Ms. D'Lynn

Zoe

Zozer

The Dozer

Nuggle Bear

The Nuggle

Ah Zoe. Where do I start? We had a rough winter. Things started getting better a month ago when she got really sick and sent us back to square one. Now, with some occasional warm weather, she is back to her bubbly self. She loves to help me with everything and be a mommy (to Owen, Tigger, and Warner -her toy bird). She is steadily getting better at interacting with people and understanding feelings - her own and those of others. She is really excited for it to be summertime and asks every day if it's warm enough to go to the pool. I have to say, I am excited as well.

On the Third Day of Christmas

I Posted on My Blog

My 3-Year-Old in Preschool

This is slightly related to yesterday's post, but in a fun way and with pictures. Zoe had her first day of preschool back at the beginning of September. Since I wasn't sure if she would be staying in preschool and wasn't ready to share the whole story I waited on posting the pictures.

And then I waited and waited and waited some more.

Today is the day I finally get to share her first day in preschool! Zoe loves going. She goes 4 days a week - 2 to the district and 2 to our neighborhood co-op preschool with some other kids and moms from the neighborhood. So far we've had a really good experience with the teachers and the other kids are way cute too.

P.S. Thanks for all the support and love you guys have been sending us!

36 Months (and counting)

Zoe is 3 today! Can you believe it? We certainly can't. We love this wonderful little girl more and more each day. She is getting to be such a big kid. We are so blessed to have her in our home. Here are just a "few" pictures of her over the years.

A Hairy Situation

It's time to get down to an important issue around here - What should I do with Zoe's hair? It is really really ridiculously long. Do I cut it? If I do, how much should I take off? Or should I just leave it alone? I really don't have enough brain cells left to make this decision, so I'm relying on all of you in Blogger-land to weigh in. Please vote in the poll on the side and tell us your opinion. And if you have any experience cutting children's hair, give me some tips. Keep in mind that Zoe doesn't watch movies, cartoons, or television of any sort, so keeping her still for longer than 30 seconds will be my main issue (aside from the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing).

To give you some reference on the hair issue at hand, here are some pictures I had taken of her in an actual studio a month ago. I meant to do it closer to her birthday but, uh, I didn't. And if I had known they would ask me to be in the shot I probably would have done my hair. Maybe.


In other hair-related news, here is Zoe's prayer as I was doing her hair for church Sunday morning:

Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for the day
Thank you for church
Thank you for hair
Thank you for nap

Amen

Other things that she has been thankful for recently: Mommy and Daddy, Zoe and Baby, Grandma, Stories, and Family. Could she be any cuter?

"Smile, Zoe!"

Best. Face. Ever

Zoe D'Lynn and the Blustery Day

A few mornings ago it was uncommonly windy. It was actually nice as it made it feel as if it wasn't 90 degrees at 10:30 in the morning. Zoe, as always, was having a great time playing in the backyard so I grabbed the camera to document the beautiful day (and the cutest kid ever).

Farewell Tour

While I am working on no less than 6 other posts that are swimming around in my head, here are a TON of pictures that should have made the blog before the move. They didn't, so now I present them en masse, as a tribute of sorts to our previous home.

Farewell, green-tiled, rusty and moldy bathroom





Farewell, Westmore Park


Farewell, lovely-but-cramped apartment

I think we might need a bigger box

And finally:
Farewell, street where we spent over 3 wonderful years as a family


Hello, Summer!
(It has to come someday, right?)

On the Origin of Nuggle

Wow, I haven't posted for a while. Mostly because our life has been downright boring lately. Which is fine by me. It's nice that February is starting out relatively calm because pretty soon it is going to get rip-roaring crazy. You'll see. I guess the only thing to update everyone on is that I was released from my calling. I have been the first counselor in the Relief Society for almost exactly a year and a half (which is a long time for our ward) and I got to serve under two fantastic presidents. I'm pretty sure my freedom won't last long. The Young Women's president tracked me down to let me know she was "excited" that I was released. Which is right up my alley. I'd still be going to Young Women's if I had any say-so in the matter.

