Late summer we started taking Zoey to parks to play. This is a good age since they don't have a ton for little kids to go on. I so wish our neighborhood would build a park. We've hit a couple here in Gretna. Here she is taking a go on the space shuttle!
Sitting on the swings with Daddy.
She LOVES the slide. At this park they have little gravel, which is nicer than the sticks. She just laughs hysterically when I run around her.
Seems like the months have just flown by. In September we decided to purchase a play kitchen for Zoey. After much research we found this one. It comes complete with a grill. She loves playing with it. We bought some the Veggies made by Melissa & Doug and LOVE them. A little more expensive, but well worth it. We couldn't wait until Christmas. We felt she was just at that stage where she needed more interactive toys.
We are blessed to have our friends Kory & Kim Mikos a block away from us. They often stop by with their kids Calan and Kenna. Zoey loves to play with them. Chris went to school with Kory since they were very little, so it's very special that our kids are now growing up together.
Zoey has a favorite drawer in the kitchen. It is filled with all the paper napkins, plates, cups, etc. She digs the whole thing out and leaves it there for me to pick up. She was into the plastic wrap, aluminum foil and sandwich bags. It was too much for me so I moved those. The breaking point was when she unraveled the aluminum foil. That stuff is impossible to re-roll!
These came in the wrong order........oh well. August was a hot month. Not sure what we were doing this day, but Zoey obviously played hard. Had to take a snooze.
I love taking pictures of her when she's so smiley.
We went to the Wine & Balloon festival in Elkhorn. It was too windy for the balloons to go off and Zoey only wanted to sit in the stroller for so long. We met up with our friends Shannon, Bary, Katie and Gus. Here is Miss Katie sitting with Zoey. Maybe next year it will be more kid friendly! We seem to make the best of it even when we are chasing her around!
We went out to Trainer, IA to my friend Shelly's parents farm to pick corn. Zoey LOVES corn. She was eating it straight off the cob. We picked, cleaned, cut and froze so much corn. It was awesome.
This picture is super dorky, but anyone who knows me knows how I like to dress up! I had my overall shorts on, wife beater tanktop, braids and cowboy hat. We had so much fun!
We had Zoey's 1 year photos taken in Lincoln by Sarah Pfeiffer Photography. We went to the Haymarket. It was a quick session and good thing because her attention span is not very long!
She got a cozy coupe from Grandma & Grandpa Harnly for her birthday so we took it with us. Her little hairs were blowing in the cold breeze. It was a chilly morning!
This of course is my favorite. My friend Amy made Zoey a tutu. I had the headband made and just happened to find chucks to match! What a stylin little girl. I hope one day she will fall in love with this picture as I did.
I know it's been months since I've blogged. This little girl keeps me going. Recently I had several people say they keep looking for updates, so I guess there are a few who actually read this. Zoey's birthday was August 26th. The Saturday before we had a small party with family and a few friends. She had a rockstar theme. The photo above is my niece Kennedy holding Zoey wearing her sunglasses. What a hoot! I dug out some old photos of Kennedy the other day and Zoey and her look alot alike!
Yes, we gave her cake! Chris was really close on hand so she didn't eat the frosting. Not too much sugar! She was remarkably really clean, she didn't stuff it in her face.
I got Zoey a Rock Star hat. Grandma Coon had to retrofit it so she could wear it. We got some quick shots with it at least.
Chris and I waited until her actual birthday to give her gift from us. It was a spankin new Red wagon. Fitted out with an awning, cooler and drink holders for.......well.........adults. She likes to take her monkey that Micaela gave her for a ride. Chris took the day off and we went to the Children's Museum because the weather was rainy. She had so much fun. We were supposed to have her 1 year pictures taken, but because of the weather we found something else to do.
Here it is! Chris and I (with the help of my mother) made Zoey's cake. I decided to go all out and do it in fondant. What was I thinking! The cake was my mom's secret from scratch recipe with raspberry filling. This was so much fun!
Two weeks from today is Zoey's official 1st birthday party. I cannot believe that a year ago I was really pregnant, working a ton, on my swollen kankles and trying to ignore the feeling that she was going to fall out on her head. I truly enjoyed my entire pregnancy, but at the end it wasn't so glamorus. We are having Zoey's 1st birthday party next Saturday with family. I've always loved formal party invitations, and I figured everyone needed an updated picture. So here is the final result. I found a company online called Scrapless Press. www.scraplesspress.com They were AWESOME to work with and reasonably priced. When the invites came they were the photo invite mounted to cardstock. Definitely exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend them! We are having a rocker theme. Chris and I are adopting the Mikos family tradition and will be making Zoey's cake. So stay tuned for pictures of that!
