Dan, Ana, & Zackary

Yes, I realize that many of you probably have heard since we announced it a few weeks back. But I know there are a few readers who aren’t on facebook and don’t live around us who may not have heard. We are 12 weeks along this week and are so very happy! We are due 11/11/11 and yes, it is planned. This pregnancy is freakishly similar to Zackary’s so we are expecting it to be a boy-which we want! Two little rascals running around We will see in just a few short weeks if our hunch is correct.

To announce it to Dan’s parents we had Zackary make a card saying that he was going to be a big brother. It was fun to watch him color-well try to eat the crayons while Daddy helped him along. Here are the pictures of that! Then there’s a belly picture from week 8 but I look way bigger in this shirt than I actually am, IMO of course.

Now that nice weather is upon us, we can enjoy going out for walks again! Yippie! One Thursday afternoon both Noah and Jewelia were over to play. It was super nice out so we went out for a walk. Well, Noah and Jewelia went out for a run. Haha!

I tried to take a few pictures of Zackary with his favorite and Aunt and Uncle. What a chore! I don’t know how photographers do it! Zackary only wanted to look at Jewelia, Jewelia couldn’t smile without her hands doing something strange and Noah wanted to pose every time or while holding Zackary you could barely see him. After a few tries I gave up and can only laugh at the pictures. We had a ton of fun!

Um yeah, might be helpful if I write his 9 month post. We did take his picture but I have forgotten to post it. This month we had to just put Monkey in between his legs to get a decent picture!

He is quite a character these days with trying to make us laugh and laughing at many things himself. If someone is laughing then he will start to laugh as well. He is super curious about everything and is learning new boundaries everyday. He is getting frighteningly close to his first step-here’s hoping that Daddy will be home for that big event! Mommy is dreading it!

This is Zackary’s newest trick-climbing in and out of the toy box. He seems to enjoy himself while doing so. He loves to hang over the edge of things so this is pure amusement for him since he can do it on his own. He is a bruiser for sure! He is also so proud of himself!

Zackary can crawl at lightening speed these days and can reach any surface and create havoc. We are always on the lookout for him and he never ceases to amaze us. He is a wild man! Climbing seems to be a new fun obsession.

He is always trying to “help” out. Mostly creating more work, but it keeps him occupied and busy while I can get a good chunk of housework accomplished. I use our dishwasher as storage or extra strainer space, while I’m loading he is unloading. Silly boy!

He is still as cute as ever while he sleeps and I still have to take a million pictures of him doing it. He now uses his blankie as a pillow instead of being covered by it and holds on to it. Pretty cute I find that its been coming with us on outings more and more again lately. Oh well!

He cut another tooth, that makes 4 teeth in just 2.5 weeks. Have mercy. Now he has 6 teeth total. He is eating a ton of table food these and loves to share our food. Breakfast is his favorite meal of the day!

Soon he will be 9 months old! Yikes! Enjoy some pictures! I added him sticking out his tongue

How can it be? Only 4 more months till our baby boy turns 1! Seems unreal.

This month I was all alone trying to take his picture-not an easy task since he is always on the move. I managed to get this shot by dangling my scarf-which he is obsessed with-over the camera. There is one with his monkey on his lap which is adorable but with keeping of the theme I chose to feature this one.

Zackary is getting better and better at walking across things and climbing things. He can walk across the room with his musical walker toy that he holds on too. And I don’t think there is any surface that he can’t touch or reach anymore. Our apartment is a training battlefield now. Sigh. But the Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” And that a child left to himself brings his mother to shame! “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” We’re so thankful that the Bible tells us these most important truths! Where would we be in life without God’s Word? Zackary keeps us busy for sure, he is a wild and nosey little man. Whose so super cute!!!

He has also discovered how to sing. Amazingly cute!! He is usually in the church service with us until he gets loud then we take him to the foyer or nursery so he sings along with the congregational songs. We sing to him a lot at home so he joins in now. And he sings in the car as well. Love it! I told Dan, that I want our kids to sing while doing chores and not bicker. We are his example. Dan always has a new song to sing too. He makes us laugh when he is home.

I can’t think of anything else new that he is doing. He cut 3 more teeth-total of 5 now-but is working on something in the back and is NOT happy about it. Pray for us all! Ha!

