Birthday Safari

Yesterday was Kurt's birthday. He is 24! When did we get this old? (not that 24 is old, but I don't feel like we are in our mid-twenties) Moving on before I stick my foot in my mouth once again.

Back to the birthday. We went to a drive-thru safari. It was so much fun. And much more frightening that anticipated. I was looking forward to the zebras and giraffes and so many other of God's creatures. We got there, got our cups of food to feed them and we were off. Windows rolled down, ready for adventure.

The kind ladies, in between oogling over Zoe, warned us of the camels. They would try to steal our cups when we fed them and might possibly block the road in order to get more food. Just honk they said and they should move.

When we entered the gates of the safari, we were swarmed by a welcoming committee of 10 alpaca. Windows up. At least mine anyways. They were sticking their heads inside the car to get the food, and growling and snorting at each other who tried to get in their way. Umm... wasn't this supposed to be fun?

I was not brave, but was laughing. What else was I supposed to do. It was pretty funny after all. The alpaca got out of our way, even though they ran with the car for a bit and we were on the road again. Going 5 miles per hour, but on the road again.

Well we were driving down the bumpy dirt road (wondering if our small rental car would make it) we approached some camels, who immediately came running towards us.

Kurt was excited to see if they indeed would steal the cup. They tried. Kurt held on tight. Not today camels.

We entered the next area, which was the filled with zebras and antelopes. I was feeling brave and wanted to feed a zebra. Because come on, it's a zebra! Do you know how you feed a zebra? I don't. The other animals we came across stuck their noses in the cups to get the food. So I assumed the zebra would do the same. HA! He opens his mouth and wants you to pour it in. Quite a scary scene when this is inches from your face.
Zoe did not like that at all. Because it was private property and we were moving at a snail's pace. Zoe sat on my lap. She liked to look at the animals. When that zebra opened its mouth and mommy started to freak out a little, Zoe lost it. She was a little tired and hungry, and let's face it I almost lost it.

We fed her as we drove along to the next area. Let me tell you, that was an experience.

Pretty soon, we had our happy camper back again. She sat with daddy and drove for a little while, and loved it. (We are stopped in this picture. Hands were on the wheel at all times.)
I was really excited to feed the giraffe. They were in a pen type thing and you could pull right up to the side so they could reach out. That was my favorite part. He just stuck his long tongue into the cup. The cup was pretty nasty after that stop.

There were lots of other animals that we saw. There were 2 rhinos.Lots of donkeys. At one point we had donkeys running on either side of the car. That was pretty fun.
Zoe liked these things. I am not really sure what they are, but their horns were awesome.



We even saw Bambi!

This is how Kurt fed the animals.


This is how I fed the animals. So brave I know. (I didn't feed all of them like that... just most of them)
There was also a walk-thru part of the park which had monkeys, reptiles, turtles and a porcupine. And of course we had to take a picture of our little monkey.
And of course, here is a little video to top it all off. (I guess you never really know how your voice sounds to other people. No wonder people think I am 12 on the phone.)

Happy Birthday honey! You are the best husband and father and I love you more every day!

6 month look-a-likes?

Zoe is 6 1/2 months old! Oh my! When we took her to the doctor a few weeks ago, she weighed 14 pounds 7 ounces and 25 1/2 inches long. She is still my little peanut. Her height and weight are in the 50 percentile. But her head is in the 75th. lol No wonder she is a bobble head.

Now let's do a fun little comparison. (not because I was forced to) Here is a picture we took the other day at the pumpkin patch.
And here is me at about 6 months also.


I think she looks like me. But I am not a very good judge of things like this.

What do you think?

Oatmeal Wins!

The other night we started Zoe on food. She really wasn't all that interested in the rice cereal. We video taped some of it, but I will spare you the 4 1/2 minutes of riveting action of baby feeding then spitting, then more feeding and more spitting... you get the picture.It mostly ended up on her face, bib and legs.
A few days later we gave her oatmeal. She loved it and just wanted more even though a lot of it still ended up on her face, bib and leg. (and also daddy's pants and the floor when I picked up the bowl and got it a bit too close to a happy baby's happy arms.)
She opened her mouth and waited for daddy to feed her.
Every time he put the spoon back in the bowl to get more, she would lean over the bumbo and try to reach for daddy's hand.
She really wanted that oatmeal.


So, in conclusion, oatmeal is the winner. But we will not give up on you rice cereal.

Pumpkins Far and Wide

I love fall because it means we get to go to the pumpkin patch! This year I have a really cute reason to go and take lots of pictures.

Zoe and I packed up and headed out to a super cute pumpkin patch to meet several other moms with the same agenda. Take cute pictures of their children. And maybe pick up a pumpkin or two.

