on that title throughout the year. From her birthday and Christmas last year alone, she has a playroom bursting at the seams with toys. But she doesn't take it for granted, she reminds both Mommy and Daddy who got her the majority of her gifts. She still loves her babies (Susan, Janet, Maggie, Ramona, Campbell Evelyn, and Barbara) but now she has moved onto her latest love, cooking.
She loves to help Mommy and Daddy cook every meal but mostly she loves to cook in her own play kitchen. She'll special order any meal you'd like but just remember, “it HOT!” The chef doesn't stop there, she'll gladly blow on your food until it reaches a temperature you're comfortable with.
Hannah had her first plane ride experience in October and Mommy claims there won't be another one until she learns the true meaning of the terms: “no kicking the seat in front of you” and “no yelling”. She had fun meeting her family in Colorado and visiting her uncle and her baby friends in Oregon even though the 2 and 3 hour time differences could have fooled a lot of people into thinking she didn't have much fun! We don't see any of our family nearly enough so it was nice to have an excuse to go out and visit!
For Halloween, Mommy made Hannah an Ariel costume because she just LOVES Ariel from the Little Mermaid. She loved going up to everyone's door and saying “Tic-Tee” and Day-du (Thank you).
She loves Sesame Street and knows each character by name. She would sit and watch Youtube videos of her favorites all day long if we'd let her. The beginning of December we took her to see Sesame Street Live and she was in awe. Her mouth hung open for a good 10 minutes while she realized that just a few feet away from her were the loves of her life! First Ernie and Bert..well that was great enough but they were followed by Bird Bird and Abbadee and Oscargr and Telly? No way! Not to mention Elmo and Ah-Bla-La-La (Cookie Monster)! Once she got over the shock of it all, she had a blast dancing around in the aisles. We couldn't have had any more fun watching her. She also likes The Backyardigans, but only the songs at the end where she raises both hands above her head and spins and dances in a circle until she is falling over dizzy. She also loves Spongebob (or Bobbie as she's adoringly started calling him). And don't forget Patrick or Gary or Did-Did (Squidward).
We found out on the 4th of July that we were expecting another little Zandarski and we were thrilled. In November we found out it was a baby boy and we're ecstatic. We are pretty much set on a first name but the spelling of the first and an actual middle name have us battling back and forth! Mommy should win though, right? I mean she is the one giving birth!
Paul is still working hard at Michelin and bringing home the bacon for the family. Liz is a stay-at-home-mom for the time being but she's also taking on line classes for a medical transcription certification. She's almost done with the classes and then hopefully she'll quickly find a job while staying at home with the two little ones.
We love to stay in touch with family and friends so in case you don't have our email addresses, here they are: Liz: msuliz33@gmail.com Paul: zandars2@gmail.com
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! We love you!

Hannah's Day (new words)

A Day In the Life of Hannah (Learning Words)
Getting Up:
Usually she'll wake up and say Mommy or Daddy or Help if she wants out of her crib. She knows she's not allowed out if she just yells or cries. Sometimes she says "Hand" and wants you to grab her hand so she can climb out on her own...nope doesnt happen!
Immediately after she gets up she wants to "eat" which she says while pointing at her mouth. If she had her choice, she'd eat bacon, bacon, bacon and nothing else. Or "me-me" mini muffins. She'll also ask all day for Appo-Ju (Apple Juice) though she usually gets stuck w/ milk or wah-ta (water).
Then she'll ask to watch the only TV she ever wants to watch. She likes to switch between her three favorite shows. She'll ask for Bobbie (Spongebob) or Pact-o (Pablo from the Backyardigans) or Elmo (Sesame Street). She doesnt like to watch the shows, just the theme songs so mommy usually records them so she can watch the theme songs and be done. She likes the end of the Backyardigans so she can wave bye when they go in the house after the song. She yells BOBBIE during the spongebob theme song and she likes to watch bits and pieces of Sesame Street. She loves Elmo the most, followed closely by Bird Bird (Big Bird), Ernie, Ber (Bert), Oscur-gr (Oscar Grouch), and a tongue roll for Cookie Monster.
After that it's time to cook...and this usually lasts all day. She loves to be in her pretend kitchen or the real kitchen. Her new kitchen from Grammi and Grampi is already waiting in the garage for Christmas. She will be floored b/c the kitchen is her favorite toy she has. She will cook all day. She'll feed her babies, mommy, or daddy. If you ask her for a particular food item, 90% of the time you'll get what you wanted...(including if you ask for eggs, she'll give you both a whole egg and an open egg!)
She still likes her babies but has grown bored w/ taking care of them daily. She usually makes sure they're comfortable in their stro-er(stroller), bassinet, or cart (shopping cart). She likes to read books but usually only her elmo books or her tractor books. Daddy reads a book to her every night but usually she follows along in a book of her choice after she picks one out for Daddy to read.
She loves her potty chair. On and off during the day she'll grab her diaper and say potty. So we race to the bathroom and sit on the potty while Hannah says "Pee" or "pssst" but never actually does. She came close to "poo" one day but got scared and tried jumping off the toilet. She has a new potty chair but has yet to be interested in it beside putting her babies on it or sticking toys in and hiding them.
She loves to "co-ur" (color) though lately she's just been eating crayons so she gets them taken away.
She loves to listen to music. Her favorite is still Morris Brown by Outkast. But when she's relaxing it's Luckiest by Ben Folds Five. If she's in the mood to dance around it's Who Let the Dogs Out...her newest favorite where she yells "dogggy".
For lunch, she loves anything w/ cheese in it and will eat an entire bowl of Mac-n-Cheese. She likes "butter" both the peanut kind and regular kind. She'll eat the butter off a piece of toast or just request it as a meal. She loves fresh strawberries and other fruits. Of course she likes junk food just like her daddy but we're trying to steer toward being healthy. She does like hot dogs and could eat 2 if hungry.
For nap time she goes down very easily usually. She requires several things to nap peacefully. Pa-ci (pacifier), Woe-ie (lovie), and Ber (carebear). Usually she'll sleep for 2 hours, if the neighbors aren't out being annoying.
After naptime, no matter the time she went down, she'll immediately start asking for "daddy". She will look out the window and even open the door to the garage to see if his car is there. If she hears the garage door open, no matter where she is, she will start to flip out! If she's upstairs, she'll go sit at the top of the stairs and go between sticking her finger to her mouth (meaning "shhh, we're surprising daddy") or scream at the top of her lungs in excitement. If she's downstairs she'll immediately run to the garage, see his car, and race around the kitchen being both excited and shy at the same time. It's her favorite part of the day.
When daddy gets home she wants to help him cook right away. Her favorite thing to do is cook dinner. She loves to stir and add ingredients. For dinner, she has to sit in her high chee and use her fork or spoon in the opposite hand than the one she's picking up food with. Sometimes she does scoop up some food but if it's something really tasty, it's easier to shovel in by hand.
After dinner, which she may or may not eat, she gets ready for the "baaaa" (bath). She gets in and tries to lap up the water filling the tub. She loves her ducks and the "girr" (girl) in the tub. She loves to fill up a caaa (cup) w/ water and drink out of it all prim and proper. Lately, she likes to lay on her belly in the bath or take a bucket and dump it on her face. She wants you always to put body wash in her hands so she can rub her hands together and clean her be-yee (belly) or har (hair).
After bath she usually says "cold" and "brrrr" and hugs herself.
Daddy reads a "buh" (book) while she reads another. Then it's kisses for everyone including baby brother or sister.
Thanks for coming along and reading about our DAY!