Other than that, Zoe isn't feeling so great and has a pretty yucky cough. I'm just hoping it blows over. If that wasn't enough, I finally got to the exciting part of Jane Eyre, where things actually start to happen so for the last two and a half days I've really been no good to anyone. Just ask James.

To make up to our families, specifically the grandmas, for excluding Zoe's little nuggle face from so many (6 straight) recent posts, I present the following:

On the Origin of Nuggle

Some of you may have noticed (and some of you have commented) about the usage of the term "Nuggle." Today I intend to address the origins and proper usage of the term.

James and I do not belong to the school of thought that says you should wait to choose your child's name until after they are born (for me this is one of those no-brainers right up there with finding out the sex at 20 weeks, no offense to anyone not of my opinion, but really you are crazy and wrong). When they come out they are swollen, red, and covered in goo. And I am in a drug/labor of love-induced stupor. No condition for making far-reaching decisions in my child's life. So before we even got married we knew what names we wanted to use for our children.

One thing we couldn't predict was the role of nicknames. During the pregnancy we went through various ones, including Zowen before we knew the gender (Zoe + Owen). Then Zoe came into the world and every nickname we ever called her went out the window. After months of toying around with new nicknames, we realized that the only word/name that fit her was "Nuggle." It started out as us just saying snuggle, then we dropped the "s" and it became a noun. Other incarnations we use include: Nuggles, Nuggle Bear, Nuggles T. Bear, Nuggle-Faced Bear, Nugglesome Bear, and Nuggly B (used exclusively by James). Sometimes she is a Nuggle, sometimes she is The Nuggle (a la The Cheat) but she is always nuggly.

How long will she be a Nuggle? Who knows. We will probably embarrass her in front of her friends in high school.

So maybe it's a half-made up word that means nothing to anybody else. To us it sums up everything about this wonderful little girl we get to hang out with every day.

Now aren't you all glad we didn't name her when we saw her?

All the snow pictures/footage is from one miraculous outing where Zoe decided it was about time to actually touch the snow she talks about endlessly. She went all along one side of the walkway sticking her right foot into the snow. I guess this is what you would call a step in the right direction? The video gets a little bit of it. Something must have gone terribly wrong the last time she stuck her foot in because she a had a total meltdown.

A Sticky Situation

On Monday I was preparing to have our neighbors over for a good ole Family Home Evening. We had just finished dinner and I had left some of it out while I flitted around the house making myself look decent (or at least attempting to). Suddenly I had the strange feeling that Zoe was being really quiet. Not that she's abnormally loud, but something just seemed odd about the silence. Call it a mother's intuition, if you will. I dropped what I was doing and looked around for her. What I found, in the kitchen, was this:

I guess she wasn't quite finished with her peanut butter. The most amazing thing was that she managed to dip her fingers into the jar without knocking it over, or onto the floor, or, even better, getting ANY on her outfit. That is a miracle in and of itself! We got her all cleaned off before she could spread her sticky mess to the rest of the house and got on with our evening.

Want to know what's not sticky? My kitchen floor. Over the last few days it has been unreasonably slippery. James and I have both nearly fallen as we've crossed the room. So weird. Not that this has anything to do with what I've just posted about, but I just thought I would let you all know that for some unknown reason I have a slippery kitchen floor.

Also in an unrelated matter - Happy Birthday Mom! When are you coming out here again? It has been a little too long since October. We love you!

A Stitch In Time...

I just wanted to let everyone know that Zoe is doing absolutely fabulous now. She really hasn't cried (over her stitches) since they were put in. She is back to her happy, active, normal self and it looks like there will only be a little scar (probably even smaller if the doctor had taken a bit more time). The stitches should dissolve soon.

