How Great Was 2008?!

I don't know about anyone else, but 2008 has ended up being an awesome year! Even though it started out with a funeral, it ended with some kick ace fun!

Let me take you through a play by play...
**January**
my grandmother's FUNERAL (boo!)
my 8th nephew was BORN *Caden Seth Baldwin* (yay!)
**February**
2 of my nephew's were BAPTISED (hooray!)
**March**
my oldest son, SCOTT, turned 4... wwhhaaattt?!?!?! (super fun!)
**April**
in and out of the hospital for the first 3 weeks of the month
because of pregnancy and Bird's weak lungs, pneumonia again (boo!)
HAD MY 3rd BABY BOY! *Zachary Zane Zaccardi* (super YAY!)
**May**
my HUBBY turned 25! (hooray!)
had the BEST Mother's Day ever! I love my family! (yay!)
my 9th nephew was BORN *Van Matthew Zaccardi* (yay!)
**June**
my hubby and I went through the TEMPLE for the first time (awesome!)
me and the hubby were SEALED together and to our children (incredible!)
we had a BABY BLESSING for our little Zachary Zane (yay!)
**July**
BABY BLESSING for Van (hooray!)
**August**
took a family VACATION to UTAH (fun!)
Scott started PRESCHOOL... wwhhaaattt?!?!?! (exciting!)
**September**
my middle child, BEN, turned 2... sheesh! (super fun!)
my 10th nephew was BORN *Henry Michael Winfield* (yay!)
found out that I am going to be an Aunt AGAIN (wow!)
**October**
started my baby weight loss attempt, so far so good (hooray!)
found out I will be an Aunt to TWINS (super hooray!)
discovered a passion for READING, who knew?! (yay!)
Scott's first SCHOOL PICTURES (super cute!)
attended the best BACHLORETTE PARTY ever (super fun!)
**November**
BABY BLESSING for Henry (yay!)
had a wonderful 5th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (awesome!)
AND attended the wedding of GREAT FRIENDS in the same night (sweet!)
HOORAY FOR ***SCOTT AND ASHLEY***!!!
the youngest of ALL of my sisters-in-law's, GINNY, turned 18 (wow!)
had a wonderful THANKSGIVING with my WHOLE FAMILY (the best!)
had a visit from my SISTER Julie and her family (so fun!)
my whole family was together for the first time in years so we did
FAMILY PORTRAITS (a blast!)

**December**
the kids got SICK (super boo!)
Bird got SICK (boo!)
I got SICK (ew!)
I TURNED 25, I love my birthday! (yay!)
Scott had his first SCHOOL PROGRAM (super cute!)
found out that the twins will be A NIECE AND A NEPHEW (exciting!)
had an amazing CHRISTMAS EVE (so fun!)
had an awesome CHRISTMAS DAY (hooray!)
wished I had been able to go to THE DUNES for New Year's (boo!)
but will be SPENDING the HOLIDAY with the FAMILY instead (hooray!)

All in all 2008 was great! I'm looking forward to 2009!
From our family to you and yours, have a SAFE and FUN New Year's Eve and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tis the Season

Oh my goodness, I'm so stinkin busy it's absolute mayhem. I know this seems to be the busiest time of year for everyone else too what with the Holidays and all. Well, that's not the only reason for my busy schedule. Not only do I have Christmas shopping, I also have 4 birthday's to plan for, an anniversary, and Thanksgiving. November and December are crazy. And to top it all off, this is the time of year (usually the first week of December to be exact) that my family gets sick. And it's not ever just a cold. Scott has bronchitis, Zac has an ear infection, and Bird has some other type of infection (pnemonia, sinus, bronchitis) as of right now we aren't sure, he goes to the doctor today, I just hope whatever it is doesn't land him in the hospital again. But who knows, maybe the 3rd year's the charm. So anyhow, this year has been even more difficult than last year in it's own way (last year my last living grandma died 3 days before my birthday) I don't really mean emotionally, just more stressful. My children and husband are sick yes, but usually I am able to steer clear of any serious illness. Well this year I have a couple of different issues concerning myself to stress over. I have an umbilical hernia, which I've had for a few years, but now it's really bothering me, so I went to see a general surgeon to see what I needed to do about it. I need surgery... BUT, I have to decide if I want anymore children. He says because the muscle tear has been there for going on 5 years now the muscle was not being used and has deteriorated, so there's this hole around my belly button, which means they can't stitch it back together, they have to use a piece of mesh and sew the remaining muscle to that, so if I were to get pregnant again after surgery sometime, it would just tear open again because the mesh is not stretchy. I mean come on! I'm just barely 25 and have to make that kind of decision! What the heck!? But that's not all, no, no, that's not all. I might have to get my gallbladder removed too. That one's a little harder to explain, so I'll just leave it at that. OH THE CRAZINESS THAT IS MY LIFE. And it always seems to happen around this time of year. Always. I suppose "Tis the Season" can have a lot of different meanings. And now for a little comic relief.

Scott's School Pictures

Scott had pictures done last month in preschool. They turned out pretty awesome! He's so handsome! The photographer that did the pictures is Amy Kroff Photography (480) 588-8202.

