Happy Thanksgiving!

In the midst of giving thanks today, I am also pondering the following question: Where has time gone??? I mean, it was just Halloween! And beyond that: Ian was just born last week, right? Not to mention Zach who is very much a 2-year-old right now! And didn't we just get married? It's crazy to think how much has happened and changed in our lives over the past seven years! We have so much to be grateful for, so it's important to have days like today where we can really focus on how much we have been blessed with.

Below are some pics from our fall trip to Atlanta a couple weekends ago. We celebrated Cari's birthday, had some fall fun at a beautiful park, and saw the Wiggles Live show (awesome 7th row seats--our early Christmas present from Cari & Dan!) As you can see, we had a lot of fun!



Fun on the slides!


Giggly Zach!


The happy family



Zachy and Daddy enjoy nature


The boys model their "My Aunt Rocks" shirts.
(Their 'cousin' Darren also had a "My Uncle Rocks" shirt!)

This was an "I want the Wiggles" tantrum while we waited for the show to start

There they are!

That's better!

Fun with Jeff Wiggle, Wags the Dog, Anthony Wiggle, Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, and Sam Wiggle

Ian was lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of the Wiggles!

Halloween Fun!

We had a super-fun Halloween this year. We celebrated lots of firsts: Ian's very first Halloween, Zach's first time truly understanding Halloween, and the first time in 12 years that Brian and I have both donned costumes. We were able to go to two Halloween parties--one for the whole family at Amanda & Darrell's, and another just for the grown-ups at Lisa & Jason's. I'm sad to say this was this first time since April that Brian and I have gotten out together without the kids, and we had a blast!

See below for some pictures from our fun week!

Ian's our very own bouncy kangaroo!

Lord Brian Lucifer & Devil-Angel Caron

Spider-Zach (his daytime costume)

Daddy & Ian share male bonding time

Disco Man Zach & Kangaroo Ian size each other up

Doin' the strut (his best John Travolta impression)

Zach patiently waits to say "Trick or Treat"

So sweet!

The happiest pumpkin in town!

Picture Time!

I guess it has been a while since I posted pictures of my babies. Better late than never, right?!?! I can't seem to get the layout right, so I'm not adding any labels to the photos.

I'm Alive!

Yes, I am alive. And no, I haven't forgotten about this blog! :)

I promise to get some pictures posted this weekend! It's been so crazy around here--my typical day consists of getting up at 5-5:30 am, getting myself ready, getting the boys up and ready, taking them to daycare, going to work until 6:00, get home close to 7:00, eat dinner, get the boys bathed and put to bed, then we're ready for bed! Brian has to be at work by 5:30 am, and usually goes in even earlier than that so we're both exhausted by the evening. I've also been working overtime on Saturdays from 6:00-12:00. Pretty soon I should be done with overtime for the most part so I'll be out of work by 4:30-5:00, and off on Saturdays, so that will help!

Oh, and I came down with bronchitis this week, so that is making it even more fun!

I know, I know....this is parenthood. Busy, tired, stressed; but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way! As much as I can complain about being tired, etc. I know I am blessed and truly happy and that's all that matters!

So, on that note...look for some pictures of the 2 little munchkins soon!

I'm A Big Kid Now!

Look at my sweet Ian, sitting up like a big boy! This is one of his newest accomplishments. You may recall in a previous blog I mentioned that he was getting close to crawling. Well, he's still close, but he's found another method of getting around...rolling. He doesn't let the lack of crawling/scooting knowledge get him down; nope, he just rolls to what he wants! He's quick and speedy too. Brian and I have both noticed that he can get across a room without us ever noticing him move. I think the baby-proofing will be more difficult this time, since Zach loves to leave small items wherever he feels like it.

Tidbits

Wow! It's been a while since I've been on here, huh?!? It's been a busy couple of weeks! I am working a lot of overtime this month, so this week I worked over 50 hours (plus 8-9 hours in the car commuting). One of our managers had an appropriate quote displayed this week: "Every year it takes less time to cross the Atlantic and more time to drive to work!" How true!

Let's see, what's new in Buckley-land?

