Whew

Wow! It’s been forever since I’ve posted a blog. Life is busy with a toddler, a fiancé & a full time job. My goal is to post a condensed version of everything that’s been going on in our lives the past few months!

Our monkey is almost 14 months! On March 28th we had his first birthday party at Red Mountain Park and he had so much fun. It was Land Before Time theme…but the wind was of course crazy so the decorations didn’t last that long. Oh well. I think that I was the only one who minded. We had the pool full of sand for the dinosaur dig and the kids enjoyed getting dirrrty and playing in there. It was kind of nice to have a little confined area to keep the babies happy in. The kid made out like a bandit and got a ton of awesome stuff. Lucky little guy! On April 3rd (his actual birthday) Daddy, Caleb & I went to the Phoenix Zoo. He had so much fun looking & pointing at all the animals. The “kitty kats” (tigers) were the highlight of his day, I think. He has been doing amazing these past few months though. He just got his 7th (finallllly) tooth and is working on some more. He jabbers nonstop and his favorite thing to say lately: “Wus dat? (what’s that)”. He’s picking up lots of words and just becoming a little smarty tarty! I love though that he will sometimes actually follow my directions (“Caleb Tanner, you put those back right now and shut that drawer!” *he shoots me a you suck mom look, slams daddy’s xbox controllers into the entertainment cabinet drawer, and shoves it closed* “Thank you!” OR “You do not stand on that rocking chair, young man”. *he gives me a big silly grin and starts bouncing* “I guess I didn’t say you couldn’t dance on your rocking chair”). He is also as cute and big as ever! We get all the time “How old is?” “Almost 14 months.” “Really?? Wow, he’s just such a big kid. So tall.” “Yes, really. Thank you, Captain Obvious.” It’s not that people are being rude most of the time, it’s just the ones that are trying to tell me, as if I didn’t know, that my kid was tall. Anyways, that’s my gripe of the day. Otherwise – Caleb is awesome!

Tanner & I finally set our wedding date. YAY! It’s August 21, 2010. I cannot wait for our pink and black nuptials.

Speaking of weddings, I’m the MOH in my brothers wedding to Miss Jessica (mom of Jade & Berkley) in November! I’m very excited…because I mean, come on. I love planning and TWO weddings! Yay! Plus, I get to be in charge of the Bridal Shower. I can’t do my own but I get to do Jess’. Awesome.

And on Random But True: My sister, Steph, finished her freshmen year of college at ASU. AWESOME! Congrats, lovely! Our niece, Kaylee, graduated from Gilbert High School. How exciting – Congrats, Kay! I am currently on antibiotics for strep throat…but I would like it noted that I got strep throat less than 2 days after finishing antibiotics for a sinus infection. Really? That only happens to me. I got a new cell phone: HTC Touch Diamond. Thanks, Jay! Last week I went to a dinner with some of the Dobson Diva’s! Hah…a bunch of my good high school girlfriends met up at Aubelo’s for dinner while Nissa & her family were in town. It was awesome catching up with them all. Definitely been too long. My new nephew was born: Vadin Thane. He’s a cutie pie! Caleb can give “pounds” (dabs, knuckles, etc) and now refuses to give five. Pounds only, please. I had a four day weekend because I went home sick after my doctors appointment Friday. Wasn’t nearly long enough. I ordered my MOH dress a size smaller than what fit, now I absolutely have to fit it in it. No option leaves…well, no option. I will fit in it the darn dress. Being sick and unable to eat a lot of stuff helped jumpstart this. But I’d rather not be sick.

And I think that’s a pretty good update for the past two months. I’ll post some pics when I get home!

andrew - here are the easter pics for you :

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy 1st Birthday, Caleb! We love you so very, very, very much and cannot believe that today you are 1! We hope you enjoyed your first visit to the Phoenix Zoo! You loved seeing all the animals and calling everything a "kitty cat"! :) Happy Birthday to our Monster Butt Monkey Man Bubba! Love, Daddy & Mommy

the invite i made :

so busy!