A couple of weeks ago we went out to my friend Shelly's family farm and picked corn. We hand picked corn, shucked it and froze some of it. It was by far the BEST corn we have ever had. As you know I love to dress up and since we were headin to the farm I had to pull out the cowboy hat, overall shorts and pigtails. Zoey looks awesome in my Kenny Chesney hat!
This is kind of a dorky picture but we had so much fun that day. Zoey was eating the corn straight off the cob, it was hilarious. She loved it!
I spent one day taking pictures of Zoey for her 1 year birthday party announcements. I thought this one was hilarious! You can't tell by this one, but her hair was in a mohawk. We are having a Rockstar party. Can't believe it's only a couple weeks away!
Oh, here's the mohawk! LOVE IT!
I cannot believe we are nearing the end of another month. We are just a few days away from Zoey being 11 months old and are starting to think of what we are going to do to celebrate her 1st birthday. Really hard to believe. She is definitely on the move now. Crawling full speed, walking along things and pushing her walker. This picture was taken just today. Zoey was pushing her walker all over the living room and decided to crash it into her high chair. She's been really exploring and very happy the past couple of days.
4th of July seemed like it was just yesterday. We spent the whole weekend in Seward. Here is a picture of Zoey in her star dress. What a cutie. It was rainy and cool for the 4th, which is highly unusual. We took in a few traditional things with Zoey, but next year she'll be interested more. She really liked the parade. We watched it with Chris' parent's and my sister Tammy and her family. It was a long weekend of old traditions but with a new perspective now that we have Zoey.
As I said above, Zoey is on the move! Our friends the Prochaska's brought over the walker their kids used. We use it out in the driveway with Zoey. She loves it! For whatever reason she veers to the left and loves to head for the street. I think she likes the speed! We went and bought her a good pair of Stride Rite shoes. And were they worth the money! She LOVES her shoes. The first time we took them off for bed, she started crying and just wanted to hold them. Chris is worried that he'll have another girl who loves shoes on his hands! We put Zoey in the walker almost everynight so she gets some fresh air and she's usually worn out and ready for bed. This picture also shows her million dollar smile. It melts your heart and is definitely contagious. If you're having a bad day, come on over, Zoey will cure it!
We decided to go check out the riverfront and the Nebraska / Iowa pedestrian bridge. Here is a photo of the bridge we walked. I thought it was alot longer, but it's not bad. 
Chris convinced me to go on a 4 wheeler with Zoey and him. If anyone knows me, I'm such a worry wort sometimes. We went slow and went on some small hills. Zoey really liked it. But, no we are not getting a 4 wheeler.
With this heat wave we have been splishin and splashin at night. Here is Zoey in her cutest bikini. Thanks Holly & Brett! She is just adorable in this! We got her a little blow up baby pool with an awning. Only problem is, is that she likes to crawl out of it. Today I got her this water play pad that squirts water up. The water was freezing for her tonight. But she still loved it! I would really like to find someone who teaches baby swim lessons in their home. I'd like to get her started in the pool right away.
On Mother's Day Zoey surprised us and started the army crawl. The next weekend at Grandma & Grandpa Harnly's she began her full crawling skills. She is constantly on the move so we have to keep our eyes on her. Everytime I tell her 'no' about pulling on something she starts crying. Oh how it breaks my heart, but I know it's part of parenting. Thankfully we had to baby gates up since she was a couple of weeks old. I bought her some baby leg warmers. It helps keep her knees protected. We noticed the other day that her shirt was super dirty....time to scrub the floors! I guess that's our cleaning radar! Monday is her 9 month checkup. Actually TODAY she is 9 months old. I can't believe it. Before we know it her 1st birthday will be here.Since it's summertime we've been deciding on which "bigger" toys are suited for her. We bought a blow up pool with an awning. Swing. And I'm looking at wagons. Too many choices and toys!
On Saturday Zoey woke up at her normal time 6:30, and by 7:30 she decided she needed another cat nap. She loves this pillow we have. She'll curl up on it and konk out. This particular day she drooled all over the pillow. I think that is a characteristic she got from me.
A few weekends ago, Chris' parent's stopped by to see us. We sat outside and Zoey sat in her new swing. She loves her swing. But you have to make sure and constantly keep her moving. The first picture Grandpa Harnly was talking about her piggies. Her toes are just the most adorable thing. They are little stubbies. She's into waving and clapping. And occasionally we can get her to laugh out of control.
