Updated pictures...

Clint, Tara and Baby Cal came up for a visit last week. Colleen, the kids and mom came over for spaghetti while they were in town.

Clint explaining to AJ how he can get free stuff from skateboard companies.

Tara and Baby Cal. He is SUCH a good baby!

Grandma getting in some snuggle time with Cal.

After Clint and Tara left, Rich's family came over for a while. Grandpa got right on the floor with Zack to play - - it was so cute.

Trying to grab the camera.

Concentrating very hard.

He LOVES his feet!

He's also learning to get used to being on his tummy.

He bites his bottom lip all the time like Jess does.

He also sucks on two of his fingers like she did when she was little...instead of sucking his thumb.

Wearing Daddy's favorite hat.

So, we had to wash the bedding, but at least he missed Daddy's hat, right?

Getting ready for bath time.

He likes his Bumbo seat. Thank you, Heidi!

I tried putting him down for a second in the chair, but Gramps refused to move. He just laid there and let the baby sit on him!

Zack started grabbing the cat's hair and he just purred - - still...didn't budge!

Nice hair, Zack.

Fearfully and wonderfully made...

In 2006, a group of 5 couples, The Proudfoots, The Maddalenas, The Anders, The Houstons and ourselves, started meeting once a month to discuss their very personal and very painful journeys through infertility. We were all at a point in our lives where we felt helpless...hopeless that we would have have children. We spoke of faith and strength...we spoke of desires and hurt. We still meet to this day, although we have added more friends to our group. Over time, our doubts of becoming parents slowly started to change as each individual couple's door to infertility treatment closed and their doors to adoption opened. Over a period of about six months, every couple from our core group was blessed with bringing an adopted child into their home and our new journeys...our journeys of parenting...began.

(From Left to Right) Zack Speakman, Daniel Houston, Zeke Proudfoot, Braiden Anders & Naomi Houston. Each of you were fearfully and wonderfully made and we love you so very much. We only hope to enrich your lives as much as you have enriched and blessed ours just for being in it. God bless you.

To read more about the lives of these families, see the links at the side of the page - - they will take you to their blogs.

Blue Man Group...

Last night, Rich and I had a date night in Sacramento while Auntie Colleen and Grandma Sally watched Zack. We had dinner at Chevy's on the River, then did a little shopping and went to Arco to see The Blue Man Group. We had SO MUCH FUN! I've posted some video of the concert below.

Wearing one of the onesies that Daddy made for him. It says, "Is it me, or does it smell like updog in here?" It's a quote from The Office. He's obviously happy to be wearing it, too. That's our boy!

Second trip to the ER...

Well, after our trip to the ER on Wednesday night and getting a whopping one hour of sleep, we climbed into bed on Thursday night totally exhausted at about 11pm. At 11:05pm, the ER doctor that we had seen the night prior called us to tell us that we needed to bring Zack BACK to the ER for more testing. We had already gotten him to sleep, so we had to wake the poor little guy up and take him back to the ER before midnight.

Apparently, the first blood culture they took was taken in two different vials and one of the vials started growing, meaning there was either bacteria in his blood OR the blood sample had been contaminated. They needed to re-test his blood and give him another shot of antibiotics, since the shot he had received on Wednesday night was only good for 24 hours. We followed the doctor's instructions and went back in for more testing. He was such a trooper, yet again.

After meeting with his primary pediatrician Friday afternoon, she said the second blood culture did not grow anything and, therefore, she thinks the first one must have been contaminated.

Whew!

First trip to the ER...

So, Zack took his first trip to the ER last night. He was perfectly fine all day, then at about 9:00 pm, I noticed he felt warm. We took his temperature and it was 99.5. I gave him some infant Tylenol in hopes that it would go down, but wasn't concerned. He is teething and I know that low-grade fevers are normal. Then, thirty minutes later, I told Rich that I thought he was getting warmer, so we re-took his temperature and it was 102.2! It had shot up that high in the span of 30 minutes AFTER giving him Tylenol. I called the pediatrician and was instructed to take him to the emergency room immediately. This made me nervous because last year, our nephew Alex had a fever that came on him too quickly and he had a seizure in the car.