Well, for starters Ian is getting really close to crawling. I was starting to think he would be one of those babies who would bypass crawling altogether and go straight to walking since he hasn't even really been scooting; but yesterday out of the blue he started scooting himself around the room & pushing up into the crawling position. He can't move and hold his mid-section up at the same time yet, but he is soooooo close! I need to get the video camera out and capture this!

Zach is getting smarter and more grown-up by the minute. He has some really diverse interests, such as Superman, Spiderman, The Wiggles, Baby Einstein, Elmo, Pee Wee Herman, KISS, Weird Al, puppies, Jimi Hendrix, Shrek, Monsters Inc, Star Wars, Happy Feet, dinosaurs, Nemo....the list could go on and on and on. But those of you who know Brian well can probably tell which ones he's played a part in turning Zach on to!

Last night I was driving with the boys and out of nowhere Zach said "Church?" I'm assuming it might be because we were driving in the general direction of our church, but we were miles away. Then he follows it up with "Weird Al?" Now he seems to have somehow combined the two, because today he has been saying "Church Weird Al?"Not sure where that combo comes from but it's an interesting thought! :)

Not much else new to write about. I'll try to be better about keeping this updated!

Buckley. Out. (Did all you American Idol fans catch that Ryan Seacrest reference?) :)

Clean & Sleepy Boys!

Aren't they just too cute? This was their first time taking a bath together last week!

This was taken in the morning...
Zach tried to get out of bed but
he didn't make it too far before
falling asleep again!











Ian played himself to sleep in
his exer-saucer!
















Aunt Cari tried to pack Ian up
in her bag and take him home...
nice try Auntie!!!













Zach gets silly with his
Spiderman Bath Bubbles!

Getting Old

So, tomorrow is the big day. I'll officially be 3/4 of the way up the hill!
To be honest, I really don't feel 30...I still feel young. Not 18 young,
but maybe mid-20s.

We had a visit from my sister Cari & brother-in-law Dan this weekend.
Of course Zach was elated--he LOVES when he sees Aunt Cari & Uncle
Danny because he & Ian get spoiled rotten! We had a nice time with them,
although we didn't do a whole lot since it was soooo hot here, and I get
nervous having the little guys out in that heat for too long. Finally it's cooled
down to the 90s today. So our big Saturday fun was driving by a couple
celebrity homes in the area (this is one of the fun things about living near
Nashville!) We saw Keith Urban/Nicole Kidman's house, although it was
in a gated area so you can't see much, then we drove by Carrie
Underwood's house (Danny's favorite!) Then we went for a very yummy
dinner at PF Chang's (Mmmmm...Chinese!) The boys had both been
seeming slightly feverish Saturday (and Zach didn't eat a single bite at dinner!),
so after dinner we came home & they went to bed. Seemed to do a wonder of
good, because today they're good as gold. I was also spoiled by Cari & Dan
with a fun new pair of shoes, a box of delicious Godiva chocolates, and a gift
certificate to my favorite nail salon. Perfect timing because I'm due for a
mani/pedi!

Rolling Over and KISS

This is one of my favorite pictures of the boys from a couple months ago! This was taken while they were home alone with Daddy, so my first question upon seeing this picture was "What did you put in their sippy cup/bottle?" They both look a little on the tipsy side to me!

So, what's new in the Buckley household?

Well, Ian finally rolled over yesterday. Although I know logically that every baby does things at their own pace I was starting to worry slightly, since my only baby-frame-of-reference is Zach; and Zach chose to do everything as soon as he possibly could! Ian is also starting to get the urge to crawl. He can't quite get his front half & back half up at the same time, but he sure is trying!!

I know he'll be getting into everything soon enough, so I'm selfishly hoping this feat takes some time! :) Ian is also sleeping through the night! Woo-hoo! Up until last week, the only way he would sleep more than 1-2 hours at a time was in his carseat (which we admit we let him get by with for too long!), and he was still needing a feeding during the night. Finally last week we decided enough was enough, and we started putting him in his crib & letting him cry it out when he woke up during the night. The pediatrician confirmed that he obviously is thriving & shouldn't need a nighttime feeding, so we've tried it and it's starting to work! Yippee!!! Last night was the best so far: he slept about 9 hours, and we don't think he even cried once during the night--awesome!