Zoe had another great day in nursery. I could drop-kick her into the room and she would still be happy to be there. The newest additions to her vocabulary include: lion, yellow, and chin (as she pinches someone or some thing's chin). James has Monday off work so hopefully we will get some things done around the house and - cross your fingers - have his car up and running again. We are hoping that the battery is just dead. Otherwise I might be without a car for a bit longer. Not that I have anywhere to go, but it's so confining not even having the option of going anywhere.

So that is the news here, or lack thereof. Thank you to everyone for your concern over Zoe's (and my) wellbeing. I don't know what I'd do without all of you supporting me.

P.S. Obviously all the pictures are from before Zoe's accident. But what is a post about Zoe without pictures of her?

Two Reasons to Love Church Again

Reason the First:
11:00. That's right, folks, we now meet two hours later. Which means that I don't need an alarm clock (other than Zoe) to wake me up. Most importantly, I don't have to make important decisions like: shower or eat breakfast? Do my hair or get Zoe ready? Poor James still has to get up really early because they moved all the meeting he needs to attend (PEC, Ward Council, and Ward Welfare) to before church. Technically I should be going to Ward Welfare also, but he is the only one who can attend for the Ward Mission, and there are three other sisters able to attend for the Relief Society Presidency. So I'm off the hook for now.

The only drawbacks are we are done so much later in the day and the new schedule is going to be a bit rough on Zoe. Lately her napping schedule has been erratic at best, and nap time can start at anytime between 11:30 and 2:00. Then we have to adjust lunchtime accordingly. So her most unpredictable and, often grumpiest, time of the day is right when we're asking her to sit on a pew for an hour. Yesterday was the first time we had to take her out of Sacrament Meeting in a very long time. She is usually an angel and very willing to be distracted by whatever toys and snacks we bring for her. Yesterday she was just too tired. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Which brings me to.....

Reason the Second:
NURSERY! Nursery, nursery, nursery, nursery, nursery! Is there any word that has ever sounded so sweet to my ears? Nursery! Just saying it brings a smile to my face and quickens my step. We took her into the room and she made a beeline to the toy chest, took one out, sat on the floor with it and played contentedly. We stood there thinking, "Is this it? Shouldn't we have to sign some sort of release form?" The teacher came in, asked us which Sunday School class we attended and said we were good. We left and Zoe didn't even notice.

I still missed most of Sunday School because I had to go to the intake meeting, where we meet with the new move-ins and get the information we need to get their records transferred. But when I finally made it in, I felt like a new person. James and I just kept looking at each other and smiling. I tried not to jump out of my skin shouting "Hallelujah!"

We checked on her after Sunday School and she was sitting in a little chair, watching the teachers and the other children singing "Popcorn Popping." She never attempted the actions on her own, but when they were finished, the teacher started clapping, and then Zoe joined in - clapping and squealing in delight. I had to hurry off to Relief Society to teach the lesson and I felt like I had so much energy. I really had to rein in my enthusiasm to keep my words-per-minute down to a level suitable for human comprehension. The only way I can describe it is this - I felt like I'd grown a new pair of lungs, like I was just realizing how to breathe again, but had never noticed that I wasn't before. And it was a totally different feeling than when James would relieve me and take her to Priesthood. I just can't explain how elated I am to have her in Nursery. When James picked her up, he said she didn't even notice that he was there. The teacher said she was fine the whole time and only cried once, when another kid took a toy away from her. She was in a great mood when we got home, as well. So good, in fact, she only felt the need for a one-hour nap. Oh that silly Nuggle Bear. Excuse me, Nursery Nuggle Bear.

I love that she had such a great first day. I just can't help wondering what goes through her little head when we leave her in a room of unfamiliar toys and faces. And how does she act when she is away from us? Shy and quiet or demanding and aggressive? Since she was the youngest, and smallest, I'm guessing she is pretty quiet, taking everything in. We just can't believe how fast she is growing up. And how much we thoroughly enjoy each new stage.

Here is the product of her first day. Don't worry I won't post EVERY scribble she ever brings home, but I know the grandmas will eat this up.