Our Baby

Our baby girl turned one on October 26. She is so sweet and it has been a wonderful year because of her. She makes us laugh so much. It's crazy how fast they learn things and it's even crazier how quickly the year went.

All day long, I just kept thinking about what I was doing exactly at that time last year. For instance, when Annalyse woke me up at five thirty that morning I sat there thinking how I was in the shower having contractions with her at home at five thirty the previous year.

Then I remembered how we took the back roads to the hospital and I would make Sam come to a complete stop when I was having contractions because the bumps in the road only added to the pain.

Once we got to the hospital the weather turned scary. They closed all the windows and curtains because debris was flying around outside. There was even talk of a tornado so they put all of us in the nursery because it had no windows to the outside. There was one lady still in her bed because she was just out of a c-section, one woman cramping and in obvious pain from giving birth the day before, one couple ready to leave, one woman rocking back and forth in pain because she was ripped off of her pitocin so she could be in there and then there was me. My contractions were not close together yet so i just dealt with it. It was interesting.

My little tornado.

For Anna's birthday we treated her to lots of pizza at Pizza Hut. She loves pizza!! Then all came home and played on the floor as a family.

Annalyse took some time to fix her piano.

As soon as she turned one it seemed like she started saying a bunch of new things. The very next day she surprised us with words like "Mimi", "Bebe", and "Bopa."

Just one more tweak.

Aha! It's fixed.

We love our little tornado. It's been a great year.

Zollman Clan

We had our third annual Zollman cook-off. The challenge this year was muffins. Shalon made her famous pumpkin muffins, Rob made blueberry muffins and I made cheeseburger ones. The winner though was Danielle with heavenly green tomato muffins. Congrats, Danielle. They were amazing!!

There is always a warm fire to sit by.

And wagon rides.

Beautiful Morgan.

It wouldn't be a true Zollman event if there wasn't four-wheeler rides.

Beautiful.

Hello there, Kali.

New Bathroom

This entry is way outdated but Sam remodeled our bathroom while we were in Texas with the Skinners. As you can see here he is giving it some serious thought.

So gross.

I am so glad I wasn't home for this. I would have gone crazy over the mess.

I love how he showed the whole process.

The finished product. Love you, honey. It looks great!!!!!

Chicago

We visited my parents in Sycamore, IL at the beginning of October. We were thrilled to see them and to see how happy they are in their new home. My mom took us to a pumpkin patch just outside of town. We had a blast. First with the maze...

Then, the wooden tractor...

And in the Pumpkin patch...

We were a family of punkins...

Then the girls crawled through a wooden train.

And Ruby tackled the haystack.

The girls had to get a little bit of playtime in on Grandma and Grandpa's porch before we left for home. It was a great weekend and we had so much fun. Love you Pattersons.

R-Me-B-Y

We started teaching Ruby how to spell her name and tracing it on paper. She got a little confused along the way though. I asked her one day to spell her name for me and she said R-Me-B-Y. Apparently, she thought I was saying R-you-BY to her that whole time, instead of the letter "U". Oh well, we will get it eventually. I asked her if she wanted to learn how to spell Anna's name as well and she just said, "yeah, R-Her-B-Y".

That's my goofy girl. Ruby has been a little particular lately. She has to arrange her toys a certain way, or her clothes, or the markers in the box have to be turned the right way. She also helps me around the house a lot. She loves to mop, sweep and take care of Annalyse. My mom took Ruby shopping at a clothing store. She turned around and Ruby was hiding behind the check-out counter arranging their staplers.

She is also a shopper. We often go to Walmart out of boredom or for actual shopping. She always asks to take a look at the toys. Then all week I hear that she wants this baby and that baby and the stroller that goes with it. She loves to take care of her babies at home. She is always carrying one and she even nurses them. She is a little mamma.

Ruby went shopping at Trader Joe's when we went to see my parents.

So funny. The other night Ruby looked at the sky and said, "The Moon is flying in the Sky." She is so smart.

We started having Family Home Evenings weekly again and Ruby has decided that every night should be FHE. When we say it is family prayer time she runs to the piano and picks out a song, then hands us our scriptures and the book of pictures that go with the scripture stories. She is a hoot. She even says her own prayers now. Of course, she asks for Heavenly Father to bless each family member at least a few times.

One of Ruby's favorite jobs at home is to reline the trashcan after I take it out. So every Sunday at church Ruby empties the trash can by the front door on our way out. Then she relines it and dirties a clean-x only so she can have an excuse to empty it and reline it again.

Daddy is one of Ruby's favorite people. She loves him sooooooo much. And of course, I am obsolete when Daddy is around. But I don't mind so much. They are a great pair.