so today is my 26th birthday. I was asked by tanner's brother if i felt old...my answer was no. i don't feel any different. however, on april 3rd i will feel older. my precious son will be ONE. i did have a wonderful birthday weekend/days. it was quite a long birthday for me! thursday we went to abuelos (a totally yummy mexican restaraunt) with tanner's family for dinner. i got a gorgeous handmade frame with a sweet <3 picutre of me and caleb in it. plus a new cartridge for my cricut and a date to get my nails did! :) oh, and the muse cd and the newest beyonce cd. saturday i got a new makeup case (TOTALLY LOVE IT) and twilight and went to see the confession of a shopaholic movie (pretty good for a remake of the book). on sunday we went to my parents house for stuffed bell peppers (my fav) and carrot cake! i got lots of money (i asked for gift cards, lol) and an appointment to get my matching tat from my sister (she got hers from me and now i'm getting mine from hers...i'll post pics). then today i had lunch at red robin with my mommy (yum, nikki!) and tanner and caleb got me a coach ring (love it!!) and a coach scarf (love it!!- i have one of those watches that you use a small scarf with) and tanners best friend, jim, made dinner and served me even! so i got totally spoiled! plus wednesday i get my hair done (yay for a new cut and some new color!) and then wednesday i have my birthday lunch with suzanne from my old office. .... oh i got a new job! lol, this is actually my 5th week. :) love it. more money, closer and virtually 0 drama!

and this week is totally busy! saturday is caleb's first birthday party!! it's land before time themed at the park! yay! i'll be back this coming weekend to post a ton of pictures of all the latest happenings in our lives :)

Miss Alora!

My mom's friends daughter is a Senior this year and they asked me to take some shots of her...she's a sweetheart and we had fun :)

a new play...

in lightroom & cs4

i wanted to removed the heel prick but i was not satisfied with the darn cloning it just looked off because of the newborn skin & shadows...anyways, here's a color & a b&w. i focused more on the composition & trying to get a good exposure on the skin tone. she is still very red so it was kind of hard :)

happy st pattys day!

love, the zimmermans :)

My new niece!

Well, I have a ton to update but only a split second for now so I will announce the birth of my gorgeous niece, Miss Berkley Ryann (said like Ryan). She was born Monday at 9:35am weighing 7lbs 5oz and 20inches long. She's a doll! We dropped off Caleb's cradle last night for her to use and I snapped some pictures of her quick. The lighting wasn't the best and I played in Photoshop with them for a while so they're fairly decent. :)

i officially have a toddler....(he "toddles" ... walks :))

Finally!

Whoa, it’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to relax and blog a little. Life is just incredibly busy and I can hardly believe that this is the last week of January. It can never be said enough..time flies by much too quickly!

So life with a 9.5 month old (almost 10!) is always entertaining. :) It’s such a neat stage that he is at. Every day is something new and fun and it’s always exciting to see him learn something new. His latest accomplishments are learning some new words and word association. (But of course I’ll ask him to say something in front of someone and he looks at me as if I’m nuts!). He says “Voooooo” when he rolls his car along the floor and if he drops something he says “Uh oh (sounds more like uh, uh)”. He will wave and say “Bye, Bye (sounds more like Dye, Dye)” and a few times he has said “Mmmm” for “Moo” (we practice animal sounds with h is Little People animals). It’s still so crazy to me that my tiny little baby now drops something and SAYS “uh oh!” Oh and he did the cutest thing the other day, he grabbed my cell phone and put it up against his mouth and said “daddy!” So funny and adorable. He isn’t walking yet but he will take steps on his own and will walk forever holding onto ONE pinky but as soon as you let go and he’s forced to step on his own he sits down. He will stand and bounce and play without holding on forever but he just doesn’t want to take that step. That’s okay it’s pretty fun to be on that brink and watch him work out what it is he wants to do. He’s done it a few times by himself but then he’s like “Oh, crap! I walked by myself, don’t want to do that!” And I’m making a big step this weekend more than likely…my baby is going to spend his first night away from me! I’m so torn and nervous about this. I know he will be in my mother’s perfectly capable hands but still…they’re not my own and I’ve never been away from my baby so it’s so hard! The decision is not set in stone yet but it is more than likely going to be the case and while it’s a good thing it’s a very difficult thing. Yikes! :)

I also have started making his first birthday invitations (already, right?!). They’re going to be handmade (by myself) and since they’re going to take quite some time I’ve already started them. My first mock-up is positively adorable and I’m so, so, so excited about them! I’ll post a picture as soon as I get the mock-up perfect. Let me tell you though…cutting out fifty dinosaurs and fifty tree star leaves is NOT my idea of fun. Anyone who knows me well enough knows I’m OCD and impatient which is just a bad combo when it comes to intricate cuts. No wonder why scrapbooking makes me angry! Too bad I just love it.

