We also celebrated Christmas in Seattle. We had a very nice Christmas dinner with our friends Sara and Quang. The day after Christmas, Rita came back for a visit and to help while Willow was on vacation. We cooked a feast for New Year’s Eve and had a lot of fun during Rita’s visit.

We took a trip to a river in the north where eagles come to eat the salmon. It was a beautiful location and amazing to see so many eagles in one place!

Gabe and Zara are doing great and have been really happy and giggly babies! They’re sleeping and eating well . While Gabe feels much heavier than Zara, he weighed 20 lbs and Zara weighed 19 lbs at the last checkup.

Ever since Z went to China, Zara has been very clingy to me and cries every time I walked out of the room. She’s also been a little jealous if I’m giving any attention to Gabe! She and Gabe started crawling on top/over each other all of the time. Last week she climbed on Gabe’s back like he was a horse then turned to me and smiled…this did not go over very well with Gabe but it made me laugh!

Both Zara and Gabe have their 2 front teeth now and have started standing (holding onto something) within the last few weeks. They still have red hair but it seems to be getting a little darker.

View Gabe and Zara’s month 9 photos.

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We wanted to get a family portrait done this year. There were so many new things to see that the kids wanted to get down and explore. Unfortunately, that meant their attention span was limited but we were able to get a few good shots.

View our Olan Mills photos.

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We’re a bit behind in posting pictures so below are photos from Gabe & Zara’s 8th month! They have grown so much and every day is different! We’re having a blast with the kids and enjoy watching them explore everything.

We took the kids to swimming lessons in November. It was pretty funny to watch them splash and try to drink the pool! It was a bit crazy getting all 4 of us dressed and ready after the lesson but seeing how much fun they were having made it worth it. We’ll try to sign up for more lessons in the spring!

We had a very low key Thanksgiving. The kids ate their first meat, turkey, and didn’t really love it!

After Thanksgiving, Zvonimir spent a few weeks in Asia for work. Fortunately, our nanny, Willow was able to put in extra hours to help me during the week.

I was alone over the weekend and Gabe learned how to stand up in his crib. Unfortunately, we had the crib bed on the highest setting and I had no clue how to lower it. I was worried Gabe would fall out of the crib so I Googled the instructions to figure out how to lower the bed before their next nap.

I put Gabe and Zara in their enclosed play area in the living room and set off to lower the bed. They were both screaming but I knew they were safe because they have a gated play area that has outlet covers and nothing dangerous in the area. After a little while I heard muffled screams and ran to the living room to find Gabe’s feet sticking out of the toy box. He had climbed up and fell head first into the toy box. Needless to say, the toy box is no longer in their play area!! In hindsight it was a pretty funny scene and I wish I had a camera handy!

View Gabe and Zara’s month 8 photos.

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We decided to spend the beginning of November visiting our family back east in lieu of dealing with the crowds during Thanksgiving. Zara and Gabe were squirmy on the flight but did well overall. We had a nice week in my hometown visiting friends and family in PA. Unlike our first trip to PA, Gabe and Zara no longer stayed where you put them, so it was a full time job making sure they didn’t get into trouble!

On our return trip we spent a few days in the DC area to catch up with friends and family there. We were able to find a hotel with a 2 bedroom suite with a living room so it worked out great! It was great to see our friends and family in DC as well!

The return flight did not go as well as the outbound flight. We arrived at the airport early and set up our “gypsy” camp in a quiet corner. The kids were able to get a good nap in before our flight. We headed to the gate a little later than we hoped and the flight was already boarding. We quickly changed the kids and picked up food for us. Z broke down the stroller and packed it and the 2 car seats in bags to check at the gate. I took both kids, the diaper backpack and the Pullman full of the toys, milk, bottles, and other essentials and boarded the plane. Unfortunately, no one offered to help me lift the Pullman to the overhead compartment and the lady behind me took the only spot left for a bag so we were forced to check the bag. I quickly unpacked the milk and bottles and other essentials (or so I thought). As we pulled onto the runway Z asked for a toy for Gabe…. My heart sunk when I realized I had checked every single toy we had. It was a long 6 hours but thanks to an extra outfit and plastic water bottle (which they chewed on), we survived!

View photos of our PA Visit.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Travel 84 Comments »