Zachy has found a new obsession: the band KISS. Okay, I know there are people out there saying "Oh no, they're devil worshippers!" But I truly don't believe they're anything more

than a group of guys who found a way to make a lot of money...even if they're not the greatest musicians in the world. I know there are certain parts of the lifestyle they lead (& some of

their song lyrics) that Zach doesn't need to learn about, so we are careful, but it's so cute to

see him soooo interested in something. Kids this young don't know how to fake enthusiasm, so it's always fascinating to see what triggers them. Brian has been a fan since he was a small

child, and even went to one of their concerts at the age of 5. I was able to join him in going to

a concert 7 or 8 years ago with my cousins Dave & Melody. Their son, Jake, was also a big

KISS fan when he was younger, so I think it's kind of funny that Zach has taken such a liking

to KISS without us even pushing for it! Of course he's being exposed to tons of music, which is

to be expected when you consider Brian and I are both music lovers; but there are very few

that he's been this excited about. (The only other I can think of is Jimi Hendrix--he does seem

to like the guitar. Or gee-tar as Zach says it!) For the past several days Zach has been doing his best Gene Simmons impersonation, sticking his tongue out. Today topped it when out of nowhere he started singing "I'm back, back in the New York groove." (Over and over and over...)

Anyway, today we were able to go to our friend Lilly's 3rd birthday party. It's hard to believe she is already 3! I first met Lilly when she was only a few months old & she was moving to Nashville with her Mommy & Daddy, and now she's already old enough for preschool!!! Crazy!Her Mom is a great cake-baker/decorator, so she had a really cool (and yummy!) R2D2 cake, and a Darth Vader pinata. Obviously she loves Star Wars!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I'm going to try to update at least once a week (maybe more!), with pictures, stories, & whatever else I can think to share! Our lives are crazy, so I'm sure the boys will give me plenty to write about. :)

So, what's new in the life of the Buckley's?

Well, Zach is as wild as ever. He's potty training now, which is soooooo much fun! (Okay, I'll try to keep the sarcasm to a minimum) No, seriously though, he's doing a really great job. It's going to be a while before we can say he's officially trained, but I think we're on a good track. He is also turning into a little smartie-pants. He's been learning lots of new things from his babysitter, Kristie. Last week he was being naughty, so I tried the count-to-three thing. I didn't, however, know that he could pretty much count to 10 already. So I said, "One, two,..." and he continues "Twee, Fo, Fie, Six, Six, Six, Nie, Ten." He's also learning his colors, alphabet, manners (he now says "Please," "Thank You," and "Welcome.") It's unbelievable how quickly they grow. Not to get all mushy, but I swear he was just a tiny helpless baby!

Ian is getting bigger & bigger by the minute! I don't know what happened, but something clicked when he was a couple months old and turned him into a growing machine! For those of you that don't know the story, Ian was a scrawny, skinny baby. His birth weight was normal (7 lbs, 5 oz) but he lost over a pound before we brought him home from the hospital. Let's just say a 20.5-inch baby that weighs 6 lbs is pretty tiny. We even had to take him to the doctor for weight checks the first few weeks to make sure he was gaining & not losing. Well, out of the blue he has turned into this chubby little boy; absolutely adorable! He had his 6-month checkup today, and he already weighs over 23 lbs & is 27 inches tall!

As for Brian & I, we're busy as usual. Brian is working days now (hallelujah!). After about 8 months of him working 2nd shift, I'm so glad to have him home at night with us! He's also enjoying the hot summer we're having, as it is his favorite weather to bike ride in. I'm not so fond of the summer heat...we've had about 6 days in the last week that have been over 100 degrees, and it's humid on top of that! I'm probably the only person I know that actually prefers winter! I'm also working on losing all that baby weight (okay, it isn't all baby weight since I've struggled with weight since I was 9 or 10, but I can blame it on that, right?!) Since we're not planning on having any more Little Buckleys (unless God has other plans in store for us) I don't have an excuse anymore, so I'm 3 weeks & 9.5 lbs into my journey. Only 27 more lbs to go!!! (Wow that seems like a lot!)

Okay, it's getting late, and the bed is calling my name. Come & visit our page often, and I'll try to be faithful about keeping it updated!