Easter

Normally, Easter with the cousins wouldn't be possible but my family happened to be in Virginia where my brother was reporting for the second half of training in the Army. So we decided to meet up at a state park and hunt some Easter eggs. At first, Zoe didn't know quite what to do but it didn't take long before she got the hang of it and was finding eggs left and right.

Zoe got into the Easter Bunny spirit and sported some ears for the occasion.

Hanging out with cousin Judah

Okay I'm ready to hunt. What do I do?

Found one!

I found another one!


You wanna see?


Hmm... I think there's a treat inside.


Ooh. Another egg.
Who keeps dropping these all over the place?



These leaves don't fool me.


Check out my loot


Want one?


These eggs are slippery little suckers


Cousin Abby, you wanna share that with me? You know you do.

Cousin Sammy wants to share too.

It was a very short visit but it was wonderful to spend time with family on such a special holiday. I greatly appreciate the effort it took everyone to get us there and to make Zoe's first Easter so special.

K-Bomb 2010

Zoe took her first trip to Kentucky with us this year. Our (almost) annual trip started with a stop in Baltimore to see our friends, the Murrays. Zoe got to spend some time with Heera, who was nice enough to share her yogurt treats.

Since we were delayed 24 hours leaving the city, we made a beeline for Kentucky and arrived late Tuesday night. Mike and Emily greeted us and were shocked to find Zoe in such good spirits after a 10 hour drive. She was SO excited to be out of the car.

The next day we made our way to Louisville to visit our friends John and Amanda and their cute girls, Simone and Elise. Little did I know I would be struck by a 24 hour stomach virus during our visit. I spent the day vomiting in various locations around Louisville (including in the bark in our friend's back yard- Aaron shoveled and disposed) and we wisely decided to stay the night and head back to Lexington the next morning.

Zoe ended up contracting the same virus two days later so instead of hitting the Makers Mark distillery tour with the group, we stayed home to barf it out (so sad).

Zoe was feeling much better the next morning and we headed to the races to watch the ponies run at Keeneland. The weather started off really overcast and chilly. We tailgated with a little Cornhole and snacks.

Marit began studying the program to learn the fine art of horse betting.
Natacha gets a lesson from Dr. Dewhurst.

Sadie is hanging with (and on) her dad.

Yummy! Snacks!!

Zoe liked the pretty horses. So shiny!

Zoe decided that Emily was her new friend.

When the sun came out, it was the perfect day for the races and we had a wonderful time. The mix of tradition and just plain fun is intoxicating.
We will definitely be returning to the track in the near future.
GO KENTUCKY!!!

More Random Zoe goodness

Here are some little tidbits of Z. These were all taken since the beginning of the year and is just a small snippet of her shenanigans.

Z with her favorite book

There's just something too cute about leg warmers

The bunny slippers she got for Christmas finally fit

Fun with the shredder clippings. It took forever to get those off my leggings.

Something else left from Christmas. Daddy stuffed our stockings with big lollipops. It was bound to be discovered in the new year.

Oh yeah... that's the sugar high.

GIMME LOLLIPOP!

Bubble Beard

Bathtime and Jammies makes me happy.

Walking makes me really happy!!

Nana Donna's Visit

It was amazing to have my mom here for Zoe's first birthday. She was able to stay for 10 days and was such a great help to me. She's the easiest to entertain when she comes to NYC because all she wants to do is hang out. That certainly takes the pressure off. It also makes me feel as though no time has past and the distance does not exist. I get the same sense from Zoe herself. The way she approached Nana from the start of her visit and even woke up the first night my mom flew in and let her hold her while we settled her back down to sleep.

Zoe got quite used to snuggling with Nana. They both happened to be very good at it.

You just can't help but smush the face a little bit.



It never dawned on me to use this toy as a transportation device.
Leave it to Nana to make the Fill n Dump wagon more fun.

In my mind, my mom's visits are always too short and I am looking forward to the next one. I am reminded of all the family that we miss everyday and are grateful to have such diligent communicators in the family. I'm sure Zoe's cute face is a boost to the motivation but we love you all the same and can't wait to see each and every one of you again soon.

Zoe First Birthday Party

Many apologies to those that have been waiting for an update on Zoe since her first birthday. It took a long time to sort through the mounds of pictures from her party and I hope it was worth the wait. Of course, I have some more goodies to post a bit later.

So the Saturday after her actual birthday, we got together with friends and family to do it up right. We did most of the prep ahead of time but of course, there's always one project that gets left until the last minute. I had been debating a collage of Zoe's first year but never really got around to printing the pictures until the night before. Thanks to Aaron, they were done before midnight but putting them into some kind of order would be my task.

How'd I do? Pretty good if I do say so myself. I am a proponent of self horn-tooting.

We had a pretty decent spread. And like any good party, we bought too much food.

Z with Grammy Mary

The guest began to arrive around 2 pm. I was surprised how quickly things got hopping. These toddlers don't fool around.

Ravi

Niko


Nancy


James Gunner (Guns for short)


The Lanings


Daddy Matt and Guns (he doesn't look too scared of you)


Josephine





Deborah and Jenn


This cake was made just for Zoe by our good friend Ann Marie.
It even has Pez on it. AMAZING!


As soon as the candles were blown out, the girls started to circle the high chair


The Birthday Girl (WALKING!)

Elena and Niko

Okay, so I expected instant carnage with the cake but Zoe was being so polite, barely poking the frosting and giving us a little look of uncertainty. Where was the flying cake chunks and the face plastered with gooey, sugary goodness?

THERE IT IS!
Actually it got messier than this but the picture is somewhere in Pixel Land.

Sharing with Nana Debbie

The final destruction. Pretty great job Z!

And here was the cake for the party revelers.

Zoe having some fun with one of her new toys.

I find it hilarious that a child can get a mountain of great things to play with and they go for a cardboard roll almost every time.

We had a wonderful time and just want to say thank you to everyone who made Z's birthday a smash.