We rushed him in and they did a big work-up on him (urinalysis, blood sample, chest x-ray, etc.). Luckily, the fever broke fast and, after a three-hour visit and a shot of antibiotics, we were sent home. We followed up with our primary pediatrician today and she said she thinks he got a little viral infection and wouldn't need any further treatment. She said to keep an eye on him, let him rest and make sure he is eating and eliminating well.

We are so thankful that he is okay! He was such a trooper. He cried when they poked and prodded him, then would calm right down with a little snuggling.

I found him sleeping like this the other day...he sleeps with this silky blanket every night and, this time, he pulled it over his head to block the sunlight during nap time.

Rich was playing with him in his exersaucer the other evening while I was making dinner. Zack started to fuss, so Rich put his paci in his mouth and he fell asleep in the exersaucer! It was the cutest thing :)

Priceless!

We're not quite ready for solid foods yet, but since he has been on rice cereal (in his bottles) for a while, we figured we'd try giving it to him on a spoon, since he's ALMOST ready to start the solids.

It only lasted about 4 spoonfuls worth, then he wasn't happy.

This is the awning we had built on the back of our house. We've only had our house for a year and the yard is still a work in progress. It is hooked up to electrical, so we put a ceiling fan in with lighting...we love it! Tomorrow, we start landscaping!

Here is our dog, Bailey, who refuses to come onto the patio now that there is a covering on it. If you didn't know, she is a little schizophrenic. She has been standing on the side of the house whining to get in all day :) At least after tomorrow, she can stand on the side of the house without having to stand in the mud!

I can't wait to get some patio furniture. I smell a BBQ comin' on!

Rolling over like a big boy...

Zack rolled over once when he was about 7 weeks old...from his tummy to his back. He rolled over again on New Year's Eve from his back to his tummy. Since then, he has done it about 6 more times. Usually he would roll over at the exact moment when we weren't watching and we'd find him in the new position and miss seeing him actually do it. I was finally able to catch it on video!

Here he is...so close! (In the 2nd video, he actually makes it!)

Sweet sleeper...

Zack does this really cute thing in his sleep where he makes a sucking motion as if he had his paci in his mouth. Too cute not to video :)

Fun in Target...

Emily and I avoided the drizzle today by taking the boys to Target. It's never a dull moment with these lil' guys!

We are so mean :)

4 Month check-up...

We had The Mortons over for dinner last night - - Emily, Herb & Zack's pal, Logan. We had a nice evening eating, watching a movie and enjoying seeing the boys play together.

"I'm not too sure about this 'tummy time' thing, Mom. Logan seems to like it though."

"Maybe if I just concentrate really hard, I'll like it too."

"It's not half bad if you have someone to play WITH you!"

"Okay...I think I'm gettin' the hang of this!"



"Well, it WAS fun, until I spit up all over and rubbed my face in it. It even got up my nose and in my eyes. Ew."

All clean again! Daddy changed his outfit for him.

She loves me...


Today, before Zack's doctor's appointment, Rich and I were taking pictures of Zack - - we try to take pictures of him every week so that we can see how much he changes as the weeks go by. This time, he was so funny though! He was pretty melancholy at first, then got all excited and was smiling, then started SCREAMING at the camera and pounding his fists...like he was throwing a tantrum! It was the funniest thing!

Melancholy

"What? I'm supposed to smile?"

"I'll give you a smile..."

Life of the party.

Screaming at the camera.

Zack had his 4-month check-up today. He will be 4 months old on the 11th. The doctor says he is nice and healthy! He has grown an inch-and-a-half in the last two months (he is now 25 1/2 inches long) and he weighs 16.2 lbs. He is in the 75th percentile for his height and weight and in the 90th percentile for head size :) He does have a HUGE head! He got his second round of shots today too...two in each thigh and one by mouth. The poor little guy screamed so hard when the shots were being administered, but then calmed right down once I picked him up. He is still napping in the car seat because it wiped him out.