I nestled my little girl among the gourds and snapped away. I am quite sure I made a fool of myself in attempt to get a smile. Most of the time I got nothing... or "The Eyebrow" as we affectionately call it. Zoe can raise one eyebrow, you know like the Rock. Aaaanyways. I got some cute pictures of her and was overall very happy when we left.

Ya notice the large drool spot. So cute for pictures. :)

Half smile...

Then day two of pumpkin patch going. This time we went with daddy. He is working in Oklahoma so Zoe and I packed up and went with him. Since we will not be in town for Halloween, I wanted all of us to go to the pumpkin patch together.

I really liked this pumpkin patch. Although you had to pay to get in and there was not much of pumpkin selection, there were lots of things to do there. They had a petting zoo, hay rides, pony rides and a corn maze. And you got to pick out a small pumpkin. We had fun.

Here is attempt two to get a sweet smile. As we were trying to take pictures in the pumpkins a goat was wondering around the pumpkins. Random, but kinda funny.


There was this really cute Cinderella carriage, so of course we had to take the photo op. Pay no attention to the man behind the carriage.
Finally... SUCCESS!!
Visiting the animals. Zoe was not sure what to think about the horse.
Look I really was there! (And the humidity here is doing nothing for my hair)

Growing

Zoe is growing so fast these days. It amazes me that she was so tiny a mere 5 1/2 months ago.

She is a happy little girl most of the time, unless she is tired or hungry. She is so cute when she wakes up from a nap. She is all smiles and not at all groggy or grumpy. She is a sleeper and her mama is so happy about that. On a regular basis she sleeps in until 10 am. But she is perfectly happy if we wake her up early to go to church.
She is full of squeals of happiness and loves to talk. She gets a very serious look on her face and says "oooo ooooo ooooo." So cute.

She also can look at you like you are the craziest person on earth. She has that special talent of raising one eyebrow... and will give it to often. It is quite funny when mommy and daddy are making fools of themselves to entertain her and she gives us the eyebrow. Greeeaaat!

She also recently discovered her feet and socks. she likes to grab her feet when I am changing her, when she is in her bed and in her chair. She sometimes sucks in her toes but then makes a funny face. She pulled off her sock the other day and was chewing on it.

She likes to watch TV. She doesn't care what is on it, she just likes to look at the pictures. I swore I would never be the type of mom who uses TV as a babysitter. And I still don't just sit her in front of it to occupy her. I try to play with her toys with her, but that doesn't last for long.

We gave her a sippy cup the other day and she loved it. She drank the whole thing. She likes to hold the handles and pull the cup to and awary from her face and lips.

I think I am raising a teenager in a baby's body. Sleeps til noon (if I let her) and likes to watch lots of TV (if I let her, which I don't)... hmmmm.

Daddies..

make the best sleeping buddies.

No mater how uncomfortable they seem.



Note: Pay no attention to the fact that there are no sheets on our bed. They were in the washing machine when they decided to nap there.

Perfect Weekend

Walking the dogs in a small beach town with perfect weather.


Zoe doing what she does best. She loved walking around even though it was a bit cold at times. She is always so sweet.

We shopped, ate at a fabulous restaurant named after a cute animal and a character from Land Before Time, walked the streets of the quiet beach town and played numerous games of dominoes.
Even though we didn't quite make it on the beach, it was a relaxing and wonderful weekend.

It ended with the perfect drive home. (even with the temperature rising the whole way... ugh) We even stopped to look at the beautiful view.


Of course there had to be more dog walking when we stopped. ;)


We plan on venturing back to the little beach town we are loving so much. My parents rented a beach house there for the next month. Needless to say we will be there off and on the next month because there is a desperate need to escape the heat and enjoy some quiet time with my little family.

oh hello...

I thought I would have so much time to blog and post fabulous pictures of my cute little girl. I don't.

I thought I would be the best blogger ever and continually update on what is happening over here and how much Zoe has grown. I'm not.

The time that I do have is being consumed with projects and laundry and loving on the sweetest girl I know. But I am ok with that. I have created these high expectations for myself about blogging and posting and being this super-mom that can do everything. Well I was sadly mistaken.

But we have been doing some really fabulous things around here. My mom and I had a wonderfully productive crafty day filled with old junk, paint, paper, mod podge and embellishments. So fun.

I have been working on Zoe's room and it is almost done. (so she is three and a half months old already. Don't judge me.) So I will be posting about that soon.

I also have some great curtains in the works.

There are lots of things going on around here as I decided that this was the month that I was going to get my house in order and finally decorated. And now that Zoe is on a regular nap schedule, I am finding much more time for chores and for a little me time. It is so nice.