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error – John Kenneth Gailbraith

Diaper Cake

I made a diaper cake for Jessica's baby shower on Sunday. She saw one a friend did and loved it so I made her one too! :) I think it came out cute for my first ever!

The Cake:



The back:


The front name (it's Berkley):

16:365
ASU Gymnastics (First Meet of 2009)

17:365

GO CARDINALS! We're going to the SUPERBOWL!

15:365

5:365


4:365

3:365

2:365

Such a Big Boy!

My little big man had his 9 month well child today. He was stamped with approval of course! :) He weighs 20lbs 4 oz (25th-50th%) & was 30 inches long (95th%). He didn't have any shots but he had a heel prick to check his iron levels and everything was good which indicates he has a well balanced diet. Other than that though everything was given a good job and we go back at 12 months! :)

1/366 - Toys

NINE Months!

My dear sweet Caleb is NINE months old! I cannot believe that in a few short months he is going to be a one year old. It's exciting and sad at the same time. This has been the most amazing nine months of my life, my son. I love you more than words could ever justify and I'm so thankful that you've blessed us so much with your sweet self. You are a wonderful joy to be around and you are always making us laugh! I love to growl into your tummy and hear you laugh and laugh and laugh. Your tinkling laughter is the best song I've ever heard!!

At Nine Months I Can...

*Stand alone for about 20 seconds

*Cruise along anything

*Climb onto your couch & then onto the big couch

*Mimic sounds very well....I like to sing along to Beyonce "oh, oh, oh, oh" (It's the cutest thing ever)

*Say Mama & Dada somewhat discriminately (you'll call us that but then you'll babble it to)

*Say baba discriminately

*Say baby when you see yourself in the mirror

Love, Caleb

We have started feeding you a lot more solids and your current favorite things to eat are diced apples and mandarin oranges. You also love the Gerber animal crackers. About a week ago you got your top two eye teeth and they're starting to get big enough that pretty soon you'll look like a baby vampire! :)

On Friday is the 9 month check-up so I'll be back then to post his updates!

After his big boy haircut at Lolly Locks:

Christmas & New Years!

Our first Christmas with our monkey man was so wonderful! He got terribly spoiled and with his birthday just a few short months away I have no idea what we'll get him. On Christmas Eve we went to his Aunt Trina's house for dinner and presents with Tanner's side of the family. We had ham, veggies, cheesy potatoes and rolls. It was all very yummy and even Caleb enjoyed it! :) Afterwards we all opened up our presents and had some pie. After we got home we decorated our cookies for Santa & the Reindeer (well, I did because Caleb was already asleep) and then we all went to bed. We had to wake Caleb up bright & early because we had to be at my parents house at 8:30 so we drug the tired boy out of bed so he could open up all his presents. Santa brought him The Little People car ramp & garage. And he got movies, clothes, a baby grand piano from Uncle Jim (which he loves, loves, loves), The Little People farm house (from Aunt Trina), a Little Foot animal, Peek-A-Blocks, a Spiderman couch, a Mega Blocks dump truck, a Cars blanky, Cars dinnerware, a Ball Popper, bath toys and who can even remember what else! Needless to say, the next day Mommy went through all his toys and cleaned out all the old "baby" toys that he doesn't play with. I saved all my favorites for a possible sibling in the future but the rest will go to cousins or the donation box. But after presents at my parents on Christmas we had a delicious breakfast/brunch before coming home to take a much needed nap by all of us! That evening my sister came over to have dinner and stay the night. I made homemade shredded beef tacos with rice & beans. And Caleb being just like his mommy & daddy absolutely LOVES rice & beans. So he had rice, beans and cheese for his Christmas dinner.

On New Years Eve we did what any young couple with a young baby does...we rented a movie, ate ice cream and went to bed at 9:30! :) It was enjoyable for us though...and Tanner had to work the following day anyhow.

So that was our Holiday's in a nutshell!! :) Here are a few pictures of them...

Mmmm! Rice & Beans!

A Christmas bottle on my Spidey couch!



Oh, thank you Uncle Bryan!!



I look way too old here...

Yay!! Little Foot

Seriously, mama? It's way too early...

Santa's Cookies!!

Yay! A present!

Let me at it mom!