I did think of something else! Something special! Zackary learned how to say Dada and boy is Dan more in love. Dan’s been “teaching” him to say it since we came home from the hospital and finally, nearly 8 months later, he says it for us. Dan was talking to people at church and Zackary desperately wanted his attention and he was steady saying Dada. Adorable! He only says Mama when he is in his crib and wants out. lol! Punk!

And one more thing, he waves hi now. Especially when he wants someone’s attention. And anytime someone comes up to him and says hi he is very eager to show off this new accomplishment. He is very proud of himself!

Yes we did! And it was wonderful to get out of the house! Zackary LOVED it and loved being able to ride in his stroller for the first time without having to be in his car seat. He got a whole new outlook. It was strange not being able to see his face though. I can’t wait to be able to go on walks every day! We’re ready for spring, Lord-send it soon, please!!

It was brisk-but it was so worth it! Tomorrow we might go out to the zoo since its supposed to be a nice day again! Here’s hoping the weather man is right (because they’re not 99% of the time!) It will be so much fun! I hope he likes the animals. He saw and heard dogs for the first time today at Valerie’s house and he wasn’t too impressed with them. Haha!

We are a family that loves the Colts! Doesn’t Zackary look so CUTE?! Thanks to Brenda and Doug Grinstead we have this adorable outfit. Its very close to a jersey type material and its just so cute on him

By the end of football season, Zackary would get excited when we would cheer or get excited over a big play or a win. Took all season though, he used to get scared and start to cry so then we would have to pause the game (NFL Game Rewind!). Haha! Poor baby. If you remember, Zackary got a big football from Aunt Jen for Christmas so we are definitely starting him out on the right foot! We love football

Enjoy the rest of the pictures-he’s so hard to photograph these days.

Better late than never!

Zackary turned 7 months old and is constantly on the go! This kid never stops moving all day long. Tires momma out for sure! Always bouncing, standing, turning around, crawling, rolling, climbing and falling. He’s too busy to get anything done. Bath time, eating time, diaper time all cramp his style. He’s his own man, on a mission, and no one will stop him. So he thinks. Until the word no is said to him and then we have a melt down. He has started throwing fits already-i can’t even believe it. Kinda humorous as he tries to get his way and fails in his attempt. He is learning who is boss very quickly, yet he is still so stubborn in ways. Not sure where he got that from! We have our work cut out for us with this guy.

He loves his Daddy so much! When he is at work and Zackary is fussy I can show him Daddy’s picture and he gets so excited and starts bouncing away. Cures the fussiness for a little bit. I love their bond so much. Its so special. I pray it stays that way forever. They’re best buds. Too cute!

Trying to take his picture was a challenge once again but this time it was so humorous. He kept laughing and attacking the monkey. Flung himself on it at the end. We were all laughing so much!

I can’t believe it has nearly been a month since our last update! Time sure flies!  Life has been hectic this past month. So many obligations that time slips away. Where to start?

Zackary got to try graham crackers for the first time! He devoured it. Made a complete mess, of course. He was so proud of himself for being able to feed himself. He was actually taking real bites and chewing on his first try. I was shocked, considering that he swallows puffs whole and chokes. So far, graham crackers are his favorite food!

Zackary is still growing at lightening speed. I swear he does something new every single day-like today he discovered the outlet on the wall. His new trick-pulling himself to standing up on the furniture. So sad. He truly loves being independent-at such a young age. He loves to climb things, go under things, chew everything he crawls past. He makes me laugh at most things he does. I swear he will be an engineer someday, he is always trying to figure out how things work.

We celebrated Daddy’s birthday this past week. He got spoiled, as he should be! He is an awesome daddy and husband and works so hard to support his family! We are very blessed that he is such a hard working man. He’s great. He got a drill from us and the accessories from his parents. And other things from friends and family. We also went out on our first date since having the baby. It was fun to be alone and reconnect!

And last but not least, we had our first play date! Zackary’s friend Isaac came over to play for a little while. His mom, Jen, and I had brunch while they played. It was so cute to watch them interact with each other. Isaac is a little over 2 weeks older than Zackary. They’re the same size and basically doing the same things. They got along great and played so well! Can’t wait to do it again!

All in all, things are moving along here in the Safee house. I will update again soon with Zackary’s 7 month photo shoot with Monkey. (Is he really that old already?!)