And since this is a sorry excuse for an update. I offer up my pathetic-ness with a cute picture of a sleeping baby.

In a pair of even cuter Care Bear socks.

I love baby feet. But is there anything sweeter than these baby feet wrapped in the adorable socks?!

Graduation

Kurt and I both walked in our graduation ceremonies a few weeks ago. We both graduated with Bachelor degrees from CSUB. I am so excited and relieved to be finished with school. I still have to go back to get my credential, but I am taking a much needed break from school and papers.

Me, Zoe and Kurt happy to be done with school This was after my graduation on Saturday. We made Kurt bring his cap and gown so we could take pictures.

Couldn't be happier to be finally finished.

And what day is complete without putting your hat on your sleeping child and taking a ridiculous amount of pictures and laughing at them because of their cuteness.

part 3 and she is here!

***ETIDED TO ADD PICTURES***
Ok so blogger will not let me move the pictures any more... so they will just have to stay at the top. Sorry.

Zoe sucking in her hand right after she was born.

Three generations of Thompsons. Kurt, his dad Brad and Zoe.

Daddy holding his sweet baby girl for the first time. He loves her so much already.

The nurse looked at me like I was a little crazy. I don't think she took me very seriously. But she casually said, "Ok I will check you."

And she did. At this point the anesthesiologist was walking in the door.

Then a little panic overtook her face.. she said, "umm you are 9."

It took a second for that to set in. as she told me I would NOT be receiving my epidural I was counting on. The anesthesiologist turned around and walked right back out the way he came.. taking my dreams of no pain with him. *sigh*

Then I could feel panic on MY face. I looked at Kurt and started to freak out a little and kept saying, "I can't do this, I can't so this." Rockstar indeed.. HA!

He tried to calm me down and make me focus. He was pretty much amazing and I have no idea what I would have done without him there. I would have been one of those crazy people screaming and passing out.. which I almost did.. but I digress.

Then the worst part of the entire labor.. my body wanted to push, needed to push. But the nurse said I still had a little cervix left and that I had to wait. Seriously?

My body was pushing and I was trying to stop it. It is very hard to control involuntary muscle spasms. Add in the hyperventilating that I was doing because I was freaking out saying, "I don't want to do this anymore." As if I was going to get up off the bed and walk out the door to go home. They had to give me oxygen because I was hyperventilating and my hands were going stiff and I couldn't move them.

At his point it was about 4:30am. And they were telling me that I might have to push through that tiny bit of cervix because my body was obviously ready. So push I did.

I wish I could have pushed through every contraction that I ever had. It made them feel so much better. You are not thinking about your contraction at all.. just pushing.

As I was doing the initial pushing, there was a sort of frenzy around me. My mom and Kurt were making phone calls to our families who went home. My dad went home to sleep and told my mom to call me when I got to 8cm.. I guess I skipped that part. Sorry dad. The doctor and nurses were quickly pulling my bed apart and wheeling in equipment. Chaos I tell you.

Kurt's mom go there just in time. I think she was there all of 10 minutes before Zoe was born.

Anyways, I kept pushing as hard as I could during each contraction, then tried to focus on breathing regularly in between. I didn't want to have to wait for contractions, that was no fun. At one point they asked me if I was having a contraction so I could push again and I told them, "No but I want one." HA I was delirious I think.

The doctor was there and my baby's head was halfway out. He told me to push one more little push to deliver the head. I pushed a little push, but apparently I was stronger that I thought. My sweet little baby went form having half a head out to being delivered to her waist. Then she just came on out. I was looking at the doctor as she came out and he literally had to catch her because she did a flip.

Then I heard the most wonderful words "It's a girl!" followed by the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. My daughter crying.

My eyes must have been so wide when I looked at Kurt and just said, "a girl!" I think that was all I could manage to say at that point. I was pretty tired. But not too tired to hold the most beautiful baby girl ever. (ok so I may be a little bias)

Zoe Adalyn was born at 4:56am on April 14, 2009.

Right after Zoe was born. We were in complete bliss.

The next couple of days were all a little blurred together. Zoe's pediatrician wanted her to stay at least 24 hours. So we stayed until the 16th. I am glad we stayed an extra day. I was not really in any condition to walk or even stand. My very quick delivery was not without consequences in the form of stitches. (TMI I know, but hey it's reality ;) )

The time spent int he hospitla was a whirlwind of visitors and nurses coming in and out to check on Zoe and me, different people coming in for tests and certificates. But no pictures.. that lady never came. She went home and we had to come back the next day to get her picture taken.

I was trying to soak up every minute of my experience and my new little girl. But we were definitely ready to go home by the time we were discharged.


*Blogger is not letting me post pictures. ugh.. so I will post them later.. sorry. I know what is a birth story without pictures!*