New things Zach has been into.....

Hey guys....another post from Zach here. Thought since my mom has been slacking on the updates I'd better get on here and post one myself! Thought I would share a few of my favorite things and a couple of new things I can do now all by myself! Enjoy....

I absolutely LOVE cabinets! Perfect spot to hang out. I enjoy this cabinet as well as a couple of cabinets in our kitchen.


I've learned to brush my teeth....ok, maybe not brush them but I LOVE to chew on my toothbrush! I may be known to throw a bit of a fit if my mom attempts to actually brush my teeth!

I LOVE diapers and the boxes they come in! One of my all time favorite past times is emptying the bags of diapers into a big pile and then climbing into the box with one of the packages still in it to give me a little height....

Dropped something that's just out of reach....

Dang it.....reached a little too far!

I can now pull the chairs out from the table and there is a perfect leg rest step for me to climb up. Next thing you know I've managed to get myself up to the top of the table where all the stuff is that I've been trying to reach for so long!

I'm not doing anything....honest! I'm not shopping here, just helping dad clean out his wallet!

Thought I'd share dad's debit card with Harley....now he can go buy his own treats since he's been restricted from treats from mom and dad til he loses a little weight! I think he looks GREAT and has tremendous stamina and speed....in our backyard! Then he's got to rest as that's a lot of work for a pug!

Hangin at the top of the stairs with Bailey waiting on my slow parents to get up here....climbed these stairs all by myself!

And lastly....yep...got another new hat! This was in my stocking so I guess Santa is to blame for this one!


That's all for now. Be looking for a VERY exciting update in the next couple of weeks! My adoption will final on February 17th!!!!! Who's ready to celebrate?

Love Zachy

Christmas with the McMullen's

The day after Christmas, we got up and traveled to my parents house. Takes about 4-4 1/2 hours to get there, depending on the number of stops we have to make! Everyone loves going to my mom and dad's....what's funner than visiting a farm when you're a kid? There are 6 kids in our family and 4 of us made it home to celebrate Christmas over the weekend. The other 2 visited the in-laws this year....dang in-laws! Autumn unfortunately didn't get to join us for our trip....apparently her job thought she needed to work!

Here's Zach entertaining himself on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's.....



My dad always does his own shopping for everyone. My mom gets gifts from both of them, then my dad likes to do something special on his own. Well Treyton has been saving money to buy a car, so my dad got him a gift that would encourage him to keep it neat once he gets it! He's explaining the concept of his gift in this photo. By the end of the night, Treyton opened probably 10-15 random gifts from my dad all to go in his car cleaning kit. Was rather comical...felt like every other gift went to Treyton! He was a good sport about it!

Grandma Cindy made Justin a new quilt for his bedroom we are redoing. He's into the camo-thing so he of course loved it! Hasn't slept with any other blankets since!

Zachary had fun wrestling with cousin Dylan! My sister has a GREAT video of the two of them playing chase. She posted it on her blog and it makes me laugh everytime I watch it! I have NO clue how to steal it from her blog, so you are going to have to go check it out at her site. If you click on Cummings Chronicles on the side of my blog, then it will take you to her site. Then it's the post about Zachary and Dylan.


It was nice enough that we got to play outside with everyone! Zach is playing on the swingset with the "big boys."


Fun with Grandpa and Grandma.....Grandpa is known for giving fun rides on the 4-wheeler! Grandma lets kids run the roost and get into things. This wagon was full of frozen water and leaves....I was fussing, Grandma let him play in it! :) Note Zach's crazy hood in the pic with my dad and the 4-wheeler. Grandma bought him a new jacket with a hood that stands so tall it could've poked my dad's eye out!




We had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed spending time with both Donnie and I's families. Donnie and the boys had 2 weeks off from school and then my job blessed us with closing the office from Dec 24th until Jan 5th! So we got plenty of hanging out time in! Now that I've posted all our Christmas fun....I can move on to other things.....like our remodeling/demolition going on at our house, Zach's adoption signing and upcoming court date, and fun things Zach is doing now that he's a whopping 16 months old!!!!! Sounds exciting doesn't it!

Christmas with the Jones'

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Donnie's family. Had a scrumptous meal that I forgot to take pictures of! Spent time hanging out and chit chatting. And of course there were the gifts!

Fun times opening gifts.....








The evening ended with a special gift for Donnie's parents. A generational picture quilt of our family! The top of the quilt was pics of Bob and Nancy as kids and of their wedding. Then pics of Donnie, his brother and sister as they were growing up. Then each of Donnie and his sibs had a row for their family. Then pics of all of us together at the bottom. It was a huge hit! Was a beautiful quilt I must say....of course it was cuz it had pics of us on it!




It was a wonderful evening, which ended with a tissue paper fight. I'm not sure how it really got started, but eventually it was like 8 against 2! Not fair odds if you ask me! The 8 did not include myself or Donnie.....we were the 2! However by the end it felt like he switched sides and was no longer guarding/protecting me as a husband should! :) I don't have photos of this event as I was under attack and couldn't photo graph being savagely pelted with tissue paper wads! Poor me.....

Yes we did have a Christmas!

Ok....so I'm WAY behind the times and haven't posted on our Christmas festivities yet. So I'm catching up! We had 3 Christmas's....Christmas Eve with Donnie's family at his sister's house, Christmas Day at our house with us and the kids, the day after Christmas we traveled to my parents house for Christmas with them and my sibs (minus 2 of them that is as they were with the in-laws!).

Anyhow...here's Christmas at our house......

Merry Christmas my sweet boy! What a great gift to wake up to!


On Christmas Eve, everyone in the house gets a gift from Rudolf. He leaves a pair of Christmas lounge pants/pjs for everyone so they can wake up feeling festive Christmas morning!


On to the gifts.....


Harley and Bailey CLEARLY are asking if there was anything left for them under the tree....but not really under the tree since we didn't have one up due to the remodeling we are doing!


They spotted the stockings! They must smell fun!


And new beds for both! They scored!


Santa brought Zachy a new car to play in! It's GREAT for taking walks around the block and gives him something to do other than just sit in the stroller!


Santa brought Autumn a new TV....spoiled!!!!!


Santa brought our family a Wii game system! Goodness I found muscles I haven't used in years! :)


Treyton was into the spirit of Christmas this year and picked out very nice gifts for everyone. You can do that when you are 18, have a job and live at home with NO bills! :) He posed with each person after they opened their gifts from him. I think he was more excited for people to open what he got them rather than opening gifts himself!

I was VERY surprised with my gift.....new ipod touch screen. Please ignore the bags under the eyes, tired look and the pile of stuff behind me! It was early morning people give me a break! :)




Autumn was surprised by her digital camera....


Justin LOVED his gift....a PSP....he's hardly put it down since Christmas!




Donnie got a GPS system. It's amazing we ever managed to get places without it! He of course insisted on using it the next day to find our way to my parent's house! Good thing we had that cuz I don't think we would've made it otherwise!


Zachy's favorite gift......the left over boxes!!! What a fun toy! Peek-a-boo anyone!


So that was Christmas morning. I'll do a post on each of our celebrations with our families too. Then I'll feel all caught up!