Scott says that this last one is his favorite. I can't really choose a favorite, I love them all!

Super Sitter & More!

Zac has decided that he can sit now!!!

About a week ago he started like this...

Then two days ago it progressed to this...

This one's my favorite!It's funny the way he sits. It's almost like he's doing Yoga. And to top it all off... he's crawling now! He just started today! He's not even 7 months old yet! Scott started at almost 9 months old and Ben didn't until 11 months old! Zac's just so advanced!! (hehehe, inside joke!) Sorry no pictures of it yet. I hope he crawls for a while before he starts walking! That's all I need... 3 boys that can run! AAAHHHH!

Such a Colorful Character

Scott has been coloring his face a lot lately. He just has to show off his colorful character to the world I guess!

A Boy and His Tricycle

Ben absolutely adores riding his tricycle! He loves it more than anything else right now. He is incredible on it too. He can use the pedals, manuver around almost any obstacle, and even backup using the pedals too! He (along with my other two boys) continues to amaze me everyday.

He's Doing It!!

Well, almost...

And so proud of it!!!

This Is My Favorite Time of Year

This is my absolute most favorite time of year. Why? you ask. I'll tell you. First of all, I absolutely love the fall season because it finally starts to cool off and kind of starts to feel like we could actually have a winter season. Second of all, because, to me, fall always means family. I am so blessed that all of my family lives close enough to come visit for the holidays almost every year. It reminds me that I have so much to be THANKFUL for. My family means the world to me. (And it always means yummy food, which is just awesome!)

And then to top it all off, along comes Christmas. My most favorite holiday of them all. It's not about receiving gifts, it's not even really about giving them (although they are both fun). It's about the birth of Jesus Christ. And the significance that event holds. The greatest gift of them all was given to us in His birth, His crucifixion, and His Resurrection. And that is what I am MOST THANKFUL for. I am so thankful that He took upon Him my sins so that my burdens would be light. I am so thankful that He died for me, so that I could live. And while He did those things for all of mankind, I like to think that He did them for us as individuals not just us as a whole because He knows each one of us personally. He knows me personally and I know Him personally. And I am thankful for that too!

Costumes & Candy... Must Be Halloween!

BumbleBee from Transformers

nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana BATMAN!


He's supposed to be a ghost, but he looked more like a chollo! HAHAHA!

The top of his beanie is white and says BOO! With a ghost face on it.

No More Pull-ups!!!

Well, I am probably going to jinx myself now, but FINALLY after a year and a half of potty trained gloriousness, Scott can sleep through the night without a pull-up! Oh the excitement is uncontainable!!!!!

Recommended Reading for EVERYONE!

The Shack by Willian P. Young is the most incredible book I've ever read. It depicts such an amazing look at God and our relationship with Him. And His relationship with us all, and how He sees us, not just the ones who follow Him and seek Him out, but all of His children. It is an amazing story with a lot of truth to it. WOW. If only we could all have a face to face heart to heart with Him in all of His Glory, wouldn't that be wonderful? I am so grateful for Him in my life, truth be told, I'd be lost without Him.

BEN-JA-MIN!!!

This is what happens in my house when Ben is allowed in another room by himself for more than 2 minutes. Chaos. Notice the oh so cute little footprints? The good thing is that food coloring doesn't stain everything, the bad thing is it does stain some things... for example, skin. This was 2 days ago and his foot, toenails, hands, and lips are still stained!

And this is just the latest thing he's gotten into... over the past month, he's squeezed all the toothpaste out of the tube all over the bathroom floor then tried to clean it up with clothes, he drew on himself with Sharpie, he colored on the wall at his Grandma's house, squeezed lotion all over my bed, dumped laundry detergent all over the floor at his Grandma's... twice, "cleaned" the toilet seat with hand soap, and I can't tell you how many times I've found him playing with toilet paper... IN THE TOILET, and as if playing with it in the toilet isn't bad enough, he really enjoys eating it too, all soggy. EW is the understatement of the century!

Laundry Day

This is HALF of my family's laundry for one week.

(There are 4 baskets under there).

It's ridiculous.

Today I spent my afternoon folding...

and folding and folding.

And then I finish and realize that was only HALF of it.

Damn laundry.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

FINALLY!

These two are starting to get along...

Scott was "taking care of the animals"

while Ben "fixed the tractor."

I love that they can play nice now!

No Lessons

Look who's riding a bike! All by himself!

He had no lessons, no help, he just picked it up and said

"I want to ride this bike" and that was that.

Wrestling

Wrestling has been their "new" thing lately.

There is always a blanket down on the floor because of Zac...

so Scott and Ben take full advantage of it.

Ben loves getting on Scott's back.

Scott tries to stand up and then they both fall over and laugh about it!

This is Scott trying to stand up.

But it's all fun and games until Ben gets stuck!

"tuck, tuck!" (his leg is stuck under Scott)

And more often than not, Zac is just watching and laughing... I really think that he is memorizing their moves so when he gets big enough he'll already know their strategies and will be able to take them down faster.

Bounce Boy

Just having fun! I love him.

Super Scott

It's like he's flying. And he thinks it's awesome. I love him too.

Cowboy Take Me Away

So beautifully handsome. And him, so much love.