reflections on the year

our family is extremely blessed to have experienced so many wonderful things in 2008. among them, we've...

seen zack experience swimming in a pool and in the ocean for the first time
known how great it feels to hold your daughter in your arms
watched zack take his first shaky steps, and now watching him run
changed thousands of diapers but surprisingly found ourselves smiling during many of them
styled zacks hair into silly styles in the bath
learned waht it's like to pack extremely lightly for ourselves to make room for the kids stuff
seen zack stick his little piggies in the sand for the first time
shared san francisco, our favorite city, with our son
seen the look on zack's face as he saw his first cows and goats
seen the joy on zack and pennys grandparents face as they play together
had the luxury to visit family much more than we were able to while living in CA
had both the most mellow and the most enjoyable new years eves with the kids
seen how brave zack was at the allergist
heard zack practice saying "ho ho ho" like santa as he lie in his crib during naptime
loved having so many family and friends come visit us at our home
been thrilled with fear and excitement to see another positive pregnancy test
watched mom's belly get impossible huge again
gone to the hospital during false labor
been lucky to have a healthy, happy new baby penelope
been lucky to have meme and papa lou to take care of zack while we were at the hospital
had many great dinners out together as a family
experienced zack's first "mama" and "dada" and fell in love with his sweet voice
heard zack repeat his first swear word in that same sweet voice...whoops!
dealt with the croup in the middle of the night
gone in to get zack up from his nap at grammy's, only to have seen him pantless (and tiny jeans lying on the ground!)
survived flights to Florida, Chicago, and all the way to California without any major incidents and no crying (a miracle, really)
enjoyed meeting grampy out for lunch many times
been blessed to have continued good health for our two beautiful children
witnessed penny's first smiles and cooing
experienced the frustration of wedging a toddler's foot into boots
lost socks off of penny's impossibly tiny feet
realized how worth it it was to turn the "formal livingroom" into a playroom
seen the joy a simple playground swing can bring
played "i'm gonna get you!" and "peek-a-boo!"countless times
conquered the world of cloth diapers
loved seeing zack dance for the first time
loved seeing friends and family meet penny for the first time
laughed as we watched zack sled and experience playing in the snow for the first time
been filled with hope and excitement to watch our little ones grow in 2009...

merry & bright (& a little bit cranky)

zack & penny had a wonderful christmas: spending christmas eve at meme and papa lou's, christmas day at great auntie rita's house, opening gifts the day after christmas with grampy, nonnie & uncle john. and, of course, penny had a fantastic time at game night with mom's high school/college friends as well! some highlights:

meeting auntie tara...

meeting mari...

zack checks out the family's new toybox, made by grampy!

ok...family trip is over. let's get out of here!

happy birthday, papa lou!

we all woke up this morning and said "oh no! it's december 23!" that means we slept right through papa lou's birthday -- so this one is a tad late, but we love you papa lou!
zack's first attempt at saying "happy birthday" on command...we'll work on it and nail it by next year, we promise!

first snowday...

here in MA, we've had over a foot of snowfall in the past 24 hours. watching zack play in the snow today for the first time ever was enough to warm anyone's heart.

catching flakes on his tongue, dragging his arm out of the sled to make tracks, and just seeing the pure joy on his face -- all so cute! i'm not sure he's quite ready to make snow angels, though...

quick!

today, we accomplished the impossible: taking a photo of one of us with the 2 kids in the picture as well. sure, we're sitting on the floor, but we'll take what we can get!

little hands

penny loves to have her hands up touching her face...is she sweet or what?

one month

penny celebrated her first month in the world today be keeping her eyes open more and even giving us a little wink...

a loooong week...

with both zack and penny under the weather this week with minor colds, we had lots of time on our hands to goof around. some examples:

showing off his forward roll to penny,playing in cabinets he shouldn't be in... playing "peek-a-boo" through a tube...

why i had a second baby...

while people continually comment about how much zack looks like his dad, i think penny resembles her mom a bit...

baby penny:

baby laura:

booties and booty

inspired by a bundle of booties hanging in the window of "purl soho", mom commissioned pro knitter grammy (now called "meme" by zack) to knit penny a pair. they came out beautiful -- mom adores the color -- and are as soft as can be. the inspiration booties:

a booty of a different sort: for about the past, say 6 months, zack's favorite food has been pirate's booty (this includes actual "pirate's booty", "smart puffs", and the vegan "simply booty". sorry, "veggie booty", zack is allergic to your soy...) it is such a staple in his diet that we even developed a sign for "booty". while the possiblities were endless and potentially hilarious, we went with a simple head tap. given how messy zack's hands get during a meal, we sorta regret this sign.

3 fun weeks!

we've had quite a good time with miss penny so far....she's enjoyed visits from grandpa keenan, grampy, grammy and papa lou, auntie heather...etc...etc... lucky gal!

thanks for helping mommy out, grammy!

hello, auntie h...the keenan clan at thanksgiving dinner...with grampy...and with the best big brother ever...

just a bit bigger than our remote control...

look at that form!

dad and grandpa keenan took zack to his little gym class while mom was home recovering. not sure what he's doing here, but his form looks spot on!

santa who?

today, mom, zack, penny and grammy sue headed out to go visit with santa claus. there were no tears, but zack was clearly not impressed...

wake up, penny!

someone still has her days and nights confused....what a sleepy head!

baby, it's cold outside!

since it's beyond cold here today in new england, zack bundled up in his new snowsuit and boots (thank you, grammy!) for his trips to home depot and the grocery store with daddy. (mom and penny just stayed in and made cookies together...)

one week old!

penny turned 1 week old today! i must say, we've had a really great week together and big brother zack is slowly warming up to his new sis. he's learned to touch her feet (not her face/eyes!) and often says "hi baby!" the four (!) of us also enjoyed our first meal out yesterday, a delicious lunch at incontro.

comfy cozy in a blanket from auntie tara...

welcome home!

getting to know zack...
out to lunch together

all snuggled in

look at this snuggle bunny! i imagine this is how she had been positioned the past 9+ months! she sure looks happy...

weekend with penny

we've really been enjoying our first couple of days with penny. here are a few highlights -- if you'd like to see more, you can check out a larger photo album by clicking on the slide show in the right-hand margin of the page. if all continues to go well, we should be bringing her home from the hospital on monday at some point!

Penelope Sue has arrived!!

We welcomed our little Penny into the world this morning at 11:46am! She is 7lbs 8oz, which is a full pound more than her older brother Zack was when he was born. Zack does retain some bragging rights, however... He was 20 inches when he was born and Penelope Sue measured in at 19.5 inches.

Mommy and Penny are currently doing great in the recovery room. Check back later... we'll post more photos when we have a chance!

getting some last-minute practice in before tomorrow!

we bought zack a baby doll so he could practice being "gentle" and doing "nice". so far, it's going pretty well, except he can't help but touch the baby's eyes!

hopefully he gets this out of his system before he meets baby sister -- which will be tomorrow! stay tuned for pics and stats!!

bus! bbb.....bbbbbb....bbbb...

one of zack's favorite daily rituals...

children's hospital of boston

today we had a big visit with the allergist at the children's hospital of boston. the visit took over 2 hours and zack was a good sport about it all. the good news is that it looks like he is not allergic to wheat as we previously thought. the bad news is that he's still allergic to egg & soy and severly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. peas is also a new one...mom and dad did some additional epi pen training just in case!

zack's back during some of the testing...

what a trooper! still in good spirits but pooped after all the excitement...